Posted yesterday on my other blog. Wish-list to Obama for Public Education -- Parents-Students-Teachers & Technology in Public Education. I've already gotten some responses, which is nice. I knew that by posting my list I was asking for a deluge of other's priorities. The almost universal criticism of No Child Left Behind in no way unifies the suggestions for improvement or starting-from-scratch re-design. We who consider ourselves on the progressive side of educational transformation have not reached consensus easily before and I see no reason why it'll be easy this time. Each group of stakeholders offer their NCLB criticisms of the current law and there are currently a substantial set of proclamations, joint statements and recommendations. I decided to put my requests out there because, a) I want to suggest some very specific programs, projects & roles that my experience has shown to have direct impact on school transformation and student achievement. b) If NCLB is modified rather than a completely new act developed, these ideas can easily modified existing sections of the law. and c) I wanted to illustrate to my readers the direction taken in our community work, our parent leadership in education experiences, and the inter-generational experiences that illustrate student leadership and community use of technology to assess the strength of their schools. But the guantlet is thrown, and I expect (hope) to get some spirited rejoinders. I didn't open by wishing everyone a happy new year. So, I hope that all who read this will have a year of peace & gtranquility, congruence between vision/goals and actions and finally, that everone have the resources to have sufficient healthy food and a decent home.
I was sent a stop spamming note, so I posted a particularly pouty & self-serving entry, http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/ and quit that particular group. I even noted how glad I was to have a burning issue to write about. I expected it would trigger responses from the social media world -- good, bad or indifferent. Well, nothing. nada. It's really hard to predict what will cause readers to respond to a posting. I'm curious about what readers think, and there have been readers...google analytics tells me so. For the last 30 days there was only one posting that brought over 50 in one day. The regular visitor's see-saw is from a low of 5 to a high of 12. I'm told that for a new blogger focusing on a somewhat narrow topic that's not bad. I'll just keep thinking of ways to attract readers with an affinity to my themes/topics and also ways to attract readers, period.
No Computerless Learning Blues, the new NCLB song for bridging the digital divide. From my other blog: Just heard the NPR report on the success of One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) in the boondocks of Peru. Laptop Deal Links Rural Peru To Opportunity, Risk ... OLPC has been controversial ever since first proposed by Nicholas Negroponte, the computer science professor who started the One Laptop Per Child Foundation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Negroponte defines it "an education project; it's not a laptop project." Launched in 2005, the nonprofit OLPC aims to equip poor schoolchildren in developing countries with durable, inexpensive, networked laptops. The comments on the NPR story website attest to the problems with the project. Ranging from problems with batteries that require electrical rather than solar power to revive, to the objection made by officials of some 3rd world countries: Cheap, toylike laptops are digital crumbs that reinforce the traditional, racist view of western industrialized nations. True, OLPC hasn't accelerated and caught-on with the speed and acceptance originally envisioned, but it is already showing impact. It's also becoming an opportunity for charitable contribution. Amazon has a video clip ad Learn About OLPC's XO Laptop in a buy-one-give-one campaign. Links in the blog http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/
I really hope that under the new administration, we get closer in this country to at least one laptop per family, with children having equal time online with adults. Our current economic crisis might need an upgrade of 'a chicken in every pot'. How about 'An internet-connected laptop in every home'. It's not a silver bullet to solve the many complex problems in educational equity but it is a greatly enabling condition. I raise my mouse and toast I'LL BLOG TO THAT. I'LL BLOG TO THAT.
MIght as well give it a plug here. Below is part of quote from another blog for the Colorado event. Get my POV in my other blog. http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/
What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 21st, 2009, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado, USA This is their site http://colearning.wikispaces.com/Home+2009
The challenge is to dive into this 2.0 world that I've only been participating in online. Beside my colleague Christie, and Bryan Person, I've not participated face-to-face with the best and brightest in conferences such as the one announced above.
