Semester Reflection

My mind has been opened to the possibilities of educational technologies.  First and foremost, I have faith in the minds of Millennials.  They will be the ones to solve many of the world's problems.  On the other hand, previous generations, specifically Baby Boomers, are in the way.  They know the least about this world and they are the ones running shit.  I have to use terse language because it best describes my frustration with education and the society writ large.  Life is easier in 2015 than it has ever been.  Technology seems to be outpacing the ability of thinkers to come up with bigger broader issues.  I attribute a lot of that to intellectual regurgitation and still teaching concepts that have long since been automated.  Our children are being taught to irrelevance.  Based on observation rounds of young learners, I see their mastery of contemporary society.  The utility of handheld devices and their ability to come up with solutions to the simple questions that they have.  I am inferring and projecting that one of those young learners will have a large broad question on something important such as the global economy or the cure for cancer and will use education technology, which is prior knowledge, to create new advances in society.  A wealth of knowledge is at the fingertips of young students and their intellectual curiousities will continue to spur innovation.

As a leader in education, I am also acutely aware of the inability of leaders to adequately implement educational technology in the classroom.  I wonder if these are inherent errors in a top down bureaucratic approach or that leaders simply don't understand the world they live in (as I presume their students to be able to).  

Pappert's ideas are near and dear to my philosophy on leading a higher education institution.  Constructionism is key to reform.  Leaders must be assess how their learner's think and be able to channel and develop that into higher analytical thinking.  

This course has allowed me to question and envision what the class of the future will look like.  Frankly, I have questioned the relevance of the modern day school.  My children will have a different formative education going forward.  Mastery of the technology is more important than the regimentation of outdated thinking.  

 

Assessment of Educational Technology in the Class

To evaluate the effectiveness of technology in the class, I would use a Likert Scale survey to ask students.  Essentially, it is up to them to determine its effectiveness.  A Likert Scale for instructors as well combined with average scores of the class to triangulate data would be a way to assess educational technologies.

Very rarely are students assessed on the quality of educational technology.  In my higher ed experience, it is faculty that for committees to determine which educational technology is used in the classroom.  The flaw in this is that most have less experience with educational technology than the students which create a very underused device and basic functions.  In LAUSD, Ipads were issued to students only to be confiscated because students had figured out how to bypass control measures and use it outside of the intended purpose of the school administration.

Moore's Law suggests that educational technologies should be rapidly deployed and not have long drawn out committees to implement this.  By the time devices are rolled out, technology has advanced and students have mastered more advanced software.

Handheld Devices in the Classroom

As a Technical Support Specialist, Browserlock and faculty concerned about "cheating" fail to comprehend the world in which we live.  The old thinking of memorizing answers or being able to recall answers based on reading and cramming in lots of data is an outdated method.

A Doctor doesn't in go into surgery remembering every iota of their medical books.  A lawyer is not required to know every law on the books.  A rocket scientist doesn't attempt jet propulsion based on remembering every theory and law from years of study.  Every profession has the answer to the tests!  There is no "stump the chump" in any profession.  The answers are available for immediate use.  What separates the average from the greats is the ability to not only find answers but apply it in ways that are new or unprecedented.

Why should a kid memorize the multiplication table?  We have phones that can calculate that and it is much more reliable than memory.  Why must a student be forced to memorize when a certain battle took place in history or remember such minutiae when it is recorded history?  This basic level of assessment speaks to issues with the instrument, not the student!

With information at a student's fingertips, the next level of learning should be for students to analyze and synthesize the information.  Baseline teaching and assessment is the expectation of knowing that Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492 whereas the synthesis and analysis can apply that voyage to World Systems Theory and disproving of the Malthusan Trap.  This will create a world where there isn't really a "right answer" but, rather shows metacognition while also creating new insights on very old (probably incorrect) subjects.

