Minecraft as an Educational Tool

12 03 2013

The Idea Channel makes a great and entertaining point about game-based learning and more specifically, Minecraft. Currently, my grade 7 Technology classes are using this as a vehicle to learn “How we solve problems depends on the conditions of the environment and group dynamics” with the guiding question of “What does cooperation and collaboration look like?” Watch the video. And yeah, I have still yet to play the game!




Future Learning

13 12 2012

Here’s a Good documentary that stresses a lot I’ve heard before: gaming, collaboration, motivation, self-directed, guiding etc. Published in May and just made its round to me. Thanks Kim.

Students are the future, but what’s the future for students? To arm them with the relevant, timeless skills for our rapidly changing world, we need to revolutionize what it means to learn. Education innovators like Dr. Sugata Mitra, visiting professor at MIT; Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy; and Dr. Catherine Lucey, Vice Dean of Education at UCSF, are redefining how we engage young minds for a creatively and technologically-advanced future. Which of these eduvators holds the key for unlocking the learning potential inside every student?

 




The Future of Learning

7 11 2012

A short film by Ericsson:

Can ICT redefine the way we learn in the Networked Society? Technology has enabled us to interact, innovate and share in whole new ways. This dynamic shift in mindset is creating profound change throughout our society. The Future of Learning looks at one part of that change, the potential to redefine how we learn and educate. Watch as we talk with world renowned experts and educators about its potential to shift away from traditional methods of learning based on memorization and repetition to more holistic approaches that focus on individual students’ needs and self expression.

Learn more at http://www.ericsson.com/networkedsociety




Popcorn Maker

5 11 2012

Popcornmaker! I’m looking forward to this. Check out the demo below.

Popcorn Maker is a creative tool that makes authoring interactive media pages as easy as point and click.

Popcorn Maker 1.0 will empower you to make cool web-based media, whether you’re a beginner or pro. With over 20 plugins—ranging from Twitter to Google Maps to video processing—you’ll be able to stitch up a stylish video that’s woven into the web. And, of course, it’s 100% free and open source.




Presentation Zen

28 09 2012

My grade 8 tech class are currently on a unit that involves slide design and giving presentations. We’ve looked at different presentation styles such as TED, Ignite, Pecha Kucha and RSA (and RSA Animate). Next week they’ll begin focusing on slide design and to prep them for this, I’ve created the slideshow below, based on the popular book by Garr Reynolds. I’ll also be giving a 5 minute speed geeking session on the topic to staff on Monday. Feel free to use the resource as you see fit. I’ve added my own two cents of information in the second half.




Digital Citizenship

19 06 2012

Yesterday, our Middle School students had a day exploring Digital Citizenship with Robyn Treyvaud. Before I slightly elaborate, the day started off discussing the difference between digital citizenship and cyber safety/cyber bullying. They answered this using Twitter in 140 characters with the hashtag #yisdc.

Students considered how they spend their time online and how people may have different personas in different online communities. Naturally, there was discussion on digital footprints. I won’t go into this area, but an analogy that was made that I think is more accurate is that of a digital tattoo. You may think you cover it up, but it’s always there.

Students were then put into groups of four of mixed grade levels and had to create a media product exploring some of the issues raised. They had two hours to plan and create. Then we spent the last hour and half viewing them and discussing the message, strengths of the product and challenges faced.
Here’s an example of a Middle School video:

If interested, another resource you may be interested in exploring is CommonSenseMedia.org




Rework, Remix, Mash & Re-use Unit part 1

9 05 2012

As digital tools transform the way artists find and rework images, the concept of what is fair use—legally as well as artistically—is becoming more complicated 

In the March issue of ARTnews magazine, there was a great article entitled “Copy Right” (read online here). In it they talk about the art of creative re-use. I’ve always wanted to do a remix type of art unit, but have never really had the time to implement it, or had the chance to squeeze it into a year group. That time has come, but in a technology class.

