Tablets (Clay) vs. Paper

Sometimes those of us who embrace technology are accused of worshiping the medium of technology over content. I would assert that instead, those who resist technology are worshiping the limiting medium of paper (read - textbooks). Textbooks are a window to the world, allowing a limited view. Screens - attached to devices that can access the internet are more like teleportation devices, or if you can imagine, windows whose view can be changed to any location. Whether or not we should limit our students' exposure to the world, can we?

I wonder if there was any resistance to the change from clay tablet to paper?

Here are some pros and cons of clay tablets and paper. Feel free to add your own.
clay tablet - heavier and thicker than paper
paper - lighter and easier to store and transport
clay tablet - noncombustible, more resistant to deterioration
paper - flammable, degradable
clay tablet - only requires the tablet and a stick
paper - also requires ink so it is wasteful
clay tablet - breakable - can shatter if dropped
paper - does not shatter when dropped

As I write this list I find it interesting that some of the tablet pros and cons would actually apply to a tablet such as the iPad!

Auditioning the iPad

Our school district is currently in the process of vetting the iPad for a potential 1:1 program at our middle school. Part of that process has been to get first generation iPads in the hands of the teachers on the 5th-8th grade leadership team, the administrative team, and the IT department (my husband). My husband Matt brought the iPad home so we could see how our children - Megan, 10 and John, 5 - interact with it. This has been fascinating to watch.Our children have experience with touch screens as they are allowed to use our iPhones so they were instantly very comfortable with the iPad interface.

A week into the experiment we have found that our 10-year old has gravitated from the iPad back to the desktop and netbook, while our 5-year old continues to be drawn to the iPad. He uses it exclusively for games, and he also seems to prefer to use a stylus with it.

Megan uses the computer primarily for chatting in Gaggle, surfing the internet, using Skype to talk to relatives and watching videos. I think part of the reason she prefers the computer over the iPad is her comfort with typing. She has pretty good typing skills and complains that she makes more mistakes on the iPad. She also is very disappointed that that there is no video for Skype. The Skype issue may get cleared up in iPad 2.0.

Something interesting that we have noticed about Megan that we think probably is transferable to other members of her generation, is the expectation that an application or device will be capable of everything they can imagine. For example, she expects the video camera to be capable of sending e-mail and to play any video. The lack of a camera on the first generation iPad is a big negative for her.

Last week I decided to force myself to use nothing but the iPad for a day. On that particular day I needed to create a poster for an upcoming orchestra event. I would normally use the Adobe Suite on my desktop, so in order to complete the task on the iPad I had to first find an app. I chose Phoster and downloaded it for $1.99. Although the templates were very limiting I was able to find one that I liked and complete the task with great results. Although the Adobe Suite would allow unlimited options for my creativity, for this task I was able to take a screenshot, upload the photo, change the text and complete the entire project in about half an hour. With all of the options in Adobe I could have easily spent much more time than that and not necessarily had a better final product.

While we are interested in whether or not the iPad is the ideal tool, my husband the IT guy is also very concerned with more practical concerns such as battery life, cost, durability, portability, management and support. Netbooks have more moving parts: spinning hard drives and the dreaded hinge There is not yet an app management solution for Android tablets. At this point, with the information we have, iPad seems the best solution for 1:1 in our district.

I am eager to hear your comments on the matter.

The Jane Elliott Experience

Originally posted September 23, 2010

I just got back from listening to Jane Elliott lecture at UNI. Yes, THE Jane Elliott that you learned about in Psych 101. She is famous for teaching her students about discrimination by dividing them into groups according to eye color. Blue eyes vs. brown eyes. Each group was superior to the other for a day including having their errors or faults blamed on their eye color, superiors enjoying privileges and the inferiors losing rights to play equipment and drinking fountains.

Elliott is very “in-your-face” and I think we probably all felt uncomfortable at times. But shouldn’t we feel uncomfortable talking about a social ill like racism that still persists?

Her presentation included some serious “back-to-basics” ideas like teaching students good listening skills, and she touted the Orton-Gillingham phonics method for teaching all students to read.

Elliott may be lauded in Psych 101 and education classes in universities, but this was not her experience in Riceville, Iowa where she taught 3rd grade and then junior high. She shared how she, her parents, her husband and children were ostracized in their hometown after her classroom experiment in discrimination. Despite the vitriolic response of the community and even the teacher’s union, Elliott continued her lessons in discrimination for all but two years of her teaching career.

She has had positive feedback from some students and their parents, thanking her for teaching them this important lesson. The documentary A Class Divided returns to Riceville, Iowa to talk to some members of Elliott’s class five years after their graduation from high school.

I participated in a race relations simulation during a leadership institute at ISU for high school students. Each student drew a race or ethnicity from a bag. We were told that we were members of a community and that our goal was to make improvements to our town by making requests of the City Council, also made up of students. We were given a time limit and some fake money and set loose.

Being part (a very small part) Native American I was disappointed to find that I had drawn “white” from the bag. I guess I was hoping for something more exotic.  As the simulation progressed, it became obvious that the City Council had been given additional instructions to make it more difficult for any non-white persons or groups to get their projects approved. When I figured this out I offered myself as a liaison between these groups and the City Council. The groups who were being discriminated against lashed out at me and did not trust my intentions because I was a member of the favored race. My fellow whites scorned me for trying to help the other groups. By the end of the simulation it was obvious that this was not a game that we could actually win but an experience we were meant to have. I was bothered by the eagerness of others to play the game despite the face that the situation was not fair. During the post-activity discussion I was getting a lot of dirty looks from other students who didn’t understand why I took it so seriously.

I think the point of such simulations is indeed very serious. See how easily we can be tricked into behaving in a prejudiced way? Isn’t that frightening? I think it is and I think we should not even be willing to “play” at prejudice.

The greatest learning I had tonight was that we still have a long way to go, not just in terms of racism, but sexism, treatment of LGBT people, respecting people of different faiths, etc. Lately I have been toying with the idea of going to law school to fight such battles in the courtroom. I believe, as Elliott does, that education is the answer. In that case, I am already on the front lines. For now I am going to become the best teacher I can and examine myself and my students for prejudices and confront them.

School Spirit for Skeptics

First posted February 16, 2010

Last week was our high school’s winter edition of Homecoming, Winterfest.  As a music teacher I often cringe at the poor production of a school assembly – the dead time, the technical snafus. Yet despite my critical nature, I always stand and clap for the school song. I probably do not follow our school sports as closely as I should, but I do have my own brand of school spirit.

My assigned spot in the gym is the top of the NE bleachers, where students who don’t seem very impressed by assemblies tend to hang out. Their inattention is in direct contrast to the over-participation of the boys’ basketball team that is seated on the floor in front of the bleachers and make themselves a part of each skit with their shouted comments. I respect the apathetic students’ right not to care about this high school tradition, but I wish we could frame school spirit to be about something more than sports.

When I cheer for our sports teams, dance teams, or other student endeavors it is because they are ours. Whether you believe these children have been placed in our care by a deity or by the state legislature, as adults we have the responsibility and privilege to care for these children. The great thing about this approach to school spirit is that is does not require a common foe, and it does not wax or wane with winning or losing seasons.

So, at the next school assembly I will proudly stand and support all of our students, even those sitting behind me on the bleachers