Handheld devices also empower a student to learn on their own terms outside of a rigid outdated system.  What is the folly in that?  Students, as living breathing organisms, will naturally have questions about the environment about them and be able to find answers in the palm of their hand.

Educators should embrace all technologies in the classroom if they spur questions and ideas in the classroom.    

Achieving Hard Fun

Achieving hard fun is not impossible.  Hard fun is usually manifested in the current K-12 structure under sports and fine arts.  These are competencies that aren't easy to master at the beginning but get easier through discipline and constant practice.  In the right context, it can occur in computer sciences.  With familiarity, skills develop and allow for hard fun.  As a Technical Support Specialist, I find IT to be hard fun.  I have no formal training in hardware or software.  The hard fun works by applying skills from other disciplines to troubleshoot and analyze problems.

Standardized testing inhibits hard fun.  The focus is on mastering established norms instead of seeking new or unknown knowledge.  Students are literally being asked to know or memorize things that have already been created or done.  The incentive or possibilities for hard fun are systemically not there.

Virtuosos and Masters in practice achieve this status based on dedication and discipline to craft.  Most professional athletes have dedicated their formative years to homing their craft.  They were not always able to dunk, dribble between their legs or lift 300lbs.  It took years of development.  With computer technology, I would argue that hard fun is actually easier.  Whatever the mind can envision, it is possible to add something new to the field.  There are lifetime computer scientists as well as young gamers that contribute by way of hard fun.

Finally completed  my Arduino project!!!  I'm going to need a little more familiarization with the programming to be effective at this, but I would like to continue doing this with my children.  They will be able to conquer it.  I have no doubt.  For my son, Izach, we will do a project for his birthday.

  

It was very hard to keep the wires/thread from crossing.  I tried tape but that just tangled  the thread.  In the future, I will add it into clothes and other little pet projects.  Ok, now that this is complete, I can continue to complete my other school assignments...

The Blessing and Curse of Video Games

I remember reading Ender's Game in a Freshman Lit class while a student at Franklin College and I hated it!  I did not understand the relevance and the premise seemed quite silly.  Ender, the protagonist, is picked at a young age to play video games and master levels.  It turns out that he was fighting a cyber war unbeknownst to him.

As an Artillery Officer, I saw many parallels in the premise of that book.  Firstly, the ability of young people to suspend reality or to see answers to real problems in a video game.  I managed 42 Forward Observers (FOs).  Their job in a combat scenario was to call in grid coordinates for indirect fire support (artillery, air support, mortars).  To hone their skills, I would meet in a room called the GUARDFIST which was a video game on a big screen.  

My FOs would use the game to learn the art of Field Artillery.  By playing a virtual reality of real life combat situations, my FOs were able to calibrate their eye and learn tricks that otherwise would be replicated in an actual life or death environment.  One can argue that the GUARDFIST saved lived by enabling training in a safe environment but it also used video games, as in Ender to eventually or potentially lead to killing.  The lines are blurred.  My FOs were Artillerymen and saw the lethality of war as a profession...a job.  The personalization in something that could be hectic or result in loss of life is turned into technical skills performed in a profession.  

Video games enable the ability for higher thinking.  Real life situations can become intellectual exercise.  As I have stated in other blogs, a video game enables specific situations to be reviewed and attempted to the point of changing how one actually reacts.  Strategy is refined for moments that were previously so inconsequential that most would never prepare for it.  It is observed mostly in sports.  In the form of onside kicks, two point conversions, or even allowing an opposing team to score to get the ball back.  These strategies are experienced in video games.  This can also apply to other strategy games.   

Videos Games as Literacy

Videos games are not a new literacy but is a competency that requires fluency.  Video games are a universal form of conceptualizing virtual ideas.  As we have accepted an x and y axis to represent 2 dimensions, or how we accept east to be to the right or north to be at the top of a map, these are fluencies and an accepted form of conceptualizing the world we live in.  Video games have a similar effect.  Video games are representations of life and enable players to enact scenarios which they may have little or no contact with in a live setting.

