Committed Sardine Blog

Surviving the College Dining Hall

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

350,000 Textbooks Downloaded From Apple’s iBooks in Three Days

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

JANUARY 23, 2012 AT 3:50 AM PT

Though nascent and unproven, Apple’s new textbook initiative appears to be gaining lots of momentum — and quickly, too. Within days of its debut, Apple’s iBooks textbook store had already racked up a significant number of downloads. Same thing with the company’s textbook authoring tool.

According to Global Equities Research, which monitors Apple’s iBook sales via a proprietary tracking system it doesn’t much care to discuss, more than 350,000 textbooks were downloaded from the company’s iBooks Store within the first three days of availability (caveat: a number of these may well have been free copies of E.O. Wilson’s Life on Earth downloaded for free by folks interested in seeing an iPad textbook in action)

And there were some 90,000 downloads of iBooks Author, Apple’s free textbook-creation tool, during the same time.

If those numbers are accurate, Apple’s textbook effort would seem to be off to a good start. Which is good news for everyone involved — particularly textbook publishers, who stand to make more money on books sold through iBooks than those sold at retail.

According to Global Equities Research, the supply chain markup on textbooks ranges between 33 percent and 35 percent. So there are savings to be had in cutting out that publisher-to-distributor-to-wholesaler-to-retailer process.

Add to this the lower cost of iBook production, which the research outfit estimates to be 80 percent less than print publication — and a system under which textbooks are sold directly to students, who use them for a year, rather than to schools which keep the texts for an average of five years — and the math here starts to looks pretty good.

Said Global Equities Research analyst Trip Chowdhry, “[This is] a recipe for Apple’s success in the textbook industry.”

How Education Fails Technology (And What to Do About It)

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Posted on January 23, 2012
SHIFT PARADIGM | by Mark E. Weston

Education has failed technology. Yes, you read that correctly. Education has failed technology.

To understand why this is, not vice versa, requires understanding what the research literature makes clear: It is possible to get all children learning at levels beyond their respective aptitudes. The same literature, however, makes clear that such levels of learning rarely occur outside one-to-one tutoring settings. Let’s unpack these seemingly contradictory statements to shed light on why education has failed technology and what we can do about it.

Nearly three decades ago, Benjamin Bloom (author of Taxonomy of Educational Objectives) led a research effort to find methods of group instruction that were as effective as one-to-one tutoring through which students performed two standard deviations higher than their classroom educated peers. Bloom named the target of his search the 2-sigma problem. The research-based solution he found was simple, yet profound. If certain instructional practices are used and specific conditions met then one teacher, instructing a group of students in a classroom, could help the students attain 2-sigma. The practices he identified that make 2-sigma possible include reinforcement, cues and explanations, corrective feedback, and cooperative learning. The conditions include student classroom-participation, student time on task, and classroom morale.

Despite Bloom’s work and thousands of subsequent studies by other researchers (e.g., John Hattie, Robert Marzano) that demonstrate the positive effect that specific practices and conditions have on classroom learning, 2-sigma remains a rare attainment for teachers. This is largely because in the current educational paradigm individual teachers must shoulder a disproportionate share of the pedagogical load for making 2-sigma happen.

The teacher-load conundrum is exacerbated by the organizational and operational design of schools that make load-sharing nearly impossible for 2-sigma oriented teachers. In such schools, a teacher trying to take a classroom of 30 students to 2-sigma must make it happen alone. That is a lot for an already heavily-laden teacher to do; a load even heavier if that teacher lacks the emotional, intellectual, or pedagogical wherewithal for unilaterally taking on 2-sigma. That these circumstances exist at all is a failure of the field of education, not the teacher. This failure is quite ironic given the intense pressure placed on the education field to get teachers to produce ever-greater student learning and achievement, mostly in the form of improved test scores.

When viewed through a produce-greater-student learning lens, school-level support for all teachers, especially the 2-sigma seeking ones, may be the most pressing, yet least recognized educational challenge of our era. My colleague Alan Bain and I call that challenge 1:X.

While some evidence suggests that the personal lives of teachers and students may have changed as a result of new technologies, little evidence shows that their education lives have changed much.

Sadly, schools are not designed for 1:X.

What can be done? The answer to that question must involve technology, because without its powerful benefits teachers stay in the same predicament and the educational paradigm stays the same.

During the past two decades many technologies have entered our lives. They brought with them lofty expectations for transformation of classrooms and schools. Implicit in such expectations was a belief that teachers and students with access to and mastery of technology would transform education.

While some evidence suggests that the personal lives of teachers and students may have changed as a result of new technologies, little evidence shows that their education lives have changed much. Technology has exerted little overall effect on educational settings and the teaching and learning in them. Student achievement test scores remain flat, school completion rates have not declined, and instruction is still mostly teacher-led in classrooms with neat-rowed desks.

The minimal effect that technology has had on teaching and learning is a failure of the field of education not a failure of technology. Teachers who strive to take their classrooms of students to 2-sigma, but have no school-level supports know this well. Further, those teachers know that the technology available to them barely connects to the real work that they do every day and the extra work they must do to make 2-sigma happen. And they readily admit that in many instances the technology that they do have actually increases their load. Not surprisingly, data show teachers rarely using technology in their classroom instruction.

What most teachers do not realize is that the lack of support for their 2-sigma work and the ineffectual technology they are given are symptoms of a much more pervasive failure. Both are a result of the field of education failing to acknowledge its own research about what works. And each is compounded by the field failing to investigate and build consensus about how to take what works to scale. This failure of scale limits the field’s ability to provide direction to the technology industry. It in turn limits the industry’s ability to help schools attain 1:X and teachers attain 2-sigma.

Fortunately, these circumstances can be changed significantly. The way forward starts with you, me, and other like-minded educators embracing Bloom’s and other researchers’ findings about the practices and conditions that have the most powerful effects on teaching and learning. Then, girded with these findings, we push, pull, and prod to secure school-level commitments that those practices and conditions become the basis for organizational and operational designs and decisions. The designs and decisions will in turn support putting technologies in place that enable teachers, students, and other educational stakeholders to generate emergent feedback about the school-level support they receive and guide further refinement of their efforts.

The shifts that we must seek in educational thought, theory, and action require education to demand technologies that extend, connect, and develop the capacities of teachers, students, and other educational stakeholders to benefit from the research of Bloom and others.

