Jeff Piontek: Author + Speaker + Teacher » Tumblogs

Apple targets for Apple Watch battery life revealed, A5-caliber CPU inside

Although Apple has said that the Apple Watch will need to be charged nightly, the company has not disclosed any details on how long the wearable’s battery will last. For the first time, people with knowledge of the Apple Watch’s development have provided us with the specific performance targets Apple wants to achieve for the Apple Watch battery, but the actual numbers may fall short of those targets.

According to our sources, Apple opted to use a relatively powerful processor and high-quality screen for the Apple Watch, both of which contribute to significant power drain. Running a stripped-down version of iOS codenamed SkiHill, the Apple S1 chip inside the Apple Watch is surprisingly close in performance to the version of Apple’s A5 processor found inside the current-generation iPod touch, while the Retina-class color display is capable of updating at a fluid 60 frames per second.

Apple initially wanted the Apple Watch battery to provide roughly one full day of usage, mixing a comparatively small amount of active use with a larger amount of passive use. As of 2014, Apple wanted the Watch to provide roughly 2.5 to 4 hours of active application use versus 19 hours of combined active/passive use, 3 days of pure standby time, or 4 days if left in a sleeping mode. Sources, however, say that Apple will only likely achieve approximately 2-3 days in either the standby or low-power modes…

Apple has also been stress-testing the Apple Watch’s battery life with pre-bundled and third-party applications. Our sources say that Apple is targeting 2.5 hours of “heavy” application use, such as processor-intensive gameplay, or 3.5 hours of standard app use. Interestingly, Apple expects to see better battery life when using the Watch’s fitness tracking software, which is targeted for nearly 4 hours of straight exercise tracking on a single charge.

As Apple is positioning the Apple Watch as a timepiece, the company has conducted numerous tests to determine how long it can run purely in time-keeping modes. We’re told that the Watch should be able to display its clock face for approximately three hours, including watch ticking animations, if nothing else is done with the device. However, it’s unlikely that most people would actually keep the Apple Watch clock face turned on for even three hours straight in a single day. When the Watch screen is not in use, the display is powered off, and the clock demands much less energy.

Considered separately, the active use app, clock, and fitness numbers sound very low, but the reality is that people will passively wear the Apple Watch for most of the day, actively interacting with it only for short periods of time. That’s why the Watch will be able to last the average user roughly a day on a single charge. We’re told that Apple has been shooting for roughly 19 hours of mixed usage each day, but that the company may not hit that number in the first generation version.

Sources tell us that battery life has remained a source of concern for Apple over the past year, and was a contributing factor for Apple pushing back the retail launch from an originally planned late 2014 to early 2015. To test real-world performance in a variety of conditions, the company has circulated a surprisingly large number of test units of the Watch: nearly 3,000 are said to be currently roaming around, mostly the stainless steel variant.

Apple has also been working to perfect the MagSafe-based inductive charging mechanism for the Watch, which sources indicate was responsible for slower-than-expected recharging times that hopefully will be fixed in time for the product’s release. The company has developed both plastic and stainless steel versions of the circular charger, potentially one for the $349 aluminum and plastic Apple Watch Sport, and the other for the higher-end models. It’s unclear at this point whether the company will sell multiple versions of the charger, as Apple has only shown the metal variant, though the Apple Watch Edition is said to ship with a special box and charging dock that may incorporate the stainless steel MagSafe connector.

As of earlier this month, the Apple Watch is on track to ship by the end of March. We previously detailed how the Watch will integrate with the iPhone via an iOS 8.2-based Companion application.

28

Jan 2015

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The Worst Apps for Kids

Be Sure to Check out the Latest in our Tech for Parents 101 Series: Taking Control of Technology Before Technology Takes Control of Your Family.

While it will be awhile before either of my children get any kind of mobile phone for their own use, I know several of their friends already have them. Since I won’t be able to hold out forever and because I want my children to be educated if they encounter questionable apps on friends devices, I thought I would get ahead of the game with this listing of WORST APPS for kids.

If you’re child already has a phone, you might want to take a look to see if they have any of these already installed on their phone. If so, consider doing a little more research so both you and they can make informed decisions about using them. Also, take care to check the age restrictions listed by most apps before downloading. Many parents are unaware they exist and few of the apps actually have any real age verification process. Want to make sure your kids can’t download ANY apps without your approval…..

1. On an iPhone go into SETTINGS, GENERAL, RESTRICTIONS. You’ll be prompted to create a code and then you can select any phone functions that you don’t want your child to have free access to without your okay.

2. On an Android go into SETTINGS, USERS. Select ADD USER /RESTRICTED PROFILE . You will be prompted to set-up a passcode and then you can choose what they can access on their own and what they’ll need you to enter the passcode to access.

*** HINT*** A speaker I heard recently suggested parents use a “four letter” word as their passcode. It’s something few kids would EVER suspect and it will certainly be easy for you to remember.

If you want to investigate any app not listed below, a great place to start is at commonsensemedia.org.

Kik

This is an instant messenger/social networking hybrid.Kids can send basic messages like texting, but also photos and files. Since it is used over the internet and anyone can attempt to connect with your child. This app allows kids to send private messages that can be very difficult for parents to access or which can be easily deleted. Since photos are involved, there is considerable opportunity for children to be exposed to inappropriate images. In addition, this is a commonly used app for sexting.

SnapChat

This app allows kids to send photos that once opened by the recipient disappear after 10 seconds. However, should the recipient grab a screen shot of the picture, it is now a permanent image that could easily be shared with others. Most children won’t think about the possibility of the screen shot and may be tempted to take risks sending things that they think will no longer exist after 10 seconds.

Poof (and similar apps)

Poof actually no longer exists, but it represents a whole category of apps that are constantly being created and then deleted, just to pop up as something new. These apps provide the ability to hide apps from being displayed on the phone screen. Therefore, parents who think they are being diligent about monitoring what apps their children are using, may not realize some have been hidden from their view.

