Unlocking the Power

If we can all agree that everyone has within them the power to envision an idea or concept, but Not everyone has the ability to create that envisioned idea, without various tech tools. The logical sequence should then be... teach and equip everyone with the tools to create or demonstrate their ideas and knowledge in whatever media form they can imagine. Cave art started with a charcoal stick... until someone said, "I saw some red berries we could use to add color." When I offered students a choice between a traditional essay and visual essay on the Holocaust... the response to express their knowledge in a media free of words far exceeded my expectations. The parameters were very wide and only required the students to cite / credit the resources they used. Many students created original works of art utilizing pencil, colored pens, paints, collage, and mixed blends of media, which demonstrated the understanding of the content, but real learning was in the manipulation of the technology tools used to achieve their creations. This was exactly what the author illustrated in Figure 9.4 on pg 148. I find that I keep circling back to that era of my youth when research and looking for answers was "hard" work (I mean "hard" because the majority of the work was done inside a hardback book). Even simple definitions required "Hard" work and if content specific contextual usage was  desired then another book was added to the work. I say all that to say this... if I believe the idiom / proverb "work smarter Not harder" then I need to equip students and myself with "smart tools"... and learning how to use those tools unlocks far more potential than just learning a bit of content from a subject area. Schools and teachers that are truly involved in  "innovation zones" embracing and promoting the use of technology beyond the traditional scope of use are in fact preparing students for the world they "will" live in not just the world of today. In many ways, not having grown up with the technology of today, has really opened my mind to the possibilities of tomorrow and the need to prepare students for those possibilities.

I love the title to chapter 10... mostly because we (in education) have needed to rethink a lot of things on the systemic level for a very long time (I say we because I have served as a LSIC President, BOE Member, and RESA VIII representative). Question: Has the best model for learning ever really been all the desks in a row (facing front) with the teacher demanding everyones' undivided attention, while delivering the lesson content and possibly requiring various students to read a paragraph aloud until the whole chapter was read?  Really?? Has anyone ever really only had one, single, thought in their mind at a time... furthermore shouldn't I be dividing my attention into what I'm hearing (learning) that's new and what about... what I'm hearing (learning) do I already know?  I know these seem like rhetorical questions, yet the model most teachers employ is a traditional teacher led lecture model (I find myself using this model mostly after I have used my modified Socratic circle) as a way to clarify and build understanding after trying to have activated prior learning. I think my ideal Socratic circle would look something like this... in a traditional 30 student classroom (less students equal fewer number of three person teams) the circle would be more like a horseshoe with 10 chairs (table or No table) followed by 2 desks behind each one of the 10 chairs (making 10 teams of 3). The student in the chair is the team speaker (changes daily) and the support team is responsible for helping the speaker with the flow of information to answer and compose questions based on the conversation content. Ideally there would be no verbal conversation between team members only email or texts, which would require an IM App and 1-to-1 computing.  The log of each teams conversation could be used for quiz notes or study guides. As the learning facilitator, a prompt in the form of a  "Google Doc" could be provided to all the students a starting point and then the facilitator would become the document editor to include the  new questions and any possible clarifications needed, occasionally the facilitator may need to offer opposing questions. This is one idea of the models the student centered learning real world experiences described by the goals of the newly designed Clark Hall. The speaker would be the employee that gives a report, but relies on co-workers to help compile the data... the student centered learning gives the students a more active role in their education. Would this be easy to manage... no, will there be students unengaged... yes, but to keep doing what we have always done and expecting better results is insane, right? This too, circles back to previous posts and questions... What are the true goals of education? Schools should make every attempt to provide relevant and authentic learning opportunities for students. Real life PBLs are a great way for schools to provide authentic real life learning, while modeling the workplace environment and as a bonus the students may even find real solutions to real problems. 

The Grant Proposal... The Goal: Offset as much as possible the costs for creating a 30 unit (+1 teacher station) computer learning center. The Rationale: A primary goal of the Harrison County BOE is to continue to reduce the number of high school dropouts, but also to increase the graduation rate. Since 2010/2011 the number of dropouts has dropped from 177 to 48 in 2014/2015. The program I currently teach in has been a big contributor to that decrease and as way to help increase the graduation rate the BOE is looking to possibly add CTE (Career Technical Education "Completer") program in our building. This would require a computer learning center and the employing of a CTE instructor. I know this seems a little bit out of the described "doable" grant mentioned in Module 5, but it is where the true need is in the mission of the BOE. I have enlisted the help of the County Technology Coordinator and the Secondary Curriculum Coordinator (my boss) as resources to help me with the project. It is my plan to fully develop this grant and submit it to various state and federal agencies after BOE approval and if necessary we can separate different components for specific funding like software vs. hardware. The dual purpose of this potential project should help to make it attractive for funding and while the BOE has Not taken official action they have indicated support as well as potential for finding matching funds. 

Synopsis: 30 student station desktop models (PC, based on potential CTE uses that have known Apple conflicts), 30 Individual 4' work station tables (Testing requires 4' stations) w/ padded chair, Individual CPU ethernet drops, facilitator station and drop, Additional Modem "Switch" (as needed electrical upgrade),  Wireless router (for portable devices)  and specific program software like "Quickbooks" and others. Preliminary cost estimate = $44,300.00 (this estimate is based on using current  BOE employees for installation needs).