Join Me at Join.Me

With the increase in technology devices in the classroom, what alternatives do teachers now have as far as displaying content?

Remember the overhead days?  I thought that the switch from that to a digital projector was a big deal but now that all of my students have mini, individual screens right in front of them, do I need one large projection in the front of the classroom.  What if I want to show content (a picture, file, presentation, map, etc.) and I want just want that shared with all my students?  What if I want them to see what I see on my computer screen?

I like the free-ness and the simplicity of Join.me.com  At Join.me, a teacher can download the software and be able to broadcast their computer screen to anyone that logs in with a passkey.  I run the software on my computer and the students go straight to https://join.me/.  They don’t have to log-in or download anything on their end; they just enter a code that I generate for my sharing time.  Once they enter that code, their computer screen turns into my computer screen.

The student (or the joiner) is just a vistor.  They cannot access or manipulate your screen without being granted access, so it’s safe.  The teacher can see who is all in the session and can see when anyone drops out.  There are some communication options too, where students can type in questions or answer your questions or have a complete discussion chat-room style while still viewing your screen.

There are some applications of this that are great but here is one important thing to remember:  there is about a 5 second lag between the real time on your screen and action that the students see.  I don’t see this as an ideal replacement for showing video or fast moving content.  But I think it’s great for pointing out or looking at stationary content for a little while.

Whenever the teacher ends the session, the code evaporates and all students are “dismissed” from the session and return to their originally scheduled programming.

Best Part:  Obviously it works through the Internet so it’s good on Chrome, Safari and Firefox, but there is also a free IPad app that lets IPad classrooms see a teacher’s computer screen.

Nearpod: Mobile Learning + Interactive Presentation App

For classrooms that have 1:1 access with IPads, Nearpod would be one of those tools I would say absolutely had to be used in classroom instruction.  Mandatory use in instruction.  It combines presentation and lecture, quizzes, polling and formative assessment, video and hands on demonstrating.  There are two sides to Nearpod: the teacher side and the student side. From the teacher side, one can create interactive lessons by creating a presentation in Nearpod that is like a PowerPoint on steroids. There are six different types of features a teacher can add into a presentation.  The presentation can have multiple features, all one feature or a mixture of whatever the author wants.

 

A few observations about the features:

• If a teacher already has PowerPoints created and wants to incorporate those slides into a Nearpod presentation, it would be complete possible!  Just go to PowerPoint and save the PPT as images (this is an option in the File Menu).  Now each one of your slides is an image file that can be uploaded to Nearpod.  I think the whole “Save as Images” option is key in using Nearpod with materials you’ve already created.
• The quizzes and Q&A make great formative assessment.  It’s a little bit tricky to do an open ended question or a question with multiple answers, but it is do-able.
• “Draw it” is pretty awesome.  I tested it out in a math presentation at halfway through the presentation, the teacher included a “Draw it” slide where the students had to work through the problem.  The teacher sees all responses on his/her IPad.

The teacher creates an interactive, instructional presentation or lesson on the web.  When it’s time for the lesson, the teacher uses and IPad and logs in to the Nearpod app as a teacher.  The students type in a code assigned to that presentation and are immediately taken to the lesson.  It’s a teacher-paced presentation, so students are only able to see the part of the presentation the teacher wants.  When the teacher is ready to move on to the next screen of the presentation, the teacher swipes the screen and all student screens will go to the next feature.  It’s a great instructional app that allows the teacher to move through content while allowing students the opportunity to get involved and participate, all while collecting data on understanding.

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Nearpod is one of those progression instructional tools.  Content used to be delivered through lecture.  Then overhead.  Then PowerPoint presentations.  Now the presentation includes interactive elements and is right there in each student’s hands.  It’s best used in situations where there is 1 IPad for every 1 student involved (either a 1:1 environment or a small group setting).  I think that in the future of IPads in Education, Nearpod will be the instructional tool that all others are measured by.

The Unlimited Powers of Skitch

I really love Skitch.  So much so that I have it (and use it) on my Macbook and my IPad.  It’s a product of Evernote – - another tool that other people just go crazy for.  Skitch is essentially an annotation program.  It allows you to add text, diagrams and other notations to any blank document, map or picture from your computer or the web.  It has amazing instructional potential for teachers.

