February 4, 2024 • 23 mins
Episode 165 of the Leader of Learning Podcast features John Sowash, an expert in all things Chromebooks, Google apps, and Google Workspace for Education live from the FETC conference in Orlando, Florida. John discusses the future of technology in education, specifically focusing on the impact of AI and the latest developments in Google's educational tools. John sheds light on the challenges and opportunities AI presents in the classroom and shares practical advice for teachers and leaders on navigating these new trends. Dan and John also delve into the exciting advancements in Chromebooks and how educators can leverage web-based tools for teaching and learning.
Guest Information:
Since 2011, John has worked with schools around the world, providing practical, hands-on professional development and technology integration support. He began his educational journey as a high school science teacher exploring the use of Google Docs and Wikis with ninth grade students. John eventually became a high school principal and helped his school launch one of the first 1:1 ipad programs in the country. When the Chromebook made it’s appearance in 2011, he was convinced it was the perfect device for the classroom. John has spent years exploring, testing, listening, and watching the use of Chromebooks in classrooms. This research led to his first book, The Chromebook Classroom, which was released in 2016. In 2014 John started the Google Certification Academy, a program that helps educators earn their Google Certification. A few years later I added the Google Admin Bootcamp to help IT directors effectively manage the technical aspects of Chromebooks and Google Workspace for Education.
John's Website
John's YouTube Channel
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Music credits: https://www.purple-planet.com
Guest Information:
Since 2011, John has worked with schools around the world, providing practical, hands-on professional development and technology integration support. He began his educational journey as a high school science teacher exploring the use of Google Docs and Wikis with ninth grade students. John eventually became a high school principal and helped his school launch one of the first 1:1 ipad programs in the country. When the Chromebook made it’s appearance in 2011, he was convinced it was the perfect device for the classroom. John has spent years exploring, testing, listening, and watching the use of Chromebooks in classrooms. This research led to his first book, The Chromebook Classroom, which was released in 2016. In 2014 John started the Google Certification Academy, a program that helps educators earn their Google Certification. A few years later I added the Google Admin Bootcamp to help IT directors effectively manage the technical aspects of Chromebooks and Google Workspace for Education.
John's Website
John's YouTube Channel
******************************************************************
ACCESS MY INSPIRING RESOURCES:
SUBSCRIBE TO MY YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Sign up for my email newsletter
The Teacher’s Guide to Becoming a School Leader
“Lead to Inspire Growth” eBook
FREE “Unlock Your Leadership Potential” course
******************************************************************
Consider Becoming an Official Show Sponsor - https://leaderoflearning.com/press-kit
Talk Studio is my recording platform of choice for video, audio, and even live streaming. For more information about Talk Studio and to receive 20% off your first billing cycle on ANY paid plan you sign up for, visit https://leaderoflearning.com/melon
Follow Dr. Dan Kreiness on Social Media:
Youtube Channel
Twitter/X
InstagramLinkedIn
TikTok
The Leader Of Learning Podcast is a proud member of the Teach Better Podcast Network. For more information and to find other great podcasts, visit https://teachbetterpodcastnetwork.com
Music credits: https://www.purple-planet.com
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Good pedagogy. Good teaching is relativelytimeless. I just try to focus my
time and energy on helping teachers dothe things we already know that work.
They're not always the sexiest, butyou gotta do the good, quality work.
Welcome to the Leader of Learning podcast. I'm your host, doctor Dan
(00:21):
Krinis, and this is where Ihelp educators grow their impact as instructional leaders
because my research and leadership experiences haveled me to understand that someone like you,
regardless of your role or your title, can have a tremendous impact on
your organization. I chat with inspiringguests who are truly making an impact as
(00:42):
instructional leaders. Whether this is yourfirst time listening or you come back for
more, I hope you've subscribed tothis show on your preferred podcast app so
you don't miss any of the greatepisodes, topics, or guests. Anyway,
I'm so glad you've tuned in.Now let's get started. Hey,
(01:07):
they're Leader of Learning. Welcome intoepisode one sixty five of the Leader of
Learning podcast. I know it's beena little while since we last published an
episode, but I did just wantto remind you that in order to keep
in touch and keep up to datewith everything that's going on with me and
with Leader of Learning. You canalways subscribe to my email newsletter by heading
(01:30):
to Dancrinis dot com slash news.You'll be able to keep up with the
latest happenings with Leader of Learning aswell as be on the inside track to
some really great resources that are sharedhere. Anyway, again, in order
to subscribe, head to Dancrinis dotcom slash news. This episode is going
to feature a really great guest andsomeone who I've gotten to know quite a
(01:53):
bit over the past several years.John Sowash is a leading expert in the
areas of Google for education as wellas using Chromebooks for education. His brand,
The Chromebook Classroom and his podcast ofthe same name are really inspirational to
myself who works in a school ina district that uses almost exclusively Chromebooks,
(02:19):
but to many educators and educational leaderswhen it comes to educational technology in general,
but more specifically using Chromebooks and reallytapping into the vast array of products,
services, and resources that are comingout all the time and being updated
(02:42):
all the time by Google. Iwas recently able to attend the FETC Conference
in Orlando, Florida. If you'venever been there. FETC stands for Future
of Education Technology Conference. It wasan amazing time. I learned so much.