Whisper

Whisper’s tag line is “Express Yourself – Share Secrets – Meet New People.” Already this doesn’t sound good for kids, right? Anonymity is the lure of this social meet-up app, where names are never used, but location can be provided within a one mile radius. Again, because kids are online when using it, they are open to anyone who wants to try and connect with them. This is yet another app with picture sharing capabilities as well, making it appealing for both cyber bullying and sexually oriented interaction.

AskFM

A social networking app set-up in a question answer forum that offers complete anonymity and no monitoring whatsoever by the company. This app has already been involved in numerous serious cyber-bullying incidents both in the U.S. and abroad. There is very little ability to control privacy settings and even if your child blocks someone who is harassing them, the individual can still access their profile and view all interactions your child is having on the app.

YikYak

Twitter meets texting with complete anonymity thrown in. A child can send an anonymous message of up to 200 characters and then using GPS, the message can be read by the nearest 500 other people using the app. No images with this one, but it still has gained in popularity quickly and has become a powerful tool for bullying and sexual content.

Vine

Used to make and share short videos, six seconds in length that loop over and over again, this app is actually owned by Twitter. A messaging function has been added since the app launched and those using the app can search based on location. As one would expect with anything that has video capabilities, explicit material is abundantly available and not hard for children to stumble upon. There has also been a trend of teens sharing videos of fights at school. Although Twitter has made some attempt to clean things up, it still is a questionable app for kids and is best used in the presence of parents.

Down

Here’s another with a great slogan – “The anonymous, simple, fun way to find friends who are down for the night.” Operating via a connection with FB, people can group their friends as just buddies or those that they’d like to get “down” with, for a little, well…you know. Those looking for a little, well…you know, can search their friends and see if they can find a match.

Tinder

The flame is a good indicator that this app is a little too hot for a young audience. Yet another hook-up facilitator, anyone using the app can upload their photo and then browse other’s photos indicating “interest” with a heart or a “no way” with a big X. The app will then suggest those nearby who have “hearted” you and if you like them back, a connection is made which enables messaging. I’m sure you can come up with how many ways this could go bad on so many levels without me elaborating any further.

Omegle

Basically chatting with a random stranger, either via standard messaging or with video. For added risk, the app can connect with a Facebook account and then will attempt to connect people using the app to those who have similar “likes”. There is nothing to keep kids from being exposed to inappropriate content and there is ample opportunity for personal information to be shared. When a conversation ends, the chat log can be saved and then a link will be provided that can be shared freely.

Chat Routlette

Combine the randomness of roulette with spontaneous video chat, meaning you never know who you’re going to be paired with or what they might show you. Google it, and you’ll discover that it’s not something anyone should want to be a part of, let alone a young person.

Voxer

I’ll admit, this one sounds kind of cool and I could see it being useful in some situations. This app enables you to transform your mobile phone into a walking talkie. However, beyond just being able to say “over an out”, kids can also exchange photos, texts and other personal information. It’s gotten national attention as part of a high profile cyber bullying case. However, if you want to use it, just make sure you’ve got the location services turned off and privacy settings enabled. Plus, be clear who your child is communicating with when using it.

Looking for more technology and parenting information, be sure to sign up for our newsletter below so you won’t mis any of our future posts in this series. Want to see some of our previous posts related to technology?

27

Jan 2015

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To Fall in Love With Anyone, Do This

More than 20 years ago, the psychologist Arthur Aron succeeded in making two strangers fall in love in his laboratory. Last summer, I applied his technique in my own life, which is how I found myself standing on a bridge at midnight, staring into a man’s eyes for exactly four minutes.

Let me explain. Earlier in the evening, that man had said: “I suspect, given a few commonalities, you could fall in love with anyone. If so, how do you choose someone?”

He was a university acquaintance I occasionally ran into at the climbing gym and had thought, “What if?” I had gotten a glimpse into his days on Instagram. But this was the first time we had hung out one-on-one.

“Actually, psychologists have tried making people fall in love,” I said, remembering Dr. Aron’s study. “It’s fascinating. I’ve always wanted to try it.”

I first read about the study when I was in the midst of a breakup. Each time I thought of leaving, my heart overruled my brain. I felt stuck. So, like a good academic, I turned to science, hoping there was a way to love smarter.

I explained the study to my university acquaintance. A heterosexual man and woman enter the lab through separate doors. They sit face to face and answer a series of increasingly personal questions. Then they stare silently into each other’s eyes for four minutes. The most tantalizing detail: Six months later, two participants were married. They invited the entire lab to the ceremony.

“Let’s try it,” he said.

Let me acknowledge the ways our experiment already fails to line up with the study. First, we were in a bar, not a lab. Second, we weren’t strangers. Not only that, but I see now that one neither suggests nor agrees to try an experiment designed to create romantic love if one isn’t open to this happening.

I Googled Dr. Aron’s questions; there are 36. We spent the next two hours passing my iPhone across the table, alternately posing each question.

They began innocuously: “Would you like to be famous? In what way?” And “When did you last sing to yourself? To someone else?”

But they quickly became probing.

In response to the prompt, “Name three things you and your partner appear to have in common,” he looked at me and said, “I think we’re both interested in each other.”

I grinned and gulped my beer as he listed two more commonalities I then promptly forgot. We exchanged stories about the last time we each cried, and confessed the one thing we’d like to ask a fortuneteller. We explained our relationships with our mothers.

The questions reminded me of the infamous boiling frog experiment in which the frog doesn’t feel the water getting hotter until it’s too late. With us, because the level of vulnerability increased gradually, I didn’t notice we had entered intimate territory until we were already there, a process that can typically take weeks or months.

I liked learning about myself through my answers, but I liked learning things about him even more. The bar, which was empty when we arrived, had filled up by the time we paused for a bathroom break.

