Moving at the Speed of Creativity

This podcast is an interview with Lars of Lego Education on the vendor floor at NECC 2008 in San Antonio, Texas, discussing the recently announced “WeDo Robotics” product designed for elementary students ages 7-11. According to the official Lego Education press release, WeDo Robotics “redefines classroom robotics, making it possible for primary school students 7-11 years of age to build and program their own solutions. Bridging the physical world, represented by LEGO models, and the virtual world, represented by computers and programming software, LEGO Education WeDo Robotics provides a hands-on, minds-on learning experience that actively involves young students in their own learning process and promotes children’s creative thinking, teamwork, and problem-solving skills – skills that are essential in the workplace of the 21st century.” Unlike the Lego NXT robotics kits, WeDo robot models remain tethered to the laptop computer running the iconic software program which controls the robot. WeDo is being released in North America in January 2009, and its software program runs on Macintosh OS X, Windows, and the XO Laptop’s “skinny Linux” operating system.

 

 Podcast267: A Discussion about Lego WeDo Robotics at NECC 2008 (Coming in January 2009 to North America) [20:00m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (292)

Show Notes:

1. Official WeDo Robotics press release from Lego Education (30 June 2008)
2. Additional videos and informational publications from Lego about WeDo Robotics
3. Lego Education
4. Lego Club (one of my 10 year old son’s favorite websites)
5. Lego NXT Robotics (Mindstorms)
6. Photo taken during Mitch Resnik’s NECC 2008 Preso: Movie of kids in Brazil using new Lego “WeDo” product on XO laptops
7. Paul Schwan’s 5th Grade Classroom website (Fort Myers, Florida)

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Technorati Tags: lego, robot, robotics, creativity, design, math, science, program, programming, necc, necc08, necc2008

Our Celebrate Oklahoma Voices digital storytelling and oral history project has re-released an RFP for the redesign of our existing learning community website. We anticipate utilizing an open source content management system like Drupal and the Media Mover Plug-in (among others) to have a more robust and flexible learning environment than our current Ning website, similar to the Hub website. We are certainly open to consider non-open source solutions and proposals for this RFP also, however. If you know any fantastic Drupal developers who might be interested in a project like this please pass along the RFP, which is open till 15 August 2008.

Technorati Tags:
drupal, rfp, cov, oklahoma, digitalstorytelling

This podcast features a recording of Dr. Mitchel Resnick’s NECC 2008 presentation “Grassroots Creativity: Helping Everyone Become a Creative Thinker.” This session was shared on July 2, 2008 in San Antonio, Texas. Dr. Resnick is a professor at MIT and works at the MIT Media Lab with some of the most innovative and creative thinkers in the world focused on learning and education. The official conference description of this session was: In today’s fast-changing society, everyone needs to think creatively. I will discuss new technologies from MIT Media Lab that help students develop as creative thinkers. When people think about creativity, they often think about people like Mozart, Picasso, Curie, and Einstein, people who transformed their fields with radically new ideas and creations. But creativity is not only for the select few. In today’s fast-changing society, everyone needs the ability to come up with creative solutions to unexpected everyday problems. Our research group at the MIT Media Lab has been developing a family of educational technologies, including Scratch (scratch.mit.edu) and Crickets (www.picocricket.com), with the explicit goal of helping students develop as creative thinkers. In this presentation, I will discuss the ideas and strategies underlying these new technologies, and I will present case studies of how students are using these technologies to create, invent, experiment, explore – and become more creative thinkers.

 

 Podcast264: Grassroots Creativity: Helping Everyone Become a Creative Thinker by Dr. Mitchel Resnick [55:50m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (532)

Show Notes:

1. Scratch Software
2. Lifelong Kindergarten
3. PicoCricket
4. MIT Media Lab
5. Sowing the Seeds for a More Creative Society by Mitchel Resnick (PDF)
6. All I Really Need to Know (About Creative Thinking) I Learned (By Studying How Children Learn) in Kindergarten by Mitchel Resnick (PDF)
7. Computer as Paintbrush: Technology, Play, and the Creative Society by Mitchel Resnick (PDF)
8. My text notes from this presentation (including some additional links)
9. Dr. Mitchel Resnick’s Keynote at BLC07: Tools for Creative Thinking (shared by Bob Sprankle)

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Technorati Tags: creativity, lego, logo, scratch, school, learning, education, innovation, cricket, picocricket, lego, robot, robotics, mit, media, medialab, necc, necc08, necc2008, n08s293

These are my notes from Jane Zanetis’ presentation at MODLA 2008 titled, “Beyond the Virtual Fieldtrip and the Collaborative Project…KC3: A National Challenge.” MY THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS. I am recording this session with permission and will post it later here as a podcast. This is a GREAT project and exactly the type of interactive collaborations we need more students and teachers doing!

The official session description was:

The KC3 Project is a national project designed to empower students to direct their own learning. This standards based project seeks to tap into the creative nature of students as they look at their own communities with new eyes and explore ways to share their findings with others using videoconferencing and other technologies. In its first year, the KC3 students developed an informational program geared toward a specific audience educating them on their topic. Each project team used the CILC Program Posting Format as they developed their content program. Topics submitted by teams from across the U.S. included: Astronauts and Limestone; Lawrence County Indiana History; Texas Black Gold: Oil; Fire Ants: The Real Ant Bully; The Haunted Mansion by the Bay; The Underground Railroad and the Ohio River; Low Bridge: Clinton’s Big Ditch; Wind Power; Linear Relationships in the Texas State Capitol; William Joel Bryan and His Legacy; Hawaiian Food and Diet: Past and Present; The Origins and Culture of Hula Participants. This session will provide video clips of the winning teams’ virtual fieldtrips. This project is a clear demonstration of Constructivist pedagogy. The Project is in its first year and will expand to include elementary teams as well as teams outside the United States.

