H Duderstadt, New Tech Maven

A recent article in Newsweek magazine talked of how the US is falling behind in creativity. Our education system, it wrote, has so focused on standardized testing that creative thought is taking a back seat to rote memorization. And, as schools are facing ever more drastic budget cuts, traditionally creative programs such as Art, Music, even Digital Design are being eliminated to save money. Additionally, more stimulating and challenging methods of teaching more “academic” subjects such as science, math, and english are being discouraged in favor of standardized lesson plans designed to help schools get higher scores in their annual assessment tests.

Yet, school is not the only place creativity can be encouraged. Over the coming articles, I’ll be examining and revealing exciting ways this most important type of learning can be inspired OUTSIDE of school using the very tools and activities that kids are already big fans of. From the next generation of iPhone/iPod/iPad apps that allow children to create drawings, animation, even movies to video games that provide the tools for them to build their own games. From websites that provide detailed instructors on how kids can become their own version of Thomas Edison with easily available things around the house to free programs that empower them to design and even invent.

There’s been a lot of press lately on the school in Rhode Island that fired it’s entire teaching staff.  Even the president stepped in and agreed with the move.   But, I personally believe that though there may be a few teachers that could do a better job, the solution to the education crisis in the US involves everybody from politicians who will honestly back education and not just use it to help get them re-elected to office then cut, cut, cut when they need to balance the budget; or administrators who are educators and not polticians; or voters who will support a school bond even though they don’t have any children; or media producers who are willing to explore adding learning content to their product because it can make them more entertaining if done right.

But no one key component of the process of raising children is so important as the parent. They are key to the future of their children.  Yet, all too often they are struggling to keep up with their kids and their kids “tech”.

Take a look at a typical teenager today and you’ll find a walking advertisement for best buy.   Armed with iPods, iPhones, laptops, all jacked in to networks that give them access to twitter, facebook, texting, phone messaging, World of Warcraft, Second Life, Wikipedia and the vast array of content that is the internet they are easily the most connected generation in history.  At home, many have Xbox 360s, PS3s, Wiis, and any rang of sophisticated game platforms, often hooked up to high def TVs.  Even their conversations can be a blend of texting shortcuts, typical teen slang, and rap tunes.

So, it’s little wonder that those who grew up in the shadow of one media type, whether it be television or radio, or even first generation Mac’s sometimes have a difficult time really understanding these “Digital Natives’ as they come to be known.  And not the least mystified is often their parents.

Though a parent might be a definite blackberry addict (often called “crackberry”), have a facebook account, and actually be at level 70 on World of Warcraft, they must realize these kids are on a whole different level.  A key goal of this site is to attempt to help decode the world modern children live in and help parents better understand and so play an active role in their children’s growth and learning.  Especially now with the severe budget cuts that school districts all over the US are facing, the importance of parents being involved in supporting their children and their learning can not be underemphasized.

So hang on, as I set out to help you 20th century raise 21st century kids1

In this time of severe budget cuts, public schools are facing serious challenges in how to save money, not the least of which is determining which classes to cut.  As a public school teacher who taught Animation & Video Game Design for several years, I know first hand how the ever shrinking pool of money available is driving schools to drop those classes which are not considered necessities to their children being prepared for college or a career and may not have the enrollment numbers to justify them.   The classes eliminated can range from art, drama and music to career and technical education, to even the “gold standard” AP classes.

A huge problem with doing this is that many schools suffer from a severe lack in elective courses that students need to graduate.  By cutting back on the often limited number of courses that any student can take, schools risk an an increased dropout rate for those borderline students who often don’t qualify for AP classes or even more advanced pupils finding ever more difficult to get enough units to graduate.

One potential solution to this problem is to change the way we approach K-12 learning and how to offer a broad range of classes (both in terms of content and even methods of teaching) to a broad range of students at a variety of levels.  Traditionally, larger schools have benefited in their ability to offer a much larger number of classes on a broad range of subjects.  Where as a school like the one I currently teach for may be able to offer 4 years of Art, or Drama, or Music along with a dizzying array of AP classes and career and technical ed programs; small schools like the high school I attended (with a graduating class of 92) can only offer the core courses simply because there aren’t enough kids to fill the sections and so justify hiring a teacher and paying for the materials to teach the classes.  Of course, the budget crisis I mentioned earlier is now driving this problem up to larger schools as well.

