Things from my mind...

Technology Convention Bingo!

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 06:37:56 -0600

Let’s face it, sometimes, conventions can have some dead times, The workshop that is boring, the speaker that is speaking to himself, the session that only two people are attending.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun! Try playing “Technology Convention Bingo!”

The rules are simple:

•Print out the Bingo Card
•Choose a location that you will play Bingo in, such as “Keynote Address,” “Exhibit Hall,” or “Workshop.”
•Check off the cliché as you hear them. The first person to have a diagonal, a vertical , or a horizontal line from one side
to another is the winner!
•Play against others in your room or session! Make boring sessions fun

Here is the official “Technology Convention Bingo” playing card: EDTECHbingo.pdf

But feel free to make your own.

Have fun!

Lonestar Edubloggercon 2010

Fri, 5 Feb 2010 11:01:45 -0600

If you are attending to TCEA and are there on Tuesday, February 9, you are invited to join in on the first Lonestar EduBlogger Con.

The un-Convention before the convention is our first experiment with this type of learning tool, and you are invited to attend to help kick off the event. The LSEBC is free to anyone attending TCEA and will be held in the Mezzanine above the entrance to the exhibition hall.

Please spread the word to help make this event a success.

Come on, the fun stuff on Sixth Street doesn’t start until after dark anyway.

See ya there!

Here is the TCEA 2010 Blogroll so far:
Tim Holt Intended Consequences http://snipurl.com/ic

Kim Caise - Kim's Ventures in Educational Technology
- http://kcaise.wordpress.com

Miguel Guhlin - Around the Corner-mGuhlin.org - http://mguhlin.org

Scott Powers

Navasota ISD Technology Blog twentyfourseven

Lamar ISD The INTERACT Cafe http://icafe.lcisd.org

Paul Alex Briseno In The Cloud
http://paulalexbriseno.edublogs.org/

Kelly Kronfeld - Education & Technology - What's Up?
http://kakronfeld.blogspot.com/

Joy Rousseau Technology Integration Tips & Tools by Dr. Joy http://podcast.arpisd.org/users/joy

Randy Rodgers The Moss-Free Stone

Mary Woodard Top Shelf - http://topshelf.edublogs.org/

Sandra McCubbin - http://aggregateimpact.blogspot.com/

Rob Miller- Latest Thoughts http://www.magnoliaisd.org/ltblog

Steve Young TechNotes - https://share.judsonisd.org/users/syoung/

Dwight Goodwin Classroomnext

Scott Floyd A Piece of My Mind - http://scottsfloyd.com

Karen Fasimpaur K12 Open Ed and

Edutopia edutopia.org/blogs

Brainpop Educators www.brainpop.com/educators

Janice Freisen Malahini Texas http://malahinitx.blogspot.com

Clint Buhs, Atomic Learning atomiclearning.blogspot.com

Kimberly Munoz http://techmunoz.edublogs.org/

Elizabeth Farmer http://iheartedtech.com

Joel Adkins TWAIN Blog http://techxas.edublogs.com

What kind of car do you drive?

Thu, 4 Feb 2010 07:57:01 -0600

Miguel Guhlin and I have gotten into an electronic sparring match over the use of Open Source materials in education. So much so that he has written two entries in his blog about it: here and here. If I read Miguel correctly, he has the following arguments for the use of OS in education:

• It is cheaper.
• It is just as good
• Obscure school districts and poverty stricken countries are doing it so everyone should
• Did I mention it is cheaper?
• Oh, and the famous, “You could buy a teacher salary with the money you save” argument.

(BTW, Miguel left off the famous “We need to defeat the evil Microsoft” argument that so many of his fellow OS-ers espouse, mainly I suspect, because Microsoft is digging it’s own grave by being unable to change with the times.)

Miguel should run for president, or at least governor. Look at his closing populist argument: “How many teachers will we push out on the streets? How many classrooms will we pack with students? How many schools must close?” (Damn, the only thing he left off was “How many unborn children must die before this nightmare ends?” Perhaps another blog post.)

All because we use Adobe Illustrator instead of Tuxpaint.

He even goes off on Superintendents that DO NOT adopt open source in their districts have some kind of mental disorder, some sort of moral failing, and intimates that they don’t want to save money, and are completely out of touch with the mainstream way of thinking. Baloney. If anything, the mainstream is moving away from OS. Just by looking at the number of internet connections (see below) it appears that Linux simply is NOT a growing OS.

Okay, I may be the only person in the world that stands up and fights, but that has never stopped me, so, Miguel, here is my response to you:

What kind of car do you drive?

The reason I ask that is this: There is a fellow in my school district that is a well-known OS proponent. He uses the exact same reasoning that you use to justify open source purchases with the main reason being “it is cheaper.” (But he also hates Microsoft for some reason or another.)

I noticed one day that he had purchased a new car. A new foreign car. Very pricy. Very European. I wondered why , a guy that preaches to anyone that would listen the advantages of “cheaper is better”, would be driving a car that obviously is not “cheaper.” As a matter of fact, I would say a good sum of cars were cheaper than the one he purchased.

So why would one buy a car that is expensive, when it is just as easy to buy, say, a cheap Corolla, or an inexpensive Kia, or even a used car. Heck, in El Paso, you can check Craigslist and find hundreds of used cars under $3000 bucks. If you apply the Open Source arguments in buying a car, then it should make sense:
• a cheap car is less expensive,
• as good as,
• lots of other people are doing it,
• and you could do something else with the money you could save by purchasing a less expensive car.

But we don’t purchase cars like that.
We buy cars not because they are cheap, but because of the experience they provide. A more expensive, better built car gives the drivers and the passengers a better experience driving. It feels better. It looks better, and, I suspect, the service is better than used, or less expensive new.

It is just better. Period. New is better than used, and in general, more expensive is better than less expensive. If cheap was better and the only factor for purchase, then the Yugo would have been a hit in the US. It wasn’t because it was poorly made, poorly supported and was a bad driving experience.

(The same argument could be made for houses, food, clothes, and pretty much anything else that is purchased.)

So Miguel, what kind of car do you drive?

Now, let’s go back to open source:
Yes, I will agree that there are good open source programs out there. Moodle is as good as anything in the commercial world.
Open Office is ALMOST as good as MS Office.

But , and here is a big but..
The experience, for the most part, is different. The experience from a variety of areas is different, and Miguel forgets to look at something very critical: Total Cost of Ownership.

Yes, Free looks better. Free looks good. (There is even a series of commercials out right now about how free is better.) But, free is not typically free. There is a phrase used on the internet “Free as in Beer.” What that means is, a bar offering free beer is a great looking deal, until you find out that it costs $10 to use the restroom. Suddenly, the free beer deal isn’t so good. (There is a “Gentleman’s Club in El Paso that has a big sign on the building that says “Free Sirloin Steak Lunch.” Sounds good, but the cover charge to get the free lunch is $20. Same thing.) Open source has a free beer situation: the initial cost is good, but the support is another matter. Relying on a loose conglomeration of coders as your tech support seems good, but..you are relying on a loose conglomeration of coders for tech support. They MAY be there , but they may not be as well. So what happens when they are not there? Suddenly, your costs go up as you scramble to cover your ass and find solutions. Despite what you may think, when you buy from an Adobe or an Apple, or even a Microsoft, you are buying support as well.

Miguel also mentions that there are cloud and free software equivalents for just about everything. Hmm, just about. (He fails to mention that the cloud “free programs” are often the “low end” to hook you and that to actual good experience costs money. want the complete experience of Voicethread? Get your wallet.)

Just about.

There is no free equivalent for Kidspiration.

There is no free equivalent for Lego Mindstorms.

(And these are just a few examples. Nothing in the OS world looks or works as well as iMovie or Garageband. Nothing.)

My iPod won’t work on Linux.(And there are 75 million or so iPods out there...)

My iPhone doesn’t talk to Linux. It talks to Windows and Mac.

Peripherals ship with Mac and PC software. Sorry, the Kodak ZI8 that I purchased 485 of last year doesn’t ship, nor does the company make, an open source version.

Do Nikons ship with a LInux program? No.

In order to find an OS version, you have to
1) Hope someone has written one somewhere
2) Hope that the program is one step above sub-alpha testing
3) Hope that it is online and the server that houses it in Bulgaria is still up and running
4) Hope that it works

That is a lot of hope just to get my digital camera to work with my computer and if Miguel has been paying attention, the future is video, which frankly is about three generations behind on Linux. 21st century skills are more than just teaching kids how to use Skype and Twitter, it is about collaborative authoring, using video editing tools, and audio creation. Frankly, on Linux, those are poorly supported. Yes, there ARE programs, and YES, there are websites, but if I want a 1st grader to make a video, I would much rather have him spend time creating content with iMovie than wasting time uploading and downloading from, Jaycut or trying to figure out the the very unfriendly Kdenlive.
It is hard enough just getting teachers to learn programs to integrate in their classes. Can you imagine also telling them, “In order to install this program, “$ sudp apt-get install kdenlive”

No thank you. Give me iMovie, preinstalled on every Mac , FOR FREE, anytime.

Imitate vs. Innovate

Jaron Lanier once wrote once about how Open Source actually squashes creativity in the coding community. I have always felt that the OS community is actually very imitative rather than innovative. They wait for a program to be developed and researched by those same companies that they hate, then they make carbon copies of them. However, since they are always following, they are almost always a few generation behind.

