Meet Misha (on the right). She’s my daughter’s (left) BFF and just about the most awesome 8-year-old you’ll ever meet. She’s a great dancer, loves reading, and watches movies repeatedly when she really gets into them. You know that kid whose needs you sometimes forget about in your class because they’re so bright and independent? That’s her. Misha, like many normal middle-class kids in countries that have Apple Stores, got a 4th generation iPod Touch for Christmas. In case you were looking the other way or taking a nap, I want to suggest that we have just experienced a major change in the tide. It is now not uncommon for kids in elementary schools to own what, for all intents and purposes, is an iPhone 4. I’m not saying that they’re everywhere. I’m simply saying that it’s not surprising if and when you see it. I see a 4th generation iPod Touch as quite a different animal to other devices because it is essentially an iPhone 4. In addition to internet connectivity, access to the entire App Store, and music playing which many of us have grown accustomed to, the new Touch takes high quality photos and video, records audio, and can be used as a data-plan-less cell phone when on wifi. Oh, and you can make video calls. Yes, video calls. Anytime you want. So, next time you need a filler for a staff meeting, perhaps you could facilitate a simple 20 minute activity which asks the following questions. First, take a quick vote: Do you think it will become more or less normal to see children in possession of these kinds of devices? Next, an inductive thinking activity based on this question: What does this mean for learning in our schools?

I’ve read some great posts this past week reminding us to quell our über obsession with technology in education and focus on the pedagogy: Stephen Louca sees a Room with Two Doors Angie Harrison asks why we’re focusing on the tool. Cathy Davidson admonishes our iPad fervour Jerrid Kruse warns us not to look at the ‘things’ of classrooms. Noel Gallagher of Oasis once bellowed, "Please don’t put your life in the hands / Of a Rock ‘n’ Roll Band / We’ll through it all away", and I would say tech in education is sometimes like Rock ‘n’ Roll. We don’t want the learning in our classrooms to be like a bad, top-40 rock song: catchy, vacuous, and most entertaining when drunk. We want to introduce ‘songs’ that make people go, "Shhh, let me listen to this!" Most people won’t appreciate it at first, but it will linger. Remember: It’s not about the tech. Now let’s start using the tech.

There a few processes students love learning more about than deconstructing the reliability of online content. It is the perfect example of something that is enhanced through collaborative learning, and it is inherently stimulating for kids. This is not to mention the inarguable necessity of it as a literacy skill. As a class, we have discovered that the thinking skills required to discern ‘not truth’ from ‘more truthful’ entails both science and art. Perhaps an appropriate analogy is to compare it to a detective solving a crime: there is protocol to follow and converge upon, but some crimes require you to diverge from normal strategies and delve into unknown terrain. With that in mind, here is our current list:

I’ve created this resource to help people who are interested in using Personal Internet Devices (PIDs) in their schools or classrooms. Please leave comments below. School-Based Assumptions that Support Implementation of Portable Internet Devices Mistake making and failure are not just tolerated, but essential to learning. Students and teachers are co-learners. Time commitment extends beyond the school day. Social Media has a place in the school. Pedagogical Benefits Most of the benefits of Mobile Learning below only occur through high level curriculum design and instruction, others occur by default. For instance, student voice is not enhanced simply by the introduction of these devices. Of course it isn’t. On the other hand, something such as the devaluation of rote memorization may occur simply because the presence of the devices themselves negates it. 1. Student Voice and Leadership Traditionally, we have had two main avenues for students to share with the group: by putting up one’s hand and speaking, or by completing an assignment (usually written). Mobile devices open up an exponentially greater number of doors for getting one’s voice to the crowd. Student ideas, questions, and responses are more easily collected and seen. 2. Differentiated Communication of Understandings Students can receive and share knowledge/understandings easily through different means: audio, video, print, image. For example, no longer is the student discriminated against for preferring to communicate through speaking rather than writing. 3. Collaborative Learning A common myth is that mobile devices drive individuals into themselves, and away from the group. In fact, mobile device use accomplishes the opposite in the classroom: greater connection, increased reliance on the group for learning, and more (not less) conversation. 4. Higher Order Thinking When facts and information are at one’s fingertips, it means it is a complete waste of time to memorize and test for them. The classroom focus changes to critical and metacognitive thinking skills. 5. Teacher as Expert of Learning, not Content With mobile devices in the classroom, it is ineffectual, sometimes impossible, for the teacher to act as the expert of content. Instructional design, thus, moves in a different direction. 6. Assessment for Learning and Descriptive Feedback Because of the ability to collect large amounts of quantitative and qualitative data from mobile devices, every second of the classroom becomes an assessment moment that can not only occur, but also be archived. 7. Multiple and More Fluid Definition of ‘Text’ E-reading is the future. Period. Mobile devices allow for a far more realistic and representative conceptualization of what it means to read and write. 8.  Teaching Digital Citizenship and managing our Digital Footprint This is becoming increasingly important and can no longer be assumed that students understand the long-term ramifications of having an online presence.  It’s our responsibility as educators to help our students understand and manage their footprint.  Great opportunity for higher order thinking here. 9. Learning Discipline Mobile devices are not going away. They are ubiquitous in most of our lives. Students need to learn to be disciplined with these devices because they can otherwise be used strictly for escapist endeavours. Practice makes perfect. Like this:Be the first to like this post.

