MERLOT-Ooh la la!

In just a few months I have been privy to learning about a ton of fantastic educational resources out there.  One such resource presented in my current class is MERLOT (and no, I'm not talking about wine!).  In this assignment, I was instructed to perform a peer review of material that has been presented in MERLOT. 

The material I chose, mostly because it is relevant to my course history in Human and Social Services Administration, is a class regarding Housing and Human Services.  My evaluation is as follows:

Quality of Content:

1. Does the software present valid (correct) concepts, models, and skills?

Yes, the material I viewed was originally presented in 2005, however the concepts are still current and correct from my available knowledge. 

2. Does the software present educationally significant concepts, models, and skills for the discipline?

Yes. The concepts involved are regarding the psychology of placement in the housing programs and the dilemmas faced by those dealing with that particular population. 

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching-Learning Tool:

1. What stage(s) in the learning process/cycle could the materials be used?
   • Explanation or description of the topic/stating the problem
   •  The materials/course presented would be considered a graduate level class for those currently in the field who have at least experienced issues in trying to place those who need housing assistance into programs like transitional housing, rehab, adult foster care homes, group homes, etc. Part of the problem(s) addressed in the course materials is the cycle of drug abuse, mental illness coping, and low income lifestyle challenges.
   • Quoted material relevant to this question: "Part I identifies the main issues in the interaction between housing and human service systems. It introduces social science concepts related to the interaction in practice between housing and human services.Part II focuses on "categories of population to be housed." We look at the history of the category, the issues surrounding its housing and services needs and in several instances how practitioners (all graduates or almost-graduates of DUSP) are handling the challenge in the real world. The case of transitional housing is an exception where we are looking at a form of housing which serves a number of populations.
     Part III focuses on student papers. To expand our knowledge of how human service and housing issues play out in practice, each student will develop a case study of a local or state organization that is dealing with the interface between the housing and human service systems. Hopefully some of you will already be working in intern settings that will provide the context and data for such a study. If not we will produce organizations for you and will help connect you with the actors in these situations. Students may also use relevant cases to which they already have or can get access." 
   • Demonstration of the curriculum/exploration of the problem
   • Using team projects, real world interactions with clients and "services" organizations the learners explore the problems addressed in the lecture and reading materials. 
    
   • Practice using the curriculum/analysis of the outcomes from solving the problem
   • Using group meetings with other learners, real world interactions and case studies, learners can develop solutions to the housing/crisis paradigm described. 
    
   • Applying the curriculum to "new" problems/application of the outcomes to other problems
   • Using the information and methods obtained in this course material, learners can apply the principles obtained in evaluating client circumstances to solve additional problems in placement that may occur.  Quoted material ""Deal with problem" Segregate Integrate Isolate (LCK problem people)"
2. What is(are) the learning objective(s)? What should students be able to do after successfully learning with the materials?  Students should be able to identify client's barriers to proper housing placement and adjust their continuum of care accordingly.
3. What are the characteristics of the target learner(s)

Professionals or para-professionals that are currently on the job or entering the work force after completion of a bachelor's degree and currently working on obtaining a graduate degree. 
 

1. Does the interactive/media-rich presentation of material improve faculty and students' abilities to teach and learn the materials?

The material is preferably presented in a real world setting as an internship with "live" application/presentation.  Experiences are then evaluated in group setting with feedback from other students as well as faculty.  For the type of problem/solution being presented (case by case basis) this is probably the most applicable presentation of material possible. 

1. Can the use of the software be readily integrated into current curriculum and pedagogy within the discipline?

This is a online course description with "readings", lecture notes, assignment description so the curriculum is laid out in its entirety for anyone in the discipline to access and adapt. 

1. Can the software be used in a variety of ways to achieve teaching and learning goals?

No. It is not software but instead an online curriculum that involves real life interaction in order to be successful.  

1. Are the teaching-learning goals easy to identify? Yes. They are laid out in the course syllabus.
2. Can good learning assignments for using the software application be written easily? Assignments are already laid out and can be adjusted on a case by case basis.

Ease of Use:

1. Are the labels, buttons, menus, text, and general layout of the computer interface consistent and visually distinct?  Yes, the material is presented through MIT's opencourseware system.
2. Does the user get trapped in the material? No, the user can use the buttons on the left side navigation or download the material as actual documents to follow.

