The Future of Education: a futurist's perspective

Z. Stewart MacLean, a fellow ed. tech. blogger, recommended an article titled "The Future of Education" by Thomas Frey, executive director and senior futurist at the DaVinci Institute.

I read this somewhat lengthy article which predicts drastic changes in the educational culture as we know it today, and was struck by the plausibility of Frey's ideas. I would strongly recommend this article to anyone interested in the future of education. I've done my best to summarize some the key points below. 

First, Frey  makes use of a term that I have now heard in two different places: disruptive innovation. This is the same term used by author Clayton M. Christensen in his book Disrupting Class. From what I have read, disruptive innovation is an idea that is not initially accepted or heralded by a large number of people, but is embraced and developed by a small band of "disruptors." Overtime, the innovation improves, drops in price, and gains popularity. Suddenly, the innovation becomes so popular that it replaces the industry standard seemingly overnight. Many industry giants are toppled by disruptive innovation. A perfect example of disruptive innovation is digital photagraphy.

In the context of education, on-line learning is the disruptive innovation. It is not the industry standard, but is slowly gaining market share and popularity. The traditional classroom is still the standard in education around the world. 10 years ago, on-line education was a thing of the future. Now, the Sloan Consortium is reporting that over 1 million k-12 students are taking on-line courses. The disruptive innovation of the past is rapidly becoming the standard of the future. 

Back to the article by Thomas Frey...

Frey believes that on-line education will become the standard form of education, but two things must be developed before this can occur:

"The primary missing pieces are a standard architecture for an organic courseware module and the software necessary to build this courseware. The solution to these missing pieces will be a participative courseware-builder that allows the general public to create courses on any conceivable topic.  We expect many companies will attempt to solve this problem, but the market will quickly gravitate towards the one it likes best."  

Frey believes that ultimately, an iTunes-like system will emerge that will allow individuals and companies to easily create and distribute original courses on every topic immaginable. Once the tools to easily create and distribute courseware is available, an explosion of content will occur similar to the way that iTunes created a market for podcasts. 

Frey's predictions go well beyond any that I have heard or read from other places predicting that all education K-doctoral degree, will be done virtually. Schools will become tutoring centers and access points for courses rather than disseminators of instruction. 

One prediction that Frey makes is not well supported or explained- confidence based learning. 

"Confidence-based learning is designed to ensure that learning actually takes place and mastery of a topic is achieved. It is much more than simply delivering information to students. It ensures learning by assessing precisely what people know and what they don’t know without guesswork and doubt skewing the results.  It then works to rapidly remediate a learner’s gaps in knowledge and confidence."

In a nutshell, as best as I can discern, confidence based learning is a type of assessment that has the ability to determine the confidence level of a person as they answer questions on subject material. This addition can account for test takers who are good guessers. While it sounds good in theory, Frey gives no insight on how this will be done or who has or is developing the technology to do it. This assessment plan is a key component to the instruction of the future.

I admit that I am a bit biased when it comes to discussing the future of education. I firmly believe that the majority of instruction will be done through virtual learning within the next 20 years. As a young educator with a long career in front of me, I am doing everything I can to position myself to be a player in the new educational environment. 

Assessment Case Study Idea

This year I have been using a student response system (SRS) to give quizzes to my students each Friday. The SRS set that I have is made by einstruction. I have been fairly pleased with the performance of the system. The hardware works great. The software is a bit quirky. 

The SRS software loads into MS PowerPoint where I create multiple choice quizzes. I then project the PowerPoint slides onto the screen in my classroom and a special toolbar appears at the bottom which interacts with the clickers assigned to each student. The neat thing about the system is that it provides instant feedback to students. As soon as each 45 second question ends the number of responses for each answer pops up. 

After the quiz, the SRS software can generate several different reports including customized study guides and instructor summaries. I print the study guides for my students and they use them to study for their tests. 

The initial response of my students to this system was extremely enthusiastic. They loved it! It brought new life to quiz taking. I used the system all during first semester and have continued this semester. The enthusiasm for the clicker quizzes has cooled considerably, however. 

