Author: Angelo Fernando

Tech in Schools – Surprising evidence that ‘less is more’

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Given the big push toward 1:1 computing, (a buzzword in education that refers to giving every student a device) there is some evidence to show that too much tech in schools could be harmful. See: Tech in Schools: Less is More.

‘Harmful’ is the operative word in the OECD (The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) report.

There are several layers of findings I won’t bore you with. But in general, reading, math and science among students in countries with heavy investments in computers, have shown no appreciable gains.

This chart shows how reading drops as share of computers increases.

I know for a fact what happens to reading, when passages have to be read on a screen. It appears to turn off students, some of whom otherwise may be classified as heavy readers. The OECD Report in fact says that “even specific online reading skills do not benefit from high levels of computer use at school.”

You may think this is odd for me to comment on such a study, being a computer and technology teacher. Well, I don’t drink the Kool-Aid. I try to make sure computers are part of a larger series of learning experiences, to get students think, create, and communicate. I also follow the standards outlined by ISTE, the International Society for Technology in Education, which focuses on real world issues.

But this study is sobering, even if you are not inclined to believe it. What exactly do we do when we place a device in front of our children? Are we teaching them to consume content with no fixed end goal?

Those social media users you hardly know

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Let’s be honest. We have no clue how people (other than our closed circle of friends) use social media.

This important study is not just how social media changes people — pretty obvious in many cases. It is about how society changes social media.It was done after a 15 months study by nine anthropologists, each of whom spent that time living in communities in China, Brazil, Turkey, Chile, India, England, Italy and Trinidad.

Daniel Miller, (a prof at Univ College London) one of the researchers/authors, sums it up this way: While social media companies decide (and probably control) how users will interface with their platform, users find new ways to use the service, leaving companies to play catch-up. “They repurpose their digital worlds” transforming the social medium.

The book studied people as diverse as Kurdish users, Moslems, Chinese, Indians and more. It’s available as a book and as a free PDF. I found it interesting how Chinese users of the social platform QQ (similar to Google+) sort and evaluate friends. Or that mine workers in Chile would use WhatsApp, but are concerned that it could breed jealousy!

it is the first in a series of studies by the anthropologists. I can’t wait for the next installments.

 

Earth to Scott Kelly: Welcome home!

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Watching Scott Kelly, and his ongoing work on the International Space Station for the past year has been like following a live-action science-and-technology class.

Many of the NASA-related activities in our school this past year (talking with an engineer at JPL, and the crew of a Mars mission simulation etc) have directly or indirectly addressed to the big question “What will it be like to live on Mars?” Astro-twins Scott and Mark Kelly, have become the human faces of astronomy, aerospace, and space exploration.

Students keep asking questions such as:

What kind of ‘work’ do engineers and astronauts do, besides floating around doing ‘space gardening’ and 3D mapping? Some amazing work is described here. We watched some incredible views taken by GoPro cameras aboard the ISS, including one involving inserting the GoPro into a water bubble.

On the fun side, I’ve even used Scott’s Time Magazine cover photo to teach a class on Photoshop (replacing Kelly with a 6th grade teacher who’s got a similar look.)

Here’s hoping we see more of Kelly brothers, and get to hear from Scott. Perhaps in a future Mars Day!

He should be back on earth tonight – NASA says touchdown is scheduled for 11:27 pm Eastern Time. As he put it in 140 characters before he left the ISS, “the journey isn’t over.”

Good Apple, bad Apple: Tough call to unlock phone

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Which side are you on regarding the FBI’s request that Apple unlock the phone of a killer?

I lean on the side of the agency because I would want those who protect us to have every possible lock-picking device to thwart criminal behavior. But I can see Apple’s point of not wanting to give up liberty for security, as it could tip the balance when citizens (and businesses run by citizens, never mind if they are global corporations) hand over their freedoms to the state.

Incidentally, that Ben Franklin quote, which must be resounding in your ears about how Those who would give up Liberty for safety deserve neither, is one of the best mis-quoted statements by old Ben. He actually said that “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”  (Note the qualifiers – ‘essential’ and ‘temporary.’) 

What if Apple gives up a little temporary liberty, and stop making a huge thing of this Apparently Apple has unlocked some 70 phones before, but had done it without the media baring down on it. Given that there are dozens of websites that provide back-door services, and there being ‘ethical hackers’ who could unlock phones, I’m surprised no one has offered to do it for Apple, thereby freeing them of the PR nightmare.

Perhaps the government ought to hold a hackathon and see what surfaces. After all, DARPA holds cyber-security hackathons, don’t they?

Continuing Digital Learning Day – Don Wilde on Arduino and micro-controllers

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DonWilde_tnToday Don Wilde, former Intel engineer, and FLL robotics coach/judge, was here to show our students a different side of programming – the Arduino board.

Don talked about how programming has been invading almost every part of our lives, from cars (which house dozens of computers), and houses to businesses, and libraries. (This session was fittingly held in the library – and I mentioned how students today self-check in and check out their books with a scanner and software).

He also stressed the point of how engineers are needed to design robots, and for online stores, casinos and satellites to function. “Highly-paid work today, whether it is in entertainment or communication needs engineers and programmers, and you could be one of them,” he said.

Don then demonstrated one of the devices he had put together for this, using a off-the-shelf Arduino Uno board. He connected a series of light, touch and sound sensors to show how this plug-and-play device worked.

 

Board_DLDay2016

By way of comparison, he talked about the Lego NXT robot, itself a micro-controller, with which many students in both 5th and 6th grades are familiar. We have had a robotics program in the school for the past 6 years. Thanks to Don, I have become interested in introducing Arduino to my class. Perhaps someday, we will have programming as a regular class, rather than an add-on to the curriculum!

