My last post was about my new grandson, Aidan. As soon as I wrote that one, it was my intent for the next post to be about my dad, Big Ed Johnson. Well, that is just going to have to wait. There is a local story here in Wisconsin, which is just too good to miss.

               In these incredibly troubled times, full of budget cuts and political tensions, there is a 7 year old boy in Orfordville, WI that is actually doing something to make his community better. He is doing this with no Federal funds, no State support, and even with little parental supervisor.

                As you will see in this article, young Benjamin has decided that Ordfordville needs a new public library and he is going about doing something to make it happen.

                As so many across the country choose to moan and complain about the state of things, this second grader is actually making a difference. This is especially striking here in Wisconsin as there are so many people who are so angry with the Governor that they are investing countless hours and millions of dollars to the Recall Walker effort.

                Rather than complain about it, or ask the government to fix it, this young man is just going out and doing it. 

Happy New Year, dear reader.

                As I look forward to 2012, I am happily reflecting on the wonder of the birth of our first grandchild, Aidan. That miracle happened on December 19th, so Aidan will be three weeks this Monday. His birth has brought many things into focus, but none more so that how rapidly life happens and the ever increasing rate of speed at which things change.

                Aidan’s birth has also re-energized my drive to have a meaningful impact on the US Education system. You see, Aidan will most likely be in the incoming kindergarten class of 2018. While that number seems H-U-G-E right now, it is hurtling towards us at an amazing pace.

                Leaving Aidan alone so he can nap some more, let us turn our attention to students who will be starting school this Fall. The incoming kindergarten class of 2012 will have no memory of a world without the iPhone. That’s right, the iPhone will turn 5 this summer and these children will assume that technology has “always been here”.

                Working with an older group of students, this year’s incoming college Freshman will be younger than texting. Yes, SMS has been around since December of 1992 when the first message “Merry Christmas” was sent.

                OK, so if texting is older than college Freshman and the iPhone is about the same age as this year’s kindergarteners, what will life be like when Aidan starts school, High School, College?

                What will the classroom, or learning in general, look like then? What about the work force? Will he be ready to face those new environments?

                More importantly, will you be ready for whatever he will be facing.

                Spend some time (although not too much) and think about then share your thoughts.

                Gotta run, Tempus Fugit and all that 

As you can see in this recent news release, some more districts that deploying 1:1 technology with iPads. While I’m very excited about the fact that some leaders are willing to try and see if this will work, I’m probably more concerned about the lack of deep integration of the technology into the curriculum and overall instructional plan.

                There is no logical way to dispute the fact that effectively integrated technology can make a night and day difference in the lives of individual students and in the overall success of whole districts. My concern is that the people making the decisions to buy the technology have very little, if any, understanding of what it means to do the effective integration.

                It is incredibly rare to see or hear anything about how the teaching, or the teaching environment, will be different once the devices (laptops, iPad, Whiteboards, whatever) are bought and handed out per classroom or per student.

                The real danger here is that schools/districts, many of them with the purest intentions, will be spending money on technology without making any, let alone equal, investments in adjusting the way instruction happens in a technology centric classroom.  These efforts will not be successful and the technology, not the humans, will be blamed. This will continue to sour the view of technology as a tool for reshaping instruction.

                It is my sincere hope that the schools in the article above and many others like them will find some way to be successful even without a good integrated plan. As we used to say back home “Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn ever now-and-again”.

About 2 weeks ago, ePals announced it was buying Cricket Magazine (not the sporting one, alas) and a series of associated publishing companies.

It is still early, so I'm not sure what all this means. On the surface we have a 21st century type social network company buying some very 20th century imprints. While there has been some movement by Carus to bring their content forward with some web and mobile stuff, they have hardly been moving rapidly forward. 

Perhaps this is a "if you can't beat them, join them" strategy for Carus??

On the other hand, does ePals really need this content or do they just need good content?

Will this end up beyond a great blend of companies that have excellent attributes from the 20th and 21th centuries? Will this end up being another AOL/TIMEWARNER debacle? 

Of course, we will have to wait for these answers. 

In the mean time, keep an eye on this one while you keep the other eye on what might be the next one.

  Fresh off another high energy and non-stop trip to NY for the combined SIIA/AEP series of events, I’ve just read an article I clipped from the USATODAY while I was travelling. As you see when you read the article, everyone from college students up to Sandra Day O’Connor agree that gaming is a great way to learn.

 While I’m excited about this mainstream push of gaming as a legit learning and instruction style, I don’t want everybody to just throw away the notions of scope-and-sequence or deep curriculum content building.

No doubt, there are some very exciting new edu_gaming companies in the market, not the least of which is Madison’s own Filament Games. Gaming, like interactive whiteboards, field trips, and chalk, all have a place in the educational process.

As we all move forward to incorporate more gaming into the classroom, a move I support, we must remember that real and meaningful teaching is still a key component of the overall learning experience.  Yes, we need more thoughtfully integrated technology in the classroom. We also need to include the teachers who are willing to understand how teaching in current day is so very different from the teaching they learned about in college, even if that was just 5 years ago.

When my son tells me that he learned more about European History playing Assassin’s Creed than in his 100 level classes, I completely believe him. However, I also believe this had more to do with his professor than with the gaming.

As with all things, we need to seek balance with our approach in the classroom. This is not a call for slowing down, not even one little bit. This is a call for having some sort of strategy towards the technology integration.

Go ahead, try stuff. Try lots of stuff. Just pay attention to what you are trying to accomplish and what is actually happening.

Let me know how it goes.