Daily Data Collection

Our guest in class tonight gave a really insightful presentation. Given that:
1. Data helps us make good decisions;

2. The more accurate the data, the better-justified the decision;

3. The more quickly we can access data, the sooner we can make good decisions; and

4. The sooner we make good decisions, the sooner we will have opportunity for positive change;

How much does the use of a daily exit ticket help improve student performance, and how could you use something like that in your content area and grade level?

A Query for Principles of Online Research

Imagine you are trying to teach your students how to find reliable information via the internet. What are some main points you would need to teach them?

I have often thought that effective practices can be boiled down to numbered lists or bullets. Am I mistaken in this regard? Is online research just a matter of following instinct, or are there specific principles that can guide the honest student to legitimate sources of information.

Let's make this post into a list. Think of two "principles" or "guidelines" for finding credible and reliable information online. They may be different at varying age levels, but if so, just note that in your comment.

I'll start. The online researcher should look for a variety of sources, including contemporary versus time-established; differing points of view; and scholarly work versus anecdotal opinion stuff.

How creative and insightful can you get as you expand this list?

Disrupting Class

I have long thought that teaching with technology can and should be transformative. As the authors of a new book about technology in education point out, however, it is difficult for schools to incorporate new systems in truly transformative ways.

Using industry as a guide, they examine and explain how two main categories of innovation-- sustaining innovation and disruptive innovation-- have defined the the lay of the of those industries' landscape.

An example cited is the personal computer, which disrupted an industry previously the domain of manufacturers of hugh mainframes and only slightly smaller "minicomputers," none of which were designed for home use. Instead of trying to compete against established companies, Apple introduced it's IIe as something of a toy-- to users who were not in the market before. In this way, Apple made a new market out of the disruptive innovation.

Disrupting Class obviously praises American school systems for how they have responded to their customers' needs and the market's demands, but offer some guidance as to how it could incorporate disruptive innovation better.

Instead of applying a new technology into existing systems, as have done businesses to no great success, they argue that schools must find "new markets" for technology, taking on a role that nobody currently has.

For instance, instead of installing class computers to supplements what the teacher normally does, and has done for decades, a new set of computers could be used to teach a class that has never been taught, or tutor kids in a way that a teacher never could.

Given that an individual teacher has little impact on the way a school system, much less an individual school, is organized, I wonder how a teacher could use technology innovation in a disruptive way.

What are some ways we can use innovations in our own classrooms that serve "markets" that never existed before? That is, how can we use technology to fill roles that have never been filled before?

Are you an efficient teacher?

Technology is supposed to make us more efficient workers. Gutenberg's printing press made possible mass production of books. The spinning jenny resulted in cheaper yarn helping to usher in the Industrial Revolution. Of course, Henry Ford's famous assembly line production drove down the price of automobiles for American families. And the microwave oven allows college students to consume vast quantities of unhealthy foods during late night study sessions without making a huge mess.

Teaching, as in book-making, can be done more efficiently. And, unlike heating a hot pocket at 2 a.m., finding ways to teach more efficiently actually benefits students.

For example, in my math class I am able to assemble a standards-aligned exam using database test-generating software that sorts items by standard, objective, and difficulty. Then, after students fill in their bubble sheets, I scan them and run detailed reports according to the same criteria.

How does this make me more efficient besides processing tests more quickly (which is a huge benefit by itself)? By having such detailed reports instantly, I can isolate weaknesses early on and clear up misunderstandings before they infect other topics. My students will also know exactly what is going to be expected of them in the course, instead of having to learn a broad set of information and hope that what I assess is including in that.

Let's find the easiest, quickest way to teach and learn what we need to.

Technology can help you do it. What will you do to let it?