Ed Tech Resources

I enjoyed presenting at the OSU College of Education's first ever Ed Camp Unconference in October. The Padlet below contains resources used to dive into lively conversation about educational technologies, critical digital pedagogy, digital literacies and more! Enjoy!

Professional Development Strategies for Online Faculty

During the 2017 Spring OSU Ecampus Faculty Forum, I presented with other members of the Faculty Senate Online Education Committee in a session entitled An Online Educator's Guide to Authentic Self-Promotion. The session covered things for online faculty to consider for their dossier, online peer observations, professional development strategies and documentation, and busting myths surrounding online education. It's been interesting to be a part of these discussions and to consider the topics in our presentation from multiple perspectives!  Check out our presentation for more details and resources. Access my suggested professional development strategies for online faculty resources online Padlet sticky note. (Hint: Scroll down once you are on the site.) Add your suggestions!

Other 2017 Spring Ecampus Faculty Forum Presentations can be viewed online. Thanks Ecampus for another good conference!

Pok’ewhat?!?

Guest Post by Rhonda Wise - My name is Rhonda Wise and I am currently working as a Seasonal Interpretive Park Ranger at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Johnson City, TX. As an Interpretive Ranger, my job is not only to educate but to connect our visitors, on a personal level, to the cultural and natural resources associated to the Johnson Presidency. The National Park Service is embarking on its second century of service. I want to make sure that I am prepared to represent the agency while adapting to meet the needs of our future visitors in a way that is relevant to them.

Pok'ewhat?!? Social media is swamped with the reports and posts, both good and bad, about the new Pok’emon Go mobile app and game. The mobile app takes gamers to historical sites and markers in a quest to ‘catch’ the Pok’emon creatures. The National Park Service is embracing it, with our current director producing a video welcoming Trainers, as the gamers are called, to the parks. With his endorsement, I added his video to our facebook page and welcomed trainers to Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park (but inside I am cringing).

Is this how we get millennials into and experiencing the parks? I read an article today that made a statement that took my attention. ”Pok’emon Go managed to accomplish something that museums, historic sites and others have struggled with for years: Getting a generation of nerds into the world to discover it, and its stories, anew.”

The positive... Pok'mon Go Live article

And the negative... Holocaust Museum

I will be anxiously watching as this plays out. Will we find new connections with this Pok’emon generation or will parks be a nondescript backdrop for the game? Is this or can this be used as a digital educational tool? Thoughts?

My screenshot taken yesterday between the LBJ Boyhood Home and the visitor center. It's everywhere!

(Stay tuned. Rhonda is working on a project for the Educational Technology course I teach. I'll post when it's complete and direct traffic to more of her engaging posts like this.)

Exploring Media and Student Voice - From iMovie to Facebook

I had the privilege to participate in another Oregon Migrant Leadership Institute for high school students. We use videos and media as springboards to discussion surrounding the migrant population, leadership, goal setting, challenges, and more. Two college mentors facilitate discussion and lead participants in using iPads to create their own videos in a few hours. Check out the big ideas and videos in the dropdown menu we use for springboards to conversation. The Tech Activities serves as a guide for our process. Once participants complete a video on the iMovie app, it is uploaded to a Facebook page.

Here's 2016 Session 1 page and 2016 Session 2 page. A big shoutout to all of the OSU college staff who make the OMLI a meaningful experience! Thanks to Jose Perucho for this overview video of session 1.

The Brainwaves Video Anthology

Check out the Brainwaves You Tube Video Anthology by Bob Greenberg.  It's loaded with short videos that feature leaders in global education.

Here's one with Sir Ken Robinson where he talks about his new book, Revolutionizing Education from the Ground Up.

Here are a few of many others I've either watched or look forward to viewing soon!

Alan November on Who Owns the Learning? Preparing Students for Success

Linda Darling-Hammond on The Flat World and Education

Carol Dweck on Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Larrry Ferlazzo on Helping Students Motivate Themselves

Silvia Rosenthal Tolisano on Globally Connected Learning

Yong Zhao on World Class Learners

Subscribe to The Brainwaves Video Anthology to stay notified of the latest uploads.  Happy viewing!

Learning Technologies with Language Learners

I recently gave a presentation to a group of university English language instructors.  It's entitled Why? How?When? and Which Tools? Learning Technologies with Language Learners. It's divided into two parts.  Part 1: Frameworks to view technology integration. (The why, the when and a bit of the how.) Part 2: The tools with some examples.

What framework(s) do you use to guide your integration of technologies in supporting language learning and/or content learning?

Exploring Web Literacy with Thinglink

Guest post by S. Horton, a K-12 educator in my Winter 2015 Ed Tech class.

Web literacy is important for students to learn, regardless of their age.  Alan November's website has a ton of resources on web literacy.

When tackling this topic in the classroom, my students were falling asleep at the thought of reading another article. They demanded pop, fun, interaction, and creativity. I needed a way to get the information across while engaging them.  What  was I to do? Create it!  My students and I created this user friendly, super fun Thinglink using a joined effort of Easel.ly and Thinglink.  It's interactive. Click on the icons and explore!

How to use the Thinglink 
The tags have the answers to 13 questions on web literacy.  Some of the tags have follow-up activities that the students perform while reading the Thinglink creation. They click on an interactive link and then interact. Thus, the once bored students are no longer bored, but happily participating in web literacy skill improvement.

How I created the Thinglink
First, in Easel.ly, an infographics site, I made the base picture. Then, using the snipping tool on the computer, to take a "picture" of the Easel.ly poster, I saved it as a jpeg file.

Next, I uploaded the picture into Thinglink, a great site for creating interactive images. Then, I used the information on the November's learning website to create tags on the poster.

You too can bring topics such as web literacy alive.  Give it a try! Check out related posts Exploring Social Justice with Thinglink and Ways to Use Thinglink in Education.

A thank you to S. Horton and her students!

National Film Board of Canada Interactives

Looking for a relaxing way to kick back for a few hours?  Get lost in the National Film Board of Canada's Interactive site!

My exploration has just began.  Bla Bla by Vincent Morisset simply puts a smile on my face. The key to the interactivity is uninhibited clicking and sound on.  Flub and Utter by Scott Nihil and Sabrina Saccoccio caught the attention of the linguist in me.  It took me back to my first linguistic course and the study of Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll, which Nihil references.  My favorite may be Flawed by Andrea Dorfman, but it's too early to know for sure.  I'm still exploring.

It turns out this is an ongoing area of interest that I keep stumbling upon.  Here's a related post about one of the earliest 360 interactive documentaries, Out My Window.  Also check out the NFB's films! The Girl Who Hated Books is a good place to get started for elementary teachers.  Quallunaat! Why White People Are Funny reminds me of Narmica and a good lesson I need to reinvent.

Thanks to the fabulous learners in my Ed Tech class this term, and specifically Brian Levine for sharing the National Film Board of Canada's Interactive site.

Happy interactive exploring!

Why Does Sugata Mitra Anger So Many Educators?

This Ed Tech Talk entitled, Why Does Sugata Mitra Anger So Many Educators, is interesting!  I think you will find it interesting.  If you aren't familiar with the work of Sugata Mitra, view some of his TED Talks here.

Participants in the Ed Tech Talk include Dave Cormier, Jeff Lebow, Jennifer Madrell, Graham Stanley, John Schinker.  They discuss Sugata Mitra's concept of Self-Organized Learning Environment (SOLE), but conversation goes beyond Mitra's views.  Their discussion leaves room for reflection for the future of education in K-12 and higher ed.  Dave Cormier wrote two related posts The Rise of SOLEs (Part 1): The Decline of the Webquest and The Rise of the SOLES (Part 2): At the Heart of a SOLE.  These put some of their conversation into context.

What are some of your take-aways?  What points do you agree and disagree with? Watch it and share your thoughts here or in person with another educator.

A Pep Talk from Kid President

A favorite needs watched more than once.  It also needs shared. Watch Kid President from Soul Cake to brighten your day.  Then share, go and "create something that will make the world awesome!"

Lessons from Auschwitz: The Power of Words

Lessons from Auschwitz: The Power of Words by Benjamin Zandar is a beautiful short video with an important message.  "I will never say anything that can't stand as the last thing I say."  This provides a reflective moment during the Holocaust Memorial Week.

