For the last 3 years I have been sharing a photo a day on the Blipfoto site. Last year I missed one day, the year before 3 or 4, so I am determined to post everyday this year. Yesterday I reached a bit of a milestone publishing my 1,000th blip. I really like the site, despite some uncertainty over the direction of the site when it was bought over by Polaroid, it doesn’t seem to have changed much. I like that i connect with a different set of people than on other social media sites. It feels more meaningful that Instagram, which I like and use too but it seems a bit more instant. A blip feels like it has a bit more longevity. Anyway hopefully I’ll make 365 this year and maybe even get to the next 1,ooo one day.    

October 7th marks my two year work anniversary here at GCU. How time flies. I some ways I feel like I’ve been here longer and in others I still feel a bit like the new kid on the block.  Over the past two years along with my fabulous team colleagues  ( Linda Creanor and Jim Emery) I have been involved in a number of really exciting projects including our open event GCU Games On, the starting informal practice sharing through our Coffee Club, developing our blog and open Blended Learning resource site Will IT Blend?.  It’s taken almost two years, but we are now moving forward with learning analytics with our involvement in the Jisc Effective Analytics Programme which will be taking up most of my time this month. One of the reasons I enjoy my current role so much is the fact that is allowing me to draw on all my experiences from my time at Cetis. I was reminded this morning that one of the things that actually got me interested and involved with Cetis was Learning Design.  I took part remotely in a new learning design practice network hosted by the OU this morning, and as we were doing the introductions, it hit me how long I had been involved in this area. As we move more towards developing more fully online courses here at GCU, I have really enjoyed developing our learning design processes and methodology.  Most of the rest of the day will be spent planning our activities around this for this academic year.  I was heartened by the discussions this morning. I think there is so much effective practice still to be shared, but there is definitely a commonality of approach and challenges that we are all facing. We are all creating our own "patchwork" approaches of bits and pieces of toolkits and processes such as Viewpoints and Carpe Diem.The investment from Jisc in learning and curriculum has really paid off in terms of helping mainstream practice and it is so heartening to see work from almost 7 years ago still having relevance today. I’m trying to be a good "open practitioner" and share as much as I can of my work through blogging, tweets etc.  But it is harder the more embedded I become. Time is one issue, but also there is relevance. I want my blog posts to be useful to me ( I often think of my blog as my professional memory). Some weeks I do so many little things it’s hard to find a focus for a post - as well as the time.  For example last night I went to a really interesting presentation on digital story telling from a colleague from Brown University who is visiting GCU.  I doubt I’ll have time to blog about it, but it has made me think about trying to be a better digital storyteller.  In the meantime, and because every post should have a picture here’s my now obligatory doodle; and here’s to the next (hopefully more than) 2 years. //embedr.flickr.com/assets/client-code.js Tagged: #GCUblend, blendlearning, learning design

Last Wednesday night, like many others I participated in the #LTHE tweet chat on the intrinsic and extrinsic value of blogging facilitated and led by David Hopkins.  As ever it was a fast and furious hour of tweeting. You can relive it via this storify. The first question asked was "why do you write your blog? Conversely, if you don’t blog, why not?" The reason I started blogging was very simple. I was told to. We had a change of direction in our web site at Cetis and it was decided that we would dynamically populate our web page from staff blogs. More than by accident than by design this approach actually worked with no editorial guidelines and a very minimal publishing process.  It did take me a while to find my blogging voice, but I am so glad that I did because my blog has become a central part of my working practice. More importantly for me it is actually my professional memory/portfolio.  If something significant happens I will blog about it.  Blogging is a bit of a habit for me, and as any writer knows, getting into and staying in the habit of writing is crucial. As the tweet chat unfolded I was reflecting on how lucky I was to have been "made to" blog within a very open (in the sense of non-one told me what/how/when to write) and supportive environment in Cetis. Finding a reason to blog is one of the biggest hurdles for people to overcome. During the conversation, there were many comments saying "I’ve got lots of half written posts" - I know that feeling well. Blogging can be great for professional development but conversely that can bring about its own pressures particularly around academic integrity.  If you are blogging with a professional qualification in mind, then you are probably inclined to write in a more formal, professional way. That takes time and the kind of time that not many have the luxury of, particularly if you blogging isn’t given as much recognition as for example a published paper, or an assessed piece of work. One of the reasons I blog is that it allows me to write in a very informal, non academic way.  I am the first to admit that my blog lacks academic rigor. That’s one of the main reasons I keep it going.  It is a really comfortable place for me to start to play around with ideas, and to tell my stories. It has also help me to evolve my "proper" academic writing. For example, when David Walker and I wrote a chapter for The Really Useful Ed Tech Book, we used my blog to get feedback and comments for the chapter. That said, I am aware that I’m in the somewhat luxurious position of having an established blogging presence. I don’t get nearly the same traffic on this blog as on my Cetis blog, but the numbers are fine for me. To be honest I’m not in it for the stats anyway. As the chat went on, I did begin to think that if I was looking at blogging now, I probably would be like many others and still be a bit unsure, or start one and only post a couple of times.  I think I would be more inclined to look for a team/group blog so that the pressure of publishing wasn’t just on me. The TEL team blog at the Uni of Sussex is a great example of this approach. They have a schedule of posts and everyone takes a turn of posting.  We have a team blog here at GCU, however we haven’t got that organised. Importantly though we have a presence now and a place to share openly our activities. That is proving its worth in so many ways from just being able to remind ourselves of "stuff" and also sharing practice within the University and beyond.  We have somewhere to tell our story. And that is crucial. The importance of constructing and sharing our own narrative of what is happening in education just now has never been so important.  Last week I also went to a seminar on digital storytelling, titled "powerful stories that empower others".  There are so many powerful stories around what actually happens across our education sectors, we need to keep sharing them. We need to be our own digital storytellers. We all need to help fight the neo-liberal onslaught (oh my, didn’t think I’d actually ever write that sentence) that people like Martin Welller, Audrey Watters, George Siemens and many others are leading. So if you have a couple of half written posts, why not take half an hour and post them?  If you do read other people stories and find the useful, share them - and every now and again leave a comment, that makes it all worth while. So come on, let our stories be heard, and make Simon Rae’s framework a reality. Tagged: #LTHEchat, blogging

