While technology and organizations are fun to hear about, getting to know the people that make it all happen is far more inspiring. That’s why, in our “We Celebrate Learning” series, we like to feature some of the awesome minds behind education technology and share with you a peek into their worlds.

Today, we get to share with you a look into the mind of Vicki Davis, the person behind the Cool Cat Teacher blog that is always providing useful information for educators, especially those excited about using technology in their classrooms. We had the chance to ask her a few questions. You can read the questions and her responses below!

1.) How did you get to be interested in education technology?

I have been using computers since I was eight (a TRS-80) and my Mom was a teacher – she taught me typing in elementary school and I have used computers ever since. When she put her new computer lab in the school in 1991, we had to raise money to pay for the computers, so although I was in school to get my business degree, I helped her teach classes in Microsoft Windows, Word, Excel, etc. and loved it. Although I’ve taught at the high school level for 7 years, I’ve worked with adults and technology since the early 1990′s. The transformative power of technology has kept me coming back – people’s lives are improved positively when they know how to use technology to accomplish their unique goals in faster, easier, more useful ways. That is the power of edTech!

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I truly enjoy hearing people present interesting ideas, but I can’t say I’ve loved every 60-minute lecture I’ve ever sat through.

Apparently, course designers from San Juan College, a community college in Farmington, N.M., agree with me. They’ve been experimenting with “microlectures” for certain online classes. These audio or video lectures last just 1-3 minutes and focus on introducing key terms and concepts. The details are left for the students to discover on their own through assignments and discussion.

This short-form pedagogical tool is designed to remove the instructor as the center of attention, increase active learning and speed up course development time. San Juan administrators say the program is a success, citing increased enrollment in courses using microlectures.

While the idea is intriguing and certainly time-efficient, I wonder if microlectures are simply pandering to students with short attention spans at the expense of a rich learning experience. Increased enrollment may indicate that students enjoy these brief lectures, but are they learning more?

In a recent interview, author Nicholas Carr suggests that offering less information may actually increase critical thinking.

Do you believe that intelligence is a matter of tapping into huge amounts of information as fast as possible — being “more productive”… — or do you think intelligence means stepping back from that information, thinking about it, and drawing your own conclusions in a calm, thoughtful way? My own feeling is that I’d rather have less information and more thoughtfulness.

On the other hand, I wonder if microlectures are shortchanging students, distancing them from their expert instructors who have a wealth of information to share. Learners undoubtedly benefit from discussing, researching, experiencing and contemplating information. But we can’t discount the role of a knowledgeable mentor, who is trained and motivated to empower her students with information and passion.

What do you think? Is this an innovative teaching format, or an excuse for expecting less out of students and teachers?

Last week, with little fanfare, the Sony Walkman turned 30. To celebrate the anniversary, the BBC gave the device to tech-savvy, 13 year-old, Scott Campbell to see what he thought about it. Campbell criticized the devices “size, appearance, functionality and the hissy backtrack and odd warbly noises,” but the real money quote comes at the end of the article where Campbell asks “Did my dad … really ever think this was a credible piece of technology?”

It’s easy to laugh now, but many educators are still using technology that makes the Walkman look modern and that is a problem. If we want to connect with students we can’t expect to use technology from the past. Students have Xbox, PlayStation and iPod and use interactive websites and HDTVs every day. Students aren’t interested in technology for technology’s sake. Student’s merely expect that technology in the classroom will live up to the standards set by technology they use in their personal lives. Students don’t necessarily criticize outdated technology because it is old, but they do get frustrated with technology that does not function correctly, has limited capabilities or is substandard to another technology they are familiar with. Why would Campbell be excited about a Walkman when he already has an iPod?

The same logic applies to technology we use in our classrooms. The challenge for us as educators is to find ways to use modern technology in the classroom despite our limited budgets. One thing is certain, though, using a Walkman won’t help.