I left very much inspired to continuethe work to try and innovate in
(03:04):
education, especially through the use oftechnology and preparing our teachers, but especially
our students to be more future ready. And that was where I got a
chance to connect with John finally inperson after speaking just virtually for many years
now, and to record this interviewwith John. So without further ado,
(03:24):
we will get right to it afterthese messages. Is my interview with John
Sowash. All right, welcome back, Leader of Learning. I'm here at
the FETC conference in Orlando, Floridawith good friend, although we just met
in person for the first time,John Sowash. John is an expert in
(03:46):
all things chromebooks and Google and Googleapps and Google what do we call it
now, Google work, Google Workspace, Education rolls right off exactly, So
John, welcome. It's been apleasure meeting you in person. And I
guess for the audience who may notknow you yet, if you could just
introduce yourself, who you are,where you are, and what you do.
Yeah, my name is John Slash, and I help teachers and students
(04:10):
use Google products in the classroom.That's the most discinct way to put it.
I do courses, written a book, webinars, person pd conferences,
blogging, podcasting, everything related toGoogle. I know a lot about a
very small part of the Internet.So we're at the Future of Education Technology
(04:32):
Conference, and I think I'd beremiss if I didn't first ask you first
and foremost, where are we goingin the near future with technology and education?
And then of course, specific tokind of your expertise as it relates
to Google and chromebooks, what's next, like what's on the horizon, and
(04:57):
then maybe even beyond the horizon,what's really in the future. Well,
I mean, it doesn't take arock scientist to notice that AI is,
you know, just taking over everything. I don't know that you could attend
a single session here at fetc.Without hearing AI mentioned in some fashion.
(05:18):
Google is certainly on that bandwagon aswell. And A that's cool. I'm
going to keep my eye on it, using it, trying to figure out
where it fits into the classroom.But I mean, to be completely honest
with you, you know, it'salways great to check out the newest,
the latest and greatest things, butultimately, good pedagogy, good teaching is
(05:41):
relatively timeless. You could always addin a little bit of AI to good
teaching, but I just try tofocus my time and energy on helping teachers
do the things we already know thatwork. They're not always the sexiest,
but you gotta do the good,quality work, and that I mean that
takes up more than more time thananybody has to check out. So I
(06:03):
try not to chase all the shinythings and focus on, you know,
things that are tried and true.But like I said, AI is absolutely
going to impact every aspect of life, not just education. One of the
things that I appreciate when I listento your podcast and consume your content is
that you tend to kind of hitall angles when it comes to teach.
(06:27):
You with chromebooks and using Google tools. You talk about it from how to
use it with and how it impactsstudents, obviously teachers in the classroom,
but even leaders, whether they bebuilding leaders or IT leaders and technology leaders
in the district. So I'm wonderingwhen it comes to AI, or just
in general, some of these newtrending technologies like what does it look like
(06:53):
at each of those levels, consideringhow are we using these tools with students?
What should teachers be doing right nowto prepare themselves for the next challenges,
let's say, the next risks thatthey should be taking in the classroom
instructionally, and then how do ourleaders support all that? Absolutely now,
Dan, the first thing I'm goingto say is that anybody who ever comes
(07:14):
on your show and tells you howAI is going to impact everything and what
everybody should do about it is lyingbecause nobody has a clue. Everybody is
just guessing. We really don't knowand do not understand how we are going
to effectively implement AI at the studentlevel. There are so many privacy issues,
(07:39):
There's just a lot of technical issuesthat have to be worked out.
I don't have a great sense ofthat. I mean, every AI tool
that I'm seeing so far is,you know, thirteen plus is the best
I've seen eighteen. I mean Google'stools are mostly eighteen plus right now.
Nobody's really pushing AI at the studentlevel. So what I would say in
(08:00):
terms of leadership is you cannot havean opinion about AI if you have not
used it. You have got toget in there and you've got to play
around with it. Form your ownopinion. Maybe you think it's the worst
thing ever, that's fine, butyou've got to actually use it. You've
got to use chat, GPT,you got to use Google Bard, you've
got to use Adobe's products, Microsoft'syou know, co pilot, use them
(08:22):
all. Form your own opinion.Read what others are saying, which you
have to use it yourself. Everyuse case is so unique. That's why
AI so fascinating, is I mean, I've talked to Principles, math teachers,
English teachers, kindergarten teachers, schoolnurses, psychologists. Everybody has a
unique and interesting way to use AI. So I can't possibly tell everybody how
(08:48):
it's gonna work. You just gotto try it out. Same thing with
Principles. Leaders need to give thefreedom in the space for their teachers to
try it. I do have apretty hard time when schools are you know,
blocking it, restricting it can't useit. I don't think that's widespread.
