WebEx: Ideas in Motion

From Kids to Adults: Three Hot Ideas to Improve Learning

Inspired by Steve Wozniak’s talk last week, folks are busy sharing their ideas to improve education at PasstheBall.com [you can hear the recording of Woz’s presentation here].

Our hope is that you will share your ideas as well as we all work to make change in the world. Here are a few ideas that we thought were interesting:

Idea: Teach children what they are capable of learning.
No child left behind presumes that all children are capable of learning everything and that if a student does not get a 4 year college degree that they are going to be failures. Most of the school resources are used to prepare students for college and almost none for Vo-Tec. The reason the high school dropout rate is so high is because some students run into a wall in advanced math and science courses and are forced to drop out because they are not capable of passing. Why not guide these kids to vo-tec classes and prepare them for jobs that are needed and pay well? [See the idea.]

Idea: Break the Chain – Improving Teen Self Esteem and Goal Setting
There are a lot of underprivileged students in my community. Over 50% the students at the middle school I work at qualify for free or reduced lunch, which qualifies us as a Title 1 school. A lot of the homes they come from are not only in a state of poverty, but the adults maintain a “poverty mentality” in which they create situations, real or not, to keep them from moving forward. My idea is to create a group that would assist in showing these students the consequences of their poor choices and to assist them in reaching their dreams. This group would come into the schools and set up a club, provide presentations, and empower the students to create better choices for a better lifestyle. [See the idea.]

Idea: Connect retired mentors with current learners.
Allow students or workers to share their problems with experienced retirees in a virtual problem-solving setting looking for workable solutions and answers. [See the idea.]

Did you know you can get a free trial of WebEx to start working on your idea? Give it a try and see how easy it is to start meeting online. And if you aren’t ready for that, then at least come share your ideas (or rate others) at PasstheBall.com.

  

Steve Wozniak Delivers: Creativity and Technology Belong in Education

On Thursday, September 24th, Steve Wozniak presented a fantastic talk about his experiences getting kids excited about technology in education via a WebEx Ideas in Motion webinar [get the recording here]. 

His enthusiasm was contagious as he passionately discussed the results of his efforts.

Woz, as he is affectionately known, is a huge supporter of teachers and education. He spoke of his great experiences in school as a child and his incredible respect for his teachers and the schools that he attended. 

He acknowledged that testing has its problems, that it’s not as powerful as a subjective judgment. He’d rather see a way to evaluate that takes into account the individual and his or her talents and needs. 

Making the computer part of the process

His idea to inspire the kids is to get them using computers to do the things they are already doing by hand. By making the computer a natural part of the process – from doing homework to completing projects – kids have a way to get comfortable using the tool. 

Along the way, he encourages them to be more creative, to try new things and to not sacrifice communication – large, funky fonts might look fun, but they don’t necessarily help get the idea across.

You can learn more about what Steve is doing with kids and with technology at his website: Woz.org. 

Learn more about our presentation series

This presentation was one of a series being hosted by Cisco WebEx as part of our Pass the Ball efforts. You can click here to see future and past events. You can also subscribe to this blog or join our group on Facebook to learn about new events as they become available.

And don’t forget to Pass the Ball

Visit us at PasstheBall.com and share your ideas. When you share or rate an idea, we’ll make a donation to Teachers Without Borders. We believe when you share your ideas, they get better and we are working to help that become a reality for the ideas growing on PasstheBall.com. 

  

Steve Wozniak and You! Live WebEx Event this Thursday, Register Now!

On Thursday, September 24, Steve Wozniak will be on a live WebEx talking about his dedication to education over the last 35 years. You are invited to attend. Register here to reserve your space. And in the meantime, here are a few excerpts from a fabulous interview Wharton did with Woz in 2008. You can read the entire interview here.

Excerpts from an interview published February 20, 2008 in Knowledge@Wharton. 

In the years following [Apple], Wozniak sponsored two Woodstock-like music festivals known as the US Festivals in 1982 and 1983, taught computing to grade-school students, and devoted much of his time and money to philanthropic activities. His current interests include playing Segway polo -- that is, playing polo while riding the Segway Personal Transporter in lieu of a horse.

Knowledge@Wharton: It sounds like you think this is more than just having a good time. In terms of education, you seem to believe this underlies teaching people how to be creative and inventive.

Wozniak: Exactly. Humor is closely related to the creativity and invention that we're born with. It's that spirit of thinking out something a little bit different -- making up your own jokes.

Knowledge@Wharton: When you taught computing part-time to fifth grade students after you left Apple as a full-time employee, you said that was the most important time of your life. How so?

Wozniak: It was a great time in my life for a lot of reasons. I'd been doing a bunch of philanthropy in San Jose. I felt very good about giving away my money to start good museums: Children's Discovery Museum, the Tech [Museum] of Silicon Valley, a ballet company.

I had wanted to teach my whole life. I just started up a class by inviting a few kids over the phone -- one year's class had six students only.

Then I moved up to 22 kids. Then I started doing multiple full classes of 20 and 30 kids. I enjoyed it so much. I was sharing something I was good at with the kids, and I was helping them make their homework better.

I was not trying to make them be computer people like myself. I said: I have to reach everyone in the class, not just a few who want to be weird little geeky people. I want to reach everyone.

So I taught the kids how to make their homework look good. If they were assigned [a report] I would say, "Let's do the report on the computer. Here's how we can choose the right fonts and make it look good." If they were assigned some history project [I'd say], "Let's do a timeline in the drawing program." Or, "Let's do a spreadsheet with some charts to show some data that you're analyzing."

I would take the real stuff they had in school, and after school I would do [it] in my computer class.

Education is so huge -- you can't have one quick solution. The solutions are very far in the future.

We technologists can figure out how to get more education at a lower price. That's a big key. But the amount of money for education is always going to be too low.

The government has a certain about of money to spend on things. And you think, "Oh, they're just going to determine the priorities: Here's what percentage should go to education, what percentage to the military, what percentage to forestry, what percentage to roads."

But those percentages tend to map to how many votes there are. And there's a little problem in the United States: A family of five gets no more votes than a family of two. So, the families with the kids, [for whom] education is a top priority, don't have a say [proportionate to] the size of their family. Kids aren't really considered in the votes and [in the] money for education, which is just backwards.

Every farmer gets to vote on farm bills. Every elderly person gets to vote on elderly issues. Schooling is a problem because young kids don't get to vote.

Register Now!

Event Details: September 24, 2009, 10am PDT  |  1pm ET  |  5pm GMT (-7:00)

  

Webinar Must See: Steve Wozniak Talks Education Live! on Sept 24th

He’ll tell you he’s never written a speech out in advance. That alone should make the upcoming WebEx featuring Steve Wozniak a fascinating experience (register now).

Based on his 35 years of experience, Woz, as he’s known affectionately around Silicon Valley and beyond, will talk about how he has taken his ideas about education and technology and turned them into reality – impacting the lives of children hungry for new ways to learn.

In this WebEx, you will:

• Learn how Woz has evolved his many ideas and applied them in a way that has benefited thousands
• Discover how he brings computer capabilities and creativity to the classroom
• Hear about his various business and philanthropic ventures as he share stories from his experiences

Join us for a highly personal, unforgettable talk delivered by one of the most influential pioneers of technology.

Register Now

Event Details: September 24, 2009, 10am PDT  |   1pm ET   |  5pm GMT (-7:00)

 

WebEx Forum: Using the Power of Internet and Global Collaboration

Fred Mednick, Founder of Teachers Without Borders, will offer a pragmatic forum entitled, One Idea, 165 Countries on Monday, September 14th. He’ll describe how his organization is using the Internet and tools like WebEx to extend their reach to embrace the world.

He’ll talk about how Teachers Without Borders reaches out to more affiliates, more often, with more information thanks to the Internet. And how the team has overcome issues related to organizational coordination, communication, planning and follow-up.

Plus, he’ll include a look at how the Internet has increased the speed of feedback – allowing his non-profit organization to adapt to the changing needs of different geographies and cultures.

Register Now!

And you can post pre-event questions on our event page on Facebook. Fred will have time to review what’s posted and either address the questions during this talk or after the event on Facebook.

Event Details: One hour WebEx on Monday, September 14, 2009; 10:00 AM PDT | 1:00 PM EDT

Minnesota schools use WebEx to connect to the world

We are thrilled to see a school district using WebEx in such a creative way - allowing them to tap expertise and bring a rich educational experience to their students.

Anoka-Hennepin schools are using a $170,000 federal grant to make the sprawling district's world a lot smaller.

The grant is financing a still-expanding video and audio conferencing system that allows students, teachers and administrators to meet and study together, no matter where they are.

Patrick Plant, district chief technology and information officer, said the new computer Web service can allow groups to get in touch via e-mail, Internet, cell phone, regular phone, or television monitor. That, Plant said, will make it much easier for teachers in far-flung schools to hold conferences, for Superintendent Dennis Carlson to deliver important messages to the entire district and field questions from anyone who's plugged in, and for students in an entire school to invite an author or scientist more than 1,000 miles away into their classrooms.

The system, called WebEx and licensed from Cisco Systems of San Jose, Calif., can also be used to expand district course offerings.

"A college teacher might come over to teach economics," Plant said. "Now, we can bring a teacher in without those teachers having to leave their campuses." District officials are also hoping they can use the new system to tap into resources available in other Twin Cities schools.

"There might be courses we want to offer, but the costs are too prohibitive for us to be able to do that," Plant said. "Through a mechanism like this our students would be able to participate in taking courses collaboratively with another school district."

This is just a portion of an article that ran in the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune. You can see the entire article here.

Do you have a WebEx story to tell? We want to hear about it! Please let us know via comment on this blog or you can ping us on Twitter and we'll follow-up!

WebEx Forum: Join Fred Mednick to choose an education Idea winner!

Join us at an Ideas in Motion Forum where we'll be showcasing three ideas from PasstheBall.com. You can register now to attend.

The session will be hosted by Fred Mednick, founder of Teachers Without Borders. The goal of the session is to have a discussion that can help these ideas get better and then vote for a winner. The winner will get a free year of WebEx to help develop their idea and bring it to life!

The ideas we'll be discussing:

The Link Letter
One way to pass the ball would be to help our students begin to send a kind of “link letter”. That’s what I call a short written message from one student to another student who is not in his geographical area. The message would express hope, humor, or encouragement. It could include an idea or custom or animal or flower that is unique to the writer’s area...<see idea>

Students Rate their Teachers
Students should be allowed to evaluate their teachers. Then taking the evaluations into consideration, the school board should then have unannounced evaluations for those teachers. This allows for the school board to evaluate a teacher in his or her daily environment...<see idea>

Speech Therapy & Sign Language for Special Needs Children Abroad
Often special needs children are last in line to receive any education or assistance in developing countries. Using WebEx you can give speech therapy or any face to face therapy remotely and even teach their countries sign language as well. We can reach more children in need <see idea>

Have an idea for PasstheBall.com? Come over and post it! You might win a free year of WebEx!

Register Now!

Event Details: One hour WebEx on Friday, August 28, 2009  10:00 AM PDT | 1:00 PM EDT

Idea in Motion: Teach astronomy to kids in developing countries

At PasstheBall.com, we saw this interesting idea posted to help kids in developing countries learn more about astronomy from Bruce Berger, Boston, MA USA.

Most children are fascinated by the night sky (okay, I am way past being a kid and I still squeal with delight when I see a shooting star - and I make a wish!). What a great way to engage kids in science and learning by connecting it to the things they see every day! Here's the idea:

"My idea comes from a very successful program I put on during a cruise chartered to see the solar eclipse of 2009. There were three facets to the program – how does a telescope work, let’s make a telescope, and learning the night sky. We had about 20 kids from 7 to 12 years old participating.

Together we explored the need for a telescope, how they work and then we actually ground a telescope mirror. I brought along the components to build a complete scope, and the kids assembled it and got to use it." Read more...

Are you interested in helping Bruce make his idea a reality? We are offering WebEx sessions to discuss cool ideas and if you are interested, let us know. All you need to do it join Bruce's team. If you have ways to make his idea better, add your comments. Then stay tuned, you may be invited to a WebEx Forum to discuss ways to bring Bruce's idea to life!

Have you own idea? Share it at PasstheBall.com.

Obama: "Cisco...Working With Community Colleges" on Job Training

On Tuesday, July 14th, President Obama announced his $12 billion American Graduation Initiative (fact sheet here) that focuses on using our community colleges to educate (and reeducate) workers for our future.

During his talk, he referred to Cisco as an example of a company partnering with schools to deliver programs that will train workers for new jobs. Here's a snippet from that speech.

If you are interested in learning more about the Cisco program, visit this site.

And if you have ideas for the President, corporations or others about what they can do to help train people, share your ideas with us. We want to hear from you.

If you don't have an idea but what to know what others are thinking, check this out. You can rate, comment or share the ideas you see there.

Great Idea: Pop-Up Learning Tool Teaches in Tiny Bites

Springwise ferociously tracks more than 400 global offline and online business resources, as well as taking to the streets of world cities with digital cameras at hand to bring brain food to entrepreneurial minds! To get your daily dose, you can subscribe here and in the meantime, enjoy this great idea for improving the environment.

"Divide and conquer" is a strategy that can be just as successful for tackling a task as it is for gaining power: break it down into small parts, and you have a better chance of succeeding. Such was the thinking behind DailyLit's books delivered in bite-sized portions, and a similar notion appears to be at work in Popling, a new online educational tool.

 

Users hoping to learn something new—whether it's French or trigonometry—begin by signing up for free with Popling and installing its Mac or Windows desktop software on their computer. They then subscribe to specific "poplings," or topics they want to learn. There are more than 150 poplings currently available, including 11 languages and topics in math, business, science and technology, among others.

 

Based on their choices, Popling's desktop software will display pop-up flash cards on their computer throughout the day, timed to the frequency they choose. A language card, for example, might display a new vocabulary word, or quiz the user on one they've already learned. If the user ignores a pop-up it will go away, but if they click on it, they can see the full version and answer the question it contains. Popling is also available in an ad-free subscription for USD 20 per year.

 

Easy-to-digest tidbits cater to consumers who seek gratification in smaller, easier-to-handle bites. Why not apply that to education, where the flash card already has a long history? Next, how about rolling out localized versions of Popling, tailored both to language and to culturally relevant topics?

Do you have an idea aimed at improving education? Come share it at PasstheBall.com. If you don’t, you can rate the ideas that are already there.

Ideas get better when they are shared.