The 21st Century Principal

It is true. Social media, and the Internet, makes people stupid. The entire Internet is responsible for lowering the IQ of the population of the world . Perhaps, we can even blame low student achievement on these technological mind-killers.

It really didn't have to be this way. In those early days, when the Internet was filled with free content and business had not discovered a means to economically exploit its use, the Web had promise. The same was true for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter ( or X, or whatever name Musk has decided to provide his own personal ___domain of verbal garbage). These technologies provided opportunities for connecting with others and forming communities of people otherwise impossible due to factors such as distance and divisions within society. The Web provided the easy access and means to obtain information from reputable sources that had true value. Then, the "moneychangers" took over the temple of technology and it has never been the same.

Today, too many people believe the blather they read and view on the Internet and social media. Social media companies, with their algorithms of addiction will feed users with amounts of bull-splatt and provide them a "custom-fit" bubble of information so that they never, ever encounter an idea or even a thought that runs counter to their chosen views of the world.

Then there's idea...the memes on the Web that are spreading. No one seems to question the value of what's trending or even if the hype aroused about these ideas are worthy of our attention. Instead of empowering people to be informed, the Internet and social media empower people to be stupid and accept at face value what everybody is sharing.

So, what's the answer? Regulation? No, the Internet and social media has become a cesspool of misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation. These technologies are hopelessly fouled up in excrement. Even Linked-In, which likes to pretend to be above the stench with talk of business, industry and marketing, has its own odoriforousness. As a technology, it has its algorithms that hype and promote as well. What gets promoted is not what is necessarily worthy of that promotion, but simply dependent upon the skills of individuals who know how to game the algorithms to get the attention. All is lost in all of social media and the web because what gets elevated is not what is worthy of attention, but what can be manipulated to go viral.

Where does this condition of loss leave us? It leaves us with a technological media channel on par with tabloid technologies such as The Weekly World News and the National Enquirer where nonsense and half-truths get promoted as worthy of attention simply because it is sensational. To counter this we need to educate students and our communities on all these issues with the web and social media. We need to quit allowing Silicone Valley, Tech Marketers and even our own educational technologists and other tech evangelists from spreading the myth that somehow these technologies are going to save us. They are not. Instead, we need to stop them from making people stupid. We can do that by simply educating people on how these technologies work and instill within them the good, old fashion practice of verifying and being skeptical of what you read, even if it is from your best friend. Be skeptical; question it, before believing and sharing it.

Sadly, I do not think the Stupid Machine created by these technologies is going to change. There is simply too many careers and too much money to be made. These tools are the perfect marketing tools for spreading anything, even if that is nonsense. But, we need to remember that we do control the spigot of information. We can turn it off on demand. If Facebook, Youtube or even Linked-In serves up a nice plate of baloney we can toss it. We can either choose to not to participate in the blather-spreading exercises or short-circuit it by refusing to be a part of stupid. We can even engage in resistance tactics like refusing to participate or sharing or even calling out these companies for their insidious part of spreading stupidity.

None of these technologies make people stupid against their will. It requires participation. Refusing to participate or even playing by social media or web rules goes a long way in resisting the lowering of our IQs and others. 

 "Across the sciences and society, in politics and education, in warfare and commerce, new technologies do not merely augment our abilities, but actively shape and direct them, for better or worse. It is increasingly necessary to be able to think of new technologies in different ways, and to be critical of them, in order to meaningfully participate in that shaping and directing." p. 2 New Dark Age: Technology and the End of the Future, James Bridle

Educators are jumping on the next-best-thing...Generative Artificial Intelligence, or AI. The workshops, PD offerings, conferences, and key notes abound everywhere you look. There is money to be made and careers to be made on this latest "Silicon Valley Miracle." But how could educators be duped again by the marketing and hype about this latest technological offering by the whiz-kid computer entrepreneurs from the West Coast? 

Did we, and have we not learned anything about the failure of such technologies and their promises, such as social media's promise to connect us and make us one unified, world community? Did we not just experience the massive remote learning flop that shows us that education is really about teachers and students connecting, in person? Now, educators everywhere are all ga-ga over Generative AI, singing its praises and indoctrinating their whole communities about its"unquestionable promise." What educators need to be doing is utilizing their intellect and asking critical questions about this new gadget, instead of blindly accepting it in awe.

Bridle was on to something when he pointed out that "New Technologies" do not just "augment our abilities" they "actively shape and direct them, for better or worse." This was true of social media specifically and the web generally. Technology has not just augmented our abilities to teach and learn; it has shaped how we do these things "for better or worse" and sometimes mostly "worse." Social media has divided us more than ever and also has made it easier for students to bully and be bullied. It negatively affects the mental health of our youth as well, so it has not just augmented our abilities to connect; it has shaped and directed who we connect with, how we connect with them, and not connect as well. 

