Talkr down again

I don't know what to think about Talkr (the engine that creates audio versions of my blog entries). They are down again. I know that they are up and comers, but they've been down more than they have been up.

I'll stick with them for a week or so. If they are not up in that time I'll have to remove their code from the template. It's too bad. It's a good idea and the price was right (free).

EFF: Bloggers' FAQ: Student Blogging

Wow! This publication from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) rocks. It is written for a teenage audience, but it equally informative for us old folks. Legal issues surrounding our new publishing abilities in the world of blogging (and beyond).



Check it out. There are also numerous links to other FAQs and resources.

Koreans try out English lessons for fetuses

In the "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING" category, a Korean business is doing a good business in providing pre-natal English lessons.



Though I am a believer in providing stimulus to the fetus, claiming that you can teach a fetus a language is absurd. Pak is obviously a quack. I can even believe that you can get a child used to the rhythm and intonation of a language. Maybe this will make the child more susceptible to learning the language later in life. However, trying to explicitly "teach" functional language to a fetus is just ridiculous.



I would love to see ANY research that suggests this might be beneficial. If so, I will withdraw my criticism and apologize to Mr. Pak for calling him a quack. I'm not going to hold my breath :)

MySpace

A couple lists that I belong to have been blowing up with messages regarding MySpace.com. It is a very popular social networking website that offers social networking, photos sharing, websites, and blogs (and I'm sure much more). It may be different from Friendster, but I don't see the differences yet (though it might be a little more customizable).

I decided to go in and take a look for myself. I set up an account and they gave me this link (Find me on MySpace and be my friend! -- cheesy, isn't it?).

Now back to the discussion. Many on the list were complaining about their students setting up accounts in MySpace. They argue that it is not a healthy space for children (under 18) do to the explicit nature of the advertisements, member spaces, and the fact that this space is rife with sexual preditors. I can only guess that the last assertion is correct. The first two assertions are absolutely true. There is no way that this site (yes, the entire site) is appropriate for children.

If you click on the link above, it takes you to my space on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/linguavita). This is probably the safest place on this network. However, the banner ads can get somewhat explicit. This place is only "safe" if users don't click on anything else on the page. I couldn't seem to keep in my space. I was always getting bounced out to the general MySpace pages, which all show a liberal amount of cleavage and women in suggestive poses.

I can see the point of those who say, "But children see worse than this on afternoon TV." That's true too. However, I think that this dialogue began in response to a suggestion that it be used with students. I really wouldn't even be comfortable using this with my adult students.

I think that it's apparent that I do not recommend that this be used with students, however I do not agree with those calling for MySpace to be boycotted, petitioned, sued, etc... That is just ridiculous. While the advertisements are explicit, they are not pornographic. The user spaces might be, but how can you control this? It's impossible. Put on parental controls and block the myspace domain.

There really seems to be a healthy, adult (mostly early 20's) community forming in this space. While I don't hold it up as an example of a child-friendly application, it is an exemplary social networking application. I only have a couple complaints in this regard. The sheer size and number of advertisements get in the way. Also, most of the spaces cannot be limited to "friends." Some content can be, but access to your space is public (including your pictures). Also, it would be a better application if you could limit discussion forums to your friends (or even 2nd or 3rd order friends). A public forum gets too unwieldy. Nothing is going to form in there but chaos.

SuprGlu

I feel like I may be the last person in the world to blog on SuprGlu. It is an interesting product and I'm just beginning to realize it's benefits.

I started a site at http://danielcraig.suprglu.com. What this service does is work with your various RSS feeds and organizes them based on your specifications. The SuprGlu staff has indicated that they don't see (or want) SuprGlu used as an aggregator (essentially repurposing other people's content). They state that it is for personal use, which I think means your personal feeds. Right now they limit you to 10 feeds, so this wouldn't go very far with a sizable blogroll.

SuprGlu integrates well with Flickr and del.icio.us. It also looks like they will be doing a lot of work on it in the near future. I think this service is an up and comer. I look forward to future developments.

