The World is Spiky

Many of us are firm believers in networks and in the power of technology to bring us closer to the members of our networks. This belief underlies one of the big ideas of Thomas Friedman’s book, the World is Flat: the exponential technology innovations of the digital revolution have made it possible to do business or otherwise collaborate instantaneously with billions of people around the globe. Moreover, the effect of these technology innovations is to level the global playing field thereby making everyone a player.

 In his Atlantic Monthly article (October 2005) urban theorist Richard Florida argues that a more accurate description of our globe would be, “the world is spiky.” Florida has this perception of the world because he evaluates it in terms of the cutting-edge innovation that drives economic production.

 In Florida’s world view there are three kinds of places that make up the modern economic landscape: the “tallest peaks” (cities that generate innovation); economic hills (“places that manufacture the world’s established goods, take its calls, and support its innovation engines”) and finally there are what Florida calls the “vast valleys” – “places with little connection to the global economy and few immediate prospects.”

 To illustrate his worldview, Florida has generated a map that shows Tokyo, Seoul, New York and San Francisco as spikes in terms of the number of patents registered worldwide. Another map shows the residence of the 1,200 most heavily cited scientists in leading fields. These leading scientific researchers overwhelmingly live in the same handful of US and European cities that are again represented as spikes.

 Florida’s point is that, “Innovation remains difficult without a critical mass of financiers, entrepreneurs, and scientists, often nourished by world-class universities and flexible corporations.” He also argues that key cities where innovation flourishes provide the necessary population density and velocity of ideas to drive that innovation. So, if our world is becoming “spikier” as Florida asserts, what does that mean for the hundreds of millions across the globe who live in the “vast valleys?” Can we still put our faith in the notion that exponential technological innovation lifts all boats?

Freedom Unit Sketch

             Standards Met

 1.   Creativity and Innovation  2.   Communication and Collaboration  3.  Research and Information Fluency  4.  Critical thinking, Problem Solving and Decision Making  5.   Digital Citizenship

 Students will be introduced to the concept of freedom by reading and discussing the book, The Big Box, by Toni Morrison. From the reading and discussion the students will generate an initial class definition of freedom. (This definition will be enlarged and refined as students develop their understanding of the concept of freedom.) The class will have a text set (books, magazines and internet resources) that closely matches the various reading levels, areas of interest, and learning profiles of the students in the class. (differentiated instruction a la Carol Ann Tomlinson)

 Students will then spend a few days “wandering and wondering” through the text set. Student findings and learning will periodically be shared with the whole class. (See blogs/videos.) As this process continues, students will be expected to develop a special area of interest within the concept of freedom. Some examples could be freedom fighters, child labor, slavery, economics and freedom. Students will also be expected to complete a project on a particular area of freedom that will include taking action on behalf of a group that is being denied a basic freedom.

Students will blog regularly about their learning and will also respond to a blog written by the group or advocates of the group that they are taking action for. In addition, the class will create an online hypertext resource on the concept of freedom. Students working either alone or with a small group will make a short video (to be posted on YouTube) about their project and the action that they are taking.

Smart Objects

                          Noam Chomsky, Professor Emeritus MIT

Smart objects are objects that have identifiers attached that can track information about the object or person they are tagged with. The use of smart objects in industry and education is now accelerating. Our small group came up with several ideas for the use of smart objects in education.

 If each student had information about her interests, learning profile, and readiness to learn (think reading or math levels) attached to a card that was worn at school, that information could be used to personalize or differentiate all of the student’s learning experiences. For example, when the student walked into the library a scanner would pick up the student’s reading level and interest area and guide the student to books that are a good match for her.

 As lessons are developed and perfected (think Japanese lesson study) they could be archived and matched to each student’s interests, learning profile and readiness level. (Let’s call this a student differentiation profile.) Eventually, a huge bank of such lessons with differentiated text sets and learning experiences would be available on the internet. Additionally, students could be matched with teachers who fit their differentiation profile. In this way, each student’s entire learning career would be readily accessible, personalized, and fungible.

 Perhaps someday our schools will be like an elegant restaurant offering a healthy and delectable smorgasbord for all the diners who intimately know what their current appetites, tastes, allergies, and longings for food are. Let’s see – I’ll have one art project, heavy on the Van Gogh (with a drizzle of Matisse) to go and two social studies units a la Chomsky sunny side up!

