Thank You Steve Jobs

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:35:19 +0100

Upon hearing the news that Steve Jobs had stepped down as Apple CEO, my heart sank. I like many other people were wishing him the best for his health and that he would be able to continue to run the wonderful company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak.

As a young teacher, Steve Jobs had entered my world championing the The Kids Can't Wait (KCW) program in 1983. The KCW program became a California legislative bill Steve crafted as a corporate donation to provide computers to California public schools. Apple donated 9,250 Apple II computers to California schools. My school, Revere Development Center (for students with severe disabilities) in San Diego, received one of these golden gifts. This event changed my life and charted possibilities I hadn’t even thought of when that first Apple II arrived before my eyes. As my memory serves, we had quite a time deciding how seventeen teachers where going to share this one computer with all our students. Steve’s genius was that students or teachers who had never even seen or used a personal computer would now get that opportunity.

This new computer become part of my imagination and during the 1984 school year I was determined to have an Apple computer in my classroom. As the powers would dictate at that time, I could not convince my school district to fund an Apple IIe for my special education class. So with my own money, I purchased an Apple IIe with a green screen, Duo-Disk floppy drives and 128k of RAM. I had actually wanted to buy the new sexy Macintosh, but Mac software hadn't been specifically designed yet for students with physical disabilities, so I opted for the more adaptable Apple IIe with DOS 3.3 and was enchanted. I literally carted that thing in my car to school and back home many times.

It was during these early years in the 1980’s that many of my teacher friends and I became ‘digital’ in an aging analog school system. The two Steve’s not only made this possible but continually demonstrated their passion to support twenty-first century teaching and learning well before the twenty-first century had actually arrived. (See - Apple Classrooms for Tomorrow ACOT.) Steve Jobs was not just ahead of the curve, his vision inspired many teachers like myself to create our own vision, one that integrated technology into the K-12 curriculum as a process to understanding.

On a personal level, Steve Jobs was born one month before me in 1955 and I just like the fact that he is part of my birth class. For me, he is like a good friend who lent me his tools and with his tools I built; I created a variety of digital content. Steve has that emotional effect with a great many people- the ability to affect how we use technology.

So my friend, I wish you the best and thank you for your passion and everlasting spirit.

20th Century Classroom vs. 21st Century Classroom

Fri, 25 Nov 2011 23:53:34 +0100

We are ten years into the 21st century, yet most of our classrooms in the United States reflect the 20th century classroom listed below. Compare your school and/or individual classroom with this chart and see where your students live for typically more than 6 hours a day for 5 days a week.

20th Century Classroom

Teaching and Learning Model

Direct instruction with some small group work and projects

Test-driven system built on consumption of knowledge and skills

Classroom - Physical Space Design

Most classrooms are a rectangular shape
Lighting is typically controlled by two switches turning on/off half of the room at a time
Student desk and chair for every student, all made by same manufacturer
Student is assigned a desk that has a metal storage space compartment typically built-in below the desk
Furniture is heavy and typically arranged to stay in place for most of the school year
Most furniture have flat metal glides on the bottom legs to keep furniture in a fixed position in class
Furniture is arranged in rows or small groupings
One or more walls have built-in cabinets for life of classroom. Floor space is determined by these built-ins.
Room may or may not have carpet, with typically only elementary students sitting on an area carpet
One or more whiteboards located around the room for student viewing, these whiteboards sometimes serve as the screen for video projector
Overhead projector or document camera on AV cart or table located in front middle of classroom
Pull-down screen with possible video projector on a table
Ink jet printer with 400 page ink jet cartridge
Teacher uses a louder voice to project his or herself to students
1-5 desktop computers assigned to room in a fixed location
Teacher may have laptop to take home - Teacher may have a web site that students can access from home
Teacher has a heavy fixed desk

Current School Construction

Most classrooms are a rectangular shape with one defined teaching wall, this often makes it difficult to change the teaching wall from the long wall to the short wall
Wireless access in some classrooms
One shade tree or other type of green landscaping may be visible from classroom windows

Sunny climates - Many rooms have poor insulation and are cold in the winter and hot in the spring and summer without air conditioning
Windy climates - no wind power

21st Century Interactive Classroom

Teaching and Learning Model

Project-based learning with some direct instruction
Production-driven system built on content creation of knowledge and skills

Classroom - Physical Space Design

Classrooms are a square shape
Lighting is controlled with 4-6 switches or zones with the ability for dimming especially wall-mounted video displays
A variety of desks, chairs and soft furniture made by 2 or more manufacturers
Student moves to different furniture, uses a personal portable plastic tray from a mobile student storage unit
Furniture is modular/mobile and is arranged to meet the instructional needs of the classroom on a hourly basis.
Most furniture have locking carpet casters for mobility in daily arrangements for collaborative learning
Furniture is arranged in a more eclectic manner, something like Starbucks
No built-in cabinets. Three walls are available, classroom has mobile storage and more floor space
Room is wall to wall carpet, K-12 students can sit or lay on the carpet with a variety of pillows, mats, seating
Two or more Interactive Whiteboards connected together for class or small-groups, traditional whiteboards are still located around the room
Document camera that is a also still and video/web camera connected to teacher laptop on a mobile presentation station
Short-throw wall video projector with built-in interactive whiteboard system
Network Laser jet printer with 10,000 page toner cartridge
Teachers/students use classroom audio system with wireless microphones
Laptop assigned to each student, no fixed location in room
Teacher and students have a laptop to take home - use a class/course online Learning Management System
Teacher has a mobile presentation station

New Green Construction School

Classrooms are a square shape with potentially three defined teaching walls or digital presentation areas utilizing short-throw video projection systems
Wireless access covers entire school
One shade tree or type of green landscaping is visible from classroom windows
Sunny climates - all rooms well insulated including windows, roof solar panel system installed for generating power for air conditioning and other energy needs
Windy Climates - Cylinder wind turbines on school roofs to generate wind power

blog

Thank You Steve Jobs

Upon hearing the news that Steve Jobs had stepped down as Apple CEO, my heart sank. I like many other people were wishing him the best for his health and that he would be able to continue to run the wonderful company he co-founded with Steve Wozniak.

20th Century Classroom vs. 21st Century Classroom