Warning, this post is TOTALLY geeked out, so don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I like to think that I’m a platform skeptic, but so often the choices we make about a piece of technology have little to do with the piece of equipment itself, and more about ancillary issues, or perception. I hope I gave a fair shot at the Apple in my last piece. When I upgraded my mobile phone, the choice was a simple one and had more to do with the carriers, AT&T: no way vs. Verizon: the devil I know and have all my family phones on with staggered contract dates making it near impossible to leave without some serious advanced planning. Getting the Droid was my first chance to get something as an early adopter in a long time. It was in some way an emotional choice, but I did buck the “gender-typing” of the product. It seemed faster, and had a physical keyboard. True, it is a very testosterone driven device, with a synth-voiced “DROID” announcing each text and alert. Apparently, I’m not the only one annoyed by the word android/droid showing up where I don’t want it.

Since I’m picking on Steve Jobs/Apple, I wanted to provide more information and background about the Flash/Apple mobile issues from my last post. First, the article that shared Jobs “real feelings” about Adobe and Flash, and Adobe’s response. I include this not to pass tech gossip (although it is pretty hysterical) but because a hint of the future according to Adobe. In a nutshell, long-run– HTML 5 will not take the place of Flash; short-run– Flash will be coming to the Android, BlackBerry, Palm, and Nokia platforms AND they have a work-around to get flash apps on the iPhone browser. It’ll be interesting to see what happens.

How’s the Droid after almost three months? First, I’m seeing a lot more folks in my ed tech PLN who are going to Android devices (although with the plethora of Androids coming out, not all are going for the Droid). Interestingly, I did see one who was anxious to “leave” his iPhone for a more open mobile.  That’s a small “n” to extrapolate anything larger from, BUT I think it does exemplify that Android has the reputation of being an “open” system. This may be a mis-perception as there are complaints about how “open” Google has been about sharing source code with outside developers, and it is brought to us by Google, everyone’s favorite “big brother”. On the whole though, I’m happy. This device has taken over a lot of my time. It’s more a consumption device than a creation device.  What do I do with it?