It certainly makes the news when ithappens, but giving you your staff
time and space to explore I thinkis important. This podcast is a proud
(09:15):
member of the Teach Better Podcast Network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and
the podcast to get you there.Explore more podcasts at www dot Teach Better
Podcastnetwork dot com. Now let's getback to the episode. What about teachers,
especially or leaders themselves, who mightsay, oh, that's easier said
(09:37):
than done, that I don't knowhow to get in there and start playing
with the tools and learning the tools, or I don't have time or I
don't have the time to give overto teachers to do it. Do you
have any suggestions for just where tostart? Yeah, I mean, I
really don't think there's any excuse foranybody saying I just don't know how to
(09:58):
get started. I mean, YouTubeis an amazing thing. There are so
many resources, free resources to learnabout anything you want, so there's ample
opportunity, no cost, easy toget started. Time is always a factor.
The reality is we make time forthe things we feel are important.
(10:18):
So yeah, something might have toget cut, but that's that's always true.
The value proposition for AI and Ihave personally found this is you do
save time. Like, depending onwhat you're doing, you are saving time,
and so you may have to investa little bit to get started,
but long term, I think you'llcome out ahead. I mean it is
(10:39):
cool. That is, it's stillsuch an exciting time in education and exploring
new tools, new trends, newtopics. This may be a timely conversation
too that we're having. It soundslike seems like there were some announcements that
you are part of, not partof, but att of kind of breaking
(11:01):
that Google just the oh yeah,Google School is always announcing something that we're
at fetc. Everybody else is atthe BET conference that's the British Educational Technology
Conference really bad, like is thesize over in London and Google's there.
They made a bunch of announcements today. You've got some typical kind of just
(11:24):
regular updates to Chromebooks and Google Classroom, just a little new features. They
did talk about duet ai for GoogleWorkspace. They announced it today. The
reality is has been out for months, but they've never really promoted it for
education districts. It's they've been promotingit for business. So they've kind of
(11:45):
announced it like schools can sign upfor it as well. I've been using
it for two three months. It'sfine. Hasn't blown me away, and
you know, the the challenge andthis is not really Google's problem it's going
to be a challenge for everybody.Is the cost. So duet AI for
(12:05):
Google Workspace is thirty dollars per userper month. That's a hefty press.
It's a lot of money. Nowit doesn't matter any AI tool. We
are quickly exiting the initial phase ofAI, which is help us figure out
how to do this, and we'regetting into paid phase. I mean,
(12:26):
you look at Magic, School,brisk any of the popular they're all charging
now. AI is so computationally expensiveit costs them a ton of money.
So there's just no way around that. I just saw Sam Altman, the
CEO of chat GPT or open Ai, said that really for AI to take
(12:48):
the next step forward, there hasto be a huge breakthrough in energy,
Like they have to figure out howto make processors run faster on less energy
to lower the cost overall. Ijust saw I don't know if you saw
this headline. Microsoft just hired abunch of nuclear physicists because they're working on
(13:09):
some crazy like energy thing, whoknows. But we have the AI technology.
We just have to lessen the priceand not help everybody. Wow.
So it's exciting, but it's alsogetting expensive. Did I see that?
There were some Google Classrooms. Ohyeah, got some updates. I mean
(13:31):
the one that I think teachers willbe most excited about is custom persistent groups
project groups. So Google Classroom hasalways had a huge problem where you can
easily sign stuff to everybody, butif you want to create a group and
then use that group, you know, for an entire quarter or something,
it just was no great way todo that. So that'll be a really
nice update. I don't have adate on that, just coming soon.
(13:54):
I remember when they first launched thefeature to where you can assign a certain
students, and I thought that inand of itself was kind of a game
changer. That's halfway there. Yeah, like when it comes to differentiation for
students, being able to assign differentthings to different kids like they would be
in groups. But it was alittle wonky and I hate using that word,
(14:18):
but that's the best. It's anapp description. Yeah, uh,
you know again the challenge. Youknow, that feature and all of the
other Google Classroom related features that wereannounced today are all tied to Google workspaceed
for Education plus that's their premium edition, and a lot of schools have you
know, become a little frustrated bythat. The reality is even as big
(14:41):
as Google is, they do nothave unlimited resources, especially in education.
I mean, all their money ismade by search. The education team does
not make any money, and sothey have to recoup that somehow, and
so most of the education specific featuresmoving forward are going to require a premium
premium account. Yeah, that makessense. As we wrap up, I
(15:05):
caught some of your session yesterday afternoonon all this stuff, chromebooks especially,
and I always get a kick outof when you say that you do everything
on a chromebook and you moved awayfrom MacBook. But I guess specifically,
you know, my entire district,and I'm in a pretty large district minus
(15:30):
the kindergarten students are all on Chromebooks, and starting next school year, our
entire six through twelve, all themiddle schools and high schools will be part
of the Verizon Innovative Learning School Program, which helps provide Chromebooks to districts and
students for consistent access and equity.So I'm kind of curious on a personal
(15:54):
level too, like where are wegoing with chromebooks, because I know that
one of the things you share washow far they have come and how they
keep upgrading and updating and just gettingbetter and better, not just for students
but for everyone. So I kindof wanted to give you the floor and
ask you about chromebooks specifically. Yeah, so two things have happened. Certainly,
(16:15):
chromos has matured as a platform.It's not just a web browser anymore.
So that has happened, and thatwill continue to happen. You know,
I don't really think there's any glaringmissing pieces for Chromo ass They'll just
keep making a little bit better everytime. But really, the thing that
has changed when I started using chromebookfull time, there were some rough spots.
(16:36):
The most difficult thing for me tofigure out how to do in Chromebork
was podcasting, recording and editing audio. There just weren't a lot of great
tools. The second thing that's reallyimproved is just the web has matured.
I mean, there are very fewthings you cannot do in a browser today,
seven, eight, ten years ago. That was not always the case.
(16:57):
You know, I was teaching duringthe app craze of you know,
the iPad launch of what twenty nine, ten eleven, where everything had to
have an app. I feel thatthat's worn off and people are like,
you know, what. The Web'sgreat. I don't have to update it.
It just works when I go there. Everything's in the cloud. Internet
connections have gotten a lot more stable, faster, and so it's just an
(17:18):
expectation. So yeah, today,I mean, there's really nothing you can't
do in the browser. There arecertainly some things that I would, you
know, love to see improved.I mean, even the Adobe Creative Suite,
they're not there yet, but they'removing in a web direction, having
(17:41):
web versions of Photoshop, for example. It's kind of they're not quite but
you know five years ago that wasn'teven you couldn't even contemplate that. So
yeah, it's good, Dan.What's it going to take to get you
to switch to Team Chrome? Youknow, it's funny because I was thinking,
as you were talking about some toolsthat I like to use that aren't
(18:06):
web based, but I could probablyfind substitutes that are. And I'll give
you example. When I edit forvideo and for YouTube, I like using
tools like Cantasia and Da Vinci Resolve. Da Vinci Resolve is I mean that's
like a full feature professional platform.However, one that is really trending and
(18:27):
up and coming, and you know, it's a it's kind of a tiktoky
thing is cap cut and they havean amazing web version of their platform,
and I've dabbled in it a littlebit. I don't use it a lot,
but yeah, like you said,there's there are a lot of opportunities
for doing what you need to doon the web. At one point I
(18:48):
got around using Audacity on a chromebookby installing Linux and the Linux version.
But yeah, so I think daVinci has a Linux version too. That
could be I haven't explored that,but yeah I could. I could probably
switch to being ach chrobook guy.You can do everything you need to do
on the web. It definitely wouldpotentially require a workflow change. Now,
(19:14):
since this this is the Leader ofLearning podcast, you know your district is
all in on chromebooks. The biggestmistake that I see schools making with chromebook
deployments is teachers and leadership not usingchromebooks. Now, I'm not you don't
have to use a chromebook full time, but there is there are differences between
(19:37):
chromebooks, Mac and PC, andso if you want to set an example
as a leader, it would meanso much if the principal walked into the
next staff meeting using a Chromebook.You need to set the example if you
expect your students to use it,and you can fully believe that platform is
one that's good for learning, itshould be good enough for you. It's
(19:57):
gonna take a little work, noteasy, but it can be done.
No, I agree with that onehundred percent. As you were talking,
though, I feel kind of proudthat I don't know about all the leaders,
but the teachers prefer a lot oftimes to use the Verizon issued chromebooks
we have for a couple of reasons. One they're touchscreen. Two, we
(20:19):
have Verizon data plans on each ofthe devices, So essentially they operate like
a cell phone where if you're noton Wi Fi, you're somewhere where there's
not Internet, but there's data,there's Verizon cell service, you can still
use your Chromebook. But also,and probably most importantly, we've found ways
(20:41):
we have across the district ViewSonic screensas opposed to like smartboards or Prometheans.
We have ViewSonic and view Sonic hasan app called Vcast and you can send
or cast your Chromebook screen. Soit used to be a couple of years
ago when we first got these oh, I'm sorry. There's really there's no
HDMI oh on the device, soI'm sorry you can't share your screen on
(21:03):
the view Sonic. But now wecan cast wirelessly and it works amazingly.
The teacher can actually carry the devicearound the classroom if they need to.