Sound preposterous? Perhaps it is. Anything less, however, reinforces past failures.

__________________________________________________________________________

Mark Weston Ph.D., a co-author of The Learning Edge: What Technology Can Do to Educate All Children resides in Dunwoody, Georgia. He can be reached at shiftparadigm2011@gmail.com

Educational Technology Bill of Rights for Students

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

by Brad Flickinger

The following are what I believe are the rights of all student to have with regards to using technology as an educational tool, written as a student to their teacher:

1) I have the right to use my own technology at school. I should not be forced to leave my new technology at home to use (in most cases) out-of-date school technology. If I can afford it, let me use it -- you don’t need to buy me one. If I cannot afford it, please help me get one -- I don’t mind working for it.

2) I have the right to access the school’s WiFi. Stop blaming bandwidth, security or whatever else -- if I can get on WiFi at McDonalds, I think that I should be able to get online at school.

3) I have the right to submit digital artifacts that prove my understanding of a subject, regardless of whether or not my teacher knows what they are. Just because you have never heard of Prezi, Voki, or Glogster, doesn’t mean that I should not be able to use these tools to prove to you that I understand what you are teaching me.

4) I have the right to cite Wikipedia as one of the sources that I use to research a subject. Just because you believe the hype that Wikipedia is full of incorrect information, doesn’t mean that it is true -- besides we all use it anyways (including you). I am smart enough to verify what I find online to be the truth.

5) I have the right to access social media at school. It is where we all live, it is how we communicate -- we do not use email, or call each other. We use Facebook, Twitter and texting to talk to each other. Teachers and schools should take advantage of this and post announcements and assignments using social media -- you will get better results.

6) I have the right to be taught by teachers who know how to manage the use technology in their classrooms. These teachers know when to use technology and when to put it away. They understand that I need to be taught how to balance my life between the online and offline worlds. They do not throw the techno-baby out with the bathwater.

7) I have the right to be taught by teachers who teach me and demand that I use 21st Century Skills. Someday I am going to need a job -- please help me be employable.

8) I have the right to be accessed with technology. I love the instant feedback of testing done technology. I live in a world of instant feedback, so to find out a couple of week later that I didn’t understand your lesson, drive me crazy. If you were a video game, no one would play you -- feedback is too slow.

9) I have the right to be protected from technology. I don’t want to be cyberbullied, hurt, scared or find crud online that I would rather not find. Please help me use technology responsibly and safely. Please stay up-to-date with this kind of information, and teach me to make good choices. I am not you and we don’t see eye to eye about what to put online, but help me to meet you in the middle.

10) I have the right to be taught by teachers that know their trade. They are passionate about what they do and embrace the use of technology to help me learn. They attend trainings and practice what they learn. They are not afraid to ask for my help; they might know more than me about the Civil War, but I know Glogster like nobody’s business.

This is a work in progress, please comment below on what to add or change.

____________________________________________________________

About Brad

Brad Flickinger is a technology integration specialist who teaches technology at Bethke Elementary in Timnath, Colorado and is the founder of SchoolTechnology.org

Some JCPS Students Take Part in Social Media Education Program

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Posted: Jan 09, 2012 11:56 AM PST
Updated: Jan 12, 2012 11:56 AM PST

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- Some JCPS students are getting a lesson that's the first of its kind in Kentucky. Students at Newburg Middle School are taking part in a pilot program called My Digital Life.

It's a new social media education program that takes students through different situations such as posting personal information online, texting and driving, and even cyberbullying.

Seventh grader Demetrius Harrison explains, "There's a scenario where there was a threatening text message, so they were just saying don't respond to it, and just take a breath, save the message and tell an adult even if you know there will be bad consequences afterward."

The program also teaches students how to use the Internet in a positive way. Officials hope to expand the program across Kentucky.

Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.

Senate Panel OKs Creationism Teaching Bill

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

IBJNEWS
Associated PressJanuary 26, 2012

An Indiana Senate panel has approved a bill that would allow creationism to be taught in Indiana's public schools.

The Times of Munster reported that the Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee voted 8-2 Wednesday to send the legislation to the full Senate despite pleas from scientists and religious leaders to keep religion out of science classrooms.

The bill allows schools to authorize "the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life" and specifically mentions "creation science" as one such theory. Creationism is the belief that the Earth and its creatures were created by a deity.

Purdue University professor of chemistry John Staver told the panel evolution is the only theory of life's origins that relies on scientific investigations. He says creationism "is unquestionably a statement of a specific religion."

Powertrekk Portable Fuel Cell Available Spring for $229

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

updated 04:55 am EST, Tue January 24, 2012

Powertrekk first to market with portable fuel cell

The Powertrekk portable fuel cell charger, that first surfaced as a working concept will become available this Spring for $229. The device is the world’s first solution of its kind and offers instant charging for mobile devices over USB. The Powertrekk uses water to create hydrogen, which is then converted into electricity making it particularly useful for trekkers and users on field trips without ready access to another source of electricity.

The device doubles as a portable battery pack and fuel cell. It uses a 1600 mAh Li-ion battery as a “buffer,” while the fuel cell itself is rated at 1000mAh, providing a useful mechanism for staying in touch when outdoors. To generate power, users add a Power Puk at $12 each, into the fuel compartment and then fill the water compartment with around one tablespoon of water.

Once the puck is depleted, the mobile charger will go into shutdown mode when the Puk is then discarded (presumably not in the great outdoors). Each Puk is good for 4 watt-hours. Each depleted Puk is 100% recyclable, though not biodegradable, while the by-product of the fuel-cell process is a small amount of water vapour. The portable battery pack, or “buffer,” can also be recharged via a computer or directly from a wall socket.

The Powertrekk is compatible with a wide range of devices that can be charged over USB.

images source: http://www.electronista.com/articles/12/01/24/powertrekk.first.to.market.with.portable.fuel.cell

Web Addicts Have Brain Changes, Research Suggests

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 00:00:00 GMT

By Helen Briggs
Health editor, BBC News website

Web addicts have brain changes similar to those hooked on drugs or alcohol, preliminary research suggests.

Experts in China scanned the brains of 17 young web addicts and found disruption in the way their brains were wired up.

They say the discovery, published in Plos One, could lead to new treatments for addictive behaviour.

Internet addiction is a clinical disorder marked by out-of-control internet use.

A research team led by Hao Lei of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Wuhan carried out brain scans of 35 men and women aged between 14 and 21.

