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By Raj, February 9, 2009 10:14 am

Last week, as the brain was melting down, I spotted these interesting posts, and over the weekend, I got half the chance to read them and put together this interesting idea in my head – what power can the attention of the world have on some mode of action that is waiting for a champion? I don’t know, but as the title of this post suggests, perhaps quite a bit – those that Think Different (Apple’s posters).

Obama is being heralded as the savior for everything from good manners and diction to the economy of the world, but it seems that there might be something else that he’s going to do without even doing anything special… just doing what he does… use his Blackberry. I’m not really going to talk about the potential ills (News Week, Wired) but rather bringing light to the use of a “new” medium. So how is this being put together in my mind?

Well first, I caught this article on the use of cell phones in the classroom, quoting from the NYT:

Halfway through the semester in his market research course at Roanoke College last fall, only moments after announcing a policy of zero tolerance for cellphone use in the classroom, Prof. Ali Nazemi heard a telltale ring. Then he spotted a young man named Neil Noland fumbling with his phone, trying to turn it off before being caught.

“Neil, can I see that phone?” Professor Nazemi said, more in a command than a question. The student surrendered it. Professor Nazemi opened his briefcase, produced a hammer and proceeded to smash the offending device. Throughout the classroom, student faces went ashen.

“How am I going to call my Mom now?” Neil asked. As Professor Nazemi refused to answer, a classmate offered, “Dude, you can sue.”

Let’s be clear about one thing. Ali Nazemi is a hero. Ali Nazemi deserves the Presidential Medal of Freedom

Then, I saw this article about the new administration using web technology. But the picture, rather than being one of Obama’s face, was that of what could be Obama using a Blackberry. It seems that his name, and the talk of technology within his administration is epitomized within that simple image. Now I wonder if Nazemi would smash that phone if it were in his class (power relations and Secret Service agents not withstanding).

The Open Ed article continues and points out the ways (from a BECTA report) that students can or are using phones within their classes:

• Timing experiments with stopwatch
• Photographing apparatus and results of experiments for reports
• Photographing development of design models for eportfolios
• Photographing texts/whiteboards for future review
• Bluetoothing project material between group members
• Receiving SMS & email reminders from teachers
• Synchronizing calendar/timetable and setting reminders
• Connecting remotely to school learning platform
• Recording a teacher reading a poem for revision
• Accessing revision sites on the Internet
• Creating short narrative movies
• Downloading and listening to foreign language podcasts
• Logging into the school email system
• Using GPS to identify locations
• Transferring files between school and home

So between the Times and BECTA, there is certainly something of a gap, and it’s one that I’ve mentioned a few times (recently) and it’s one that the Open Ed article seems to address quite well in talking about the slow attitudinal shifts. These shifts will likely be accelerated now that students or mLearning advocates can point to high profile users and provide examples how the devices are not only for socialization, they are for getting work done. So instead of banning these tools, maybe administrators should look into how students can be used responsibly.

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By Raj, January 26, 2009 9:51 am

I came across a new report funded by BECTA and commissioned by Intuitive Media Research Services. It has some interesting findings, top of which is that kids are turning to Mom at home for tech help (nothing wrong with that). Here are some of the key findings:

• 92% of children said they used a computer or laptop at home
• 65% used a handheld device such as a Sony Playstation Portable (PSP), Apple iPod or Nintendo DS and the same number used a games console such as the Sony Playstation 2 or 3, the Nintendo Wii or the XBox. Overall 58% used mobile phones.
• “Almost all girls (94%) said they used a computer or laptop compared with only (88%) of the boys. Girls are also more likely to watch TV (76% girls; 68% boys) have mobile phones (64% girls; 50% boys) and hand held devices (68% girls; 61% boys). Boys are a little more likely to have games consoles (69% boys; 62% girls).
• Most children (91%) used a computer or laptop to access the internet at home, with a minority using other devices. 20% of children used their mobile phones to get online, 17% used their games console and 15% used a hand held gaming device.
• Accessing the internet via the games console was twice as high among boys than girls (23% boys; 12% girls).
• Overall children spend most of their Internet time for socializing, play and their own research rather than for formal learning and homework. On a typical school day, nearly six in ten go online as soon as they come home from school (58%). Slightly fewer children use the internet after their evening meal (56%).
• On aggregate children spent 79 minutes on the Internet and 48 minutes on computer games – a total of 127 minutes on their computers, compared with only 68 minutes watching television.
• Most children were supervised by their mothers (44%), followed by father (35%) and siblings (25%).
• Nearly half the children use the internet in a  communal family space (49%), but one third  use it in their own bedrooms (30%).  Of those who used the Internet in the privacy of their own bedrooms, 53% were boys and 47% were girls.
• Most of the children (55%) who had the Internet at home said they did get help from their families. 43%, including more boys and older children, claim nobody helped them. Mothers are more likely to help than fathers. Of those who were helped by parents, 53% were helped by Mum and 47% by Dad.
• 59% of Mums got help from their children compared with 41% of Dads. Overall mothers were more likely than fathers to engage with their children when they used the Internet.
• Three quarters of children (77%) asked their parents for help using the internet for homework while
  only 42% asked parents for help with fun activities. Parents who do help become closely involved with their children’s internet use. 83% of parents who helped, checked what their children did  online. 75% explained things and 72% answered children’s questions. 61% talked to the child about what he or she was doing and 59% praised or encouraged the child when using the internet. 52% checked their children’s computer history.
• Unfortunately, children report, a large minority of parents get irritated with their children for staying on the internet for too long or for asking questions or asking for help. Just over a third of children (36%) said that parents get annoyed with them for asking questions or asking for help.
  