It's touch screen. It's really great. And to your point too, I
still see them even not in theclassroom but carrying them to staff meetings and
professional development. So it is prettycool. As we go, I would
(21:27):
be remiss if I didn't ask alsofor you to tell us where we can
find you and access your content andyour Chromebook Classroom brand and everything that you're
doing. Yeah, if you justsearch for my name or Chromebook classroom should
pull up pretty easily, have theChromo Classroom blog, podcast, YouTube channel,
(21:48):
and yeah, chat about all thingsChroma can web based things, so
anything that's web based we would jumpin talk about, like we've been chat
about AI is hot right now,so we've been talking a lot about that
and whatever the latest updates are.I try to break it down and tell
you what's important. All right,Well, it's been great meeting up in
person. Thanks for your time,Dan, You've been an Internet friend for
(22:11):
a long time. A right,and it's great to meet you in person.
That's why conferences like this are soawesome, so much better than the
virtual ones, because you get tochat with people in the whole way,
see people from all of the country. Definitely, all right, my friend,
Thanks, thanks for your time.Well that's it for this episode.
(22:33):
Thank you so much for listening.If you haven't done so yet, don't
forget to subscribe to this show onyour favorite podcast app. If you enjoy
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(22:59):
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(23:21):
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again, and remember, no matterwho you are or where you are,
you are a Leader of Learning.
Good pedagogy. Good teaching is relativelytimeless. I just try to focus my
time and energy on helping teachers dothe things we already know that work.
They're not always the sexiest, butyou gotta do the good, quality work.
Welcome to the Leader of Learning podcast. I'm your host, doctor Dan
(00:21):
Krinis, and this is where Ihelp educators grow their impact as instructional leaders
because my research and leadership experiences haveled me to understand that someone like you,
regardless of your role or your title, can have a tremendous impact on
your organization. I chat with inspiringguests who are truly making an impact as
(00:42):
instructional leaders. Whether this is yourfirst time listening or you come back for
more, I hope you've subscribed tothis show on your preferred podcast app so
you don't miss any of the greatepisodes, topics, or guests. Anyway,
I'm so glad you've tuned in.Now let's get started. Hey,
(01:07):
they're Leader of Learning. Welcome intoepisode one sixty five of the Leader of
Learning podcast. I know it's beena little while since we last published an
episode, but I did just wantto remind you that in order to keep
in touch and keep up to datewith everything that's going on with me and
with Leader of Learning. You canalways subscribe to my email newsletter by heading
(01:30):
to Dancrinis dot com slash news.You'll be able to keep up with the
latest happenings with Leader of Learning aswell as be on the inside track to
some really great resources that are sharedhere. Anyway, again, in order
to subscribe, head to Dancrinis dotcom slash news. This episode is going
to feature a really great guest andsomeone who I've gotten to know quite a
(01:53):
bit over the past several years.John Sowash is a leading expert in the
areas of Google for education as wellas using Chromebooks for education. His brand,
The Chromebook Classroom and his podcast ofthe same name are really inspirational to
myself who works in a school ina district that uses almost exclusively Chromebooks,
(02:19):
but to many educators and educational leaderswhen it comes to educational technology in general,
but more specifically using Chromebooks and reallytapping into the vast array of products,
services, and resources that are comingout all the time and being updated
(02:42):
all the time by Google. Iwas recently able to attend the FETC Conference
in Orlando, Florida. If you'venever been there. FETC stands for Future
of Education Technology Conference. It wasan amazing time. I learned so much.
I left very much inspired to continuethe work to try and innovate in
(03:04):
education, especially through the use oftechnology and preparing our teachers, but especially
our students to be more future ready. And that was where I got a
chance to connect with John finally inperson after speaking just virtually for many years
now, and to record this interviewwith John. So without further ado,
(03:24):
we will get right to it afterthese messages. Is my interview with John
Sowash. All right, welcome back, Leader of Learning. I'm here at
the FETC conference in Orlando, Floridawith good friend, although we just met
in person for the first time,John Sowash. John is an expert in
(03:46):
all things chromebooks and Google and Googleapps and Google what do we call it
now, Google work, Google Workspace, Education rolls right off exactly, So
John, welcome. It's been apleasure meeting you in person. And I
guess for the audience who may notknow you yet, if you could just
introduce yourself, who you are,where you are, and what you do.
Yeah, my name is John Slash, and I help teachers and students
(04:10):
use Google products in the classroom.That's the most discinct way to put it.
I do courses, written a book, webinars, person pd conferences,
blogging, podcasting, everything related toGoogle. I know a lot about a
very small part of the Internet.So we're at the Future of Education Technology
(04:32):
Conference, and I think I'd beremiss if I didn't first ask you first
and foremost, where are we goingin the near future with technology and education?
And then of course, specific tokind of your expertise as it relates
to Google and chromebooks, what's next, like what's on the horizon, and
(04:57):
then maybe even beyond the horizon,what's really in the future. Well,
I mean, it doesn't take arock scientist to notice that AI is,
you know, just taking over everything. I don't know that you could attend
a single session here at fetc.Without hearing AI mentioned in some fashion.
(05:18):
Google is certainly on that bandwagon aswell. And A that's cool. I'm
going to keep my eye on it, using it, trying to figure out
where it fits into the classroom.But I mean, to be completely honest
with you, you know, it'salways great to check out the newest,
the latest and greatest things, butultimately, good pedagogy, good teaching is
(05:41):
relatively timeless. You could always addin a little bit of AI to good
teaching, but I just try tofocus my time and energy on helping teachers
do the things we already know thatwork. They're not always the sexiest,
but you gotta do the good,quality work, and that I mean that
takes up more than more time thananybody has to check out. So I
(06:03):
try not to chase all the shinythings and focus on, you know,
things that are tried and true.But like I said, AI is absolutely
going to impact every aspect of life, not just education. One of the
things that I appreciate when I listento your podcast and consume your content is
that you tend to kind of hitall angles when it comes to teach.
(06:27):
You with chromebooks and using Google tools. You talk about it from how to
use it with and how it impactsstudents, obviously teachers in the classroom,
but even leaders, whether they bebuilding leaders or IT leaders and technology leaders
in the district. So I'm wonderingwhen it comes to AI, or just
in general, some of these newtrending technologies like what does it look like
(06:53):
at each of those levels, consideringhow are we using these tools with students?
What should teachers be doing right nowto prepare themselves for the next challenges,
let's say, the next risks thatthey should be taking in the classroom
instructionally, and then how do ourleaders support all that? Absolutely now,
Dan, the first thing I'm goingto say is that anybody who ever comes
(07:14):
on your show and tells you howAI is going to impact everything and what
everybody should do about it is lyingbecause nobody has a clue. Everybody is
just guessing. We really don't knowand do not understand how we are going
to effectively implement AI at the studentlevel. There are so many privacy issues,
(07:39):
There's just a lot of technical issuesthat have to be worked out.
I don't have a great sense ofthat. I mean, every AI tool
that I'm seeing so far is,you know, thirteen plus is the best
I've seen eighteen. I mean Google'stools are mostly eighteen plus right now.
Nobody's really pushing AI at the studentlevel. So what I would say in
(08:00):
terms of leadership is you cannot havean opinion about AI if you have not
used it. You have got toget in there and you've got to play
around with it. Form your ownopinion. Maybe you think it's the worst
thing ever, that's fine, butyou've got to actually use it. You've
got to use chat, GPT,you got to use Google Bard, you've
got to use Adobe's products, Microsoft'syou know, co pilot, use them
(08:22):
all. Form your own opinion.Read what others are saying, which you
have to use it yourself. Everyuse case is so unique. That's why
AI so fascinating, is I mean, I've talked to Principles, math teachers,
English teachers, kindergarten teachers, schoolnurses, psychologists. Everybody has a
unique and interesting way to use AI. So I can't possibly tell everybody how
(08:48):
it's gonna work. You just gotto try it out. Same thing with
Principles. Leaders need to give thefreedom in the space for their teachers to
try it. I do have apretty hard time when schools are you know,
blocking it, restricting it can't useit. I don't think that's widespread.
It certainly makes the news when ithappens, but giving you your staff
time and space to explore I thinkis important. This podcast is a proud
(09:15):
member of the Teach Better Podcast Network, Better Today, Better Tomorrow, and
the podcast to get you there.Explore more podcasts at www dot Teach Better
Podcastnetwork dot com. Now let's getback to the episode. What about teachers,
especially or leaders themselves, who mightsay, oh, that's easier said
(09:37):
than done, that I don't knowhow to get in there and start playing
with the tools and learning the tools, or I don't have time or I
don't have the time to give overto teachers to do it. Do you
have any suggestions for just where tostart? Yeah, I mean, I
really don't think there's any excuse foranybody saying I just don't know how to
(09:58):
get started. I mean, YouTubeis an amazing thing. There are so
many resources, free resources to learnabout anything you want, so there's ample
opportunity, no cost, easy toget started. Time is always a factor.
The reality is we make time forthe things we feel are important.
(10:18):
So yeah, something might have toget cut, but that's that's always true.
The value proposition for AI and Ihave personally found this is you do
save time. Like, depending onwhat you're doing, you are saving time,
and so you may have to investa little bit to get started,
but long term, I think you'llcome out ahead. I mean it is
(10:39):
cool. That is, it's stillsuch an exciting time in education and exploring
new tools, new trends, newtopics. This may be a timely conversation
too that we're having. It soundslike seems like there were some announcements that
you are part of, not partof, but att of kind of breaking
(11:01):
that Google just the oh yeah,Google School is always announcing something that we're
at fetc. Everybody else is atthe BET conference that's the British Educational Technology
Conference really bad, like is thesize over in London and Google's there.