1. Taking pictures: I love the camera (as promised the OS upgrade in December did fix the auto-focus problem). I use it to document things, I send photos up to twitter, and other social media. I can livecast, although I haven’t run into a situation that really calls for it.
   My favorite recent education use was video-taping a student with a LOT of self-control issues. He was having to finish up work from class instead of going on the computers during lab time (not a preferred activity). He started to hit his stride at one point with the work, and I videotaped him. I then showed him the video, and pointed out what he was doing “right” and asked him to really think about what it looked like when he was on task and completing work. I also showed it to his teacher so he could see something positive from the student.
2. Posting to twitter: Even with a physical keyboard, I haven’t tired to write out a post of this length on it, and probably never will, but it’s great for twitter. I use Twidroid, and I’ve opted for the Pro version. I use AnyPost to send updates to Plurk at the same time.
3. Getting email: This has not worked well for reasons that are not the phone’s fault. I quit looking at Blackberries when I found out that my workplace would not let line workers like me on the network server, so push email from work was not possible. They do have a nice Web interface, so I use that, and can use the same version of the web mail that I get on my laptop, instead of some mobile version. My primary email is with Yahoo! which only gives POP access to Mail Plus subscribers. Although there are lots of instructional videos on how to set it up with SMTP, it worked…briefly and stopped after about three days. I haven’t decided if I’ll spring for Yahoo Email? So I get Tweets pushed out to me, but not email. I may think about switching over to GMail, but that’s a hard choice after 10+ years of using Yahoo!Mail.
4. Games: I play Sudoku, but it’s my son who is the game fiend. When we’re out and about and he gets bored with games on the old LG I handed down to him, he plays Jewels and Pinball. It’s like the old days of traveling with him as a toddler, and making sure I had a “new” toy hidden to pull out in the last third of trip.
5. Reading: I’m using the lighter web version of Google Reader, and I’m happy with that for my RSS feeds. For books, there are lots of free ereaders available, but their most palatable content is from the public domain. Kindle, and BN/Nook do not have Android apps yet. I added eReader’s Android app, which was a bit of a chance, as it’s not on the Marketplace, and instead resides on their site. So far, the phone’s still working, but I did back up my SD card before I added it. They have best sellers available, so I’m reading my first novel on it. I’m not crazy about the small screen size for reading, but I like the portability.
6. Music: For playing music I own, Double-Twist will let you do iTunes syncing (it’s also great for syncing your Android device in general), and I’m liking the Amazon MP3 market just fine. Since my biggest headaches with Apple have been with  it’s d*mned DRM and iTunes. I’m happy to go elsewhere, thank you very much. There is a default player, and I’ve been trying out Meridian Player, but I’m thinking of heading back to the default player. I use a “tape deck” converter to plug the phone into my car stereo and blast tunes through the speakers. I’m currently using both Slacker, and Pandora for radio, and I haven’t made up my mind which I prefer. When I decide I will likely pay for subscription service.
7. Podcasts: I’m trying a bunch of different apps, and haven’t decided on which I prefer. I’ve only had the NPR News app for a few days. I thought it would just be text, BUT it does allow you to play selected stories. The UI and usability are great, and it lets me get shows like All Things Considered, and Morning Edition that only distribute some pieces on audio podcasts. There is another NPR Podcast app, but it just doesn’t work as well. I did start with the Listen App from Google, but it was buggy and hiccuped a lot.  I’m using Beyond Pod now, which does have some force closes (basically, the program seizes), but not as often as it happened with Listen. Either will let me download (nice for plane trips or low connectivity situations).
8. Video viewing: My son uses it for this more than I do. On a long trip, I can hand it to him and he’ll watch YouTube videos. You can see YouTube, and some UStream videos (obviously ones that have been converted from Flash?). I would have liked to be able to purchase commercial videos to watch on my phone. I tried to use Zune, but if there is one company that will make you LONG for Apple customer care, it’s Microsoft. I still can’t load their d@mned player on my PC.  So, iTunes has a de facto monopoly on MP4 videos for mobile devices and will only let you load to their devices. I’ve looked online, and all I can see is some really complicated work-arounds involving conversion software, or going illegal by going to bit-torrent.  I’m hoping Amazon will expand it’s Android offerings from MP3s to MP4s.
9. Web surfing: One of the secrets of Android is that it does have “multi-touch” capability, it’s just not used in most apps. One app that has it is an alternative web browser, Dolphin, which has a nice “gesture control” for doing routine tasks (like saving bookmarks to Diigo or Delicious). It’s a very nice web experience, and you get everything except Flash-based applications. It’s so nice when I’m reading posts in my reader, or getting a tweet with a link, to be able to click through and see it.
10. Directions please: I have many annoying habits. One that drove my husband nuts was that I would forget to print out maps, and then call him when I was on my way somewhere, asking him to look up directions. It’s a miracle we’re still married after that! I didn’t want to pony up the $10 a month to pay Verizon for their navigation service with my old phone, so I was happy to have Google’s navigation included for free. It is awesome.
11. Notes and lists: The phone is a really handy tool for taking notes and keeping lists. There are number of note taking programs. I’ve been happy with Note Everything, and upgraded to the paid version, which gets me checklists that are handy for shopping. In addition, using the mobile version of Google Docs lets me look at documents, but not edit them. I also have the lite version of Documents to Go which lets you view Word and Excel documents, and a free PDF viewer app. The pro version of Docs to Go would allow me to edit Word/Excel, along with PowerPoints and PDFs. My husband finds this invaluable, I haven’t felt the need to pay $30, although there have been sales on it.
12. Calendar and Task Lists: For tasks, I use Astrid which lets me sync with Remember the Milk (their pro app requires a monthly payment, I don’t mind paying for apps, but I don’t like having ongoing payments). Here is a little known secret about the Calendar function in Android, it’s not as good as the mobile version of gCal. Seriously, you can’t edit events, etc. It’s good for pushing out reminders to you, but editing is nicer.

Who do I think would not like this phone? If you need push email and your workplace will only support Blackberry. If you want your phone to work, have a really easy interface, and you’re not a techie (go for the iPhone). You use your phone in the car a lot, and need solid hands-free, please read this first (you probably want a Blackberry).

