First Follower: Leadership Lessons from Dancing Guy

This video is provides an interesting perspective on leadership.  It was filmed at a conference. Begins with a guy dancing (shirtless dancing guy). He was joined by another person who wanted to dance. This continued until there was a mob of dancers.

The most interesting part was how the narrator pointed out that it was the first follower who transformed the "lone nut" into a leader. He turns this jiggly video of motivated concert goers into a lesson on leadership.

Watch it.  You will enjoy it.

How does it fit your ideas about leadership?  Have you ever considered the importance of the first follower? What does this mean to your life?

Z

Not Comfortable with Technology? Get Over It!!!

I was just reading George Couros' blog, The Principal of Change, where I found some great observations.  I must admit that my feeling about the correctness of George's ideas has a high correlation to their agreement with my own ideas.  Isn't it funny?

One of the things that I like about George is his undying dedication to kids. He is a "Principal of Change" who continually works to provide students exciting learning experiences. It's not about us, it's about the kids.


What I liked in his posting entitled "Push". was that he identified a major problem that many educators have with technology - they may "not feel comfortable with this technology." He says that there are lots of people to us with technology.  He had 3 words for educators who "didn't feel comfortable" . . .  Get Over It!  Empowering students for their futures isn't about us, the teachers.  It's about the students.

Learning is a social activity and today's social technologies provide a venue through which they can connect with you, the teacher, students in your class, community and around the globe. Couros suggests that teachers need to take risks.  They need to expand outside their comfort zones to provide learning opportunities that are relevant to today's students.


What do you think?

photo: George Couros

Skype in the Classroom Soon to be Released

Skype brings a whole new dimension to the classroom opportunities. As I have been chronicling throughout this blog, I have used Skype for years to bring experts and fellow educators into by university classroom. 


In a previous posting, I discussed ways to find people to Skype into your classroom through wiki directories or conference program directories or just meeting up with people at conferences and getting their contact information.

You were introduced to a Skype page for an Author Network.   This is where authors can offer their services to talk with your students. 

We shared Silvia Tolisano's wonderful 20-minute introductory video about how to use Skype in your classroom, Around the World with Skype.

Well, Guess What?   Skype is taking the lead to foster using its video conferencing software in the classroom with their new project entitled Skype in the Classroom. Skype is going to support an online directory of people who would be willing to skype with you and your students.  What is really exciting about this project is its international aspect. I don't know if you know this, but Skype was founded by a Swede and a Dane.  It was developed by a pair of Estonian developers.  Presently, Skype's headquarters are in Luxembourg.

There isn't a great deal of information about how they will do this. You can pre-register at their Skype in the Classroom website. I just signed-up this morning and they sent me an email verifying my "subscription."  This took me to their Subscription Page entitled "Skype - Pay Me"  I didn't quite see how this fit with the FREE label that Skype put on Skype in the Classroom. I looked around and didn't find anything that mentioned Skype in the Classroom.  I figured that something would happen in the future . . .  and it did.

I received another email from Skype sending me a list of the information I had submitted - my name and email address.  Oh Well . . . Skype in the Classroom is in its beta format and I am happy to be one of the early adopters for this project. 

The international aspect of this video conferencing tool has the potential to enhance the global aspects of our education.

Thanks, Skype!

Z

photo: skype.com

Keyboarding Skills for 4th Grade Students

What effect does a 4-week online computer keyboarding instructional tutorial have on 4th grade students?

Teaching keyboarding at the elementary level is the way it should be.  Kids are using computers during their preschool ages and should be provided guidance early in their lives so as to develop good keyboarding habits.  I must admit that I am not a fan of preschool keyboarding instruction. I think that it should begin about 3rd grade. Research states that 8 years old is a good age because students have developed the coordination and manual dexterity to keyboard efficiently.

I agree with the physical development statements, but more importantly they have a reason to communicate in a written format.  It doesn't make sense for kids to learn how to keyboard if they don't have much to say.