Jan has worked for Tandberg for the last 3 years. Prior to this she wrote a book on videoconferencing collaborations, helped start the Vanderbilt Virtual Schools project

The evolution of Video Applications in Distance Education
1- distance classes
2- accessing content providers (this like Jim and Tim’s preso last session)
3- collaborative student projects
4- content creation in the classroom

this is a pyramid, more people are doing the things at the top than the things at the bottom
- purpose of this session is to bring you up the pyramid

CILC is great resource to access over 150 videoconferencing content providers

we are turning the technology over to the kids
- asking them to use the tools and create a project
- constructivist learning is going on

we see a blend of these different things going on now with video in classrooms
- interactive distance learning continuum: a blend of the 4 uses stated above

as people become more comfortable with the technology

A Texas Tale
- Tommy Beardon in Texas
- Tommy tending to his cotton crop
- Tommy has had his students create the “Cotton Plant: Many Uses” virtual field trip
- geared toward middle school students
- addresses history, science, math
- students do 4 or 5 of these every month

A challenge from a Legend: story from Alan November
- took the idea from Alan November to create the KC3 project: Kids Creating Community Content

The nuts and bolts of this project
- marketing
- website (with CILC)
- Pre-Production
- Showtime
- Evaluation
- Awards

Schools had 3 months to put together their projects
- then sent out an “all call” via the AT&T Videoconferencing listserv and the CILC’s listserv
- within 24 hours, we had over 150 teachers saying they wanted to receive and participate
- we were streaming and capturing all of this too
- had participants with their own bridges and content servers

Schools from Hawaii to New Jersey were sharing content

developed a rubric which was utilized by educator-raters to determine winners of the content

1st Place: “The Mound Builders: They Myth, The Legend, A Tale of Historic Treasures”
- teacher: Tammy Parks, Howe, Oklahoma

2nd Place: Fire Ants: The Real Ant Bully
- teacher: Deborah Birdsong, Stamford, TX

3rd Place: The Fascinating World of Aquaculture
- Lynne Sueoka, Honolulu, Hawaii

Winning teacher will be at BLC
- 1st - 3rd place winners

What worked well in this project:
1- clear and concise program requirements
2- small teams: 3-6 students per team
3- ease of scheduling videoconferences and technology support with Lance and Mike
4- projects aligned with school subject matter and standards
5- incoprorated 21st century student outcomes: information ,media, and technology skills, authentic audience

Limitations and possible needed changes:
1- perhaps make two categories: middle school (6-8) and a high school (9-12)
2- would love to add international students and add that element of cross-cultural exchange
3- provide helps/tips on using/incorporating various technologies

Outcomes
- hands down it was the student ownership and excitement of sharing with a group in another geographic area
- students repeatedly said that they learned the contnt at a much deeper level because they wanted to be prepared for questions from the remote audiences
- relationships formed which are leading to additional plans for more projects this year

Questions: Ask -
- jan [dot] zanetis [at] tandberg [dot] com
- mcougan [at] cilc [at] org
- bmattocks [at] cilc [dot] org

KC3 website: http://kc3.cilc.org

Permissions:
- we didn’t think about this on the front end
- I just share these videos now except during PD sessions

Technorati Tags:
kc3, videoconferencing, collaboration, cilc, video, tandberg, modla, modla08, modla2008

These are my notes from Eric Fudge’s MODLA 2008 presentation “Leverage Multimedia in Your Online Courses.” This session focuses most on making the case for utilizing a different model for online course development using SCORM, to provide more granular reporting about student activities and progress than instructors (as well as advisors) often get from LMS systems. Eric teaches at State Fair Community College. The official program description for this session was:

SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) provides instructors and developers of online courses the ability to seamlessly integrate products (quizzes, demonstrations, simulations, presentations) created by third party multimedia software packages into popular LMS (Learning Management System) applications. This session will discuss key issues, demonstrate the integration process, and provide practical insight on leveraging SCORM compliant multimedia in order to add another dimension to instruction.

MY THOUGHTS AND COMMENTS ARE IN ALL CAPS.

“a critical component of an effective retention program for online students in a learner support services program. While many factors contribute to attrition, at the top of the list are levels of interaction and support.”
- quotation from Stacy Ludwig-Hardman and Joanna Dunlop, Learner Support Services for Online Students: Scaffolding for success, the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning, Vol 4, No 1 (2003)

Early Warning Advisors are a key element of the new model for DL I am proposing
- lots of faculty spend a lot of time working with students who do not have
– the technical skills
– the study skills
the need to be successful

Key element is to track data through advisors for online student readiness

#1 problem we all have working with someone else across campus: communicating around the campfire (stories change as they are communicated)
- goal is to eliminate these problems
- get early warning advisors the data they need

Currently implementing the “Quality Matters” rubric for course design and development
- great tool for creation of online program

data driven decisions

how do advisors actually know if a student is doing poorly
- when do they know? (just at the end of term, or at midterm?)
- who has the ultimate responsibility to tell advisors: the instructor (currently all retention and student success is left up to the instructor)

Banner does not track either attendance or progress

Blackboard and Angel just give basic data on student activity in learning modules
- not enough info / data points is/are presented about student work

we are focusing on a data driven model
currently:
- instructor puts content into the learning management system
- student interacts with the learning management system and the instructor, and the instructor communicates with the college’s advisors and administrative staff

adjuncts as a whole don’t even know that they need to be doing this (communicating back with advisors)
- this is why we need to change the model

students currently
- augment online classroom with textbooks, notes and study guides which are purchased or uploaded into the LMS
- synchronous and asynchronous communication is often used to build concepts, share ideas and analyze problems/question
- tests and participation (activity) are primary grading criteria

the new model design which utilizes SCORM
- instructors put content into Adobe Captivate or other SCORM compliant media
- via SCORM the content goes into the learning management system
- data from the LMS then goes into the early warning and programmed agents, as well

SCORM modules and tools in Blackboard and Angel are one of the least utilized elements in many organizations

SCORM
- is Sharable Content Object Reference Model
- is a model for communication between a packaged file and an LMS
- whe na file is packaged for SCORM, an imsmanifest file is creatd that talks to an API which then translates the information from the LMS so it can properly track, grade, etc
- the imsmanifest file is based on the version of SCORM, LMS SCORM capabilities and personalized settings in file

Building a SCORM nugget

Adobe Captivate will let you create linear lessons, but also branched lessons

WHAT ARE THE OTHER TOOLS THAT WILL DO THIS IN ADDITION TO ADOBE CAPTIVATE

Select in your Adobe Captivate preferences the SCORM options you want, and the manifest file options

SCO = shareable content object (AKA “nugget”)
- set up a unique identifier for each object you are creating

PENS option (Package Exchange Notification Services)
- external communications device

everyone should be running on https for their LMS

I AM REALLY GLAD TO BE IN THIS SESSION, EVEN THOUGH I AM NOT FOLLOWING EVERYTHING. I HAVE HEARD OF ADOBE CAPTIVATE BUT I HAVE NEVER ACTUALLY USED IT OR SEEN IT USED. I NEED/WANT TO SEE A BIG PICTURE DEMO OF CAPTIVATE AND WHAT IT CAN DO MORE GENERALLY, BEFORE LEARNING ABOUT THIS SCORM-SPECIFIC FUNCTIONALITY. I’M UNDERSTANDING THAT BY PUBLISHING SCORM COMPLIANT OBJECTS, INSTRUCTORS AND ADVISORS CAN GET GRANULAR DATA

recommendation: as you create these “nuggets” of info, don’t make them longer than 5 minutes
- that really helps students who may be working over their lunch break

