"Kids are born curious. They are always exploring. We spend the first year of their lives teaching them how to walk and talk, and the rest of their lives telling them to shut up and sit down." - Neil deGrasse Tyson Sitting in Jackie Gerstein’s webinar last night for Week 3 of her PLP Network e-Course, The Complete Guide for Implementing The Flipped Classroom: The Full Picture, I realized our school tagline, "Children First," will take on special significance in my classroom this year. If all goes as planned, students will, for the first time, truly be responsible for their own learning. They will truly be "first." To be totally honest, I find that concept simultaneously invigorating and terrifying.It is invigorating because, for the first time in ten years, my students will truly get instruction that is tailored to them personally, allowing them to work at their own pace, literally rewinding & fast-forwarding until they "get it." It is terrifying because, all this fancy talk aside, my students need to learn real skills, in both traditional ICT (information and computing technology [what 'computer lab' has always been]) and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math). This has to work. So, let’s look at some of the challenges ahead. Literacy is going to be a HUGE factor in the effectiveness of our new instructional model. This is elementary school, after all, and 40% of my students are in Kindergarten or First Grade. They are just learning to read. And yet, my experience and intuition tell me that even at these young ages, students already know and are able to: Power on a computer Identify and access icons Use a web browser to visit websites Use headphones Watch, pause and restart a web-based video Close a program when finished How do I know? Because many (most?) of them are already doing it. At home. On their family’s computers, laptops, tablet devices like iPads, iPods, or Kindle Fire’s, or even a parent’s smartphone. And, it’s important to note, not ALL the instruction in my class will be technology based. We are building a blended model, with some instruction being delivered in small groups, and some being supported with printed materials - depending on the needs of the learner. Lack of Access is often cited as a concern when requiring students to use technology outside of school. Several factors mitigate the impact here. First, since I only see students once a week, students will have opportunities during the school day (recess/free time) to use school computers to review the material I will have for them. Second, the videos will be short, chunked in reasonable sizes for maximum efficiency. Third, students will always have the opportunity, as a last resort, to review the material at the start of my class each week. Classroom Management. This one is particularly vexing for a few reasons. First, it’s not a personal strength. Period. It’s probably the single greatest teaching skill I have yet to master. Second, my old lab, a room full of desktop computers, was a natural classroom management tool in itself; students sat down in an assigned seats, logged in, and got to work. While distractions did occur, for the most part, the device usually garnered their full attention. We will have computers in my new room but they will be laptops. There won’t be assigned seats (but there may be assigned tables). Kids will be free to walk around the room and work where they want. So, the physical nature of the room (not to mention its size) will make managing classes more difficult. Awesome. Finally, I don’t expect the kids to be sitting in front of a screen all the time. They may be working collaboratively in groups, writing on our IdeaPaint-covered walls, or reading something from the magazine rack (which we’ll have loaded with kid-friendly titles). Yep. Classroom management is going to be absolutely crucial this year. Sometimes, though, I sometimes wonder … what am I doing here? Walking away from a completely functional computer lab, into a brand-new space, with laptops, and injecting a new focus - STEM - into the curriculum? Honestly, why take this on? Because: I believe in my students. I know they are capable of more than any of us can imagine. I believe that with my guidance, they can teach themselves better than I can teach them en masse. Check out this video. I first saw it in 2009. Sugata Mitra is Professor of Educational Technology at the School of Education, Communication and Language Sciences at Newcastle University, UK. In this TED talk, he describes his "Hole in the Wall" project, an incredible illustration of how children - among the world’s poorest - teach themselves and each other. (Fast forward to 7m30s for his discussion of the actual experiment.) My goal is, in effect, to build the world’s most advanced "Hole in the Wall" for my students. I intend to create an environment with a collection of resources, both human and digital, that is so rich, so compelling, so engaging, that students will learn in ways no one ever dreamed possible. And, because it will all be web-based, they’ll be able to do it on any internet-connected devices, anywhere, at any time. I have one month, one week, and six days left to prepare for the first day of school. Gotta run! This post is part of a series about our plans to "reinvent" my K-4 Computer Lab class as a STEM (Science, Engineering, Technology & Math) course starting in September 2012. By "thinking out loud" here I hope to keep stakeholders apprised of our ideas, activities & progress while I gain wisdom and perspective from anyone who cares to join the conversation.

