Thursday, May 31, 2007

HANDS-ON COMPUTING!

Exploration: Euler Lake (It's Not Mackinac Island BUT It's Intention Is)

Detroit Free Press

Mackinac conference can make a difference if leaders stick to goals

May 30, 2007

Mackinac Island lives in the past. The Detroit area cannot afford to any longer.

So the historic island between Michigan's peninsulas seems all the odder a setting this year for the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference. But maybe, as they share horse-drawn taxis and watch fudge being made by hand, the 1,700 attendees from business, politics, education and labor can find a shared path to the future.

While the Mackinac meeting is not known for accomplishing much, the gathering that begins today will focus on something that started on Mackinac a year ago. One D: Transforming Regional Detroit is a unified effort of the chamber, New Detroit, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, Detroit Renaissance, the Detroit Metro Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Cultural Alliance of Southeastern Michigan to assure that the area works together to achieve measurable goals in six key areas. Those are: economic prosperity, educational preparedness, regional transit, race relations, regional cooperation and quality of life.

The effort is unprecedented, but then just about every region-wide undertaking in recent history has been, too, with little to show for it. Hence the emphasis of One D on measurable goals. All conference participants ought to be leaving Mackinac with a clear idea of what One D is all about and a job to do in one of the six areas.

United Way has been conducting a series of e-mail surveys on those issues and, while not drawing a scientific sample, did ask about 1,000 people about their satisfaction with the quality of life in southeast Michigan. Not surprisingly, nearly 80% said they were unhappy with public transportation and more than 60% did not like the way suburban growth and development have been managed. Both are regional issues, best tackled on a region-wide basis, and both are historically divisive.

And if going up to Mackinac Island is what it takes to lay that history to rest and start planning a better future, this conference could be well worth the trip.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

In support of AIM Program objectives (NCLB)

(May 23, 2007)

Education and Technology Industry Leaders Hail Introduction of ATTAIN Act

New Bill Would Revamp No Child Left Behind Support for Instructional Technologies

Education and Technology Industry Leaders Hail Introduction of ATTAIN Act New Bill Would Revamp No Child Left Behind Support for Instructional Technologies

A coalition of education and industry groups lauded today’s introduction by U.S. Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Ron Kind (D-WI) of HR 2449 the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation (ATTAIN) Act. The legislation will make significant improvements to the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) program as part of the reauthorization of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), better targeting the educational needs of today’s students through technology.

The ATTAIN Act is based upon input from education stakeholders, including the Consortium for School Networking, International Society for Technology in Education, Software & Information Industry Association, and the State Educational Technology Directors Association.

The ATTAIN Act would revamp EETT (Title II-D of NCLB), improving support for disadvantaged schools and students and ensuring that teachers are properly equipped to use the technology effectively. More specifically, it would focus funds on professional development and systemic reform that leverage 21st century technologies, prioritize funding to schools in need of improvement, and require states to assess whether students have attained technological literacy by the eighth grade.

“We are ecstatic that this well-crafted refinement of EETT is beginning to move,” said Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education. “Teachers are our nation’s most valuable resources and absolutely crucial to whether education technology implementations succeed. The ATTAIN Act’s focus on technology professional development will help ensure that our investments in school hardware, software and infrastructure are leveraged for the benefit of our nation’s students.”

Keith Krueger, CEO of the Consortium for School Networking, stated: “The introduction of the ATTAIN Act demonstrates that Representatives Roybal-Allard, Hinojosa, Biggert and Kind understand the important role that education technology plays in meeting NCLB’s goals and equipping our students with the skills necessary to succeed in the modern workforce. We hope that the House will follow their lead and move expeditiously to enact this bill, thereby giving a big shot in the arm to education technologists, students and companies across the country.”

“For many years, SETDA’s members have provided us with tangible examples of educational technology implementations that yield substantial academic gains; now, we will have the opportunity to bring many of them to scale,” said Mary Ann Wolf, Executive Director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association. “This legislation’s focus on research-based, systemic reform programs that maximize the benefits of technology is an important opportunity to transform our nation’s schools.”

“We do not want our students to fall behind in this era of innovation and global competition,” said Ken Wasch, President of the Software & Information Industry Association. “Technology is vital for providing students with a learning environment that prepares them for the world beyond the classroom. The ATTAIN Act will ensure our educational system adopts modern methods to remain effective in the digital, information economy. We thank Representatives Roybal-Allard, Hinojosa, Biggert and Kind for their leadership on this important legislation.”

Rep. Roybal-Allard stated: “When schools are properly equipped to meet the technology needs of students and when they have properly trained teachers, students are engaged, eager to learn, and are ultimately better prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st Century.”

“One of the most effective ways we can sharpen America’s competitive edge is by investing in technology in the classroom,” said Rep. Hinojosa. “This bill will further the technological prowess of our nation’s schools and students and will ultimately increase our economic prosperity and capacity for innovation.”

Rep. Ron Kind stated: “We cannot ignore education technology’s value in developing critical thinking skills and media literacy into this and future generations of students. We all want our students, and this country, to compete effectively and succeed in the global marketplace. Education technology is a key component to achieving those goals.”

Specifically, the ATTAIN Act would update the existing EETT program by:

Increasing the share of state-to-local funding distributed by formula from 50% to 60% and adding a minimum grant size in order to assure that more school districts receive allocations of sufficient size to permit them to operate significant education technology programs.
Strengthening the program’s emphasis on teacher quality and technology skills by raising the portion of formula-grants set aside for professional development from 25% to 40%, while emphasizing the importance of timely and ongoing training.
Channeling the 40% of funds allocated for competitive grants, previously unrestricted, to schools and districts for systemic school reform built around the use of technology to redesign curriculum, instruction, assessment and data use.
More closely aligning the program with NCLB’s core mission by giving priority in competitive grant awards to schools identified as in need of improvement, including those with a large percentage of Limited English Proficient students and students with disabilities, as well as by focusing formula grants on students and subjects where proficiency is most lacking.
Renewing NCLB’s commitment to ensuring that students are technologically literate by the eighth grade through requiring states to assess student knowledge and skills, including through embedding assessment items in other state tests and performance-based assessments portfolios.
Drawing state, district and school attention to the age and functionality needs of school technology infrastructure, access and applications by requiring states to provide technical assistance and guidance to districts on updating these resources.

About CoSN, ISTE, SETDA and SIIA:

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) is the country’s premier voice in education technology leadership, serving K-12 technology leaders who through their strategic use of technology, improve teaching and learning. For further information, visit http://www.cosn.org.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), a nonprofit membership organization, provides leadership and service to improve teaching and learning by advancing the effective use of technology in PK–12 and teacher education. Home of the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) and National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), ISTE represents more than 85,000 worldwide leaders in educational technology. For more information, visit http://www.iste.org.

The State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) is the principal association for state directors of technology and their staff members providing professional development and leadership around the effective use to technology in education to enhance competitiveness in the global workforce. For more information, visit http://www.setda.org.

The Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA) is the principal trade association for the software and digital content industry. SIIA provides global services in government relations, business development, corporate education and intellectual property protection to more than 800 leading software and information companies. Many SIIA members develop and deliver educational software, digital curricula and related technologies and services for use in education, while all SIIA members depend on the nation’s schools to provide a skilled, high-tech workforce. SIIA and our member companies have long collaborated with educators, policymakers and other stakeholders to improve education through the use of innovative learning technologies. Visit http://www.siia.net.

Leverage Partnership?

