Technology As A Journey, Not a Destination

So I’ve read several accounts of this story and the outrage that schools are spying on kids in Pennsylvania via the webcam in their Macbooks.  I anyone asked me, which no one will, here is my guess about how the whole thing went down:

Kid takes his Macbook home and is playing around with Photo Booth, which is a program that lets you take photos of yourself using the built-in webcam.  You can make funny faces, put crazy backgrounds, it’s just something everyone with a Mac has done at one point or another.  If you don’t own a Mac, look it up.    So this kid probably took a picture of himself doing something inappropriate.  These photos stay on the computer, unless you delete them.

Along comes system administrator who is required by law (CIPA) to make sure that our little innocent children don’t ever see anything that could be offensive or objectionable.  So sysadmin happens to take a look at the Pictures folder of kid’s computer and notices the inappropriate picture(s).  So why were they looking in the first place?  I can see where it would be reasonable to see what kids are downloading once in a while.  I’ve read of districts that just do random spot checks to make sure people aren’t downloading from peer to peer networks, porn or heaven knows what on computers owned by the school district. That doesn’t seem unreasonable to me on the surface.

However, that doesn’t extend to reading through their personal diary just for kicks.  A simple task of opening the Pictures folder and glancing at the thumbnails would do.  Notice that peer to peer sharing software appeared and subsequently a ton of movies or music also appeared?  Since the district is  considered responsible, it’s probably a good thing to have a process to monitor this.  That way, when they are sued because little Sally download bootleg copies of the latest Hollywood release, the district has a process to point to as a defense.  Unfortunately, this is the world we live in.

But I digress, back to the problem.  So, sysadmin tells principal to tell kid to stop acting like an idiot with Photo Booth.  For whatever reason, this gets turned into school district spying on kids in their bedrooms without their knowledge.

I tend to doubt that district staff is spying on kids in their bedroom.  I say this for two reasons.  For one, as a system administrator by trade, everyone assumes that we sit around and watch what people do.  The fact of the matter is that I could care less what you do with your computer.  I could care less what’s in your e-mail or chat sessions or what you look at when you take your computer home.  I realize that I may be the exception, because the sysadmin world is also full of control freaks.  However, time simply does not allow for most of us to sit around randomly activating webcams to see what we can see people doing.

For two, this would be technically difficult.  I understand there was a security system that could take a snapshot using the webcam.  However, the likelihood that this snapshot would capture the exact instant that the kid was doing something wrong is low.  This snapshot process would have to be consistent, repeated and frequent.  Maybe it was and I missed it, but I didn’t see that in any of the stories I read.

I may be completely wrong about this particular incident, but I’ve noticed that the news media, for the most part, does not understand technology.  They were convinced that some staff was spying on the kids, and they will stop at nothing to prove that, or at least give the appearance of it.  That’s sure a lot more of a fun story than my theory.  It sure gets people watching the news, buying papers, and visiting web sites to increase advertising impressions.  I am cynical, I know.

With these types of incidents, technology programs suffer. As you browse comments on news stories, you see “why do they need laptops, anyway” and this kind of stuff.  There is a huge misunderstanding about how much technology can impact and improve education.  Technology is an amazing tool when used appropriately, and I’m pretty sure that this district was on the right track.  I hope there was nothing disgusting or perverted happening there.  But remember, there are countless districts that have these programs throughout the world.   Even if this is one person who went off the deep end, I fear that overreaction will result in yet more laws and regulations that will only hurt everyone that plays by the rules.

I hate this mentality that just one person does something stupid that everyone has to be cast in the same light.  No matter how many laws, regulations, oversight committees, procedures, checks, and forms, problems will still arise.  The overwhelmingly vast majority of people are honorable and ethical.  I think we forget that sometimes.

This is a new term that I only recently learned. However, it makes complete sense when I see some of the technology that is implemented in schools I have researched.

As part of my job, I am doing tons of research on technology for a 1:1 computer project in our school district. The conventional wisdom is that you go and buy a bunch of computers and give them to kids and they use them to learn. The reality, however, is that a lot more must go into it than just passing out computers.

For instance, if a school district puts a notebook computer in the hands of every child, and they use that piece of technology to take notes in class and write reports, it might seem like the project is complete and you can move on to the next thing. But what have you accomplished? My opinion is that you have spent $1,000 on something you could do for a couple of dollars worth of pencils and paper.

To elaborate on that, the technology should be a tool to create and discover. It should become a part of the education, where you learn how to use the tool appropriately and it should be relevant. It is not the universal fix, nor is it something that is a waste.

For example, researching a paper and typing a report is a start. Creating a network on a social networking site or using a discussion board is better. Collaborating with people from all variety of age and backgrounds is a real world experience. Learning to research and reason is a skill that will enable someone to succeed at anything.

The analysis supports that these programs can be wildly successful. It also show that they can be an enormous waste of money and time. It is important to understand that sometimes making these programs work involves doing something different. Sometimes that means people and processes must change. This, to me, represents the biggest obstacle in the process of implementing a program like this. Like most things, it comes down to people. I heard a saying recently, “money and technology are great, but people are better.”

I guess the point I am making is that whatever technology we implement must have a purpose beyond just being what everyone is doing. It is okay to do what everyone is doing, but we have to be doing it the right way and making a real difference in education. This will require people more than technology.

I am a tech person by nature, but I also realize that just using a computer is not the answer and a magical solution. It is much more than that and I am fortunate to have educators that understand this. It’s a big project that some have done right and many have done wrong.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

So I have this strange situation in which I am asking for salespeople to call me.  It’s crazy, I know.  Part of my job is to do some research to bring back to a committee that will steer decisions in our district in our institution of a 1 to 1 student laptop program.  The exact details of the program are yet to be developed, but I’m gathering pricing, support and other information.

I put calls into several of the major laptop makers.  Some of them had information on their web site that purported their dedication to education and 21st century classrooms – all the right stuff.  As of Tuesday, not one company besides Apple has called me back.  I got a call the same day I left a message from Apple corporate, with the name and info of a representative assigned to our account.  As I was walking out the door today, that rep had called me to set up a time to discuss items.

I am impressed.