How Do We Get From Smart to Smarter?

• Kenneth L. Decroo

Consultant - Virtual Teacher

decrkl@charter.net

909.266.1073

A Little About Me….• Educated at UCR, CSUSB, National and Capella University• Mission – Seamlessly infuse technology into standards-based curriculum…..• Residence: Running Springs, playa de estero & bahia de los angeles• Married – Tammy – Special ED teacher• Educational Consultant – Chronic Absences & Drop-out Recovery and

Transformational Change - RIM• WASC – Team Member – Belmont HS is next• Retired from FUSD – Teacher, AP, Principal and Director• Retired as ACSA State Delegate for Educational Options (Alternative ED)• Teacher – Bilingual Elementary, Middle School Technology and Science, HS CSDR• Programs – Tapped-In,Teach the Teachers, Camp Internet, Classroom Connect,

Jason Project, Discovery – United Streaming Video, Promethean – Keynote in England

• Hollywood Movies – Owned the WATC, Stunts and Trainer• Faculty – Community Colleges, UC and CSU• Linguistic Research Scientist– Washoe Project – University of Nevada, Reno

Overview: Where Have All the Students Gone?

A School District Near You!

• 44,000 students

• Shift in Demographics

• Drop-outs

• Chronic Absences

• Truancy

• Under Performing Schools

• Traditional Interventions

Traditional Interventions

• Independent Study Programs: Long- and Short- Term

• Adult Education• AOD • Expulsion • Continuation High Schools• Teacher and site based – Avid, PLCs, etc.

Citrus High School

• Low test scores – API/AYP• SAIT – State managed/Underperforming• Little technology• Talent Underused – AP, Tech Teacher• Several Programs not Part of the Mission-

Adult Special Needs Program and ATI.• READ 180

Citrus High School….

• Restructure – Existing Programs – Rm. 10, Panel, etc.

• New Talent – Strong in Curriculum and Tech

• Remove Programs Not Part of the Mission

• Define Mission

• Productivity Software – Easy Gradebook Pro

• Redefine Communication Email – Webpage – Online Bulletin

• United Streaming Video – Discovery

• Promethean Boards

• Social Networks

New Interventions

• Restructuring of Continuation High School: SARB, Spanish, Panels, Leadership Team, Departments,etc.

• CBI – Credit Recovery

• Twilight Program – After School Program

• GED – After School

Transformational Change the Ant Way!

• Community Research

• Social Linguistic Research & Animal Communication

• Animal Behavior

• Swarm Theory

• Bit Torrent Application

• Change at Citrus High School

Community: Networks of Interaction - Anthropology

Community: Networks of Interaction – Animal Behavior

Community: Networks of interaction

• Early definition – Geographically defined

• Urban Anthropology and Socio-linguistics – Networks of interaction

• Ethnography of a Deaf Community - 1978

Internet

• Community based on a network of interaction• Knowledge is held both collectively and

individually• No centralized control • Access is open and free• Open Sources – Tapped-In, Facebook, WISE,

Camp Internet, Classroom Connect, Bit Torrent…..

Communication vs. Language

• Non-verbal vs. Verbal

• Gestures

• American Sign Language (ASL)

• Washoe Project

Language

• Phonemes – Distinct building blocks of language

• Sign Language – Cheremes

• Inter-specific Communication – Teaching sign language to Chimpanzees

Washoe Project - 1978

Swarm TheoryIt’s rather perplexing to watch how the individual, local activities of an agent (ants for example) can produce, when aggregated, surprisingly effective outcomes for an entire group. Swarm Theory is a great introduction to the benefits of aggregated individual efforts…Shared Governance.

Swarm TheoryBased on the activities of ants and bees, a discipline/theory/science has emerged which is capable of providing “best options” information in very complex environments.

Swarm TheoryIt would appear that functioning in truly complex spaces moves us beyond centralized vs. decentralized debates, and puts us instead in a philosophy of simple rules, local activity, and high levels of connections/contact…Social Networks.

Swarm TheoryThe most overwhelming problems can be attended to with this simple model. The solution is not something we work on directly…instead it emerges when we attend to the individual elements…Clear Mission.

Ants in the Pants!An Overview

• Real world insect examples

• Theory of Swarm Intelligence

• From Insects to Transformational

Change

• Real World Application – Citrus High

School

Real World Insect

Examples

Ants

Ants

• Organizing highways to and from their foraging sites by leaving pheromone trails

• Form chains from their own bodies to create a bridge to pull and hold leafs together with silk

• Division of labor between major and minor ants

Bees

Bees

• Colony cooperation

• Regulate hive temperature

• Efficiency via Specialization: division of labor in the colony

• Communication : Food sources are exploited according to quality and distance from the hive

Social Insects

• Problem solving benefits include:

– Flexible

– Robust

– Decentralized

– Self-Organized

Summary of Insects

• The complexity and sophistication of Self-Organization is carried out with no clear leader…Shared Governance – Facilitator.

• What we learn about social insects can be applied to the field of Intelligent System Design – Transformational Change.