#Easter Fun

My kiddo made these this weekend.  The big question is Will they hatch HTML?  So far, so good.

Migrant Youth Voices on iPads and Blogs

I presented at NCCE 2014.  The basic concept of the presentation is giving underrepresented students a voice, bringing out the super hero in them, and allowing them to speak on topics of interest to them through the use of emerging technologies. The inspiration of this presentation is from the Oregon Migrant Leadership Institutions (OMLI) I've participated in at Oregon State University for the past five summers.  The presentation gives high school participant examples from the OMLI and reflects on tech integration from the perspective of a learning educator.

http://prezi.com/ontt6uhguty1/migrant-youth-voices/

Here are related posts about the OMLI experiences.
Giving Students a Voice with iPads and iMovies
Student Voice with Tablets vs Pens
Summer Camp Experiences Recorded with Weebly, Animoto, and Educreations

The Teachers Should See This: Super Bowl Predictions

Watch the video below initiated and created by my young guest blogger.  It's a fun example of creativity and pop culture outside the classroom with tablets and apps such as iMovie.

Personally, I base my favorite team and predictions entirely upon color schemes.  It's a close call this year!

There must be math applications for predictions and probability for creative math teachers out there a bit deeper than our "scientific" predictions.  Share if you have any. :-)

Happy commercial watching!

Multiple Perspectives from Winnie the Pooh to Groceries

My preservice teachers had a great discussion a few weeks ago about the importance of brining in multiple perspectives into the classroom.  Doing so affirms that the world is complex and takes more than one view to gain a picture of a concept.  It can widen our worldview.  Multiple perspectives activities should also be accompanied with conversations around information literacy, bias, culture, and language.

This Russian Winnie the Pooh video (Vinni Puh) by animator Fyodor Khitruk caught my attention.  One of my favorite blogs, The Kids Should See This, has a nice post about it.

In continuing the conversation of multiple perspectives, take a look at this interesting post, What a Week of Groceries Looks Like Around the World, on Nutrition News. I think it would be interesting to pair it with a unit that maps where food comes from with this site. Type in a recipe and explore the originations of the food.  

On a similar thread of thought, don't miss James Mollison's photographs, Where Children Sleep.  If you haven't seen it, The Danger of a Single Story TED Talk by Chimamanda Adichie is a must see!

How can you bring multiple perspectives into your learning environment?  If you are interested in more sites, check out my Multicultural and Bilingual Resources that I will add to in time.  Happy exploring!

Global Education Conference 2013

With Dave Eggers book, The Circle, on my nightstand, I'm still on the search for professional development and student learning opportunities that focus on global learning.  (The Circle doesn't approach George Orwell's 1984, but it's a good read.)

Here's a find.  Interested in conversations surrounding global education?  Join the 2013 Global Education Conference this year from November 18th-22nd.  Access keynote speakers and sessions for free from your home computer or office.  Check out the sessions in this brochure.

It's interesting how many social media tools are in use in this year's conference.  You can follow the hashtag on Twitter #globaled13.  I was drawn to the Google + Community to continue exploration of the growing opportunities for global classroom collaborations.  The number of ways and opportunities are growing.  I'll be keeping my eye on quality and authentic learning opportunities.

If you miss it, sessions will be archived here.

Happy conferencing!

A Different Kind of Normal

I love the view out of my window today.  Each gust of wind whisks a cascading twirl of leaves that settle in my yard, beckoning for my kiddo and dog to rake and splash them about before packaging them for compost.   Beyond the beauty of the fall, I love my view outside and inside my window because it is my view. Mine. I have chosen it and make it my own on a daily basis.  I invite people I care about to fill the space about me and to create and share my view.

As much as I love returning to my view, I find value in traveling. It’s a process to see beyond the first glimpse that a new view offers—to peer deeper into the everyday lives of the people who inhabit the space, the space they invite me into.  The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes; they all contribute to the reality of my growing worldview.