Lanier says:
Open wisdom-of-crowds software movements have become influential, but they haven’t promoted the kind of radical creativity I love most in computer science. If anything, they’ve been hindrances. Some of the youngest, brightest minds have been trapped in a 1970s intellectual framework because they are hypnotized into accepting old software designs as if they were facts of nature. Linux is a superbly polished copy of an antique, shinier than the original, perhaps, but still defined by it.

An honest empiricist must conclude that while the open approach has been able to create lovely, polished copies, it hasn’t been so good at creating notable originals. Even though the open-source movement has a stinging countercultural rhetoric, it has in practice been a conservative force.

So what message do we send our teachers and our students when we adopt open source? Along with open source comes “Refurbished computers” years-old hardware that should have been put on Fred Sanford’s truck a decade ago.

So here are the messages we send to teachers, students and parents:

• We are cheap asses that think you deserve the absolute least expensive software we can find.
• You will be fine with a second-rate experience.
• No bid is the go bid.
• Imitation is better than innovation
• We want you to use an Operating system that only 1% of the population uses:

So, what kind of car do you drive? How much was your house?
Could you have bought a cheaper version? Why didn’t you?

10 Questions with Dr. Clement E. Glenn

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 23:28:12 -0600

Dr. Clement E. Glenn (D) is the second gubernatorial candidate to answer the 10 questions. Here are his responses: (Please remember that all answers are unedited and appear exactly as I received them without comment.)

Dear Mr. Holt,

I trust that you are well!

Even though I filed with the Ethics Commission, I did not actually file until January 4, 2010. Therefore your fisrt email went by unnoticed.

I am sorry for the the miscommunication!

I will proceed to answer your questions.

Q1: What do you consider the current, most pressing issue in education
today?
A1 Quality comprehensive education is by far the most critical issue inTexas today and for our future. The current educational model in Texas is not designed to accommodate the statistically significant level of diversity that exists in the state. (Please go to my website: www.clementeglennforgovernor.com and click on the "Issues" and "Blog" links). I have developed a model action plan to fix this problem.

Q2: What are your specific plans to deal with what you answered in #1?
A2 My comprehesive model addresses the "whole person" as it relates to life through the implementation of six skill sets into our curricula.

Q3: How would you deal with funding what you answered in Q2?
A3 Reconfiguring our teacher education progrms at the college level becomes even mor critical then searching for additional funding. With that say, funding will be provided through the skillful acquisition and use of federal, state and private foundation resources.

Q4: In our community, there are many families without access to the internet. Yet, much if not all of the state (or national) educational information is located on the internet. We are effectively not allowing these parents to be part of the education of their children. How would you address this issue?
A4 I will have Governor Generals as part of my cabinet (one for the institution of family) to work in conjunction with Board of Governors established in each of the 254 counties/communities in Texas (see my website homepage at the bottom) to address specific issues such as this one.

Q5: School districts across the state (nation) must respond to unfunded mandates from both the state and federal levels. For instance, in a few years, the state will require all student statewide testing such as End of Course and TAKS tests to be administered online. The state is not providing any additional monies to districts to make sure they have the equipment to provide for this. Can you address exactly what you would do
to help districts with unfunded mandates, both from the state and the federal levels?
A5 A lot of what politicians do is blow smoke up our rears when they don't have a clue to how to address an issue. Once we upgrade the technogy requirements in our homes, this will correct itself.

Q6: How do you plan to address the continuing teacher and administrator shortages? Which of these are viable plans in your estimation:
Recruit teachers from other countries.
Rehire retirees with few restrictions.
Help districts reimburse individuals who go to or return to school to become certified teachers.
A6 The teacher shortage will be addressed through the re-establishment of Future Teacher of America (FTA) programs. Students beginning at the ninthgrade level will be encouraged to enroll in FTA programs for the purposeof home-growing our teachers. Reimbursements will be granted to all whosuccessfully complete newly designed teacher education programs.

Q7: One of the greatest expenses in any school district is the
installation of technology followed by the refreshment of said
technology. What is your plan to give schools relief from the costs associated with these instructional and administrative tools?
A7 Under my action plan, shools will be no longer solely responsible for the education of the state's children. Commuinty-wide structure (24ours/7days) will become the order of business for each respective community.

Q8: Do you support using electronic textbooks as opposed to traditional paper texts? If yes, what specifically would you do to help districts pay for the technology to make the change?
A8 I don't favor electronic textbooks. Traditional textbooks lend to flexibility when it comes to providing convenience and flexibility to studying as it relates to location.

Q9: Mandated Student Assessment like the Texas TAKS test has mutated over the years from a simple student diagnostic to a high stakes program where people's jobs are placed in jeopardy if scores are not met. Do you support high stakes testing such as the TAKS test? Why or why not?
A9 I do not support standardized test in it current format. The current test only addresses in large part the cognitive learning domain (one-size-fits-all) when it should be addressing all three learning domains (e.g. cognitive, affective and psychomotor).

Q10: What can you do if elected, that you could not have done previously in regards to education. In other words, why must you be elected in order to accomplish these education goals?
A10 I must be elected to accomplish these goals because of two reasons:

1)Many of our longstanding educational practitioners have no clue about how to effectively implement and use the three learning domains;

2) TheGovernor has the power to appoint people to key positions that can serve to greatly enhance student results and outcomes.

Hopefully, I have answered your questions in a satisfactory manner.

Thanks.

Dr. Glenn

Dr. Glenn’s website:
http://clementeglennforgovernor.com/about.htm

Extinction Looms for Technophobes

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 16:44:20 -0600

If I am reading the tea leaves of education technology correctly it looks like it's going to be about time for teachers that are technophobic to start looking at retirement plans or career options. There's a reason why: last week Apple Computer's announced the iPad a handheld 10 inch diagonal 1 pound marvel that in essence, will be able to put a student's entire set of textbooks into a single device. No more 60 pound backpacks hauling around, no more thousand page biology textbooks, in other words the change has come.

So is that mean for technophobic teachers? It means that if there ever was a time to either become technologically literate or to retire now is the time. Here's why: if the tablet computer takes off, it will essentially mean the end of paper textbooks. The end of paper textbooks means the end of a lot of other things related to paper textbooks: such as pen and pencil activities, worksheets, and all the other paper related materials that teachers had out to students every year. A student with a pad will be able to do all their work without ever picking up a pen or pencil. Therefore, the teacher will have to be able to understand how to accept that non-paper pencil assignment, how to assign the non-paper pencil assignment, and how to grade a non-paper pencil assignment.

It means, that the excuses that teachers have used in the past for not adopting technology in their classrooms are coming to an end. The introduction of the Apple iPad in education could very well be the equivalent of the comet that wiped out the dinosaurs. There will no longer be any reason for a teacher that doesn't understand nor use technology to be in a classroom. I know that sounds harsh, I know it sounds mean, I know it sounds rough, but it's reality.

Don't believe it? Look at this article about the textbook publishers and what they decided to do with the new Apple product. It's not just me saying that it's the Wall Street Journal. It's not just me saying it is the large textbook publishers.

Though Apple didn't outline its strategy to target the educational sector with its iPad last week, people familiar with Apple's thinking have said that the iPad's use in schools was one of the focal points of discussions in developing the product. In its exploration of electronic book technology, it thought particularly about how it could re-invent textbooks, these people said. Apple declined to comment on the role of textbooks on the iPad. Apple has an edge in the educational sector becauseits Macintosh computers have always enjoyed a strong following in the academic sphere, and it already offers educational audio and video content through its iTunes U service.
The iPad also will be helped by the interest that schools have always had in tablet-form computers. Science teachers, for example, could use them for taking lab notes, which often use a combination of sentences, charts and mathematical equations, while others could use them on field trips. "This is the beginning of handheld education," said John Lema, chief executive of ScrollMotion.
The textbook publishers have been looking for a while to adopt a new business model, because they know that their product is headed for extinction unless they come up with a new way of delivering content. The newspapers of figure that out, magazines a figure that out, book publishers are almost about to figure it out, so you would think that teachers would also jump on this bandwagon and figure it out as well.

So is the iPad going to usher in a whole new technological era in education or will it be a flash in the pan? I think it won't be the latter, because there's going to be a whole ecosystem surrounding it which involves the textbook companies, they have too much riding on a new paradigm of delivery to let this type of technology could waste.

This is what the textbook companies have been looking for, and as long as they're on board it will last.

Time for the teachers get on board as well.

Or become extinct. Your choice.

Presentation to EPISD

Wed, 3 Feb 2010 15:45:52 -0600

Since her campaign won’t respond to emails, this may be the closest we can get to hearing what the candidate has to say about her education platform.

This was, of course, a standard “stump speech, and she didn’t address things like how she planned to pay for her initiatives, what she would eliminate in order to make room for new programs.

Here is the entire speech. I took out the introductions:

We have the Power Part II

Tue, 2 Feb 2010 20:24:39 -0600

So far, only Felix Alvarado has actually taken the time to answer the 10 education questions.

So, I resent ALL of the statewide candidates in the El Paso elections the same 10 questions again tonight.