Amy Lockhart and I had an opportunity to do some keyboarding research in her 4th grade classroom at Price Laboratory School at the University of Northern Iowa.  We involved the students in 4-weeks of instruction. We spent 40 minutes a day in the computer lab learning how to keyboard. It was fun and productive.

 Keyboarding Camp! Keyboarding Skills for 4th Grade Students (.pdf)

We used the Almena Keyboarding Method. This is a unique form of instruction where instead of learning the homerow first, the Almena Method uses a series of mnemonic jingles for each finger’s keys. These jingles consist of three-word phrases that allow the students to learn the keys’ locations. The phrase, “Quiet Aunt Zelda”, was used to remember the left little finger keys; Q, A and Z. The phrase, “Over Longer Periods”, was used for the right ring finger keys; O, L and P.  

The Almena Keyboarding Method was relatively successful. The 4th graders averaged an improvement of 2.6 Adjusted Words Per Minute (A-WPM). The A-WPM was calculated by subtracting the number of Errors Per Minute (EPM) from the WPM. While 2.6 doesn't seem like much of an improvement, consider that they began at an average of 7.2 A-WPM.  This means that they improved an average of 36% in keyboarding fluency.  Not bad.

What was unique about our action research was that we also investigated how specific attributes affected students' ability to keyboard.  These characteristics were: Gender, Age, Hand Size, Music Experience, and Athletic Experience.

• Gender - Boy or girl.
• Age - Students’ ages ranged from 9 - 11 years old.
• Hand Size - Students’ hand sizes ranged from 5.0 to 6.75 inches in length from wrist to the tip of the middle finger. This variable was classified into three groups for analysis.
• Music Experience - Students were questioned about their musical experience. If they had taken lesson for playing a musical instrument, they were identified as having Musical Experience.
• Athletic Experience - Students were questioned about their athletic experience. If they had been involved in an organized athletic activity, they were identified as having Athletic Experience.

We had some interesting results.  Here is an table displaying the overall results based upon Adjusted Words Per Minute:

What does this tell you?  The small size of the sample does not allow us to generalize to a larger population, but it shows some trends that should lead to additional research. 

• Musical experience seems to have an affect on success using keyboarding tutorials.
• Younger students tended to key faster then their older classmates.
• Students with smaller hands tended to key faster than their bigger-handed classmates.

We need to further analyze this data to investigate how multiple variables affect A-WPM. Do small-handed 9-year-olds key faster then bigger-handed 9-year-olds?

If this research catches your interest, you can download the whole .pdf file here:

Keyboarding Camp! Keyboarding Skills for Fourth Grade Students (.pdf)

What are your experiences in young students keyboarding? 

Dr. Z's Turiffic Turkey Chili

Yes, sometimes we DO think about things other than technology. I always look for an interesting way to deal with our Thanksgiving leftovers. We can eat only so many turkey sandwiches.
Here is a delicious recipe for my award winning Turiffic Turkey Chili. The best part is the "pulled turkey" that you can cook with the chili. This recipe calls for a raw breast of turkey that you tear apart using forks once it is cooked. I found it quite easy to just "pull apart" my leftover pieces of turkey.
There are many spices in this chili. I especially like the cilantro. It gives it a unique taste.
What do you do with your leftovers?

Dr. Z’s Turiffic Turkey Chili
Award Winning

=====================

Ingredients:

------------

1 can            black beans (15 oz)

1 can            pinto beans (15 oz)

1 can            garbanzo beans (15 oz)           

3 tbsp           olive oil

1                   turkey breast (half breast), skinned

4                  medium yellow onions, chopped

4 cloves       garlic, minced

3 ribs            celery, sliced

1 small         green pepper, chopped

1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup        water

4 tbsp          chili powder

1/2 tsp         cayenne pepper

1 tsp            cumin powder

            Chopped fresh cilantro (season to taste)

            Mess of diced green chilis (season to taste)

Toppings:

---------

• Shredded sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream OR
• Chopped ripe avocado

Instructions:

