Map of Future Forces Affecting Education
I'm passing this on both as an interesting Web application AND as an attempt to forecast the forces likely to affect K-12 learning. Drag, click, browse around and see the categories of things they've come up with.
Monday, December 17, 2007
Friday, December 14, 2007
Seminar on Online K-12 Professional Development Scheduled
*Seminar on Online K-12 Professional Development Scheduled*
(From NC DPI Web Highlights)
NCDPI in cooperation with the United Star Distance Learn Consortium is conducting a special seminar on online K-12 professional development, Thursday, Jan. 17, at 1:45 p.m. The seminar will be transmitted to various video locations throughout the state and via live Webcast. This video conference will use USDLC’s Literacy to Learn: Professional development for educators. To register and learn more please visit www.ncpublicschools.org/distancelearning/onlinek12pd.htm, or contact Linda Walters, phone, (919) 807-3497 or email, lwalters@dpi.state.nc.us .
(From NC DPI Web Highlights)
NCDPI in cooperation with the United Star Distance Learn Consortium is conducting a special seminar on online K-12 professional development, Thursday, Jan. 17, at 1:45 p.m. The seminar will be transmitted to various video locations throughout the state and via live Webcast. This video conference will use USDLC’s Literacy to Learn: Professional development for educators. To register and learn more please visit www.ncpublicschools.org/distancelearning/onlinek12pd.htm, or contact Linda Walters, phone, (919) 807-3497 or email, lwalters@dpi.state.nc.us .
Monday, October 29, 2007
Training Opportunities This Week
Some training opportunities from the Faculty Center:
Introduction to Content and Services Available in My Cat <http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/register.asp?qryid=432>
10/31/07 - 1:00-2:00 pm - Hunter 156
Introduction to Web Design with Macromedia Dreamweaver <http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/register.asp?qryid=433>
11/2/07 - 11:15-1:15pm - Hunter 156
WebCat Office Hours: sign up
http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/display.asp?qryid=OfficeHours
WebCat Fundamentals and Certification Online Workshop: sign up
http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/display.asp?qryid=WebCatFundamentals_Cert
GIS (Geographic Information Systems) DAY: Sign up
http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/display.asp?qryid=SessionSignup
Introduction to Content and Services Available in My Cat <http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/register.asp?qryid=432>
10/31/07 - 1:00-2:00 pm - Hunter 156
Introduction to Web Design with Macromedia Dreamweaver <http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/register.asp?qryid=433>
11/2/07 - 11:15-1:15pm - Hunter 156
WebCat Office Hours: sign up
http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/display.asp?qryid=OfficeHours
WebCat Fundamentals and Certification Online Workshop: sign up
http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/display.asp?qryid=WebCatFundamentals_Cert
GIS (Geographic Information Systems) DAY: Sign up
http://www.wcu.edu/it/workshops/display.asp?qryid=SessionSignup
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Unable to Upload Files to WebCAT
From IT Services:
As of Tuesday, October 16, there is an issue with the WebCat server that is preventing users from being able to upload files. This affects mail, discussions, assignments and any other tool that is used to upload or attach a file. We understand that this is a critical feature and are working with Blackboard to find a solution as quickly as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Live Blogging of the Ed-Tech Conference at WCU
Introductions are starting...Michael opened us up emphasizing the importance of the WNC EdNet.
Currently introducing Dr. Willard Daggett
-has been consultant and in school district, author, researcher, speaker
-few attendees (by show of hands) have heard him before
9:10 am - Dr. Daggett takes the stage
-Claims that America has the finest education system in the World
-Notes that the public school system takes in all children - committed to equity AND excellence
9:15 am
-Concerned about other nations passing us
-Notes the difficulty of making changes in most anything in the school's structure
-He was charged by a group of govenors to find the best 25 high schools in the country (1/3 rural, 1/3 suburban, 1/3 urban)
-What are they doing different?
-Where is the problem with lower performing schools?
9:20 am
-What do we need to do to make improvements ourselves?
-State tests measure knowledge, but our goal is to make students able to apply knowledge to real world predictable and unpredictable situations
-That's just the limitation of the tests, which are not bad but we must understand what they measure and what we want.
-What group keeps pushing school reform? Businesss putting pressure on elected officials (not substantiated - I'm somewhat skeptical of this claim)
9:25 am
-shows video showing two people "stuck" onan escalator and seemingly helpless to get off
-How many of us are like this? Unable to think and solving problems - how many students?