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One of my favorite things to do with Skitch is to do graphic directions.  Providing step by step instructions on something is good, but pairing that with visuals is even better.  With the IPad, you can instantly take a snapshot with Skitch and start annotating it.

I’ve seen students use Skitch consistently in math and science; taking pictures of something and then using Skitch to apply their knowledge of the concepts learned.  One teacher practicing graphing has the students take a picture of graph paper, draw their graph while showing the work and then email their work directly the teacher.  In science, young students took pictures of their little seedling and used Skitch to label the parts.  Basically anything that involved labeling is a cinch with Skitch.

I love that, from within Skitch, you can go out to the web and take a snapshot of anything.  I think this could potentially be great reading activity: take a snapshot of some text, highlight the main idea, underline key words, etc.  There are so many possibilities to use Skitch in the classroom.  I recommend you download it, play around with the features and immediately start thinking of ways to use it to make your life easier.

Fun in Timbuktu

Timbuktu is a fun app for elementary students.  Think of it as a daily magazine for children, including reading stories that are graphically attractive and interactive.

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The content changes everyday.  Some features are premium and would cost something.  Timbuktu is 100% geared to be an interactive magazine for children so the features are all kid friendly and exciting.  There is a regular feature called “Ask Auntie Rita”, where children write “Dear Abby” type questions and get advice from kind Aunt Rita.  It’s interesting, relevant reading and hits on topics like getting along with an older brother, what to do about bullies, and how to get better grades in schools.  The reading features in Timbuktu are awesome.  The day I played with the app, there was a horror story to read.  But, instead of just reading it like a normal, students have to use their finger as a flashlight to read the story.  It’s reading and it’s interactive.  It’s fun!

You can also go back and access older content in Timbuktu.  They recently had a three part feature on Romeo and Juliet.  Students had to read about the story (in nice kid-language) and also got to interact with the story.  I put a mask on Romeo so he could go to the Capulet ball.  I helped Romeo find Juliet’s balcony.  It’s reading and it’s interactive.  It’s fun!

Timbuktu also has some activities and interactive features with pictures and videos.  They are all kid relevant and are created with education in mind.  Each activity is designed to pique the imaginations and creativity of young minds.  It’s interactive.  And it’s fun!

I really enjoyed my little tour through Timbuktu and think it would be a great addition to the Daily 5, center work or free time with the IPads.

 

 

Temple Run as a Teaching Tool

IPads and games go together better than almost anything.  And kids love it.  Teachers can harness that love and excitement by finding ways to use these games as teaching tools.  Almost any game that has scores, numbers and levels can be made into a math activity with a little bit of creativity.  I’ve seen examples of this using Angry Birds to study and practice vectors and velocity but I think something simple like Temple Run can be integrated into an elementary classroom with ease.

 Each user or player runs through a course, picking up coins and attempting to travel as many meters as possible.  After each pass through the course (which could last a few seconds or a few minutes depending on the skill of the player), an end screen is shown with a list of statistics.  Anytime statistics and numbers are displayed, it makes for a great educational opportunity.

Here are some ideas for using Temple Run as a classroom activity:

• Have students work in small groups, each taking a turn on the game.  After each player, record all the data on a chart:  Score, Distance, Coins and Reason the Run ended.  Compare data and/or make a chart with the numbers.
• Play the game multiple times, recording the data after each run.  Figure out the average score, distance and coins.
• Convert the distance traveled from meters into feet or miles.  Play until you reach 10 miles (forcing students to figure out how many meters would be necessary to reach 10 miles).
• On the opening statistics page where high scores are stored.  Compare your individual scores to the high scores.
• Create a class chart of the reasons each player’s game ends (tree, water, eaten by creatures, fire, etc.) and calculate percentages and fractions.
• Test the score formula: (provided by Wikipedia)

Their score is determined by their distance, plus five times the number of coins collected, plus 600 times the ordinal number of the total number of coins divisible by 100. These three values are then added and multiplied. The value of the multiplier is 10 more than the number of objectives unlocked. The formula is ; “s” being number of points; “m” number of objectives unlocked + 10; “d” being distance; “c” being number of coins; “t” being the coin multiplier of 600 times the whole number remaining of c/100.

