January 2012 Archives

Last week, I wrote about Apple's Potential Game Changer in Education. Apple's announcement of tools to empower anyone to be a textbook publisher on the iPad met various positive and critical reviews.

Ronnie Burt over at The Edublogger" explains that Apple's education announcement was "Not a Game Changer."

"The announcements today by Apple do not result in any major way of changing the way we approach education. This isn't really Apple's fault, as nobody has yet to crack this one and do it well. You still have "curriculum" being created in advance and given to teachers and students exactly like textbooks always have been. Now, those textbooks are just lighter, cheaper, and more fun to read (all of which are great things!)."

"Students are still thought of as "content consumers" in this scenario as opposed to active participants. The new iBook reader allows for easy highlighting and note-taking, which is useful, but there isn't a way to discuss texts or collaborate with others. It is in these more interactive tasks that students construct their own knowledge and learn best - not through passively reading and playing with images."

"What we still need to figure out is a way to manage the individual needs of students - a system that makes it possible to provide a truly differentiated curriculum that is accessible whenever needed."

Ronnie makes a good point that perhaps a true "game changer" should create deeper changes to the structure of classrooms and schools and the way students are more actively engaged in managing their learning.

John Titlow over at ReadWriteWeb explains Why Apple Won't Disrupt the Textbook Industry Anytime Soon, placing the "Apple Revolution" in perspective with other widely available education tools that have slowly been changing the learning landscape.

"Education is already being blown wide open by the Web. The mere concepts of "the lecture" and "the textbook" begin to look antiquated in light of things like Khan Academy, Wikipedia, Wolfram Alpha, iTunes U and MIT's Open Courseware."

"Those examples are just the tip of the iceberg. You'd be hard-pressed to find a student in the U.S. today that isn't already using the Internet to supplement their educational experience to some extent. Apple is well aware of the changes that are already underway. That's why they're doing this."

Over at Macworld, Ryan Fass has broader conclusions of Apple's New Vision of Education, pointing out that:

"Lifelong learning may be one of the most incredible and yet easily overlooked achievements in Apple's vision of 21st century education. The company is making all of this learning content and tools available to virtually anyone, anywhere and at impressively low costs."

This is the most insightful part of his analysis:

"While Apple's education efforts will directly or indirectly affect how future generations learn as they grow up, perhaps the biggest feat is removing barriers to knowledge and supporting multiple learning styles from childhood through adulthood."

These themes of "removing barriers" and "supporting multiple learning styles from childhood through adulthood" resonate most.

Perhaps these themes are larger than Apple or any one brand or technology.

With all these choices in technology, maybe it's not about a specific brand, tool, or format.

It's About You

In the end, what matters most is that you choose your technology to revolutionize your own teaching and learning. You will choose your technology based on your context, but what matters is that you make your choice and move forward.

Perhaps you will choose the Apple ecosystem. Maybe you will choose tools on the PC, Kindle, or a tablet running the Android OS. Or, you might choose to learn from web resources such as Khan Academy, MIT Open Courseware, or the wide variety of educational resources on You Tube and the Teaching Channel.

In this era of on-demand learning and content creation, access to learning is the game changer. Choose your technology and use it in a way that is meaningful for you.

It's up to you to choose to revolutionize your learning....

Have you made your choice?

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 8:46 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As you may have heard today, Apple announced their E-Textbook Initiative to enter and revolutionize the textbook market, specifically centering these initiatives to highlight the potential of the iPad in education.

iBooks Author allows anyone to create a textbook for the iPad. One can create a textbook on the iPad with multimedia and interactive features such as video, interactive images, Keynote presentations, and 3D images. There are also "review" tools that allow the author to create multiple choice and drag and drop questions.

iBooks 2 is their updated eReader that takes advantage of many of the iPad's interactive and multimedia features in textbooks. Books created in iBooks Author can be read in this app.

iTunes U is now a separate app for the iPad that contains thousands of free courses. More importantly, any educator can now create courses to teach anyone who is interested.

As with many Apple press events, the tools they announce are usually available the same day. All of these programs are free. Naturally, after leaving school I went home and downloaded these free programs.

Easy!

I'm using iBooks Author to create a textbook on the iPad. While I create the textbook on my Mac, I can preview immediately what I'm creating on my iPad.

In less than five minutes I've created a textbook with a few pages of text, pictures, video, and review questions. (OK, it's a children's book about my adopted dog- not very compelling educational content, but I'm more focused on the technical aspects of designing and manipulating objects and media in the pages of the book. If I were to try this using my other, non-Apple, programs such as Adobe InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, and Premiere Elements, the technical tasks would take much longer.)

iBooks Author is very easy to use. There are ready-made templates to easily jump into the program. For those who enjoy creating their own designs, manipulating text boxes, shapes, and formatting image sizes can be done simply by "clicking and dragging" with the mouse.

