Headmaster's Notes

Cloud Computing

The second point made in the NMC Horizon report discusses the implications of cloud computing.  What does that mean for the student, the teacher and the institution?

The acceptance of cloud-based applications are changing the way we function.  Now, it does not matter where the information is stored or what device we choose to use to access it, we just want to be able to get to it whenever or whereever we want.  Globally, we are going to become accustomed to a model of browser-based software that can work on any device or computer brand. 

This truth will make computers become appliances, and will start saving big dollars for schools and institutions.

Educators roles revisted due to the abundance of resources accessible via the Internet

The first point made by the NMC Horizon Report is a recognition that the role of an educator is changing due to the abundance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet.

Schools are now considering the value that each resource adds to a world where information is easily obtained everywhere and at anytime (thanks to mobile devices).  In such a world, it is increasingly important to mentor students in the assessment process of determinining accurate information and how best to use that information.

The role of the "teacher" is changing.....

 

Emerging Technologies and their Potential Impact on and use in Teaching and Learning

I recently read The NMC Horizon Report: 2011 K-12 Edition.  It is a publication produced by the New Media Consortium.  They examine emerging technologies impact on teaching, learning, and creative expression within the environment of pre-college education.

Over the next few weeks I will be commenting on the five trends they have cited as key drivers of technology adoptions for the period of 2011 through 2016:

1.  The abudance of resources and relationships made easily accessible via the Internet is increasingly challenging us to revisit our roles as educators.

2.  As IT support becomes more and more decentralized, the technologies we use are increasingly based not on school servers, but in the cloud.

3.  Technolgoy continues to profoundly affect the way we work, collaborate, communicate, and succeed.

4.  People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.

5.  The perceived value of innovation and creativity is increasing.

Graduation Ceremonies - A validation of an Independent School Education

I did not need to look any further for a validation of the education of Admiral Farragut Academy, than to sit and listen to our graduates speak at our Commencement Exercises this past weekend.  The pride that we, our staff, had in listening to three graduating seniors talk about Admiral Farragut, their education and their experiences was tremendous.

The students were poised, articulate and demonstrated public speaking skills that most adults would envy.  The messages that they passed on were exceptional and insightful.  All three shared their journeys, one from South Korea, one from Russia and one from right here in St Petersburg.  But, as they all talked about their teachers, their friends, their activities, their families and what they learned by going to Farragut, I could only sit in admiration of their poise, their presence, their leadership,... their message.

Great job, Kamila -  Great job, Joon - Great job, Michael -

- but also, great job Admiral Farragut Academy - Those students along with their fellow classmates will make you proud.

 

More Parenting Comments

After my last blog, which I received numerous positive comments, I was discussing parenting with a group of parents which had read the blog and commented on how some people could misinterpret my intent.  

I believe parents should be their child's biggest advocate.  I believe parents should be active and involved in a child's education.  When I have discussed, in the past, allowing a child to "fall down", I simply meant, that the process of "falling down" or struggling with a task or class is an important part of growing up.  The process of overcoming an obstacle is of critical importance in raising a self disciplined, self reliant child.

Parents; be an advocate, be a supporter, be a partner with your child's school.  But try not micro manage every aspect of your childs life, because when he or she moves out, you will not be with them.

 

Why do we Parent differently than our Parents?

It is so interesting to me to watch parents, or for that matter, myself, parent in today's world. 

Earlier this year I found myself checking my son's grades on a daily basis.  Why? Because I could.  I could talk to my son at every meal and discuss his latest homework grade, his latest quiz, or his latest test.  I could quiz him about his effort, his study habits and his grades every day.  I could see a less than perfect test grade at noon and be able to launch into a lecture about the importance of grades and college selectivity by dinner time. 

I found I was building my child's anxiety tenfold at the age of twelve.  But why?  Did I think if I served as my son's conscience, work ethic and calender reminder, he would be a better student?  Sure, he probably would have a higher grade or two at the time of my harassments, but at what price?  When did I expect him to develop the life skills I want my son to have? When does his lack of effort equate to a poor grade, therefore, a lesson learned.  When does he become independent, self-disciplined and mature?  His performance was probably driven by getting his father off his back rather than his own desire to do well for himself.  After all, they are his grades.