They made a bunch of announcements today. You've got some typical kind of just
(11:24):
regular updates to Chromebooks and Google Classroom, just a little new features. They
did talk about duet ai for GoogleWorkspace. They announced it today. The
reality is has been out for months, but they've never really promoted it for
education districts. It's they've been promotingit for business. So they've kind of
(11:45):
announced it like schools can sign upfor it as well. I've been using
it for two three months. It'sfine. Hasn't blown me away, and
you know, the the challenge andthis is not really Google's problem it's going
to be a challenge for everybody.Is the cost. So duet AI for
(12:05):
Google Workspace is thirty dollars per userper month. That's a hefty press.
It's a lot of money. Nowit doesn't matter any AI tool. We
are quickly exiting the initial phase ofAI, which is help us figure out
how to do this, and we'regetting into paid phase. I mean,
(12:26):
you look at Magic, School,brisk any of the popular they're all charging
now. AI is so computationally expensiveit costs them a ton of money.
So there's just no way around that. I just saw Sam Altman, the
CEO of chat GPT or open Ai, said that really for AI to take
(12:48):
the next step forward, there hasto be a huge breakthrough in energy,
Like they have to figure out howto make processors run faster on less energy
to lower the cost overall. Ijust saw I don't know if you saw
this headline. Microsoft just hired abunch of nuclear physicists because they're working on
(13:09):
some crazy like energy thing, whoknows. But we have the AI technology.
We just have to lessen the priceand not help everybody. Wow.
So it's exciting, but it's alsogetting expensive. Did I see that?
There were some Google Classrooms. Ohyeah, got some updates. I mean
(13:31):
the one that I think teachers willbe most excited about is custom persistent groups
project groups. So Google Classroom hasalways had a huge problem where you can
easily sign stuff to everybody, butif you want to create a group and
then use that group, you know, for an entire quarter or something,
it just was no great way todo that. So that'll be a really
nice update. I don't have adate on that, just coming soon.
(13:54):
I remember when they first launched thefeature to where you can assign a certain
students, and I thought that inand of itself was kind of a game
changer. That's halfway there. Yeah, like when it comes to differentiation for
students, being able to assign differentthings to different kids like they would be
in groups. But it was alittle wonky and I hate using that word,
(14:18):
but that's the best. It's anapp description. Yeah, uh,
you know again the challenge. Youknow, that feature and all of the
other Google Classroom related features that wereannounced today are all tied to Google workspaceed
for Education plus that's their premium edition, and a lot of schools have you
know, become a little frustrated bythat. The reality is even as big
(14:41):
as Google is, they do nothave unlimited resources, especially in education.
I mean, all their money ismade by search. The education team does
not make any money, and sothey have to recoup that somehow, and
so most of the education specific featuresmoving forward are going to require a premium
premium account. Yeah, that makessense. As we wrap up, I
(15:05):
caught some of your session yesterday afternoonon all this stuff, chromebooks especially,
and I always get a kick outof when you say that you do everything
on a chromebook and you moved awayfrom MacBook. But I guess specifically,
you know, my entire district,and I'm in a pretty large district minus
(15:30):
the kindergarten students are all on Chromebooks, and starting next school year, our
entire six through twelve, all themiddle schools and high schools will be part
of the Verizon Innovative Learning School Program, which helps provide Chromebooks to districts and
students for consistent access and equity.So I'm kind of curious on a personal
(15:54):
level too, like where are wegoing with chromebooks, because I know that
one of the things you share washow far they have come and how they
keep upgrading and updating and just gettingbetter and better, not just for students
but for everyone. So I kindof wanted to give you the floor and
ask you about chromebooks specifically. Yeah, so two things have happened. Certainly,
(16:15):
chromos has matured as a platform.It's not just a web browser anymore.
So that has happened, and thatwill continue to happen. You know,
I don't really think there's any glaringmissing pieces for Chromo ass They'll just
keep making a little bit better everytime. But really, the thing that
has changed when I started using chromebookfull time, there were some rough spots.
(16:36):
The most difficult thing for me tofigure out how to do in Chromebork
was podcasting, recording and editing audio. There just weren't a lot of great
tools. The second thing that's reallyimproved is just the web has matured.
I mean, there are very fewthings you cannot do in a browser today,
seven, eight, ten years ago. That was not always the case.
(16:57):
You know, I was teaching duringthe app craze of you know,
the iPad launch of what twenty nine, ten eleven, where everything had to
have an app. I feel thatthat's worn off and people are like,
you know, what. The Web'sgreat. I don't have to update it.