Problems so far:

1. There are keywords, but no search. Keywords are great, but they are nearly worthless unless you can string keywords together to focus your search.
2. I haven't figured out how to search other Suprglu sites using my keywords or a search. There has to be a way, but I'm blanking so far.
3. While I understand their reasoning for 10 feeds, If I want to feed my blogs (personal and educational), del.icio.us, Flickr, discussion forums (i.e., Moodle), and other sources I track/develop for my classes, the 10 feed limit could be restrictive.

Talkr Update

It's strange, but Talkr has been down for at least a few days now. Being down this long makes me think that they might be out of business. I emailed support and haven't heard anything yet, but, of course, if their network is down they wouldn't receive my email either.

I'll keep it up on this site for a few more days. I think that it's a useful service and I hope that they haven't folded. It's like books on tape (or iPod).

Plus, it took me a few hours to figure it out. I hope all that work wasn't in vain.

Getting Spiffy

Great Clips - only the best for Dan's balding head :-)

I was starting to look a little shaggy and I've got a presentation tomorrow. It's always good, even if it's a departmental presentation.

More info on that later.

Talkr

Thanks to AJ at Effortless Language Acquisition for recommending Talkr. I think that this is a great idea. I have been wondering how we could use a page reader as a Podcast and Talkr seem to have done this.

I'm still working out the bugs (getting summaries only), but I have added both the feed for the entire blog (button on the bottom, right-hand side of the page) and a link at the bottom of each post to the audio.

Now you may ask, what is this good for? The computer-generated voice is unnatural sounding, there are many pronunciation mistakes, etc.... Why not just add audio to the blog? All of these are good and valid criticisms. My only answer is, it is as good as it gets for someone without the time or will to do both a text entry and audio entry to their blog.

Even with the obvious drawbacks, this service is amazingly good. Computer readers have come a long way, with some very natural transitions (linking and merging) and it works on your existing RSS feed.

Happy 230th Birthday to the USMC

One of my domains is registered through GoDaddy.com. They sent me an email today with a link to their Birthday wishes to the USMC. Click on the link below to see it.

Happy 230th Birthday to the United States Marine Corps!

This is a Flash movie that takes a while to load.

CNN.com - Teacher pay: Tenure or performance-based? - Oct 31, 2005

Every month or so you can count on an article regarding performance pay for public school teachers. The most recent comes from our friends at CNN.com. This is regarding a program in the Denver schools.



Part of me thinks that performance pay is the way to go. Why not subject teachers to the same pressures that exist in the corporate world. Produce or perish!



However, the other side of me says, "wait! Teachers are the last line of advocacy for our children. Do I want their jobs and paychecks forever being used against them when they should be advocating for change?"



I don't care of John and Sally corporate live their lives as yes-men/women. Most modern businesses live and die by their innovation in the field. The market will determine whether they survive or not. Education is propped up by our tax dollars. Even when it fails, people get paid.

Craig.....Daniel Craig

It's official folks, I'm the new 007! Yep, just call me Bond...James Bond that is.

I have been dreading this moment for years now. A few years ago, a couple of my sites were on the first page of Google results for "Daniel Craig" and "Dan Craig". One terrible day I noticed that fan sites were pushing me out for this guy "Daniel Craig." It's about to get worse. Daniel Craig has been a name in British circles for quite a while now, but his appearances in movies such as Tomb Raider and Road to Perdition have gone nearly unnoticed by the American public. This is about to change, however.

Daniel Craig was just announced as the new James Bond. This means that his fame is now going to be global. Just hanging the Bond moniker on him will boost his exposure world-wide taking him from that guy in that movie to Daniel Craig...you know. The new James Bond.

