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How to think about making especially in terms of a library.
- A Makerspace is not a one-size-fits-all kind of space.
- What are teachers already doing? What is already there, and how can we add to and augment it?
- Makerspaces in schools should connect to student’s authentic interests, or the experiences children have had.
- When students have to spend all their time fulfilling an external agenda, they don’t have a chance to learn how to create their own agenda. Teaching kids only what adults think they need to know can take up all the time kids need to explore what it is that they care about.
- But in the process of following their own interests, they’re going to develop a lot of other skills.
- School does some things well, but what I love about the library is that when I enter, I set the agenda.
- I am excited about Making in schools — it can be really great. But if the agenda for what needs to be Made is coming from outside the Maker, then that could be problematic.
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Lots of great math resources.
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Lots of math resources here.
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- Educators, Perkins says, need to embrace these same insights. They need to start asking themselves what he considers to be one of the most important questions in education: What's worth learning in school?
- These days, he says we teach a lot that isn’t going to matter, in a significant way, in students’ lives. There’s also much we aren’t teaching that would be a better return on investment. As a result, as educators, “we have a somewhat quiet crisis of content,” Perkins writes, “quiet not for utter lack of voices but because other concerns in education tend to muffle them.” These other concerns are what he calls rival learning agendas: information, achievement, and expertise.
- The information in textbooks is not necessarily what you need or would like to have at your fingertips.” Instead, even though most people would say that education should prepare you for life, much of what is offered in schools doesn’t work in that direction, Perkins says. Educators are “fixated” on building up students’ reservoirs of knowledge, often because we default to what has always been done.
- “Conventional curriculum is chained to the bicycle rack,” he says. “It sits solidly in the minds of parents: ‘I learned that. Why aren’t my children learning it?’
- Curriculum suffers from something of a crowded garage effect: It generally seems safer and easier to keep the old bicycle around than to throw it out.”
- Just as educators are pushing students to build a huge reservoir of knowledge, they are also focused on having students master material, sometimes at the expense of relevance.
- Unfortunately, if someone questions whether this expertise serves students well and instead suggests more life-relevant topics, Perkins says the common reaction is: “We’re sacrificing rigor!”
- Instead of building during the first 12 years of schooling toward expertise in an advanced topic like calculus that hardly ever comes up in our lives, Perkins says students can instead become “expert amateurs” in something like statistics — a rigorous topic that is also used in daily life. In fact, expert amateurism works great, he says, in most of what we do in our lives
- There’s no list of 1,000 things we must know or teach. Perkins says there would be no way to create a definitive list because there are lots of things worth learning at any given time or for a specialized career or even simply because we enjoy learning.
- “The fixation on the heap of information in the textbooks is itself part of the problem because the world we are educating learners for is something of a moving target,” he says.
- With high-stakes testing, he says, there’s a fixation on “summative” versus “formative” assessment — evaluating students’ mastery of material with exams and final projects (achievements) versus providing ongoing feedback that can improve learning.
- Perkins says he’s not surprised that so many people have trouble naming things they learned early on that still have meaning today or that disengaged students are raising their hands, asking why they need to know something.
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Teens and Technology 2013 Report
Showing posts with label maker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label maker. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 28, 2015
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 01/29/2015
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Scribbling Machines and a Learning Framework
So, I'm participating in this MOOC (massive online offering course) called "The Art of Tinkering" and it's awesome... most of the time. This particular MOOC is being put on by The Exploratorium in SF, an outstanding, interactive museum. Today was one of those days where I felt like, "Oh, I love this! I'm learning how to build a scribble machine. I could totally do this with my students!" I was riding high and here's why:
Now, here is the thing. I felt comfortable making mistakes because I knew that was one of the learning objectives, so I was supposed to do that, but I was also successful on my first try. And, because I didn't have any other containers to work with, I figured, I'm done. I was not willing to try something more complicated. I wanted to end on a high note. How many other people feel this way? If you do something, and it works, how many of you want to try to do something else that might not work? I don't know the answer to this. But I do know that among the teachers I work with at school, about half would be ready to stop after a success and half would be willing to try something more difficult. And that says a lot! How do we push ourselves to overcome success and embrace challenge? Teachers are just as vulnerable as students and it's difficult to push each beyond their comfort zone. So how do we make challenges comforting?
