Monthly Archives: September 2008

Explore this week's Carnival of Education!

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The 190th Blog Carnival of Education is up at Steve Spangler’s site.  And, by the way, how cool is it to have one of my entries right next to a mention of appearing on the Ellen Degeneres Show?

There are a few really thought-provoking posts that you should check out in this week’s Carnival, including one about the struggle to encourage voting and one about the dangers of covering for a student.  And Steve’s finale is gratifying to those of us in the second-oldest profession:

To those genuine educators and parents who submitted their own or someone else’s excellent blog post this week, I thank you.  Our children thank you.  And our nation thanks you.

Our schools, whether they be down the block or around the kitchen table, are the hope of the future.  Our children deserve the best . Let’s give it to them.

Thanks, Steve.  Tell Ellen I said hi.

Photo credit: stevespangler.com

My Electoral Two Cents

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I am not generally inclined to discuss politics in this forum, but ‘tis the season.

When it comes to selecting a new leader for our country, state, town, etc., I am a fairly cynical individual.  I have followed electoral issues and political races for most of my adult life and, perhaps, this is why I have so little faith in the “truth” that one can ascertain from the mainstream media.  Most national candidates are so highly scripted that there is little room for candor or spontaneity (See, that’s the name of the blog.  Ok, you got it, moving on).  I watch all of the candidates say the same things in different ways, and I listen to the partisan bickering, and I want to believe that they can change this country.  But, the sad fact is, by the time candidates have risen to the level of a Congressional race or Presidential election they are like the final four on American Idol: attractive, empty vessels filled with someone else’s words. I know that maybe not all the finalists are aesthetically perfect, but you get my point.  It’s pretty jaded stuff, I know.

As a result of my weary attitude, when it comes to politics, I tend to be very philosophical and principled.  I am the kind of guy who votes for third party candidates, “wasting my vote” in the process.  You see, I want to change the future of our country and I know that it is not going to happen by continuing down the path we are on right now.  I know that there is no chance of a Libertarian winning the Presidential election in 2008 (or 2012, 2016, 2020, or even 2024), but I am not trying to pick a winner.  I am choosing the person whom I believe is going to put our country on the right track.

Being a Libertarian and a teacher puts me in a very small demographic group, and the philosophical challenges can be difficult to resolve.  I can’t argue too loudly about changing the way we pay teachers, if I truly believe that government shouldn’t be funding education, right?  Sometimes it’s easy (how many of my colleagues enjoy the intrusion of the federal government into our schools?), but most of the time I struggle to reconcile my deeply held notions of the role of government with my desire to improve our education system.  Wouldn’t vouchers impoverish the public school system, even as they give more freedom to working families?  If our taxes were cut by 90% and private schools were the only option, would charities really step up to ensure that poor kids still get a fair chance at a top-notch education?  Smarter people than me have tried to answer these questions, so I’ll leave the policy discussions to them.

I don’t really expect any of my regular audience to switch parties (assuming you even can vote Libertarian in your state), or go to the polls and choose Bob Barr on November 4.  My only hope is that a few more people will realize that there are other options–you don’t have to settle for one of the two major political parties.  H.L. Mencken once said,

“Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule -and both commonly succeed, and are right.”

Do some research and vote with your brain, not with your heart.

photo credit: iStockphotos.com

Is Web 2.0 Inherently Wrong for Education?

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One Plus OneI have been following some of the dialogue that began with dy/dan’s Dan Meyer’s comment on Wes Fryer’s blog entry at Speed of Creativity. Most of the discussion has revolved around appropriateness of Web 2.0 tools, specifically the photo-animating web application Animoto. Dan showed his concern (disdain?) for the use of commercial web-based digital tools for educational purposes, as he wrote:

“I am only now fully struck by the fact that the goals of profit-driven Web 2.0 applications and the goals of educators only align accidentally.”

The issue has made me think seriously about my own use of these tools in my classroom. I considered whether my aims might be at odds with the creators of applications such as wikis and VoiceThread. It concerned me that many educators, like myself, may be pushing the use of applications that take away the challenge that spurs learning. My reasoning was crystallized by the recent entry on the Official Google Docs blog in which an educator shared his mixed success using Google Docs as a collaboration and communication tool. The distinction becomes clear: if the learning objective is the demonstration of content area mastery through creation of a product (and the communication and collaboration enhances that goal), then these tools properly facilitate that process. If the collaboration process itself is the goal, then one must be careful not to implement an application that completes a signification portion of the process for the student.

In my own classroom, more often than not, I am seeking to measure mastery of the Science concepts and these tools can provide simple options for student assessment (and self-assessment by the students). Just as the use of calculators in a mathematics class is appropriate if the teacher is assessing something other than the student’s ability to perform arithmetic operations, so must these tools be deemed appropriate only when they do not remove the impetus to learn.

In the end, the presence of this controversy suggests that critical review is an important part of the incorporation of digital tools into education. Are Web 2.0 tools on the horizon that will be catered to the needs of educators by encouraging collaboration and communication without doing too much for students?

Shameless Self-Promotion

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All three active readers of Scripted Spontaneity should realize that I am not in the habit of using this space to promote my other ventures.  This week, though, I am going to put my integrity aside to share a little link love.

As some of you already know, I am working with the K12 Teachers Alliance to create a new teacher website which will be launching in January called TeachHub.  To drum up some interest, they have started a new interactive blog here.  There are daily posts about education-related issues of particular interest to teachers, and polls to gauge the perspectives of its visitors.  It’s in a rough state right now, but I would be so grateful if you would meander on over and post a comment or two.  The author, who will be editing the new site, is seeking any and all feedback.

Thanks in advance to my wonderful network of professionals!

photo credit: flickr user wilmmulder