• Use it as a writing prompt.  What was your character doing in that temple?  Why were they running?  How did the run go and what did you see?  How did your run end?

Some upper level mathematical equations with Temple Run: http://www.mathematicalmischief.com/2012/06/its-calculator-time-temple-run/

IPad Integration: Apps with Multiple Classroom Options

Sometimes you find an app that will work great as either a small stand-alone activity or a game-changing classroom revolution – - all depending on how much you want to customize it and use it.  If you want to use the App as a filler activity, it could be.  If you wanted to make the App an individualized choice activity that students use to practice a concept, it could be.  If you wanted to use the App for specific students in enrichment and intervention activities, it could do that for you too.  If you wanted an App to totally revolutionize the way you gather data and build practice activities, it could do that.  The great things about these types of apps is that: 1) each student has a personal log-in so that each students experience on the app is personal, saved, customized and abled to be accessed again and again, 2) the teacher can include as much customization as he or she is comfortable with.

Edmodo  Free (App Store)

I’m a big fan of Edmodo as a classroom management portal.  It’s an easy way to send students links, files, notes, assignments and quizzes, and safely allows them to collaborate, write and share.  Students can log in and out of their individual Edmodo profile so that each individual user can access their individual Edmodo account.

Ideas for Edmodo Implementation in general:

• Post a discussion prompt and have students respond to a question or share thoughts for everyone to see
• Create an assignment in which students submit a private only-seen-by-the-teacher response
• Post a class brainstorming session to generate writing ideas
• Create formative assessments in the quiz module
• “Exit Ticket” or “Elevator Speech” where students explain what they learned following a lesson or day
• Post videos, notes or information for students that need extra review or were absent
• Put links, documents or information there for students to easily access

Another great plus with Edmodo is its Apps (so, essentially, there are Apps within the App).  There are a lot of great ones – - some that you have to pay for and some free ones.  One really great literacy app is No Red Ink.  (Click here for a review on No Red Ink)  (There is also a internet site for No Red Ink that anyone can use through Safari).

ScootPad  Free (App Store)

I came across this App last week when a friend of mine was talking about how the students in her school can’t wait to use the IPads to review Math and Literacy games in order to earn coins and that their school earned more coins in the last two weeks than any other school in Iowa using the App.  Many parts of this looked intriguing, so I setup a teacher account on ScootPad posing as a 5th grade teacher.

ScootPad has a teacher set-up page on the Internet at www.scootpad.com.  That is where I set-up my account, created a class and added my list of students.  I control the student usernames and passwords and can adjust and change them if needed.  I picked by grade level (5th grade) and then chose my standards.  ScootPad works with the Common Core and I chose to select all the Common Core standards for 5th grade.  These standards are now added to my class.

Option #1:  That’s the bare minimum of what is needed to work with ScootPad (setup a class, create student accounts, share account info with students).  At this point, your students can go to the ScootPad app on the IPad, log-in with their personal information and access grade level appropriate Math and Literacy practice activities.  These practice activities are randomly generated using the Common Core standards and over time also keep in mind the progress of the student, adjusting to their level of comprehension and understanding.  The students earn coins for each correct answer and bonus coins for 100% completion.  From what I can see, students can do as many practice activities as they want, whenever they want.

Option #2:  Teachers can log-in and monitor progress and student achievement.  Teachers can also assign practice activities to be completed.  These homework assignments can be assigned for every student or assigned to only those students in need of enrichment and intervention.  I like the results tracking feature in ScootPad because it breaks everything down by the standard.  The teacher can see the level of proficiency of their students in each standard area.  It’s a great tool for identification and intervention.

Option #3: The students have an individualized piggy bank that they store the coins that they earn for completing their activities.  Teachers (and parents!) can set-up classroom rewards that students can “purchase” with their coins.  You can also customized these and make them available for only a few students (for example, if you had a reward available only for those struggling students).  It’s a nice option and ScootPad is something parents can access also so that they can build rewards for their own students.