The creators of this course ( and coincidentally, those who run The Tinkering Studio at The Exploratorium) suggest that it all has to do with stepping in at the right moment to help further develop understanding. The Learning Dimensions Framework that they offer up emphasizes four learning dimensions:
To me, the key to helping students succeed in each of these dimensions is to build relationships with them so you know who to push and who to guide more gently. I think most teachers understand relationships. But we need administrators and support staff who understand us and who can nurture our own learning. This fall I plan to roll out a digital tinkering elective. My goal is to help students find success among their frustrations and to allow for mistakes but to ultimately let them leave knowing that they have accomplished something amid those mistakes. My second goal is to get teachers interested in tinkering. It's not something many of us practice, but I think it's time we start. We need more time for trial and error and we need more people telling us that this is an intentional learning objective. That way, when we encounter frustration in other places, we can better handle it.
- The authors of this course have set it up in a way that they expect you to get frustrated and then push through it to learn. When I have to be frustrated as part of the learning process, then I'm ok with it.
- I was successful with building my machine on the first go round (for the most part).
Now, here is the thing. I felt comfortable making mistakes because I knew that was one of the learning objectives, so I was supposed to do that, but I was also successful on my first try. And, because I didn't have any other containers to work with, I figured, I'm done. I was not willing to try something more complicated. I wanted to end on a high note. How many other people feel this way? If you do something, and it works, how many of you want to try to do something else that might not work? I don't know the answer to this. But I do know that among the teachers I work with at school, about half would be ready to stop after a success and half would be willing to try something more difficult. And that says a lot! How do we push ourselves to overcome success and embrace challenge? Teachers are just as vulnerable as students and it's difficult to push each beyond their comfort zone. So how do we make challenges comforting?
The creators of this course ( and coincidentally, those who run The Tinkering Studio at The Exploratorium) suggest that it all has to do with stepping in at the right moment to help further develop understanding. The Learning Dimensions Framework that they offer up emphasizes four learning dimensions:
- Engagement- time spent tinkering and displays of motivation
- Initiative and Intentionality- goal setting, seeking feedback, persisting through frustration, risk taking
- Social Scaffolding- requesting help, inspiring new ideas, physically connecting to others' work
- Development of Understanding- expressing realizations, offering explanations for outcomes, applying knowledge, striving for understanding
To me, the key to helping students succeed in each of these dimensions is to build relationships with them so you know who to push and who to guide more gently. I think most teachers understand relationships. But we need administrators and support staff who understand us and who can nurture our own learning. This fall I plan to roll out a digital tinkering elective. My goal is to help students find success among their frustrations and to allow for mistakes but to ultimately let them leave knowing that they have accomplished something amid those mistakes. My second goal is to get teachers interested in tinkering. It's not something many of us practice, but I think it's time we start. We need more time for trial and error and we need more people telling us that this is an intentional learning objective. That way, when we encounter frustration in other places, we can better handle it.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Maker Faire 2014 Reflection
This weekend my family and I visited Maker Faire in the Bay Area for the second year in the row. What an amazing experience! My husband, a middle school math teacher, and I walked through on Saturday just marveling at the spirit and energy of each person attending the fair. We attended several talks at the Education Stage and then meandered through the plethora of interactive exhibits. If you like to make ANYTHING (bread, robotics, gardens, model trains, etc), this should be a must! Even our 21 month old son had a great time.
This led me to think. What can I make? I know the answer to that. So then I thought, I wonder what our faculty can make? Could we create a PD day where we host a Maker Faire of our own and teach one another how to garden, sew, solder, woodwork and more?
Below are images and captions from the fair that I found inspiring.
This led me to think. What can I make? I know the answer to that. So then I thought, I wonder what our faculty can make? Could we create a PD day where we host a Maker Faire of our own and teach one another how to garden, sew, solder, woodwork and more?
Below are images and captions from the fair that I found inspiring.
