The Accidental iPad-Yearbook connection

Sometimes the best ideas are completely accidental and the most simple. I grew up in an era when disposable cameras became ubiquitous and many people would put them out at social events and let guests document the occasion. The host would collect the cameras at the end of the party, develop them and select the best ones for preservation and/or distribution. This year I decided to purchase 5 iPads for use in the library, not knowing exactly how they would be used, but holding out a vague hope that the students would use them to read stuff. I put on various apps that provide access to reading materials including: Pulse, Follett Reader, Zinio, National Geographic, Classic Books, and quite a few more. However, the Apps that got by far the most use were related to the camera. Over the course of the year, students took hundreds of pictures, mostly in the library. I thought of the old 80s idea of disposable cameras as documentation tools! The iPads were documenting daily school life and figured I could capitalize on this. I decided to lay out a plan to download and store all of the pictures from the iPads on my computer and send the best selections on to the yearbook. I use Windows computers and when I plug in the iPads I get an Autoplay window that allows me to download all pictures and videos in a single click. I change the settings to allow tagging of pictures and then erase the pictures from the iPad. The output allows me to sort the pictures in batches. It takes very little time and I think I'm providing a valuable service by organizing these pictures. The yearbook sponsor was very grateful;and why should't she be. This simple project eliminated much of the need to send yearbook photographers around taking pictures and the pictures are real, spontaneous depictions of student life.

What is a School Technology Paradise?

In my mind, we really don't need paradise, but K-12 education could at least strive to be like major universities and colleges or even corporations and the Federal government. Here are some things that would be indicative of a School Tech Paradise:

1. Technology Department is user-centered-Nearly every school district that I am aware of has a tech department that rarely communicates with those that actually use their technology. The primary concern of school technology types seems to be on security and stability instead of usability. All that's needed is a little cultural change of expecting school technology personnel to focus on the needs and desires of their end users. This means consulting with teachers about software adoption.

2. School takes advantage of ubiquitous connectivitySchools today are making futile efforts to block student from using cell-phones and various internet tools while at school. In stead of expending our money and effort on a lost cause, we need to make efforts to train our educators to use this technology to promote learning and engage students.

3. Campus professionals are expected to use technology. All too often laggard teachers that don't use even basic technology are coddled and protected. There are places where large numbers of so-called professionals won't even read emails from administration. Fire them or make their lives miserable so they quit. Don't enable the techno-phobes. Expect them to adapt.

4. Technology is used to make school efficient. Eliminate irrelevant intercom announcements and replace them with occasional video, blogs, text messages and other tools that reach the intended audience. Teachers should prepare all of their lessons electronically so we don't have to deal with expensive copiers that break down. We can eliminate the practice of purchasing and checking out mind-numbing textbooks and expecting them to be returned without doodling all over them.

5. School Web sites contemporary and up-to-date!Look all around. School Web sites are a joke mostly, using design templates that are 10-years out-of-date, hosting content that is stagnant and rarely updated. Upgrading the schools' Web systems is the first step in changing our image and the way we operate.

6. No one looks for the quick fix. Decision makers in education often purchase technology systems for some narrow purpose, such as drilling kids on skills to improve test scores. These systems are out-of-date in a few years, and they don't improve teaching and learning. Integrating technology takes smarts, strategic planning and hard work. Unfortunately some companies seem to be very effective at peddling technology packages that promise easy and quick results without any positive influence on long-term school improvement.

Of course I could go on an on about specifics, but if we could just focus on these 6 things, we could make so much progress.

Why don't school districts get technology?

I've been a professional educator for 15 years now and worked in several school districts, both small and large. Throughout my life, I have kept up with the computer and technology world, but I am not exactly one of the early adopters that is always on the cutting edge. In the corporate world, I would be about average. However, within education, I am one of the technology gurus. Like Gulliver among the Lilliputians, I'm a giant. It's really kind of sad.

So the question I'm asking is why are school's so clueless when it comes to technology. There is a certain set of factors including: culture, tradition, law and policy that interfere with progress in implementing technology in education, but as an eternal idealist I believe that it is possible to change the system from within. This blog will devote a substantial number of words in diagnosing the problem of school systems' view of technology, which is essentially focusing on the negative, but I will hopefully spend much more time writing about solutions, practical ways to make a difference. This blog is for all fellow educators toiling in the trenches, trying to make education exciting and meaningful for our students, but who sometimes run in to obstruction from various official channels. I also welcome any administrators that want to make matters better. Happy reading. Let the fun begin.