Like a lot of people, I am supremely inspired by Neil Pasricha’s perspective on life. Wouldn’t it be great if we could leave the politics of education out of the process of learning and focus on what we can do to ensure that our children have an awesome Attitude, Awareness, and Authenticity? What are you doing in your learning environments to foster the 3 A’s of Awesome?

The students in my class have a plethora of apps and tools for digital collaboration, mind mapping, and brainstorming. From Google Docs to iThoughts to Smart Ideas, any and all are available with the swipe of a screen or a touch of a mouse. Still, it never ceases to amaze me how awesome good old fashioned chart paper and markers are for collaboration and idea generation. When you get groups working with these tools, their behaviour is physical and social, a great combination for learning. I feel so blessed that I’ve had the opportunity to try a wide variety of tools with the learners in my classes over the years. It reminds me which ones are lasters and which are flashes in the pan.

YORK REGION NEWS: http://bit.ly/eadJQb CTV NEWS: ROGERS TV: TORONTO STAR: http://www.thestar.com/article/861864-debate-rages-over-cellphones-in-ontario-classrooms  

Report cards were handed out at our school yesterday. If you’ve read my blog before, follow me on Twitter, or have ever had a glass of wine with me, you can probably infer how I feel about these days. It seems to me that no matter how we frame them, report cards have a perplexing, if not devastating effect on the way our learners approach collaboration. Never mind the other ways it impacts self-efficacy and motivation (see Joe Bower’s For the Love of Learning blog). I stood aghast watching a school full of little people play the wadjyaget game. I threw up in my mouth a little. In Ontario, we are supposed to assess and evaluate something we call Learning Skills. These are broken down into the following: Responsibility, Organization, Independent Work, Self-Regulation, Initiative, and Collaboration (see @benhazzard and others’ great resource which clarifies what these concepts mean). I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the latter skill, collaboration. Or, rather, collaborative environments. Here’s where I see the distinction. Collaboration occurs when two or more parties join powers in an effort to solve a problem or accomplish a goal. For true collaboration to be taking place, all members of the team need to be equally invested in the result. In classrooms and schools around the world, situations that demand collaboration are normal if not pervasive. Of course, the extent to which the advanced skills required to be successful collaborators are being fostered is another question altogether. Collaboration is the most wonderful thing in the world. When you’re in that team zone where members are clear about their roles, communicate with ease, and have an intrinsic impulse to succeed, there really is no pharmaceutical to match it. The thing about collaboration though is that it can still be just an event. As in, Man, that project we did together was so awesome! I wish we could do it again. What is more, we often associate these times as ones shared with relatively like minded people. For instance, I love working with friends like @techieang and @slouca11 (just to name a couple) because we share certain foundational world views. I see the creation and fostering of collaborative environments or spaces as a little bit of a different animal. Collaborative spaces don’t necessarily have a clear end in mind. Or, rather, it is an end in itself. A collaborative environment means that every single person says this: I cannot be who I want to be without these other people. My number one goal as a teacher is to do everything in my power to remove barriers to this process. I am in no way implying that I have actually managed to achieve this ideal, nor am I suggesting that it does not ebb and flow (there’s no finish line). What I am saying is that I am trying as hard as I can. Forget words and rhetoric. No need to tell people, let alone kids, to be nice to one another, share ideas, and to put group interests above selfish concerns. It’s not about what you preach, it’s about what you do. It’s about the structure. So what are the barriers? I don’t have all the answers. Still, I think there are two big areas we selectively ignore on a regular basis. Literally Practicing What We Preach If you want to create a collaborative learning space with kids, try your best to learn in one yourself. For instance, until I personally experienced collaborative teacher moderation of student work samples, I had no conscious idea of how to transfer that model to the classroom. It completely dumbfounds me, for instance, that I am frequently meeting educators asking me for assistance on leveraging social media in their classrooms while not participating in a professional learning network themselves. If you want to explore how social media fosters collaborative attitudes and practices in your group of learners, I would engage in one yourself. Assessment and Evaluation The way we assess progress and evaluate quality has to match what we say is important. So, if you are telling your kids that goal setting means to strive for ten more percentage points, then by all means, use those functions in Excel or Markbook and put a percentage mark on everything that happens in the room (I am fully aware that some of us are mandated to use these tools). But I might also suggest that you should perhaps avoid simultaneously clumping kids together in group work and projects as well, for there exists a paradox of sorts here. On the other hand, if you are telling kids that everyone is an expert at something, and that leveraging of individual differences in a group results in larger, wider reaching, and sustainable success, then you should probably put that gradebook with the millions of tiny boxes in the recycling bin. Sometimes it’s not what you ‘teach’, say, or even do. Sometimes collaborative spaces are created and maintained by simply stopping certain processes that are directly in conflict with them. And now for a somewhat apt but mostly gratuitous Voltron analogy:

Is there anything more satisfying than an awesome conversation? (I know you’re thinking about that other thing, but you know what I mean.) Today I had a spontaneous conversation with a parent at my school. I noticed she had a unique accent so it lead us into a discussion about Brazilian economics and politics. I felt so good after that casual talk. There was so much humanity and honesty in a simple little repartee. Or what about the crazily fascinating discussion going on right now at George Couros’ blog? Just compelling is what that is. Many people who are blinded by the technology in our class may not notice that it’s all about conversation. Much of my practice involves invoking structured discussion to help kids arrive at some point of convergence. It just so happens we have some toys that sometimes helps us to do that more inclusively and efficiently. Having serious and guided talk is almost a physical need. Your brain feels better when you’re talking your thinking out. It makes learning extremely personalized yet collaborative, loud yet quiet. I really think I’m a novice at doing this, but I’m trying my best. It seems to be a wicked way to learn.

The first month of having a (near) class set of iPods and iPads in my English class has been rewarding in so many ways and challenging in many others (mostly logistic). Here are some lessons from my classroom. What’s Tough Syncing is a you-know-what Syncing multiple iDevices sucks. Big time. Personal is better This is stating the obvious, I know, but the students in my class who are bringing their personal iPods to my class are establishing a much stronger ‘relationship’ with their devices. It’s like I’ve given the others a scintillating book to read, and have to wrench it from their hands when the bell goes. The ones who own one get to take it home and continue learning. Not enough Flash I don’t care what Steve says. Flash is good, or at the very least useful. They ain’t laptops See above. They are the ultimate polarizer No one bats an eyelid if you suggest students need laptops for learning anymore. Few people have a problem with the almighty interactive whiteboard. But, if you want facial expressions from adults that exemplify shock and horrow, then bring iPods and iPads into the classroom. Many cannot fathom what you could possibly be using them for other than simple entertainment. Even the ones that try appear to be getting a migraine. It’s expensive You can buy, let’s see, at least two, perhaps three, netbooks for the price of one iPad? Moreover, remember that the device isn’t enough. You need apps, cases, a place to secure them, and interior design to make it work. What’s Terrific It’s Social The laptop is a solitary device. In my class, the students using netbooks or laptops appear to be in their own world. On the other hand, the iPad in particular was meant to be shared. It’s, well, more polite. Because I run a near-paperless class where devices are in students hands even during direct instruction, students are (or at least appear to be) more attentive. IWB Bye Bye Anything I show on my projector can now be seen very quickly on an iPad. It makes my moments of whole class instruction far less teacher-centred. Gaming to Learn Because of these devices, I feel like it’s the first time I can really use games as learning centres and workstations. I’ve been using many of the available word games for word study. Learning about them has never been so tactile. The Future Now Touchscreens and tablets are unquestionably the future. My students are lucky enough to use the most relevant tool available today. Do my students love learning, and do I love teaching, with iDevices? Yes. Is it for everyone? Not unless your pedagogy is ready for it. And on another note, I think The Simpsons are making fun of me …

First, let me admit something. I’m not a fan of most traditions. In fact, sometimes I am unreasonably reactionary about traditions. Usually, my thinking tends to be, "Why is it a tradition? And what’s the best way we can change it?" It’s not your problem, it’s mine. There may have been a time in history when they locked people like me in the crazy house. I also know that there is a place for tradition, and that it is absurd to forsake tradition for the sake of it. I know that I am not a better person than someone who appreciates the beauty and historical relevance of some traditions. But. Sometimes certain traditions act as metaphors for stagnation and a fear of change. Today, for instance, was our school’s picture day. I have a funny feeling our picture day is the same as yours across town, or hers in another province, or your niece’s in the other country, or your sister’s across the ocean, or … You get the picture, so to speak. Here are a few rhetorical questions I have about picture day. Why have we never changed one iota about picture day since the advent of the camera? Why must we group everyone the exact same way, in the precise order, with the irrevocable sitting positions? Why can’t we have students taking the photos? Portrait photography is an unendingly artistic endeavour. Why must we strip this away and depict it as a mechanistic act? I don’t really expect answers to these questions. Nor is picture day something I’m passionate about and interested in leading change against. I just can’t help notice the symbolism of it all.

I’ve been interviewed by the awesome @jessebrown for TVO’s Search Engine podcast. Here’s the link: Class, turn on your cellphones!

Jackson got his ‘school bag’ on again this morning. Everyday, it’s the same question. "Daddy, can I go to school? "No, Jackson, it’s not your turn yet. Next year is your turn." "Later?" Jackson’s standard reply of faint optimism for everything he hopes is untrue. "No, not later, honey. Next year." "Tomorrow?" "No, next year, darling." It pains me to say this, considering how meaningless a concept it is for a three-year-old. "Next year later tomorrow?" Sigh. Jackson thinks everything his older sister does is the most remarkable, desirable thing one could ever aspire to. School, swimming class, homework, folding laundry, wearing dresses - it doesn’t matter. Sometimes, in our haste to transform education and to point out the faults with the system, we forget that there are millions of Jacksons out there who think ‘school’ is the most awesome concept ever invented. Sometimes we forget that, for many, school is the best part of their day. These days, I find it’s the way and the tone with which my son says the word, "Tomorrow?" that drives much of what I do as an educator, parent, and global citizen. "Daddy, it’s my turn to do homework." "Alright, Jackson, go ahead. Go do some homework." "Yay! Homework, homework, homework!"

The time was around four years ago. Jackson wasn’t born, we had not accomplished any of our many home renovations on our fixer-upper, and parenting was maybe a tad harder than it is now. Janet and I were trying to sleep in for once. Bleary-eyed, I slowly approached the kitchen to discover something that is in our Familylee Video Hall of Fame. I can think of a few million ways to use this clip of ours as a learning analogy.

As my year teaching 107 12-year-olds English begins, the most important question I have made a concerted effort to answer for administration, colleagues, parents, students, and myself has been: Why use an open environment (as opposed to a closed one such as Moodle) for social networking and blogging? There is a long answer to this question that involves both pedagogical and logistical reasons, but my shortest answer to this question is always this perceived oxymoron: Students need to learn how to be private online. In my various forms of diagnostic assessment of adolescent and pre-adolescent students, it never fails to terrify me when I discover how little they have learned about digital literacy, online citizenship, and critical thinking on the web. It is doubly confusing to me since, in my experience, most young people find this topic supremely scintillating at the worst of times. They have a hunger to learn how to be literate online citizens. Why are we so afraid to teach it? In a survey of my 107 grade 7 students, I discovered: 100% had chatted online many times. 95% had at least one email account. 60% had more than two email accounts. 30% had a Twitter account. 74% are active on Facebook. Of the 26% that weren’t on Facebook, 80% said they would be if not for home computer restrictions. In class discussions, it becomes apparent that students are relying mostly on one another to learn about their digital footprint. Adult facilitation seems to be limited to a very negative (and hypocritical) depiction of the internet, a demonization that one can’t help but fear becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. Not unlike the kinds of myths that might develop in a grade 8 boys locker room about sex, some of the beliefs students have about social media are downright shocking. I love Pernille Ripp’s mall analogy for online privacy (funny how malls often serve as great metaphors for many things). Call it just another case of our PLNs collective consciousness, because it was just after asking my own students the following questions that I read her post. You’re able to walk through a mall in public and not: Reveal your name to strangers Have conflicts with people Have temper tantrums Swear out loud Leave photos and video in the food court for people to take Embarrass yourself by picking your nose Right? That really got their heads nodding with knowing grins. So above you see our class slogan for online posting behavior. Remix, reuse, recycle. I find acronyms or ‘mantras’ very useful for paradigm reminders in the classroom. 3Ps of Online Privacy by Royan Lee is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at spicylearning.files.wordpress.com.

My class is lucky enough to have a bunch of iPads and iPod Touches this year. These are the apps I’m starting off with in our grade 7 english class:

If I were to name the 2009-2010 school year, some appropriate ones may be Web 2.0 Melee, More Mobile Learning, or Internet on Steroids. It was one of the most rewarding years of my teaching career, but also one of the most dizzying. This occasional disorientation was brought about due to the sheer expansive nature of the internet. Although I likely will never go back to the closed ‘Web 1.5′ environment of something like Moodle, one thing we did sacrifice by going on our 2.0 exploration was a consistent centralized meeting place online. Did you post it on Twitter or Edmodo, Mr. Lee? Is it in our Docs or Gmail? What happened to that Voicethread? Yes, experimentation has its price, but it also has its rewards. Here are some criteria we developed to assess the quality of a Web 2.0 tool: Is education a priority for them? Do they have special accounts and systems for teachers and students? Is it fast, reliable, and uncrashy? Can you embed work easily into other sites, particularly blogs? Is it easy to share work with people outside the classroom (e.g. parents)? Is the interface simple and intuitive? Has it been free for a while, and does it seem as though it will be indefinitely? Do they have, or are they at least exploring the development of, mobile apps? Based on this criteria, it’s not surprising then that the three Web 2.0 tools we tended to keep  coming back to were Google Apps, Twitter, and WordPress. This year, I’ve decided to (at least start the year off with) using Google Apps as the main tool in the toolbox. Although I like WordPress better than Blogger as a blogging app, and infinitely prefer Twitter to Buzz, I don’t want to make the same mistake of having an inordinate number of accounts. The plus of having the perfect app, we learned, is offset by the minus that is Web 2.0 ADHD. Here’s a visual of what I hope to get students involved in using: Google Apps in the Classroom on Prezi This will be the first time I will have experienced teaching Literacy to more than just my own homeroom class. Although I will miss the special relationships and learning that occur in a proper elementary class this year, I am excited by the prospect of teaching over a hundred students of one grade. I can’t wait to see what it’s like to soft-wall (there, it’s a verb) four different classes, and make them feel as though they are really part of one giant collaborative group. As always, I welcome feedback or questions you have about my master plan:-)

Being the pedantic amateur graphic designer that I am, my palms get sweaty when I think about how messy this post looks. The reason I’ve kept it this way is so you can see the journey, not just the non-existent end. Originally posted Sept 2010. Modified June 2011 (I have struckthrough ideas I’ve changed, and put in purple new ideas). Modified Oct 2011 for iOS 5 update (I have struckthrough ideas I’ve changed, and put in green new ideas). Modified (pink) May 2012 thanks to Bryan Hughes alerting me to Air Server. Modified (orange) Sept 2012 thanks to Disp Recorder‘s release. Finally, a way to record your iPad screen in any app! Modified (red) Jan 2013 thanks to Disp Recorder’s disappearance and other changes. Modified (grey) Feb 2013 thanks to our class getting an Apple TV! The Apple Fairy has come to your classroom and given you some iPads and/or iPod Touches to use for learning? You and your students sure are the lucky ones. I know what you’re thinking though: "So what now, technically speaking?" There are many different ways to set your iDevices up. Here is how I’ve done mine: Create a school/class iTunes account. It’s so much more coherent to have a dedicated iTunes account that does not mingle with your personal one. Dedicate one computer (ideally a Mac) to be the ‘mommy’ of the devices. Having personal apps/music/etc. mingle with your class ones is a recipe for confusion. Purchase enough USB hubs for multiple-device syncing. They are made by about a million different manufacturers, are sold in every electronics or computer store, and are very inexpensive. Here’s the one I got. Forget the hubs. My macbook can’t sync more than three at once. Sync each device individually for the first time and give each a unique name for identification purposes. I named our class devices ‘Hannah Montana’, ‘Justin Bieber’, ‘Harry Potter’, etc. It’s much better to name them ‘iPad 1′, ‘iPad 2′, etc. Use any drawing app to create number pictures (as you see in my photo above). Save them to the photo library of the device, then set them as wallpaper. Voila: internal labelling! This probably works better with primary students. My grade 7 students love organizing the apps themselves and changing wallpaper. Trying to label them this way is an invitation to mess it up. Let the kids do it. Whenever possible, download and install apps on the ‘mommy’. This way, they will automatically get installed on all the devices the next time you sync. Create a class GMAIL account to use for sending files, set the account up on all the devices, from any of the devices to wherever you need them to go. Students can learn to get into the habit of sharing and submitting work this way. Only problem with this is the blocking of ports in most schools. If you can find an email service that works (I haven’t yet), it’s such an important tool to have on the devices. Create a class dropbox account to share files to view on the devices. Essential. Finally, if you haven’t already updated your iOS to one which does not allow you to use jailbreakme.com, you may want to consider legally jailbreaking them for these reasons. Nah, forget this. Created more problems than anything. Set up Find my iPad/Pod in SETTINGS >> MAIL, CONTACTS, CALENDARS >> ADD ACCOUNT >> MOBILE ME >> iCLOUD Then use your iTunes iCloud account. This has already saved me once. One thing I’ve noticed is that Find my iPhone acts funny when you make the switchover from MobileMe to iCloud. Luckily, I double checked after doing it and noticed that none of our devices were being tracked. If this happens to you, do this very strange thing: 1) Check at iCloud.com if the tracking is actually working; 2) If not, remove/sign out of the iCloud accounts on the device(s); 3) re-add the MobileMe account and click the Find My iPhone feature to ‘ON’; 4) Remove the MobileMe account (I know, weird); 5) re-add the iCloud account and click the Find My iPhone feature to ‘ON’. Set up restrictions at SETTINGS >> GENERAL >> RESTRICTIONS. The ones I restrict in my class are app deletions, account changes, and explicit music/podcasts. Create folders on the ‘mommy’ computer for syncing photos, images, etc. from computer to iDevice. Then, in iTunes sync, go to the Photos tab at the top and indicate which folder you want to sync with. I do it through iPhoto using specific albums. For example, iPad 4 is synced with an album in iPhoto also called iPad 4. Then, whenever I want to upload photos to iPad 4, I stick the images in the iPad 4 album first. Hope that makes sense:-) So far, the only thing I am using iCloud syncing for is Find my iPad/iPod. This may change… I’ve been looking for an easy way to mirror our iOS devices’ screens on our class computer/projector and finally found one that a) actually works; and b) is easy. See my screencast below:  Finally, with Disp Recorder’s release, there’s a way to record your iPad screen in any app! Here’s me trying it out for the first time (on my iPhone 4S, because it didn’t work well at all on my iPad 1).  It doesn’t capture animation very well, but everything else ain’t too bad. Oh no, Disp Recorder is gone, and I don’t know why! Put wallpaper design apps (there are so many free ones) on your devices. This encourages students to use these wallpapers, rather than random, gross, and ridiculous ones they find from Safari. Long ago I decided not to care about organizing the apps into folders or specific locations. It is impossible to control this with my middle school students, and I have learned that it is also unnecessary on a shared device. Apple TV It took me a long time to be convinced to request an Apple TV in my class. I didn’t see the need at the time, and, to be frank, I felt a bit guilty about getting more ‘toys’ in our classroom. There’s no question that there is a disproportionate amount of technology in classes; I didn’t want it any more exacerbated. Plus, we were using Air Server (as described above) - theoretically, an Apple TV alternative. Let’s just say I’ve changed my tune.  Apple TV is far better for me because the MacBook I was using for Air Server had a lot of difficulty coping with mirroring from a memory, processing, and graphics standpoint. Mirrors would frequently go caput, and my laptop would often go into what I call temper tantrum mode. With Apple TV, we have no such issues. It even has a brilliant password system where you can set a random four-digit code to appear every time someone new wants to mirror. This completely squashes the potential of folks outside the room playing pranks on our class (mirroring music or content from other parts of the building). These days, at any given time, we can mirror anyone’s iOS device or laptop (thanks to Air Parrot), sound included. We don’t associate being in front of the room with necessarily being in front of the room. I’ve anecdotally observed that the students that most request to mirror their device to show their work or thinking happen to be students who I didn’t think felt comfortable presenting in class. I was going to make an instructional video or sheet on setting it up, but it’s really the most googlable thing there is. In fact, it’s the extent to which it is ‘plug ‘n’ play that makes it so beautiful. Here is our working list of class apps!

CC licensed Flickr photo by Jack Dorsey So I changed my Twitter name from @r_o_y_a_n to @royanlee. There was some pretty entertaining banter on the ol’ Twitter stream around, first, the absurdly-annoying-to-type nature of my original handle, and then my change, particularly lead by the mirthful Couros Brigade (@courosa and @gcouros). Here, my Twitterholics, is my explanation. I first started my Twitter exploration in the spring of 09 thanks really to two tweeps, @danikabarker and @kentmanning. At the time, I wasn’t on Facebook (let alone Twitter), didn’t have an RSS feed, and knew as much about blogging as Your Uncle Joe. I distinctly remember meeting Danika and being taken by her enthusiasm for technology. I was stunned when she informed me that Kent, a man I had never met, had written about me on his blog: "And are you on Twitter, Royan?" "Um, no, I don’t really know much about it." "You should really check it out." Check it out, I did. I made an account with the username @royan, then promptly forgot both what the password was, as well as which email address I used to create it (to this day, I have no idea how to be @royan, my preferred handle, again). Then, as I continued to traverse the Twitterverse and get my bearings, I went through what is I am sure an all too familiar stage in one’s Twiducation: Intrigue/Fear. I really want to post, but who’s gonna read it? Am I arrogant for thinking someone would be interested in any 140 characters I have to say? Do I want my students, colleagues, administration, and school community to be able to find me on Twitter? Do I even want my family to? What’s the point of all this? There were really two main reasons I chose @r_o_y_a_n as my handle. First, I wanted the closest thing to @royan I could find, and thought I was being pretty darn clever with the underscores. Second, I wanted to preserve some anonymity, foolishly thinking that one’s Twitter username really had anything to do with how anonymous one is. But here is the stage I am at with social media now: I love it. It’s fun. It’s one of many things I need to be the best professional I can be. I don’t want to be anonymous. I want to be me, period. And I want to craft my online persona and Googlability so I have complete control over it. Although your Facebook or Twitter identity tells the world an immense amount about you, it still isn’t really you. It’s a representation of who you are. This is partly why I have concerns when we exclusively use closed environments such as moodle in education. There is an element to it which is akin to learning how to drive a car using a video game. A literate young person needs to understand how much control they really do have over their digital footprint, and then practice taking those steps with the help of teachers and peers. What if internet safety actually meant doing what the following Epic Fu episode suggests? I was fairly surprised to discover how many of my beloved tweeps actually lamented the demise of my old carpal tunnel persona. Sorry guys, live with it, and stick with me. I ain’t changing it again:-)

I received two emails this morning from a couple of last year’s students sharing dropbox files with the class. I wanted to share with all of you their respective gmail signatures (with names changed). I think they say a lot about kids today. Email signature 1: Jesse, a friend to many Email signature 2: Call Me, Text Me, Inbox Me, Message Me, I Don’t Really Care, Just Get Back To Me ;9 That is all.

I love this video by from the peeps at @epicfu. They don’t mention the word ‘education’ even once in it, but it’s as applicable as a 3M Post-it. It’s amazing how many parallels there are between the old Music Industry, Hollywood, and Education. (Please note that the video begins with a short ad.)

When I was growing up, we never once heard the word ‘autism’ in our household. It wasn’t a banned word or anything. It was simply that my immigrant Korean parents had neither heard it before nor understood it (people who work in ASD advocacy know all too well about the important role that language and culture plays in whether a child gets help or not). It wasn’t until I myself grew to be an educated (in education no less) adult that my world opened up to what special education really meant, and, specifically, what autism spectrum disorder was. Guess what my first ever teaching position was? I believe the exact title was ‘Behaviour/MID/Autism’. Ah, an eclectic mix for a first year teacher. Genius, our education system is at times. I digress. One of the copious things I learned on my way up this steep learning curve was the role graphical representations of messages played in communicating with autistic individuals. At first, I remember thinking how absurd and airy-fairy the concept of storyboards were. Even as someone who lauds graphical representations of everything, I just didn’t comprehend how it could make such a difference to someone like my ‘weird’ brother. It did. It made a canyon of a difference. I was shocked by the effect that an iconic image of, say, how to sit properly at a desk, could actually, with no trouble, explain and have my brother/students comply. Needless to say, this experience made a profound impact on me as a person, let alone an educator, brother, or parent. And now, what have I discovered? Twitter. This tool that has seemingly encompassed a portion of my personal and professional existence has also proven to be something of a magic bullet for communication with my brother. When I have a verbal discussion with him, there is no way for me to ever know what or how much he has taken in of the interaction. He might block me out entirely, demonstrate what I call sly compliance listening, or just hyper focus on one word I said, taking it completely out of context. Through DM tweets, however, we have clear, succinct, coherent conversations. What is more, it is fast, instantaneous, and allows me access to my brother which transcends simple behavior modifications. I don’t need to develop a social story and wait for him to do the same in response. It’s utterly mesmerizing to me. It’s like the ASD wall that is ever-present has a secret door whose key is possessed by Twitter. Imagine being blind and then someone giving you a pair of cool glasses that let you see; that’s what it’s like. These days what I do is have a verbal conversation with him (How’s work? Damn them Blue Jays eh? Please remember not to give ‘props’ to every single stranger you meet on the street!) and then let him know that I will send him tweets about it as well. It’s been a godsend for us. The obvious next question is why. Why is it such an appealing mode of communication for him? Why does the noise of his world seemingly get quieted through 140 characters? There are greater experts than myself who would better answer these queries. The only thing I will firmly attest to is this: Never, ever, underestimate the visual and graphic aspect of social networking. Forget what you’ve been told about Learning Styles. Every kid that walks into your class is a visual learner. You are automatically differentiating instruction in your class by making social media a part of it because, if nothing else, it makes communication visual, graphical, and, in a sense, kinesthetic.

This is a screenshot from my iPhone of my daughter’s favourite game, Pocket Chef. She was begging me to let her play it today while I was trying to read Collins and Halverson’s Rethinking Education in the Age of Technology for our www.edbookclub.com. As I fended off her pleas while ironically reading the book’s section on the potential of video games in education, I wondered about a couple of things. What is it about video games that seemingly make kids more resilient to challenges and adversity than in real life classroom problem solving situations? What makes them persevere through tasks even though it can be as difficult not to burn the virtual burgers as it is to figure out ‘how much money was left in Sabrina’s wallet after going to the store at the mall’? Why don’t we necessarily see the same resolve and self-efficacy when solving a math story problem as we do when needing to conquer, say, a virtual WWII setting? If there are any answers to these questions, I have a feeling they are connected to Dan Meyer’s awesome TED talk on 21st Century Math Educational Reform: As it stands right now, I am less interested in the potential for video games to deliver curriculum than I am in the secrets to motivation, feedback, and intellectual rigour they seem to conceal. So, a couple of weeks after writing this post, I ran into Jane McGonigal’s TED talk on this very subject! Check it out: