Iditarod route changes

Big news from Alaska.  The 2015 Iditarod Sled Dog race has been moved north in favor of better conditions.  The race traditionally starts in Anchorage with a restart in Willow, but this year's lack of snow and thin ice has forced race officials to err on the side of caution.

Considering the amount of preparation a race like this requires, this is a pretty big deal.  Usually, the race alternates routes between a Northern route in even years and a Southern route during odd years.  As far as I understand, this allows for some of the more southern towns a chance to take part of the spectacle.  With this year's changes, towns such as Shageluk, Grayling, and Iditarod are going to have to wait another two years to see the mushers come through.  On the other hand, for only the second time in history, the race will have its restart in Fairbanks and run through Nenana, Tanana, and Koyukyuk and others before joining the normal course in Kaltag on to Nome.

The dog teams don't typically expect fans to line the entire race course; after all, the race is over one-thousand miles long.  The course isn't marked the entire way but I believe it is broken in by snowmobiles.  They must really be scrambling to pull this off with 18 days to go.  Plus, this will mean a lot of people are going to have to change their travel plans.  The Iditarod Air Force will be flying dog food and supplies into areas they probably aren't familiar with.  Additionally, race officials, media, veterinarians, and other support personnel will also have to adapt.

Fortunately, the original trail is all set and ready to go in Google Earth.  There's plenty of virtual snow for you and your students in RealWorldMath.org's Iditarod Challenge.  You can choose to honor the traditional southern route this year, or take the northern route if you wish.  Real World Math's Iditarod Challenge has students competing in a virtual sled dog race in Google Earth.  Each student gets to mush a team of sled dogs across Alaska from the comfort of their computers.  They'll use checkpoint information from the Google Earth Kmz download and the distance formula to calculate race times for each leg of the journey.  They'll also face a variety of hazards and good fortune along the way for a personalized race experience.  I'm gearing up a class of 6th graders for it now.  With over 20 checkpoints, it will take them just 10 minutes a day but over four weeks to complete the challenge.  Hopefully we'll get to Nome around the same time the mushers will.

Let's go, the dogs are waiting!

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Updated Iditarod Challenge

Thomas Knolmayer's at the alternate start point in Willow in 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It's that time of year when our friends in Alaska are making the final preparations for the Iditarod Sled Dog Race.  I've been doing likewise by updating Real World Math's Iditarod Challenge and all the accompanying materials.  This is a great project based learning activity for students in grade 5-8, and one that lends itself easily as an interdisciplinary lesson.

Real World Math's Iditarod Challenge has students competing in a virtual sled dog race in Google Earth.  Each student gets to mush a team of sled dogs 1049 miles across Alaska from the comfort of their computers.  They'll use checkpoint information from the Google Earth Kmz download and the distance formula to calculate race times for each leg of the journey.  It wouldn't be much of a race if everyone used the same information, so a set of Iditarod Fortune cards will personalize triumphs or tragedies along the way.  They might find an angry moose in their trail or smooth packed snow ahead.

The Iditarod alternates routes every year between a southern route in odd years and a northern route in even years.  I've updated the downloads now by adding a southern route, which is the one you should be using this year (although its seems Mother Nature has other plans).  You'll find other materials have been updated also.  The Student Checkpoint Sheet, where students keep track of their elapsed times between checkpoints, is also available for the southern route.  The Master Iditarod Time Sheet has also been updated and is offered as both an Excel spreadsheet and a Google Sheets version.  I haven't fully tried out the Google version yet, but I think it might work better since I can add negative values for elapsed time adjustments.  These spreadsheets will help you keep track of your students' times and check their work.  The real race starts on March 7th, so now is the time to download and get familiar with the materials.

There are around 24 checkpoints for the race.  Once the students have learned how to fill out their time sheets, it should only take 10 minutes of your class time to complete each leg of the race.  The Iditarod Challenge will take over four weeks to complete if you limit it to one checkpoint per math class.  For me, an extended learning event is one aspect of project-based learning, but it should also include other components.  A lot of information and links to online content about Alaska and the race can be found in the Google Earth file.  You'll have great opportunities to add web quests or incorporate Social Studies lessons with it.  Ask your PE teachers to get involved and have your  students find out what it's like for the dogs to pull someone around.  Gamify students' learning by posting a leaderboard in the room.  I've given out awards at the end of the event, including oversized phony checks and a Red Lantern Award for the last place finisher.

As always, I welcome any feedback you have on my materials.  Let me know what works and what doesn't.  Please share the activity with others.  Use the Twitter hashtag "#RWMiditarod" to let us know how it's going.

Let's go!  Mush!
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Mac video solution for Google Earth

FLV file Icon from Adobe Systems (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Google Earth is a fabulous application for viewing, not only the satellite views of our planet, but for other media as well.  You can annotate placemarks with text, images, or video, and link to pages on the Internet for viewing in the main window.  For over a year though, Mac users have been missing out.

When Google Earth was updated in late summer of 2013, Mac computer users suddenly found that embedded YouTube videos weren't working properly.  The template just showed a black screen and if you clicked on it, you were rewarded with Google Earth crashing.  This isn't an issue with PCs, so what gives?