From: Subject: Date: To:
Cc:
Tim Holt <timholt@me.com>
EducationBlogQuestions:2ndRequest
February 2, 2010 7:19:23 PM MST support@texansforkay.com,contact@medinafortexas.com,campaign@rickperry.org,info@DavidDewhurst.com, info@faroukforgovernor.com, clementglenn@txcyber.com, info@billdearforgovernor.com, info@marckatzforltgov.com tim@letsgobesco.com, Mike@KueberForCongress.com, LReneDiaz@yahoo.com, jay@jaykleberg.com, webcomments@texansforhurd.com, DrRobertLowry@gmail.com, docgould1953@gmail.com, press@billwhitefortexas.com, info@ronnieearle.com, inocente.quintanilla@house.state.tx.us, Naomi@Naomi2010.com, norma.chavez@house.state.tx.us, marisa.marquez@house.state.tx.us, joseph.moody@house.state.tx.us, joe.pickett@house.state.tx.us

Greetings from El Paso. In December 2009, I sent you this email and did not receive a reply.
I am resending it in an effort to post your responses so that fellow Texans, especially in the El Paso area, will be able to see your stand on these specific education issues. I hope you, or someone in your staff, can respond.
I will also post to my readers if I do not receive a response as well.

Second Request:

My Name is Tim Holt, and I am an education blogger from El Paso. My blog site is called Intended Consequences, and it is focused on educational technology. The address for my site is: www.snipurl.com/ic The site has a local as well as national and worldwide readership.

I have decided to do my readers a favor this year by asking all of the candidates that will be on the statewide or national ballot in El Paso in 2010, no matter the office, the same set of questions about their stand on specific education issues.

When I get a reply, I will post the response UNEDITED and without COMMENT. I leave it up to my readers to decide whether they like the candidate or not. I will also post a link to the candidates website. I will post with comment if I do not receive a response from the candidate. I will let my readers know when I sent the candidates questions, as well as when I receive a reply. This will give the readership an idea of how long THEY could expect a response if that person were elected.

I hope that you are willing to answer these questions:

Q1: What do you consider the current, most pressing issue in education today?

Q2: What are your specific plans to deal with what you answered in #1?

Q3: How would you deal with funding what you answered in Q2?

Q4: In our community, there are many families without access to the internet. Yet, much if not all of the state (or national) educational information is located on the internet. We are effectively not allowing these parents to be part of the education of their children. How would you address this issue?

Q5: School districts across the state (nation) must respond to unfunded mandates from both the state and federal levels. For instance, in a few years, the state will require all student statewide testing such as End of Course and TAKS tests to be administered online. The state is not providing any additional monies to districts to make sure they have the equipment to provide for this. Can you address exactly what you would do to help districts with unfunded mandates, both from the state and the federal levels?

Q6: How do you plan to address the continuing teacher and administrator shortages? Which of these are viable plans in your estimation: Recruit teachers from other countries. Rehire retirees with few restrictions.
Help districts reimburse individuals who go to or return to school to become certified teachers.

Q7: One of the greatest expenses in any school district is the installation of technology followed by the refreshment of said technology. What is your plan to give schools relief from the costs associated with these instructional and administrative tools?

Q8: Do you support using electronic textbooks as opposed to traditional paper texts? If yes, what specifically would you do to help districts pay for the technology to make the change?

Q9: Mandated Student Assessment like the Texas TAKS test has mutated over the years from a simple student diagnostic to a high stakes program where people's jobs are placed in jeopardy if scores are not met. Do you support high stakes testing such as the TAKS test? Why or why not?

Q10: What can you do if elected, that you could not have done previously in regards to education. In other words, why must you be elected in order to accomplish these education goals?
I thank you in advance for taking the time to reply.

Regards,

Tim Holt El Paso

Go Ahead..Make me smile

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:01:29 -0600

On Saturday, I led a group of teachers on an exploration of iMovie 09. The teachers are part of the T3 Grant, and for the most part, had never done any kind of video editing before in their lives. iMovie was the first time they had stepped into that world.

So the culminating activity in the training is to have the teachers interview their partners, and create a 3 minute video. They then burned the movie to a DVD and gave the interview back to the person that they had interviewed.

So why mention this?
Because during the editing process, I had them use headphones so they wouldn’t disturb their fellow learners. The room was awfully quiet, I looked around to see if everyone was okay.

Every teacher in the room was glued to the computer they were working on. Then a couple started chuckling as they were playing with the editing capabilities of the program.

I looked around the room. Almost every teacher was smiling.
Every one. Smiling! During an inservice.

The transformative power of technology.

If it does that with a room of teachers, imagine what it will do with a room full of kids! I can’t wait for the T3 teachers to start using the equipment with their kids!

Rock on teachers! Remember those smiles on your faces!

A Presentation

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 20:41:01 -0600

Last night, I had the pleasure of presenting to a rather large class of graduate students at the University of Texas El Paso. My presentation was about how to move from a aPLC to a PLN and what to do when you get there. Anyway, I made a very poorly lit video of the presentation using a Sanyo Xacti 1000 with no external mic. I set it “TV” resolution. So, I post it online for whomever might find it interesting. It is a variation of an earlier presentation I did in the Anthony ISD.

Enjoy.

Here is the link:
http://gallery.me.com/timholt#100353

Ammo for the good Fight

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 22:09:54 -0600

Toronto District School Board wants to dump their Macs. From the MacDailyNews. This is another example of school districts that only look at the initial cost of ownership and NEVER EVER EVER at the total cost of ownership.

Usually, IT guys are business types that either are trained in a PC environment or they are surrounded by their techs that only know Windows.
Here is a pretty good TCO article, albeit unscientific:
Here is another
But, there is nothing like a well though out letter to give you ammo to fight your anti-Mac zealots in your organization.

