(Almost) Thirty years ago I jumped out of an airplane. It was after about a week of practice, and I knew I wasn't ready. Our guide disagreed, "you will never be ready until you have done it". I found her logic faulty but got on the airplane. When the doors opened, I was sure I was not ready. I advanced with the rest and one by one we all jumped/ were pushed out. Six years later I was driving our car to the hospital with my wife who was experiencing contractions. "I am not sure I am ready" I tried to say. She just looked at me glaringly.We all have to start somewhere. We all have to take a leap. Like parachuting, it is often scary and full of unknowns, but it is also exciting and exhilarating. In technology integration, it is also like labor, we cannot undo the way technology has permeated our lives.As educators, we must all take the plunge so here are three practical ways to start:1. Plan a short formative assessment with technology. Build a quiz, group race, or a Q & A with technology. I prefer Socrative because it allows open-ended questions and works across platforms. Start with two warm-up questions that are easy to make sure everyone understands the technology and then have about 6 -8 harder questions. You can also use websites like Quizizz or Kahoot- the advantage is the high number of shared assessments that you can search. Even if your students do not have devices, you can use a system like Plickers to get a similar result. Formative digital assessment is a short but useful jump into tech that engages students and produces quick results.2. Have students introduce themselves or a topic using a simple presentation. You can use HaikuDeck Google slides, or even a single pic found online. Keep it short and simple 1-3 slides for each group or student.3. Assign a digital product replacing a written one. The idea is not to add to the workload, vary it and allow students to use a tool and another way to express themselves. The key is to enhance productivity.The idea is to add engagement without adding too much to our workload. We have to jump sometime, or someone will push us. Just start doing something.

Tech EDGE Parent Meeting in China Jan 2015When we started using iPads in the Reading Center, we added a session about technology to our orientation evening. As the room filled with parents, I was sensing apprehension. It was the early days of iPads, and I was not sure how parents will react. I briefly explained why and how we were using the iPads with striving readers and writers. One father rose up to express concern. "I am not sending my daughter here to play video games; I am sending her here so she can become a better reader." He continued to explain that he thought his daughter needed something more traditional at this time.Digital Literacy with Parents Lincoln NE 2015Not surprisingly we hear similar concerns wherever we work with parents. As a parent to four boys, I understand the instinct to protect your children. When I visited with parents in China, we heard the same concerns. I believe that it is important to listen to parent concerns and help them weigh the benefits and risks using a concrete understanding of what we as teachers do to protect students and teach them.Parent concerns are usually:1. "My child is not safe online." Parents are afraid that their children will not be safe online. They are concerned with inappropriate material (photos, text, video), cyberbullying, and predators. These concerns are fed by media reports about the dangers of the internet. Most of these events are extremely rare, but we need to address parental concerns respectfully and honestly.2. "I don't want my kids information out there." Parents are often concerned with student products, pictures, and information that is shared online. Some do not like the idea of different organizations and companies collecting information about their children. There is also the fear that information shared now can be used later to harm their children.3. "They have enough video games at home; school is for learning." Parents often view technology as a medium for games that have minimal educational value. They often see it as a way for the teacher to avoid work. The real work of school involves seriousness and effort working on paper. This belief stems from their own school experiences as well as their experience with their children during leisure time.4. "It is not good for them; they sit too long as it is." Years of research and public discourse on screen-time, obesity, and in some places eyesight have made parents wary of and even guilty about device use. They view digital time as too sedentary and taxing and are concerned (justly) that if their children are constantly on devices they are not moving and socializing enough.There are a few ways to help parents think about their concerns and understand what we do to protect all of our students. Meet with parents early on to have this conversation and provide the information in a few ways. The best is still face to face meetings.1. Explain all regulations and protections your district has in place. Most districts have a set of rules about the use of technology in place, make them known.2. Share your Digital citizenship curriculum and highlight the importance of learning to stay safe and healthy in a world that is increasingly becoming digital. The focus on responsibility and good decision making are what parents want for their kids.3. Talk about the benefits of using technology. It is easier to consider risks if there is a clear upside. I find that parents are always more willing to have the conversation when they realize that there are excellent learning opportunities for their children in and out of school. It is great to show parents some fantastic tools and student products.4. Provide opportunities for parents to learn about ways they can use devices with their children to benefit learning. Opportunities can be in meetings but also through monthly app recommendations sharing websites (e.g. Commonsense Media).