Putting His Wealth to Work To Improve Urban Schools

By Jay Mathews
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 30, 2007; B01

He counts the Prince George's County school superintendent and D.C. school board president among his disciples. He has advised the D.C. mayor on cuts in school system bureaucracy. He and a better-known West Coast entrepreneur are spending millions to persuade the next president of the United States to improve teacher quality and lengthen school days. He is spawning a new generation of school administrators who hail his name.

He is a billionaire, like his ally Bill Gates.

The question is: Can Eli Broad succeed in his campaign to help America's schools shed years of bad management practices and avoid the pitfalls of divisive community politics?

After creating two Fortune 500 companies -- residential developer KB Home and insurer SunAmerica -- the results-focused Broad has decided to use his money and expertise to help urban school systems tunnel through a mountain of obstacles that have long held back student achievement.

He and his wife, Edythe, have committed more than $250 million to school improvement projects since 1999, and they plan to spend most of the Broad Foundation's $2.25 billion in assets on education. The Los Angeles couple, along with Bill and Melinda Gates, are widely considered the most influential public education philanthropists in the country.

Broad (rhymes with road) has provided much of the money and advice behind efforts to bring business practices -- including freedom from what he considers meddlesome school boards -- to New York, Boston, Los Angeles and Philadelphia. Now he has turned his attention to the District. His conversations with D.C. officials, Broad watchers say, are likely to bring more money and expertise to efforts to overhaul the school system.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's plan to take control of the D.C. schools is just what Broad has been recommending for many troubled urban systems. In January, Fenty (D) quizzed Broad on guidance he has given New York school leaders in recent years as a large number of central office personnel have been moved to other jobs or out the door.

"I think there is a big opportunity here," Broad said of Fenty's plan in an interview with The Washington Post. "But I told him I am concerned with this board of education."

Broad said Fenty told him: "They are not going to have much power."

Broad replied: "Yeah, but they're going to have a bully pulpit to create a little mischief here."

As it happens, D.C. Board of Education President Robert C. Bobb is a graduate of a Broad urban school executive program. This month, Bobb drew notice for raising concerns about Fenty's takeover plan with a U.S. senator at a delicate moment, before an implementation bill had cleared Congress. But Bobb said in an interview that he did not agree with Broad's view that the board's activities might get in the way of school improvement.

Bobb also said he supports Broad's many educational initiatives, among them the 10-month leadership academy he attended in 2005. The academy, Bobb said, taught him a lot about the use of data and getting access to experts and other resources. "He is putting his money where his mouth is," Bobb said.

Other academy fellows include Prince George's Superintendent John E. Deasy; Deasy's chief of staff, William Hite; and John Q. Porter, a Montgomery County deputy superintendent recently named to head the Oklahoma City schools. The academy said it has placed its fellows as superintendents in Pittsburgh; Houston; Oakland, Calif.; San Diego County; Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C.; and other significant urban systems. This year, several current and former high-ranking military officers have been chosen to be academy fellows, a sign of Broad's interest in cultivating nontraditional educational leadership.

Broad began his management training efforts after visiting school leaders around the country. "We didn't see any great competency in any of the notable areas that one would expect to find," he said.

The human resources departments in many districts, he said, were appalling. "There were a whole lot of clerks that weren't very welcoming," he said. "They took forever to make decisions . . . or even get paychecks out in time. . . . It took forever to requisition what a school needed, and maybe you would get a plumber three weeks later, and maybe you wouldn't."

There is a restlessness to the 73-year-old Broad, a lifelong tendency to get things done and move on to the next challenge. Tall, with a thick Midwestern accent from growing up in Detroit, he started his career at a young age as a certified public accountant in Michigan and then at 23 turned to home building. With partner Donald Kaufman, Broad became a visionary force in the industry, developing single-family homes as mass commodities. He had the same impatience with the traditions of the insurance industry, making SunAmerica into an annuities giant.

His interest in education, he said, grew from that same yearning to make big changes, right now. He said that when he thought about national problems he might help solve with a windfall from SunAmerica's merger, he decided "K-12 education was a big problem becoming a bigger problem, and not too many people were doing anything about it."

Like other business leaders who have become involved in education, Broad is used to a corporate system where the top executive makes the decisions and the company board, with rare exceptions, goes along. School boards, on the other hand, often consider themselves in charge of major decisions, with the superintendent just there to carry out orders. School board members, including those in the District, have often engaged in political battles that critics such as Broad think have taken attention away from raising student achievement.

Broad's fondness for one-man rule in school systems is seen by some education experts as anti-democratic. "Education is a communal activity and not a competition and bottom-line activity," said educational psychologist and author Gerald W. Bracey. "Inefficiency in schools does not bother me that much because democracy is an inefficient and messy process."

Broad, an active member of the Democratic Party, said he has no problem with the American political system. He said he has been telling Fenty and other city leaders that they must get voters excited about the changes they are making if they are going to succeed. "You've got to start off convincing the public and the parents about why this all has to happen, why they are going to be the beneficiaries of all this," he said.

In part to convince voters that schools must get better, Broad and Gates have announced a $60 million, nonpartisan political campaign called Strong American Schools geared toward the 2008 election. It is "aimed at elevating education to the top of our list of our nation's priorities," according to a statement, and urging presidential candidates to support national education standards, effective teachers in every classroom and extended learning time.

Former Colorado governor and Los Angeles superintendent Roy Romer, chairman of the campaign's steering committee, said the group plans to build a large and powerful list of supporters who will hold the winning candidate to the promises he or she makes on those issues.

In addition to his school leadership academy, Broad has established a residency in urban education program, an institute for school boards and an annual $1 million prize for excellence in urban education. The Broad Prize is the nation's most prominent award for school systems. Broad also has backed innovation through charter schools.

"Eli Broad was way ahead of the curve in recognizing that improving our schools and school systems would require the same kinds of practices that go into building and sustaining high-performing organizations in every sector," said Richard Barth, chief executive officer of the KIPP Foundation, which supports 52 public schools in 16 states and the District.

It is too soon, several experts said, to assess the results of Broad's initiatives. Broad said he does not discount the possibility that efforts such as Fenty's might flop with the public. One reason there are not more wealthy people spending money on education, he said, is that "people get frustrated."

AIM for WEB 2.0

The 2.0 Agenda: Transparency, Sharing, Access--Are You Ready For Enterprise 2.0?

Big changes are coming: new rules and technology, and more efficiency and value. Make sure your business is prepared, or it could get left behind.

By Steve Wylie, InformationWeek
May 26, 2007
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199702156

There's been much talk recently about Web 2.0 tools, mostly in the consumer market with companies and products such as MySpace, Flickr, Wikipedia, and YouTube. Harvard Business School professor Andrew McAfee coined the term "Enterprise 2.0" to describe Web 2.0 in a business context, defining it as "the use of emergent social software platforms within companies, or between companies and their partners or customers."

McAfee established six key attributes of Enterprise 2.0 that he describes with the acronym SLATES. We're all familiar with Search. Then there's Links, which implies that the most linked-to information must be the most relevant. Authoring says that everyone has something to contribute. Tags provide content categorization. Extensions use algorithms to find user patterns and make recommendations. And Signals alert users to new content and updates. These attributes explain what social computing technologies such as wikis, RSS, and presence are accomplishing and why they will play an increasingly important role in the future of business.