Here is the best I have seen in a while.
From the blog Keep Macs in the TDSB
Dear Dr. Spence
I am writing to you with regard to the recent decision to discontinue the acquisition and support of Apple Macintosh computers.
First, I would like to introduce myself so that you may better appreciate my comments. I was a centrally assigned consultant for ICT from 1993 to 2003, first with the Scarborough Board of Education and then with the TDSB. Post amalgamation, I co-chaired the Internet/Intranet Standards committee (whose work lead to the TDSB’s Code of Online Conduct), was a member and occasional chair of the TDSB-Wide Staff Development Committee, sat on the TDSB IT Hardware Standards committee, was involved with the CTMI initiative and, among other things, authored numerous documents and web resources for the Board (including the Macintosh support documents and web pages for CTMI). Prior to working for the Board I worked in the IT industry and was one of the first Novell certified consultants in Canada. (see Appendix 1 for an abstract of my curriculum vitae.)
I hope that you have been monitoring the dialogue that has been going on TEL in the ICT.tel conference. This may give you a greater appreciation of the distress that this unilateral decision has generated. The major concern is that this decision has been made without any input from those directly affected or from the Program department, particularly from the Information Communication Technologies, e-Learning, Computer Studies & Instructional Media Services.
One of the responsibilities of the IT Department is to deliver the services students and teachers require to the classroom, not to determine what those services should be and how they should be delivered. Decisions that affect the classroom and curriculum should be made by educators, with input from the IT Department, not the other way around (or, as in this case, without any input from educators).
The Briefing Paper
I have had the opportunity to review the briefing paper provided to Trustees from Lee Stem on November 13, 2009, and feel compelled to comment on some of the items contained in this brief.
In the first paragraph it is stated:
Because Apple has developed proprietary operating system and networking infrastructure, integrating Apple computers and PC’s in a fully interoperable environment has been and continues to be a formidable and costly challenge. This experience is evidenced across Canada and US with similarly sized environments.
In actual fact, the problem is the IT Department’s dependence on Microsoft proprietary network software and technologies, which offers little support for other operating systems other than Windows. This is part of Microsoft’s business model. It maximizes Windows computer deployment in an enterprise, which is to Microsoft’s benefit as they receive licensing fees from every operating system installed on a desktop or laptop regardless of vendor, as well as ongoing annual Client Access Licensing (CAL) fees for each Microsoft Server, Exchange, and Sharepoint user (according to my sources, the average cost per Enterprise user is about $190 annually – I hope that educational users get a better break). These potentially could add up to millions of dollars paid each year to Microsoft from the TDSB. It is true that Apple does employ some proprietary networking technologies, such as Bonjour, to simplify networking for home and small business use, but in Enterprise networking situations OS X natively supports the same established industry non-proprietary standards, such as LDAP, that Apple, UNIX, Linux, and even Microsoft have agreed upon.
The second part of the statement is also somewhat misinformative, in that it is only true that other similar sized organizations which are similarly Microsoft dependent experience similar integration problems. One need only look at New York City Department of Education (1450 schools, 80,000 teachers, 1,042,277 students), Los Angeles Unified school District (658 schools, 45,473 teachers, and 694,266 students), or Chicago Public Schools (666 schools, 43,840 staff, and 407,955 students), the three largest school districts in North America, who all successfully and seamlessly integrate and equally support Windows, Macintosh, and in some cases Linux and Unix computers. Other examples, off the top of my head. are NASA, Stanford University, MIT, Waterloo University, Carnegie Mellon University, Cisco Systems, Google Inc., even the tiny mid-west US university that my daughter attends. The most interesting example of all, however, is IBM, the former bastion of Windows computing and the originators of the “PC” computer. Two years ago, they started introducing Macintosh computers into their company as an experiment. Now, virtually all of IBM’s Research Division are now using Macintosh computers and in the Software Division, the sales force are on Macintosh computers so that they can demonstrate in real time the network interoperability of different operating systems to their clients.
On page 1, Lee Stem states that:
… there are still a few areas where Mac computers continue to differentiate themselves, primarily in high-end media arts (film editing, music composition and editing, etc.).
The paper goes on to suggest that Macintosh computers will be available “to support teaching and learning in these areas.” What Mr. Stem does not realize or appreciate is that these are exactly the areas and activities in which teachers and students are already engaged down to the Primary grades. For many teachers, the tools and user interface provided on the Macintosh platform are better suited to accomplishing these tasks. This viewpoint is supported by research, such as the Teaching, Learning and Computing Study by the University of California , which in part states:
We found that teachers with Macintosh expertise are more constructivist in both philosophy and general teaching practice than are other teachers [i.e. those with Windows/PC expertise]. That is, their teaching was more likely to involve designing activities around teacher and student interests (rather than in response to an externally mandated curriculum), having students engage in collaborative group projects where skills are taught and practiced in authentic contexts (rather than in a sequence of textbook exercises), focusing instruction on students’ understanding of complex ideas (rather than on definitions and facts), teaching students to self-consciously assess their own understanding, (in contrast to multiple-choice testing modeling learning)…
With regard to the “Early estimates of the additional costs” associated with maintaining Macintosh computers in our system on page 2, there appear to be several flaws in the two points listed. The first point states:
1) On an individual unit basis, the Mac costs approximately $400 (or 40%) per unit more than an equivalent PC over the life of the unit. ($2 million in additional cost for current stock.)
This statement seems flawed on several points.
• The $400 figure cited only seems to reflect the additional cost at acquisition, not the true cost over the life of the unit. I don’t believe that the cost of the base iMac has ever been $400 more than the base Dell computer this comparison is based on. During our initial rollout under CTMI, the cost differential was $233; currently it is about $324. This is a variable amount, dependent upon the current cost of an iMac and, more importantly, the cost of the base Windows computer. It is not a simple differential, as it does not reflect the quality of components used, nor the added value (such as software, built in camera, built-in microphone, larger screen [20” vs. 17”], quality of components, etc.) that is bundled with the Macintosh.
• The $2 Million in additional costs for current stock of computers is inaccurate for three reasons:
1. These addition costs would appear to be based on the erroneous price differential of $400 between base Windows and Macintosh computers ($400 times an estimated 5000 installed base of Macs). This is an inflated number as most of these installed Macs were part of the CTMI rollout, when the price differential, as previously stated, was only about $233.
2. Furthermore, during the CTMI rollout, schools receiving Macintosh computers received fewer computers than their actual allocation in order to make up the difference in acquisition cost between a Dell and a Macintosh workstation. This means that the Macintosh computers deployed during the rollout did not contribute to any overall greater acquisition costs to the Board.
3. Since then, schools obtaining Macs have paid the price differential, or the entire cost of the computer, out of their own budget or fundraising. This means that the Macintosh computers obtained by schools since the CTMI rollout have not contributed to any overall greater acquisition costs to the Board.
Consequently, it is not possible to state that any Macintosh computers have cost the Board any additional money with respect to acquisition costs. Notwithstanding, the lower TCO of Macintosh computers would more than compensate for any upfront price differential in acquisition costs (see below); schools should never have been required to pay these cost differentials.
It is interesting to note that since Macintosh computers have been integrated into the CTMI environment, schools have been purchasing increasing numbers of Macintosh computers from their own budget.
• The true Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) is a complex equation which takes into account not only hardware acquisition costs, but also the quality of components, software and licensing costs, support costs, ease of use, reliability, performance, security, and productivity levels. Numerous studies over recent years (and longer) have consistently and universally shown that the TCO for Windows computers to be significantly higher than for Macintosh computers (notably studies and white papers by Gartner, IDC, Pfeiffer Consulting [2006] , Nash Networks [2009] ). CIO magazine [2007] (not a Mac friendly publication) put Windows TCO at twice as high as Mac. When Interpact, Inc., a network and security consulting firm, conducted TCO evaluations for several of their clients, they found the TCO of Windows workstations to be $1300 to $4000 more expensive than the TCO of Macintosh workstations. It is generally recognized that the TCO of Macintosh computers is significantly lower than that of Windows computers. If our Board does not find similar findings, then this would suggest that there is a serious systemic problem with our IT infrastructure and delivery of support services.
With respect to the second point:
2) Our support costs for having to deal with the complexities of a dual environment range from $2 to $3 million per year for the Board.
It is difficult to see where these figures come from for a number of reasons.
• Currently, to the best of my knowledge, the IT Department has just two full time employees supporting the Macintosh platform. As the technologies for Macintosh support at current levels are in place, and if the status quo were to be maintained, it is difficult to find how this would add up to a figure of $2 to $3 million dollars per year? It would appear that this figure includes significant support costs.
• Regardless of which platform, there will always be support costs, and industry research consistently finds that support costs for Windows workstations is higher than that for Macintosh workstations. In a recent study by Nucleus Research of mixed Windows and Macintosh work environments, on a per user basis, Macintosh users open significantly less support tickets and they are solved 30% quicker than those by Windows users. This represents a significant savings in support dollars. Industry norms would indicate that replacing Macintosh computers with Windows computers would result in increased support costs. In addition, Pfeifer Consulting found that on-site support costs for functions such as deployment, repair, and replacement were nearly twice as expensive for Windows computers compared to Macintosh computers based on total time reported and the per minute cost of the support person. It is clear from industry research and reports that switching from Macintosh to Windows does not result in any support cost savings, but actually results in increased support costs.
As an interesting side note, a number of US school districts have switched their administration computers from Windows to Macintosh. As the software used for school administration (similar to our Trillium and SAP) are Windows only applications, they are run on the Macintosh computers using Windows virtualization (Boot Camp, Parallels, or VMware Fusion). These school districts report that the software runs better with less crashes under virtualization on the Mac, and that support costs and TCO have decreased, while Return on Investment ROI has increased.
• Part of the increased support costs for Windows computers is the prevention and eradication of malware (viruses, trojans, worms, etc.). It was estimated that there were 500,000 new malware threats to Windows computers by the end of 2008, while the threat to Macintosh computers were negligible; there were only 4 reported incidents of malware targeted at the Macintosh platform and these were all “in vitro” lab developments that were never circulated. Estimates of malware threats for Windows and Macintosh computers for 2009 and 2010 are similar.
Over the past year, malware attacks on school districts in North America have become more frequent (Vancouver, BC, January; Chariho School District, RI, May; Lodi Unified School District, CA, May; Berkeley County Schools, WV, August; Jefferson County Schools, WV, August; Robstown Independent School District, TX, September; Crystal Lake District 47 Schools, IL, September) A similar attack hit the TDSB back in 2003 or 2004. In all cases, every Windows computer in these school districts had to be manually “cleansed” by a technician, a process that took from one to four weeks (depending on the size of the school district and the number of Windows computers). In each of these instances, Macintosh computers were not affected.
