Drape's Takes

A new file format has been developed that has intriguing possibilities. Dubbed MXP4, this format changes the way recorded music is experienced, providing a more interactive experience by playing multiple variants of a song as you play it - simulating the spontaneity of a live performance. Rather than listening to same song - the same way - multiple times, users can choose between various versions of the song using a download-able software player or online widget.

The potential for musicians is amazing. An artist could, for example, offer rock, metal, reggae, and pop versions of the same song. Furthermore, the artist could also assign weights to song "skins" providing a different experience with each playing. To elaborate, suppose a song had multiple skins for a particular guitar solo within the song. If the artist preferred one instance of the solo more than others, they could assign it a weight of 50% while assigning other solos a lesser weight. Then every time that particular song was played, the listener would hear the version of the song with the more heavily weighted guitar solo half of the time, but other times the song would feature an entirely different guitar solo, based upon how the skins have been weighted.

Personally, I think this kind of technology (not necessarily MXP4 itself, but the concept) has tremendous potential for education in the form of learning objects - one file, multiple possibilities, all weighted by the teacher or student.

But what do you think? How could you use this kind of technology to teach or to learn?

Technorati Tags: learningobjects mxp4 music learning technology

In response to Jennifer Wagner's recent post about Twitter High, I dedicate the following riddle to Graham Wegner.

A-hem...

What do you call a social network of people that:

• Is full of a wide range of vastly different people,
• Limits dialogue to brief spats of "conversation" - frequently resulting in missed opportunities for actual communication,
  
• Can seem wildly unfocused and often chaotic,
• And is often a favored target for unbridled criticism by many?

Answer in the comments...

Image source: Jennifer Wagner

Technorati Tags: twitter schools socialnetworking

I’m continually learning that Charles Dicken’s assessment of eighteenth century life is as suitable for our time as any other in the history of the world:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...

An economy in the toilet, political corruption throughout, famine, floods, drought, and war. An end to hundreds of diseases that have plagued humans for centuries, a staggering array of medical advances, effortless communications with people around the planet, and we might even go to the moon (again).

Phishing, spam, viruses, and other related malware just to brighten your day. A plethora of (free, online) educational tools, invigorating potential for open education, and amazing opportunities for networked learning.

In the end, I think that our focus determines our outlook - and ultimately - our happiness.


Just thought I'd share why I included this quote in my recent addition to our growing pile. Great stuff all around.

Original image source: Flickr user dsevilla.

Technorati Tags: focus outlook happiness

Too bad the K-12 Online Conference didn't come just a few weeks earlier. That way I could have known which presentations I wanted to submit for next year's NECC.


Scott McLeod's excellent presentation, for example, would have been perfect because his even includes speaker notes. :)

Image source: Scott McLeod

Technorati Tags: k12online08 necc09 sharing disruptive ishareyoushareweallshare

There are three basic actions that every teacher can take to improve instruction now.

• Collaborate
• Videotape
• Practicate

To elaborate…

Collaborate

If you’re a teacher and you’re still not getting out, you should – and now. Begin by collaborating with your peers about what works in your classes and what doesn’t. In time, expand your circle of collaboration to include other members of your local faculty and even members of your school’s faculty that teach subjects other than your own. You will be surprised by how much can be learned by teachers of other disciplines that will work for you in yours. I guarantee it.

Additionally, in this day and age, there is absolutely no reason for you to not expand your circle of collaboration such that it includes teachers from other cities, states, and even countries. I would begin such efforts by joining any of a number of social networks designed for educators. Classroom 2.0, for example, can be an excellent place for you to meet other teachers with interests, issues, and instructional circumstances similar to yours.

Videotape

Whether you like it or not, your students are likely not learning many of the things that you may think you are teaching. By watching yourself in action, you will be able to see your instruction as some of your students see it – and probably learn of areas wherein improvement might be needed.

Combining this type of videotaped feedback with collaboration can also be beneficial.

Practicate (Practice)

You’ve heard it a million times: Practice makes perfect. So, why would improving your abilities as an instructor require anything different? As any teacher that teaches the same content multiple times a day knows, the first time a lesson is taught is almost always worse than the second or third time it’s taught.*

In my experience, effective "practicating" includes a narrow focus on specific skills to practice. For example, transitions, question formulation, and giving appropriate amounts of wait time are all essential teaching skills that all take practice to master. Focus on one such skill and practice your way to improvement.


Three simple steps to improved instruction - but tell me: which catalysts for improvement have I missed?

Image source: Flickr user Wonderlane.

Technorati Tags: instruction teaching learning improvement

* Caveat: I can’t help thinking that the law of diminishing returns doesn’t come into play a little bit here. By your fifth time teaching the same lesson in the same day, I’m sure you’ve experienced the ol’ “haven’t I already told you this?” scenario.

[In response to the zealots out there, anxious to blame the system but unwilling to look in the mirror.]

I was stunned this morning while reading John C. Dvorak's latest column in PC Magazine. In a piece entitled "Microsoft vs. the iPhone" (not yet available online), Mr. Dvorak explains perfectly one of the ills that plagues public education by shedding light on the workings of Microsoft.

In most instances at Microsoft, there is no dictator. There is a committee of individuals, all of whom have to like each other (because of the odd empoloyee grading system for promotions) and tend to use a hodgepodge of ideas to make what amounts to an agreeable soulless product.

Replace Microsoft with [insert your district here] and you've got a pretty decent explanation of why so many things go wrong in public education.


You see, the truth is that sometimes bad things happen to good people in good schools - and there's nothing we can do about it. I mean, think about it. Did not we, or well-intentioned people just like us, create the policies and bureaucracies that currently regulate how things are handled within our schools? Are not we the ones that built the system, played the games, and engaged in the politics that have made schools what they are today?

Nonetheless, there are times – a great many times – when the system fails us, when we come up short, when we must ask “why?” and yet we’re stuck, trapped in the system we’ve ultimately helped to create. I think that Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal (2003) have successfully summarized the dilemma that besets so many of us today, as we struggle to reform (fix, if you will) what we now call “school”.

If we tried to get better people, where would we find them? Even if found, how could we ensure that they too would not become ensnared by the political forces at work?

…The political frame does not blame politics on such individual characteristics as selfishness, myopia, or incompetence. Instead, it asserts that interdependence, divergent interests, scarcity, and power relations inevitably spawn political activity. It matters not who the individual players are. It is naïve and romantic to hope organizational politics can ever be eliminated in organizations. (pp. 185-186)

Something to think about as we continue to chew on this idea of school reform.

References:

• Bolman, L. G. and Deal, T. E. (2003). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
• Dvorak, J. C. (2008, November). Microsoft vs. the iPhone. PC Magazine, 27 (12), 52.
  

Image source: Flickr user fliegender.

Technorati Tags: politics education reform

So I've been playing with a few quotes here and there and thought it was praw-ly my turn to share the love.

Let's Change The World Dept.:


Image source: Flickr user Ali K.
Quotation source: Chris Lehmann, School 2.0: Creating the Schools We Need.

Are We Teaching The Right Things Dept.:


Image source: Flickr user iboy_daniel.
Idea for sign: Another Flickr photo but I can't find it again for the life of me.
Quotation source: Me.

Sometimes Free Isn't Free Dept.:


Image source: John F. Kennedy Middle School
Quotation source: Clay Shirky, Here Comes Everybody.

Wha' 'Chew Lookin' At Dept:


Image source: Flickr user dsevilla.
Quotation source: Me.

Not That There's Anything Wrong With That Dept.:


Image source: Flickr user pine red.
Quotation source: Mark Ames, NewsLeader magazine, October 2008.

Technorati Tags: inspiration education technology change interestingness quotes

I created the following quiz/review for the teacher participants in our 21st Century Engaged Classroom professional development opportunity.

An important aspect to this quiz is the fact that it forces participants to apply what they have learned before they are able to submit their answers.

In my opinion, this is extremely important. Here's why:


Original image source: Flicrk user iboy_daniel.

Technorati Tags: justdoit knowledge ability quiz

In spite of any negatives that might come out of sharing one's curriculum, can we really afford to ignore how great the positives can be?

Absolutely amazing!¹


Talk about a ray of hope that might pleasantly turn education on its side!²

Footnotes:

1. Forgive me (again) for ever doubting.
2. While we're on the subject, don't you kids pay me to ask the tough questions?
   

Image Source: Flickr user [Sazzy B].

Technorati Tags: openeducation sharing curriculum removingfootfrommouthandidomeannow

Forget everything I've said in the last three weeks because this is what I really meant to say. For reals this time.

I mean, I always knew Chris Lehmann rocked but I never realized how hard.

Technorati Tags: schooldesign reform 21stCenturySkills education technology ivefoundanewhero