The science teacher in me knows what’s going to happen in the video above before the cannonball is dropped into a vat of the silvery liquid metal, but the curious learner in me still squeals with delight when the cannonball actually floats! I’m a HUGE fan of trying to provide discrepant events for my students, whether it’s science based or not, and while I also advocate that it’s best to have a live demonstration of some phenomenon that challenges learners to question what they may already know about simple concepts, there are times when a live demonstration isn’t practical. In this case, students may think, "wow, a vat of liquid, I know that heavy things like metal tend to sink in liquids". They’re then hit with the starting revelation that some liquids are in fact so dense that even something as heavy as a cannonball can float, which begins to generate questions almost without fail, "what else could float in mercury that can’t in water? what else will make a cannonball float? how dangerous is a vat of mercury like that?" On a simliar chord, here’s a "magical" anti-gravity machine made out of nothing but a copper tube! Rather than ramble on about providing discrepant events, and hitting you with dozens of more examples, I have a challenge for you today. I challenge you to share one piece of video that allows you to challenge your students’ pre-conceived notions or understandings of a topic as a way to engage them at the beginning of a unit or lesson. All subject areas are welcome! Comments are always welcome, but simply sharing with a colleague is great too!

It’s been awhile since I created a video story problem (almost 2 months since the last one), but I’ve been thoroughly enjoying all of the video story problems being created and shared by students over on the Video Story Problem Channel. I have a few ideas in the works for how to take the videos and create a more easily replicable and practical way of integrating them into math and science instruction, but for now it’s time to get back on the horse and start creating anew. At least that’s what all the motivational blog posts and articles about starting off a new year tell me; work, work, work! I actually stumbled across this story problem while spending a lunch with the 5th grade teachers in our district, and noticed the almost obscene amount of syrup they had left over from their holiday parties before break. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not criticizing; when you have more than 300 students, teacher, and parent helpers eating at once you need plenty of sweet topping for your pancakes and sausage. I was curious though, with so many bottles, how much syrup actually had been used, or how much was left, either question is interesting to me. Have fun estimating, and if you have ideas about how to tweak the presentation, let me know, I’m not "stuck" on any pre-conceived notions of how to present this problem.

TED talks are passe, TEDx events are small potatoes, and TED-ED hasn’t really taken off yet. So why not create your own Fantasy TED Talk? Well, you can at least visualize your own ideal fictionalized TED Talk with the help of a few images and your favorite image editing software (like Photoshop or GIMP). Created as a ds106 visual assignment, making your own fantasy TED Talk can be as comical or solemn as you want it to be. The idea for this freshly created ds106 visual assignment came from a rather interesting take on TED Talks by cosplay artist and photographer David Dorn. For those not in the know, cosplay is the Halloween-like ritual of dressing up as your favorite cartoon, movie, video game, comic, or other fictional character while at a large convention or gathering to show your "fandom" for your fiction in much the same way "cheeseheads" and other sports fans paint and dress themselves in support of their team. David created a fictional TED Talk as delivered by Samus Aran, the heroine of the Metroid video game franchise. Apparently, she’s espousing on the revolutionary ability to turn oneself into a ball for more energy efficient and protective travel. you can view the original Samus TED Talk in it's full size glory here - http://daviddorn.deviantart.com/#/d4l4n17 The original creation by David was marked with a Creative Commons license, encouraging people to share. However, he restricted his artwork with a "no derivatives" license, so I had to create a completely new one from scratch rather than simply Photoshop over his, which was a great experience as I learned how to turn any image into a black and white version in Photoshop, and broke the rust loose on my clone stamping skills (although they are still very rusty). I choose The Big Lebowski because I figured it would have a pretty comical effect on the whole TED Talk script, which is usually to pontificate on some mind-blowing, yet startlingly simple truth that has the potential to change the world for the better. The first few TED Talks I watched were quite inspirational, but after watching a half dozen or so, I became a bit dissullusioned with them. Platforms for motivational speakers are typically in good supply, and when good intentions start becoming derailed by corporate money (Bill Gates HUGE support for Khan Academy), it takes the magical "I could be next" feeling out of the lectures, and starts me to looking in other places for inspiration. This assignment doesn’t necessarily have to be used for comedic purposes though. While "The Dude" lectures on about his "dudeness" and bowling, you could very well use something similar to this for students to create visual representations of important themes and settings from a narrative being read in class, or for students to highlight and single out an achievement of some famous mathematician, scientist, or poet that is being studied in class. The point of the TED Talk is to focus with laser-like accuracy on one profoundly articulate idea, and it serves as a great way for people to connect, relate, and understand many topics which would otherwise be much more complicated and convoluted. TED Talks have a tendency to strip away the complications, the "grey" areas, and bring a better understanding to the world’s more complex systems (for better or worse), and with a few strokes of a keyboard, and a couple of images, you could do the same with your students to help bring visual clarity to more complicated understandings (the importance of quarks in particle physics, Shakespeare’s use of meter to convey feeling, or why estimation is such an important skill). Perhaps I’m stretching this idea a bit thin, but for good measure I’ll attempt an actual example. What if J.J. Thomson, the man who discovered the electron, had been able to command a platform as big as TED and the internet to spread his idea? Would it have looked like this? His idea of the "plum pudding model" for how atoms worked was flawed, but followed the basic format of a TED presentation in that it took something terribly complex (particle physics), and tried to apply common place understanding to how it worked in an attempt to better understand how the world works. If you’re interested in creating your own Fantasy TED Talks with your students, or just one for yourself because you happen to be geeky enough to want to try it out, you can download a PSD format file that includes the template I created with the stage, a blank screen, and the crowd looking on eagerly. Fantasy TED Talk Template (Photoshop format - PSD)