This was the question used to prompt the first piece of feedback in the opening workshop of a three day consultation to assess our readiness for analytics as part of the discovery phase of the Jisc Effective Analytics Programme. It certainly did get the conversations going. As is my want, I also tweeted the question and even got a few responses. Ranging from: @sheilmcn 2012. — David Kernohan (@dkernohan) October 20, 2015 to: @sheilmcn LMS — 360trainingAuthoring (@360trainingAuth) October 20, 2015 to: @sheilmcn asking new questions, and asking old questions in new ways — Deepak Prasad (@deepakvprasad) October 20, 2015 to: @sheilmcn saving you from failing which is actually part of learning or am I being unfair😏 is it helping reflection on areas of improvement — Evelyn McElhinney (@Kalipizzaro) October 20, 2015 to: @sheilmcn analytics that learn — Shane Dawson (@shaned07) October 20, 2015 to: @sheilmcn learner rather than learning. — Viv Rolfe (@VivienRolfe) October 20, 2015 I have to say not all of these came up in the conversations I was part of :-) But I am looking forward to seeing the results of this assessment exercise after a series of workshops and 1-2-1 interviews with staff. Watch this space for more details. Tagged: #learninganalytics

James Clay, Programme Manager at Jisc asked me to write a post for the their Developing Digital Capability blog on developing institutional digital capability.  It goes something like this: " . .. from your perspective what are the institutional enablers and blockers when it comes to growing the digital capability of an organisation?" asked James Clay in a recent post on this blog. I rather flippantly posted a comment to James’s post saying "Culture is a big issue, but I think over reliance (or expectations) that technology alone will somehow wave some magical digital fairy dust and everyone and ergo the institution will be "digital" and digitally literate." This post is my attempt to elaborate that comment. We know that systems alone will not alone won’t make a difference. But there still seems to be hope (or perhaps more accurately there is still a lot of commercial potential) in pitching and selling systems using the magical "d" word. Over the past couple of years in the context of unpacking the notion of the digital university, I have written a number of papers with Bill Johnston and Keith Smyth called "moving from e to / We used this title to reflect the change we have observed around the move from things have an "e" in front of them to now having "digital" as a prefix. Is there really a difference between "e-learning’ and ‘digital learning’ or indeed just "learning"? Digital is an incredibly powerful and at the same time ill defined, meaningless word. That said, there does seem to be something of the zeitgeist around digital that is pervading all of society, not just education. So how can we harness the power of the "d" word to actually make a difference and impact institutional/organisational capability? . . ." You can read the full article here.