Imagine a world where education quickly adapts to the advances in the technological world around us, where educators, students, parents, and policy makers are empowered to initiate positive changes within the education community, and a place where children become lifelong learners, eager to develop the skills that will help them prosper in their ever-changing environments.

This world is right around the corner with Edutopia leading the way.  The George Lucas Educational Foundation’s Edutopia was created to address the issues of the slowly-adapting education system to the fast paced world and constantly improving technologies students are growing up in and with.   Their vision is powerful, but expressed simply:

“Our vision is of a new world of learning. A place where kids and parents, teachers and administrators, policy makers and the people they serve, all are empowered to change education for the better. A place where schools have access to the same invaluable technology as businesses and universities — where innovation is the rule, not the exception. A place where children become lifelong learners and develop the technical, cultural, and interpersonal skills to succeed in the twenty-first century. A place of inspiration, aspiration, and an urgent belief that improving education improves the world we live in.”

Through Eutopia’s magazine, website, and videos, they are able to “spread the word about ideal, interactive learning environments and enable others to adapt these successes locally”.

Helping them to reach their goals of creating a better world of education are Edutopia’s six core concepts – comprehensive assessment, integrated studies, project learning, social and emotional learning, technology integration, and teacher development. Each provides specific direction that will surely help them to achieve their goals. Each concept certainly deserves more attention than what is presented here, so please click over and discover more about each one!

The reason we want to feature them in our “We Celebrate Learning” series should be pretty obvious! They are education leaders, connecting educators, and essentially improving the world we all live in and share. We, too, are passionate about helping students get the most from their educations and are excited to see the once imagined technologically advanced educational tools becoming a reality.

How can Edutopia help you and your classroom? Read the articles they provide, watch the videos, connect with the bloggers. Look into all of their resources and use them. But then, go a step farther and begin creating your own “edutopia” – start making positive changes in your classroom, introducing new technologies to your students, and helping them connect with the world around them. This can be done at any level and in countless ways.

To find out more about Edutopia, check out their very informative About Us page. Or, just look around the website to discover over 2,200 helpful features and 150 informative videos. And, if you’re interested, check out the exciting webinars they have coming up, or subscribe to the e-newsletter to stay connected.

Here at Idea Works we love it when people are thinking outside the box so when we heard about the Open Architecture Network’s 2009 Classroom Design challenge we were thrilled. According to the Open Architecture Network’s website:

The Open Architecture Challenge is an open, international design competition hosted once every two years on the Open Architecture Network. It reaches beyond the traditional bounds of architecture by challenging architects and designers to partner with the broader public to address architectural inequities affecting the health, prosperity and well-being of under-served communities.

This years challenge was designing a classroom that met the unique needs of the future. While the submission deadline has already passed, we are still quite excited about seeing the results that come from increased collaboration. The most exciting part of challenges like these are that students and teachers across the globe can let the world know what they need to meet the unique needs of the 21st century classroom. By working together we can certainly create a better future for us all.

By now anyone that is familiar with higher level education knows that textbook expenses are brutal for students on a budget. Students routinely pay up to $1000 a year for books. Flat World Knowledge, however, is looking to turn the publishing industry upside down by not only slashing the cost of textbooks, but also altering how textbooks are used in the classroom.

Flat World Knowledge, founded in 2007 by two textbook industry executives, is changing the name of the game when it comes to publishing by “offering books by leading experts, rigorously reviewed and developed to the highest standards completely free online.” Flat World Knowledge instead profits on low cost distribution by offering print-on-demand soft-cover textbooks, audio textbooks, and digital study aids for a fraction of the cost of a traditional textbook.

Perhaps the biggest change Flat World Knowledge seeks to make is in textbook usage. Traditionally the textbook has been a supplement to other course content. Flat World Knowledge instead makes the textbook a central hub for all learning. This is achieved by allowing instructors to edit the text right down to the very sentence. Professors can rearrange or eliminate chapters, supplement the material with their own examples and piggy back off of what other professors are doing in their own classroom. By having these features, professors can meet their own unique classroom requirements.