I sat alone at our table, aware of my surroundings for the first time in an hour, and wondered if anyone had been listening to our conversation. If they had, I hadn’t noticed. And I didn’t notice as the crowd thinned and the night got late.

We all have a narrative of ourselves that we offer up to strangers and acquaintances, but Dr. Aron’s questions make it impossible to rely on that narrative. Ours was the kind of accelerated intimacy I remembered from summer camp, staying up all night with a new friend, exchanging the details of our short lives. At 13, away from home for the first time, it felt natural to get to know someone quickly. But rarely does adult life present us with such circumstances.

The moments I found most uncomfortable were not when I had to make confessions about myself, but had to venture opinions about my partner. For example: “Alternate sharing something you consider a positive characteristic of your partner, a total of five items” (Question 22), and “Tell your partner what you like about them; be very honest this time saying things you might not say to someone you’ve just met” (Question 28).

Much of Dr. Aron’s research focuses on creating interpersonal closeness. In particular, several studies investigate the ways we incorporate others into our sense of self. It’s easy to see how the questions encourage what they call “self-expansion.” Saying things like, “I like your voice, your taste in beer, the way all your friends seem to admire you,” makes certain positive qualities belonging to one person explicitly valuable to the other.

It’s astounding, really, to hear what someone admires in you. I don’t know why we don’t go around thoughtfully complimenting one another all the time.

We finished at midnight, taking far longer than the 90 minutes for the original study. Looking around the bar, I felt as if I had just woken up. “That wasn’t so bad,” I said. “Definitely less uncomfortable than the staring into each other’s eyes part would be.”

He hesitated and asked. “Do you think we should do that, too?”

“Here?” I looked around the bar. It seemed too weird, too public.

“We could stand on the bridge,” he said, turning toward the window.

The night was warm and I was wide-awake. We walked to the highest point, then turned to face each other. I fumbled with my phone as I set the timer.

“O.K.,” I said, inhaling sharply.

“O.K.,” he said, smiling.

I’ve skied steep slopes and hung from a rock face by a short length of rope, but staring into someone’s eyes for four silent minutes was one of the more thrilling and terrifying experiences of my life. I spent the first couple of minutes just trying to breathe properly. There was a lot of nervous smiling until, eventually, we settled in.

I know the eyes are the windows to the soul or whatever, but the real crux of the moment was not just that I was really seeing someone, but that I was seeing someone really seeing me. Once I embraced the terror of this realization and gave it time to subside, I arrived somewhere unexpected.

I felt brave, and in a state of wonder. Part of that wonder was at my own vulnerability and part was the weird kind of wonder you get from saying a word over and over until it loses its meaning and becomes what it actually is: an assemblage of sounds.

So it was with the eye, which is not a window to anything but a rather clump of very useful cells. The sentiment associated with the eye fell away and I was struck by its astounding biological reality: the spherical nature of the eyeball, the visible musculature of the iris and the smooth wet glass of the cornea. It was strange and exquisite.

When the timer buzzed, I was surprised — and a little relieved. But I also felt a sense of loss. Already I was beginning to see our evening through the surreal and unreliable lens of retrospect.

Most of us think about love as something that happens to us. We fall. We get crushed.

But what I like about this study is how it assumes that love is an action. It assumes that what matters to my partner matters to me because we have at least three things in common, because we have close relationships with our mothers, and because he let me look at him.

I wondered what would come of our interaction. If nothing else, I thought it would make a good story. But I see now that the story isn’t about us; it’s about what it means to bother to know someone, which is really a story about what it means to be known.

It’s true you can’t choose who loves you, although I’ve spent years hoping otherwise, and you can’t create romantic feelings based on convenience alone. Science tells us biology matters; our pheromones and hormones do a lot of work behind the scenes.

But despite all this, I’ve begun to think love is a more pliable thing than we make it out to be. Arthur Aron’s study taught me that it’s possible — simple, even — to generate trust and intimacy, the feelings love needs to thrive.

You’re probably wondering if he and I fell in love. Well, we did. Although it’s hard to credit the study entirely (it may have happened anyway), the study did give us a way into a relationship that feels deliberate. We spent weeks in the intimate space we created that night, waiting to see what it could become.

Love didn’t happen to us. We’re in love because we each made the choice to be.

15

Jan 2015

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What You Need to Be an Innovative Educator

via Edutopia

Innovation isn’t a matter of will.

Like most things worth creating, critical ingredients pre-exist the product. In the case of innovation in education, many of those necessary ingredients are simpler and more accessible than they might seem — which is, of course, good news to an industry already up to its nostrils in oh my gosh for the kids we must have this for the kids yesterday for the kids admonishments.

Whether you’re innovating a curriculum, an app, a social media platform for learning, an existing instructional strategy, or something else entirely, innovation in education is a significant catalyst for change in education.

If our data is correct, you’re probably a teacher.

And if you’re a teacher, you’re probably interested in innovation in the classroom, so let’s start there — with project-based learning, for example.

Project-based learning is an example of innovation, but probably not the way you’d expect. While learning through projects is indeed innovative compared to sit-and-get, drill-and-kill, teacher-led and textbook-sourced instruction, PBL’s primary innovation is probably its flexibility. There’s almost no other learning trend or innovation than can not only co-exist with PBL, but also fit seamlessly and entirely within it.

PBL promotes innovation in education by making room for it.

But creating that innovation — what does that require? What kinds of ingredients can you put into the tin, shake up, and end up with innovation?

1. Sense of Priority

First and foremost, there needs to be a sense of priority. What’s most important? What must the students learn? What must we use? What must we achieve?

And note that priority here doesn’t mean “rhetorical hyperbole.” Real priority requires a kind of honesty that can look at a giant list of academic standards and say, “Yeah, but . . .”

Innovation requires that kind of honesty, the kind of priority that allows your team of teachers or students to see what’s most important in any given circumstance, and cultivate what’s necessary from there.