I recall the first time I saw a favela in Brazil. It was almost too much (no it was too much) for my aspiring middle-class, twenty-something, American mind to process.  Also imprinted upon my memory is a moment in Bolivia while crossing a bridge-- my experience up until that point in time told me I traversed over a garbage dump; but a glimpse of an orphaned street child huddled into a drain pipe cemented the realization it was a home to someone. It left me numb and silent.  I searched the procedures-- the laws that didn't allow me to adopt that child, or another little one half-wrapped in bright colored, dingy llama wool peering up from under a bridge.

Years later, after seeing countless similar views, my mind still doesn’t process these sights.  It doesn’t because it’s simply not fair, and I should find it unsettling!  Yet, I now realize the people inhabiting these spaces have unique voices that reach beyond my silence.  Beyond. Silence. Mine.  Kids in poverty. Their voices reach beyond anything we pretend makes sense. 

Simultaneously, I never cease to be amazed by the juxtaposition of joy and rich culture that is experienced within these spaces.  Through reading; discussion of space, design and architecture; traveling; and technology, I continue to expand the view beyond my window. 

Ingenious Homes in Unexpected Places is a TED Talk by Iwan Baan that recently expanded my view. It is something you must watch! Through photography, he shows how people build homes in unlikely places.  I continue to reflect on Baan’s phrase, “a different kind of normal.”

Bann’s talk reminds me of The Landfill Harmonic Orchestra in Paraguay, where three of my favorite people in the world live.

It also brings up connections to James Mollison’s photography in his books, Hungry and Where Children Sleep.   (Hint: Use the “next” button to view Mollison’s photos. They are worth it!)

The related issue of poverty is NOT a problem that only exists outside of my home country.  All I have to do is look beyond my window’s view within my state, within my neighborhood. Some of the struggle of families in my own back yard are highlighted in the documentary,  American Winter, that follows eight families in Portland, Oregon. 

This has direct implications for us as educators.  Here’s some information from the program I work in about cultural and linguistic diversity in Oregon’s schools.  These kids and families ARE our community. We ALL have a responsibility.

It’s not enough, but through technology, I am slowly finding a way to both hear and give voice to those in poverty, to those who don’t have access to the basics such as clean water and food, yet whose voices capture the complexity of the human spirit in music, art, compassion-- found in spaces they make their own.  Their voices shape my view and push me to look at a different kind of normal.

Giving Students a Voice with iPads and iMovies

This summer, I worked with high school migrant students in a summer camp using iPads to give them a voice through videos and writing.  This posts builds on the one prior to it, Giving Students iPads vs Pens, but focuses on the instructional aspects.  Here's a fun video that two students created on the first day in about 20 min.  Watch others from this Shout Out page.

Prep and a platform are important!  A lot of prep work goes into setting something like this up.  I had 15 iPads, 4 staff, and around 25 students at one time.  I chose Blogger as the platform in part because it has a super easy to use app.  We used iMovies as the movie making app and You Tube Capture to quickly upload the movies to You Tube.  In weeks 2-3, when staff became more comfortable, we added Animoto (using an Educator’s account) and Explain Everything. The resources and handouts and general plans were posted prior to beginning each week.  It is handy to have videos, links, general purpose explanation, etc. set up ahead of time on a site to aid in the flow of instruction during a project.

Student choice: In week one, I began with a structured format that was “school like” the staff politely told me later. Staff were learning the apps, there were a lot of unknowns, and it seemed the safe bet. Students created Where I am From poems and turned them into videos.  I had my handouts, model examples videos and how-to videos ready to go on the site.  It was exciting the first day when one of the participants quickly created an incredible rap during a pre-write session.  But for what could be a variety of reasons—not wanting to share publically, or perhaps feeling the need to follow my “school like” directions, his rap didn’t make it to video.  Students in week 1 did a great job!   They followed my directions, but I was a bit disappointed in my directions and how it pigeon holed everyone into creating a similar looking video. 

In weeks 2-3, staff were more comfortable, and they opened topics up to students.  Wow, do kids have ideas and voices worth listening to!  They chose topics of importance to them such as bullying, language choice, goal setting, etc.  

Process and experience: If this is presented with a focus on the process and learning, not only the final product, it helps meet the needs of a wider range of learners, differentiating and even individualizing.