You may be wondering, "Why is this guy so worried"? Well, if you haven't noticed this blog is on my domain...danielcraig.com. I've received a number of fan emails in the last day since the announcement and I'm sure it will just get worse. I guarantee that the comments here will be filling up with either fans or trouble-makers in the near future. Neither of which I am too excited to have as visitors. This is a site for language and educational technology professionals (as well as some personal postings) and I don't want it to become a repository for fan-spam. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

However, I would also like to congratulate him on scoring this role. I've enjoyed him in a number of movies and talk show appearances and look forward to seeing him as 007.

Scott Craig Shaking It Out to YMCA

I'm going to stray a little from the topic of ESL, but this might still be on target for instructional technology. The following video was shot with an old digital camera with a questionable video function. There was no sound, so that was added using Adobe Premeire 6.5.

Not only does this show what can be done with shoddy video equipment, but it could also be used as a visual at the next intervention for a student with substance abuse problems.

Unfortunately, I just noticed that this video is nearly impossible to make out on my CRT monitor (the old fashioned kind of monitor). On my LCD it's not as bad. Try boosting the contrast if you have a problem.

Strange Brew

My favorite coffee shop (Strange Brew--Greenwood, Indiana). It's right around the corner from my house, which makes it a nice walk on a sunny day.

This is really my default office throughout the week. I tend to get up and work through emails, breakfast, bills, and other home "stuff" then I head over to the coffee shop. It is a locally owned, small business that I am more than happy to support (I try to always support small businesses in the area). It doesn't hurt that they make a mean cup of Joe! As well as other nice treats, including bubble teas, iced esspresso drinks, and the like.

They also offer free wireless through a G router which means that the service here is better than I get at home through my wireless (wimpy B). I therefore have the ability to access the Web, which is a good idea when most of my work and research is done online.

Party at rich's

Molly and Rob listening intently to Dad expound on life and love at the 'tween party....party in between Monica and Aaron's Wedding and Reception :)

Courtesy of Blogger Mobile (go@blogger.com). I'm really starting to fall in love with this feature. All I have to do is take a picture on my phone and send it to go@blogger.com. It is keyed off of my phone number and sends any pictures/messages to this blog by default. I really hate keying in messages on my phone, but I can send the pictures immediately and edit the content later.

Audioblogger

I posted about Audioblogger a couple months ago. Last time I went to post using this service their phone had been disconnected! That threw me off a little. I checked back with their site and found that they had a new phone number (415-856-0205). I called and found that my account was still in effect. I don't know what happened that they had to change their number, but it seems to be up and working again.

They did something different, because the default "Play" button changed as well. It is much better.

Start Something Homepage

Start Something Homepage



Well, it seem that Tiger does more than just Golf.



This is an interesting site. It encourages kids to reify their dreams and then set goals to accomplish those dreams. It comes complete with an interest survey, job descriptions, journal, and so forth. Check it out.



I think that this would be great for kids in general to think critically about there career choices and even encourage some young adults to consider careers and set goals to succceed in that career.

Chinese lagging in English

So what do you think this forecasts for the changing TOEFL test. It seems that the IELTS has a similar setup as the new TOEFL, though admittedly, I'm not too familiar with the IELTS (maybe someone can comment on this).

Inquiry Learning Forum

The Inquiry Learning Forum (ILF) is a collaborative learning environment for pre-service and in-service teachers.

The focus of of the project is on inquiry-based learning. This focus is supported by a large number of teacher videos that showcase good inquiry-based methods in the classroom. These videos include notes from the teachers and discussion forums to discuss the lessons.

The ILF is a great resource for teachers at all levels and I recommend that you check it out.

* Registration is mediated. ILF moderators will confirm that you are a teacher or student prior to activating your registration. This is so closely guarded because some of the videos have children participants visible.

Blogger Mobile

The previous posting was made using this technology. Blogger set up a system where I can post images from my phone by sending a text message to go@blogger.com (or email message I guess).

It's not bad. As you can below, it takes the subject field in the SMS and makes it the subject of the posting, it takes the image and puts it at the top of the posting, and it takes the text and adds it below the picture in the post.

Unfortunately, they don't do video yet. I can't wait until I can do that.

I posted a couple months ago (April - http://blog.danielcraig.com/2005/04/audioblogger.html) about an audio blogging service that I can call to add an audio posting to this blog. That is a need feature too. I'm just waiting for them to put it all together with built in vlogging, podcasting, and blogging in one nice package. Blogger will be even a greater powerhouse if they did this.

My office

My office. i guess you can say that technology isn't always pretty. This is a test of blogger's GO service.

-------------------------------

That is where the actually message being sent through my phone appeared. It also added this junk text to the message, which I have to blame Verizon for. They drive me crazy sometimes. The original "extra" text is below.

-------------------------------

This message was sent using PIX-FLIX Messaging service from Verizon Wireless!
To learn how you can snap pictures with your wireless phone visit
www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getpix.

To learn how you can record videos with your wireless phone visit www.verizonwireless.com/getitnow/getflix.

To play video messages sent to email, QuickTime 6.5 or higher is required. Visit www.apple.com/quicktime/download to download the free player or upgrade your existing QuickTime Player. Note: During the download
process when asked to choose an installation type (Minimum, Recommended or Custom), select Minimum for faster download.

CNN.com - U.S. world position in education slipping - Sep 13, 2005

I'm not going to dwell in this too much, but is the US really slipping?



Take a look at the CNN article and determine for yourself if we (assuming your a US citizen:) should be worried about this.

CNN.com - Testing hurdle for international students - Sep 23, 2005

There is a story in the CNN Education Section dealing with the new testing requirements for the TOEFL. They make an interesting assertion that "Asian" students feel that they will be at a disadvantage do to the way that English is taught in those countries.

Wow, amazingly insightful for CNN. I usually find them a little behind the curve on issues in ESL/EFL.

This will be interesting to see how/if teaching does change to reflect the test. Could this be a good instance of teaching to the test?? I doubt it.

However, it may make it easier for teachers to more inventive and, dare I use the C-word, communicative in the classroom. I have a feeling that drilling will still be a large part of the curriculum. The only difference being that the drills will be listening comprehension, prompt writing (highly structured), and, of course, grammar.

I would love to see some of the prompts that are offered. I'll have to go to the ETS website and see if they have some samples. I want to know what kind of audio/text prompts will be used. Are they authentic or contrived? We'll see.

CNN.com - Report: High school exit exams pressuring limited-English students - Aug 16, 2005

CNN.com - Report: High school exit exams pressuring limited-English students - Aug 16, 2005



It's about time this hit the mainstream media. It's been the talk of graduate seminars for years (at least since I began my studies).



Is it any surprise that English Language Learners (ELL), many of whom receive little support in content area classrooms, cannot pass tests based on content area standards? Of course not. Yet, the status quo at most schools remains the submersion model of ESL instruction. Krashen would approve of the amount of input that these students receive, yet it is far from comprehensible.



Content-based instruction in ESL must become the norm if we have any hope of our ELLs succeeding in school or beyond. This can take many forms from Bilingual instruction to Sheltered Instruction. Any way you look at it, we need to provide adequate support to these students.



It is not about passing state tests. It is about giving students a chance to reach their potential.

NPR : Illinois Lowers Cut-off Scores for Immigrant Kids

NPR : Illinois Lowers Cut-off Scores for Immigrant Kids



Bless NPR. What else would I do on that hour drive to work? :)



This is an interesting story regarding the testing of ELLs in Illinios. There are many more issues raised by the story than are answered.



The lead in makes it sound as if Illinois is simply lowering the scores required to pass the state tests for ELLs. Then they disclose that this is a different test than the non-ELLs take and the it was originally just a proficiency test. The passing rates for the proficiency test were oringally based on cut-offs for exiting the bilingual programs and entering mainstream classes. Confused yet? Listen to the story, it won't help much.



There are a few questions that come to mind that are left unanswered in this piece.

