Sunday, July 22, 2007
AIM for WHAT Matters Most!
Connie Calloway
Schools matter most
July 22, 2007
Support for the war in Iraq continues to wane within the GOP and among the military ranks.
Detroit just sent home thousands of people who visited the area on behalf of the NAACP and the National Organization for Women. We just watched five Detroit Tigers make baseball's All-Star team while we still debate what to do with the team's old stadium.
But one of the most monumental things that happened here is that we welcomed a new city schools superintendent, now in the middle of her first month on the job. And I have a suggestion for Dr. Connie Calloway, who admittedly has come to put out a fire that someone else started: Help us keep our eye on the ball.
Job No. 1 for city
Nothing -- I repeat, nothing -- matters with Detroit's renaissance if we can't fix the schools. The mayor knows it, and he is so committed to change that he's making plans to reinvent education for city kids. Corporate executives and foundation leaders know it; they are busy visiting successful schools around the country and meeting with prominent Detroiters to garner support to offer parents more options.
But while we continue to talk about what else we can do for children outside the schools, the most important conversation, the most important work, must go on within DPS, where Calloway can either clean house and change the old way of doing business or beat her head against the wall waiting out a smart and lucrative contract. She doesn't strike me as one who beats her head against walls.
My suggestion and my hope are that Calloway will tell us, the taxpayers and the renaissance warriors who know the city is already turning around, everything that is going on.
Skip the secrecy
Part of the lingering problem with DPS is the secretive way the administration has dealt with problems, which always erupt and always look worse when they've been discovered than when they've been announced.
I hope that Calloway will hold weekly press conferences to update us, the taxpayers who are funding the hope, about plans to improve graduation rates, beef up curriculum, balance the budget and cut executive ranks so she can spend more on teachers in classrooms and make the schools so vibrant that parents are enticed by them instead of guilted into staying with them.
With every piece of bad news, Reaction One is to be defensive, to complain about how much everyone picks on Detroit. From Calloway, I want the good news -- and much more of it -- about schools that work and children who excel. But I also want the bad news about the problems -- and what we're doing to solve them.
Yes, the Tigers are playing, and it's the 40th anniversary of a Detroit uprising born of frustration that still walks the streets, still survives a gap between the haves and have-nots that is worse today than in 1967.
But even as we watch everything else, we must not take our eyes off the prize, the children, and the schools.
Contact ROCHELLE RILEY at 313-223-4473 or rriley99@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
NGA Conference / Update
(AMY LEANG/DFP)
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty chat Saturday during the National Governors Association conference at the Great Lakes Campus of Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City.
CEOs to governors: Promote schools, spread Internet access
July 22, 2007
TRAVERSE CITY -- States that educate children the best and provide broadband Internet service and other technology to the most people will do best in the competitive global economy, two of the nation's top communication executives told the nation's governors Saturday.
"The more efficient the communication, the greater the velocity of commerce," said Randall Stephenson, chief executive officer of AT&T.
He said the wireless communication boom is "achieving RPMs in commerce we never dreamed of."
Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt followed Stephenson and predicted consumers will acquire more communication devices, not fewer, as technology advances.
"I have my old cell phone, my iPhone, my Blackberry and now a camera, and I've got a Zip device that doesn't fit any of them," he said, drawing chuckles from the 35 governors and a few hundred others attending the National Governors Association conference.
Afterward, Schmidt told reporters he's pleased with Google's new operation in Ann Arbor, which he said he visited before heading to the conference at the Grand Traverse Resort.
"The energy level is phenomenal," he said, adding that with several hundred workers, it's the fastest-growing center in Google. He said the company has had no problem recruiting employees.
Schmidt said Michigan has much going for it because of its skilled workforce, adding: "The average person in Michigan is very educated. Education and motivation that comes with it are the key."
The two executives were the opening act for a three-day conference at which the theme is innovation and how it can help states and the U.S. economy.
Stephenson urged governors to eliminate as much telecommunications regulation as possible.
"Stay out of the way," he said. "The more truly competitive the market becomes, the less regulation you need."
Stephenson also said countries like India are passing the United States on some levels because of education.
"I don't think a kid in Korea wakes up in the morning wanting to study algebra any more than a kid in this country," Stephenson said. "Kids in Korea don't have a choice whether they study algebra."
He said poor urban areas are the most challenging because fewer people have access to computers or know how to use them. He said AT&T is working on a device that will cost only $100 or $200 and allow people to link to the Internet.
He also praised states that are clearing the way for more fiber optic lines.
"More fiber is a good thing," he said.
"It's a pro-fiber diet for telecommunications," quipped Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, chairwoman of the NGA.
Michael Flanagan, superintendent of public instruction for Michigan, said Stephenson may have been harsh in his assessment of public schools, but he has a point.
"Our kids will be left in the global dust if they don't reach higher levels," he said.
But the state is doing things to make that happen, Flanagan said, from raising high school graduation requirements for all students to making some changes in educating college students to produce more math and science teachers.
He also took exception to the comparison to education in places like India and China.
"A lot of CEOs don't get this issue of education in other nations," he said. "They're getting only the top kids in the schools. But it helps me remotivate and move the ball when CEOs are critical of us."
Contact CHRIS CHRISTOFF at 313-222-6609 or cchristoff@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
The Michigan Citizen
Calloway: Charter schools "suicide."
First board meeting with new Superintendent
By Diane Bukowski
The Michigan Citizen
DETROIT: During her first board meeting, Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Connie Calloway called charter schools "suicide" for the public school system. At the same time, she endorsed plans for theme-based schools partnering with private companies, part of the district's "re-alignment" plan which includes the closing of 42 schools over the next two years.
Calloway said she is a "Christian" and will conduct an open administration, listening to complaints from all parents and students.
Those complaints included testimony at the beginning of the meeting by two young sisters. The young women said they were brutalized by DPS police during a rally May 1 against school closings outside Northern High School, and now face serious charges in court.
"I was pepper sprayed and dragged across the street by my hair," said 13-year-old Veola Williams, whose lawyers have also said the police slammed her on the ground, pulled out her earrings, making her ears bleed, and tore out her hair.
Her 14-year-old sister Barbara Williams said, "I feel I was violated as a child." She said police slammed her against a wall, and then under a bench, where she was handcuffed to a pole. Her lawyers said she was also pepper sprayed directly in the eyes and had her glasses broken.
The sisters face charges in juvenile court of disturbing the peace and assault and battery against police officers, to be heard July 25 at 8 a.m.
In a separate incident, parent Kimberly Bishop said she had been assaulted by DPS police and arrested in an incident July 3 where she went to her daughter�s school to ask why she had to be in uniform for summer school.
In contrast to Calloway�s statements that she would conduct an open administration, DPS police at first barred students demonstrating against school closings from entering the meeting, they were eventually allowed to enter after pat-down searches. The protesters had already emptied their pockets and passed through a metal detector. No other audience members were similarly treated.
Another protester, Morris Mays, was barred because former interim superintendent Lamont Satchel allegedly filed a police complaint against him claiming he threatened to "assassinate" Satchel during a court hearing on school closings July 9. Satchel was not available for comment, and DPS chief of communications Lekan Oguntoyinbo had not returned a call about the police complaint before press time.
An audience member, Warren Bryant, was evicted from the meeting at board president Jimmy Womack's order for making comments, although Womack did not evict Rev. Loyce Lester, who continued his usual practice of making loud remarks, this time during Calloway's report.
In that report, Calloway said, "I want to use this time not to just bring good news, but to talk about issues. On the issue of charter schools, I want to be extremely clear that Connie Calloway does not support charter schools. They mean suicide for public schools. Charter schools are for profit, while public schools have existed since the 1800�s and 1900�s for the sole purpose of providing a free education for the public."
