For me, stories, articles and/or discussions that combine real estate and public schooling are almost always pregnant with racism and/or classism.  In some cases, that racism and/or classism is more obvious than others.

Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal points to a “study” (a very loose term in this case) done by the folks at Trulia.com.  This “study” combined real estate data with data about public schools and yielded a list of 27 neighborhoods in the suburbs of 9 major cities that offer “the best education bang for your buck.”  Like Newsweek’s and now the U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of high schools, this list is largely a proxy for white affluent school systems.  I’d bet the ranch that if you looked at the demographic data from these 27 school districts, you’d find that they serve largely white, affluent families.  As one example, Ridge HS is the high school that serves Basking Ridge, NJ (the “best” neighborhood in the NYC suburbs).  That high school serves students that are 83% white and 13% Asian.  Less than 1% of the students in that school are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.

When my family moved to Richmond, VA, I knew that I wanted a house in Henrico County because that county embarked on one of the earliest and largest-scale laptop programs in the country.  For the last 6 or 7 years, every student in grades 6-12 in the county gets a laptop.  Furthermore, we bought a house in an area served by a high school that is considered the lighthouse school for technology in a technologically-progressive county.  My son is not yet 3, so rezoning could change things, but I couldn’t worry too much about 10-12 years from now.

So, I’m calling for a “study” that locates neighborhoods that offer “the best educational technology for your buck.”  This would allow real estate agents to “steer” buyers to districts and schools that are forward-thinking and relevant.  Now, how do we get the right data???

Tags: classism, education, racism, real estate, research, technology

There’s an interesting story (free registration required) in the New York Times about professors who blog and engage in other forms of Web 2.0-ness.  I think the MtvU exec. makes the best point when he says that it’s about transparency.  I’ve also espoused transparency as an orientation to my own work, and I think blogging is a natural extention of that for me. 

What I think the NYT article misses though is any discussion about teaching or learning.  Specifically, the edublogosphere has become my personal learning space and those who feed me (in RSS terms) and who I follow on Twitter are my personal learning network.  I blog because I believe (maybe mistakenly?) that I have something to offer this learning space and because I believe I am somewhat obligated to give and not just take.  Also, by making my thoughts and ideas “public,” I’m inviting others to join my PLN. 

If I can get past the tenure hurdle, I’d love to embark on an empirical journey around this notion of collaborative/digital learning.  I’d like to know how PLN’s jive with theories of learning, community, etc.  I’d like to know how we can foster PLNs in doctoral education.  I’d like to know how we can use PLNs to advance school leadership.  So, I guess that’s why I blog, tweet, comment, etc.  I’m learning about learning.

Tags: blogs, leadership, learning, PLN, transparency

Madness!Originally uploaded by bobbyuggles

That picture is not exactly of my workstation, but it might as well be. If you’re a college basketball fan like me, and a techno-geek like me, CBS Sportsline’s March Madness on Demand web app., well…it IS the greatest thing since sliced bread. You can toggle between three games at once and there’s even a “boss” button which turns the application into a faux spreadsheet. I love MMOD!

Tags: college basketball, NCAA

In an earlier post, I wrote about the overwhelming amount of “knowledge” out there about education and “best practice.”  Well, next week, I’m headed to the annual meeting of AERA, the largest educational research conference in the country.  Searching the program, I found that 166 individual presentations include the word “technology” in the title.  78 individual presentations contain the word “computer” in the title.  Some of those overlap and a number of those presentations are about things like this: “A Monte Carlo Computer Program for Multiple Linear Regression” (I think I’ll skip that one).  But, it does look like there are some really interesting presentations and that I’ll be a busy man next week.

Tags: AERA, computer, education, research, technology

I firmly believe that the single greatest obstacle to digitally-based educational reform is fear.  Fear of change, the unkown, loss of control, etc.  I wish we/I could document my belief empirically. 

The other day, I had an opportunity to be at a meeting of a dozen or so school superintendents.  The meeting was not at all about technology (actually, I’m not entirely sure what it WAS about, but anyway…), but two short discussions took place that I found interesting.  On one occasion, after announcing my budding idea for the Virginia Institute On Leadership in/for Educational Technology (VIOLET), one of the superintendents suggested that any conversations about leadership and technology need to include discussions of “management.”  When I asked what he meant, he said that in his district, they had to block Wikispaces in three schools because students found a way around the system and were instant messaging when they weren’t supposed to be.

Here’s what I said:  (something like) “Yes, those are real issues and I look forward to engaging school leaders in those sorts of conversations…”

Here’s what I should have said: “What’s wrong with instant messaging?  How do you know those students weren’t successfully multi-tasking?  How is instant messaging any different from passing notes in class?  If they’re not different, would you discipline the kids who pass paper-based notes by taking away all of their paper?”

Later, there was a discussion about cell phones and how schools can/should respond to the “growing problem” of cell phones in schools.  I was mostly silent here; I hope I didn’t make too many pained faces.  I did ultimately offer to send resources on the issue to the superintendents.  I’ve been collecting some good blog posts by Will Richardson and others.  But, if anybody has any good information about cell phones in schools and how schools can both deal with potential disruptions and embrace the benefits of digital communication, I’d love to see them.

Tags: education, fear, policy, superintendents, technology