Phixr

Phixr was so easy to access.  I signed in using my gmail acount, uploaded a picture and started playing with the features in less than one minute! 

I was able to crop and frame my favorite picture from our character breakfast at Disney last week.

Phixr would allow me to upload the picture to Facebook, but I would have to give it access to my existing pictures on FB, so I did not do that.  It also allows me to upload to Snapfish so I can directly order prints. 


Since working with a single picture was that simple, I thought I would mix it up by uploading ten pictures and test the multiple picture option.  If this is as easy, I can see myself using this program in a science class where students upload and mix pictures from lab experiments as a way to tell the story of the lab.  Don't get me wrong, they would still need to do a formal lab write up as preparation for college, but I could assess their conceptual understanding from hypothesis to conclusion via the photographs.  It was not as easy as I wanted to combine the pictures into a collage, but I still like the idea of creating a photo lab report to accompany a written one.  

Think Free

Before this assignment, I never heard of Think Free, so this was the perfect opportunity to check it out!  Their "Cloud Office, Everywhere" description on their webpage could be describing Google Docs, as it boasts of affording users the ease of collaborating in online Office Environments. 

The write up and the images support my presumptions of its similarities to Google Docs, especially with their beautiful concept map paired with its professional youtube promotional video. 




ThinkFree is not as its name suggests; it is not another run of the mill open office software programs.  In one of the write ups it claims that one of its special abilities is to export files as PDFs.  I just clicked over to my Google Docs and I can download word documents as a PDF.  It also claims it can work on Android devices where Google Docs cannot.  Tomorrow I will borrow my daughter's cell phone to test this claim.  For tonight, I found a website http://thinkfree-office.en.softonic.com/   so I can take a free look at the software; play with it to see what it can do!  While I thought I found a way to do an end run around the system, I should have read what I previously stated: I cannot play with this for free.  My only analysis can be made on the software claims, Youtube videos and random blogs on ThinkFree.  From my perch, do not see a difference between the currently free Google Docs and Think Free.  If I cannot use Google Docs on an Android phone tomorrow, that would be the tipping point toward paying for the service.

Creating my own Web Page

When I started creating my own web page, I was excited to have so many templates from which to decide.  I spent hours trying to force my ideas into the formats, and actually created and deleted three sites, sub-pages, uploaded videos and pictures.  I read and re-read the information on how to change templates.  Becoming very frustrated, I scrapped the templates and made my own site. My greatest disappointment is that I do not have a beautiful background.  Just like everything else in this class, I will return and update this throughout the week.  For now, I will debut my first attempt at a completed web-site Edington: Take One.

Online Concept Mapping

I am so excited; I have never learned how to do online concept maps.  I've looked at the research that shows that students creating concept maps increases their conceptual understanding of a concept, helps them identify connection among concepts and increases learning.  To learn how to create a dynamic concept map is very exciting!

So, I've created my first concept map on Inertia.  I would use it as a model for a class, where students would  be asked to create their own concept maps providing the details on the definition, history, and examples they've experienced.  Since most students have cell phones with video capabilities, I would ask that they create classroom appropriate  SAFE demonstrations of inertia (SAFE = following all traffic laws and school rules).

I am interested in the create a team feature and am going to explore that next.  If anyone wants to do that with me, respond to this blog.  I also want to explore the zooming and panning feature, which sounds similar to Prezi.

One thing that made me sad, was that the links to the youtube video and the simulation were not dynamic links once converted to the JPG file.  The Inertia video can be viewed

and the simulation can be found by clicking this basic link.  If anyone knows how to make the bubbl.us dynamic, please let me know.  Thank you!

Screencasting Trial Two

This time was much simpler.  I debated between doing Google Maps or the Camtasia; since I worked on Camtasia last night, I gave it a go.  It took only three to four minutes.  This is really cool software.

