Podcasts and HPI

     Our task this week was to find and report on an educational podcast. I was surprised to enjoy this assignment because I am a "music in the car" kind of girl - but - I really enjoyed listening to several episodes of BAM radio network's "K-12 greatest hits: the best ideas in education." I found it by searching for "education" under podcasts on iTunes. You can search by the title to find it specifically. It is a great collection of topics and each episode is under 15 minutes. Some of the topics covered in the episodes I heard included: leadership, finance, behavior, early childhood, and personal teacher development such as decision fatigue, professionalism. I could actually see myself continuing as a subscriber and listening on a weekly basis.
     I'm not sure how I would use podcasting in my job. I do think, much along the lines of some of the other technologies we have explored, I could use a podcast as a way to link up with other music therapists and share sessions. Because my field is an auditory one, I could envision using the technology to record and broadcast a set of sessions with a particular goal, for example: working with a specific speech and language goal using music. Maybe by connecting with other therapists we could record a session and then a discussion of the technique and the results. It would be interesting to try.

Human Performance Improvement
      Part two of our assignment is exciting to me. Hopefully I can avoid my soapbox here, but this is something needed in education in my opinion, and I think it's coming (or is here already) anyway. Education feels more like a business environment all the time and because we are a public entity, the public wants to get the most bang for their buck. I did not realize such a field as HPI actually existed but I welcome it. Our organization is currently under review by the Future's Group. This is consulting group made up of past education professionals that comes into your organization and reviews it from the top down. They take tours, visit programs, interview staff, and make cost cutting and efficiency recommendations. It has been a stressful season to say the least, mostly because people naturally expect the worst and we already feel we are as cost effective as we can possibly be. I have been all over people trying to encourage them to promote  themselves and what they do; and to look at this as an opportunity to show what creative programs we do have. To me, the idea of human capitol is what we need to be emphasizing here. We can no longer say that everything is fine and what we do still works. I say if there is a more cost effective way let's find it before someone else does!  Of course one key to it working well is for administration and employees to be able to work together. This seems to be very difficult in the education realm. I have been union president for the last 2 years, a role I will not continue, and I believe major changes on both sides need to occur to truly take public education to a better place. HPI could be a way to keep public education alive and kicking but it requires a change in thinking on both sides of the aisle. I think it's worth exploring and pursuing.

Embedded items

This week we have to embed several items into our blog. I think I may have done some of this before so hopefully it will be an easy assignment! (insert hope here)  Let's begin with an image:

Snoopy is often my muse so it's only appropriate to use his pic here!

Simple if it works correctly! Next is a video. I was torn between a clip from Cheers I recently used with a student. We are working on a power point presentation of Kelly Clarkson that he will present to various classes using switch technology. We created the power point utilizing alternative communication and Tony will run the power point with technology that allows him to change slides by activating a switch with his head. Tony has very limited physical abilities but has a great sense of humor and communicates with adapted devices very well. He particularly enjoyed this clip of "The Kelly Song."

On the other hand a proud mom always like to show off! My son marches for "The Big Red Machine" and if I do say so myself - they are pretty great!

The Big Red Machine

He plays trombone, by the way...

Finally - Google Maps

View Larger Map

I'll be traveling to Paris this June with above mentioned son and his French class! This is a life long dream of mine and we are very excited! Plane trip aside, it should be a fantastic adventure.

Okay - time to see if all this works...

Week 5 photo week

This week's assignment was interesting. I enjoyed reading the chapter and dealing with the scenario for our assignment. I think this type of circumstance will become more common and the better we get at dealing with it the better off we will be.

As for the photo sites: flickr was pretty easy to set up. I used to have a photo bucket account years ago but that one was no longer active...again my lack of keeping up with technology proves troublesome for me! I hope to utilize my photo account more regularly; I have a habit of taking pictures but never doing anything with them. It is easy to lose pictures when you operate that way.

my flickr account

The writing assignment involved a scenario where technology was provided for a 7th grade class, both at school and at home. I had to speculate why it might not have influenced teaching interventions and how to remediate the problem. The following is my solution...