I've been searching the user forums and help centers for quite a while now, and I think I finally found an answer - and a potential solution.  As far as I can understand it, the problem lies when you have several applications incorporated into another.  The Macintosh operating system is different from PCs, and so the Google Earth developers have to alter their code.  As we all know, tech doesn't stand still for anyone, and so if the developers of the different systems and applications aren't on the same page, then problems like this will arise.  The main culprit in this case appears to be how Mac computers use Adobe Flash video; at some point in 2013, Google Earth and Flash didn't add up.

Many thanks to user "piwei" in the Google Earth Help Forum.  According to piwei, Google Earth uses the Flash player installed for Mac's Safari browser.  So when Adobe made an update to Flash, it no longer worked in Google Earth.  Piwei's solution is to uninstall any Flash updates to Safari and install an older version of Flash.  Particularly, Flash version 10.3.183.90 released in 7/9/2013 will fix the problem for Google Earth (thanks "solomonderweise").  You can read the forum thread here.  Remember to do this for the Safari browser on your Mac - I don't believe it's the case for other browsers.  You'll also want to avoid any automatic Safari Flash updates in the future.  You can find instructions on how to uninstall Flash in Safari here, and the archived versions here.  Remember, use the version listed above.

Problem solved?  Well, for myself,  I know videos in Google Earth will play now when I present material to a class or audience.  On the other hand, I have an outdated version of Flash in Safari which doesn't have the most current security updates, and so on.  I use Chrome as my browser, so I don't think this will be a problem.  The problem remains though for the common Google Earth Mac user.  I wouldn't expect everyone to go through this, and I cringe to think of someone doing all of this for an entire computer lab.  Still, if you're a hardcore Google Earth user, then at least you have a solution for the video problem.  Let's hope the Google Earth team can finally make a workaround in the next update.  It's time - we've been waiting.

Note:  You might find this is a solution for other incompatibility issues on Mac computers.  It most likely would occur when you're using a browser other than Safari on your Mac and a web-based program isn't working.  I think the reason for this is that when someone develops a version of an application for Macs, they're building it for the Safari browser.  That's the browser that comes with all Macs, so that makes sense.  Please let me know if you have any insight on this, or if my assumptions are wrong.

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A New Purpose for Drones

Given the past week's events in Boston, I started to think about some different ways drones could be used to fight terrorists.  I think we're all familiar with the conventional way this has been done, but what are some other tasks that drones could perform?

If you're only familiar with the drones that have been used by the military in the Middle East, then the first thing you have to know is that drones come in all shapes and sizes.  A drone is essentially a pilotless aircraft, but another way to look at them is to call them by another name: robot.  If you've read my previous posts on robots and drones you'll know that I usually sprinkle some words of caution in their adoption.  This time I'm going to throw caution to the wind and try not think about the Orwellian or dystopian undertones

A good place to start, if you want to see what drones of the future can do, is the jaw dropping TED Talk by Vijay Kumar.  The drones in his demonstration resemble something you might find in a hobby store and can fit in the palm of your hand.  Their functionality is anything but childlike.  He and his students at the University of Pennsylvania programmed their swarms of drones to be agile flyers that could operate autonomously.  They're equipped with proximity sensors and can fly in a programmed flight path or operate independently.  So what if drones like these could be outfitted with bomb-detecting sensors?  Large populated events like the Boston Marathon or State Fairs could have swarms of these small drones flying through the crowd relaying their information to law enforcement.  There's already a group of companies like Qube working on law enforcement versions of drones.  Would it bother you to have a model aircraft buzzing your head?  Then how about a ground-based version?  I can't find my source, but there was a public radio story on a small robot that would nuzzle up against you and lead you to stores in a shopping mall.  Would you be more comfortable with a robotic form of bomb sniffing dogs weaving through the crowd?

One of the reasons drone aircraft have been so readily adopted by the military is that you don't have to worry about pilot fatigue.  I'm assuming they're much lighter than jets and so they can stay in the air for a longer period of time.  Since the drone pilot is sitting miles or continents away, he can take a break and have another operator take his place.  The lockdown in Watertown, MA lasted roughly 18 hours - couldn't drones have played some part in the search?  Drones could follow a precise search pattern and be flown at a lower altitude beneath the helicopters.  I'm not up to speed with all of the camera specs of drones but I'm assuming it's pretty good.  Would a group of drones with night vision and infrared fared better than their human counterparts?  Wouldn't a drone have been a good option for surveying the toxic scene after the Texas fertilizer plant explosion?

Finally, I'm reminded of Adam Carolla's idea for attack crows.  Crows are pretty nasty but perhaps a swarm of drones could have flushed suspect #2 out of the boat.  Could a group of drones incapacitate an individual?  Or what if a flock of drones were launched when the bombs went off to capture the scene in video?  A drone wouldn't react to the panic and confusion like a human would; maybe a set of drones could have provided better view of who was there and where they were going.  With all of the influence that technology had in this latest terror attack, I wouldn't be surprised at all if drones played a helpful role in the next one.

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Terrorism in the Digital Age - Lessons from Boston

Boston Marathon, mile 25, Beacon St., 2005 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Like everyone else, I've been riveted to the news coming out of Boston for the past week.  It's hard to understand why anyone would have done such a thing.  It's equally confusing why they thought they could have gotten away with it, because with each day technology is transforming the world we live in.