Calloway endorsed the concept of theme-based schools, saying for instance that she would like to see a school devoted to health allied professions, in partnership with the Health Alliance Plan (HAP). She noted that 45 percent of medical assistants employed in Detroit come from Canada.
"We need to find industries and careers for our students to attract families into DPS," she said.
In other business at the meeting, the board voted to allow Miller High School alumni a chance to present a plan to reopen the historic school in two years. The vote, taken under Womack�s report, supplanted a motion proposed at the human resources committee by chair Jonathan Kinloch and supported by board members Marie Thornton and Paula Johnson, to keep Miller open. The majority of the board earlier boycotted two special board meetings on the matter called by the three members.
The board also voted to lease the now closed Millennium High School and sell another DPS location at 7811 South Street. Facilities department vice-chair Mark Schrupp said the district has leased two closed schools to DPS-sponsored charter schools, although sales or leases to non-DPS charter schools are not planned.
 |
| Connie Calloway speaks at board meeting July 12. |
By Diane Bukowski
The Michigan Citizen
DETROIT: During her first board meeting, Detroit Public Schools (DPS) Superintendent Connie Calloway called charter schools "suicide" for the public school system. At the same time, she endorsed plans for theme-based schools partnering with private companies, part of the district's "re-alignment" plan which includes the closing of 42 schools over the next two years.
Calloway said she is a "Christian" and will conduct an open administration, listening to complaints from all parents and students.
Those complaints included testimony at the beginning of the meeting by two young sisters. The young women said they were brutalized by DPS police during a rally May 1 against school closings outside Northern High School, and now face serious charges in court.
"I was pepper sprayed and dragged across the street by my hair," said 13-year-old Veola Williams, whose lawyers have also said the police slammed her on the ground, pulled out her earrings, making her ears bleed, and tore out her hair.
Her 14-year-old sister Barbara Williams said, "I feel I was violated as a child." She said police slammed her against a wall, and then under a bench, where she was handcuffed to a pole. Her lawyers said she was also pepper sprayed directly in the eyes and had her glasses broken.
The sisters face charges in juvenile court of disturbing the peace and assault and battery against police officers, to be heard July 25 at 8 a.m.
In a separate incident, parent Kimberly Bishop said she had been assaulted by DPS police and arrested in an incident July 3 where she went to her daughter�s school to ask why she had to be in uniform for summer school.
In contrast to Calloway�s statements that she would conduct an open administration, DPS police at first barred students demonstrating against school closings from entering the meeting, they were eventually allowed to enter after pat-down searches. The protesters had already emptied their pockets and passed through a metal detector. No other audience members were similarly treated.
Another protester, Morris Mays, was barred because former interim superintendent Lamont Satchel allegedly filed a police complaint against him claiming he threatened to "assassinate" Satchel during a court hearing on school closings July 9. Satchel was not available for comment, and DPS chief of communications Lekan Oguntoyinbo had not returned a call about the police complaint before press time.
An audience member, Warren Bryant, was evicted from the meeting at board president Jimmy Womack's order for making comments, although Womack did not evict Rev. Loyce Lester, who continued his usual practice of making loud remarks, this time during Calloway's report.
In that report, Calloway said, "I want to use this time not to just bring good news, but to talk about issues. On the issue of charter schools, I want to be extremely clear that Connie Calloway does not support charter schools. They mean suicide for public schools. Charter schools are for profit, while public schools have existed since the 1800�s and 1900�s for the sole purpose of providing a free education for the public."
Calloway endorsed the concept of theme-based schools, saying for instance that she would like to see a school devoted to health allied professions, in partnership with the Health Alliance Plan (HAP). She noted that 45 percent of medical assistants employed in Detroit come from Canada.
"We need to find industries and careers for our students to attract families into DPS," she said.
In other business at the meeting, the board voted to allow Miller High School alumni a chance to present a plan to reopen the historic school in two years. The vote, taken under Womack�s report, supplanted a motion proposed at the human resources committee by chair Jonathan Kinloch and supported by board members Marie Thornton and Paula Johnson, to keep Miller open. The majority of the board earlier boycotted two special board meetings on the matter called by the three members.
The board also voted to lease the now closed Millennium High School and sell another DPS location at 7811 South Street. Facilities department vice-chair Mark Schrupp said the district has leased two closed schools to DPS-sponsored charter schools, although sales or leases to non-DPS charter schools are not planned.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
AIM for Mayor's Mission!
Schools become mayor's mission
For now, he shelves plans for charters
July 21, 2007
Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick offered a major sacrifice on the altar of unity Friday, temporarily shelving his desire to open charter schools across the city while he and a cavalry of union leaders and community activists and Detroit Public Schools Superintendent Connie Calloway get the community to embrace a reinvention of the city's network of public, private and parochial schools.
Kilpatrick said the work group, some of whom have been meeting for more than a year, would announce a plan in late August that will address achievement, security and possibly alternatives.
"I've been asked to wait on that, but it's not thrown away," Kilpatrick said of the charter schools plan during an interview on "Am I Right?" on WTVS-TV (Channel 56).
"I've been asked to wait ... to figure out if we can come up with alternatives by the end of this school year. We've put a tight time line on ourselves. I'm not going to Lansing with any legislation until I see that we can work as a community to get things done."
But he left no doubt that he won't let the renaissance he's overseeing be derailed by a poor system of educating kids.
"I want to work within this group to make it happen ... but if we can't make it happen here locally, then I, as mayor, have to do something."
The mayor's increased attention comes as the district's leadership faces continuing woes. The district's student population could fall below 100,000 in the next two years, causing it to lose its status as a first-class district. It has struggled against budget deficits for four years in a row, and its graduation rate, a subject of national debate, is too low to even argue about -- whether it's 25% or 60%.
As the school district goes, so goes the city, which has seen its population drop even as its housing starts set records.
"We've had everybody visit here to do site visits, from Target to Wal-Mart to businesses that are interested in moving their business here," Kilpatrick said. "And the education level and training level of our city is something that is now suffering. Once upon a time, people moved their manufacturing businesses here because we had a trained workforce and a literate workforce. So it's not only educating our children so they don't go into crime or so they have an opportunity to be whatever they want to be. That's a given. It's also hurting our ability to grow as a city."
Kilpatrick said the plan will focus heavily on security.
"Security is a place that we're not arguing about," he said. "Principals, teachers throughout the district, they want gang squads. They want patrols. I expect in August, when we announce some of these things, you'll see our chief and school security personnel coordinating very well."
Saying he regrets not having taken the lead on schools sooner, Kilpatrick said he has spent the summer trying to get Calloway, who has said she opposes charter schools, and union leaders, historically the stiffest obstacle to change, onboard with his vision.
"We started by going into the belly of the beast ... and that's organized labor unions," he said.
"I've been talking to them more than I've been talking to anyone else in this debate because the political organization that comes around this issue comes from the unions. I want to help them understand: This is not about protectionism. It's not about salaries and wages. It's not about benefit packages. It's really about how we better educate our children in the city of Detroit."
Kilpatrick said his conversations with labor leaders about everything from male and female academies to boarding schools were positive. "I believe organized labor in this town is ready to lead a change," he said. "I believe they're tired of being put in the position of fighting change. ... I don't know if they're going to stand up and raise their hand up and say, 'We support charter schools,' although many unions have across this country."
Neither Calloway nor Detroit Federation of Teachers President Virginia Cantrell responded to requests for interviews.
The mayor said he has had numerous conversations with Calloway, who started as DPS chief July 1. He said Calloway supports change and improvement and is the right person for the city schools job. But he said the schools are his job, too.
The mayor was invited to "Am I Right?" which I cohost, to update plans he announced two months ago to bring more charter and private schools to the city, something he called part of his job as steward over Detroit kids.
"I have to work with Dr. Connie Calloway," Kilpatrick said. "I have to work with the charter school community. And I believe because of that things are coming together. It's not a money grab. I don't want to be in charge. I just want kids to be educated."