Welcome to the home of the Edublogs Awards - the annual event where the best education blogs of the year are decided by, well, you! Voting is now open for the 2008 awards http://edublogawards.com/
Visit site to vote and also to check out blogs to subscribe to if you are interested in education
For several years I've been following Study Circles http://www.everyday-democracy.org/en/Index.aspx a very interesting process because it is congruent with my & my orgs view of family participation in public education. http://www.idra.org/Podcasts/Resources/Effective_Parent_Outreach/ http://www.idra.org/IDRA_Newsletter/June_-_July_2008_Parent_and_Community_Engagement/Authentic_Consultation/ The idea of 'deliberative democracy' is in the spotlight with the Obama network expecting input and dialogue, which is more possible with all the available social media tools. What can't be replaced is authentic conversation. I recall Bryan Person's questioning of community existing simply or primarily through online networks & I agree totally. Bryan's blog quoted " Defining community. Tim said his Disaboom community "empowers people to be who they are and connect with people like them;" it provides a place for members to build "genuine and meaningful relationships." Tiffany noted that her members can meet and communicate can meet with people they know -- or don't know. " To consider large numbers of Facebook or LinkedIn contacts as a real community is illusory and naive. But if you do have a strong, on the ground process such as Everyday Democracy, then you can accelerate, augment and extend the power of that real community through blogs, and all the fabulous social media tools that exist. http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/2008/12/ncpie-artists-formerly-known-as-study.html
DId it! Blogged on the sucker. Connectivism. Constructivism. Academic Conversation. http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/2008/11/wild-warped-web-george-prof-parents.html I'm getting alliterative: the previos was with Bs, now it's with Ws. Wild Warped Web. too precious. But those titles seem to hook more readers, so I"ll keep doing it. As an educator I really am a dedicated constructivist and I like what those folks are calling connectivism. I know that the bloggers I quote will at least see what I'm saying, once.
Just hit some blogs that I'm barely understanding but I think they are in an academic dialogue that connects very directly to my concerns about education, learning and poor people. I'm going to have to re-ingest, chew slowly, hope my mental acid reflux doesn't kick in, and come back and report my findings. I did post some comments but they might seem off topic or naive to that rarified academic conversation. We'll see, out here in the sticks of south Texas. These are the sites I'm talking about: http://the-ed-rush.blogspot.com/2008/11/helping-george.html http://lisahistory.wordpress.com/ http://lisahistory.wordpress.com/2008/11/13/paper-3-resistance-reassessment-retooling/ And I still don't know what "TrackBack URL" frigging means.
My comment to Jennifer Fox's http://blog.strengthsmovement.com/?p=139 We must create the public will to support the resources $$$ our children merit, deserve and need. I’m glad for you and the rest out there with the vision, the charisma and the writing chops to keep the vision focused on children’s assets. The taxpayer relief movement focuses on physical property assets as if those are the ultimately most important and tangible…and most in need of defense from ‘bad govmint’. California used to have a fairly good educational system until Prop. 13 and the ‘taxpayer relief’ brand of common (as in lowest common denominator) sense took hold and now that educational system is pretty much going down the toilet. Money and resources for public education make a huge difference for our economic future. (I’m personally more interested in justice, compassion and the furtherance of the democratic dream, but I don’t think that sells these days.) The harsh truth for the long haul: you can’t have a secure economic future without equity and excellence in public education. More than the Department of Defense budget, more than the bailout of our private sector big-betting gamblers that are sinking the economies of the whole world, we must, as a nation, decide that our children are our future. We must act and vote accordingly.
My latest post in blogspot, http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/2008/11/equal-air-time-but-you-have-to-be.html begins, "I'm blogging at a very interesting site socialvoice.liveworld.com. Another blogger, much more experienced, is Judith's blog: Through the virtual looking glass - online focus groups" I'm hoping to get readers of my other blog to explore this blog site. I'm very interested in reading other blogs and sharing what I find interesting through my own blogs. I'm also trying to bridge the social groups and networks that I am part of that don't participate in computer communication networks with this 'social media' world of online networks. I want to keep a strong connection with both worlds without idealizing or damning either.
Just posted on my other blog. http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/2008/10/twitterers-that-blurt-plop.html Political conversations are dangerous for me because I'll type blindly and hit the send key faster than my spellcheck function is running and worse, before I filter out irrational emotional outbursts. Of different consequence is simply using the blog as a pulpit or soap-box. I forget how much I dislike being proselytized. If asked about my purposes for blogging I will state my criteria really about futhering dialogue and critical thinking I would like to believe that what I post is for a broad audience and I am reaching out to others who think differently but can be appealed to through logic and careful word-smithing. I'm not so sure my writings meet those standards. As Henry Beard would say in Latin "Manifesto nescio quis lapsus stultus factus est" (There's obviously been some sort of silly mistake.)
Or maybe it's just that the readers I want to reach and could be quite useful in guiding/mentoring me are still not reading my blogs.
I have taken time to answer questions in several of the Linked In groups I've joined and I don't think my responses have been well received, unless there is no meaning to be taken by no further response. I do notice that other responses are usually connected to a service or product the responder is selling. But then that is the nature of LInked In...it's about getting jobs, finding professionals and services to hire etc.
Some mentors are good: pithy, on target and quite useful. with patience for those of us new to this social media world B.Person, B.Solis etc.
