Eclectic Technology

Jackie Gerstein has a number of posts that look at the Maker Movement, and in this post she discusses looks at two issues within the movement that have come to her attention through social media (quoted from post):

* Maker movement initiatives are often driven by more affluent white males.

* The maker movement is too often being associated with the tech stuff – Arduinos, Littlebits, Makey-Makeys – stuff that less affluent schools and community programs can afford.

Gerstein shares evidence that addresses each of these issues and then moves on to discuss how we can provide learners with maker opportunities at minimal costs. This portion of the post is divided into three sections:

* Changing Perceptions about Stuff

* Changing Perceptions about What Activities are Considered Making

* Changing Perceptions: Making is about a Mindset and a Process Not About Stuff

Her bottom line, let's focus on the act of making. If you are considering adding a maker corner to your classroom next year, or have the opportunity to work with learners this summer and would like them to become a part of the maker movement, take the time to peruse this post.

Jackie Gerstein has written quite a number of posts that look at The Other 21st Century Skills and Attributes. This post provides an infographic that includes two or three questions that you should ask yourself to see if you are 'facilitating these skills and attributes in the learning environment.

Gerstein also includes links to previous posts where she discusses the specific skills and attributes in more detail.

If you are interested in Maker Education this post from Jackie Gerstein is worth checking out. She provides three visuals, all of which are also put in ThingLink, so each has great resources linked to the image.

The three images are:

* Educator as a Maker Educator

* Perfect Storm for Maker Education

* A Making Reflection (designed for students this could be used in a variety of ways)

There is also a slideshare The Mindset of a Maker Educator that provides links to a range of materials.

It is rare that I curate two articles from the same author over two days. This post by Jackie Gerstein is an exception. Gerstein has been discussing Maker Education for quite some time and in this post she states:

"...recent discussions with other educators and administrators made me realize that the idea of maker education is often vague and seems unrealistic in terms of regular classroom instruction.  As such, in the future, I am going to associate and discuss Maker Education in the context S.T.E.A.M. – science, technology, engineering, arts (including language arts), math, hopefully, encouraging regular classroom teachers to integrate maker education projects into their classrooms."

What follows is a lengthy list of articles and other resources that may assist you in learning about Maker Education and moving you towards implementing it in your classroom. The image above is also a ThingLink image, and will provide you with links to the same articles.

Where is education going? What ideas are taking place now that are "disrupting" it to the point it will change? This post explores this, focusing on the following eight ideas.

1. Connectivity is replacing knowledge.

2. Students are clients.

3. Adaptive software can replace 75% of what a teacher does.

4. YouTube is way, way more engaging than reading and writing.

5. Reading and writing should be social.

6. The disruption of mobile technology will be complete.

7. Parent's don't understand teaching and learning.

8. Universities are decaying.

For more information on each of these click through to the post.

The world is changing at an ever growing pace and in todays world students need to learn "how to learn." How do we as teachers help our students learn "how to learn"? By modeling it in our daily work with our students we can instill the skills and help them understand that we too are in the process of learning. 

Jackie Gerstein provides a post that explores how our roles are changing and how the roles of our learners are chaning because of Education 2.0-3.0 (with a link to a post that describes this).  

What does "teaching the process of learning" mean? A few of her points are below:

• Modeling of learning processes needs to be intentional, strategic, and overt.
• The educator should be familiar with and able to demonstrate metacognitive processe.

This infographic illustrates how SAMR may be used as a framework as we move from Education 1.0 to Education 2.0 to Education 3.0. The actual post also includes a wide variety of links to additional resources.

Have you considered using the SAMR model as you develop new curriculum or revise curriculum. As you move up SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) Gerstein would say that Substitution and Augmentation are Education 1.0, Modification is Education 2.0 and Redefinition is Education 3.0.

For more information on these concepts click through to the post.

Jackie Gerstein reviews the skills identified by Tony Wagner as well as six additional skills and attributes she believes learners need today.  She then looks at a recent Gallup Poll that looks at Americans expectations of schools today. Quoting from the post:

"While student success may depend on mastery of content in core subject areas such as math and reading, it also depends on more than knowledge of core content. Critical thinking, creativity, communication, and other soft skills, as well as student physical and social wellbeing, are also necessary for future success in higher education and in the workplace. Americans Say U.S. Schools Should Teach “Soft” Skills"

The post continues and explores how the other 21st century skills may be classified as social-emotional skills and how the growth of these skills may positively impact students in other areas. As always Gerstein has provided a post that pushes boundaries and provides a variety of resources.

What questions can we ask ourselves to assess our "pedagogical principles and instructional preferences"? Jackie Gerstein provides a list (and the list as a table as shown above) to help you reflect on your practice. As she states the process may be "simple but not easy." You may answer the question but how do you change your practice so that you may implement it in your classroom?

Gerstein provides an interesting look at where education is and where education is going. She provides a look at research that shows that schools are "living within and functioning through an Education 1.0 model." She quotes an article that states "Essentialists argue that classrooms should be teacher-oriented. The teachers or administrators decide what is most important for the students to learn with little regard to the student interests. The teachers also focus on achievement test scores as a means of evaluating progress."

So what defines Education 2.0? "Education 2.0 includes more interaction between the teacher and student; student to student; and student to content/expert."

Education 3.0 moves us into a new direction, one that we are beginning to see. Content is free (think open educational resources) and readily available, It is more self-directed with a focus on creativity, problem solving and innovation.

As always there is a wealth of resources available in the post.

In this post Jackie Gerstein raises the question "if the research on the process of learning is compared to the practices being implemented in school, does this research influence school practices?"

After reflecting on her experience at school she shares five questions (shown in the image above) that will help guide learning:

* Is failure viewed as normal and as a productive part of the learning process?

* Is learning spaced out over time rather than crammed into a short time period?

* Are distractions during learning normalized?

* Is the learning practiced often and in a variety of contexts?

* Is the learning playful and fun? (especially important when one gets stuck at an impasse)

Each is discussed and there is also a link to a short video that provides a brief overview of learning from the book How We Learn by Benedict Carey.

Do you share current research on learning strategies with your learners? This post also references a post from Mind/Shift that discusses current learning strategies. Click through to the post to learn more and consider sharing this information with your learners as well as parents and staff in your school.

Finding great educational videos takes time...so I am always excited when I find a list of suggested video. Jackie Gerstein shares her top 11. They range from just over three minutes to about seventeen minutes. Below is  a list of the videos.

* Malala Yousuf Nobel Prize Speech

* Carol Dweck: The Power of Believing You Can Improve

* Sir Ken Robinson: Can Creativity Be Taught

* President Obama on the Whitehouse Maker Faire

* Toxic Culture of Education: Joshua Katz

* The necessity of the student voice | Catherine Zhang

* Rethinking Learning in the Digital Age – Mitchel Resnick

* If I Knew Then: A Letter to Me on My First Day Teaching

In this post Jackie Gerstein states "to fully understand the purpose of school, the history of its evolution as an institution needs to be understood." After this is discussed she provides refers to an article that discusses "how to bring our schools out of the 20th century."

The next section shares quotes from a wide range of people on schooling. Three are below.

* Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.  Albert Einstein

* Knowledge that is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Plato

* Education is one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.  Bertrand Russell

She then looks at the messages sent out by our current school system and asks if we are questioning "What is the purpose of school?"

In fact, there are 8 questions that are raised in this post. You can find them in the image above, or you may click through to the post.

As an educator do you think of yourself as a design thinker? This visual by Jackie Gerstein shows how you impact your class and focuses on some of the areas we should consider as we design curriculum and work with students in our classrooms. You will also find links to a number of additional resources, including a great toolkit put out by IDEO that is geared to teachers in K-12.

Have you considered how empathy may be an important component of your classroom? Should it be a "concern of educators"? Should it be "intentionally used as a primary instructional strategy?"

This post looks at these questions and provides a number of definitions for empathy as well as benefits of empathy in teaching and learning. There is also an excellent short animated video from RSA Shorts - The Power of Empathy.

Although our jobs as educators is to teach our students we must also be aware of their other needs. In this post Jackie Gerstein explores how Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs intersects with education and technology. The infographic above (from the post) shows how each of the area of needs intersects with technology and some of the 21st century learning skills.

The post looks at each area Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and provides additional information in the six areas that may be addressed through technology. (Physiological needs, the base of the needs, is not addressed via technology.)

As we look at education today ask yourself does the process support students ability to dream their vision? Do we promote a vision of the future as they move through the school system (and think K - 16)?

This post explores these issues and provides resources to help you explore them.

Find a link to Seth Godin's book Stop Stealing Dreams (What is School For?). Check out a video where students share their dream of the future. Consider the guiding questions provided to help your students think about the future (and see two answers from students in Grades 5-6). There are many resources to help you and your class think about this issue and how it relates to the 21st century.

This great visual shares Jackie Gerstein's look at the 21st century skills suggested by Tony Wagner. Along with the four listed above, effective communication, critical thinking and problem solving, curiosity and imagination, and agility and adaptability learn a bit more about:

* Collaboration across Networks

* Initiative and Entrepreneurship

* Grit and Perseverance

* Resilience

* Hope and Optimism

* Vision for the Future

* Empathy and Global Stewardship

* Self Regulation

Gerstein has written more on each of these areas and links to her work are also available on this post.

Are you interested in learning more about how grit is a 21st century skill? Jackie Gerstein provides an in-depth look at grit in this post. You will find an image with a great definition, a TED Talk by Angela Duckworth on grit, as well as a link to a quiz that allows you to measure your grit level compared to others, and a list of some of the "characteristics or dispositions of Grit."

Perhaps you are asking yourself how can I work grit into my classroom? 

For example, project based learing, or having students work on independent study projects (think passion-driven) provide opportunities for students to use some of the dispositions discussed, such as tenacity, self-control, self-discipling and long-term goal oriented. 

As always, there is a robust list of additional resources.