1. Which ELLs take this alternative test? NCLB allows for ELLs to be tested using alternatives to the state test only for 3 years after entering the US educational system. This piece makes it sound as if all ELLs take this test for accountability measures.



2. Are these tests used for accountabililty reporting? They shouldn't be based upon my understanding of NCLB.



3. How does this proficiency test assess academic knowledge? Many of the proficiency tests that I've seen are better at assessing "everyday English" than academic language, much less content area knowledge.



Lots of questions, no answers for now.

Dekita.org: Central Weblog Exchange

Dekita.org: Central Weblog Exchange



I think that the idea of a central weblog exchange is wonderful. I'm sure that this would work with many classes, but many in US K-12 would likely point out that their schools have restrictions against publishing public pages.



This is tough to get around. Either you have the teacher act as mediator, or you password protect the blog. Either of these would make an exchange possible, if a little difficult.



Maybe a blog exchange could act as a "key master" for these blogs? This would alleviate the need for exchanging and managing passwords. Maybe set up like a social networking site. Teachers could make "friends" with other teachers. These "friends" could then access class blogs.



Just some ideas.

CNN.com - U.S. schools lack adequate Chinese language skills - Jul 13, 2005

CNN.com - U.S. schools lack adequate Chinese language skills - Jul 13, 2005



Not too surprising for those of us in the field. I have heard this numerous times in the past couple years, but little has been done to improve the situation.



Many people are comparing this Japanese in the 80's but I think this is a foolish comparison. While learning Japanese would have been beneficial in the 80's, and today for that matter, China is a is a market that it just going to grow and grow and grow for the foreseeable future. While only time will tell, I would say that the sleeping giant of the 21st century is awaking.



Regardless of the economic and geo-political growth of China, we need to lift our schools out of a dated Euro-centric focus on language learning. I'm am a product of Spanish and Italian language classes myself and love both languages. Spanish has proven quite useful in numerous situations, but Italian has only proven useful in Italy and restaurants. Why not give students exposure to a language spoken by a billion people in China alone (assuming Mandarin is spoken by that many)?

CNN.com - Older students transforming some colleges - Jul 15, 2005

CNN.com - Older students transforming some colleges - Jul 15, 2005



These articles come along once in a while and remind us that not all college students are 18-22. In fact, the "Non-Traditional" Students seem to be making up more and more students. These students have different needs and different requirements.



I offer this in response to critics who insist that today's students are better in tune with technology than their parents. According to this article, their parents are in the same classes :)

MSN Spaces

MSN Spaces



I guess this is SharePoint for the public :)



They must be testing the waters with this release. I'm not sure where it will go from here, but I give a review of what I've tried to use.



Modules - This is a system based on what they refer to a modules. I'm assuming these are similar to portlet/webparts/etc. This allows you to easily add/remove and position functions on the screen. I like the ability to drag and drop the modules, which is not possible in other similar applications, such as phpNuke.



Access - You can open this space to the public, everyone on your MSN Messenger contact list, or selected persons.



Custom Lists - These are somewhat limited. It basically allows you to make link lists.



Blog - I like the Blog utility. It's a pretty good interface and gives all the basic bells & whistles that most blogs include.



Archives - I think that this is an archive of the entire space during that period, not just an archive of blog entries. I guess I'll have to wait a month to figure this one out.



Photo Album - This looks like the neatest module, but I can't get it to work. It won't let me choose pictures on my computer to upload. Hopefully this gets worked out soon.



All-in-all, this is an application to watch. The power of MS and their seeming ability to succeed even when coming to the market late may win out in the end.

Technology - Remembering Netscape: The Birth of the Web - FORTUNE - Page

Technology - Remembering Netscape: The Birth of the Web - FORTUNE - Page



An interesting, yet long piece on Netscape's role in the "birth" of the Web. It tends to drag on a little, but if you're like me, you'll enjoy the account.

CNN.com - Bloggers learn the price of telling too much - Jul 11, 2005

CNN.com - Bloggers learn the price of telling too much - Jul 11, 2005



This is a two-pronged article that addresses not only the dangers of adults posting personal blog entries, but also the growing danger of our children posting personal information on their blogs.



The focus on adults is that postings will lead to negative consequences down the road in their careers. The focus on children hints at this as well, but cautions more on the the dangers of posting personal information online that can lead to embarassing situations at least, not to mention the physical dangers that can arise out of letting the world view your personal information.



The article suggests a couple ways that we can education both adults and children on the dangers.

Bloggers Need Not Apply

Thank's for the heads up from EFL Geek

Bloggers need not apply

Here is a scary article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. However, it makes sense. When someone publishes a blog they open their writing (and sometimes these lives) to the world to see. So, we either hope that the committees are not tech-savy enough to find our blogs, or you hold your tongue and keep it professional. I'll vote the second option.

What this article doesn't address is the fact that most people who dish on their blogs tend to do it in an alias. While it might be possible to track someone down, it is highly unlikely that a committee will do so (hint, hint ;)

Photo Story 3

Microsoft's Photo Story 3 is an interesting product. They might have done something right for a change. This is an easy to use wizard that allows you to add photos, text, narration, and music. This is then formatted for one of many uses (i.e., email, DVD, high-res .wmv, etc...).

I made one of my a visit to New Orleans in 2005, check it out (8.5MB).

Now, making a program easy usually means cutting back on the customizable functions and Photo Story is no exception. Fine manipulation of object is really not possible as well as the encoding options. However, I can easily overlook these drawbacks given that the program is free and so easy to use.

At least it's sort of free. You have to validate your Windows license to get the software. So, if you're running clean AND have your product key, life is good.

RSS Popper

You can follow the link above to the RSS Popper site, but I would suggest downloading it from CNET.com.

With all the talk about Blogs, we can't ignore one of the best functions offered by the...RSS. Real Simple Syndication (RSS) is an XML document that tells an RSS aggregrator that there is something new on a Blog. If I just lost you, forget all about that tech talk. Just think of RSS as a way to "subscribe" to Blogs and get new posts (whole postings or summaries) sent to a program on your computer.

This is where RSS Popper comes in. RSS Popper is free and integrates with Outlook. While there are definately better aggregators out there, RSS Popper is the most convenient for me. I live out of Outlook and love anything that gets delivered there. Anything that I don't have to go search for.

Here's how it works.

1. Download and install the software (shut down Outlook first).
2. Then go to your favorite Blogs (including Podcasts) and look for a syndication link. Usually it looks like a square button that says something like--Syndication, RSS, Atomz (Blogger's default), etc....
3. Click on the link.
4. Copy the URL in the browser address bar.
5. Open Outlook.
6. Click on the RSS Popper button (this will appear after installing RSS Popper).
7. Choose "Edit Feeds".
8. Click on the "New" button.
9. Paste the link you copied previously into the "Link" field. The rest of the fields should fill in automatically.
10. Click "Ok", then "Ok" again.
11. The default settings will make a new folder for the new feed in the "RSS" folder that was created during install.

I suggest that you give it a try. This has made keeping up with my favorite Blogs (and news sites) so much easier and has really changed my view of Blogs as useful in education.

Let me explain the previous post

The last few posts have been my exploration of possible posting options through blogger. The first couple were audioblogger. These allowed me to call a central number and post an audio message from my cell phone.

The last one was entered through the browser on my cell. Blogger seems to have a decent wml pages for mobile access. The biggest problem in entering anything substancial using the keypad :)

From my cell

This message is from my cell. This is really slow :-)

Audioblogger

Here is a test message using Audioblogger. This is a service that allows Blogger users to call a central number and leave a message that is posted as an mp3 files in your blog. Kind of neat.