Enterprise 2.0 provides a much needed change in our business communication and productivity tools, which have been built largely around E-mail. E-mail is the most widely used, or perhaps misused, business application we have, yet we curse the ceaseless flow of messages and spam. We struggle to find relevant information buried in E-mail and question whether the right people have been included. It's a closed medium that does a poor job of capturing and sharing knowledge, a key ingredient in the success of any business and a key feature of Enterprise 2.0.

Enterprise 2.0 tools will break the E-mail addiction and our reliance on other outmoded apps. They unlock value in the form of transparent, contextual communication, ease of access to information, and more effective use of data inside applications, on desktops, or in E-mail attachments. They let us capture the knowledge and opinions in the minds of workers through simple participation. Early adopters are finding them powerful and liberating.

As with any new technology, adoption is critical to success. People have to be willing to break their addiction to E-mail and work in more transparent and public forums, such as wikis and blogs. The shift to Enterprise 2.0 is as much about enabling the right business culture as it is about providing users with the right tools. The shift also will happen organically. As new generations enter the workforce, they'll demand a Web 2.0 experience from their business apps. We're already seeing this with young workers who are more accustomed to IM and Facebook than to E-mail and restrictive applications. They embrace transparency, share information, and willingly participate in public, digital conversations.

This creates both a challenge and an opportunity for businesses. Changes are taking place often unbeknownst to IT managers and with little regard for IT policies and controls. This presents an alarming reality for companies with potentially sensitive information or in heavily regulated environments. IT must bring some level of control and align Enterprise 2.0 with corporate policy while not stifling its benefits. Striking that balance is key to Enterprise 2.0 success.

But IT shouldn't just be reactionary. There's a real opportunity here to drive the Enterprise 2.0 agenda as a strategic advantage. This will become easier as business-grade Web 2.0 tools continue to reach the market and best practices are established. New vendors are emerging in droves to address this need, providing the functionality of Web 2.0 tools with the security, integration, and scalability required for commercial deployment. Existing software and tools also are adding Web 2.0 features, providing a bridge from familiar business-grade applications.

If the consumer market for Web 2.0 tools is any indication, radical changes are ahead, with new rules and technology leaders, and certainly more efficiency and value from business apps and knowledge workers than ever before. Brace yourself for the new Enterprise 2.0 reality.

National Competitiveness (NSF ITEST Grant Submission)

Down To Business: Technology Debate On The Campaign Trail

When you've got border fences and melting ice caps on which to grandstand, who needs tech policy? The country does--or at least some cogent discussion of the issues.

By Rob Preston, InformationWeek
May 26, 2007
URL: http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=199702351

As the presidential primary campaigning starts to heat up, the candidates are being pressed on the biggest issues of the day--national defense, education, health care, immigration, the environment. Technology policy isn't top of mind; net neutrality doesn't quite stir the masses like border control and global warming. But it's a conversation worth forcing, as our country's technology industry and business technology applications are core to our international competitiveness. So here's a very short list of issues to consider.

Next-generation tech workforce. Here, many of the top-shelf issues, including education, immigration, and even defense, are intertwined. The 40,000-foot view: The United States isn't graduating enough engineers and computer specialists to meet future demand. U.S.-based companies are hiring tech pros offshore while lobbying to make it easier to import talent. Meanwhile, critics argue that domestic companies aren't doing enough to cultivate their people and that offshoring and immigration abuses threaten not only our competitiveness, but our security and overall standard of living as well.

Questions for the candidates. Where do you stand on immigration reform, including expanding H-1B visas and evaluating visa and immigration applicants based on their skills and advanced degrees? What would you do to promote and improve science and math schooling? Would you spend substantially more money there? Would you give companies incentives to attract and develop employees at home? Would you expand the government bureaucracy to tackle these issues, or do you favor market-based approaches?

Universal broadband Internet access, including wireless connectivity. The professed goal: Upgrade and expand the U.S. telecom infrastructure to improve education, health care, and other critical services, and to make U.S. businesses more competitive by improving remote and home-office connectivity. Some pundits go so far as to call on the presidential candidates to declare the Internet a "public good," putting Net access on an equal plane with electricity, water, highways, and public schooling.

Questions for the candidates. Like most big infrastructure issues, this one comes down to money and market approach. It would, for example, cost an estimated $15 billion to $20 billion more just to roll out DSL to everyone not currently wired. Who foots that bill, assuming that network operators already serve most of the places where they can turn a profit?

Ubiquitous wireless data connectivity is a whole other Marshall Plan--and black hole, if you consider the business and technical difficulties of this country's politically driven muni Wi-Fi build-outs. Do we raise the many billions of dollars by charging all current subscribers a fee to subsidize nationwide wireless rollouts? Do we make it easier for the private sector to build out broadband networks by freeing up radio spectrum and reducing regulations?

Net neutrality. Put 20 voters in a room and you'll be lucky to find one who can muster an informed opinion on this issue, which boils down to whether carriers should be allowed to charge Web companies tiered prices depending on their content and the level of service the carriers are providing to them.

Questions for the candidates. Should we just stick with the Internet status quo--"pure" net neutrality? Or since carriers own and operate the Internet's backbone networks, how much leeway should they have to charge extra for enhanced security and prioritized delivery of certain content? What is the role of regulators to ensure that carriers don't favor their own services and those of fat-cat partners to the detriment of others?

Rather than set a sweeping tech industrial policy and micromanage its every element, the U.S. president must play to the country's main capitalist strength: can-do entrepreneurialism. We can set ambitious tech-related goals and challenge the private sector and government agencies to go after them, but throwing money in every direction isn't the answer.

Rob Preston,
VP/Editor In Chief
rpreston@cmp.com

Now If We Could Just Ban the Idle Minds......

Published Online: May 29, 2007

School Bus Idling Banned in Vermont

By The Associated Press

Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas has signed into law a bill to ban school buses from idling while parked on school grounds.

The governor signed the bill at the Browns River Middle School where a seventh grade social studies class conceived of the idea to ban idling as a way to save fuel and protect the environment.

"This is a great step forward for our state," Douglas said.

Tuesday, May 29, 2007

The AIM Program, where COURAGE is the Breakfast of Champions!

YES!

Duck, Duck STEM!

(AMY LEANG/Detroit Free Press)

Bill Ford worries that southeast Michigan lags behind other regions in developing technologies that would revolutionize the global automotive industry with new, environmentally friendlier propulsion systems.

Detroit Free Press

Bill Ford focuses on technology

Auto exec fears Michigan lags in industry's future

May 27, 2007

BY TOM WALSH

FREE PRESS COLUMNIST

The recent explosion of interest and investment in alternative fuels and other so-called "clean technologies" feels a bit like vindication to Bill Ford.

"When I talked about this stuff in speeches 10 years ago, people thought I was some sort of Bolshevik," the executive chairman of Ford Motor Co. told the Free Press in a rare interview last week.

Vindication aside, Ford is worried that southeastern Michigan is lagging behind other regions in developing new technologies that will revolutionize the global automotive industry in years to come.

He plans to call for an intensive effort to identify and recruit cutting-edge technology firms to metro Detroit -- even tapping high-powered business leaders to get personally involved -- in a speech Thursday to the Detroit Regional Chamber's annual policy conference on Mackinac Island.

"I've spent a lot of time recently in Silicon Valley, visiting companies and venture capitalists," Ford said, noting that all major California-based technology firms have Detroit offices because the auto industry is a big customer for them.

"But they shouldn't just have sales offices here. Why can't we be the incubators of ideas here? We need to be the intellectual locus of the technology that's going to transform our industry," Ford said.

