Every Tech Tool in the Classroom Should Be Ruthlessly Evaluated

Educational technology in schools is sometimes described as a wicked problem — a term coined by a design and planning professor, Horst Rittel, in the 1960s, meaning a problem for which even defining the scope of the dilemma is a struggle, because it has so many interconnected parts that never stop moving.

When you have a wicked problem, solutions have to be holistic, flexible and developmentally appropriate. Which is to say that appropriate tech use for elementary schoolers in rural Oklahoma isn’t going to be the same as appropriate tech use in a Chicago high school.

I spent the past few weeks speaking with parents, teachers, public school administrators and academics who study educational technology. And while there are certainly benefits to using tech as a classroom tool, I’m convinced that when it comes to the proliferation of tech in K-12 education, we need “a hard reset,” as Julia Freeland Fisher of the Christensen Institute put it, concurring with Jonathan Haidt in his call for rolling back the “phone-based childhood.” When we recently spoke, Fisher stressed that when we weigh the benefits of ed tech, we’re often not asking, “What’s happening when it comes to connectedness and well-being?”..

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/24/opinion/ed-tech-classroom.html?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR39rHrCtYM4f0Nla6YUlPVAmmjVbibpEYOyY8a6bXnMTICmMkcIJ64sjMc_aem_ATmrEmU62ChfwgjIOI-eArgn7LqI8cycQDG2enzRKYAPFwyrI8q8O3wEo9sXaLkQCjyhrGXPtAFLzb7aVTsEWbWg

UPDATE: Montgomery County Public Schools records show in the past 4 years it's missing 1241 pieces of technology. There is no record of 2,990 items due to Covid. 63 laptops lost & 440 laptops came up missing. @7NewsDC

UPDATE: Montgomery County Public Schools records show in the past 4 years it's missing 1241 pieces of technology. There is no record o 2,990 items due to Covid. 63 laptops lost & 440 laptops came up missing. @7NewsDC https://t.co/3TGBH2vEnp

— Scott Taylor 7 News I-Team (@ScottTaylorTV) March 12, 2022

Cyber attack on county-wide network shuts down internet connection

Students and faculty across Montgomery County couldn’t complete planned classwork because of intermittent loss of internet service Sept. 25 and 26 after an an outside source issued a cyber-attack on the county-wide network, MCPS Chief Technology Officer Pete Cevenini reported.

These types of cyber-attacks are relatively common, according to Cevenini, and didn’t threaten student data or private information.

“It was difficult and very disruptive, but all it did was shut down the network at the front door. There was no serious damage to our network,” Cevenini said. “But we had to have people staying, pulling all nighters both nights to try to mitigate things and get things back in working order.”

Without internet, teachers were forced to adjust lesson plans last minute...

https://theblackandwhite.net/57066/news/cyber-attack-on-county-wide-network-shuts-down-internet-connection/

NYT on Headphones: "...half of 30 sets of children’s headphones tested did not restrict volume to the promised limit..."

...But a new analysis by The Wirecutter, a product recommendations website owned by The New York Times Company, has found that half of 30 sets of children’s headphones tested did not restrict volume to the promised limit. The worst headphones produced sound so loud that it could be hazardous to ears in minutes.

“These are terribly important findings,” said Cory Portnuff, a pediatric audiologist at the University of Colorado Hospital who was not involved in the analysis. “Manufacturers are making claims that aren’t accurate.”

The new analysis should be a wake-up call to parents who thought volume-limiting technology offered adequate protection, said Dr. Blake Papsin, the chief otolaryngologist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto...

...Safe listening is a function of both volume and duration: The louder a sound, the less time you should listen to it.

It’s not a linear relationship. Eighty decibels is twice as loud as 70 decibels, and 90 decibels is four times louder....

...Audiologists offered some tips for listening: First, keep the volume at 60 percent. Second, encourage your child to take breaks every hour to allow the hair cells in the inner ear to rest. Nonstop listening can eventually damage them...

 http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/06/health/headphones-hearing-loss-kids.html?_r=1

Maryland to try new school model - MyEasternShoreMD: State Regional

EASTON — Gov. Larry Hogan announced on Wednesday, Nov. 24 his commitment to launch up to four P-TECH 9-14 schools in Maryland to help better prepare students for college and entry into the job market.

Hogan was joined by Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, President of the IBM International Foundation Stanley Litow, CEO of Baltimore City Public Schools Gregory Thornton and Johns Hopkins University President Ronald Daniels.
“I have been talking with staff about the possibility of one on the Eastern Shore,” said Superintendent of Caroline County Public Schools John Ewald. “It could be challenging based on the availability of resources and space but it’s a very worthy program.”
The P-TECH (Pathways in Technology Early College High School) education model was co-developed by IBM. P-TECH schools offer students an integrated six-year education program that combines high school, college and workplace skills.
Graduates from Maryland’s P-TECH schools will earn their high school diploma and a two-year postsecondary degree in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) from an accredited community college. These students will also get career experience and mentorship in the workplace, and can gain practical workplace experience with skills-based, paid internships...


Maryland to try new school model - MyEasternShoreMD: State Regional

Why is MCPS charging $620 for Technology Class and $310 for Health Education Class? #mdconstitution #freepubliced

Dear Mr. Civin,

The Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD, has been informed that MCPS is charging $620 for students to take a 1 credit Foundations of Technology course, and $310 for students to take a .5 credit Health Education course during the school year. 

The MCPS website shows these fee on the information pages for each class.  The fees are shown for the fall and spring semesters. 

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/onlinelearning/courses/technology.aspx

http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/onlinelearning/courses/index.aspx
As the MCPS General Counsel, you are no doubt familiar with the law with regard to the ability of Maryland public schools to charge curricular related fees, however, we will refresh your memory by restating the law and providing you with the link to the letter on this issue from the Maryland Attorney General's office.

 From the Maryland Attorney General's office:

...we are safe in saying that anything directly related to a school's curriculum must be available to all without charge...

http://parentscoalitionmc.blogspot.com/2011/09/md-atty-gen-how-to-appeal-illegal-class.html

Not only do the Foundations of Technology and Health Education courses allow students to obtain credits, they are also both graduation requirements.

There is no evidence that the $620 curricular fee, or the $310 curricular fee for these classes has ever been approved by the Montgomery County Board of Education, the Maryland Legislature, or that they are authorized under the Maryland Constitution.

Please advise under what authority MCPS is charging students $620 to take a required technology credit course, and $310 to take a required health education credit course during the school year.  Thank you for your assistance.

Parents' Coalition of Montgomery County, MD

Today: Council to Review MCPS Financial Report, Moving Cash Around and $2 Million for Chromebooks #found$$$ #notforteachers #slushfund

September 28, 2015 

Montgomery County Council Education Committee

9:30 AM- Room 3CCR at Montgomery County Council building

•MCPS FY15 year-end financial report and categorical transfer

    •Update-MCPS Technology Plan

Google’s Apps for Education may violate US laws over handling of students’ data

Is MCPS going to be using Google Apps for Education to assign e-mails to students using the new Chromebooks? BOE members tried to ask questions today about acceptable use and policies surrounding these 40,000 new devices but were cut off by Superintendent Joshua Starr.


Google’s Apps for Education may violate US laws over handling of students’ data

Google faces a lawsuit in California over whether bulk scanning of emails to deliver advertisements breaches state and federal wiretap laws.

In its filings for the lawsuit, the company has also admitted scanning the contents of emails sent and received by American students who attend schools which use the company’s Apps for Education suite. ButAmerica’s Education Week magazine says that that raises new questions about the compatibility between US child-protection laws and “big data”.

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/mar/19/google-lawsuit-email-scanning-student-data-apps-education

Starr Finds $15 MILLION, Spends It, Will Tell BOE About it Next Week! #forgettransparency #lovesurprises

Funniest thing.  Just  this morning the Montgomery County Chief Innovation Officer was telling the County Council how there wasn't any money for any more tablets for students with disabilities in a pilot program. Yet, Superintendent Joshua Starr has been cooking up this new program for the general education students for months.  Special education students? Not so much.

The Washington Post: Montgomery announces school technology initiative, with 40,000 laptops and tablets

Snow Days and Tech Toys

Aha!

All the tech toys and teacher training we've seen over the past several years in Montgomery County Public Schools finally makes sense.

Our students and parents will no longer fear the snow.  Why?