After several students requested to take paper versions of the quiz instead of using the clickers, I began offering this option to all of my students. Those who preferred paper quizzes said that they didn't like the time limit for each question and had trouble focusing in the noise of the classroom. Because of this request, I now begin by asking if anyone would prefer to take a paper version (the questions are all the same) of the quiz instead of using the clickers. 

This week, about half of my students decided to take the paper version of the quiz instead of using the clickers. What shocked me was that 95% of the students that chose the paper version were girls! I was amazed to see that nearly all of the guys in my class wanted to take the clicker quiz and nearly all the girls preferred the paper quiz!

After noticing this odd reality, I decided to conduct some additional research. Here are the three questions that I would like to answer. 

1. Does the delivery method of a quiz (paper vs. clicker) have an affect on student performance?
2. Do girls do better on paper quizzes than clicker quizzes? 
3. Do guys do better on clicker quizzes than paper quizzes? 

During my next quiz I will ask all of my students to take both the clicker quiz and the paper quiz (I will disable the option of showing the correct answer at the end of each question when using the clickers). I will compile the quiz scores into the following groups: 

1. All students

2. Girls taking clicker quizzes

3. Girls taking paper quizzes

4. Guys taking clicker quizzes

5. Guys taking paper quizzes

As I analyze the data I will be looking for a relationship between the quiz delivery method and student performance. 

I realize that this is not a perfectly controlled experiment and that there are inherent flaws in my methodology (such as the fact that the quiz will be taken twice and the familiarity with the questions may affect student performance). The small sample size of my experiment will also lesson the impact of the results, however I hope that my trial will spark thought and debate on the learning differences and needs of students and on the effectiveness of SRS systems.

New Memberships

I accidently got five days off this week because of a "bad traffic day" (Thur.), a "cold day" (Fri.) and Martin Luther King Jr. Day (Mon.). With all of my extra free time I was able to look for some helpful teach tech resources. I found and became a member of three discussion boards/social networks: 

Teacher 2.0

View my page on Classroom 2.0

MACUL Space

View my page on MACUL Space

Wiimote Project

The Best Podcasts on the web...and why

 I love podcasts. They're free. They're educational. They're entertaining.

Podcasts themselves aren't exactly an earth shattering idea. Essentially they are simply on-demand radio broadcasts. What makes them so cool, however is the organization and portability that Apple has brought to them through the introduction of the iPod and iTunes. Although you don't need an iPod or iTunes to enjoy podcasts, these two innovations brought about an explosion of podcasts. 

The expansion of podcasts is rapidly increasing because of two new innovations by the creative minds at Apple. The first is the introduction of iTunesU- a special channel devoted specifically to podcasts created by colleges and universities. The idea began as a partnership between Apple and Stanford University. The idea was such a smashing success that Apple decided to open an official iTunesU channel. There are now thousands of universities represented on iTunesU. Hopefully the students of these universities aren't skipping class and listening to their lectures on their iPods!

After iTunesU, Apple decided to expand its educational offerings, opening iTunesU K-12 for "lower" educational institutions. This iTunes channel is brand new and has very little content at the moment. However if the past performance of iTunesU is any indication of future results, this section of iTunesU will soon be teeming with tons of terrific podcasts! 

While iTunesU K-12 is a great addition to podcasting, it's not the second innovation that has made podcasts so popular and useful. If a picture is worth a thousand words, than a enhanced podcast must be worth a thousand hours of traditional podcasts! With the addition of the video iPod, Apple also enabled individuals and organizations to create enhance podcasts which incorporate audio, video, and pictures. 

Watching an enhanced podcast is like watching on-demand educational TV in the palm of your hand! It's a great innovation and has vastly increased the popularity and usefulness of podcasts.

Listening to and watching podcasts can be a great way to learn new things and entertain yourself on long bus rides or while doing your taxes, however not every podcast is worth listening to or watching. The self-publishing aspect of the internet is a double edged sword: everyone has a voice, however not everyone has something to say. There are some great podcasts and there are some bad ones. 

To help you wade through the myriad of options out there, I present you you my top five podcasts: 

1. The Dave Ramsey Show

Dave Ramsey is a national radio host and best selling author who has the ability to make talking about financial topics interesting and fun. Dave is the Dr. Phil of finance. He tells it like it is and has a no-nonsense approach to life's challenges. The podcast version of the Dave Ramsey Show is 40 minutes long and is commercial free. 

Why I like it: 

• Entertaining host.
• Excellent information.
• Unsurpassed technical quality (audio quality, frequency of new episodes, RSS feed).

2. Free Is Good

Frank Miracola is the author of the Free is Good podcast which focuses on innovative, helpful, and free tools that teachers can use in the classroom. As a teacher myself, I have used several of the free software and web utilities that Frank has demonstrated on this podcast. Free Is Good is a great example of an enhanced podcast. Frank uses video, screenshots, and still pictures to demonstrate the use and utility of the resources he highlights. 

Why I like it:

• Practical information that is easily used. 
• Episodes are short and concise (usually less than 10min). 
• Videos show exactly how to use the resources. 
• Quality is very good. 

3. Science Friday from NPR

Ira Flatow is the host of the NPR program heard every Friday around the country which highlights science topics from astronomy to biology. Interesting guests and an engaging host make this a podcast worth listening too. 

Why I like it:

• Wide range of scientific topics-- you never know what you're going to get!
• Podcast episodes are divided by topic and are very clearly titled. This enables you to select the episodes that are of interest to you.

4. Ravi Zacharias International Ministries

Dr. Ravi Zacharias is a Christian philosopher, apologist and master orator whose confidence and clarity rivals that of C.S. Lewis. Ravi offers two podcasts- "Just thinking," a 15-minute daily podcast, and "Let My People Think," a 30-minute weekly podcast. Both provide challenging content that makes you think about life's greatest issues. 

Although these are both great podcasts, I should point out that neither is listed through iTunes. In order to subscribe, you will need to manually add the RSS feed provided here to iTunes.

Why I like it: 

• Short podcasts that take a long time to ponder. 
• Passionate delivery.
• Timely and relevant messages.

5. North Point Ministries: Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley is the pastor of North Point Community Church located outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Andy is a up and coming author and speaker in the Christian community. I particularly enjoy Andy's perspective on leadership. His book Next Generation Leader was a great inspiration to me when I read it this past summer. 

Why I like it: 

• Lots of dry, witty humor.
• Practical lessons for daily living. 
• Examples of leadership.

That's what's on my iPod. As I discover new, interesting podcast I'll be sure to post them here! 

Ann Arbor schools obtain on-line class waiver

Just down the road from me, the Ann Arbor public schools obtained one of the 11 waivers granted by the Michigan Department of Education that allows the students of the selected district to take some or all of their classes in an on-line format. The trend in education continues toward customizable, on-line delivery. Check out the full story on mlive.com.

On-Line Education in Michigan

Along with the state of Florida, Michigan continues to lead the way in public on-line education. Michigan became one of the very first states to require all high school students to take at least one on-line course before graduating and now they are moving toward offering fully on-line education experiences thanks to a special waiver from the DOE.

Editorial: Online courses prepare students for future

State allows pupils to take larger share of courses on the Web

The Detroit News: Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Read the full article

"One size never fits all where education is concerned. Some students learn best early in the morning, others late at night. Some understand material the first time it's taught, while others need to review it several times. And thanks to a waiver from the state Department of Education, high school students in 13 districts will be allowed to chart their own educational schedule by taking all or part of their course loads online..."

MACUL Conference Presentation

I am honored that my speaking proposal for the 2009 MACUL educators conference  in Detroit was accepted! My presentation is called "Wiiboard: making a smartboard for less than $100." This blog is a snapshot of my presentation.

Southfield Christian will be well represented at the 2009 MACUL conference. Two other teachers, Andrea Townsend and Karen Bosch, will also be presenting. I'm grateful to both of them for the encouragement and support. They are both amazing educators.

MI Learning Podcast Project

Once again, Apple is changing the way that things are done. 

First, there was the iPod. 
Then there was iTunes. 
Then there were podcasts. 
Then there was iTunesU. 
Enter iTunesU K-12. 

Apple has provided a platform for K-12 teachers to offer podcasts and enhanced podcasts (podcasts with photos and video) to students. 

The Michigan Department of Education and MACUL have teamed together to create a channel on iTunesU K-12 called Mi Learning. Right now, there is very little content, but that is about to change! 

MACUL organized a search for content created by educators to be featured on the Mi Learning channel. I submitted an application and sample podcast and was chosen as one of nine educators who will be creating content for iTunes. 

My unique contribution will be a series of 25 podcast that I am calling "labcasts." These video podcasts will demonstrate labs that can be done in high school level biology courses. Here are a few of the labs that I will be filming and posting through iTunes: 

• Termite Traffic—observations of termite behavior and application of the scientific method.
  
• Meiosis Poker—understanding reductive division.
  
• Yucky Yogurt—how to observe bacteria in yogurt.
  
• Dissection techniques—how not to hurt yourself
  

The timing of this opportunity was perfect- I had already decided to work toward filming all of my labs so that my students could watch them on their iPods the day before we perform the lab. Now I have a wider audience for my work!

My goal is to have all 25 labcasts complete by June of 2009. It's going to be a busy second semester! 

Setting Up Your Wiiboard

In a previous post, I created a list of the components that are required for a functioning wiiboard. I will now briefly describe how to connect everything together. The video below will describe how to connect your computer and wiimote. Written instructions can be found below the video.

1. Enable bluetooth

For some, this may mean enabling the blue tooth signal on your PC, for others, it may mean physically plugging in your bluetooth dongle. 

2. Connect wiimote

With your wiimote in hand, press the 1 and 2 buttons simultaneously. This will activity the bluetooth signal in the wiimote and enable it to be "discovered" by your computer. 

3. Search for wiimote

Exactly how you go about doing this will vary depending on the type of bluetooth adapter you have. On my computer, a little bluetooth icon appears at the bottom right corner of my screen, right next to the clock. When I right click on the icon, there is an option that says "add bluetooth device." They key is to have both your computer and your wiimote sending out a bluetooth signal at the same time. If the lights on the wiimote stop flashing and your computer hasn't discovered it yet, press the 1 and 2 buttons again. 

Your computer should search and then give you a list of all nearby bluetooth devices (if your cell phone is nearby it may show up as well!) Inidcate that you want to connect to the Nintendo Wii Controler (exact steps will vary depending on the bluetooth software you are using). When your computer connects to the wiimote, it will list it as a connected device. It should also indicate that it is a "human interface device" (just like a mouse or keyboard). 

4. Run smoothboard software

This part is a little bit tricky. Although you have linked the wiimote and computer, you aren't actually using the wiimote until you open up the smoothboard program. If you don't do this quickly enough, the wiimote will "hibernate" and you will loose the signal. Don't worry, it's longer than a few seconds. I'm guessing you have about 1 minute before the wiimote shuts off. Just don't go and get a cup of coffee or go to the bathroom until you have opened the smoothboard software.

If you have completed steps 1-4 correctly, the "player 1" light at the bottom of the wiimote should remain lit.

5. Aim wiimote and calibrate

Properly aiming your wiimote at the projected area will take a bit of experimentation. The Wiimote has a infrared camera inside of it that projects out at a 45 degree angle. The goal is to align the wiimote so that it can "see" all of the projected image.

From your computer, click "calibrate" on the smoothboard interface. (If you are a former Palm Pilot user, this step will be familiar to you!) A white screen with a target in one of the corners will appear. Using your Infrared light pen, click in the center of the target. Repeat with the targets in each of the corners. 

Smoothboard will tell you how much of the screen the wiimote can see. The higher the percentage the better, however I have never gotten much above 50% but haven't had any performance issues. 

I have, on occasion, set my wiimote too far to the left or right, resulting in a dead zone on the projected image (i.e. I click, but they wiimote can't see the light emitted from the IR pen.). If this happens to you, simply re-aim your wiimote. Remember- every time you move your wiimote, you must recalibrate!

You are now connected, calibrated, and ready to go! Enjoy using your white board and congratulate yourself for saving thousands of dollars!