The State Of Education

I had a chat with Astoria Schools Scott Holmsted today that was an eye opener about where things are going in the classroom. I thought I'd share it with you since many of us may not be as connected to the schools as we used to be.

As we have reported over the last couple of days, the high school will benefit from an upgrade in technology over the next few days and weeks as wireless Internet is installed on campus and through a pilot program the kids and teachers will have the use of new Google Chrome notebooks being supplied by that company.

The question is: what will they do with all this new stuff? Actually quite a lot.

For years now some have questioned why we need brick and mortar schools at all since so many distance learning options have become available. Others say nothing can really replace the experience of a physical classroom environment simply because 80% of human communication is non-verbal. That's why printed material like email alone are only useful to a limited extent as a communications tool.

How about a blending of both ideas into a physical/virtual educational environment where you still have the benefit of a teacher and class dealing with each other in a, at least potentially, full interaction and adding to that the best things that computing and networking offer?

One of the continuing issues this addresses is the expense of hard copy textbooks that are almost already out of date once they get into a student's hands. In the world of the virtual
classroom textbooks are on-line and can be updated easier. Instead of just a picture of an event that happened in history, now you can have video. Instead of the one size fits all approach now you can add localized, meaningful content to those on line textbooks. All that is accessed by the teachers and students.

Another example could come in quicker testing. By that I mean the ability for a teacher to prepare a on-line quiz covering in just a few questions the topic of that days class. The student logs on and takes the quiz and the teach knows immediately how effective the class was and which student might need further instruction. It's a game changer. It can affect everything from catching up on homework assignments to creating very professional looking presentations using readily available and free open source software. Google is a leader in what they call "cloud" computing where instead of loading expensive word processing software you simply access your account and use Google Docs. And that is just a quick example demonstrating the potential involved.

It does mean that teachers who want to get involved in this kind of thing will have to spend more time upfront updating, localizing and customizing on line materials. This is a stepped process and won't all happen next week but it does offer tremendous opportunities to significantly improve the entire educational experience.

Vote!

http://www.budgettravel.com/bt-srv/coolestsmalltowns/CST2011.html

Budget Travel magazine is running a on line contest to find the coolest small town in America. It's easy to vote in the poll. You need not leave any personal information or sign up for anything but you can also upload pictures and videos to help support the point that Astoria is indeed the coolest small town in the country if you choose to do so. Those who live in other cool towns like Warrenton, Gearhart, Seaside, Ilwaco, Long Beach, Ocean Park and lovely Oysterville are encouraged to support the effort.

Here We Go

I'm told by a usually reliable source that the oath of office given to the newly minted Clatsop County Commissioners was incorrect. This undoubtedly means that any actions taken by the new commissioners must be null and void. This must be true because until an individual is officially sworn in they may be elected to the position but have not made the official contract to fill the position.

This may complicate things. If you recall the very first action of the new commissioners was to withdraw approval of the Oregon Pipeline land use plan. If one discounts the votes of those people not yet officially sworn in that means only two actual commissioners voted. One commissioner voted in favor the other voted against withdrawal. That would be a tie vote with no one to break the tie therefore rendering a decision of no change to the original approval.

I point this out as just one example of the complications involved with not getting this very primary function right to begin with. This would mean that any vote taken up until the correct oath of office is performed and duly recorded would be null and void starting with the approval of the minutes of the previous meeting and ending with accepting any department head reports. This new commission is already under attack from the right over charges of holding an unofficial meeting when after the regular commission meeting a quorum of commissioners met with constituents at a local pub to celebrate the democratic process that got them elected. Luckily even though it wasn't known at the time, most of them were not officially commissioners yet.

I say, lets nip this sort of thing in the bud. Let us be supportive of these new commissioners. Let them make mistakes and own up to them without fear of reprisal or recall. Can't we all just get along?

What Safeway?

Just a small aside on the Safeway block today.

It occurred to me that the Safeway store in downtown Astoria has been gone for so long now that we should probably start calling it something else.

There was an attempt a couple of years ago to give the space it's own name but nothing inspiring popped up. Names like Heritage Square or Astoria People Park just didn't resonate.

With this year marking Astoria's bicentennial perhaps it's time to make another attempt.

Calling it the Safeway block is like getting directions from a local that start with" Take a left where Bob's gas station used to be..."

What would you like to see?

Public Transit Before Howe

Was there any?

I'm talking about Cindy Howe who has tendered her resignation as Executive Director of the Sunset Empire Transportation District. The Board, as of this writing has not accepted her resignation. Board members come and go but honestly, my friends, it was Howe who build what we have today often by dragging her board along with her. This isn't anything she told me. I just know how boards tend to work. I've probably been on too many. There are times when people just need to stay out of the way and refuse to recognize when they should. I say this in general and anyone who has served on any board knows what I mean.

There have been members of the community who have been critical of different proposals over the years but by and large Cindy has always done what a leader does. She finds solutions to problems. Here are a few reported by area papers most recently

May 2010
New bus service connects Portland, North Coast
by CRBJ

July 2010
New program seeks to make transportation services more accessible to seniors, disabled
by Greg Cohen

August 2010
Grant will help link coastal transit programs, promote regional service
by Greg Cohen

9/2/2010
Transportation plan for Seaside relates a tale of two cities
Improvements will help drivers, bikers and walkers get around town
by Nancy McCarthy

8/27/2010
Lawmakers support transportation plans
State funds North Coast projects on rail and sea
The Daily Astorian

8/26/2010
Transportation Commission approves request for Seaside transit center
by Nancy McCarthy-Daily Astorian

6/30/2010
New transport van helps veterans- Daily Astorian

And on and On....I remember one occasion when Senator Wyden was visiting the coast and took a ride on the bus. Cindy was right there pitching natural gas buses..and "wouldn't that be a clever idea?" The Senator was very fired up..

I don't know what finally amounted to the last straw leading to her deciding to move on. I just hopes she stays here because whatever she decides to do next, while any ones guess, is bound
to be a good thing. As I said, the board has not accepted her resignation as yet.