 

Khan Academy  Internet

If you want your students to practice math problems by concept, there isn’t much of a comparison with Khan Academy.  It’s an internet based application that can be used through Safari on your IPad.  Students can practice the problems, get hints if they get stuck and watch tutorials and explanations if they need to.  If students created an account on Khan Academy and attach a teacher as a “coach”, the coach can see progress and get data.  But the activities still work well as review and practice activities even if they don’t log-in to an individual account.  But since that option is there, I include it here.

 

Extend your Professional Learning Network with Edmodo

Teaching an elective subject in a small school district and make building a professional learning network difficult.  Teachers using Edmodo are fortunate to have subject based communities that they can access for resources, suggestions and discussion regarding education in their content area.  These communities are the perfect extension of anyones professional learning network.

Edmodo Communities

The communities are built around content area and not grade level, so each community includes teachers from all age groups.  Edmodo reaches across the country and into several different countries around the world.  The diversity of teacher ideas within the content area is amazing.  You can check in and look at the community activity any time you want: twice a day, once a week, once a semester – - it doesn’t matter.  The community is there for you as you need it.

The greatest gift of the Edmodo community is the sharing of ideas, resources and content specific information.  You can simply go to the community, post a question and within a day, have 15 responses from across the globe to try and help you out.  Since the information comes from other Edmodo teachers, there is a huge focus on technology and how to make it work in all tech savvy environments (IPad, 1:1, mobile carts).

A Change of Focus for Second Semester

I just finished 1st semester and had the opportunity to take a breath and really think about these numbers I gave my students that somehow magically turns into a grade.  In high school especially, students and parents are concerned with letter grades and how to maintain a good grade.  By extenstion, I as a teacher become concerned about point values of different assignments and activities and the awarding of points based on these things.  Every grading period I feel like I’m playing a numbers game; that my class content all boils down to a percentage of a point total.  And it frustrates me because I didn’t become a teacher to give out numbers, percentages or letters.

Bottom line: I want to give my students knowledge and opportunities to learn, practice and master concepts and skills.  That needs to be my focus and not a gradebook.  There is a lot of buzz about standards based learning, which I think goes hand in hand with that feeling: assess students on his or her ability to master a standard or objective and don’t define things by arbitrary point values.  That’s a system change of great magnitude that requires a lot of philosophical shift and I’m not going to jump into that territory alone or at this time.  I think I can solve my frustrations in smaller, smarter changes in how I approach the set-up of my class.

Weighted Categories

I like weighted grades – - they give me the opportunity to say from the beginning of the semester that certain things are more important than (or equally important to) other things.  A few years ago, I went back to a points system and I just felt like things were messy and left too many “loopholes” that felt beyond my control.  This semester I will go back to a weighted graded scale with three categories.  I looked at what I’m teaching and asked myself some essential questions:  What do I want my students to master?  How will I know that they have been successful this semester?  What are my major areas of focus?  My three categories are: Culture, Collaboration and Comprehension.

Culture is important in Spanish, but it isn’t a focal point.  Spanish is primarily a language class and culture most of the time will run independent from that.  Communication is an area I would like to closely assess my students, chart progress and see growth in.  Communication includes fluency in speaking and writing.  In order to do these things, a student also needs to show comprehension of concepts learned in class.  Comprehension will include all vocabulary quizzes, grammar topic quizzes and tests and any listening and reading comprehension activities.  Comprehension of concepts is very important in learning Spanish – - but comprehension without communication skills isn’t terribly useful so I find that both categories are of equal weight.

Homework

I’m willing to admit that this is a bit of gamble, but I’m easing off of assigned homework assignments.  I always felt that I assigned homework as an opportunity to give students practice with the skills and concepts we learned in class.  Then, after practicing for a time, we would take a quiz or test and do some kind of performance or product assessment in which I could see the application of what they learned.  That’s how I felt about homework.  But for students, homework is an assigned piece of the puzzle.  They do it because I assigned it and that’s primarily where the story ended.  Should you get points for practice?  If you practice something incorrectly, should be penalized in the grade book?

