This is going to be thrown down as a bullet list and I will admit it's going to be done in a hurry.  Right now I feel like Santa must feel like on Christmas Eve.  Hey, it's his fault right?  Leaving present delivery until the very end.

• Colin, I love how you write.  The quote used in Colin's "Collaboration vs. cooperation segment is important to restate.  Leaders should steer a clear path but should also represent a collection of willing minds that take part in developing great ideas.  I commented on Colin's mention of innovating how we grade students.  As a former elementary teacher (in many ways, I still am an elementary teacher) I feel strongly that grading scale on a report card that goes home four times a year does not pay dividends and now I can honestly point to tools that can revolutionize the way we share progress with students and parents.  I have been doing some R&D with an app called Doodlecast Pro which allows students to create short screencasts of whatever.  As a teacher, I can now have a student explain the steps necessary to achieve a standard or sketch out a concept as the screen records.  The student then saves the image to the camera roll and uploads it to their Google Drive.  They may even email the video using their Google Email that only allows them to send to their teacher.  I then forward the screencast to the parents who receive it before their child arrives home.  I can honestly see a day where the parent/teacher conference as we know it becomes obsolete.  Now if we comes to terms with that sticky digital divide.
• Thomas' nailed one critical piece in applying meaningful leadership.  His experience with the projectors happens in our district at times when little consideration has been given to the voices on the front lines.  I remember watching technicians installing new flat screen tvs in the upper corners of classrooms AFTER teachers received digital projectors and smartboards.  I spent some time attempting to contemplate a reasonable explanation for this so I could better understand but I ended up thinking about something else.  (I attribute this to delayed attention deficit)  Giving committees the environment to research sound practices and applications while surveying the field of tech users would make for great leadership but at a risk and if I was told explicitly that "risk" is upon us then I would be at the ready to apply everything I could to mitigate my leader's risk.
• Andrea brings out great points in her blog and I am in awe at how thorough her posts are.  The post referenced how great leaders incorporate creativity by those who relying on the leader to empower them.  I specifically grabbed the notion that "playfullness" be brought back.  I started to consider the possibility of using a game-show theme to motivate teachers to better understand the connection between standards and essential questions and "i can" statements.
• Tiffany's blog was one of the most thought provoking for me.  I started to consider how embedded leaders can realistically innovate.  I know this can be done and thought of precedents to this.  My list was short as it included how Finland closed down it's own teacher training universities and how Gorbachev enacted such reforms as perestroika. However, my list of passionate citizens who granted themselves permission to develop a better way was much longer.  As I write this reflection I ponder how Michelle Rhee attempted to innovate (reform or call it what you will) the Washington D.C. school district and how unpopular she was for doing what she did. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waiting_for_%22Superman%22)
• My post simply attempted to map out some goals I will follow as I progress through my career.  I would to one day lead a new academy that does not recognize a summer vacation and incorporates structures from every aspect of researched based instruction using instructors that incorporate a philosophy of differentiating for every student.  I will achieve this through economics more than anything else.  I will pay a salary that is worthy of great teachers and then let their abilities take over.  There won't be much money left over for text books.  That's okay because we won't need them.  There won't be money left over for technology.  That's okay because the staff will help write the grants and reach out to the community to offer this.  If I get the chance to apply this, it will be at great risk to my own reputation but as I read all of these wonderful posts, one thing stood out.  An effective leader will leverage risk instead of skirting it.

created by Chris Carlson using Inspiration Maps (Inspiration Software, Inc.)

I seem to be a day behind everything this week as I build my presentation for the Classroom Research class.  The process of locating art, creativity (creation & design), along with self-actualization within the Fairbanks School District has been a very useful practice.  It allowed me to go over the smaller details within the plan for technology integration that would benefit the emotional and creative growth of the student.  I found there was two part to the plan.  There was the actual plan and then there was scope and sequence.  Scope and sequence seemed to lay the specific standards that would be applied to the classroom.  There were multiple occasions where digital citizenship was brought up and I didn't really touch on this enough.  Once I read Thomas' blog I realized that the digital citizenship classes I've been teaching should also add vocabulary such as inspire, acheive, support, compassion, etc. I also enjoyed the discussion.  I also thuroughly enjoyed Andrea's & Colin discussion of the pros and cons of instant messaging.  It touches on how important it is to include cyber ethics in a tech plan. 

The next slides represents evidence of student or staff creation, collaboration, and/or self actualization.  Within the Tech Plan are Standards in the form of "Technology Guidelines".  These are integral to the Tech Plan but were not evaluated as I decided to categorize these as specific tech standards.  They do incorporate the three attributes I'm focusing on.  For this evaluation, I'm specifically looking at the plan's goals.