We're no longer reliant on CNN or other news agencies to provide our continuous news feed; the  Internet and other digital media is where people go to find information now.  This is a double-edged sword: on one hand the amount of instantaneous information being relayed has increased exponentially while on the other hand the validity of the content should be viewed with a critical eye.  Reddit, Twitter, and other online sites have played a significant role in the national discussion on the Boston Marathon bombings and the search for the perpetrators.  Forget about nightly or even hourly updates, most people are looking minute by minute for accurate information.  This must put a considerable strain on news services and other credible sources of information with detrimental effects.

I won't attempt to comprehend the bombers' minds but if escape was one of their goals they made a serious miscalculation.  Performing their deeds at the finish line of the Boston Marathon, with video and so many cameras present, made their discovery just a matter of time.  I'm curious to learn just how many images were submitted and reviewed by the FBI; it must be a staggering number.  It occurred to me early in the week how online crowdsourcing could be used to review the images in a more expedient manner.  This seems like a good idea until you see how different Reddit threads became what Alex Hern at NewStatesman describes as "a racist Where's Waldo?"  Several individuals became prime suspects in the cyber world followed by several news organizations trying to play catch-up by posting their faces on page 1.  It would seem that eventually even the FBI decided the eyes of the multitude might do more good than harm in their investigation.  After posting video of the suspects and the relevant time stamp, some of the best images were discovered.

Security cameras from several establishments on Boylston Street provided additional images and  left some to call for an increased amount of video surveillance in America's cities.  Closed-circuit television has been used extensively in London for years with little effect, but what I find puzzling is how Americans could lobby for more CCTV surveillance when it can't even enact mandatory gun registration.  CCTV rings of Big Brother and seems to go against an American sense of freedom, or does it?  I think this is an interesting discussion: do you have a right of privacy in a public place?  People are constantly setting off alarms over Google's privacy issues, even its Google Glass before they are released.  We can all anticipate some level of surveillance within business buildings or even online, but what about in the neighborhood park?  As I mentioned in a previous post on Drones, privacy issues are going to be tested in the 21st Century.  How do you feel about this?

As the manhunt reached its peak, we found that technology once again didn't disappoint us.  Police tracked the fleeing suspects using the carjacked victim's cellphone.  News stations used Google Earth views extensively to give us the lay of the land.  While the reporters and TV crews were kept at a safe distance, eyewitnesses in Watertown began Tweeting us updates on the action.  Andrew Kitzenberg (@AKitz) tweeted as law enforcement engaged the suspects outside his window and did a TV interview during the lockdown via Skype where he was able to point out the bullet holes in his walls.  Watertown was overwhelmed with boots on the ground but at the climax it was thermal imaging equipment and a police robot that provided essential functions that made sure all those boots got home safe.

So now that it seems this crisis has reached its conclusion, we'd be wise to contemplate on how technology is transforming the world we live in.  Technology contributed greatly to the bombing investigation but it also gave us a view of the ethical and societal issues we'll be facing in the digital age.  Laying in hospitals across Boston, the survivors of that terrible day are the ones who need it most of all now.

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5th Anniversary of RealWorldMath.org

Funny how time flies.  As I checked my calendar, I was surprised to see that today is the 5th Anniversary of RealWorldMath.org.  It's hard for me to imagine that it has only been 5 years but then again I'm even more amazed at how far we've come.

I consider myself fortunate to have latched onto the 21st Century movement in Education when I did.  I don't know if that makes me one of the pioneers, but I started this journey in good company.  Real World Math was my Masters project in Educational Technology after starting my graduate work in 2006.  At this time, Google was just gaining in prominence and expanding its offerings to other areas; they acquired YouTube, and Google Earth was just a couple of years old.  This was also the time when social media was beginning.  Twitter was born and Facebook was growing exponentially.  Leaders in Educational Technology began to emerge.  Steve Hardagon was starting Classroom 2.0, Jerome Burg was about to launch GoogleLitTrips, and bloggers, such as Will Richardson, began to provide a narrative for thought leadership.  The Web 2.0 phenomenon was in full swing with a plethora of blogs, wikis, and personal websites being added every day - an Internet Renaissance.  It was all new to me but as I look back now I realize that it was new to most people.  

At that time, it wasn't the notion of creating a website for the Internet that I found daunting but rather creating a website that anyone would notice.  Perhaps the true power of the Web wasn't realized yet.  After moving RWM last summer it has been harder for me to get an accurate count, but I place the number of unique visitors to the site to be well over 200,000.  What I find incredible about that number is that one can assume that, for the most part, it is made up almost entirely of math educators.  That pleases me greatly not only for the sense of accomplishment but it also validates the work that I set out to do - a transformation of math learning.  Whether you lean more towards Dan Meyer's work or Sal Khan, I think the bar is moving, and that is a good thing for everyone.

The other thing I find encouraging about the 200,000+ visitors is that they've come from over 141 countries.  I get the most traffic from English speaking countries (United States, Canada, and Australia) but RWM has also gotten the attention from countries on every other continent.  I feel the true global impact of the Internet is still to be seen, but once people of different languages can collaborate without restriction I think we'll see another large shift in what gets accomplished.

So, in retrospect, maybe it doesn't seem like it's been five years because gauging time with technology is like calculating in dog years.  Maybe one year for you and me is like 5 years of technology?  No doubt it's an exciting time to be living in for anyone who lives on the web.  Let's hope the next five years will be good for Real World Math.  As alway, I thank you for your support.

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Attack of the Drones

Drones (Photo credit: Ars Electronica)

The topic of drones has come to the nation's attention again with the leak of an administrative policy memo.  The brief appears to be a legal justification for targeting Americans abroad who have formed an allegiance with enemy combatants.  This seems to me to be a preclude to a number of ethical questions the nation will face regarding the use of drones.  I think we would be wise to raise these questions with students today since, for good or bad, drones will undoubtably play a larger role in future.

Whenever I have a group of Guam students looking at the island in Google Earth, they are always surprised that they are able to get a bird's-eye view of the local Air Force base.  The ability to see rows of F-18s parked on the tarmac doesn't seem right to them because in reality they don't have access to the base.  Some question whether Google is giving assistance to enemies by providing these views.  From Street View's privacy issues to objections from foreign governments, questions such as these illustrate how advances in technology can sometimes move faster than what public discourse is ready for.

I think most people would be surprised to learn that the number of drone attacks increased significantly when Barack Obama became President.  Less than 50 strikes were reported in 2008 compared to over 120 in 2010.  (This will undoubtably be a topic raised during John Brennan's upcoming CIA Chief confirmation hearing since Brennan is credited as leading the drone program in recent years.)  The argument for military drone aircraft is that they don't require a pilot in the traditional sense.  They are controlled by persons hundreds of miles, or perhaps continents, away. This puts American pilots out of harm's way and makes pilot fatigue a non-issue.  I'm sure military drone aircraft are also less expensive to manufacture and maintain than traditional fighter jets.  The drones may also be more accurate in their targeting, which leads me to arguments against.  A number of strikes in the Middle East have resulted in large numbers of civillian casualties.  If the drones are expendable, does that encourage an even greater use of them?  I think the fact that drones are un-manned aircraft gives most people pause.  How do you feel about sending robots out to kill other humans?  This seems to be a question out of science fiction, but it is the reality of today and a question I think we should pose to students.

What are the acceptable limits of drone use?  I don't mean to present myself as a drone opponent.  I think there is incredible potential in their use (as you can see in the video below) but I think the drone discussion should begin now.  It will be an issue today's youth will face in their daily lives and as the drone industry grows they may find themselves a part of it.  So what do you think? Should drones be used to patrol our borders?  Should police departments have them?  How do you feel about a squadron of drones enforcing our nation's speed limits?  What does "pilot-error" mean in regards to drones?  How do you feel about advertisers using drones?  What does drone airspace mean?  How big can a drone be?  How small?  Can a drone block your view of something?  Can a drone play audio?  How loud?  Would you accept homework from a student's drone?  How would you prove drone crimes? Should we keep drone technology - the good and the bad - away from other countries?  What would a terrorist do with a drone?  What would a drone war look like?

I would love to do a post devoted to the positive use of drones.  They come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and show great promise in aid to the environment, medicine, and safety.  Call me paranoid, but right now, I'm thinking about the drone hazards we may face tomorrow.




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What's your moonshot?

The folks at Google have done it again, releasing a sharp video entitled Moonshot Thinking.  The inspirational video consists of a number of people speaking about our history of out of the box thinking and where it has gotten us.  The title refers to the type of audacious thinking such as believing that we could actually land a man on the moon - a truly remarkable feat when you consider that it came just 60 years after the release of the Model T.

This video also seems to be Google's announcement of the Solve for X project.  Solve for X began at a Google event a year ago when "forty-six scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world came together to discuss and debate radical solutions using breakthrough technologies to some really big problems."  The group is supported by Google. Their website has a definite TED-like feel to it, with a number of videos presenting moonshot thinking.  I'm sure Google detractors will view this as a rip-off, but I like the focus of the site.

To have moonshot thinking, they say, is not to look for 10% improvements, but to strive for achievements that advance us tenfold.  Now, if you've followed this blog at all, you've probably detected a twinge of my dismay over our present educational system.  I'm not camping in a tent on Arne Duncan's lawn but you could put me in with the Occupy Education crowd.  I'm a fan of Diane Ravitch, Will Richardson, Lee Crockett, Sir Ken Robinson, and other big thinkers so you can imagine where I'm heading.  My moonshot thinking is that we completely overhaul how we educate children.  Wait, ...am I supposed to back this up with something?  Is that how this works?    I guess before I assemble my team I'll delve into the Solve for X site more to find my inspiration.  I encourage you to do the same.

What's your moonshot?  


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The fundamental needs of students

I was listening to public radio the other day and came across an interview with David Sazuki.  Sazuki is a Canadian scientist, you probably have seen in nature documentaries on public television.  In the discussion, he was making the point that humans have made the mistake of using nature as fuel for the global economy.  He argued that this should be reversed; that it is human invention that should be servicing the environment.  Air, he said, is a fundamental need of humans.  We can not live without it.  Therefore, air is an absolute necessity to human existance and whatever form the global economy takes, it must not compromise the quality of our air.  Humans have fundamental needs that should not be taken for granted nor should we lose sight of their value.  I pondered this for a while and then began think of it in terms of Education.  What are the fundamental needs of students?  What are the most basic of items that are indispensable for student learning to occur?

Haven. I think we could agree that a student doesn't necessarily have to have a school setting to learn. Students can receive their education online, be homeschooled, or perhaps use a natural setting to learn, but I think a location... a destination... a haven, where learning can take place unhindered, is a fundamental need. I'm sure most of us would opt for a traditional school setting but, sadly, this simply isn't the case for many children around the world. Girls in Afghanistan or children in refugee camps may not have this option. A haven where the child feels safe, protected, or sheltered from external elements, be they natural or man-made, is an absolute necessity.

Once a fundamental need is identified, you must then evaluate its condition or possible threats to it. An immediate solution should be found or else anything that follows is compromised. Common Core standards are meaningless if a student doesn't have a haven to learn. In the U.S., a safe haven may mean that students have to be protected against gun violence. In other locations, it may be that the children need heat, a roof, or clean water. Whatever the case, a student's need for a learning haven must be addressed.

Curiosity. Perhaps this seems less dire than the previous, but I think a child's curiosity is absolutely essential for learning occur. One might combine this with motivation, but in its truest form a child's inquisitiveness is key. It is the genesis of learning. Take a moment to observe any toddler and you will see that this is true. Her curiosity leads her to take her first step, utter her first words, and explore her surroundings. While we may try to encourage her interest with motivation or reward, it is self-driven curiosity that produces the greatest results for her and the greatest challenge for us. The difficulty lies in the fact that this is an internal drive and varies from person to person. We may be able to cause some positive effect by providing an environment where curiosity can flourish, in fact, it is essential that we try to do this. This not only refers back to my haven argument, but also serves as a reminder that our instructional materials should engage the learner. Bubble tests and drill work won't foster curiosity. Letter grades may encourage performance but do not serve as a replacement to the power of the inquisitive mind. Curiosity is a fundamental need and it is why we should pay close attention to the learning environments of children especially in their early formative years.

Communication. This may appear to be an obvious choice but it certainly shouldn't be taken for granted.  My appreciation of this fundamental need has only grown with my work with special needs children. The ability to receive and convey information is at the core of the learning process. Before assessing an internet connection, textbook supply, or lesson plan, consider how precious and complicated adequate communication can be. Is the content at a sufficient level of difficulty? Is the format or media used sufficient? Blind students or those with learning disabilities will certainly require special methods, but each child has communication needs to varying degrees. Reflect upon Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences and consider if you are communicating effectively with each and every student. It is a daunting task but crucial for effectual learning to occur. We have an incredible number of ways we can convey learning material today but there are just as many distinctive needs of the children that receive it. That they receive information or challenges in an appropriate format is a fundamental need.  

The students, in turn, need to be able to demonstrate their understanding. This may imply various forms of written or oral assessments, but I am more concerned with the most basic level of communication with the teacher. It is essential that each student is able to communicate in some way their comprehension or difficulties, and have an instructor that reacts to each accordingly. Even the solitary learner needs a cue of success or growth.

Foundation. The importance of having a strong base of knowledge is in direct relation to the difficulty of the task. You cannot climb a ladder starting on the 10th rung. A strong foundation includes strategies, conceptual knowledge, language, and other prerequisites. To ignore this fundamental need is to invite frustration and detachment from the learning process; this is precisely what happens when students are advanced to the next lesson or grade level before they are ready. If you accept foundation as a fundamental need then you should be receptive to the ideas of self-paced or individualized learning; the development of or, again, the multiple intelligences of each child is unique. I think it is obvious now that the way education has lumped students together and expected them to learn uniformly is one of the reasons why standardized scores seem so dismal. That is an aberration formed in large part because of our insistence to group their qualitative data by grade. Regardless, whether it is an advancement in grade level, moving from one lesson to the next, or tackling a single idea, a student must have a foundation to grow from.

Teacher. To include a teacher as a fundamental need does not infer that this is true only in the traditional sense. A teacher can come in many guises: a computer, peer, nature, or the student's curiosity could perform as the teacher in some sense. In any form, I think the primary role of the teacher is to present a challenge to the learner. It should start at the foundation and then be communicated in a way that satiates the curiosity. A quality teacher would adjust each element accordingly for the learner and then advance the idea to a higher degree. A responsive teacher would give feedback and encouragement when needed. Once again, this is a fundamental need that can be applied in many ways; additionally, what works best for one person may not work for another. The established practice is to provide an instructor until a child reaches maturity, but the independent learner - the curious - should be encouraged at all times.

So there you have it; my fundamental needs of students. A haven, curiosity, communication, foundation, and teacher are essential components for learning. A lacking of any of these components will have a detrimental affect on a student's performance and should be rectified immediately. Perhaps additions should be made or my reasoning is faulty? Think about it for a while and add your suggestions in the comments. Test your idea for various forms of learning; for instance, love may seem like a fundamental need but isn't one that a computer would supply.

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Google Earth in Education: On-Air Hangout Part 2

Join the creators of Google Lit Trips (Jerome Burg) and Real World Math (Thomas Petra) for another conversation on Google Earth's role in education.  Forty-five minutes wasn't enough time to cover all of the topics that we wanted to, and so we are adding another hangout date: Friday, November 9 at 8pm Eastern.  We'll be discussing further the development of our websites, favorite features, strategies for implementing geo-lessons, the future role of Google Earth in education, and much more.  