By using SCORM, the data can come directly to me as an instructor instead of just going to the LMS
- instructors can also setup RSS feeds to track this type of information

Other tools in addition to Adobe Captivate which can publish to SCORM:
- Camtasia
- Articulate
- Raptivity
- Rapid Intake

[RAPID INTAKE IS AN INTERESTING PRODUCT AND COMPANY NAME. BIG PEDAGOGICAL ASSUMPTIONS THERE.]

discussing differences between SCORM versions and editions
- SCORM 2.0 is coming in October 2009

advice from personal experiences
- SCORM model chosen should match that of the player in earlier versions of an LMS, newer versions will self-recognize the SCORM version
- the imsmanifest file options will change based on the type of SCORM model used
- SCORM options should match between the software and LMS when provided choices
- evaluate trial versions before purchasing software

Challenges: lots of them and….
- single source leadership role to create a cooperative team environment across campus functions
- personnel: instructional designer, programer, SME, project leader, advisors
- time needed by personnel for monitoring
- multimedia software and LMS application

when lots of data starts coming at you, it is like you get a LOT of emails
- this is time consuming
- thinking in a data-driven model is very different

the more expensive the software is, generally the better it integrates with existing LMS

more challenges
- define roles and responsibilities of faculty and advisors
- updating materials as technology changes
- moving from linear to non-linear tracking (branching)
- moving from small scale project to large scale

SCORM Content: www.adlnet.org (techie-talk: Advanced Distributed Learning)
IMS Content: www.imsproject.org (IMS Global Learning Consortium Inc.)
NLN Content: www.nln.ac.uk

Technorati Tags:
scorm, distributedlearning, distancelearning, elearning, distance, learning, multimedia

These are my notes from Idit Caperton’s closing keynote at NECC 2008, “The Transformational Power of Social Media Technology in Learning: Inspiring Stories from the Classroom and Beyond!” MY THOUGHTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. THIS WAS A FANTASTIC KEYNOTE AND ONE OF THE BEST I’VE EVER SEEN AT NECC. INSPIRATIONAL, CHALLENGING, RESEARCH-BASED, KID AND LEARNING FOCUSED. SUPERB. GREAT KEYNOTE SELECTION, ISTE NECC BOARD!

Wikipedia article for Idit Harel Caperton

Watching an intro for the final keynote speaker by a character in Second Life at ISTE’s Education Island

her mentor and collaborator was Seymour Papert

founded MaMa Media in the 1980s

this is my keynote 2.0

The official keynote description in the conference program was:

Social Networks, Wikis and Blogs are changing the informational, social, political, and educational landscapes. Wikipedia has become the information resource of choice. There are more than 160 million users on MySpace. YouTube is hosting 80 million videos and managing 3 million user accounts. Hundreds of millions of people are gathering daily on the Web to explore, express and exchange media projects and ideas through online social networks. A large portion of them are children and youth.

Dr. Idit Harel Caperton predicted these phenomena after a decade at the MIT Media Lab, and left to start MaMaMedia.com in 1995. As the originator of the term “Clickerati” (the generation born after the mid-90s who cannot imagine life without the Internet), she invented the first Internet media company with special services for Clickerati kids, envisioning their near-addiction to digital learning through creation of rather than consumption of media. To this end, she gave them hundreds of dynamic activities for creating, collaborating, and socializing online. She taught many online networks (AOL-KidsOnly, ATT-WorldNet, Earthlink, Disney-Go, WebTV) and advertisers (General Mills, Nintendo, Disney) how to engage the young and harness business potential within digitally-connected communities of kids.

One of the first graduates of the MIT Media Lab and a student and colleague of learning-technology guru, Professor Seymour Papert, Harel-Caperton has been studying the ways in which learners are empowered with programmable technology since the early 80s.

To close NECC 2008, she will present her recent invention in 1:1 computing—the Globaloria Networks (www.globaloria.org)—complete with cases of how today’s social media technology is creating opportunities for student collaboration and global exchange never before possible. Included will be a synthesis of specific examples hand-picked from content presented at NECC 2008.

Her fast-paced, multi-dimensional tapestry of stories is sure to stimulate and inspire your thinking about contemporary learning ideas in education, and where we are heading. See how the work you and your peers are doing is transforming education!

“In search of the Forgotten C”

outline:
- go through 3 decades of catalyzing change
- go through 3 days (who are the catalysts of change now)
- 3 wishes for the future

Newest project: www.worldwideworkshop.org

(THE WEBSITE ROOT WEBPAGE IS MISSPELLED RIGHT NOW

learning beyond powerpoint
- we must go beyond, into what is complex
- I didn’t see much of that at NECC this year

I CERTAINLY DID! THE PYTHON, SCRATCH, AND GEORSS SESSIONS I SAW TODAY WERE GREAT AND VERY COMPLEX AS WELL AS ENGAGING

Founding fathers of 1:1 computing
- Seymour Papert: Logo (NECC 1989, 1992)
- Alan Kay: Squeak (NECC 2003)
- Nicholas Negroponte: OLPC (NECC 2006)

I have been a fan and a champion of their ideas
- I have been focused on inventing the future with them
- I am convinced of the need for constructivist teaching and learning

it is time for an outbreak

what do we need to do to help grow a mindset that catalyzes change: in children, in parents and in policy makers?

THIS IS A GREAT QUESTION. I AM SO GLAD TO HEAR HER ADDRESSING THIS!
- what does the archeologist of the future do now
- digging for “weak signals” today, in order to study the greatness of the future
- we can become the signals of the future ourselves, overcoming resistance in various forms
- we can become the weak signal and become strong togehter

I asked Elliot Soloway where great ideas come from
- his answer “from the soul”

Like Papert, Kay and Negroponte, I have been focused

my company: MaMaMedia

The 1980s: BL/BC era (before laptops and before cell phones)
- you can be futuristic even with constraints
- if you really want to, you can

I graduated in 1988 from the MIT Media Lab

Let’s watch 5 minutes from the 1989 NECC, this is part of a 20 minute documentary
- student eventually felt “free to play” and make connections / transfer of her math knowledge to other domains
- used a designers notebook
- focus is on Children Designers

Innovative learning environments can support children designers
- 20 years later these ideas from this video are still relevant

What Seymour Papert and I brought to the table

Enter 1990s whe “social” was not yet “networked”
- we were happy with the interet, but it was mostly about integrating old media
- publishers, only digital
- closed curriculum, not different from textbooks
- centralized communities controlled by few