There is a literacy in playing video games in how to manipulate a controller or adjusting settings.  In the example of Minecraft the player has to understand a world that is built from tabula rasa. Observing a 9 year old player, yesterday, he was able to build a school and purchase tools to build things and maneuver in that world.  That would suggest some type of fluency.  Fluency to the game is a part of that but the other portion is I believe this drives how players/users perceive the world.  How they may build things or construct ideas.   

Gaming in Education

Captures the essence of problem based learning.  Gaming allows for growth in the realm of strategy.  Gaming enables gamers to experience poignant situations and replicate them over and over.  Not only can a difficult scenario be captured, but due to adequate exposure, one can conceptualize a course of action.  It is the brain’s version of building muscle memory in certain situations.  Also, in relation to a static classroom where students are required to do homework may become discouraged when faced with a difficult problem.  The problem is too great to encourage further effort to adapt and overcome.  With gaming, level of rigor can be adjust to the level of the game or, as previously stated, the gamer can think through those situations to create a viable solution.

While the article speaks to the lack of adaptivity, I would suggest that it speaks to the possibility of building on existing knowledge to address this issue to create a solution.  In keeping with the Maker Movement tradition (Pappert) limited solutions can become more complex.  Computers are programmed to do what they are told.  The variables are probably too simplistic which suggests that perhaps more variables can be injected into scenarios to create that adaptivity.  The human mind works the same way.  More variables make scenarios difficult to predict in which, we train our brain to focus on just a few of them.  Often, we here of professional athletes speak of “the game slowing down” after several years in the league.  They have trained their brain to focus on cues.  I train my players to focus on trends and habits of the opposition.  I train my linemen to look at the footwork of the offensive tackles.  If their outside foot is back further than the inside (i.e. not perpendicular) more than likely the play is a pass.  If the linemen are in a 3 point stance, I tell them to expect the run.  Now, I can make that scenario very difficult to comprehend by using a standard distribution and creating a probability based on a myriad of variables (down, distance, score, personnel package, etc.) or, I can simplify the entire scenario by telling players, based on their position, what to expect and giving them “assignments” to create an entire defensive system created to defeat the most likely course of action.  With all of that being said, that all applies to gaming.  Raheem Morris speaks of how gaming has influenced his coaching (Toppo, 2015).

I disagree with Ron Smith on the “all in” concept.  Life just doesn’t work that way.  Games are based on real scenarios.  It has to be a blended “piecemeal” endeavor.  Gaming can be used to limit expenditures or usage of resources.  It can be used to address safety or inject experiences into novices in a discipline.  I would even suggest that an all in approach has its limitations and negative consequences.  A blended approach that can create associations to multiple worlds is the way to go.  In the realm of mathematics, educators have to lose the dissociative nature as it currently stands.  Formulas and theorems exist to address real world problems, however, they are taught in a box.  The learner cannot see the relevance of learning abstract ideas and applying it to a 3 dimensional world.    

What I find most interesting is the need for games and technology being burdened with proving its worth against a failed system.  Some call it failing, but education had failed out children.  The position in the Central Valley should be to embrace any and all ideas that instill interest and hope in this generation of learners.  Metropolitan centers in the Central Valley consistently lead the way in being under educated and impoverished.  What turf is any educator truly defending in the discussion of ideas to promote learning in our children?  Gaming, gamification, and everything in between needs to be on the table as a possible solution to do right by people in our society with a desire to learn.