2. Selflessness

Selflessness is also a factor when trying to innovate. Innovation is not carrying a single idea to a predetermined destination. At some point, innovation must be inclusive. While creativity certainly needs quiet reflection and independent thought, anything done from start to finish in isolation depends on a kind of genius — or at least inspired cleverness — to succeed.

If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.

By serving a greater cause and removing your sense of self from a situation, you greatly increase the chances of a truly innovative end result.

3. Time and Energy

It goes without saying that to be innovative, you’re going to need stuff. The most tempting resources typically sought for innovation are money and permission. Ironically, these are two of the least critical resources.

What you will need to innovate in education is time, and the boundless energy of a second-grader hopped up on Mountain Dew.

4. Models

Exemplar models can stifle innovation by suggesting a path that you didn’t need suggested. There is a time and a place for models, and it depends on the circumstance when you’ll need yours. But by looking at existing models — cool stuff that has been accomplished by others before you — you’ll have an idea of what’s possible. And of what you might be missing.

5. Willingness to Take Risks

A lot of people say they want to be innovative, to “take risks.”

To have what we’ve never had, we have to do what’s never been done — and 47 other cliché quotes that show up in educator signatures everywhere.

But a real willingness to take risks means being prepared for failure. And failure might come in the form of lost funding, an article written about you in the local newspaper mentioning a “project gone bad,” unflattering data, and a million other possible outcomes.

Being willing to take a risk shouldn’t empower you to implement wrong-headed, half-baked ideas under the guise of an “innovative spirit,” but you should be prepared to fail. Which is fine, because education’s been failing long before you got here.

6. Trust

While you don’t always need green lights, district “buy-in” or outright permission, you do need trust, and that starts from the students backward. They’re your most vocal critics and your most critical audience.

It will be in their curious, intellectually playful demeanors and long-term academic performance that you’ll see the end result of any given innovation. (If not, what’s the point?) But students — of any age — are incredibly good at sniffing out a rat. If something is murky, sterile, boring, stifling, cliché or downright clunky, they’ll let you know.

The trust of administrators, colleagues and parents certainly matters. You can lose your job or professional standing without it. But without trust from students, you’re just a well-dressed, silly person with your name on the placard by the door.

And the innovation will never come.

TERRY HEICK’S BLOG

26

Dec 2014

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What the Future of Learning Might Look Like

via MindShift

Education and learning could look radically different in the next few years. The education foundation KnowledgeWorks has released a forecast on the future of learning, focusing on ways that technology and new teaching strategies are shaking up traditional models. Check out this snapshot of an infographic the organization created to depict a learning ecosystem that includes whole communities in education. Make sure to check out the full infographic.

25

Dec 2014

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Blended Learning Barriers Spark Creative Workarounds

Flexible blended learning models allow teachers in Milpitas School District in California to spend time with small groups of students while others learn on computers. / Photo courtesy of Milpitas School District

As a group of California superintendents bring blended learning to their school districts, they’ve identified barriers they face and workarounds to avoid them.

These barriers fit into three categories: Redesigning teacher roles that meet state policy and union contract provisions, purchasing and managing technology, and recognizing online classes as valid for admission to California university systems. A report from the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation lays out both the barriers and workarounds in an effort to help superintendents share their ideas.

Three of the most important workarounds center around teacher licensure requirements, BYOD and online course approval.

“There is some real creativity and leadership among the superintendents in California, and several of them are not content to take the California education code as-is when they think that there’s something they can do to benefit students,” said Michael B. Horn, co-founder and executive director of education at the institute.

Creative workarounds for teacher licensure requirements

With blended learning, teachers often need more flexibility in terms of which subjects they teach and how they work with students. Some models work best with a teacher who is certified in a single subject in elementary school, while others work better with a teacher who is certified in multiple subjects in high school, the opposite of what typically happens.

But the California Education Code requires teachers to be credentialed in whatever subject they’re teaching at the time, which means that school districts need to get creative with how they manage staff in these different models. And they also have class size requirements to deal with.

In the Milpitas School District, an initial State Board of Education waiver for elementary class sizes and credentialing helped them overcome these barriers. But then the district changed its model. Now grade level teams of two to three teachers shuffle elementary school students back and forth next door. They’ll also have students rotate within a classroom.

“I see the teacher doing small group instruction with five to six kids, and the rest of the class is completely engaged in their own learning,” Superintendent Cary Matsuoka said.

Myth buster: BYOD and a free education

As the Santa Clara and San Mateo County superintendents threw out barriers, it turns out that one of them wasn’t an actual barrier at all, just a perceived one. The California Education Code requires schools to offer a free education, and some superintendents didn’t think they could have students bring their own devices to school for blended learning because of that requirement.

But they could shift to student devices as long as they don’t require students to bring them. The trick is in the wording, Horn said. They can allow students to bring them and provide devices for students who don’t.

Creative workarounds for online course approval

Along with local culture and policy barriers, school districts have to deal with college admission requirements, which they didn’t always think were barriers in the past. With the rise of online classes, the University of California and the California State University systems have many online high school classes to review for college admission requirements. The process is time consuming and doesn’t necessarily result in course approval, so it leaves student schedules and school course offerings in limbo for a time.

As a result of this approval process, school districts must be careful about how they handle online learning in the context of college admission requirements. One district didn’t say a course was online or in person. It’s staff just provided transcripts with the title of the course, and that helped them get around this issue.

Key takeaways

As blended learning and technology change the way students learn, states need to be tighter on student outcomes and looser on how they get there, Horn said. Smarter regulations can give schools more creativity and flexibility so they can generate better student outcomes.

And while these superintendents came up with a number of barriers and workarounds, superintendents in other regions and states may face different barriers. Horn encouraged superintendents in other counties to come together for a day to hammer out some of these issues with their collective knowledge and experience.

