By Steve KatzAlso posted on my blog.Below is the presentation I gave to the wonderful educators from BIS Canada in Korea on Friday, April 15, 2011.Some of my other professional development presentations.The Paperless Classroom on Prezi

Wondering how many folks out there have managed to go paperless or nearly paperless since last April 22nd. And wondering about what kind of effects it is having on their teaching and the way they think about learning.Leave a comment and tell us what you've been up to.

By Steve KatzYesterday I was organizing my mail folders in Gmail and I wanted to move two of the labels that I don’t use very often to the end of the list. It is easy to move something to the top of the alphabetical order by placing a symbol (~, $, *) or a space in front of the word. I was hoping that some of these symbols would fall at the end of the alphabet. I checked an ASCII table, figuring my answer was there. I was wrong. The symbols listed after Z didn't alphabetize to the end of the list as I had hoped. I decided to play with the Character Viewer (Mac), and after trying various symbols ✄ ✓ ✠ ✩ I found that the Greek alphabet comes after the letter Z. One cool thing about using the Greek alphabet was that the letters look the same as in English but send my labels to the bottom of the list. "ADE" in the image below actually starts with the Greek letter alpha, and "Korea Network" with kappa.

by Mike Kaechele This week I had the chance to visit Columbus Signature Academy in Indiana. It is part of the New Tech Network of schools which are problem based learning high schools. The first thing I noticed was the open spaces and architecture (I blogged about that here). It was designed for students to use the "hallways" as gathering/learning spaces.CSA "common space"The second and more lasting thing I noticed was the students. They were in hallways and classrooms. They were on laptops, listening to headphones, working independently, working in groups, and working on projects. Everyone seemed engrossed in whatever tasks they were involved in. Not everyone was doing the same thing. It was not quiet, but it also was not loud either. The one group of people I had a hard time locating were the teachers.I got to spend two days at the school and talked to many of the students. We had official student guides and student panels, but my favorite part was just talking to random students in the building. Every student I talked to confidently explained to me what they were working on and honestly answered any questions. These students have "tours" of their school all of the time and are comfortable with public speaking.I got the same message from all of them. They enjoyed being in the school and were genuinely proud of it. The school was only three years old and the junior class had helped start it. They helped create the handbook and the expectations for each space in the school. The school has no bells or hall passes. Students are treated as professionals and not micro-managed. The students had a true sense of ownership of their school.The students talked about the importance of having a voice, working in groups, and how they preferred PBL to traditional learning. It is important to note that these were not "special" students in any way. They were chosen by lottery and represent the demographics of their district. But you can tell that every student feels special because they are part of a school that they care about. They are invested in their school and in their own learning.I know this school works hard to establish and grow this culture among students. It all starts by assuming students are responsible and expecting them to act that way. Instead of trying to control students, they empower students to take responsibility. Then they give students choices in meaningful projects that are shared with experts in the community. Students hold themselves accountable to do quality work to represent themselves and their school. Yes, this school is 1-1 with laptops, but what really makes it stand out is the learning climate of trust and responsibility. Are students working and on-task every second? Of course not, and neither am I.Do you trust your students enough to let them learn by exploring interesting problems together? Or are you too busy trying to control them to make sure they get the appropriate standardized learning experience?

By Steve KatzCross posted on my blog.We were studying the Middle Ages in my seventh grade social studies class. We learned about monks and monasteries and illuminated letters. When I have taught this unit in the past I always have my students draw an illuminated letter by hand. This year my class is paperless, so the students created the letters on their computers using various software. The software a majority of students chose to use is Paintbrush (Mac), a free download. I have posted a few letters below. You can see all of the illuminated letters here.

