Dr. Z Reflects

Tuesday, September 03, 2013

Iowa is a Leader in 1-to-1 Computer Use in Schools

Do you realize that over 50% of the 327 school districts in Iowa's 99 counties have 1-to-1 computing initiatives? This doesn't mean that all of the students in each of these districts have their own computer, but it does mean that most of our school districts have decided that providing students their own laptops/tablets can be a positive influence on their learning.

Above is a map of the school districts and the brands/types of computers they were using as of the 2012-2013 school year. It appears that there are more Mac laptops and iPads than any other brand. This may change over time. I understand that there are a number of districts that have decided to invest in Chromebooks.

NOTE: The map above is a screenshot of the interactive map that is available on the Iowa Area Education Agencies website. Link to the active page, and you will be able to Click on the district within the map to get additional information around implementation date, platform used, and technology coordinator. There is even a link to a spreadsheet with the specific data.

Over the next few weeks, I plan to write (and have guest authors write) about some of the 1-to-1 activities in Iowa. We have a burgeoning 1-to-1 culture in Iowa schools and it will be fascinating to see what we uncover.

Are you doing 1-to-1 and how is it changing what you do in your schools?

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Internet: Pacifier of Digital Natives?

Is the Internet the Digital Pacifier of our Digital Natives?

This is a question that was posed by Bill Lammers. He conveys an incident in his high school classroom where the students were working intently on their assignments when . . . suddenly . . . the Internet Died.

Some students squirmed because they didn't think that they would be able to work on their assignment without the Internet. Others squealed in delight when they realized that they didn't have to work on their assignments but moaned in anguish when they decided that they "couldn't do anything else" because their window to the world, The Internet, was down.

Read Lammers' posting at The Pacifier of the Digital Natives

Blammer (Bill Lammers) makes an interesting observation when he notes how tied to the Internet his students were. I was talking with a reporter the other day who told me that some of his interns were literally lost without their GPSs. They had no problem finding places when their smartphones had full access to the web, but they had no idea about how to read a map. They had no idea how to find north and what all of the squiggly lines on the map meant.

Is this a crime or merely a Symbol of the Times? What do you think? Read Lammers' article and then join in the discussion here about being connected to the world through the Internet has changed the skill set for our digital natives.

Join the discussion in the comments section below.

Z

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

What Happens on the Internet in 60 Seconds?

A minute isn't what it used to be . . .

We used to hold our breath for a minute.

Now we upload 72 hours of video on YouTube.

We were excited if we could stand on one leg for a minute.

Now we upload 20,000 new images on Tumblr.

We could boil 1/3 of a 3-minute egg in a minute.

Now we have 20 million photo view on Flickr.

Online in 60 Seconds [Infographic] is an infographic that was produced by Qmee

What do you do in a minute?

Z

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

What are Superintendents Believing This Week? - Gallup

Wondering what your superintendent is thinking?

Gallup was thinking the same thing, but they asked them. This was all described in their What Superintendents Really Think report. They wanted to know what they thought about Common-Core Standards, Education Beyond High School, Affected Areas in Budget Cuts, and Technology in the Classroom.

What do you think? Do these results match your superintendent's opinion last time you spoke with her/him?

Z

BTW, I am actually riding my bike across Iowa with 12,000 other cyclists in RAGBRAI. I am with Team Flamingo and we are having a blast. (Thank goodness for Blogger's capability to schedule posting releases.)

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Making Learning Meaningful at ISTE '13

Well, I'm back from the ISTE '13 conference in San Antonio in late June. We had a wonderful time. Gaming was the theme of the conference and it was exciting to see Joan McGonagal talk about how life changing gaming can be. She autographed my book with "Play with Purpose."

One of my highlights was my opportunity to share my ideas about Making Learning Meaningful to Millennial students. I was honored that ISTE decided that my presentation should be video broadcast to those who couldn't make the conference. These broadcasts were recorded and are available through the ISTE channel on YouTube.

I decided that instead of providing a lecture full of facts and platitudes about what Meaningful Learning meant, I would provide a framework for the content but it would be more important to create a learning environment that demonstrated what we were discussing.

I was quite impressed with quality of the video production. Thank you for your work.

What do you think? I think that it went well. Were you there? If so, how did you like it?

Z

Monday, July 08, 2013

Focusing in the Age of Digital Distraction

Do you ever feel like you live in the Age of Distraction?

I was just taking (not teaching) a course on how to teach online, when they introduced us to a wonderful diagram about dealing with Digital Distraction and I thought that I would share it with you. It is from LearningFundamentals.com.au

This is an interesting diagram that suggests strategies for managing time, how to work, reflecting on your work, and managing your space.

Some of the ideas are common sense and some are quite ingenious.

Upon reviewing the Learning Fundamentals website, it turns out that they have a collection of such Mind Mapping Diagrams that address: Getting Motivated, Getting Ready for Exams, Mindmapping, Busting Procrastination, Getting organized and a whole lot more.

I will probably be including them in the future, but you can take a look at them at the link above. If you use them, remember to follow their Licensing Agreement.

If you find this or any of the other maps useful, please share with us how you used them.

Z

Friday, July 05, 2013

Social Media Landscape Infographic

The Social Media World is huge and ever-exploding. I was just reviewing graphics on social media when I came upon this Social Media Landscape infographic from the All Twitter Blog.

I found this graphic most useful by reading the topics to better understand the multiple aspects of the Social Media Landscape. Once you have an overview of the categories, explore the apps that are mentioned. Unfortunately, there are a few recent additions to the SM World that are not included (like Pinterest) but that will be included in Version 2.0.

How will you use this Infographic?