Kilpatrick said this massive education revolution would happen only if the community unites behind children and change.
If nothing else was clear about the mayor's conviction Friday, this was: To save Detroit, we must save the children. To save the children, we must save current schools, create schools and entice parents to stick with public education out of more than just guilt.
"We've got to let that go," the mayor said. "Parents don't care about politics, your assumptions or loyalty or how far away a school is. ... They care about their children, how they're educated and what quality is the school."
That sounds like a man on a mission in a city that needs one.
Contact ROCHELLE RILEY at 313- 223-4473 or rriley99@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
NGA Conference / Update Education
(AMY LEANG/DFP)
Gov. Jennifer Granholm is at the wheel of a 1960 Cadillac Eldorado convertible Friday with Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who chairs this weekend's meeting of the National Governors Association in the Traverse City area.
2 governors share similar backgrounds
This weekend, they're in spotlight
July 21, 2007
She leads a state where she wasn't born and is an ex-federal prosecutor and attorney general who in her 40s was elected governor as a likable, moderate Democrat, replacing a Republican. Four years later she trounced a Christian conservative challenger.
Went to college in California. Earned a law degree from an elite Eastern school.
The description fits Jennifer Granholm, Michigan's governor. And Janet Napolitano, Arizona's governor. Their careers have had striking parallels.
As new governors in 2003, both faced billion-dollar deficits and Republican legislatures. Both stress education and innovative businesses as crucial to their economies.
Both will be in the spotlight at the National Governors Association conference in the Traverse City area this weekend, Granholm as host and Napolitano chairing a gathering that will mix policy with parties in one of Michigan's premier playgrounds.
It's Granholm's job to show off her state's best side.
It's Napolitano's job to oversee discussions of global warming, online child predators and -- her main focus -- education as the key to lucrative, innovative markets for the United States.
In an interview this week, Napolitano said improving college education is crucial as the United States competes with other nations. Still, she said, the issue hasn't gotten the attention it deserves. The federal No Child Left Behind law for K-12 schools dominates the debate but, Napolitano said, doesn't go far enough in its testing requirements.
"They don't really tell you if your students have the capacity for innovation and creativity, the things that will allow us to compete with the Beijings, the New Delhis, the Dubais, the Dublins of the world," Napolitano said.
"What helps here is the opportunity for governors to share with each other what they are doing. Frankly, my experience at these governors meetings is some of the valuable conversations are in the background, in the hallways, as to what you tried that didn't work very well or maybe cost way more money than it produced."
Napolitano chose Granholm to chair the NGA committee on economic development and federal energy policies. Granholm said they struck a friendship in 1999, after they were elected attorneys general.
Napolitano is Arizona's third woman elected governor. In 2005, she was named one of the five best governors in the country by Time magazine. Conservatives label her a big spender. Democrats considered her a possible running mate for presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.
She bridged a polarized Arizona government and made friends with business, said Earl de Berg, a pollster with Behavior Research Center in Phoenix.
"She's a pretty savvy gal. She has an intuitive understanding of where the public is in Arizona with respect to their frustration with past politics," de Berg said. "She's slightly left of center, but she gives the impression she's open to all, and it's really struck a chord with the public."
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
NGA Conference/ Update
(AMY LEANG/Detroit Free Press)
From left, Governors Joe Manchin III of West Virginia, Janet Napolitano of Arizona and Jennifer Granholm of Michigan speak during the National Governors Association 2007 Annual Meeting opening news conference at the Great Lakes Campus of Northwestern Michigan College in Traverse City.
Governors' conference kicks off in Traverse City
July 21, 2007
TRAVERSE CITY -- Nearly 40 of the nation's governors kicked off their summer conference here Saturday, as Gov. Jennifer Granholm welcomed them against a backdrop of Grand Traverse Bay's blue surf and spectacular, sunny weather.
Granholm said the conference theme of innovation and the economy is especially pertinent to Michigan, which leads the nation in unemployment and, she said, is transforming from an auto-dominated economy, yet must retain the auto industry as part of its economic base.
"We know the importance of investing and diversifying an economy," she told reporters on the grounds of Northwestern Michigan College's Great Lakes Campus.
She said governors will discuss, among other things, how to use the creativity of state universities and as magnets for economic growth -- a topic led by NGA chairperson, Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, who joined Granholm at the opening event.
The opening event also drew comments on global climate change. Granholm said while it's important for states to limit carbon dioxide emissions, and said all 2008 presidential candidates should insist that U.S. trade partners agree to limit carbon emissions as well.
"We can do all we want in the Unites States, but if there is no global lessening of emissions out of China, than it is nothing," she said. "We have to have a global policy."
Also attending the press conference were Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, chair of the NGA; Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin III. Ritter said some European nations are looking to U.S.states to take step that will drive this nation's debate on global warming.
Thirty-five governors were expected to attend the conference at the Grand Traverse Resort.
They were to hear presentations Saturday by Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt, and Randall Stephenson, chairman and CEO of AT&T, on the topic of innovation and the economy.
Granholm used the occasion to tout her economic plan to diversify the state's economy using money from the new 21st Century Jobs fund to attract high-tech, innovative industries, and new, tougher high school curriculum standards.
Napolitano said states should focus more on higher education and producing products that no other countries produce and market.
"What do we need to do as governors, state by state, to make sure the next generation is fully prepared for the globalization of the 21st Century?" she said."How do we make the U.S.a place were jobs are in-sourced, not out-sourced, as a result of our mental capital?"
She added, "Governors have a key role."
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
AIM GREASE for Those Gears!
The Good Work Project: http://www.goodworkproject.org
The Good Work Project Overview (PDF)
http://goodworkproject.org/docs/papers/GW%20Overview%201_06.pdf
The Good Work Project Overview (PDF)
http://goodworkproject.org/docs/papers/GW%20Overview%201_06.pdf
Friday, July 20, 2007
NSF ITEST STEM Grant / UPDATE!
Proposed Revisions/Clarifications for Proposal, 07-37326, Fostering Interest in Information Technology, submitted by the University of Michigan
Project Design
Q1. The ITEST program mandates two consecutive years of participation in Youth-Based Projects. Although this is mentioned in the narrative, please confirm that students will participate for two years and provide an outline of activities for Years 1-2. Why do students not begin until 1 year after the program begins?
A1. We confirm that for the three-year duration, the proposed project will have two cohort groups, each participating in two consecutive years of project activities with an overlap in the second year so that all participating students will receive two years of enrichment activities.
The proposed project will be implemented from July 1, 2008 to June 30, 2011. Participating students for the first cohort will begin the project in early fall of 2008. However, the project will implement a series of recruitment activities for the first cohort before the end of the previous school year in the winter and spring of 2008 and prepare over the summer for a fall start (before the 3-year “official” duration of the project begins in July 2008). Similar recruitment activities will be conducted for the second cohort in the winter and spring of 2009.
The outline of activities and events for the first cohort are as follows.
Year 1: Capacity Building (July 1, 2008 – August 30, 2009). The year starts with a preparation activity involving a summer course for K-12 STEM teachers, followed by a kickoff meeting as the school year begins, a set of IT intensive STEM area workshops for students during the year, and seminar meetings near the end of the fall and winter semesters. The year concludes with real-world field-based experiences during the following summer with opportunities for students to work directly with IT and STEM professionals and see examples of real-world workplace applications.
1. IT/STEM Summer Course
2. Kickoff Meeting
3. Level 1 Workshops
4. Seminar Meeting 1
5. Level 2 Workshops
6. Seminar Meeting 2
7. Summer Externship
By improving the IT/STEM readiness of participating students through capacity building activities and field-based experiences, all students will be prepared to undertake the work of designing IT-intensive authentic projects within the context of STEM, work that will start during the program explorations and continue into the second year.