My initial thoughts? This is a potential game changer in education.

Why? Although tools to self-publish and distribute have been around for a few years, they were not very user friendly or accessible to the casual user. Many of these authoring programs were very expensive and lacked a "popular" distribution system. More importantly, potential self-publishers lacked the iPad- a portable and powerful computing device to maximize the potential to easily access a variety of supporting media and other resources.

iBooks Author, iBooks 2, and iTunes U change the ecosystem for which any educator can freely create and publish content for learning.

For teachers, every teacher can create powerful learning resources for anyone with an iPad. Any teacher now has the power to spread their expertise. Teachers are no longer limited to walls of their classroom.

These programs empower teachers.

For learners, learning from anyone, anywhere, has been made very easy. Learners are no longer limited to educators physically around them.

These apps empower self-directed, personal learning. And learning is the purpose of teaching.

And that's why these tools are a potential gamechanger for education.

Ease of Acccess.... for Some

Apple did not invent self-publishing, but as with many of their products, they innovated in the way everyday users can easily access and use these tools to improve their lives.

Of course, there are concerns. Participation in this ecosystem requires the use of Apple products. There is that whole thing about digital inequity. This will accelerate the learning for schools and students who have the resources. For those who do not, they will miss these opportunities until other companies provide accessible solutions.

But, the bar has been raised. Competitors will have to maximize accessibility to those in and out of the Apple world.

Will competition increase accessibility of self publishing and on-demand education for all?

And, while I enjoy my iPad for personal use, I still think there are inherent limitations for tablets for higher-level research and writing.

Questions for Later

But, I'm not thinking about any of these concerns now. I just used iMovie to create a video for my textbook and I just dragged the video onto the page and am adjusting the size. I'm about to preview it on my iPad. I don't think I'll upload this textbook to iBookstore for public download, but I could email it to anyone I want. I'm now an author, publisher, and distributor.

Not bad for a few minutes work on the first attempt..... When did these apps come out? Oh yeah...This afternoon.........

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 8:27 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

As preparations are being made to develop an online community for educators to share ideas, resources, and have discussions about teacher leadership and the Teacher Leadership Standards, I think of my own experiences that have enhanced my own understanding of teacher leadership.

Specifically, I think of the teacher leadership opportunities to contribute to the education profession outside the classroom or school.

The first experience was earning National Board Certification. Shortly after earning certification, I had the opportunity to participate in the Digital Edge Learning Interchange with Apple, the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), AT&T, and the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). This experience gave me valuable instructional technology skills training from experts from Apple and ISTE.

The second experience was being a Teacher Ambassador with the US Department of Education. This was a tremendous opportunity to understand education from the larger policy perspective.

Each experience expanded my school based view of the world. These experiences taught me that creating a quality education for students requires a full continuum of expertise from classroom teachers, teacher leaders, school based administrators, district specialists, to other educators at the local, state, and national level.

There are many opportunities for teachers to gain a larger view of the profession, such as the US Department of Education Teacher Ambassador Program, Einstein Fellowship, fellowships with the National Education Association, as well as teacher opportunities with other organizations.

But, what happens to these teacher leaders after these experiences?

Some leave the classroom for other challenges. Some realize they prefer working with students and choose to go back to classrooms.

But, many return to their classrooms, and their newly developed skills and understanding go under-utilized, un-noticed, or sometimes, ignored.

"All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go"

Many teacher leaders who gain valuable skills and understandings from these experiences outside the school or district do not have ways to either share what they learn when they return, or avenues to continue their own development. As a result, many teacher leaders who gain these new perspectives may eventually leave the classroom, school, or district for other challenges.

A mind that has been opened to a larger world is difficult to contain.

Overall, one challenge for teacher leadership is the lack of opportunities to maximize the experiences and knowledge of teacher leaders beyond their respective schools. Part of this challenge is that there is no defined career pathway for teachers. Instead, we have a system where a first year teacher often has the same duties as the 30-year veteran. Other responsibilities are often viewed as extra duties, rather than extra opportunities for growth.

As a result, teacher leadership, as a concept, remains undefined.

Are there better ways to harness the expertise of teacher leaders and continue their professional development and contribution while keeping them in schools where they can benefit students and teachers?

