Blog 4 Digital Student

For my final blog post I'd like to examine an interesting, perhaps curious development in my academic career. The realization of this development occurred on Wednesday afternoon in EDER 671 when as class we prepared to complete the course and instructor evaluations. I didn't have a pen... at all! I had to borrow a pen to complete the evaluations. The epiphany came to me that I crossed over into the digital realm not somewhat, but completely. This wasn't a sudden transformation by any stretch of the imagination, rather a process that I can recall began in the 2007/2008 school year. My school that year received Smart Boards and Notebook software packages in each classroom. I also began to use Gmail and the early Google Doc applications that were available. Over the course of the past four years I've built up my digital portfolio to also include several Web 2.0 tools and most recently emerging cloud applications. What I'd like to do is examine some of the key elements of my paperless academic career and how I've used them as a student.

I've created an ecosystem of devices comprised of my iPhone, iPad, Macbook Air and iMac. The ironic thing for me is that I've only been using Apple products for the last two years. I started with the iMac, then Macbook Air, then iPhone and finally the iPad. I find Apple has an effective, flexible operating system with quality hardware that frees me to concentrate on content.

(Apple screen capture) Edited by Lee Brentnell Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://store.apple.com/ca/

(Evernote screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://www.evernote.com/

I've found Evernote an effective simple to use note-taking application that syncs to multiple devices, the cloud and most importantly saves offline versions of files. I was able to setup a tag system based on the attributes of that file. Below here is a screen shot of my Evernote iPad app taken from my iPhone then posted on my blog using my Macbook (An Apple Ecosystem)

Dropbox is another cloud application that serves as a storage service across multiple devices. I currently have 56 GB of storage space synced between my Imac, Macbook, iPhone, iPad, older Ipod Touch (backup) and my school desktop. In doing group work I've setup Dropbox between group members to share files

(Dropbox screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from https://www.dropbox.com/

(Google Docs screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=writely&passive=1209600&continue=https://docs.google.com/&followup=https://docs.google.com/&ltmpl=homepage

I've used Google Docs to setup shared folders for group work and to do my assignments, Tasks to keep track of meetings and Google Calendars to remind me of important dates (I use text message and email reminders of events)

(Goodreader screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://www.goodreader.net/goodreader.html

Goodreader is an iPad PDF reader with the ability to annotate and additionally syncs with my Mobileme, Dropbox and Google Doc accounts. I've found this app invaluable in completing readings and sharing files I've highlighted with other students.

(Delicious screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://www.delicious.com/

Delicious is a bookmarking service that I've been using for a couple of years. I have Delicious integrated into my Chrome browser and as a stand alone App on my iPad. Currently I have around 2500 bookmarks in 115 tagged categories. Delicious has been invaluable in doing research and organizing information for classes. Below here is a screenshot from of my iPad Delicious App (from my iPhone)

(Flipboard screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://flipboard.com/

Flipboard is an iPad app that has changed the way that I read. Flipboard takes RSS, website, Google Reader and Twitter feeds then displays them as an interactive magazine. From here I can tag articles and information for later use. Currently I have 70 Google Reader feeds, 60 Twitter feeds and close to a dozen newspaper and websites updating 24/7. I find invaluable information through flipboard which I use to enhance my course readings and teaching practice. Below here is a screen shot of Flipboard on my iPad.

(Twitter screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://twitter.com/

I only started to use Twitter at Christmas when my Uncle, who is a teacher in Saskatchewan explained how he uses it as a professional development resource. From his demonstration I've turned twitter into a professional learning network of over 60 teachers, educators and educational reformers. I've recently begun to explore the use of Twitter in the classroom, as I'm becoming more familiar with this technology.

These are the major elements of educational technology that have enabled me to become a digital learner. As I progress through the Master of Educational Technology program I hope to enable my teaching peers to do travel down their own digital paths.

