Did you know? - version read at School Committee meeting

Did you know . . .
Sometimes size does matter.
If you’re one in a million in China . . .
There are 1,300 people just like you.
In India, there are 1,100 people just like you.
The 25% of the population in China with the highest IQ’s . . .
Is greater than the total population of North America.
In India, it’s the top 28%.
Translation for teachers: They have more honors kids than we have kids.
Did you know . . .
China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world.
India is currently the largest English speaking country and the largest democracy in the world.

The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs
By the age of 38.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor . . .
1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company they have been employed by
for less than one year.
The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.

We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . .
Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . .
In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.

Name this country . . .
Richest in the World
Largest Military
Center of world business and finance
Strongest education system
World center of innovation and invention
Currency the world standard of value
Highest standard of living
England.
In 1900.

Did you know . . .
We are living in exponential times.
There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month.
To whom were these questions addressed B.G.?
(Before Google)
The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population
of the planet.
There are about 540,000 words in the English language . . .
About 5 times as many as during Shakespeare’s time.
More than 3,000 new books are published . . .
Daily.

It’s estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times . . .
Contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in
the 18th century.
It’s estimated that 40 exabytes (that’s 4.0 x 1019) of unique new information will
be generated worldwide this year.
That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.
The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years.
It’s predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010.

47 million laptops were shipped worldwide last year.
The $100 laptop project is expecting to ship between 50 and 100 million laptops a
year to children in underdeveloped countries.

Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the
computation capability of the Human Brain . . .
By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computation capability of the Human
Brain . . .

And while technical predictions further out than about 15 years are hard to do . . .
Predictions are that by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational
capabilities of the human race.
What does it all mean?
Shift Happens.
Now you know . . .

Mashup of work done by these folks and then seen at NSBA EXPO
The Fischbowl: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
Fischbowl Presentations:
http://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/fisch/fischbowlpresentations.htm

Did you know ?

Did you know . . .
Sometimes size does matter.
If you’re one in a million in China . . .
There are 1,300 people just like you.
In India, there are 1,100 people just like you.
The 25% of the population in China with the highest IQ’s . . .
Is greater than the total population of North America.
In India, it’s the top 28%.
Translation for teachers: They have more honors kids than we have kids.
Did you know . . .
China will soon become the number one English speaking country in the world.
If you took every single job in the U.S. today and shipped it to China . . .
China would still have a labor surplus.
During the course of this 8 minute presentation . . .
60 babies will be born in the U.S.
244 babies will be born in China.
351 babies will be born in India.
The U.S. Department of Labor estimates that today’s learner will have 10-14 jobs
By the age of 38.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor . . .
1 out of 4 workers today is working for a company they have been employed by
for less than one year.
More than 1 out of 2 are working for a company they have worked for for less
than five years.
According to former Secretary of Education Richard Riley . . .
The top 10 in-demand jobs in 2010 didn’t exist in 2004.
We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist . . .
Using technologies that haven’t been invented . . .
In order to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet.
Name this country . . .
Richest in the World
Largest Military
Center of world business and finance
Strongest education system
World center of innovation and invention
Currency the world standard of value
Highest standard of living
England.
In 1900.
Did you know . . .
The U.S. is 20th in the world in broadband Internet penetration.
(Luxembourg just passed us.)
In 2002 alone Nintendo invested more than $140 million in research and
development.
The U.S. Federal Government spent less than half as much on Research and
Innovation in Education.
1 out of every 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met online.
There are over 100 million registered users of MySpace.(August 2006)
*Scott updated to 106 million for September 2006 and added this slide:
If MySpace were a country, it would be the 11th-largest in the world (between
Japan and Mexico)*
The average MySpace page is visited 30 times a day.
Did you know . . .
We are living in exponential times.
There are over 2.7 billion searches performed on Google each month.
To whom were these questions addressed B.G.?
(Before Google)
The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the population
of the planet.
There are about 540,000 words in the English language . . .
About 5 times as many as during Shakespeare’s time.
More than 3,000 new books are published . . .
Daily.
It’s estimated that a week’s worth of New York Times . . .
Contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in
the 18th century.
It’s estimated that 40 exabytes (that’s 4.0 x 1019) of unique new information will
be generated worldwide this year.
That’s estimated to be more than in the previous 5,000 years.
The amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years.
It’s predicted to double every 72 hours by 2010.
Third generation fiber optics has recently been separately tested by NEC and
Alcatel . . .
That pushes 10 trillion bits per second down one strand of fiber.
That’s 1,900 CDs or 150 million simultaneous phone calls every second.
It’s currently tripling about every 6 months and is expected to do so for at least
the next 20 years.
The fiber is already there, they’re just improving the switches on the ends. Which
means the marginal cost of these improvements is effectively $0.
Predictions are that e-paper will be cheaper than real paper.
47 million laptops were shipped worldwide last year.
The $100 laptop project is expecting to ship between 50 and 100 million laptops a
year to children in underdeveloped countries.
Predictions are that by 2013 a supercomputer will be built that exceeds the
computation capability of the Human Brain . . .
By 2023, a $1,000 computer will exceed the computation capability of the Human
Brain . . .
First grader Abby will be just 23 years old and beginning her (first) career . . .
And while technical predictions further out than about 15 years are hard to do . . .
Predictions are that by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational
capabilities of the human race.
What does it all mean?
Shift Happens.
Now you know . . .