Scenius

                         Climbing Half Dome, Yosemite

 Scenius or “genius of the scene” is a term coined by Brian Eno to suggest the extreme creativity that groups or places can generate from time to time. Eno’s actual definition is, "Scenius stands for the intelligence and the intuition of a whole cultural scene. It is the communal form of the concept of the genius." Kevin Kelly, in his blog, “The Technium,” writes about some examples of scenius: Building 20 at MIT, Silicon Valley, the lofts in Soho NYC and Burning Man.

 One of the more interesting examples of scenius that Kelly describes is Camp 4 at Yosemite. Various climbers with experience in the Alps discovered the sheer faces of Yosemite in the 1930’s and established a permanent camp on the north side of the valley in 1941. As Kelly writes, “Over the next 60 years this scenius would invent most of the modern techniques of rock climbing, and many innovations that would later spill into outdoor skills and gear in general.” At Camp 4 (click here for YouTube video) some of the world’s best climbers lived and climbed together, always pushing themselves to be at the cutting edge of their area of passion. 

As teachers, are any of us involved in a scenius? If so, what does it look like? Who are its members and what are its best practices? If we are not involved in a scenius, what would a scenius in our school or division look like? What would the best practices be and what would student learning look like? Is offering the same reading text to all students including those reading at the twelfth grade level and the  ESL student at the fourth grade level a best practice? Imagine a school where teachers, students, parents and administrators are all passionately engaged at the cutting edge of learning!

 Kelly concludes his blog on scenius, 

“When it happens, honor and protect it.”

 

 

On the Edge of the Universe I

On the Edge of the Universe I

 Do you occasionally feel enervated by the incessant din of our modern world? If so, come with me to a sanctuary deliciously devoid of the trappings of our time. One caveat - we must first pass through more of the clamor and chaos that inundates our biggest cities.

 We take a plane to Cairo, Egypt, a cauldron of some 20 million souls locked in a struggle to secure enough calories for the day and keep a roof over their heads. From there, a van shuttles us north through the lush delta of the Nile, its peasants following the agricultural rhythms laid down in the time of the pharaohs.

 Breaking out of the heat and dust, we cruise through the gentle sea breezes of Alexandria, once home to a vibrant community of artists, writers, and long departed Jews, Armenians, and Greeks who fled Egypt after Nasser took the reins of power in 1952.

 Tacking west along the Mediterranean, we pass El Alamein, site of a graveyard hosting over 8,000 souls who perished in the Western Desert campaigns of World War II. Then, just after the turquoise waters of Marsa Matruh, we head south into the sahara, Arabic for desert.

 Our destination is the Siwa Oasis lying only 30 miles from the Libyan border.  An outlier of some 25,000 ethnic Berbers, Siwa is separated from the rest of Egypt by the Western Desert and was connected to the outside world by asphalt road only as recently as 1984. After one night in Siwa we focus on the goal of our trip to this outpost of civilization: the Great Sand Sea.

 Home to no one, the Great Sand Sea is a seamless mass of sand, smothering the desolate frontiers of Libya and Egypt. Its parallel dunes begin just three kilometers out of Siwa and spill south for almost 800 kilometers to the bottom of Egypt where they run smack into the Gilf Kebir, a limestone/sandstone plateau rising 1,000 feet and the size of Switzerland. 

 The dunes of the Great Sand Sea are relentlessly driven by the Hamseen, cousin to the other winds of the Arab and Persian worlds: Haboob; Harmattan; Simoom; Shamal; Sharki; and Sirocco. Following their geological imperative, the billions and billions of sand grains that make up these dunes climb higher and higher on the shoulders of their neighbors drowning everything in their wake.  At the Gilf Kebir, the dunes have accomplished the unthinkable, breaching its 1,000 foot-high crest.

 Cassandra Vivian, author of The Western Desert of Egypt: An Explorer’s Handbook, has written, “When all life forms have disappeared from the continents, only the sand dunes will remain.” Her advice: “Anyone planning an expedition to the dunes of the Great Sand Sea has to be especially well prepared, as there's not a single water source in 150,000 square miles.”

