Jen Williams is a former Director of Education, program Literacy Specialist, and district Speech-Language Pathologist who is a co-founder and lead program developer for Calliope Global.   Follow Jen Williams   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   HelpHub.me   Audible.com   House of #EdTech Recommendation: Bingo Baker   House of #EdTech VIP: Barry Saide   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/09/the-importance-of-global-education-with-jen-williams.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Meghan Davis is a former event coordinator turned entrepreneur. She, with sister Melissa, is the co-founder of GoEnnounce which is engaging the students of today to be the leaders of tomorrow.   Follow Meghan Davis   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   HelpHub.me   Audible.com   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/10/creating-positive-digital-footprints.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Matt Miller is a high school Spanish teacher and the author of the highly acclaimed book Ditch That Textbook and founder of the website DitchThatTextbook.com. (19:26)   Follow @jmattmiller   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   HelpHub.me   Audible.com   EdTech Thought: Jill Dobrowansky reflects on Edscape 2015 (5:02)   Recommendation: Overcast Podcast App (14:26)   House of #EdTech VIP: Glenn Robinson (49:40)   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/10/ditch-that-textbook-with-matt-miller.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Dani Kennis (17:15)   Black Canary from the #EdJusticeLeague, shares her passion and exudes endless energy about her profession. Dani creates a blended classroom that incorporates the use of Google Apps for Education among other tools. She is passionate about student-driven creations in which learning extends beyond the six hour school day as well as beyond the four walls of her classroom. She enjoys presenting and attending at local and national Ed Tech conferences.   Follow @kennisdani   #EdTech Thought - Experience Art and Post Modern Jukebox (4:10)   #EdTech Recommendation - Bloomz (14:28)   House of #EdTech VIP - Jessica Raleigh (39:50)   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   Audible.com   Domain.com   Listeners Like You! Become a Patron...   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/11/edtech-energy-and-fun-with-dani-kennis.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

LaVonna Roth has influenced over 25,000 educators, students and organizations with down-to-earth strategies and insights to the most common and frustrating educational, behavioral issues. LaVonna is also the inspiration behind Ignite Your S.H.I.N.E.   Follow LaVonna Roth   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   Audible.com   Domain.com   Listeners Like You! Become a Patron...   (6:16) #EdTech Thought - The Value of EdCamp   (21:15) #EdTech Recommendation - Appear.in   (24:40) LaVonna Roth talks Ignite Your S.H.I.N.E.   (49:57) House of #EdTech VIP - Ross Cooper   Complete shownotes at: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/11/ignite-your-shine-with-lavonna-roth.html   FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Natalie Krayenvenger is 4th grade teacher from Maryland and the co-moderator of #EDbeat, a weekly inspirational Twitter chat that welcomes all educators and celebrates the positive in education.   Follow Natalie Krayenvenger   This episode of House of #EdTech is sponsored by:   Audible.com   Domain.com   Listeners Like You! Become a Patron...   (5:32) #EdTech Thought - No More WiFi In Schools?   (7:52) #EdTech Recommendation - Voxer for the Web   (9:56) Interview with Natalie Krayenvenger   (40:40) House of #EdTech VIP - Lauren Thomas-Paquin   Complete shownotes: http://www.chrisnesi.com/2015/12/edbeat-with-natalie-krayenvenger.html   -- FEEDBACK Call: (732) 903-4869 Voxer: mrnesi Email: feedback@chrisnesi.com Twitter: @mrnesi Send a voice message from http://www.chrisnesi.com

