I just had the opportunity to interview a prospective teacher. It's such a joy to listen to enthusiasm and perspective from those that are starting down the teaching path. But I paused briefly when this individual said "technology is a tool."  We should all pause when we hear this.

It wasn't that many years ago that some technology training would start with the idea that just like a pencil, the computer is a tool for learning. That was a way to get buy-in from teachers because they all could understand how necessary a pencil was. I'm sorry to all of you that used this analogy but you did some damage. I did too. Technology is NOT a tool.

I'm also concerned that so many teachers are refusing to teach technology concepts simply because it is only a tool. Their argument is somewhat in the vein of "I don't need to teach how a pencil is made either." Yet we teach about the human body and how it uses food for energy, healthy food choices, even table manners. All information that isn't needed to eat what is put in front of us.

If you have read George Curous Principals of Change blog, you may remember long ago he addressed this relationship of what is technology to education. "Technology is More than a Tool" compared our integration to that of a drop of red dye in a glass of water where the whole glass of water changes color. It's an ecological change.

But I want to specify why educators need to stop referring to it as a tool and see technology as so much more. Because it lessens the importance or even the urgency of how we live, in a very human way, through technology. I don't think any educator would argue that young children need to play on a playground. It is a learning environment so vital to development of physical and social skills. They also live in the technology environment, learning along the way, consuming it's products, shaping the social world in a very profound way. Ignoring that human role in the development of the world and it's interactions with technology can be detrimental.

But here is perhaps the first time in history that the teachers have even more of a disadvantage than ever before. There is a good percentage of teachers that did not experience learning in a internet immersed class. They have not seen expert teachers seamlessly weave digital concepts with curriculum. Therefore, it is very difficult for current educators to know what this looks like, let alone perfect this skill. This year, the state of Virginia has attempted to add knowledge of the digital classroom to the licensure process for everyone, even teachers renewing their license. This knowledge base is called the Technology Standards for Instructional Personnel. Every teacher seeking licensure must demonstrate that they can effectively weave their own curriculum with that of the complex internet connected technology that student's use. It's definitely a step in the right direction and I applaud the Virginia Department of Education for making the change. Every teacher should be observed rather than just turning in paperwork to fulfill this requirement. It is something as valuable as observing a student holding a pencil for the first time.

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Tech Terms is to combine learning new techy vocabulary with other course curriculum, particularly the core subjects of math, English, social studies and science. I hope you enjoy the mix of lesson ideas with technology vocabulary.

We have just experienced Cyber Monday, cyber deals, and there is no end to the fear of cyber attacks and need for cyber security. So where did this word “cyber” originate and what exactly does it mean? You won’t see a mention of the word cyber until the 1940s with a scientist's use of “cybernetics” to mean mechanisms to replace humans. The sci-fi authors had a heyday with that and used the term for years to scare us with robots and cyborgs.  Our current definition, which more or less means anything to do with the internet, comes from novelist William Gibson in the book Neuromancer where he refers to “A graphic representation of data abstracted from the banks of every computer in the human system. Unthinkable complexity.”  New York Magazine in 1996 penned it perfectly when they described the word cyber as “the perfect prefix” to make any word sound new, cool and “strangely spooky.” For English teachers, the etymology of words is an enhancement to novel studies or vocabulary. Students retain meaning when they understand a word’s history. You can have a great deal of fun with Ngram Viewer by Google. Type in a word and watch a graph display of it’s usage in literature over time. This can lead to some amazing discussion about words that are incorrectly used today. Why not map your vocabulary on Visuwords and checkout some great lesson plans about prefixes and suffixes? Or, lookup your vocabulary on the Online Etymology Dictionary where some of the information for this entry resides.  Etymology is where history and English meet, so there is possibly a great cross-curricular option as well.

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Yesterday at school a teacher asked me if I could show her a tutorial for Google Apps. It was a very innocent, normal question asked to a Technology Coach at a school. A funny feeling came over me upon hearing this query. I had a whirlwind of emotions based on that single question. The emotional reaction is what prompted me to write this blog. My first reaction was I felt overwhelmed. How could I possibly show just one tutorial that would cover all of the possibilities with Google Apps? Secondly, I felt inadequate. Why had I not produced this tutorial already in my capacity as a Technology Coach and what had I been doing these past 2 years that this teacher asked this question?  And finally, I felt angry. Why can't that teacher just Google it?

All of those emotional reactions were unjustified and the teacher was merely asking for help. In my defense, it was late on Friday afternoon. Regardless, I decided I needed to analyze why I had such bizarre gut reactions to the question.