The Fischbowl: http://thefischbowl.blogspot.com
Fischbowl Presentations:
http://www.lps.k12.co.us/schools/arapahoe/fisch/fischbowlpresentations.htm

Wrap up and homework from the NSBA Conference

Having been to many "trade" expos, my primary indicator of the value add provided by a conference is the amount of homework that comes out of the sessions. What new readings or websites do I need to review? What research and trends should I follow? Did I meet new people or hear speakers who have ideas and viewpoints needing to be heard?

The NSBA expo certainly provided me with a lot of homework!

Here are a few sites to research:
www.centerforpubliceducation.org
www.centerforpubliceducation.org
www.healthiergeneration.org
www.edfacilities.org

The first site has current research on a variety of public policy debates facing School Boards across the country including graduation rates,school calendars,etc..

The second site provides followup information on former President Bill Clinton's work on preventing childhood obesity and health problems.

The third site provides an enormous amount of information on school facilities. I am interested in the reports on indoor air quality.

It is also interesting to track the books being mentioned by speakers. Several of my favorites were mentioned frequently including Good to Great For Social Sectors, The World is Flat ,The Tipping Point, and A Whole New Mind.

A few books mentioned that I need to grab include: A World Lit only by Fire,Innovators Dilemma, Wikinomics, Leading Leaders

What caught my attention with all of these books is how educational leaders are striving to engage their boards, staff, and community in thinking about the WHY of education rather than simply the HOW.

Vendors at NSBA

As with any EXPO, there is a big hall filled with vendors.

I spent a lot of time talking with a couple of companies that provide alert and notification services...outbound parent call notification. This business has matured over the last couple of years and now has real competition.

I believe our contract comes up for review within the next year. I am convinced that we can save at least 30% or more per year. I believe our current contract is approximately 25K per year so getting the equivalent of one year free is good for the district.

Also, this little industry insight makes me feel good since it means I have more than paid for the District's expenses in sending me to the conference.

21st Century Strategies and Tactics

Overflow crowd listening to Ken Kay who is the Executive Director of the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. His talk focused on aligning the educational process with the economic drivers of the 21st century.

Great info at their website to be linked later.

From the strategic to the tactical, I attended a terrific presentation by a Colorado school district implementing a one to one lap top program. This was a nuts and bolts conversation. An Administrator, Board Member, and Tech Director/Teacher presented their experiences.

On stat that I heard ( needs to be verified) was something like 20% of districts across the country are working on one to one laptop programs.

Keynote speaker today is President Clinto.

Lessons Learned from Hurricane Katrina

Tremendous presentation from the folks in St. Tammany Parish Public School System, of Slidell Louisiana. They showed a wonderful movie (DVD provided) of their experiences and gave everyone a Lessons Learned CD. Ideally, this summer we can find some time to focus on crisis preparation during SC meeting. Showing the movie and going over the lesson learned cd would be a great way to make this topic real. We also need to find time to do a presentation of the OpenCape.org project and some of the recent Red Cross/ Unite Way challenge activities. All are vital to our community's response to a crisis.