Thanks,

Lee

References

(Apple screen capture) Edited by Lee Brentnell Retrieved July 14, 2011 fromhttp://store.apple.com/ca/

(Delicious screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://www.delicious.com/

(Dropbox screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from https://www.dropbox.com/

(Evernote screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://www.evernote.com/

(Flipboard screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://flipboard.com/

(Goodreader screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://www.goodreader.net/goodreader.html

(Google Docs screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin? service=writely&passive=1209600&continue=https://docs.google.com/&followup=https://docs.google.com/&ltmpl=homepage

(Twitter screen capture) Retrieved July 14, 2011 from http://twitter.com/

Blog 3: @ Copyright

I'd like to blog about the July 12^th, 2011 class on copyright and netizenship. As a class we examined issues around distributed learning and the digital era. In looking at today's role of copyright we had Wendy Stephens in class to discuss Canadian Copyright. I found this presentation to be extremely enlightening on the role of copyright in Canada. I was particularly surprised about the role of parody and satire covered as fair use in the USA and not in Canada. Another point I found interesting was the role of reform and technology in copyright. Wendy discussed how technology had outpaced the ability of legislation to keep pace as the current Bill C-32 is still tied up in the approval process. While new forms of media like portable hard-drives, smart phones, tablets, and cloud computing are emerging at a blistering pace making current legislation archaic as a Brontosaurs in the 21^st century.

I quite enjoyed the morning discussion and it prompted me to remember a presentation that I use from TED on legal issues and education from Phillip Howard (2010) entitled, “ How to fix a broken legal system”.

(Howard, Phillip). Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/philip_howard.html

Link to video: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/philip_howard.html

I use this video in looking at the rule of law in my Social Studies 30 class and decided to re-watch that presentation this evening (July 12, 2011). The presentation deals with fixing the confusing tangle of laws that have come to define what ethics is in the United States. Howard (2010) argues that a confusing tangle of laws has that has come to substitute for ethics, has constricted American society and harmed important societal functions like education. After watching this TED video I searched for copyright on TED and came across two additional videos.

The first one was Larry Lessig (2007) who presented on laws that impede creativity.

(Lessig, Larry). Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html

Link to video: http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html

Lessig's argument is for allowing of mixing and mashing of online content and he tracks the architecture of copyright law development over the course of the 20^th century in the United States. I found this video interesting as it highlighted some of the discussions we had in class around the use of online resources.

The final video I found was a presentation by Margaret Gould Stewart (2007) who is YouTube's head of User Experience. She explains how YouTube's computer system detects copyrighted material then checks multiple agreements with content providers and applies their wishes in regards to copyrighted material. Interestingly enough most content holders allow usage in order to expand their exposure. What was shocking for me in this presentation is that each day YouTube deals with 100 years of video or 20 hours of uploaded video per real-time minute (Gould, 2007)!

(Stewart, Gould Margaret) Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/margaret_stewart_how_youtube_thinks_about_copyright.html

Link to video: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/margaret_stewart_how_youtube_thinks_about_copyright.html

Gould (2007) makes an interesting argument for a revision of copyright law by elaborating on the content detection system YouTube uses and the ability of content providers to register their wishes into the system. I found all three of the videos uplifting in a manner of speaking. What I mean is that when I think of copyright law I tend to envision corporations greedily attempting to bend the law to their maximum advantage and able to do so. These TED presentations showed me that copyright law can be vibrant, inclusive and enable creativity in a way that I had not envisioned before.

Lee

References

(Howard, Phillip). Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/philip_howard.html

Howard, Phillip. (February, 2010). Four ways to fix a broken legal system [video file] Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/philip_howard.html

(Lessig, Larry). Retrieved July 12, 2011 from http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html

Lessig, Larry (March, 2007) Larry Lessig on law that choke creativity [video file]. Retrieved from

http://www.ted.com/talks/larry_lessig_says_the_law_is_strangling_creativity.html

(Stewart, Gould Margaret) Retrieved July 12, 2011 from

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/margaret_stewart_how_youtube_thinks_about_copyright.html

Stewart, Gould Margaret (February, 2010) How YouTube thinks about copyright [video file]. Retrieved from

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/margaret_stewart_how_youtube_thinks_about_copyright.html

Point/Counter-Point: iPad in Education

I'd like my first blog entry to look at the role of the iPad in education. In class we examined if the iPad will revolutionize education. To set the stage I purchased an iPad 2 in March when they were first released. As a teacher I've found the iPad to be an effective teaching tool that increases student engagement, interactions, and perhaps most importantly truly starts to bring convergence of assistive technologies (AT) through Apple's universal design (UD) features and immense consumer appeal. The iPad has Apple's full suite of UD features and below is a link to a short video on the iPad in education and links to the iPads UD features.

