Element Print Project

9th Graders at SLA are finishing up a joint Science - Art project. Here is a look at their progress.

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How did you do that? Penn State 1 to 1 Technology Conference

I have to get better at chronicling all the exciting things going on in this building and outside.... must get organized!

Zac Chase and I were asked to speak at the Penn State 1 to 1 Technology Conference last week, on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hopefully you tuned in because of our many tweets and pownce updates.

Here is the link to the wiki that describes what we were talking about.

I do not want to rehash what it is that we talked about, that is available already. What I want to concentrate on is how we did our presentation; both the modeling of how we teach and learn at SLA along with how we set up the technology we used.

Zac is a genius and knows so much about presentation, he is well practiced at improvisation and is so much fun to watch. His energy is felt in the room when he presents. I think what is also important is that he can tell a story well. He was able to put together some slides that he could riff off and he came up with ways to have maximum audience participation. Here is the set up, Zac presented most of the information, I was there for tech support and I was the chat room moderator. I was fielding questions and moving the back channel to our topics and points. I was also available to provide information for the more technical questions.

This is exactly how our school is set up. Teachers teach, I am support and indepth tech knowledge. I also make sure everything works all the time. This is paramount because as soon as a tool is unreliable teachers will not use it and they will not include it in their lesson plans. The session was also set up just like one of Mr. Chase's SLA classes. He made sure to get people talking and moving, so they learn more and feel ownership of the the information being presented.

Here is how we set up the tech side of the presentation. We used the following tools:
Ustream
Mac Book
Mac Book Pro
Projector
PB Wiki
CamTwist
USB Flash drive
SlideShare

Ustream enables us to record our session as well as webcast the session live. Ustream will archive these recordings and this has many uses. You can embed the code into blogs and teachertube and wikis, making it a versatile way to get video in the classroom.

By downloading and installing CamTwist we were able to webcast what is on the computer's desktop. Helpful for having people watching at home follow along. I really like this easy to use powerful piece of software and recommend it to everyone.

We used the two computers,one was webcasting and showing the slide show. I was on the other one moderating the webcast and the Ustream chat room. I believe it is helpful to have a moderator in these chat rooms because it will keep people focused and moves the conversation to a higher level. It is also helpful for the presenter, the moderator is able to bring up questions when there is a lull in conversation in the room.

Some of you maybe thinking and I do get this question, "Why even show up at all." We are human, we have an innate need for community. We need to show up and be present for that face time because ideas and interaction form creativity. Yes, it possible to do all this with a web cam and cyber space, but we need a common meeting place where we are physically together, it makes it real and meaningful.

Please let me know if you have any other questions about the tech set up.

Penn State here we come!

Mr. Chase and I are gearing up to speak at Penn State's fourth annual One-to-One Computing Conference...

Here are our session descriptions:

Technology is ubiquitous - What does curriculum look like in a 1:1 school?
This session is a case study of one school with a strong technology initiative. Using the ideas from this school a discussion will be formed around how can it be applied to your district/school/classroom.




21st Century Skills Meets Social Networking in Schools - Where is the Rigor?
This session will be a discussion about how to find validity and rigor in social networking applications for your district/school/classroom.

SLA Looking for Systems Administrator

System Administrator Position Job Details:







• Manage 1:1 laptop program with (by the time of full SLA enrollment) 500 user computers.

• Create and distribute laptop images to all SLA computers.

• Liaise with Apple on Apple-based infrastructure solutions.

• Manage in-house file-server system

• Develop and maintain SLA web-server using such open source projects as Drupal, Moodle, Koha and Elgg.

• Develop and main SLA library server

• Develop and maintain SLA email server

• Develop and maintain SLA multi-media server

• Develop a system for student use of peripherals such as camcorders, etc…

• Manage, along with 440 staff, SLA wireless network •Track all technology-based purchasing

• Troubleshoot all technology-based issues, including client-server interaction, printing, etc…

• Work with outside partners to create innovative open source educational solutions. •Work with the Technology Coordinator to support teaching faculty as they integrate technology into the curriculum.

• Serve as liaison between SLA and Safewear Insurance for laptop repair •Work with students on “Tech Squad” to fix minor laptop issues

• Work with students on “Tech Squad” to constantly improve SLA web site.

Check out the SLA Play

"Something to Believe In"


You can view live Ustream.tv productions on Saturday @ 2pm and again at 7pm


http://ustream.tv/channel/science-leadership-tv

Violation of the A.U.P. - What to do?

Every once in a while there is a student that breaks the Acceptable Use Policy. When this happens I am confronted with figuring out a punishment that fits the crime. This is a story about a student that changed the administrator's pass code on a school owned laptop. Mind you this is the second time he has done this, but it is also one of those low key kids that just wants to put a game on his laptop. He is not in there to noodle around.

Keeping this in mind I came up with the following:
I asked him to write a no shorter than one page essay answering the following questions. Now these questions may seem like they are pulled from thin air but as you are reading them consider the 10th grade essential questions.

1. How are systems created and defined?
2. How do systems shape our world?
3. What is the role of the individual within the system?

Why is the system set up the way it is?
What is the problem with the present system?
Why do you feel the need to change it?
How could it be better?
What is the role of the individual in this system?


I also asked the student to look in the school's acceptable use policy for the rule he broke.

Here is what the student wrote... I personally was blown away!

AUP: Disciplinary Essay

“Other Network Restrictions: Do not attempt to ‘hack’ websites while on the SLA network. DO not attempt to log in as another person or to access another person’s work, server space, or SLA email account.”