Trillian

Yet again, I'm a late comer on technology. If you're like me, you use an instand messenging software, but only one and that is where your friends have their account too. There are software applications out there that will free you from the constraints of a single messenging service. Trillian is an Instant Messenging software that aggregates many messenging applications into one application: AOL's AIM, MSN Messenger, Yahoo!'s IM, ICQ, and IRC.

This makes it much easier to chat with friends, family, students, and coworkers just about anywhere they have an account, yet you only have to deal with a single interface. However, one drawback is that you have to go to each of the supported appications and sign up for accounts with them first.

It's getting more and more difficult to keep up with the technology that helps you keep up with people. Products like Trillian help by requiring only 1 program to run instead of 5.

File Sharing on Social Networks

While this may not be an entirely new idea, I think that this article by Kaye lays out a solid framework for file sharing social networks.

I think he may be missing the larger possibilities with this approach though. First, why build something like this from scratch? Incorporation into existing social networking applications/site/etc... would supplement the activities of the community and add a level of shared community artifacts unparalleled in any existing community.

What to do now?

For the last month, I've exercised a lot of procrastination time thinking about what's next. The problem is that I've spent the last 6 years fulfilling requirements imposed by various graduate programs, leaving me little time to do projects that I would like to do. Not that I still don't have quite a few requirements and projects going on that I am responsible for, but they part of the status quo. What I'm looking to do are some small publications and development projects that can help define my skills set not evident in my ongoing research and job projects.

Many of these ideas are still in the brainstorming stage, including: social networking in teacher education, template-based multimedia instructional environments, and an ESL syllabi exchange. While these are much larger issues, they could also be combined into a killer teacher resource. That may be more than I can do in the short term, but surely, smaller projects within these areas would be doable.

Any suggestions for me? What is out there already that would fit the bill? (either instructional or other)

Performance Pay for K-12 Teachers

Original Story (until 3/10/2005)



It's something you hear about every so often. I wonder if it will finally come to fruition on a large scale.



This article discusses performance pay for public school teachers in a Minnesota district. It doesn't get into the specifics of how teachers will be assessed fairly (hopefully not another norm referenced test :)



Joking aside, I think this is a great idea. The problem of worthless teachers showing up for work for 30+ years really taints the profession in general. The rest of the world receives performance pay (including tenured professors), why not K-12 teachers?



Now, I know that this could be used for evil as well as good. The benefit is all in the implementation. A performance judged by a god-like administrator would be a big mistake and performance as a popularity contest with peer-reviewers would be just as bad. I'm not going to pretend to know the right combination, but I have to imagine that fairness can be achieved using a combination of the two.

CNN - Class seeks to rid kids of Appalachian accents

See original story



I suppose this issue never really disappears. As the world gets smaller the pressure gets greater to standardize everything, including the way we speak.



There was actually a great documentary done a while ago (can't remember who did it) that addressed these issues. I saw it in a socio-linguistics class at UIUC. It discussed how many people who made the move to larger cities or different regions, altered or even lost theiry regional dialects to fit in. Of course, then it's more than an issue of dialect, but more importantly an issue of indentity. Language is Culture is Identity.

Watching Spellings

I started a new blog today (http://spellingswatch.blogspot.com/) after hearing about the Spellings fiasco with PBS. She's up in arms over the fact that publically supported PBS was going to air a children's program that showed a lesbian couple raising children.



Not matter what your opinion is on homosexuality, this is reality. The argument is that (1) some tax payers think that it is not right to imply that homosexuality is acceptable and that (2)we often restrict what we show children to save them from reality.



As for the first argument, as a tax payer some people don't think that a white mouse (the cartoon character involved) and a brown mouse shouldn't play together or even a jewish mouse and a christian mouse. (note that one is designated by birth and the other by choice-both are social constructs as well-thus taking into account the two most popular beliefs on the "cause" of homosexuality).



As for the second argument, we mostly restrict what children on tv see if it is too violent, or sexually explicit. Is seeing two mommies together sexually explicit or in some strange way too violent? I don't think so. There is more sexual content in those randy telatubbies! Unfortunately, if you accept the first argument, then my counter-argument will likely fall on deaf ears.