To say that ds106 is a massively open online course designed to help learners explore new ways to create digital stories through a variety of media is akin to keeping a feral wolf pup as a pet. They both sound like cute and cuddly ideas, but after spending a bit of time with both, chances are you’ll realize you’ve gotten yourself in way over your head. Cogdogblog Sat, Jan 07 2012 14:50:21 It’s not that ds106 is a monstrous beast of a course that can threaten to occupy every single free moment of your life, it’s just that if you’re not careful, it can…and most likely will if you let it. Because ds106 isn’t just about learning how to stitch video clips together in iMovie, or how to successfully use Photoshop or Audacity to create visual and audio art. ds106 is about creativity, carefully observing the world around you, and manipulating media to produce a story that helps others see the world as you see it. It’s about finding ways to tell your story, create opportunities to get passed the feeling of "what I’m doing isn’t good enough", and surround yourself with an amazingly supportive group of creative thinkers. DS 106 Distressingly Simple chickadeeacres Sun, Jan 01 2012 19:00:00 ds106 is a commitment to "make stuff", share it with the world, and discover how your inner creativity can empower you to "push past disappointment." Ira Glass can explain it much better than I can: Ira Glass on Storytelling David Shiyang Liu Fri, Jan 06 2012 21:33:17 That’s not to say ds106 is all wine and roses. There are certainly challenges and obstacles to overcome, especially the healthy dose of role-play that smudges the line between reality and make believe. News on the March - Target: Jim Groom alancliddell Wed, Jul 06 2011 13:52:48 Many newcomers to ds106 are often startled by the unabashed egos and alternate realities that are created during the course of a typical ds106 semester, and quite often the narrative role play can lead to some interesting scenarios during the semester. I was actually banished from the course mid-term the first semester I participated as an open online participant, and the course itself teetered on the brink of fictional destruction. " @techsavvyed BANISHED from #ds106 for cahllenging my power. BANISHED!!! Jim Groom Wed, Jul 06 2011 12:24:53 ReplyRetweet But I digress. While a heavy dollop of role-playing can occur throughout ds106, at its heart is a desire to explore media in all of its forms. Throughout the semester-long journey that is ds106 you can expect to create a variety of stories, art, and media, including: VISUAL ASSIGNMENTS Fantasy TED Talks - The Dude techsavvyed Wed, Jan 04 2012 19:00:00 WRITING ASSIGNMENTS You are so lazy catWhen I’m working really hard at schoolYou are sleeping at home VIDEO ASSIGNMENTS Tokyo Commute Ericinikebukuro Sat, Oct 29 2011 19:11:14 AUDIO ASSIGNMENTS Ds106 Radio Ad Final by beach-wood SoundCloud MASHUP ASSIGNMENTS Transformers vs The Fox And The Hound (Movie Trailer Mashup) MrOscarucho100 Mon, Dec 05 2011 09:32:42 DESIGN ASSIGNMENTS I Can Read Movies chelseatufy Fri, Jan 06 2012 21:32:25 In short, ds106 will challenge you, confuse you, and forever change the very notion of what an online course can and should be. Completely student driven, ds106 is the epitome of "you get out what you put in". All of the assignments throughout the course are submitted by the learners themselves, and those in the course decide which assignments they want to complete; it’s a veritable "choose your own adventure" approach to learning that will always challenge you to push yourself further. Mix in a healthy dose of Twitter, blogging, and community support, ds106 is a trip that you need not take alone, nor would you want to, because as the course’s unofficial motto goes, "ds106 is for life!" #ds106 #4life cogdogblog Fri, Jan 06 2012 21:33:18 DS106 Course Links Ready to venture down the rabbit hole with ds106? Follow the links below for course information, objectives, and how you can participate as an open online participant for Spring of 2012. DS106 Course Site - All participant’s blogs get aggregated here, so the conversation blends together during the semester. About DS106 - Course objectives, the emerging definition of digital storytelling, and some crazy art. Welcome to DS106 and how to get started with the Spring 2012 Term