I did run into a bit of a challenge or learning opportunity when I attempted to embed the video because people do not really like to click a link http://www.screencast.com/t/Y3ePZrpL
to get to the video.  When I finished the video, the Camtasia screen gave me two options

 I thought I could use the embed code along with the option of interpreting typed HTML and the video would appear.  This was not the case.  I copied the embed code and pasted it here



I received a HTML warning about an opening tag.  Since I am not well versed, actually cannot speak, tech language, I was at a loss.  Being curious, and a math person, I began a mission to find an opening tag without a closing tag. 


Again, the only image that appeared was the bookcase, the background to my blog.  I am very confused, and motivated to fix this.  (I do realize that I could simply upload this to Youtube and avoid all of this added stress, but where would the fun be in that?) 

Again, I tried to read the code, and I noticed a break between Camtasia and Studio, I will try fixing that. 



I realized early on that the links do not work in preview mode, so you need to save and publish to test things.  So, I saved my work, published, found that the links did not work.  Ok, that gives me some data with which I can work.  Unfortunately, now that I've reverted back to draft mode, the links are invisible.  Action question:  does anyone know why this happened? 

Back to being a physics teacher, driven by curiosity and I am going to try one more thing.  MAP but this time I only have a hyperlink with a plain word map.  So, I am left with the question as to why Google Blogger does not interface with Camtasia embedded videos and resolve to upload it to Youtube to actually embed the video here. 

Action question:  Is there a way to embed the Camtasia videos into this blog? I would love comments and suggestions!  I should have known better that my three minute Camtasia activity was too easy :)

Screencasting

Finally, we have an activity I've tried before.  This time, I will take it up a notch.  I've created a photo book in Snapfish.  My goal is to put faint music in the background and read the book in my screen capture.  One challenge, actually two, are my boys, ages five and four, who are not asleep as of yet.  I am hoping when I have everything ready to go the house will be quiet.  Perhaps I can use a decoy.  If the sky clears, I can pose to go out stargazing as we have a real opportunity to see a comet in tonight's sky.  If you click on the link on the right, it should take you to the article describing the comet and position tonight.  The site has been dynamic so far in that the position it posted yesterday is different than the position it posted today.  Personally, I like the dynamic blogs that change with additional data. 

SCREENCASTING

The first video I embed will briefly show how I used Camtasia to record my reading the book.  I did embed a hotspot, a hyperlink to the Camtasia web-site, but when I produced and uploaded my video, I received a warning that Youtube did not support hotspots.  Another disappointing feature is that I did not record a screen capture of how I ultimately added the audio behind my voice; perhaps I will take this as a personal challenges for the balance of the week.

Disclaimer:  I did not find how to add additional audio to my video/screencapture via trial and error; rather, I found a Youtube tutorial that gave me step-by-step instructions.  While the instructions are for a former version, it gave me insight as where to look for what I needed.  Now   Here is my first attempt at creating a children's book in Snapfish, and recording the book and the audio using Camtasia. 

 

 

I could not resist the challenge.  I went back into the video and recorded how I found and put the music behind the reading of the book.  Here are those instructions.  It is not a perfect explanation, as I made a few errors during the audio.  However, it does demonstrate learning! 

 

 

I also could not resist creating a polished copy of just my book and my voice.  I guess I am finally getting comfortable doing this online.  Thank you for the opportunity.

 



A touch of March and additional practice embedding

Source: squidoo.com via F on Pinterest

It is almost here, I am so excited.  Perhaps this confirms for you that I am a certified math geek in that I celebrate days like this. On the other hand, it just might be my precursor to my St. Patrick's day celebration!     Either way, it is March and we are quickly approaching the Vernal Equinox, one of the two days each year when the length of the day equals the length of the night.  It is really a fascinating topic, feel free to read more online at timeanddate.com. 

http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/march-equinox.html

Another reason I love March is that we have a plethora of family birthdays and I have people to celebrate every week.  This year, the Roman Catholic Church will start the process of selecting a new pope,celebrate holy week and Easter Sunday.  It is a very exciting month.  I am also excited to learn new technology tools to use to promote learning and understanding.  Here we go!

(Did I even mention the basketball side of the month?)

http://www.hooksettlibrary.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/March-Madness-Word-Image.jpg

Strange quote to ponder during break...

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/ruben_blades.html

Could it be possible?  We live in a society where the search for information results in immediate gratification, with minimal verification of facts, triangulation or thinking.  We communicate via text and email and are beginning to lose the art of face-to-face communication.  Do you even think students would understand what it means to keep something between you, me and the fence post?  Or what it means to stand at a fence line to communicate with your neighbor?

Don't get me wrong, the instant communication is awesome.  I can send a text to a child and get a response within a minute; while this provides comfort for parents, could this contribute to the increase of anxiety school aged youth face today?  On the other hand, instantaneous information was essential this past week when we experienced an untimely death; Facebook provided immediate information and the medium to support each other across the miles. 

Just a few thoughts to ponder as we enjoy our break. 

Map Making - Take One

Miguel Helft's article in the New York times July 2007, talks about creating interactive maps on the , web that are similar to Wikipedia in that everyone can update the map.  As he talks about tracking graffiti, I think of how wonderful this would be to track potholes in Michigan.  I also pause to realize how out of touch I am with all of the technological advances:  this article was published in 2007!  So, in front of an audience of strangers I will make my first attempt at creating an interactive map.  The first decision is do I use my map to tell a story or simply as an exercise to demonstrate I can add pictures, locations, text, etc?

If I was in a science class, I could use the interactive map during an orienteering lesson.  If in a math classroom, it could be a launch on how to graph ordered pairs.  I've used the math example very low tech before, with chalk and a chalkboard, so I am curious how it will morph into a high tech activity.  The low tech activity was for students to take three minutes to write down directions from the school to their home.  They would try to fish out details with clarifying questions like "do you want north & south, or left and right" and I would simply respond describe it as best you can.  From there we would have someone read their description and I would draw their journey on the board.  After several were posted on the board, and simply because I ran out of room, I asked what we should do.  Of course they started with "erase the first one" and I always said, but we might need it later.  That led them to the idea of layering the maps and they discovered the need for a point of origin.  In this example, the school made sense, because that is where we started.  As we progressed, the need for direction came into play and they had to decide if they wanted to use North, South, East and West, or Left, Right, Up and Down.  Sooner or later "laziness is a virtue" kicked in and they didn't want to write all that, so they decided to use signs:  + for right or up and - for left or down. I could still launch with the students writing their story, then pairing the students to use only the written word to create a map.  This would challenge their writing skills, direction skills and their map making skills.

Mattawan Fire Fighter

Antwerp Sunshine Library, Mattawan

Mattawan Marching Band, Mattawan High School Football Field

Mattawan Little League, Mattawan, MI

So, now for the experiment.  Creating an account for Google Maps was easy!  There was a link to upload pictures, which was one of the tasks, so I clicked on it.  That took me to the Panoramio site. I uploaded pictures and added them to the map.  Now the dilemma:  how do I get these on MY map?   I only posted four locations to start, just in case it did not work.   I posted them here for your review.  As for the map assignment, I obviously did not read the directions in their entirety, so back I go. 
Trial Two can be found on GoogleMaps - Edington Take Two.  While I could not use the four pictures as I had hoped, if you click on the red line you will see an image for the fire house and if you click on the blue line you will link to a Youtube video of the marching band.  It was very clunky to do this, so I think I need more practice.  Thank you for your patience with me as I learn all of these new technological tricks!  For my final trick of the evening I am going to try to embed the map directly into this post:
View Edington Map - Take Two in a larger map

Commentary....