Can you imagine this headline? Who would go to a dentist that claimed that it has worked in the past, so there is no need to change?Two out of three of my students out student teaching or in practicum, report something along this line (actual text) "So far in this semester, I really have not seen a lot of technology used in the classroom."The fact that in 2015 this is still a norm in many schools reminds me how big a task we still have.Digital technology is part of our everyday lives. It should be part of the learning as well. Even if your students do not have 1:1 devices all schools have access to mobile devices of some kind that can be brought into the classroom or a lab you can go to.If you or a colleague are still not quite there, I have a few suggestions. Here are my top three ideas for supports you can find at your school:1. Talk to knowledgeable peers. Most teachers who integrate technology already love sharing what they are doing and helping along. Find them and use their energy.2. Get a preservice teacher. They are likely to take courses in tech integration so they can bring ideas and another set of hands when trying new ideas is always good.3. Get professional development. EdCamps, Workshops, conferences and excellent grad courses are all places to learn with others about the possibilities. Short PD can motivate, but only long-term support will truly help you get going and keep moving.Three things to do immediately:1. Find out what resources you and your students have.2. If you have only a few devices use them as part of stations or rotation. Do not use them as a reward! All students need to learn about and through technology.3. Use technology for short bursts of formative assessments using Kahoots, Socrative, Google forms, or Plickers. Short activities with some planning would get both you and kids going without imposing too much on your instructional time.

The NAEP results came out this week. They did no show much improvement in closing the gaps. In fact, there is now growing public discussion about the ways high stakes assessments may be preventing us from minding the gap by focusing all of our attention on the artifacts of assessments that are increasingly drifting away from real world application.As part of the discussion Don Leu the director of the New Literacies Research Lab reminded us that the gap is much bigger for new literacies (as measured by the ORCA). The impact of such gap- the new digital divide is the key reason to use technology and teach students to use it effectively. What Leu's research shows is that some students get a lot of support for these kinds of activities at home and some schools. At the same time, other students from lower SES and minority status are getting much less opportunity to develop skills such as searching effectively, sorting and synthesizing.As a result, teaching students about technology and literacy in digital environments should be part of the core skills that all students learn. Technology is not just a tool to achieve learning in other domain. Instead, if we truly want a more level playing field all students must learn to use web-based tools for learning.This is a moral imperative!

 Monday morning, I was making breakfast when my son asked: "Dad can I read?". "Sure?" I answered quizzically. "No, I mean on the iPad." Here, I have to explain that my kids are not allowed to use digital devices before school. Sarah and I learned this lesson the hard way a long time ago. I agreed that he could read on the iPad as long as he kept to the text. I continued making breakfast just looking at my boys both read on the iPad.I turned to Oren (11) and asked, "would you rather read on the iPad or paper?""iPad," he said without much thought."Why?""It's an iPad," He said, and the inflection of his voice was implying that I of all people should get it."Are there other reasons?""Well, I can read like this." He pointed to the fact that his screen was white text on black background. "I like that the iPad remembers where I am." "I also like that I can get books immediately" He was using Overdrive to borrow from the school AND public library to read his favorite books. "I also like the way you swipe to turn pages, and that you can read in the dark." His voice indicated that this conversation was over.I decided to explore further and turned to Itai (9) who was also reading on his iPad. "What do you like about reading on the iPad?""I like that I can get samples of books because they are pretty long. I also like that I do not have to go to the library every time I want a book because I am busy, and I cannot drive there myself." All true. He has been very frustrated since he reads quickly and we seldom get to the library more than once a week. Finally I asked, almost as an afterthought, "If you had the same book in paper or on the iPad, which would you choose?" "Paper," He answered just as quickly as his brother said "iPad." "Why?" "I like the feel of paper and the way the pages turn."These responses seem to mirror what we see in the publishing and educational fields. For a while, the reigning opinion implied that the (paper) book is going to disappear. Now, we are not so sure as Amazon is opening a brick and mortar store. Kids and adults are reading in both modes. They appreciate the comfort and ease of digital but at the same time appreciate the feel of paper.That led me to think about reading choices and the three rules for the classroom:1. Have both modes of reading available. We are not done with school and classroom libraries. Instead, we need to make sure we have both formats available.2. Capitalize on the strength of each mode. Digital provides access to large selections with no wait time. Paper frees us from the need to have power and wi-fi. The joy of walking through a full library or a bookstore are still worth experiencing.3. Make sure all students are exposed to both modes of reading and discuss the advantages of each mode.