As I prepare myself for another trip down the rabbit hole with ds106, I had to remind myself that there are still a plethora of amazingly great resources out there to share with teachers, parents, and others that want simple, practical ways to update their curriculum, or replace static learning experiences with much more fluid or real world experiences. Thanks to the Google Earth blog (one of my personal favorites), comes news of a way to track sea turtle migration via Google Earth. Better yet, if you’re running a relatively up to date computer, you can use the web browser embedded map to track the sea turtles without having to fire up Google Earth itself. The interactive map has you following Jklynn, a female hawksbill sea turtle, as she makes her annual migration through the Caribbean. The map includes her previous locations, where she’s at currently, nesting sites, and includes a handy slider to view where she was at any given point in time. Amazing what satellites, radio transmitters, and the internet can give us in this day and age, eh? This would be a fantastic resource for secondary biology teachers talking about the habits and migration patterns of specific animals, although I could easily see an elementary teacher using this resource to show the basic idea of migration, and how it’s not just a thing birds do. Oh, in case you’re a heavy Twitter user, you can follow Jkylynn via her Twitter feed; apparently she managed to slip her tracking collar off back in December and was quite proud of it!

I’m playing with the Common Core Standards in attempt to try and find ways to represent those standards which relate to technology to the rest of the standards as a whole. My ultimate goal is to try and find a way to emphasize the presence and requirement of student use of technological tools and methods of communication within the Common Core, without trying to isolate them as yet another "add on". I’m not sure if this visualization is helping. In the interest of full disclosure, the top image is a collection of high frequency words from any and all language in the Common Core documents with the term "technology". The bottom image a collection of high frequency words from all of the language from both the ELA, History, Science, and Technical Subjects Standards and the Math Standards. In fairness I removed the words "student(s), number(s), standard(s), and e.g." from both sets of words as they were very high frequency words with little impact on the comparison. I also removed the word "technology" from the top image so it wouldn’t stick out so much. Am I missing something that I haven’t already highlighted, or am I manipulating this data too much to the point of uselessness? high frequency words from all of the Common Core language that references using "technology" high frequency words from both the ELA, History, Science, and Technical Subjects and the Math Common Core standards

Richard Byrne posted a great screencast about how to locate the Google Advanced Image Search now that it’s hidden from plain sight in the new layout. Since there’s always more than one way to get a job done, I thought I’d create a video response to show a second way to locate the old advanced image search. There certainly isn’t a right or wrong way to go about it, it’s just which way you find more natural to your own web-surfing and searching habits. The more I play with YouTube, the more I’m liking the idea of creating a referential video help network thanks to video responses. There might be some value there in using it with your students to create a series of homework help videos from multiple points of view.

The Video Story Problem Channel and concept have both been gaining steam since a small group of educators started collaborating on them in the fall. Currently there are almost 60 videos of math, science, and inquiry based problems that have collected over 4,000 views! That’s close to 70 views per video! I don’t want to applaud just the numbers we’re all amassing, because the learning and work that students are accomplishing added to the new avenues educators are exploring for publishing and creating materials for their classes is really what payout here. Just take a look at this recent submission from Tyler Hart, who has managed to capture an amazing "any questions" type of open ended video story problem, in which he asks his 3rd graders to create their own word problems to this video. It was such a fantastic concept to see in action at the elementary level that I had to share. I’m starting to really enjoy watching how each teacher involved with this project approaches the challenge with a classroom of learners. From more traditional word problems turned into video asking for a specific answer to much more open ended video story problems asking students to pose questions rather than solutions, this project is beginning to beg the question, "How do we make this as routine or as simple as students writing a paper or working a list of math problems?" Which is why I created this very simplistic, and rather crude, planning template for teachers to hop on board with the video story problem concept. I choose what I’m going to call the "lowest common denominator" type of video story problem; presenting a simple problem using a real life context, and then present its solution. As an added bonus, students are encouraged to flip the paper over and write the entire script for their video on the back side once they’re done planning out the problem, and before they record. This is actually one of the only rules (if there are any) that I hold paramount to creating video story problems; the students should have a clear road-map to follow for shooting the video, thus writing out a script so that they think everything through at least a couple of times before grabbing a camera. This is the first draft, created with Comic Life 2. Ideas for version 2.0 are eagerly accepted! If you’d like to try making some video story problems with your students, PLEASE feel free to download a PDF version of the template below, and start posting and sharing the videos you and your students create on Vimeo. I’d love to include them on the Video Story Problem Channel, and explore this wonderful intersection of writing, math literacy, and media! Oh, and if you have suggestions for improving upon this template, I’m all ears! Video Story Problem Planning Template (PDF)

How easy is it to nominate a teacher for the Worth Ave. Group’s "Greatest American Teacher" award? It takes less time than it would typically take to get a cup of coffee in the morning. Seriously, watch! A few little pieces of information that might prove pertinent that weren’t included in the video above; the nomination process is open until March 31st, 2012, and you can nominate that teacher each day until the deadline. Teachers with the most nominations by March 31st will receive top honors and awards from the Worth Ave. Group, a company which not only provides individual and enterprise insurance policies for lots of technology (iOS devices, laptops, etc.), but they’ve also helped sponsor the site for a couple of months. Start nominating!

Frank Noschese blogs about his experiences in the classroom at http://fnoschese.wordpress.com/ Are you an educator frustrated with the efforts of education reformers to turn our profession into the 21st century equivalent of a correspondent course? Have a bone to pick with how people interpret the Khan Academy as the "savior" of the modern educational system? Frank Noschese might just be someone you should have in your PLN. Frank is an amazingly reflective educator, who is constantly asking himself, and others, whether what we’re doing both in and out of the classroom is truly helping students. That’s not to say he gets bogged down with over analyzing how he can effectively teach Physics at the secondary level, but he’s incredibly vocal when it comes to educators and others who cheerlead first, but ask critical questions later (or sometimes not at all). Which is what attracts me so much to his theories of educational practice. Frank often toes the line between putting teaching strategies and ideology first over professional relationships, something that often leads many people who comment on his blog to miss the nuanced critiques he often makes. Don’t get me wrong, Frank values relationships as evidenced by his strong professional learning network on Twitter, but when it comes to Khan Academy, Frank makes no bones about how he sees the "revolutionary" video learning platform in his "final remarks" posted early last year. In that post, Mr. Noschese points out how the content and format of Khan’s lessons (short content-specific video lessons) aren’t really revolutionary. Frank argues that Khan videos being touted as supplements to typical math instruction might be a decent idea (although he has yet to find any he feels fit well with his curriculum). However he also argues that many people speaking highly of Khan are in danger of using it in terribly inappropriate ways by replacing entire lessons, removing opportunities for student creation and creativity, and simply replacing in class lecture with Khan’s mini lectures. For setting his phasers on the Khan Academy, and challenging them to "DO BETTER", I applaud Frank for reflecting on the many aspects of the Khan Academy, not just the videos. Frank blasts holes in the "this is shiny and new, therefore it’s better" arguments by pointing towards the effectiveness of modeling in his classroom. You can view a small news clip of the instructional method below. Frank also takes shots at the value of engagement through video versus engagement through hands on learning and student creation. The system that Khan Academy has created around its videos follows a pre-determined set of steps through a mastery-like sequence that can just as often encourage "gaming" the system as it does truly engaging the learner to grow. While I’m of mixed minds when it comes to the use of video for the "engagement factor" (personally, I love and become much more engaged in a project if there’s a compelling piece of media accompanying it), I can value the way Frank critiques Khan’s methods in a way that suggest and encourages certain paths and opportunities to improve the system.  He offers suggestions for feedback and student data that Khan Academy’s learning platform could provide him, rather than simply tearing it down. In short, Frank likes to reflect, albeit a lot more than the average K-12 instructor. And that’s why I had to write this piece today, despite what some might consider as being "stale" (Frank’s final remarks about Khan were posted in May of 2011, well after a lot of discussion had already been tossed out on the subject). I’ve been reflecting lately on my attitude towards other educators championing and cheerleading certain technologies as I still struggle to determine whether they are truly transforming the way we teach, or simply providing a new spin on old tricks, the iPad and the Interactive Whiteboard being just two of the technologies that I often find myself flip flopping about in my mind. I know that learning is a continuum, and that people must move through adoption and substitution phases of using technology that quite often don’t add any value to instruction. I criticize much too often and harshly on those not yet approaching the transformative ways we can bring about change in education through technology. To be fair, I’m guilty of simply cheerleading substitutional strategies myself  (I question the value of my encouragement of Video Story Problems sometimes), and I beat myself up in my own head. I use that guilt as fuel to push myself further, and find ways to encourage other educators to play around with the concepts I’m developing and wrestling with, and lo and behold they begin to do some pretty transformative teaching and learning that they can then share using technology (examples include some of the "any questions" type of videos on the Video Story Problem channel). The question I wrestle with then, is how do I stop zapping the educators around me in a very "Steve Jobs" like way, and find constructive ways to build them up? I don’t have the best answer for that yet, but sifting through a lot of comments and reflections on Frank’s blog certainly help focus my thoughts. Thanks, Frank!