Year 2: Design (September 1, 2009 – June 30, 2010). The design year consists of a series of site-based sessions for each individual design team and a whole-group seminar meeting near to the end of the school year. The overarching task of each design team in this year is to design inquiry-based authentic projects that are of at least science fair quality using one or more content-specific IT tools explored during the previous capacity building year and stimulating ideas/experiences gained during the field trips. The design year will end with a techno/career fair during the following summer of 2010.
8. Step 1: Ask (takes place during the summer externship)
9. Step 2: Investigation (takes place during the summer externship)
10. Step 3: Create
11. Step 4: Discuss
12. Step 5: Reflect
13. Seminar Meeting 3
14. Techno/Career Fair
The second cohort goes through the same set of activities in Year 1 (July 1, 2009 – August 30, 2010) and Year 2 (September 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011).
Q2. Funding is requested for materials development but the narrative does not adequately describe the curriculum materials to be produced. How many modules will be produced and by whom? Are there some existing materials that can be used?
A2. The proposed project will produce a total of four Curriculum Guides, one for each STEM subject matter area. They will be developed by the leadership of each design team (Drs. Zitzewitz, Medjahed, Orady, and Höft) in collaboration with the post-secondary STEM content expert and K-12 STEM teacher involved in each design team of the project. Each curriculum guide will include the following four modules:
- The first one will be related to the summer course for teachers,
- The second one will be related to the capacity building phase activities,
- The third one will be devoted to summer externship activities,
- The fourth one will deal with the design phase activities.
The project leadership will combine these four curriculum guides into a STEM guide book that will include a total of 4*4=16 modules.
We are not familiar with any existing curriculum guides for individual STEM subject matter areas that linked to the State content expectations and tested out with participating students.
Q3. How will the four student teams interact? How will student teams be organized if students self-select and the membership is not balanced?
A3. During Year Two: Design of each cohort, four student teams will interact through whole-group activities and events--Seminar Meeting 3 and Techno/Career Fair. Throughout the year, the project’s Web site, blog, and podcasting sites will also be utilized to extend student interaction outside the confines of the formal scheduled events.
Students’ interest in a specific STEM area is the main criteria for the organization of the design teams. At the end of the Level 1 Workshops, we will assist students to narrow down their interest to two specific STEM related fields. Level 2 Workshops will allow students to narrow down their interest to one specific STEM area. This multi-level structure is expected to provide a relatively balanced membership for four STEM area design teams. However, we will also ask students to provide an alternate team besides their main interest so that the project leadership could be more flexible with assigning students into four design teams in a balanced fashion. Possible multi-disciplinary projects from combined areas of STEM to be designed by students will help them find interest in more than one STEM area. This will also help the project leadership to balance the membership assignments for the design teams.
Q4. Please describe the student internship (what happens beside the field trips) and the teacher summer course in more detail.
A4. The student internship will consist of field-based experiences and preparation for Design activities.
During the two-week summer program, students will meet and observe the work of scientists and professionals in IT/STEM fields. The project will facilitate eight different day-long field trips (two for each STEM design team); each emphasizing IT related career and educational pathways within the context of STEM, and including debriefing activities after each one. Collaborating business, industry, government, and university sectors will host these sessions. This will help students to determine their real world projects and utilize the IT-STEM area professionals to research and develop meaningful projects that contribute to scientific advancement through collaboration and digital connectivity.
As part of the summer program, aligned with the Cyclic Inquiry Model’s 5 major steps (Ask, Investigate, Create, Discuss and Reflect), the project will also facilitate collaborative learning experiences where students learn how to design and conduct inquiry-based authentic projects; more specifically they learn how to Ask, Investigate, Create, Discuss, and Reflect. These theoretical discussions will then be linked to students’ authentic projects to provide practical applications. Step 1: Ask will take place during the summer program. Lead by one specialized member of the project leadership team, each STEM area will hold a series of meetings to discuss IT-intensive authentic project ideas aligned with appropriate federal and state standards within the focus area of each design team. At this stage, each student begins to focus on a question or problem, defining and describing it. Students will be assisted in the process by members of the leadership team, design team members, IT-STEM professionals from partnering business, industry, and government sectors, parents, and supporting partners. During this process, the project leadership team will closely survey the focus and interest of each participating student to facilitate individual, small-group, or multidisciplinary projects. Step 2: Investigate will also take place during the summer program and will be conducted in a similarly to Step 1. Students will begin to collect information about their questions. This process will include research using reading, observing, interviewing, or doing exploratory experiments.
The leading members of the STEM area design teams, Drs. Zitzewitz, Medjahed, Orady, and Höft will collaboratively design and teach an IT-intensive STEM area summer course for high-school STEM teachers. Ten to fifteen teachers from partnering school districts are expected to enroll in this three credit-hour summer course to learn, experience, and use information technologies within the context of STEM. The course will consist of presentations followed by hands-on activities to provide participating teachers the opportunity to learn advanced use of IT toolsets within the context of STEM. Four teachers (one from each STEM area) will be selected to participate in the proposed project based on their performance in this course. This will also allow the project leaderships to identify alternates for participating teachers those who would become unavailable to continue with the program.
Q5. What strategies will be used to identify parents with IT backgrounds to assist with the project? What evidence is there that a pool of parents with this expertise exists among the target population? How will parents access technology needed to participate electronically?
A5. Student recruitment information will identify parents’ work experience and parent/significant others’ willingness to assist in the program. In addition, the scheduled seminars and outreach opportunities will help us to survey parents and their professional background and expertise.
Participating school district, Detroit Public Schools is located in the Detroit Metropolitan area, where the “big three” automotive companies, their vendors and suppliers are located in Southeastern Michigan. Therefore, we have anecdotal information indicating that there is a considerable number of parents among the targeted population whose expertise are in IT-STEM fields.
The project will establish a parental Blog site to facilitate collaboration and exchange among parents, students, and other members of the project. Sponsored by the project’s participating school district, each student will have 24/7 access to a laptop and a Pocked PC throughout the program. This will allow parents to access these technologies at home for electronic communication as needed. Local libraries are also available for public access to Internet, WWW, and email.
Project Team, Management, and Audience
Q6. Who will serve on the project advisory board? Please provide letters of support to confirm commitment.
A6. The following individuals will serve on the project advisory board. Please see the appendix for the copy of the email confirmations of the commitment. We will provide official letters of support as we receive.
- Charlotte A. Otto, Associate Provost and Professor of Chemistry, University of Michigan-Dearborn.
- Dr. Bill Cobern, Director of t he George G. Mallinson Institute for Science Education
- Patricia Pickett, Principal, Northwestern High School, Detroit Public Schools
- Jeff Bush, Consultant, Design and Technological Studies, Oakland Schools
- Michael Souden, Learning Services, Oakland Schools
In addition to the current members of the advisory board, we will continue our effort to include at least one representative from the region’s business, industry, and government sectors, and parents and volunteers.
Q7. What is the role of the industry collaborators?
A7. The primary role of the industry collaborators is to provide the "real world" applications. They will also have roles in other aspects of the projects. They will assist in providing the digital toolsets needed to do authentic research and development that contributes to the existing body of scientific knowledge. They will also provide technical tours and time of qualified personnel to mentor and guide student teams in the four areas of STEM. This would help provide real life problem solving techniques to the participating students. Industry collaborators have also a critical role to play in the development of what 21st century digital and academic toolsets are needed to facilitate a smooth transition from K-12 to college and then to the world of work. The cooperative relationship between business, industry and the education community is expected to result in the establishment of the following:
- Permanent internships with participating businesses,
- Greater sense of corporate responsibility
- The creation of mutual advisory boards,
- To inspire students to view the business world as part of their larger career path,
- For all participating groups to demonstrate their products, projects, business plans, goals, strengths and weaknesses,
- Businesses will help students to enhance their understanding of the general way in which participating businesses work, and
- For businesses to receive students at the work place to see skills and STEM transferred to the world of work.