Talking about crisis preparation and response is needed to keep us all thinking about improving our response plans as well as to show just how important schools are to the fabric of a community. Big lesson learned from Katrina and Rita, if the schools reopen quickly the community does rebuild.

Schools as economic drivers becomes very apparent during these situations.

Legal issues related to Science and Technology

Raised concerns across the country mostly about teaching Evolution vs. Creationism. Also touched on technology policies as they affect perceived student safety issues and their right/need to carry cell phones. Bottomline, School Boards get sued on these issues. Stick to a process that works, consult experts, consult data etc..tread lightly.

To be honest this session didn't hold my interest once the audience got started with their input. I'm too task and organizationally oriented.

Let the professional educators remain responsible for curriculum.

I'm off to a more practical discussion, "Lessons learned from Districts dealing with Hurricane Katrina."

F. W. de Klerk opening

The first keynote talk was given by the former President of South Africa, F. W. de Klerck. He oversaw the dismantling of Apartheid along with Nelson Mandela. Jointly, they won the Nobel Peace Prize.

His talk was about change. After hearing and thinking about what is required to dramatically and successfully change a country like South Africa it does provide some motivation to keep pushing forward with change locally, professionally, personally.

There was also a terrific video presentation by former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor. She will be giving a keynote address next year.

Upload picture later.

blogging from the conference

School Board blogging is no big deal. There are stations of computers set up called Blog Centrals to encourage this type of communication. Just finished a session called "Raising the Floor, Raising the Ceiling" by a State of Ohio DOE Administator. I will add some website links to this post later.

Showed that we are doing good things in MA and Barnstable. The BCAS, short cycle assesment, integrated with School Brains is very, very current. We need to do a better job communicating that specific time sensitive data with parents.

Best part of the session was that I sat next to Dr. Phil Kelly, a Boise SC member. He also happens to be an educational policy professor for Boise State University. He is the proverbial fox in the hen house.

So, here are some questions that I need to continue asking.
1. What are we doing well in the classroom?
2. What are we not doing well?
3. Causes?
4. Graduation rate versus drop rate over 4 years.
5. How many kids are taking AP courses? Are they taking the AP test? How are they doing? How many kids are taking SAT or other similar assessments?
6. Are advanced classes open to all kids? Can we encourage kids to take advanced classes even if they have underperformed in the past?

On to another session.

quick list of great tech uses for schools

At PALY I saw some great uses of technology in the classroom.
1. 1st grade - $90 digital microscope hooked to the classroom computer takes pictures of kids' treasures and magnifies them.
2. 3rd grade- using imovie or vidster to make and edit movies. The classroom project required two groups of kids to argue for or against the building of a new mall. The rest of the third grade would vote on which team made a better film. The kids also did interviews and podcasted them.
3. 3rd grade- computers on wheels lab. Eight year old iboook clamshells still in use. The kids do a simple research project, use the keyboard and learn to file and save.
4. My favorite integration was by a middle school Spanish teacher who uses ichat or skype to set up real time interviews with students in Spain or wherever. I loved this idea for its power, simplicity, and its almost free.
5. High school journalism teacher is using Google Docs with all her kids. All kids must submit papers to her with Google Docs. She can track alll her kids, see their revisions, see how much time they are spending on the project, view collaborations between students...etc.. Google Docs and Spreadsheets is free. Kids can access from any web browser.
6. Nice examples of multimedia effort in Art, Social Studies, Music etc. Projects are posted on the LMS to allow parents to view their kids work.

National School Board Association conference

Wow, lots to report from my first day at the NSBA conference. This will require frequent posts. Hopefully I can organize my thoughts.

Friday,today, I attended a full day session put on by the Technology Leadership Network which is a special interest group of the NSBA. Approximately 50 school board and educational leaders from around the US plus folks from Winnipeg, Canada and Sidney, Australia attended site visits at the Palo Alto Unified School District(PALY).

PALY is a K-12 district with 11,000 students. It is located next to Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley. Links can be found at PAUSD.org or paly.net

I calculated their per student spending as probably 25% more than Barnstable. Although the majority of that has to go to staff payrolls since the region has the most expensive housing market in the country.

I was expecting to see schools paved with gold and kids with ethernet cords plugged into their ears. Instead, I found a calm, innovative, integrated approach to using technology driven by creative teachers.

