WebedtecH

We are in the midst of a project requiring us to ask our parents and staff a series of questions and aggregate the results in a very short period of time…and for free. We’ve used SurveyMonkey and others of that ilk in the past but I thought this would be a great opportunity to use the Form function in Google Spreadsheets.

Here’s how it worked. We created the form in Google Apps using the New: Form option. It’s a basic questionnaire with only six questions. All but one question is a rating scale response, in this case a scale from one to four. The form was ready within 15 minutes and I created a TinyURL pointing to the form to be emailed to the survey respondents.

Here’s where we hit a snag. No matter how I set the access permissions on the survey it kept asking users to log into Google Apps to complete the questions. Now since this is NOT what we wanted we needed a workaround. Our solution was a hidden content page on the school web site with an embedded copy of the form (there’s a button that generates the Javascript for copy and paste ease) and then send the link to that page to the recipients. Bingo! Responses started to flow in.

I would be interested to see if anyone is willing to take a stab at creating a quiz or test for students using the same methodology (or has already and is willing to share).

For years now I have wondered about the term “educational technology.” What does it mean? What does it contribute to the world at large? Does it actually make a difference to the students as they graduate and move into the real world?

There is a reason the word technology takes second billing in the phrase. Technology is a tool for helping deliver the education. The hammer and the pneumatic nailer are both tools that reach the same result. One is technical, requiring understanding and practice to use safely and at peak efficiency. The other is a hammer. Are we teaching our students and staffs how to use the nailer at the expense of the hammer or at the expense of being able to choose the right one at the right time?

Each new technology that comes down the pike with furor and fanfare will be replaced by another “superior” technology. Chalkboard to whiteboard to interactive multimedia presentation system. Has the message on the media changed or are we just pandering to a perceived short attention span mindset? “This is the computer generation people! They can’t learn without digital tech!” Funny, I still see groups of kids sitting around a teacher as she reads aloud and turns the pages of a (GASP) book! Why do we have such a hard time accepting the fact sometimes a teacher just wants to use a whiteboard?

Listen, I’m not damning all educational technology. You know me better than that. What I am challenging us with is getting off the high horse that technology is THE answer and look at it as AN answer. We must spend time working with our staffs and helping them think through their options. We also MUST be willing to accept part of a technology solution is the willingness of the user to use the system. We must also accept sometimes the most technical answer is not the best one.

Stop screaming in the echo chamber. Prove you know what you are talking about to people outside the technology field. Present intelligent discussion and options to your staffs and stop the Luddite branding if technology isn’t the chosen solution. In the end it’s all about Benjamin, baby.

Think I’m wrong? Bring it on.

5 Creative Ways to Get Around Roadblocks | LifeDev

LifeDev has a great article about getting around roadblocks in life.  I suggest you take the recommendations and apply them to the challenges you have in getting access to the technology you think you need in the classroom:

1. Recognize the roadblock as an opportunity for growth.

2. Get your creative juices flowing.

3. Engage others in the process.

4. Be willing to negotiate.

5. Remain optimistic about finding a solution.

Don’t pass up opportunities to make small changes rather in lieu of the “tilting at windmills” types of paradigm shifts so many ed-tech bloggers enjoy advocating.  Each step brings you closer.  The more you help your administration recognize the mountain is not that high or that steep, the easier the trip will be.

Ok, I posted a bit ago about how good an idea it was to create quick reference cards to helpful web tools for teachers (since the observation that they never throw out ANYTHING that’s laminated). Here’s the next step. I’ve attached a template I just threw together in Powerpoint (for lack of a more accessible tool) you can fill out and print. It’s sized as a 3″ x 5″ card, so with a single hole punch in the corner and a locking ring through them they should be very helpful.

Pioneering research shows ‘Google Generation’ is a myth - Annotated

tags: education, literacy, library2.0, research

The report Information Behaviour of the Researcher of the Future (PDF format; 1.67MB) also shows that research-behaviour traits that are commonly associated with younger users – impatience in search and navigation, and zero tolerance for any delay in satisfying their information needs – are now becoming the norm for all age-groups, from younger pupils and undergraduates through to professors.