As an aside, in a recent Twitter posting, you said:
With over 63,000 computers in a PC environment, integrating Macs would be costly & extremely challenging, causing system slowdowns.
To date, the only enterprise network slowdowns related to computers in the Board have involved Windows computers, and frequently due to malware infestations. To the best of my knowledge, there have been no enterprise network slowdowns in the Board attributable to Macintosh computers. [If we base decisions on the track record thus far (and not on specious predictions of the future) should we not be contemplating the elimination of Windows based computers?]
It is clear that the cost of malware prevention and eradication are costs that can add significantly to the support cost of Windows computers. At present, these costs are negligent on the Macintosh platform and are not expected to increase.
Given the above, it is my contention, based on actual industry findings, that the attrition of Macintosh computers from the Board will not result in any cost savings, but may actually contribute to additional costs.
A Quick History of Network Computing in the TDSB
Back in 2000, the TDSB officially declared the Board to be dual platform, with equal support for both Macintosh and Windows computers. It was the mandate of the IT Department to develop an infrastructure that would support both platforms equally in the classroom. Unintentionally or intentionally, the IT Department has failed to meet this mandate. Part of this is because Macintosh support always seemed to be a secondary consideration when implementing the components of our infrastructure; it seemed very obvious that networking strategies and technologies were selected based on their Windows functionality, and the problem of Macintosh functionality with these technologies would happen retroactively. Between 2000 and 2003, I attended several presentations and product demonstrations by our network vendors and consultants in my capacity as a member of the Hardware Standards committee and while working on the CTMI project. When asked about support for Macintosh computers the answer was always “we’re working on that,” or “it’s under development right now.” These, of course, were misleading and easily broken promises. One of the first things that I learned in the IT industry is that you never buy based on promises, or what became known as “vapourware”. Vendors rarely admit shortcomings in their products, particularly if there is a sale involved. It is much easier to make what Mary Poppins would call “pie-crust promises”; easily made and easily broken. Overall, because of the focus on Microsoft technology solutions, there seemed to be a lack of interest in pursuing technologies that were truly cross platform compatible.
Winn Schwartau, one of the world’s top experts on security, privacy, infowar, cyber-terrorism and related topics, explains this phenomena by saying, “Corporations tend to ignore anything but WinTel machines, partly out of habit
and partly because the Dell/HP/Network Associates/Symantec representatives are in their faces every day with next-day promises.” Microsoft and Computer Associates could probably be added to this list of vendors.
You should also be aware that through the CTMI process, schools were actively discouraged and pressured not to select the Macintosh platform by representatives from the IT Department. Schools that did select to remain or adopt the Macintosh platform were delayed until the very end of the CTMI process before being deployed and were further penalized by receiving fewer computers to make up for the difference in acquisition cost between a Dell and a Macintosh workstation, despite the added value in the Macintosh (both in hardware features and in bundled software) and the lower total cost of ownership (TCO). Because of these coercive and inequitable factors, the number of Macintosh computers in our Board is significantly less than if schools were actually allowed to freely select the platform of their choice.
Schools have continued to lack the freedom of choice. In the memo sent this fall to schools due for hardware refresh it was stated that:
Although this project supports iMac to iMac trade-ins or iMac to PC trade-ins, new iMacs cost more than the basic PC that IT provides. Schools wishing new iMacs as replacements must pay the cost difference of $420/computer from school funds. No PC computers will be accepted as trade-ins for new iMacs since there is concern that future initiatives in classrooms may not support the Macintosh platform.
This message was sent in advance of any official decision by the Board concerning the future of Macintosh computers, and again essentially prevents any school being refreshed from obtaining Macintosh computers. Most schools do not have the available funds in their budgets to pay for the cost differential between a Windows and a Macintosh computer when several of them are being replaced at the same time. This consequently forces them either to accept Windows computers or to forgo any hardware refresh. This was the case with my school; we could not come up with a funding solution, even spreading the cost over two years, that would not strip the school of any other curriculum “extras”, such as Scientist in the School or field trips to the ROM, AGO, theatrical performances, etc. This does not represent real free choice of platform, and has forced a major adjustment in our school’s technology plan and deployment of resources. Further, preventing schools with Windows computers to replace them with Macintosh computers again does not allow choice to schools and may be counter to these schools’ technology plans.
By the way, the cost differential cited in the memorandum is inaccurate. The current cost differential was actually $324.18, almost $100 less than that cited. Would this significant amount have made a difference to the decision of some schools?
It should be recognized there are teachers in our Board that are doing incredible things on both Windows and Macintosh computers with their students. However, from my experience and observation, even though our Board is dominantly Windows based, the large majority of our innovative teachers that are integrating ICT into the curriculum believe that the Macintosh platform is better suited for their teaching and student learning (and for the most part, these teachers are very familiar and work with both platforms). These teachers form the nucleus of those who actively participate, discuss, and share on ICT.tel. It would be a shame to see this innovation and leadership discouraged as a result of a forced change in platforms.
As much of the decision to eliminate Macs from the Board seems based on erroneous assumptions and conclusions not supported by current research, reports, and cost analysis in the IT industry, I believe that further investigation and research are needed at the Board before making this decision.
In conclusion, I would be pleased to have the opportunity to meet with you, the Associate Director, Lee Stem, interested Board Trustees, Kevin Bradbeer (Coordinator, ICT), and any other interested parties to discuss this matter.
Respectfully yours,
Scott Baker Teacher Pringdale Gardens Former ICT Consultant
References
IBM’s Strategic Interest in Macs Goes Beyond Pilot Program, 2008 (http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/04/18/ibms-strategic-interest-in-macs-goes-beyond-pilot-program/)
Teaching, Learning and Computing Study, University of California (http://www.crito.uci.edu/tlc/html/findings.html)
8 Pfeiffer Consulting: Mac/Windows: Cost and Productivity Analysis, 2006 (http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/9080/)
10 Is There Life Beyond Windows? Pros, Cons and Costs of the Major Operating Systems, 2009 (http://www.nashnetworks.ca/pros-cons-and-costs-of-operating-sys.htm)
Eight Financial Reasons Why You Should Use Mac OS: Mac OS is the hands-down operating system winner, from the perspective of cost effectiveness, 2008 (http://www.cio.com/article/127050/Eight_Financial_Reasons_Why_You_Should_Use_Mac_OS)
6 13 Going above and beyond – The category breaker: Apple’s MacTel, 2006 (http://www.networkworld.com/best/2006/022706bestbreaker-schwartau.html?page=1)
Mac vs. Windows in business case study: Macs have 1/3 fewer problems that are solved 30% faster, 2008 (http://macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/17427/)
Intel-based Mac Computers in Education: Research and Findings; GRUNWALD ASSOCIATES LLC. , 2007 (http://images.apple.com/education/docs/it/Apple-IntelbasedMac.pdf) Why K-12 IT Managers and Administrators Are Embracing the Intel-Based Mac, 2007 (http://www.techlearning.com/techlearning/pdf/specialadvertisingsection/APL102_R5b_newweb.pdf)
Is There Life Beyond Windows? Pros, Cons and Costs of the Major Operating Systems, 2009 (see above) Kaspersky Security Bulletin Statistics 2008 (http://www.viruslist.com/en/analysis?pubid=204792052#9) Sophos Security Threat Report 2009: Prepare for this year’s new threats, 2009 (https://secure.sophos.com/security/whitepapers/index.html)
US School Districts Suffer Virus Attacks, 2009 (http://www.spamfighter.com/News-12445-US-School-Districts-Suffer-Virus-Attacks.htm) FBI: Virus suspected in school thefts, 2009 (http://www.nwherald.com/articles/2009/09/24/r_81bg6yrarwyi8zmka9p1q/index.xml) Windows virus knocks out Vancouver school computers for three weeks and counting; Macs unaffected, 2009 (http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/19946/)
The Unavoidable Malware Myth: Why Apple Won’t Inherit Microsoft’s Malware Crown, 2008 (http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/04/01/the-unavoidable-malware-myth-why-apple-wont-inherit-microsofts-malware-crown/)
Appendix 1: Curriculum Vitae Abstract — Scott Baker
Board Committees and Responsibilities ➢ Member of the TDSB IT Hardware Standards committee, 2001 – 2003 ➢ Member of New Teacher Support Group, 2001 – 2003 ➢ Member of the Community Based Resource Model (CBRM) Technology Committee, Student and Community Services, 2001 – 2002 ➢ TDSB-Wide Staff Development Committee (Rotating Chair), 1999 – 2000 ➢ Co-Chair TDSB Internet/Intranet Committee, 1999 – 2000 ➢ Program Supervisor (duties equivalent to Principal) for Elementary Computer Programs, Continuing Education Department, Fall 1995 – August 2000 ➢ Interview and Selection Panel for Field Services Supervisors, IT Department ➢ Interview and Selection Panel for Teachers Specially Assigned, Computers in Education (Former Scarborough Board) ➢ Interview, hire, supervise, and evaluate Waterloo University co-op, 1993 – 2000, and high school co-op students, 1993 – 2001
Support Materials and Resources ➢ Lead Writer, School Based Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Planning: A Supplement to the School Improvement Process support document, 2003 ➢ Author, School Based Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) Planning Web Site, part of the Exemplary Practices section of the TDSB School Improvement Web Site, 2003 (original link – http://tdsbweb/sip/Resources/Practices/ict/home.htm) ➢ Author, School Web Page Hosting on the Internet support document (last revised June 2003), downloadable from Program Adaptations, ICT, Connected Teacher) ➢ Author, Integrating ICT into Schools, a TDSB on-line (PLP-qualified) course ➢ Author of Macintosh (OS 9.x, HiRes Macintosh Manager) support documents/training materials for the Computer Technology Migration Initiative (CTMI), 2003 ➢ Author of Macintosh (OS 9.x, HiRes Macintosh Manager) web pages for the Computer Technology Migration Initiative (CTMI) support web site, 2003 ➢ Documentation for Report Cards (Scarborough, TDSB Stand-Alone) ➢ Contributed to the development of Board Policies (Online Code of Conduct, School Web Sites) ➢ Assisted in the development of TDSB Information Technology Standards and Indicators of Effectiveness ➢ Development of curriculum-based software, 1993 – 1996
Professional Memberships ➢ Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (ECOO) • Member since December 1993 • Treasurer, February to December, 2007, and from 1998 – 2000; managed assets of over $300,000 ➢ Special Interest Group – Computers in Education Leadership (SIG-Ceil), 1999 – 2007 - Executive Member and Treasurer, 1999 – 2006 ➢ Central Ontario Computing Association (COCA), Ministry of Education and Training Liaison Committee, 1998 – 2003 ➢ ECOO representative, Computers for Schools Ontario Advisory Board, 2000 –2001
Professional Development ➢ ICT workshop presenter for the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO), 1997 – 2008 ➢ Presenter for New Teacher Support Group, Reporting Student Progress, 2003 – 2004 ➢ Instructor for Curriculum Planner training, 2001–2003 ➢ Instructor for WiggleWorks Early Literacy, 1996–2003 ➢ Annual pre-conference workshop presenter for the Educational Computing Organization of Ontario (ECOO), 1994 – 2003 ➢ Collaborated in the planning and delivery of the Academic Services Associates (Elementary) and Academic Services Contacts (Secondary) profession development program, 2000 – 2003 ➢ Assisted in the planning, organization, and administration of central professional development program for Academic Services, 2000 – 2002 ➢ Planned, organized and administered, in consultation with TSAA, professional development programs for school administrators to assist them with the use of IT in their role of Principal or VP, and to assist them to plan for the effective use of ICT in their school planning, Fall 2001, Spring 2002 ➢ Co-ordinated and administered TDSB-wide professional development program for Academic Services, 1999 – 2000 [in addition to planning, organizing, and administering the professional development courses for Academic Services in the East EO] ➢ Planned, organized, and administered central professional development program for Computers in Education/Academic Services, East EO, 1993 – 1999 (Scarborough Board and early TDSB amalgamation) ➢ Instructor for many of the Academic Services Professional Development programs, 1994–2003 ➢ ICT presenter for Library AQ courses (for Sandi Zwaan and Carol Koechlin)

