Tech-Driven Creativity

Photo Credit :  fishbrain.randy@sbcglobal.net I was meeting with a team of teachers brainstorming what their school would look like in 2020.  This team has been developing concepts for a Design Learning Center, where students can follow a Design Thinking model to show 21st Century skills, and the 4C's: critical thinking , collaboration , communication and creativity . This discussion reminded me of reading  John Larmer 's blog post, Project-Based Learning vs. Problem-Based Learning vs. X-BL The room of teachers were broken down into 3 groups:  Specialist teachers, Upper Elementary teachers, and Lower Elementary teachers. When I was talking with the teachers, there seemed to be two schools of thought:  PBL and PBL.  They both thought PBL, but didn't really understand that they were talking about similar, but not the same idea. These ideas are Project Based Learning and Problem Based Learning . The Specialist teachers seemed to show more of a collaborative

     Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds via Compfight cc My wife hates it when I hover.  She might be helping the kids with an iPad, and it isn't working correctly.  I know how to fix it, and she can sense I want to help.  But I shouldn't.  You see, my wife wants to fix it, and learn what to do.  She does a good job, and seeks further help from me when she can't fix it, and she knows the basic iPad troubleshooting stuff.  In my home, I try to build capacity... but struggle watching my wife fix things. As part of my role as an EdTech Specialist, is that I assist teachers with Integration of technology in the classroom.  Some integrations are well planned, and others not so well planned.  I like to integrate technology, being involved in the idea for the lesson.  Plan, research, design, integrate, reflect.  I feel it is more of a coach's role. Reflecting on Jeff's post , he talks about embedding rather than integrating.  I like the thought of making the technol

 In the above Video, a student created a short clip about their feelings about Cyberbullying.  It's a short digital story, that shows some of the feelings that come out when kids are confronted with Cyberbullying. I work as an Educational Technology specialist, and one lesson I am often asked to help deliver is about Digital Citizenship.  The next time I work with one of these units, I'd like to do a Remix! Last year, I was at the Beyond Laptops conference, where we did a group remix of our takeaways from the conference.  Just one simple statement of what we got out of it.  In the above playlist, these are creative examples of what a short clip of a takeaway can turn into.  Simple statements, crowd sourced video, and lots of creativity. Students often tell stories of what they have heard about bullying online, share examples, and often know some things of what to do.  Why not capture these stories?  Let students CREATE rather than regurgitate. But why not Remix it into

Break your chains from the photocopier! Spend your time of more important things! Maybe even save some trees! You Need Doctopus! Goal:  Add Doctopus to your arsenal of digital tools and decrease your workload. Fishbowl  Times: 8:20  --  10:30  --  12:35  --  2:05   What is the plural of octopus ? You might be surprised by the answer.

Photo Credit: ToGa Wanderings via Compfight cc In my Master's Program, COETAIL ,   I was assigned to do collaborative assignment, with another teacher, at another school.  I found a partner on Google+, in the same course.  My partner and I worked on Option 1 of the Assignment, to create a Responsible Use Agreement. "Option 1: In a small group that contains at least one cohort member outside your school, create a Responsible Use Agreement (RUA) for your division level (Elementary, Middle or High School). You may start from scratch or use a framework from some of the resource that are covering in the course or from what your school already has in place. Include a reflective blog post describing choices you made in developing the RUP i.e. choice of language level, topics covered, issues of focus, describe how it would be shared with students etc." I worked with a teacher in Myanmar, Ivory Chang, over a Google Hangout chat.  We looked at each other's schools Resp

The Universe is expanding, but our world is getting smaller. The above image is an assemblage from the Cassini Space Probe, credited here. With the power of the internet, we can push into details of the world we could never find published in books, magazines, and other places.  We can learn to communicate in new ways.  We can find out about ideas and concerns that others have.  We can learn new skills, right at our fingertips.  We can find lots of things, and remix them into new things. I live in South Korea, and... I don't speak Korean, and cannot read Hangul.  But due to Web Apps like Google Translate,  I can sometimes make sense of what I see around me.  Here, translate my blog into another language. This is a translation example for Google Translate. I have a family, with two small kids, who love to get around.  Thanks to the power of the internet, We can get directions, find parks, and other great things to do.  Like this little blog, Kids Fun in Seoul .  It g

  Some rights reserved I was reading this posted question on Louise Phinney's Blog , about removing the "Digital" that we associate with things like Digital Citizenship, and Digital Footprints.  I commented on her blog about this idea, and I thought I'd continue that idea here. Remove the Cyber from Cyberbullying.  Why? Because kids disconnect that what they are doing is Bullying. I think that Bullying is Bullying, no matter where it is done.  The problem is that most kids understand what Traditional Bullying is, and think it is wrong. There is a disconnect from actions online being bullying.  Kids think that they are having a joke, but the receiver doesn't think it is funny. Raychelle Cassada Lohmann discusses the proportions of kids that do Cyberbullying vs Traditional Bullying in her article . "Cyberbullying is a big problem, even more common than traditional bullying. About 25 to 30 percent of the young people surveyed admitted experiencing

Photo Credit: bricolage.108 via Compfight cc Copyright is a difficult issue for today's youth.  As a teacher, I taught Media Studies, with a Radio production course.  Students would come to me with their plan for the program, showing me "their" content, and "their" playlist.  They would often look at me, shocked, when I asked them where the music came from.  And when they couldn't answer with what I wanted, I sent them back for more planning.   Post by RoxFM .  Above, one of my former students broadcasting with members of the local community. My students would take their plan, and go to the local radio station, RoxFM, next door to our school.  This would be all done, Live - on - Air, with a bunch of fantastic teenagers at the microphones and mixer at the Radio station.  When they signed up for the course, they thought that they could just play some random music off their iPod, and ramble on about whatever came to their heads.  But I w

Why post it, if you don't want someone to read it, watch it, look at it, or hear it?  Do you know who your Audience is... when you post? Facebook and other social media platforms, are worrisome. I worry about the implications that could come about from what I post. I have accounts on Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Flickr, ...and the list goes on. I look at my former colleagues Facebook posts, and I wonder, will their post be what keeps them out of an interview for a competitive job?   Image credit I use Facebook for posting photos of my family to my parents back in the USA, and my wife's family in Australia. It helps me keep connected. But, I don't use social media to show off all of the content I create. I don't post photos of myself, or colleagues from social gatherings, mainly to protect their privacy. I might post something relaxing from a holiday, but I tend to post them to my inner circles, and not to all of Facebook. Jacquelyn Smith of Forbes.com states in

Above image used with Creative Commons License.   Original Image hosted here. Most students love Social Media.  They post pictures, chat with their friends, and think they are all doing the right thing.  Unfortunately, most people are breaking the law when they post other people's media to their profiles.  They all leave footprints in these social media accounts, but it is important to learn how to not have their past come back to haunt them. Why? User Agreements.  You know, the thing that everyone clicks past as they sign up for something, the 75+ page document that is only really readable by someone with a law degree.  Social Media like Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Tumblr all have language written in their user agreements that passes legal and financial blame to the users.  So, if a person posts something that belongs to someone else, and it goes to court, the user is already hung out to dry. Here is an example of such language, from  Pinterest.com This has be

Photo Credit: jacobovs via Compfight cc This week in the KIS EdTech Fishbowl , we have been discussing the upgrade to OSX Mavericks, and some of the features of the New Pages application.  Some of these features are great, and well received.  But one feature in particular, about the New Pages, adds a small layer of complexity, when attaching a Pages file to a Gmail email.   The presentation below is from this session.   If you would like a copy of the presentation,  please contact me.

Image Source The Problem. "A Student sent me this Pages file, but I can't open it!" The cries of the teacher were heard across the EdTech office. Administrators calling the office... "Hey, I upgraded to Mavericks, and installed the new Pages... now people getting my Gmail attachments tell me they can't open it." We were at the start of a problem. At Korea International School, we were mostly running MacBooks running the "Lion" operating system. But there was this new operating system, "Mavericks" that was free from Apple to download. It was time to make a change, and do some Professional Development.  With the lesson, we already identified the need. As it is a new operating system, there are many students upgrading their systems, many students have been sharing files to turn into their teachers, but teachers having troubles opening them. Administrators were having trouble attaching files to their GMail. In this lesson, it i

Photo Credit: racatumba via Compfight cc This week's reading has me reflecting on my career as an educator. Marc Prensky's article, Shaping Tech for the Classroom , has a way of looking at technology, that is broken down into some simple categories.  I'd like to reflect more on this reading, but first watch this clip . An excerpt from the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" directed by Stanley Kubrick. I have often felt like Dave.  School IT Admins have decided that I cannot do something.  Principals and Parents have decided that new technologies, do not belong at school.  Dave, in 2001: A Space Odessey, struggles with a computer that will not do what he needs, with life and death consequences. In Education, we often struggle with different consequences, some parental, some from administrators, some from politicians, and others from students, but all of them are very important. Old Things in Old Ways Record keeping and educational reports have not

This week has been fun.  Reading and trying to apply it to my daily work.  When I was reading the Living with New Media  section, I began to wonder about the ones that don't fit in to these groups.  One project I am involved in at school is Mac and iPad Management.  I use a Mobile Device Manager, (Casper Suite) to assist students and faculty with these devices.  We deploy out software and updates on demand, via the Mobile Device Manager.  There are many kinds of learners out there, and some are not the "messing around" or "geek-out" type.  What about the more apprehensive group, the ones who fear change?  What I am concerned about is the resistant to move with the times crowd.  The "too scared" to try.  The more cautious, that have to be forced to update software.  The unorganised that never have a backup when their computer fails, or "lost" that assignment.  The ones who get upset by the "new" Facebook.  Mired down in the

Image Source Are all technologies in the classroom created equal? Well no.  There are many models to discuss what is a better use of technology in the classroom. Revised Blooms and SAMR discusses the difference between the types of technology that can be used, and the levels of achievement in these areas. Revised Blooms SAMR https://sites.google.com/a/msad60.org/technology-is-learning/samr-model Both look to simplify how we approach technology in the classroom.  Giving us a prescribed App vs Higher order thinking method to the madness of the use of technology in the classroom. When we look at use of technology, be it iPads, computer labs, smart board, laptops... We need to look towards the lesson plan and the unit plan, rather than that of the tool. Higher order thinking can be shown in almost any application or with any tool, as well as low level thinking can be shown with poor planning and lots of resources thrown at the problem.  The simple pencil with p

This week I have been teaching about Minecraft to teachers in my job as an EdTech Specialist.  If you haven't used it, its a pretty interesting little game.  If you have a child that is between 7 and 15, just ask how interesting it is.  The presentation below is of my work mate, David Lee , who is an Elementary Tech integrationist, and wrote the training we presented to staff members at Korea International School.    In this entry, I am going to explain how this new media game, relates to our course objectives. In the reading, " Living and Learning, a New Media Report " from the MacArthur foundation, a few main types of online communities are described.  These types are: "Hanging Out", "Messing Around", and "Geeking Out". In "Hanging Out" one extends their real world to an online community, extending themselves across distances (or in the same room).  Messing around is best described as "... young people begin to take