I explained this to the students today and the basketball analogy worked really well for them.  We don’t think that Kobe Bryant is a great basketball player because he does really well in practice.  He shows that he is a great player by what he’s able to do in a game.  I want to see and focus on what my students are able to do when they apply what we’ve learned on a test or project.  That’s what I care about: seeing how they can use what we’ve learned.  But Kobe does practice, and that is part of what makes him great.  I want to support student practice and give them opportunities to practice by doing “homework” type activities but don’t necessarily want to hold them to a grade with homework.  What I told the students today is to think of “homework” as optional.  I will have homework activities and practice things available, give a suggested date of completion but I will (for the most part) not be chasing down whether or not they completing it.  If they practice, they will be ready for the game.  If they practice, I will be able to give them feedback and suggestions for improvement.  While on the surface it appears that I am taking all accountability and responsibility away for the students, I’m actually giving them more.  They have to make the active choice to participate in their own learning by choosing to do “homework” because it will help their learning and not for any other external reason like a point or percentage.

Intervention

And what about the Allen Iversons?

And what about those who do not take the initiative and choose not to practice?  They will not be forgotten.  When Dwight Howard only goes 6 for 15 from the free thrown line in a game, his coach doesn’t just let it go and assume that next time Dwight will just have to do better.  (At least I don’t think . . . with the season the Lakers are having, it’s possible, but stick with me)  This is when the coach steps in and says, “Dwight, you haven’t been showing up for practice.  You need to come in early tomorrow and work on your free throws.  I have some tips for you and you need to work on this”.  I told the students today that if ever they gave me cause for concern, they would find me intervening and requiring them to do practice “homework” activities.  They can’t opt of learning just because they are lazy and don’t want to put in the effort.  I will hold them to my standards and do whatever is necessary to make sure they get to a successful level.

And what about those Allen Iverson’s that are still great in the game even though they have a bad attitude about practice and don’t show up for it?  Well, my focus is on what they know and how they can show me they know it.  If they can demonstrate that understanding without having to do a select number of “homework” activities . . . I don’t care.  I want to take them from Point A to Point B.  Some will get there faster.  Some will need intervention and assistance.  They will all need my support and that’s the power of being a teacher.  But it doesn’t matter to me which route they take to get there as long as they each take the route that suits them best.

Education is a personal experience, not a numeric experience.  And that will be my focus this upcoming semester.  (Wish me luck!)

Choose Your Own Adventure in Google Forms

Google Forms: Branching Multiple Choice Questions

Remember Choose Your Own Adventure Books or Games?  A new feature in Google Forms now lets users branch multiple choice responses so that each response leads you to a different page.  There are many potential applications for this in the classroom, but branching allows someone to craft a Choose Your Own Adventure story.

When drafting a Google Form, the creator can write part of a story in the “Page Description” box.  Underneath that text block, the reader can be given selection of choices.  Each of these selections give the reader the option to choose what will happen next in the story.  By checking the option “Go to page based on answer”, the creator can decide where each possible answer leads.

Because the Google Form makes the creation of a Choose Your Own Adventure Story very methodical, its necessary to plan out all of your options and where they might lead.  I attempted to try this by creating a CYOA activity associated with a movie that we watch in class called ‘El Norte’.  I thought that this activity might be a good thing to do before we watch the film.  Anyway, as I started to mind-map my story and all the possible options, it easily got out of hand and complicated.  These webs can get quite complex if you want them to.  I would suggest that beginners limit themselves to only a few layers of options.  My CYOA story required 25 pages in a Google Form and I tried to be conservative in the last few layers.

There are a lot of concluding activities that could accompany this type of activity: a discussion, written essays, going through it until you get a desirable outcome, etc.  I think the educational impact of this could be great:  making the student think about choices and consequences and what actions lead to different situations.  I saw a lot of this application in Social Studies but think that it could be stretched to any discipline.

One thing that excites me about the ease of the Google Doc format is the fact that students could be writers of their own CYOA story.  What a great activity!  Make students draft out a series of choices and possible outcomes and put together an activity they can share with classmates.  They could examine the choices made by Romeo & Juliet, or John Kennedy during the Cuban Missile Crisis, or a scientist working through a hypothesis.  Just as in a Choose Your Own Adventure story – - the possibilities are endless!