I know for a fact that my parents did not see grades until they were sent home.  I know my anxiety was high at report card time, and I knew that their feeling was that my grades were just that, MY GRADES.  It reflected my effort, my self-discipline, my aptitude.  My lessons and hard knocks were learned early on.  By the time I reached third grade or so, I knew what was expected of me and what I needed to do.  Now, truth be told, I had several grading periods after third grade that I let myself (and my parents) down, but I learned from those mistakes.  I learned what I needed to do to succeed, I learned what effort was needed to be put forth, and more importantly, I knew they were my grades and I had to live with the consequences of them.

Too often todays parents are all over their children.  Micro-managing every grade, reminding their child of every event, and on occasion (believe or not) doing their child's work (common practice at elementary schools today).  What lessons are being taught in these cases?  Unfortunately we, as educators, usually can predict a child's success in college by the level of independence they demonstrate during their schooling.  This is not saying, a child, whose parent is constantly hovering, does not eventually get it, it just might take a couple of hard knocks at the college level.

As we look to our child's future, we, as parents, occasionally need to be reminded of how we were parented in the past.  We turned out OK!

Shelly Blake-Plock Blogging about The Top Eleven Things Teachers Need to Know about Technology

 

 

1. Technology is not a monolith.

Technology doesn’t tell you what to do and it doesn’t force you to behave in ways you’d rather not. Technology -- particularly social technology -- is whatever you make it. Use what you want, leave the rest. Mash it up, alter it to fit your needs, customize it, and own it. If you can’t do that with your technology, then you are using the wrong technology.

2. Technology is not a monolith, but many technology providers are monolithic.

There is very little that any teacher will need that can not be had via open source options. If your administration is spending thousands upon thousands of dollars on software and licenses, they are literally throwing their money away. They need to know that. And you need to be the one to tell them.

3. The Digital Age is not going away.

We have already produced babies who will see the 22nd century. So let’s stop trying to prepare them for the 20th. The Internet as it exists today is equivalent to the Model A; let’s be wise for once and not build the highway of the future with the notion that our kids are going to be driving Model As on it.

4. Meeting strangers is a good thing.

So often our fears about technological connectivity center around the fear of what sorts of strangers our students might bump into out there online. Fact is: we should want them to meet strangers. That’s the point. You don’t make the world better by isolating yourself; you make the world better by engaging with it and sharing opinions, ideas, and observations with all sorts of people. Our task as teachers -- and as parents -- is to help our kids understand the difference between healthy and unhealthy relations between strangers online. One way to do this is by modeling the behaviors we expect of digital citizens in the classroom everyday. That's not an option anymore; it's part of our job description. We are all health professionals now.

5. This ain’t your pappy’s technology.

Your students bring more tech power into school in their pockets each morning than you managed to procure spending untold hundreds of thousands of dollars over the last thirty years. All those folks who complained and questioned tech budgets back in 1983 and 1996: they were right. You were wasting money on gadgets with little educational value. But, guess what? Then it all changed. With the advent of the mainstream World Wide Web and subsequently with the development of Web 2.0, technology itself actually became something different. It was no longer about the hardware. It was about the network. Which brings us to the present: Mobile Cloud Computing. The new paradigm is about your information, your friends' information, the information of strangers, and how these informations all coalesce in the Cloud. The future is now. And despite the fact his job might be on the line, don't let your old school IT guy tell you otherwise.

6. The Digital Divide is not the result of technology being expensive.

The Digital Divide is the result of a failure of imagination and the poor -- indeed practically criminal -- allocation of resources. Does your admin realize how little it costs to bring Wi-Fi to your building? Does your admin realize they are spending more on textbooks in many cases than they would on netbooks? Has anyone ever sat down with your admin and demonstrated how to hack past your Internet blocks and filters? Does your admin realize how that money is wasted? Does your admin realize that your students can access the unfiltered web via their cell phones? Do 70% of your students arrive everyday with cell phones and yet your colleagues still say technology is out of your reach? It's time to rethink.

7. The most important thing we can do right now as teachers is to be campaigners and advocates and organizers for free universal Wi-Fi Internet access.

We work in the service of education. We give students information and we teach them how to use it. That’s exactly why we have to be the ones to lead the fight for free and universal immediate access to information. We should demand WiMax systems in all of our cities and suburbs and Wi-Fi grids throughout the rural hills and valleys. We should also insist that all highway corridors be made Wi-Fi accessible so that travelers can have access to the Internet as they are en route to whatever destination. Internet Access is a matter of fulfilling the promise of democracy. Internet Access is a Civil Right.

