I don’t have any teens yet, but for those of you with teens, looking for a safe way to allow your kid to collaborate online with peers on specialized technology projects, you might want to check out Freshbrain.com.

Freshbrain is a non profit organization, so as it stands today, it is completely free.

The site offers activities and projects in the areas of:

• development
• music
• graphics design
• gaming
• web
• videos/movies…and more…

They also offer contests and scholarships with the focus on using technology to execute tasks.

There are safety features in place (although I would still say that parents probably need to stay closely involved, as in any online endeavor).

And best of all, there are advisors who are trained volunteers which help guide teens through tools, projects, and activities.

All of this– FREE.

Yep.  Go check it out if you like: Freshbrain.com.

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One of the things I’ve realized is how much of a S-T-R-E-T-C-H it might be for some educators to think on terms of actually embracing technology in the classroom.

When you think “technology”, all kinds of things might come to mind. What do I mean by “technology”? Being “techie” — does that mean setting up a DVD for the kids to watch, allowing them some online computing time, or teaching them take a part and put together a computer server?

“Technology” could mean a host of things…and neither of these subjects listed above are things that I am either a master teacher in nor am faintly interested in (with the exception, of course, of allowing kids some computing time and maybe setting up an occassional DVD course for them).
When I think of technology for educators, I am referring to Web 2.0 and all that it entails.

IN order to move along that spectrum of thinking, I’ve opted to drop some of my online memberships that stay focused on only the traditional approaches to education, in favor of signing up for some new networks that embrace web 2.0 in the classrooms.

 
Visit Homeschool 2.0

Visit Classroom 2.0

Mind you, I am NOT totally against anything “traditional”. I just want to spice up our lesson plans a bit with allowing my kids a new way of obtaining and presenting information (in addition to the more traditional, foundational approaches).

Still using the traditional texbook method for math and language arts…but I think I may be opting for something a little more “out of the box” for history and science this year. We shall see.

Definitely I can see some more podcasts and slideshows in the works.
Maybe some videos..
Maybe a wikki when older…
Maybe asynchronous online classes on Moodle/Elluminate?  In case you’re wondering what that is, check this out:

http://www.virtualhomeschoolgroup.com/

There are SO many resources and classes out there for all educators, including homeschoolers.  Whenever I find great resources for online education, I will attempt to post these in the Tech Gadgets and Reviews section.

Lots of stuff to look forward to

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Here’s what I think…

The educational community at large is on the roll when it comes to understanding where we are in the 21st century at keeping our kids on top of learning about technology.  (Pulling off the actual programs to make it happen may be another issue- but to the credit of those schools that are succeeding, I must admit that I have read about some of those schools who are doing a great job at integrating tech and ed in Edutopia).

That said, I think the homeschooling community (of which I am a part) does a good job of remaining open to the unique possibilities available in modern education: distance education, to be exact.  This can only be done through the use of computers, hardware and equipment, plus software which allow for communication between children and teachers who are physically far apart from one another.

Our kids (as well as the parent teachers) must learn how to adapt to and utilize the technology so that we can do the work (for those of us who do use distance learning, and in the homeschool arena there are quite a few).  It would be cool to find a statistic on that.

There is one thing, however, that I want to encourage home educators to pay close attention to regarding technology use, and that’s: not ignoring the potential benefits of web 2.0 and multimedia use in the home classroom.

This whole technology thing goes way beyond the idea of our students being able to look up a few key phrases in Google and do a web search on the virtual library.  It’s also more than the idea of we (the parent teachers) blogging about our students’ achievements (although this can be a real PART of how we introduce technology to our children)…but I believe it is only a small fraction of what web 2.0 has to offer.

Just my opinion–and I am passionate about this topic because I’ve been really pondering this, studying and reading about this topic for years.  Society is moving along, and it’s imperative that we at least offer opportunities for our children to stay abreast of what’s happening, and giving them the tools to learn them.

One of the things I studied in grad school was how online collaboration efforts improve learning in kids by drastic measures.

