Kwout it!

Trying a new tool that I read about called Kwout. Don't really know why it's called that--I think a lot of people in my world would be more likely to try tools if the language didn't get in the way, but that's another post...

Via a widget in my Firefox browser, Kwout does this:

Twitter via kwout

That is a screen capture of a piece of my twitter page this afternoon.

I can capture a screen shot easily and quickly and make it any size I need it to be. This is done with a useful little slider that sizes your kwout so you can see exactly how big it'll be before you save/upload it--love that. They mashup with Blogger so that it's wildly easy to post to my blog. Cool thing is that it says the hyperlinks within the graphic above are still hot, although I can't tell as I type this. They're not now, but they should be once this goes live. I'll see how useful it ends up being. Like it at first blush!

A Vision of University Classrooms Today....

In a post today, Wes Fryer relates a conversation he had recently with a university professor at Oklahoma Christian University, where all students are required to use Apple iPhones or iPod Touches. He relates:

When I learned this professor taught at OC, I enthusiastically said, “Wow, you’re going to have all your students bring iPhones to class this year!” His response was:

Boy I sure hope not. I have a tough enough time having them keep their laptops closed all the time during class.

I almost passed out on the spot, but I was torn by a simultaneous urge to weep.

Sadly, Wes's post reminds me of an experience that my husband and I had at a large north Texas university (over 38,000 students) a few weeks ago at Parent Orientation--our daughter is an incoming freshman there this fall. At one of our sessions, the Dean of the Honors College spoke to us. She was an engaging and entertaining speaker, using humor and compassion to make her point to a room full of slightly tender freshman parents, not yet entirely ready to set their kids off to the wider world . I was really feeling good about her message of helping all students to reach their individual goals, guiding them as they transition to the adult world with skills as well as a solid ethical base...

THEN she said it.
She said that she makes it clear on the first day of any class she teaches that no laptops, cell phones or handheld devices are to ever be brought to her lectures. Students are to take notes with pen and "an old-fashioned yellow legal pad." Then, she said, if they felt the need to use their computers in studying or "transferring their notes later", she was OK with that. In her mind, the act of writing information down with pen and paper passes for kinesthetic learning, I suppose. And, after all, what would students ever do academically with a computer other than transfer the professor's wise words to a MS Word document? It all made me sad too, Wes, and so vividly brought to mind Michael Wesch's A Vision of Students Today.

As Wes noted in his post, this particular dean had no concept of the possibilities that 21st century tools can offer--and it seemed to be black & white to her. Computers can not be useful tools for learning in her classroom (or lecture hall). There is no room for the question How do we harness the power of this tool that keeps popping up in my lecture hall? Furthermore, this being the viewpoint of the DEAN, is there any leadership in that institution (or at least that college within the university) to foster continued learning by the professionals? To change the status quo and address the needs of these 21st century learners?

I will certainly say that the experience left me with a feeling of trepidation about dropping $8,000+/semester there for the next 4 years. I know however that 1) the situation would probably not be noticeably different at most American universities and
2) my daughter will get from her experience there what she puts into it, and she's an enthusiastic learner with a strong and stable background. (She's a real keeper!)
She'll be fine. But really, doesn't she (and all those like her) deserve better?

Back to the questions that we keep coming back to: how can this change? What can we, in the profession, do? What are we doing that is meaningful, and what do we need to toss and reevaluate? How do we encourage other professionals to "buy in"?

Photo attribution: Old Notes, New Purpose by idiolector on Flickr. Creative Commons non-commercial share-alike license.

Podcasting with Purpose

Bob Sprankle's latest Bit by Bit podcast is posted, and I'm just getting around to listening to it. It is the audio from his Building Learning Communities keynote, entitled Podcasting with Purpose.

Wow! Well worth a listen! I think his title is slightly off the mark though, because this presentation explores so much more than just podcasting, per se. He used podcasting as a catalyst for change in his classroom--a change that is much deeper than just one tool. How I would love to have had my child in a 4th grade classroom with this much authentic learning, peer teaching/learning, exploration. His is a story of how these changes are about more than the tools--the change is in the focus of the classroom (learning rather than teaching) and authentic work that engages students. Thanks to Bob Sprankle for a great example for the rest of us who are trying to advocate these changes to teachers that may not love the tools...yet.

The presentation slides are below, and you can get the keynote here. Do them together--and then share! Also, I recommend that you subscribe to his podcast feed! It's really a great one to have in your ipod!

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