 Trust No One Arm Tattoo | by Lynn FriedmanI scoured the internet for a photo denoting trust. I found the expected images of people in suits falling backward and many versions that call to Trust No One. I know that calling to trust no one is popular, it lives up to our myth of the lone cowboy. I disagree.I argue that schools must operate on trust. When trust is deemed broken, we get an adversarial system. Public school accessible to all cannot function without trust. Trust does not mean that no mistakes happen. It does not mean there are no legitimate concerns. Instead, it means that everyone agrees to work toward the best interest of children as the agreed upon principle. Yes, we may differ on how we think we should get there. But, once we fail to see our common goal it is almost impossible to move forward.I see educational systems that lack this very fundamental ingredient. Teachers do not trust their students they always think that they are cheating somehow. The administration is not trusting teachers, so it creates a convoluted system of rules and regulations. We see it in technology integration. Teachers finding it hard to trust students with devices (we need a way to see what students are doing). Districts are not trusting teachers and students (you cannot have access to YouTube, teachers cannot download apps).I can complain about the ways trust is not around me. Th truth is that I have to start with myself. Trust is hard to implement with my students and easy to demand from colleagues and supervisors. It is a function of power, I have power over my students, so it is easy to avoid trust. I have no power over colleagues and supervisors, so I ask for trust. But for trust to be real it has to go in all directions regardless of power. I see it as a process, not a destination. I have four ways I work on trust:1. Create a community. Trust has to start with a community. When I get to know others (parents, students, colleagues), I establish the foundation for trust. It is hard for me to trust someone I do not know. It gets much easier when I know them when I know we share some goals and values. Of course, community and trust are linked in a reciprocal relationship. When a community grows so does, trust and when trust grows so does community. One way I create community in my classroom is by sharing things about myself and in turn learn about my students. I bring food when I feel we are ready for it, breaking bread does wonders to create a community, to humanize.2. Build trust in my classroom first. I think that building community and trust must start with our immediate community- our classroom. It is the best next step because our classroom is the place we get to shape as we wish. It also is a great place to start because it is the easiest place to disregard trust. Trust is hard, and we need to challenge ourselves to trust before we ask parents, colleagues, and administrators to trust us. Creating trust in the classroom reminds me, sometimes daily, how hard it is to think positively and give the benefit of the doubt. One way I practice trust is to avoid looking through the viewership statistics my LMS collect about student behavior online. I choose to trust that my students use the materials. I know they do not all do it- but I have learned that nothing good comes from using the data for accountability. It creates a big brother community where students feel I am spying on them. I believe it would create a climate of fear and compliance. I do not mean that I am gullible and refuse to look at the facts. Instead, I find that open and honest discussion that uphold community values (e.g. learning, honesty) lead to better outcomes and to students who will strive to build their classrooms as communities of trust.3. Foster trust. I work to prove that I can be trusted. I start with treating my students treated the way I would like to be treated. When I work with colleagues, I do my best to meet my obligations.The difficulty in enacting trust in my classroom adds to my understanding of they ways others find it hard to trust me. I know what colleagues and administrators feel like because it is the same way I feel toward my students. For me, in the university setting it rose when I was asked technical questions about the dissertation process. My response was: "we trust the committee to guide students. As a result, we do not want to create regulation and rules that replace trust".4. Use the language of trust. I believe that we have to be explicit about it because we seem to have lost so much trust. Trust is a powerful word- in any context- use it and other words that convey your meaning. "I trust that..." I find that my students respond very positively to it, and so do my colleagues. I use is as an everyday language, not in a way that emphasizes it. Often when I emphasize it, e.g. I trust that you all did the reading today, it may have the opposite impact and be percieved as sarcasm. Talking about trust has a way to remind ourselves and others what are the costs of giving up trust.I believe that our schools can only succeed when we trust each other: students, families, colleagues, administrators, and community members.