This one's for the teachers to answer:If I were an administrator, I would...

by David Andrade, http://tinyurl.com/edtechguyMonday, Teach Paperless had a blog post asking readers to finish the statement, "If I were an administrator, I would...". I replied with "encourage teacher collaboration, support teachers in every way possible, encourage projects and team work, visit classrooms and talk to students, work WITH the faculty, parents and students to make the school the best it could be."I wanted to expand on this idea and list what I would do if I were in charge of curriculum or educational technology for my district.1. Implement Project Based Learning throughout the curriculum and in every grade. I would also want it to be interdisciplinary. 2. Change the curriculum to be more in depth, and less breadth of topics (complaint of colleges). I would still have to make sure students are prepped for standardized testing (unfortunately), but I would look at better ways of having students learn and be able to do well on a test without resorting to teaching to the test.3. Make sure the curriculum applies what students are learning to the real world. They won't remember a lot of facts and details, but if things apply to real life, it can make them better consumers and better citizens (by being knowledgeable). 4. The curriculum should emphasize discovery, inquiry, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem solving, not remembering tons of facts. 5. Ala Carte Professional Development for teachers - let them pick and decide what they need and want for training and support them throughout the year. 6. Research, find, implement, and support new technologies that can improve teaching and learning. Find free (or cheaper) resources to replace paid or more expensive resources. (Ex. Google Apps for Education and Open Office instead of Microsoft).7. Provide year-round support to teachers who are using and implementing technology resources. Make sure that they have both technical support and integration support. Ask teachers what they need or want for resources and help them find it. This is my short list of what I would want to do as an administrator. What would you do if you were in charge of curriculum or educational technology for your district? (and if you are in charge, what you do?)

by John T. SpencerI have a kindergarten memory that I carry around with me, reminding me why students sometimes wander - both physically and philosophically. Station time begins and I'm lost in the chaos and the movement and the sense that everybody but me knows where to go. It's not that I wasn't listening. It's that I didn't find the directions important. I listened when she read the story. I paid close attention to the explanation of patterns. I thought I listened when she gave directions, but then, I don't know, they slipped away somehow. I wander toward the window and stare at the hallway."What are you doing right now?" the teacher gently asks."I'm looking out the window," I tell her without the slightest bit of eye contact."What are you looking at?" she asks."I'm looking at the orange-haired boy . . .""Red-haired?" she asks."Nuh huh, it's orange. Take a look," I point."Why are you looking at him?" she asks."Because he has no idea what's going to happen to him. Soon he'll be in kindgergarten and then it's going to be forever when he finishes school and then right when he finishes it, he's going to have to go to college. Then some day he'll sit down at a desk and won't be allowed to leave that either.  It's like it never stops," I say."I thought you liked this class," she says with a pained expression on her face."I do. School is fun. But I wish I could run out there and tell him to enjoy the freedom. I'd tell him to get out of the stroller and run around, because pretty soon he'll be told where to sit. I would tell him to play while he has the chance," I say.It's not as if I love learning and hate school. It's just that I recognize, in this moment, that school is a broken gift.I sigh, turn around and find my way to my station with the low group. We're not supposed to know that we're the low group. After all, we're the tigers. But if we are the tigers, we're either defanged or in a zoo, yearning for a chance to be wild.John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs at johntspencer.com.  He recently finished two books, Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and Drawn Into Danger, a fictional memoir of a superhero (that you can download on Kindle for $1.00.  Seriously, a buck. That can't even buy you a decent cup of coffee)

Today's question of the day:What is the best professional development experience you have ever had as an educator? Why?This could have been something f2f, something online, a mixture of the two, something handed to you by admins, something that came from the ground up, faculty-driven, student-driven, driven by a desire to have a mad good lunch buffet...Let' share; comment away!