(image CC Share Alike https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mirror_fretwork_english_looking-glass.png) It’s been a busy week here at GCU Blended Learning Towers.  We’ve just finished the onsite part of of the Jisc Effective Analytics Programme. So this week has been a flurry of workshops and interviews led by the consulting team of Andy Ramsden and Steve Bailey. Although Andy and Steve work for Blackboard, the discovery phase is "platform agnostic" and is as much about culture and people as technology.  The evaluation rubric used had more about culture and people than technology.  Having a team who really understand the UK HE sector was very reassuring. Sadly, it’s not often that you can say that about and HE. I think GCU is the second institution to go through the discovery process, I know there are quite a few others who will be  doing the same over the next six months. The process is pretty straightforward and outlined in the diagram below. A core team from the institution have a two online meetings with the consulting team, relevant institutional policy/strategy documentation is reviewed before the onsite visit. At the end of the onsite visit an overall recommendation is shared with early findings, before a final report is given to the institution. I was pleased (probably slightly relieved too) that we got a "ready with recommendations".  That’s what we were hoping for. Although we are still awaiting the final report, the process has already been incredibly useful. It has allowed us to bring together some of our key stakeholders; (re)start conversations about the potential and importance of learning analytics; the need to develop our infrastructure, people and process to allow us to use our data more effectively. The final report will also be really helpful in terms of helping us focus our next steps. Andy described the process as a bit like "holding a mirror to ourselves" which is pretty accurate.  The process hasn’t brought up issues we weren’t aware of. We know our underlying IT infrastructure needs "sorting", we starting to do that. What is has done is to illustrate some potential areas to help us focus our next steps. In a sense it has helped us not to see forest from the trees, but rather show some twinkling lights and pathways through the forest. Tagged: #learninganalytics

Earlier this week I attend a digital badges as bridges event hosted by Digital Me in Glasgow. As well as catching up with some familiar faces it was good to have a bit of time to think about badges again and find out about the badge the world initiative. I really like the idea of badges.  Although I’ve won/earned/issued badges over the past few years, they are still a bit of a novelty for me.  Every time I go to an event where they feature, or have a discussion where they come up, I always come away thinking  " I need to do something with my badges".   Trouble is, I’m still not quite sure what or where . . .  I do share them sometimes on blog posts, but again the session has made me reflected on the  value I place on my badges. Every badge I have earned, has meant something to me, particularly as a learner. The badges I earned on the OLDS MOOC were a bit of lifeline in terms of sustaining motivation and continued participation.  But I don’t have a burning desire or perhaps more importantly need to curate and share them. Some are in my backpack and other’s aren’t.  That said I do believe that there is "something" about badges. I think that they do have a role to play in rewarding and recognition of learning.  I’m just still trying to figure out how, where and why I could use them.  But maybe that’s not that surprising. I don’t exactly "do" much with my formal accreditation. The last time I even looked at my degree/PG certificates was when I had to bring them with me to my first day at work here at GCU two years ago. With colleagues at my institution I am  exploring use of badges for non accredited "stuff" and looking at piloting them within formal programmes but we have a way to go. It was re-assuring that many people at the event were at the same stage. The badge bit is easy, it’s the pathways all the "rest of it" that are still causing a lot of head scratching. Slides from the event are available here. I was also asked to present at the University of Stirling’s e-learning forum on flipping the classroom this week.  A bit like badges, flipping is something some people are still getting their heads around. Unlike badges, many people are actually ‘flipping’ their teaching - sometimes without actually realising that is what they are doing. I shared the work of our Mental Health nursing team, which I’ve written about previously and developed a case study on. There was quite a bit of discussion around creating resources (particularly video), and the need for (quiet) spaces where staff can create videos as well as the challenges of building online teacher presence. These are both  issues we are very aware of  at GCU, particularly as we are in the middle of major campus development project. As we develop new learning spaces, and increase our fully online provision, we need to ensure we have adequate teaching space for our staff to run online sessions, and create resources. It was reassuring to hear that evening a leafy, pastoral setting such as Stirling, noise is an issue.   Tagged: #badges #flippedclassroom #blendedlearning

Earlier this week (and boy did I have to get up early for this one!) I presented at the Computers in Learning Research Group (CARLG) seminar at the Open University in Milton Keynes.  My talk "open education: research and reality" was primarily aimed a a group of new PhD students who are all researching various aspects of open education. I used the invitation to take a reflective look at my own experiences of open education, my the evolution of my open practice and my relationship with research around open education. "Open Me" could well have been a more apt title for my talk, as I really used this phrase as a statement and as an invitation to explore the layers of my open practice. I used the Russian Doll metaphor to explain some the different layers and combinations of open-ness I experience. Much of my open-ness stems from my blogging activity, and I actively encouraged this group of new researchers to be as open in their research as early as possible.  I think I may have succeeded. Thanks @sheilmcn for a wonderful talk at @CALRGatOU today. Will try best to build an open research community among the PhDs here #OUPhEdD — Janesh Sanzgiri (@janeshsanzgiri) November 5, 2015 //platform.twitter.com/widgets.js @crumphelen @sheilmcn Wonderful 4 u both meeting up yday. Inspired by Sheila 2 get going 4 next blog post @CALRGatOU https://t.co/FLiuYBodqY — Lesley Boyd (@lesleyboyd) November 6, 2015 I always enjoy visiting the OU, but this visit was made even more special as I finally got to meet Helen Crump in person as she is one of the a-fore mentioned new PhD students. Helen and I met through open education (via the OLDS MOOC) and have had quite an open adventure together, not only studying together but being part of a collaborative writing team.  I count Helen not only as a colleague but as a friend. A friendship that was created and is sustained via open education. One for the #oldsmoop album @sheilmcn @paigecuffe @yishaym @yvetteinmb @mbjamieson @penpln When Helen met Sheila pic.twitter.com/S2SZP6Xr6R — Helen Crump (@crumphelen) November 5, 2015 You can view my presentation here, and there’s a recording on YouTube. Tagged: #openeducation, #openlearning