As I've heard said before, wiping gay images from TV should be rather low on the priority list for the Department of Education. There are a lot more pressing issues in education.



Now, I don't want this new blog to be a Spellings bashing site, though it will likely turn into that. She's been in the news a lot lately and the only sites with a good spin are on the government sites :)

Let us brainwash your kids!

This is a great site (www.kids.gov). I don't know why it took me so long to find it. Now, it's not as bad as my title suggests. There is a whole lot of great educational content here for kids of all ages. It seems like a bulk of the content, though, is for K-6.



I was pointed in the direction of this site by an article in the December, 2004 issue of Wired (p. 46). They point out the more insiduous sites that the government has for kids: National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), FBI Kids, National Security Agency and the Central Security Service (NSA/CSS), and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).



These are a combination of interesting historical content and scary propaganda (see the NRO song list), but are definately a must see for techie educators.

Careful, they're watching you!

The Article

There was an interesting article in the September 27, 2004 Newsweek (p. 87), "The Connected Classroom," about a growning trend of providing parents with easy online access to student assignments, assessments, grades, and live video of classrooms.



Parents' Little Helper

The perspective author of the piece is that of a caring parent. I have to admit, that as a parent I would love what these services offer. This is a way for busy parents to get/keep involved in their child's education. In the good old days, we needed to wait for a parent/teacher conference or a report card. It would be nice to have this information at our finger tips.



The Evil on the Other Side

Viewing your child's assignments and grades is one thing. Who could complain about giving parents access to those items, but Video? How would you like to have a video camera in your office, cubicle, or so forth? I have to imagine that you would NOT want that. Of course, this is standard in many industries, banks, restaurants, hotels to name a few. I'm sure that these workers were no more thrilled than you would be, yet they were assured that they were just for security and wouldn't influence them in their jobs. That probably reassured folks until viewing of those tapes became a standard managment practice.



In an ever more complicated classroom, I want to not only see how my child is doing, but also how the teacher is teaching. I'm sure that this will become standard practice in teachers' performance reviews, I can't imagine that such a powerful look into the classroom will not be utilized by school administrators.



A Company

WatchMeGrow is a company cited in the article that specializes in the installation, support, and hosting of these solutions. Check it out. It doesn't seem like these solutions are anything more than a gimmick right now. The "streaming video" may stream, but it's a capture rate of about 1 frame per second. The only thing that you can do is see that your child is in the room and even that is difficult if they're on the other side of the room.



This isn't to say that they technologies won't get better in coming years. Higher bandwidth, better compression, and competition in the market will assure better products in coming years. I can't imagine that higher capture rates and surely audio will creep into these products very shortly. Once parents (and admins) taste this power, they'll want more.

Buried in Quals - mentoring, technology integration, and the sort

Hi folks,



Well, I'm buried in Quals here (Quals are kind of comprehensive exams for doc students). The good news is that I'll be finished with these on Feb. 14 (barring the necessity of re-writes or, heaven forbid, failure). The bad news is that I'm stuck researching and writing for the next 3 weeks and I'm already burnt out on day 5!



I've undercovered some cool, one-stop resources in my research on teacher mentoring (not that they helped me on the current paper).

1. Educational Technology & Society special issue on Integrating Technology into Learning and Working



2. NCREL's Professional Development Annotated Bibliography of Resources 2003



3. edutopia's section on Mentoring



4. A group at Iowa State University put together A literature review of teacher technology mentoring

I thought that all of these helped me on my way somewhat. I still wish that I could find something that details, "What is technology integration?" OR even more importantly, "What is good technology integration?".

I know that this is a tough question to answer and it doesn't seem to have been answered (adequately) as far as I can tell. The question is tough to answer because it relies heavily on context. It's kind of like the "best practices" holy grail. It may not exist. The best that I've gotten so far is that it is the use of technology to help students learn. Insightful, huh?