Generative AI is absolutely no different. In spite of the AI evangelists who stand to gain much through its promotion, this technology will also shape us, as well as shape and direct how we do things too, for better or worse. But let's not just focus on "the better." Let's take a breather and focus on the potential worse things this technology is already doing and also explore carefully the unintended consequences that widespread adoption might bring. Don't just accept the "hyped-up" rhetoric about how "you are going to be left behind if you don't adopt." I've heard that tune before, it is stale. Take time. Think and be critical. Ask tough questions.

If we are going to be sane about Generative AI, we have to be critical of it. We need to do that so that we can participate in "shaping and directing" it as Bridle points out. We can sanely use technological tools without the evangelical hype spouted by both these companies and other educators and educational leaders who see this as a means to promote their own careers. You can call this thinking the thinking of Luddite if you wish, but this "Silicon-Valley Promise Story" is starting to sound like a rerun.

 "I have heard some say that we need to 'meet the kids where they are'--that is, to accept their world of chatter and multiple electronic devices. I see, instead, a need to offer them something that they don't already have, so that they may see more possibilities." Diana Senechal, Republic of Noise: The Loss of Solitude in Schools and Culture

As a long time high school English teacher, I often heard the notion described by Senechal that I needed "to meet the kids where they are." Those early years I did just that. I used modern cultural artifacts such as popular movies, popular music to try to teach my students the "curriculum." At some point, this idea of "meet" students where they were did involve "accepting their world of chatter and multiple electronic devices." We as teachers were simply to give up teaching students about the worlds of possibility that did not include "Silicon-Valley-Invented Devices." But with this giving up, we really caused students much greater harm, because in doing that, we were failing to show students the possibilities of life beyond the reach of technology.  And there is a world where we can thrive and exist among these, our devices but live with and beyond them.

As an educator, you can begin to lead the way by doing simple things like "turning off your notifications in the evenings." This is living by example. As I write this, my phone sits like a paperweight. It is dead. It does not vibrate, chirp or beep, and I will not allow it until tomorrow morning when I walk into my office. As far as my Apple watch goes, I turned off permanently text, email, and any other notifications that have the potential to rudely intrude in my life. This is one world of possibility I would introduce students to today: a world where they can control tech and keep tech from controlling them. Such a world gives me time to sit, meditate, reflect, and read. The reading I do in these times are substantial works of literature and philosophy as well as science, social science, and world religions, not social media posts.

In addition to turning off notifications, and transforming my phone into a paperweight, I also do not allow social media in rudely intrude in my life throughout the day. I don't even have these social media apps on my phone. There was a time, evident by my Twitter account, that I spent a great deal of time using it. Facebook as well. But I have arrived at a point in life where I refuse to allow social media to intrude in my thoughts and life unless I want to read it. I have turned off all notifications of these too.  I have rid myself of the rude, boisterous call social media makes throughout the day reminding me that something in it needs my attention, when it really doesn't need my attention. This is another world of possibility, a world of freedom, that exists beyond technology too.

Instead of listening to the tech company marketing and the educational tech evangelists who want us to center the lives of students around their products, perhaps it is time for educators to show kids glimpses of a world that exists beyond the technology, where they can find time for themselves, uninterrupted by the intrusions of vibrating, beeping, and chirping devices.

 "...Thoreau questioned our faith in technology. First and foremost, the lives of workers in Thoreau's time, as in ours, were often forced to conform to a mechanical process, not an organic one. Machine work meant machinelike lives." John Kaag & Jonathan Van Belle, Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living

Educators seem to have an "unending faith" that the gods of Silicon Valley are going to deliver to them the one magical device-tool-software-hardware that will deliver achievement results for students. As a teacher in mid-1995, I remember that the Internet was the educational promise land, where our students have at their fingertips all knowledge and learning. We opened the cyber doorways wide and brought forth this new digital world, only to discover that it had its less-than-desirable places and people. There was then a scramble to try control access through new devices and new software, clearly a boon for the tech industry but an added expense in the education budget. No one seemed to question the faith in technology.

Over the years of my career as an educator, new technologies have been invented and peddled to the schools, and in the mid 2000s, the tech industry successfully convinced the entire educational institutional establishment that schools needed to invest even more in technology in order to "stay relevant" as they called it. For example, school leaders were told to get a Twitter-Facebook account in order to connect and be a part of the twenty-first century. I even bought that blather myself. Then, through the mid-2010s, social media began to fail in its promise to "connect others" by dividing us more than ever, spewing so much misinformation, so that today, we are so polarized we might never be able to unite as a country. Somehow calling Twitter "X" seems appropriate now, for it and Facebook have been left to continue poisoning discourse and people's minds.