Question of the Day:While filtering software might be a necessary CYA for many schools, in reality how does the spread of http://www.internetfreedom.org/UltraSurf and other ubiquitous and undetectable anti-filter and anti-censorship tools change the way school leaders need to think about blocking and monitoring access? And how do such tools fundamentally alter the kind of conversation we need to have about access?

by Steven W. AndersonIf you have read any of my leadership posts in the past you know I am all about reflection. One of the most important things good leaders do is reflect. Time must be taken to think about the direction our organizations are going and if any adjustments, at any level, need to be made. Many leaders, schools and districts have done a great job with reflection. They have looked at everything from the way kids get to school to what is done with them while they are there to teachers and the types of professional development offerings. But...There is one place that maybe we don’t think about much. Or it might be an afterthought. Or in some cases ignored all together.ParentsI will admit, when I was in a leadership position (School Improvement Team Chair) when I was at the school level I didn’t think about it. Our group worried about test scores, staff morale, bullying and other topics. But, like any leader should do I have since reflected on that time I spent in that position and realized we missed chance to really think about parents and what their perceptions of our building were.Parents should be advocates on our side. But sometimes they are seen as the enemy rather than our ally. There are lots of terms out there. Absent parents. Helicopter Parents. Parents We Love To Hate. But they are still parents. We still want to believe they have the best interests of their child in mind, just like we should. And it isn’t just schools. Individual classrooms are that way as well. When I was in the classroom I had a teammate that refused to call parents, sit in on conferences, just about have nothing to do with them. She said her job was to teach kids and didn’t get paid enough to "deal" with parents. The whole point of this is we have to think differently about our parents. The best ally you can have in your classroom is your parents. Think about it. When you want to do something "outside the box" it is easy for your admin to shoot you down. It’s a lot tougher for them to shoot down a room of 30 parents. (Now don’t go doing anything against your admins wishes and said it was ok because I told you so. I will deny everything.)There is a cliche about flies and honey and vinegar that fits in here... One of the issues with parents and schools that comes up time and time again is that many parents are bitter towards schools because of their own experiences growing up. In the current reform movement the battle cry is that our schools have virtually remained the same for the past 100 years. So this argument makes sense. I was talking to a teacher the other day about another teacher at his school. He was saying there is a teacher there that has been there for 34 years. Quite amazing and something to be proud of. Except every year the admin in this school has trouble putting kids in her class because many of the parents had her as students and remembered their experiences and don’t want their child to have the same. I dunno about you but I don’t think I would want to be remembered that way. There are a lot of issues at play here with parents. But I think there are some things schools can do to be more parent friendly. And this isn’t even a list of things you can necessarily do. Just some things to think about.Look at your building from your parents point of view. When they get there do they know where to go? Who greets them? It all comes back to customer service. Silly I know but it’s true. Even if your school secretary (or teacher) has had a bad day, the parent walking through that door doesn’t know that or the circumstances around that. Each parent that walks through those doors is a guest. We have to remember that. When was the last time we asked parents what they really though about the classroom, teacher, school or district? If we want to be better we have to understand our weaknesses. By asking the parents what we are good at and what we could be better at we can begin to change our school culture, for the better and perhaps change minds. How many parents are involved in major school decisions? Sure there might be a PTSA. But I mean on your School Improvement Team or Leadership Team. Do they have membership there. In NC we are required to have a parent involved on our teams. Perspective is important. And they can sometimes see things we don’t when it comes to our buildings. What do you think? What works well in your building or your classroom when it comes to parents? What could you be doing better? Leave some comments below. You may also want to checkout the archive from this week’s #edchat. It was all about parents and there were some really great things said and ideas toss around. Image CC DoctorStrange

by Mike Kaechele We had some interesting pushback in the comments of my last post about creating a culture of responsibility in schools. As I read and responded to comments I realized that some people were interpreting my post as one change to make to a traditional school setting. But what I observed at the school was a re-interpretation of how to do school.  So I thought I would share the values of a New Tech school by comparing it to a traditional school. Changing only one of these things in a school will not have the same effect as all of them working together.Click here for enlarged viewWhat would you add or subtract to these values? Does seeing all of these things clarify how this school creates a culture of responsibility? Leave a comment and I will share what I think is understated in my next post.