You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.centerdigitaled.com/news/Blended-Learning-Barriers-Spark-Creative-Workarounds-.html

22

Dec 2014

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Remembering Robin Williams this holiday season

Robin Williams hijacks the TED2008 stage before the BBC World Debate. Photo: Andrew Heavens

It’s 2008, moments before a BBC broadcast live from the stage at TED. But something’s gone wrong. The house lights are still up, the camera ops are looking at one another, official-looking folks are wandering at the stage apron muttering into headsets, and the panelists are sitting patiently onstage but looking, increasingly, baffled. Minutes go by.And then a voice rises from the audience, wondering “why at a technology conference everything is running so shittily”! As Kim Zetter wrote: “at least that’s the word I think he used; it was hard to hear the last word through the audience’s laughter.” It was Robin Williams, who’d spent the day watching TED, and who now jumped out of the audience to grab the mic and reel off 10 or 15 minutes — reports vary — of improvised comedy about the day of ideas, TED in general and his own wide-ranging future shock.The BBC shot the whole thing while waiting for their own production to come back online, and they eventually posted the monologue, cut into 3 minutes of breathtaking tightrope work.And when I read the news today, I watched it again, and it reminded me of what we just lost — but it also gave me 3 minutes of pure, wild joy. Just watch him go.

14

Dec 2014

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Future Engineers Use Their Noodles to Build Bridges From Spaghetti

via HUB.jhu

Contest Caps Engineering Innovation summer program

Bridges are typically made of steel and stone, but next week hundreds of high school students will attempt to make them from nothing but pasta and epoxy as part of Johns Hopkins University’s annual edge-of-your-seat spaghetti bridge contest.

It’s suspenseful and nervewracking as students who have spent days designing and building bridges put their brittle creations to the test, gradually adding weight, kilo by kilo. Prizes and bragging rights go to the students who build the bridges that support the most weight—the record stands at 132 pounds.

As family and friends cheer them on, 115 students from 21 states and eight countries will compete at 10 a.m. pm July 26 on the university’s Homewood campus. On that morning, several hundred additional students will compete in smaller contests at other sites in Maryland and across the country.

“It’s tense and exciting and it’s fun because the kids are proud of themselves—as they should be,” said Christine Newman, assistant dean for engineering education outreach in the university’s Whiting School of Engineering.

The event caps the university’s Engineering Innovation summer program for young people eager to apply their knowledge of math and science. Over four weeks the students get a taste of everything from robotics to civil engineering and learn to puzzle through real-world problems just like an engineer. More than 80 percent of those that complete the program go on to pursue careers in science and engineering.

“Our course has proven effective in getting young people interested in and excited about STEM fields,” Newman said.

Engineering Innovation began as an off-shoot of Michael Karweit’s freshman course at Johns Hopkins for undecided engineering majors called “What is Engineering?” He designed it to give students an honest look at a field where devising creative solutions to dilemmas is the name of the game.

“I wanted to introduce students to how engineers think,” said Karweit, a professor of chemical and bimolecular engineering in the School of Engineering. “The joy of engineering is there is never just one correct answer.”

Corporate sponsors cover tuition for low-income students, including some from Baltimore. Through a pilot program this year called “Engineering Fundamentals,” a dozen of those local students started two weeks early, using the extra time to bone up on math and science basics and study skills.

“We’re trying to get these kids to build their confidence and potential for success,” said Engineering Innovation Director Karen Borgsmiller.

Recently, students from the program spread out along a JHU quad trying to measure the distance from one lofty campus spire to another using nothing but a yardstick and a length of string. One of them was Oliver Mahoro, 18, a senior at Baltimore’s Academy for College and Career Exploration who dreams of attending Stanford University to become a petroleum engineer.

Mahoro is thrilled to spend the summer challenging himself alongside other smart, motivated young people.

“It gives me an opportunity to fully challenge myself in ways high school doesn’t,” he said. “Some people think summer is about sitting around outside or going to the beach. This has been the coolest summer I’ve ever known.”

13

Dec 2014

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A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days – a sobering lesson learned

The following account comes from a veteran HS teacher who just became a Coach in her building. Because her experience is so vivid and sobering I have kept her identity anonymous. But nothing she describes is any different than my own experience in sitting in HS classes for long periods of time. And this report of course accords fully with the results of our student surveys.

I have made a terrible mistake.

I waited fourteen years to do something that I should have done my first year of teaching: shadow a student for a day. It was so eye-opening that I wish I could go back to every class of students I ever had right now and change a minimum of ten things – the layout, the lesson plan, the checks for understanding. Most of it!

This is the first year I am working in a school but not teaching my own classes; I am the High School Learning Coach, a new position for the school this year. My job is to work with teachers and admins. to improve student learning outcomes.

As part of getting my feet wet, my principal suggested I “be” a student for two days: I was to shadow and complete all the work of a 10^th grade student on one day and to do the same for a 12^th grade student on another day. My task was to do everything the student was supposed to do: if there was lecture or notes on the board, I copied them as fast I could into my notebook. If there was a Chemistry lab, I did it with my host student. If there was a test, I took it (I passed the Spanish one, but I am certain I failed the business one).

My class schedules for the day
(Note: we have a block schedule; not all classes meet each day):

The schedule that day for the 10^th grade student:

7:45 – 9:15: Geometry

9:30 – 10:55: Spanish II

10:55 – 11:40: Lunch

11:45 – 1:10: World History

1:25 – 2:45: Integrated Science

The schedule that day for the 12^th grade student:

7:45 – 9:15: Math

9:30 – 10:55: Chemistry

10:55 – 11:40: Lunch

11:45 – 1:10: English

1:25 – 2:45: Business

Key Takeaway #1

Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting.

I could not believe how tired I was after the first day. I literally sat down the entire day, except for walking to and from classes. We forget as teachers, because we are on our feet a lot – in front of the board, pacing as we speak, circling around the room to check on student work, sitting, standing, kneeling down to chat with a student as she works through a difficult problem…we move a lot.

