Thinkering Studio Highlighted By Edutopia

A video highlighting Thinkering Studio was posted today. Four more BCS videos to come soon.

Welcome to the Thinkering Studio, where the biggest rule is, “you choose.” pic.twitter.com/gpVnVBK81m

— edutopia (@edutopia) March 28, 2017

To learn more about Thinkering Studio chek out the pages on the BalancEdTech Wiki.

The "Why?" And "What If..?" of Tomorrow

cross posted at LearnOutLoud.edublogs.org

Two questions for today that inform tomorrow: "Why?" And "What If...?"

Jeff Utecht recently published his thoughts around ideas we've been playing with since the inception of organized education:  Communication, Collaboration, Creativity and Critical Thinking.  In his post, Jeff revisits the 4 C's based upon significant changes in our world.  The underpinnings of each are defined the same way, but how these underpinnings are applied to our global learning community is critically different.  Jeff took these pieces from a conceptual framework to a living, breathing manifesto of practice.  This manifesto creates an undeniable sense of urgency to understand how to actualize these principles in everyday practices of teaching and learning.

Considering the 4 C's, what is one professional practice in which you engage that mirrors the efforts and mindset described by Jeff?

    

          Why do you do this?  (Why bother?)

Which one of the practices described inspires you?  Which might inspire your learners?

     

          What if...you implemented this in your professional practice? 

                 

     The Four C's of Learning via Jeff Utecht

image credit: www.spiritualmediablog.com

Is "Experiencing" the same as "Learning"?

Discussion question for Thinkering Studio students: Is experiencing the same as learning? If yes, are there subtle differences to the connotations of the words? If no, what distinguishes one from the other?


LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

What counts as Making? Who is a Maker?

I'm a big fan of the Maker movement. I wonder if the message sometimes trends too far to the engineering or technology side of things. When thinking about a Maker space for school I want to be inclusive of as many types of makers as is feasible. Engineering, technology, and occasionally some forms of crafting seem to get the most attention, but what about these?

Is a baker/cook/chef a maker?

Is a graphic artist a maker?

Is a writer a maker?

Is a computer game designer/programmer a maker?

Is a seamstress/seamster/tailor/fashion designer a maker?

Are all artists makers?

Including musical artists/songwriters?

And performance artists?

Even athletes?

Who else is a maker?

Is our space conducive to all?

Do we have the right tools and materials to encourage all kinds of making?

Is it because Making is so often linked to STEM that engineering and technology get the spotlight?

Does changing STEM to STEAM make enough of a difference?

Triple Package & Creating Innovators

Wonder what the overlap is with these two explanations?

The Triple Package: Why Groups Rise and Fall in America

Creating Innovators: The Making of Young People Who Will Change the World

Growing the Culture of a Learning Community

We’ve been doing a lot of talking about Professional Learning Communities, and the intentional efforts of some to create communities of purposeful learning.  The activity linked here is one we recently crafted for a team of teachers who have been given one day each month to explore, test-drive and share elements of practice, as they relate to shifts toward student-owned and global learning.

Given this gift of time and opportunity, I wonder…

• What might they need to consider as they learn toward their goal of student-owned learning and global connectivity?
• What professional & pedagogical process changes will be most important to consider?
• What do they need, or need to avoid, to make the most of this opportunity?
• How can we best support their efforts to create a culture of professional learning?

originally posted at Learning OutLoud by Sara Wilkie

Real Need or An Excuse? Is Less More?

In The Evolution of Education Is Less More?

"There is something to this idea of less is more. For a teacher that can’t prioritize, organize, or integrate, more isn’t helpful or supportive, but rather an endless, wide-open and formless space."

I worry about "there's an app for that" syndrome. Which seems related to the need to constantly move on to the next cool tool.

Similarly I worry about always searching for the next book/article/post/tweet to read, thinking it might have "the" answer.

If we are consumed by consuming those apps or readings, what will we produce ourselves?

I like the idea that if a teacher/facilitator/administrator cannot easily show what they AND their students have created (ideally published on the internet), even if it isn't polished/final, then they are victims of their own mindset. How do we help ourselves distinguish whether it is a real need, just a perceived need, or an excuse for not getting on with the job?

How do these overlap or express unique ideas?

Betty Flowers describes four roles related to the writing process: madman, architect, carpenter, and judge.