Next came the "one-to-one" efforts to get a "device in the hands of every student." I again bought that story from Silicon Valley as well. If students only have a device then they will be able to learn. We're about ten years into that with little to show for it. Those who were learning are still learning, and those who struggled are still struggling. It would seem that it is not the technology that matters.

Perhaps the whole problem with our 21st century education is that we have this misplaced faith in technology. I am not writing some Kaczynski diatribe here where all technology is evil, but I see this faith alive again with all the professional development and books talking about the promise of Artificial Intelligence or AI. The educational tech gurus and consultants have been converted and are proclaiming the "Promise of AI" in bringing about student learning. No seems to be questioning this faith in another technology.

John Kaag and Jonathan Van Belle (2023),  point out that in writer Henry David Thoreau's time, the faith in technology was equally strong. But Thoreau was not as enthralled, because the "machines of the time" required workers to "conform to mechanical processes." Work lost its organic quality and workers engaged in "machinelike lives." Maybe that's the issue with all this tech in our classrooms...learning is no longer an organic process of growth, but a machinelike process that students are subjected to. Teaching and learning have become work that is machinelike making the lives of both students and teachers lifeless and mechanical.

Kaag and Van Belle (2023) write:

"When we idealize the mechanical, it often comes at the cost of dehumanizing workers; laborers have 'no time to be anything but a machine ,' Thoreau complains. There is no time, no energy, no strength left to reflect on higher goals and act meaningfully toward them." (p. 61)

As educators, why we continue to idolize technology disturbs me. It has failed in its promises time and again. What's worse, I think it has in some ways "dehumanized" and continues to "dehumanize" both teaching and learning. Teachers are expected to "produce results" like machines. Students are expected to "produce test scores" like machines. No one has the time to engage in "reflection on the higher goals of life" and act in a "meaningful manner" to obtain them. There is no longer any time to learn about those higher things in the universe that matter a great deal more.

Kaag, John & Van Belle, Jonathan (2023), Henry at Work: Thoreau on Making a Living. Princeton University Press: Princeton, NJ.

 "Stop thinking about what technology does and start thinking about who technology does it to and who it does it for." Cory Doctorow,  The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation

The latest "AI craze" has hit public schools. Educators have begun singing the chorus of praise for artificial intelligence and its promise of improving education. Have we not learned anything from the destruction that social media has wrought upon our society? It's promises of "connecting people" has been false, as it has only accelerated division and hate among people. The promise of "personalizing learning through technology" has equally proven false as achievement has gone nowhere as schools pushed to place technology in the hands of every student. The educational hype over Artificial Intelligence or AI sounds like a bad rerun from an old TV show, and I, for one, can't help but say, "Here we go again!"

Has any educator brain enough to begin asking the question "Who technology does it to and who it does it for?" in regards to AI or artificial intelligence technologies? To me, the first half of this question is asking "What are the consequences of adopting AI?" Instead of accepting the industry's notion of "inevitability of the technology" are we asking what overall adoption of AI is going to do to people? Not at all. We simply uncritically accept that AI is a good thing. That is a recipe of future disaster.

Educational leaders do not need to uncritically accept the promises of the tech industries when it comes to AI. We need to be asking critical questions about what these technologies do to people, and who is likely to benefit most from all the hype. In the end, it might not be the students; it is likely to be big tech companies and its evangelists who have led us down this path of false promises before.

 “In nature, there are no separate events. Nothing happens in isolation—not touching your head, not holding someone else’s hand, not looking at the stars, not breathing—nothing.” Alan Watts, Just So Money, Materialism, and the Ineffable, Intelligent Universe

There is a great deal of wisdom that educators ignore to their own peril. Alan Watts’ body of work is often ignored because of its heavy emphasis on eastern religions, such as Taoism, Zen Buddhism, and Hinduism. It may be because his thought is too incomprehensible to Western Thought. It also may be because much of what he has to say disrupts our conventional ways of thinking about life and the universe. It does have the power to disrupt some of our thinking as well about education too.

Take the current belief that educators still hold onto that there is a solution out there that can be applied in teaching situations and bring about a desired result. That simple way of thinking has been at the heart of teaching since the turn of the twentieth century, and it seems sound. However, have really gotten any closer to finding the magical cures that will ultimately bring about the learning results we desire?

The data says we still struggle to close learning gaps and obtaining the results we desire. Why is that? It is rather simple, but much of the educational establishment stands with their fingers in their ears, like a little child who refuses to hear what they do not wish to hear. They want to continue to pour torrents of energy and effort into the search for the one measure A that can be applied to Student B and get result C.