-------------

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottom pot over medium high heat. When hot, brown the de-boned turkey breast well on all sides.  Remove and set aside.
2. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and green pepper.  Saute, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft, 5-7 minutes.
3. Add the beans, tomatoes, water, chili powder, cayenne, and the turkey breast.  Heat until the pot starts bubbling, then reduce heat to a slow simmer, partially cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hour.  Stir occasionally, watching carefully that the bottom does not start to stick.
4. Remove the turkey breast and coarsely shred the meat with two forks (hold the meat with one fork, tear with the grain with the other.) Return the meat to the pot.
5. Add cumin powder to the pot.
6. Add the diced green chilis to taste.  This will take a while because you need to let the chilis cook into the chili to get the real taste.  Then add more if necessary.
7. Add the chopped cilantro. This give is a unique flavor.
8. Cook an additional one hour, or until the beans are tender.
9. For the traditional approach, top with the cheese and sour cream; for the modern/healthy approach, top with the avocado. 

Please Take Your Designated Seats. Do NOT Talk. No Need for Creativity Here . . .

Students in Albuquerque have created a Love Letter to Albuquerque Public Schools and have performed it at the Brave New Voices Poetry Slam in July 2010.

This video by Miguel Figueroa, Reed Bobroff, Olivia Gatwood, and Khalid Binsunni is a biting critique of what they have seen in their classrooms. 

They cry out against a lack of creativity and bubble tests. The team of students acknowledge the need for learning because "There are things we need to know to live, but the system will never know that we've learned them."

What does this say about our educational system?  Are we trying to address the lowest denominator of learners through standardized testing?  Obviously the students know that there is a better way to learn and they want to be part of it.

25 Web 2.0 Apps to Improve Productivity for Students or Professors

I was just review my Tweets when I came across this link to an OEDB (Online Education Database) blog posting that reviews a number of mostly free Web 2.0 productivity apps.  OEDB is a site where you can go to search for an online masters degree program.

This posting has the typical applications like Google Calendar, Zoho Projects, MyStickies, Google Docs, Bloglines, Google Reader and such.  But it also includes a whole collection of useful apps that I have never seen including Chalksite, Schoopy, Gradefix and the like.  The only problem I have with this list is the overcropping that they used with their logos.  =-)

You can find this wonderful list at:   Top 25 Web 2.0 Apps to Improve a Student's or Professor's Productivity

Why is Second Life Such a Ghost Town?

Where is EVERYBODY?

I just spent 2 hours in Second Life and only met one person. I want to ISTE Island, InfoIsland and Virtual State Park to name a few.  It was totally dead.  I know that Second Life is a huge place but shouldn't there be people there? I think that Second Life is suffering from an overexpansion problem.  I would go into the places like the Etopia Eco Village and over half of the shops were empty.

What have been your experiences?  What have you found to be the lively places?  I am especially interested in places with educational interests, not just dance halls.

Z

Facebook in Education?

Are you using Social Media/Social Networking in your classroom?

I don't know about you, but a lot of this jargon is getting confusing for me. What is the difference between Social Media and Social Networking? Should they/Could they all be used in your classroom?

After a great deal of research, here is my understanding of the differences:

Social Media is user-created media designed to be shared through social interaction. This can take the form of blogs, forums, wikis, podcasts, social news, etc.

Social Networking is the process of building a social structure of individuals or organizations. It doesn't have to be done over the internet. We engage in "unplugged" social networking all day long. It is primarily the system for the social interaction used to share social media. It can include Facebook, Twitter, Linked-in, MySpace, FriendFinder, Classmates, etc.

Looks like a confusion of the content with the process. Content being social media while process being social networking.  The funny thing is that each entity affects the other. Social media is determined by the content that will be interesting and the medium through which it will be shared. The structure of the social networking systems is determined by the media that is shared through them. I am beginning to refer to the "whole lot" of them as Social Technologies.

I was just working on some school work when I was interrupted by the periodic twirl of TweetDeck telling me that it has detected another Tweet from my designated searches.  Interestingly enough, it yielded a few interesting resources about Social Technologies in education.