Because we have technology and can teach via the internet.  

To read more about it, see this article:

Virtual schools are coming to an android near you.

Just tweet those lessons in.  Just be sure they pass the cybercivility test.

Students, say goodbye to snow days -- and say hello to school at home

(CNN) -- Earlier this month, Zak Terzini roused himself about five minutes before his English class began and didn't panic. Instead, the high school sophomore grabbed his iPod and checked on a class discussion of "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" without even getting out of bed.

A snowstorm -- another one -- had canceled classes in the Pascack Valley Regional High School District in northern New Jersey, but educators and students wouldn't be taking a day off. Before the snow fell, even before the official school cancellation call, teachers were prepped, parents were warned and students had received enough assignments to fill a snow day.

continue reading here.  http://www.cnn.com/2014/02/23/living/snow-days-virtual-schools/index.html

Joshua Starr and Leading by Example

Clearly, our Montgomery County Superintendent of Schools, Joshua Starr, follows the leadership model of extraordinary contradictions. 

His latest?  Josh has been cyberbullied about his decision whether to close schools earlier this week. 

He READ all the tweets, some were cute, some were offensive, and some - well, he may have referred them because they appeared to be threatening to him personally and his family.  According to News 4, MCPS staff tracked down all the tweets, referred them to the schools and perhaps law enforcement officials.  And he sent out a letter to the families of all 150,000 plus MPCS students.

You can read for yourself in the NBC4 story, with video.

The Superintendent's Letter is here

Remember, this is from the Superintendent of Twitter.  Josh is known for his twittering habits, and frequently twitters from Board Meetings and on his travels.    At the end of his letter, he encourages people to contact him on his (gasp) twitter account (@mcpssuper).

This mom of the MCPS educated and tech savvy generation has some advice to Josh.

1.  Lead by example.  Stop encouraging folks to contact you by twitter.  You can't control the message but you can control how you communicate.  Twitter unfortunately, has become your preferred mode of communication.  Do the taxpayers of MoCo get information about your travels from other media?  Nope, not from the BOE, from public disclosures of your travels, or any type of report of what occurred when you meet with folks, both in MoCo and outside of Maryland.  Can we get some information about common core and math standards? Many of us feel like cybersleuths trying to track down how you spend our money.  

2.  Turn off your device.  Do not use it in meetings, especially MoCo Board of Education meetings and other meetings with county officials.  This is simply rude, and shows you are not paying attention. 

3.  Be realistic about kids using technology.   Yes, parents and teachers will have discussions about the proper use of technology, but saying that younger kids will not use twitter just because their parents don't allow it in their homes is unrealistic.  I bet your kids know more about tech than you do, I know my children did when they were very young.  Asking parents to know their kids passwords and keep the computer in a public place in the home doesn't insure that everything will be parent approved and safe.  Parents need to work continuously to instill their values in their children - and these values may not always be yours.  Banning something at home doesn't mean that they won't see it elsewhere - at school or at friends homes.  Some elementary schools and teachers use twitter as a classroom add on.  Really? 

4.  Be the grownup here.  Did you really feel threatened by these kids with twitter messages?  We have bigger problems in MoCo, and need better solutions.  How many teachers in the past few weeks have been subject to charges of molesting minors?  What about Rock Terrace and the theft of moneys from special ed kids?  Those are real problems in need of real solutions. 

and finally.

5.  Use taxpayer resources wisely.  I admit that I sometimes look at twitter, but I don't post or tweet and generally find this particular tool of social media not worth my time.  Is this worth your time personally and professionally?  How much time and money do you spend on Twitter and social media?  How much time and money did you spend on your "investigation" of this one cyberbullying episode?  How much is the task force going to cost?  Is this worthwhile?  Do you think this solved the problem?

WAMU: New Technology Greeted Students At MCPS

WAMU:  New Technology Greets Students At Montgomery County Schools

But, not mold remediation?

DC charter schools add mobile app to compare data

From The Washington Examiner.  Free school app for DC residents.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The District of Columbia Public Charter School Board is launching a new mobile app to provide information on each school.

The app was introduced Saturday at the fourth annual Charter School Expo. It provides information on a school's performance, application deadlines, program offerings and transportation options.

The free MyDCcharters mobile app was launched for Android, Blackberry, Java and Windows platforms. It's coming soon for the iPhone.