Have you ever imagined that you lived inside a game, and thought, "hey, this rocks"…wishing it could be reality? No? …SURPRISE! You’re in one. Think about it. There’s a tremendous amount of crossover in terms of the real-life skills you use when playing a game. We have abilities that we can level up, we graduate, and we have personal credentials that reflect our competency. There are rules and strategies that we follow­-and if we play well, we see better results. Some people keep a mental score, though we all tend to keep score in different ways. Savvy employers are paying attention to this crossover and are using our innate desire to seek out the next challenge and grab on to personal performance metrics, to further their corporate learning strategy.  So what does gamification look like? If the word Gamification still conjures up images of your kids playing Nintendo on the weekend - time to think again. Gamification is the use of game mechanics and game psychology in non-game settings to engage your target audience and motivate them to perform desired behaviors. It’s a process - a strategy, but not an end point. Gamification goes beyond an intellectual understanding of your content, to forge an emotional connection - compounding the learning experience. Let me give you an example… Within Axonify’s gamified platform, there is this one particular game that is driving me nuts.     I’m the quintessential ColourFill bridesmaid. How so?… The idea behind this game is to clear the board of colour in 25 moves or less, whilst answering questions relevant to my job performance. I can see my knowledge progression (pretty cool feeling), but I always get down to one last bloomin’ square on that board. Arrrgh! I’m going to master that game if it kills me! It also gives me great pleasure to follow my progress alongside Axonify VP of Marketing, Laura Martin-also a regular ColourFill competitor. There’s an inner joy that bursts forth every time I see that I’ve outplayed her. Now, with this admission, I’ve probably started a ColourFill war! My point is, while gamification takes a systematic approach to rewards and recognition, it adds a layer of human incentive and provides an effective motivational framework for engagement and continued knowledge growth. Successful implementation of gamification is achieved by running competitions against performance objectives and learning goals. Game mechanics incentivize people through intrinsic motivators such as status, sense of pride and through external motivators such as rewards and badges. Bottom line… Quite simply, when a user succeeds in a game, they feel good. This feeling of elation from personal achievement is now permanently linked to your learning strategy. And as a Learning Professional, what can be more motivating than that? Speaking of motivators, it’s time for today’s clash of the ColourFill titans…I’m comin’ for you Martin! The post Transform Your Workplace with Gamification appeared first on Axonify.

What do Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport, Instagram and free airline tickets have in common?  Gamification. More specifically, a game called: Destination Unknown. The mechanics of the game are really quite simple. When you’re ready to play, you are shown a series of user-curated photos (taken via Instagram) from a specific city somewhere in the world. After observing these photos, you are given a chance to guess where in the world the city is (on a map). If you guess correct you earn points; however, an incorrect guess will not earn you any points. The game is timed so you have four minutes to guess as many cities as you can. If you earn enough points to make it on the top 50 leaderboard, you have the chance to win free airline tickets. Try it out for yourself by clicking the image below …  Image Source: schipholdestinationunknown.nl Here are three elements of Destination Unknown that make it a particularly effective example of gamification: 1. It’s a short experience - Employees - much like passengers in an airport - usually don’t have a lot of time on their hands; therefore, by making a game short, it becomes easier to embed into an everyday workflow. The constraint of time also has the added benefit of making a game more thrilling and thus, engaging. This can help combat the absurdly high cost of disengagement.  2. It has repeat play value - When you combine time limits with very enticing extrinsic rewards (like free airplane tickets), you will have players coming back for more. When players return, not only does it increase their engagement with the content but it also reinforces that content. In the case of Destination Unknown, the content happens to be the global destinations to which airlines fly to from the Schiphol Airport. 3. The content is inherently educational - The most powerful aspect of Destination Unknown is that, as users get better at the game … they are learning more about the world. Eventually, the desire to learn this information is what will make the gamification experience transition from being extrinsically motivating to intrinsically motivating. This is the level of engagement that any gamified program should aspire to achieve. Here is a quote taken directly from a Marketing Land article, which sums up the goal of Destination Unknown really well: "The gamification of user-generated tourism photos is a trifecta of genius that provides both an enjoyable distraction and means to educate travelers not only about where they can fly from Amsterdam’s Schiphol, but also about the destinations themselves — feeding visitors’ travel bug and hopefully inspiring a journey." Inspiring action. Shouldn’t this be the goal of any great learning program? Let us know your thoughts below or via Twitter. Written by Shum Attygalle The post Inspiring Employees Through Gamification appeared first on Axonify.

Remember the initial excitement when your first implemented your LMS? All the planning and promise of tracking courses and assessments, reporting on compliance and certifications, and increasing employee productivity to boost bottom-line results…but here you are, still wanting, and at various phases of grieving for what was ‘meant to be’. In many cases, the issues stemmed from an early miscommunication or misunderstanding of what is really needed from your learning solution. But by the time this misalignment is recognized, you’re already heavily invested - personally and financially. That’s when the ‘5 Phases of Grief’ set in. Even though you know the system in place isn’t working, you don’t want to believe it because the idea of change comes with its own list of challenges and obstacles. You see hidden glimmers of hope buried in clear indications that it’s time to consider a new solution. So, against your better judgment, you can’t help but entertain illusions of things somehow working out… "Maybe I can develop a workaround for that issue""I hear there’s a new feature being developed to address that""Everyone is dealing with the same issue" Anger can manifest in many different ways… anger at your vendor, "Why are they taking so long to fix this %&^$ issue!" anger at the universe, "Why can’t this just work the way it’s supposed to?" anger at your employees, ‘"If they would just engage with the content!". Grrrr Bargaining often goes hand in hand with denial. Bargaining can be looking for any possible way to make your current LMS work through vendor negotiation, stretched scenario-based resolutions, and quiet prayers to the LMS itself, whispering silent entreaties through gritted teeth,  - but to no avail… "If you could just fix this one issue, then I know we’ll win them back…hello?" "I really want this to work; maybe it’s just me; will you work if I just do things a bit differently?" "I’ll try this; try that; reboot?"  Depression, like anger, also surfaces in many different forms. For example, disengaging from the issues at hand, consciously ignoring the reasons why you started investigating change in the first place. Instead of focusing on an objective business case to justify change, you venture dangerously close to pervasive complacency. "That’s just the way it is, so why push so hard for change?" ‘There’s nothing better out there anyway." Acceptance never comes suddenly; it happens gradually, interspersed with revelations during other phases. But through this experience, you gain acceptance for what you actually need from your learning solution—not what you thought you needed. You have clarity on priorities and critical requirements. You have an understanding of the costs and resources involved in the operation and maintenance of your current system, and can provide a grounded point of comparison. From this informed position, you can build a risk/benefit analysis that lays out the positives and negatives of staying with the current system and those associated with moving to a new system. By recognizing and acknowledging each phase of grief, and identifying the pain points and wish-lists during each transition, you can actually leverage your current frustrations to zero in on a learning solution that better meets the needs of your evolving organization - and build your business case for change. Written by Sabrina Prudham The post 5 Phases of Grieving Your LMS and Building a Case for Change appeared first on Axonify.

Video Preview: The new hot concept in the world of HR and employee training is gamification. While initially misunderstood by many companies, over the past several years, extensive research from gamification experts coupled with the documented results early adopters have presented have paved the way for gamified learning to establish a foothold as a new frontier of corporate training. Gamification, as well as the culture of technology out of which it was born, can work together to improve both the quality of corporate training as well as its accessibility. Gamified learning modules can be stored in a secure cloud, allowing access to any employee with an Internet connection. This streamlines the efficiency of learning, since workers can access these modules on their own time when it’s most convenient for them. Additionally, the engagement and retention benefits, discussed later in this article, lead to more effective learning that can provide a boost to overall performance. To best understand the appeal of gamification, it’s useful to highlight the shortcomings of more conventional training paradigms. Helping managers understand where they’re losing efficiency on the training front, and where they have room to make improvement, can help pave the way for implementing gamified learning in your company. Where conventional training fails Ensuring that new hires are armed with the knowledge and skills needed to succeed at their job is perhaps the most important function HR can serve post-recruitment. Unfortunately, delivering effective training has historically been something of a stumbling block for many companies. The sad fact is that on the whole, management simply isn’t training staff in a way that is most conducive to developing and retaining new knowledge. One of the principle drawbacks of the traditional classroom method of training is that it is almost entirely front-loaded. A study published by Dutch company Continuous Learning found that on average, employees spend 85 percent to 90 percent of a typically two- to three-month initial training session in a classroom. While this concentration may aim to inject  new hires with adequate job training, it has the alarming side effect of falling off almost completely after the initial training period. This results in workplaces that are less development-focused, which in turn breeds employees who are less engaged and who tend to stagnate in their positions rather than growing their skills with the company. On a similar note, the method of learning used in classroom training is itself far less effective than companies realize. The lecture method may be effective in a setting where small bits of information must be disseminated to a large group of people, but corporate training represents the exact opposite scenario. According to the Reference For Business, lecture-based learning is best restricted to a handful of data points at most, and any learning objectives over and above see exponentially reduced retention and stickiness. How gamification helps The situation employers are left with as a result of the factors discussed above is one in which learning is both ineffective and infrequent. Especially in today’s workplace, employees must be adaptable and flexible, and require training that is as ongoing as it is effective. Gamification makes use of psychological principles to provide a much more highly engaged learning experience, and the flexibility that online platforms and elearning software afford learning developers means that these gamified learning systems can be as accessible as possible. But how does it work? Simply put, CIO.com explained that gamification taps into the same psychological motivators that children chase when they play games and applies these strategies to learning to offer employees an experience that is self-directed, autonomous and engaging. At the most reductive level, gaming is an attractive activity because it triggers our brain’s dopamine loop. In layman’s terms, when we carry out a task and are rewarded for doing so, our brain releases chemicals that create a positive association. Thus, a "game" in neurochemical terms might be described as a process that encourages players to chase this dopamine release by providing challenges that must be completed a certain way. How you can prepare for gamification The success of gamification hinges on its ability to be as targeted and direct as it is engaging. Standardized classroom-based learning is ineffective due to a lack of focus. Universality is the enemy of specificity, and when you’re looking to train specialized expert employees, that’s the last thing you want to be doing.  Gamification works because its tasks are keyed to specific objectives. In the gaming world from which these principles were borrowed, this could mean slaying a dragon, while in the office, it likely means higher sales or better customer service. If gamification is to be successfully implemented, you must first establish which learning objectives you most need to meet, and design your training around that one goal. Without this objective-based guidepost, any learning module, regardless of how engaging it may be, will still fail to provide the laser-focus that breeds experts.  Written by Laura Martin The post How You Should be Preparing for Gamification appeared first on Axonify.