The Curmudgeon Speaks

I must say that I am frustrated with the topics my education colleagues address via social media. They seem unaware or uncaring when it comes to major issues that shape and control the context within which education functions. I had such high hopes for social media because I thought it provided a vehicle for each of us to voice our perspectives on important issues. We seem to have the time to discuss a few topics with like minded individuals resulting in very little change in anyone. Don’t we have the time to attempt to use the tools for broader impact? Shouldn’t we attempt to model the notion that every citizen’s view matters for our students?

Let me explain this as a researcher might. If this were a regression equation accounting for educational outcomes, too many comment and discuss the variables that account for a trivial proportion of the variability in performance. Why debate whether direct instruction or project based learning works best when neither functions work well when children and their parents have no health care and a low income? Equity issues wash out most variables when included in our equation. The method of experiencing information matters little in comparison. This was Maslow’s basic contribution. He called certain sources of motivation deficiency needs.

Maybe your local context does not expose you to these very real problems. Educators need to be more aware of big issues even if they are not personally influenced. To me, educators need to model the importance of a broad perspective. Read a major newspaper once in a while. Know how your representatives vote and offer your reaction.

I am not discouraging your personal interests in technology. I am encouraging you to use it to address more issues that matter. I am not egotistical enough to assume my perspective on various issues must be correct, but I am willing to say that taking the time to make my perspective known is an important thing for me to do.

I may be too easily annoyed, but “insider speak” annoys me. Educators should know better than use unique terminology as part of their mission is to communicate with a broad audience. When they constantly refer to PD, SAMR, NAEP, and CCSS, I am guessing the commentary that follows has little impact on the general public.

However, maybe my attitude is functioning as a personal liability. You must set yourself apart to gain recognition. Perhaps I should try to create my own “in group” and see if I can generate an acronym that I can claim as a special insight.

[pause for 5 minutes of thinking time]

I have it. I call my new education model LOYO. I considered for a moment calling my model PPD, as in personal professional development,  but decided that I am a fan of the vowel. LOYO encourages individualization, personalization, and differentiation. These must be really good things because I keep reading that these are important processes. LOYO is Learning On Your Own. Because I am a tech guy, I will first emphasize a unique version of LOYO that will hence be referred to as OLOYO (online learning on your own).

For those of you interested in becoming OLOYOs, you need to develop tools that feed you information for REFLECTION (another one of those insider terms). I kept thinking reflection was some kind of STEM term related to mirrors and physics, but it turns out after some OLOYO that it means thinking. See how well my model works for LOYO.

When engaged in LOYO via OLOYO, it is important to recognize that you are likely to have personal biases and these may limit the content you access for REFLECTION. To overcome this known bias, I recommend you both follow some folks who say things you find helpful (see Feedly) and also seek broader input in case your selection of experts runs to those I would refer to as a DOOFUS (not an acronym, but you can access a definition through Webster. To protect yourself from the DOOFUS effect, I recommend Google Alerts.

Follow this blog for further LOYO developments. Become a LOYO promoter. Become LOYO certified so you can add another honorary to your email signature block. You do not have to seek my approval or attend one of my workshops to secure this certification. In keeping with the spirit of LOYO, you are encouraged to certify yourself. I am working on some rubrics to guide your SE (self evaluation), but until I have another five minutes to develop the SE model and associated rubrics, you are on your own.

I swore I would take a break from commenting on politics. I need to take a more positive view of life. I do not want others to think I am a negative person. I need to spend my time commenting on matters of educational relevance.

Never mind, I have decided I am what I am (popeye said that) and true happiness can only be achieved by being true to yourself (I said that, but other folks probably did too.).

Let me, as an educator, start with something I am supposed to understand. Educators are now responsible for the development of 21st century skills including the improvement of higher order thinking. Sound good so far? This has always been the case, but indicating we are in the 21st century makes it sound more immediately relevant.

Anyway, one the essential 21st century skills is critical thinking. Most folks could not offer a definition, but I can. Just the word critical should be enough for you to understand how important this must be. Why get excited about uncritical thinking? Anyway, critical thinking is deemed of special significance because access to information is no longer an issue. While Walter Cronkrite is gone we do have Fox News and other sources unwilling to commit to offering a no spin zone. There is plenty of information at our  finger tips. The problem with the wealth of sources is that it is possible to find about any opinion on any topic. The existence of opposite views should be a concern. Logic should allow the conclusion that not every position taken is accurate or appropriate. We must be able to identify our own biases and the biases of those offering us opinions.

So, if you are interested in educational technology, you quickly encounter the challenge of critical thinking in the context of information literacy. How do you prepare future citizens to evaluate the content they encounter online? We have lists of suggestions readers should learn to take into consideration. The first item on the list is always the same. Who said what you are considering? What are the credentials of that person and what might be the motives of the person? If you cannot identify the source, you really should move on.

Nothing political so far. Just wait.

This morning I opened up my news reader and I found this article. Senator Cruz (yep – the pretend filibuster guy) is opposing the nomination of Tom Wheeler as FCC chair. I know paying attention to who is the FCC chair seems a little strange, but I pay attention because the FCC plays a role in setting Internet policies for schools.

So, Senator Cruz has a concern and this seems to be that (according to the Washington Post):

he “blocked the confirmation of Tom Wheeler as chairman of the FCC, saying he wanted greater assurance from President Obama’s nominee that the agency wouldn’t require more funding disclosures for political TV ads. Cruz has said that such free speech should be protected.”

“Yes, the Senator is holding the nominee until he gets answers to his questions regarding Mr. Wheeler’s views on whether the FCC has the authority or intent to implement the requirements of the failed Congressional DISCLOSE Act,” Cruz’s spokesman Sean Rushton said in a statement.

It is important that this abstracted content be read carefully. Our assumptions may lead to miscomprehension. The key phrase reads “wanted greater assurance from President Obama’s nominee that the agency wouldn’t require more funding disclosures …”.

[The DISCLOSE act]

So Cruz is concerned with first amendment rights. So am I – I think. Anyway, my understanding of these deep political issues is possibly flawed so I decided to consult wikipedia:

The First Amendment (Amendment I) to the United States Constitution prohibits the making of any law respecting an establishment of religion, impeding the free exercise of religion, abridging the freedom of speech, infringing on the freedom of the press, interfering with the right to peaceably assemble or prohibiting the petitioning for a governmental redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that comprise the Bill of Rights.

So, unless I am missing something requiring a law degree, the free speech comment in the first amendment is about your right to take a public stand. It is not about whether or not you should have to own up to the stand you take. Do you read this in a different way? Find your civics book if you must.

I do understand why political candidates might want to hide the sources responsible for their funds. However, for the public to evaluate the information generated by these sources, they really do need to know the source for the information. This is what we teach you in middle school. Why would you want to prevent critical thinking?

Thanks to all of you unselfish enough to stand in support of the Affordable Care Act. Today I can be assured that my wife and my daughters cannot be denied health insurance because of a preexisting condition. The women in my life have the BRCA gene predisposing them to several forms of cancer and my wife is already a two-times cancer survivor.

The notion of a preexisting condition is interesting to consider. You can be predisposed in different ways. Some individuals have physical abnormalities that predispose them to an early heart attack. Many medical conditions are genetically based and being unlucky in the genes you happen to draw may end up predisposing you to one problem or another. There have always been such conditions. What has changed is our awareness of some. Recognizing you are predisposed should be a good thing. Being predisposed does not mean the negative potential of your predisposition will be realized. It means you play the game of life with different odds than those who are luckier.

It is important to recognize that insurance is also a game of chance – you are willing to lose money in exchange for protection against a catastrophic loss. The reality is that some are excluded from the game because they have higher odds of winning (actually losing). In some cases we can identify those with different odds and in some cases this is not yet possible. Knowing that your odds are not as good should not be held against you.

Do people really not understand how these health care issues work? Those without insurance end up with inevitable illnesses or injuries and seek help in the emergency room. I have spent far too much time in such settings observing what went on around me. Sometimes the problems being treated were not really emergencies. Often, those who end up seeking care for what are not actually emergencies are simply unable to pay and take this approach because they are provided care. It would be far better economically if all had health insurance and could seek help in an appropriate setting.

We had insurance when both of my wife’s cancers were detected. My wife did not have to weigh whether a checkup would be a waste of money and her cancers were detected early enough to give her a fighting chance. Many are not so lucky. Some with limited means cannot afford health insurance and do not have the means to secure regular checkups. When they eventually end up in the medical system it is both expensive for the system and often too late.

So thanks to those unselfish enough to understand. Feel lucky you have not had to face the odds imposed by a preexisting condition and feel lucky if you have been able to afford insurance. Good luck is seldom something entirely earned. Good luck is so easy to take for granted.

I post to several blogs. Some of my posts involve considerable effort – perhaps several hours. Other posts are more whimsical and take only a couple of minutes.

I tend to spend more time on my blog posts that I do on the content I share via Google+. However a recent, contribution to Google+ generated a reaction from several individuals I do not know. I evidently offered something that caught the attention of several individuals. The topic? I posted a picture of a pink air compressor. No accounting for taste.