The public charter school board oversees 57 schools, serving more than 35,000 students.

For the entire article go here.

Old Promethean Boards and New Computers Don't Mix?

the observer:  CHS [Churchill High School] gets new computers

With every new school year come changes and this year CHS students discovered new flat screen computer monitors in place of the old CRT monitors and an upgrade to the computer program Windows 7. 

...the computers connect to the Promethean boards differently than before. With the old computers, the Promethean board display was the same as the computer monitor, but now the two displays can be different.
“It is more of a learning curve for some teachers because they have to move from one screen to another now,” ...

Media Specialists Speak Out

Today is a banner day for MCPS School Library Media Specialists. One of our own is at the table during today’s Board of Education meeting to showcase and discuss her role in implementing innovative technologies to improve student learning (see Innovations in Technology http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/agenda/2010-11/2011-0308/3.0%20Innovatons%20in%20Technology.pdf).

Meanwhile, media specialists and media assistants in schools around MCPS are learning that their hours will be cut for the next school year. For several elementary schools, this will mean that the media specialist will be ½ time. Media assistants in elementary and middle schools will be ½ or ¾ time. While the possibility of losing media assistant hours was indicated in a memo from Dr. Weast, the potential loss of media specialist hours was never made public. According to several media specialists who are losing hours, the school-based management approach is causing principals to decide between staff development teachers, reading specialists, counselors and media specialists.

So, who will be teaching students how to utilize innovative technology? The teachers? Who do you think is often called upon to teach the teachers? The media specialist. Who will teach students information literacy skills? It’s not in the curriculum. The media specialists are the ones who integrate true 21^st century skills in to MCPS curriculum. With fewer staffed hours in the media center, how many reading programs will be supported? Students without computer access at home often use the media center after school – that will end as media assistants’ hours are eliminated and the media specialist has to absorb additional responsibilities in a day that already lasts beyond a normal “duty day.” As a professional educator, I pride myself on continuous professional development – on my time and my dime. Frankly, the staff development teacher is often tasked with school leadership administrative tasks rather than true staff development. But if there is nobody in the library, students will be denied access to literature, information, technology, and learning.

There is no doubt that difficult decisions must be made regarding staffing. But, the most unsettling aspect of this latest round of cuts is the complete lack of transparency and accountability. Where is the stakeholder input? How and why are decisions being made from school to school? What is in place to ensure equitable programming for all students?

As a media specialist, finding and using credible information is my specialty. In this situation, it would be great to have any information to explain why the libraries are being so greatly impacted. And is anyone considering how this will impact the kids? Aren’t they our main responsibility?

The Parents' Coalition thanks the writer for submitting these comments to this blog. The writer wishes to remain anonymous.

"...no guarantee that technology purchased today would be relevant a year from now..."

Gazette: Digital ‘techbooks' gain traction in schools, but MCPS not ready to ditch the paper trail

...Brown said there are no big savings incentives in making the transition from textbooks to digital techbooks. The school system would have to regularly pay for updates, and with technology changing so rapidly, there's no guarantee that technology purchased today would be relevant a year from now, she added...

Baltimore County schools did not seek competitive bids for software contract - baltimoresun.com

Baltimore County schools did not seek competitive bids for software contract - baltimoresun.com

..."It is rare for a school system that size to sole source technology. Very unusual,"...

______________

Not unusual in Montgomery County Public Schools...see the explanation by the MCPS Chief Technology Officer here!

Replacing Labor Costs with Technology and Other: Illogical! Illogical!

During the March 11, 2010 County Council Education Committee meeting (the same one where the Promethean funding shortfall was mentioned), the following argument in support of the proposed technology expenditure was given by Superintendent Weast during the discussion of Technology Modernization - Item #1: Desktop Replacement. The opening sentences by Council staff refer to the 4 yr replacement cycle for computers (follow along p. 9 - 11 of the memo ).

Listen for the following:

"...but the teacher quality has gotten less variable between the top and lowest performing teacher...a lot of that is done through technology…advise the Council that this is a smart expenditure area because you're replacing labor costs with technology. That is your only way to keep up quality over time."

Take away message: Teacher quality depends on up-to-date computers. Replace labor costs (teachers) with new computers.