8. When it comes to authentic tech integration, parents are the best friends a teacher can have.

You have parents who use social media and Web 2.0 technology on a daily basis whether at home or at work. So why does your school treat it as taboo? Bring parents in to your building, collaborate with them. Have tech savvy parents demonstrate real-world applications of technology and help bring non-tech savvy parents up to speed. We are educators. We educate. In light of the changes going on in the new Digital paradigms, that's going to mean that we have to educate the whole community and allow the community to educate us.

9. Kids need to be taught digital citizenship.

Hate using YouTube because of the filth in the comments? Then teach your kids that commenting on YouTube is a part of their responsibility as digital citizens; because in all social media it is the users who decide the content. Digital citizenship being a daily component of classroom learning, in eight years time let’s see what the comments on YouTube look like. And that doesn't mean YouTube needs to be 'cleaned up'; rather, much of the passion related to YouTube happens in the comments and it's often raw and real (as well as sophomoric and prejudiced). But it tells us alot about ourselves and we shouldn't be afraid to help our kids navigate it and become critical participants in the dialogue. Never forget that you are a teacher: you aren’t ‘making’ the present, you are ‘facilitating’ the future. So don’t be discouraged about what you see now, rather be encouraged about what your teaching will let tomorrow look like.

10. Specific devices and tech apps become obsolete.

Don’t dwell on that. Instead, recognize that the Digital Age is more about a new networked and immediately connected way of thinking; that’s not going to change no matter whose name appears at the top of the browser or on the back of the smartphone. Obsolescence is the handmaiden of innovation. Get used to it.

11. You must be fearless.

The old rules are exactly that. The old system doesn’t work: just look at it and see for yourself. Everyone knows this. The admins know it. Your colleagues know it. The kids and their parents know it. So let’s stop tip-toeing around it. It’s time to do something about it. This is 2009: demand the impossible, again.

Posted by Shelly Blake-Plock at 10:14 AM

First Day at a Boarding School - Memories are Made

As I witness 130+ students move into the dorm this week, I could not help watch the interaction between the students and recall the many, many conversations I have had with alum over the years about their first day at Admiral Farragut Academy.  The stories surrounding their first roommate, the first officer who gave them direction or who was kind and helpful.  Stories that began on that first day of AFA, the boarding school, and evolved and developed into the continuing story of a lifetime.

You see, at a boarding school, life-long friends develop.  I can not tell you the countless stories I have heard, that involved the first day at AFA and continued with stories about school, college years, weddings, and ended by stories of visiting each other with wives and kids over the years.  Boarding schools are special places. 

So today, I paused while watching formation and wondered, what pair of roommates who met this week, will stand up in each others wedding, will send cards to each other for the birth of their children and will stay in contact for the next sixty years.

God Bless Them.   

Are Educators "adapting"?

Recently, I received an email from a Technical Director from another highly respected school in the state of Florida.  She was researching schools who have become platform independent or "gone Google Apps", or at least, were conducting several school applications in the "cloud".

And I was struck by one of her questions.  "Do your students adapt to Microsoft Office after they graduate from your school?"

My first look at the question, I did not think anything of it.  I began my reply by stating "of course", but then I had an "aha" moment.  Although, I kept my answer short, sweet and professional, what I wanted to write was something like this:

You got to be kidding.  Students today, can adapt, they are mailable, they are self taught, and they definitely can use knowledge of one word processing program and apply that knowledge to another word processing program.  I recently bought my wife an iPad.  In the time I took it out of the box, looked in the box to find a manual, directions, or some sort of guidance, my children powered it up, loaded three applications and sync it with our wireless in the house. Can students adapt?  What do you think?  You are the one who can not adapt.

We, as educators, need to foster the ability of our students to use multiple digital platforms to collaborate and communicate.  We need to understand what world our students are being raised in.  The digital world.

Quiet Endorsement of Admiral Farragut Academy

Several weeks ago I attended our Elementary School's "Donuts with Dads" morning where about 50 dads came out in attendance.  As I looked over the attendees I was struck with the number of fathers who are also graduates of Admiral Farragut Academy.  Fathers who attended the school in the seventies, eighties, nineties and one who graduated earlier this century. Fathers who thought highly enough about their experience at AFA, that they wanted those same experiences and opportunities for their children.  

I can honestly say that this is a true indication of a strength of the school and the impact we are making with our students.  What a better, and quiet endorsement of what we do here every day than educating second and third generation Farragut families.   

For the record, over 10% of our Elementary School is made up of second generation Farragut Families.