Q8. Which members of the project team (PI and Co-PIs) that are leading the science, technology, mathematics, and engineering design team, have expertise working with the target audience of high school youth?
A8. All members of the project leadership team who will be leading the STEM area design teams have previous experiences in working with high-school students and/or have been involved in funded projects in this area.
Dr. Mesut Duran, Associate Professor of Technology in the School of Education, will be overseeing the design team activities. He is a former high school teacher with three-year teaching experience in 9-12 grades. His current research titled Michigan Teachers’ Technology Education Network (MITTEN) has also involved considerable number of high school teachers and their students from six different school districts in Southeastern Michigan.
Paul Zitzewitz, Professor of Physics and Science Education in the Natural Sciences Department, will lead the Science design team. He has authored a high school physics textbook.
Dr. Brahim Medjahed, Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer & Information Science, will lead the Technology design team. He has previously designed and taught computer science labs to high school students.
Dr. Elsayed Orady, Professor and the Coordinator of the Manufacturing Engineering Program in the Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, will lead the Engineering design team. He worked with Detroit area Pre-College Engineering Program (DAPCEP) students.
Dr. Margret Höft, Professor of Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics and Statistics, will lead the Mathematics design. She worked with several K-12 teachers and their students in the MITTEN project.
Q9. One reviewer was concerned that objectives 2, 4, and 5 are overlay ambitious for a three-year project. How will they be accomplished?
A9. Working closely with higher education and industry experts, monitoring student activities and progress in two consecutive years will bring real-world experiences to K-12 STEM teachers. Their engagement in the development of STEM area Curriculum Guides will provide significant strategies for replication and expanded awareness of additional opportunities and possibilities for their future students. Similarly, post-secondary faculty members’ ability to design and deliver IT/STEM enrichment experiences and opportunities for K-12 STEM teachers will increase within this collaborative engagement.
The “Community of Designers” idea that the proposed project will implement promotes collaborative engagement among high-school students, K-12 STEM teachers, U/GSAs, and post-secondary STEM content experts. Utilizing new technologies such as videoconferencing, streaming video, Web-based enabled collaboration tools such as blogs and poscasting will accelerate traditional time consuming analog deliverables and methodologies allowing the formation of a self-sustaining professional development network.
Q10. What schools will be targeted for recruitment and what are the characteristics of the target audience?
A10. The incoming 9th Grade students will be recruited from a total of 6 high schools within the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) system for the first cohort. The students from Northwestern, Southeastern, Mumford, Cass Technical, Martin Luther King, and Renaissance high schools will be invited to participate. In addition to DPS, project leadership will invite the Oakland Schools and other surrounding school districts to participate in the project’s second cohort as part of its long term vision. Students will have to maintain Grade Point Levels above the minimum of 2.0 in addition to having acceptable attendance and behavior for the school year (9th Grade). Students will be required to proved evidence of their freshman year performance for completion of the application process.
For both cohorts, the target audience is minority students, students with special needs, and female students. These students will join the project at the beginning of their 10th grade and complete the two-year-long project activities at the end of their 11th grade, transitioning into their senior year as future college students.
The recruitment of students will be done via visits to invited schools and/or classrooms by representatives of the program. These visits will include STEM courses and activities ongoing in the targeted schools, coupled with letters of invitation to students as selected and/or nominated by the STEM instructors and school administrators. Students will be provided an application for active participation in the project. To support and maintain the levels of student participation, an alternate list of students will be created and provide replacements for any student moving from the targeted school or otherwise unavailable to continue with the program. Incentives will be provided for all involved students for the duration of the program.
Q11. Will student IT and STEM knowledge be considered as part of the admission process? What criteria will be used for high school and college student participation?
A11. Students’ interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math will be the most important focus areas for admission to the project. We will survey students for math, science, and computer courses taken and grades earned. However, high GPA is not required to enter the program.
We will recruit college students from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines. Their STEM strengths, IT comfort levels, outstanding GPA with excellent communication and teaching skills will be considered as selection criteria. We will also take into account students’ prior experiences working with the target high-school youth (e.g., tutoring, volunteering activities, and community services).
Q12. What is the plan for student retention? The PI predicts that the project will have 100% retention which may be unrealistic.
A12. The retention plan includes combination of academic and financial support systems. The project will regularly emphasize the “goal oriented” nature of the program rather than a “degree/certificate” which is considered one of the working strategies for student retention. Student retention is also “high” when program activities highlight a competition. With their projects designed during the FI3T program, students will be encouraged, advised, and supported to participate in nationwide pre-college competitions such as the Intel Science Talent Search and the International Science and Engineering Fair. Provided by the project’s K-12 partner, Detroit Public Schools (DPS), and equipped with special software needed for their projects, students will have access to a laptop and a Pocket PC during their participation in the project. Providing such educational and motivational tools and resources will have a positive impact on student retention. The social environment surrounding students with supporting parents, teachers, content experts, project leaders, business partners, and community members will also positively impact student retention. We are also aware of that urban environments face great uncertainty every day and those factors, transportation, fractured families, economics, etc., pose the greatest threat to retention and most importantly are unpredictable.
Evaluation and Budget
Q13. What are the benchmarks for project success which are critical for the evaluation and sustainability plans?
A13. Each sub group involved with the proposed project will have group benchmark and self-imposed significant steps in their path toward success. The following benchmarks will help us identify student and project success.
Students:
- Increased use of computers, handhelds and other personal computing devices.
- Increased use of business technology: Display devices, Cameras, projection equipment, etc.
- Increased understanding and use of 3D software and the significant application of same.
- The growth of team work skills associated with working on a professional team.
- Increased understanding of project benchmarks, time lines and accountability to the larger picture.
- Develop better organizational skills relative to project management as it relates to all aspects of the larger picture.
- Students will report out regularly on their project components and predetermined evaluation benchmarks.
- Students will demonstrate enhance ability to self-evaluate based on their benchmarks and goals.
- Students will demonstrate competence with internet technologies, such as Blogs, podcasting, and other meaningful open-sourced technologies.
- Student Blogs and Web sites will spread the word to the “digital natives” about the program and this will help to benchmark the progress of each group.
Program Success:
- The 2nd year applications from students and teachers will increase.
- Additional districts will surface and request participation in the program.
- The program will see greater participation from business and industry.
- The legislature will increase their cooperative understanding and begin supporting the program in spirit and dollars.
- The tentacles of understanding will have penetrated other educational institutions and requests for replication will be made.
- Community groups will express interest in participating in the project in increased fashion.
- Corporations will realize the value of seeking out young unencumbered minds to focus on real world issues.
- Corporate student mentorship’s will develop as a result of this project and signify a small success.
- Industry continues their willingness to cooperate with higher education and K-12.
Q14. Reviewers noted that the some aspects of the evaluation plan are not clear including the number of lessons to be evaluated, and the assessment of teacher STEM knowledge, resources, and the website. The evaluation might also be strengthened by including student interviews. Please address these concerns.
A14. Assessment measures for all stakeholders will be developed in collaboration with project staff as specific goals and activities are finalized. Collaboration is strengthened by the evaluators’ inclusion on the project management team. Assessments include teachers’ growth in skill and use of IT, understanding of STEM content, and changes in instructional practice. Evaluation of project-related professional development, learning resources, and websites will be done from rubrics based on specific objectives and applicable professional standards, as described in the narrative.
