Classroom III

OpenBeacon is a free design for an active RFID device which operates in the 2.4GHz ISM band. The device contains a unique serial number, but may have other information. OpenBeacon is designed as a transceiver device and therefore both transmits and receives radio waves. The intention of this project is to offer a wide range of use cases such as visitor or item tracking and wireless remote control with a free self-contained and low-cost RFID design.

My dream use of RFID would be for my students to have a locator chip for their homework assignments, their pencils, paper, and textbook. Maybe if parents had to pay for RFID tracking devices on all their kids stuff, they would not try to use the excuses “I don’t have a pencil”. Reading the description of The OpenBeacon hardware that is used to locate volunteer attendees at this year’s CCC conference in Berlin, started me thinking this morning.

One of the project’s leaders, Milosch Meriac, explains the motivation to create the system was to make obvious what is normally hidden in how our technology tracks us.  Also– track Quinn Norton (ID 254135) and Wired Digital’s Aaron Swartz (ID 254260), two of nearly 1,000 participants wearing RFID trackers for the duration of the congress.

Wired.com

I have read discussions online about the issues with RFID chips in student ID badges and how easy they would be to clone and be abused by students, and invasion of privacy, but this technology seems to have a different possible application for classrooms. Nordic Semiconductors and Phillips have a technology that may someday help teachers and students. From reading the descriptions on Nordic’s site, they are developing a way to use lasers to connect motion sensing devices and computer mice. One of their application notes describes a low level radio protocol that gives protection against disturbing traffic in the 2.4 GHz band like WLAN and frequency hopping systems like Bluetooth, Cordless phones, etc.  A list of applications that they have already dreamed up are as follows:

• Wireless mouse and keyboard
• Wireless joystick
• Wireless headset
• Sports equipment
• Remote control
• Personal Area Networks

Wireless joysticks could be used to integrate with whiteboards and HD monitors.  Wireless headsets, I am not excited about, because kids are kids, and if they can find a way, they will not be listening to a scholarly discussion of Plato or biochemistry if their favorite Rap star or country music can be piped in.  Sports equipment, hum this might be a way to help society combat obesity, and monitor drugs.  Oh hello- invasion of privacy again!!!  That would never work.  Remote control is interesting.  Maybe a court appointed probation officer could carry a monitoring device and when a youth offender’s blood pressure exceeded a certain level indicating stress, the probation officer could remotely control a speaker and remind the felon of his next court date…this is too good…I could think of some better responses to the remote control, but that would not be very professional of me.  But on a positive note, intervention in crucial for some folks to succeed.  Last on their list is PAN, personal area networks.  Keeping up with their work.  Students that need organizational skills may benefit from Nordic’s technology.  Place an RFID tag on each assignment, project, notebook, textbook, and pencil could help them locate their stuff.  Can you see the veterinarian’s expression when they locate an RFID chip in a stool sample of a school kid’s dog?  “The dog eat your homework again?”

I have enough physics background to realize that this could be used in schools and to know I do not know enough about all this to be an expert.  However, it has me dreaming about how this technology may change the way my grandchildren’s kids classroom may look and replace our current networks and devices. 

The latest device in Nordic Semiconductors extensive portfolio of 2.4GHz wireless IC’s merges high speed with ultra-low power and ultra-low cost. The new nRF24L01 will enable ultra-low cost and power applications such as wireless desktops and intelligent sports equipment. The chip is a perfect fit for advanced multimedia solutions like Voice over IP (VoIP). This is possible through the innovative MultiCeiver solution in which on-chip hardware supports up to six simultaneous wireless devices.

NordicSemi

Will this be coming to a classroom soon?

powered by performancing firefox

This past September, I purchased a new iPod Video.  Thousands of them have been bought, and so far it is working fine.  My Belkin microphone word fine.  I do not like the way it sounds when it is set on stereo.  My favorite audio recording device for classroom podcasts is not my iPod and Belkin mic.  I prefer recording directly into GarageBand with a USB headphone with mic.  My students rehearse their podcast using the built in mic on our classroom iBooks.  To prepare for their segment by reading, researching, discussing, and writing about their assignment.  If we are introducing a chapter in science, instead of outlining the chapter, or reading it out loud, students are assigned short answer questions and are asked to correctly answer on the tape.  I know, you are thinking, but this is nothing more than using technology for as a worksheet.

This criticism is true.  However, this is a strategy I have been using with that are reluctant readers.  I discovered that when given the proper topic, they can develop questions, and conduct very professional interviews.  One that worked for me surfaced last year.  Our district developed a student dress code.  After the students listened to the newly board approved rules, I turned on the recorder in GarageBand and backed away and just observed.  They interviewed each other and discussed their feelings about the new dress code.  I was blown away.  They did not write a word down, it was all live.  After they listened to it, they commented that they wished they had remembered to say “this and that”.  The teachable moment: I reminded them that a good interviewer makes a list of questions before conducting their interviews. If I had made them write ten questions before they started recording, they would have wined and complained and probably never completed the podcast.  So, my constant struggle with having students create podcasts has been pre-writing and rough-draft stuff.  My students want immediate gratification.  They are all about “playing” with computers, and do not like “doing work.”  I have used the podcast templates from Willow Radio.  I was not able to find the link to their page.  Must have been moved. 

Try it, you will like it.  Bottomline, podcasts are not easy, but the kids like them if they think that someone is listening. 

powered by performancing firefox

I was so happy to see the license plate on the school bus  as it pulled out of the parking lot. I have been sleeping and shopping, and eating, and surfing the Internet, and not taking a shower…too much information…

More thought later.

This past week, we had constant battles being waged by many of our students.  They are so cruel to each other.  Constantly talking about their shoes, their hair, how fat they are, how skinny, how dark, how dumb– I am feed-up with it.  Society has taught our kids that they are not valued.  They are for the most part not the most popular children due to behavior problems or for making a mistake and having gotten into legal problems, or due to health issues.   They  lash out with the only thing they have- their tongues and their fists.  I am ready of a BREAK!

When I looked at this bulletin board, I felt a calming sensation come over me.  So, Monday, I am going to change our overly busy bulletin board, with all the ugly photos of students - mostly old ones that need to come down anyway.  Get the art teacher to have all our students make snow flakes, and put them on them of our bulletin board located in our small commons area.  Oh, I just remembered.  We have traditionally made snow flakes out of borax.

We need to figure a way to hang them on them on the bulletin board.  On second thought, they will have them broken and smashed, the paper ones will probably work much better. 

I will post a photo of our bulletin board and let my readers know it we braved the “real” borax snowflakes or stick with the paper ones.

Flickr Photo Download: Snowflakes

Blogged with Flock