kabrenlevinson.com/blog/

Read this blog post to understand what I’m talking about. Also, those videos I’ve talked about will be put up on Sunday - I got a little busy.

A Tech Fellow

Working with Martha was a job for a “tech fellow,” a crucial part of my educational technology program. Over the past few days, with the help of the assistant head of the school, I’ve been rethinking the roles of the “tech fellow.” Much of our conversation had to do with the marketing and branding of the “Tech Fellows” program. We used the Geek Squad as an example; they have uniforms, they’re easy to identify; they have phone numbers, they’re easy to contact; they have cars, they come to YOU. A “tech fellow” just doesn’t sound right - if I were a teacher, and was deciding between contactacting a “tech fellow” or the “tech squad,” for example, I’d probably call the “tech squad.” We need to make it known who we are, make sure it’s easy to contact us, and make it clear that we (the student) will come to YOU (the teacher). Of course, since this is high school, we won’t actually have the uniforms and cars (I wish), but metaphorically, we will.

Customer Service

Another aspect of being a “tech fellow” or on a “tech squad” is customer service. Instead of walking into the job with an agenda, we need to make an “ego-less swoop.” A tech fellow neds to make sure the teacher is in control; we ask what the teacher wants to accomplish with technology, before jumping into what we think they should be doing. Even though my school is a progressive school, for teachers, suddenly having students be the “smart ones” will be tough, and perhaps, frightening.

It’s a Brand

A lot of the issues I’m facing right now have to do with marketing and branding - how can I get teachers to use and enjoy an educational implementation of the Geek Squad. As the assistant head of my school said, you’d be more likely to call upon “Mr. Fix-It” than “Boston Electric” because “Mr. Fix-It” contains the word fix - Mr. Fix-It will fix my problem.

Video

Version 2.0 of the video I released then promptly removed on Saturday!

On Viddler:

Enjoy!

It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post - and that doesn’t mean that nothing has been happening. In fact, a lot has been happening, in life, in technology, in everything. I’ve been accepted to two colleges in the past week! It’s reassuring, you know, to get into a school or two.

To start this off, spring is right around the corner. I love spring, it’s my favorite season, fall comes next, and summer and winter can fight it out. Everything just feels fresh in spring, metaphorically and literally. But spring isn’t all new beginnings, because, as a student, you’ve still got about a quarter of the year to finish up. So, spring is the earth refreshing itself, but it doesn’t forget what went on. Damn.

My technology program has been going well. I successfully deployed my technology survey around the school - now I am beginning the process of evaluation, going through each one and extracting the data we want right now. What we’re most interested in is laptop ownership around the school, and whether students thought computers were a vital educational resource. The main aspect of my project I’m focusing on now, is a Student Tech Fellows program, which would allow for students to work one-on-one with faculty and staff members on technology, whether it be designing course curricula that employs technology successfully, or simply learning how to set up a projector. Students would be able to get School Service credit for participating in the program, and they’d also have an official title, “Technology Fellow,” they could put on resumes and college applications. I’m designing the “rigorous” selection process for the program, because if it’s too easy to get in, or become a member, it won’t be as successful - we need to make sure people feel like they need to work to accomplish the title of “Technology Fellow.” Things have been going well, I think.

I got accepted to the beta of Aviary, “a suite of web-based applications (RIAs) for people who create. From image editing to typography to music to 3D to video, we have a tool for artists of all genres.” So far I’m impressed that this is all happening on the web. A few weeks ago, when I applied for the beta, I thought that this was like Adobe Creative Suite. So far, these seem to be amazing web applications that are taking the web in another direction. Expect a full review soon. The one bad thing: it seems to be based off M$ .NET ASP architecture junk. Eek.

I’ve missed blogging. I’ll do more.

Photo Credits:
Kabren Levinson
Aviary
visbeek