Seventeen of them were classed as having internet addiction disorder (IAD) on the basis of answering yes to questions such as, "Have you repeatedly made unsuccessful efforts to control, cut back or stop Internet use?"

Specialised MRI brain scans showed changes in the white matter of the brain - the part that contains nerve fibres - in those classed as being web addicts, compared with non-addicts.

There was evidence of disruption to connections in nerve fibres linking brain areas involved in emotions, decision making, and self-control.

Dr Hao Lei and colleagues write in Plos One: "Overall, our findings indicate that IAD has abnormal white matter integrity in brain regions involving emotional generation and processing, executive attention, decision making and cognitive control.

"The results also suggest that IAD may share psychological and neural mechanisms with other types of substance addiction and impulse control disorders."

Prof Gunter Schumann, chair in biological psychiatry at the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College, London, said similar findings have been found in video game addicts.

He told the BBC: "For the first time two studies show changes in the neuronal connections between brain areas as well as changes in brain function in people who are frequently using the internet or video games."

Commenting on the Chinese study, Dr Henrietta Bowden-Jones, consultant psychiatrist and honorary senior lecturer at Imperial College London, said the research was "groundbreaking".

She added: "We are finally being told what clinicians suspected for some time now, that white matter abnormalities in the orbito-frontal cortex and other truly significant brain areas are present not only in addictions where substances are involved but also in behavioural ones such as internet addiction."

She said further studies with larger numbers of subjects were needed to confirm the findings.

Digital Classrooms: Is The Investment Paying Off?

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

1/02/2012 @ 2:32AM
Eric Savitz, Forbes Staff

Guest post written by Chuck Dietrich

Chuck Dietrich is CEO of SlideRocket.

There is a raging debate about the effectiveness of the ‘digital classroom’ – with arguments solely focused on the $31.2 billion education technology market and whether the investment is delivering a return to cash-strapped school districts.

In the heated discussion over education technology, we are missing out on a crucial component of education – the ethos of how to work together. Collaborative technology is a valuable aid in teaching students to engage in meaningful discussion, take responsibility for their own learning and become critical thinkers in a rapidly-shifting world – skills necessary for success in the 21st century workforce.

The collaboration revolution has entered the workplace in full force, ushering in ‘a new way to work’ – and now it needs to head to the classroom. Studies have shown that students learn best when they’re actively involved in the process and engaged in interactive group work. Today’s student is gathering information from a variety of sources and their access to each other and to their instructors extends way beyond the classroom. The development of tomorrow’s successful leaders requires cultivating skills that master how to work with people in a dynamic and effective fashion.

The national organization, The Partnership for 21st Century Skills (P21) understands that it is time for “a new way to educate.” The organization advocates new ways of thinking in order to prepare students to compete in a global economy. The institution provides tools and resources to help the U.S. education system keep up with global competitors by combing the traditional 3Rs with the 4Cs (Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation). P21 views all components as interconnected in the process of 21st century teaching and learning.

Collaborative technology is a valuable aid in teaching students to engage in meaningful discussion, take responsibility for their own learning and become critical thinkers in a rapidly-shifting world.

The 4Cs emphasized by P21 are the framework of the modern, global workplace. An educational system that emphasizes this framework prepares students for the world beyond the classroom while embracing an educational method that taps into a more natural method of learning.

The 4Cs are a cornerstone of the modern workforce revolutionized by cloud based technology. Cloud-based technology has facilitated dynamic interactive collaboration between location- dispersed teams. Ideas are created, shared and revised, emulating the collective learning common for the classroom. The standard model of education is a passive one, where success is measured by memorizing rote facts, and figures. Leveraging 21st century workplace skills cultivates a new way of educational thinking that makes learning both active and interactive, essential for life outside of the classroom.

In this new model of educational thinking, educators and students tap into the cloud to build, collaborate, share and manage media rich lessons and curriculum. In some classrooms this revolution is already underway. The Open High School of Utah (OHSU) is a fully online charter school that has traded chalk and blackboards for digital tools that foster collaboration and interactive education. The school has fully integrated Google Docs and uses open course management system Moodle. Students create more than 150 presentations per year using SlideRocket; often collaborating remotely in teams to share and organize data.

The OHSU model is an example of how to employ real world technologies which focus on collaboration. The return on investment is not a result of the technology, but how that technology is effectively implemented in education.

The real value of education is not really what we learn; it’s how we learn – which involves the effort and process that goes into the act of learning itself. No matter how many new digital tools come out, the common denominator is still people. And it will always be people. The new collaboration revolution in education technology places people squarely at the center of the equation, making it easier to connect and produce solid results.

Reading in the Digital Age

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Students at Woodbury Middle School took reading into the digital age last month when they Skyped with author Hal Malchow.

“For a lot of them it’s their first glimpse at someone who has written a book,” said WMS reading teacher Linnea Gamache.

Malchow spoke with students Dec. 8 through the online video-chat program Skype about his book “The Sword of Darrow” and his experience writing it.

The book, which Malchow co-wrote with his son Alex, tells the story of a magical realm of Sonnencrest filled with various creatures that have war brought upon them by the evil goblin King Malmut. Princess Babette, the only surviving member of the royal family, manages to escape and seeks refuge with Asterux, a powerful wizard who agrees to teach Babette magic, and who disguises her as an ugly gypsy girl to protect her from King Malmut’s thugs.

Ten years later, Babette must use the magic she has learned to help aid the kingdom’s only hope at defeating the goblins’ reign – Darrow, a lame boy who can barely pick up a sword but has a great gift for inspiring others. With Babette’s unseen help, Darrow begins a journey to free his country once and for all and bring peace back to Sonnencrest.

The thing that makes “The Sword of Darrow” unique, Gamache said, is that it is formatted and written for students who have learning differences, since Malchow’s son had dyslexia. For example, the print is larger and the spacing is different.

“But, it appeals to all students,” Gamache said.

Gamache, who runs the school’s book club, said she decided to offer the Skype event after receiving an offer from Malchow for 40 free hard copy books and the opportunity to have students Skype with him.

“I’m always looking for new and interesting ways to get students to read,” she said. “I also look for ways to partner reading with technology because that’s such a big part of what a 21st century reader will have to deal with.”

Gamache said Skyping with an author, rather than having them come into the school, allows for so much more flexibility in terms of schedules, cost and access to authors.