Last week I went to one of Jisc’s ‘Connect more’ events where, amongst other things, I tried to get back into the swing of networking (I turn into Alan Partridge when having to make professional small talk ) and delivered a short presentation looking at good, not so good and downright dreadful examples of elearning content development. I’m not going to spend time here talking about it, but you can see the presentation in all its glory by clicking here. On the way to the event, an invite to a group called FOS on Google+ from a peer piqued my interest, so at the end of the day, and feeling buoyed from a very enjoyable event, I logged into Google+ for the first time in months. It turns out that the invitation was not just for a group, but for a MOOC-or, as the course designers described it- an open learning event for professionals who teach in higher education.  Whatever the title, it was an intense but exhilirating 5 day experience. Rules of participation were simple: drop in and out and complete as many activities as you want to. Participants were encouraged to set up an ePortfolio using any platform or format they wanted and to share their work with peers  Separate conversation threads were set up on Google+ and as a result, concepts and discussions never crossed streams or became difficult to navigate. Facilitating the course were Chrissi Nerantzi and Sue Beckingham from Manchester Metropolitan and Sheffield Hallam Universities respectively. Here’s their presentation giving a clear overview of the course and its methodology: Activities, chat rooms and posts to social networks were easy enough to manage, but much tougher to navigate were the Twitter showers held every evening. The format was simple enough: a recommended reading was uploaded to WordPress and participants invited to ask, and in turn offer answers based around the theme of each reading. Log in from the start and these frenetic tweet downpours (‘shower’ suggests an altogether more sedate experience) were manageable, though, like the head of a hydra, by the time I had sent a tweet response to one question, three more questions had been asked by other participants. Taking a more casual approach and dipping in and out of showers made the flow of conversation impossible to follow. Without TweetDeck or Storify to hand to manage everything (I was in the living room with an iPad.  That sounds like the denoument of a game of Cluedo.  I can confidently state her that I did not kill anyone), tweets were arriving quicker than I could read them.  A few participants admitted on Goggle+ that they had stood on the sidelines during these Tweet downpours and felt that everything was perhaps a bit too fast-paced and in turn, intimidating, for them to be able to contribute.  So how to fix the one element of the course that maybe didn’t work as well as the rest? Had the hour long sessions been split into 3 or 4 segments, with one question posed at the start of each segment, everything would have felt more coherent and cohesive. Instead, there developed a community of people answering one another’s questions, posing alternative viewpoints and offering links to further information but at such a speed there was no time for ideas or knowledge to germinate or develop. To a casual observer, these splintering threads - hard enough to keep up with if concentrating from the start - became impossible to dip into. Now, this all sounds a bit negative.  I really did enjoy the course - and am going to do my best to complete the 3.5 out of 5 activities that I didn’t have the time or energy to get to.  (I believe I have until September to do these). As the Tweet pasted on Sue and Chrissie’s first slide says: "Enjoying #FOS4L and how a bunch of people, most of whom have never met, just get down to serious fun and learning with no fuss or nonsense." The experience was exhilirating and fun, all participants were very supportive of one another, and the readings that were uploaded to the FOS site relevant, clearly written and, in the case of Napier University’s ‘Benchmark for the use of Technology in Modules’ document, about to be stolen by me for use in my institution. Should FOS run again, I would say to any interested party (and will be telling my staff) to log in and have a go.  However, I’d also suggest the format of those Twitter Showers should be tweaked a little before that.

Last week I discovered the ‘Blimage Challenge’ (BLog IMAGE) which came about when Amy Burvall challenged Steve Wheeler to create a learning-related blog post based on one of her own hand-drawn images. Since then, many images and blog posts have been exchanged via blogs and Twitter. A list #blimage bloggers and their posts can be found on Steve’s blog here. Keen to get involved, I logged into Twitter and asked for an image of my very own from which I could write a post.  Both Steve and David Hopkins sent images, and now that I’ve dried myself off after two days in sodden Pembrokeshire without an internet connection, I’ve had time to think about both images. I’m starting with Steve’s - a photo he took in Piccadilly Circus - as it had immediate resonance.  Here’s Steve’s photo: Two things struck me almost immediately: the tonal shift from those eye-watering colours running along the top of the picture and the way everything gets a lot darker in the middle. Then the fact that while that colourful upper band was screaming ‘look at this everybody! Look at the shiny shiny!’, the sodden, black figures beneath trudged onwards, faces determined to not look up, all in their own little bubble. ‘It’s been raining for God’s sake. I want to go home.’ There are still a great many people who work in education who, when offered the chance to look at the ‘shiny shiny’ - to see what technology can do to assist, interest and engage - put their metaphorical umbrellas up and their (actual) shoulders down. Teachers, administrators, managers, lecturers, head teachers, teaching assistants…some embarrassed by their lack of knowledge, some ashamed, some oddly proud (in the same way many people take pride in their inability to do maths), and - frustratingly - some just completely apathetic. I wish I knew how to get all of these people to look up. If asked, many of them would, undoubtedly, look for a second or two, remain unimpressed, then return to the rain soaked pavement, still intent on getting home. Now and again though, a few would gaze upwards, grin and stop for a while, suddenly interested in this colourful new world. And they are the reason I love my job. It’s all about paying it forward - so if anyone would like to have a go at writing their own #blimage post, here’s an image that you can use. It’s a photo that I took at the National Botanical Gardens of Wales a couple of weeks ago, so please feel free to share.