"The roots of the modern school system lay in the nineteenth century management ideas developed for factories, huge halls of efficiency born in a "highly practical age" and designed to turn out standardized products as quickly and cheaply as possible." (Toppo, 2015)

From the perspective of the Central Valley, education has failed.  Not failing...but failed.  The statistics are so abysmal that I can not understand why we view the solution within the current system.  Reconstruction (Gorbachev) seems to be the answer.  We need to blow the thing up and try something radically different.  As an educator, I think all options must be explored.  As a parent, I don't have time for this shit.  I think putting my kids into high school is probably a waste of time.  I'll either enroll my kids directly into the local junior college or I will move (to another region in the US or leave the country).  By virtue of accessing the local K-12 system, my children are destined to work the agricultural fields, oil fields, or work in the service sector.  They will leave the K-12 system with no professional skills and will be required to incur a large amount of debt to have any chance at upward mobility.  Fuck that.  As a parent I'm not having that.  As an educator, I believe by being highly critical of a failed system will require leaders to look at the shortcomings and look for viable solutions.  I also believe that I can offer solutions.

Dr. Mullooly bought up an interesting point at the Fresno State colloquim, last Saturday.  In his research as an Anthropologist, he saw a link between highly educated youth and unemployment which seems to cause civil unrest.  Unemployment exist (he calls them displaced youth) but the lack of education perhaps keeps the prospects of civil unrest low.  In the valley, however, the amount of undereducated is higher then in other parts of the country which perhaps conditions the populace to more adverse outcomes.

Perhaps we can maintain a model that prepares students for the workforce.  In 2015, IT is the new vocational trade that ensures employment.  A high school graduate that can program code and repair hardware in a desktop has more options and marketability than a high school graduate that can ace the SAT.  What value does the SAT have in the Central Valley?  What about a high school diploma?  What does it really matter?  In Coalinga, only 8% of students are prepared for Freshman English and 3% for Freshman Algebra according to the EAP. Tangible life skills are more important than acing standardized tests with such horrendous scores.  How can any educator view these stats as promising or a level from which to build on?

Games in education

The ideas of using games in education is supported by Vygotsky's theory of education psychology in that children mimic the behavior of adults.  When you look on a playground, you will see kids mimicking professional football players or playing Cops and Robbers.  Even the toys available to children mimic some type of adult behavior.  In video games, this is also a present theme.  The beauty of games is that it allows children to strategize real world situations that could not be captured or perpetually recreated as they could in the game.  In The Game Believes in You (Toppo, 2015) former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Head Coach Raheem Morris mentions how playing the Madden series, it has altered how he coaches games.  By practicing game situations in a virtual setting, it enables thinkers to address issues that were once considered as rare as seeing lightning strike the ground.  Knute Rockne could not analyze the probability of attempting a 2 point conversion if his team just scored a go ahead touchdown to be up by 5 points.  Kicking an extra point puts a team up by 6 but a 2 point conversion puts a team up by 7.  Before the era of gaming, football strategy was more steeped in intuition but players and coaches can have a higher "football IQ" to think the game and not just rely on athletic ability  simulating situations that could not be replicated in a practice or enough game time situations.

In Ender's Game (Card, 1985) the protagonist, Ender, is recruited at a very young age to play a "game".  He is in a class with his peers but quickly advances to higher levels of difficulty until, unbeknownst to him, he is fighting a cyberwar (how prophetic) and saving the world from total disaster.  Ender was a child utilizing his ability to conceptualize a virtual world  which enabled him to interpret life and behaviors of a being that he never actually saw.  This concept is not much different from the methodology used to train and teach Field Artillery soldiers in 2015.  Educational technology is used to reinforce fundamentals and master concepts that in a prior time (i,e, the Napoleonic era) required many resources and time that made it impossible to have similar levels of mastery.  Cyber warfare was not a part of the English Vernacular in 1985, however, it is an actual discipline in the are of military strategy.