But students move almost never. And never is exhausting. In every class for four long blocks, the expectation was for us to come in, take our seats, and sit down for the duration of the time. By the end of the day, I could not stop yawning and I was desperate to move or stretch. I couldn’t believe how alert my host student was, because it took a lot of conscious effort for me not to get up and start doing jumping jacks in the middle of Science just to keep my mind and body from slipping into oblivion after so many hours of sitting passively.

I was drained, and not in a good, long, productive-day kind of way. No, it was that icky, lethargic tired feeling. I had planned to go back to my office and jot down some initial notes on the day, but I was so drained I couldn’t do anything that involved mental effort (so instead I watched TV) and I was in bed by 8:30.

If I could go back and change my classes now, I would immediately change the following three things:

mandatory stretch halfway through the class
put a Nerf basketball hoop on the back of my door and encourage kids to play in the first and final minutes of class
build in a hands-on, move-around activity into every single class day. Yes, we would sacrifice some content to do this – that’s fine. I was so tired by the end of the day, I wasn’t absorbing most of the content, so I am not sure my previous method of making kids sit through hour-long, sit-down discussions of the texts was all that effective.

Key Takeaway #2

High School students are sitting passively and listening during approximately 90% of their classes.

Obviously I was only shadowing for two days, but in follow-up interviews with both of my host students, they assured me that the classes I experienced were fairly typical.

In eight periods of high school classes, my host students rarely spoke. Sometimes it was because the teacher was lecturing; sometimes it was because another student was presenting; sometimes it was because another student was called to the board to solve a difficult equation; and sometimes it was because the period was spent taking a test. So, I don’t mean to imply critically that only the teachers droned on while students just sat and took notes. But still, hand in hand with takeaway #1 is this idea that most of the students’ day was spent passively absorbing information.

It was not just the sitting that was draining but that so much of the day was spent absorbing information but not often grappling with it.

I asked my tenth-grade host, Cindy, if she felt like she made important contributions to class or if, when she was absent, the class missed out on the benefit of her knowledge or contributions, and she laughed and said no.

I was struck by this takeaway in particular because it made me realize how little autonomy students have, how little of their learning they are directing or choosing. I felt especially bad about opportunities I had missed in the past in this regard.

If I could go back and change my classes now, I would immediately:

Offer brief, blitzkrieg-like mini-lessons with engaging, assessment-for-learning-type activities following directly on their heels (e.g. a ten-minute lecture on Whitman’s life and poetry, followed by small-group work in which teams scour new poems of his for the very themes and notions expressed in the lecture, and then share out or perform some of them to the whole group while everyone takes notes on the findings.)
set an egg timer every time I get up to talk and all eyes are on me. When the timer goes off, I am done. End of story. I can go on and on. I love to hear myself talk. I often cannot shut up. This is not really conducive to my students’ learning, however much I might enjoy it.
Ask every class to start with students’ Essential Questions or just general questions born of confusion from the previous night’s reading or the previous class’s discussion. I would ask them to come in to class and write them all on the board, and then, as a group, ask them to choose which one we start with and which ones need to be addressed. This is my biggest regret right now – not starting every class this way. I am imagining all the misunderstandings, the engagement, the enthusiasm, the collaborative skills, and the autonomy we missed out on because I didn’t begin every class with fifteen or twenty minutes of this.

Key takeaway #3

You feel a little bit like a nuisance all day long.

I lost count of how many times we were told be quiet and pay attention. It’s normal to do so – teachers have a set amount of time and we need to use it wisely. But in shadowing, throughout the day, you start to feel sorry for the students who are told over and over again to pay attention because you understand part of what they are reacting to is sitting and listening all day. It’s really hard to do, and not something we ask adults to do day in and out. Think back to a multi-day conference or long PD day you had and remember that feeling by the end of the day – that need to just disconnect, break free, go for a run, chat with a friend, or surf the web and catch up on emails. That is how students often feel in our classes, not because we are boring per se but because they have been sitting and listening most of the day already. They have had enough.

In addition, there was a good deal of sarcasm and snark directed at students and I recognized, uncomfortably, how much I myself have engaged in this kind of communication. I would become near apoplectic last year whenever a very challenging class of mine would take a test, and without fail, several students in a row would ask the same question about the test. Each time I would stop the class and address it so everyone could hear it. Nevertheless, a few minutes later a student who had clearly been working his way through the test and not attentive to my announcement would ask the same question again. A few students would laugh along as I made a big show of rolling my eyes and drily stating, “OK, once again, let me explain…”

Of course it feels ridiculous to have to explain the same thing five times, but suddenly, when I was the one taking the tests, I was stressed. I was anxious. I had questions. And if the person teaching answered those questions by rolling their eyes at me, I would never want to ask another question again. I feel a great deal more empathy for students after shadowing, and I realize that sarcasm, impatience, and annoyance are a way of creating a barrier between me and them. They do not help learning.

If I could go back and change my classes now, I would immediately:

Dig deep into my personal experience as a parent where I found wells of patience and love I never knew I have, and call upon them more often when dealing with students who have questions. Questions are an invitation to know a student better and create a bond with that student. We can open the door wider or shut if forever, and we may not even realize we have shut it.
I would make my personal goal of “no sarcasm” public and ask the students to hold me accountable for it. I could drop money into a jar for each slip and use it to treat the kids to pizza at the end of the year. In this way, I have both helped create a closer bond with them and shared a very real and personal example of goal-setting for them to use a model in their own thinking about goals.
I would structure every test or formal activity like the IB exams do – a five-minute reading period in which students can ask all their questions but no one can write until the reading period is finished. This is a simple solution I probably should have tried years ago that would head off a lot (thought, admittedly, not all) of the frustration I felt with constant, repetitive questions.

