ISTE Reflections

ISTE 12 Reflections

Reflecting on the ISTE 12 experience and comparing it to prior ISTE’s I have attended.

My experiences this year were in many ways similar to those at preceding conferences. There was little time to stop and reflect, eat, and see a lot of the sessions I had earmarked as interesting. It was easier to get around the convention centre than the centres in Philly and Denver and  It was really nice to have the Bloggers Café upstairs in the Sails Pavilian along with the various sig playgrounds. These were important venues for  meet ups and networking.  I attended a variety of sessions and presented on a variety of topics, and while the large venue, lecture style presentations are often very informative and occasionally entertaining, their impact on my learning was overshadowed by the networking opportunities, discussions, and sharing that went on in more informal sessions, meet ups and social activities. My PLN has once again exploded. I look at my travel envelope and there is a certain absence of business cards, both my own which ran out in just one session and those of others, QR Codes, twitter and the reinforcement and expansion of preexisting  professional relationships  were key elements this time around. A shift has certainly happened for me and it  has been building since ISTE 11 in Philly.

There were an estimated 20 000  attendees this year and  while that seems and is a huge number of people, it didn’t prevent me from constantly running into people I knew, many of them from previous conferences. It felt good to further solidify our relationships, share new ideas for project work and tighten those professional links even further.  My conference experience was not about the big name speakers and their sessions, it was about building my branch of our learning community, with professionals, both big name and not.

I was so fortunate in being able to present 3 poster sessions which were heavily attended and work at both the Google and digital AV Playgrounds with Sigms. While time consuming and taxing  at times (I spoke for 10 hours  total often 2-4 hours at a time.) These were some of the most important ISTE12 moments for me.

That said this reflection would be incomplete without reference to some of the other sessions I was at as an attendee..   So here it goes directly from my Evernote  notebook.

About Evernote: I decided that it was time to take that plunge and do more than tinker with it.  I forces myself to use Evernote alongside Diigo and Twitter to record important experiences and finds and I have to admit that it was for the most part a great decisions.  I am going to ensure that I not only use it  often and with purpose but promote its use with other professionals  and students that I work with.

Now back to what I found. Here is a listing of all the resources that I collected during the conference that I thought notable. Some of these have been around for a while, but are worth being reminded about.

Google Docs Tutorials for Teachers

https://sites.google.com/a/viedu.org/google/home

 This resource is designed to help educators and staff learn how to effectively use Google Docs.

Learn 360 Suscription Resources Online

Interactive media on demand service

Thinkfinity

Resources and lesson plans online for free

http://www.thinkfinity.org/

Kathy Schrock's Resources for Everything

http://www.schrockguide.net/literacy-in-the-digital-age.html

Tricider

Ask a question and invite friends or colleagues.
Collect ideas and vote for your favourite.

https://tricider.com/en/t/

Instagram 

Edit and add photos to twitter, fb etc...with just one click.

http://www.destinyquest.com/ 

Schoology 

Manage lessons, engage students, share content, and connect with other educators.

https://www.schoology.com/home.php

lms social

http://www.follettsoftware.com/destiny-quest

Piclits

create poems based on pics

http://www.piclits.com/compose_dragdrop.aspx

SketchUp

Add physical behavior, rolling, gravity, hinges act…(mac put them into library manually)

http://code.google.com/p/sketchyphysics/

Google Presentations idea:

Add hyperlinks as tocs in Google presentations

Scripts

Form Emailer Script

Use for exit tickets, digital receipt for materials checked out, feedbck durng observation, walk throughs

(tools>script gallery)

Henrique's Site

10 step procedure

https://docs.google.com/a/abc-net.edu.sv/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dHc0RzhQRWxjN0lscGpjODRXSGlHeUE6MQ

integrating Google Forms in to Google sites

Historical voyages and events

YouTube

Choose your own adventure video using YouTube annotations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtG6yw2IrlI

Create a Playlist Slam

How to do this.....

select playlist and playlist slam

Make a Coin go Around the World-flip a coin

inserting gadgets in spreadsheets

https://sites.google.com/a/flippededucation.com/flipacoin/

Google Cloud Connect for Windows users and Google Docs

Set to automatic to save to googl docs.

Gadgets Worth Looking Into

flashcards gadget 

gadges gadget for real time election results

display results

The Writer's Club 

online collaborative writing projects

http://thenorthschool.com/writersclub/

My Big Campus 

A Site full of resources linked to standards

http://www.mybigcampus.com/

links to presentation resource live binder

http://www.livebinders.com/play/play/418977

Since ISTE I have come across a great many other resources that I don't want to forget about. They are all in my various Diigo Groups, however I plan to post several of them here too in the next  few days.

The Positive Effects of Gaming

This evening as I was wandering through posts on Google+, I came across this post by the Frugal Dad.

Now much of this is not news. Many of us have been hearing for years that gamer's brains are getter at certain tasks and that their are physical differences between brains on games and those not. Most of us are also very aware of the educational benefits of gaming,  but didn't you know that video games were being used for pain management in hospitals?  Did you know that after 21 hours of play a week, the benefits are outweighed by negative impact.  I didn't, not until today, so I thought I would share.

The following Info graphic  is worth looking at, so do scroll down.



Source: Frugal Dad

DVA Voting and Tickets

We have now officially closed voting on the DVA Videos. Thank you to everyone who voted on them! Tickets are available in both Secondary offices as well as the Upper Primary Office. Bring your tickets along for free refreshments on the night of the event.

Virtual Worlds in KS3

We have been working in virtual worlds in both 6th and 7th grade this month and it has been a roaring success.  It is a sign that you've hit it right on, when kids don't want to leave a lesson and groan when the bell rings, and this is usually what happens when we teach with virtual worlds.

This is the first year we have used PoraOra virtual world with any of our classes. Prior to this we had always used WhyVille to introduce our students to educational virtual worlds and to teach web safety and netiquette. The people at  PoraOra have worked hard to build educational in-world activities  that are linked to the British Key Skills for KS2. PoraOra is full of fun games that help students review and build their skills across subjects. For our 6th graders most of it is review and practice, and they have great fun doing it.

In 7th grade we are working with Reaction Grid for the second year running. Our 7th grade students are having a great time learning how to get around, exploring different regions and learning how to build in 3D with their avatars. We have even found a bit of time for shopping at Gridizen's market and customising avatars.

So far the building has been very simple as students learn how each basic shape can be modified, how to import textures and how to link prims together to create complex objects. Our objectives are many, learning how to get around, communicate and build in a 3d environment are core. Very soon however we will be applying these new skills in a very special way. Our students are going to research and then commence the construction of an environmentally friendly homestead. They will do so collaboratively with over 100 students working on it in total.

It is a very exciting project and the first time around for us in attempting something so ambitious. We will play it by ear and if needed, slow down and continue it next year. One thing is certain, the students and the teachers working in RG are thrilled with this project as were the 6s were with PoraOra, to the point of ushering a collective groan every time the bell signals the end of the lesson.

      My Horses

Learning Through Games

This is a great TED Talk on how powerful the the learning is that takes place in when playing MMPOG.
Our World of Warcraft students are a great example of this. The learning that has taken place in-game, since January is exponential. This doesn't even take into account the additional learning they have engaged in through the novel study element of the club.

Games aren't bad and yes books are still good!

Presenting Our WoW Project

Last Saturday we had the privilege of presenting our WoW project at the Social Learning Summit .  My co-presenter, who is a 12th grade WoW expert, and myself were really excited about sharing our experiences and those of our students in the club so far. The session was only 30 minutes long so it was a bit of a rush and we couldn't delve into things too much, but we managed to cover the important points. Hopefully through our sharing session we managed to spark an interest in other teachers.

There are two things that really stand out upon reflection on this project. The first is the ability of a blogging platform to facilitate the writing process, and enable students to collaborate, and teach others as they publish their ideas to the world.  The second is the way in a which a game environment not only helps students in thinking strategically, but also moves them towards directing and resourcing their learning.

Our students, took the initiative and began to research the WoW game. They  made it their business to visit and read through forums and wikis. They searched out and watched videos on the game, and they engaged in important discussions with other more experienced player's. Their appetite for learning kicked in and they became ravenous. Funny enough, at no point were they instructed to do so!

So the question is, if kids can turn on this need to learn more, and the appropriate web search and web evaluation skills are in place, enabling them to locate important resources and teach themselves, then how can we shift or redesign other learning experiences, in order to evoke a similar hunger, a similar response?

Speed Geeking!

On Saturday March 17^th The LRC and ICT Committee held the annual T4L or technology for learning morning.

After a lovely breakfast, courtesy of the school, staff were treated to a special keynote session live from London, on  3 trends in education.

Next, everyone engaged in a speed geeking session. Teachers spent 4 minutes at a station in a circuit of 13 stations and moved on to the next station each time the whistle was blown. During each stop they learned about a different T4L tool. Some of the themes included  less traditional teaching and learning tools such as World of Warcraft, Minecraft, Lego and incredibots, as well as newer tools including iPads and digital flip books. There were plenty more amazing ideas shared at this time. They are outlined in the copy of our program below. 

Next, staff members participated in 2 digital playground sessions in which they were able further explore the tools  they were most interested in.We chose two sessions as we had more topics than presenters and this allowed us to swap over between the two.

These were all dynamic learning experience, but what made these sessions even more exciting is that many of them were lead by our ABC students.We had a total of 17 students volunteer to run sessions, both speed geeking and in the digital playground. We gave them some guidelines, talked to them about what they could do and they took it from there. They were fantastic! Many members of staff came up to me after the fact to mention how impressed they were by what the students were doing. 

PLANNING

 A Google Site was created to house content for the session in the form of web pages, one per idea. The initail Google Docs planning was  also transferred over to the site. This included lists of students, activity rotations  and presenters, circulation maps and links to the program. Google Forms were used to collect attendee lists as well as after session feedback from teachers. This particular site is restricted to staff members only, but you can get a taste of some of the sessions by looking at a few of the pages which I cloned for my Inset Wiki.

Please check out our Flickr Set and Facebook Album for more on this great event!