MACUL - and other reflections

I remember fondly my days of Oregon Trail and Number Munchers on the old-school Apple computers. In elementary school, we were rewarded with educational games loaded from floppy disks, a concept that seems as outdated today as Ataris. These floppy disks had memory capacities with the unit of 120 MB. Today, we have thumb drives with capacities of 64 GB (or 65536 MB). When the computers didn't work, we removed the disks, blew into the computer and started over. Even in the most technologically backwards classroom today, it is interesting to note that the capacities here far exceed those of the most advanced classrooms of the 1980s and 90s.

With this in mind, I recently attended the 2014 MACUL conference, featuring a range of cutting-edge technology providers and ideas for the classroom. On the one hand, I loved seeing the potential presented by all of these technologies. On the other, I felt somewhat taken aback by this rush to using new technologies, just because we can.  The skeptic in me cautions against for-profit companies trying to sell me the "new best thing".  Regardless, the day was instructive.

My first stop was a presentation of Google Glass. Right off the bat, I think this is equal parts scary and exciting. Google Glass allows you to attach what equates to a computer-camera to your glasses. A small monitor, mounted just in your blind spot, displays a simple menu with commands such as "Take a Picture" or "Directions". When you select your option, you get a small, transparent image of pictures or a map. At one point during the presentation, one audience participant asked about classroom applications. Teachers can record a procedure from their perspective and dictate instructions as they go. They allow students to see exactly what the teacher is seeing at a given point and they free up hands for taking notes. Students could use these to record a dissection, video and audio, all from what they're seeing.

All this aside, I fear, most of this comes back to a price point. As I mentioned above, for-profit companies, though offering a lot of educational tools, still want to sell you things and Google is at the forefront of this. I have used Google forms for tests and surveys and loved most of it. I use gmail because it is powerful and the best part of all of it...they're free. Google Glass...for those prototyping the hardware...$1500, plus the cost of shipping and glasses frames (and prescriptions)...expect to pay roughly $2000 for the experience. At the current price and accessibility, I can find a much better use of $2000 than hands-free notes and videos.  The same can be said for most of the exhibitors in the $20 per person Exhibitor Hall. While the technology is cool, the pricing is far too much than I could justify for the benefit.

All is not lost, however. At the end of the day, I went to a conference all about using technology for formative assessments.  As I previously mentioned, I have used Google Forms for tests with great success.  Teaching students the life-skill of taking high-stakes tests online is crucial as more and more of their world is digital. This seminar introduced me to a new suite of FREE (with caveats, I'm sure) programs for gathering data.

1. Poll Everywhere: This simple tool is completely anonymous, which encourages all students to participate. This allows for the class to brainstorm together, provide anonymous feedback the classroom community and archives all responses. If you are interested in giving students complete control without tracking who shares, this program is great. For high school, perhaps anonymity is not the best way.
2. Today's Meet: When you don't want anonymity, this program allows for a very similar feeling. Teachers can open up a free chat room, though students have to "sign in" by typing their name. No accounts are needed. It was suggested to initially give no guidelines to help students learn about digital citizenship...with names, you can show students exactly what you can see and do with the record. The groups are not public, so nobody need fear interlopers.
3. Socrative: One step more formal, we have Socrative. Similar to Google Forms, you can write quick quizzes and tests in this program. Additionally, you can write very simple exit tickets for students to complete at the end of the day. It grades questions automatically and gives detailed reports to the teacher. Finally, this software does not require a 1-to-1 environment for technology. When somebody finishes, they can pass their phone/computer to a classmate and resubmit a new form.

 I am not afraid of new technology, though I am hesitant to adopt the new thing, just because it's "cool" (or "Ma-cool?). With so many companies out there, it's important to keep in your mind the cynic, constantly asking you to follow the money trail. Who benefits from you using their program? If the answer that you finally find is the company, you're looking in the wrong place. If, however, the answer is the students, you may have found something worth investigating.