Assessment and documentation of participating high school teachers’ ability to design and deliver IT/STEM enrichment experiences for their students consist of multiple measures. One will be an annual pre/post survey addressing frequency of use of IT hardware/software and various instructional practices to look for changes that might occur because of project-related learning. Other pre/post questionnaires will be aligned with project-specific teacher learning goals. Observations of professional development will be conducted as feasible. Teacher interviews will be conducted at least annually, following up on specific project activities and exploring teachers’ thoughts about applicability of new learning to their teaching. Finally, transfer of teachers’ changing practice will be documented by conducting annual observations in their home school classrooms. The first observations would be conducted early in Year 01 of each cohort and the last ones late in Year 02.
Similarly, student learning about information technology and the STEM disciplines as well as their growing understanding and sense of fit within STEM will be also measured in a variety of ways. Pre/post surveys and tests of content knowledge can assess gains in understanding and use of target technologies and STEM content. In addition, student growth can be assessed from work they produce, performance tasks developed by teachers and other project staff, self- and other-reports, and personal interviews. Conducted in the course of the two-year cohort programs, observations and student interviews can yield formative data about students’ responses to the many learning experiences as well as their attraction to study and work in STEM-related fields.
Q15. How many teachers will be involved in the project and trained to work in the youth program?
A15. Each design team will include a STEM area high school teacher. Four high school teachers (one from each STEM area) will participate in each cohort. With in two cohorts, a total of eight teachers will participate in the three-year duration of the project life.
Q16. How will the project be sustained beyond the period of NSF funding, especially with the high salary request including the design personnel?
A16. The proposed project will sustain its impact over and beyond the three-year duration of the project life through the following:
- Further use of IT learning resources and deliverables that the project will develop and disseminate—project Web site, blog, and podcasting site, student projects, teacher developed Curriculum Guide, STEM guide book, and faculty developed IT-STEM course syllabi and materials,
- Further use of its self-sustaining professional development network among high-school students, school teachers, U/GSAs, and IT-intensive STEM content experts,
- Further leadership roles of school teachers in their respective schools districts, and
- Further leadership roles of post-secondary faculty in their respective colleges and schools.
NSF ITEST STEM Grant Urgent Response 7-20-2007 "Meanwhile in Traverse City the NGA...
"I'll be paying close attention to the ideas that businesses are putting forward," Gov. Jennifer Granholm said of the event.
Governors set to tackle hard issues
On the agenda of meeting in Michigan: Global competition
July 20, 2007
Thirty-five governors in the Traverse City area for the weekend all want stronger economic development in their states. Sometimes they are even bidders for the same companies, competing with tax breaks and other incentives.
But as the four-day National Governors Association conference begins today, the chief executives will try to set those rivalries aside to confront a different rival -- international competition.
"The idea is not so much about Michigan versus Indiana or Michigan versus Colorado in terms of economic development, but Michigan and Indiana and Colorado versus China or India," said Earl Ryan of the Livonia-based Citizens Research Council of Michigan. "From that perspective, there's some good rationale to put their heads together. They may be trying to attract business for themselves, but at the same time, the whole country is in competition with the rest of the world."
When Gov. Jennifer Granholm leads a session on global competitiveness Sunday, she'll be listening to business and government leaders as much as talking about what Michigan has done to diversify its faltering economy.
"I'll be paying close attention to the ideas that businesses are putting forward," Granholm told listeners Saturday in her weekly radio address.
Michigan is in a unique position to take the advice from business and government leaders. The decline of the auto industry has left the state reeling. Earlier this week, the state reported its unemployment rate had increased to 7.2%, highest in the nation and well above the national average of 4.5%. The state ranks third in mortgage foreclosures, according to a July report, and is the only state to have lost jobs in 2006.
"There are definitely things we can learn from other states on what they've done to help make their cities competitive," said Bill Rustem of the Lansing-based Public Sector Consultants.
Rustem, who'll be attending the conference today, cited efforts in Minneapolis and St. Paul to market the Twin Cities jointly for development, Seattle's pitching itself as a welcome home for immigrants and Traverse City's push to engineer a long-term development plan for the five counties surrounding the unofficial capital of northern Michigan.
"Traverse City gets it," Rustem said. "They've created the type of region that is competitive for young entrepreneurs. They're attracting people who understand that they can sit on the beach with their laptops."
The governors will talk about other weighty issues this weekend at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, including global warming, education standards and Internet safety.
On climate change, Granholm and governors from other major automotive states are expected to engage their colleagues on the push in Congress to require much higher fuel-efficiency standards for cars and trucks. Michigan representatives argue the changes could further cripple the domestic auto industry.
On the official agenda, the governors also will discuss efforts to make medical records more portable through technology and improving math and science curriculums.
Unofficially and behind closed doors, the governors are expected to tackle a federal mandate to create an identification card for all U.S. citizens. It's better known as the Real ID card, which will be required to travel, drive and do any official financial business.
The states were supposed to have the cards ready to issue next year, but pending federal rules are expected to extend the deadline to 2013.
"But that may not be enough time to move 245 million people through the system," said David Quam, director of federal relations for the NGA. "The governors have been looking for reasonable solutions and a good financial partner to share in some of the costs."
The program is expected to cost at least $100 million nationwide. Michigan's cost isn't available yet, but more than 7 million people will have to get new driver's licenses or state identification cards.
Outside the official program, Michigan and Traverse-area officials get a chance to show off the region and state's best side with a classic car show, beach party and golfing, exploring the uniquely Michigan Dennos Museum and a getting a few sips from local vineyards.
"This is like the Super Bowl of government. It is an opportunity to showcase Michigan not just to the other states, but the business leaders who are there, too," Rustem said. "All of those people will go back to their states and talk about what they saw in Michigan. Right now, the national impression of the state is not very good, and this is an opportunity to change that impression."
Contact KATHLEEN GRAY at 313-223-4407 or gray@freepress.com.
Copyright © 2007 Detroit Free Press Inc.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Whaddya Hear! Whaddya Say!
New Generations, New Media Challenges
By Jonathan Fanton
Tuesday, Jun. 19 2007
Children coming of age today are the first generation to grow up digital. In
their world, the use of computers, the Internet, cell phones and interactive
video games is commonplace.
We used to worry that computer technology would remain in the hands of the
privileged; now it is carried in the backpacks and shirt pockets of those from
all walks of life.
On Saturday, the 2007 National Media Education Conference gets underway in St.
Louis. The theme of the four-day series of workshops and screenings — the
nation's largest gathering of media educators — is "iPods, Blogs and Beyond:
Evolving Media Literacy for the 21st Century."
Clearly, access to technology no longer is the central issue. More than 90
percent of those between the ages of 12 and 17 are online. The number of
high-speed Internet connections, necessary for the richest content experience,
is growing by 40 percent annually. Participation in the all-digital virtual
world known as Second Life has risen dramatically — from 500,000 to nearly 5
million people in two years.
Today's young people increasingly express themselves and build communities with these powerful tools of technology. The real gap between tomorrow's digital haves and have-nots will be a lag in competence and confidence in the fast-paced variegated digital universe building and breeding outside schoolhouse walls.
Research, some of it funded by the MacArthur Foundation, is just beginning to fathom how deeply our children have absorbed new technology: the role it plays in their lives and how it affects their learning, play and socialization. What this research suggests is that today's digital youth are in the process of creating a new kind of literacy; this evolving skill extends beyond the traditions of reading and writing into a community of expression and problem-solving that not only is changing their world but ours, too:
— They have created communities the size of whole nations by channeling personal affiliations through message boards or meta-games or dedicated
websites such as Facebook, Friendster and MySpace.
— They have mastered digital tools to create new techniques for personal
expression: modding, digital sampling, mash-ups and zines — not to mention new
paths of distribution for personal works of video and text.
— They have redefined the notion of "play" to include complex problem-solving, mentoring, the archiving of knowledge and real-time conversations on issues of policy and politics of global interest and importance.
Henry Jenkins, director of the media studies program at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, calls this a new "participatory culture," one that
presents low barriers to artistic expression and social engagement that suggests that a richer environment for learning may lie outside the classroom.