Here they are:

• 7 Fantastic Free Social Media Tools for Teachers (Video)
• Facebook as a Learning Tool (Video) 
• The Facebook Classroom: 25 Facebook Apps That Are Perfect for Online Education
• Every Teacher's Must-Have Guidebook to Facebook.

Do you have any ideas for using Facebook in Education?

Z 

Photo: Some rights reserved by webtreats

Online Community Professional Dev. strand at ITEC Brings New Perspective

drzreflects.com

Experiencing speakers from around the world.

On Monday, October 11 and Tuesday, October 12 at the ITEC conference here in Coralville, Iowa, we will demonstrate a novel form of Professional Development (PD).  We will watch 20-minute videos that leaders in the field have already made and then Skype with them directly to ask follow-up questions and begin a discussion.

The videos were created for the K-12 Online Conference that Wesley Fryer has been leading for the past few years. Instead of everyone coming to one geographic location, the presenters make videos which are posted for anyone to watch at anytime. We reviewed the videos of 2009 and identified outstanding videos in areas of interest to our ITEC members.

Here is a list of the six presenters we will be enjoying.

Once we identified the videos, we contacted the presenters and they have agreed to help us with this unique form of professional development. This is an exciting opportunity where educators can meet and discuss with leaders in their field.  To liven up the discussion, we will also have a back channel running (Chatroom) where the attendees will be able to discuss the presentation online while the presentation is running.  This is called Cover It Live.

While those located in the room will be able to enjoy the discussion, we have also placed a link to the video we will be watching and the CoverItLive back channel on a wiki page dedicated to them. Here is a link to the central webpage.

I will report more to you about this experiment but I primarily created this page so that the attendees and I would be able to have a central place to access the resources.

Shannon Miller - The Technology-Rich Learning Environment at Van Meter Community Schools Makes a Difference

I had the opportunity to visit Van Meter Community Schools a few weeks ago. Superintendent John Carver share with me the long-reaching vision that his administration team and faculty have been developing. It was an exciting opportunity to walk the halls of a school where students and teachers were bringing the world into their daily learning using their personal laptops.

Here is a 10-minute video of an interview that I held with Shannon Miller, their teacher librarian and technology director for the semester. Shannon is an avid Twitterer who is constantly sharing ideas and resources about education. I have a couple of more interviews that I will be sharing in the near future.


Shannon Miller - The Technology-Rich Learning Environment at Van Meter Community Schools Makes a Difference from Leigh Zeitz on Vimeo.

5 MORE TED Talks about Education and Learning: It's about Relevance

I LOVE TED.  No, I am not sharing any unusual amorous intentions. I just enjoy the wealth of genius that is shared through the TED network. 

I had a great response from you readers to the first 5 videos that I posted so here is another 5 videos on learning and teaching that I think you will enjoy:

Sugata Mitra shares How Kids Teach Themselves. He has successfully implemented student-centered learning throughout the world.   In 2007, he introduced his Hole in the Wall project that he has introduced in remote areas. He explores how children can learn through incidental learning. It is an innovative idea for learning about the essence of facilitating learning.

In his 2010 presentation, Child-Driven Education, Sugata Mitra talked about how he addressed the problem of having a great need for good teachers where schools don't exist. He provided a number of examples where computers were used to provide learning opportunities.  This is not about computer labs. It is about groups of children gathering around public computers.  My favorite quote was "Children will learn to do, what they want to learn to do."   Hmmm . . . . sounds like relevance is important to children as well as adults.  What do you think?

Arthur Benjamin's Formula for Changing Math Education  Arthur Benjamin questions the relevance of our secondary math curriculum. He suggests that we replace the calculus-oriented sequence with one that emphasizes statistics. It would be a huge upheaval of our present math system, but is our current math system still relevant to our students' needs?

Along those same lines, Liz Coleman issues a call to reinvent liberal arts education. She regrets the path that American education has take in emphasizing narrow pursuits of knowledge. She suggests that liberal arts need to be oriented to address real-world problems. She stats that "Deep thought matters when you're contemplating what to do about things that matter." Once again, it's ALL about relevancy.