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| How's this for a pony ride? Using mobility cart bases with plastic ponies! |
The images below were taken at the Castilleja School's booth. Check out their Bourn Idea Lab for more information on how they made each of these projects.
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| American history monument designed using SketchUp. |
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| Microscope built using a laser cutter. |
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| Calculus project |
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| 3-D printed art project with ties to sixth grade ancient history. |
The remaining pictures just made me think, "I bet I could do that, better take a picture to inspire myself."
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| A bubble machine that provided endless entertainment for our family. |
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| I can cook and sew, but I can't do anything with an Arduino...yet. |
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| I have enough ripped jeans. Could I make this? |
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| Old ties = new belt |
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| Lamps made from a laser cutter. |
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| Marble run made using popsicle sticks. |
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| Another marble run |
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| Those crazy cupcakes. Could this be a Halloween outfit?! |
Thursday, May 8, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 05/09/2014
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An alternative to Hapara.
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Maker meets PE? You decide.
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- There are a few things in this world that will help you be an effective teacher. There’s hard work, loving what you do, and an attention to detail.
- These ideas are broad and simple but useful.
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Intriguing site lets students or teachers read along to stories with audio, movie-style soundtracks or create their own soundtracks for creative writing assignments. Includes a few sample lesson plans for using the site with elementary, middle, or high school students.
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Site lets users create interactive maps of any location. Users add pins, then share stories or information, images, etc. Could be a good tool for students learning about historical places, local communities, etc. Also a good tool for writing short expository texts.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Monday, April 28, 2014
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 03/19/2014
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Become a Google Educator by completing these lessons and passing the exams.
Monday, March 3, 2014
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 02/12/2014
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- what can you do in your classroom or your school the day after that you couldn’t do the day before?
- my school adopted a new approach to Educational Technology Integration. We're following an unconference model, and this has meant that we meet weekly, for no more than 1/2 an hour, in small, constantly-changing groups. Before these meetings, staff announce (via the school intranet) what sessions they might be running.
- Staff can then pick a session that suits their fancy - or their professional needs - and these small groups are constantly revolving as people share their new skills with each other.
- ‘How will what I’ve learnt change my practice?’
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Monday, February 10, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 02/11/2014
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- Traditional academic disciplines still matter, but as content knowledge evolves at lightning speed, educators are talking more and more about “process skills,” strategies to reframe challenges and extrapolate and transform information, and to accept and deal with ambiguity.
- Creative studies is popping up on course lists and as a credential.
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Thursday, January 30, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 01/31/2014
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TED lessons to support your curriculum.
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Excellent site for STEAM curricula and maker projects.
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Large grants for teacher teams.
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Options for teachers and information about how to apply for these grants and workshops.
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 01/23/2014
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Raspberry Pi is a small affordable computer that students can learn to program themselves. Here is a great review of how it works.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 01/16/2014
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What grammar indicates about a person's competencies.
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Why tough love works and why it matters.
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Another DIY video site with instructional videos as well as advice videos.
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Checklists and organization strategies for everything!
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DIY dedicated site.
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Helpful article for considering how teachers can learn from their own lessons. The samples from current teacher blogs are very impactful.
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Storyboarding tool with stock images and the option to import one's own images.
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Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 01/15/2014
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Physics game using magnets and angles.
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Great infographic on how three different generations interact with technology.
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 01/10/2014
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Virtual tours of natural landmarks as well as museums and man-made landmarks.
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What's replacing Facebook for this younger generation?
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- #1) Use a normal, natural voice
- #2) Speak only when students are quiet and ready
- #3) Use hand signals and other non-verbal communication
- #4) Address behavior issues quickly and wisely
- #5) Always have a well-designed, engaging lesson
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Possible lessons for LS World Cultures program.
Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Educational Resources & Tech Tools 01/09/2014
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This is an interactive site whereby students can learn how different elements affect weather patterns.
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This is a 10 step list on how to achieve goals in the new year. Very tangible steps.
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Writing resources for teachers. Resources include games, exercises and interactive text generators.
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Sugata Mitra's framework for creating self-organized learning environments.
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Two great social studies websites included in here with lots of primary sources.
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How to create a mini-maker space. Good for classrooms
Wednesday, December 25, 2013
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