Recently, my co-workers Kim Cofino, Damien Pitter and I had a full day planning session developing new technology units as our “technology as a subject” class moves up from grade 6 & 7 all the way to grade 10. A remix unit was agreed upon, and I immediately remembered the above mentioned article. You see, I’ll be teaching tech again next year to grades 7 & 8, and though this unit would be for grade 10, I’m still thinking how to make it a transdisciplinary unit with my grade 10 art class.

We’re still in the planning phase but we decided to lift the above quote as the unit concept (Digital tools transform the way people find and rework media into original creations). Of course, something like this is also in the works;Intellectual property rights must be respected through the creation of remixed media.” Our unit question might go along something like this:How can existing works be used as building blocks to something creative and original?”

Now, the unit may take more of a video/audio mashup approach, but anything is possible. Which brings me back to the visual arts. As an art teacher, how can I connect and scaffold with this unit? That will be my next post. Stay tuned, and of course, if you have some ideas, drop them in the comments section!

(image credit 1, 2)




Now You See It: Great Unit Questions!

31 12 2011
I’m currently reading “Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn” by Cathy N. Davidson. I’m not finished, but jumped to the appendix to check some of the great questions provided for curriculum.
“Teachers at every level should be addressing the requirements, possibilities and limitations of the digital media that now structure our lives.”
Here are the majority of them:
Attention:What are the new ways that we pay attention in a digital era? How do we need to change our concepts and practices of attention for a new era? How do we learn and practice new forms of attention in a digital era?
Participation:How do we encourage meaningful interaction and participation in a digital age? How can the Internet be useful on a cultural, social or civic level?
Collaboration:Collaboration can simply reconfirm consensus, acting more as peer pressure than a lever to truly original thinking. HASTAC has cultivated the methodology of “collaboration by difference” to inspire meaningful ways of working together.

Global Consciousness: How does the World Wide Web change our responsibilities in and to the world we live in?

Design: How is information conveyed differently, effectively and beautifully in diverse digital forms? Aesthetics form a key part of digital communication. How do we understand and practice the elements of good design as part of our communication and interactive practices?

Affordance: How do we assess all of the particular network features, limitations, and liabilities of a particular technology in order to know when and how to use it to our best advantage?

Narrative/Storytelling: How do narrative elements shape the information we wish to convey, helping it to have force in a world of competing information?

Procedural (Game) Literacy: What are the new tactics and strategies of interactive games, wherein the multimedia narrative form changes because of our success or failure? How can we use game mechanics for learning and for motivation in our lives?

Critical Consumption of Information: Without a filter (editors, experts and professionals), much information on the Internet can be inaccurate, deceptive or inadequate. How do we learn to be critical? What are the standards of credibility?

Digital Divides, Digital Participation: What divisions still remain in digital culture? Who is included and excluded? How do basic aspects of economics and culture dictate not only who participates in the digital age but how they participate?

Ethics: What are the new moral imperatives of our interconnected age?

Assessment: What are the best, most fluid, most adaptive and helpful ways to measure progress and productivity, not as fixed goals, but as part of a productive process that also requires innovation and creativity?

Preservation: What are the requirements for preserving the digital world we are creating? Paper lasts. Platforms change.

Sustainability: What are the metrics for sustainability in a world where we live on more kilowatts than ever before? How do we protect the environment in a plugged-in era?

Learning, Unlearning & Relearning: Alvin Toffler has said that in the rapidly changing world of the twenty-first century, the most important skill anyone can have is the ability to stop in one’s tracks, see what isn’t working and then find new ways to unlearn old patterns and relearn how to learn. How is this process especially important in our digital world?




The Drawing Machine

27 05 2011

Who will need drawing classes anymore?




Press, Pause, Play documentary

23 04 2011

PressPausePlay looks interesting. It’s a film about “hope, fear and digital culture.”
Check out the trailer below.