Learn together as you go:  Tablets truly give teachers the opportunity to take the seat of a facilitator and learner with the students.  Students asked each other, problem solved, worked together, naturally became the experts and taught me! I did do a lot of the leg work in managing the site and creating You Tube playlists, looking at privacy issues, etc, but some of this can be delegated to students as well.

Celebrate!  This type of learning differentiates and allows learners of varying levels to contribute.  We popped popcorn and watched their videos and related videos along the way.

Overview: This experience shows how mobile devices can be used quickly to create videos and give students a voice.  This is the tip of the iceberg when we have access to such devices and begin to rethink assignments and how technologies can support content and language learning. This experience also cements the importance of a platform (such as a blog) for workflow and instructional purposes, to share student work, and to communicate.

Happy movie watching!

Student Voice with Tablets vs. Pens?

So many discussions about technology in education begin with a conversation about either the woes of how technology is driving the curriculum or of some fear it will replace the teacher. 

Tech is another tool.  I hold nothing in my hand.  Now I pick up a pen.  What can I do now that I hold a pen that I couldn’t before I had the pen in my hand?  What a powerful tool the pen is!  How it has shaped our world.

Will the pen do all the work for me?  Does the pen have the words and ability to make them jump on the paper?  Silly.  Yet we often start discussions of today’s technology this way.  To use the tablet or not?  What if we had just let the pen sit there and never explored it’s potential in education?  What if we only gave wealthy students access to the pen? Etc.

Three weeks this summer, I worked in a summer camp for high school migrant youth.  Some of them had held an iPad before and knew more about its uses than me.  For others, this was their first time.  Within a few hours with minimal guidance of a college staff leader, they shared their voices.  They created about themselves on topics of relevance to them.  Check out their videos here!

I sense this is only the beginning.  With many of these emerging technologies, it’s like picking up the pen for the first time and realizing, “This has potential in my hands—wait, it has more potential in my students’ hands!”  We’re wrapping our heads around this.  Play, create, share, and reflect.  Think in terms of collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking, and culture.  The framework of my tech course is becoming more important to me as I think about the emerging technologies.

Stay tuned for an upcoming post about some of the how-tos and my instructional tech take-aways of this summer migrant leadership camp experience.

Gratitude: #DoIGetpaid4this?

This is a post a few years in the making.  Gratitude is so important!  I know I don’t say enough of it directly to the people who have impacted me: my husband and best friend, parents, grandparents, teachers, friends, colleagues etc.  You are amazing for the shear simplicity of putting up with my idiosyncrasies and believing in me, listening.  I thank you, but this post will focus on gratitude of teachers from my past.

Here is a humble, specific thank you to these people:  Morris Krigbaum (my high school English teacher), Stella Greig (my university mentor), Bruce Closser (my university writing instructor and supervisor).  And of course Mr. Long, and my first teacher, Mrs. Long.

I was but one of many who passed through your classroom doors.  With my eyes shyly cast downward, but full of sparkle and inquisitiveness, slinking into class late and sitting in the back of the classroom when large enough class size allowed.  The words were within me, but afraid to come out.  You patiently waited, believed, and drew them out.  It was not “a moment,” but a progression of moments that offered me a world of possibilities that didn’t exist prior to our interactions and your belief in me.  Thank you! 

Gratitude. Amo La Vida by Nic Askew is a video that has touched me in many ways.  I’ve watched it countless times this year.  Each time with a different take-away.  Enjoy more of Nic Askew’s videos here at soul biographies!  They are so worth it.

For all you teachers prepping to go back for another year, wondering #DoIgetpaid4this?  The gratitude exists.  You just might not see it today.  This also cements the concept that it IS about the relationships. As much as I have a passion for technology, there is no replacement for the teacher.

And that’s the funny thing about gratitude.  The ones intended to be there… they just keep finding their ways back into our lives.  :) Smile. 

--

Oddly enough, I didn’t think to add students to this list until after I wrote the post.  I know I have many former students I am grateful entered my life.  That could be a post by itself.

Here's another fun video on gratitude: Soul Pancake The Science of Happiness: An Experiment in Gratitude