Ford, 50, has kept a low profile since September, when he hired Alan Mulally as president and chief executive officer of Ford Motor. Ford, CEO for the previous five years, took the new title of executive chairman at the Dearborn automaker. He has done few interviews since then and limited his speeches to Ford employee and dealer groups.

But behind the scenes, he has taken a more active role in Detroit Renaissance, starting a two-year term in January as chairman of the influential CEO group's executive committee, just as it was launching Road to Renaissance, a new economic development strategy for the region.

Goals are to boost entrepreneurship, attract and retain top talent, and enhance Detroit's status as a global hub for automotive and other transportation industries.

"There's no question that, in the next 10 or 20 years, we're going to have very different propulsion systems for vehicles. And there's no reason why Detroit and southeast Michigan shouldn't be where the action is," Ford said.

Problem is, Detroit and Michigan are increasingly NOT where the cutting-edge automotive technology action is.

Not only have hometown car companies Ford, General Motors and the Chrysler Group been downsizing, but the national surge in clean-technology investment is mostly happening elsewhere.

Clean tech is the fastest-growing segment of venture capital. But of $2.9 billion in clean-tech investment in North America last year, only 9% was in the Midwest, said James Croce, CEO of Detroit-based NextEnergy, a nonprofit formed five years ago to accelerate Michigan's activities in alternate energy. Nearly 60% went to the West Coast or to New England, he said, citing data from the Clean Tech Venture Network in Brighton.

Just a few years ago, some pundits were scoffing at the notion of a self-professed environmentalist -- Ford -- running an auto company.

"Now all the automakers are out to prove who's greenest," Ford said.

But Michigan must do more outreach, he said, to attract more of the innovative companies in that field.

Doug Rothwell, president and CEO of Detroit Renaissance, said Ford has been "very intimately engaged in each step of the Road to Renaissance action plan."

Ford returned the compliment, saying he agreed to chair the Renaissance executive committee only because Rothwell and Domino's Pizza CEO David Brandon convinced him that the group was committed to action and measuring progress. "The last thing I needed was another committee studying the problems of the last 20 years," Ford said.

The Road to Renaissance plan dovetails with One D, a broader regional collaboration of groups ranging from United Way to the Detroit Regional Chamber and New Detroit, championed by Ford's cousin Edsel Ford II. Edsel Ford will kick off a series of One D planning sessions at the Mackinac gathering this week.

Other scheduled speakers at Mackinac include Teamsters union President James P. Hoffa on Wednesday and UAW President Ron Gettelfinger on Thursday.

Bill Ford, meanwhile, expects to become a bit more visible in the coming months.

Immediately after Mulally's arrival, "I thought, early on, that I didn't want any confusion, externally or internally," Ford said. "I certainly didn't want anyone internally going around Alan and coming to me."

Ford still consults regularly with Mulally on the car company's turnaround progress.

"You'll start seeing more of me as we roll into the rest of this year," he said.

Contact TOM WALSH at 313-223-4430 or twalsh@freepress.com.

May 27, 2007

Nolan Finley

Business is essential to fixing schools

Michigan's public schools stink, say the state's business leaders, and they're not willing to pony up more money for education until something is done to stop teacher benefits from sucking up all the dough.

Those are the headlines from an education survey done for the Detroit Regional Chamber in advance of its annual policy conference on Mackinac Island this week.

Asked if Michigan's school system is providing students with the basic knowledge they'll need for college and careers, the executives answer with a near unanimous "NO!" in the survey by John Bailey and Associates.

Eighty-seven percent say the schools are either not preparing children to succeed or are doing so inconsistently.

And they don't believe more money will make things better. Or to be blunt: They aren't crazy about pouring new tax dollars into schools only to see them used to protect obscenely generous pension and health benefits.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Democratic state legislators, who have yet to come around to benefit reform, better be listening. Taxpayers, particularly the state's biggest taxpayers, are fed up with scarce education dollars going to protect teacher perks at the expense of classroom quality.

Business must step up

But the business executives can't just complain about the sorry state of education. They have to roll up their sleeves.

This year's Mackinac conference is focused on the One D project to revitalize the region, and education preparedness is a top priority, Edsel Ford says.

"The critical question is, 'Are we really doing a good enough job in preparing our children for the future roles they have to play?' " says Ford, who chairs One D. "And then, 'How can we as a business community help?' "

Here's a place to start: Get behind Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's plan to open up to 25 public charter schools in Detroit.

The mayor hopes to partner with businesses and other institutions to open themed schools with curriculums that stress everything from health care to entrepreneurship.

It's an ambitious project, but offers the quickest and most effective route to finally bringing Detroit children the same education options and quality that suburban children enjoy.

The mayor's plan won't work without the cooperation and cash of the business community. Michigan companies don't have a lot of spare change these days, but fixing education is an essential investment.

Former Mayor Dennis Archer says businesses do work individually to support education, but says schools, particularly public schools, must better communicate their needs.

"If you don't know what's missing, you don't know what you can do to help," says Archer, who is championing the chamber's education efforts. "I don't get the sense that there's a meaningful working relationship between the public schools and the business community."

Business leaders obviously recognize the size of the education shortfall in Michigan, as evidenced by the survey results.

I'd like to see them asked one more question: What will you do to help?

Nolan Finley is editorial page editor of The News. Reach him at nfinley@detnews.com or (313) 222-2064. Read his daily blog at forums.detnews.com/blogs/, and watch him at 8:30 p.m. Fridays on "Am I Right?" on Detroit Public TV, Channel 56.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

If It Looks Like A Duck, Is It? Sometimes Things Aren't WHAT They Seem!

Friday, May 25, 2007

Just a "Smattering of Digital"

Hands-on Digital Tech

By Harry Grover Tuttle
May 15, 2007
URL: http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604460

from Technology & Learning

With a little creativity and a bit of technology, educators can inspire a lifelong love of science in their students—and raise achievement levels.

Traditionally, only the best-funded schools could afford to offer students the kinds of hands-on science experiences that "real life" scientists perform. But with the advent of digital technologies and portable, affordable handheld computing devices, real world investigations—that also address science standards—are now broadly accessible to students at all grade levels.

Digital Photos

Primary students begin to understand the structure and function in living systems when they take a daily picture of a plant against a meter stick. Each picture contains a sign with the date. The students start taking pictures the first day the seed breaks through the soil. They post their pictures in chronological order around the room. Primary school students often forget what has happened a few days earlier. But they can use the photos to analyze the various changes in the plant such as the number of new leaves, the change in color, and the number of days from a bud to the flower.

Word Processing

To help elementary school students develop a deeper understanding of the diversity of organisms, the teacher can create a word-processed chart that has the various characteristics of mammals going across and a list of animals going down the chart. The students individually identify which animal has which characteristics.

Digital Movies

Students develop an understanding about ecosystems when they plan a vegetable garden. They can listen to stories about gardens on the computer. They carefully read to determine how far apart seeds have to be, which plants can co-exist, and which plants have the same water requirements. They plan their gardens out in a spreadsheet or in a concept map program, and they can take digital movies of the garden as it grows from an empty plot to a community of ripe vegetables.

Probes and PDAs

Science teachers can assess how well their middle school students have developed understandings about environments by using a graphic organizer. Students may take a pretest to show they understand about stream life through its biological, physical, and chemical aspects. After they conduct an analysis of a local stream using digital motion and temperature probes and PDAs, they write up their findings. At the end of the unit, they complete a post-test graphic organizer that has the same categories as the pretest organizer. Teachers compare the two maps to determine the improved level of students' understanding.

