Education and Technology

This post is completely off topic for educational technology, but this news item completely hit me in my soft spot.

When I was in my 20’s I was reading the print copy of SI, it was the only copy back then, when I read about a female high school track runner who broke her leg 100 yards from the finish of her race. She was the anchor for the 4×400 relay in a state meet and was leading by a lot when she broke her leg. Not wanting to let her teammates down she crawled to the finish line.

That high school girl inspired me to do a lot of things. She showed me what loyalty, courage and guts were all about. I never thought I would see anything like it again in my lifetime, but I see it everyday in the news.

• a 6 year old calling 911 to save her mothers life
• the firefighters and police at the World Trade Center on 9/11 and the friend I lost in the Pentagon plane crash on that same day
• a husband giving his life by setting out in snow and freezing weather to save his wife and daughters lives

Today I add another one to my list. This one is also a female high school cross country runner in her last high school race. She also breaks her leg and crawls to the finish line. The difference here is that we are in the Internet age where we have video and access to this personally. Watch the video, (11/23 - 2am - the video feed at FOX News is currently not working. Continue to check the URL to watch it when it comes back up.) listen to the young lady. If only our whole country had the courage and guts she shows on this video, what we could accomplish!

Technorati tags: Education, Sports, Cross Country

It’s been almost a year since we got our first 18 ActivBoards. In that time 50 more ActivBoards have been installed, making it one in every classroom. We’ve had the expected growing pains, but also a great leap in teacher and student interactive learning. As I wander the halls on my way to fix some technology I see every class using their ActivBoard in some way.

We are now into intermediate training on integrating other technology and lessons into the ActivClassroom. The latest ActivTechnology training class that our teachers have been working on is integrating streaming video into a flipchart lesson. I like using gadgets in lessons because I see the students as gadget lovers. The students are already using digital technology, iPods, xBox, play stations, computers and the internet so why not use what they use and like to teach them?

I see them more involved in the classroom, but we also need to watch that we don’t just use the ActivBoards as a replacement for the whiteboard. The key word here is INVOLVED. Students need to be involved in the class, interact with the ActivBoard, not just answer questions or read to ActivBoard. All the items that I mentioned above that students use like the iPod are interactive, which is why they like them. I wouldn’t want to just sit and listen to a lecture anymore than a child likes to.

• I want to interact
• I want to have fun
• I want to learn without feeling it’s a chore

Don’t you think our children are the same way?

We have received ActiVotes for the classrooms, which will increase the student interaction. I can’t wait to see the students faces when they get to use the ActiVotes, (I call them eggs because that’s what they look like).

• Congratulations to Tes Powell for passing her National Board Certification!
• Lastly, I’ve been having a ball getting 165 new HP Short Form desktops ready for deployment into our classrooms. I know the students and teachers will see the difference between these computers and the ones that I will be replacing. This is another step toward an advanced, up to date ActivClassroom.

Technorati tags: Promethean, ActivBoard, K-12 Education