Moving at the Speed of Creativity by Wes Fryer

Category: web 2.0

  • The Technology Correction and Section 230 Liability Protection

    “The Technology Correction” is something Jason Neiffer (@techsaavyteach) and I talk about frequently on our weekly webshow and podcast, “The EdTech Situation Room” (@edtechSR). This is a term Jason coined for the forthcoming regulation of our powerful technology companies built on the “surveillance capitalism” economic model, including Facebook, Google, Twitter, and others. Like the GDPR…

  • Lesson Ideas and Tips for Language Teachers using Scratch, Minecraft and more!

    A few weeks ago, I had a wonderful opportunity to share a Saturday morning Zoom webinar (for me in Oklahoma) with language teachers in the United Kingdom, as part of a webinar series hosted by the Association for Language Learning’s All London Branch. The title of my webinar presentation was, “Lesson Ideas and Tips for…

  • The Council of Constance and Modern Web

    I’m re-reading for the 3rd or 4th time Toby Lester’s (@tobylester4) magnificent book, “The Fourth Part of the World: The Race to the Ends of the Earth, and the Epic Story of the Map That Gave America Its Name.” I just finished chapter 9 last night, which (among other things) discusses the very important “Council…

  • The Story of our Family Recipe Sharing WordPress Website

    Family recipes are important. Being able to cook a much-loved family recipe can bring back a flood of good memories, but is also practically important for those of us who do the grocery shopping and cooking for our families or just for ourselves! In this post, I’ll share the backstory of a new website, “Fryer…

  • Designing And Narrating a Dream House Tour in Spanish

    This semester, for a variety of reasons, I’m having the opportunity to teach two classes of introductory 5th grade Spanish in addition to our 5th and 6th grade Media Literacy classes. 5th graders at our school take a semester of Spanish and a semester of French, and based on those experiences decide which language to…

  • Tips for Discussing Conspiracy Theories with Students

    Conspiracy theories are far more than an amusement today. The Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania this week released a study finding that a “Belief in Conspiracy Theories Is a Barrier to Controlling Spread of COVID-19.” Folks who profess beliefs in different outlier conspiracy theories today are more likely to reject mask…

  • Reflections on AI, China-U.S. Relations, Education & Innovation

    The rapid improvement of artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning algorithms and systems is one of the most important technological trends to study, discuss, and understand today in 2020. In addition to the adult Sunday School class I’m teaching this year, which is using a book on artificial intelligence as a guiding text (“2084: Artificial…

  • Twitter Threads as Bear Traps

    Living as we do amidst an overwhelming quantity of digital information, each one of us needs to develop better skills for filtering our feeds. We also need to use tools and workflows which help us readily FIND STUFF LATER. We’ve all likely had this experience: Someone shares an interesting website with us, or we stumble…

  • Better Remote Learning: Focus on TIME boundaries, Expectations, and Simple Procedures

    One of the most straightforward ways we can improve learning experiences for our students and ourselves as teachers this next year (2020-21) is to focus more on TIME. This is true whether we are in “remote learning mode,” face-to-face teaching mode, or some hybrid blend. “Time” (CC BY 2.0) by John-Morgan How much time do you expect students…

  • Takeaways and Learning from the MSON Summer 2020 Annual Conference

    Last week I had the opportunity to attend the second edition of the MSON Summer 2020 Annual Conference, held virtually via Zoom. MSON is the “Malone Schools Online Network” (@MaloneSchools), and for the first time this year (I’m guessing because of COVID-19) their annual conference was open to educators everywhere. Our school (where my wife…