Now is the time for all good men...

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:30:39 -0600

Ever wanted to make a difference? Now is your chance:

From the Texas Education Agency:

Experts Needed to Review Materials Submitted for Adoption

Commissioner of Education Robert Scott is seeking experts in the areas of English language arts and reading, Spanish language arts and reading, and educational technology to review electronic textbooks and open-source instructional materials submitted for use in Texas schools.

Recent legislation has created two new processes by which publishers and other content providers can submit exclusively electronic materials for adoption. These materials can be submitted for inclusion on the Commissioner’s List of Approved Electronic Textbooks or as State-Developed Open-Source Textbooks. These two new processes will not only provide schools additional choices from which to select materials for their students, but will also provide schools a greater opportunity to leverage the power of technology to educate their students.

Review panels, comprised of content-area experts and experts in educational technology, will review the submissions to determine the extent to which the materials address the required Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS). Based on their findings, the panels will make recommendations to the Commissioner regarding which materials meet the rigorous standards for use in Texas schools.

This is the first review of its kind, and Commissioner Scott is soliciting volunteers interested in having the honor of participating in the review that will determine the materials to be included on the inaugural Commissioner’s List of Approved Electronic Textbooks and the first materials to be purchased as State-Developed Open-Source Textbooks.

The review of materials is scheduled to occur in March of 2010. Panelists will not be asked to travel. Instead, the Texas Education Agency (TEA) will provide appropriate login information to access the materials through the internet and hold an orientation meeting via webinar. Working in small groups, panel members will collaborate as a virtual team—using phone and email to coordinate, communicate, and come to a consensus regarding the extent to which the materials cover the required TEKS.

More information regarding this review and the requirements for the materials that will be submitted for review are available in the Request for Quote (RFQ) for electronic textbooks and Request for Offer (RFO) for open-source textbooks released by the TEA. The RFQ is available on the TEA website at

http://esbd.cpa.state.tx.us/bid_show.cfm?bidid=86713

The RFO is available on the TEA website at

http://esbd.cpa.state.tx.us/bid_show.cfm?bidid=86724

If you are interested in participating in this review, or would like to nominate someone else for this exciting opportunity, please complete the nomination form available on the TEA website at http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/textbooks/CommissionersList/index.html and return it to the TEA via email to review.adoption@tea.state.tx.us . Nomination forms are due on or before February 15, 2010.

Thank you, and we look forward to working with you in the near future.

LoneStar Edubloggercon

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:53:14 -0600

Everyone in the education blogging community is probably aware of edublogger con, the annual event that takes place right before the large NECC conference. This year the TCEA conference is hosting its own Edubloggercon just a day before the start of the TCEA 2010 conference. All education bloggers from across the country are invited to attend this first event which will take place at the Austin convention Center on February 9, 2010. We are trying to get the word out about the event, Joel Atkins one of the event organizers is created this logo, that we hope you can place on your blog site to let others know about the event.

The link for the event is: http://tcea20.ning.com

Also, if you're a blogger that's coming into TCEA 2010, then you can also sign up as a blogging reporter for the conference, and your name your blog site as well as a link to your site will be placed on the TCEA 2.0 website.

So, if you're going to be in Austin on February 9, 2010 and then please join your fellow edubloggers for the first-ever Lonestar Edublogger Con. Even if you are not, could you please post the badge and link on your site? It’s the Texas thing to do!

See ya in Austin!

Cool Science Fair Guide

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 09:33:07 -0600

A few years a go, my wonderful wifey made a really cool guide to creating a science fair project for elementary students. Since she created it on her own, she copyrighted it, and now it resides in several cybersites. Because of Google, it seems to be a pretty popular download.

We have had people from all over the US call and ask permission to use it.

So, I decided to share it with my PLN.
You have permission to use it if you download it from this site.

Please give her credit. She worked hard on it , and this is a great example of how the internet can make something small into something big.

Here is the file. Lora Holt’s Elementary Science Fair Guide

Here is the same file in Spanish.

I need my Teacher to Learn

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:47:46 -0600

Kevin Honeycutt never ceases to amaze me. He always is coming up with new and innovative ways to get the Gospel of education technology across to many people as will listen. He truly is an inspiration. Here is his latest attempt to get people to start getting on the Ed Tech bandwagon: I need my teacher to learn. This is a great little song got a catchy beat, you can dance to, I give it a “75,” Dick. if nothing else please post this as many places as you can play it for your faculty play for your administrators, play for anybody that will listen. Thank you Kevin for doing this.

Education Technology in Public Schools

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 18:20:06 -0600

This is a report that came out in December of 2009 that I apparently missed and I apologize to my readers for not getting it to them. This is education technology in public school districts of fall 2008 report. This report has to do with how school districts are using education technology and it’s a snapshot from about a year ago. I always wondered why reports like this always came out for information that was a year or more old, then I went to work for a research department in my school district and I realized that data like this is usually a year-old before you can get to it. Say for instance you wanted to look at how your school district is doing, well you really couldn’t look at this year’s data because they share isn’t over what. The only thing you can really look at his last years data because last year is over with you have a complete in sure you know how many students attended whether scores were things like that, so that’s really why these reports are a year old and that’s why we’re looking at the 2008 report.

With that being said there is an interesting findings in this report and here they are:

Ninety-seven percent of districts had a local area network in all schools and 2 percent had it in some schools (1). Eighty-one percent of districts provided a district network to all schools and 3 percent provided it to some schools. Of the districts surveyed, 100 percent of those with a district network were connected to the Internet.2

Districts reported that 92 percent of public schools were connected to a district network (2). Among these schools, the types of connections from schools to districts included direct fiber (55 percent), T1 or DS1 lines (26 percent), and wireless connections (16 percent).3

Among the 84 percent of districts with a district network, the types of connections from districts to Internet service provider(s) included T1 or DS1 lines (42 percent), direct fiber (37 percent), wireless connections (18 percent), broadband cable (13 percent), and T3 or DS3 lines (12 percent) (3). Direct fiber connections were reported by a larger percentage of city districts than by suburban, town, or rural districts (62 percent versus 49 percent, 46 percent, and 24 percent, respectively). Relatively more rural districts than city districts reported T1 or DS1 connections (51 percent versus 18 percent).

Sixty-seven percent of districts had a formal computer replacement plan reflected in long-term budget planning (4). An asset recovery program for computers was used by 37 percent of districts for all computers and by 22 percent for some computers. Districts treated older computers that could no longer serve their original purpose by recycling or disposing (91 percent), re-purposing for less demanding tasks (85 percent), and upgrading memory or components to extend useful life (83 percent) (5).

The percentage of districts that offered access to online district resources to all elementary or all secondary teachers was 92 percent (6). The percentage that offered access to electronic administrative tools to all teachers was 87 percent for elementary and 95 percent for secondary. The percentage that offered server space for posting web pages or class materials to all teachers was 82 percent for elementary and 83 percent for secondary.

The percentage of districts that offered online access to the library catalogue to all students was 72 percent for elementary and 82 percent for secondary (7). The percentage that offered electronic storage space on a server to all students was 62 percent for elementary and 83 percent for secondary.

Districts had written policies on acceptable student use of email (84 percent), social networking websites (76 percent), wikis and/or blogs (52 percent), and other Internet use (92 percent) (8).

Of the districts surveyed, 100 percent kept student data in an electronic data system (9). The percentage of districts that used an electronic system to keep each type of student data asked about in the survey ranged from 80 percent for transportation data to 100 percent for attendance data. Eighty-nine percent of districts reported keeping state standardized assessment scores, and 85 percent reported keeping district-wide assessment results in their electronic data systems.

Districts reported employing an individual responsible for educational technology leadership who was devoted to this role full time (51 percent) or part time (32 percent) (10). Seventeen percent of districts reported no one in this role; more small districts than large districts reported no one with this function (21 percent of districts with an enrollment size less than 2,500 compared to 5 percent of districts with an enrollment size of 10,000 or more).

Districts reported offering teacher professional development in topics such as integrating technology into instruction (95 percent), using Internet resources and communication tools for instruction (91 percent), and Internet safety (89 percent) (11). Fifty-five percent of districts required teachers to take professional development in Internet safety.

Eighty-three percent of district respondents agreed with the statement ―teachers are interested in using technology in classroom instruction, while 58 percent agreed that ―teachers are sufficiently trained to integrate technology into classroom instruction (12). Forty-two percent of respondents agreed that ―funding for educational technology is adequate, and 83 percent agreed that ―funding for educational technology is being spent in the most appropriate ways.
Complete report here

Still Not Invited to the Buffet

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 22:32:14 -0600

A few years ago, I lamented the fact that it appeared that the vast majority of people writing, talking and taking part in the educational technology conversation were white, middle aged men. I titled my piece “Not invited to the Buffet” That piece of all the ones I have written over the years is probably the one that generated the most discussion, and in turn, is also one of the ones I am most proud of. I was accused of having “white guilt” I was told, when I brought the subject up a year later, that the subject was dead. I should move on. So be it. I will keep reminding everyone when I see it happening.