Micro-controllers_DLDay2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Digital Learning Day 2016 – Chris Cardinal on Creativity and Online Safety

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Chris Cardinal, co-founder of software development shop in Tempe, Arizona spoke to our 5th graders today about Apps – more specifically about how to convert a good idea into a productive (or profitable) application.

He showed us the progression from back-of-a-napkin sketch, to a wire-frame, to what the software looks like. He also drove home the point that one needs to get into this as early as possible. Chris broke into software by figuring out how to write HTML. Today, things are not so complicated, he said, because there are plenty of places to learn how to program, and design apps.

Speaking of design, he pointed out how ‘designers’ are often young kids with creativity problem-solving skills. “Look at how things work, and figure out how you could make it better, or solve some problem,” he urged.

ChrisC

We also asked him questions about safe digital practices, and he urged students to be aware of the dangers of sharing pictures and personal information online. Just because the website or software asks for it, there’s no reason to provide that information, he said.

 

 

When is too early to start building apps?

/ Angelo Fernando / 2 Comments

avatar_new_resizedToday, for Digital Learning Day, I’m inviting an App developer, Chris Cardinal, of Synapse Studios, to introduce our 5th and 6th grade students to apps.This is going to be an eye-opener, since I get a lot of questions about coding and app building. None of us are programmers, but I have channeled self-paced lessons through Code.org and Khan Academy before. This time, having a live app class will make a huge difference.

Tomorrow  we will have Don Wilde to introduce students to Arduino! It appears it’s never too early for students to dip their hands into computer science, and understanding programming. Thank you Chris and Don for taking time to be here at Salt River Elementary.DLDay 2016

Wed 17 Feb, 2016   – Chris Cardinal, Synapse Studios

1:00 – 1:40 pm  – 6th grades  “Creating Apps for a Digital World”                       

1:45 – 2:25 pm  – 5th Grades  “Creating Apps for a Digital World”

 

Thurs 18 Feb, 2016  – Don Wilde, former Intel ProgrammerDonW

1:00 – 1:40 pm  – 6th Grades  “Programming Beyond  Lego – Arduino and Beyond ”  

1:45 – 2:25 pm  – 5th Grades  “Programming Beyond  Lego – Arduino and Beyond ”  

    synapse_studios_logo

Teaching them to Code, one block at a time

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My colleague and robotics coach, Donna Horn gave me a Wall Street Journal article on Coding that’s worth sharing. It’s about why coding shouldn’t be so intimidating (at least to us teachers who didn’t learn to code).

Titled “We want our children to code, even if we can’t.” it argues why this is a skill we need to introduce early and often. Reading. Writing, and Coding…The timing of the article is not accidental.

February is when Coding fills the news, since Digital Learning Day is on Feb 17th. This year we have plenty to pick from –the usual powerhouses Code.Org and Khan Academy. There’s also Scratch, and other visual programming tools. Plus, there’s Mindstorms, the visual programming language we use in robotics.

Grant Smith, a tech writer for Edutopia makes a god point about teaching coding in schools. We need to set the stage first by (a) Curating the resources into the curriculum  (b) Organizing the classroom to be coder-friendly and (c) Rallying around those who might support your initiative. Including use some of the social media tools to build one’s personal learning network or PLN.

I’m planning on getting experts to come into the classroom, and teach.Ideally I’m thinking of App developers, from surrounding tech companies.

Please contact me if you know of someone!

Is there an app for civic awareness?

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I have begun looking into a site called Countables, positioned as a tool to connect people with those in government, including one’s state representatives.

However, civic awareness (or the lack thereof) may need more than an app. There’s a video going around showing students of a Texas university being asked basic questions such as ‘Who won the Civil War?’ or Who is our vice president?” Watch!

The producers of PoliTech, say they interviewed 20 to 30 students, of which only 30 percent knew the answers to some of the questions.In this context it seems obvious that a pre-requisite for getting young people to be better informed, is to get them better engaged.

  • In 2002, a study by National Geographic found that less than half the Americans could identify France, the United Kingdom or Japan on a world map. (Fewer than 2 in 3 could find China on a map of the Middle East/Asia…half of young Americans could find New York, etc)

Next week is Digital Learning Day, an event I participate in with my classes. Perhaps there should be a Civics Literacy Day.

 

Star Wars, a gift when teaching image manipulation, animation

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For the past few weeks I’ve been having a blast (and hopefully my students too), using Star Wars as material for classes on image manipulation, and color correction whether it is in Microsoft Word or Photoshop. The latter, for instance is a forthcoming 6th grade class that will be continued this year as well.

Chewey - DesireeStudents pick their favorite Star Wars image from Google, and the fun begins.

  • They learn to copy and paste (the keyboard shortcuts as well as the right-mouse commands).
  • The learn to layer an image, and color correct it – as in the example on the right
  • They learn to delete a background color using the much-ignored ‘Set transparency Color’ tool
  • They learn how to tweak the ‘saturation’ of the image, and what that means – and says. Or how to re-color an image for a specific effect.
  • It’s a good way to introduce ‘layers’ before we get to Photoshop.

Star Wars is also helps open the door to other topics and discussions about space.

Over the past few weeks, my 5th graders are working on The Moons of Mars – a PowerPoint, specifically aimed at understanding animation paths and orbits. I’m not a big fan of PowerPoint, but it’s a great canvas on which they could understand the purpose of animation, beyond the obvious wow factor.

I am now considering using Star Wars as a backdrop for a class on Digital Storytelling. Perhaps an animated cartoon strip with voice-overs matching the speech bubbles. I can see a lot of storm trooper effects, and tricks using the lovable BB8.