by Shelly Blake-PlockNothing provides a better forum for learning to understand what the new media is all about than the discussion tabs on Wikipedia articles related to current events. Here's a starting point, for example:Hello students, today's topic is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Osama_bin_LadenObjective: Students will be able to demonstrate digital media literacy by analyzing and explaining the discussion that has surrounded the decision-making process in the editing of the Wikipedia article on Osama Bin Laden in the wake of his death.I'd like to know what you all could/would do with this sort of thing. I'd love to see a wiki resource developed to help teachers use the Wikipedia discussion tabs in planning and facilitating lessons designed to help students learn new media and develop their digital literacy.Anyone interested in a project?

by Shelly Blake-PlockMy Latin III students and I sat around this afternoon chatting about what to do with the last month of their high school Latin career. They decided they wanted to write and publish a book about their favorite Roman poet -- Catullus.And they don't want to fake it.By the end of a 45 minute session, they had chosen two editors-in-chief, worked out assignments ranging from writing and translating to public domain picture vetting. Two students took the lead figuring out how to publish an eBook that would be available on Amazon; by the end of class, they had figured out how to get an ISBN number and were talking about how to distribute any money from sales to charity.They set up a Google Group for organizing, and a Tumblr and Twitter account to promote their work and to connect with folks interested in what they are doing. As I understand it, they want to set up a video streaming channel to talk to other Latin students; and they are looking at different ways of putting a book together.Finally, they are going through all of the translation and critical analysis they've done all year and they are editing it all into something that can stand on its own.This is authentic assessment. It's assessment directly integrated into the process of "the making of the learning". It's assessment that will likely live on in Amazon comment boards and archived chats long after I've done the work of giving grades. And it makes something as potentially arcane as ancient poetry into something with which the students can work and make new things.They'd love it if you followed their progress at @CatullusDivided and soon on the YouTube channel where they will be documenting their experience.

by Shelly Blake-Plock Yes or No:It is the duty of the teacher who believes in networked learning to, if necessary, hack and proxy and to encourage hacking and proxying for the purpose of getting students into a place where they can connect freely online despite whatever institutional filters and blocks might be in place in the school, district, etc...

Dear readers,If you could take a moment to fill out the following short survey, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!- ShellyClick here to take survey

by Mike Kaechele It is a beautiful, sunny Mother's Day in Michigan. I got my first nap of the year in my hammock, listened to the Tigers win on my stereo (yeah I still have my big speakers from college in my shed), and my son went fishing in the lake.My yardThen my son made a potion. He has been begging me to do it all week. He mixed vinegar, Oxi Clean, baking soda, cinnamon, sugar, flour, and ketchup. He then applied it to my dandelions and apparently they will be dead tomorrow.My son loves science and experimenting. When is the last time you experimented? When is the last time you gave students time and space to experiment? Now I am off to help my daughter make a potion. Experimenting is contagious...

by Shelly Blake-PlockQuestion of the Day: "Is It Harder Now In 2011 to Build a PLN Than It Was Before the Mainstreaming of Social Media?"In my experience, teachers understand the value of building a PLN. A common problem many have, however, is just getting started. And for many teachers just starting out, it seems as though they may have even more struggle than many teachers did just a short time ago.Though engaged in all sorts of online endeavors since the earl 90's, I only began in earnest putting my education PLN together back in 2008 through minor blogging endeavors and some freelance writing. It was in the winter of 2009 that I got into Twitter and I recall that for about the first three months, I didn't even make a post. I remember reading the tweets and blogs of other folks and I recall becoming so full of anxiety whenever I would leave a comment. (I probably checked to see if anyone commented on my comments several times a day at the beginning...)It was only with the creation of this blog and my cross-pollination of content into the Twitterverse that I started to feel more comfortable with social media -- despite the fact that I'd been engaged in one way or another going all the way back to the days of BBS boards. Things started picking up. Eventually (eventually!) I found my own voice, and of course now I feel completely at ease in my writing, in my commenting, and in my tweets.I wonder though if it was easier engaging in a PLN in early 2009 -- before the mainstreaming of social media -- than it is today. We often talk about how events in the summer of '09 changed the public perception of social media. From the China earthquake to the Iranian protests to the founders of Twitter on the cover of Time magazine to FB hitting 500 quadrillion members (slight exaggeration), that summer saw social media go big. And I wonder if that actually makes it more difficult to engage.And I'm not talking about the number of followers you have. That's relatively arbitrary. I'm talking about the quality of connection you are able to make. I'm talking about the ability to foster professional -- and personal -- connections via this huge and ever moving arrangement.I would like to see the community here give some practical advice to those folks plugging their user ID into Twitter for the first, second, or third time. What should they expect? How can they leverage social media to get the most good out of it? Why is it worth their time? And is it harder today (or not)?Let's hear it in the comments and get some conversation going.