I had hoped the conversation would have translated into some action, which it never did. But perhaps it got people thinking, I don’t know. It certainly doesn’t seem that ISTE has listened, even though they have a “Digital Equity” group.

My evidence? Look at the people that have been nominated to be voted on for one of the keynote addresses at ISTE:

• Chris Lehmann,   Bio   |   Nomination Comments nominated under the topic: Effective School Leadership for the Digital, Global Era 
• Alan November,   Bio   |   Nomination Comments nominated under the topic: Personal Learning with 21st Century Tools 
• Jeff Piontek,   Bio   |   Nomination Comments nominated under the topic: Effective School Leadership for the Digital, Global Era 
• Peter H. Reynolds,   Bio   |   Nomination Comments nominated under the topic: Personal Learning with 21st Century Tools 
• Gary Stager,   Bio   |   Nomination Comments nominated under the topic: Effective School Leadership for the Digital, Global Era 

Here are pictures of each keynote nominee:

Okay, let’s look at a few stats here: 100% Male. 100% White. Probably all middle to upper middle class. Three appear to be pretty middle aged.

Where are the women? Where are the minority groups?
Why COULDN’T the list like like this for instance:

Marco Torres, Sheryl Nussbaum Beach, Bonney Bracey Sutton, Chris Lehman, Ken Shelton...

Are hispanics, woman, African Americans, Asian Americans not part of this conversation? Name ONE , come on I dare you, ONE Asian American Ed Tech Keynote speaker out there on the circuit with the Will Richardsons and the David Warlicks. I can;t think of one.

Why aren’t the nominations more representative of the population? Where are the role models? Sour grapes Tim? No, not at all. I just don’t understand the logic of the selection process for these events. It is the same people giving the same message to the same population over and over and over again.

What amazes me is that teaching is a MAJORITY FEMALE profession. We could at least get some female technology people to speak...not celebrities, not someone with a movie or a book, but a woman that actually uses technology and preaches the gospel..a Maria Henderson, or a Ginger Lewman for instance?

Why are we still not inviting everyone to the buffet?

My white guilt-ridden brain awaits your comments.

Sophos eats my battery

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:40:56 -0600

As you may know by now, I love my Macbook Pro. My wife bought it for me on Christmas 2008, and we have been inseparable ever since. One of the things I really liked about it was the battery life, about 4-5 hours per charge.

In about July, someone convinced me that I have to install Sophos Antivirus software on my Mac..I don’t know why..so I did. As soon as I did, I started to notice that my battery life was dropping down to about half of what it was..2 hours a charge if I was lucky.

So, I deleted Sophos. Or so I thought. The battery life still was bad, even after deleting the program. So, I thought I had a problem with the energy manager, the battery, I had a virus that Sophos didn’t detect...

Here is what I did in the last four months, trying to fix the problem:

Went to the Apple Store in Glendale AZ to get a replacement battery. Problem persisted.

Bought a new battery. Problem persisted.

Reset the energy management software on the Mac. Problem persisted.

Resent the battery. Problem persisted.

Search Apple Knowledge based looking for issues...I had done everything they had suggested...problem persisted.

Tried making every setting as low-energy-consuming as possible while on the battery: Low res screen, dimmed while working, shut off fans...problem persisted.

I uninstalled or deleted every program that had to do with networking, virus detection, etc. Problem persisted.

I reformatted the HD, and reinstalled from my backup..problem persisted of course, because I was just putting the same software back o the computer.

Then, about a week ago, I had the bright idea to turn on the program “Activity Monitor” which comes with all the Macs in the utility section of the App folder. This program allows you to see all running processes. When I looked to see what was running there was Sophos, which I had thought I had deleted.

It was not only there, but one of the three running processes was cranking 99% of the CPU usage. Get that? 99%!! Almost the entire CPU was being eaten by Sophos, which I had thought had been deleted.

Activity Manager allows you to turn off running processes so I turned off the three Sophos activities. Lo and behold, my battery life jumped from 1:36 left to 3:56 left.
The damn Sophos was eating my battery, causing the CPU to burn up, and killing my computer.

I still cannot delete the files because I cannot find them anywhere on the HD, even with a search. I literally have to turn on the Activity Manager every time and delete the processes. Very irritating.

Lesson learned here: Make sure you completely delete programs, especially ones that frick around with your CPU. If your battery is being sucked down too fast, use the Activity monitor to see if there are programs running that suck the life and CPU cycles out of your computer.

10 Questions with Felix Alvarado

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 10:06:28 -0600

Felix Alvarado is running for governor for the state of Texas. His website is here: http://www.felixalvarado.com/

As promised, I post without comment or editorial the responses, and do not edit.

Here is his response to the “Ten Questions:”

Questions presented by Tim Holt of El Paso, TX
Answers provided by Felix Alvarado, candidate
For the office of Texas Governor
Q1: What do you consider the current, most pressing issue in education today?
A1: Without question the answer to this question is the high school dropout rate. To prevent half of our students from becoming a drain on society rather than a productive, taxpaying citizen who can achieve satisfaction in their lives, we need to apply changes in the early elementary grades. Currently many students in Texas in Pre-K to 3rd grade are not being taught how to learn; rather they are being taught how to pass the 3rd grade TAKS reading test.

To change this, the reading test and the requirements for the federal No Child Left Behind needs to be seen as a diagnostic test to determine which students need expanded time to improve their reading scores. Teachers, Administration and Communities need to focus on enrichment for poor readers rather on fear of losing their jobs or even having their community school closed.

By the time many students reach high school they have learned things that make their future educational careers fairly short due to drop out. These things are 1) Students have not been taught how to learn; mostly they are taught how to pass a series of punitive tests. Because they do not know how to learn, learning is not interesting, exciting, or easy. They tune out looking forward to the time when they can escape from going to school.

Beginning with Pre-K and running through a student's senior year and graduation, learning must be presented in ways that encourage students to learn how to learn. This makes learning interesting, challenging, and much easier.

TAKS type tests should always and only be treated as tools measuring if and what a student still needs to learn and to design enrichment programs to fill their learning needs.

Most high school students do not know why they need to learn History, English Literature, Chemistry, Biology, Algebra, Geometry, Calculus etc. They just know they have to take those courses because their counselors tell them they must.

Students who can learn the words and melody to 50 or more songs on their IPODS are capable of learning all of the disciplines of High School if they are motivated and want to do so.

We need to change education from the very beginning if we are serious about having students complete their education and graduate.

Q2: What are your specific plans to deal with what you answered in #1?

A2: In basic sociology it has been proven over and over again that the behavior you want a child to learn and follow must be reinforced with expected and unexpected rewards. If early elementary students are going to learn how to learn and how rewarding learning is in itself, we must begin providing rewards for growth in learning. I am not talking about candy or other more tangible rewards, but rather rewards that encourage more learning. Students who demonstrate that they are learning how to learn need to be given opportunities to do fun and interesting things that further their interest in learning.

Examples are educational games, field trips to museums and other learning opportunities, opportunities to creatively share their new understanding with other students, and other activities that reinforce the advantages of learning. As students get older and enter higher grade levels the rewards must change to meet the need for older students to be challenged to continue to find motivation to continue to learn.

A good friend of mine had a daughter who had a terrible time learning math. She was placed in an intervention program to help her. After 2 months in the program my friend asked his daughter to show him what she was working on. He was shocked to see that she was still working on the same worksheet, with the same problems she had been using when the program started. He asked her why she was still on the same worksheet. She told him that other students had warned her that if she got all of the problems right, the teachers would give her another, more difficult work sheet. This obviously was not effective motivation.

We need to be creative and train teachers to be creative in identifying rewards that are interesting and motivating for each student.

We must begin in the early elementary grades to teach students how to learn if we hope to reduce the dropout rate to the barest minimum

Q3: How would you deal with funding what you answered in Q2?
A3. I am advocating several programs to provide funding. First on the list is a well-regulated casino program for Texas where taxes, etc from this activity applied to funding a number of programs that have languished under the past 3 Republican Administrations. Among these programs money would be used to fund the needs of this program.
Currently thousands of Texans go to neighboring states to visit casinos there. It is difficult to rationalize sending that tax money to other states while important programs are placed on the back burner for want of funding.
There is a significant amount of waste in our state government. When elected I will have qualified people comb through the current levels of state spending to recommend changes and elimination of programs that have little or no value to the tax payers of Texas.
I will encourage our Congressional Delegation to provide funding for the federally required No Child Left Behind program which is currently an unfunded mandate.

Q4: In our community, there are many families without access to the internet. Yet, much if not all of the state (or national) educational information is located on the internet. We are effectively not allowing these parents to be part of the education of their children. How would you address this issue?
A4: We are in a very interesting and significant transition period regarding access to the Internet and we must not miss this opportunity or our economy will continue to decline, leaving Texas in the position of a 3rd world country.
Texas currently represents the 12th largest economy in the world and 2nd largest in Texas. From such a powerful economic position in the world, Texas must prepare its Industry, workforce and educational system to retain its leadership in the world. Failure to do so runs the risk of the Texas economy being left broken down along the side of the Great Information Highway.
The State of Texas must reinstitute a program similar to the Texas Technology Infrastructure Fund of the 1990’s where a tax on Electric and Gas providers in the state is used to pay for the funding, first in the 5 largest counties, and then in the remaining smaller populated counties until the entire state has 24/7 access to the Internet anywhere in the county.
Today the Internet is driven by advertising. As Governor I would enter into discussions with the providers of computers, networking and peripheral equipment with the aim to make purchase of laptop computers available to every student in the state. Only by providing such access can our students hope to be prepared to enter college or the work force upon graduation from high school. Each student should have access to information technology including their own laptop computers and to classroom training, direction and assistance.
Student work on their laptop computers and their class work must be meaningful and challenging so that students learn early to enjoy the fruits of learning.