For me, the question asked by the teacher is analogous to a 15 year old teenager asking her parents for the manual on how to drive a car as a substitute for actually learning to drive in a car with her parents. Google Apps is far more than just a personal productivity software package, which is what MS Office has been for teacher for many years. Google Apps is different, and in my mind, it requires careful handling, and "on the road" learning when starting implementation in the classroom.

I'm certainly not saying a tutorial wouldn't be helpful. Not at all. But what is perhaps, unfortunate, is how many teachers still see the same static, individual document production that has been a part of our academic lives with the basic word processing software we've come to use daily.  I've know teachers convinced that student writing should be perfected on a specific date and that they will not need to see any of the writing beforehand. They have never witnessed the power of real time digital editing, monitoring, and guidance through the writing process using a Google doc. They haven't conceived of a document that lives, changes and improves over time.

Back to the car analogy. Everyone is aware that a 16 year old on the road, even after they have a license, is still not the highly tuned, careful driver they will become later. Familiarity with what is possible on the road leads to more acute awareness. And there lies the similarity to implementing a truly cloud based learning structure. It takes time, familiarity, and miles on the road. That second nature of knowing when to start breaking and at what speed and distance comes later; not in the beginning. Knowing how to handle applications in the Google Suite and when to use the features, is acquired knowledge as well.

I must now part with my original analogy in that, most teens have excellent models in their parents that have been driving them around since infancy. These adult drivers have modeled good driving technique (or so we hope) for 15 years. Teachers, however, have not really witnessed Google Apps in the classroom. They haven't even seen poor implementation. So when they get the urge to try it out, the only model they have is the familiar MS Office model, which is an individually owned software package used to create individual files to be distributed as finished products. And the fact that we have been attempting to create finished products for so many years is the absolute key difference.

A Google document is never truly finished. This is a whole new paradigm shift. There is no longer a set point in time but rather a continuum.  And isn't learning really just that? A continuum? An always changing, developing sequence? Sure teachers can require set points in time for assessment but they are not the way the brain works, just our imposed requirements on the system. In other words, we give final exams which are set points in time. This does not mean that students stop learning at that point. They are not a "finished product" just because they scored a passing score on a test. With the collaborative nature of the Googleverse, the learning continues, the documents evolve and the teacher weaves in and out of the system, seamlessly providing guidance and feedback during the learning process.

Now I turn back to the original topic of the teacher who just wants to learn a bit about Google Apps. I want to help but I think she needs to see just how amazing it is to drive down the highway first.  She needs to see students who are collaborating in real time and asking questions through comments. She needs to see students who are accessing their work on their phones, anywhere. She needs to see students who are sharing ideas with other students across the globe and instantly translating. She needs to see students designing together better models to help our world. She needs to see schools that have been using Google Apps for a decade and know the potential can change our education system into something that is real and meaningful for students. Those student will be in my school, in abundance, in just a few of years. They will be the skilled drivers of tomorrow. And they will take the teachers with them on the ride. I'll just be there on the side of the road, directing traffic.

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So my Google Teacher Academy friend was kind enough to ask my advice about his podcast. I am always willing to give advice which may be my fatal flaw. In the end, he decided that including segments in the podcast would liven it up and create more of a complete show. Therefore, I am now producing weekly news items for the Flipped Learning Network's Podcast.

It starts with the basic twitter feeds from the week. I filter and scan everything that has been tweeted in a week and go over as many of the interesting blog posts, ideas and web tools that relate as I can. Funny that I usually can find so much just using Twitter that is newsworthy but tweets are not my only sources. I also use the Google search features to limit the time frame and sort by news events. This usually produces the local news items that occur within a community. I have located several teacher features that cover the flip classroom as a new concept. Finally, I check Google plus for any good info about upcoming events. That seems to be the place to find webinars, conferences, and any workshops other than the flippedlearning.org.

I write a vague script because I want to be able to talk rather than read. Some of the articles or websites I base on personal experience. For example, when I discussed the app CoachesEye, I used for a full weekend at my son's sports events. I loaded it on my iPhone and tried various uses. Unfortunately, I don't have a class of students any longer to try out these tools on but based on previous years experience, I have a good eye for useful classroom tools.

Is this is a lasting gig? I highly doubt it.  Even the pundits on Flipped are trying to remove the term and merge it with just good teaching methodology that is already proven. I can't believe they will want a Good Teaching News segment anywhere. That is what we attempt to do at the local school every day. However, I am creating a large scale Flipped PD for my large school district and hope that the making of content there will be far reaching and a long term gig.