It just works when I go there. Everything's in the cloud. Internet
connections have gotten a lot more stable, faster, and so it's just an
(17:18):
expectation. So yeah, today,I mean, there's really nothing you can't
do in the browser. There arecertainly some things that I would, you
know, love to see improved.I mean, even the Adobe Creative Suite,
they're not there yet, but they'removing in a web direction, having
(17:41):
web versions of Photoshop, for example. It's kind of they're not quite but
you know five years ago that wasn'teven you couldn't even contemplate that. So
yeah, it's good, Dan.What's it going to take to get you
to switch to Team Chrome? Youknow, it's funny because I was thinking,
as you were talking about some toolsthat I like to use that aren't
(18:06):
web based, but I could probablyfind substitutes that are. And I'll give
you example. When I edit forvideo and for YouTube, I like using
tools like Cantasia and Da Vinci Resolve. Da Vinci Resolve is I mean that's
like a full feature professional platform.However, one that is really trending and
(18:27):
up and coming, and you know, it's a it's kind of a tiktoky
thing is cap cut and they havean amazing web version of their platform,
and I've dabbled in it a littlebit. I don't use it a lot,
but yeah, like you said,there's there are a lot of opportunities
for doing what you need to doon the web. At one point I
(18:48):
got around using Audacity on a chromebookby installing Linux and the Linux version.
But yeah, so I think daVinci has a Linux version too. That
could be I haven't explored that,but yeah I could. I could probably
switch to being ach chrobook guy.You can do everything you need to do
on the web. It definitely wouldpotentially require a workflow change. Now,
(19:14):
since this this is the Leader ofLearning podcast, you know your district is
all in on chromebooks. The biggestmistake that I see schools making with chromebook
deployments is teachers and leadership not usingchromebooks. Now, I'm not you don't
have to use a chromebook full time, but there is there are differences between
(19:37):
chromebooks, Mac and PC, andso if you want to set an example
as a leader, it would meanso much if the principal walked into the
next staff meeting using a Chromebook.You need to set the example if you
expect your students to use it,and you can fully believe that platform is
one that's good for learning, itshould be good enough for you. It's
(19:57):
gonna take a little work, noteasy, but it can be done.
No, I agree with that onehundred percent. As you were talking,
though, I feel kind of proudthat I don't know about all the leaders,
but the teachers prefer a lot oftimes to use the Verizon issued chromebooks
we have for a couple of reasons. One they're touchscreen. Two, we
(20:19):
have Verizon data plans on each ofthe devices, So essentially they operate like
a cell phone where if you're noton Wi Fi, you're somewhere where there's
not Internet, but there's data,there's Verizon cell service, you can still
use your Chromebook. But also,and probably most importantly, we've found ways
(20:41):
we have across the district ViewSonic screensas opposed to like smartboards or Prometheans.
We have ViewSonic and view Sonic hasan app called Vcast and you can send
or cast your Chromebook screen. Soit used to be a couple of years
ago when we first got these oh, I'm sorry. There's really there's no
HDMI oh on the device, soI'm sorry you can't share your screen on
(21:03):
the view Sonic. But now wecan cast wirelessly and it works amazingly.
The teacher can actually carry the devicearound the classroom if they need to.
It's touch screen. It's really great. And to your point too, I
still see them even not in theclassroom but carrying them to staff meetings and
professional development. So it is prettycool. As we go, I would
(21:27):
be remiss if I didn't ask alsofor you to tell us where we can
find you and access your content andyour Chromebook Classroom brand and everything that you're
doing. Yeah, if you justsearch for my name or Chromebook classroom should
pull up pretty easily, have theChromo Classroom blog, podcast, YouTube channel,
(21:48):
and yeah, chat about all thingsChroma can web based things, so
anything that's web based we would jumpin talk about, like we've been chat
about AI is hot right now,so we've been talking a lot about that
and whatever the latest updates are.I try to break it down and tell
you what's important. All right,Well, it's been great meeting up in
person. Thanks for your time,Dan, You've been an Internet friend for
(22:11):
a long time. A right,and it's great to meet you in person.
That's why conferences like this are soawesome, so much better than the
virtual ones, because you get tochat with people in the whole way,
see people from all of the country. Definitely, all right, my friend,
Thanks, thanks for your time.Well that's it for this episode.
(22:33):
Thank you so much for listening.If you haven't done so yet, don't
forget to subscribe to this show onyour favorite podcast app. If you enjoy
the content covered on this show,I want to ask you to do this
one thing for me, Please shareit. The biggest favor you could ever
do for me is to please letothers know about what I'm doing and how
I'm helping educators grow their impact asinstructional leaders. I hope you can share
(22:59):
this podcast with other educators, leaders, friends, or anyone you think would
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the great content that I share,please visit my website at Leader of Learning
(23:21):
dot com. That's where you canfind my online courses, YouTube channel,
blog, how to connect with meon social media, and even ways that
you can support the show like donatingor purchasing Leader of Learning merchandise. Thanks
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you are a Leader of Learning.
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