• Overall, mothers are more likely than fathers to engage with their children using new technologies especially when it comes to formal learning or research. Fathers are more engaged with solving technical problems and fun activities.  Mums were twice as popular as  helpers with 50% of children choosing Mum to help, versus 22%  choosing dad. The mothers were the mostly experienced and capable computer and Internet users. Half the 12 families in the telephone interview sample reported that the mother used the computer and the Internet most.
  The mother and the child were equally likely to be the computer and Internet expert in the family, ahead of the fathers and siblings.
  
• In all the families interviewed, the parents restricted the child’s Internet access – half of them through direct supervision and a quarter each by restricting the sites children visit or by using site-blocking software. Three quarters
  of the mothers said they knew mostly everything that their children did on the Internet.
• The majority of children who wanted improvement said they would like their parents to have more time to help (84%). About half (52%) said it would help if parents knew more about computers or the Internet.

I’ve italicized and bolded the interesting parts of the key findings, and it seems to me that it may reflect more on the pace of life and the typical family composition in the UK. I wonder if they have more single parent homes in the study, compared to dual parent/Extended family homes. It also seems that girls have more communication related technologies and boys have more game related technologies.

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By Raj, June 25, 2008 8:59 am

Following up on the last post, I found a BECTA funded study that looks at the benefits of social networking tools. The report notes that SNs can be used by students to create ePortfolios, collaborate and learn about the ways and means surrounding the protection of personal information. Instructors can make use (though I think cautiously) to organize informal or formal groups and reflect and/or document milestones.

The study also noted that students learn more about learning these tools from their peers than from adults. Also along the same lines as students learning from each other, the report also notes that SNs can help instructors improve their digital literacy as well – teaching each other about the tools that their students use.

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By Raj, May 15, 2008 9:10 am

While BECTA didn’t actually say this outright, it seems that they are suggesting it after commenting that Office2007/Vista are not a good fit for UK schools:

“Upgrading existing ICT systems to Microsoft Vista or Office 2007 is not recommended,” said the British Educational Communications and Technology Agency, in a report issued at the time.

BECTA officials said a study the group commissioned found that upgrading school systems to Vista and Office 2007 would increase costs and create software compatibility problems while providing little benefit.

The agency said U.K. schools can consider using Vista or Office 2008 software only when they are buying new batches of PCs. Even then, however, they’re advised to take a long looked at alternatives based on Linux and other open source products, such as the OpenOffice.org desktop package.

Now, I’m not one to say that Vista is any good (Mac fanboy speaking), not caring about 2007 – really, how much more do we need in a word processor? But working with a group on campus who is trying to “go big” with an open source package, I can assure you that it is not cheap or easy. It comes down to money or time. If you pay money to MS, you get the time of other people (from MS or your vendor) to help, and you get an osmotic effect from the outside world that will help train people on these proprietary systems. With few exceptions, you do not get this with Open Source, with Open Source, you are left to your own to spend time and money to get systems up and keep them that way.

In the end, this really seems to come down to transition issues. There is a new office suite and OS available and it might well be time to look at upgrading systems, assuming there is money and will there from the admins. If there is money, one might want to think about the fact that Open Source is not always “easy on hardware” and it does have “drop dead dates” because it can (times for long term support vary by distro). It also does not mean that because it can be modified, that it will – once in production, many open source systems are as locked down as the “out of the box variety”. Proprietary isn’t easy on hardware either (think about the requirements for Vista… the major beef many people have), but support can be forced on the company – as MS has had to extend support for XP – as not to piss off future customers.

So if you have time (and the money to pay for it), go Open Source, if you only have the money, look at the shelf for a proprietary system. Either way, if it’s a change in the making, there are going to be a few bumps on the way.

Edit – Switzerland seems to be thinking that Ubuntu is the way to go for their students.