by John T. SpencerJoel, my five year old son, asks me about a story he'd recently heard involving the Israelites marching around Jericho and  the walls tumbling down.  Perhaps it was church or maybe it was a troop of irritating singing vegetables. Either way, he'd learned the story and was trying to make sense out of it. (I'm really not trying to be religious here - just telling a story)"Was it the noise they made or was it the marching that knocked down the walls?" he asks."What do you think?" I ask."I think it was both.  I think that if enough people march and yell then walls come down," he answers."Really?" I ask him."Just like music that makes the car shake," he says.  "I think if enough people yell, their voice can knock down walls," he says.Joel means it literally, but it forces me into a place of metaphor and as my mind moves to the events in Egypt and to the moment from my childhood when I watched the Berlin Wall fall until Joel adds his final thoughts."Maybe we should all march and yell and the walls in our neighborhood would come down and then all the kids could play without having to ask permission.""I like that idea," I tell him. "Then we could do the same thing with school and Micah could come visit sometimes," he adds. *     *     *Note: this was originally posted on my personal blog in February. Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons - Amanda M. Hatfield  John T. Spencer is a teacher in Phoenix, AZ who blogs blogs at Spencer's Scratch Pad and The Cooperative Catalyst as well.  He recently finished two books, Pencil Me In, an allegory for educational technology and Drawn Into Danger, a fictional memoir of a superhero.