In The Game Believes in You (Toppo, 2015),  there is also mention of the NeuroRacer game.  My son underwent an experimental therapy using similar technology.  My son has learning issues and was presumed to be autistic.  While we never received an official diagnosis, I knew there was something wrong.  After taking him to several specialists, I decided to focus on using a Multiple Intelligences (Gardner) approach and focus on his strengths in hops of it addressing the shortcomings.  I found an Occupational Therapist in El Paso, Marco Rodriguez, that created a gaming system for his son, who has ADHD.  The game consists of two electronic wires attached to the head of the player in which they steer a vehicle.  The game requires the player to concentrate on maneuvering the vehicle.  While driving, there is also the sky which can be bright and sunny to signify a happy or focused disposition or lightning and storms which suggests anger or a lack of concentration.  When my son first played the game, his vehicle was erratic.  At times he'd drive into the ocean or spin and circles with a sky that rainy or lightning.  Over time, he mastered the ability to drive straight for long periods.  Anecdotaly,   I saw his ability to focus long enough to sound out words and start to grasps concepts that took hours of late night homework sessions for him to grasp.

To address the dissociation in education, specifically mathematics, gaming should be an integral part of the curriculum.  It leads to the higher learning (critical analysis and strategic thinking) that  educators aspire to instill in their students.  It also captures the interest of their students.  Whether it is sports or a board game, education should be fun and engage the learner.    

Maker Movement Holy Ghost

Since reading Pappert and exploring the Maker Movement, I have tried to rethink normal ways of doing things.  Essentially we become beholden to the past, customs, and tradition.  We begin to do things although the action has no relevance and may actually be counterproductive.  

When I was in the army, we did reveille every morning.  By custom or tradition, reveille was design to wake soldiers up out of bed and to signify the duty day.  The bugler would come out at 5:55am at every post and play "First Call" to signify that "Reveille" would be played 5 minutes later.  In 2015, there is no need for a bugler or for Reveille to be played.  In current practice, every soldier in a garrison environment meets in a military formation to hear Reveille being played at 6am while saluting the flag before starting duties (usually physical exercise). The origination has lost its relevance.  Every soldier has synchronized watches and...soldiers are already awake by the time they hear it!  It is mostly now done out of tradition and custom.  It has no functional utility.

I have the same epistemological quandary as an Technical Support Specialist in the IT department in my organization.  Voice over IP (VoIP) was a significant advancement in how we utilize land line phones.  By custom and practice, the only reason an actually block phone on anyone's desk exist is mostly out of the idea that professional organizations have one on each desk.  VoIP runs the voice signal through internet lines.  You can have a communication telephonically utilizing a desktop/laptop device with proper hardware and software interfaces at a fraction of what it cost to still have an actual phone but we are still prisoners to custom.

In my organization, we have not replaced VoIP phones in over 10 years.  They are starting to have functionality issues.  Inside each phone is a handset wire which, in most phones, has reached fatigue.  It probably is time for new phones or a solution other than currently using broken phones.  I decided to take a phone apart to reverse engineer any broken or defective parts.  I am not an administrator with the ability to make large purchases so I use the old Marine Corps mantra of "adapt and overcome".  By taking apart a defective phone, I was able to observed a wire that no longer enabled signal flow to the handset.  

My solution was to use a paper clip.  By straightening out a paper clip then shaping it into the shape of a handset wire, it made the phone functional, again.  The metal of a paper clip has a longer fatigue life than the existing hardware.  As an IT specialist had to think outside the box to come up with a functional solution.  Although we still use phones, I can at least come up with cheap solutions to keep my organization functional even if they're beholden to outdated customs and traditions.  

Rethinking the two dimensional abstract

Graphing paper is slowly going the way of the abacus.  It still works but why use it when there are more efficient and accurate models to use?  I find myself stuck in the 2 dimensional vortex when tutoring students in math.  Their first method of action is to refer to a graphing calculator or a software application that instantly will graph a function.  Technology can do functions that were something we could only think of in a past generation.  As educators, we can take this level of teaching to...well, another level.   

Prior to working in IT, I always thought of mathematical functions in terms of plotting ordered pairs on graphing paper and running a line through them to represent a straight line.  But what does that really mean? 