I thoroughly enjoyed this assignment as it got me thinking about redesigning a school around technology and it's transformative nature.  I have included a reflective video using some of Tiffany's youtube video of Ethan Young laying down the hammer on CommonCore.  Thanks Tiffany!  I need to get some sleep!  For Colin, I wish for all the bandwidth in the world.  

Inspiration App & Reflector for iPad Mirroring*

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My apologies for missing this week's posting.
As you will see, I had some difficulty with this new presentation App.  The concept of add virtual apps into the presentation is great but it didn't seem like there was enough room to run both video and full screen vApps.  vApps are what they called online web elements.  I used one photo and the others were web pages.  
My apologies for the choppy video.  Without further delay... 

When I was nine or ten, I met with the principal about my grades.  She said I was going to be pulled from band (I play the Trombone) because my math grades were too low.  I didn't say anything except, "So you're going to take away the only thing I'm good at?"  I didn't have any defense.  She was right, my grades were low but I was good at playing the trombone.  I could read music and understand how to apply my hand to the slide and my lips to the mouthpiece to make music out of notes.  I even wrote music.  I was given this device with little instruction and began experimenting.  I also learned from other trombone players.  I eventually joined a ska band in Oregon and played music professionally for four years.  I graduated from college with an applied economics degree.  I always think back to what would have happened to my life if the principal didn't change her mind.  I wasn't removed from band.  I can't say my grades improved.  I struggled all through elementary school.  I couldn't remember enough for the tests.  I did okay in high school and excelled in College.   I was proud that I never asked a student to leave my classroom but it was still terribly hard reaching these kids in the environment designed around us. 

Why wouldn’t it be reasonable?  Everyday I support teachers and administration with technology.  I can’t tell you how often I’m beckoned to fix a printer and everytime this comes, I sense a hint of futility rising up through my morale.  Here we have amazing tools that allow us to create media rich content and apply it to real problems but most of us just want to be able to print something and hand it out.  I compare the printers in our school to an assembly line.  We create an original and then mass produce it through print.  More often than not, our laptops, and iPods become a really expensive typewriter.  It is rare that I observe teachers connecting knowledge, imagination, and creative works to other learning communities. Ken Robinson points out that, “Conventional academic programs are not designed to develop them and often value the opposite approach; encouraging solo research rather than collaboration, preferring data to be presented in an accepted format, measuring success according to academic merit.” (2011) I think I know why we are still not connecting with our peers in a new way because we are not provided with a supportive environment.  The new tools allow us to build content in ways only the most experienced digital editors could.  An eight year old can create a movie trailer or a video tutorial about the use of fractions in music.  Yet, our Standardized tests mandate we teach to a curriculum that is based on rote learning.  I am encouraged with the new State Standards but we have not kept pace with how we learn and we learn in ways that are so different to the ways I learned in school.  

Some believe that our system is not ready to allow mobile devices in the classroom and I understand there concern.  Digital ethics is a concept lost on some but not most.  Those ethically impaired will make adverse choices whether they’re using a smartphone or a dodgeball.  I hope I can one day hand over the keys of my car to my son even though I know there are those in the community that are negligent because he is equipped with defensive tactics.  We might be holding back with offering the freedom of digital creativity not because we worry about how it might under-mind the growth of our students but how it might effect our place in the classroom.  Students are learning in a way that is difficult for us to filter.  They are mining for new ideas and connecting in ways in which we fear.  Ken Robinson points out a historical pattern which we should ponder when we decide how technology should be used in the classroom.

“Some skeptics argued that it was waste of public resources to attempt to educate the children of the working  classes: such children were essentially uneducable and would not benefit from these efforts.  They were wrong about that.  Others feared the social and political consequences: educating the working classes would give them ideas above their station and lead to a social revolution.  They were not wrong about that.”(2011)

Creative Tech Plan Appendix A:
Student Supply List - K Through 12
iPad
Stylus
Skype Headset
headphones.
Google Account

Here is a story developing as we speak showing the inherent value of transformation.

“Educational researcher Dr. Sugata Mitra’s “Hole in the Wall” experiments have shown that, in the absence of supervision or formal teaching, children can teach themselves and each other, if they’re motivated by curiosity and peer interest. In 1999, Mitra and his colleagues dug a hole in a wall bordering an urban slum in New Delhi, installed an Internet-connected PC, and left it there (with a hidden camera filming the area). What they saw was kids from the slum playing around with the computer and in the process learning how to use it and how to go online, and then teaching each other.” (TED, 2013)

The struggle is not with our students but with ourselves. Students would adjust to the new world because they already have.  They do not fear apps or touchscreens.  They are native to this new world.  We are the immigrants that continue to speak our old native language and dress in the way we are accustomed to.  How many teachers would have to adjust to a new life as an instructional technology teacher.  Its a mouthful for sure but it is a scary endeavor to many of us.  However, if we were to visit our teaching philosophy we would all certainly find an overarching similarity.  We are in this to help students succeed.