Like many people last week I was a bit bemused by the introduction of the heart button on twitter.  Kate Bowles has written a beautiful post about the corporate justification of highjacking emotions.  Lawrie Phipps took a more practical approach and summed up my use of the old like button: it also made me think. I used the old star/favourite for two things. The first, I realised after reflection, was a lazy way of acknowledging that I had seen a tweet, but couldn’t be bothered to respond, or wasn’t something I wanted to retweet. I do save all my tweets to a google doc, but I can’t remember the last time I actually looked at it. So, following Lawrie’s lead I have now decide to (well try to) use a small number of hashtags instead of the heart button and hopefully save and share tweets in a more meaningful way using an  IFTT recipe. My # are: #read (for articles I have/will/should read) #share (for "stuff" I think is interesting to other like minded souls) #fun (just because there should always be some fun at some point every day) #like (because I like a lot of stuff and I still want to show/share that)

Well it’s been quite a couple of weeks for education strategy and consultation, so yesterday’s ALT Scotland Policy board  was very timely in bringing a group of people from across the Scottish Education Sector together. Like everyone else in HE, I’ve been watching and following the response the UK Government’s Green Paper (many thanks WonkHE for your excellent coverage). Like everyone else in Scottish HE, I’ve been wondering what impact this will have on us.  Education is a devolved issue so Scotland doesn’t have to follow the path of Evel though it will undoubtedly have an impact as this post from David Kernohan has highlighted. In FE, we in Scotland are now starting to emerge from our great regionalisation just as our colleagues south of the border embark on theirs. In schools we have our Curriculum for Excellence which as well as giving many people headaches as it was developed, gave many of us a sense of relief from all that Michael Gove madness a couple of years ago. In terms of open education due to the funding of the #ukoer programme Scottish institutions couldn’t be lead partners, so developing open-ness has been a much more grass roots movement here.  We are seeing more open policies being developed and approved, but there is still a way to go. Open-ness isn’t that high on many institutional strategic objectives, but there are many areas particularly around fully online delivery and widening participation where open education practice (not just policy) could have significant benefits that fit extremely well with strategic priorities. Getting updates on current priorities from colleagues from SFC, QAA Scotland, Jisc, SQA, CDN, Open Scotland was invaluable.  It seems to me we seem to have less opportunity to do that now. I suspect that’s partly due to the emergence of the new Jisc, which doesn’t have the same capacity for community engagement as in years past. Having an active ALT Scotland group is filling some of that gap with meetings like yesterday’s. ALTs voice, as an independent membership organisation has probably never been so important.  Responding to consultations such as the recent BIS inquiries into assessing quality in Higher Education and the Digital Economy has led to invitations to speak at Westminster Select Committee  meetings. Something that came through yesterday is that we (and I’m speaking with my ALT Trustee hat on just now) need to try and find more ways to increase our involvement with the Scottish Government around education developments. One way are doing this, and this was a substantial part of the meeting yesterday is to submit a formal response to the consultation process around the Scottish Governments Digital Learning and Teaching Strategy for schools. Digital also seemed to be a key unifying theme from the updates in the meeting. However the meaning of digital is contentious and, for me, quite troublesome . It is used in widely varying contexts.  From content to infrastructure to literacy, the ‘d’ factor is all pervasive just now. I’m not going to  get into the debate about is "digital learning and teaching" different from "learning and teaching, instead I’ll focus in this post. However having attended one of the consultation events for the strategy last week and from the discussion yesterday, I am heartened that this consultation process is taking into account culture as well as technology.  It is perhaps more a teaching strategy, as for it to be realised, there will need to be recognition of the importance of CPD for staff. Digital literacy underpins the success of any digital initiative. One thing that did come through yesterday was that there may be an opportunity to revisit some of the work done by the Scottish Government around the learner journey to try and connect all our education sectors.  The digital learning and teaching strategy will have to ensure that it fits with other key school priorities priorities such as the National Improvement Framework (NIF) but it provides a great opportunity for input from other sectors. If we are extending digital assessment in the school and college sector from traditional paper based exams to more evidenced based digital artefacts, then we need to be doing even more of the same in HE. Wouldn’t it be great if we could start introducing the concept of feedback/feedforward in school? That might help not just our NSS scores, but understanding and engagement of the process. Let’s get start developing open educational practice in schools for learners and staff, encourage a maker and sharer culture supported by creative commons and open badges.  The Digital Learning and Teaching strategy could provide an opportunity to start connecting some of the dots and strengthen the case for a digital infrastructure that supports extended and enhanced cross sectoral sharing of practice. You can contribute to ALTs response to the consultation here.  (image http://www.flickr.com/photos/fbz/187634854/ {{cc-by-2.0}} )

