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This is my live notebook from my visit to Apple’s main campus in Cupertino, California. Mary Kay Stallone & I are here for a two day IT Executive Briefing. Tuesday morning we started out with the typical introductions, so I” just move on – nothing to see here.
(BTW – I have a CoverItLive live blogging account, but it’s never really worked for me – don’t know why – so I’m just live blogging the old fasioned way. One post & keep adding.)
First Speaker giving an overall picture of Apple technology in schools.
Changing Technology
Speaker talks about the concept of Time Shift. To us email was fast & cool. To today’s students email is slow & cumbersome. IM & text is their tool of choice. 97% of students check into their digital profiles everyday (this may or may not be high school students, was unclear.)
Fact: It takes about 7 years for new info to make it into science books. Obviously the web is updated more quickly.
Overview of the history of computers in school – lesson to be learned – don’t think of computers & students as a ratio, but as an opportunity to identify the desired outcome & proper tool to achieve it.
Print based information versus digital information. Do we need children to memorize facts that they can easily call up on the web?
Changing Learners
Today’s learners are accostomed to creating information rather than just consuming. Gather > Evaluate > Create > Present. Students no longer ’si at their desk’ when studying. It’s a multitasking, collaborative, mobile process.
When students produce, they are teaching which requires them to learn at a much different level.
School from a students perspective is like a long plane flight: sit down, be quiet, turn off all your electronic devices. Your trip may or may not be relevant.
21st Century
- Competition is global, in education & in the workforce
- The workforce is global
- Schools that focus on Critical Thinking & Problem Solving tend to raise their test scores without focusing on ‘the test’.
- Think about technology not as a tool, but as an environment. Technology is only ‘technology’ if it was invented after your were born.
Century Shifts form 20 to 21st
- Most adults are going to have up to 15 different jobs & more than one career.
- There is a shift from mastery of one discipline to more flexibility & adapability.
- Information & communication skills have beome more important as well as thining & problem-solving, & interpersonal & self-directional skills.
- Shift form standardized tests to authentic demonstrations.
- Shift from consumers to creators of content
Providing challenging tasks so students work on core concepts:
Shallow Learning v Deep Learning
- Routine Memorization > Relating Key Concepts
- Following Rote Procedures > Using Evidence/Developing Schema
- Focus is on Minimum Requirements > Focus on Growth & Understanding
- Intention is to get it Done > Intention is to seek Meaning for Yourself
Google’s Advice to Students: Major in Learning
- Analytical Reasoning
- Communication Skills
- A Willingness to Experiment
- Team Players
- Passion & Leadership
Speaker is going over different lighthouse examples in the world; district without textbooks, district creating their own PodcastU, et cetera.
Lesson 1: Understand the adoption cycle:
- Redefinition – creating new tasks, new student created knowledge
- Modification – allows for significant task redesign
- Augmentation – Starting to use some of the tech functions
- Substitution – this is where you start – the $2000 pencil/word processing
Lesson 2: Create, Distribute, Access Collaborate
End of first talk.