 I try to think in terms of the modern day thinker.  To simplify, a pair of variables can only have one function.  That applies in computer programming.  If you give a set of variables more that one function, you have essentially confused your computer.  It can not carry out a command that gives them two options.  Explaining algebra in terms of computer programming or language may be a way to bridge the gap with kids that do not see the relevance in graphing lines and plotting functions on paper.  

There is also an art to math and its usually rigid rules.  If a pair of variables can only have one function, then how do you explain programming for video games?  Are the functions algorithmic?  Do variables have an implied irrationality to them?  The art of math allows for variance or unpredictability.  When I was an artillery officer, I performed calculations for accurate targeting.  The science of math allows for accuracy in a world with no external variables.  No air, no terrain, no humidity, no human error.  In the real world those all exist which require an art to mathematics.  The Earth is not flat.  It rains.  There are mountains.  And humans are...human.  With modern technology, it is possible to add the art of mathematics in virtual graphing and conceptualization.  Death to 2 dimensions!

Last week I went over to Mountain View to see the Computer History Museum.  It was a great testement to the human spirit to learn and innovate.  I was also impressed with the ability of the human mind to envision something that is not even there.  One of the first machines I saw was the Babbage Differential Machine used to compute algorithms and polynomial functions.  Prior to this invention, mathematicians referred to tables with this information.  Some human finally had the idea of creating a machine to perform these calculations to allow for further advances in knowledge.  

Communication barriers

About 2 weeks ago on a trip over to Cayucos, I came across an NPR segment about an English speaking young man that could not communicate with his Chinese speaking father.  It reminded me of my relationship with my father.  He passed away in 2013.  Whenever I was in town. I spoke with him often, however, we were unable to truly communicate our feelings.  As the father was able to tend to his son's basic needs (food and shelter) he was unable to connect on a more personal level.  Thanks to an interpreter, they finally were able to have a more personable conversation.
 
December 31, 2012 was the last time I saw my father.  It was a magical day.

We spoke for hours...about nothing in particular.  But I knew it would probably be our last time.  His health had been failing yet he was too proud to tell me.  But I could see him wasting away yet keeping his standard routine of hanging out with his friends or meeting me for breakfast whenever I came to town.

On that day, I tried my best to soak in everything and cherish it.  We both knew our time was numbered and we stayed up and talked and talked and talked.  I spoke about the hurt he had over not being able to tell his mother goodbye.  I also listened to him voice his frustrations with his siblings over the years.  I even got to see his "snitch box" that he spoke about so often.  My dad hated cell phones.  he always spoke about how he had one but never used it.  I didn't believe it until I actually saw it with my own eyes...his snitch box

My mother even came over and we all spoke.  And even in that moment, we were unable to communicate those true words.  I love you.  Why could I not ever say this to him.  Why could he not say this to me?  It was awkward.  Even as I left and we both said out goodbyes, we good not even engage in a final embrace.  We just stared at each other and held in our tears.  We shook hands.  I looked down.  And held in my cries and emotions...I needed an interpreter

Critique of the Maker Movement

The Maker Movement consists on the premise of academic freedom and innovation from intellectual curiosity.  The decentralized nature of the movement spurs the ability to explore and learn.  The internet as the medium to test and explore ideas allows for others to build on previous knowledge.  As a "Maker", it allows for the amorphous nature of the Maker Movement.  The idea is an answer to the stagnant state of education but such decentralization raises the question of how does one codify it or if that is even possible.  There are examples of "Makerspaces" being created in local libraries or groups (Dixon & Ward, 2014).  The Louisville Free Public Library created makerspaces with little to no equipment but was able to gain the interest of the local community (youth and adults).  The Maker movement is more about process and tapping into the mind of leaners (thinkers) than a rigid system for innovation. (Barrett, 2014).