Q5: School districts across the state (nation) must respond to unfunded mandates from both the state and federal levels. For instance, in a few years, the state will require all student statewide testing such as End of Course and TAKS tests to be administered online. The state is not providing any additional monies to districts to make sure they have the equipment to provide for this. Can you address exactly what you would do to help districts with unfunded mandates, both from the state and the federal levels?
A5: Unfunded mandates are little more than lies made to tax payers. As an example, while the goals of No Child Left Behind are certainly worthwhile, with the program not funded by the Federal Government, it has become little more than a means of threatening teachers, administrators and communities, creating fear, limiting the scope of elementary curriculum and teaching students to realize that learning may not be all that interesting.
As Governor I will veto any legislation requiring student testing to be done by means of computer, until all students have equal opportunity. By the same token I will cancel by way of Executive order the decision by any state board, agency, or other organization that attempts to mandate computerized testing before we have statewide equal opportunity to understand and use computers; until all Texas students have had an opportunity to use and learn use of a laptop computer for at least one year before Texas students are required to take computerized tests.
I will veto any mandates, educational, medical, financial relating to business and any other program unless the state legislature provides funding for the program.

Q6: How do you plan to address the continuing teacher and administrator shortages? Which of these are viable plans in your estimation?
Recruit teachers from other countries.
Rehire retirees with few restrictions.
Help districts reimburse individuals who go to or return to school to become certified teachers.

A6: Each of the 3 solutions in your question would have the effect of watering down our students’ education even more than is the case today.
Teachers from other countries have not taken the essential classes identifying requirements and limitations of classroom teachers, they have little or no background in the culture of the US or Texas and many have a language problem where their accent makes it difficult for students to understand what they are saying
Retirees for the most part are not familiar with the climate in the classroom today and so have difficulty maintaining classroom discipline while encouraging students to learn to enjoy learning.
People who have no education background are saddled with the multiple problems of making adequate lesson plans, learning how to deal with students in the classroom while they are attending college to pass courses required to earn their teaching certificate.
We live in a world where Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand of the Market” touches every part of our economy, including education and every other state function. If a certified teacher can better provide for their family by working in the private sector than in the public, it is highly likely that the individual will choose to work in the private sector rather than in education.
To address shortages in teaching and administrative positions we must understand why there are such shortages today.
Over the years the Teacher’s authority in the classroom, has been consistently eroded. Today a Teacher cannot reasonably expect that a student will do what they are asked or told to do. More and more students are telling Teachers that they will not do or follow directions realizing that the consequences of doing so are relatively light. This has caused many teachers to decide that being a teacher is not worth the hassle.
Another cause of these shortages is a failure to understand market conditions, how the market place works and find a marketing solution to the problem. As an example there are currently more than 40,000 teachers certified to teach in Texas who are not working in education. They have found places to work that are either economically or emotionally better for them than teaching.
If we really want smaller class sizes where teachers can work one on one with students and help them discover the adventure and the advantage of learning, we must use the laws of the market place to permit this to happen.
How can we give teachers more control in the classroom?
It is essential that we have the cooperation of parents in controlling student behavior in the classroom. Teachers must have authority to decide if a student is so disruptive to the educational process that that student must be permanently removed from that Teachers’ classroom.
How can we encourage teachers to remain in the classroom when there are more lucrative positions with better working conditions available?
We must understand the pressures of the Marketplace. The Invisible hand works in education also.
To be competitive we must be prepared to match or exceed what the private sector has to offer by way of income and working conditions.
How do we pay for this? The current school funding formula developed by the Legislature has never been fully funded. Funding this formula is an absolute necessity.
There is a ridiculous limit on property tax funding for education. If the value of property increases or new improvements are made on property generating increases in tax revenue (realize this does not raise taxes on existing property owners) the amount of the increased property tax revenue is used to reduce state funding for that school district.
This means that as new homes and apartments are built in a school district resulting in more students, the school districts’ tax revenue remains the same as it has been for the past year. This unexplainable provision must be removed from the school funding as provided by the state legislature.
As Governor, I will not sign any revenue bills until this provision is removed.
Q7: One of the greatest expenses in any school district is the installation of technology followed by the refreshment of said technology. What is your plan to give schools relief from the costs associated with these instructional and administrative tools?

I believe I addressed this issue in my answer to your Question 4.
Q8: Do you support using electronic textbooks as opposed to traditional paper texts? If yes, what specifically would you do to help districts pay for the technology to make the change?
Electronic textbooks can be far more valuable than traditional paper texts because as new discoveries are made, new truth uncovered, new historical events occur, the electronic textbooks can be readily updated.
However until we have universal availability of Internet access and each student has ownership of a laptop computer, until the digital divide has been effectively closed, electronic text books simply enlarge the digital divide where wealthier districts have an unfair advantage over less wealthy districts.
Q9: Mandated Student Assessment like the Texas TAKS test has mutated over the years from a simple student diagnostic to a high stakes program where people's jobs are placed in jeopardy if scores are not met. Do you support high stakes testing such as the TAKS test? Why or why not?

No.

The type of standardized testing like the TAKS, the TAAS before it and the quickly coming End of Course Testing (EOC) are not meaningful measures of learning nor are they meaningful predictors of student success in college.

A surprising number of graduating Seniors, who have passed all of their core classes (History, Math, Science and English) and successfully passed all of their required TAKS tests, are required to take non-credit remedial classes before they are permitted to take credit courses because they are not prepared for college level work.

In addition these high stakes tests do not take into account that 30 – 40% of students do not intend nor do they need to attend college. There is absolutely no provision in these tests, passage of which is required to get a High School diploma, for students who intend to go to work in industry where a college degree may not be required.

Q10: What can you do if elected, that you could not have done previously in regards to education. In other words, why must you be elected in order to accomplish these education goals?

A10: There are so many things that need to be changed or fixed by the Legislature, by boards and agencies of state government that it takes the bully pulpit of the Governor’s office to accomplish.

If I have the privilege to serve as your Governor, I will require the legislature to fix the problems and difficulties mentioned above or they will return over and over again until they get it right. To the extent that boards and agencies need to make better decisions, I will be able to lean on them to do what must be done and if that does not get the job done, as Governor I will be able to appoint new members to these boards and agencies.

Thank you for the opportunity to address these issues, but remember that Education is only one of my key issues. Two other important issues that need to be discussed are (1) the Economy resulting in record high unemployment in Texas and (2) provision of adequate medical care for every Texan from a doctor of their choice near where they live. If you should decide to address these or any other issues, I would consider it to be a privilege to respond to those questions as well.

Where are the Netbooks?

Sat, 9 Jan 2010 09:02:00 -0600

Last year, it was all about the netbooks. School districts were having orgasms about how damn cheap they were, articles were being written about how every kids should have one,and how they were the savior of the 1:1 problem...Even I was questioning why Apple was not coming out with one.

What a difference a year makes.

Looking at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show, it was pretty apparent that netbooks have been relegated to the pile of forgotten technology. Thank you netbook guys. It was nice while it lasted.

There hardly was a single major announcement about them. Ballmer ignored them in his stumble and mumble keynote address. What was hot at CES?

Tablets.
Tablets.
Tablets.
E Readers.
Tablets.

Simply doing a Google search of the terms CES 2010, and Netbook (which I know is terribly unscientific) you end up with 24,600,000 hits. (Many of these hits are articles about how netbooks and tablets are becoming one in the same.)

A simple Google search of the terms CES 2010 and Tablets gets you 26,600,000. More hits for a technology that was dead last year. Netbooks should be pulling in more hits than tablets because they have been around longer.

Articles like this one on “Tablet Fever” are all over the net. Of course, you can’t forget the Apple-Secret-there really isn’t a tablet tablet that has yet to be released or even mentioned by the Apple, yet, if you google Apple Tablet, you get 17,000,000 hits. Not bad for a company that doesnt even exist.

So we see the emergence of the tablet, which essentially removed the external input devices from the device and moves them onto the screen.

Maybe Jobs was right when he said that Apple didn’t know how to make cheap products like netbooks.

I think that they are headed out the door. Tablets are headed in. Join the conversation over here: http://tabletined.ning.com

Tablets in Education Site

Mon, 4 Jan 2010 21:11:00 -0600

I have created a new Ning site dedicated to the discussion of how to use tablet computers in education.

Tablets, in this case, can also include Kindles and other E-readers. Of course, the world awaits the arrival of the Apple Magic Jesus Tablet which may or may not be revealed later this month.

“"Not since Moses came down from on high with those commandments has a tablet generated so much interest," Jim Goldman reports for CNBC.”

Here is a video of a concept of how students would use a tablet:

So, if you are interested in how tablets can be used in an education setting, come on over to the ning site and join in on the conversation.

It is here:

www.tabletined.ning.com

I look forward to all of my readers joining in.