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Every August I start the year by training teachers on our antiquated grading software and maybe even more archaic grading system. It is the traditional weighted grading. Every category such as homework, tests, in class assignments and projects is assigned a percentage of the total grade. I start my spiel by asking, "What do you  believe is the most valuable work the students do?" This question is suppose to help them develop their own system of weighted grades. And now I am analyzing my own question.

Teachers will tend to weight tests, mostly summative, as the most valuable category. I've witnessed as high as 60% but mostly it hovers in the 40% range. If I change my question only slightly, the whole system is in dispute. "What do you believe is the most valuable learning tool for the student?" Yes, I'm focusing on learning. A summative test, as a learning tool? That just doesn't ring true to most educators. There are some students that do learn from the process of studying, taking a test and having it returned corrected, yet I would argue as we move toward standardized testing, fewer tests are returned in a timely enough manner to make this a learning event. In  fact, normally summative tests are only eyed by the teacher.

If the grading scale was weighted based on which learning tool or process actually was most effective, how would a teacher determine effectiveness? I just finished reading about a new venture by Kelly Tenkler called the Learning Genome. The vision is to personalize education by focusing on the student's  "learning preferences, multiple intelligence strengths, interests, passions, maturation." The project will tag every type of content and piece of curriculum whether it be an interactive, an article or video for educators to find and easily sort for their students. This sounds like a great match for the weighted grading system, but I think technology can do even more.

As children learn and show success at learning, either through interactive content, or yes, tests, the mode in which they learned best can be recorded. For example, if a student spends time on Khan Academy and does very well, learns topics quickly and demonstrates understanding, then based on the recorded data, a computer could provide similar learning experiences for that student. Conversely, whenever an activity was not successful for the student, a learning management system should be able to dump that type of activity and replace it with something more suitable for the child.

I realize what I'm advocating sounds all computerized at this point. It most certainly wouldn't be except for the ease in automation of it. In fact, what if we simply asked the child? How do you like to learn? The teacher would be the most valuable asset to a system in which learning preferences quantified by both teacher and student. And as for the weighted grading, it may even change through the year. In one unit of study, a project may have produced the best results while in another reading and answering questions may have been best. 

It all goes back to the original question that every teacher should be asking. What is the most valuable learning tool for each individual student? Once we get to this point, whether through a data collection system or mere insight from a very in tune teacher, we will have progressed to a more meaningful evaluation of a student's progress. 

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Even if you are not a tech savvy teacher, I can be certain that you have a list favorite websites you use as resources for your lessons. These may be local bookmarks in a browser or pinned, tagged, checked or bundled somewhere online. I applaud the effort to organize the massive amount of freely available information or advice. A well connected educator has developed a PLN (Personal Learning Network) in which not only are they gathering websites, but in fact sharing them with colleagues online. However, you may be missing the most important target audience: your students. Are you sharing with students as you make these valuable finds?

Curating is the process of gathering, reviewing and editing lists of online content for an audience. We do it for ourselves with our bookmarks but your students could benefit from your wise choices as well. With a bit a tweaking in the organization part, you could be providing lists to students based on topics, standards or even essential questions. If you move from local bookmarks, to online bookmarks, you’ve already made the move necessary to offer these bookmarks quickly and easily to students as you find them. Services such as Delicious, Diigo, mentormob and the newly popular Pinterest, make the sharing easy and the access for you, almost anywhere.  (For a quick list of BYOD resources, check out my Bit.ly bundle.) Providing a more direct list of educational and teacher approved web resources keeps students away from the unfettered wiki world. Not only that, those who do have the desire to learn more will have a teacher directed path.

But don’t stop with just links, videos and games are engaging resources to help students learn a concept from another point of view, review for a test, or delve deeper to satisfy curiosity. Youtube.com/education  provides hundreds of quality lessons by teachers. If you can’t find what you are looking for there, try Hippocampus, Sophia, Vimeo, or some more specific subject content such as Spanish is Your Amigo  or  Mathtrain.tv.  Remember it’s not just for the students. When parents want to help their child, the first place they look is at the list of resources provided by the teacher.

Now back to that collaborative piece. Teachers can curate together. Pinterest makes this simple by allowing you to add collaborators to a board. That is the efficiency we want in our work. Not only is a great resource vetted by your colleague but instantly shared with your students as well.

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