MAMAMEDIA.COM
- designed for the clickerati
- a first attempt at 21st century learning (1995)
- the three X’s: eXpression, eXpoloration and eXchange
- it is not just about the 3 R’s anymore

telling kids it is not just about media consumption, it is about expression
- it is a home service with places to write stories, create art
- introduction to programming and animation
- were popular first
- giving kids a place to store their media
- giving place to play and learn

intergenerational approach to engaging parents and kids on the same network
- big move from academic world to business

MaMaMedia is still up and running and being enjoyed
- it is now open sourced and available on the XO Laptop
- also put it up on globaloria

in the old world content was king
- in the new world, contact is king

I THINK THIS IS A GREAT QUOTATION

it’s about participation now

2008 is a summer of transitions
- transitioning from 1.0 to 2.0: the new internet

contributions and participation RULE
- meaningful engagement in learning is the key

not just about social networking and keeping up with friends
- posting links and keeping up with friends
- engagement is about participation in pretty complex global projects

now lets watch some NECC presenters in taking learning global
- featuring different projects including the award winning “Rock Our World

Howard Levin The Urban School in San Francisco, CA
- entire interview
- entire thing is transcribed and available
- only oral history projects
www.tellingstories.org

WOW! I AM SO GLAD TO HEAR ABOUT THIS PROJECT AND FIND THIS LINK. YES! SUPER! THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DOING WITH CELEBRATE OKLAHOMA VOICES ON A SMALLER SCALE. IT WILL BE GREAT TO CONNECT WITH TELLINGSTORIES.ORG AND LEARN FROM THEM!

THAT WAS A GREAT SERIES OF VIDEOS, MANY OF THESE WERE FROM THE NECC POSTER SESSIONS. SUPER STUFF. GREAT IDEAS! SO WONDERFUL FOR IDIT TO SHARE AND AMPLIFY THESE PROJECTS AND VOICES IN HER KEYNOTE! YEAH IDIT!

The new 3 C’s
- Content
- Contact
- Contribution

convene, connect, create, collaborate, cultural diversity

the forgotten C: about constructionism
- a little forgotten in many of the presentations I saw
- maybe it is time to transform constructionism a bit and make it more relevant and appealing to current generation

- constructionism
- modern constructionism
- contemporary constructionism

some of the best engagement and learning takes place

is the new reading and writing dynamic
- we

Piaget: to understand is to invent
as Papert says: you really learn best by creating

function as a creator, not just a user
- this is the new literacy
- especially important for social networks

The new read/write equation
- calls for new ways of learning to learn
- it’s about participation in enw forms of writing
- in web 2.0 environments, with social media technology

the winners in the new economy will be those who master the web 2.0 technologies to create and innovate new creative ideas and services
- I can see a new digital divide between those who know how to operate and work in the new digital constructionism and those who do not

those who are not part of this new movement will be left behind, separated from those who do
- those who do not know the read/write and understand how to program them cannot participate in the new knowledge economy
- those are often the most poor among us
- they attend low-performing schools or failing schools

I am asking us to let go of the “digital natives” term
- some concepts and ideas are hard to grasp
- some abilities take a lot of work and a lot of time to develop

as an avid constructivist I have always focused a lot on the writing side
- we need to develop new models together
- that is an example of an innovation signal that I found

the opportunity exists on two fronts
- access
- knowledge

hopefully 1:1 initiatives will address this, esp access

knowledge development and master of the new abilities will continue to persist
- we need to invent new spaces for learning to learn

for this very reason I picked designing by gamemaking

we need a new theoretical framework that comes with this territory
- we have named this “the 6 contemporary learning abilities” with new technologies
- constructionist learning in web 2.0

Abilities Set 1- invention, progression, completion of an original project: program an educational game, wiki or simulation

Abilities Set 2: project-based learning in web 2.0 environments, and processing complex project management (programmable wiki systems)

Abilities Set 3: producing, programing, publishing and distributing interactive purposeful digital media

Abilities Set 4: information-based learning, search and exploration

Abilities Set 5: social learning, participation and exchange

Abilities Set 6: thoughtful surfing websites and web applications

web 3.0 semantic web is coming in 3 years

do we need another set of standards? NO
- we need abilities to identify

can we invent and promote learning activities that cultivate the development of each of these new abilities in learners?

most school-based programs for 21st century skills just focus on abilities 4 and 6
- it is with this developmental framework in mind that we

Example of student projects created with MicroWorlds EX

Other sessions at NECC this session were Mitch Resnick’s presentation about Scratch

Now let’s look at Globaloria
- network participants learn to design and program original interactive media, simulations and web-games with social and educatioanl purposes

Video of West Virginia first lady: talking about 21st century skills, talking about a “do curriculum”
- HOW SUPER TO SEE THE GOVERNOR’S WIFE ADVOCATING FOR 21ST CENTURY SKILLS WITH AN ACTUAL “DO CURRICULUM” FOCUS!!! WE NEED THIS IN OKLAHOMA! (and every other state / nation)

Student quotation from the video:
“the best way to get us to learn is to put it into a video game, but it into a narrative, and we’ll learn it even if we don’t want to.”

Another network that we just launched: My Global Life
- WikiPedia article for My Global Life

My Global Life (MyGLife.org) is a worldwide network of educational, programmable websites and related wikis designed to empower youth in developing countries and emerging markets to learn, create and collaborate online. The goal of this non-profit project is to help the world’s youth experience and master technology tools and methods for democracy and globalization. Site users are mentored to learn Internet technology skills (including wiki development, graphic design and Flash programming skills), build global awareness, and at the same time, experience positive communication with other communities.

FOR SOME REASON THE WEBSITE MyGLife.org IS NOT RESOLVING FOR ME NOW / NOT ACCESSIBLE.

I have started to develop ideas aabout web 2.0 “best practices” for the purpose of knowledge development
- interaction and impact

1- what is the time duration
2- what is the scope and scale
3- is it purposeful participation
4- is there an exhibtion hall? open source spirit?
5- is there global reach

what will NECC be in 10 years?

Technorati Tags:
n08s524, necc2008, necc08, necc, iste

These are my notes from Michelle Hutton’s NECC 2008 session “Python for Fun Introductory Programming” on July 2, 2008. The official description was:

Learn a modern, creative, classroom-tested approach to introducing programming with Python. Hook reluctant and inexperienced students from middle school through college.

Computer science teachers are facing a problem of decreasing enrollment, especially where computer science is an elective and seen as hard and not creative. Traditional approaches do not seem to engage students who want to create the next World of Warcraft or Sims, not learn about data types. Old methods have grown less effective as computers have grown more sophisticated – students want to do projects their peers will find neat. As teachers we face a challenge – introductory students do not have the prior knowledge to quickly learn enough to program things that “look cool” and tools which support rapid development often lack the ability to support the logic of true programming.

Python is one solution to the problem of keeping students engaged while providing valuable skills and concepts they can use to understand computer science. It is gaining popularity in both education and in industry. It has a learning curve appropriate for introductory courses (low floor) and opportunity to do very creative, complex tasks (high ceiling).

This presentation will present the approach used at The Girls’ Middle School for introducing programming using Python. Similar to the Media Computation approach out of Georgia Tech, graphics are introduced extremely early and used to motivate students to learn important underlying concepts such as conditionals and loops. The presentation will include examples of student work, assignments, and ideas for how to add or abstract details and differentiate instruction based on students’ ability and experience.

MY THOUGHTS ARE IN ALL CAPS. I arrived in this session at the halfway point, so I missed a lot of content. Still, this is compelling stuff and I am interested in learning more about Python. (No handouts are available on the NECC webpage for this session yet, but I think Michelle is going to add resources / handouts after this session. Michelle’s email is mhutton [at] girlsms [dot] org.

If kids are motivated and interested, they will work VERY hard on it even if the process and content is very difficult

Just in time teaching

I know a lot of teachers who feel like they need to know all the answers before they stand up in front of the class
- kids feel stupid when they don’t know what to do
- so being up in front of the kids and not knowing all the answers is a VERY good thing, it is reassuring, to know we don’t know all the answers now but we can figure it out

Enlarging the sandbox as we go along
- square root
- random
- graphics

I want kids to go to graphics as quickly as I can

PYTHON IS BUILT IN ON MAC OS X (FROM PAUL CLARK - RUN THE TERMINAL IN OS X AND TYPE “PYTHON”)

John Zelly has written a great book completely in line with my philosophy “Python Programming”
- he gives the graphics module away

first we did “the pretty picture” assignment
- you can tell I work with girls
- it has geometric shapes (they learned those before this project)
- initially I told them their product couldn’t be abstract art
- it has to have four objects / elements
- some kids made some very basic things

ALSO FROM PAUL CLARK - LOTS OF PYTHON TUTORIALS ON YOUTUBE!

one student submitted two assignments because she took the abstract art
- students had a GREAT time with this project, the fact that it was open ended really

I didn’t want them to just throw four objects on the screen and not know what they were doing, I wanted them to be deliberate and know/understand what they were doing

For games, we did Hangman
- it was very difficult
- started with graphic stuff
- it seemed counterintuitive to build the interface first and then the program, but this made them REALLY want the program to work after they built the interface
- this was complex and long, but really fun to build

Fun is better than knowing it all
- engaging not scary
- skip as many details as possible (without hand-waving - saying “we’ll talk about that later”)
- everything I asked them to do they could do almost immediately
- details get filled in as needed (e.g. intro chem, physics, math)
- some things must be explained clearly (conditionals, lists, functions, etc.)
– I didn’t pull out a day for some of these things, so my students had a weaker understanding of some of those things
– figure out the things that you really have to STOP and explain clearly

computer scientists spend lots of time talking about abstraction, but
- I went back to how we teach chemistry because that was my background

many details can be filled in later for students

Other computer languages used in the program
- Java
- I didn’t feel like Java was serving the students well, there was too much overhead in terms of kids typing things they did not understand
- we switched to Perl for five years
- we have been very happy with Python!

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These are my notes from Dr. Mitchel Resnick’s NECC 2008 presentation on July 2, 2008, entitled “Grassroots Creativity: Helping Everyone Become a Creative Thinker. Dr. Resnick is a professor at the MIT Media Lab. MY THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS ARE IN ALL CAPS.

Success in the future (individual, organizational, based on the ability to think and act creativity
- learning a fix set of skills and facts is not and will not be enough
- this also will lead to the happiest and most satisfying lives
- coming up with innovative solutions to the challenges of our lives

I get frustrated when I walk down to the local elementary school and community center near our MIT Media Lab
- we have mismatches between what we value ideally and what we do / support
- the importance of creativity, and an educational system NOT setup to generally support creative thinkers

best 2 parts of our education system: kindergarten and graduate school
- often in a classic kindergarten, we see children building with blocks, drawing with fingerpaints, etc.
- kids learn about the process of becoming a creative thinker

We call this the creative learning spiral
- imagine
- create
- play
- share
- reflect
- imagine

We see this process happening in the most creative spaces, but often not too often in educational spaces
- my research group is called “The Lifelong Kindergarten” group
- we try to take what is best in kindergarten and extend those things to other levels

When you get older, just having wooden blocks and fingerpaints is not enough
- therefore we try to take that kindergarten style of learning and let learners of all ages work on more advanced projects and with more advanced ideas

This is not new
- lots of my work has been influenced strongly by Jean Piaget
- knowledge is actively built, it is constructed
- Seymour Papert was a student of Piaget, and Seymour was my mentor
- Seymour brought the ideas of Piaget into computing

40 years ago: mechanical turtles
- using $100,000 computers to move around a turtule through creative activities
- brought children into MIT

1978: First version of logo programming language

1988: MIT group started working with the Lego company
- came up with Lego Logo (introduced at NECC in 1988)

1998: Lego came out with Lego Mindstorms
- robot became autonomous
- we have kids all around the world building all kinds of creative robots, projects and products

Over the last 10 years we have continued to ask, how can we push this further?
- we have put a lot of emphasis on how can we take these ideas and reach an even broader audience
- so it’s not just about building robots
- there are so many other things you can build and bring alive

cat has a light sensor built into it, if I pet the cat it will meow
- when kids write programs that do this, they are learning the same things about systematic, logical thinking and expressing themselves creatively
- working with light sensors and other elements
- we’ve seen kids use their imaginations to run wild

we use the Cricket in workshops around the world
- example of a student from a workshop on wearable technology
- make things come alive in the world around you

Child building a room security system in Iceland
- automatic toilet paper dispenser
- challenging kids to think creatively about what they want to INVENT and bring into their world

If given the right tools, kids can have so many possiblities to express themselvese in creative ways
- if we give them the right tools, the right support, the right setting

We’ve been working with Lego to create the “We Do” for kids ages 7-11
- brief video of this from students in Brazil working with this on the XO laptop

these types of activities are SO important
- not just kids will will grow up to be professional engineers
- make these ideas come alive through programming
- these skills are relevant whether you will be a filmmaker, engineer, etc

kids today spend a lot of time working with screen media
- we don’t want kids to just be consumers
- we see this in electronic stores: they often get to just INTERACT, not CREATE
- web is interactive, but often doesn’t give kids a chance to design and CREATE
- we need to give kids a chance to create in media rich world

For this reason we’ve developed Scratch software, which came out about a year ago
- makes it easier for kids to design their own interactive games and stories online
- in the process they learn important scientific and mathematical ideas, and become more creative thinkers

example of building a computer program in 30 seconds in Scratch

lets people play around with blocks

Supergoo is a program you can do similar effects, but with Scratch you can make this interactive
- example of making a picture whirl based on x and y position of the mouse

example of a game making a bigger fish eating smaller fish
- kid wanted to keep score
- showed the variable area
- using variables in a meaningful context
- as kids use Scratch to create things they care about, makes learning very authentic and meaningful

Share element of Scratch
- takes your project and uploads it to the Scratch website
- think of this like YouTube, but uploading Scratch programs instead of videos
- this lets anyone around the world play with them

more than 150,000 projects from around the world have been uploaded in the past year
- 1 new project every 2 minutes shows up now
- you can comment on each other’s project, get the code from others, share the code

example: animation factory

it’s exciting to see how the Scratch website has enabled

example: BeeStory that went up just a week after our website went live
- we started to spread by word of mouth, and we saw this just a week later
- it is an interactive game

in the first month we started to see kids creating tetris games

A few days later, there was another tetris game on the site that built on the code of the first one: had color for tetris
- we’ve seen this over and over
- now there are more than 3 dozen tetris programs that all improve on each other’s code

20,000 of the 150,000 projects are the site are remixes

we saw more and more different types of collaboration
- example of a project done by an 11 year old in Ireland
- just started making some characters
- wrote on the website, I just like making characters not games. If you like my characters please use them, if you want new characters, leave a comment. So she set up her own consulting

example of someone who made a birthday card on scratch for other registered users
- some people shared personal cards, to cheer others up
- stories that kids made
- also stories to say thanks

New one called “Scratch News Network”
- this was not a simulation of a newscast, this WAS a newscast
- then we saw a flourishing of programs sharing news about the Scratch community
- kids borrow from other genres and have created multiple episodes, creating shows

kids creating animations and telling stories
- lots of influence from Japanese anime
- the spelling is not always the best

I’m always struck by how the kids are stetching this technology
- asking others in the community to design characters for upcoming episodes, giving instructions for how to do this and share

kids started giving advice about how to get features on the homepage
- project “How To Get Your Projects Popular”

use scratch to express yourself
- give it to students as a choice instead of PowerPoint

kids learn SO MUCH more when they create their OWN simulated worlds, rather than just going into the simulated worlds others have created and merely changing parameters

Graph of the age distribution of projects posted on the Scratch website
Kids are also participating in the online forums
- we didn’t know if they would participate in the forums
- kid asking to better understand sin, cos and tan to make better games
- another member shared offer to give intro to trigonometry

we are now connecting Scratch to the physical world
- we have a board you connect to the computer with sensors
- a saw that you moved and it changed the computer-based saw to cut down a tree

Example of a scratch project that works with a homemade guitar which functions like guitar hero

these connections to the physical world is another new thing we are doing

Scratch is now in 30 languages

New website ScratchEd for educators using Scratch, which will launch later this summer
- share different projects and lesson ideas for education

working with Nokia and Samsung for a mobile device interface to access scratch projects from mobile devices
- this should come out before long

Working on ways to integrate with Second Life
- SL lets you build structures, but not bring things to life
- so being able to bring characters to life in SL is a great idea, a grad student is working on that

working with NEC in Japan on robot Poparo (sp?) to use Scratch as a front-end to control this robot

Working with Microsoft, Intel, many others

we want Scratch to become a standard when you want to control media
- this is an important part of literacy and fluency in the 21st century
- this doesn’t mean everyone is going to become a professional programmer or engineer, but in the same way not everyone becomes a professional writer or journalist, but we still want everyone to express themselves, become a creative thinker, and become literate…

Scratch @ MIT conference: July 24-26, 2008
- we need to get together kindred spirits to bring these ideas into mainstream education
- many are not sure about how to
- we need to build a community to do this

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These are my notes from David Jakes and Dean Shareski’s NECC 2008 presentation, “One Hour PowerPoint: A Strategy for Improving Presentations.”

http://jakes.editme.com/
Dean Shareski’s blog: http://ideasandthoughts.org/

10 things you can do tomorrow with your kids to improve your PowerPoint

I still see many kids doing pretty bad things with PowerPoint in our schools
- we are here to focus on how kids produce visual communication

picture of a ditto machine
- first thing the kids did: SMELL

picture of an opaque projector
- inserted a book, projected the image on the screen
- if you left the book in it, it would burn up! (original book burning!)

The Apple computer changed everything in 1987
- I remember typing a worksheet with all 7 fonts!
- also in 1987 we got PowerPoint

it’s not what the software does. it’s what the user does. (hugh)

it’s about helping kids taking what they do and passionately talking about and supporting their ideas
- developing conversations
- tell stories
- communicate

film clip: “historia de un letero”

it is about how you craft the message
- we want to help you craft the message with your kids
- how to say it in the right way, to make that impact

ten things

1- “Teach them biology”

the video and these slides are available online

human brain: 12 billion cells
- image of homer simpson
- we’re going to show iStockPhoto, now look at the quality of the image
- let’s talk about the image
- two sensory inputs for presentations: the eyes and the ears
- compare optical vs auditory connections from ears to brain v eyes to brain
- broadband connection from eyes to the brain
- 30% of the cortex is dedicated or devoted to processing visual, 8% to touch, 3% to hearing
- you’ve got this big tool, the cortext

2- “Teach them to make it visual”
- teach kids about biology
- why it is important

PowerPoint doesn’t kill presentations
- bullet points
- you need to move your kids away from templates
- move away from text-based slides

Seth Godin” “Why would you use words on the screen when…”

presentations are performances
- the projector is not a teleprompter

Richard Mayer principle: people learn best from a combination of visual imagery and a limited amount of text

some districts ask kids to remove the text
- this requires kids to internalize and learn the content

dual processing: visual and auditory
- brain accepts two streams of input

Cognitive load theory: intrinsic and extrinsic load, also in the middle we have “germane” cognitive load
- visuals feed into working memory, which is limited
- there is only so much space there

intrinsic cognitive load is based on how complex the information being presented is
extrinsic is how it is presented, how difficult that is

in understanding brain biology, it is absolutely critical for sharing good presentations (effective ones)

3- Teach kids how to search for images

Flickr now is about 2.6 billion images
- receives between 4000 - 5000 images per day

we ask kids in our district to use Flickr storm
- this gives kids a handy way to keep kids in the Creative Commons images

one of the big things we need to work on is how kids can use content online legally
- that requires a license

4- teach kids about creative commons

demo of how to select a CC license

Creative Commons provides a way to tell others on the web how they can use and reuse content they find on the web

Power of Flickr Storm, it provides a download try of images
- URL is right at the top of all the images that kids have found
- teachers then can use this as a way to share pre-selected images from Flickr

THIS IS REALLY COOL! I HAVE HEARD OF FLICKR STORM BEFORE BUT HADN’T HEARD THE DEMO…

iStockPhoto is a pay site
- for $1 you can get a great image
- if you really want to wow your audience for a professional presentation, you can really wow your aduience
- can even specify that you want blank space at the bottom of images for text in your search

5- “Teach them design”

Dean: We have grown up in a text-dominated world
- the emphasis on visual literacy and design is a big shift for us
- we see fonts now almost as graphical things

Slide Makeover (PhotoShopped image of lipstick on Dean!)

Example of a slideshow makeover: presentation on “How to keep up with it all”
- bulleted text suggestions: build a personal learning network, use RSS, created a twitter account, develop trusted sources
- have grabbed a random template from PPT
- so now lets strip away the template
- same content on a blank slide

Those same points might be your talking points, but they don’t have to be on your screen
- I can still remember many of the slides which Ewan McItosh gave a year ago: our slides should be that powerful

find a metaphor for an idea and use a visual image of that to communicate

6- “Teach them to sell”
I see kids in the library all the time copying chunks of text
- if you ask them what they know, they will show you they don’t know anything (or much)

I (David J) a big fan of digital storytelling
- we have kids write first before they create their digital story
- why shouldn’t we have students do that for a PowerPoint first?
- craft a plan to convince others that their views and ideas are correct

help your kids learn to craft a message that is important

7- “Color and font choice matters”

These things are very simple, but do kids know this?
- is Comic Sans a good choice here?
- Comix Sans is illegal in 34 states!

color means different things to different audiences

first color the human eye sees is yellow
- some firetrucks are becoming yellow

what does green suggest? renewal

red? danger or alert

we have to make kids aware of how color is very important and powerful

lots of examples…

deep blue for Americans signifies trust

teach kids the difference between Serif Fonts (Times New Roman) and sans-Serif
- we have hooks on the letters to help our eyes move across the screen
- when projecting, you always should use a Sans Serif Font (like Arial)

A font does have meaning
- never use Helvetica with a U.S. audience, because that is the font the IRS uses
Teach kids about colors, how the eye perceives colors and fonts differently

8- “Teach them to incorporate multimedia”

Now the explosion of online video can really bolster your ability to integrate multimedia
- lots of different compression formats

3 ways to get media

embed is a key word: take something from one site and embed it in another site

3 ways to do this
- online conversion sites like zamsar.com

in some ways that is the hard way

is an add-on to PowerPoint 2003 and 2007 that creates a button to enter a YouTube URL, that embeds the YouTube video right into your PPT (Windows-only)
- does require a good/fast internet connection [AND A CONTENT FILTER IN YOUR LOCATION WHICH PERMITS ACCESS TO THE VIDEO SITE YOU ARE USING]

9 - Teach students some PowerPoint secrets

“B” key is very important: slide goes black
- what does that do in terms of your cognitive load
- what does that eliminate: reduces extrinsic load

“W” key makes it go white
- like a toggle switch

type the number “51″ and enter to jump to that slide
- these can be additional content slides you are not planning to use

encourage your kids to have a printout of their slides with the numbers
- we’ll put more of those on the wiki

10 - teach them to share

“the back of the napkin”
- anybody can draw
- selling ideas with simple diagrams
- getting people to think visually
- “having the winning idea means nothing without the ability to share it with someone else”

Now dean is using Share(ski) as a hook

wonderful resources online to share your presentation
- Slideshare
- use slideshare to find examplar presentations and critique them

Slide Rocket can be used to actually build your presentation online

Google Docs also for online presentation building and sharing
- chat box provided to chat about the presentation

Always share photo credits for proper attribution and credit

Lots of ways to communicate now in 2008

In a single classperiod, I can take this presentation and make big differences in the ways students use presentations and slides

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These are my notes from Stephanie Sandifer’s closing session at EdubloggerCon 2008 in San Antonio, “Designing the 21st Century Global Learning Environment.” Our work in this session focused on the wiki: eduplan.wikispaces.com.

What school is NOT … (let’s brainstorm that) - This idea came from Ginger Lewman, who shared her thinking and work with others from a Google Doc on the “Is not…” wiki page.

Many teachers cannot or do not want to connect 24/7

teaching is not a 9-5 job (it is a lifestyle)
teaching is not bell bounded
learning should not be bell bounded

flexible time for different age groups has been an important part of learning for Sue Tapp at Upwey High School in Upwey VIC Australia

think of the worst scenario school when envisioning
- fear

not intimidated
- fear bound
- fear driven

not bound by traditional boundaries

not limited or defined by minimium standards

not scripted by unrealistic and unhealthy parent expectations

not driven by litigation fear

not focused exclusively on standardized assessments and standardized measures of learning

need to address the political energy for for accountability in new ways
- have to figure out a way to change the political landscape
- we need to change locally the perception of what is and is not the right kind of accountability

we need kids to do real stuff for real audiences
- to have skills and passion
- to have a sponge-like

I want that more than knowing my grandkids

how we measure the outcome of schooling is a SERIOUS barrier today to everyone involved

we need to change how we compensate and reward educational professionals
- it is abysmal when we put teachers in subsistance labor categor
- not talking about career ladders
- teachers to be entrepreneurial
- we need to set them free to do other

We Are Teachers is about that: helping teachers be able to put out their shingle
- Do you think

Teachers need to do a better job of capturing and sharing their stories
- the politicians have their own OLD mental picture of school and what it looks like

NOT
- closed
- opaque
- alone in an echoing room
- look like a factory model
- look like a 19th century classroom

it is appauling how we have policy prevention today in schools
- the way we use facilitaties
- they are NOT fully utilized
- they don’t deal with social justice issues

NOT
- overcontrolled by IT

NOT
- just scripted months in advance (fluid)
- just focused on the formal curriculum

teachers deal with social justice issues every day

we need to help make public policy

IS
- filled with ongoing professional learning

NOT
- undifferentiated
- impersonal
- teaching to the middle

NOT
- simply focused on summative assessment (formative assessment)

Other ideas from the other group
- bringing in retired teachers to share knowledge and experiences with other teachers
- differentiating and accomodating

No more “binge professional development”

Technorati Tags:
necc08, necc2008, necc, future, school, school2.0, education, reform, educationreform, technology, planning

This podcast is a recording of a presentation by John Jones on June 12, 2008, titled Drupal for Education. John presented this session at the Trends, Tools, and Tactics for 21st Century Learning conference in Wichita, Kansas, hosted by the Educational Services and Staff Development Association of Central Kansas (ESSDACK). The conference program description of this session was: Drupal is an open source web community engine that has the power and flexibility to provide highly customized user experiences for schools and districts. This presentation will review the software, discuss the advantages and disadvantages of open source solutions like Drupal, and showcase what these sites can do. A link to John’s PowerPoint presentation is available in the podcast shownotes.

 

 Podcast259: Drupal for Education by John Jones [65:10m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (1119)

Show Notes:

1. Drupal (official website)
2. My text notes from John’s presentation
3. John’s PowerPoint slides from this presentation
4. My post “Moodle as “the killer app” (includes a great discussion in the comments about Drupal vs Moodle)
5. Trends, Tools, and Tactics for 21st Century Learning Conference
6. Educational Services and Staff Development Association of Central Kansas (ESSDACK)
7. CivicSpace WikiPedia article (formerly DeanSpace, based on Drupal)
8. John’s personal gaming/blog website (built in Drupal, of course) - Radiating Gnome
9. Siteground, my web host (which supports Drupal via Fantastico)

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Technorati Tags: drupal, web, website, design, webdesign, html, cms, school, education, ttt08, ttt2008, essdack, kansas

There are few people alive (or who have ever lived) who combine the passion for education, the digital saavy, and an amazing (and) beautiful geekiness together the way Lance Ford does. Without a doubt, Lance IS the Oklahoma Mac Jedi. I, along with a chorus of others attending the Oklahoma Distance Learning Association (ODLA) spring meeting in Oklahoma City today, are ready to pledge ourselves as Lance’s Padawan Learner. (Technically today, I think we would all be most accurately classified as “Younglings.” Sadly, I think true Jedis are only permitted a single Padawan at one time. Here is the Mac Jedi himself, standing this morning behind his customized Honda Element. (AKA “The X-Wing of the Oklahoma Mac Jedi.)

Tandberg’s mobile commander trailer solution costs around $75,000, and includes the capability to use H.323 videoconference equipment anywhere on the planet.

Unfortunately, the price point of that solution is slightly beyond the “normal” edtech budget of most K-12 teachers. Functionality: Great. Price point: Not realistic.

Enter Lance Ford, the Oklahoma Mac Jedi. Lance has reconfigured his own Honda Element for a total cost of about $1000 with a Mac Mini, a Xenarc touchscreen car stereo, and an AT&T 3G (USB) wireless data card. Here is Dawn Danker, another of Lance’s “Younglings,” speechless after this morning’s demo:

This next image shows the car-mounted Xenarc touchscreen car stereo, where Lance has clicked (using is finger, of course, not a mouse, since this IS a touch screen) to connect to the local AT&T 3G network:

The computing heart of this system is a Mac Mini which Lance purchased off eBay for about $300, which is mounted in the car’s ceiling just above the rearview mirror. Notice Lance’s winning smile in the mirror!

Lance does not yet have his USB webcam mounted within his vehicle, but that mounting system should be worked out soon. This image shows his webcam on the dashboard, prior to an iChat AV videoconference. Lance’s iTunes library (synced to his .Mac account) is open in the following image:

Lance has installed VGA and audio input and output ports to his Mac Mini both in the front of his Honda Element inside the glove box…

…as well as in the back of his vehicle, so he’s ready for a mobile presentation via a data projector sitting on his tailgate:

No word yet on Lance’s plan for powering the projector on the tailgate, however…..

If Lance has a co-pilot or navigator in his car and the need to enter text onto the screen, he has a Bluetooth keyboard connected and configured for the Mac Mini. Here is Youngling James Deaton in the back seat of Lance’s Honda Element, trying out the keyboard:

To cap off the demo of his homebrew mobile commander, Lance connected via iChat to videoconference with a friend. (The quality of this image is poor, and I apologize, but you get the idea.)

Lance Ford continues to redefine and literally reinvent the concepts of mobile learning and distributed learning. WOW!

We asked Lance if he’s available for a road trip to NECC. Could there be a more powerful vehicle for a group of geeks to use driving to the National Education Computing Conference?
I’ll try and conduct an audio interview with Lance later in the day for a podcast.

Lance Ford is the technology director for Howe Public Schools, in Howe, Oklahoma. Lance was recognized last week at the USDLA conference in St Louis with an Outstanding Leadership by an Individual in the Field of Distance Learning award. Go Lance!

Technorati Tags:
mobile, learning, jedi, lanceford

Scott McLeod has announced an official contest to develop a logo for the phrase, “I’m here for the learning revolution.” Scott’s idea for these buttons in advance of NECC 2008 and this contest was a motivator for my post last week about wanting to write a book with this title.

Scott’s center (CASTLE) is paying for contest prizes and the buttons, and promises “Anyone who attends the Edubloggercon 2008 and [the] Classroom 2.0 ‘LIVE’ session at NECC gets a free button.” I am glad to see Scott taking this phrase “Here for the learning revolution” and running with it! I hope wearers of this button at NECC and afterwards will invite others to ask some natural questions. These might include:

1. What is the learning revolution?
2. How can I help advance the agenda of the learning revolution in my school and community?

In my view, the learning revolution is not about picketing and protests, it’s about powerful creativity and collaboration. It’s about making normative claims for what education SHOULD be like by showing others in our communities the engaging, digital learning projects of our students. Creating and collaborating. Those are the keys. Paul Wood’s post today, “Are you part of the Revolution?” provides an excellent example of what operationalizing the learning revolution can mean and DOES mean in some schools. After describing a recent powerful experience, when Sister Immaculee Mukabugabo from Rwanda spoke to students at his school, Paul wrote:

… we decided we needed to start our own voices project. In the next few days we hope to have posted to our school site a section called “Voices.” This will be voices of people that have spoken to the students on different subjects with Sister’s being the first one. We also hope to include many others who have stories to tell. The power of the voice will truly be something for us to be a part of, continuing to take us further down the road of revolution.

The digital learning revolution. It’s real. It’s here, And you’re invited to not merely spectate, but participate, as a catalyst for learning change in your local community.

Thanks to Scott for sponsoring this button contest. I’m hopeful these buttons and this phrase will catalyze even more conversations about needed changes in our schools and PRACTICAL PATHS FORWARD for those of us who have volunteered to join the learning revolution.

Technorati Tags:
learning, revolution, necc, necc2008, necc08, CASTLE, scottmcleod, contest, button

A personal first for me this evening: I created my first Facebook application! Before you get impressed, understand this was a wizard-based process that I followed, using instructions provided on our Celebrate Oklahoma Voices Ning website. The application shows random videos uploaded by participants in our statewide digit