What about call quality? A lot of the comparison with Android devices (especially the Droid on Verizon $$$) with iPhone (on AT&T where they’re not happy until you’re unhappy) center on connection and call quality. Read this article to put this in perspective. I’ve had dropped calls on Verizon with all my phones, including the Droid and I’m just mastering using a capacitive device and holding it next to my ear. These are not great phones. Most tests put the Droid higher on this, but it still isn’t great.

Is it he hottest tech tool to come out in the last decade, or is it just a less functional and more expensive net book with multi-touch? It depends…

Lots of talk amongst both the general public, and educators, about whether or not the iPad is a “game changer”. I will admit to being an Apple skeptic, and do not own any of their devices, as I’m too cheap, and am willing to tinker with my digital devices and live with a non-intuitive UI (more on that later). My initial impression is that it will not be a device for me, my family, or my computer lab, but even if  that turns out to be true, it may not be the case for everyone.

Flash vs. Apps

A lot of the critique for Apple mobile devices centers around the fact that so many edu-games rely on flash, which won’t run on those devices. Tom Hoffman opines that it may be more critical for kids because they love their flash-based online games.  An analyst on Marketplace discusses why it is such a PITA for website developers to design content as the viewing audience splinters based on their device/platform. But, Leo Laporte points out on TWiT that this is all short-term pain, as Flash is replaced by HTML5, which YouTube is already getting ready for. My thoughts:

• Flash doesn’t matter as much for the general public now, because you just get an app. My son has acquired my old mobile (not from Apple), and is content with the handful of games I’ve given him from Verizon.
• It does matter for education. The best online activity sites for elementary, Starfall and PBS Kids, either don’t currently have apps, or have paid apps. The apps available don’t compare to Starfall, et. al. in terms of what they do, or how well they do it. Picture having a class set of these, can your school afford to plunk an extra $2-$5 per app for each iPad? Even as a center, that would add up.  The beauty of apps is that the price point is great, unless you’re buying in bulk. The apps are…apps, not full websites, so you aren’t getting as much, and it costs, while the real Internet version is free.

Creation vs. Consumption

But playing internet games is not the only thing you can do with the iPad or any computer. This would mean that it isn’t a replacement for your computer, merely an adjunct to it (which I think takes it out of the game-changing category, but keeps it from being useless).

• You could keep your computer center/netbooks, and use iPads in other ways in the classroom.  You could have kids review slideshows with visuals to do vocabulary development (folks are already doing this with Touches, and doing audio and text lessons with Nanos)
• You can have kids create podcasts. You could do this with other tools that are cheaper, open, etc.

The TWiT show had an interesting point about the iPad vs. a net book, that the iPad is more of a content consumption devices than a content creation one. The touch keyboard (although they mentioned a plug in for a keyboard), the lack of a camera all limit what you (and your students) can create with these tools. I’m assuming that you can do audio recording for making podcasts, as those can be done on the Touch and iPhone. Once again, it means that it won’t be a replacement tool for you computer with webcam, or a stand along digital/video camera.

If most or all you are using it for is typing/writing, maybe the touch keyboard will not prove as big an impediment to students as it seems to be to we adults, but you can get NEOs for $150 these days as the price point moves down for all devices. Frankly, $500 may be a deal for an Apple, but compared to what you get from the competition, it isn’t.

Never underestimate an intuitive user interface…

• The interface of all the Apple mobile devices is a heck of a lot more intuitive for primary students to use, and will be more “friendly” for non-techie teachers to deal with

• They are a bit delicate to leave in the hands of six year olds unsupervised doing center activities. They clearly flunk the “Tonka” standard of durability that most listening center equipment (Califone anyone?) for education tries for.

I leave it to readers to figure out where they come out on the UI vs. durability debate.

I was having a discussion with an ed tech integration expert from another local district. I shared my thought that with the exception of  a “tactile” interface, everything I’ve been able to do on my SMART Board can be done with projector and laptop. His response was, yes Alice, you and I can figure out how to do those things, but IWBs are an entry tool for the non-technically adept. Teachers who will not use tech in their teaching will use an IWB, and so it’s a way to transform their teacher that could be done without technology, or the IWB. Essentially, it sugar coats transforming education. I’m also trying to figure out if the tactile does offer a significant advantage in terms of engagement with kids, especially primary, and special education ones.