I’ve written about this before, here and elsewhere. We are so caught in this quixotic quest for the miracle, we ignore the very wisdom of Eastern religions and what Watt’s so clearly points out: “Nothing happens in isolation.”

So how does this apply to educational thinking? It is rather simple: The search for a single practice or method to produce desired educational results is futile. Education, Teaching, Learning, Classrooms, Schools, Systems, Teachers, Students…are complex, and trying to approach the act of teaching by ignoring CONTEXT is a futile exercise and akin to a searching quixotic quest for magical potions and elixirs to make learning happen.

But, and I have to add this BUT to this information. But, the educational system and those that inhabit it like this status quo. As long as there hope that a magical method of teaching or learning exists, then snake-oil consultants and professional development pitch-persons have wares to sell. They can stand in the cyber-square of the internet hawking these wares and gobble up tax money galore. One can’t help but question for whose benefit such a system provides.

Does anyone else notice how "cult-like" ed tech leaders and supporters can be? They constantly proclaim salvation by technology for every educational ailment that we face. Yet, we've been on this "ed-tech binge" since perhaps the mid-1990s with very little to show for it. Why? Perhaps it boils down to a simple fact: whether students learn or not simply depends on the quality of the instructional interactions that teacher has with students during the given instructional time.

Too often, educators have made of "cult of technology" and as social media researcher Siva Vaidhyanathan writes:

"When we make a cult of technology and welcome its immediate rewards and conveniences into our lives without consideration of the long-term costs, we make fools of ourselves."

Too often, educators uncritically accept the latest tech evangelist's word regarding the promise of technology. When some other educator comes proclaiming how much this web app changed their lives, their word is uncritically accepted as gospel. I myself have been guilty of that too. The truth is, educational leaders placing their trust in salvation by technology will ultimately be sorely disappointed. We've been traveling that road for over 20 years and there really hasn't been very much substantial change in education.

Educational technology has become a bit cult-like in some ways. Those pushing technology talk a great deal about relevance in teaching and push tech solutions like that is the only way we can make instruction relevant to students. The truth is, no one really knows what will be relevant in the future, and anyone who claims that they do suffers from a level of arrogance and delusion that is dangerous.

It is imperative that we demand those making claims about technology, and any other educational panacea, provide support for their claims. We need not accept what they say as truth just because they are skillful TED talkers or excellent at providing keynotes.  We need to subject any and all claims to a level of critical scrutiny that unmasks blather for what it is. 

Vaidhyanathan, S. (2018). Anti-social media: How Facebook disconnects us and undermines democracy. Oxford University Press: New York, NY.

One of the identifying characteristics of my blog, this blog, has been that it "advocates for the use of technology." Since the very first post here, I've often joined the educator chorus of singing the praises of "technology in education." Now, a few years later, I am beginning to wonder, in the spirit of Nicholas Carr, that perhaps I've been more "evangelist" than educator when it comes to "advocating for technology." I've been "spreading the gospel of technology use in the classroom and in my role as principal" for several years now, and I've come to some certain "Carrisian" (if I may invent a new word) realizations about technology myself which can be summed up thus: Technology is no panacea; it doth not an effective educator make.

Before the virtual spitballs start flying in my direction, let me explain myself a bit further. Being a "Tech Evangelist" gets it all wrong. There is "no gospel of ed technology." There's nothing to convert people to, and there's no salvation to be found in outfitting out classrooms with gadgets galore. Placing 30 laptops in a room does not necessarily transform that room into the new center of learning in Western Civilization. Why? It's simply this: the greatest feats of learning are not always found on the screens of our smartphones and tablet screens. No matter how much we try to convince ourselves, that "tech is better," sometimes a pad of paper and our favorite fountain pen is a much better way to engage our thoughts and the world.

Educators, I'm afraid, have been "spreading a utopian view of technology," as Nicholas Carr calls this technoevangelicalism, for some time now. I've engaged in that myself. I've been guilty of viewing any educational progress as "essentially technological." And, this means, I've been a part of the problem of "legitimizing" all these edupreneurs and opportunists who bombard my email inbox every day with promises of sure entrance into the "academic achievement promise land" if I will only purchase their products. Educational technology is the land of opportunity for many; including those who peddle snake oil and latest elixirs that cure every ailment in our schools. By being uncritical and faithful to the ed tech creeds, I am just as guilty as anyone of enabling that "commercial culture" that puts the profits of self and others ahead of what is sometimes best for the students in my building. No more.