1. Can the user get lost easily in the material? No
2. Does the module provide feedback about the system status and the user's responses? No
3. Does the module provide appropriate flexibility in its use? No
4. Does the learning material require a lot of documentation, technical support, and/or instruction for most students to successfully use the software? No
5. Does the material present information in ways that are familiar for students?no
6. Does the material present information in ways that would be attractive to students? Yes

Link to actual material evaluated   http://ocw.mit.edu/courses/urban-studies-and-planning/11-421-housing-and-human-services-spring-2005/index.htm

Link to material on MERLOT http://www.merlot.org/merlot/viewMaterial.htm?id=554858

Educational Reform

         Two days ago, I went and saw Ken Robinson speak at MSU's Wharton Center.  Last night, I watched Henry Rollins speak at the Michigan Theatre near U of M. I have to admit that I was more impressed with what Henry Rollins had to say about education and reform then with what Sir Ken said.  Don't get me wrong, Sir Ken made some excellent points about what is wrong with our educational system-standards vs. standardizing for example.  However, I felt as though he was quick to point out all the failures of our current system and fell short at offering any potential solutions.  Henry Rollins on the other hand offered some ideas or at least some inspiration to me on where we can go from here.

         If it were possible, I would create a sort of Montessori charter school focused on independent study as well as group projects on ALL of the arts.  Here me out.  I think that a school that embraces all of the arts and humanities (and by that I am not just talking about math, science, music, etc. but I am also including graphic design, computer programming, literary arts, gaming, architecture, gastronomy, sculpture, etc.) will encourage creativity as a way of thinking (creative logic).  When Sir Ken spoke of creativity he made a great point that many people associate that only with being artistic (some who can draw, sing, etc.) and that is not what it means.  To create something incorporates building, designing, developing but it doesn't have to physically be something.  One constructs a logical math problem and solution, one develops a marketing plan, one builds a story, etc. I would want a school where experiments, collaboration, and technology were daily tasks, not something done as a lab as 1 part of a semester long lesson plan. I am not trying to criticize current school systems or teachers at all by saying this, but I think public schools do kill creativity (Sir Ken has spoken on this topic) and that we need to reinvent them. I believe that looking at things like gastronomy by way of a  community garden would be a large part of the picture as well-teaching altruism, the social sciences and philanthropy.

      Over the last few days I have been trying to develop a lesson plan and have created half of a plan on 3 different topics, none of which have seemed to work for me.  I think part of my "block" is that I am not currently in a classroom and the other part is that I am trying so hard to be creative!! Creativity should not be contrived, it needs to flow.

Meeting Sir Ken today!!

Forgive my ranting, or don't....

My 2nd class has started and I'm excited to see what it brings! I'm ready for the challenge.  Speaking of challenge-I'm still working on my "official" grad school application (due April 1st).  Right now, I'm enrolled in the classes on, well,  sort of a "conditional" basis-as a lifelong student in the certificate program.  However, I have to apply for and get accepted into the official MAET program (no pressure!) if I want to continue in the classes. 

I'm very excited to report that I finished my last class with an A--4.0!!  That is some serious motivation.  I mean-I would have been concerned if I hadn't done well-and wondering if I picked the correct program.  So far, so good.

I do want to take a minute to have a little rant (think of it as the stress and pressure of balancing work/school/family!!!) Lately, I have been reading more "comments" on various websites, forums and via my RSS feed.  I think perhaps this is a bad idea.  I've been getting very frustrated with the grammar and structure of others' posts.  What I mean is that I am noticing a communication pattern among "younger" generations that is making me feel OLD!  I have read comments that have actually made me stop and wonder if they 1) mistyped or 2) were using a different language (and no I don't mean Javascript or HTML!) That is all.

Looking back....Personal Reflection

Looking back on the lessons in this class and my performance, I believe I learned a lot about different types of educational technology tools and resources.  I learned the most by reviewing the SIG projects-Popplets, Moodles,Yodio etc.  I enjoyed the MACUL space and getting all the trips and tricks the most and it made me think about different tools out there. I think what may have limited my growth is that I am not a traditional "teacher" or trainer so it's difficult for me to implement certain things in a classroom I don't have.  