by Shelly Blake-PlockThe best thing about Chromebooks has nothing to do with the actual physical devices themselves. It has nothing to do with how much they cost. It has nothing to do with the fact that they are made by Google or Samsung or Acer or whomever. The best thing about Chromebooks is what they suggest about the way we are now thinking about computing.Computing used to be about hardware and software. Now it's about connecting. So when you hear people naysay technology, you might point out that, to an extent, they are actually naysaying the connection between people.There is of course the issue of money money money and all the big players who stand to make a buck off our tech needs.I was talking to a school's IT guy today and he said: "Look, I'm vendor-neutral." And that makes sense to me -- in terms of a way to approach tech. Because when it comes down to the brass tacks, the connection is more important than the device; in the same way that my used car gets me where I'm going just the same as Joe Schmoe's Ferrari. The highway is more important than the car.But you can never really be vendor-neutral any more than you are neutral when you decide to buy a car. There are no generic cars. There are no generic tablet devices (despite what some of them look like).There's also the matter of what the devices do and how they connect us socially. That's not generic either, though to maintain those connections, we are somewhat beholden to the general terms and operating structures of FB, Twitter, etc.Read an article in the NY Times today about backchannels in schools. And it was immediately apparent both in the article and the comments that the majority of the critics of social media in education have no experience actually using social media in education. And as I suggested later on Twitter, that's pretty much like those folks who will protest a movie they've never seen.At the same time, I understand where the critics are coming from. They are a bit jaded (once again) about the idea of "change" in education and yet nervous about what it could mean (this time) in terms of shaking up their worldview (and their paycheck, to be frank). But I think their criticism would be better levied against the producers of the means -- for example, arguing that the big tech and big textbook money should be removed from the educational landscape and that they should all do business as non-profits or social ventures (fat chance... ie getting the change there, not the levying of criticism) -- rather than against those teachers and students who are re-imagining the ways we connect for the sake of learning in a connected world.This connection thing is complicated, no?Thinking about it, the real importance of the Chromebook is not the vendor, it's not the device, it's the fact that it makes the prediction that the Web of the future is not just a place to go look for stuff, or even a place where we can share stuff and network, but rather it's a place where everything is done. And the social technology that the current Web represents is the reality of the world -- it's not auxiliary to our reality, it is completely merged with it. To the point where we don't need a download of a song much less a cd; we just need a connection and access to Cloud based playlists. We don't need to be accepted to MIT to learn about physics; we just need a connection and access to their open courseware. We don't need to wait for the mainstream media to tell us what's happening in the world; we just need a connection and access to the social stream.And that direct connection to the net: as the place where we do our work, express our feelings and opinions in the public arena, and grow as networks of engaged citizens -- that direct connection is what the Chromebook represents. And it's not like its unique to the Chromebook. It's inherent every time we work on the Cloud. It's just that the Chromebook magnifies that by making it the "sole" purpose of the device.It also represents the reality that we depend so much on tech companies to provide that access. And as teachers, we depend so much on tech companies to provide the way to make that connection. It's a position I think many of us are plenty wary of. But we are living in an era where the means is so technologically specific and nearly impossible to reproduce without the industry, yet the potential outcome is so great.We don't get 'On the Road' without the automotive and oil industries. And we don't get the blogosphere without the tech industry.Again, this connection thing is complicated.In the end, as we become more connected, we inevitably become more dependent upon the providers of our connections. So we have to go forward vigilantly, not scared of the connection and not naysaying reality, but as truly aware citizens. And we're gonna have to think about what this whole connection business is all about.Because this connection thing is complicated.In the practical, as educators, we should be considering the following: how do we help teachers understand the change in the culture of computing and how do we best help them become empowered users?And in the philosophical, as educators, we should think about this: how does the new idea of computing -- Cloud-based, app-driven, mobile -- affect my relevance and reality as a teacher in the physical world? How does this connection thing complicate my identity?