My Choose Your Own Adventure Activity: El Norte

Approaching Education like Zappos.com

About this post: In April of 2012, I attended a workshop/session at Iowa 1:1 Institute in Des Moines, IA led by John Nash, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership Studies at the University of Kentucky.  The session was titled “How to Include Students as Co-Designers in your 1:1 Planning”.  As an introduction into why we need to consider students in the design and implementation of new policies and procedures, Nash drew a brief comparison between education and Zappos.com.  It was a seedling that I’ve been thinking about for the past few months (while doing some online shopping) and this is where my educational philosophy has ended up.

Have you ever ordered anything from Zappos.com?  It’s your standard online retail store, specializing in shoes.  Nothing glitzy or radically innovative on the surface.  And yet is stands as the model I think about when approaching my classroom and education in the future.

Customer Service

Zappos does the same thing that many other online (and physical) retailers do.  Where they separate themselves is in their customer service.  So why should education follow these footsteps?  Education is a service and teachers are in the service industry.  We don’t make anything; we don’t build anything.  Rather than focus on the things, we should focus on people we serve: our customers.

This can snowball into a larger debate: “Who is the customer?” in terms of education.  Parents? Community? Students? I feel like my profession doesn’t exist without my students.  I serve no purpose if I serve no students.  Students in our classrooms and in our schools are our customers, and too often education only refers to and insinuates their needs and desires.  (read more in a post by John Nash on Service Design and Education)  Zappos has become successful because of their commitment to their customers, addressing needs, considering feedback and creating an overall environment centered around the consumer experience.  Can educators duplicate that commitment?

Free Shipping

One things Zappos does to entice its customers is to offer free shipping, everyday and with no strings attached.  They make their product very easy to get.  It’s not that paying for shipping is that much of an obstacle if I really wanted a pair of shoes, but the fact that the company is willing to offer me that little extra in order to make their products more accessible does not go unnoticed.  Do educators send a message to the students that we think learning should be easily accessible?  Sometimes it feels like the system is setup so that students, parents and teachers are more concerned about the end product (the grade, the test, the score) than the process (the learning).  Those ends results are inevitable: there will be shoes at Zappos, there will be tests in education.  But focusing on those end details don’t necessarily create a recipe for success.  Schools and businesses have to find a way to connect to their consumer and think about the best way to deliver their service in an easy and pleasing fashion.

Options

I go to Zappos to find shoes.  That’s not really innovative and can be done at most online retail shops.  One thing Zappos does real well is providing its customer with many different search options.  I can search shoes by size, by color, by brand, by occasion, by heel height, by material, by season, by accents – - you get the picture.  The end results is a customized shopping experience, built around options that I choose.  The searching options allow me to focus in specifically on what I want rather than searching through the exact same standard search pages that every other consumer does.  Do our students have the ability to customize their own learning experience or do we have them cycle through the same educational experience as every student?  Educational psychologists have done extensive research on personalized learning theories, most notably Thomas Dewey and Howard Gardner. Students learn better when they are personally invested in the material and the process.  Customization, options and differentiation is the way to do this.  Allow students to reach the end objectives through their own chosen path.  Zappos doesn’t care if I find the Franco Sarto Track book by searching through 100 pages, creating a customized search or  by searching customer reviews – - they just want me to get from point A to point B.  Each educational objective is a similar learning journey: start here and by the end, be here.  Let students play a role in the customization of their educational experience by giving them options and supporting that journey.

Return Policy and Follow-Up

Zappos is relentless in their follow-up to every purchase.  They want to know if the product and the experience was satisfactory.  And they truly care about that feedback.  I had to return a pair of shoes once because it was the wrong size.  They apologized, the return shipping was free and they sent me a new size immediately – - before I could pack up the old shoes and send them back.  It wasn’t about who’s fault it was – - there was no fault, just an unsuccessful purchase.  But they reached out, inquired about the purchase and immediately set out to improve my shoe buying experience.  Do educators seek out feedback from students about their overall educational experience, including policy, procedures, etc.?  This echoes a lot of what John Nash talked about in his workshop about including students in rolling out a 1:1 program.  We do these things in education ‘for the students’, yet many times never consult a student on the design and implementation of different programs.  Most professional development is designed to make us better educators ‘for our students’, but how often are students involved in professional development?