• What are some things that you have learned about effective teaching strategies when integrating technology? Effective teaching strategies can be learned best by using resources like MACUL and understanding tips and tricks to their implementation.  You might have to just "google" it if you have any technical problems.  Many free tools exist so it doesn't need to cost a fortune to do. 
• How did integrating the Internet help you think about and evaluate uses of technology? I already integrated the internet into my previous studies.  I have done my entire college education in an "online"interactive environment so I'm not sure it was all that different for me.  However,  I liked have the ability to pick my own "medium"!
• Which of the assignments that you turned in do you feel really exemplifies good teaching with technology and why? Our group SIG project exemplifies good teaching with technology because of all the examples and tools we uncovered in our research and the visual examples given. 
• How have you met your goals established in your Personal Growth Plan? I haven't really met any of the goals in my PGP yet other than completing the course!  Most of my goals were more long term ones. 
• Do you have any new goals? What are your plans for reaching your new goals and your long-term goals after this course is over? My new goals would be to really sit down and create example lesson plans using all the wonderful tools we have found.  I want to keep a portfolio to show examples of my work as a "resume" as well as to share with teachers who are looking for instructions on how to use certain technology tools. I would like to be able to take one thing a month (popple, moodle, yodio, eduism, etc.) and put together a small example of its possibilities in the classroom. 

Creative Commons Lab

Lab Part 1

Since I am not a "teacher" or "trainer" I wasn't sure what to use for this post.  I suppose since I am so interested in interactive whiteboards, that choosing this picture only makes sense.  I would use it to illustrate an interactive whiteboards multi touch capabilities. I think having the ability to pull images and use them educationally is a wonderful resource.  I have experienced this when using Prezi.  When you choose to insert an image it will ask you if you want to select one that has already been licensed for use in Prezi (which is what I always tend to do).  Now that I know the proper citation for using others work, I won't be as limited.

Photo Attribution: Original Image "multi touch on 2Touch - platying bubblewrap pop" 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pablog61/5495938649/

By: Pablo Garcia

Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/


 Part Two of Lab



Here is a link to an old photo of my pug Layla on Flickr.  




Here is the actual picture: 

Photo Attribution:  "Layla" by Rachael Hilliker
Released under an Attribution-Non-Commercial-Share Alike License
http://www.flickr.com/photos/raerocks/1766524278/

LEARNING STYLES--There is a reason I cannot sit still ...

Out of the three learning styles (Visual, Auditory and Tactile), I am a tactile learner.  Considering only about 5% of all people fall in this category, it's no surprise to me that I often feel like school isn't designed for someone like me.  I get bored with lectures easily!  According to the learning style test I just took:

 "Within the kinesthetic learning style, there is also a sub-category known as
interactive learning. Interactive learners frequently find that they lose attention
easily. Like kinesthetic learners they tend to become distracted or bored very
easily within lectures. These individuals often learn best when they are in
situations in which they can actually perform or do something. They frequently
must re-write notes in their own words in order to recall relevant facts." 

The above description is definitely ringing some bells for me.  I have always enjoyed labs or hands on learning-perhaps this is why the interactive whiteboard is so fascinating to me.  I think about how much more fun I would have had in school if I had been able to use one of them! 

In school I have always enjoyed lab work or science projects.  Lectures and memorization did not work for me and it was obvious in my test scores.  I often volunteered to "go up to the chalk board" to show examples of work-not because I thought I was a smarty pants, but I actually needed to do something to learn the material better.  

I think as a teacher/trainer it would be best to have students collaborate-that way students can each participate in activities using their own learning style.  They can also present information to others that match their own learning style.  I know we can't teach each lesson in a curriculum focusing on every learning style but I honestly believe that interactive white boards can be great tools for visual, auditory and tactile learners.   I wish we could put one in every classroom in the country AND train teachers on how to effectively utilize them. I think it would have made a world of difference for me and other tactile learners out there. 

I also took a multiple intelligences test and the results surprised me.  It states if you scored over 3 on any of the types you probably use them often-all of my scores were over 3???!!!  Not surprising was my top -Music I scored a 5, followed by Nature at 4.43 and Social at 4.14. Here are my other results:

3.43	3.29	3.29	3	3

I found the recommendations from this site interesting-like incorporate songs or rhythms for memorizing things.

RSS Feed Part Two

Well, it's been a few weeks using the RSS feed and I have changed the settings quite a bit.  One of the things I noticed when I first started it was that if I selected the RSS subscribe on some articles I found interesting, I would then get articles from that site that often had nothing to do with the original article I liked.  I found that for certain sites I had to subscribe to categories so that I wouldn't get ever article they posted about random targets. After the first few days I noticed it was easier to navigate and that my feed was more topic appropriate to what I was looking for.

What I eventually started doing was "starring" articles that I enjoyed or that I found interesting enough in the paragraph summary to want to save to read later (or to even share with others).  Google reader probably wasn't the best choice for me as far as filtering topics but since I already used iGoogle for my Gmail, twitter, blog, facebook, etc. it seemed to be the easiest for me to add to my routine.  I noticed that there seemed to be a common theme on many of the EdTech sites based on current events so it was interesting to sometimes get different perspectives on things. 

I was able to get a lot of interesting information for my SIG group which I then added to my delicious account. It helped in the research aspect of things to have have to do "google searches" with varying phrases and keywords. 

This last week especially it seemed everyone had something to say about the superbowl (and though I'm not exactly sure what that had to do with some of the websites I subscribed to, I suppose it can draw in the reader if it appeals to multiple interests they may have).

I ended up removing some of the subscribed sites when I felt their content was below my standards or just not as up to date and I had hoped. The NPR education feed had some very interesting articles about the drop out rate and school lunches but I was hoping to find more technology related articles that never came so I went back to NPR and subscribed to their technology feed.

One thing I did like about the Google reader and I don't know if other RSS feed organizers do this but it pulled old articles from sites as well.  There was some great articles from one and two years ago that I might not have otherwise came across if not for the feed.  I tried to read a few really old articles each day as well. 

Some feeds I rarely starred anything and some feeds I seemed to star quite often.  It became a habit to look  at certain feeds first each day because I knew they had more useful information than others -at least for my interests.  I found that the articles or posts most interesting to me were ones from actual instructional designers or teachers utilizing innovative technology in their classrooms.


If I keep this up a few more weeks I can see that this will be a great habit for me to have to stay up to date on the quickly changing world of educational technology and I feel much less overwhelmed receiving the information than I did at the beginning of this assignment.  This is a great tool for anyone, no matter what your topic, career, or goals.

PC Maintanence and Security

I consider myself to be pretty knowledgeable about basic computer things-both hardware and software related.  However in reviewing the Firewalls tutorial I was surprised to learn that both a hardware and software firewall are recommended.  My router has a built in firewall and I've always turned off the windows firewall because it's just annoying to me (constant popups about trying to connect to the internet) and blocks things I don't think it should like file-sharing between my home network computers. Perhaps I've just never had it configured correctly. There were several tutorials in the firewall category so I watched all of them and then proceeded to turn my windows firewall back on.  I also downloaded zonealarm to my computer because it seemed to be the best choice for me.

I already have AVG free on my computer, but wish I could afford BitDefender for all of my computers and tablets.  In our house we have 2 desktops, a laptop, and 2 tablets and use wireless internet connection (which makes our information more vulnerable).  I had heard of BitDefender before, but was surprised at it capabilities noted in the tutorial. Of course when you look at the price based on number of users, I doubt I could afford it on all of our devices. I was also surprised to learn about their free editions of their software (previous versions) and their free virus removal tools.  I have bookmarked those just in case I need them someday.

The file backup options tutorial was the only one that was disappointing to me.  Right now, I have a terabyte external hardrive that I put all our videos and pictures on.  I use google docs for a lot of my school work documents since they are available web based and I don't have to take a flash drive everywhere.  For my iPhone I use iCloud to back up information.  I never really have time to do full-back ups (perhaps I have too much info on my computer to back up).  I do have my Seagate programed to auto partial backup certain folders on my computer (pics, docs, purchased program software, etc.) I don't really like the idea of storing my data on an online software program.

Overall I thought the tutorials were pretty well put together and they were short enough that I could watch a section and then come back to them later.  It was very informative and I plan on sharing a lot of the information with people I know.

While I was writing this post, my AVG sent me this and I thought I'd share it.

Educational Technology Guy: 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

Educational Technology Guy: 10 Tech Skills Every Student Should Have

RSA Animate - Changing Education Paradigms

Delicious Stack

Our SIG  (special interest group) has found some amazing resources for teachers and educational technology professionals regarding interactive white boards.  Feel free to follow or view our stack  http://www.delicious.com/stacks/view/DVLbry  also on twitter you can follow our "conversation" #cheapSmartboards

Getting things Done-- follow up

Ok, so as a continuation of my assignment I actually implemented the workflow process today.

1. How did you organize your process? (are you using paper and pencil, a phone, a piece of software)?  I organized the process on my iGoogle a few days ago.
2. What was it like for you going through the process the first time? I had setup keyword searches in my RSS feed and then one by one went through the links that came up and determined if they should be added to our SIG stack on delicious.  This was an incredibly tedious task because some articles or blogs seemed interesting to me enough to read for pleasure but I had to remind myself of the task at hand and follow the workflow.  If it was not of use to our project, I just bookmarked it for future read (as if I'll ever have time) and moved on. 
3. Do you think that this process will help you? Why or why not?  I think this process could help me if I am able to actually stick to it and get a groove with it.  However, I also think that strictly adhering to the process might actually slow me down because I already used a similar workflow process that had worked for me.
4. Do you think you will continue this process? If not, what will your process be?  Personally I am going to use it for the purpose of the SIG project because I think for research items it would be useful.  As far as in my everyday work it most likely wouldn't be because I am constantly assigned new cases at work (non-education job for the moment) and have to regroup at various points in my day/week/month.  I can see it being useful to a teacher though!!