-Note that today we're facing competition from China & India
-Claims that a Chinese company owns IBM's PC manufacturing (note that this is true for the laptop manufacturing - I'm not sure about desktops)
-Brings out many stats about companies moving to China and India (some of these sound suspect from my keeping up with the news - true in a sense but somewhat overblown)
-Notes that China has over 100 cities with over 1 million people, US has 9, Europe has 36.
9:32 am
-Even so, India will have the most people - claims that Indian children will have to have more math and science to enter 9th grade than students in NC
-Yet, Daggett is still glad to live here
-Claims that in China, a 3 year old with autism would be euthanized; same for his other child who was hit by drunk driver
-We have amazing freedom here in US
-Yet, we have to compete with China
-Notes that Technology is a major driving force in our global world.
-Notes that technology is developing at a super fast rate
-(some of his figures are overblown & inaccurate)
-Notes that very few attendees own a PDA - claims that 71% of 21-30 year olds own a PDA type device - but that is a major discrepancy with the teaching profession
-Even the PDA will become obsolete "soon" - due to NanoTech - claims they are building computer chips from the atom up (somewhat inaccurate)
-SPOT Technology = Smart Personal Object Technology
9:40 am
-what is SPOT? Mix if nanotech and current PDA ish thing
-Microsoft is putting SPOT into a watch = putting a whole computer in a watch
-how do you interface, integrated projection & keyboard?
-notes the new projection technology (PALM) to project a keyboard they can type
-We don't let students have PDA's or such devices in state tests
-They might look up resources and work with others (laughter) which we consider cheating, but is what we think we want our students to do
-Discrepancy?
-Technology is getting so small, it can be in watches, jewelry, lapel pins, etc.
9:45 am
-Proposes that students take tests naked (laughter)
-The IBM Goggle - translates words for you on the glasses - what does that change in our foreign language programs?
-Talks about how our keyboards are using QWERTY standard, but it is inefficient for typing - should we change?
9:50 am
-A major problem we have is reading - teaching reading to students is a problem and leads to students failing other content areas because they can't read effectively
-notes that we teach French far more than Chinese - but we're going to compete with China in the 21st century - can we make a policy here?
-Someday we'll learn that students don't need the summer off to work in the fields
-Corporate and government leaders (he claims) are close to giving up on public education
-He claims that public school will never go away because no one else wants the disabled kids, the poor, the minority
-but confidence is eroding because the "outside world" thinks we can't keep up
9:55 am
-inaccurately states that e-mail was not around before the WWW (not true - was much before)
-Notes that e-mail is super popular, but the writing for e-mail is much different than literature class
-if e-mail is a primary means of written communication - do we teach that?
-claims that standard english is usually only used in schools
-but we also must teach them to use e-mail
-Web pages - also relatively new, ipods, etc. (lists other things not around in 1983, even new since 2000)
-Claims vast majority using blogs and wikis
-Problem: authenticating information, evaluate what's on Wikipedia
-Uses "digital native" to describe current k-12 kids
-Claim that all these students are using media, technology, etc. all the time outside school
-then, in classroom, the teacher seems slow and boring
10:02 am
-claims we are losing an entire generation of kids
-These kids are different - early and intense interaction with video technology
-Claims that kids are laying different brain pathways due to their use of media and technology - consistent with the skills they will need in 21st century - inconsistent with what we do in schools
-Claims we are boring the kids.
-shows the basketball video with the guy in gorilla suit - what do we notice?
-He will e-mail us the powerpoint from today - includes notes behind each slide - gives away for free.
10:09 am
-Also has monthly briefing e-mails about trends he and his staff track
-Final observation about gorilla/basketball video: in elementary schools, 5-10 year olds, over 90% notice the gorilla & get the number of passes correct; over 25 years old, les than 5% both see gorilla & get number of passes correct
Wrapping up:
-Kids are different today! We have to move instruction to get to them today.
-Technology & globalization & demographics are going to really impact our country
-nations we compete against don't have retirement programs (his claim)
-Values/Beliefs are different
--"Greatest Generation" - economically conquered the world for US
--1925-41 - silent generation
--1946-1960 - Baby Boomers (now aging and becoming caregivers to their parents)
--1961-1981 - Gen X - best education of anyone in the world (claim) have more college degrees than any group - however, have greatest probabiliy of being at least partially dependent on parents financially (aka, boomerangs)
--back to boomers: took drugs as kids, now give drugs to kids (ha ha!)
--notes sexual mores have changed & many other things
--Millenials: overprotected, media driven, into every organized thing (music, sports, etc.)
-Daggett is worried for grandkids - thinks we have used up most of our assets, US has more debt than all the rest of the world combined (claim - not substantiated)
--kids consider it a birthright to have what mom and dad have
-we have to change!
10:23
How do we do it?