Maybe that is the bottom line with the iPad, it will make it easy for students and for non-techie teachers, making them more likely to successfully bring digital tools into their classrooms (this same point is made about the target audience for the iPad here). I may never use these overpriced gadgets in my lab/classroom, but then maybe it wasn’t meant for me in the first place. I’ll leave you with that final thought and let you come to your own conclusions.

• I Education Apps Review – I Education Apps Review – Poddio – Podcasting Studio reviewed by TheAppPodcast.com
  
• I Education Apps Review – I Education Apps Review
  
• The iPad…Why Teachers Should Care « Creating Lifelong Learners
  
• The TWiT Netcast Network with Leo Laporte
  
• northtemple – On iPads, Grandmas and Game-changing
  
• Woot : Acer Aspire One 10.1” Netbook
  
• Prepare for the age of the Splinternet | Marketplace From American Public Media
  
• Apple, Flash (OLPC)
  

Photo Credit: Apple iPad on flickr

As happens in the run up to Winter Break, time takes on some very strange and elastic properties. While days once dragged on endlessly, they are now short. Or time is endless, but your students’ attention span is not. What I find happening with classes in my school is that as time winds down to the break, the ability for classes to complete research reports planned in the hope and optimism of October/November disappears. What options do you have beyond having students cram in a low-quality writing assignment in the time remaining and handing out coloring sheets? How about gathering together what the kids have learned and putting it on a VoiceThread. Since this scenario happened with the fifth graders I see, I’m going to share how I think this could work in a regular classroom with only a few computers (let’s say 2-6).

Requirements:

Knowledge of how to create a VoiceThread. This is not a very high barrier. If you haven’t done it yet, get out some of those holiday pics you’ve taken in digital form and go to this page for how-tos, then create a VoiceThread on your own. Once you’ve done one, you’re ready to do it with your class. I’ll try to hit on some of the management aspects in my instructions. You’ll need at least one computer with an Internet hookup. A digital projector to share the results with the class would also be nice.

1. Research and writing: Likely you will have already done some of this, just not enough for each student to come up with a one, two, or five page report.  The idea at this point is to gather what knowledge they have gained.
Lab version: I had them in the lab, so they read on the Internet. The topic was Astronomy. I had them go to sites with information about the topic. NASA Kids has a whole encyclopedia of information on astronomy topics they can search. I’m more concerned with the lexile level at Wikipedia, than the quality of information (since science sections are pretty well-maintained, they can be more up-to-date than encyclopedias). WikiJunior has an astronomy section as well at a more accessible reading level for elementary students. I had the students write short blog posts summarizing a paragraph they read. I could have had the kids correct each other online by replying to each others comments with editing suggestions.
Class Version: If the class is doing a thematic unit they should be reading on paper as well as the Internet. Have take turns in pairs on computer looking up the online topics, and then have them look through books in the classroom as well. Have them do quick writes (a couple sentences) paraphrasing what they learned. You could have them pass the quick writes around for a “buddy” edit.

2. Getting photos: Visuals will make this more engaging for the kids and give them something to speak to.
The NASA site has a number of excellent pictures if astronomy is your topic. Flickr Commons is also good for other topics. VoiceThread will let you use creative commons photos on Flickr by using the Media Sources button when you are adding photos/video to your VoiceThread. You may want to “pick out” photos by searching Flickr in advance, as the VoiceThread tool is really great, but the search facility is not as strong as Flickr’s. A tip for looking for astronomy pics, add NASA as a search term (all government photos are public domain and can be used) to get the best photos of planets, etc. Pull one or two of the kids back at a time to pick out photos to use.