International Society for Technology in Education - Learning & Leading Feature: Teach Your Students to Fail Better

International Society for Technology in Education - Learning & Leading Feature: Teach Your Students to Fail Better

Design thinking combines collaboration, systems thinking, and a balance of creative and analytical habits. And it might just help your students make the world a better place.

If you were able to create your own classroom for the future, with your choice of resources, furniture, tools, and technology, how would you design it so that your students would be most capable of adapting in an increasingly complex world as a learner, professional, and citizen? And how would you design it so that your students were likely to have the greatest impact on the world around them? I believe this is the driving educational question for all of us in the digital age, and it has been tugging at me with increasing intensity over the past few years as technology has begun to dominate the larger conversation about learning and teaching.

Fail Better

Last spring, I was invited to speak at TEDxOverlake, a learning-focused event held at the Overlake School outside of Seattle, Washington, USA. When the event’s curators asked me what part of education I wanted to speak about, I answered decidedly, "failure."

In fact, I didn’t want to speak about just the general concept of failure, but I wanted to celebrate the words of Samuel Beckett: "Fail, fail more. Fail better." And I wanted to do so with an eye toward empowering students to thrive.

At first glance, Beckett’s provocation appears to be counterintuitive. After all, our current system remains predicated on the belief that we should eradicate failure and guarantee that every student "succeed" at all costs. And yet, when we really look at what learning in the digital age is about—fostering multidisciplinary collaboration to solve increasingly complex problems with no clear answers—it seems impossible to imagine that an educational culture built on confirming "right answers" within predictable training scenarios offers our students a viable way forward.

Perhaps in the past when learning outcomes were more static, we needed students to be predictable. Tomorrow, however, we’ll need agility, divergent thinking patterns, and an ability to test ideas in messier ways.

In other words, we need digital age learners to be comfortable with failure. And we need learners who know how to fail better.

From Designing Curriculum to Design Thinking

As a former high school English teacher and longtime experiential education leader, I spent years searching for innovative ways to combine the best of traditional academics with the hands-on projects my students accomplished outside the classroom.

My students successfully ran international blogging projects mentored by professional jury members around the world, undertook an 8,000-mile creative writing/research road trip to discover the "real America," debated literary ideas via Skype with students around the world, created a pop-up black-box theater in the woods behind our school to bring Shakespeare to life, and spoke at national educational technology conferences.

Sometimes these projects were fueled by emerging technologies. Sometimes they were analog in nature. They all, however, had one thing in common: I was ultimately in charge of identifying the problem to be solved. And to be honest, I always struggled with that.

I didn’t struggle because teaching in such circumstances was hard. Quite the contrary. I was amazed by my kids’ passions and abilities, and I loved conjuring up new problems for them to solve. What I struggled with was the contradiction of being the "designer" of my students’ experiences on the one hand while wanting them to truly "own" their learning on the other.

While I spent years trying to perfect engaging project-based/problem-based learning experiences, I never quite made peace with the fact that:

• I was always in charge of the problems they would solve.
• The problems were not always anchored in the real world (even if they were useful in terms of
  academic skill development and general engagement).
• Deploying cutting-edge technology was often becoming the primary driver of the project itself.
• All too often, I felt pressured to prevent students from truly risking failure (and thus learning) in
  a meaningful way.

Most project-based/problem-based learning examples I ran into (or created myself) still treated school and the real world as distant allies, not as rigorous partners that had to work hand in hand.

It wasn’t until I discovered the concept of design thinking (DT) that I could finally see a new way to challenge our students to become agile thinkers and collaborators in an effort to solve meaningful problems anchored in authentic experience. Even better, DT demonstrated how my students could create their own learning from beginning to end.

Defining a Design-Thinking Mind

DT is about using design to improve the human experience. It combines the ideals of what we want for our students: collaboration, systems thinking, and the development of a balance of creative and analytical habits. It also fuels what our students want for themselves: making an impact on the real world in real time and having adults take their passions seriously.