I have a lot more respect and empathy for students after just one day of being one again. Teachers work hard, but I now think that conscientious students work harder. I worry about the messages we send them as they go to our classes and home to do our assigned work, and my hope is that more teachers who are able will try this shadowing and share their findings with each other and their administrations. This could lead to better “backwards design” from the student experience so that we have more engaged, alert, and balanced students sitting (or standing) in our classes.

12

Dec 2014

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101 People who made a difference at iNacol 2014

One of the best things about the iNACOL 2014 Symposium is the crowd of blended and online learning #SmartLeaders.

Originally posted on Getting Smart Blog

Here’s our list of 101 interesting people we met at #iNACOL14 who you should know.

iNACOL Board of Directors

1. Susan Patrick (@susandpatrick), iNACOL CEO

2. Linda Pittenger, National Center for Innovation in Education, iNACOL chair

3. Amy Anderson, Donnell-Kay Foundation, leading ReSchool Colorado, a greenfield design project

4. Nicholas Donohue (@NickDonohueNMEF), Nellie Mae Education Foundation (@NellieMaeEdFdn), the leader in student-centered learning (attended telephonically)

5. Dr. Gisèle Huff, Jaquelin Hume Foundation, champion of blended learning

6. Jessie Woolley-Wilson (@JessieWW), DreamBox Learning, leader in adaptive K-8 math

7. Julie Young (@JulieYoungEdu), founder of Florida Virtual School

8. Virgel Hammonds, superintendent at Maine RSU2

9. Mickey Revenaugh, co-founder of Connections Education

(and Tom Vander Ark (@tvanderark), CEO, Getting Smart (@Getting_Smart)

Keynoters

10. Gene Wilhoit, National Center for Innovation in Education, laid out a vision for next gen accountability (see paperand our review).

11. Michael Horn (@michaelbhorn), co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute, gave an overview of his new book,BLENDED (see our Q&A)

12. Heather Staker (@hstaker), co-author of BLENDED, provided a day long workshop

13. Vicki Phillips (@drvickip), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (@GatesFoundation), and she brought a couple dozen colleagues

14. Sal Khan, Khan Academy (@KhanAcademy), great resources, great story (again)

Startups

15. Brian Peddle (@brianpeddle), Motivis, a spinout from Southern New Hampshire University

16. Margaret Roth (@teachingdaisy), COO and Co-Founder, An Estuary, a blended PD community

17. Elliot Sanchez (@ElliotSanchez), CEO & Founder, mSchools, a blended technical assistance provider

18. Jennifer Gibson, Lesson Planet, teachers sharing lessons

19. Karl Rectanus @KarlRectanus, Learn, supporting short cycle EdTech trials

20. Chris Niemeyer, LearnZillion (@LearnZillion), a blended PD community

21. John Danner, co-founder of Rocketship and Zeal, a mobile learning startup

Growing companies you should know:

22. Curt Allen, Agilix (@Agilix), the experts in personalized learning that brought you Brainhoney and Buzz. Mark Tullis, Sean Casey, Jeff Moore and team hosted a great dinner.

23. John Sipe, Curriculum Associates (@CurriculumAssoc), i-Ready adaptive learning K-8 and Ready reading & math. Cynthia Austen and team hosted a great dinner.

24. Sari Factor, Edgenuity (@Edgenuityinc), content and platform powering models like Carpe Diem

25. Greg Levin, Fuel Education (@FuelEducation), powering new blended models

26. Jeff Kwitkowski & Mary Gifford, K12

27. Lisa Frumkes, Rosetta Stone (@RosettaStoneEd), presented Elevate & Empower, how world language teachers are leading the way

28. Keith Oelrich, Learning.com (@learningdotcom) featured Curriculum Foundry

29. Nicole Foster, Scholastic, was demonstrating READ180 (@READ180) and System 44

30. Anthony Kim, Education Elements (@EdElements), a leader in blended learning

31. Sajan George, Matchbook Learning, turning around struggling schools

32. Curtis Linton, School Improvement Network, Edivation PD system

33. Clay Whitehead, Presence Learning (@PresenceLearn) discussed how technology is transforming special ed

34. Judson Aungst (@judson76), Blackboard (@Blackboard)

35. Jenna Schuette Talbot, shared social media best practices and strategies

36. Tracy Immel (@tracy_immel), led the DreamBox Learning presence

Big impact nonprofits:

37. Nigel Nisbet (@nigel_nisbet), MIND Research Institute, unpacked how teachers can implement blended and competency-based learning from the ground up

38. Margaret Angel, CityBridge Foundation, described the NGLC-funded Breakthrough Schools Initiative in Washington, DC

39. Neil Campbell, Policy Director for Personalized and Blended Learning, Foundation for Excellence in Education, supported teams designing blended schools

40. Karla Phillips, State Policy of Competency-Based Learning, Foundation for Excellence in Education, discussed the benefits of Course Access

41. Minda Corso (@MindaC), Foundation for Excellence in Education, shared social media best practices and strategies

42. Mark Schneiderman, Senior Director of Education Policy, SIIA

43. Scott Ellis & Kira Keane (@KeaneKira), The Learning Accelerator, a blended learning assistance provider and grantmaker

44. Thomas Arnett, Research Fellow, Clayton Christensen Institute

45. Deb Pence, Idaho PTECH Network, spreading CTE opportunity statewide

46. Phyllis Lockett and Chris Liang-Vergara (@LiangVergara), LEAP Innovations

47. Carmen Coleman works with Gene Wilhoit and Linda Pittenger at the National Center for Innovation in Education(read about her great work as a superintendent)

48. Chris Sturgis (@Sturgis_Chris), CompetencyWorks, the online competency community sponsored by iNACOL

49. Judy Bauernschmidt, Colorado eLearning Collaborative, was advocating for more and better online learning

50. Shaun Adamec (@shaunadaemec), Nellie Mae Education Foundation (@NellieMaeEdFdn), led a session on the power of framing in shaping debate.