(iPad in education) annotated by Lee Brentnell. Retrieved July 7, 2011, from http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/

Link to Apple iPad intro video:

http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/

(Apple Education Apps) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

Link

http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

Universal access features of the iPad

(Universal access features of the iPad) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/

Link: http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/

(iPad vision) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/vision.html

Link: http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/vision.html

(iPad hearing) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/hearing.html

Link http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/hearing.html

(iPad physical accessibility) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/physical.html

Link: http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/physical.html

A serious issue in the use of AT by students in classroom settings that I've found is negative social stigma attached with “being” different. Many times in my teaching practice students who require AT will refuse; even to their own academic determine. As consumer products like the iPad become more powerful and take on many formerly separate electronic functions the line between consumer product and AT begins to fade. Here is an image that really drives home this point.

(Technology image) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://lolzombie.com/tag/80s/

I've had students who require AT use iPads (or iPhone) doing AT functions and they've become the class “expert” on the device. This is simply amazing from my perspective as a teacher. The exact same AT function that only a year earlier would have potentially made the student a classroom “outsider” in a certain fashion has made a student today into a key member of the classroom learning environment. There are many academic reasons that the iPad can and may revolutionize education, but I wanted to examine the human aspect which has impacted me professionally and personally. I've had parents contact me and break down in tears that their child enjoys school for the first time and comes home discussing what we did in class. If we as teachers can leverage the iPad in such a way, then yes the iPad will revolutionize education.

Thanks, Lee

References

(Apple Education Apps) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/education/apps/

Apple.ca (July 7, 2011). iPad in Education. [video file] Retrieved from

http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/

(iPad in education) annotated by Lee Brentnell. Retrieved July 7, 2011, from http://www.apple.com/education/ipad/

(iPad hearing) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/hearing.html

(iPad physical accessibility) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/physical.html

(iPad vision) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from

http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/vision.html

(Technology image) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://lolzombie.com/tag/80s/

(Universal access features of the iPad) Retrieved July 7, 2011 from http://www.apple.com/au/accessibility/ipad/

Blog Post 2: Distributed Learning Mission Statement

For my second blog posting I'd like to elaborate on the class discussion from July 5^th, 2011 where we prepared a mission statement on distributed learning (DL). For my mission statement I began by reading a poem entitled, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” by Richard Brautigan (1967) to highlight the idea of an ecosystem metaphor for DL. My DL mission state was as follows, “I see DL as expanding and elaborating relationships between people and information for the benefit of the community and the individual”. Here is a link to the the poem on Richard Brautigan's website (the poem is ¾ way down the page)

Link to website: http://www.brautigan.net/machines.html#28

(Richard Brautigan website) Retrieved July 10^th, 2011 from http://www.brautigan.net/machines.html#28

In coming to this mission statement I had done quite a bit of extensive research over the past couple of months in an attempt to rework a section of my Social Studies 30 course. Part of the Social Studies 30 course examines challenges to Liberal thought in the second half of the 20^th century. The curriculum point this relates to is 2.12 “examine the extent to which modern liberalism is challenged by alternative thought” (Alberta Education, 2007, p. 33). This point gives a few potential examples; but also allows teachers to supplement with their own relevant content. What to supplement this curriculum point with occurred to in a later unit of the course which I covered at the start of June. In this section we examine terrorism and I include several examples of domestic North American terrorist acts such as the FLQ crisis, Oklahoma City bombings, World trade Centre attacks (1993 & 2001), Toronto 18, Wiebo Ludwig (poignant case for my class, as these events occurred near Grande Prairie) and the Unabomber. This last example is the one that sparked my attention through a class discussion with my Social 30 students. We were examining the following Wordle based on the Unabomber's manifesto which was infamously published by both the Washington Post and New York Times in 1995.

(Unabomber manifesto Wordle screen shot) Material Retrieved July 10^th, 2011 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm

When I show Wordles I ask student to come up with a catch-phrase; this I find stimulates critical thinking and generates some pretty god brevity at times. One of the students came up with the following (which has stuck with me) “Technology is a system of power for modern people”. This statement struck home as we discussed the motives behind the Unabomber's attacks (which we do for each case study of domestic terrorism in this unit) and I posed the inquiry question to the class, “will the machines set us free?”. In my classes after we have a great discussion I generally pose a reflective/inquiry question to stimulate students to digger deeper on the issue. I then give the students the option of presenting their findings to the class for a small bonus or keep their responses over the semester in a journal and I give a small bonus mark at the end of the semester.

