geek.teacher

Due to a lack of funds (hey, I’m moving!), going to ISTE this year was just not going to happen. Fortunately for me, a confluence of factors turned this weekend into a conference weekend anyway, complete with networking with Twitter friends.

My wife was out of town for the weekend, and a good friend of mine just so happened to be going to DC for the annual American Library Association conference. He had an extra bed in his paid-for by work hotel room and invited me to join him. One bus trip later, and I’m in DC.

Something many people don’t know about me: I was a teenage librarian. In high school I spent a year working after school in my high school’s library, and then two years working in my town’s public library in their children’s department. It was a formative experience that definitely helped set me on my future career path as an educator. Given that, I spent the $25 for the exhibits floor pass.

In a lucky coincidence, I saw that Melissa Techman was going to be in DC on Saturday for the conference. A year ago at NECC, I went down for a day and had lunch with a bunch of special educators and a few other “friends of sped,” Melissa being one of said friends. In some nice symmetry, this year I got to go out to lunch as a friend of libraries with Melissa, Diane Cordell (a long-time Twitter friend that I finally got to meet in person), Gretchen Caserotti, Cathy Jo Nelson, and Kathy Ishizuka. We had plenty of good food and better conversation, as was the case last year.

Kathy is the Technology Editor for the School Library Journal, and later wrote me an e-mail asking for my impressions of the conference. Here’s what I wrote in reply:

It’s funny, this is the second year in a row that I’ve been to the Washington Convention Center and only been able to see the exhibits floor for a conference. The floor is pretty much like the floor of any other large convention: it’s heavy on the free stuff and phony marketing interactions. On the plus side for ALA, this convention didn’t seem to have any strange cult-like booths like the SMART booth at NECC last year.

As a special educator,I was really disappointed on the floor by the assistive technology pavilion, which didn’t seem to really have much in the way of assistive technology at all that I could see. I’d imagine that people with reading difficulties are one of those underserved populations that could stand to have more opportunities for access, and there wasn’t much of that there.

I noticed a definite trend toward making friendlier spaces for the visiting public. Lots of furniture and shelves that look cozy and inviting. I noticed in one booth they were featuring gaming stations to try and get the teenage demographic back into libraries. In the same tone, it was nice to see a good-sized presence of companies that produce comic books and graphic novels there.

On a side note: I’m somewhat surprised by the number of companies that specialize in moving libraries.

Just from the bits and pieces I picked up on from talking to some people and listening in on some others, it’s interesting to see many of the same shared anxieties that teachers and librarians share right now. Increasing technology and decreasing tax revenues are big stressors on both groups, and I very much get the feeling that we’re in the midst of a major reordering of the way the world works for all of us. I think the concern for both groups at the moment is to get out in front of the changes to help guide them in a positive fashion.

I’m honestly surprised they don’t have “cell phones” on there.

It makes me proud to see high schoolers taking a delightful jab at the march of progress (or lack thereof).  Chris Lehmann from SLA shared this awesome video on the Twitters done by some of the students there which explains the problem with textbooks.  I’d say more, but I don’t want to spoilt it.  Thoughts after the video.

My favorite bit is definitely when he wants to save the image, but realizes he doesn’t have a folder to drag it to.  But every single point is spot on when comparing the interactivity of the learning experience when reading hypertext vs. plain text.

Now, I love a good book, as seen here:

But we need to face facts: texbooks are incredibly lame in comparison to hypertext.  I’ve had to attend a lot of reading trainings the past couple of years as my school fights for AYP, and the key point that’s always made is that good readers interact with the text.  The whole point of a hypertext setup is the interaction.

Of course, this doesn’t need to be just on a computer.  Earlier today I read an interesting writeup by Seth Godin in which he describes changes he would make to the Kindle.  Relevant ones for education in particular:

3. Anytime I send someone a book (see #1) or recommend a book, let me (with the other person’s consent) see the comments they write in the margins of the book as they read it. Imagine being able to read a novel this way with your book group, or a sales manual with your department.

6. Demolish the textbook market as soon as possible by publishing open source textbooks for free.

7. Give publishers the ability to insert quizzes or feedback. This creates a certification or continuing ed or textbook opportunity far bigger than a book can deliver.

In particular, #3 is just the kind of thing that would be awesome for a classroom environment.  Teachers could see the notes that students are taking to help them see if the students understand the material, and students can see what everybody else wrote to lead to a richer understanding.  Add the ability to do a quick gogole.wiki search for any word in the text, you have instant, limitless, connected, and relevant knowledge.

I also very much enjoy the idea of destroying the textbook industry.  Having recently listened to the audiobook version of A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (please note: that there is a link to the apparently full text of the book.  For free.  Awesome!) and also being a fan of Lies My Teacher Told Me by James Loewen, I can pretty safely say that, at least when it comes to history, there’s a lot that can be improved there.  Being able to quickly and easily look up more information, possibly from a very different perspective, would be a huge improvement.  Science and Math books need some serious improvement, too, as Dan Meyer likes to point out.

This post started as just me wanting to embed a funny video.  Funny how my brain made all these connections as I worked.  Hyperthoughts!

Word’s breaking out on Twitter that the Pennsylvania General Assembly has recently been presented with House Bill 363.  I will henceforth refer to this as the Luddite Bill.  The Luddite Bill wants to amend the PA Public School Code to say the following:

The possession by students of telephone paging devices, commonly referred to as beepers, cellular telephones and portable electronic devices that record or play audio or video material shall be prohibited on school grounds, at school sponsored activities and on buses or other vehicles provided by the school district.  

Needless to say, I have a problem with this.  First, I will let it be known that my school has a ban on cell phones, and, as a faculty member, I have enforced the rule by taking away the cell phones of students who use them during school hours.  That rule is a decision made on the local level, based on the needs and wishes of the building administrators and the school board.  I have no doubt that the rules could change over time or have some added flexibility.  We already provide some of that, as students are now at least free to have their phones and use them after school as needed.  This law would take that flexibility away from us.  According to this law, with few notable emergency exceptions, students would not be allowed to ever bring a phone to school for any reason whatsoever.

A few years ago, I wouldn’t have thought this a big deal, but to take away the option of teachers allowing cell phone use in their classrooms to me now seems ludicrous.  Right now we stand on the brink of a major shift in computing resources available to students in their pockets, with phones as powerful as a computer from only a few years ago.  People who want to ban these tools really need to check out Cell Phones in Learning.  Honestly, if you think we really want you to take away more teaching options from us, you re sorely mistaken.

As a starting point to work to stop this bill, I recommend contacting your legislator and signing this petition.

Update 1: for another perspective, check out Jimbo Lamb’s post here.

Update 2: Jim Gates, Steve Dembo, and Damian Bariexca also have their say.

Update 3: Liz Kolb gets unsurprisingly angry.

Update4: Chris Lehmann and Louise Maine contribute.

Update 5: Jill Machemer uses the word “decapitated” in her piece, and the incredulity to spreads to New York’s Lisa Nielsen and New Zealand’s Greg Carroll.

Update 6: I got mentioned by Techdirt! That got blogs Obsessable and Daily Online Examiner to say something about 363. Thomas Boito and Stefani Hite also chime in.

Update 7: Lisa Thumann tells how she first found out about the bill.

 photo credit: albany_tim