This is my second #blimage post, and a much trickier one to write. David Hopkins sent me the image you see on the left, and on seeing it, my immediate thoughts went something like this: ‘Ah yes, it symbolises the way IT Service departments in a lot of institutions can be shark-like. They can be seen as a threat that may be hidden below the surface, but likely to appear and bite you on the arse if you dare to steer what you are doing in a direction not in line with their world view.’ However, instead of banging my fist on a metaphorical table, I realised that instead, I felt like a gentle walk down Memory Lane. So after a bit of bathtub-based contemplation, I got to thinking this: When I was 4 I was obsessed with Lego. I remember owning buckets full of the stuff but one thing I remember with proper clarity is sitting in a holiday apartment in Spain with my dad and a brand new Lego windmill set. Together we built, brick by brick, a perfect representation of the huge red and brown windmill on the front of the box. My dad would read the instructions, describe the bricks needed to complete a section, and I would dutifully find the required bricks and snap them together according to dad’s verbal instructions and the photo on the box. We’d do this for 10 minutes or so, then swap roles. Together we built the mighty windmill, forgetting that despite going to Spain for a summer’s holiday, we were stuck indoors in the pouring rain. We learned how to build that windmill together. Proper ‘learning by doing’ and constructivist learning in its most literal sense. But in working to build it together, I was able to practise my communication and reading skills, hone my fine motor skills, work on a whole heap of mathematical skills and - vitally -  have such a good time that I still remember something I did 40 years ago with such clarity that it could have been yesterday. Three cheers for plastic sharks! If you want to know what the blimmin’ heck #blimage is, take a look at Steve Wheeler’s blog post here #blimage on Flipboard here and a #blimage board on Pinterest here.

By Real Change [Public domain], via Wikimedia CommonsAfter two negative posts I vowed to write a positive one. This week it's easy. We concluded our semester long professional development course on new literacies integration. As each teacher shared it was clear that we have all changed.I have to admit that taking this new path was not easy. Laurie (Friedrich) and I had constant discussions about setting clear expectations and providing support. We rejected a notion of formal point by point grading. Instead we embraced an atmosphere of acceptance and support. We were absolutely right, every participant in the class emerged as a true professional and found ways to surpass our expectations (and I am quite sure their own). In an era when teachers are devalued and de-professionalized our humble experiment showed (once again) that treating individuals with trust and professionalism leads to exceptional professional growth.This group of teachers have put their trust in us and Laurie Friedrich and I did our best not to fail them as a group. This PD was not about grades or reaching some arbitrary standard, instead it was about each professional identifying a goal and working towards it. To be honest I think everyone, myself included, achieved more than we originally planned. Here are some excerpts from our teachers' blogs:"Even though this class has only lasted a semester, I have learned a tremendous amount. I have pushed myself to try new things and through this process have found incorporating technology into my lessons as simple, fun, and best of all… engaging for my students! ""I've learned to be a little more patient as I try to integrate technology into the curriculum. I'm still working to be OK with the "messiness" that comes with using new technology for the first time. No matter how much I prepare and try to anticipate glitches, new issues arise when we use an app or website for the first time. I can't let that stop me from trying new ways to enhance learning via technology.""As I reflect over the course of the semester, I realized I have integrated more technology into my teaching than I ever have before. I now feel more comfortable trying out new technology resources with my students. Previously, I was too scared that the lesson would be a total flop or that my students would know more about computers than I do. As it turns out, I am knowledgeable, capable, and confident in teaching my students skills with the use of technology."We included in the class graduate students who were not currently teaching. These students with varied classroom experience stepped into the breach and supported classroom teachers as they worked to integrate new literacies into the classroom. Carly is a graduate of our program who will get her first classroom next year wrote:"This semester I learned so much about how I can integrate technology into a classroom. As I start my first teaching job in August in a third grade classroom, I am very eager to take many of the activities/ideas and the knowledge I learned and use them in my own classroom! I was very fortunate to be able to work with many great teachers this semester that have prepared me and shared many great things I can do in my classroom. I am very thankful for the teachers who invited me into their classrooms for me to observe and help out with the technology aspect of their lesson. From these opportunities, I gained confidence as a new educator."