I did not realize the impact Pinterest had on education until I was observing the 100 day projects for my son's kindergarten classroom.  There were 100 piece puzzles, 100 legos, 100 pennies, which seemed normal for kindergarten.  Then there was a trifold poster board, with fifty crayons glued to the top and 50 matching colors to the bottom.  Then there was an extravagant design in the middle  It was awesome.  Then I bumped into the dad who helped with the project.  The design I admired  was created using a hair dryer to melt the crayons leaving wax splatters in random patters on the trifold canvas.  I was very impressed. The dad told me his wife found it on Pinterest.  I never even considered looking online for ideas for my child's kindergarten project.  I cannot imagine the impact Pinterest would have if I was in charge of a science fair this year!


Another area that technology is changing things is Facebook.  We just lost a student who graduated with my daughter.  Facebook has allowed people to say goodbye or express their love and appreciation for the young man online; like sending messages to heaven.  It is a true testament to his life and has to be comforting to his parents, if not right now, later when the shock of losing their 22 year old son subsides.

All of the unintentional advances made by technology is amazing!  I am excited to learn all that is available to me and use it intentionally to connect with students and promote their conceptual understanding of mathematics or physics.

The Power of a Word: Trigonometry

I've taught math for years and I do not know the number of times that the mere mention of the word Trigonometry would stop  math students in their tracks.  For me, the phrase podcast stopped me in my tracks.  I've put it on a pedestal, made it the keystone, and freeze every time I approach the topic.
When we started exploring podcasts, I found NPR audio tapes with written transcripts and videos from Morning Joe as podcasts with RSS feeds.  I was still baffled:  could a podcast simply be an audio or video embedded in a website?
I started by finding a basic definition of podcast using Wikipedia as a basis.  Wikipedia called a podcast "a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio radio, video, PDF, or ePub files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online to a computer or mobile device."  Was I really that math student intimidated by the word Trigonometry? Did I allow my ignorance hinder my progress?  Was I already creating screencasts and videos and the only thing keeping me from the podcast was the creation of a serial, syndication and an audience?  
Honestly, this annoyed me.  I visited PodOmatic and created a free account and in less than four minutes I created a small podcast; rather, one 26 second episode.  That was it.  This user friendly site allowed me to record audio, pair it with a graphic and in 26 seconds.  My ignorance paralyzed me, and I allowed that happen.   Not knowing something is normal; not taking the initiative to educate yourself is the problem.  In the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow and the Lion went to the Wizard for help.  Based on the knowledge they were provided, they believed he was the 'Great and Powerful Oz'.  Did that make them stupid; no, rather they were misinformed.  Once Toto removed the curtain, their ignorance was changed to knowledge:  the Wizard was just a man behind a curtain.  PodOmatic was my Toto and my first episode can be heard here.  It is a very plain audio file, but it is my first step.  The success is in the fact that I took the step.  Tomorrow is another day, and an opportunity for another step.  There is still fear involved, but curiosity is creeping into the picture.  What could happen if I used Snagit to create screencast videos and translated those into a PodOmatic episode?  My 'what ifs' will soon out weigh my doubts and I will be able to fully experiment with this new technology.  I am so thankful that I tried. 

Embedding other information: the experiment continues

Embedding different information into a blog is most interesting. I captured part of a Morning Joe show where Steven Colbert is mocking the "secret" golf match between the President & Tiger Woods.   I offer that this is different than uploading the Vimeo or Youtube video as I had to use a new screencapture software (Snagit) and capture just a tidbit of the video. 

Curious how difficult it would be to add a calendar to the blog?  https://www.google.com/calendar/render?tab=cc   Clearly, cutting and pasting the link will not do that for me.  My new goal is to figure out how to add an interactive calendar to my blog.  It would be neat if people could request meetings with me on the blog, thereby triggering an email where I could confirm or deny the appointment.  This should be similar to the workings of a mediated discussion board, but I do not know how to make one.  If anyone has any suggestions, I am open to help.  Otherwise I am going to try to read all I can about creating blogs this week and find a way to add the interactive calendar and other items to my blog experiment!