The process essentially comes down to a continuously evolving feedback loop with four elements: empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

Empathy. DT is a creative process grounded in practical experience. By learning to observe human behaviors and needs in the context of real life, DT participants discover human-
centered questions and problems worth trying to solve. Better yet, it does so within a remarkably empathetic process that puts the experience of human beings at the center of the equation. It is no longer about answer keys with static facts that seem separate from the day-to-day lives of learners.
Ideation. Once a DT participant is able to identify a real-world problem worth solving, the next step is to explore ways to respond. The goal is not to find a perfect solution at this point. Instead, DT participants seek novel perspectives with a bias toward innovation. DT values the creativity and insights of all participants, regardless of specific expertise or a need to be "right" at first blush. It encourages outside-the-box thinking, which leads to unexpected creative solutions. DT relies on a creative process based on "building up" ideas (rather than the typical analytical process that looks to "break down" ideas). Key to this is the belief that there is no place for value judgments early on. The DT process rewards "and, and" responses from participants, as opposed to the "yeah, but" reactions that are typical of traditional academic experiences.
Prototyping. Once participants identify a wide range of possible solutions, the next step is to rapidly mock up examples. To DT advocates, the idea is to help make an idea real, tangible, and accessible. Ultimately, DT has a natural bias toward action. The best way to approach this—as many designers will tell you—is to use a rapid prototyping process fueled by an attitude of "fail and fail fast," something ideally suited for learning in a complex and often messy 21st century world.
Testing. Creativity and open minds aside, DT deeply values testing all assumptions. Solutions need to work. And better yet, solutions need to work in the real world and have an observable positive impact on the human experience. Because problems are found in the real world, answers need to be agile enough to adapt over time. Such a pedagogical framework naturally provides learners with the thinking tools to respond to an unpredictable future while remaining focused on the human experience.

Prototype Design Camp

Given this understanding of DT, let’s go back to the original question: Imagine you were invited to create your own version of the classroom of the future. Where would you start?

This was precisely the question that members of the eTech Ohio conference planning team presented to Be Playful, a design firm I founded, a year ago in advance of their annual statewide conference.

For the eTech Ohio team, this was not a theoretical question. In essence, they wanted to design a classroom space placed physically in the middle of the conference that would creatively suggest the possibilities for learning and teaching at the front end of the 21st century.

Furthermore, this "classroom of the future" needed to integrate dynamic and cutting-edge technology. It needed to inspire large numbers of the estimated 6,000 conference attendees to come explore and collaborate. It also needed to compete for attention in an exhibit hall surrounded by student-built robots, Wii dance contests, and a range of innovative educational programs. More important, the solution needed to be unlike anything they had tried in the past.

As a passionate advocate for em-erging technology inspiring real-
time innovation in the classroom
and a designer working in the international school architecture field, this project offered precisely the type of challenge that brought together all
of my passions.

However, my first answer was a conditional "yes" that I wasn’t sure the eTech Ohio team would accept. While many previous ideas celebrated emerging technology (and the impact of architecture), our energy focused more on what students (and teachers) would be challenged to do in a digital age learning environment.

Our proposal essentially stated:

• The classroom can’t just be a showcase for technology.
• Students must be the center of the program.
• Adults must serve as mentors, sherpas, and allies.
• Students must solve real problems that they come up with.

To our pleasure, the eTech Ohio team said "yes." They were willing to support our idea of "seeing" students actively working, collaborating, solving problems, communicating, creating, and presenting.

To that end, DT made for the perfect partner as 45 high school students from 14 diverse schools in Ohio (as well as a school in Indiana and another in Georgia) trekked their way through the snow and ice to participate in the first-ever Prototype
Design Camp.

Their process took the following form:

Find a problem worth solving. Students spent three intense days (from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.) working in teams of six to seven that set out to find, explore, and solve a remarkable problem focused on the future of learning. Students—as researchers and ethnographers—interviewed conference attendees, global partners, and virtual participants (via several digital platforms) on Day 1, leading to a range of design problems they wanted to consider.
Explore a range of remarkable possibilities. Once students returned to the classroom, they filled the space with colorful Post-It Notes and sketches rich with multilayered questions and descriptive idea sparks until each team identified their preferred problem. Problems ranged from how to empower young people to become global journalists while still in school to how to stretch the boundaries of a physical classroom and how to redesign the underlying relationship between learners and teachers. Working face to face with a cadre of professional designers, educators, and technology experts from around Ohio and the United States, design teams spent a day and a half exploring ways to come up with solutions worth prototyping.
Ask big questions of innovative thought leaders. In addition to having access to mentors within the physical prototype classroom, students also worked virtually with a range of national and global experts via Skype and various social media channels. This included ed tech visionaries Stephen Heppel in England and Ewan McIntosh in Scotland, Ming-Li Chai from Microsoft’s corporate futures team, "Project Runway" finalist Althea Harper, TEDx curators, and others. Simultaneously, Prototype Design Camp students and mentors collaborated with educators around the world via Twitter, Facebook, live streaming of key conversations, and live blogging.
Rapidly prototype a physical concept. Student teams spent a full day trying to make their most inspired ideas come to life. In addition to an assortment of cutting-edge technologies, including 3D projectors, iPads, and an immersive menu of web 2.0 tools and social networks, the students had a range of art supplies, building materials, and props. We gave them permission to redesign the classroom as needed, from deploying an array of furniture to crafting just-in-time spaces. The attitude was "by any means necessary." Perfection was not expected. Prototypes only needed to be good enough to suggest possibilities and engage audiences.
Present to a live jury of professionals and the globe. At the end of the three days, Prototype Design Camp teams presented their solutions to more than a dozen jury members from different professional perspectives. They included the founder of a nationally recognized theater group, an architect who had designed libraries around the world, an architect rebuilding schools in Africa, a professional writer based at a modern art museum, a range of artists across various media, an engineer working in both mechanical and software realms, an internationally known librarian, a graphic designer, marketing specialists, and others. We asked judges to avoid "yeah, but" reactions. Instead, they were expected to invest in the students’ ideas and offer real-world applications of those ideas. The final presentation was broadcast to the entire 6,000-person eTech Ohio conference and to the world via various social media channels.
Realize that even three intense days is only scratching the surface. Despite a remarkably immersive experience where our Prototype students successfully used a DT mindset to develop exceptional solutions to authentic learning problems, the real success lay more in students and mentors committing to the process itself than in the answers they presented.

 --Christian Long is an educator, designer, school planner, educational futurist, and advocate for innovative learning communities. He is vice president of Cannon Design and founded Be Playful, a collaborative global design agency, and Prototype Design Camp.

Christian Long

• Volume: 39
• Issue Number: 5
• Issue Name: February 2012

This is overwhelming, but fun!

Don't feel "in over your head."

Trying to Comment

Hi, I have been trying to comment on your latest post.  Somehow, what I have written has twice been lost (as far as I can tell).  It seems to happen when I select a profile.  So, I'd like to vent a little bit about one of my concerns with using new technology.  While sometimes it can be very helpful and save us time in tasks, at other times it can be very confusing, frustrating and time consuming (including like you have said about dealing with information overload) as we spend a lot of time on something only to have it disappear because of technical difficulties.

Anyway, I don't know that you intentionally put us all on your blog as contributors, but since I have that status I can at least use this route to try and express what I have tried to do twice with comments.  That is:
I really appreciate your thoughtful post on concerns about the reliability and relevance of information you find online.  While more traditional media isn't always accurate and unbiased, at least there is usually some large organization with some kind of philosophy and reputation behind it that we can use to help us evaluate the perspective and veracity of the information we get.  Web 2.0 is great in giving people freedom to get things out to others, but that very unfettered nature also means any one can make any sort of unsubstantiated claim.  So we really do need to be _more_ careful consumers of this information, and I like you idea of how using social networking can help us with that.
Thomas Bieri

Social Networking-Getting things Done

I had been feeling overwhelmed with the thought of trying to peruse the internet in search of "good content" that is trustworthy.  Lord knows I am not an advocate of wikipedia because the information can be altered by anyone and there is no way to really prove the content.  How do we know when we read articles or view content online that it is from a good source?  Perhaps if we see that NPR had a tweet about a story where they discuss the site or author then it will have more credibility?  Maybe it is discussed in our MACUL group? If we see a few peers put out a tweet on it does it have more validity?

Perhaps developing a personal learning network is a way to get back to basics when searching for information.  What I mean is, years ago you went to a doctor that friends or family used-by way of a word of mouth referral.  You tried a restaurant because someone you trusted gave it 5 stars.  Nowadays you may read a product or restaurant review and sit there wondering whether or not that person's opinion should even count with you? What is their background?  What life experiences have they had that qualify them to have bearing on MY life? Having a personal learning network is like saying -I trust these people to advise me on information I need personally or professionally.  I like the idea of now having my igoogle page to organize my blog, email, facebook, twitter, delicious, rss feed, etc.  For me, my workflow needed serious organization because constantly visiting all those pages (or tabs in Firefox) can get exhuasting.  I needed a personal assistant and I now have one (in addition to my iPhone)!