Students, on the other hand, can access the material whenever they want and in whatever manner they choose. Additionally, the student can harness the power of social learning by posting questions about course material to a learning center where the student can get an answer from any other student using the same material in the world, not just other students in their course. Flat World Knowledge describes this as “an online social learning platform that allows students to learn from each other as well as from the book.” This type of collaborative learning helps instructors create the all important teachable moment that is missing in many classes.

So what does this mean for you? While Flat World Knowledge won’t be the end solution to rising higher education costs, it does prove that there are people working hard to innovate and change the current system. It’s up to us as educators to utilize these collaborative tools so that students not only have a better chance at affording education, but will also be exposed to the kind of positive learning environment that we strive to have in our universities.

If your students aren’t always enthusiastic about writing assignments, maybe it’s time to try something other than “Tell me what you did on your summer vacation…”

Students will get more out of writing if they’re excited about the topic. Ask a 12-year-old to tell you why he likes Call of Duty, and I bet he’ll produce 3 or 4 volumes of well-developed prose.

Or, as Rob Stone suggests, have them write about music.

As the online host of the “iPod-inspired, Writing Across the Curriculum homepage“, Rob argues that the two most important things for any student are technology and music.

Thanks to the emergence of personal music players (that’s the PC way of saying iPod) and music studios’ relentless pursuit of students with a disposable income, student’s lives are accompanied by an endless stream of pop music. While music is primarily distributed for entertainment, most artists explore concepts and themes in their music which may used as a basis for thoughtful writing.

Over at WritingFix, Rob has collected over 50 lessons plans tied to a specific “mentor text” (a song and its lyrics), designed to engage students through writing.

Involving artists like Ben Harper, The Cure, The Beatles, Jack Johnson, and Sara Bareilles, the lessons generally asks students to write a poem that expands on a theme in the song, or to mimic the content and format of a particular selection.

One thing to keep in mind: just because you’re using music doesn’t mean you’re being relevant. A senior in high school (born around 1991) probably won’t be too familiar with Pat Benatar, Jim Croce, Neil Diamond, or Don McLean.

It’s worth checking out the current Top 30 to see what music your students are likely listening to. Of course, make sure to check the lyrics to make sure they’re appropriate for class.

And there’s no reason to limit the lesson output to poetry. You can use “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel to prompt some discussion of historical events and how they shaped our society. “The 3 R’s” by Jack Johnson is a great way to get students thinking about the environment and they can help the school “go green”.

Let your imagination go wild. Then, surprise your students by asking them to take out their iPods instead of their pencils.

We have opted not to create schools as places where children’s curiosity, sensory awareness, power, and communication can flourish, but rather to erect temples of knowledge where we sit them down, tell them a lot of stuff we think is important, try to control their restless curiosity, and test them to see how well they’ve listened to us.

- Robert Fried
The Game of School, pp. 58–59

I remember meeting a classmate my first week of college who boasted about being the top graduate in her high school class. I was intimidated. At my suburban high school, the top student had to beat out almost 500 other ambitious, intelligent teenagers.

After a bit of prodding, though, my new friend admitted she graduated with only 18 other students. Gotta love these small Missouri towns.

Of course, a student graduating with a handful of other students could be smarter than students at larger high schools, but it’s hard to compare. When students are only measured against one another, it’s hard to assess what they know, and don’t.

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When the school year ends in the next few weeks, more than a handful of students (and teachers?) will look back and think: “What was the point of all that?”

For some, it only takes a glimpse of life outside the classroom to start questioning the purpose of school. Especially when all the fun seems to happen beyond the academic calendar.

Of course, parental pressure aside, most students stay in school because they realize an education will help them sustain a career they (hopefully) enjoy, affording them a comfortable, satisfying lifestyle. And some students simply like to learn.

But, as a society, are these the only reasons we have school?

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