Validated Evaluation Rubric for Mobile Applications (APPS)

As promised, the link below will connect you to the empirically validated evaluation rubric for mobile apps that was the result of my doctoral research at Johns Hopkins University.  I appreciate everyone's support who contributed as subject matter experts in the study, as well as those who are currently using and adapting the rubric in their wok around the world.  When my dissertation is completed, I will be certain to provide a link so that any interested may have easy access to my research.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/169iZMhNMB_ycJLRT2zSRbozAR_1TiGQ1-FmjfKzoppk/edit

And if you have been wondering where I've been.....  40 days and 40 nights without a post......

At the end of October, I resigned after 32.8 years in the public schools to take a senior consultant position with Education Elements.  Our company is in the process of truly transforming education.  And I thought I was changing the world before.  We are doing amazing work all over the country designing and implementing personalized learning environments for kids.  I'll have more about my work in an upcoming blog.  Until then, you can check out my new company at-

http://educationelements.com/

If you have tried reaching out to me in the past month, your emails have likely gotten kicked back as I no longer work in BCPS system.  You can reach me at harry.walker@comcast.net.  I look forward to reconnecting with folks I have worked with in the past.

Do You Kuno?

What's this?  A competitor for the iPad? Not so fast Josh and JR (CEO and Vice President).  At a $500 price point, breakage issues, and ice cream sandwich (not a big fan, the platform this is, not the treat), I'm not convinced.  Your timing was great, seeing a great opportunity to cash in on the tablet market, but your product?  Not the "biggest competitor" to the iPad as Eric Lai suggests in this ZDNet posting.  Me?  I'm still hanging around what for the iPad Mini to be released.  Come on Apple.....

http://www.zdnet.com/this-is-the-biggest-competitor-to-the-ipad-in-the-hot-education-market-7000004446/

Capitalism - Alive and Well, But Really?

     Okay, I'll admit it. I am proud to be an American, a dyed in the wool capitalist and proud of it, but really, $197 for a webinar to have some published, tech geek share his top apps?  This guy, Harry Dickens, co-author of Apps for Learning: 40 Best iPad/iPad Touch/iPhone Apps for High School Classrooms tells you about his "prize bull" (his words) apps, sprinkles in some Common Core for good measure (why not, everyone else is) and charges you $197.  Only in America.  What happened to sharing docs and the promise of worldwide collaboration for the greater good?  Maybe I should start charging $19.99 to use my app rubric?  Just kidding.  As educators, let's continue our focus on the children as our way of en"rich"ing our lives.  Here's the link to his webinar if you've got a couple of Benjamins burning a hole in your pocket.

 

http://www.ernweb.com/public/Apps_apps_apps_Bring_iPad-classroom-6-12.cfm

App Rubric Research Update

     I just completed the data analysis for the second round survey of my doctoral research utilizing the Delphi process to establish content and construct validity for the Evaluation Rubric for iPod/iPad apps.  Overall, very few changes to the rubric are indicated by the data.  One domain name will be changed and point descriptors in two of the domains will be revised as driven by the input from the subject matter experts who participated in my research.  Based on the data, I am not going to need to do a third round survey.  You can view the data summary from the second round by clicking on the link below.  I will be making the final revisions and publishing the validated rubric in the coming weeks.  I am hoping to have my dissertation completed sometime around the first of the year. Thanks for your interest in my work.  Stay tuned for the final validated rubric later this month.  Happy computing....

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bo_nURJgwTmvwmmGCSDzbt8tTUzuHVmdIJ4K_6Burfc/edit

Driverless Cars? Not Science Fiction Anymore!

What's the next big thing Siri?

So how would you feel about a 1/2 ton vehicle speeding down the highway at 65 miles an hour being driven by a computer?  After you get over the initial freak out, check out the stats.  Google has been testing a fleet of 12 "autonomous" (no pun intended) cars for several years, racking up 300,000 miles without an accident, making it safer than my own personal experiences driving around my little fender bender.  Does that mean folks can now text, eat their Big Macs, and apply eyeliner without crossing into my lane?  And will people maintain the speed limit as they pass a cop car sitting on the side of the road?  And will I not have to cringe while braking, watching the car in my rear view mirror hurtling toward my back bumper as the operator checks his email? And will folks not slow down to read those overhead signs on the highways causing mini traffic jams for no reason at all?  (Right there is a huge reason to improve reading instruction in schools).   If the answer is yes to any or all of those questions, where do I sign up?

That being said, leave it to California to write a bill regulating this whole advance in technology.  Do California legislators get some kind of bonus for sponsoring bills?  If the whole driverless car thing works, it will work, not because the government has a hand in it, but because it works.  To our elected officials - get out of the way and let technology run, or drive its course.

You can read a piece posted on the BBC website below:

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-19726951

More Tech Please!

     It seems that everyone recognizes the need for more technology in schools. A LEAD Commission survey indicated 82% of teachers and 71% of parents said technology would be helpful to enhancing learning.  SO how do we translate that enthusiasm into actual funding? Ditching textbooks, expanding online learning, encouraging BYOD, leasing rather than buying technology, flipping classrooms, expecting local governments to set up broadband towers to reach into our poorer neighborhoods?  How about all of the above?
     While the above survey numbers are encouraging, check this one finding out.  Only 54% of teachers think technology will become much more important during the next 10 years.  Really?  And therein lies the problem.  If the folks running the show don't have a vision for what the future might hold, are they advocating for the changes that need to occur in our classrooms?  Heck no.  Too many of "us" are part of the problem, standing in the way of significant changes to our classrooms that still look pretty much the way they did 100 years ago.  Minus the whiteboard, of course.
     You can read the piece from Ed Week below.  You can also continue being the voice for your students, as most of them are not able to vote yet. 

http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/DigitalEducation/2012/09/new_survey_finds_parents_teach.html

Research Results for iPod/iPad Rubric

Great news.  The initial results from my doctoral research have been complied and analyzed.  Ninety-four experts from around the world completed the first round survey designed to establish content and construct validity for the Evaluation Rubric for iPod Apps being used in over 400 schools, universities, systems and agencies across the globe.  The first round survey results were very positive.  This first round sought to determine if the domains in the rubric were good indicators for determining app quality and if the wording in the score descriptors adequately differentiated the score points within each domain. Based on the first round survey, I constructed a second round that is now in the hands of these same experts for feedback.  After the second survey I may be ready to make revisions and in the near future report with a high degree of certainty that the field has a valid instrument for evaluating the quality of mobile applications. 

I have attached a Google Doc of two tables that summarize the data from the two most important questions that made up the first round survey.  In the near future, I will also post the second round survey results, as well as the revised and validated rubric when it is completed. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jaSzsdOCqYIHxIZfMTf8fyRojLstt4dfaj4TX9EZ5Bs/edit

It have enjoyed the opportunity to collaborate with so many of you and thank you for your time and expertise as we continue to better understand the most effective ways to incorporate technology in our schools and lives.  Happy surfing.....