bobk's blog

Update on Masters Project

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:28:26 -0800

Just a quick update on this site, and my masters project. I am currently finishing a department proposal for an "action research"
based study. I will be looking for three to five schools to work with during the spring, to help initiate open source based technology and pedagogy. Please write me for details.

Note also, that if you are reading through some of the blog posts found on this site, that some of them were class assignments during
my classwork for a K12 credential in 2007, and some are from other students that are now, or have been enrolled in the Masters of Education Technology Leadership program at CSUEB.

Microsoft Wants One Laptop Per Child System To Run Windows XP

Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:08:13 -0800

In an interesting article found here Microsoft asks for a modification to the $100 laptops so that they can run Windows XP.

XP can be added to the system.

The XO currently runs on a Red Hat Linux operating system. Making the laptop compatible with XP would give students in poor countries access to "tens of thousands of existing educational applications written for Windows," said James Utzschneider, a Microsoft general manager, in a blog post Wednesday.

Thinking about cooperative Learning

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 18:56:49 -0700

These are just a few notes related to various materials across
subject mater, that I want to track for possible opening week
activites for my class:

1) Even if it would be impossible to jump right into collaborative/coop learning, when I start teaching math,

here are some ideas, and links to reflect on:

1) Great intro article at:
http://www.co-operation.org/pages/overviewpaper.html

2) Suppose I just open with some coop activities:

1) Determine pre-class assumptions on
i) smartest
ii) most challenged
iii) Average

Both in ability, as well as motivated, dedicated and not motivated/dedicated.

Challenged Readers Chapter 9 and 10

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 14:19:44 -0700

I've been through so many books, I thought I new what it took...

To make it...

Television came along
Picture movies
..
No one reads books anymore.
...
...and there went my job as an author
I was going to write a lot of words
...
put them all together ...
...and make, make make
just one good thing before I die.

NOTE: I've taken to try and find an image per chapter, to help me associate with the text. The above image (circa 1989), and corresponding lyrics from a song (I wrote in the late 70s) reflect my own feelings on literacy during that time - that we were at the front-end of complete information overload, and there was nothing that we could do about it.

Chapter 5 and 6 continued - The Great Race!

Sat, 15 Jul 2006 07:20:37 -0700

Leveraging group dynamics, is a lot like coaching. One of the most fun aspects of coaching is to leverage off of the combined effort of the team, to take it farther than any one individual could have gone on their own.

So it is no wonder that the beginning of chapter 6 starts with a group activity revolving around physical activity and team involvement.

As a part time youth coach, my preconceptions in this section were to ask such questions as:

How large is the parent group?

What size, or sizes make sense in sub groups, based on what is to be accomplished?

Content Literacy - Chapters 5 and 6

Fri, 14 Jul 2006 12:37:29 -0700

As summer roars in with tempearture in the 90s, the heat or keyboard of a (mostly) online credential program replaces my recent focus in technology/K12 integration. I find myself reliving an earlier period in my life with the continual rushing to make it to the next class replaced by the rush to absorb enough of the material in each class to allow me to make reasonably intelligent analysis and reflection.

In this particular course, on content literacy, I found myself at first asking the whys and hows of learning content literacy as it relates to teaching math. Certainly, the department is not attempting to make all of the candidates math literate. (not a bad idea) But soon, after reading through some of the text, I'm beginning to see this course as the foundation of all learning - the ability to read, absorb, and comprehend information.

What's needed, simple tools for creating standards based content

Wed, 07 Dec 2005 01:50:50 -0800

One of the areas of open source development in a learning context
that I see as important is the bridge between open source applications, and open content. eXe, or The eLearning XHTML editor, will help in this area, and can be found at: http://exelearning.org/

Laszlo, an Open Source XML based Flash Framework

Sun, 20 Nov 2005 16:06:48 -0800

I've mentioned in a previous post that the tools for educational content creation need to come up a level, so that educators can
create applications with as little effort as a powerpoint presentation.

One of the tools that I've found worth watch is Laszlo, an xml based framework for creating rich flash interfaces for web applications. While it's not the tool that I'm imaging, it is worth looking at.

Four Questions for 6110

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:24:35 -0800

Feeling that I need to address these questions directly in brief, least I forget:

a) How can the Web be an interactive educational tool?

As they say in math classes...

"Certainly this is obvious..."

But when we look at the question closely, we need to figure out at what level the interactivity exists.

With web sites that promote community involvement, the learning takes place by taking part in the community.

For sites that want to promote a behaviorist model of learning, aka present the material, provide status quizzes and evaluation, feedback, and retesting, the web can not only simplify this process, but can make it economical as well. (See www.sakaiproject.org )

The web as an interactive educational tool - Lessons from Open Source

Sun, 13 Nov 2005 20:55:36 -0800

One of the realizations that I made while writing a review of
drupal.org in the context of an educational web site is that open source communities are excellent examples of social learning communities.

Specifically, the observation is based on Vygotsky’s socio-cognitive theory that states human development and learning originates and develops out of social and cultural interaction as mediated by tools. This educational model is a key component of all open source sites as follows:

1. Users who want to try the open source software are
presented with intellectual confrontation in many forms, from obtaining a high level overview of what the tool offers to the more direct questions of “How do I download and install the tool?” While users are encouraged to read the online information first, it is clear from the overall design of web sites that support open source projects that asking questions is acceptable.

Trends in software, and what they might mean for K12

Fri, 04 Nov 2005 08:40:50 -0800

From strictly a trends in technology point of view, this announcement from Microsoft says a lot about what will be happening with software over the next few years. Keep in mind that (what some say is purely a marketing ploy) Google and Sun recently announced an alliance where Google would promote, and possibly offer Open Office via a google service. What this means specifically is hard to say, but K12 will probably benefit by the trend, and better yet, can perhaps leverage some of the same ideas in a learning environment.

About EastBaySchools.Net

Tue, 01 Nov 2005 20:30:38 -0800

EastbaySchools.net was created to support my research into the potential use of Open Source tools in K12. As the former editor of Web Techniques Magazine during the Internet boom, I've learned much about the interworkings of the Net, and wish to bring some of that expertise to the classroom. I've written a few editorials on Open Source, while at Web Techniques, and more recently, about the potential use of the net as an enabling tool. I am also a contributing author to O'Reilly's Programming PHP