Clubs and Tech: A Good Mix

Back in the early 1980s, Apple created Apple Computer Clubs, which later became Apple Computer Clubs International. It was a unique idea, but didn’t last, probably because this type of Club in schools and communities was ahead of its time. The kids in those clubs had a great time earning pins for achievements and doing projects for national competitions. Today the Girls & Boys Clubs (BGCA) have what is called Club Tech . A recent study of some of the BGCA Clubs by the University of Washington found that the extra time on computers that Club members received promoted “creativity, expression, collaboration, and other skills that are crucial to 21^st century workplaces.” Involvement in Club Tech also made it possible for those students without home tech access to use computers for homework and to spend more time practicing use of technologies. Although study leaders suggest that further research on this topic be initiated, the findings from this study agree with what students, teachers and parents said about the Apple Computer Clubs several decades ago. Bottom line, students enjoy and benefit from tech time in a club-type organization, where time on tech may include projects, skill development, collaboration with club members, and/or simply time to do homework.

VocabSushi

Want to know just how good your vocabulary is? Try VocabSushi: bitesize learning. It’s free, and you and your students will enjoy all the games designed to build a powerful personal vocabulary. I’ll warn you that it’s challenging and motivating, and it’s also a great way to help your students with the skills they need for the verbal part of their college tests.

What Does Natal’s Meet Milo Mean to Education?

Artificial intelligence. What does it mean to education? You’ll want to watch the Lionhead Studios video Meet Milo to see what may be possible with artificial intelligence. Natal, a Microsoft/Lionhead project, has created a digital boy named Milo who can recognize faces, voices, emotions, and actions. It’s an on-computer character, who seems to understand the person in front of the monitor. The system uses a camera to focus upon the user, which results in hands-free interaction with what’s on the screen. The video has been called scripted, fake, scary, impressive, amazing, and the future, but it seems to be a breakthrough in artificial intelligence. In the video, Milo is supposed to be learning from the human, but if the situation were reversed, think of the possibilities for student learning.

GirlsKnowHow: Dreaming of the Future

Ellen Langas Campbell of GIrlsKnowHow has taken on careers in journalism, construction and teaching—so far in a book series just for girls, ages 8-12. The books, Will Stephanie Get the Story, Raising the Roof, and Smart Alex are available at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and links from the GirlsKnowHow site. You can find out more about the books on the site, which will, when complete include an abundance of resources about successful women and girls, activities for girls, a question and answer area, and much more. The list price for the books is $4.95 each.

How Should Teachers Be Evaluated?

With Pay-for Performance being talked about in many school districts and put into use by some, let’s consider how teacher performance might be judged. Should it be by student performance based on standardized test results? Does this mean that Pay-for Performance would result in even more time spent teaching to the tests? How might student performance be evaluated when using additional criteria? Some say judging on student performance isn’t enough, and add teacher attendance and teacher evaluations into the mix. —And just how do we evaluate teachers who are doing a good job of bringing 21^st Century Skills to their students? Mervis Stansbury of Study Island—Kentucky tackles this confusing topic in his article Teacher Quality Under the Microscope . Besides covering possible performance criteria, Stansbury brings up the idea of paying teachers significantly higher salaries in order to attract the best of college graduates into education and discusses high bonus pay for performance. It’s an article worth reading.

21st Century Learning in the Art Class

Choice-based art provides in-depth curriculum within the context of work chosen by student artists. This classroom-developed pedagogy is a comfortable fit with the goals of the 21st Century Curricula. The new book, Engaging Learners Through Artmaking: Choice-Based Art Education in the Classroom (Teachers College Press, 2009), provides information on Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB), including the philosophy, rationale, and implementation of choice-based authentic art education in elementary and middle schools. The heart of this curriculum facilitates independent learning in studio centers designed to support student choices in subject matter and media. The authors address theory, instruction, assessment, and advocacy in a user-friendly format that includes photos of classroom set-ups and student work, sample demonstrations, and reflections on activities. Sign up for TAB's blog to discuss with other educators the successes, problems, and realities of teaching art in the 21^st Century.

Who Uses 21st Century Skills?

This summer I had the opportunity to visit with two friends who are professional artists. One is a dynamo with technologies and art, and the other spends her time creating with oils on canvas. I was reminded when I watched them work that artists in so many ways are what 21^st Century Learning is all about. My oil painting friend is the head of her community's art's council and my techie art friend works with art educators through her Website and blog. They are creating, imagining, collaborating, innovating, communicating, and engaging in critical thinking and problem solving. They inspire others with their love of art and creating. So—when you look for good ideas for 21^st Century Learning in classrooms, think of the art teachers and all those teachers who use art (and music, too) as part of their teaching.

Make It Cool to Be a Nerd!

According to the article, Revenge of the Nerds, by Daniel Roth in Wired (September 2009), the key to reforming education is to "make it cool to be a geek." Roth mentions High Tech High and Roxbury Prep as examples of schools that are breaking the mode. Many students in these schools come from low-income families—families without a background in education. The success of the students in these schools is evident their acceptances to colleges, in student performance, and student acceptance of  "nerds". After all, according to Roth, they are all kids who are achieving and making the most of their learning. All geeks, all nerds, perhaps, and that's the way it needs to be. Isn't that what schools are all about? Schools should be places where it's cool to get good grades, to create and to work hard. They should be places where students appreciate each other's talents whether these talents be in sports, the arts, the academics, or leadership; not places where cliques determine what's to be appreciated. The youth culture in many schools is holding kids back, and we have to turn that around.

Turning Technologies Supports School Improvement

Turning Technologies, known for its excellent student response systems has established a foundation to help schools get the resources they need. The Turning Foundation assists in finding and securing funding resources for educators. Among the services provided are: identification of potential sources of funding, facilitation of the development of school improvement plans, facilitation of the bundling of multiple resources, help with funding applications, providing research to support applications, review of feedback prior to submission of applications, help with carrying out the target project, and help with completing grant forms. Turning Technologies also has a grant program for K-12 educators. You can sign up now to receive information on applying for the next round of grants related to student response systems.

Help for Teachers-in-Training

Pearson has announced a new online program for pre-service teachers. MyEducationLab is a special place where future teachers can work with authentic in-class situations through video, homework and exercises, individualized lesson plans, reading, case studies, and more. The program is integrated into 70 textbooks that are currently used in Schools of Education. One instructor says that the videos help students "see what they read." Take a tour of the program to browse through what's available, and as you do, think about how a program such as this might be good to have available for in-service teachers. If teachers were having difficulty with student management, with working with students with learning problems, with integrating technologies—you name it, it would be great if they could select a video or case study, which would give them suggestions for improvement.