Rocketship Discovery Prep and Grassroots Innovation

It isn't every morning that reading the newspaper provides inspiration and hope for a better future for our children.  I read the story about Professor Gupta's work in India first and then the article about Danner's educational model and the charter schools his company has developed. I realized that common treads run though both stories. Their overlapping focus is grass roots innovation. Neither is waiting for government or corporate solutions. They are forging head of their own initiative.

Rocketship Discovery Prep; short documentary about the school

The Washington Post's Rocketship prepares for its big launch is an in depth article about entrepreneur and educator John Danner's Rocketship Discovery Prep charter schools.  Danner is a technology multimillionaire who set out to resolve the achievement gap between poor and privileged students that dooms many students to starting out behind, never catching up and dropping out of school to the peril of our national economy.  To say nothing of the peril of our moral imperative as a civilization to educate our children!

Five years ago Danner founded charter elementary schools in San Jose confident that he had found a solution to the achievement gap. Approximately 90% of Rocketship Discovery students are eligible for free or reduced lunch (indicator of economic status) and 80% are not native English speakers. Recent test scores are indicating his students are out scoring county and state averages in California. The success of these five schools has made them the darlings of the school reform movement. He now has grand dreams of expanding his existing 5 schools to locations around the country. The big question is whether this model that is successful in a small handful of communities can go nationwide and continue that success.


Technology plays a major role in Danner's approach.  Computers address the issue of individualized programs for each student and the costs of that education.  Coming from the technology sector, Danner understands utilizing computers for tasks that require tracking individual needs and assessment.  He also has experience in the trenches as a second grade teacher. Educational technicians and computers play a major role in drilling students in an environment that can cater to their individual needs. At other times during the school day the students interact with the teachers to develop critical thinking skills. The teachers time is not used for rote skill building exercises.  This impacts on the bottom line and has proven successful based on test scores.  The model is relatively new, but it is inspiring to see wealthy individuals taking the initiative to make things better for all of us.

Rural India as I saw it years ago.

This concept of grassroots innovation was echoed by an Associated Press article Indian professor uncovers inventions in the Lynchburg News and Advance.  Professor Anil Gupta has spent over twenty years in the small villages of India looking for the inventions of the unsung geniuses among the local populations. Gupta's premise is that the most exciting and powerful ideas for fighting poverty don't come from research by large corporations but come from ordinary people doing what they need to do to survive. 


Most of his discoveries relate to agriculture, such as a more productive strain of peppers or a hollow spear that pokes a hole in the ground as it drops a seed.  However not all. Professor Gupta has documented over 25,000 inventions.  At the very least the ideas are shared with other villagers. Other inventions are capitalized for further development and the potential of making it to the marketplace.


These are exceptional stories and I love starting my day inspired and thankful that men and women "out there" are not sitting around waiting for answers.

Leveling the Playing Field and What that Means to Kids

Joshua Topolsky has an interesting article in the Washington Post this morning. He discusses the ramifications of developers changing access to the means of distribution and how that changes the digital media landscape.  Angry Birds (Rovio Entertainment) is an example of a product created by a small company that has been able to compete with the big boys.  Angry Birds has been very successful. Last year Rovio grossed  over $106 million dollars. Every app developers dream.

What Does This Mean for Our Kids?

I am not a fan of games, really any kind, digital or not.  I certainly understand I am in the minority.  I am familiar with Angry Birds after watching my daughter play on a train ride from NYC back to VA.
Games aside, this same theory of more open access for developers is true for all kinds of media.  That includes apps, books, educational materials, artwork, animation and more.  Topolsky's point is that we have to learn to be more discriminating. For every good game/media product there are 10 that are not good. 

Media Literacy

Critical thinking and becoming an educated media consumer are lessons that can start early.  The iPad and the computer are perfect platforms for helping kids distinguish between a good use of their time and a waste of time.

As a member of Women in Film & Video (DC) we were actively involved in Media Literacy programs for kids including the Kids World Film Festival. It's an exciting process to help kids understand the power of media and how they can assume responsibility for what they consume.

In my work with WIFV I met Sandra Calvert at Georgetown University's Children's Digital Media Center.  This is a great resource for parents and educators.

Techno-Tale of Two Schools

               

Washington Post had a very interesting article this morning about two schools in the DC area that approach education and technology with opposing philosophies.  The Flint Hill School in Oakton, VA is uber-technofied and The Washington Waldorf School in Bethesda, MD is the opposite.

How?

The article compares the lives of two six-grade students.  One very plugged in and the other growing up in a family and educational system that seeks to restrict access to technology, especially in elementary and middle school.

First thoughts?

I must say, as I see a majority of college students at Lynchburg College (where I teach in the Art Department) wandering around campus literally staring at their cell phones much of the time they are walking, I am a horrified. 

However, as I look at my career and education, it has been technology that has allowed be to bring together my interests in art, animation, business, children and computers and be a successful business-person.   I am sad for my friends, many my age, who don’t embrace what technology makes possible today.

I am a technophile, not question about that.

What did I take from the article?

Upside:

Research is showing that software and interaction with electronic devices can have a positive impact on education. No surprise there.  It allows for personalized teaching plans and access to a myriad of educational programming for even very young children or those who are homeschooled. Lots of pluses.

Downside:

Child development experts say children are developing shorter and shorter attention spans and spending too much time multitasking online.  Research done by children online may just be too easy and result in information cobbled together from online sources. This may not be encouraging critical thinking and the development of original ideas.

Recommendation:

Read the article, it’s very informative.  Moderation in all things still seems to be the answer.  Most of us will never send our children to a school with a $31,000 a year tuition. (The Flint Hill School)  That has to impact on the extent of the technology resources available to the students. However, most of us can afford some kind of electronic devices for our homes.  I feel very fortunate that I grew up in a family with parents who were not afraid to set limits and enforce them.  As an elementary student in the Fifties we could only watch TV for one hour a day. That was a long time ago, now that seems draconian.  I certainly did not enforce that for my two children (now adults).  I was encouraging involvement with technology, but it was a very different environment.  Electronic devices were not as ubiquitous as today.

Moderation in all things. Paying attention to your kids and seeing how the technology is affecting them, both the positive and the negative. Use your judgment to modify behavior you see as harmful. That's what thoughtful parents are doing with all aspects of their children’s lives.