Podcasts for Teachers: Step One Receiving Info from a Podcast

Exploring podcasts is another new adventure for me, but this is one for which I have especially been  interested.  The trouble with the internet is that it is filled with infinite information, posted by everyone, and often verified by no one.  As a novice, I decided to stick to the big names that have been evaluated.  From there, I will venture forth to find the brilliant with less credentialing, which is a group to which I hope to belong some day!

My first stop on this journey was at National Public Radio and I found that they have a multitude of podcasts dedicated at Education:NPR.   The first story that intrigued me was African Americans Fly High with Math & Science which is a story about an individual deciding to go above and beyond his comfort zone, pushing himself, and committing to promote STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).  To listen to the podcast, you click on the blue arrow and you can listen to his 10 minute story.  In the right margin suggestions appeared for additional stories that may peak my interest, and with all of the data gathering used by Google, it was no surprise that an article about cyber schools was right there.  This podcast discussed for-profit cyber schools falling short of their sales pitch.  I enjoyed the low-tech approach of the podcast:  these were real people with believable stories, paired with downloadable transcripts so one could easily draw quotes from the podcast at a future date.     I was unable to find an RSS feed for NPR, so I will continue my search.

Using iTunes it was very easy to find and subscribe to podcasts via RSS feeds.  Unfortunately, I am not sure how to share that information, so I will use a quick screen capture to show you my subscriptions:

I have selected to receive daily podcasts from Morning Joe, weekly from Washington Week Video, and a one time download of  50 Physics Lectures. 

 My next adventure will be to create my own podcast, but in my explorations this evening I found instructions on how to make my own podcast, which will be my adventure tomorrow evening! If you cannot wait to find out how I will make my own, click on the image of 'Making a Podcast', it is just a hyper link that will take you to the iTunes page on how to make your own podcast.

Embedded Media Experiment

How some students feel their teachers will react when they make a math mistake.

I will now be experimenting with embedding media into my blog.  The purpose of my taking Ed Tech classes is so that I can start an online math and physics tutoring business.  I am going to use some of the images created for that in this blog.  The first I'd like to add is a rendering a friend did, without any copyright infringement of Abby in NCIS.  The second picture was drawn by the same friend bu we don't think we can use it on a blog or on Facebook since it really blurs the lines of copyright issues. 

My next experiment will be embedding a video into this blog.  The video I am going to embed is one that I created for the a Start Garden Competition.  During the competition I realized that I needed to learn more about teaching and learning online which provided the impetus for me to take classes in Ed Tech.  The video I created is in Vimeo has a hyperlink http://vimeo.com/50445272, but that was not a fancy option with the embed function, so I will need to select one from YoutTube, too. 

Another challenge is to embed a Goodgle Map into this blog.  I've selected a satellite image to add a bit of pizazz to this page.  Using the task bar at the top only entered the image as a link, which is not very beautiful:  Google Map of WMU Kalamazoo Campus. So I decided to try something different.  I decided to use a screen capture of the satellite image and make that image a link to the actual site. I am more pleased with the image than I am the blue hyper link.

If I can think of anything else to add to this experiment, I will update it throughout the week.

Flickr and photobucket

Now I have a Flickr account named JodiEdington and a photobucket account also uniquely named JodiEdington.  Both were very easy to use, I will have to experiment with more features to determine my favorite.

You may notice that the pictures I posted are pretty generic, that is because the profiles are public. 

History of Instructional Design and Technology

 A few random thoughts on Chapter 3 from Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology by Robert Reiser and John Dempsey (third edition, 2012).


I love the idea that instructional media excludes the teacher, chalkboard and textbook, which leaves me curious if the virtual Blackboard is also excluded.  Furthermore, this statement seems juxtapose to the quote a few pages later by D.K. Berlo where he stated "as a communication man, I must argue strongly that it is the process that is central and that media, though important, secondary."  In my mind, the process that is central is directly connected to the teacher, and the teacher determines if the content is dispensed in a behaviorist fashion (transmitted to the student) or via a constructivist approach. 