Amateur is a word used often as a derogatory term. The professional mutters "amateur!" I would like to suggest that schools need to encourage and value amateurism in art, computers, geography what have you. While I think there are many good reasons for that I want to focus on the third most important.Many have pointed out that there is a growing divide in employment with a growing number of workers working in service jobs. Would I like it if everyone could work for a high tech company with a six figure salary? Yes! Is that likely to happen? Probably not. So while we try and educate everyone to achieve we must remember that it may not be possible for everyone to have a job they are passionate about and fulfilled by.This is where amateurism can come into place. Schools can teach individuals to engage in meaningful activities that make them whole even and especially when they are not linked to their job and profession. It can offer meaningful lives for all individuals regardless of employment.The lesson for me is that life is about more than a job, income, and even vocation. If we want informed capable fulfilled citizenry we need an army of amateurs.Schools can help by letting students dabble, try, and express themselves through visual art, video, and music. And this is the important part: we should do it with permission to stay happy amateurs.

I think that most early childhood experts in the last few years have been both amazed and annoyed at the "discovery" of the importance of play to all humans but especially young ones. Play it turns out, is important, maybe paramount, in developing inquiring minds, creative minds that will be flexible enough to deal with the constantly shifting environment kids seem to be growing in. But then again, we've actually known that for a long time.Since it is summer I have been watching my younger kids at play with friends in and out of the house in a constant movement and social realignment that seems to characterize semi-supervised activities in the summer.As you can imagine our house has quite a few devices in it for digital creation and consumption. My kids (and their friends when they come) have access to three iPads, PlayStation, three TV's, a Wii, and a laptop computer. As I have shared in the past we do have some rules about digital use. While it is summer we still have strict start and end time, although during the day they have a lot more access to devices.What I have observed is that kids who grew up digital are constantly shifting between digital and nondigital play activities. They start the morning watching video on YouTube and Netflix a passive waking up activity. As soon as others join in they go outside and play. Yesterday after two days of planning they created a Streetside Sandwiches stand at the corner- an enhanced lemonade stand that they put all on their own including making food items, pricing, choosing location and printing out the menu.After 4 hours of restauranteurship and a very messy kitchen they all poured back into the house, settled on the couch and played a cooperative game of Minecraft, enhancing the elaborate world they have created together bit by bit over the last few weeks. So what is my point? Well, I have two of them.First, kids growing up digital have porous boundaries to distinguish different kinds of play. They shift easily from one mode to the next and I do not think they consider one form privileged or more authentic than the other. I believe many adults hold the notion that the physical world is REAL and the digital one IMAGINARY. I believe that for our kids the digital world is just as real and just as imaginary as the analogue one. This is their reality.Second, given (almost) free reign to choose digital and analogue activities kids move from one to the other based on interest, the participants and other factors. That is, with very little parental guidance they choose well and do not become digital "addicts" as we sometimes worry they might become.So let's let them play, in and out of digital worlds.

Last week five graduate students and I traveled to Beatrice, NE to participate in the ESU5 Tech Fair.  It was a very successful day and we worked with many teachers in very short sessions. Nick Ziegler was a great host and the event went without a hitch (at least as far as I know).At the end of the event, I was asked to draw the winners of the door prizes. Nick has arranged for an impressive set of prizes that included screens, printers, iPad, software licenses and more. I agreed to draw for all prizes except for the Interactive Whiteboard. This was the gadget that caught my eye and where I have put all of my door prize tickets.Despite all of my efforts, I did not win. On the way back, I thought about the gadget and why I was focused on it? It is easy to fall for cool gadgets. You see them in actions or just imagine what you could do with them. It is like getting a present- that sense of getting something cool and starting it for the first time. Laurie calls it the Christmas morning effect. And seeing the gadget I can already anticipate how great I will feel when I open it.Surrendering to my emotions I forgot to ask the most important question we need to ask about any technology in the classroom: Is it a teaching device or a learning device? In the case it was more a teaching device than a learning one. Now that gadget fever has subsided I also recall that most schools that I have worked with and adapted whiteboards were disillusioned within a year or so. It was simply not worth it and made very small if any gains in instruction. The change if any will come from well-used student devices that are scaffolded for teachers and students.