Handhelds and probeware, such as the unit pictured here from Vernier Software, allow students to conduct experiments either in class or "in the field." Information can then be instantly relayed back to the desktop.

Freeze Frames

Middle school science students may demonstrate an understanding about science and technology when they analyze the images of their gravity experiment as captured by a digital movie they've made. They can pull out certain frames such as two objects being released at the same time, falling past a distance marker, and hitting the floor simultaneously. They can then import these into a graphics program and write information on the frames, then import these back into the movie program to produce an annotated explanation of the experiment about gravity.

Videoconferencing and Collaborative Tools

As middle school students participate in an Internet collaborative project on the natural-hazards component of "Science in Personal and Social Perspectives," they realize that human-generated natural hazards are a global issue. Students from three countries use videoconferencing or a social networking tool, including a wiki, to compare the pollution generated in the schools' cafeterias from such items as paper bags, plastic bags, food wrappers, and drink containers. Each group analyzes its weeklong observations and illustrates the findings through various digital spreadsheets. The groups study each other's spreadsheets for commonalities and differences, and then decide what actions they can take to minimize the schools' pollution. They can produce PowerPoint presentations or movies to illustrate the degree of cafeteria pollution and give suggestions on how to reduce it. The students can even show their pollution productions in the cafeterias during lunchtime.

Simulations

When middle school students are engaged in learning about Earth in the solar system through simulations or models, they develop a deeper understanding. Students participate in a space flight simulation in which they duplicate what it is like to be on a space mission. They decide on the mission's purpose and the experiments to be conducted, who will be commanding mission control, and who will be the crew. Furthermore, they decide on the individual roles of the crew such as scientific officer and communication officer. The simulation seems real when the students view actual space images, hear the recorded voices of astronauts, and compare their mission with those that have taken place. There are free simulations available online, such as Orbiter pictured on this page.

Student Blogs

Through the use of student classroom blogs, e-mail, or small online communities, pairs of high school students can assess each other's ability to communicate scientific procedures and explanations. The teacher gives them a checklist of what is required for a lab report and the students evaluate each other's reports and electronically return them to their partners. If the report is delivered via blog, students can attach comments and suggestions. These peer assessments can be attached to the final lab report to show how suggested improvements have been implemented.

YouTube

High school science students can demonstrate their understanding of atoms and molecules by producing videos on the cohesion of water. They can post these movies on a classroom Web site or on YouTube. Likewise, a science teacher can produce a video about alkanes—hydrogen and carbon compounds—and post it for his or her students. Students and teachers can use sources such as YouTube, AOL Video, or Unitedstreaming to show students the properties of matter in a visual manner.

Wikis

Students can create a wiki about the global-warming aspect of the structure of the earth system. They might start off by watching An Inconvenient Truth. After they brainstorm the different dimensions of global warming, they research and present their views. Students can add to each other's knowledge through the use of specific examples, including visual ones. They can do research into climate changes in their own area that may or may not be due to global warming, and they can challenge each other's ideas or examples. This ever-changing cumulative knowledge about global warming documents the student's understandings about the earth system.

Net-Based Research

When high school students explore the nature of science, they can complete projects that integrate many technologies. If students complain about the huge number of flies in the science classroom, for instance, the teacher can ask them to design an experiment about flies in the school. As a class, they create a hypothesis and divide into groups to research and conduct the experiment. Group A researches the life cycle of a fly using the Internet and prepares a presentation on what conditions foster a large fly population. Group B designs a data collection spreadsheet instrument. Group C goes around the building to count flies using a spreadsheet on the class tablet computer. Group D documents the presence of flies by taking pictures. The groups combine their information to analyze the data and write up this research lab on flies. One group can create a PowerPoint presentation to visually show the experiment and its results. The class then videoconferences with an entimologist to discuss the findings.

Applying science to the real world through the use of technology not only engages students, but also makes them sophisticated researchers who have the collaboration and problem-solving skills that will serve them well in the digital workforce.

Harry Grover Tuttle is an instructor/project manager at Syracuse University.

From CORNERSTONES to BRIDGES that SPAN the GAP!

Cornerstones of Technology Integration, Part 1

By Frank Rudnesky
January 1, 2007
URL: http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604068

from Educators' eZine

In 1976, when I graduated from high school, “state-of-the-art” technology consisted of slide rulers, overhead projectors, and filmstrips. There were computer games: someone had “pong” hooked up to a black and white television. When I went away to college my dad equipped me with the Texas Instruments calculator that I needed for a statistics course.

My first “real” encounter with a computer came three years later at the University of San Francisco, in a room at the Harney Science Center that had about fifty keyboards and monitors. When I commented to my friend that they were really small, he invited me down the hallway to peek at the real central processing unit, which appeared to be the size of a city block.

Fast forward to 1987, and I am now a high school teacher with twelve IBM PCs in my classroom. We applied for a grant to supply the equipment that very few knew how to use effectively in the education world. Our textbook company designed software that allowed the students to complete their work through “automated accounting.”

At the time, I did not have the theory to back it up, but I was witnessing the beginnings of an engaging environment. One eleventh-grader, Gary, was a fidgety mess at his desk – but once in front of the computer he was actively engaged in his learning. Not only did he complete his work but also he was proud and happy to show his classmates how to complete theirs. Gary became a facilitator, which greatly increased the success of his fellow students.

They were excited and engaged, and so was I. It was thrilling to learn how to operate the new digital equipment and teach the students at the same time. It always kept me motivated and willing to research new types of uses for the computers.

I guess you could legitimately make the statement that the students in today’s schools have grown up with somewhat different technological experiences, as for them computers are a fact of life. That is why it is essential for us to use those experiences of our students and take our classrooms to places they cannot go without the use of digital tools.

Raise the Bar for Yourself.

If you don’t, who will? A school administrator carrying a laptop he can’t use is like an NFL player carrying a playbook he can’t read. The biggest difference is that a school administrator affects more lives. He or she must be in line with the world around him or her but just like an NFL player that can’t read, he can fake it for years.

Do you remember Dexter Manly from the Washington Redskins football team? He carried around a Wall Street Journal yet he did not know how to read. I guess he kind of slipped through the cracks. Now that I am a school administrator (principal), I often reflect on new and different ways to connect every student to our school and the curriculum. Luckily, I work with great teachers.

Be passionate about it or don’t do it.

I’m talking about your job. I do not remember anyone telling me that they became an educator for the money. You owe it to yourself and the people around you to make a difference in your school and the people around you. In the 8th Habit, Stephen Covey calls your vocation your voice. He says that where your talents and passion driven by your conscience meet the needs of the world around you – therein lies your voice. Hopefully, education is your voice. And if it is, you need to constantly fine-tune the process.

School administrators must provide leadership for the integration of technology from an educational paradigm that goes beyond wiring and connectivity. If properly implemented, technology integration will prepare ALL of today’s teachers and students for life beyond the technological backdrop that already exists in the world around them. But who will lead the way?

This just out: Over 1,000 educators surveyed at NECC 2006 (National Educational Computing Conference) in San Diego indicated that visionary leadership is the most important element for transforming education for our current generation. So the pressure is on. Remember: low expectations for yourself result in similar expectations for the people around you.

Technology integration in the classroom takes strong leadership in every area, from the top, middle, and bottom. In order to do this, you must lead by example. Part of this leadership includes empowerment. Please do not confuse empowerment with designation. Empowerment means passion, commitment, common purpose, and preparation. This includes teachers as well as administrators.

A school administrator must be prepared to demonstrate the behavior he expects the people around him to emulate. Whether it’s at a meeting, professional development training, or a presentation, a school leader must tap into the resources that other organizations require. However, it seems that through my observation that only a handful of school administrators use the power of technology to lead their schools.

You do not have to use the latest gadgets all the time but you must be aware of trends that may benefit your school. Use a database. Use presentation software. Update and maintain your portion of the Website. Know about effective technology integration in the classroom. Form partnerships. Empower teachers.

Teachers want to be empowered to take creative risks if they know they will be supported. They also become excited about the possibility of raising the level of learning in the classroom. One of our teachers had this to say prior to a mentoring opportunity at the beginning of a school year:

“I feel like a kid the first day of school. I’m excited, nervous, and enthusiastic about the next ten months. I love to learn. I’m excited about the opportunity to use new technology in my classes; and the excitement, I hope, my students will have when I integrate technology into my lessons”.

Excitement is great but it will only last short term if you forget the real reason for integrating technology in the first place. When you raise the bar for yourself, keep in mind that you are bringing new and better chances for learning to teachers and students. Raising the bar for yourself will bring opportunities that will engage students and teachers in higher levels of teaching and learning.

Likewise, if you work in a school and you are not doing your own research then shame on you. When I took over as principal at the Belhaven Middle School in August 1999, I immediately noticed they had lots of stuff. However, I also noticed that like most schools only a handful of people were using the “stuff”. I asked myself, (I talk to myself a lot but get a lot of great answers), “What can I do to make myself better, that will make the school a center for great teaching using technology as one of many tools?”

By doing my own research and tapping into the people ‘in the trenches’: teachers, students, parents, we came up with a plan. This not only meant a review of the literature but onsite research as well. I found that sometimes our school followed the review of the literature and sometimes it did not. We needed to know where we were before we determined where we were going.

While the school was staying well ahead of the curve with the acquisition of digital equipment, they were putting the cart before the horse. We needed to evaluate what digital opportunities we had, who was using it, why they were using it, and how they were using it.

We found that teachers really did not know what technology integration was. Some teachers and administrators thought that using a computer for Email was technology integration. Other teachers knew that proper implementation of technology engaged the students and gave their classroom more of a constructivist environment.

We also found out that our teachers did not have a proper professional development plan in place. By engaging in conversation with other administrators in the area, I found that most schools in the year 2000 did not have a professional development plan for technology integration.

Never ask someone else to do something you would not do.

This is where designation gets confused with empowerment. I’ve been in administrator’s meetings where administrators were talking about making our schools leaders in technology integration without being able to use or understand the jargon associated with the process. Likewise, these same administrators were requiring teachers to create and update their own web pages without having one themselves. These administrators’ pages in June bore the same message as in September, “Welcome Back to School”.

You cannot ask a teacher to commit to maintaining a website if you can’t commit and maintain your own. You do not have to become a Webmaster, but just update your Web page periodically. Once you have a template, it takes five minutes. You may still need assistance or have an occasional question (as I do) but it will speak volumes to the people around you.

I have found that one important characteristic of leadership is to lead by example. Demonstrate the behavior that you want emulated. It will make quantum leaps in your relationships with the people with whom you work. By doing your own research and walking the walk, you will set an example that will make significant gains in lining up your technology goals and objectives with your school goals and objectives. Teachers will look to you as not only a leader but a valuable resource. You will be able to offer advice and stay connected. Great technology does not replace great teaching but great teachers can become great technology integrators.

A perfect example is finding a fit for teachers who are reluctant technology integrators. Two teachers that have been in our school for 25 plus years were excited about the possibilities that technology integration could bring to the classroom. However, their success did not come easily.

One teacher had this to say:

“As I was fighting my fears of technology on a daily basis I knew that “something’s gotta give.” I knew that I was a smart person, a quick learner and a hard worker. The stress of resisting technology was starting to use more of my energy than learning some knew skills. One day I woke up and said to myself, “You can do it!” Don’t worry if you don’t know as much as the “young guns.” At that point I had a major paradigm shift. As my feelings and thoughts changed so did my abilities.”

This teacher became an example to all of us. She not only began to integrate technology seamlessly but she enrolled in a Masters of Art in Instructional Technology program (she’ll be done in a couple months) and she became a technology mentor in our professional development process. A great teacher became a great technology-integrating teacher.

Never Become Complacent.

This is part of raising the bar for yourself. From day one until the last day, you must always fine-tune the quality of the educational process. And digital technology changes frequently. What is the next trend in the classroom that will increase teaching and learning opportunities? This becomes part of your daily research.

Read, observe, talk to other administrators, and teachers. When I go to an educational conference I find myself drawn to technology. Likewise, becoming a presenter at these conferences allows you to obtain perks such as free registration. It also allows you to network with other people in education. Some people are just like you and some are beyond your expertise.

You can connect with a lot of different vendors, too. Most vendors will work out some kind of deal that allows you to test and/or observe their products. They can put you in contact with schools in your area that will allow you to visit and see the products in action. Because we present at local, state, and national conferences, we often ask our vendor of interactive white boards to send one to our breakout sessions. Over the years they have donated boards to our school because we promote their product. This has helped us reach our goal to have these digital tools in every classroom.

Last year I had a great idea as I was observing a fifth grade class using one of our wireless laptop carts. I was pondering one-to-one computing and how we could make it happen. The biggest barrier is the cost. Another noticeable obstacle was the disparity in the physical size of fifth graders. Carrying around a laptop all day would be cumbersome for these students.

Over the last holiday season, one of the top selling gifts was MP3 players. I bought one, with a thirty-gigabyte hard drive, for my wife. That would be plenty of storage space for students to use. I thought it would be great if the students could carry around an item that small, plug it into their desk, slide out a keyboard and flip up a monitor.

I Emailed Dell, Microsoft, and Apple. Unfortunately, the only response I received was from an Apple salesperson who wanted to sell us iPods and laptops. That would kind of defeat the vision. But I thought: Don’t get discouraged. Keep your eye out. Something will turn up. We have to keep thinking outside the box.

References

Covey, S. (2004). The 8th habit. New York: Free Press.

Staff Writers (2006). NECC 2006 Focuses on Possibilities. Eschool News. Retrieved July 20, 2006.

Email: Rudnesky, Frank

On Relevance and Irrelevance! K-12 Education meets the21st Century! (Hint: Unplugging Kids IS NOT an OPTION)

A Better Way Than Unplugging Our Kids

An op-ed in response to a May 4 New York Times article entitled, "Seeing No Progress, Some Schools Drop Laptops."
By Leslie A. Wilson

Introduction from Marina Leight, Publisher, Converge

The NY Times article dated May 4 glosses over significant points about technology integration in schools. It makes a giant conclusion based on little evidence and a thin premise.

The New York Times recently reported on Liverpool School District's decision to abandon its seven year-old one-to-one laptop initiative because it found that some students were misusing their laptops, the district's network and the laptops experienced breakdowns and student test scores had evidenced little change. Given these results, we were not surprised by the district's decision to unplug its students. However, we submit that these problems represent less a failure of education technology than a failure of the district's implementation of its laptop initiative. We urge Liverpool to reconsider.

In our four years of experience with Michigan's Freedom to Learn Initiative, which provides approximately 30,000 students and 1,500 teachers in grades three through12 with laptops and comprehensive professional development, we encountered many of the same problems that Liverpool faced. But we did not throw in the towel.