Online and after school, youths in this new participatory culture are
assimilating new languages and rules, vast troves of research and perspectives
on the nature of order and community that vault across traditional boundaries
of race or creed or culture.
In meta-games such as Civilization III and SimCity, participants develop and
manipulate dynamic models of real life; they teach and legislate, create and
share, connect and collaborate, reflecting the value of team-building and consensus over autonomous solutions.
Moreover, through virtual characters and identities — even some that disturb
parents — teens can experiment through trial and error, make poor moral choices
or learn the downside of risk-taking without jeopardizing actual careers or
lives. They learn to value challenge and appreciate complexity, even as they assimilate facts and assess developments at breathtaking speed.
The downside may be that in the sunset of the old information culture, we are not understanding this new media literacy soon enough. Those who have no opportunity or desire to be part of these revolutionary digital communities may be deprived of vital virtual skills that would prepare them for full
participation in the real world of tomorrow.
In this new media age, the ability to negotiate and evaluate information online, to recognize manipulation and propaganda and to assimilate ethical values is becoming as basic to education as reading and writing. The children who truly will be left behind in the evolving digital culture are those who fail to bridge this participation gap.
Our challenge is to develop these educational forces, opening up our classrooms to the learning in which children now engage largely outside of school. In the end, we may find that the best way to institutionalize and encourage this new media literacy is to understand and harness what our young digital culture seems to be doing pretty well on its own.
Jonathan Fanton is president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which is funding a $50 million initiative to understand how digital technologies are changing kids and learning.
SPecial to the St. louis Post-Dispatch
By Jonathan Fanton
Tuesday, Jun. 19 2007
Children coming of age today are the first generation to grow up digital. In
their world, the use of computers, the Internet, cell phones and interactive
video games is commonplace.
We used to worry that computer technology would remain in the hands of the
privileged; now it is carried in the backpacks and shirt pockets of those from
all walks of life.
On Saturday, the 2007 National Media Education Conference gets underway in St.
Louis. The theme of the four-day series of workshops and screenings — the
nation's largest gathering of media educators — is "iPods, Blogs and Beyond:
Evolving Media Literacy for the 21st Century."
Clearly, access to technology no longer is the central issue. More than 90
percent of those between the ages of 12 and 17 are online. The number of
high-speed Internet connections, necessary for the richest content experience,
is growing by 40 percent annually. Participation in the all-digital virtual
world known as Second Life has risen dramatically — from 500,000 to nearly 5
million people in two years.
Today's young people increasingly express themselves and build communities with these powerful tools of technology. The real gap between tomorrow's digital haves and have-nots will be a lag in competence and confidence in the fast-paced variegated digital universe building and breeding outside schoolhouse walls.
Research, some of it funded by the MacArthur Foundation, is just beginning to fathom how deeply our children have absorbed new technology: the role it plays in their lives and how it affects their learning, play and socialization. What this research suggests is that today's digital youth are in the process of creating a new kind of literacy; this evolving skill extends beyond the traditions of reading and writing into a community of expression and problem-solving that not only is changing their world but ours, too:
— They have created communities the size of whole nations by channeling personal affiliations through message boards or meta-games or dedicated
websites such as Facebook, Friendster and MySpace.
— They have mastered digital tools to create new techniques for personal
expression: modding, digital sampling, mash-ups and zines — not to mention new
paths of distribution for personal works of video and text.
— They have redefined the notion of "play" to include complex problem-solving, mentoring, the archiving of knowledge and real-time conversations on issues of policy and politics of global interest and importance.
Henry Jenkins, director of the media studies program at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, calls this a new "participatory culture," one that
presents low barriers to artistic expression and social engagement that suggests that a richer environment for learning may lie outside the classroom.
Online and after school, youths in this new participatory culture are
assimilating new languages and rules, vast troves of research and perspectives
on the nature of order and community that vault across traditional boundaries
of race or creed or culture.
In meta-games such as Civilization III and SimCity, participants develop and
manipulate dynamic models of real life; they teach and legislate, create and
share, connect and collaborate, reflecting the value of team-building and consensus over autonomous solutions.
Moreover, through virtual characters and identities — even some that disturb
parents — teens can experiment through trial and error, make poor moral choices
or learn the downside of risk-taking without jeopardizing actual careers or
lives. They learn to value challenge and appreciate complexity, even as they assimilate facts and assess developments at breathtaking speed.
The downside may be that in the sunset of the old information culture, we are not understanding this new media literacy soon enough. Those who have no opportunity or desire to be part of these revolutionary digital communities may be deprived of vital virtual skills that would prepare them for full
participation in the real world of tomorrow.
In this new media age, the ability to negotiate and evaluate information online, to recognize manipulation and propaganda and to assimilate ethical values is becoming as basic to education as reading and writing. The children who truly will be left behind in the evolving digital culture are those who fail to bridge this participation gap.
Our challenge is to develop these educational forces, opening up our classrooms to the learning in which children now engage largely outside of school. In the end, we may find that the best way to institutionalize and encourage this new media literacy is to understand and harness what our young digital culture seems to be doing pretty well on its own.
Jonathan Fanton is president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, which is funding a $50 million initiative to understand how digital technologies are changing kids and learning.
SPecial to the St. louis Post-Dispatch
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
AIM Program INTERUPTUS 7-9-2007! But time & space wait for no man!
This special AIM Program issue focuses on trends, pressures, and evolutions shaping the future of education in all its forms, with particular consideration of the role of information technologies in creating that future.
The future of education; whether in public or private schools, colleges or universities, corporate training rooms, or other yet-to-be-imagined venues; is a vision dimly seen on an uncertain horizon.
Tectonic technological, social, economic, and political shifts, driven by the accelerating pace of information technology, globalization, and an evolving culture of knowledge, render already unstable futures largely unknowable.
Educational systems face even more immediate pressures arising from the increasing role of for-profit education providers, learner access to open content, and the growth of the "participation culture."
Change, even radical change, is unavoidable; tomorrow's education and training systems are not likely to resemble today's educational complex.
Whatever the future holds for education, information technologies will play a role. The creative use of information technology can enhance education processes, enabling educators to meet new challenges and reshape education's role in society. The technologies of education, and the use of technology in education, are both drivers of change and indicators of future directions.
Submissions for this special issue may address, but are not limited to, these key issues:
1. What does the "rise of the amateur" in media, music, and news industries suggest for education providers of the future?
2. What is the role of universities and colleges when the world's information is at the fingertips of learners, without the mediation of experts? Or when experts make those resources freely available through MIT's OpenCourseWare or Open University's OpenLearn?
3. Is a copyright system designed to protect physical objects; books, magazines, and journals; capable of serving the digital knowledge needs of the next generation?
4. How can technological tools be used by developed countries to assist emerging countries in educating their people?
5. How should governance and leadership be structured in educational institutions facing exponential change?
6. Are existing research agendas and methodologies capable of answering the knowledge needs of the next generation?
7. Do our existing theories of learning reflect how digital natives learn in the information age?
If you would like to submit a manuscript on this topic, please send it to the guest editor of this issue, George Siemans (gsiemens@elearnspace.org) and to me (jlm@nova.edu) no later than October 15, 2007.
Thanks!
Jim
The future of education; whether in public or private schools, colleges or universities, corporate training rooms, or other yet-to-be-imagined venues; is a vision dimly seen on an uncertain horizon.
Tectonic technological, social, economic, and political shifts, driven by the accelerating pace of information technology, globalization, and an evolving culture of knowledge, render already unstable futures largely unknowable.
Educational systems face even more immediate pressures arising from the increasing role of for-profit education providers, learner access to open content, and the growth of the "participation culture."
Change, even radical change, is unavoidable; tomorrow's education and training systems are not likely to resemble today's educational complex.