Ok, so a couple of posts ago, I talked about getting girls and minority children interested in and focused on learning science and considering careers in science.  I spoke rather passionately about my science hero, Neil Degrasse Tyson.  Lo and behold, if he didn’t say something brilliant and someone record it for all the universe […]

This seemed like the appropriate time of year to offer my recommendations of books from a variety of disciplines that you might find intriguing for yourself or as gifts. After all, one of the best ways to grow and improve is to stretch and learn from other fields. Enjoy! 18 Rules of Community Engagement by Angela Connor Angela Connor uses her experience and wit to chart the unknown frontier of online community management. She discusses how to grow and engage an online community as well as how to handle criticism and deal with troublesome members. If you’re delving into building learning communities with social media, this important guide can light the way. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamont If you’re familiar with Anne Lamott’s novels, you’ll love her book on writing. Her humorous and insightful reflections on life are intertwined with wonderful observations on the art of writing. Not only are her revelations fascinating, but you get the sense that somehow she will help you hone your craft. Designers spend a lot of time writing and not enough learning how to write more creatively. Designing Web Interfaces by Bill Scott For technical books, O’Reilly Publishers is top of the line. This book is an excellent introduction to online user interface design, providing the background, thought processes and uses for just about every type of user interface element you can imagine. Apply this knowledge to your eLearning courses to provide a richer user experience. Don’t Make Me Think by Steve Krug This wildly popular book is almost a classic and is in its second edition. It’s written on the premise that the first rule of usability should always be, "Don’t make me think." Steve Krug then goes on to teach readers how to make web sites that are obvious in their purpose and usability. Then he’ll convince you that usability testing is crucial for improving the user’s experience. Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner Author and professor, Howard Gardner, is well-known for his work on multiple intelligences. In this latest book, Gardner outlines the types of cognitive abilities that will be required in the 21st century. As creators of future learning spaces, it’s helpful to have a fellow educator identify the abilities that need cultivating in a world of increasing change, global participation and information anxiety. Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer by Peter Turchi Peter Turchi weaves together a fascinating book that captures both the beauty of maps and the wonders of writing. Maps of the Imagination is filled with surprises; the author offers a wonderful passage from fiction one moment and a beautiful ancient map the next. He seamlessly hopscotches back and forth between art forms to provide an extravagantly rich reading experience. There’s lots of inspiration here. Non-Designer’s Design Book by Robin Williams I often recommend this book to people seeking a beginner’s book on Graphic Design. Art educator, Robin Williams, covers all the basic design concepts in a non-threatening way. She’s your home tutor, providing little self-check quizzes at the end of the chapters. Sound familiar? The last part of the book explores Type, which is an important and woefully omitted topic in online course design circles. Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds Garr Reynolds applies the Zen aesthetic to the world of communication, showing the value of simplicity, restraint and quality. He encourages readers to understand the power of elegant but understated visual design and the complexity of keeping things simple. Whether you use these concepts to make more effective presentations, create finer visuals or to improve your online courses, you’ll probably find them intriguing. Universal Principles of Design by William Lidwell For those of you interested in Design, this book captures a broad swath of the field by explaining the essential principles underlying the design experience. Universal Principles presents all this with examples in a highly accessible format. Although readers may be surprised to see concepts relating to business, perception, usability and engineering, the authors make it all fit beautifully. Visual Language for Designers by Connie Malamed Visual Language for Designers presents ways to achieve quick and compelling visual communications. Based on six principles that synthesize  visual design and cognitive science, readers learn to recognize and make use of the hidden language in graphics. There are over 250 examples from designers around the world, providing a rich browsing experience as well. (Come on, I had to include my own book on this list!) Post from: The eLearning Coach10 Book Recommendations From Varied Fields Tweet This! Share this on Linkedin Share this on Facebook Buzz up! Share this on del.icio.us Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Email this to a friend?

I’ve been searching for a very long time for a solution that will allow me to produce high-quality screencasts using our Google Chromebooks. Thanks to a quick Google search today, I came across a month-old Youtube video that explains one solution in detail: I’ve gone ahead and ordered the Avertv HD DVR High Definition / Analog Video Capture Card and the StarTech.com DP2HDMI2 DisplayPort to HDMI Video Adapter Converter. I just need to find out when our order of Chromebooks will arrive. I’ll get this card set up on my home PC and be ready to start shooting videos! The best part of this solution is that it utilizes commercial screencasting software (we’ll be using Camtasia Studio 8), giving me the most flexibility feature-wise and control over the end product. If my students are going to rely on these videos as extensively as I imagine, they are going to have to be very, very well done. -kj-

I heard from a few of my education friends after posting yesterday's report from Blackboard World. To be honest, several asked point blank what I was thinking to take a positive stand on this particular acquisition development in higher education...

I finish my Masters in Educational Technology program at the American College of Education in 22 days. (oh boy).  When I started this adventure in higher education/personal growth, the plan was to simply FINALLY get a masters degree. Its the thing people in my family do, we educate ourselves until we either run out of […]

What a week it has been since our last update! We have made major progress and are well positioned to power through the remaining 32 days (!) until our first day with students. Sounds like PLENTY of time, but I have eight days of out-of-district commitments and a metric ton of of school technology infrastructure "to-do’s" I need to complete as well. Anyway, on to the highlights… The Learning Space Comes Together Getting the learning space ready has really been our top priority since the project started, and we crossed some major items off our list this week. A while back, I asked our maintenance staff to let me handle some of the painting prep work. They willingly obliged since they were ridiculously busy to begin with. (Who knew I could spackle?) Yesterday, our master painters Ray and Larry (shown above - who needs a drop cloth?) made quick work of the room while I was in Point Pleasant Beach eating burgers and talking STEM with my erstwhile colleague Dave Zirkle. We are still waiting (and hoping) to incorporate IdeaPaint into the space (the wall Larry is painting is one of three we want to cover with the stuff) but the walls needed to be prepped and painted anyway. The room color? "Sky’s the Limit Blue" (Yeah, I just made that up.) Earlier this week, my wife Mary helped me organize a massive collection of science materials donated from colleagues. Miraculously, everything fit into the nifty (wheeled & movable) storage containers provided by our awesome PTO. I managed to hack an abandoned DVD player into an electronic classroom signage system. After a few trips to Home Depot for materials and judicious use of industrial adhesive, our Z-Rack is coming together, too. My Donor’s Choose project is, I’m told, about to be fully funded by the Northfield Education Foundation (NEF), and, in the most exciting news all week, the NEF is also going to fund our request for foam seating cubes! (I’ll make a special announcement about this later.) As a result, carpeting is our only major remaining donation request/need at the moment. Know anyone that runs a carpeting store? Send ‘em our way! Lights, Camera, Learning Ok, so there are no lights and the camera is a in the computer technically but you know what I mean. Screencasting is an absolutely essential component in my instructional strategy for the K4STEMLAB.  If my students are going to be in charge of their own learning, they need my instruction to be available to them, at their pace, individually and privately. There’s only one problem: since the majority of our lessons will be on the Chromebooks, I need to be able to record (screencast) lessons using those devices, but traditional screencasting tools (PC- or web-based) don’t work. I had no idea what I was going to do. Literally by the grace of God I came across a Chromebook screencasting solution posted on YouTube a month ago. Once I ordered the Avertv HD DVR High Definition / Analog Video Capture Card and the StarTech.com DP2HDMI2 DisplayPort to HDMI Video Adapter Converter, and borrowed an HDMI cable and some RAM, I was GOOD TO GO. I started playing with it all last night and threw together this example screencast. It’s rough, and more of a proof of concept than anything else, but, without a doubt, IT WORKS: Ok, Now What? While we wait for our group work tables and "regular" chairs to arrive, my attention is shifting to pedagogy … and classroom management. I’m more than a little frightened by the visual image of 26 high-energy elementary students barreling into my room full of expensive equipment and unconventional seating options. They are going to need guidance. This is going to be new to everyone. Classroom management is without a doubt my greatest weakness. I am going to rely on my colleagues for a LOT of help here. Hopefully I can get some quality time with them before school starts. But the big story on Action News tonight is that virtually everything about HOW I’ve taught in the past is OUT THE WINDOW.  I am effectively STARTING OVER. We will do the same things but in new ways and with new tools. The lessons will have the same objectives, the curriculum is essentially the same (though we are enhancing it with select Engineering is Elementary content and all lessons will have a STEM focus throughout). I mean, honestly. Who DOES this? Who would willingly throw an entire course & curriculum literally up into the air, only to see what happens when "the pieces fall where they may?" (We’re being a lot more thoughtful and intentional than that but you get the idea.) The answer: I would, and I am. Why? Because I believe in my students. I believe they will rise to the challenge when they see what we’re expecting of them, what we have built for them, and how this entire program is tailored to their needs - not mine as their teacher. I. Can’t. Freaking. Wait. Come on, September!

Seriously though..   Anyone wanna hire a newly minted M.Ed in Ed Tech? I don't make coffee, but I unpack a mean standard! #edtech— C. S. Stone (@csstone1161) May 02, 2014

For people who have to make decisions about implementing distributed programs and services, these times of impending changes and the market spin that accompanies that can be excruciating. SO much hand-wringing. Lots of sniping. It's hard to know who or...

In the very early stages of vision—before we’re really conscious of it—our perceptual processes are humming away, attempting to organize the sensory data from our eyes into something that might be meaningful. Both the Gestalt psychologists and modern perceptual researchers realized that perception tends to organize information into wholes, rather than parts. For example, you’re most likely grouping the orange shapes above into an arrow, rather than seeing them as separate elements. We can take advantage of this early perceptual organization so viewers will perceive and understand our visuals correctly and rapidly. One powerful way to impart meaning is through visual grouping. Becoming aware of these principles can also prevent viewers from misinterpreting your visuals from unintended groupings. Grouping by Boundary or Enclosure When parts are enclosed by a completed boundary they are perceived as a single unit—as a group. You are telling the viewer that the elements are related. You might draw a line around a set of buttons in the user interface or place a filled area of color in the background of a map or diagram. Here, we perceive the houses on the colored background as grouped and set apart. Enclosure is a compelling way to provide meaning. Grouping by Proximity The distance between the elements in a graphic or user interface affects how we perceive and interpret it. We see parts that are close together as one unit and parts that are distant from each other as separate and unrelated. We then assume that grouped elements are associated. In this graph on the left, we perceive the bars clustered together as a group. A corollary of this principle is that unintended associations and relationships can occur by placing elements too close together. Grouping by Similarity We tend to see elements that are similar in size, color, shape, orientation, brightness and movement as one group. This is an effective way to show that objects and data are associated in charts, diagrams and maps. In this map, we perceive the countries in blue as a group, indicating they are related in some way. Grouping by Connectedness When elements are connected by a line or common edge, we perceive them as part of a group. In fact, it is difficult to perceive the individual elements without seeing the group. Although this may seem obvious, don’t underestimate the power of connection lines. They can override other grouping principles, such as proximity and similarity. Using connection lines between objects is one of the ways we can accurately portray relationships in diagrams and steps in a process. Grouping by Common Fate Objects that move or appear to move in a common direction are considered to have a ‘common fate’ and are perceived to be a group. Objects with a common fate are interpreted as more related than elements that are stationary or move in different directions or at different times. This grouping principle is particularly important in animation. To ensure that animated objects are perceived as related, move them at the same time, speed and direction. Do you use these or similar techniques with visuals? Share your tricks and tips. Comment below. Post from: The eLearning CoachThe Power Of Visual Grouping Tweet This! Share this on Linkedin Share this on Facebook Buzz up! Share this on del.icio.us Stumble upon something good? Share it on StumbleUpon Email this to a friend?