What is Needed

1. Continued Development of Teacher Leadership: Resources such as the Teacher Leadership Standards are important. The more educators can define and expand the concept of teacher leadership, the more ways educators can support and nurture it.
2. Continued Leadership Opportunities for Classroom Teachers: We need more opportunities for teachers to develop their leadership within schools, districts, and other organizations. More importantly, there needs to be ways for schools and districts to maximize what teachers learn from such opportunities if they return to schools so that others can benefit from their expertise.
3. Continued Organizational Networking and Support for Teacher Leaders: Gillian Cohen-Boyer, the Lead of the Teacher Ambassador Program at the US Department of Education has a saying that "Once a Teacher Ambassador Fellow, always a Teacher Ambassador Fellow." Organizations that develop these initial opportunities can support "ex-Fellows" since these teacher leaders can continue the mission of these organizations in other experiences and venues. When teacher leaders develop lasting professional networks, they become resources of support at a national level.
4. Teacherpreneur? In their book, Teaching 2030, The Center for Teaching Quality proposes the idea of the teacher leader as a "teacherpreneur" that can work with students and contribute to the profession.

Perhaps, these are some ideas to expand teacher leadership and keep these teachers where they are most valuable - in the schools. Once teachers becomes teacher leaders, they will always be a resource for learning and leadership. Let's find ways to maximize their energy and expertise.

What do you think? How else can school districts, organizations, businesses, and education stakeholders expand the concept of teacher as an education expert within and beyond the classroom?

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Teacher Leaders Network with the Center for Teaching Quality and am involved with the development of the Teacher Leaders Standards online community.

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 7:36 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend

With the 10th anniversary of No Child Left Behind, the Thomas B. Fordham Institute hosted a panel discussion entitled, "Has the Accountability Movement Run its Course?" on January 5th.

Did NCLB, and the consequential accountability movement it embodied, succeed? And with near-stagnant national test scores of late, is there reason to think that this approach to school reform is exhausted?

If not "consequential accountability," what could take the U.S. to the next level of student achievement?

The panelists also discuss "The Accountability Plateau" report, which challenges its readers with the following:

Like the meteor that led to the decline of the dinosaurs and the rise of the mammals, results-based accountability appears to have shocked the education system. But its effect seems to be fading now, as earlier gains are maintained but not built upon.

If we are to get another big jump in academic achievement, we're going to need another shock to the system--another meteor from somewhere beyond our familiar solar system.

The overarching theme to these discussions was that the gains during the accountability movement appeared to have plateaued (in most contexts), and the panelists each gave their insights as to what the next impetus for raising student achievement could be.

The broadcast is worth watching. The panel discussed thought provoking themes of the limitations of testing, how schools may have reacted to the consequential accountability, the role of the federal government, and the value of human capital.

Equally fascinating were the questions from the audience, which included the potential role of online learning and a debate if the emphasis on math and reading lessened the focus on creativity.

If more dialogue between classroom teachers and policy makers is to occur, then more understanding of perspectives is needed.

Perhaps the gap in the policy practitioner dialogue is the different focus on inputs versus outputs. Part of the challenge in dialogue is the two different perspectives and areas of expertise in understanding the problem.

Very broadly stated, as professionals who work with students on a daily basis, we teachers tend to value the role of inputs for improving education. We advocate for input issues such as more equitable funding, reducing class sizes, better working conditions, and other ways to empower schools to improve student learning.

On the other hand, policymakers focus on outputs as a means of improving education, that an accountability system of goals, content standards, measurement, consequences, and reporting will improve schools. Somewhere in this intent is the belief that if teachers just try harder, then learning is improved. Accountability, as described in the panel discussion, is not a program, but an incentive structure.

Much has already been said about the pros and cons of each side of the debate.

But in this discussion of an achievement plateau and a search for the next driving force for school improvement, then perhaps it is time to reconsider the over-emphasis on outcomes.

Solving complex problems requires systemic thinking; the focus on outcomes alone cannot solve the wide variety of problems teachers confront daily.

At one point in the webinar, the panelists admitted that they do not fully understand (based on research) what occurred in schools during the accountability movement and what is needed to develop teacher capacities.

Perhaps it is time to understand those who are in schools and who do know what it takes to help students learn.

One cannot focus solely on outcomes without considering the conditions of communities and schools, and the challenging socio-economic student and family factors that educators confront daily.

Teachers need adequate tools and resources to help their students; it's not just about trying.

Teachers need the support of administrators, communities, and policy makers to succeed; it's about sharing responsibility, not shifting blame.

Inputs matter. There are limitations to an outcome-focused system of accountability.

As the panelists debate what could deliver the next "shock to the system," searching for "another meteor from somewhere beyond our familiar solar system" perhaps understanding and supporting the inputs that teachers have long been advocating to improve student learning just might be that shock that is unfamiliar.

And, this shock could lead to the authentic and lasting gains that all those invested in education seek to achieve.

Posted by Patrick Ledesma at 6:47 PM | Permalink | Leave a comment | Recommend