“Overall that’s going to be the trend because it’s so easy to access that technology,” she said.

Gamache said having students interact with authors can be such a beneficial experience because it really opens their eyes to what is possible if they put their minds to it.

“They probably have a lot of ideas floating around but are struggling with writing them down,” she said. “Talking with any author gives them the opportunity to meet someone face to face to get a good idea of what they’re all about – it gives them some motivation.”

Youth Unlikely To Pursue Science, Technology, Engineering Jobs, Survey Finds

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Joy Resmovits
First Posted: 01/25/2012 9:06 am
Updated: 01/25/2012 9:34 am

Though President Barack Obama's State of the Union Address stressed the need for a competitive workforce, especially in more technical fields such as energy, young Americans see massive barriers to entering such professions, according to survey results released Wednesday.

Sixty percent of respondents ages 16 to 25 to the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, which seeks to gauge innovation aptitude among young adults, named at least one factor that prevented them from pursuing further education or work in science, technology, engineering and math fields (known as STEM). Thirty-four percent said they "don't know much about these fields," while a third said "these fields are too challenging." Twenty-eight percent said they weren't "well-prepared in school to seek out a career or further ... [their] education in these fields."

Meanwhile, 47 percent of respondents noted that a lack of innovation "would hurt the U.S. economy" and 80 percent said they'd be interested in courses that would help them "become more inventive and creative." While 26 percent noted they're motivated to choose careers for stability, 22 percent said they would be inspired by jobs that would give them a chance "to change the world."

"It's reassuring: youth are invested in helping others. They want to be altruistic. It gives us cause to be optimistic," said Joshua Schuler, executive director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, a Massachusetts Institution of Technology-based group that administered the survey for the 16th year. "At the same time, we found there's a real lack of knowledge in STEM education and the things that motivate young people to go into."

"The young people want to do these things, they want to learn to be more inventive. In large part, it's policy folks and adults playing catch-up."

The survey, conducted under contract by Kelton Research, asked multiple-choice questions via the Internet of 1,000 people ages 16 to 25, selected to be nationally representative, with a 95 percent confidence level.

The results are especially important as professors and policymakers bemoan the relatively small ranks of American science majors and entrants into STEM jobs. As the New York Times noted, "the president and industry groups have called on colleges to graduate 10,000 more engineers a year and 100,000 new teachers with majors in STEM." Fewer than half of students with plans to major in STEM wind up dropping that focus before graduation.

"There's an opportunity here," Schuler said. "While over 60 percent said there are hurdles to pursue a barrier in stem education, they saw that the fields of healthcare and education are in need of a solution. The young people want to do these things, they want to learn to be more inventive. In large part, it's policy folks and adults playing catch-up."

Last week, the President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness advocated a focus on STEM fields in schools. The paper stressed the need to "start by transforming our education system from preschool through K-12." The last round of the Education Department's Race to the Top competition, in which states competed for education-reform cash, had a STEM education component.

Still, a Government Accountability Office report last week said federal programs to promote STEM education have significant overlap, though they might "not necessarily be ... duplicative." The GAO study found it difficult to assess individual programs and "the overall STEM education effort."

The GAO report is already being used as partisan ammunition by Rep. John Kline (R-Minn.), chairman of the Education and the Workforce Committee, who commissioned the report. "Taxpayers have seen little evidence that these programs are actually working," Kline said in a statement. “Investing in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics is a worthwhile endeavor -- but pumping billions of dollars into programs that may be duplicative or unproductive is just plain foolish."

9nm IBM Nanotube Transistors May Outrace Silicon

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

updated 02:40 pm EST, Sat January 28, 2012
www.electronista.com

IBM researchers have published results for a new nine-nanometer nanotube transistor that could redefine processors in the future. The carbon-based element is the first below 10 nanometers and is much more efficient than the best current silicon-based transistors. Because of the size and material, it can use considerably less power and takes on more of a current to improve the reliability.

To get to the smaller size, researchers used an extra-thin insulator and a two-part process to bring in the electrical gates while preserving the fragile structure. Challenges still exist, such as improving the production process for the nanotubes to avoid shorts as well as creating a method to scale the placement up to processor-size levels.

As with most research, the 9nm technology is still likely years away from the market. IBM's role as a semiconductor giant may see its technique reach the mainstream when ready.

Nurturing Curiosity & Inspiring the Pursuit of Discovery

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

The courage to make mistakes is related in some measure to curiosity, exploration, and the ability to speak honestly about a topic and about ourselves. For it is fear of mistakes, of being wrong, and the possibility of ridicule that stops us from showing our natural curiosity. The openness to show your natural curiosity in front of others requires one to be vulnerable. In her book The Gift of Imperfection, Dr. Brené Brown says "Ordinary courage is about putting vulnerability on the line. In today's world that's pretty extraordinary." Passionate curiosity demonstrates many things to others, including that we don't know all the answers or even that we are uncertain about various things. In today's world of cable news sound bites, entrenched positions, and unyielding opinions, revealing our uncertainty or changing our point of view as we discover more and delve more deeply in the material is often seen as weakness. Certainty is seen as strength. Yet admitting you don't know our that you're not yet sure, or that you need more information or more time and so on takes more courage than faking certainty or going along with conventional wisdom because it is safe.

We are born curious—so what happened?

Earlier I wrote a piece entitled "The need for connection & engagement in education" -- but I should have used the word school in place of education. Education is not the problem. For where there is education — and the best education is usually self-education — there is necessarily participation and engagement with the material, and our curiosity thrives. The problem for a lot of us — teacher and student — is school, especially large institutional schools. Our methods of instruction — or perhaps it is just the system itself — do a poor job of nurturing students' natural curiosity. This is nothing new. Einstein said many years ago that "it is in fact nothing short of a miracle that the modern methods of instruction have not yet entirely strangled the holy curiosity of inquiry....” In this short video clip below Dr. Michio Kaku says that we are born scientists. Children go through much of their childhood driven by a natural and insatiable curiosity about life, but somewhere along the line we all but extinguish that flame of curiosity. Dr. Kaku says that school often results in "crushing curiosity right out of the next generation." Watch the clip below (or on YouTube).

Dr. Michio Kaku: "We [all] are born scientists."

Rewarding curiosity vs. rewarding certainty

We are obsessed with giving prizes to students who memorize the most facts and bits of information (and in the shortest amount of time). Why don't we give prizes for the students who demonstrate their unabashed curiosity and demonstrable pursuit of discovery? A driving child-like curiosity and sense of wonder is an undeniable sign of intelligence. The curious can eventually overcome their ignorance, but the chronically incurious—and yet self-assured—are stuck with their ignorance for a lifetime.

I don't know all the components of a good teacher (or a good presenter), but certainly a necessary element of good teaching is curiosity. That is, demonstrating our own curiosity and inspiring and cultivating the natural curiosity in others. The ineffective teachers are the ones who have lost their curiosity and sense of wonder for their subject or even for their job. You can't fake curiosity and wonder. The best teachers are the ones who show their own desire to learn more about their subject and who are not afraid to show mistakes or admit that they don't know it all. The best teachers guide, coach, inspire, and feed that natural flame of curiosity that lives within every child. The courage to teach, then, is the courage to expose yourself as you demonstrate your curiosity and wonder for your subject. This kind of passion is infectious (and memorable).

Curiosity has its own rewards

If I were hiring employees I would look for the insanely curious and hungry applicants not necessarily the ones who ticked off all the correct boxes and jumped through all the right hoops in school. I would look for the highly educated and talented but not necessarily the highly schooled. School for a student is ephemeral and short, but learning, self-education, and inquiry last a life time so long as a student's unabashed curiosity remains alive. The best teachers (or trainers, coaches, etc.) are those who light the sparks and inspire students to pursue a lifetime of exploration and discovery. "School" says the rewards are cash, status, and security. But wouldn't it be great if our lessons instilled the notion in students something which they already knew when younger but may have forgotten: "Curiosity has its own reason for existing," as Einstein said. Curiosity has its own rewards.

Link

Michio Kaku refers to Richard Feynman at the end of the video clip above. This video here features Richard Feynman talking about his father's influence.

Reed-Custer District Seeks Balance in 'Friending' Students

Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

12/27/2011 10:16:00 PM
Facing Facebook
Reed-Custer District seeks balance in 'friending' students
Marney Simon, Staff writer

There are more than 800 million active users on Facebook, more than half of whom log in daily. Chances are, many or even most of the hundreds of Reed-Custer High School students are among them. And statistically, so are their teachers.

So what is a school district to do when technology advances faster than school policy? That's the question facing the members of the Reed-Custer School Board, as they continue with discussions on how to manage relationships between staff and students when those relationships reach far past school boundaries and into cyberspace.

Board members got into the nitty-gritty of the discussion for the second time on Dec. 21. The board first discussed the possibility of an electronic communications policy in September, when members said they'd like to visit the issue and hammer out some rules or policy addendums before it becomes an issue, and not after.

Last week, Superintendent Dr. John Butts told board members that it's a topic receiving attention from school districts all around Illinois.

"I would say that from an educational point of view, this is the number one topic of discussion in the state, certainly in the northern part of the state," Dr. Butts said. "It seems like districts have been to several workshops. I've talked to individual districts, called the people, talked with the attorney... The issues are tough."

Butts said that while he was not prepared to offer an actual policy proposal just yet, when that time comes, it should focus on high standards and appropriate contact. Butts presented the board members with a list of ideas to be considered as part of a district policy, including:

• Social media cannot interfere with the educational policy.

• Personal, individually owned technology should not be used to share school information.

• No "Facebooking" during work hours.

• An acceptable use policy should be reviewed annually.

• All appropriate uses should have prior approval.

Dr. Butts said that there may very well be educational value to social media such as Facebook, Twitter and other sites, the district has to find it and be able to encourage the use of it appropriately.

"We have to count on the teachers and their professionalism and their positive student relationships to say, how can this be used educationally," Butts said. "I would discourage friending from personal accounts. It's still going to boil down to professionalism ... but the educational purpose, where they would be friending, must continue to be educational."

It's still going to boil down to professionalism ... but the educational purpose, where they would be friending, must continue to be educational.

School board members noted that finding a balance for how Facebook and other social media is used in relation to the schools is difficult. Board member Stacey Speed sees an issue with students being able to peer into the private lives of teachers, and accountability on the district if information that is inappropriate gets passed along in the process.

"I wouldn't ever want to take away an avenue for the teachers to talk to the students," Speed said. "I don't want Facebook accounts to be inappropriate... Say we had high school students who are 18 years of age, and [teachers] who are 23. Twenty three, and 18, in my opinion, it would be inappropriate.

"A 23-year-old, I wouldn't want him to have a Facebook account with his college days on Facebook, and he's got 30 senior friends tied to that, showing what he's done in college, drinking and those kinds of things. By standard, if that was on the 18-year-old student's account, we would hold them accountable for that."

Speed said he hoped to see a policy in place that provides a broad statement regarding professionalism and expectations. Other board members agreed.

"We're trying to figure out where the line is, so we're being proactive instead of reactive," member Kris Van Duyne said.

Board members added that a broad policy could be more appropriate, as opposed to one that pinpoints requirements that need to be reviewed year after year.

High school principal Tim Ricketts added that while Facebook can affect student relationships with one another, minor problems that arise from it are generally not addressed by the school.

"We don't go out looking for stuff," Ricketts said. "The only time that we have ever had Facebook as even part of the equation is if we had students come to us with stuff that they are concerned about. The only time we've ever had that as an issue is if it was causing [a problem] during a school day.

"If it's something that kids are battling on the weekends about, as long as it doesn't come into the school or cause a threat within the school or a student or a physical fight, then we don't address that."

Ricketts added that he thinks there is a way to create a policy that teachers will be happy to follow.

"You discourage it, you make sure that the younger teachers know the risks that are out there, and the fact that they are coming from college student into a profession. Just educating them on it," Ricketts added. "As long as the expectations are out there, I think even our young teachers who are coming right out of college... will comply with what the standard is."

In addition to a policy for teachers, the board will also consider how students utilize the site. While Facebook rules ask that children be 13 or older in order to have an account, some teachers say that some Reed-Custer students as young as second grade have their own Facebook accounts. Those teachers said the board should encourage parents to become more educated on Facebook, and how their children are interacting with others on the site.

According to Facebook's own statistics, the average Facebook user has 130 "friends," and is connected to more than 80 community pages, groups and events. On average, more than 250 million photos are uploaded each day to the site. More than 350 million active users currently access Facebook through their mobile devices, meaning that those students and teachers with smart phones have even easier access to the site.

Figuring out how to incorporate - or flat out ban - communication between staff and students over social network sites is a struggle nationwide. Some school districts in Florida, Ohio and North Carolina have very restrictive policies, some which state that teachers will be subject to disciplinary action if they are Facebook friends with students or their parents. Meanwhile, hundreds of other school districts nationwide take a more lenient approach, simply encouraging teachers to maintain appropriate relationships with their students and even setting up district Facebook pages where they can post information for the schools within their district, as well as school board agendas and emergency information.

So far, the members of the Reed-Custer School Board seem open to exploring the idea of how Facebook can be used. The members said they simply have to research and find a way to make sure they can create a clear line for appropriate contact.

"Used appropriately it's an after hours reach-out, I don't want that to be taken away," Speed said. "I just want us to say, hey, if you're going to have it, it has to be maintained in a professional manner. Lead by example. That's why we're here."

Researchers Turn Your Smartphone Into A Virtual Projector

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

By Michael Gorman
posted Jan 22nd 2012 12:37PM
www.engadget.com

source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/22/researchers-turn-your-smartphone-into-a-virtual-projector/

Pico projectors are an easy way to increase the screen real estate of your mobile phone, but what if you'd rather not carry one around in your pocket or bulk up your phone's slim profile with a slip on solution? Well, a team of intrepid researchers may have come up with an elegant solution to your problem that can work with any smartphone and external display: virtual projection. The system works by using a central server that constantly takes screenshots of the external display and compares them with the images from the phone's camera to track its location. It then replicates what's on the handset's screen, while allowing you to add multiple image windows and position and rotate them as you see fit. Additionally, multiple users can collaborate and virtually project pictures or videos onscreen at the same time. Intrigued? See it in action for yourself in the video after the break.

YouTube Now Moving at 3,600 Times the Speed of Real Life

Sat, 28 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

By Tim Nudd
January 24, 2012
www.adweek.com

YouTube prides itself on its girth—on the sheer volume of cat videos and other ephemera (along with a handful of legitimately interesting clips) that are being uploaded to the site every day. Recently, the Google-owned site reached a very marketable milestone, as one hour of video is now being uploaded to YouTube every second. This calls for celebration, in the form of the video below, which in turn links to OneHourPerSecond.com, where lots of cute animations visualize just how far YouTube time is outpacing real time. (Approximately 3,600 seconds of video are uploaded each second.) In a blog post, YouTube also offers some viewing data: "For all the hours of video you're uploading—you're watching more as well; we've now exceeded 4 billion video views globally every day. That's up 25 percent in the last eight months and the equivalent of more than half the world's population watching a video every day, the same number as there are U.S. $1 bills in circulation, the same as the number of years since there was water on Mars. … It's a big number, and you're making it bigger every day." It's a little vertigo-inducing and a bit sad that you'll never get to all those cat videos, even if you have several lifetimes to live.

‘Gimme Your WiFi’: New Bullies Emerge in Smartphone-Crazy Korea

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Seoul— Reuters
Published Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012 11:00AM EST

Being the most Internet-connected country in the world has opened the way for a new form of bullying in South Korean schools, with victims being forced to pay for WiFi access for their tormentors.

Bullied students are made to sign up for subscriptions that cost around $40 a month, then to turn on the WiFi hot spot function on their smartphones.

This allows the bullies to essentially take over the phone’s wireless connection, permitting them to surf the web for free – and also drawing down the phone’s battery because there are multiple users at one time.

“I am very worried my beloved smartphone may be worn out,” one 16-year-old boy old wrote anonymously in a web bulletin in January.

“I really want to cry. I am posting this because seriously, I don’t know what I am supposed to do after the semester starts.”

Around 20 million South Koreans, 40 per cent of the entire population, own smartphones.

While new technology has expanded the range of rewards for bullies, the act itself is an old problem in South Korea’s rigid school system, previously showing up in forms common around the world such as physical violence or taunting.

A survey by the Korean Federation of Teachers’ Association and the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said that 4.1 per cent of schoolchildren said they had been bullied, with some desperate students even taking their own lives.

About half a dozen suicides among middle and high school students linked to bullying since late last year has forced the government to start prosecution of teenage bullying suspects and introduce plainclothes police patrols in some schools.

But the changes in bullying may take some tackling, with traditional responses lacking teeth, education experts said.

“New schemes such as WiFi stealing are blurring the boundaries of school violence,” said Park Jong-chul, a high school teacher who is part of a teachers’ group that researches bullying.

“Some people say this is not a threat nor violence. (But) we need a new definition for school violence in terms of laws and norms.”

It's a Man vs. Machine Recovery

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

Companies have been buying technology instead of hiring, and Okun's Law is broken

source: http://images.businessweek.com/cms/2012-01-05/econ_technology02__01__600.jpg

Bloomberg
By David J. Lynch

The U.S. produces almost one-quarter more goods and services today than it did in 1999, while using almost precisely the same number of workers. It’s as if $2.5 trillion worth of stuff—the equivalent of the entire U.S. economy circa 1958—materialized out of thin air.

Although businesses haven’t added many people, they’ve certainly bulked up on machines. Spending on equipment and software hit an all-time high in the third quarter of 2011. “Huge advances in technology have allowed businesses to do more with less,” vaporizing jobs for everyone from steelworkers to travel agents, President Barack Obama warned in December.

So are robots getting all the good jobs? This year may provide the answer as the economy gathers steam. Most economists, cheered by 540,000 hires since Labor Day, say technology inevitably destroys some jobs even as it ultimately creates new ones. But with more than 20 million Americans still jobless or underemployed, others worry that something fundamental has changed. “What’s different now is the speed and scale of what’s happening,” says Erik Brynjolfsson, director of the MIT Center for Digital Business. Brynjolfsson and Andrew McAfee, co-authors of the recently published book Race Against the Machine, argue that the economy is in the early stages of a “Great Restructuring” that is hollowing out the labor market and exacerbating inequality.

Nonsense, say economists including James D. Hamilton of the University of California at San Diego. There’s nothing new about machines replacing people. In 1900, 41 percent of Americans worked on farms. Today, thanks to labor-saving tractors and combines, the figure is less than 2 percent. Yet ex-farm workers found new jobs. And as manufacturing grew leaner in recent decades, factory workers—or their children—migrated to finance, health care, computers, and other growing industries.

“In 2005 the average U.S. worker could produce what would have required two people to do in 1970, what would have required four people in 1940, and would have required six people in 1910,” Hamilton writes in an e-mail. “The result of this technological progress was not higher unemployment but instead rising real wages. The evidence from the last two centuries is unambiguous—productivity gains lead to more wealth, not poverty.”

Americans have fretted about a dystopian future since the first industrial robot (called “Unimate”) started work at a General Motors (GM) plant in Ewing Township, N.J., in 1961. The worries grew more acute last year as the jobs-poor recovery ground on. Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball, recently ruminated on air about ubiquitous automated kiosks as well as the replacement of “seven or eight cameramen” on his program with machines. “Everywhere we go, it’s robots,” he said.

Although businesses haven’t added many people, they’ve certainly bulked up on machines. Spending on equipment and software hit an all-time high in the third quarter of 2011.

Google (GOOG) last year unveiled driverless cars. Lionbridge Technologies (LIOX) is taking orders for an automated translation service. Medical device maker Boston Scientific (BSX) is automating its Quincy (Mass.) distribution center, the company’s largest, with robots made by Kiva Systems of North Reading, Mass.

Technology is not just revolutionizing the assembly line. Paralegals can’t match software in accurately searching thousands of documents for specific words or patterns. New software apps easily best journeyman sportswriters at penning routine game wrap-ups. “The era we’re in is one in which the scope of tasks that can be automated is increasing rapidly, and in areas where we used to think those were our best skills, things that require thinking,” says David Autor, a labor economist at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

As digital technology spreads, the classic relationship between rising output and rising employment—known as Okun’s Law—now appears to be broken. If the law, which postulates that every 3 percent gain in output should reduce the jobless rate by a percentage point, still applied, then today’s nearly 9 percent rate would be about 1 percent.

Crowded unemployment lines, however, aren’t necessarily a sign that machines are winning a zero-sum fight with humans. The surge of spending on automation and IT systems, for example, is one of the economy’s strongest props. In the third quarter, nonresidential investment, which includes labor-saving machinery, contributed 1.41 percentage points to gross domestic product growth, second only to consumer spending. Lincoln Electric Holdings (LECO), a maker of robotic welding gear, reported $55.5 million in third-quarter profits, up 71 percent from the same period in 2010.

Businesses are spending more on technology now because they spent so little during the recession. Yet total capital expenditures are still barely running ahead of replacement costs. “Most of the investment we’re seeing is simply replacing worn-out stuff,” says economist Paul Ashworth of Capital Economics.

So if machines aren’t responsible for the dearth of jobs, what is? Simple: lack of demand. Industry is using less of its productive capacity today than it did at the low point of the 1990-91 recession, according to the Federal Reserve. “We need a new source of demand,” says MIT’s Autor. “If people aren’t buying stuff, then no one’s hiring workers.”

The prosperous 1990s revealed the power of demand to simultaneously boost employment and spending on machines. Companies binged on new equipment and software in the late 1990s even more than today, yet the unemployment rate averaged 4.4 percent, notes economist Dean Baker of the Center for Economic & Policy Research in Washington, D.C. From the first quarter of 1997 through the end of 2000, even as productivity increased 14 percent, demand for goods and services was so great that the private sector created more than 9 million jobs.

One thing that’s different now: Instead of lifting all boats, as it once did, technology is sorting workers into winners and losers. Over the past three decades job growth has been fastest among high- and low-skill jobs, while mid-skill occupations atrophied, according to economists Jaison Abel and Richard Deitz of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Although the economy created nearly 50 million new nonfarm positions in that period, technology cut the ranks of some workforce mainstays, such as machine operators, by more than half.

Flat-lining living standards and a rich-man, poor-man job market add up to a scary new era. Despite their concerns, Brynjolfsson and McAfee remain “digital optimists.” Eventually, they say, revolutionary technologies will spawn unimagined new businesses and jobs. There’s certainly room for them. By the Congressional Budget Office’s reckoning, total output in the third quarter was 5 percent below potential. That amounts to almost $800 billion of missing demand—enough to occupy both man and machine.

The bottom line: Although machines may appear to get all the good jobs, there’s nothing wrong with the labor market that resurgent demand wouldn’t fix.

Lynch is a reporter for Bloomberg News.

The Year of the Multitaskers’ Revenge

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

By PHYLLIS KORKKI
Published: December 31, 2011
The New York Times

IT’S a far different work world today than it was even 10 years ago. Technology and the economy have converged to create a set of priorities and preoccupations that are unique to our times. Here are just a few workplace and employment issues that are likely to stir debate, frustration and a search for solutions this year.

DEVICE BACKLASH

As workers add more electronic devices, Web sites, software programs and apps to their arsenals, there is a point at which efficiency and satisfaction suffer. More devices can lead to more multitasking, which, though viewed by many as a virtue, has been shown to interfere with concentration.

More devices also harbor more vortexes of distraction, like Facebook, shopping sites and cute animal videos. Maintaining focus may well be one of the biggest daily challenges that workers will face this year, now that smartphones and tablets have become ubiquitous.

More workers will probably revolt against the idea that they must be “on” all the time, recognizing that both their work and personal lives will improve if they create stricter boundaries. Sometimes this expectation is self-imposed; at other times, it’s part of the corporate culture. Look for more companies to address the issue directly. Last month, for example, Volkswagen agreed with labor representatives in Germany to limit work-related e-mails on BlackBerrys during off-hours.

THE TRAINING ADVANTAGE

More technology necessitates more training. During the recession, too many workers learned new technology imperfectly, on the fly, or not at all. Fortunately, corporate spending on training rose in 2011 over the previous year, according to a report in Training magazine.

The pace at which new technology emerges and becomes paramount is quickening as never before. Last year, HTML 5 for the Web was the hottest skill that a job seeker could have; now it’s a knowledge of apps, said Alison Doyle, a job search specialist for About.com, which is owned by The New York Times Company.

Both the employed and the unemployed cannot be complacent about their skills, and must be assertive about keeping up with the latest computer languages and applications, she said.

Maintaining focus may well be one of the biggest daily challenges that workers will face this year, now that smartphones and tablets have become ubiquitous.

THE RISE OF THE INDEPENDENT WORKER

Both by necessity and choice, more workers are deciding to go it alone as consultants, contractors, freelancers and other independent operators. Look for that trend to intensify this year.

Thanks to technology, it’s easier than ever for “people to find projects and projects to find people,” and they aren’t restricted by geography, said Gene Zaino, president and chief executive of MBO Partners, which deals with issues surrounding independent consultants.

That’s great for people who seek flexibility and autonomy. But working alone can be lonely, and a lack of structure can slow productivity. That’s why the phenomenon of co-working — where independent workers in a range of fields gather in one room to conduct business and drink lots of coffee or tea — is likely to spread.

Of course, not everyone chooses to be independent. Many people have been forced into becoming contractors as more companies with limited budgets hire on a project basis, Mr. Zaino said. Often, these workers’ pay is lower than it would be if they were full-time employees, and benefits are nonexistent.

Now enter the federal government, which doesn’t like how these fuzzy arrangements affect tax collection. Expect a big government push to classify contract workers as employees, Mr. Zaino said.

THE UNEMPLOYMENT DIVIDE

The overall unemployment rate is 8.6 percent, but break down the number by educational attainment and the picture looks different. Those with college degrees are the lucky ones: the jobless rate for them is 4.4 percent. That compares with 8.8 percent for those with only a high school diploma and 13.2 percent for those with no diploma at all.

Consider, too, that less than 30 percent of the United States population age 25 or older has a bachelor’s degree or higher. Large groups of Americans will continue to be unemployed or underemployed unless more training and educational opportunities become available.

Another disadvantaged group is the long-term unemployed, who are having trouble rejoining the work force as employers show a preference for hiring people who currently hold jobs or have been laid off only recently.

More than 30 percent of jobless Americans have been unemployed for a year or more, according to federal data. Congress will continue to wrestle with their plight, and their benefits, this year. Without help, this group risks falling so far behind that it can’t catch up.

A version of this article appeared in print on January 1, 2012, on page BU7 of the New York edition with the headline: The Year Of the Multitaskers’ Revenge.

Studio H: How Design/Build Curriculum Can Transform a Community

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 00:00:00 GMT

BY SUZIE BOSS
12/20/11
www.edutopia.org

A billboard at the entrance to Bertie County, North Carolina, reads, "Design. Build. Transform." That's exactly what's been happening in this rural community for the past year. Thanks to an innovative curriculum called Studio H, high school students here have stepped into the role of designers, builders, and transformers of their own community.

As the culminating project of a year-long effort, students designed and constructed a 2,000-square-foot, wood-framed pavilion for a new farmers' market. In the process, they earned early college credits along with summer stipends. While mastering difficult technical skills, they learned to apply a problem-solving method that's likely to stick with them for life. They also became valued citizens. At the ribbon-cutting celebration, the mayor of their hometown presented them with the key to their city.

Studio H wasn't without challenges, including setbacks caused by natural disasters. But lessons learned should interest any educators looking for new strategies to unleash students' creative capacity.

Emily Pilloton, the visionary behind Studio H, is eager to see this model spread to other public schools. She and partner Matthew Miller moved their nonprofit design firm from San Francisco to Bertie County to get the project launched. Artifacts and reflections from Studio H are on display at the Museum of Contemporary Craft in Portland, Oregon, through February . The Studio H website offers more visuals and videos.

In a recent phone interview, Pilloton shared a few insights from the exhausting but exhilarating first year of Studio H.

Edutopia.org: What's the value of teaching students to think like designers?
Emily Pilloton: Design is really about problem solving. I see design as a way to solve urgent problems in beautiful ways.

What are the logistics for Studio H?
It's three hours a day. Students take this in their junior year. It includes a design lab that builds creative and visual fundamentals, and 'shop class with a purpose' that teaches iterative prototyping, material sensibility, and full-scale building. Studio H runs in parallel to core subjects, requiring applied math, physical and social science, and writing. Students earn high school credit and early college credit through a local community college. During the pilot year, students were part of program for first-generation college-goers. Many are from families facing socioeconomic challenges, but these students have the drive to go to college.

While mastering difficult technical skills, they learned to apply a problem-solving method that's likely to stick with them for life. They also became valued citizens.

How did the farmers' market project come about?
The market was our third of three projects. Coming in, many students were starting from absolute zero. They didn't have a background in art. Many had never held a hammer. They needed to learn a whole set of skills, and so we started with something small and manageable. Their first project was to design a board for a beanbag-toss game, like a carnival game. It was the perfect object to learn about simple wood construction and also graphic design. They had to think about color theory, proportion and scale, and why graphic design is important. The second project was designing chicken coops.

Why chicken coops?
A flood had left many families homeless or lacking in basics. Giving them chicken coops would help families that needed a sustainable food source. For our students, designing coops was their first leap to architecture. It was something familiar, but we pushed them to go beyond what a chicken coop looked like in their head. We wanted them to realize that some crazy ideas are actually wonderful. They came up with some of the weirdest-looking chicken coops you've ever seen.

And from there, you were ready to tackle the farmers' market?
We wanted students to build something big and to work on something they were passionate about. We pushed them to think about framing problems. It turns out the real problem wasn't that the community lacked a farmers' market. It's that the community has a high obesity rate and lacks access to healthy food. Understanding that meant getting them to constantly ask why. For some students, that way of thinking eventually became second nature.

What were the biggest take-aways from the first year?
The best thing you can say to a student is, "Yes, and?" They'd bring us a sketch or a model and we'd say, that's great. What else can you do? "Yes, and?" is a way to foster creativity. Acknowledge that they've accomplished something, and then ask for something more.

What else?
Something crucial to Studio H is that these projects are for the community. We're giving them away. (The farmers' market will now be run by the local community.) Students need to learn to truly be citizens, not via Facebook but at a town hall meeting. That's why we push our students to execute. We could have stopped at just model-making for the farmers' market. We could have done an exhibition and called it a day. But 80 percent of learning happens when you realize, my concept now has to go through these filters of the real world. We may have to make compromises. Design really starts when it's out in the world.

How does the community respond to projects like this?
I'm pretty sure this is the only farmers' market in the country designed and built by high school students. That's the thing that people take away. The community needs to know that youth are an asset.

Where does a project like this fit into current discussions of 21st-century skills?
Our students are learning skills like welding and carpentry, 2D and 3D modeling. But those are the vehicles to do something else. We blog as much as we're on the table saw. We're giving them tools for entrepreneurship, for innovation, for local citizenship and engagement. We're giving them a way to think through problems in their own lives. Design is all about possibility. For a student, that's the best gift you can give them.