Human Computer Interface and Learning--New Working Paper

Human Computer Interface and Learning

Today I was asked for a publication I have completed on human computer interface (HCI) and learning.  In looking at my research to date, I found that I didn't have one on that topic.  Most of my education research focused on best practice, curriculum, and assessments.  I have done a lot with Web2 and Wikispaces over the past year and just had never had the occasion to document what I had done.

After doing a little research on HCI, I created a new working paper today and have published it on my research page as the last article/working paper.  It's pretty short and I may revise it before I send it on to the Education Resources Information Center for publication.

I'm attaching the figure from the working paper here to give you an idea of what the launching page for students looked like last year.  You can visit it at http://drmontgomery.wikispaces.com.

(Click on the image below to make it larger.)

Making Connections between Schools, Parents, and Students

Teachers are often challenged to make connections between schools, parents, and students.  Many times parents regard their children and school work as unrelated to the "real world" of their day-to-day lives.  The Library of Congress of the United States of America has suggested that students capture oral histories of their families.

Last year I had two projects that I introduced at the middle school (seventh and eighth grade) level that could be adapted up and down and is relevant to adults as well.  These two projects were a Family Migration History project and a Footprints Project.  You can find out more about these projects on my digital portfolio for education on YouTube.  (Follow this link for the same video on Teacher Tube.)  You can find the details for the projects on these websites:  http://drmontgomery.wikispaces.com/ and http://drm-ms-resources.wikispaces.com/.

In the Family Migration Story we used the National Geographic Human Genome Project as our starting place for everyone's stories, then picked up personal family stories as far back as the parents could remember, talking about family members and reasons for moving from one place to another across the globe.  Using a collaborative writing technique guided by the teacher students in each class created a series of questions which they translated from English to their native language.  They asked their parents the questions and recorded the answers.  They also gathered family pictures, souvenirs, and other family treasures to support their stories.  (These are called primary source documents in historical research circles.)  We made digital copies of these treasures and returned them immediately to their parents.  Our goal was to have the students write a script from their answers and to digitally record their Family Migration Stories--accompanied by the digital photographs of their family treasures.  Ideally they would make the recording in both English and in their native language.  Our goal was to record their scripts onto DVDs which the parents could then play at home.  Due to technological difficulties the audio in our recordings didn't work last year, though the rest of the project went well.

The Footprints project takes the end of the Family Migration Story and talks about what someone has done with their lives.  Middle school students can talk about what they want to do with their lives and what kind of footprint they want to leave on the planet.  Parents and teachers can talk about footprint stories from the point of view of what they have done with their lives and of the footprint they are leaving on the planet.

These are very engaging projects and are good for the beginning of a school year, though they could be a focus point for anytime during the year.  Parents could come to the school to view multiple Family Migration Stories as part of a celebration of learning.

The key to integrating parents into the school life and the life of the students is to make the connections with the real world.  Parents and students studying language together can be a help as well as parents becoming involved as subject matter experts about their own families.

H1N1 Flu Vaccination Update

I live in Kane County, Illinois.  I waited in line for just under two hours Monday evening at the St Charles North High School for a flu shot to protect against Swine flu (the H1N1 virus).  They ran out of shots and gave me an appointment today at the Kane County Fair Grounds to have the injection.  I arrived early and was out the door by five minutes after my appointment time.

The Kane County Health Department, Emergency Workers, police departments, and volunteers all did a wonderful job processing the crowds and demonstrating caring and respect for everyone.  One of the health care workers told everyone today that more doses are expected to arrive in late November or early December.  When this greater number of doses arrive, they can be available from doctors' offices.  Several insurance programs have already agreed to underwrite the full cost of the vaccine--including any normal "copays."

My mother (age 94) will have to wait awhile.  One way to look at this protection is that the same people who are encouraged to get a seasonal flu shot probably need to get the H1N1 shot as well.  Children and people under 24 seem not to have much immunity to the virus and it has a strong effect on pregnant women.

In the lines I saw parents and teachers among the crowd.  Lots of people are exposed to the virus and health care workers and all the other people I see certainly need the protection the shots (or injections of live virus for people who can deal with that) provide.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now have two web pages.  One for the H1N1 (Swine) Flu and one for the Seasonal Flu.

In  an earlier post to this blog, I made some suggestions for teachers to get vaccinated against both types of flu this year.  I'd like to extend that to everyone else who reads this blog unless an allergy or something else makes you not a good candidate to take the vaccinations.  I still believe it is also part of basic preventative medicine.

"Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow"

"Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow"  Following this link on http://www.amazon.com/ will lead to a list of books related to the idea of passion and Spirit as a focus of life.  When I am engaging in something I find to be worthwhile, I am aware of a sense of joy that I share with the people around me--family, clients, friends, coworkers.

This sense of joy is more important to me that the monetary reward I receive for my efforts--not that I have anything against money.  I have found joy in doing work that I was highly rewarded for and joy in work that had little or no money connected to it.

I'm looking for more joy in my life--and if there's good money involved as well . . ., so much the better. :-)

Reading Challenge--Step "Outside the Box" and Make a Difference with Me in K-12 Education

"The Economy in 2009"‐‐at a time when students are graduating from high school reading at a third or fourth grade level, when employees need symbols on keys to enter sales at fast‐food restaurants, when beginning employees and students entering community colleges cannot read the textbooks, manuals, or follow written instructions well enough to be successful at their jobs, teachers are laid off in droves.

Many teachers who are not yet tenured and who chose to come to teaching as a second (or later career) to make a difference for students often command higher salaries due to education and, in districts already operating "in the red" are let go by some school districts and not hired by other school districts.

Beyond that challenge, many interventions designed to help struggling readers improve reading skills are not proving successful enough to produce a quality change in students' abilities to read. Research indicates that many students who have problems reading often engage in off‐task behavior and bring others off‐task with them so not to have to compete in academics. Schools invest money in "positive behavior intervention and support" (variations of discipline and rewards) rather than in helping students build solid social‐emotional skills appropriate to their grade levels and use "off the shelf" interventions to build reading scores (not necessarily skills or habits). (See http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/research
for several research articles which support these claims.)

For the last six years I have been one of those multiple‐career teachers, working with English language learners (ELLs) in K‐12 school districts in Kane County Illinois. I have gone back to school to meet state requirements for teaching and completed a post‐doctoral Master of Arts in Teaching in May, 2008, then
took 15 graduate hours during the summer of 2008 to obtain state approval as a bilingual (Spanish) teacher and as a Teacher of English as a Second Language. I earned my doctorate degree in 1992 in adult education and human resources development. Before stepping into the K‐12 classroom, I had been a teacher of adults since 1968 (starting as a volunteer with the American Red Cross). I had designed innovative programs provided to employees of businesses and corporations in North and South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. I had also been an organizational change consultant for organizations around the world for more than 40 years.

Most recently I have been focusing on the ongoing problem of below‐grade –level reading among middle school students and beyond. While prevalent among ELLs and students whose families are in the lower economic categories (receiving free or reduced lunches), it is more widespread than that. My research and practice have led me to explore a technology‐enhanced approach which had established a good track record in the 1990s and has even greater application today, leveraging the new technology. I am referring to the use of audiobooks and eAudiobooks (which can be downloaded to iPods and MP3 players) to encourage reading and improved academic performance. (See http://joelmonty.wikispaces.com/research for an article and a presentation on this subject.)


Today, at the beginning of the 2009‐2010 school year, I am looking for school districts who would like to partner with me to introduce this approach with small groups of students, teachers, and librarians at the middle school level and above.

This is a time to step “outside the box” and to find a way to support something new that has the potential to make a real difference for K‐12 students and employers and future families in this country.

If you are ready "step outside of the box" to work with me to meet this challenge, please let me know. The website linked to the title of this blog entry takes you to the project page for DrM‐Resources and this is the “Providing Access to eAudiobooks and Audiobooks to Improve Reading and Academic Performance” project.

iPods and MP3 players for Education

This post came as part of a LinkedIn dialog in the "Faculty Room" group. Go to the link to view the group and all of the dialogs.

"iPods as Reading Tools" by Linda Bomar, L. (2006, May-June). iPods as reading tools. Principal, NAESP.org, pp. 52-53

Don't Turn 'Em Off, Tune 'Em In! (2007, September). NEA Today, 26(1), 17. Retrieved July 28, 2009, from Research Library. (Document ID: 1360186081).

I work with technology with both adults and school children. A literacy coach worked with the school district I was in last year and actually got the students to use text messages to improve their writing skills--and to get them totally hooked into his class.

Students love to explore the technology and, at various ages, many love to find porn or anything off-task--true in school and at work. Let's look at a "begin with the end in mind" perspective. If students don't learn to use technology appropriately in school, what do you think they'll do on the job after they finish school?

In the schools I worked in most recently, we did not have enough computers for all students. I had a variety of tasks for students to do on computers (see http://drm-ms-resources.wikispaces.com/). The school had firewalls and monitoring programs so that, for the most part, students had access to what they needed to work on.

While iPods and MP3 players were not used in school, I had students who read at a 3rd grade level able to quote the lyrics of some favorite songs. At the end of the year I was working with eAudiobooks--downloadable books that they could have on their iPods or MP3 players next to their music. The next task is to get them to listen to the books.

Technology is a part of our lives--whether or not we actually own the technology. MP3 players are becoming more and more widespread at lower and lower cost. When we can use the technology as a learning tool, it becomes much more powerful--and even becomes perceived by students as more relevant to their lives.

We do need to educate students and parents about how to be "safe" using technology. (See my "Learning Passport" wiki site--a link on the site I referred to earlier.)

Some observers report that our students have dwindling attendion spans. Our key as educators is to create engaging activities that students want to focus their attention on--and then make the engagement something they value and want to continue. Technology can help--if educators take the time to find out how to use it as a support tool rather than a distraction.