Jeff Bernadt presented today and included a segment on creativity. Creativity is not just a message for us as teachers, it is also for our students as a conscious act. Tell them that it is part of our goal in the classroom.The main message is that creativity can be in any domain and that it is a local concept.How does all of this connect to technology? It doesn't have to, but my argument is that technology opens more doors and enables students to create even with lower skill levels.I still maintain that creativity can emerge only when you have a deep understanding of a domain with lots and lots of practice. Technology can facilitate practice and learning that is guided by the learner that can use the web to increase their knowledge and apps for repeated practice.

I am working with teachers this week on technology integration. I am seeing a real determination to find productive ways to integrate technology and subject matter (TPCK anyone?). Speaking yesterday during our summary I said "Websites are so 2010", as some are working on a website this may have come off wrong BUT I do stand behind my main point. Businesses have already realized it, teachers and schools are still trying to come to grips with it. Having a website is not enough. To be in contact with our students and families, we have to shift from static web pages to interacting  using social media, texting, and email to reach everyone. This way new content whether analog or digital can reach its target audience.I can see the justified reaction: Teachers are asked to do more than ever and here is one more thing... and: We might get in trouble...I believe that this are true concerns. On the other hand:A good communication plan will make sure that parents and students have the most up to date information increasing the rate of homework completion, assessment success, participation in parent conferences and many more activities that require the collaboration of parents and families. Our hardest to reach families may become much more available and attentive if we use communication channels they use anyway. The potential benefits outweigh the risks and costs.In short, I believe that the days of sending notes home on paper are numbered. For now we probably should still have them as a backup to ensure equity of access, but I am convinced that the rate of engagement would grow significantly with digital, especially, social channels. Districts (and teacher education programs) should help teachers by providing tools, training, and guidelines that would encourage contact while protecting all stakeholders.P.S. Can we do away with paper planners for students?

I just finished a week with a fantastic group of educators. Laurie Friedrich, Alison Preston and I ran our fourth iPads in the Classroom workshop. The name of the workshop is inadequate since we had users with all kinds of devices including windows machines, Macs, Chromebooks, smartphones and of course iPads.The intensive one-week tech workshop is always fun although at the end of each we all experienced the sense of reaching capacity. It also reminds of what we know and often conveniently forget about effective professional development (PD):1. We need significant time away from the everyday tasks to make significant changes. If you are tinkering with existing structures short workshops can be fine, but if you want a departure from normal you need to take time.2. We need to work in teams. Shared cognition when learning something new is empowering, supportive and extends the boundaries of what can be accomplished. Even after facilitating numerous PD events (30 presentations and two classes last year) Laurie and I are still learning new things every time.3. We all need time to practice. Showing isn't enough, everyone must participate in doing and experimenting during the PD. Showing and then sending teachers back is just not enough especially with new technologies that without support can become frustrating and with support are almost trivial.4. We all need follow-up. That is our next step, making sure teachers have opportunities to discuss and extend what they already know.

It's been six months since we came back from China. I have blogged about it right after we came back, but I thought it would be good to go back and see what lessons stuck.1. Competition can be prominent in the public sector. All the schools we visited and many we are still in contact with have a strong competitive spirit. Despite the fact that they are public they compete for a name, local and national awareness and for results. While there are private school in China, the high-value Chinese families put on education makes schools compete for being known as the best to serve their students.2. The drive for excellence is pushing schools to try out new approaches, technologies, and ideas. Our work started with school leaders admitting that they know things need to change, but they are less sure of how to balance the old and the new. With every change, they worry that it may impact immediate indicators even when it is clear that the change is useful for long-term success. In essence, this is the same problem school administrators face in the US.3. Teachers are empowered by leading innovative learning ideas (with and without technology). The teachers we met with were young and motivated. The work with us gave them a direction and a sense of efficacy that allowed them to act and evolve as teachers.4. Class size increases parental pressures. Large classrooms make it close to impossible for teachers to attend to the needs of their struggling learners. As a result whenever a student is struggling parents are left to meet the extra needs.5. Teacher Evaluation. In contrast with the US, Chinese school systems evaluate teachers based on classroom observations and not student outcomes. The fascinating thing is individual school achievement is extremely important, yet teachers are not evaluated based on it. I believe that the phenomenon has two sources (a) the understanding that individual achievement is rooted in motivation and home practices and (b) the understanding that current measurement systems are not valid enough for comparison across classrooms and schools.