The extension of asking for feedback is following up and acknowledging that feedback.  How do we respond to student feedback?  Every shopping experience at Zappos might not work for everyone, just like each educational approach might not work for every student.  Zappos believes that if it doesn’t work for you, return it and they will do what they can to “get it right”.  Educators should make a similar commitment to “getting it right” for the students; gathering feedback and modifying the experience until the outcome is satisfactory for everyone.

Personal Interests

Last fall I bought a nice pair of black ankle boots through Zappos.  Yesterday I logged on and Zappos generated some suggestions for me based on my previous shopping experience.  They also have geographical information on me and suggested some shoes based upon the winter months in Iowa.  Maybe they know too much information about me.  Maybe it’s like an invasion of privacy.  I like to think of it more like they keep in mind my personal interests and use that information to make my next experience one I’m more likely to be interested in.  Do we know our students well enough to be able to create learning experiences that incorporate their personal interests?  I’ve never read a word of Twilight or Harry Potter, but I understand that many of my students not only have but are unnecessarily fanatic about them.  So every once and awhile I reference them and other pop culture phenomena in our activities.  This takes a cookie-cutter activity and makes is a more personal one that they students are more likely to connect to.  Being aware of student personal interests can also help out in the customization options I mentioned earlier.

Connecting with the customer and setting out to enhance their experience has a tendency to get a lot of eye rolls and criticism from the educational community because it’s too fluffy sounding.  We can’t allow students to dictate the future of education – - we have to live in the real world where there are mandates and standards, a common core and decades of educational research that shouldn’t be replaced in order to just put smiles on a 14 year old’s face.  And I couldn’t agree with that point more . . .

Quarterly Projections and Objectives

Let’s not make any mistake about it:  Zappos is in the business to sell shoes.  They have a bottom line, sales goals, quarterly reports, stakeholders, quotas and everything like that.  All those fluffy things they do to enhance the consumer experience are great, but in the end if they don’t sell X amount of shoes in a month, it really doesn’t matter.  Schools are much the same way.  No Child Left Behind or not, public schools will always answer to some state or federal standards.  Test scores matter.  Graduation rates matter.  In my own classroom, I have standards and objectives to reach in every unit.  The goal is to get there, to meet those objectives.  What pathway do I take to get there?  Zappos chose to reach those objectives by dedicating themselves to customer service.  By adopting that philosophy, I can reach my objectives while creating a positive learning experience for my students.  It’s not a choice between the two: meet educational objectives or make my students happy.  It’s symbiotic; each part enhancing the success of the other.

Not “Schools Run Like a Business”

Just Google “Schools Run Like a Business” and the literature from pundits will overwhelm you.  I don’t feel like this philosophical approach to education is promoting schools run like businesses.  Schools are not the place for a “no shirts, no shoes, no service” type of mentality.  Certainly poverty and funding play a huge role in educational success, and I’m not suggesting that poor performing schools go the way of WonderBread, leaving us with only profitable institutions.  It’s more about the mindset of successful business leaders and the philosophy behind building a successful business.  Guy Kawasaki, a venture capitalist tied to Apple’s success, cites these 10 steps for a successful leader in business: Be likable, be trustworthy, perfect your service, tell a great story, overcome resistance, make your enchantment enduring, be a great presenter, use technology, enchant up and enchant down (read full article here).  Which of those principles could not be applied to a successful educator?

Conclusion

Guy Kawasaki and Apple have been quite successful over the past decade or so.  So has Zappos.com.  Unfortunately you’ll find enough people that believe that the educational system doesn’t experience that same amount of success.  I don’t think that things are categorically bad or broken right now, but I do think that schools can gain momentum if we approached education like Zappos.

“When you have two coffee shops right next to each other, and each sells the exact same coffee at the exact same price, service design is what makes you walk into one and not the other”  (31 Volts Service Design, 2008, cited in Stickdorn & Schneider, 2010, p. 33).

Why do students walk into our schools everyday?  Geography isn’t a good enough reason for me – - however unrelenting that reason is.  What experience do we offer students that other institutions don’t?  How can we be different?

For more on John Nash, please check out: http://reformbydesign.posterous.com and follow him on Twitter @jnash