Whatever the future holds for education, information technologies will play a role. The creative use of information technology can enhance education processes, enabling educators to meet new challenges and reshape education's role in society. The technologies of education, and the use of technology in education, are both drivers of change and indicators of future directions.
Submissions for this special issue may address, but are not limited to, these key issues:
1. What does the "rise of the amateur" in media, music, and news industries suggest for education providers of the future?
2. What is the role of universities and colleges when the world's information is at the fingertips of learners, without the mediation of experts? Or when experts make those resources freely available through MIT's OpenCourseWare or Open University's OpenLearn?
3. Is a copyright system designed to protect physical objects; books, magazines, and journals; capable of serving the digital knowledge needs of the next generation?
4. How can technological tools be used by developed countries to assist emerging countries in educating their people?
5. How should governance and leadership be structured in educational institutions facing exponential change?
6. Are existing research agendas and methodologies capable of answering the knowledge needs of the next generation?
7. Do our existing theories of learning reflect how digital natives learn in the information age?
If you would like to submit a manuscript on this topic, please send it to the guest editor of this issue, George Siemans (gsiemens@elearnspace.org) and to me (jlm@nova.edu) no later than October 15, 2007.
Thanks!
Jim
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Visual Literacy! (Students from Missouri, the SHOW ME State)
The Eye Generation Prefers Not to Read All About It
Students in Film Class a Microcosm of a Visually Oriented Culture
By Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, July 6, 2007; C02
The breaking point for Perry Schwartz comes on Day 5 of the American Film Institute's three-week Summer Movie Production Workshop. Schwartz, a professor of theater and film at Montgomery College in Takoma Park and director of the AFI film course, is helping students envision the movie they are making together.
They sit in folding chairs in the college's Black Box Theatre and speak in strictly visual terms, citing specific actors and moments in cinema.
"He's more like Jack Black."
"That happens in 'Space Jam'!"
Of the 10 students, one is 40 years old; the rest are college age or younger.
Schwartz is describing how the two main characters in the student film will sit on a couch, simultaneously reach for popcorn and inadvertently touch hands, when Kit Reiner of Silver Spring and Max Simon of Potomac -- both 18 -- cry out, "Just like in 'Lady and the Tramp'!"
And Schwartz could take it no more. "Stop!" he yells.
"Try to think less about which movie scene you are reminded of and more about the way people really act in real life. Everything isn't related to a movie!"
Really?
To most of the workshop students, life has become totally visual. They are members of not so much the Me Generation as the Eye Generation.
"I really don't like reading a story. I like seeing it," says workshop student Craig Patterson, 17, of Grove City, Ohio. "I almost always prefer the movie version of a book. Movies can capture the beauty of an image more than books can."
Cecile Guillemin, a 17-year-old workshop participant who is in her last year at Lycee Rochambeau, the French International School, says, "I don't have time to read books. I am inspired by books to do movies."
* * *
Scene 1: Cut to Perry Schwartz, a bearded professorial type in his mid-60s, telling the students of his own background. He stands on a dark stage under bright lights. He has taught at Montgomery College since 1978. His focus has been live theater. He has made several short films, he says, including one based on "Our Little Trip," a play by Lawrence Ferlinghetti.
When Schwartz mentions the beat poet, the camera closes in on students' faces. They are blank. Not one has heard of Ferlinghetti. Schwartz sighs.
* * *
It's no surprise that television, movies and video games have changed the way many absorb information. Now teachers are trying to harness that energy of the eye. This visually oriented generation "acquires much more of their knowledge -- some studies estimate that acquisition as 50 percent -- from visual texts" than from written sources, says Kathy Krauth, who is working on the Visualizing Cultures project at the Massachusetts Institute for Technology.
Therefore, she says, the Eye Generation "feels more comfortable expressing themselves in visual form."
Examples are endless. Vacation snapshots, collegians-gone-wild party pix and everything else go straight to a handycam or cellphone camera to the Internet. Today's job seekers post video résumés at Vault.com. In a Democratic debate this month and a September Republican debate, voters will be able to upload YouTube videos of themselves asking the candidates questions.
Through YouTubing, Facebooking, MySpacing and myriad other ways, people take in vast amounts of visual information. But do they always comprehend the meaning of what they see?
That's the problem, says Krauth, who lives in Tokyo and teaches at the American School in Japan. Students are taught how to read and how to react critically to literature, but not about visual images.
Because visual literacy is not required in schools, she says, "this generation's ability to assign meaning to the visual texts of others is passive and still needs a great deal more work. They are easily manipulated as students, consumers and citizens."
In other words, students today need to be taught, through images, how to think critically.
* * *
Scene 2: The students, sitting in a semicircle, are asked to name their favorite movies. They rattle off "Apocalypse Now" and "Psycho" and "Raging Bull."
"The Incredibles," says Kit Reiner.
"Pirates of the Caribbean," says Craig Patterson. "One."
* * *
In an e-mail, Krauth says the problem of visual illiteracy will be solved only "when being visually literate becomes central to current discussions and definitions of the literate individual in modern society."
Teachers must understand that students in the 21st century are receiving the bulk of their information through images, she says, and they must teach students how to be decisive and discerning about the images they see. "We should lean into the reality of this generation," she says, "and construct meaningful lessons using visuals."
And that's what Schwartz is trying to do: give meaningful literary lessons to his students using visuals. Over the nine or so years that he has been involved with the course, the students get younger and they come with more experience. This is the youngest class he has seen. Several have taken film classes at other schools.
In Schwartz's class, everyone comes up with an idea for a movie. Then they vote on the best one. This time, the only suggestion with a clear beginning, middle and end comes from the 40-year-old, David Hevey, who teaches middle school in Singapore. He suggests a story about a man with halitosis. After the plot is established, each student writes and directs one scene of the collaborative movie. They take turns performing other sundry tasks -- assisting with the camera, monitoring the sound, holding the boom microphone, making sure everybody is fed and watered.
For the major jobs, Schwartz brings in a couple of pros. Aerial Longmire, who handles the camera, is a star graduate of Schwartz's film courses. She works at Retirement Living Television Network in Columbia. Abba Shapiro, who helps the students with scripts and editing, trains people to use Apple's digital editing software.
Working sometimes 10 hours a day, students -- who paid $2,000 for the course -- write the movie, cast it, shoot it, edit it and gather to watch it at the end of the class; the film will be shown, free to the public, on Monday at 5 p.m. at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring.
* * *
Scene 3: Schwartz hunches over a box of photographs -- publicity pictures of actors being considered by the class for the four main characters in its movie, "Scent of Love." This is the way the casting process begins. Schwartz faces the students and flashes about 200 pictures of professional actors. He waves each picture in front of the class, pausing only a few seconds. Amazingly, the students seem to remember every face that blurs past.
"We've already seen him," somebody says, after whizzing through scores and scores of portraits.
"We said no to her," says someone else.
* * *
Loanne Snavely, a librarian at Penn State, was on a panel at this summer's gathering of the American Library Association in Washington titled: "Eye to I: Visual Literacy Meets Information Literacy." She and other librarians discussed "the connections between visual and information literacies." They exhorted colleagues to get "beyond traditional literacy; you know, reading and writing."
Like Kathy Krauth, Snavely believes that visual education should be expanded and enhanced. Textual information, Snavely says, has been the primary focus of libraries in the past, but with "so much graphical communication integrated into the huge wave of social networking our culture is experiencing, we need to broaden our focus to include images of all kinds." * * *
Scene 4: Schwartz leaves the moviemaking students alone in the classroom for a while. They talk about "Lord of the Flies" as they wait for the teacher's return.
"Piggy died," says Max Simon.
"Spoiler alert," Kit says.
Now they don't have to read the book, someone says.
"It was a book?" asks someone else. Fade to black.
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