-Reading is important
-references study using Lexile framework he did (no reference)
-looked at reading level of materials of a set of students through high school & college
-study indicates that reading requirements are higher for most areas (college, military, government forms) than high school literature readings
-Claim: elementary kids are 1 or 2 in the world in reading; reading problem is not in elementary; by 8th grade we are in middle & by 12 we are bottom
-We don't teach reading at higher levels
10:33
-notes that higher ed complains about the remediation required in students they take to fill the seats and make budget
-his claim is that the universities must simply not keep accepting the lower students
-claim: reading requirements of jobs right out of school exceed those of higher ed
-need: train the middle and high school teachers to teach reading
-claims that "rigor/relevance" are his terms
- claims that we must push students to higher levels of Bloom's & higher levels of application
-Claim that real-world application helps you apply and learn better the knowledge (I think this accords with research)
-We need to take something off the teacher's plate
-Claim: high performing schools dump 1/3 of the standards to concentrate on high performance on the others
-high performing schools focus on real-world application, focus on esssential 2/3 of standards
-encoruages audience to attend a group in Florida (soon - missed date) that will share their practices.
10:43 am
-wrapping up
Currently introducing Dr. Willard Daggett
-has been consultant and in school district, author, researcher, speaker
-few attendees (by show of hands) have heard him before
9:10 am - Dr. Daggett takes the stage
-Claims that America has the finest education system in the World
-Notes that the public school system takes in all children - committed to equity AND excellence
9:15 am
-Concerned about other nations passing us
-Notes the difficulty of making changes in most anything in the school's structure
-He was charged by a group of govenors to find the best 25 high schools in the country (1/3 rural, 1/3 suburban, 1/3 urban)
-What are they doing different?
-Where is the problem with lower performing schools?
9:20 am
-What do we need to do to make improvements ourselves?
-State tests measure knowledge, but our goal is to make students able to apply knowledge to real world predictable and unpredictable situations
-That's just the limitation of the tests, which are not bad but we must understand what they measure and what we want.
-What group keeps pushing school reform? Businesss putting pressure on elected officials (not substantiated - I'm somewhat skeptical of this claim)
9:25 am
-shows video showing two people "stuck" onan escalator and seemingly helpless to get off
-How many of us are like this? Unable to think and solving problems - how many students?
-Note that today we're facing competition from China & India
-Claims that a Chinese company owns IBM's PC manufacturing (note that this is true for the laptop manufacturing - I'm not sure about desktops)
-Brings out many stats about companies moving to China and India (some of these sound suspect from my keeping up with the news - true in a sense but somewhat overblown)
-Notes that China has over 100 cities with over 1 million people, US has 9, Europe has 36.
9:32 am
-Even so, India will have the most people - claims that Indian children will have to have more math and science to enter 9th grade than students in NC
-Yet, Daggett is still glad to live here
-Claims that in China, a 3 year old with autism would be euthanized; same for his other child who was hit by drunk driver
-We have amazing freedom here in US
-Yet, we have to compete with China
-Notes that Technology is a major driving force in our global world.
-Notes that technology is developing at a super fast rate
-(some of his figures are overblown & inaccurate)
-Notes that very few attendees own a PDA - claims that 71% of 21-30 year olds own a PDA type device - but that is a major discrepancy with the teaching profession
-Even the PDA will become obsolete "soon" - due to NanoTech - claims they are building computer chips from the atom up (somewhat inaccurate)
-SPOT Technology = Smart Personal Object Technology
9:40 am
-what is SPOT? Mix if nanotech and current PDA ish thing
-Microsoft is putting SPOT into a watch = putting a whole computer in a watch
-how do you interface, integrated projection & keyboard?
-notes the new projection technology (PALM) to project a keyboard they can type
-We don't let students have PDA's or such devices in state tests
-They might look up resources and work with others (laughter) which we consider cheating, but is what we think we want our students to do
-Discrepancy?
-Technology is getting so small, it can be in watches, jewelry, lapel pins, etc.
9:45 am
-Proposes that students take tests naked (laughter)
-The IBM Goggle - translates words for you on the glasses - what does that change in our foreign language programs?
-Talks about how our keyboards are using QWERTY standard, but it is inefficient for typing - should we change?
9:50 am
-A major problem we have is reading - teaching reading to students is a problem and leads to students failing other content areas because they can't read effectively
-notes that we teach French far more than Chinese - but we're going to compete with China in the 21st century - can we make a policy here?