The Maker Movement has the potential to be the modern day liberal arts education.  By combining a myriad of fields and finding their interconnectedness (i.e. interdisciplinary) in innovation and learning.  For example, one will not necessarily have to be a doctor to make contributions to the medical field or a "non-techie" can make advances in computer sciences in the Maker Movement.  It strips the constructed barriers to technology and allows for those that think outside the proverbial box to pursue their interests and make small (or large) contributions which can positively effect the broad base of knowledge.

8 Big Ideas

1. Learning by doing
Problem based learning has been the philosophy of my professional development.  In the army, most of my training was steeped in the mantra of "train how you fight".  In terms of technology, learning by doing is adding knowledge on existing knowledge.  Familiarization with applications allows for learning how software can work for the end user.

2. Technology as building material
Technology is existing knowledge.  Using as building material allows for innovations and utility.

3. Hard fun
Learning becomes easy when it is something enjoyable.  Even in difficult subjects.

4. Learning to learn
I just visited the Computer Science Museum yesterday and had an epiphany:  I spend a lot of time thinking about thinking.  Leaders should do this often to understand the mindset of their followers and subordinates.  Understanding how people learn can dictate decisions and advances in technology.
5. Taking time for the job
Martinez and Stager are speaking to time management and how it relates to the real world versus classroom instruction.  In the Army we view time management in terms of coordinating "moving parts" of an operation.  The school model of being reminded of time and appointments is the antithesis of taking time.  In the Army we call this "A to B" thinking.  Thinking in a straight line was a basic form of managing time where most senior leaders are managing multiple timelines and logistics.  The same applies as a leader in education.  There are multiple times ti manage in terms of a student's day as well as managing duties and tasks of classified staff as well as faculty and managers.

6. You can't get it right without getting it wrong.
This a tenet of problem based learning.  This is a part of institutional knowledge.  Mistake and error are a part of learning and development.  I see this concept daily in the release of apps and software in technology that is knowingly released with bugs knowing that someone will create programs to correct those errors or improve upon what is already done.

7. Do unto our ourselves what we do unto our students
This ideas essentially speaks to the idea that leaders must constantly develop and refine skills to remain current.  Lifelong learning is not just something to impress upon students but to impress upon ourselves.

8. We are entering a world where knowing about digital technology is as important as reading and writing.
The technology gap is what puts students in the Central Valley at a disadvantage,  Lack of familiarity with the most current technology makes out students technologically illiterate.  There are basic assumptions in technology and education that put learners behind in terms of ability to compete academically and professionally.

Personal experience with technology

Some of my earliest experiences with computers are probably some of my most meaningful.  As a student in the GATE program at Bessie Owens in 1985, I had access to Apple computers and exposure to programming.  I had experience with the LOGO software that Papert speaks about in Mindstorms. Early familiarization with technology, especially in the classroom, allowed me to understand basic concepts in language and the underlying capabilities in software programming that the end user doesn't always see.   It allowed me to conceptualize and understand theory in computer programming.

Another experience that I recall was taking summer enrichment classes at CSUB while in high school.  I performed researched and utilize software to perform quantitative analysis.  In retrospect the programs I used were similar to SPSS.  A lot of my early experiences with technology prepared me for my profession as a Technical Support Specialist and also allowed me to think through methods and instruments for research.

Where is technology successful? Where is it missing the mark?

Technology has changed the way in which we engage the world and the capabilities of the individual.  In Education, it has become more accessible.  Academe has left the ivory tower and is accessible in many different formats thanks to the internet and the affordability of devices.  It is also raising questions about the cost of education in brick and mortar schools and their effectiveness.

As stated before, technology enables children to conceptualize ideas that previous generation could only dream about.  As Pappert in "Mindstorm" talks about dissociative learning I would argue that was probably necessary in a former era.  One to build on abstract ideas in the form of a step action drill in hopes of creating critical thinkers that could conceptualize mathematics into real tangible projects and ideas.  It was probably also pragmatic in terms of cost, as a school could not be filled with cogs and pulleys as he speaks of spurred his love of mathematics.  In 2015, a child can perform mathematics without much foundation in math by utilizing a computer which can show a visual representation of complicated math concepts.  Essentially, it simplifies the complexities in math.  As Pappert argues, "mathophobia" exists because there is little real world application in the dissociative style of teaching math and sciences.