 At the Gilf Kebir, nature parsimoniously bestows only a few centimeters of rain once every 13 years. Just west over the border, the Libyan Desert, the most arid region on Earth, is the site of the highest recorded temperature - a startling 58 degrees C (136 F) recorded south of Tripoli in September 1922.

 Having secured two jeeps, each with a driver and guide, our party heads out. Once clear of town, we stop and our guide deflates the tires to 15 psi to help the vehicle float on the deep sand. We approach the first dune and the driver expertly snakes his way up: steady gas, no sudden starts or stops, keep the jeep moving.

 When we hit the crest the view is breathtaking: endless dunes soft and sinuous under an impeccable cerulean sky. And something surprising about the air – such a light, fresh, clean fragrance with undertones of salt as if we are at the ocean. However, the most overwhelming element is the silence – deep, absolute and all encompassing. No other place, yet experienced, is bathed in this exquisite silence that seems to shout a mysterious presence.

 For a few hours we continue cresting the dunes and fording the tight valleys that lie between them. By now the sun is high overhead burning the sand and we are as parched as the dunes themselves. About ten kilometers into the dunes we stop and make camp. The afternoon sun and heat have been brutal and a question is nagging in the back of the head. What is it about the desert that kept inviting the prophets and holy people of The Book to seek it out? Were they intent on inflicting deprivation and hardship on themselves, or was there something more?

 The guides make a small campfire out of the stump of an olive tree that they have lashed to the Jeep roof. Soon a delicious stew of chicken and vegetables is ready. One guide sits on a half empty water jug and taps out different Arab and Berber rhythms – an Elvin Jones of the desert. Night falls, the fire turns to embers and you feel something calling you away from the camp.

 Spent from the days adventure, you trudge to the crest of the nearest dune where you squat with your knees under your chin. As you perch on the edge of the universe, a panorama of ineffable beauty thrills you: the heavens are lit with billions and billions of stars, big as bushel baskets. The overpowering silence along with its mysterious presence, now intense and palpable, penetrates you to the core. You reach out your hand and touch the face of God. 

 Bibliography: Vivian, Cassandra, The Western Desert of Egypt: An Explorer’s Handbook

 A special thanks to our guides, Mostafa and Ahmed for their laughter, music, and for taking us safely to the edge of the universe.

 Steve Guthrie

Truth and Bias in the Classroom

Clarence and Chris. Wow! These two teachers are deeply involved in building the genius of the scene. The Skype with them crystallized exactly how human intelligence is advancing in ways that are creating the future - our future and the future of the universe.

 Kim and Jeff got all of us off to a solid start. Overall, I think that we learned a lot. Of course, as Kim mentioned in her post-class comments, the differentiation piece is missing and needs to be attended to.

 How do we help our students determine truth and bias in the material that they find on the Net? Actually, Chris modeled how we might proceed by giving us his demo of the fictitious news accounts. This point needs to be repeated over and over for our students: Everything that we encounter on the Net must filtered through a well developed critical lens.

 What I took away from Clarence:

Globalvoicesonline.org   = aggregator site that brings together blogs from all over world. S’S subscribe to a blog from somewhere around the world.

Classroom networks: Some S’S are hubs that are important in spreading ideas.

Blogs flatten the infrastructure in the classroom.

 What I took away from Chris: Google for Educators; Google search tools; value of Wikipedia

Chris built understanding, used visuals; very usable information and sites; love the Google search information.

course goals

As a technology neophyte, my goals for this class are modest. I would like to:

1.    Perch on the edge of the Universe. See blog: “On the Edge of the Universe I.”

2.    Witness the discovery of fire. See: “On the Edge of the Universe II.” (forthcoming)

3.    Participate in our evolutionary imperative. See: “On the Edge of the Universe III.”

4.     Hitch a ride on Halley’s Comet and go “roaring down the stormtracks of the Milky Way.”   See: “On the Edge of the Universe III.”

5.     Better understand how ORDER must necessarily complement artificial intelligence. See: “On the Edge of the Universe IV.”

6.    Participate in the genius of the scene. See: Scenius.

7.     Finally, better understand how to use the tools found in our technology toolbox: B, D, E, I, G, H, K, L, M, O, R, S, T, W.

Rearrange as: blog; moodle; RSS; Twitter; Wiki and other.