-Someday we'll learn that students don't need the summer off to work in the fields
-Corporate and government leaders (he claims) are close to giving up on public education
-He claims that public school will never go away because no one else wants the disabled kids, the poor, the minority
-but confidence is eroding because the "outside world" thinks we can't keep up
9:55 am
-inaccurately states that e-mail was not around before the WWW (not true - was much before)
-Notes that e-mail is super popular, but the writing for e-mail is much different than literature class
-if e-mail is a primary means of written communication - do we teach that?
-claims that standard english is usually only used in schools
-but we also must teach them to use e-mail
-Web pages - also relatively new, ipods, etc. (lists other things not around in 1983, even new since 2000)
-Claims vast majority using blogs and wikis
-Problem: authenticating information, evaluate what's on Wikipedia
-Uses "digital native" to describe current k-12 kids
-Claim that all these students are using media, technology, etc. all the time outside school
-then, in classroom, the teacher seems slow and boring
10:02 am
-claims we are losing an entire generation of kids
-These kids are different - early and intense interaction with video technology
-Claims that kids are laying different brain pathways due to their use of media and technology - consistent with the skills they will need in 21st century - inconsistent with what we do in schools
-Claims we are boring the kids.
-shows the basketball video with the guy in gorilla suit - what do we notice?
-He will e-mail us the powerpoint from today - includes notes behind each slide - gives away for free.
10:09 am
-Also has monthly briefing e-mails about trends he and his staff track
-Final observation about gorilla/basketball video: in elementary schools, 5-10 year olds, over 90% notice the gorilla & get the number of passes correct; over 25 years old, les than 5% both see gorilla & get number of passes correct
Wrapping up:
-Kids are different today! We have to move instruction to get to them today.
-Technology & globalization & demographics are going to really impact our country
-nations we compete against don't have retirement programs (his claim)
-Values/Beliefs are different
--"Greatest Generation" - economically conquered the world for US
--1925-41 - silent generation
--1946-1960 - Baby Boomers (now aging and becoming caregivers to their parents)
--1961-1981 - Gen X - best education of anyone in the world (claim) have more college degrees than any group - however, have greatest probabiliy of being at least partially dependent on parents financially (aka, boomerangs)
--back to boomers: took drugs as kids, now give drugs to kids (ha ha!)
--notes sexual mores have changed & many other things
--Millenials: overprotected, media driven, into every organized thing (music, sports, etc.)
-Daggett is worried for grandkids - thinks we have used up most of our assets, US has more debt than all the rest of the world combined (claim - not substantiated)
--kids consider it a birthright to have what mom and dad have
-we have to change!
10:23
How do we do it?
-Reading is important
-references study using Lexile framework he did (no reference)
-looked at reading level of materials of a set of students through high school & college
-study indicates that reading requirements are higher for most areas (college, military, government forms) than high school literature readings
-Claim: elementary kids are 1 or 2 in the world in reading; reading problem is not in elementary; by 8th grade we are in middle & by 12 we are bottom
-We don't teach reading at higher levels
10:33
-notes that higher ed complains about the remediation required in students they take to fill the seats and make budget
-his claim is that the universities must simply not keep accepting the lower students
-claim: reading requirements of jobs right out of school exceed those of higher ed
-need: train the middle and high school teachers to teach reading
-claims that "rigor/relevance" are his terms
- claims that we must push students to higher levels of Bloom's & higher levels of application
-Claim that real-world application helps you apply and learn better the knowledge (I think this accords with research)
-We need to take something off the teacher's plate
-Claim: high performing schools dump 1/3 of the standards to concentrate on high performance on the others
-high performing schools focus on real-world application, focus on esssential 2/3 of standards
-encoruages audience to attend a group in Florida (soon - missed date) that will share their practices.
10:43 am
-wrapping up
Thursday, October 11, 2007
ScanTron Machine
From Colby Deitz, our IT Consultant:
Contact Colby if you have any questions.
The Scantron equipment used for test scoring and scanning forms has been relocated from the Forsyth building to the following locations:The Scantron equipment is available as a self-service to WCU faculty and staff. Instructions are located with the machine.
- College of Education and Allied Professions – Reid 100
- College of Health and Human Sciences & Kimmel School – Belk 208
- College of Business – Belk 293
- College of Arts and Sciences and the rest of the campus – Hunter Library Computer Lab
Visit the following link for Procedures and Policies:
http://www.wcu.edu/it/scantron.html
Web-based training sessions for using the Scantron will be available soon. Dates will be announced for the web-based training sessions.
Contact Colby if you have any questions.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Banner Downtime
Be aware that Banner will be off-line starting at 5:30 pm on Thursday, September 6. It will likely be off-line until 5:00 pm on Friday, September 7. Please take care of any business in Banner (and the many related systems) before then.
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