It’s been another busy week. Do you find time in November seems to speed up? I’m sure last week it was still October . . . I started the week at the Scottish #elesig meeting in St Andrews. Despite the wind and rain it was a great day. The focus of the meeting was on supporting staff development to enhance the learning experience.  Keith Smyth gave an excellent keynote in the morning  titled "investigating and enhancing the staff experience with e-learning and learning technologies: what do we know and what can we do to move forward?" Keith really made us all think about how we currently evaluate the use and impact of technology on learning and the need to extend our approaches to research A need for combining analytics with phenomenographic studies, to capture the what and the why, notes Keith #ELESIG — Vicki Dale (@vhmdale) November 23, 2015   Other approaches we need to consider #ELESIG pic.twitter.com/R6ZHeyuZDl — Vicki Dale (@vhmdale) November 23, 2015 I was one of a number of speakers during the day who shared their experiences of supporting staff particularly in developing fully online course. As ever it was re-assuring to hear that we are all facing the same issues of confidence, digital literacy and workload allocation.  The afternoon ended with a series of 2 minute presentations which worked really well and gave a great overview of "stuff" from reflective portfolios to byod to simple enhanced video apps. Vicki Dale has shared this storify of the event (we even trended on twitter at one point) which gives a really good overview of all the goodness that was shared over the day. Part of my presentation focused on the way we have been using Trello to support learning design. The more we use it with staff, the more I like it. More importantly my colleagues like it too and are really starting to see the value of it to help them plan not only their new fully online modules but their f2f/blended ones too. It is really helping people to plan and share a visual overview of their modules. I ran two workshops this week where we used it. I had a couple of Cheshire cat grinning moment during them as people started to use it to really unpack, record and share what they need to do. It is such a good example of technology being easy and flexible enough for people to just use and not distract them from what they are trying to do, but actually help them focus. One example of technology FTW. Although my blog is very important to me, I realise that it’s not exactly the most visited place on the inter-web. I am as the say not doing this for any kind of glory or prize.  However it is always nice to get comments and see that some people do read it. I was really touched this week when David Hopkins included me in his nominations for this years edublog awards.  So dear reader, do you want to be my campaign manager?   Tagged: #elesig #edublogs #learningdesign

We’re moving offices this week but in between packing boxes and recycling I’ve been having a bit of an ALT shaped week. This week ALT launched its annual survey (if you haven’t already please do fill it in, it’s a great barometer for what’s actually happening in the UK education sector).  Concurrently it has also published a strategy update highlighting the progress the organisation is making in terms of its strategic goals.  I wrote a blog post to help the launch of both, and I just want to highlight again the great work that the ALT full time staff and all its members do. On Wednesday I represented ALT at a CLA FE Copyright Masterclass at the Lowry  in Salford (not Manchester).  I opened the session with a talk about OER and open education.  This was followed by some very informative talks by the BUFVC, The Intellectual Property Office, CLA, and ERA. All of these agencies have a wealth of material that can be accessed by the education sector, and it was great to see the support that they are all giving the currently quite battered FE sector.  I was particularly impressed by the Cracking Ideas site from the IPO - I think most of us could use those resources to help our students and ourselves become confident about IP. A couple of other things have caught my eye and hopefully I’ll have time to have a proper look at them over the weekend.  Audrey Waters has begun her annual top trends in ed tech review. Audrey is always worth reading and the first in this years series is no exception, I look forward to the rest of the posts. Remember you can subscribe to HackEducation and help support Audrey’s work. A great gift idea for all ed-techie’s out there. The Open University has also just published its 2015 Innovating Pedagogy Report.   I’m haven’t read it yet, but I am intrigued by stealth assessment and embodied learning.  Hopefully I’ll have time to do a more considered post on it in the next couple of weeks, once everything has been unpacked in my new office.   Tagged: #altc, #FEcopyright

Welcome to the first episode of House of #EdTech! House of #EdTech is the podcast that explores how technology is changing the way teachers teach and the impact that technology is having in education. In this first episode I provide a foundation for the show and talk about what you can expect in subsequent episodes. All links and shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2014/01/houseofedtech1.html FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Alex Rosenwald is the k-12 science supervisor in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. He shares his thoughts on connecting in the classroom and how valuable technology is to the science curriculum. Follow Alex http://twitter.com/arosey  All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2014/01/houseofedtech2.html FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