• The modeling of social insects by means of Self-Organization can help design artificial distributed problem solving devices. This is also known as Swarm Intelligent Systems.

Swarm Intelligence in

Theory

An In-depth Look at Real Ant Behavior

Interrupt The Flow

The Path Thickens!

The New Shortest Path

Adapting to Environment Changes

Adapting to Environment Changes

Problems Regarding Swarm Intelligent Systems

• Swarm Intelligent Systems are hard to ‘program’

since the problems are usually difficult to define…

Identify and Articulate…..

– Solutions are emergent in the systems –

Observing “best Practices….

– Solutions result from behaviors and

interactions among and between individual

agents – Practitioners….

Four Ingredients of Self Organization

• Positive Feedback

• Negative Feedback

• Amplification of Fluctuations - randomness

• Reliance on multiple interactions

Types of Interactions For Social Insects

• Direct Interactions– Food/liquid exchange, visual contact,

chemical contact (pheromones)

• Indirect Interactions (Stigmergy)– Individual behavior modifies the

environment, which in turn modifies the behavior of other individuals – Teacher Leaders

Communication Networks

• Routing packets to destination in shortest time

• Similar to Shortest Route

• Statistics kept from prior routing (learning from experience)

• Shortest Route

• Congestion

• Adaptability

• Flexibility

Bit torrent

• Bit Torrent Protocol – Mission/Rules of Engagement

• Tracker - Principal

• Seed – Teacher-Leader

• Peer - Teacher

• Swarm – Transformational Change

• Clog/Obstruction – Centralized Control

Bit Torrent & Transformational Change

Welcome to the Real World:

Citrus Continuation High School

Where Have All the Students Gone?

Where Have All the Students Gone?.....

• The best teaching and interventions will not work if students are not present to take advantage of them…

• The Interventions can not be measured if students are not present to take part in the assessments!

• Chronic Absences (10 Absences or more in a school year)

Mission of School

• Facilitate students in recovering credits and graduate

• Improve student attendance

• Help students foster a positive connection to school

Attendance

Virtual Programs

• Twilight Program – Credit recovery

• During the school day and after school

• A+ platform

• Align with essential standards – Marzano – Power Standards

• Make rigorous

• Signed off by departments

Virtual Learning

• At Citrus we use technology to help the needs of our students. • During the day we offer computer based instruction in every

content area. This allows greater fluidity in our schedule and gives the students the opportunity to work at an accelerated rate.

• We also have developed a virtual after school program called Twilight School. This program services students that are 18 years old but still need to complete come graduation requirements. We give them the opportunity to finish their diploma, work towards their GED, or study for the CAHSEE, all

within a flexible distance learning environment.

Twilight ProgramTwilight school is an alternative program that

allows students to complete high school requirements in a flexible distance learning environment. Students who qualify to enroll with us have the opportunity to complete their high school diploma, earn their GED, or pass the CAHSEE

• http://www.citrusjaguars.com/virtualLearning/twilight/

Twilight Criteria

• Twilight Criteria

Twilight Success• Best teachers – Curriculum and Technology• Departments developed the curriculum

molding A+ to the essential standards• Department chairs certify completion of a

course• Assessments consisted of A+ tests and the

district benchmarks• All staff and faculty accept that the program is

rigorous

Citrus High API Growth

Citrus High Graduates

AYP

Closing Arguments

• Still very theoretical

• No clear boundaries

• Details about inner workings of insect swarms

• The future…???

Dumb parts, properly connected into a swarm, yield smart results.

Kevin Kelly

Smart parts, properly connected into a swarm, yield smarter results-- Transformational Change.

Ken Decroo

The Future?

Educational

Change

References

Ant Algorithms for Discrete Optimization Artificial LifeM. Dorigo, G. Di Caro & L. M. Gambardella (1999).addr:http://iridia.ulb.ac.be/~mdorigo/

Swarm Intelligence, From Natural to Artificial SystemsM. Dorigo, E. Bonabeau, G. Theraulaz

The Yellowjackets of the Northwestern United States, Matthew Kweskinaddr:http://www.evergreen.edu/user/serv_res/research/arthropod/TESCBiota/Vespidae/Kweskin97/main.htm

Entomology & Plant Pathology, Dr. Michael R. Williams addr:http://www.msstate.edu/Entomology/GLOWORM/GLOW1PAGE.html

Urban Entomology Program, Dr. Timothy G. Myles addr:http://www.utoronto.ca/forest/termite/termite.htm

References Page 2Gakken’s Photo Encyclopedia: Ants, Gakushu Kenkyusha addr:http://ant.edb.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/INTRODUCTION/Gakken79E/Intro.html

The Ants: A Community of Microrobots at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Labaddr: http://www.ai.mit.edu/projects/ants/

Scientific American March 2000 - Swarm SmartsPages: 73-79

Pink Panther Image Archiveaddr:http://www.high-tech.com/panther/source/graphics.html

C. Ronald Kube, PhDCollective Robotic Intelligence Project (CRIP).addr: www.cs.ualberta.ca/~kube