Bye Blackberry

This weekend I let my Blackberry go. After years of wating for better options where Apple (iOS) & Google (Android) had passed them by, I finally stopped waiting.

I loved having the biggest screen on my monochrome Blackberry 6200. It was cool when the RIM team gave me color. I went to the little Pearl & back to a full QWERTY keyboard. However, the dominant team in the early 2000s slowed down as the new guys came to market. As I got older, and I wanted a larger screen. Apple & Google responded with bigger screens. RIM finally put a large, touch screen Blackberry into play with Verizon, but at that time I was on a contract with another...and all the major carriers had non-RIM, large screen options.

CNET does a great job showing Blackberry through the years.

unFAIR disADVANTAGES

One way to get an idea of school involvement in higher level thinking is the number of students involved in school fairs. Regardless of the fair/festival type--science, technology, social studies, art, media, etc.--the effort involved in working on a project gets students to think beyond their basic education...and that's a good thing.


While many are not moved by Obama's Sputnik moment, the country doesn't have as strong an interest in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math). However, the increased use of technology tools has led to a larger separation between the creators and users of technology. The cash register has gotten much more sophisticated. However, I suspect that the average fast food worker had more math competence 40 years ago than one does today.

As a result, the high end of technology creators need to evolve and innovate faster than ever before. That means the low end is falling farther behind.

Let's get the kids into the fairs.

It doesn't matter what level of skill they show at the start. Just get the kids to work on an appropriate idea or topic of interest. Guide them through the steps required to participate. A parent can add a level of discussion as the student works through the process. Help make the adventure of learning enjoyable.

Make sure that the student owns the process. Parent, if you want the display to look good, let the student use premade shapes, letters, pictures, etc. It is their responsibility to create the materials. Sure you can help younger kids print the information, but let it be the student's information. Here is your test--if the judges took the student into a room without you, what could the child explain about the project?

Let's learn from the experience and get better next time. The students will improve critical thinking and project skills by working on school fairs. Kids begin to learn how the school assignments relate to real life.

More complete version in link of Prepare for the Science Fair with instructions on HOW to do a science fair project by Kevin Temmer, talented HS student who may have won a media festival award.

Recently, I helped to judge a science fair. We needed more volunteers to judge these events. There were several students who really showed a flair for science. The key is to get those with a flair for the subject to continue to learn & grow.

Ultimately, I want the kids to figure out what they like to do and to do well in those areas. Part of that discovery is both trying to do things and learning how to take what they know to higher levels of insight.

zomm

Earlier today, I was listening to the radio. The guy mentioned how some things just strike you as special pretty quickly. It doesn't take days for it to sink it, you see it and you get it. It is the stuff of great ideas. Not too fancy, not too complex, just good stuff.

While wandering about the internet today, I got knocked over by one of those great ideas.

I have ZOMM love!

Even though I cannot even get one yet, I saw the slickest useful technology idea. I need one. I want to give one to some folks I know because they often cannot find their mobile phones.

Without working all the bells & whistles, just imagine a bluetooth device for your phone that is part speaker phone and part phone locator. Now I can find the dumb thing when it slips between the sofa cushions and I don't notice.

I even had to tweet about this. I hear that you can see something about it on the Today Show this Thursday (1/28), but this CNN video did enough to confirm my interest...and it includes some other fun stuff from the Consumer Electronics Show.


Now why didn't I (or you) think of this!

Parents--Let your children grow

Hiatus over...the unsorted thinker is back with a lot on his mind!


I came across the embedded video at Edutopia. It is a part of their Digital Generation Project. I encourage you to dive in and learn more about it. I am doing the same. I like the basic message. The next generation will usually understand more about future technologies than the current one. Now it is social media and video games. Once upon a time it was television, radio, telephony, moving vehicles, air travel, or getting information from a printed page instead of word of mouth. Think of how you life would be different without these things.

I understand that there are downsides to the brave, new world. I also see that there are opportunities that older generations may never have imagined. Your Spidey sense will tell you that with great power comes great responisbility. Share that lesson with the next generation and let's see where they grow.

Note the links on the right side of the page. I strongly urge you to browse the content and particularly the share link. It provides ways that you can get involved.

These are the discussion questions that followed on the website. Find a tech savvy youth and have a thought swap meet.

Discussion Questions

1. What is the cultural shift that technology is enabling? How has technology changed your life and the life of your kids?

2. Are adults really afraid of technology? Why, or why not?

3. Why do adults need to be actively involved with the digital-media habits of the kids around them?

4. What does it mean to be a citizen of the world? What are practical ways we can prepare kids for this role?

How are you TAPped in?

Going back to the 1970s, families relied far less for technology than we do now. The big expense was the standard home phone with separate charges for local and long distance communications. Most families had no access to daily pay TV, mobile communications (phones & text messaging), internet access, or data transmission (fax, e-mail, VOIP, etc.)

Today, we all spend money on technology, but how does the expense fit into your planned use of technology? Even at the basic level of a home phone, people no longer lease the physical phone from the local phone company. You purchase your phone from somewhere. That phone may be wired or cordless; it could have an answering machine or not; it may use features like caller ID; it may have speed dialing features.

This weekend we officially shifted farther away from free TV. Digital television requires a converter box and antenna to get “free” channels. This change brought me to think about my technology action plan (TAP). While many may not think about their TAP, each person has one no matter how passive it might be.

Just in case you know someone that still needs help with the Digital TV conversion, you can find local assistance through this link.

Think about the technology that you actively use. What purpose does it serve for you? Have you compared it to the alternatives? Is it cost effective? How do these answers change for people in a larger family unit?

We will TAP in much more in the near future.