I talk with Joseph Iacono, the EdTech Maestro, about how the NYCDOE is providing a great experience to its students.   Follow Joseph http://twitter.com/EdTechMaestro   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2014/02/houseofedtech3.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Carina Gonzalez is the Library Media Specialist of Lawrence High School (Lawrenceville, NJ). We discuss the technology in the school library and as well as the things that Carina is doing in her library!   Follow Carina http://twitter.com/CarinaGonzalez   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2014/02/houseofedtech4.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Andria Trivisonno is the Marketing Team Leader for Tackk (http://www.tackk.com).   Follow Andria http://twitter.com/andriatriv Follow Tackk http://twitter.com/tackk   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2014/03/houseofedtech5.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

A great interview with Darek Teller from Celly. Celly believes small messages change the world so they built a place where you message will: build movements inspire learning level the playing field & promote free speech Follow Darek http://twitter.com/dkteller Follow Celly http://twitter.com/cellyme   All links and shownotes at http://www.chrisnesi.com/2014/03/houseofedtech6.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: cnesi4602 Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: http://twitter.com/mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Rich Kiker is a nationally recognized and award winning Certified Google Apps for Edu Trainer and Director of Online Learning. In this episode he shares some great Google insight and tips for teachers of all levels.Episode #26 is now three episodes away and I am still looking for you to participate in the first House of #EdTech SmackDown! Send in an audio clip about your favorite app, website, or edtech tool. You've got 2 minutes so make it count!Do you enjoy the podcast? Please consider supporting a podcast you love! Get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial from Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player.Listen to Episode 23:Links & Resources MentionedTechEducator PodcastBlack Rocket, LLCDeana BaumertPatricia HillyerSteven P. SantilliMeredith MartinBilly KrakowerDana SirotiakMike RitziusTackk.com's Andria Trivisonno (episode 5)Tackk App Featured ContentRich Kiker is the Director of Online Learning for the Palisades (PA) School District and the owner of Kiker Learning, LLC. Rich is also a top-rated and award winning Certified Google Apps for Edu Trainer.Resources shared and recommended by Rich:Rich's Symbaloo: Google Tools for All EducatorsDaniel Pink's To Sell Is Human: The Surprising Truth About Moving OthersGoogle for Education site (revised)Connect & collaborate with Rich:Tweet to @rkikerGoogle+: https://plus.google.com/+RichKikerWebsite: kikerlearning.com#EdTech ThoughtIs Paper.li Valuable?I say it is not. Share your thoughts with a comment below.#EdTech RecommendationGoSoapBox: a web-based clicker tool used by educators around the world to keep students engaged and gain real-time insight into student comprehension.GoSoapBox Features:Confusion Barometer lets students indicate whether or not they are getting it.With GoSoapBox's Social Q&A, students can easily submit and vote for questions, allowing the best question to rise to the top. At any given moment, you know what's on your students' minds.Dead-simple, customized polling. It's better than clickers.Quizzes and assessments.Anonymous student optionEasy to download graded spreadsheets and reports on class activityHouse of #EdTech VIPShannon Miller - a teacher librarian and technology integration specialist from Colorado. She encourages young people and educators to have a voice while learning, creating, collaborating, and connecting to others globally.She is an educational consultant for Mackin Educational Resources, Director of School and Library Strategy for In This Together Media and Executive Director of Library & Educational Services for Biblionasium.  Shannon is also Skype's Education Ambassador.She is also a mom to three amazing kids!Connect with Shannon:Tweet to @shannonmillerEmail: shannonmcclintockmiller@gmail.comWebsite: The Library Voice BlogUpcoming Conferences and EventsEdCampNJ - 3rd AnnualSaturday, November 22, 2014 | FREE!edcampnj.orgGoogle Educator Certification BootcampSat, Dec 6 & 12, 2014https://www.smore.com/szvr9EdTechNJSat, Jan 31, 2015 @ JP Stevens HS | FREE!edtechnj.com and follow @edtechnj on Twitter.Ask your questions or share your feedbackComment on the show notesCall (732) 903-4869 to leave a voicemailContact me via Voxer cnesi4602Email feedback@chrisnesi.com (audio files welcome)Please connect with meSubscribe, rate, and review in iTunes and on StitcherTweet to @mrnesiThanks for listening!Mr. Christopher J. Nesi