Their approach to technology is really very much site based. The District is responsible for infrastructure, grant writing, and equity (not much required). The individuals schools PACS and alotments of school based funds keep the technology going in each specific school.

They really do have decent hardware and software but nothing outrageous. For example they are just beginning to test out Smart Boards in a few classrooms. Also, they are talking about a capital bond to handle technology upgrades next year. They are discussing one to one laptop initiatives.

However, there does seem to be a tremendous culture of teachers experimenting with the integration of technology into their daily classes.

I am fascinated by this culture of innovation that seems to be in the air. Of course, PALY has never actually neglected technology. At the same time they are certainly using their equipment through its entire life cycle. What is obvious is that there has been consistent leadership and community support for the use of technology going back a generation.

Education choice

Last night I had a School Committee meeting. Although, we meet 2 dozen times a year, it is rare that the 5 members of the SC have a significant public policy debate. Most of the time policies are either mandated by Federal or State DOEs. The few policies not guided by DOEs are constrained by hard legal or financial facts.

However, the few times that we do have serious policy debates they do or should provide the school district a strategic framework. School Committees are misunderstood entities yet have very focused roles. In MA., SC tend to have one employee (the Superintendent), provide financial oversight, and set strategy through policies.

So, the debate was about something called interdistrict school choice. By adopting this policy ( by a 3 to 2 vote) non resident children can apply to attend school in our school district. There are parameters and guidelines that will govern the implementation of this policy; so it isn't quite as wide open as it sounds. The home town of the new student sends a $5000 payment to the new district. There is also another separate policy discussion about providing non resident district school employees the benefit of sending their children to school with them. In that case, the employees' hometowns do not send a check.

I believe the policy of PUBLIC school choice is extraordinarily important. In ALL educational studies, the one common characteristic of a successful student regardless of race, class, or socioeconomic background, is that they have someone in their life who promotes the value of education.

Now, promoting the value of going to a particular school due to the fate of where one sleeps at night is not particularly compelling. There is no commitment or investment.

However, the simple act of choosing to attend a school whether or not it is in your neighborhood does empower a parent or caregiver to make a mental commitment and hopefully overtime an emotional investment.

As consumers in a market economy we have been trained to evaluate and make choices. As unique individuals with a sense of ourselves, we are predisposed to defending our choices in life for better or worse.

From my perspective there is no simpler and more effective way to empower a student and his or her caregiver to value public education than to empower them to choose their own public school.

Over the next year or two, I will work on discussing policies to extend more intra district choice options to parents. With building renovations and site based management, in our district, the parameters guiding the implementation of intradistrict choice will need to be thought out.

Unlimited school choice requires an unlimited amount of money. Not until private schools make it their mission to try to educate 100% of the children who show up on their doorsteps will I be willing to enter into any "voucher" policy discussion. One just needs to look at the ethnic and religious strive tearing apart countries around the world to see the awesome power of America's public school system to make our melting pot of a society succeed.

Apples of our eyes

I've been sidetracked this week with some new toys. Per my previous posts about adopting new mobile, multi-media, and web based tools my Apple Power Book came in the mail. As an embarassingly, generous thank you gift for my service as Chair of the Cape Cod Technology Council I was given a video ipod last month. So, I've been preoccupied with these two wicked cool, elegant pieces of technology.

My favorite writer on the topic of how technology impacts our lives is a local colleague, Teresa Martin. She is the fabulous, Executive Director (now CEO) of the Cape Cod Technology Council. She recently commented about people who always refer to themselves in the negative as NOT technically literate. Her point is that the basic tools of professional life are becoming such the de-facto standard that we can barely remember how we functioned without them.

Now, the throw away line we all hear from people about being technical idiots does still get an amusing laugh when tossed out casually in friendly company.

At what point in time does that laugh line stop being funny? When does that line become the equivalent confession of a "lost" drivers license or fear of speaking in public?
Making one's self technically literate is a professional and educational requirement.

Empathy is in my soul. The real reason that I am trading in my old tool box for a new set of technology tools is each new tool that I am adopting is SOOOO much easier to use. Apple and Google are changing the rules. Users no longer have to learn new behaviors to handle their technology. Technology is built to adapt to users.

As our "digitally native" kids rapidly learn to blog circles around us, create multi-media, and (by osmosis) embody game theory the pace of change in our world is going to continue to increase.

This change will be fun.