Click Here -> Girl dubbed 'The Next Steve Jobs' captivates Mexico
By:  Carola Sole

There is a human connection to learning and memories.  Does the absence of learning from those who we love create a hollow definition of knowledge.

When we say the word “plan”, it elicits meaning that implies structure and conformity.  When I create a lesson plan, it is understood that I will follow certain steps to meet a desired outcome.  I use plans to help deliver objectives and some of these plans have succeeded and some fell flat. The one thing each plan had in common was the environment in which they were delivered.  I never considered writing a lesson plan that laid out steps for creating a new learning environment and I’m not talking about teaching a class outside.  Educators work within the confines of a class and follow a set of norms created within the confines of a larger institution.  The individual who invented the prototype to the iPod did as well.  Before I continue, let me say that Apple did not really invent the iPod.  This happened in 1979!  Kane Kramer, a british inventor, was awarded the patent but could not renew it in time for mp3s to become a reality.  Apple finally gave credit to Kramer due to a 2008 patent lawsuit against the company. (Costello, 2013). 

Back to the iPod...Apple’s crack team of developers responsible for the iPod blossomed out of Apple’s most stagnant period.  Microsoft and PCs were financially spanking Apple.  Steve Jobs began changing all of that when he returned to lead the company (leading and running are different).  Steve did something only successful leaders do.  He transformed the Apple product instead of installing reforms within the structure of the company.  When a CEO or Superintendent  reforms their practice, it’s due to market shifts but Steve single handedly shifted the market by transforming the way we interface with media. (Yarrow, 2012) This can be a lesson for education leaders...if we have any.


We’ve seen what innovation and creativity do to society.  Thank you Bell, Edison, Einstein, Guttenburg, Watt (steam engine)!  We couldn’t have done it without you!  I bet these creative innovators had a few things in common.  They probably had the rare ability to give themselves permission to do what was possible.  They also thrived in an environment that offered the essential resources necessary to succeed. Whew! Lucky for them.  I like to argue that Beethoven was the Roger Waters or Jimmy Hendrixs of his time and would fit in with the likes of Metallica and Jimmy Page.  Although this argument makes my wife, who is a professional violinist red in the face, she reluctantly agrees because he had a piano for his environment and not the electric keyboard or guitar.  I’m listening to Beethoven’s 9th symphony and it rocks!  I’m getting off topic.


What does all of this have to do with a tech plan?  A tech plan is not going to create innovation but it can build an environment that promotes it.  As our economy metamorphosises and our society becomes dependent on whatever structure that crops up, our schools remain based in a plan that was designed to poop out assembly line workers.  Sony no longer makes walkmans and Kodak no longer makes...anything really.  However, we still produce assembly line workers.  Why? Our plans are afraid of upsetting someone. The list of innovators included in the previous paragraph probably put a few people in the unemployment line at first.  Imagine how many careers were born as their ideas became cultural realities?  After referring to the inherent differences transformations have with reforms, Ken Robinson points out the employment plight of the youth and why our education reforms have failed to give them the resources to succeed.  (2011)


In conclusion, a tech plan should offer an environment for students to be creative.  That’s easy and hard.  I can deliver the goods but if an educator and a student thinks that is all that is necessary, they will both fail.  Tools must be used properly.  The environment must provide for this and the tech plan should offer this to both educators and students.  In order to transform how we develop our society (that’s what education does) a tech plan should be a bit psychopathic.  in other words, it shouldn’t be afraid to break down a system that is ineffective even if there is a tech specialist that might need to be retrained.  If you’re wondering why I used the word, “psychopathic” please listen to this NPR podcast with Jon Ronson about a study of psychopathic tendencies of successful CEOs. (2011)


References:


Costello, S. (2013). Who invented the ipod: The story may end at apple, but it begins in the 1970s. Retrieved from http://ipod.about.com/od/understandingipodmodels/a/invented-ipod.htm

NPR. lA phychopath walks into a room. Can you tell? Podcast.  http://www.npr.org/2011/05/21/136462824/a-psychopath-walks-into-a-room-can-you-tell
Robinson, K. (2011). Out of our minds. Chichester, West Sussex: Capstone Publishing Ltd.


Yarow, J. (2012, December 09). How apple really lost its lead in the 80. Business Insider, Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/how-apple-really-lost-its-lead-in-the-80s-2012-12