Above is D.K. Berlo's communication model, which was found online February 7, 2013,  at
http://comunicazionemax.blog.tiscali.it/2011/06/05/i-modelli-della-comunicazione-di-berlo-1960-1-di-10/

Delicious

As requested, I have created another public social bookmarking page for myself, under the most unique name JodiEdington@JodiEdington.  I am concerned that I will not be able to manage all of these sites, efficiently, and am actually hoping that one of our requirements in the near future will be to integrate the sites.  For example, on the Delicious assignment, I put a link to my blog on Delicious, rather than putting the Delicious link on my blog.  I realize that my error was due to a lack of critical reading, and have been double checking instructions since then.  I feel that I have not achieved another learning goal beyond the scope of the assignment!  I also feel the need to add some flair to each site, but I do not know how much time to spend on each one.  I am trying to differentiate each site, but that presents a challenge when the focus of each right now is the same subject:  ME.  Perhaps Dr. Horvitz is preparing us for interviewing by asking us to demonstrate our strengths and brag about ourselves on multiple cites.  I also feel the need to read up on the etiquette of blogging as I am not sure I am allowed (encouraged) to use the pronoun I!  If anyone has a quick resource on the etiquette of blogging, please send it my way.  It needs to be a quick read, as I have a full time load right now and a family.  Thank you in advance for your help!

O'Reilly, Business Plans & Education

The figure above was a work in progress developed in an O'Reilly camp during 2005 and included in an article on developing business models in the Web 2.0 era.  As an educator, what I interpreted as a concept  map gave me great insight into Web 2.0, and allowed me to fantasize about how the 2013 meme map utilizing a dynamic medium, embedded with hyperlinks and podcasts, would appear.

This meme map gave me a great place to begin to understand all that is 2.0.  I attended Michigan State's 29th annual educational technology conference last fall and left with a list of jargon to translate.  This article provided a great basis for understanding all that I observed or witnessed at the conference.  Building my basis of understanding through articles like these would have enabled me to engage fully at the conference; rather than leaving with a list of items to identify, I could have left with an action plan that could have been implemented using the new knowledge!

The article also reminded me of my math ed training where we studied the educational policies in the United States dating back to the late 1800's and we used Isaac Newton's paradigm of "standing on the shoulders of giants."  Technology can provide a medium for us not only to see farther, but to go further, if we trust and share our knowledge.  Dr. Alec Couros of the University of Regina told me he's always given away everything he's developed.  He is an associate professor who is signed as a keynote speaker around the world promotes shared knowledge and collaborating with others to develop ideas.  Teachers have naturally done this for years, shared their wares, but this is a concept that is counter-intuitive to entrepreneurs and business people who are trying to develop metrics to measure learning and teacher effectiveness, as well as balance budgets and privatize education.

As I mentioned, O'Reilly provided me a basis for my understanding the 2.0 world, by paralleling it to its 1.0 beginnings.  The 2.0 world views software as a service not as an end product, that the consumer's input really makes them a co-developer, that the focus needs to be on getting data out there, not on what people do with it when they get there.  The key lies in exploiting the true potential of the platform that is the web, and creating a seamless databases of knowledge in which students can safely immerse themselves, engage and learn.

Just as we close in on developing an understanding what Web 2.0 is today, Web 3.0 will be exploding out of the gate.  That time is close on the horizon, with most people having access to the web on personal android or i-devices (tablet, phone, or even watch)!  At the rate we are progressing, that which is a history lesson dated 2005, could actually be a history lesson of 2012.  The only thing that may slow the progression is the turf war between Google and Apple; once they settle we can again move forward at mach speed developing a plethora of applications that will help us learn!


