P-O-R-T-A-L is not a four letter word

‘A Dame’s School’  We’ve come a long way . . . .

Originally uploaded by National Media Museum

Ah, technology and its promises. Ease of use, improved communication, anytime-anywhere learning and living.

What? You’re not buying it?

First, let’s review how a typical family with a child in each division might be using “technology” to participate in the USM community over a 24 hour period. (Okay–so it’s my family.)

10th grader: Check the English Literature blog, the Western Civ blog, the Facebook group on Latin 2, the portal for homework updates, do a webassign for Chemistry, and do vocabulary sentences on the Sophomore English wiki.

6th grader: Check the portal for homework (compare to assignment notebook), enter answers to History on e-Learning site blog, re-enter the answers to History on e-Learning site forum, check French wiki (after Mom reminds you) for assignment, check out lunch for tomorrow.

4th grader: Check portal for homework (compare to assignment notebook); attempt to sign on to GoogleDocs via Google, attempt to sign onto GoogleDocs via portal; beg mom to send email to teacher so you have work for weekend.

Mom: Check portal for all homework, be sure to check French wiki, read sophomore English blog (What? I used to teach high school English!), download US announcements, email Frau Jaeger about school picture order form 10th grader forgot to bring home, check 6th grade History site, check portal for grade comments, read Friday Folder/Friday Footnotes/US Update, read email from teacher about GoogleDocs, . . . .

Dad: What’s a wiki?

I’m guessing, given the number of kids on Mr. Matera’s site last night and the note home from Mrs. Ptak about GoogleDocs, and the extension of Mrs. Kendall’s composition assignment last week, and [insert your story here] that there are still some kinks to work out in “extending the learning experience out of the classroom and into the home.”

Still, I thought it was pretty cool when my 6th grader did the take home quiz for History online. And, you know, it’s nice to have some window into what my 10th grader is doing in school. It’s great, too, that the 4th grade class is learning about GoogleDocs now–saves paper AND reduces lost papers.

So, learn your portal user name and password, set up your NetWildcat account, maybe even update your profile (Really–you have a profile waiting to be updated on the USM portal).

Most of all, be patient. And see what you can learn about USM and what our children are learning.

World Wide Web for you, number 1

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Check out two blogs from members of the USM community:

1. Chuck Taft’s Taft in the South blog, chronicling his trip through the deep south and his observations about the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. Be prepared to 1) learn and 2) be awed at the opportunities our kids have to learn from Chuck.

2. USM upper school student blog on their trip to Tanzania.

Here’s from their second post:

Why are we going to Tanzania?

Here is the story.

During the 2005-2006 School Year, the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) began this program to bring students and schools from around the world together to address global issues. Using the book by J.F Richard, High Noon: 20 Global Problems and 20 Years to Solve Them, NAIS framed a series of activities, then set the teams in schools to work on projects. They allowed schools to sign up in pairs or on their own and in many cases, assigned the global issue for teams to work on. You can read more about the program at www.nais.org/challenge2020. In the fall of 2006,USM signed up and was assigned two teams–one of them partnerd with International School of Moshi, Tanzania. We also got the task of poverty to work and study with our parnter school, and then implement a solution in our local areas.

And what are you doing today?

When you go the blog, be sure to click on the bottom to the “next entry,” to see additional blog entries. Otherwise you’ll miss our kids’ smart comments and observations about this extraordinary learning experience.

Enjoy reading!

Eee-gads, Fullerman! Gadfly goes Web 2.0!?

Okay–so that headline is a little “inside baseball” for the handful of friends and colleagues who have stumbled on this blog. So, a little background. . .

A part of my day-to-day activity is committed to education reform efforts. I’ve been at it for 21 years (what’s the emoticon for “dumb-founded?”). “Fullerman” is my nickname for Howard Fuller, my boss, and one of a handful of national movement leaders around school choice. Gadfly is short for Education Gadfly, the editorial voice of the Thomas B. Fordham Foundation’s enewsletter and podcast.

So big news in the education reform community–and actually pretty exciting, if you tend to agree with Gadfly. They have launched a blog. Some might say “finally;” others might says, “Oh vey.”

For why Cindy is excited and intrigued, you need to know that just yesterday I asked Steve Hargodon, founder of the social networking site Classroom 2.0, “Where does Web 1.0 end, and Web 2.0 begin?” He was a guest on our webcast, Parents as Partners, hosted by edtechtalk.com. Like most things in this changing communication/social networking scene, I need to experience it to understand it. Still, Steve’s explanation is pretty good: go to our archived webcast to learn more from Steve’s perspective.

So, Gadfly was apparently feeling hemmed in by the constraints of Web 1.0. A blog, one of the more popular tools in the Web 2.0 world, would allow Gadfly:

“to replicate the interactivity of our office water cooler, to show what goes on at Fordham “behind the scenes,” so to speak, well before the next study, the weekly Education Gadfly, the podcast, or the op-ed ever goes primetime.”

And they want to invite you (or me, for that matter) to join them:

“Why not, we thought, take some of these discussions to the internet and invite everyone to join them? Why not expose our conversations for others to see, add themselves into, and improve the final result? We think and argue education policy all the time and suspect that many of you would enjoy being part of the conversation—whether you’re a teacher, a concerned parent, a school board member, or a wonk.”

If you’re interested in education reform (choice, standards, assessment, governance, scientifically-based educational practices, autonomy in education–did I miss any, Gadfly?), this is a good place to go. (The post at this minute is about Obama’s Pennsylvania comments from former USDOE appointee Mike Petrilli).

If you’re not interested in education reform, I guarantee that someone is out there blogging on something you’re interested in, and doing it because they are looking for your feedback. Check it out.

Got Web 2.0? Teachers and parents invited to learn

Fellow parent advocate Lorna Costantini invites parents and teachers to join the conversation about Facebook, blogging, texting, voicethread, wikis, feed readers, Twitter, webcasting. . . . on her blog, Parents as Partners.

Her big question in this post: How are teachers teaching parents about Web 2.0? She writes:

“It is apparent [in blog postings on Internet censorship in schools] that parents, in their absence and by insinuation, are faulted for driving the bus on censorship. Parents complain and administrators listen.
With that in mind, I ask where are the learning opportunities for parents to create their own classroom? Their own personal learning network. A classroom that allows them to experience what their children are learning. Parents, well informed, can make their own decisions and by developing a parent/teacher personal network, can drive change.” (Bolded text is mine).

At University School of Milwaukee, Matt Montagne, the middle school technology teacher, pulled together, at parent request, a study group on Web 2.0 tools. He’s created a wiki for the parent group. He’s video streamed the sessions live and archived them.  He’s shared it with people internationally (thus his–and now my–connection with Lorna).

I’m participating and, believe me, while the learning curve has been steep, “learning by doing” has been very powerful.

I’d invite teachers and parents interested in learning more to pick just one tool and try it out. Facebook is fun and, if your child already has a page, he or she might just invite accept your “friend” invitation. (See my first post on this blog).  For teachers, trying out Facebook is a great way to think about how you may need to adapt your curriculum–kids know how to use the tools, but you still have the wisdom that only experience can bring.

And if you’re a teacher or school leader already using these tools to teach, come post on Lorna’s voicethread (look for the cartoon) and talk about how you’ve invited parents to learn about that tool’s use in your school.