Technology misses the mark in the sense there is a generational gap in how society responds to and understands the utility of Information Technology.  Society made a transition from computers as a novelty item to an integral part of day to day interaction.  From communicating with people to banking to travel.  Children are born today understanding the virtuality as the norm.  They comprehend a world of visualizing and understanding images and ideas that aren't really there.  We could probably be more integrated with technology but are bound by old customs and traditions.

Conceptualization vs the abstract

A big problem facing the state of education is understanding how the modern day student learns.  Prior to computers, students were taught step action drills and abstract ideas to conceptualize a world beyond their comprehension and vision.  The evolution of computers has flipped that dynamic on its head.  Specifically, children grow up in a world where they master conceptualization before learning abstract ideas and formulas that were formerly used as building blocks towards conceptualization.  

To the a young learner in 2015, files, documents, menus, and applications mean something completely different than a child in 1980.  The aforementioned terms were real physical things that were used to describe a world of signal flow and binary code.  Children have grown up in a world where the concept has more meaning and understanding that a physical document in a file in an office.  We have to understand this when interacting with our children.  We essentially have to "teach backwards" from how we learned and were taught.  

My first epiphany with this was at an observational round at Standard Middle School in Oildale, CA.  The teacher was in front of the class trying to work out a math problem to graph it.  Students had already graphed the equation and were working out the formula to confirm the concept they were seeing on their Chromebook.  That hit home for me.  It reminded me of when I was a Fire Direction Officer in the army performing rudimentary Rocket Science (Gunnery).  Until I was actually managing a database and able to conceptualize engaging targets in a 3 dimensional world, the step action drill of computing data was nothing more than plying my vocational craft. To see the nuances of terrain, wind, and the ballistics of a firing tube, the abstract concepts of the math did not resonate.  Children master this understand from birth!  The ability to understand a virtual world that isn't even there is more understood than abstract theorems and formulas.  We need to review how the modern day student learns.

Dr. Ridpath makes a compelling critique on how graduate level student athletes are viewed in the current scheme of Division I athletics.  The first documented scandal in college athletics concerned the eligibility of a graduate student in athletic competition.  If a student athlete decides to stick around and pursue graduate education, should he still be bound to stay at a school that he already spent his undergraduate years and graduated?  NCAA likes to keep the illusion of developing scholars, so it seems that allowing graduate students to transfer with impunity would serve their interests.

I am currently taking a class on legal issues in higher education.  It is an eye opener in how private and public institutions handle legal issues.  This is an interesting case where an employee of the university is caught up in a divorce with a former employee which embroils an administrator in the dispute.  Ethics cost him his job.

Stanford President had a few things on the vision of higher education.  He envisions a hybrid classroom to increase accessibility.  He still believes that US Higher Ed is the envy of the world.  I would tend to agree considering what we charge for tuition.  A free market society is able to capture hype in one word...price.  We are essentially buying hype in America when it comes to higher education.

Affordable education

With technology making education more accessible (and more affordable) student should look for options outside of the provebial box.  Students are conditioned to look to local public institutions as an affordable option but that is no longer the case.  I have attached an article detailing options abroad and there are also only options which make school affordable.  Affordable options raises the question of their reputation and quality.  With that being said perhaps we should question the reputation and quality of local brick and mortar institutions.

Affordable options abroad

Initial Blog

Greetings!  Welcome to my blog.  This is a new world for me.  I hate sharing things about myself so you will see little on here about me but I will be posting about issues that are important to me.  I look forward to interaction with people and learning new ideas and viewpoints...happy blogging.