Sources
O'Reilly, T. (2005, October 30). What is Web 2.0? Developing Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software. In O'Reilly Network. Retrieved February 2, 2013, from http://oreilly.com/lpt/a/6228

Delicious & PB Works addresses

After two visits from Comcast Techs and multiple phone calls, I still have intermittent service.  On the positive note, I was able to create a Delicious and PBWorks account!  My apologies to my teammates for the delay.

My Delicious link is  https://delicious.com/jodiedington

and PBWorks is http://jodiedington.pbworks.com/w/page/63287968/FrontPage

Hoping that the connection stays open, I should be able to beautiful the pages tonight in lieu of watching the football game.

EDT 5410 Reflection Week 1

 

Reigeluth & Joseph pose a question that the challenges the paradigm of using technology in teaching to using technology as a way to promote teaching and learning.  The power of integrating technology into education, not integrating by creating a class in a schedule or stand-alone exercises that involve having students type reports or create charts or statistics using excel, but using technology as a way to take thinking to a higher level.  As a way to research topics and manage the similarities and differences so that the cognitive load can be focused on developing a conceptual understanding of the content at hand. Technology can create opportunities for students to ‘own’ their education; allow them to make the big decisions on how to develop a concept, with an educator completely accessible to create scaffolding to challenge and further student thinking.  In 1993, Neil Postman’s states that the purpose of education is

to help students learn how to ignore and discard information so that they can achieve a sense of coherence in their lives; to help students cultivate a sense of social responsibility; to help students think critically, historically, and humanely; to help students understand the ways in which technology shapes their consciousness; to help students learn that their own needs sometimes are subordinate to the needs of the group.

 If you simply look at the first goal, to learn how to ignore irrelevant information I would say the internet poses students a greater challenge as there is more information available to students in a moment’s notices, often in the palm of their hand.  Teaching them how to ignore information is an essential talent needed twenty years after the article was printed.  Again, on the prophetic scale, he was right on with the opportunity to learn social responsibility with technology.  Students are challenged daily with the opportunity to bully, sext, and plagiarize.  He also saw how the use of technology could promote group learning and developing shared meaning among members, long before many Web 2.0 tools were even developed. 

Postman also statement that technology has “nothing whatsoever to do with the fundamental problems we have to solve in education […] and that they are distractions. They divert the intelligence and energy of talented people from addressing issues we need most to confront.”  Twenty years later people would think that statement is crazy; that technology needs to be at the center of education.  I think I stand with Postman, and have stated this in many posts and reflections before; the use of technology for technology sake is stupid.  Technology should be used as a tool, to effectively manage the cognitive load, so that the learner can advance their knowledge.  Since this is a reflection, and not a report, I will admit that I love Postman’s conversation with the car dealer.  Especially since I’ve been told that to fix a motor for an automatic window was in excess of $250; I never had any trouble with the handles we used to use on old cars, and if they broke, one could fix it with duct tape for less than $5.  I love Postman’s comments about finding the purpose behind providing students information faster; what’s the point?  If we don’t teach students to think, it does not matter how fast we provide the information, it will be worthless.  Postman’s position on the socialization of school was very prophetic as that is really where students use technology today. If you take their computer or smart phone, their worries typically start with Facebook and email, not on their limited access to the abundant amount of information available in a flash on the internet. 

Actively integrating technology into education will require educators who are flexible, not only in style, but in design and evaluation of curriculum.  One cannot expect this to be an overnight overhaul of the system.  It will be an exhausting, day by day, lesson by lesson by lesson transformation, whose investment goes well beyond budget allocation to dedication by each individual involved in the education process from the district superintendent and curriculum director to the teacher’s aide in the kindergarten classroom. 

Works Cited

Reigeluth, C.M. & Joseph, R. (2002). Beyond technology integration: The case for technology transformation. Educational Technology, 42(4), 9-13.

Postman, N. (1993). Of Luddites, learning, and life. Technos Quarterly, 2(4).