Roger Von Oech describes four roles related to the creative process: explorer, artist, judge and warrior.

HT to Stephen Abram to get me thinking ...

Questions & "Starts"

“Questions are places in your mind where answers fit. If you haven’t asked the question, the answer has nowhere to go. It hits your mind and bounces right off. You have to ask the question – you have to want to know – in order to open up the space for the answer to fit.” Clayton Christensen via Jason Fried

Combine that with Grant Wiggins' Beginnings, and their educational importance.

How good are our "starts"? Do our units start with kid questions enough? Is starting with a challenge as good?

And Extrovert Kids Need to Learn to Listen at School

Jessica Lahey has an article that explains why she feels Introverted Kids Need to Learn to Speak Up at School.

I've been thinking through those issues on and off for years, especially as I design my own lessons and work with other teachers. I look for articles and books related to the topic, like Susan Cain's Quiet. Below is a link to a Thinking Space about that book and introverts as well as a page that looks at the affordances and constraints of group work and individual work. Finally there is a link to a related rubric. A part of the rubric gets at listening.

I find it interesting that the "communication" Lahey mentions seems to only go one way with introverts needing to learn to speak up. Shouldn't we at the same time be working with teaching extroverts to listen?

Thinking Space - Quiet

Affordances & Constraints - Group/Individual Work

Teamwork Rubric

What is the balance we need to strike between letting kids work in their comfort zone and educating them in areas that may be less comfortable (both groups)?

Future Ed Tech Conference Direction?

When will Ed Tech conferences move to incorporate more of the content and ethos of a Maker Faire? We need more sessions like Mitch Resnick's precon at BLC. Conference organizers are missing an opportunity to connect the making their presenters already promote (storytelling, videomaking, blogging, community building, textbook creating, etc.) with that of the Maker movement. It would also be a natural connection with inquiry, design thinking, problem-solving, etc.

For now I'll just imagine myself getting invited to a retreat or unconference with Mitch Resnick, Amy Smith, Marco Torres, Dale Dougherty, Gever Tulley, Neil Gershenfeld, Regina Dugan, William Kamkwamba, Paulo Blikstein, and the Raspberry Pi folks. Who else should be invited?

I'll be curious if Will Richardson pushes down this path in the future. Are any of the Usual Suspects of the ed tech conference circuit moving in this direction?

Mini Maker Faire

Another project I'm excited about trying again this year is our Mini Maker Faire. Mini Maker Faire is designed to get students making with found materials, documenting the process, tweaking/hacking someone else's design, and reflecting throughout. Check out the possible projects and let me know if you have some others third/fourth graders might enjoy!

Multimodal Vocabulary

I'm back teaching seventh/eighth grade social studies this year! Can't wait for students to use a full range of possibilities for their Multimodal Vocabulary this year. Got any other ideas for us?

12 Most Genius Questions

Never got the evil DISQUS to work on Angela Maiers' blog and forgot about these 13 (baker's dozen) additional genius questions in response to her post, 12 Most Genius Questions In The World. Having a class or set of teachers complete a Top X list of genius questions would be a good exercise. Then they could compare theirs to Angela's.

1. Is this interesting?
2. Why does/doesn't this work?
3. What does this connect to?
4. Where might this lead?
5. What if ...
6. Is this worthwhile? (Compared to my other options.)
7. Does this fit my moral compass?
8. How long will this take? Should this take? Would I like this to take? How much time do I have?
9. How is it going? How could it be done better?
10. How do I share this?
11. How would I teach someone this?
12. How does this look to others (fortunate/unfortunately depending on how I use it)?
13. How can we learn from this failure?

#ScaleFail

I'm worried about how often educators quickly try to "scale" initiatives without thinking through which elements can scale, which might scale, and which will be a ScaleFail. A prime example would be my district's !gnite program. Some elements scaled well, others, such as co-teaching, were a ScaleFail. To that end, I'm going to start collecting links in my Diigo account and posting them to twitter. Here's the first, Our New Value Proposition.

Two Questions

Will Richardson posts Two Questions he uses the frame conversations on change in Education,

1. What can technology do better than we can when it comes to educating kids?
2. What can we do that technology can’t?

They are important to consider, but I'd add at least 1 more (maybe it's two). What can we do with technology that's better than just the technology by itself or better than just us? But, these questions beg a lot of other questions before we can address them with any nuance.

