TechIntersect

Let’s face it- to most people failure is bad. In some cases, when the failure is disastrous and irrecoverable, it is bad. We are only allowed one fatal error per lifetime. However, most of the time our errors are simply a part of the natural journey toward success. Yet we avoid errors and failures like the plague. It is now a routine fact that schools and teachers are regularly being assessed to see if they are “failing” or not.

According to Randy Nelson of Pixar,

The core skill of innovators is error recovery, not error avoidance.

Thomas Edison when developing the incandescent light bulb found 10,000 ways that would not work but finally one that did. Mistakes and failure is a natural part of the process, but we punish those who take risks and experience short term failures. I believe this is a big part of what is wrong with our educational system.

I’m enjoying Seth Godin’s book “Tribes” right now. I just finished reading his description of the history of the factory. According to Godin, a factory is “an organization that cranks out a product or service, does it with measurable output, and tries to reduce costs as it goes. I mean any job where your boss tells you what to do and how to do it.”

He continues, saying factories provide “stability and the absence of responsibility”. In factories, you are doing your job if you just do what the boss says to do. They are perceived as safe; again with the “error avoidance”.

The trouble with the stability and security of factories is that it’s a lie. It doesn’t exist. A quick look at the news today can verify this. In today’s world, the organizations that busily avoid mistakes and failures producing mediocre results will soon be bypassed by true innovators and risk takers.

When Seth Godin describes the factory, I see the modern school. Our schools were designed to supply the world with factory workers, but we haven’t noticed that our approach has turned our schools into factories as well. Factories full of workers who do what the boss says, who enjoy a safe and stable environment, who take no risks, and as a result normally turn out mediocre results.

For teaching to be the “dream job” that Godin describes in Tribes, a job where someone actually has control over what he/she does all day, producing a product or service they can be proud of, having authority over their own time and effort and input into decision making, we need to enable and reward teachers who take risks and not punish them when those risks suffer the inevitable short-term setbacks.

Like it or not, we are in a new age where “good enough” is no longer good enough.

Just listened to an interesting discussion on Pluto and science literacy. Anytime someone mentions Pluto, my ears perk up because of its discovery by Kansas-born science legend Clyde Tombaugh.

The podcast I heard is an NPR interview with Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and if you don’t have time for the entire thing, I will share a few quotes here:

In the 21st century, there is no greater engine of economic growth than innovations in science and technology. If we don’t understand that the rest of the developing world certainly does. That’s how they are investing their money. We can keep telling ourselve that we are leaders in the world, and that works until everyone else passes us and we just recede to insignificance.

and

The more science literate you are, the less susceptible you might be to someone trying to take advantage of your ignorance.

According to Tyson, better math literacy could have prevented predatory lending that helped create the sub-prime mortgage debacle. People with a better understanding of math could have avoided being taken advantage of.

Another observation from the podcast I appreciated and share his point of view with is this:

It’s easy to blame problems on other systemic issues of society when it could have just simply been avoided.

I am more than a little concerned when I think about how the US has historically been a world leader in science and technology, but we seem to be somewhat unwilling to make a commitment to sustaining our leadership role in these areas. Vinton Cerf says that global warming is the new Sputnik, but so far it has not captured the hearts and minds of Americans in the way that Sputnik did.

One of my all-time favorite books about economics is “Unlimited Wealth” by Paul Zane Pilzer. In it he describes an economic alchemy by which wealth is created through the use of technology. New and innovative uses of technology improve productivity and thereby increase wealth. If, as Mr. Pilzer suggests, technology is the key to “unlimited wealth” then it seems to me that we ignore the importance of science & technology at our peril.

I’m getting ready to spend a little time in the Eisenhower Museum to research the post-Sputnik National Defense Education Act of 1958. (I’m taking an Education History Class, and the subject interests me.) According to Wikipedia, the NDEA was enacted because the launch of Sputnik “shook the American belief that the USA was superior in Math and Science to all other countries.” I wonder if America still has a similar concern about Math & Science, or if it even cares anymore?

In The World is Flat Thomas Friedman writes

In China today, Bill Gates is Britney Spears.  In America today, Britney Spears is Britney Spears – and that is our problem.

Michael Wesch (aka the YouTube Professor) is trying to discover the root causes of American fascination with celebrity and has launched The Anonymity Project. I think the research is interesting and expect it will shed some light on the subject.

I agree with Friedman. Science & technology simply don’t have the rock-star attraction that popular culture has in this country. But I’m finding that some people are interested, and do pay attention when the topic arises so I’m doing what I can within my circle of influence to get people to change their thinking.