School leaders

51. Diane Tavenner, Jon Dean & Brian Johnson, Summit Public Schools (@SummitPS), the coolest secondary network around (see feature)

52. Brian Blake and the leadership team from Sanborn Regional School District where sharing their experience competency-based

53. Rebecca Midles leads competency-based work at Lindsay Unified School District

54. Gisele Falls, GSWLA, shared findings from Elevate & Empower, how world language teachers are leaders in the shift to personalized learning

55. Pablo Mejia, IDEA Public School, lead a blended learning session

56. Tom Willis, Cornerstone Schools, described their K-12 Detroit blend

57. Liz Arney, Aspire Public Schools, discussed lessons captured in her new book, Go Blended

58. Deborah Gist (@deborahgist), Rhode Island Commissioner of Education

59. Brian Stack (@bstackbu), Principal, Sanborn Regional High School

60. John Rice (@johnricedc), Supporting blended learning with District of Columbia Public Schools

61. Haley Hart, Teacher at Educational Achievement Authority of Michigan

62. Erin Wilcox, Associate Superintendent with Colorado Springs Christian Schools

63. Scott Muri (@ScottMuri), Deputy Superintendent with Fulton County Schools (See Fulton County Schools Innovation Update)

64. Jeremy Vidito (@JeremyVidito), Starr Detroit Academy discussed blended learning in elementary and middle schools,

65. Moss Pike (@mosspike), World Languages Dept. and MS TILT member at Harvard Westlake, shared findings from recently released Elevate and Empower paper–how world language teachers are leading the shift to next gen learning

66. Robyn Bagley, School Director of Career Path High, an early college high school in Kaysville Utah, led a session with two teachers from the school

67. Nicole Tempel Assisi, Thrive Public Schools (@ThrivePS), leads a great new K-8 school in San Diego (see 100 Schools Worth Visiting)

68. Cindy Elsberry, superintendent in NGLC winning Horry County, SC (See Lessons from Horry County)

69. Helen Griffith, e3 Civic High in San Diego (see 100 Schools Worth Visiting)

70. Stephen Harris (@Stephen_H), an Aussie visionary and head of school at North Beaches Christian School, north of Sydney, check out a new vision for school design

71. Jessica Saxon, teacher at St Edmonds School in Wharoonga, Australia was blending in ways that make students smile.

72.Charles Carver, Nexus Lansing (see feature)

73. DeLaina Tonks, Mountain Heights Academy (formerly Open High of Utah)

74. Angela Underwood, Nolan K-8, Education Achievement Authority, Detroit (see feature)

75. Keven Erickson, Kettle Moraine School District (see feature and 100 Schools Worth Visiting)

76. Dawn Smith (@Dawn4Math), RUSD Principal who shared best-practices for creating a student-centered learning environment

Smart Cities

Mary Ryerse (@maryryerse) framed a Smart Cities dialogue and Carri Schneider led a discussion on policy, read the full recap

77. Matt Williams, KnowledgeWorks, led a collective impact discussion

78. Matt Candler (@mcandler), 4.0 Schools, beamed in to discuss the importance of incubating new tools and schools

79. Shawn Rubin (@ShawnCRubin), Highlander Institute (@Highlanderinst), led a discussion on talent development

80. Tim Hilborn, TRECA (@TRECA_Ohio) led a discussion on sustained leadership

Impact investors

81. Bruno Manno, Walton Family Foundation

82. Alex Hernandez (@ThinkSchools), Charter School Growth Fund

83. Scott Benson, Henry Hipps, and Tom Stritikus, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

84. Luis de le Fuente and Russ Altenburg, Broad Foundation

States

85. Paul Leather, deputy commissioner in New Hampshire, described efforts to improve teacher prep in a state leading on competency-based learning

86. Christina Jean, Colorado Department of Education, Innovation & Blended Learning Specialist

87. Jamie Fitzpatrick, President of Michigan Virtual University, was part of a panel on course access

88. Dave Lefkowith,, talked about the Louisiana Supplemental Course Academy

Competency-based teacher prep & development

89. Bridget Foster, Digital Promise, described the framework for Preparing Teachers for Deeper Learning

90. Beth Rabbitt (@BethRabbitt), The Learning Accelerator, described their talent development portfolio including Highlander Institute, Relay GSE,

91. David Haglund, deputy superintendent in Santa Ana described blended PD in his district

Online/blended learning leaders

92. John Watson, led an informative discussion on Keeping Pace with K-12 Digital Learning

93. Mark Lonergan, MIND Research Institute, discussed blended learning in elementary and middle schools

94. Jeff Kerscher (@kerscherjp), shared key ELA blended learning strategies that will enable practical implementation

95. Stacy Hawthorne (@StacyHaw), Hawthorne Education, #iNACOL14 Twitter superstar

96. Robanne Stading (@tchlrn_ak), Alaska based blended special ed instructor

97. Eric Nentrup (@ericnentrup), Indy based ELA Instructor/Ed Tech Coach

98. Aaron Kaswell, teacher, MS88 in Queens, a NewClassrooms site

99. Kia Bordner (#RiledUpTales), provided the student voice with fellow online and blended students

100.Jason Ellingson, Collins-Maxwell superintendent and Iowa ASCD president. Jason Ellingson

101.Tom Ryan, eLearn Institute

Thanks to Jonathan Oglesby (@oglesbyj), Allison Powell, Linda Wood, and the whole iNACOL (@nacol) team that made #iNACOL14 possible.

08

Dec 2014

POSTED BY Jeff

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About Jeff Piontek

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Key takeaways

Contest Caps Engineering Innovation summer program

iNACOL Board of Directors

Keynoters

Startups

Growing companies you should know:

Big impact nonprofits:

School leaders

Smart Cities

Impact investors

States

Competency-based teacher prep & development

Online/blended learning leaders