Jenna Kleine is the Community Marketing Manager at Class Dojo. Kleine is a former middle and high school science teacher with a passion for technology and making a real difference in education for students we all teach.Episode #26 is only two episodes away and you are still welcomed and encouraged to participate in the first House of #EdTech SmackDown! Send in an audio clip about your favorite app, website, or edtech tool. You've got 2 minutes so make it count!Do you enjoy the podcast? Please consider supporting a podcast you love! Get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial from Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player.Links & Resources MentionedClass Dojo News Articles:Privacy Concerns for ClassDojo and Other Tracking Apps for Schoolchildren (NY TIMES)ClassDojo: A Tale of Two Classsrooms (NY TIMES)ClassDojo Adopts Deletion Policy for Student Data (NY TIMES)ClassDojo: what the New York Times got wrongFeatured ContentJenna Kleine is the Community Marketing Manager at Class Dojo. Kleine is a former middle and high school science teacher with a passion for technology and making a real difference in education for students we all teach.Connect & collaborate with Jenna & Class Dojo:Tweet to @jenna_kleineTweet to @ClassDojoWebsite: www.classdojo.com#EdTech ThoughtAre you and your school #FutureReady? - visit futurereadyschools.org#EdTech RecommendationMendeley is a desktop and web program for managing and sharing references, research papers, discovering research data and collaborating online. It combines Mendeley Desktop, a PDF and reference management application (available for Windows, OS X and Linux) with Mendeley Web, an online social network for researchers. Mendeley also has an iPhone and iPad app that is free to install. Mendeley provides each user with 2 GB of free web storage space, which you can upgrade.I recently presented on Mendeley at the Montgomery County Community College Technology Conference.House of #EdTech VIPDana Sirotiak - Dana Sirotiak is the Chief Innovation Officer for Newark (NJ) Public Schools. Prior to this Dana was a High School History Teacher at Hackensack High School in Hackensack, New Jersey and a Middle School Social Studies Teacher in Jersey City for 7 years.Ms. Sirotiak has a BA in History as well as a MA in Educational Technology.In addition to her instructional duties, Dana has served on Professional Development, School Leadership, School Data Committees.Dana is an active presenter and has presented at numerous conferences like NJEA and EdCampNJ. Dana was also an Edublog Awards finalist in the categories of Best Use of Video & Media and Best Podcast or Hangout in 2013.Connect with Dana:Tweet to @dsirotiakWebsite: danasirotiak.comUpcoming Conferences and EventsGoogle Educator Certification BootcampSat, Dec 6 & 12, 2014https://www.smore.com/szvr9EdTechNJSat, Jan 31, 2015 @ JP Stevens HS | FREE!edtechnj.com and follow @edtechnj on Twitter.Ask your questions or share your feedbackComment on the show notesCall (732) 903-4869 to leave a voicemailContact me via Voxer cnesi4602Email feedback@chrisnesi.com (audio files welcome)Please connect with meSubscribe, rate, and review in iTunes and on StitcherTweet to @mrnesiThanks for listening!Mr. Christopher J. Nesi

Dr. Spike Cook, principal of R.M. Bacon Elementary School (Millville, NJ), co-host of the PrincipalPLN Podcast and author returns to the show! Dr. Cook shares insight on his new book, Connected Leadership: It's Just a Click Away (Corwin Connected Educators Series).Episode #26 is ONE episode away and you can still participate in the first House of #EdTech SmackDown! Send in an audio clip about your favorite app, website, or edtech tool. You've got 2 minutes so make it count and get your submission to me by December 12, 2014.Do you enjoy the podcast? Please consider supporting a podcast you love! Get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial from Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player.Links & Resources MentionedCheck out new show Sponsor: TodaysMeet.com/houseofedtechTodaysMeet gives everyone a voice!Patreon.com/houseofedtechWhy I Started A PodcastFeatured ContentDr. Spike Cook returns to the House of #EdTech to share his thoughts and content from his new book, Connected Leadership: It's Just a Click Away (Corwin Connected Educators Series) and future writing projects.Connect & collaborate with Spike:Tweet to @drspikecookWebsite: drspikecook.com#EdTech ThoughtNo place of technology in education?#EdTech RecommendationCanva - gives you everything you need to easily turn ideas into stunning designs. Create designs for Web or print: blog graphics, presentations, Facebook covers, flyers, posters, invitations and so much more.With Canva you can edit your photos using preset filters or get advanced with photo editing tools like brightness, contrast, saturation, tint, blur, x-process and vignette. With more than six quadrillion options, you’ll never be stuck for choice.Canva makes it easy to work with others, letting you share and edit your designs with family, friends and coworkers.SlackMath.com - slackmath uses QR codes (Quick Read codes) to YouTube video solutions for each problem on each PDF worksheet: Perfect for students to practice and get immediate feedback while studying on their own or in a classroom setting geared towards the individual learner.The content in slackmath is aligned to course curricula available for free at ck12.org.  ck-12 Foundation is a non-profit that creates and aggregates high quality curated STEM content.House of #EdTech VIPDavid Saunders - is an educator, technologist, designer & librarian. Mr. Saunders has a BA in Theology (Gordon College) and his MA in Education (Lesley College).David is a Google Certified Teacher and Trainer who has previously taught elementary & middle school  language arts, math, and social studies.Saunders has also served as a guest lecturer at the graduate level at Fordham University.Currently, David is the Media Specialist & Academic Technologist at Greenwich (CT) Country Day School and he is a co-host of the TechEducator Podcast on TeacherCast.net.Connect with David:Tweet to @designsaundersWebsite: designsaunders.comUpcoming Conferences and EventsEdTechNJSat, Jan 31, 2015 @ JP Stevens HS | FREE!edtechnj.com and follow @edtechnj on Twitter.Ask your questions or share your feedbackComment on the show notes belowCall (732) 903-4869 to leave a voicemailContact me via Voxer cnesi4602Email feedback@chrisnesi.com (audio files welcome)Please connect with meSubscribe, rate, and review in iTunes and on StitcherTweet to @mrnesiThanks for listening!Mr. Christopher J. Nesi