If anything, ed technology needs it's own version of "Food and Drug Administration" that forces these edpreneurs and technoevangelists promoting their wares to provide solid evidence of their claims. Educators are a trusting lot. They want so much to believe that the nice gentlemen plugging his software program or tech device, or any other educational ware, really wants what they want: what's best for kids. But, while that may be true, understand that he is out to sell a product, not take care of your students.

We have the greatest "FDA" faculty in our heads as educators. We talk about critical thinking and independent thinking, then we need to exercise it when it comes to any educational product or technology. Anyone can claim their product is "research-based" and the best thing to happen to education since chalkboards. Yet, we are ultimately responsible for using this critical faculty to ask the tough questions of anyone promoting a product or even idea. We owe it to our own integrity and most of all to the kids we face each and every day.

By spreading a utopian view of technology, a view that defines progress as essentially technological, they've encouraged people to switch off their critical faculties and give Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and financiers free rein in remaking culture to fit their commercial interests" Nicholas Carr, Utopia Is Creepy and Other Provocations

OpenEd is a free service that offers users what it terms "the largest educational resource catalog with over a quarter of a million Common Core-aligned videos, games, and assessments." Users can do anyone of the following:

• Search for video and games by keyword or directory subject.
• Create online courses, allowing for class management, and OpenEd provides resource recommendations according to topics.
• Browse Common Core resources and resources for other standards.
• Create playlists of videos and other resources for easier access later.

OpenEd Website

It has been over a year since Microsoft released Windows 8, and I will confess I haven't "upgraded" nor do I own a device using the operating system. My rationale is simple: "Windows 7 wasn't broke and didn't need fixing." At least, I would say that was true for the interface. I have grown accustomed to the start button. I haven't seen a "blue-screen-of-death" or whatever happens with Windows 7 malfunctions in many months. It has been perfectly stable, which is an ENORMOUS selling feature for me. I do not have a touchscreen computer, not do I have plans to purchase one. After all, I have an iPad that gives me all the experience I need with touchscreen applications. There simply has been and continues to be no reason to upgrade to Windows 8.

The whole problem with the Windows 8 upgrade question for me is that it is simply a question of "Does pursuing the latest in my best interests as a user?" The answer to that is a rather obvious "No." One would have thought Microsoft would have learned its lesson about major operating system interface changes back with Windows Me. Take Windows XP for example. There are still many, many computers sitting in our schools and even in our homes using this version of Windows. I, myself, had a Windows XP desktop sitting in my home this week, until it died, not from an operating system failure, but a hardware issue. I simply replaced it with a Windows 7 machine that I had elsewhere. Windows XP has survived because it was stable and it worked well.

I can't help but wonder if Microsoft has lost touch with reality in the operating system market specifically and the technology industry as a whole. At one time, it did drive much of what happened in the software and hardware industry. Programmers and computer designers would roll out new products as Microsoft introduced their latest operating system. That is still somewhat the case, but with Apple's resurrection and the Chromebook market, not to mention an Android and iOS market too, there are more and more options for people rather than a Microsoft Windows machine. Microsoft needs to learn that they are no longer entirely in the driver's seat in the world of software and hardware. They can't roll out new operating systems and expect the world to rush to get the upgrade or purchase a new machine with the new OS on it.

When XP dies later in the spring of this year, schools will be scrambling to do something with a ton of computers who operate very well with XP but lack the hardware capabilities to upgrade to Windows 7 much less Windows 8. Perhaps this is an excellent opportunity for them to rethink their heavy reliance on machines that rely on the use of a single operating system. Many of these computers are still perfectly usable machines, but they will be less usable because Microsoft has chosen to no longer support XP. I understand perfectly that is a business decision, and I respect Microsoft's right to make it, but I also think schools and districts would do well to take advantage of the demise of the XP machines to make some more strategic decisions. Some of those decisions might include the following:

• Purchase Apple computers. I don't get any promotional fees for saying that. I don't even own an Apple computer, but my observation of how Apple rolls out computers and operating systems makes me think if having a full-fledged laptop or desktop is a must, then perhaps MacBooks and iMacs are the way to go. Why? I've known many a Mac user who tell me they've used the same computer for 7 or 8 years and have had little difficulty. They've even been able to upgrade operating systems multiple times without glitches. Apple's pricing structure may mean spending more upfront, but the reliability and longevity might be worth it. Then again, you might  be concerned because you could buy three PCs for the price of one Mac, so replacing more often might be acceptable. Still, there's no question that the Mac is back and certainly again a contender for replacing all these aging computers.
• Purchase Chromebooks. Doing this once again breaks the umbilical cord from Microsoft. Chromebooks use Google's Chromium operating system and users rely heavily on Google Chrome apps, but worrying about the next operating system upgrade isn't a worry at all. Since all is Web-based, there's no need to worry about upgrades of anything. The price of Chromebooks are alluring as well. The only drawback I can see is that without a wifi connection, you basically have a high-tech paper-weight. Chromebooks can also be an option for moving away from Microsoft products and dependency thereof.
• Moving to iOS or Android tablets. There is honestly little left that you can't do on a tablet that you can do on a laptop or desktop. There are even more things you can do with tablet,  like shooting video, photos, among many other things. Schools and school districts might also think about tablets when replacing all these dying XP computers. Tablets are really quite versatile. There have been great improvements in management of these devices in school settings. There have also been improvements in both iOS and Android operating systems, and perhaps one big advantage, users of tablets are not charged when the next upgrade comes long like they are with Windows PCs.Tablets are a viable replacement for all those computers that will be left with an unsupported operating system in 2014. One might wonder why I failed to mention Microsoft Surface tablets as an option. Besides not having a single experience with these devices, I have to admit I am a bit apprehensive about continuing to rely so heavily on one software company. Who's to say that Microsoft won't charge customers for their Surface tablet operating system upgrades. They have charged PC users for years.

What are we getting students to do with technology in our schools? Here's an interesting infographic from Education Week that offers some answers to that very question. One can only hope that "Create presentations and media" doesn't mean our students are spending a great deal of time engaged in PowerPoint creation. It is interesting, however, that at the high school level that we are getting students to use social media for collaboration fairly often. What is perhaps disappointing and will probably become even more disappointing as these so-called "better assessments" come online is the statistic that we're using technology to take tests almost as much as we use social media for collaboration.

Obviously the danger is that we'll turn our computers to testing machines rather than authentic ways to engage in learning and content creation. I'm not really surprised by the outside of school stats. I doubt very seriously that students in the seventies and eighties went home, and by choice, watched educational documentaries unless forced to do so. I know I didn't.

Knowmia is a website and an iPad app that allows teachers to create, share, and view instructional videos for students. It might be just the perfect solution for the teacher looking for a tool to help them implement “Flipped Classroom” instruction.

Recently, Knowmia has been working on three knew features to add to their product. I think teachers and students will find these enhancements useful.

Showcase a Teacher Profile
Teachers can create a profile and endorse other Knowmia teachers. Profiles will be used to describe you to all students and other teachers who are using Knowmia. It’s also a way for the Knowmia community to see all of the great lessons teachers have created. Click here to learn more: Knowmia Blog

Build Interactive Assignments
Teachers can use the Assignment Wizard to create assignments that include video lessons, slides and questions for your students. Most importantly, they can monitor your students’ progress in real-time, assess comprehension and provide them with feedback. Click here to learn more: Knowmia Blog

Empower Students to Benefit from Our Free ToolsStudents can now use the free Knowmia Teach iPad app to create video projects and demonstrate what they’ve learned. Student lessons are completely private and secure. Click here to learn more about student content:Knowmia Blog



Coming soon! Students will be able to register for an account without an email address. Click here to learn more:http://www.knowmia.com/blog/?p=307

I began teaching in 1989. My first classroom didn't have a phone in it and the prime piece of technology I had was one of those old fashioned turntables. I remember using that to share my love of blues music with students by playing a Muddy Waters album for them in connection to a short story we were reading. I had a cassette tape player too, and I remember sharing a dynamic dramatic reading of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Bells” using this device. I also had access to a VHS player, and I remember sharing scenes from the movie Roxanne with my students as we read the play Cyrano de Bergerac. That was the extent of the technology in my classroom at the time, and yes I did have a chalkboard and colored chalk that students enjoyed using to share drawings and messages on my chalkboard throughout the day.

But the point of this trip down memory lane was not to tell you how old I really am. It was to simply say this: Technology when I began teaching in 1989 seems quaint and unsophisticated now, but even at that time, I pushed the limits of teaching and learning with the tools that were available. I used the technology, not for its own sake, but because those were the tools that helped me teach in the most engaging and effective manner. In a sense, that mindset is really the same mindset of a 21st century teacher.

Engaging students in my 1989 classroom and in a 21st century classroom presented the same challenges. I found myself trying to answer these kinds of questions then, and also in the 2006 when I began to heavily engage students in the use of digital technologies.

• How do you engage students who are more interested and engaged in things outside of school than inside it?
• How can I make the best use of technologies to both engage students in my content and teach them to make the most of the technologies themselves?
• How can my instruction best prepare students for a world outside of my classroom and school?

These questions are just as relevant now as they were then.

But here in 2013, digital technologies offer ours students so many more opportunities to learn in ways extending beyond the four walls of the classroom.. Here's what students today can do:

• Students today can be publishers of content. In 1989, it was a struggle to find ways for students to publish content. It was usually limited to either making physical copies and distributing them or posting on classroom walls. Today, blogs and content sharing platforms make it possible for students to publish for global audiences. Publishing content has become cheap and efficient in our digital classrooms.
• Students today can easily create multiple types of media content. During classes in 1989, my students were mostly relegated to creating content that was either textual or graphic, with the graphic content mostly being freehand drawings. Collages were also common. In today’s digital classrooms, students can still create text, but the tools to create video, photos, audio have all become prolific and easy-to-use. Students in today’s digital classrooms have power tools of multi-media content creation at their fingertips.
• Students today have many, many more choices of the kinds of content they can create, hence they are not limited to the research paper or dioramas (Anyone remember these?). In 1989, most of my students content creation was mainly writing papers, creating collages, making drawings, writing/acting out original plays, or creating other kinds of genres. Today’s students have new forms of textual media, new forms of graphical communication tools, and new ways to engage audiences digitally. Students in today’s classrooms can create their own apps, web pages, blogs, vlogs, with the whole global community being the limit.

For those of us who began teaching in the late 1980s, the classrooms of today offer our students so many more opportunities to engage in content creation, content publication, and content sharing. In spite of this, the fundamental educator mindset is the same. In 1989, to create an engaging classroom, I made the most of tech tools I had then. In 2013, that tech toolbox has expanded enormously, so teaching and learning through content creation and publication has expanded as well. It's this wonderful 1989 perspective of teaching and learning that makes me appreciate the greater possibilities of the 21st century classroom.

 One of the biggest reasons for purchasing an Android tablet as opposed to an iPad was my Amazon cloud products. I have my music uploaded to the Amazon cloud, and unfortunately, there is no Amazon music player app available for the iPad. Of the course, the pure OSers would point out I could store my music in the iCloud, but then I could not access my music on my Kindle Fire, which I sometimes do while reading. To be honest, I would have been perfectly content with my Kindle Fire as a tablet except for the lack of 3G, soon to be 4G capability. There simply were too many times I wanted to check my email, Tweet or Facebook, but could not because there was no open WiFi, which is the only way to currently connect with the Kindle Fire. Bottom line, my Galaxy Tab with its Android operating system, allows me to access my music.

Another reason for purchasing an Android tablet as opposed to an iPad was the size. I was attracted to the slightly smaller 7.7 Galaxy Tab. It will fit in one hand, at least my big hands, and its just a bit smaller size means I can easily hold it while standing outside during parking lot duty. That means I can check email, read my RSS feeds, and even write a blog post while making sure some of my students do not abscond from campus during lunch. Its small size means I can hold it in my palm. The smaller size means I can easily access my favorite apps while doing many of the tasks principals find themselves doing. With the 3G, soon to be 4G capability, I do not have to worry about wireless access in some of those places I find myself performing principal duties, and believe me, there are those places.

Finally, I got an Android tablet because I like new toys. I have a Wifi-only capable iPad issued by the school district. I have my WiFi Kindle Fire. I just wanted a new toy to experiment and play with. I had read several posts about the Galaxy Tab 7.7 and the 10.1, and I wanted to expand my knowledge and experience, as well as take advantage of what I had learned by having an Android smartphone. I enjoy the challenge of learning how to use new devices.
In the end, I have been more than satisfied with my purchase. I bought the docking keyboard that goes with the Galaxy Tab 7.7 too. That key board is amazing. The Samsung Galaxy Tab has proven already that I did not make the wrong choice.

Here's excellent graphic, reminder to all of us regarding how our students engage in technology use. There's not a lot more to say. I think the illustration says it all.
Via: OnlineEducation.net

Every year for the past four or five years I have attended the North Carolina Technology in Education Society (NCTIES) Annual Conference. The NCTIES Conference this year will be held at the Raleigh Convention Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on March 7-9, 2012. This is the premier educational technology event in the entire state. NCTIES is the North Carolina affiliate organization to ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). Looking over the NCTIES Conference web site, it promises to be as engaging as ever, with tech experts like Ken Shelton as keynote speaker, and sessions conducted by two others well known in tech circles, Richard Byrne and David Warlick.


I have presented during the concurrent sessions just about every year I have attended, and this year I am scheduled for two concurrent sessions.

On Thursday, March 8:
Becoming a 21st Century Leader: Engaging in World-Wide Conversation on Education: Participants in this session will explore what it means to be a 21st century leader in public education, and the tools that can be used to begin their transformation into 21st century leaders. Focus will be on using Twitter, Google+, Blogging, and other social media to become connected and engaged leaders not just locally but globally.