In this scenario some obvious possibilities for minimal effect on instruction exist. First of all there may not have been enough training, for teachers and students and possibly parents, to make the experiment a success. It could be that this program was simply “announced” and put into place without input from the people involved and there may not have been any specific guidance as to what was supposed to happen with the technology. Perhaps the teachers were not encouraged to use the computers innovatively but they simply became another tool to complete homework or write papers. Secondly, I could see from a home view, the use of these computers being considered supplementary or a great opportunity to have internet for a year. While the use could have been limited by policy, it is easy for the internet and computers to become a leisure experience rather than an educational tool. Parents and students without motivation or knowledge of the potential for learning may not be able to utilize laptops and internet access for this goal; and if the work was not getting done in the home setting, the teachers would need to continue using a more traditional method of instruction. Finally, and more than likely, a problem could occur in the resistance of the people involved to the intervention.  Throughout the chapter “resistance to change” is mentioned in nearly all the scenarios. In this case it appears to be a “top down” change and the teachers may not buy in for that reason. There also seems to be a concern about teachers being replaced by technology and naturally they would resist embracing increased use of technology if they felt their jobs were being threatened.

I feel the main issue that needs to be addressed in this scenario is the resistance to change. The first way I would remediate that is with some advanced planning and making sure that all participants understood the vision as much as possible. I think change and integration of technology is inevitable and at some point we all are going to have to accept that to a certain degree. That doesn’t mean that we should just throw people in to the mix without preparation. The teachers in the example probably have various degrees of computer skills and if their skills were on the low side and they did not have adequate training, they would naturally default to a comfort zone. In addition, I feel the families involved would need some serious training and would also need to buy in to the experiment. It may be better to ask families to participate and involve those that can and will commit to the idea, at least initially. Perhaps if the first year was successful for those who participated then a more extensive project could be launched for subsequent years. I definitely think, with technology, slow and steady change is going to be better accepted and more successful for most people. 

Week4 - Delicious!

We are into week four and finally utilizing a tool with which I have some experience...that being said I had some adjusting to do. When I first used Delicious a year or so ago, I downloaded the buttons that stayed on my browser. When Delicious changed things a while ago, I didn't bother to follow up with it so I basically had to start over. Apparently I didn't use it as much as I thought I would!

I don't know about the value of using Delicious in education. I suppose it lends itself to many of the tasks we have already mentioned - networking between coworkers or professionals, class projects, developing networks for students. At this point I think it boils down to which tool you like and with one is easiest for you to use. One advantage to Delicious is that students and teachers may find themselves using various computers and devices that access the internet. Having your bookmarks available at any given time may be very convenient and a time saver. For me, Delicious falls somewhere between RSS feeds and Wiki. I am more likely to use it than RSS because it is my own bookmarks and they can be organized in a way that makes it convenient to use. I think I would lean toward the Wiki for networking, planning, and group work however. It just seems like a better platform for me.

My Delicious

The Trends and Issues chapter was very interesting to me as I hadn't really thought about Educational Design and Technology as a career. My focus has always been on what is available to me and who can teach me to use it correctly! In many ways the chapter reminded me of my own struggle to define my vocation,  Music Therapy, and define it for others. When a field is relatively young I think definitions change and evolve frequently as it seems this one has. As you gain experience you realize the potential and the influence of your profession and naturally seek to define it more clearly. This seems to be the path of Ed Tech according to this chapter. I must confess that when looking at this topic I expected to explore various programs and types of technology (computer, iPad, communication devices...) and didn't think along the lines of designing learning strategies and assisting learners. I also like that the definition opens the field to all types of learners, specifically with a focus on workplace learning. In our organization we talk about creating "life long learners" and technology is important along the entire spectrum of learning.