That is the rule I broke in the AUP, while using this piece of well-engineered machinery. It doesn’t completely describe what I did, but overall, I attempted to “hack” into the computer. I changed the Administrator’s password so that there would be no password on this laptop. Doing so, allowed me to download anything I wanted without having to come in contact with an administrator. There was no harm done, except the fact that I “broke an AUP rule.” No hacking was done, no servers were crashed, no viruses sent out.

As a result, I have to write a single spaced one-page essay for an Administrator who had finally caught onto my cunning act, and who confronted me about what I did. She explained to me why it was a bad idea, and especially a bad idea because I had done it the year before. After listening to her rational, I thought to myself that it was a meaningless change, a waste of my time and her time. My excuses of so-called ‘suppression’ and ‘unfairness’ were quickly sorted out. There was no ‘suppression’ or any real kind of ‘unfairness.’ That is how the world is run today; there’s always someone above you, someone who makes the decisions, someone who makes things happen.

Getting back on track, the essay I have to write consists of five questions: Why is the “System” set up the way it is? What is the problem with the present “System?” Why do you feel the need to change it? How could it be better? What is the role of the individual in this “system?” Deep stuff. Nonetheless, the system is set up the way it is because it’s how people can be controlled in an orderly manner. If a “system” wasn’t set up, chaos would be present, and nothing would be done. There would be no essential goal for someone to look for in his or her life. People have to be controlled so they can focus. Focus on what they see is needed, and see what is wanted. But, there come issues with the “system”. The system keeps people in a world of containment. Containment causes un-exposure. Un-exposure causes ignorance. Ignorance causes bias. Bias causes containment. It’s the working cycle of life. Then, there comes people who realize the “system’s cycle”. These people want to change how the system works: either for their personal advancement, or for the people’s advancement. I, an example of one of these “people” decided to change the administrator’s password, which in turn granted me all privileges a teacher would have. I saw that I had to change it because of ‘unfairness’. Obviously, things are unfair, and people can’t always get their way. Men, women and children should be grateful for what they have (although there is always the extreme end of the spectrum). Notice that it wasn’t plural, and that there is only one “extreme end of the spectrum” which happens to be extreme poverty, and harsh living conditions.

The people who see the “system” as something that is unfair then pose the question of “how could it be improved?” Well, it can’t be improved. The system is flawless, essentially. People who aren’t at high enough ranks are allowed the minimum level of access. The highest ranks are allowed access to everything. People work to get to where they are. Without work, there is nothing that can be done. Work is the answer: work and patience. And finally, comes the individual’s role in the “system”. The individual’s role comes with the amount of responsibility they carry. Someone like me, a student, carries the responsibility of being well behaved. Someone who is the principal of a school holds the responsibility of making the executive decisions that govern the school, as well as having the authority over the employment. They “make things` happen”. Comparing a student and a principal you can see that there are obvious differences in power and responsibility. This is only true in the school system. Outside of school, students have to make decisions that are both good for them, or a group of people. Responsibility differs in different situations, but essentially the most responsibility is put upon a person who is appointed in a high position.

Spoke at PETE&C

Today Zac Chase and I spoke at PETE&C. Our subject was planning the 21st Century School. We decided to have a conversation. Zac had everyone start by asking them to write down, Pownce, Twit or whatever else, what three things were in the way of their schools being great. You may have seen my tweet earlier today. It got some good responses:

	dlaufenberg @ecram3 ineffective administration at all levels, poor professional development model, ridiculous paperwork/hoop jumping activities about 6 hours ago from web in reply to ecram3
	chrislehmann @ecram3 Seriously: Funding for class size, time spent dealing with overly complex bureacratic processes. about 7 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to ecram3
	chrislehmann @ecram3 Marcie Hull and Zac Chase, clearly. Or maybe it's a lack of effective leadership. ;) about 7 hours ago from twitterrific in reply to ecram3
	chrischampion @ecram3 Teachers who don't want to learn "something new". about 7 hours ago from web in reply to ecram3

The attendees came up with the following list:
Staff resistance
Keeping current
Lack of community support
Lack of a vision (clear vision)
Administration road blocks
Money $$$$
Lack of technicians
Lack of solutions
Deciding – dealing with overload
Blocking the server – firewalls
FEAR
Lack of voice for teachers
Need for communication from techs to teachers
Common language
Sense of community
Time
Pride (not enough from students about their school)

I can not stand talking about the problems but it is a good lead in to talking about solutions. (Thanks Chase!) If you look at this list above there are only two that pertain to schools using technology, this was another Chase take away.

So we must realize that there are fundamental problems in schools that have existed way before the introduction of technology, the technology only helps to magnify them. What I am hoping to point out are ways that technology can assist in alleviating these problems. And that there is no silver bullet to do so, each school and its community has to be look upon as its own entity.

We can still share out ideas so that we can learn from each others triumphs and mistakes. Here is the list of things we came up with to help solve some of the problems that exist in schools:
Advisory
Ethic of care
Pot luck dinner
Know the editor of your local paper (to help spread the word about good things happening in your school)

I have to give a special thanks to Zac for coming out to Hershey, PA with me today. I am still having issues with public speaking and he is helping to teach me. He did a great job today and made me look really good. He did however suggest that I take an improvisational class to become more comfortable. All I can say is poop - I hate that kind of stuff more than I hate public speaking. I would also like to thank Kristin Hokanson and Chris Champion for coming out to the session today. Not only is it nice to have friends in the audience but when your are trying to convince a room full of strangers to relax and have a conversation (and there is no social grease) it sure is helpful to have them speaking up and getting the ball rolling.