On Friday, March 9:
Web Tools for Busy School Administrator: Participants in this session will explore web applications such as Evernote, Diigo, Dropbox and others as tools to help administrators carry out the tasks of school leadership. A complete overview of web apps and their potential use in the administrator will be explored.

Just as it has in the past, the NCTIES Conference promises to North Carolina’s best opportunity to engage in an intense but fascinating three days of learning and networking. If you want to go, check out the Conference Web Site.

After looking back over posts made during the course of this past year and examining the number of page views, here's my top five posts for the year.

This weekend, I began studying for my CompTIA A+ certification. After a great deal of soul-searching, I decided that I wanted to pursue this certification. I have spent quite a few years tinkering with PCs. While this certification does not directly impact my current job as a school administrator, I am finding the challenge of exploring all of the intimate parts of a PC fascinating.

I’ve been a “digital-tinkerer” all the way back to my first Windows 3.1 desktop. As the years and operating systems have passed, I’ve continued that fascination. This weekend my interest was re-ignited when I successfully set up my desktop computer as a print-server. There was a great deal of personal satisfaction when I successfully made it possible to print to my desktop printer from multiple wireless devices, including my laptop.

The techno-geeks out there are probably chuckling a bit at my bravado here, but for me, learning about technology has happened in those moments of experimentation and exploration. There is satisfaction in learning something I did not know before, and for me that captures my whole fascination with computers. There is a great deal to be said about experimentation and exploration in the implementation of technology in education settings.


Is it a waste of time for a principal of a school to seek CompTIA A+ computer certification? I like to think learning is valuable regardless of it’s direct impact on my job performance. After all, is this not adding still another perspective to my understanding of PCs and technology? Perhaps others would say principals seeking such certifications is a waste of time. What do you think?

Let me disclose upfront that I am a regular Kindle fan. Even though I now have a Kindle Fire, I refuse to give up my old Kindle, so don’t anyone ask if I’m willing to sell it. I love its compact size, it’s simplicity in use, and it’s no glare display. About the only thing about the old Kindle I struggled with was the fact that I had to use an external light to read. Of course the Kindle Fire’s display takes care of that problem. This device reinforces once more why I love Amazon’s e-reader devices. If I were to make some early observations about the Kindle Fire, here they are.

• The Kindle Fire is almost the exact same dimensions of my older Kindle. (See picture below.) It is just a bit heavier and thicker, but it still fits right in my single hand, small enough to curl up with. No doubt, Amazon’s Kindle designers had that in mind when they designed the device. It’s dimensions, thickness and weight still make it easy to hold when reading.

• The Kindle Fire display is perfect for the e-reader and for the light media and app-user. While I know there’s a great deal of talk about this device encroaching on iPad’s ___domain, I’m not sure I would go that far yet. However, if you only use your iPad for e-reading, media consuming, social media, and email, then I would say that perhaps you would be happy with the Kindle Fire. It easily does all of those things. It is a media consumption device only, not a media production device. If you want to create media too, then get another tablet device. If you only want to read, listen, view, or use apps, then get a Kindle Fire. Why buy a device that takes pictures or records audio if all you’re going to do is consume media anyway?
• The E-Reading app on the Kindle Fire captures all the features of the iPad Kindle app that are useful. Highlighting text and taking notes works just as it does on the iPad Kindle app. You can also control the background color of the page, text size, margins, and choose your font. The folks at Amazon did not sacrifice a thing for those of us who use these devices primarily for e-reading.
• The Apps available for the Kindle Fire include some favorite desktop and iPad apps. There’s Seesmic for Twitter users. There’s also Evernote for those of us who rely heavily on the note taking application. For Angry Birds enthusiasts, you’ll find your favorite versions too. I noticed that the Amazon app store is also offering apps like Quickoffice too. I am sure Amazon’s app store will only expand with demand for additional apps.
• The Kindle Fire’s high definition display makes watching video pleasurable on a small device. Honestly, when I want to watch a high definition movie, nothing beats my Samsung 60” LED TV. But, watching video on the Kindle Fire is pleasurable as well. It’s high definition screen made watching some of the pilot episode of Lost enjoyable.

Kindle Fire's Compact Size

In my opinion, whether or not to purchase a Kindle Fire depends entirely upon what you want to do with the device. If you want to be able to consume and create media, then an iPad or other tablet device is your best bet. If all you’re going to do is read, get an older Kindle, especially now that you can purchase one for less than $100. But if you want to be able to do these three things:

• read, listen and watch media
• check email and engage in social media like Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn
• use and access your favorite online apps like Evernote

then get a Kindle Fire. It does these three things as well as any tablet.

The Kindle Fire effectively combines the perfect size and simplicity of the old Kindle with the features we love about all tablets, and gives users a perfect media consumption device.