Last evening I was invited to give a brief presentation to the History of American Education class I am in about Diigo, and how we might use it to collaborate during the rest of the week when we are not in class. I was about two minute into explaining what it does, when the self-described “Type A personality” interrupts me demanding, But why should I care?

I’m getting to that, I say. Not only can you save your bookmarks, your favorite websites, but we can form a group; we can collaborate, we can comment and annotate with highlights & sticky notes on the websites we are viewing as a group! Isn’t that cool?

Unfortunately, the demonstration computer didn’t have an up to date browser that would allow Diigo to function correctly, making it all the more difficult to sell my case. When the sign-up sheet was passed around collecting e-mail addresses of those interested in checking it out, as you can guess, Mr. “Type A” was not among the names. Neither were about half of the rest of the class.

I have written before about how I think Web2.0 should be taught in teacher education programs. Last night’s experience only bolsters my position.

I remember back when the “information superhighway” was just starting to catch on, and there was a big hub-bub about the potential for a “digital divide between the haves and the have-nots”. Wealthy kids could tap into this rich source of information while the poor kids wouldn’t have the means to do so, and there was a big push to wire every classroom in the country.

I believe the digital divide is very real, and the division line is not along economic boundaries. The boundary lies between those with a curious mentality towards technology and those without.

The real digital divide is between mere consumers of content and information, and those who are learning about the collaborative nature of Web 2.0 technology and its amazing content creating power.

Students without a role model at home or at school might be able to cross the digital divide on their own with their own curiousity and some blind luck. I would rather see adults setting the example for them.

When Benjamin Franklin was a young man, he embarked on a daily program of personal improvement. I should like to think that were old Ben alive today, he would be among the curious, teaching himself all he could about becoming a contributor in the digital age. He was all about self-education, which is exactly what every IT expert in the world has discovered is required to remain abreast of developments in the field.

Somehow, we have gotten away from the value of a self-education, in favor of a passive education that is supplied to us by a knowledgeable and well-qualified teacher.

Part of our struggles in the classroom is related to this change in attitude towards learning. How can I engage my students? How can I get them to take ownership of their own learning? Learning is not a passive thing; indeed  in the end all learning must be self-taught.

Mr. Type A from my class, you should care because students need role models of parents and teachers who are themselves traveling a path of life-long learning and discovery. Technology is an ideal area to engage in life-long learning because it is revolutionizing the world, and because you can never learn it all; it simply changes too fast. Not to mention you also run the risk of leaving your students on the wrong side of the digital divide if you don’t.

Edit: This video explains the power of social networking in a way I never could.

This is taken from the Kansas Edition of the Rand-McNally Grammar School Geography book ©1897

The republican form of government is the form consistent with the highest degree of civilization. It is a government of the people, by themselves, for their own benefit. As the sovereignty is vested in the whole people, the vote of the poorest, humblest, and most ignorant citizen is as potent as that of the wealthiest, greatest, and most learned.

The danger attending such a government is that ignorant citizens may so far outnumber wise men that, when misled by those who are designing and unprincipled, laws may be enacted that are hurtful to society.

As guard against this danger, republican governments establish systems of public education designed to give to all their citizens such knowledge and mental discipline as will enable them to act with intelligence and judgment in the exercise of sovereignty.

I’m short on time so won’t write any more. I’ll be happy to reply to comments though!

Edit: Look here for some scans from the aforementioned Geography book. Wish I had time to scan the whole thing in. It’s a fascinating look at what we used to teach in public schools.

If you are a teacher, and you have not already viewed the TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson, then STOP! You obviously have time to kill because you’re here. Stop reading my silly blog and watch it now!

Wasn’t that awesome! I first saw this video last fall in my Principles of College Teaching class, although it’s been out for a couple of years; wish I’d seen it sooner. I think it’s brilliant!

I’m currently reading “The Rhythm of Life: Living Every Day with Passion & Purpose” by Matthew Kelly. He writes:

We don’t produce broadly educated, well-rounded leaders for tomorrow. We teach more and more about less and less. We don’t draw out the individual. We impose upon the individual – systems and structures. We don’t reverence individuality, we don’t treasure it, we stifle it and try to stamp it out. We don’t educate, we formulate. We abandon the individual in his or her own need and uniqueness and “impose” the same upon all…

Truth be told, our modern education systems crush the very spirit they claim to instill.

When I reflect on my own teaching and philosophy, I wonder if I am ever guilty of the indictments of these gentlemen. After all, I am a computer technology teacher, and the field of Computer Science is chock full of specialists. Do I ever “crush the very spirit I hope to instill“?

I believe that often times teacher themselves suffer from the same mentality. Certain ways of teaching are preferred over others. For example, the lecture has taken a beating in recent years in favor of “active learning”. But Ken Robinson gives us a spellbinding 20 minute lecture. The point is, we should encourage the strengths of our students and we should also be teaching with our own personal strengths.

Albert Einstein said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

How many of our students leave our classes thinking they are stupid because what we are teaching doesn’t resonate with them? While we should never accept a lack of effort, perhaps we might do well in accepting that some of our students will never excel in our subject. One thing I struggle with when I recognize that I have a “tree climbing fish” in my class is how to be patient and continue to encourage.

Matthew Kelly also writes:

I believe that we are all capable of doing one thing better than any other person alive at this time in history. What is your one thing?

Oh my gosh! I’ve heard this before! And when I heard it, I thought “yeah, whatever“. In the film, City Slickers, Mitch, played by Billy Crystal, is on a cattle drive trying to sort things out and make some sense of his life. The trail boss Curly, played by Jack Palance, says that middle aged men often come out around the same age, trying to understand.

You city folk!  You spend 50 weeks a year getting knots in your rope… then you think two weeks up here will straighten it out.

Here is Matthew Kelly’s idea expressed in Curly’s simple, cowboy way that I’ve heard before but never paid much attention to:

Previously, I posed the question “The quality of my life is determined by the quality of my _____ ?” referring to the Jim Fay statement that “Quality of life is determined by quality of decisions.” Most of the replies I received dealt with some aspect of this idea, whether it was relationships, family, friends, thoughts, or so forth. Ultimately, it all comes down to how we decide to approach these areas of life.

But how do we make good decisions?!?

Kelly suggests that if we know our one thing, the thing that helps us to become the “best version of yourself” then every decision should be centered around whether or not it will help us to do the one thing we were created to do!

I believe if we want to be truly amazing educators, then a number one priority ought to be helping our students discover their “one thing.” And we ought to know our own personal “one thing” and strive to use it each and every day we step into the classroom!

Tags: creativity, individuality, philosophy, purpose

This postcard was on PostSecret this week and it reminded me of a post I wrote last month.

I have been watching with great interest the US presidential election of Barack Obama. People are excited and incredibly optimistic about everything he is going to fix. I predict a certain amount of disillusionment because some problems simply are not as solvable by political authority as they are by the person(s) closest to the problem.

Matthew Kelly says that the biggest problem of the 21st century is the abdication of responsibility. It’s always someone else’s fault, isn’t it? Now that Obama is in office a whole new group of people have someone to blame, don’t they? And the Bush haters will have to find a new scapegoat.

Today as I walked across the campus of Kansas State University, the windows rattled and shook because soldiers at Fort Riley were having artillery practice. As I heard the guns boom and felt the ground shake, I recalled that today was another anniversary of sorts from my days in the US Navy.

I will never forget the day that the Battleship Missouri unleashed her 16″ guns against Iraqi forces in Kuwait. February 3, 1991. I was off duty, asleep in my bunk when a tremendous BOOM! shook the ship. The first thing that came to my mind was “Oh no, we’ve struck a mine!” Ships were hitting mines, and we had been involved in destroying mines in the gulf over the previous several days. Then, as I came to my senses, I realized what was happening. The big guns of the USS Missouri were back in combat action for the first time since the Korean war!

Our berthing compartment was directly below Turret #2, so it is a difficult thing to ignore. But believe it or not, there were times that we were so tired we actually slept while fire missions were going on over head.

I was in “F” division, the group responsible for aiming and firing the world’s largest guns. I can remember being frustrated at first because we were divided into two teams and the other fire control team was getting all of the missions. When my team would take over, there seemed to always be a lull in the action. But the frustration was short lived because by the time the 1991 gulf war ended, the Missouri had fired over 800 one ton projectiles.

It is hard to describe the feelings associated with firing Naval Gunfire Support missions. It was something I had trained for over the six years I had been in the Navy. I had been to the gulf region once before on the USS Cochrane shortly after the USS Stark was hit, but we were never called upon to shoot. I can remember feeling disappointed because shortly after leaving the gulf, the USS Hoel, a sister ship to the Cochrane, was called in to destroy an Iranian oil platform. We wanted that job!

But in February of 1991, it was finally our chance to do the job we had trained long and hard to do. I am briefly visible in the YouTube video at 0:21 seconds. A minute later, check out the footage starting at 1:21. The dot you see flying out of the impact crater and arcing across the desert is a truck! These guns were big, they were bad, and the world will never see the likes of them again.

Just imagine firing something the size of a Volkswagen Beetle at a football field in the next town 20 miles away! That is what we did in the 1991 Gulf War. It’s a pity that the battleships were eventually retired, never to be heard from again. But I’m proud to have served on the world’s most famous battleship.