by John SpencerThe PremiseIt was a novel idea.  The protagonist would meet a physical manifestation of the online version of himself in the form of a method actor trying to practice for Death of a Salesman.  The actor would slowly achieve more than the protagonist in every category until, in the final pages, the protagonist recognizes what the actor will never experience: intimacy. After sketching out the plot, I abandoned the plan and instead thought about a new project.  I decided that I wanted to live this idea and record it as an experiment.  So, Christy and I decided we would do Facebook in person:  tagging Poloroid pictures, handing out birthday cupcakes to friends, sharing a movie, conducting a neighborhood #chat about education. Our goal would be to compare our offline experiences with our online interactions, asking ourselves:  How are we shaped by the medium?  How do we change in our language?  To what extent are we developing a perfectionist alter-ego?  (One that doesn't hawk loogies out of a car window or stammer when he's nervous).The Experiment: StudentsI begin the experiment with the concept of "I like," "Let me comment," and offering a thumbs up when I approved of a person's statement.  Students recognize the experiment within the first five minutes of class.  A few roll their eyes. Most of them joined in, if for nothing else, a little end of the year novelty.I begin our Philosophical Friday with, "Are people born creative?" "I think it's our limitations that lead to creativity," a boy responds.  Ten students offer a "thumbs up."A girl shakes her head and adds, "Just to comment on what he said.  I disagree.  Little kids have few restrictions and they are really creative.  But school and parents are the ones who force us to not be creative."  Eight students give a thumbs-up and I can sense that she's hurt.When we move to our blogging free write, one student writes, "Everyone is acting like Facebook in class today.  It's so rare to get someone to say 'I like what you said.'  We're dying for affirmation, but it's never there.  Teachers give compliments, but we never get it from each other."Another student comments, "I don't like the fact that I can count the thumbs up in our philosophical discussion.  We shouldn't quantify ideas like that." The Experiment: AdultsDuring my prep period, I stop by 7-11.  I'm tired and I need caffeine and the convenient store offers enough Diet Coke to kill a horse."Good afternoon," the employee says. "I like that," I say with a smile and a thumbs up and, like a yawn, it goes viral. "Good choice on your chip selection," a lady tells me. "Oh, I love adding Cherry Coke to Diet Coke," a man says. So it goes, in one of the coldest relational climates, a small dose of optimism reframes the space within minutes.  We talk to one another.  We affirm each other.  In small ways, perhaps, but I leave the place feeling surprisingly refreshed. I continue the "I like," thumbs up and "Let me comment," concept through our staff meeting.  Interestingly enough, nobody figures out the experiment.  However, I notice a few other staff members giving themselves the permission to affirm one another. ObservationsIt has me wondering if maybe the allure of Facebook is that it meets my primal need for affirmation of both my ideas and my identity.  I want a metric for how I'm doing; just a little quantifiable evidence that who I am and what I think matters in this world.  Narcissistic?  Perhaps.  But sometimes I wonder if people are dying for some kind of feedback in our offline world and yet our social norms prevent it from happening. What if we asked permission to comment?  What if we gave a thumbs-up or a handshake or even a hug more often?  What if we said verbally, "I like what you said?" At the same time, a day of living Facebook forces me to recognize the limitations of the medium.  Everyone is "nice" on Facebook.  There's a "like" but not a "dislike" button.  It's a place where everyone is nice and everyone likes everything.  Shallow, perhaps, but always pleasant.  In other words, Facebook is Paula Abdul on steroids.For me, Facebook is a pleasant dystopia, offering intimacy at arms length.  It's a personal playground where I can be Social He Man, master of a universe where I can scan through "this is what I'm having for dinner" and comment on what I deem to be important.  It's a customized community that centers on me.   Living Facebook is forcing me to recognize just how passive-agressive I can get online.The reality is that I need interruptions and laughter and body language.  I need stutters and stammers and interrupted speech.  I need the vapor of language that doesn't hang around in ones and zeroes like ticker-tape for our lives.I'm not sure where my 40 Days of Living Facebook experiment will lead me.  However, after one day, it's forced me to examine not only the social media I use, but my own humanity. 

by Mike KaecheleThis week I had the privilege to attend TEDxGR. One of the speakers was Mickey McManus of the design firm MAYA. He talked about the need for a new literacy based on design. He mentioned SEL and STEM as being important emphasis in education but felt that there was something missing. He sees the missing piece as human centered design. His company starts with people and designs products based on people's needs. Their main clients were teaching their design principles to CEOs in successful companies. They decided to try teaching these skill to students in middle school students as an experiment. Check out the results:This is a short film about a pilot program we (LUMA) ran in Columbus, Ohio. It shows the value of human-centered design thinking and real world problem solving to educating the next generation of innovators. Teachers were weeping by the end of the week and kids that wouldn’t even make eye contact at the beginning of the camp were presenting ideas based on real user research to heads of foundations and industry.Now I am not sure that I think that this is a "new literacy" as what "is" or "is not" literacy causes many arguments that I am not sure that I even care about. What it does seem to be to me is an excellent example of a complex PBL environment. It is student driven, authentic, with both real world audience and problems. Students work in groups and use creative problem solving to design and have to present their ideas to testers where they receive feedback and then have to re-design until their idea is a working prototype. So it may not be a new "literacy" but I am positive that we need more of this kind of learning in schools. 

Thanks folks for all of the great conversation, idea sharing, and community! This PLN rocks.

By Shelly Blake-PlockStarting in the Fall, I'll be teaching a year long high school Latin course entirely online. Would like to hear some advice and thoughts from teachers and students who have conducted classes on the web; what's been your takeaway? What are the pitfalls? What are the benefits? How did you make the learning happen?Looking forward to hearing your thoughts.- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad