a little bit less of teaching and a bit more of service

This just in... How about high schools dedicating a little bit less of time to "teaching", and dedicating more time to giving their youth time to serve thier community? In service we find new strengths, sharpen new skills, learn to do "real things" for the "real world"...

How about making that part of the requirements to finish high school? Requiring several dozen hours per semester.

The youth can create their own projects or participate in projects offered by other institutions around the school/community.

¿Cómo mantenerme al tanto de los sitios que me interesan?

Supongamos que:

• has llegado a la conclusión que internet está llena de información que te interesa de verdad, o que necesitas para tu trabajo
  
• has identificado unos cuantos sitios que hablan de las cosas que te interesan
• estos sitios contienen noticias que van cambiando estos sitios (o sea que no son sitios que se hicieron una vez y de ahi nunca más cambiaron), o bien son "blogs" sitios donde una persona publica ("postea") con cierta regularidad sus ideas y opiniones
  
• necesitas (o te interesa) mantenerte al tanto de las noticias que publican estos sitios
  

Primera parte: conozcamos a los "feeds", los "alimentadores" de información

Si cumples con 3 o 4 de los requisitos anteriores, probablemente alguna vez habrás notado que (algunos de) tus sitios favoritos probablemente contienen algunas imagenes pequeñitas extrañas que dicen cosas como "feed" "rss" "atom", o un icono cuadrado chiquito que muestra una antenita blanca con fondo naranja. Pues bien, estas cosas indican todas la misma cosa: que es fácil mantenerte en contacto con este sitio y saber cuando publican nuevas cosas, e incluso de que se tratan estas cosas.

La función de estos "feeds" (alimentadores) es dar un vínculo con alguito de información sobre las novedades de un sitio web. Y esos feeds se pueden "arrastrar" o copiar en otros lugares (programas o páginas web). Cuando uno hace eso, esos programas nos muestran lo último que está saliendo en ese sitio. Normalmente, nos muestra las últimas 5 o 10 noticias que han salido en el sitio. Eso nos permite ahorrarnos tener que ir al sitio para ver las novedades, pero sobre todo nos permite vigilar lo que está pasando en varios sitios al mismo tiempo en forma rápida. ¿Hay alguna noticia que valga la pena revisar en detalle? Uno aprieta en el vínculo y va a ver la noticia directamente en el sitio. ¿No hay ninguna noticia? Veamos los demás sitios. El ahorro de tiempo es notable, y mantenemos una vigilancia sobre todos los sitios a la vez.


Sitios web que explican más acerca de los Feeds:
http://es.geocities.com/rss_guia_facil/ (guía bien detallada explicada paso a paso)
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/RSS
http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/internet/que-es-rss-y-xml-rdf-atom.html
http://www.microsiervos.com/archivo/internet/que-es-un-feed-rss.html
http://www.todorss.com/ (sitio de un experto en RSS)

Segunda parte: ¿Dónde metemos esos "feeds"? Netvibes.com es tu amigo!!

Existen muchos lugares donde podemos "meter" los feeds, pero el más práctico que he encontrado hasta el momento es http://www.netvibes.com/ Su gran ventaja es que nos da un sitio web PERSONAL en el que podemos acumular todos nuestros feeds juntos y ordenaditos. ¡Y ES GRATIS! El uso de este sitio es tan sencillo que cuesta creerlo. De verdad.

Por supuesto existen otras soluciones, pero la mayoría supone que tienes computadora propia con conexión a internet. Esas soluciones se llaman "agregadores", y son programitas en el que uno coloca todos sus feeds. Luego el programa nos va mostrando las listas de noticias de cada feed. Por ejemplo, uno de esos programas es Wizz rss que uso en conjunto con mi programa firefox. Como dije es muy práctico... si uno tiene una computadora propia con conexión a internet. Pero si no tienen conexión a internet, o no tienen computadora propia, o cambian mucho de máquina conectada a internet, les va a convenir más tener la información juntita en internet directamente.

Cuando ustedes entren por primera vez a www.netvibes.com van a tener que crearse una cuenta, como siempre, con su correo electrónico y su clave secreta. Nada complicado y es instantaneo. (en la versión beta actual se hace arriba a la derecha) El sitio de Netvibes, por defecto nos muestra una pantalla que ya viene rellenada de cosas. Tengan claro que pueden eliminarlas todas, cambiarlas de lugar, y agregar un montón más de cosas. Todos eso es muy facil de hacer, vayan y experimenten, no se van a arrepentir. Todo lo que saquen se puede volver a colocar sin pena ni dificultad.

Teniendo su propio sitio netvibes, van a ver que lo pueden usar desde cualquier computadora conectada a internet (o casi), simplemente hay que abrir la página, meter la clave personal y el sitio se nos abre tal como lo dejamos la última vez.

Ahora vamos a por los feeds

Primero tenemos que encontrar un feed que nos interese. Para eso, tenemos que buscar en nuestros sitios de interés hasta encontrar una de esas etiquetas que nos dicen que tienen efectivamente un feed. Cuando lo pillamos, hacemos click derecho con el mouse y "copiar el vinculo". [Ese link va a parecerse a algo asi: http://iqte.st/blog/?feed=rss2 Esta última parte del link es la que nos indica que efectivamente estamos copiando el link del feed (en este caso un feed de un sitio web de psycología).] Tenemos el feed, ahora es tiempo de "colocarlo" en netvibes.

Arriba a la izquierda de nuestra pantalla de netvibes hay un textito que dice "Add content". Damos un click ahi. Se abre una columna con una cantidad de opciones. [Podemos probar agregar ahi a todas las opciones que nos ofrece la pantalla, es cuestión de arrastar los elementos de esa columna a la pantalla principal del netvibes y se nos agrega la cajita directamente allí donde la dejamos.]

Lo que nos interesa realmente es la primera opción que se nos ofrece arribita de esta columna: "Add my feed" al hacer click ahi se nos abre una ventanita que tiene un espacio abierto: ahi hacemos un click derecho y pegamos el vinculo que obtuvimos del sitio de interés. Luego apretamos "add". Netvibes, amablemente, hace una verificación de que la dirección que le dimos era un feed verdadero, y luego ahi mismo abajito nos muestra el link comprobado. Cliqueamos en el link que nos parece adecuado y ahi Netvibes se encarga de ubicarlo en la página.

¿Quieren algo más simple? Pues bien, en lugar de complicarse buscando el bendito feed de la página que les interesa, copien y peguen la dirección de la página directamente en la cajita que aparece en "add my feed" y dejen que netvibes haga el trabajo de buscar si existe o no el feed en cuestión. Si no existe, o no es válido, netvibes les avisa y ahi "ni modo".

Preguntas, solicitudes de aclaraciones y comentarios bienvenidas a mi mail de gmail cuya casilla es vahidm...

technology and education

The Illuminated Dragon

I am surprised -though i know i shouldn't- by the merging of teaching (as in school based, with teachers whose breath you can actually feel) and e-learning, and a mix of technologies that support "regular" methods of teaching. This is really interesting.

I guess my true deeper-inner reaction is: "Finally!".

I'll be posting more on that, but please do not miss out on an outstandingly clear and simple presentation of what teachers can do (or are missing out) thanks to this awesome ressource:
http://www.nbchs.north-battleford.sk.ca/readwriteweb/ReadWriteWhat

Competition: not good for education

I was just thinking there's a big problem with the assumption that promoting competition (in the classrooms) will yield good results. Bad behaviors such as cheating come mostly from the desire to get those "good" results.

When the teachers, or the educational system promotes competition between students, what the system gets back is results. But does the system receive learning and more capabilities? Not really.
Competition in the classroom results in trying to look good. Not to do good, and certainly not to BE good.

A school that focuses competition as a means to increase results will probably get better results. But my experience tells me that children -and adults- try to get the greatest results with the least efforts. And competition will amplify that thought.

The situation will probably run according to this scenario:

1. The teachers agree on promoting competition (tacitly or explicitly) and the children start to "feel the heat".
2. The children scramble to find individual means to answer the demands of the system.
3. Some children find the tricks that work to get the expected results.
4. The teachers narrow their perceptions down to obtaining results. The educative process becomes merely a tool (and a energy and time consuming one) that is less and less important.
5. the "smart" kids get results and start leading the class group into widespread cheating behaviors.

excellence on the other hand, is very different from competition. Excellence comes from inside the individual. And it grows and brings forward other qualities of the individual.

Whereas competition is forced on the individuals, and they respond to it as to make exposure to it as short as possible, excellence comes as a strength of character that grows harmoniously with other personal qualities and interpersonal skills.

When the school systems stimulates personal excellence, the children will respond to it by displaying their best behaviors and their greatest skills because they enjoy that very experience. Expanding the breadth of the behaviors and capabilities becomes a goal in itself. This is something that every teacher will appreciate, as his/her work is reduced: motivation comes from the inside of every student, like a demand to be taught more. Enjoyment of learning can then be shared by teachers and students, which in turn leads to a series of positive echoes throughout the educational institution.

Studying doesn't have to be for a grade, not for a piece of cardboard, when the joy of excellence is discovered education is sought for the enjoyment of learning itself, and for the ability it bestows of displaying new behaviors and reaching new conclusions.

How can an educative system foster Excellence in its students?

Me, walking in Haifa. In the lower left corner, my dad. I'll find an individual picture later. 

Schools: The “inside out” approach to education.

Education needs to be universal. There can be no question on the desirability, let alone the sheer need of universal education. This means that every single child (male or female) needs education to devellop their skills and become a better person, let alone one that can contribute to society.

If we can agree on the previous idea, the next question comes up immediately: OK, everyone gets some education. But what are the contents of that education?

This is a truly important question.

The means to deliver worldwide education are getting closer and closer every day: books are easy to print, radio is present everywhere, television right behind radio, computers are promising to be smaller and cheaper every year (and they are delivering on that promise), the computer networks are becoming more and more accessible worldwide, e-learning is developing tools that are more and more simple to use, and teacher training (with its varying shades of quality) is something that no government is questioning.

However, content is a great issue, because every culture, every human society, is dedicated to replicating itself through its education systems (formal and not so formal).

If each of these systems was really limited to just that, we could never really reach a universal education system. We'd keep on having the diversity we currently have, but we'd never get close to something that all human beings could say they share. Luckily, or something, national systems are bygones. The means that I have mentioned earlier have irremediably erupted and broke down the no-longer existing limitations of “borders”. Their effectiveness has been dulled to uselessness except maybe in countries/systems that have fiercely fought to keep their people ignorant in every sense of the word. Not that western culture is all that great either. But they’ll have to fold too.

My point is that the means have forced everyone to acknowledge the existence of other views, other ways to look at situations and, after a first passing of imposition of “big speakers”, everyone is now faced with a thousand voices from a thousand places that are trying to shout their opinions… and can’t be stopped.

This issue has to do with at least 2 layers of reality: the value systems that we work with, and the goals that our educational systems have.

I will be discussing the values' education at another opportunity, but i'd like to discuss today the goals of a universal educational system.

Not that a “universal education system” would need to have only one way to work and one frozen set of goals that everyone should abide by. We are living a time where systems can adopt a variety of means can be put to work together to achieve a wide common purpose.

The common purpose, though, have to be established. And the current UN model of purposes, with incredibly long and much too generic –possibly purposefully meaningless- doesn’t suit me. Therefore I would like to try a different idea.

<>I am a believer in a formal education system. I do think that as we are increasing our knowledge on the “book of nature”, reality as we experience it every day, and as we are ever increasing our knowledge on how to manipulate it to do what we see fit, we need to gie our children a space where they can find out about it. And a great part of that is the experience of learning with others and from others. Because possibly one the final goals of the human being is to be loving to his fellow human beings, schooling provides one the the most significant experiences in the human life.

And because in many countries it has become compulsory, human beings have more and more learned to associate more and more easily, even when their previous cultural ways did not provide openness to that experience.

<>But I need to come back to the essential proposal I want to make:

• <>The “inside out” approach to education.