So .... a rant on technology in schools.

I actually stopped posting to blogs a few years back since I transitioned to being a principal. I was concerned how much expressing my opinion might come back on me. I still worry about that as life in administration is much more political than as a teacher. That said, I have a keen interest in keeping technology valuable to education and I'm wondering what is new out there? Since journeying away from the classroom up north I have noticed that many schools and divisions are actually way behind in figuring out technology. Most teachers really do not have a clue how to use these tools effectively in class, nor do they have any interest in learning. Sure, they will comply when asked, but few are actually exploring and trying different tech ideas with SMART phones or tablets or Chromebooks or Web 2.0 stuff. I'm amazed at how having a website that is updated counts as innovative, and even how difficult it still is for teachers to accomplish even this. Websites were innovative a decade ago. Yet it is still next to impossible to move some people past their paper handouts and writing due dates on the corner of the chalkboard. Why? That is what I have not been able to figure out. If we all used "X" to keep students in the loop and support their learning when away from school, it would be better for all. I don't really care what "X" is, just that we get there. If a student wants to they should be able to check on their performance, look up due dates, try out some extra help or review, catch up if they have missed class, and most of all connect with other students to continue to work together. They should be able to do all of this on any platform and from any location. All of this is possible. Actually has been for a number of years. So ... why am I still helping teachers to understand how to add a link?

Too good not to post!

I know I dropped this blog, but I just purchased a Macbook Air. What a dreamy machine. Sure I love the iPad I used for the last year, but for a my work flow this is so much better. It's small and light enough that I slip it into my regular folder. It is also good enough on batter that I do not need to bring my adapter around during the day. Finally it runs OSX. I've been windows now for so long I had forgotten about the way it feel. AAAAhh it's so good to be home.

Time to focus on other aspects in Education

It's been a great run. I've learned and shared much about technology and our small school in Northern Alberta. However, times are changing. I'm off to work in the town of Myrnam as the principal of their k-12 school. I'll miss writing about technology, but I just will not have the time to do it justice. Thanks for checking in, and perhaps we'll visit again on a blog about administration???

Apps for Schoolwork. The ones I actually use!

iPod touch and iPhones are rapidly becoming useful tools for education. Here are a few apps that can help you be successful on your educational journey here at BRHS.

• Homework Organizers
• myhomework - an excellent homework organizer - FREE!
• Science
• TCT Lite - good and free Periodic table of elements - FREE!
• TCT Full - a full featured Periodic table of ellements - $0.99
• Units - a simple unit conversion app - FREE!
• Mind or Concept Mapping
  These could be used to build your weekly concept maps. You can then upload them or email them to me directly.
• SimpleMindX - fast concept mapping tool I use the free version.
• Total Recall - a few more options for concept mapping. I find it a bit clunkier though - FREE!
• FlashCard or Review
• Mental Case Classroom Edition - a fantastic flashcard review tool. I am not beginning to publish all my notes and also reveiw question sets onto this platform. You can find links to these sets in the appropriate unit areas. This version is FREE!
• Mental Case - the full version also ties in with flashcardexchange.com. I do post several exercises there for work to and I would encourage you to build your work there as well. Then you can download into this full app for review. Full Mental Case is $2.99

There are many, many other apps. It's good to do some searching online to see if anyone has reviewed them. Apple as an Apps for student page too. If you find a great App, please let me know at jonathankonrad@gmail.com. Thanks.

Digital Life or Citizenship .... Do you have yours organized?

Christmas break is a wonderful and needed rest for educators everywhere. It always helps me clear my mind and be able to focus again on the daily challenges in the classroom.

This break I found myself pondering the question of a digital life. OK, that's not quite the concept, but it will have to do. I am wondering about just how much ownership, awareness, and organization students and teachers give their online life. Sure they understand and manage their Facebook identities, but what about all of their work and leisure online?

I would like to help teachers and students learn to manage or balance their digital needs easily. What are those needs. Here is my list of essential digital needs;

• File Storage - a place to keep everything
• photos - flikr or picasa, or ?
• video - youtube.com
  
• documents - dropbox.com or box.net or MS Skydrive or Google docs or ?
• Sharepoint
• Moodle ePortfolio
  
• Authoring Applications
• Google Docs
• Zoho.com
• Sharepoint
  
• Communication
• Gmail
• Windows live
• Zoho.com
  
• Moodle
• Sharepoint
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Organize
• Google calander
• Windows Live
• Zoho.com
• Sharepoint
• toodledo

Each of these needs must be met regardless of hardware or software currently in use. They can have a robust offline component, but they MUST have online access across a variety of devices from phones to ipods to the PC. Ideally they should be personally owned and managed, this questions Moodle and Sharepoint for most of the work. No doubt these services will be accessed for specific course work, but the point is how are students and teachers managing all of their digital life and taking ownership.

The last piece to the puzzle is how are the students and teachers creating a PLN. For students this is most likely to be on Facebook, but teachers should consider using that for personal interaction and using something like Twitter for professional chatter.

This is a large topic and deserves much more than this short introduction. However, I am tired of students and teachers blaming others for why they are not using the digital tools we now have. They should not be able to blame the school for poor file access or organization or communication. They are expected to bring paper, pencils, binders, calculators, and such to class and to have these at home. Why not digital tools?