It’s the notion that a student can take his or her idea, type it up in a document, read it as a script into a computer mic, save it as an audio file, upload it to the web via FTP, create an RSS feed and wrap it in Feedburner, promote it via her own website as a podcast, upload the podcast into Itunes for the world to listen and enjoy…

That is an educational experience.

(And I didn’t yet mention the ongoing blog that could accompany the podcast, and so many other venues that could add more depth and meaning to her experience online, plus subject mastery.)

Which brings up another point: internet safety.

We can’t be teaching our kids how to use all of this stuff without the means to protect them from harmful material online.

What I am advocating is a balanced approach to tech ed.

Just how do we pull it off?

That’s a great question.  I have some ideas, and I’ll keep sharing those in later posts!

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I was reading the ISTE (International Society for Technology In Education) website, and found that President Obama signed into law an act that poured over $100 billion dollars into education.

That’s a LOT of money.

Fortunately, technology programs and such were not left out of this.  According to the website:

ISTE worked closely with the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress to ensure that the ARRA included a dedicated funding stream for classroom technology and professional development through the Enhancing Education Through Technology program

What this means is, technology programs in many of our nation’s schools (U.S.) will be receiving extra money in the budget specifically for technology.

I can imagine there will be more spending for :

• professional technology staff/technology specialists
• software
• curriculum developers
• computers and hardware
• computer furniture
• …and perhaps even extra tech training for teachers

With more money, comes more spending.

What I’m wondering is: how much of the spending will actually translate to kids truly learning the basics of technology and its functions?

Kids are really smart…they can pick up just about any technology gadget and figure it out in a matter of minutes.

But put them online, and sometimes they make unwise decisions.  If they haven’t been taught the importance of internet safety, that is.

Give them access to Word, Excel, or Power Point and see if they can effectively use the software to write a paper, perform a calculation, or create a presentation…and for many kids and teens, it just isn’t happening for them.  (This is a case for the majority, and I cheer for every kid who learns this stuff before graduating high school b/c it’s so crucial for the work force).

It’s not that the public and private education sector is failing at technology education because they don’t have enough money or misappropriate the money (although I am sure this is the case in some schools), but what’s a technology budget without a technology education PLAN?

The questions that I think should be addressed are:

1. WHAT do our kids need to learn about technology in each grade level?
2. WHYdo our students need to learn this material?
3. HOW can we keep our children safe while teaching the material?
4. HOW can we teach technology without cutting too deeply into a budget, AND without neglecting needed time on other subjects?

So how does this apply to homeschoolers? Read my next post…

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GEEKY POST DISCLAIMER

Okay that said…

I got so excited today when I saw the online interactive version of the Edutopia magazine. For those of you who don’t know, my field of study the last 2 years was in Interactive Technology and my interests lie in digital media and e-training.

Anyways, I thumbed through this magazine, almost literally. I mean, they have the page turn shuffle sounds and everything, plus areas where you can write and save notes. I thought that was pretty cool.

I love to see how our school systems are integrating technology into their curriculum. The few schools who are doing an awesome job are worthy of Edutopia’s feature stories…I just wish there were more schools in Alabama who got featured for tech integration…and maybe I just wish there were more schools in Alabama that integrated technology successfully — and by this I mean teacher training and less emphasis on standardized testing to make way for creativity in the classroom, which could lead to room for tech learning.

I could actually go on a soapbox about this…about how technology is paving our future and without the necessary knowledge, tools, and resources, our kids are leaving high school without so much as an inkling about how to successfully type a paper in Microsoft Word or create a presentation in Power Point.
Of course, this isn’t true in all cases, but for the most part it is. Some people would argue that our kids are bombarded with TOO much technology (video games, television, cell phones, the infamous Ipod)…but what I say is…why shouldn’t it be utilized within academia to actually REACH our kids with their own language?

Just maybe this is to be my project some time in the near future…hence the business loan (or maybe even a grant?) All I know is, technology should be happening in today’s classroom.

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