The House of #EdTech is celebrating its one-year anniversary! This episode is packed with 26 great recommendations you should know about. Each suggestion was submitted by a listener or former guest on the show.Do you enjoy the podcast? Please consider supporting a podcast you love! Get a FREE audiobook download and 30 day free trial from Audible.com. There are over 150,000 titles to choose from for your iPhone, Android, Kindle or other mp3 player.Links & Resources MentionedCheck out our sponsor: TodaysMeet.com/houseofedtechTodaysMeet gives everyone a voice!#njedLIVEPatreon.com/houseofedtechNEW Places to listen to House of #EdTechRebel Mouse exampledrspikecook.comConnected Leadership: It's Just a Click Away (Corwin Connected Educators Series)Revo Uninstallerprincipalstager.comprincipalj.netprincipalpln.com - Principal PLN Podcast principallyspeaking.com - Principally Speaking Podcast Instructional Tech Talk Podcast TeacherCast.netTechEducator Podcast Featured ContentWelcome to the first annual House of #EdTech Smackdown! The following list contains awesome tech tools, websites, and apps that you should consider adding to your bag of #edtech tricks!Thank you to everyone who contributed to this list and the entire episode! The resources and recommendations appear in the same order they were mentioned in the episode.Kaizena - Stacey LindesRebel Mouse - Carina GonzalezDigital Differentiation with Google Forms - Kasey BellEasel.ly - Brett JenningsRemember the Milk |  | - Jessica JohnsonUmano - Carina GonzalezCuethink - Caryn TrautzLastPass |  | - Derek LarsonLearn2earn - Jessica SandersXmarks - Derek LarsonStraw - Jeff HerbGood ToDo |  | - Jennifer CronkAuthy |   | - Derek LarsonGoogle Form Choice Eliminator - Natalie O'NeillPiktochart - Joseph IaconoCaffeine |  | - Derek LarsonGoogle Now - Josh GauthierAppCleaner - Derek LarsonTwitter App |  | - Spike CookGlogster - Stacey LindesFocus Time - Derek LarsonInstapaper |  | - Theresa StagerReadability for Chrome - Tim CharlestonNewsela - Jason BodnarWeebly |  | - Alex RosenwaldDayOne Journal App |    | - Katelyn Nesi#EdTech ThoughtWhy I Started A PodcastHouse of #EdTech VIPYou, the listeners and supporters! - Thank you for investing your time during the first year of the podcast!Over the past year I have connected with a number of new people through the interviews I've done as well as at conferences I've attended.I have looked forward to publishing each episode for you to receive my take and views on education and technology. Whether you've listened for a second or you haven't missed an episode I am grateful that you have accepted me and welcomed me into your life.I hope to connect with many more of you in the coming year as the podcast continues. If you've been hesitant to send feedback or contribute, please do not be shy! Just go to the House of #EdTech feedback page and connect with me!Upcoming Conferences and EventsEdTechNJSat, Jan 31, 2015 @ JP Stevens HS | FREE!edtechnj.com and follow @edtechnj on Twitter.Ask your questions or share your feedbackComment on the show notes belowCall (732) 903-4869 to leave a voicemailContact me via Voxer cnesi4602Email feedback@chrisnesi.com (audio files welcome)Please connect with meSubscribe, rate, and review in iTunes and on StitcherTweet to @mrnesiThanks for listening!Mr. Christopher J. Nesi

Baby Nesi #2 is here and Summer is quickly fading into the sunset. The latest addition to the House of #EdTech, Colton John, is an example of wonder and amazement for me! This episode also contains GREAT tips and recommendations from a number of listeners! This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   TodaysMeet.com   HelpHub.me   Audible.com   House of #EdTech VIP: Dan Alston   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/08/dog-days-of-teachers-summer-part-3.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis are two dynamic educators and personalities in the world of education. Joe and Tony drop pure gold about education and the words will inspire you!   Follow Joe Sanfelippo and Tony Sinanis   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   TodaysMeet.com   HelpHub.me   Audible.com   #EdTech Recommendation: Video Blogger Entries   House of #EdTech VIP: Kevin Jarrett   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/09/joe-sanfelippo-and-tony-sinanis.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi   Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com