Once again, this is a Google Edu On-Air Hangout that takes place on November 9 at 8pm Eastern on Thomas Petra's Google+ page.  You can post questions live during the Hangout or tweet them in advance to @RealWorldMath or @GoogleLitTrips. Use the Twitter hashtag #earthedu.

In case you missed Part 1 of the discussion, the video is provided below.

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Super PACs for Education

If the most common solution to solving a problem is to throw some money at it, then the equally common response is "We don't have enough funding."  It would be fair to anticipate this sort of reply even more so in a time of a national economic crisis, but surely we can scrape together a few cents for those things that are really important - like, for instance, Education or maybe a flooded city.

Now, I'm not saying that money solves all problems, but there is evidence all around us of how times are tough and perhaps some extra cash couldn't hurt.  (Have you been to Staten Island lately?)  Yes, things are getting better.  The economy seems to be steadily recovering, but for quite a while it would seem that everywhere you looked peoples' out turned-pockets were empty, that is, unless you were supporting a political campaign.

According to The Sunlight Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization, the amount of independent expenditures for this election has amounted to over 1.2 billion dollars.  Independent expenditures are primarily the campaign ads for television or radio that we have enjoyed so much (cough) in the past year.  This is money that has been raised by political non-profits, unaffiliated party committees, political action committees, and Super PACs.  What's made this election so different from the past is the introduction of the Super PACs.  Since the U.S. Supreme Court decided in its Citizens United case that corporations have a right to free political speech, Personal Action Committees could now raise unlimited funding to support campaigns, provided they didn't coordinate with the candidates.  You see, corporations are people, my friend.  There are almost a thousand Personal Action Committees today, but while the initial concern was that large corporations would be indirectly funding the campaigns, that hasn't been the case.  The Center for Responsive Politics reports that 80% of the PAC money has come from the top 100 individual donors, while less than 0.5% was contributed by publicly-traded corporations.

Since the beginning of 2011, Super PACs have raised a total of $623,588,019.71.  According to Sunlight, 75% of that money is spent on negative campaign ads.  The three largest Super PACs combined have raised almost half of the total PAC money: Restore Our Future ($142,645,946), American Crossroads ($99,828,397), and Priorities USA Action ($66,182,180).  The two largest PACs support Mitt Romney, while Priorities USA Action supports the re-election of President Obama.  So it would seem that if a worthy cause came along, there is some money out there that can be generated.  That's good news if you are Karl Rove or live in Hoboken, N.J.

During this campaign season, I have been dismayed at how little education has been raised as a campaign issue.  President Obama supports recruiting more Science and Math teachers, and he has made it easier for college students to get student loans.  I'm never sure of what Mitt Romney says, but regardless, neither candidate has come forward with a thoughtful plan towards the education reform I feel is needed.  Education reform needs leadership and ideas more than it needs money, but I'm sure any district would benefit from a stronger budget.  Maybe all of those Super PAC donors can help?  There are over 50 million students enrolled in elementary to secondary schools in the United States. If the $623,588,019.71 of SuperPac money was split equally among the 50 million students in the United States it would only amount to $12.47 per student.  That doesn't seem very impressive, but what else could it buy that might help schools?  Here's a list I came up with; you may want to add your own in the comments.

• 226,759,280 healthy school lunches (source)
• 188,966,066 pints of orange finger paint (source)
• 1,247,176 iPads (source)
• 1,895,404 iPad minis (source)
• 25,203 school janitors (source)
• 14,130 school nurses (source)
• 17,321 elementary gym teachers (source)
• 18,896 high school band teachers (source)
• 30,708 teacher aides (source)
• 100 elementary schools built in 2008 (source)
• 103,391 SMART boards (source)
• 4,988 school buses (assuming $125,000 per)
• 124,967,539 crayon boxes (64 ct. with sharpener!) (source)
•  72,594,647 kick balls (source)

In just a few days all that loose cash will be freed up for other purposes.  Instead of that bake sale, consider a more ambitious approach and start your own Super PAC for Education.

I'm District 671 and I approve of this message.

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Mark your calendars!

Had enough of Biden vs. Ryan? Obama vs. Romney?  Well, mark your calendars for a kinder, gentler debate: Burg vs. Petra.  Join the creators of Google Lit Trips (Jerome Burg) and Real World Math (Thomas Petra) for a conversation on Google Earth's role in education.  We'll be discussing the development of our websites, favorite features, strategies for implementing geo-lessons, the future role of Google Earth in education, and much more.  This is a Google Edu On-Air Hangout that takes place on November 2 at 7pm Eastern on Thomas Petra's Google+ page.  You can post questions live during the Hangout or tweet them in advance to @RealWorldMath or @GoogleLitTrips. Use the Twitter hashtag #earthedu.

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Chrome Apps for Assistive Technology

You have the best seat in the house to learn with educators around the world. 

Over 110 Hangouts. Over 70 presenters. 

All free on Google+. Education On Air. https://sites.google.com/site/eduonair/  

I could use a little help with this one.  As you can see above, I'm going to be presenting a different type of topic than Google Earth in a Google+ On-Air Hangout on October 16.  The subject is Chrome Apps for Assistive Technology and it falls under my current role as an Assistive Technology teacher.  Assistive Technology is a growing area in the field of Special Education.  It involves finding applications and devices that can enrich the lives of children with special needs.  With the present boom in technology, there is a rapidly changing amount of possibilities.