But then:

"...cut back on training and staff development, will have to substitute some sort of electronic training programs (sound familiar? see Pearson deal )...takes these kinds of devices (remember, still talking about ol' desktop computers) ...trying to reduce variability between the greatest teacher and not-so-great, you have to increase their cultural competency awareness..."

Take away message: Teacher quality depends on staff development - in cultural competency. Replace staff development people with e-versions that will only run on new computers.

Moving on...

"...national standards right on track...we know what to do; we're all on the same synchronicity path....Board very desirous of ..critical thinking kind of curriculum...more integrated...what we have now is strong literacy and math program, not necessarily as good science, or social sciences, or writing, or physical education, those kinds of things...trying to get help from major publishing companies for help...really need devices to deliver assessments in a better way ..."

Take away messages:

1) literacy and math programs are strong - yet we have a Math Joint Work Group which has spent over a year developing "recommendations on ways to improve student achievement in mathematics systemwide."

2) all aspects of curriculum except literacy and math are not-so-good - yet we're ahead of the game in national standards; we know what to do

3) teachers don't know how to assess - so replace teachers with computers so assessments can be done in a better way. Wait, wasn't that what the Wireless Generation/ handheld Palm Pilot program was supposed to do?

4) some of the Board and Education committee of the Council knew back in March that something akin to the Pearson deal was in the works?

Finally:

"...When you save on labor costs, you save on benefit costs. When you save on benefit costs [heh,heh]...it translates."

Take away message: We won't have a budget crisis if we 'save' by getting rid of some local human capital and then buy more technology gadgets (and human capital from other companies - think Pearson).

Logical conclusions? I can't come up with logical conclusions because...

I feel like Norman in the Star Trek episode, "I, Mudd" : "You say you are lying, but if everything you say is a lie, then you are telling the truth, but you cannot tell the truth because you always lie... illogical! Illogical! Please explain! You are human; only humans can explain! Illogical!"

New York Times: Wi-Fi Turns Rowdy Bus Into Rolling Study Hall

By SAM DILLON
Published: February 11, 2010

VAIL, Ariz. — Students endure hundreds of hours on yellow buses each year getting to and from school in this desert exurb of Tucson, and stir-crazy teenagers break the monotony by teasing, texting, flirting, shouting, climbing (over seats) and sometimes punching (seats or seatmates).

But on this chilly morning, as bus No. 92 rolls down a mountain highway just before dawn, high school students are quiet, typing on laptops.
Morning routines have been like this since the fall, when school officials mounted a mobile Internet router to bus No. 92’s sheet-metal frame, enabling students to surf the Web. The students call it the Internet Bus, and what began as a high-tech experiment has had an old-fashioned — and unexpected — result. Wi-Fi access has transformed what was often a boisterous bus ride into a rolling study hall, and behavioral problems have virtually disappeared.

Article continues here.

Wall Street Journal on MCPS cites Parents' Coalition

WSJ: Data-Driven Schools See Rising Scores
by John Hechinger

...But a group called the Parents Coalition of Montgomery County questions the millions of dollars spent on technology. The group says the system's emphasis on closing the achievement gap between whites and minorities has shortchanged gifted students and those with disabilities. The parents also complain that the frequent use of standardized tests, beginning in grade school, stifles creativity and is crowding out the arts.

Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, which has been a longtime critic of standardized assessments, echoes those concerns. He says school districts like Montgomery risk neglecting broader holistic measures of critical thinking that can't easily be tracked on a database. "Education is narrowed to little more than a test," he says...

...Some parents are angry about a plan that is phasing out special centers for students with disabilities. As part of a national movement known as mainstreaming, they are instead being taught in regular classes. Bob Astrove, parent of a son with a learning disability, says his child flourished in the separate centers -- and just finished his junior year in college. "He needed the small, controlled environment," says Mr. Astrove, who claims the district is shutting down the centers in part to shift money to its green-zone initiatives.

Gifted students, say school officials, have plenty of challenges, through extra work in class. The district says it is now spending more on special education, not less, because students receive extra supports in regular classrooms. Administrators also say they get few complaints from parents of children who get double doses of academic subjects. The district tries, when possible, to preserve electives such as art and music classes using an extended-day program...

Read the full article here.