This post is an ode to summer teaching. As I do most summers I have a full summer load. Many of the people passing me in the corridors are only too happy to remind me that it is summer and a time to take a break especially given that most of us work on a 9-month contract.I usually reply that I have two sons going to college next year and other acceptable financial comments. The truth, however, is more complicated. I like teaching in the summer. The intensive time spent with practicing teachers and budding researchers is probably the best professional development I get all year.Most of the students in the summer are practicing teachers who have, for a change, time to reflect and think long-term. Most of what I teach this summer is linked to research methods and inquiry, as a result graduate students are bringing their own content and questions challenging my thinking and adding connections and ideas.I read, teach, and prep most days- the result is that my brain feels on fire, in a good way.

About two months ago I ordered a Chromebook. It was mostly because many schools around the nation are making this choice including the district my kids are attending. While I had a sense of what Chromebooks are, the personal experience is always best.I have used the Chromebook multiple times but never extensively. This (very early) morning I needed to grade assignments online and I found myself with only the Chromebook. For the first time I sat at it for an extended amount of time doing my daily work.It worked just fine. It was a tad slow at times (with heavier graphics) but nothing that was significant enough to consider waking my family to get my mac book pro. It's a very functional machine.In my discussions with educators and administrators they often mention they like the fact that it is a no nonsense machine. You can do basic work on it, nothing fancy but it works, connects you to the web, lets you do stuff. Students they reason will view it as a learning machine, not a toy. The iPad, on the other hand, is viewed as a toy. We hear the same thing from parents and teachers in multiple countries. That is something I hear fairly often. There is work, then there is play, confusing the two create problems and students will stop learning. Basically, for students to learn we need to remove joy.Do we really think kids are having too much joy in school that we need to remove it?Do we really think play is not part of learning?Do we think that the features that make tablets attractive (not just iPads) portability, creativity, and interface interfere with learning or maybe they actually help?Do we really think that the dichotomy of work and play is still relevant? Is it in your life?

Matt asked me this week what I thought about the Hour of Code. I answered honestly that I simply do not think it is enough. He continued to make the point that it was a good introduction, I think I made a face.The bottom line is that introduction is not enough. My analogy is the arts. In the arts we take students to the museum, we believe that it is important, but it does not constitute a curriculum in the arts. If we look at the analogy of the arts even further it can get even more interesting. As I read some of Austin Kleon this week some of his points resonated with me. Young children will create art without reservation when you ask them or even on their own. Wait a few years, by middle school, they will refuse to create saying something like- "I am not an artist" or "I am not creative". This reaction is not a mistake, it is a natural consequence of creating self-concept in different areas. As students mature and acquire experiences they learn what they are good at and what they are less so. Social comparisons play a big role in this development. So by the time they are in middle school most children develop a sense of what they are good at.The point here is that if we want students to become coders or artists they need rich experiences of mastery and growth in that domain. If they will have them at the elementary years they will have a much higher chance of having a positive self-concept for art and coding leading to a higher probability they will stay engaged.Hour of code will not create self-concepts of students as artists nor coders, only making it part of school will!

Despite my best efforts, Steve Jobs' ghost does not actually come and visit me. I never met Steve Jobs nor do I know what he would think. Instead, I am writing about the mythical Steve Jobs that occupies my mind and is loosely based on a guy that used to run Apple.I am an Apple user, I love my MacPro, iPhone, and most of all my iPad. I also think that iPads are uniquely well-tailored devices for the classroom and talk about it weekly on my webcast iPads in the Classroom from TechEDGE. I love the iPad because it is designed with the human brain in mind. That is what makes it intuitive. In essence what iPads have done  is to reduce cognitive load, allowing the user to focus her attention exclusively on the task at hand. I believe that is the genius of the device and its interphase. I believe it is also the source of the limitations put on certain features including media multi-tasking. That is, some of the things that other devices can do are not really a failing in Apple's design, instead they are a result of a deep understanding of what people need (instead of what they think they need) to be effective users.Now, however, in an effort to catch up" with Android Apple will be offering "real" multi-tasking on the iPad screen. I think this is a clear case of yielding to people's perception that they are excellent multi-taskers just like everyone believes they are above average drivers. There is mounting research showing that in general most humans are not good multi-taskers. We underestimate the number of times we actually shift attention and pay a hefty price in accuracy and efficiency when we do (e.g here). Until now the iPads would not allow multi-tasking on the same screen (apps can run in the background though). Now with the new features we can.Adults can make their own decisions, but when we are concerned with using devices effectively in education the need for reducing cognitive load and increasing student focus is paramount. The new feature is an example of what people think they want but really shouldn't have. My mythical Steve Jobs would not let this happen.