In the Hangout, Christine Rosario and I will be highlighting a new website, ChromeToolbox.com, and its list of Chrome apps for Assistive Technology.  The site was built by John Calvert and Mark Surabian.  It reviews a number of apps for vision impairments, hearing disorders, ESL, developmental delays, and more.  To watch the Hangout, go to my Google+ page on October 16 at 6pm Eastern.

 Please pass this post on to any Special Education professionals or other interested persons that you may know.  Most often there are helpful tools that exist but people just aren't aware of them.  So please help me spread awareness of this great new resource.

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More than a music video

If you haven't seen Arcade Fire's The Wilderness Downtown video online, I'll pause 5 minutes while you familiarize yourself.  It's quite the blend of computer design, music, video, art, and Google Earth.  It came out in 2010, but it was new to me.  I think it's a pretty neat presentation for a number of reasons.

From the moment you see the Home screen you should be aware that this is more than just another music video.  Before you get distracted by the random flocks of computer generated starlings swarming across your screen, you'll see that this is billed as a Chrome Experiment.  Chrome Experiments are Google's open source "showcase of creative web experiments" made by designers who are pushing the limits of what modern coding can accomplish.  This particular video was written and directed by Chris Milk and built by A Radical Media Production in HTML5.  I don't know how they created all the effects but they certainly had my attention.

The video starts off by loading a number of different sized windows that will populate your computer screen.  The windows pop in and out with scenes related to the video.  This brings us back to the reason why Google is listed as a contributor on the Home screen and why you are asked to enter the address of the home you grew up.  As the song progresses you'll notice some  windows contain Google Geo views of your address - some are Google's Street View while others are arial photography from a bird's eye point of view.

Those birds and the trees never seem to go away.  Towards the end you are encouraged to write the younger you a postcard in the "tree-script" and try your hand at drawing trees yourself.  This portion of the video concludes with more birds flying in to perch and take off from your creations.

So, it's a pretty cool video and I liked the song, but I see a lot more in it.  First, it involves the viewer from the beginning.  You get to see your own personalized version with your address and then you get to add your own artwork to the mix.  That's a terrific hook and so I wonder how this format could be used by advertisers?  I don't think it would work with M&Ms bouncing across the screen or a Ford Taurus cruising on a scenic highway, but it's a better hook than the "Choose your Ad experience" they've come up with so far.  The video is a promotion for Arcade Fire after all, remember?  I think something done well like this would be an effective advertisement if it just ended with Drink Coke.  I see a lot of potential.  Even better for advertisers, it also includes a social element.  The user can share their postcard or video with others and spread it further.  I don't know why it took 2 years to finally reach me but I'd like to see more productions like this.

Now I'm not advocating for more advertisements online but I can appreciate the fact that content providers need revenue.  So whether this format is used for advertising or pushing some other message, I think the mix of modern coding, art, and social media is a winning idea.

If you still haven't tried it out, here's my video creation.  You'll find different levels of success with your address depending on whether Google has Street View in the vicinity.  One more thing: be sure to watch for the little dot of the jogger running in the Google views.  I'd love to know how they got him to follow the roads.

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The other PBL - Passion Based Learning

Louder Than a Bomb (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I usually cringe a bit when I hear edu-buzz words like "engaging" and "passion".  I'm not saying they aren't important sentiments; it's just that those terms are used so often.  But I won't argue against the word choice of the new PBL - Passion Based Learning.  It's a perfect title for a growing trend in education.

 Passion Based Learning isn't a new concept.  We've probably all experienced our own form of it at least once in our lives.   I'll define PBL as finding something that interests kids and using their motivation to build parallel strengths.  Sports, clubs, and arts programs have been doing it for decades, but finding a place for it in the traditional curriculum is a different matter.  For some reason it has been difficult to produce a profound inspiration in the time between the school bell rings.  One reason is that each child has his or her own personal strengths, interests, and (as Gardner would put it) intelligences.  Advances in technology and pedagogy have enabled educators now to take a more concentrated effort towards individualizing instruction, but how does this work in a full classroom?

I think a key element of PBL is presenting a variety of topics or activities. Most children have a narrow focus of the things they are passionate about, so your first goal would be to expand upon that.  Get out of the textbook and show them something new.  In a similar vein, your offerings should come in multiple formats: visual, auditory, tactile, etc.  For example, Lego Robotics seems to be a popular choice of passion based learning for STEM programs.  Use your imagination and look to your professional networks for ideas.  You'll find a ton of material from organizations such as NASA available online for free.  Not everything is going to be a winning choice for everyone but neither is a homogeneous curriculum.

Another important characteristic of passion based learning is time on task.  Have you ever had a group of kids excited about a topic and then dashed their interest on the rocks of "moving on".  It's amazing how some teachers are slaves to their Teacher Editions and testing schedules.  When you find something that interests students, then provide the time to magnify and expand upon it.  Go off the beaten trail and spend an extra day on the topic or develop an extended activity.  Google is one of many companies that provides employees with time to work on special projects unrelated to their jobs.  Some of the features you use in Google applications came from these very pet projects.  What if you gave your students 20% of class time each week to do the same?  Imagine a room with different groups of students working on SketchUp models, learning the piano, performing Shakespeare, and working on video production.  It sounds chaotic, but it also sounds fun.  Give them the time to cultivate their interests.  If a group of students want to go even further, then consider setting up an after-school club.  Lego Robotic programs started out small and grew into events held worldwide.

Students are going to need guidance and so some form of coaching or mentoring is required.  This would be the perfect time to incorporate expertise from outside of the classroom.  Architects and scientists may seem like solid choices but remember the first rule is variety.  There are plenty of professionals and non-professionals that can offer wisdom and support.  I've seen examples of programs that involve months of expert guidance that conclude with an awards ceremony.  The Louder Than A Bomb teen poetry slam is a great example of this and how students can achieve greatness with mentoring and the time to flourish.

Showing relevance to life outside of school is listed as one of the Nine Tenets of Passion Based Learning compiled by Kimberly Vincent.  This is embodied in the much acclaimed video produced by a YMCA program for children in North Minneapolis.  I'm speaking of course about Hot Cheetos and Takis by Y.N. Rich Kids.  The video has gone viral on YouTube with over 2.25 million views.  The Beats and Rhymes program has professionals helping kids write lyrics about their lives.  They've produced 8 albums of songs covering topics such as bullies, summertime, rainy days, and yes... snacks.

Like project based learning, passion based learning provides the opportunity to learn additional skills and benefits that you wouldn't normally find in teacher-centered instruction.  Time management, working with a group, assuming role-specific responsibilities, prioritizing, extended research, following advice and taking criticism, managing resources, learning new tools, striving for mastery, and communication skills are some that come to mind.  No doubt you'll notice that many of these would be considered "life skills" that you and I deal with each day.

Perhaps the ultimate goal of passion based learning is to use it to develop subject-area content knowledge.  The problem hasn't been the concepts in mathematics, science, social studies, and so on, but rather how they have been presented.  So use their "passion" as a way to show how the curriculum is relevant.  Use the rocket club as the way to teach physics.  Construct mathematical knowledge with SketchUp models.  Incorporate dactylic meter in your poetry slam.  Use the snack video production as an avenue to address nutrition.  Call it the long con if you like, but if the students are interested in becoming experts you'll have an easier time getting them to a level of mastery in a subject area.

The album notes for Y.N. Rich Kids' The Kids Do Stand a Chance might provide the best argument for passion based learning - "We all have something that we are good at and we must find it inside ourselves and carve out our own destiny."

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Robots Attack!

Image source: TrekMovie.com

I'm always amazed at the recurrence some ideas seem to take in my day.  Maybe I'm just being hyper vigilant but lately the topic of robots keeps popping up.  The August issue of iste's Learning & Leading magazine arrived proclaiming "We Love Robots!"  I've seen a lot of buzz about STEM learning with Lego Robotics but perhaps we are playing into the hands of our new overlords.

ro·bot  (noun)
    1. a machine that resembles a human and does mechanical, routine tasks on command.
    2. a person who acts and responds in a mechanical, routine tasks on command.
    3. any machine or mechanical device that operates automatically with humanlike skill.

This post could go in a couple of directions based on that definition.  My first inclination is to ponder who the robots in education are?  An argument could be made that traditional schooling has been preparing students to perform as robots, but I'll steer clear of that weighty topic.  I'm thinking more along the lines of 'computers in education', or is it 'education in computers'?  When students go to a computer lab are we just plugging them in and allowing the computer to manage the learning process?  The line is increasingly becoming blurred as to whether computers are used as learning tools or whether they are assuming the role of the instructor.

This past week Audrey Watters addressed this conundrum in the 2012 Learning 2.0 Virtual Conference with her presentation: Robots in the Classroom.  I've been a fan of Audrey's Hacked Education blog for some time and she didn't disappoint with a thought provoking presentation on the role of robots in Education.  From Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics to robot essay graders, she posed a number of ethical questions on just how far educators should hand control over to machines.

We don't normally think of computers as robots, but they can be a "mechanical device that operates automatically with humanlike skill."  In fact, as Audrey pointed out, computers are exceeding humans in certain educational roles.  Computers are being used as robo-graders for millions of standardized tests each year, and I'm not just talking about the bubble questions.  Robo-readers are also being used to grade the essay portions as well.  A New York Times article reported one automated reader "can grade 16,000 essays in 20 seconds" (I can hear all the English teachers groan from here).  Computerized tutoring is another rising trend.  It's hard to argue against a computer's effectiveness in this role when it has the capacity to adapt to the myriad of learner differences much more easily than a classroom teacher.  Some Florida schools found it more economical this year to offer summer school online than to offer site-based instruction.  Learner management systems are also becoming more advanced with personalized options.  So is it possible that we may see the day when an entire school district goes online for the entire school year?  That really isn't that far-fetched of an idea.  The question we need to ask ourselves is whether or not these are intrinsic improvements for Education.  Are these developments occurring for efficiency or for economic reasons?  Does computerized instruction dehumanize learning?  Most people would agree that a computer is a tool but we are fast approaching a threshold where this tool may become another member of the faculty.

Science fiction author Sir. Arthur Clarke once said "Any teacher that can be replaced by a machine should be."  To that end I would refer the machine to Asimov's First law of robotics: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.

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