My organization's annual Texas attrition study is out. It's been over 20 years that we've been tracking this information and there is much greater acceptance of the data and consciousness of the challenge. But as is true with any recurring information that is consistantly negative, the challenge is to energize ourselves. What action can/must we take to change this? The data are cause for action because our social and economic future can be affected. The attrition rates are not printed in indelible ink on non-perishable materials. The numbers are human beings, our children, and with and for them we can envision a future of possibilities. But we must take action. See the reference below. Texas Schools will Lose Many More Generations of Students http://www.idra.org/Press_Room/News_Releases_-_Recent/At_Current_Pace/s
I just posted a piece in blogspot. http://parentleadershipined.blogspot.com/2008/10/which-social-media-waves-to-surf.html This theme's becoming redundant in my writing, but partially it is an attempt to attract the attention of those who have already solved the puzzle. I asked one person I had worked with briefly how Linked In could be used for community development and social action purposes. She has yet to respond. A year ago I had asked one of my social media mentors how to create an online community and network for educational social change and I got a vague answer. I know it's not just one tool, nor is there a predicatable result from creating an online network, but it is clear that if a critical mass that will result in a much greater impact on social issues is to be sought, there have to be specific counsels on the use of particular tools that might produce those results. What do I use, inwhat combination with what other tools, to get what kind of a result. Or are these questions many are asking? (And what's this TrackBack URL: right below this box? So many things, so puzzling to this old man.
Up to now, my most popular blog entry has been the Conversation Prism by Brian Solis. I now know this because one of my geek/techie co-workers showed me how to get my Google Analytics to work after a frustrating month of getting no data. But one reader's reaction caused me to do some serious stepping-on-the-brakes: "Thank you for the link. Although I am not part of this original conversation I feel a need to always point out that there is always a divide that we often neglect to acknowledge when it comes to working with our Latino community. Although the model that was presented covers many bases, most if not all the components highlighted by the colorful flower is web or computer based. I would have to say that a great deal of our Spanish speaking community has been left behind or are on the wrong side of the computer/technology divide. Therefore any outreach efforts or opportunities that exist to connect with them are through other sources, including personal one to one community contact - Just some thoughts. " This is so true. For those of us who are interested in the community that happens to be poor and is struggling just to put food on the table and keep a roof overhead, it is somewhat fanciful and impractical to give them information about online resources. Even if there is a computer in the home, dial-up connections (slow and frustrating as they can be) are an added expense that many can't afford. Many education advocates point to the technology divide as the biggest equity chasm these days: any child with a computer and internet access at home has a clear advantage over the one that doesn't. This reminded me of Bryan Person's comment about social media connections not necessarily being a community.
Nonetheless, there are efforts that some of us are carrying out to directly address this challenge. A couple of years ago I wrote an article about a project in south Texas where we were availing ourselves of the natural connections between Latino students and their families. I'm going to drop in the middle section of the article: Organizing the Youth Education Tekies "...the participating students decided to form a group to support the ongoing technology connections for their families. Few had computers at home, and even fewer had Internet connections. All of the students involved had ample technology skills and access to computers in school but were not active users of their e-mail addresses because of the lack of access to computers outside of school. In most cases, they also were the translators for their parents and other adults. Historically, in the large migrant stream from south Texas to the many seasonal farm work sites in all parts of the United States, families have had a great dependence on school-age children to be the linguistic go-betweens for families that are Spanish proficient. With a commitment from IDRA to support their efforts, 15 students gathered on a Saturday and formed a group. After extensive discussion, they agreed upon their vision and goals: >Help parents to be strong defenders of an excellent education for all children. >Provide the leadership of youth through technology. >Be technology bridges for families and strengthen family connections. >Develop personally through the use of technology. They asked ARISE, a grassroots organization in the lower Rio Grande Valley, to be their sponsor and organized themselves under the title of Youth Education Tekies. ARISE http://www.arisesotex.org/Home.asp is a collaboration of five separately incorporated non-profit organizations each dedicated to building community so that families feel strong from within. http://www.idra.org/IDRA_Newsletter/March_2006_Student_Engagement/E-ruption!_Bridging_Language_and_Technology_-_Educational_Leadership_Across_Generations/ So, those of us who are advocates for the Latino community, or any other community for that matter, who for economic and social reasons does not own or have easy access to computers, technology and the internet, have to continue with the tried and true, face-to-face and personal, communication approaches that all effective community organizers and change agents have always used. Yet, those of us who have the technology and the tools must accelerate our own understanding and skills in using them. After all, one of the factors that facilitated the pro-immigrant rallies of a few years ago was the connection that so many young Latinos had and availed themselves of on the internet. Therefore with complete respect and support for real-time, all-bodies-and-souls-present-in-the-sam e-room communication and organizing to take critical action in support of the betterment of the community, I will continue to find ways to inform advocates about the tools and the possibilities to support leadership, advocacy and change for the better in all communities that are economically disenfranchised and culturally discounted by the institutions and powers-that-be.
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