Mr Bass Online

I’m stuck in a routine. Some may even say that I’m addicted. Almost every day for a good portion of the day I sit in front of my computer. I have it set up the way I want it. My desktop is organized according to my tastes. My Firefox plugins anxiously await my use. Bottom line, my computer and I have a very special relationship because I have personalized it for my uses. My home row keys letters are slowly wearing away and there’s a shiny area on my space bar that shows the wear of my fingers. I know where to find my files and I know which programs will greet me upon startup. This is the very reason that, while I always like the boost in performance, I never truly look forward to getting a new machine. I always have to reconfigure everything. I hard drive failure not only runs away with my data, but it also causes me several hours of preparing my system for me to use meaningfully.

Last year, one of the biggest parts of my job was to hand out new laptops to teachers in my district. To make matters worse, we weren’t just handing out laptops, we were stripping these teachers of their beloved Macs. Over a year and a half later, I still hear comments about how much better the Macs were than these stupid HP laptops that we are now “stuck” with. We develop a personal connection with our tools. The problems, while frustrating, become somehow endearing over time. We know what to expect, we understand the challenges of these tools including their limitations and, however maddening, we get beyond it. Mac or PC, it’s simply a computer… a tool that we use to complete tasks. The passion that comes from these tools I don’t necessarily understand, but I find myself falling into passionate discussions over tools. My phone is one such tool. It’s not that it’s the best, but it certainly suits my needs and I’ve set it up exactly how I want it. They are very personal things and we become attached and fanatical about them. I use OSX, XP, Vista and now Windows 7 and, truly, don’t have a huge preference. My main machine is a PC because that’s what my district uses, but to me, they’re just tools.

What about the students that we teach? Does it really matter whether they’re sitting in front of an HP or an Apple when they’re typing a paper? They’re simply word processing. Even when it comes to video editing, there are tools on both platforms that students can use to create their movies. Is one easier than the other, maybe. But is the tool really that important? I say No. The skills that students (and adults) take away from any training or class is the important element in the equation. The logo doesn’t matter. The name of the software is immaterial. Do all secondary students need to be able to move through Excel or PowerPoint or is it more important that they understand and adapt their spreadsheet and presentation skills to any computer that is put in front of them? The classroom tools (SMART, Prometheon, Mac, PC, Web 2.0, etc) do not make for learning. Let’s start discussing skills instead of tools and end the argument over which one is better.

Even as I write this, I understand that there are tools that I would have a hard time living without. When Google announced that they were ending their support of Notebook, I was far from amused. However, there are other tools out there. Do they work the same way? No. Is their integration with other Google tools as seamless? No. Do I have the skills to use them effectively? Yes.

Yes, I’m attached to my computer and, yes, it’s a love/hate relationship. But the tools that I use in my daily routine as I work with teachers doesn’t make my work better; it makes it more convenient. I’m not interested in getting rid of my tools that I’ve grown so fond of, but I am interested in helping students acquire the skills to be able to move beyond a tool and still succeed in their tasks.

Image from http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml

A friend of mine, Debra Baker, wrote a blog post today about a student she was trying to help.  I’m blogging this for two reasons, so I keep it fresh in my mind, and so others might become aware of it.

Today was a day well spent with an awful lot of learning. I started the day at an METC Advisory Committee meeting in which we revisited the conference from last month. It was a good discussion which included ideas about virtual conferences and reflections on the conference.

Upon leaving that meeting I went to one of the elementary schools in our district because the Higher Education Channel was coming to our district to do a “Behind the Minds” filming of some of our students as they work on their films for our upcoming Film Festival. Since this was my brain child, I wanted to be there as students talked about their films and were interviewed for the show. Jennifer Young (another TIS) and I were there to supervise and help the students as they worked on their films. These were fifth grade students who had done a presentation earlier in the year in which they became a person who has had a profound affect on society and who stood for something great. Anne Frank, Jane Goodall were among the people they chose and they had footage of them acting the part of these figures. Now they were in the process of whittling down their films to meet our two minute guidelines. During their interviews they discussed problem solving, collaboration and storyboarding as they described the process. They used film terms and talked at great length about what they wanted to say through their films. The entire process was nothing short of awesome. Watching students talk about and reflect on their process was truly transformative and they were very eloquent in their discussions. Through the work of Jennifer Young (another TIS), the morning was a success.

Upon leaving the elementary school, I accompanied the film crew to one of our high schools where they interviewed two junior girls about a sociology project that they embarked on last semester. They too were eloquent in their discussion, but one thing they said really stuck with me. “In all of our other classes, we had to do PowerPoints.” While I’m not completely against PowerPoint, it was clear, when talking to these students, that PowerPoint is an overused presentation technique in their school. They relished the opportunity to do something more meaningful and, as I watched their video, I think they succeeded. Their video was compelling and far more intriguing than any PowerPoint that I’ve ever seen. When they were done, I was interviewed in regards to the details and origins of the Film Festival. It was a great day. Watching students grades 5 and 11 talk about their learning really made me proud of what we’ve done to facilitate the Film Festival in our district and making it about the celebration of student work. I guess more than anything, I’m continually impressed with the abilities of today’s students. The show should air in the next few weeks and will be available online. I’ll post again when it can be viewed.