I also need the ability to bounce ideas off of my peers.  I want to be able to see what teachers are struggling with in applying innovative technology to their classrooms so that I can research how to assist them.  Though my role in the educational technology field will most likely not involve working with students, I can benefit from hearing their responses to edtech applications in the classroom.  Being in the social networking environment allows us to stay connected to the most recent news and discussions regarding our personal and professional interests.  I believe it is an excellent tool for anyone who wants to continue to grow as a person and stay informed on various issues.

Now, let's get it done. 

I suppose I have been using the GTD process unknowingly for some time now.

1. Collect
2. Process
3. Organize
4. Review
5. Do

 In my current job when I begin my day I print out my "pending edges" case applications.  I look at when each type of application is due, information that needs to be verified and attempt to process the application by starting with interviews.  Once an interview is completed I organize the information collected and request verifications if need be. Once verifications come back to me often days or weeks later I review the application and information and certify the results.





This method is especially important in anyone's workflow as it almost guarantees timely results. You can't organize what you haven't collected or review what hasn't been organized without feeling overwhelmed.

Igoogle is now allowing me to facilitate the collection and organizational process of all of my social networking tools.  It is up to me to review the information daily and then put it into action!

Why am I majoring in Educational Technology?

Instructional design and educational technology seemed like an interesting area for me to focus on after completing all of my undergrad classes online.  I have always been in positions in my prior work experience where I have been asked to do training for new employees. I am often the person in a training session that is easily bored with the format (why I simply could not do in person classes) and is wondering how many others in the session are actually "getting it" in its current format.  I enjoy finding creative ways to convey new things to my kids and fellow workers.  I know that my learning style is not unique and that I am one of the first people to also say "hold on, I don't get it, is there another way you can explain it?"  For me, lectures are almost pointless.  I do not retain information simply by being told it.  I need hands on learning, visual examples, Venn diagrams, silly alliterations for acronyms. etc.  I have always felt that I did not live up to my potential in school (20 year ago) but I may have if learning was, well..... fun.  Yes, I know, go ahead and roll your eyes now.  It just seems like as our world advances with technological breakthroughs almost daily, we could all benefit from exploring it a little more.  I had used RSS feeds in the past, blogged, and recently discovered that my life is way more organized with an iPhone--but I'm not sure I have truly grasped just how much technology can open up my schedule to do other things.  Having my google docs available without having to worry about losing them on my hard drive, using my iGoogle homepage to view my RSS feed, blog comments, new gmail, calendar, etc. is something I am not completely relying on (yet).  It seems obvious that if technology can impact my personal life so much that it would be a no brainer in the classroom.  Ah, tis not so, $$$$$$$$.  Funding gaps often stand in the way of resources like "technology".  That is why I am hoping to learn about the free educational tools that are out there and help to show others how to use them in their personal lives and in their classroom.  This video is an example of how we can find ways to create very useful tools with very little money. 

RSS Feed-Information Overload!

Wow....I've used RSS feeds before, but never this many subscriptions at once and I must admit-it's a little overwhelming.  The internet has clearly brought with it the ability to get more information than ever before.  Besides wondering if information is true (rather than opinion or simply just made up--thank you WIKIpedia!), I'm also wondering how on earth one can truly stay up to date and informed on any one topic unless you are extremely specific in your feed.

Over the last few days, my RSS feed seems to have alot of information.  However, I learned that sometimes I subscribe to sites that maybe mention my topic and that's what I found in a search but then move on to a totally different topic and never to back to my keywords. I deleted a lot of content that way. Here's what I saw tonight when I logged in.

Of course my first stop was to a blog I've subscribed to written by Cathy Moore regarding Instructional Design.  So far I have found her information to be very technical and informative.  I left a brief comment about being new to the field and planning on following her blog. I was really surprised that many of the subscriptions had numerous updates between Friday morning and Saturday evening.  I have always been a huge NPR fan so I enjoyed linking the education section.  In my current position an RSS feed isn't exactly a tool for me.  I do however enjoy using it for personal reasons.  Perhaps when I'm a trainer/teacher I would find use from it based on course content or subject matter that I would need to keep up to date on.

Interesting article about apple and ipad. Our district is exploring the possibility of 1-1 computing using iPads. The thing is that there are so many free text books out there, and good ones too, I don't see how these text book companies are going to survive unless they do some really cool things like labs or quizzes through the book. It is going to have to be more like a self contained class than a typical ebook.