Instead, we proactively addressed expected problems based on our experiences with a handful of pilot sites before our program's official launch. Before the laptops arrived, our teachers and administrators received intensive professional development including training on how to organize effective classrooms. Parents/caregivers participated in a mandatory pre-deployment orientation that included home/school communication opportunities and safe computer use.

We also crafted and implemented laptop user policies, firewalls and other safeguards that addressed many of the issues that seem to have stymied Liverpool's administrators. If any of our students are caught using their laptops to view pornography or to hack into local businesses, they receive swift consequences. As a result, most do not violate the rules twice.

For one-to-one initiatives to succeed, we have found that a number of factors must be considered, honed and incorporated into programs, including:

* effective leadership;
* comprehensive professional development for teachers/administrators/technology staff/parents & caregivers;
* strong public relations and communications;
* formative and summative evaluations;
* appropriate infrastructure/hardware/software standards and performance capacity; and
* plans for sustainability and replicability.

It appears from the article that Liverpool's program lacked many of these elements. Had they been present, Liverpool's program might have succeeded and the article might have taken a substantially different tone.

We take issue with some of the broad conclusions that the article drew from Liverpool's example. Unlike Liverpool, we have seen in Michigan real academic results from our one-to-one initiative. Dr. Stephen Ross of the University of Memphis' Center for Research and Education Policy, which studied Michigan's program for two years, concluded: "Our research shows that there is a high level of proficiency in which Michigan students, at all socioeconomic levels, were using state of the art technology to solve meaningful and authentic learning tasks which are essential for today's workforce and economic development."

We dispute the article's premise that improved student test scores is the sole measure of success for one-to-one initiatives. From our perspective, that premise ignores the value of inculcating within our K-12 students technology skills and knowledge that will help them succeed in today's global economy. In fact, Dr. Ross's study found that students participating in the program have greater advantages than students who did not participate with regard to developing the knowledge and skills needed to achieve success in the 21st century workforce. Complete results can be viewed at www.ftlwireless.org.

While we understand and empathize with the challenges that Liverpool's administrators faced in implementing their program, Michigan's Freedom to Learn initiative is proof positive that laptop programs can succeed -- if properly implemented. We urge K-12 educators not to give up on meaningful instructional technology integration in the classroom based on Liverpool's experience. And we urge Liverpool to rethink its approaches and policies.

Meaningful technology-enabled teaching and learning can and does improve student achievement and will give tech savvy students a decided edge in a very competitive job market. Unplugging our kids is the wrong way to solve student discipline, network and test score problems.

Leslie A. Wilson is Director of Freedom to Learn, Michigan's one-to-one teaching and learning initiative. The One-to-One Institute, of which Wilson is President, is a national not for profit organization whose mission is to serve states, districts and schools with their development and implementation of one to one initiatives. www.ftlwireless.org and www.one-to-oneinstitute.org

To add your thoughts, click here.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

"A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning"

http://www.eschoolnews.com Contents Copyright 2007 eSchool News. All rights reserved.
NACOL issues online learning primer New guidebook aims to help officials create online learning programs of their own By Laura Devaney, Associate Editor, eSchool News May 23, 2007
Educators and education stakeholders interested in online learning have a brand-new resource at their disposal. The North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) has released a free, comprehensive guide to online learning intended to help school leaders implement virtual education programs of their own and help parents understand how online instruction works. "A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning" gives answers to common questions and provides facts about online learning.
The report answers questions such as what an online course looks like, how students will interact with their teacher, and whether online instruction really works. (The short answer: Yes, if done correctly.) It also addresses issues for educators and policy makers who are considering developing their own online learning initiatives, such as what courses can be taught online effectively, what qualifications and training teachers will need, and what policies states or school districts should have in place before starting an online learning program.
"More than 700,000 K-12 students are already learning online. Educators, policy makers, and parents recognize the benefits of providing new opportunities through high-quality online courses that students can access from anywhere, 24-7," said Susan Patrick, NACOL's president and chief executive.
"Yet, despite this growing interest, there are few resources for parents or educators to answer basic questions about online learning. The 'Primer' will serve as a tool for parents seeking the best educational opportunities for their children, and for school leaders and policy makers who must understand the essential elements of online learning in order to make informed decisions about implementing these programs," Patrick said.
She explained: "We get so many phone calls every day from legislators, school board members, parents, and teachers, asking the same questions ... We thought we should put this in writing, so we can help people understand [online learning] a little bit better."
Teachers are essential to the success of any online learning program, Patrick said, adding: "Nothing is more important to the quality of an online course."
One key feature of the report, Patrick said, is that it lays out different models for online instruction. For example, some teachers might teach online classes full-time, whereas others might teach in a classroom and use free periods to teach an online course.
Online learning can help meet the demand for talented math and science teachers in particular, she said, noting the shortage of highly qualified math and science teachers who are needed to help today's students succeed in a global economy.
By the end of 2006, 38 states had established state-led online learning programs, policies regulating online learning, or both, according to NACOL. Of these, 25 states have state-led online learning programs. The number of students taking one or more online courses has grown rapidly, the group adds, with annual growth rates in individual programs—and in some states—consistently in the range of 15 percent to 50 percent over multiple years.
Recommendations contained in NACOL's new primer include funding online learning programs based on educational attainment instead of seat time; progressing students based on outcomes instead of social promotion; and enhancing the use of data throughout education.
"Data are increasingly at the center of education management and policy decisions. Online learning provides an inherent advantage over traditional classrooms in the amount and quality of data that are available through the learning management system: discussions, questions, assessments, time online, progression through and mastery of course material, and numerous other data points typically captured by the software. The information management capacity of online programs is often well ahead of state information systems," the primer says.
The guidebook also addresses some misconceptions that the public might have about online learning, such as the idea that online learning is essentially "teacherless" and that students are isolated and lose out on important social skills.
Other misconceptions include the myth that online teaching and learning is easier—an idea Patrick says isn't necessarily true.
"It's a lot of work, and students who take online courses are often surprised to find out how much harder and rigorous they are," she said. For instance, online courses usually put a heavy emphasis on writing skills; both teachers and students need to have excellent written communication, Patrick said. If students turn in less-than-satisfactory written work, online course instructors will work with them on draft after draft not only until the assignments are satisfactory, but also until the students have truly learned how to improve their skills.
Another misconception is that online courses are easy to pass and make it easy for students to cheat.
Online teachers get a better sense of each student's voice through all the written assignments, and that helps to counteract academic dishonesty, according to the primer.
The primer includes a case study of Ohio's online learning program, called eCommunity Schools, and discusses the state legislature's efforts to put in place measures to ensure academic quality in the eCommunity Schools.
A project of NACOL, the guidebook was written by Evergreen Consulting Associates. Financial support was provided by grants from NACOL and Connections Academy, a national provider of K-12 virtual public schools operated in partnership with charter schools and school districts.
Links:
North American Council for Online Learninghttp://www.nacol.org
"A National Primer on K-12 Online Learning"http://www.nacol.org/docs/national_report.pdf
Evergreen Consulting Associateshttp://www.evergreenassoc.com/
Connections Academyhttp://www.connectionsacademy.com/
www.eschoolnews.com info@eschoolnews.com 7920 Norfolk Ave., Suite 900 Bethesda, MD 20814 (800) 394-0115 - Fax (301) 913-0119 Privacy Policy Manage your FREE eSchool News eMail subscriptions here Contents Copyright 2007 eSchool News. All rights reserved.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

AIM for 21st Century ASSESSMENT! (FRAMES our MISSION!)

Published Online: May 18, 2007

Published in Print: May 23, 2007

Commentary

Assessment in the Age of Innovation

By Charles Fadel, Margaret Honey, & Shelley Pasnik

Within the past 50 years, we’ve seen our country move from an industrial economy to an information-based economy. Now, early in the 21st century, it appears we are shifting to an innovation-based economy, one that requires what the psychologist Robert J. Sternberg calls “successful intelligence,” a three-point foundation of analytical, practical, and creative skills. In other words, the measure of success in today’s economy is not just what you know, but how you use that to imagine new ways to get work done, solve problems, or create new knowledge. This innovation-based environment calls for substantially new forms of assessment, and therein lies a major hurdle for schools, especially American schools, trying to prepare students for this new century.

American students today are largely evaluated based on their factual knowledge. A recent study by Robert C. Pianta and his colleagues at the University of Virginia’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning found that the average 5th grader received five times as much instruction in basic skills as instruction focused on problem-solving or reasoning. Our existing assessment system tends to reinforce rote instructional practices emphasizing the drilling of facts likely to be on a test, rather than problem-solving and reasoning strategies difficult to capture in multiple-choice test items.

If we look at the effectiveness of such practices, and benchmark our success against international competitors, the results are not promising. Test scores from the Program for International Student Assessment, or PISA, which surveys 15-year-old schoolchildren in industrialized countries worldwide, show that, on average, U.S. students lag behind those in Europe and Asia in problem-solving skills in mathematics and science. Schools in Europe and Asia generally teach students how to apply knowledge to novel situations more successfully than do schools in the United States.

If we are to help students succeed in a 21st-century economy and society, we must find ways to measure their ability to apply knowledge to complex and challenging tasks, and to behave in other ways that predict successful engagement in the world as it is now. Because the most salient features of today’s world seem to be change, and the accelerating rate of that change, a major part of a person’s skill set must be the ability to adapt to new conditions and imagine new solutions.

Twenty-first century learning is about the process of integrating and using knowledge, not just the acquisition of facts and procedures.

With the reauthorization of the federal No Child Left Behind Act under way, the time is right to engage the nation’s policymakers in thinking about what 21st-century assessment should be. Assessing student performance in an innovation-based economy will require a transformation—from a sole focus on traditional subject-matter mastery to a new definition of educational excellence that encompasses the skills and understandings required by the new economy. The challenge we face as a nation in building a world-class education system is not only to educate toward rigorous standards benchmarked against the best systems in the world, but also to design an education system that puts a premium on the full complement of content and skills that will enable students to succeed in this ever-changing environment.

What are the essential elements of such learning? The Partnership for 21st Century Skills, a leading advocacy organization in this area, identifies them as core academic content that is infused with subject-matter themes such as global awareness; financial, economic, business, and entrepreneurial literacy; and civic and health literacy, as well as learning skills that stress creativity and innovation, critical thinking and problem-solving, and communication and collaboration, along with information, media, and technology skills, and life and career skills. To prepare students to succeed as citizens, thinkers, and workers in the new century, and to enable teachers and school administrators to educate students for a future in which such skills are the markers of success, we must embrace a more comprehensive view of what constitutes learning.

Many of our high-achieving competitors are pushing for exactly this sort of innovation in education. A recent report by Singapore’s Ministry of Education, for example, opens with this statement: “Education is about preparing our people for the future. To thrive in the world in 2015, Singaporeans need strong analytical, communication, and interpersonal skills. They have to be more risk-taking, entrepreneurial, and able to tolerate greater ambiguity. Most importantly, they need to continuously learn, unlearn, and relearn to remain relevant in a dynamic environment.”

Assessments designed to gauge how well students master these more complex objectives of 21st-century learning will have to use a range of strategies, constructed-response items, essays, and other real-world and virtual performance measures that can help us evaluate how effectively students apply knowledge to problem-solving situations. Twenty-first century learning is about the process of integrating and using knowledge, not just the acquisition of facts and procedures. Hence, educators need to build assessments for learning, rather than solely of learning.

The new assessments will have to do the following:

• Be largely performance-based. We need to know how students apply content knowledge to critical-thinking, problem-solving, and analytical tasks throughout their education, so that we can help them hone this ability and come to understand that successful learning is as much about the process as it is about facts and figures.

• Make students’ thinking visible. The assessments should reveal the kinds of conceptual strategies a student uses to solve a problem.

• Generate data that can be acted upon. Teachers need to be able to understand what the assessment reveals about students’ thinking. And school administrators, policymakers, and teachers need to be able to use this assessment information to determine how to create better opportunities for students.

• Build capacity in both teachers and students. Assessments should provide frequent opportunity for feedback and revision, so that both teachers and students learn from the process.

• Be part of a comprehensive and well-aligned continuum. Assessment should be an ongoing process that is well-aligned to the target concepts, or core ideas, reflected in the standards.

Building new assessments is a complex and costly undertaking, and there is good reason to believe that innovation in this area will require novel funding strategies from both the public and private sectors.

In the United Kingdom, for example, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, a government body that maintains and develops the British national curriculum and its associated assessments, has invested the equivalent of $50 million in developing a new assessment system. In that system, test activities take place within a virtual city, and are designed to assess students’ information, communication, and technology, or ICT, skills, as well as their ability to use such skills to solve a set of complex problems involving research, communication, information management, and presentation.

The British assessment’s ambitious design reflects the country’s intention not only to set a new direction for the assessment of ICT skills, but also to generate an approach to computer-administered assessment that will ultimately be employed in other content areas. Interestingly, as early as 1992, the now-defunct U.S. Office of Technology Assessment published a report, “Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions,” which noted that cutting-edge technologies could help push testing beyond conventional paper-and-pencil formats by structuring and presenting complex tasks, tracking students’ cognitive processes, and providing rapid feedback.

Another example of assessment innovation resides closer to home, in the National Science Foundation’s consortium of teachers, university-based researchers, and software developers designing formative mathematics assessments that run on hand-held computers. These assessments help teachers implement a form of research-based “clinical interview.” Based on the work of Jean Piaget, this assessment approach provides teachers with a window into children’s thinking. It helps them understand not only the mathematical knowledge of primary students, but also the strategies they use to solve math problems. The technology helps teachers keep track of students’ answers and reasoning strategies, and generates a performance profile at the end of an interview session. The kind of diagnostic data generated through such assessments gives teachers information they can act on instructionally.

Funding for developing such innovative assessments is admittedly a strategy for the longer term. What is important for the short term is that states realize they are in a position to exert tremendous influence over the kinds of assessments being developed for today’s students. Using the criteria cited here as a starting point, state departments of education can craft requests for proposals that specify exactly what they are looking for in a 21st-century assessment system.

Such requests are clearly going to have to break with existing conventions, however, and recognize that compelling, effective approaches to assessment are more likely to come from individuals and partnerships that are themselves focused on innovation, and not necessarily from traditional providers.

Charles Fadel is the global lead for education at Cisco Systems and a board member of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills (www.21stcenturyskills.org), where he co-chairs the standards, assessment, and professional-development committee. Margaret Honey is the senior vice president for strategic initiatives and research at Wireless Generation, a data-reporting, assessment, and professional-services company. Shelley Pasnik is a research scientist at the Center for Children and Technology, part of the Education Development Center, in Newton, Mass. She serves as an education consultant to the Partnership for 21st Century Skills.