I recently finished reading the book, unSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation, by Brooks Jackson and Kathleen Hall Jamieson.  While I enjoyed the book and found it’s message to prudent for the general public.  What I do find disappointing is my reaction to it which I’ll get to in a little bit.  In my former life I was a high school Modern Media teacher and Media Literacy was a major focus for me.  I worked with students to help them look for the meaning and motivation for the messages that we are bombarded with daily.  Our focus was on media spin and the motivation for companies with their advertising.  We watched the Mickey Mouse Monopoly from the Media Education Foundation, The Merchants of Cool and The Persuaders (both from Frontline on PBS) to get a sense of the types of spin that is prevalent in our society.  We analyzed various forms of advertising and even created our own ads based on some of the techniques we were studying in class. The idea was to introduce to spin as a concept and make them aware of their own biases and buy-in to what they see in their daily lives.  The students who were in these classes began to bring in examples of bias and spin in media and we devoted a wall in my room to these examples.  That was a great class.

As I read the book, it reminded me of that wall and all the different examples that we had up there.  While I understand that everyone has an agenda and that there are different motivations for people to behave in certain ways and say certain things, however, I always liked to think of my classroom as a place where we could discuss these ideas in an academic way.  We studied the spin and looked at the intended and unintended consequences of it.  I tried very hard to keep my biases out of the discussion and encouraged my students to do the same.

In ”unSpun”, the authors outlined tricks and warning signs and even gave us a way to verify the information that we find regarding political figures (go figure, it was factcheck.org where both authors hold the position of Director.).  Had I had this book back when I was teaching Modern Media, I would have encouraged my students to employ some of these techniques giving them more tools in their intellectual arsenal.  It would have been a valuable resource for us.

My reaction to the book was slightly different though.  I found it informative and interesting, but I also felt like I was getting spun a little bit.  It may just be the cynical side of me, but I felt like there were ulterior motives behind it.  After all, “everyone has an agenda.”  I went to factcheck.org to see if the purpose behind the book wasn’t to drive traffic to the site so ad revenue would go up.  Nope.  The site doesn’t seem to be ad supported.  What was it that made me feel this way?  Still not sure.  Should the book be taken at face value and the techniques described therein be used in my daily life?  Sure, the information is valuable and seems to be well informed.  I’m not sure what bothers me about it, but there’s definitely something there.

It’s important to be able to identify truth in a world of disinformation.  With the amount of advertising and politics that invades our everyday lives, having the skill and conscience to look at a piece of information and question it is important.  To recognize that everyone has their own agenda and looks at a topic through their own lens is invaluable and it’s a skill that needs to be taught, not just be an expectation.  Eventually, these students will be the creators of spin (many of them already are).  They will be making decisions based on what they hear and read.  Giving them the tools to recognize this spin will be an important step as they themselves try to remain “unSpun.”  Just as the first line of the book states, “We live in a world of spin.”  I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

(For the record, I don’t take issue with factcheck.org or their goals.  I think it’s important for this type of education of the public to be known and to try to come up with the truth when facts are spun.  This is simply a reflection of my eduational practice and some thoughts I had as I read the book.)

Photo from Cartoonbank.com.

As of late I’ve been helping teachers sign students up for accounts for various services.  The question I often get from teachers has to do with student email accounts.  Granted, many of the students in secondary schools already have email accounts, but, as we’ve found recently, many do not.  With so many websites asking for a valid email account in order to sign up for their services, I’ve been suggesting Mailcatch.com to those teachers.  Today I ran across a blog post via Twitter that lists a number of temporary email services.  Enjoy.

Tim Tyson just posted a video to his blog based on a YouTube video he found and related it to teaching kids (marketing information).  I’ve been reading a book called “Tipping Point” by Malcolm Gladwell that discusses the social nature of trends or epidemics in our society.  I’ve only just started the book but I thought that this video relates very well (at least what I’ve read of it).  Granted this video is addressing advertising, but I don’t think Tim’s far off here.  We do have to “sell” the information to students.  The Internet has not only changed the way teachers teach, but it has changed the way learners learn.  The idea of entertaining students in order to get them to learn often ruffles the feathers of even the best teachers.  Are things so different now though?  The gadgets are different, the expectations are different but I remember enjoying learning when I found it entertaining.  Is everything in life fun?  No.  However, learning is fun.  Is sitting in a lecture fun? Not necessarily.  Yet in many classrooms that’s exactly what we expect students to do.  Sit and get.

Here’s the description of this video from YouTube.

“Companies, marketers and advertising agencies are facing a dramatic shift in marketing realitiy – and are increasingly failing to connect with consumers. The big challenge in times of exchangeable products, the rise of social media and mature and rather brand sceptic consumers: To find new ways how to get people engaged again in products, advertising and in brands.”

I’m just thinking here, so I’m not even sure how I feel about what I’ve written. Just a short reflection on a video.