3. Add students’ voices: This is where the small parts they have learned will be gathered together and hopefully make something of more depth.
Have the students come with their quickwrites (or if you’re in the lab, pull up their comments on the blog), and have them read what they wrote as a comment on an appropriate picture. Ask them a follow-up question to see if they have picked up knowledge beyond the recall level. You can also have them come up in pairs or trios. Since you’re recording, you’ll want it quiet (although I never get it “silent” and you shouldn’t worry about that). Make sure the other students know to give you silent signals, etc. at this time. You might want to consider a small coloring/drawing project to keep the other students engaged, then you can scan or take a picture of the best ones to put up on the VoiceThread.

4. Listen and learn: Play the VoiceThread for the class via projector, or have them go up in small groups and listen. Ask them to share something they learned from others. If time permits, you can have them leave comments.

Is this as good as a research report? Is this going to have a lot of higher order thinking? Maybe, maybe not, but it will make the work they’ve done more useful and long-lived than just stopping abruptly, and not completing the reports. It will also give you and the students some closure on the thematic unit.

Here are the results I got:

During our recent travels, I was listening to a track off the new Bob Dylan Christmas cd on a podcast, which is so incredibly bad I’m not going to link to it (sorry to all those Dylan fans out there). It was like polka-punk, only not as well executed as Polkacide or Gogol Bordello. So I turned to my husband to and said, “Did you know I took accordion lessons for a brief time?” Now, we’ve been married for 24 years, and have been together for two more than that, so I don’t get to spring something like that on him often. His response struck a cord with me, “Why accordion?” It was delivered with a clear tone of what the heck were you, or the adults in charge, thinking, and I think it fits a number of instances where a tool (like the accordion), is used for a task it was clearly not well suited for (a scary Bob Dylan Christmas song?). The tool may be appropriate in it’s place (accordion for Tango music, or Jazz in the hand of someone who knows what they are doing, etc.) but is not an all-purpose tool for all purposes. In my case, my mother, who already played piano at a proficient amateur-level, thought that it would be easier to do keying on the accordion for my 8 year old hands, ignoring that the weight of the accordion and the complexity of operating the instrument easily outstripped that advantage. Oh, and my hands have always been oversized. By the time I finally was allowed on the piano at about 9, I almost had an octave reach. I bring this up not to gripe about my mother’s parenting decisions in public (sorry Mom), but as a further illustration of this metaphor. You see, students are sometimes offered a particular flavor of technology just because, and it’s either not suited to their needs or not suited to the task, and you have to ask about the tools being pushed so adamantly, “Why accordion?” and why not what they need instead?

During my recent illness, I plumbed the Netflix “Watch Instantly” library pretty thoroughly. When I got sick of watching this dramedy in plaid, I opted for some documentary offerings and watched, “Helvetica” (which is also enjoying a run on PBS) a documentary about the type font. I asked an edublogger interested in design issues, if he had seen it. His response, “I need explosions and stuff, right.” So rather than bore everyone with the meandering and slow moving plot that is this documentary, I’ll share two points (one of which involves an “explosion”) that hit on some of the arguments I’ve heard around edublogging about design.

At the 25 minute point, Micheal Bierut, a graphic designer, shows how explosive Helvetica was in design comes on and describes how marketing and advertising went from this:

With multiple fonts, that looked cluttered and like your grandmother’s Victorian parlour
to this:   

The documentary claims that the font had come out of the post-World War II modernist design aesthetic that wanted a cleaner, more democratic (proletarian even) look in response to the fascism the continent had just left behind. Certainly it doesn’t have the baggage of the highly serifed fonts favored by Nazi propagandist that appeal to a very traditional Germanic design sensibility. But…at 45 minutes Paula Scher points out how as she was in design school in the late 1960s Helvetica came to be the font of corporate America and began to stand for corporatism, fascism, and the Vietnam War, for her and many of her peers, and more organic fonts (think Yellow Submarine) began to pre-dominate.

Here we have many of  the major design arguments that have floated around edublogging. Design is becoming more democratized (a point hammered at the end of the documentary), and Helvetica’s design pre-stages that democratization. The downsides of Helvetica are some of the downsides of democratization of design…at best it’s bland but if you stray from it, well it can be even worse (Wired magazine at its inception). To what degree is design and marketing owned by corporate interest? Can anti-establishment propaganda and good design go together? Can good design subvert the dominant paradigm?

Alice Mercer