ISTE is now over, the keynotes done. The trumpets have quieted down. I have to be honest, I lately leave conferences with a sense of hunger, not for more but for something else. This sense got a direction when I met with Evi this week. So here are four things I would like to hear and see:1. Educators who are staying with an innovation for a while. Too many of us are running from one innovation to the next permanent novices in a rush to get to the next big thing. From iPads to flipped classroom to Minecraft to coding to makers space. There is great value in repeating refining and becoming an expert.2. Patience to train everyone, not just a select few. It is connected to the first section. If you stay with the same good innovation as a school/ district then you can get most teachers to join you. If, however, you keep moving the target it makes it hard for many of the teachers to join.3. Research- innovation is nice but how do we measure its impact? If we really believe that technology can make a real and lasting difference we must insist that innovation comes with research and evaluation.4. Race and inequality- many even most of the presentations and innovations ignore the social challenges we face as a nation every day. It is time, that race and inequality were a part of our discussion and action.I believe that it is time for us to move beyond the excellent work done so far- up to the next level.

In May, I celebrated seven years of blogging. Blogging is probably the most serious writingcommitment I have ever had. This is a great opportunity for me to reflect on why I still blog.Many better than me have explained the virtues of blogging, so here I want to talk about what I get out of blogging.1. Blogging is putting my thinking into words. In a regular week, many thoughts zoom about in my head and between me and other educators. Blogging forces me to choose one idea and focus on it long enough to write about it. Long ago, Jean Detlefsen taught me that art is about making choices. Blogging is too. It forces me to commit to an idea at least long enough to compose about it.Page views of guytrainin.blogspot.com2. Blogging gives me an audience. I write up research in professional journals and present in conferences. Blogging, however, is probably giving the widest audience. Seeing that people are reading and interacting with their comments is a pleasure that I seldom get with journal articles. Readership is joy.3. Blogging is sowing seeds for later writing. In some ways, I write for a living. Blogging creates seeds that allow me to play with ideas and language that makes more formal writing be much easier.4. Blogging allows me to forget. Blogging about a topic allows me to "unload" the idea onto the web. Sometimes the value is in doing just that- unloading the idea so it stops interrupting everything else. In that way, I use it like David Allen does in Getting Things Done. It's just that for me its not about tasks and things to do it is about ideas.5. Blogging allows me to be reflective about teaching and the changes I make as I teach. My teaching has transformed in recent years and blogging had much to do with helping it along.Should everyone blog? Why I believe that the answer is yes.

Reddit is in the news again. I was introduced to reddit by Erez, my son, a few years back. I am not a frequent user, BUT I am extremely interested in the flow of reddit and the ways it behaves. Last week, the CEO of reddit Pao resigned after a power struggle with reddit users.  What caught my attention was the fact that even the leadership at reddit did not fully understand the power of the crowd. Reddit is a company founded to create communities and built value out of the willingness of many to create and participate with no monetary gain. This is a form of crowdsourcing, and what baffles me is that the leadership of reddit did not understand how crowdsourcing in a strong community gives the users at different levels immense power. The users can and did shut down most of the popular reddit pages in protest.Even if you've never been on reddit (and you should) there are a few lessons here for educators.The first lesson is for us as professionals. We should create online communities and use them to wrest control away from large businesses. If you are challenged by the big curriculum companies, band with other educators and create your own materials. At that point, the large companies will be less relevant. The new teacher union is not the NEA or other 20th century organizations with hierarchical leadership. They have their place, but the web has provided us with a new way to work, influence, and act. This can be where the next professional liberation comes from.The second lesson is that the same structures that can empower us can empower others, including parents and even students. Learning about the way these structures work can be instrumental in forging new partnerships with parents and students and avoiding conflict.Finally, we should remember that these structures are not inherently good or evil. They have the capacity to be both and we must help our students make moral decisions about the way they interact in such communities.