Why You Should Care about a "Scratch for HTML5"?

Why You Should Care about a "Scratch for HTML5"?

Should we teach programming? To everyone? Why?


I "teach" Scratch, though the focus is on ways of thinking, creativity, problem-solving, etc. I'm less focused on students understanding how their Wii or iPad games work, since Scratch is only going to give them a feel for that. The related question I always get from other teachers that is, I drive a car, how much do I need to know about how it works? Definitely some, or I might run out of gas or run my battery down, but how much more?

I just heard someone discussing something I thought might help me think about that question. I make toast, how much do I know about the toaster? Hmmm ... Here's the interesting answer:

The Afterword: Making a Toaster From Scratch

Thomas Thwaites: How I built a toaster -- from scratch (TED Talk)

Can't wait to read the book now.

Stop Stealing Dreams

Stop Stealing Dreams

Lots to think about and argue over! The Suck-O-Meter would fit well with it.

How Are Wikis Really Being Used in the K-12 Classroom?

How Are Wikis Really Being Used in the K-12 Classroom?

Interesting research that I would like to see the details on. I would say that the conclusion falls in line with what I have seen in many districts. We've worked hard in ours, but the collaborative aspects definitely are not as popular as 1) the teacher using it to share links, lesson plans, resources, or homework, or 2) the students using it to make pages or post files that are rarely the result of much collaboration. We have three (draft) resources designed to get at that (slowly):

Wiki Workshop:
http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Wiki+Workshop

Affordances & Constraints Exercise
http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Affordances+&+Constraints+Chart

App Taskonomy (we modify it for wiki uses instead of apps)
http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Apps+Taskonomy

It has been and will continue to be a long, slow road ...

iPads or MacBooks?

I just posted this response to Jeff Utecht's post, Why I still want MS and HS to Have a Laptop.

---

Currently, students in my classes have primary access to Windows machines, but they also have access to Mac computers and iPads. We are not currently a 1:1.

If I were offered a 1:1 with MacBooks or iPads and everything else were equal, I personally would definitely pick the MacBooks. However, if I could use the difference in funding to pay for additional professional learning community time (which includes curriculum redevelopment time) among those “teaching” with the iPads, I’d probably opt for the iPads. I would also choose the iPads over Windows XP machines. I’d have to think carefully between the iPads and Windows 7 machines. If I were choosing for the whole school, I might even choose the iPads over MacBooks even if everything else were equal.

Why? One reason is that I think your conclusion about iPads as consumption devices is inaccurate. (“At the end of the day the iPad is designed for the consumption of information.”) I do believe Apple designs them to be excellent consumption devices and those features may appear to stand out. But, they are also excellent production devices. In some cases, even better than MacBooks.

You mention wanting students to create apps, videos, and music. It is true that iPads cannot be used to create apps that run on iPads. (I’d add that they can’t run Scratch here too.) Related side question, what percentage of your students are coding apps on their MacBooks? But, iPads can be used to shoot and edit excellent videos with just the built in camera and iMovie or iStop motion. And, with GarageBand, among other apps, students can create excellent music or audio podcasts. In facts, my students often create better (technically) videos and audio recordings in less time on the iPad. Granted, they may not have all the special fx, but that’s rarely what makes video or audio go viral. It’s much more often about the content and a little less due to the quality of the original footage/audio. Here’s a link to an great example –http://www.ipadacademic.com/education/lesson-plans/animating-and-explaining-cell-division – though it might not go viral.

With their ease of use, stability and the ability of students to complete quality projects often in less time, I’ve seen teachers in my school and nationally during summer pd sessions take to these devices much more rapidly than laptops, even MacBooks. If teachers will get (allow) students to use iPads to produce more projects than with MacBooks, then I need to take the iPad over the more flexible and powerful MacBook.

That’s not to say I view iPads without their definite drawbacks, which I lay out in a little more detail here (draft). Link to Affordances & Constraints Chart –http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Affordances+%26+Constraints+-+iPad

We also need to make sure our PLCs are focusing on quality uses of either device. Working through the following activity with teachers is a start in that direction, whether using MacBooks, iPads, or other devices. Link to Apps Taskonomy Activity for Educators –http://balancedtech.wikispaces.com/Apps+Taskonomy

Check out iPad Creative to see how others are using iPads in phenomenal ways!http://www.ipadcreative.com/