McKissacks a la Elluminate

As part of the Region VII Teaching American History grant in central California, we have been treated to an author visit times two.  First, Fredrick McKissack, Jr. came in person to conduct a two day colloquia sharing his books and the books he wrote with his mother, Patricia McKissack, and tips for historical fiction writing.

Mrs. McKissack prefers not to travel but she lives near the Virtual Learning Center in St. Louis, Missouri and is happy to share her thoughts about the many books she has written and the importance of writing and libraries!  Thanks to Elluminate technology, the 60 history teachers in Fresno, California were connected by Patricia and Fred McKissack, Sr. in St. Louis for an hour and half.  The conversation and questions focused on how authors research books to find the story.  Via Elluminate, the McKissacks discussed their books -  and Stichin’ and Pullin’ (due out in October, 2008) and  Away West – Scraps of Time.  The  “Stichin” book shares stories Mrs. McKissack learned about the quilters of Gee’s Bend.  The experience over Elluminate – projected to a screen for all to see and plugged into speakers for all to hear – was much more intimate than sitting in a large auditorium.

You can read about the experience from Mrs. McKissack’s perspective here.

Drop Out Statistics unacceptable!

There is more and more evidence that the number of high school drop outs across the United States is increasing.

• In Texas, researchers from Rice University found that “Texas’s public school accountability system, the model for the national No Child Left Behind Act, directly contributes to lower graduation rates.”
• A recent article in Ed Tech Magazine (March, 2008) suggests that the use of technology would help those who dropped out and perhaps cause students to be more engaged in their learning.
• The “Drop Out” factory map here shows it visually.
• Robert Balfanz and his team from Johns Hopkins University say that a third of all high school students drop out in the U.S. You can download the schools in your area that are labeled “drop out factories” in their database.
• Russell Rumberger and his team at the University of California, Santa Barbara, as part of the California Droput Research Project continue to examine state and national trends and offer some solutions. Their latest policy brief highlights the importance of high school students having an adult mentor who cares about them. Here are video excerpts of students talking about why they dropout of high school.
• The Gates Foundation completed this dropout report in 2006 which interviewed dropouts and offered some solutions.
• The “Silent Epidemic” is a website that further illustrates the problem.
• The National DropOut Prevention Center is another place for ideas and resources.
• The Communities in Schools project offers solutions, and you should read Bill Milliken’s book, The Last Dropout (2008).

The dropout crisis is a community problem, not just a school problem. So, what are the solutions? What part can technology play in changing this pattern?

Al Upton recordings/interviews

Just came across this podcast interview with Al Upton and his minilegends in December 2007. Great thoughts by Al. He was interviewed by Kari Johnson of “edna” which is the educational network in Australia.

Here is what their website says they do: “Education Network Australia (edna) supports and promotes the benefits of technology for education and training in Australia. edna is a joint initiative of the state and territory governments and the Australian Government, through their education departments, to provide free news, resources, networks and online tools for educators. edna is managed by education.au limited and has been operating since 1996.” Ironic and interesting. Wonder if they have weighed in on Al’s current plight?

And, here was another interview with Al from March 20th sponsored by a “professional geek” at Microsoft on the “Extraordinary Everyday Lives” on the podcast network.

And from Friday, March 21, here is the “Classroom 2.0″ recording/group interview with Al.

Fascinating Al Upton

Thanks to Steve Hargadon for presenting this great Elluminate session (which was recorded for later listening) featuring Al Upton from Australia.  Al is the one who had his students, ages 7 and 8 blogging, and was asked to shut down his blog site last week.  One of the most fascinating things that Al shared was this quote:

“The only way of discovering the limits of the possible is to venture a little way past them into the impossible.” 

Two weeks ago, very few of us even knew who Al was.  Many have eloquently expressed the surprise of this action and it will cause all of us to follow how this unfolds. Miguel, Vicki, and Stephen points to many others.

Most revealing to me are the comments of his students – the “mini-legends” – whose blogs got shut down – see comments 101-120 on his blog here.

I wonder who is most fearful of student bloggers that caused this reaction?

Here is  a summary of what has occurred from Sue Waters in Australia.

And an idea from Miguel Guhlin

Way to go Birmingham!

The City of Birmingham is going to invest in computers for all of the school children in their city!  Eschool News reported this story today.

• Birmingham took another step closer to becoming the first entity in the United States to purchase $200 laptop computers from the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation.  Birmingham’s city council has approved a $3.5 million plan to provide schoolchildren with 15,000 low-cost laptops produced by foundation.

The city council also allocated $500,000 to the school district to sort out any technical issues in the purchase of the laptops.

What a great investment by the city.  Sounds like a forward thinking city council to me!