A FUN presentation was given by David Merrill who Demos Siftables. Siftables are "cookie-sized, computerized tiles you can stack and shuffle in your hands." They put the opportunity for learning in the hands of the learners.  These tiles can do math, play music, and even talk with each other. It is an amazing opportunity for hands-on learning.


What do you think?  What did you learn from these videos?

Super Wi-Fi transmitted via White Spaces

WOW!! I was just reading the Digital Education blog @ Education Week when I learned about Super Wi-Fi and White Spaces.  There I was . . . innocently reading their posting on how the FCC Approves E-Rate Changes . . .

When BAM, I am hit with new terms that I had not before known - Super WiFi and White Spaces.  Following the learning process that we all follow, I quickly did a Google search to find out more about these two entities.

Turns out that at the Tested blog, they had an article entitled FCC Opens White Space Spectrum for Super Wi-Fi where I learned about this new opportunity for WiFi. Turns out that the FCC ruled on 9/23/10 that they would open up an empty portion of the radio wave spectrum between TV and broadcast stations.  This "White Space" would be used for "Super WiFi."  Apparently, WiFi has been operating on a "Junk Band" since its inception and the white space will bring about a massive increase in broadcast range.


16 TIMES!!!!

One article that I read said that the Super WiFi could travel as much as 16 times further than our existing WiFi.  Presently the 802.11n routers will adequately carry a signal 100 meters. The Super WiFi is purported to have a range 16X that of our standard routers.  That means that these could have a distance of 1600 meters (= 5249.343832020997 feet) or almost 1 mile.  Imagine that!!! You could have a Super WiFi system that would range 1 mile from its source.  That means that there would be a circle with a radius of 1 mile.   Obviously there can be confounding variables like buildings and trees and ??, but the possibility is dumbfounding.

What could your school district do with routers that have a 1-mile range?  Think of the homes we could supply with Internet access so that students who li can't afford broadband will be able to do homework when they take home their laptops from their school.

Don't you just LOVE progress??????

What are your thoughts or experiences or visions about this?

Z

Merit Pay is NOT Enough to Make a Difference in the Classroom.

The National Center on Performance Incentives at Vanderbilt University just reported on the finding of their 3-year POINT project. This research, the first scientific study of performance pay ever conducted in the United States, investigated the foundational question, "Does bonus pay alone improve student outcomes?" Interestingly enough, they found the answer to be negative.

This research took place with mathematics teachers in grades 5 - 8 in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. It included nearly 300 middle school teachers who volunteered for participation. These teachers were offered annual bonuses of $5,000, $10,000 or $15,000 based upon improvement in their students' test scores.

With these sizable bonuses available, only about 1 out of 3 teachers received remuneration. Over the 3-year period, the researchers paid out more than $1.27 million in bonuses with the average bonus of $10,000 for those teachers who earned them.

Question is WHY?  WHY didn't this money make a difference?

Katie Stansberry of ISTE Connects says that it's a matter of motivation. She points out that teachers didn't get into the profession to make money. She stated that teachers are doing "the best they can for their students."  Paying them more money won't make a difference.

TRUE. Money doesn't make a difference, but the answer lies in the phrase "doing the best they can." The part of this research that is seems to be overlooked by reporters of this research is that the ONLY change that was introduced into the instructional equation was the offer of notable bonuses. This model specifically did not include any change in professional development, materials or newly-adopted instructional programs. They were testing to see if merit pay alone could make a difference. 

Linda Perlstein, who writes The Educated Reporter blog, reports that "Presuming that merit pay alone would elevate student achievement makes sense if you assume teachers have a hidden trove of skills and effort they are not unloosing on their students only because they lack the proper incentives to do so." 

Money IS NOT ENOUGH.  Change in education requires updates in the learning/teaching paradigm. Teachers need to create student-centric learning environments where students are empowered to learn. Making them active participants in their own learning brings a level of relevance and self-imposed (or peer-imposed) rigor that will make a difference.

What do you think?  Is merit pay enough?  What changes have you made that have improved your learning environment?


Photo: flickr.com/cogdogblog