The problem is that we still are limited by the idea that in order for a class to be available to a student, the school they attend must offer it.  Even if you take the approach that many ROP vocational programs take of having regional centers where kids can drive (or be bussed),  you are still limited by distance.  If the number of students, even in a region, who will sign up for a program is too few, the program cannot be justified.  The heart of the problem is that we still focus on PHYSICAL classes.   We need to open our minds to VIRTUAL ones.

Already, there are kids who take online courses in order to complete enough units to graduate or prepare for an AP test that will help them get into a college that looks at AP scores.  But, this number is still relatively small because school counselors and administrators often overlook online programs as a viable option.  Additionally, the students often are unaware and of them, and then, when they actually take  a class, fail because they are unfamiliar with just HOW to take an online class, get the most our of it, and get the best grade.

What if a public school suffering from severe budget cuts were to create several computer labs and staff them with student teachers in order to support online learning?   And, their counselors had a complete list of programs and had worked with the schools that operate them to schedule students regularly into them?

What I’m speaking of here is to take a modular approach to learning.  Instead of trying to offer everything in one school, a district, or county, or even state education department could  coordinate a broad range of online and blended (combining online learning with lab support) across dozens if not hundreds of schools.  Initially, you could utilize the multimedia of university, community college, and even private programs available.   But, a K-12 school that had a program that was particularly successful could could take that class online and offer it to schools across the region, state, or even nationally.  Students would benefit in that they would have an amazing array of classes available.

There are hurdles in schools actually developing their own online courses, not the least of which is state requirements that fund programs based on “seat time” or Average Daily Attendance (ADI).  In essence, unless there is a student in a seat for a particular number of hours, they will not help cover it’s cost.   The Florida Virtual School faced this problem.  State politicians succeeded in changing the requirements to RESULT BASED rather than TIME BASED.  So, as long as the students learned the required content, the cost was covered by the state.

Additionally, there are the technological and course development requirements for online learning.  But, one of the most powerful and popular online learning systems, Moodle, is FREE.  And, as professional instructional designers and those with online learning degrees struggle with the current economy, there are people out there who can help develop such programs.

Kids in school love to complain about how boring so many subjects they have to study are.  “Why do I have to learn Trigonometry anyway???  It’s so BOOOORING!”   Or, “our physics teacher was going on and on about gravity and I just don’t get it.”

Yet, ask them about the latest video game they are playing and their whole mood will change as they start going on and on about how many zombies they were able to kill in Left 4 Dead, or how they built this amazing house in Sims 3 and wished they could really live there.   The two might appear to have nothing in common but you’d be suprised.

Take a look at the typical video game boys in particular like to play and you’ll find a real world complete with many of the same  properties a real world has, INCLUDING GRAVITY.  In fact, there is a game known as Garry’s Mod which is called a “physics sandbox”.  It’s basically an environment where the laws of physic exist and you can create things that are influence by this.  A walking house; a tank you can drive around, an whole army that you can control, even electrical circuits that control specific machines.  Imagine a virtual place where children can build anything they can imagine and then operate it as if it’s in the real world.  The potential of this program in an educational environment is immense.

The possibilities go on and on.  If this is something that excites you, the best place to start is read James Paul Gee’s work “What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy. Second Edition: Revised and Updated Edition“

I discovered this website (http://www.ericsson.com/campaign/20about2020/index.html) put online by the cellular company, Ericsson.  In it, 20 futurists are interviewed about their thoughts on where our world will be in the year 2020.  It’s an amazing collection of visions that really are exciting in the potential.  No, you won’t find atomic cars, jet packs, or the formation of the federation of planets.  But what you will find is 20 individuals who see hope at a time when frankly, we need it.  In particular, check out Don Tapscott on “Growing up Digital“.  He’s one of the authors who has inspired me to become more focused on Digital Natives.