After giving the question, I looked over my desk viewing my Apple devices- iPhone, iPad and Macbook. The Macbook was connected to the Smart Board, iPhone was running the “hotspot” feature so students could do brief internet searches; as our school wireless network went offline and my iPad was connected to the second projector in the room running another aspect of the presentation (I plan on demonstrating this app for tech-time on Tuesday). Then a line from an Apple commercial hit my brain about the “Apple Ecosystem”. This made me think of the question I posed to the students and what was lying on my desk; are we creating an ecosystem of machines and what impact does that have on humanity? Upon further investigation I was lead to of all things a recently release 3-part documentary series by Adam Curtis from BBC2 entitled “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace” (Karma, I guess!). Here is the link to the BBC2 website where I watched all three parts of the documentary. I just checked and the documentary is no longer available to view online, but the site has links to additional information and discussion boards.

Link to website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011lvb9.

What I learnt from the documentaries was the idea of machines as ecosystems was developed through cybernetic research in the 1950's and 60's based on a systems' approach to biology termed “ecosystems” championed by Arthur Tansley in the 1930's. These cybernetic pioneers included Norbert Wiener, Jay Forrester, Howard T. Odum and Eugene Odum, Buckminister Fuller and Stewart Brand. To keep this blog post from expanding too much, I'll provide a brief overview of the machine-ecosystem idea and its impact on my teaching practice. These cybernetic pioneers envisioned a future of machine-ecosystems that would acted as self-regulating environments. This view of machine ecosystems was based on the prevailing biological ecosystem theory of the day that held a natural balance was favoured by nature and organism would adapt to maintain this state thus achieving a steady state of equilibrium. Unfortunately for cyberneticists this view of ecosystems in biology was disproved by the late 1960's and replaced by a view of ecosystems where dynamic change was the norm.

The view of a perfect self-regulating machine ecosystem came to influence the development of the entire computer industry lead by the Silicon Valley region of California and perhaps a bit more curiously the followers of Ayn Rand's philosophy of objectivism. In the BBC2 documentary, this machine ecosystem belief is termed the “Californian” ideology. Rand's philosophy in brief held that reality was outside consciousness and through inductive and deductive logic one comes to the moral conclusion that pursuit of one's rational self-interest is the highest goal (Ayn Rand Institute, 2011). The self-regulating machine ecosystem ideology was a perfect fit for Rand's followers who held contempt for traditional political systems that were founded on control of the individual for the benefit of the collective.

For the purposes of my Social Studies 30 link, I plan to tie in the Californian ideology as a reaction against Liberalism through the role of Alan Greenspan whom was the Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank from 1987-2006 (essentially the head banker in the United States). Greenspan was a follower of Rand's ideology and presided over deregulation of the American economy guided by belief that computers would keep track of and account for the market transactions conducted by individuals' guided by their rational self-interest (BBC2, 2011). With this new information I'm planning on approaching the topic from the perspective of a potential challenge to Liberalism through the Californian ideology as well. I'd like conclude the Social Studies 30 link by providing what Greenspan himself said about his ideological belief over the past 40 years, the video is the “Oct. 23, 2008 Now He Tells Us!”.

(Now He Tells Us!) Retrieved 10, 2011 from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/cron/

Link to video: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/cron/

This has been an overview of the genesis of how I developed my mission statement on DL for our July 5th, class. In developing my DL mission statement and researching further into machine ecosystems I've come to see that as a species we are creating a ecosystem of machines. However I believe one not borne from fantasy, but one to further connect us as social beings. This is why in my mission statement I expressed the key point being an expanding and elaborating of relationships between people.

Thanks, Lee

References

Alberta Education (2007). Programs of Study, Social Studies 30-1 and 30-2. Retrieved from http://education.alberta.ca/media/774377/soc30.pdf

Ayn Rand Institute (2011). Introducing Objectivism. Retrieved from http://www.aynrand.org/site/PageServer?pagename=objectivism_intro

Brautigan, Richard (1967). All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. Retrieved from

http://www.brautigan.net/machines.html#28

Curtis, Adam (2011). All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace. [video file] Retrieved from

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011vb9

Frontline.org (2011). Now He Tells Us! Oct 23, 2008 [video file]. Retrieved from

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/cron/

(Richard Brautigan website) Retrieved July 10, 2011 from http://www.brautigan.net/machines.html#28

(Unabomber manifesto Wordle screen shot) Material Retrieved July 10^th, 2011 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/longterm/unabomber/manifesto.text.htm