Click On the picture to View and Hear my Podcast Empowering Learners and engaging them with relevant, meaningful tasks that instills literacy skills is always a positive for me! Five Stars goes to Apple for making the apps I used on my MacBook to share this podcast so functional and user friendly. As I develop my own products in this course, I've been reflecting on how I am transforming my own learning by using technology, and am inspired to share this knowledge with my peers and students. I love what April Requard mentioned on her blog: "Its always about finding the right tool for the right project." (https://appsolutelyapril.com/tag/garageband/).
As I use more tools and enhance my knowledge of technology, I'm beginning to see how I am moving through the SAMR stages of technology. Moving toward the "Modification" and "Redefinition" stages of SAMR, truly requires experience, and practice with diverse tools to creatively design! The "know how" of mixing media takes skills and experience before you intuitively discern which apps and tools will create the desired outcome and effects for your project. Creating an auditory recording of my voice in Garageband was a new task for me. I haven't used auditing tools for quite some time, and Garageband has definitely changed over the years. The first stages of completing this podcast relate to the substitute stage of SAMR where I was simply using this tool to present my information verbally. Its not until I took what I created in Garageband, and mixed in some background music then uploaded it to iTunes and posted it with a picture cover that my learning moved toward augmentation. In reaching the modification stages, I transferred my iTunes file into "Keynote" , and added some visuals using the Keynote tools.. Finally, I uploaded my Keynote to Youtube to share privately with my class, and peers. I'm not sure I reached the final stages of SAMR... maybe if I created my own music, rather than borrowing music from Garageband but this is a very empowering experience that I will share with my learners. The following videos are examples of how students could use media arts skills in other subject areas. My Experience with the Screecasting tool... "Explain Everything" Screencasting can be used to explain your learning to others, or to explain how to do something, I used Explain Everything with the absolute wrong tools... However, I was able to create a somewhat mangled video that has odd "ironic" blipps in it. I say this is ironic because the app I'm explaining how to create is an augmented reality creating app called "Blipper" ( I felt like I was in an augmented reality while creating this video). Truth be told this is my first time ever creating a screencast and although my product is not the best, as you can barely see anything I'm pointing my tiny little mouse at, and in my nervousness say: "weblice" instead of "weblist", I learned a lot. First, I am going to purchase an ipad, because it is the best compatible mobile tool for my Macbook for filming. I have to say I'm really impressed with some of the features of Explain Everything, including the ability to pause during recording and go back and "redo" sections. I haven't mastered any of the features, but feel compelled when not pressed for time to try again with an ipad rather than my Samsung s7 phone. My task was to create a 1 min. video.. mine is almost 2 min.... a whole extra minute of pain and anguish... smiles. MY Take on Screencasting: I feel that screeencasting has many uses in the classroom. and to extend beyond the classroom. It is a great way to share the learning with parents. New technology is changing the way literacy is required, and I believe that screencasting can be integrated across the curriculum in computational thinking, writing, and reading tasks. Using screen-casting tools, students can record and illustrate readers theatre presentations, share a piece of writing, listen to it, and go back and edit it, and provide instructions, and a sequence of steps which relates to the computational thinking curricular areas. Using this kind of technology increases motivation and engagement and builds a sense of collaboration and community. As well, screencasts provide an outlet for global literacy and sharing. This is both an audio and visual means of communicating, and if used to explain the steps in doing something, as I have just done, relates to critical and computational thinking and offers students a product to reflect upon, and inspire goal-setting and self-regulation as a part of the presentation process. Although I have had difficulty this first time creating this using "Explain Everything" app, there are many other tools that can be used and I'm looking forward to sharing and exploring them with learners in the classroom! Students find technology exciting and are more motivated to engage with learning and stay on task, Using new digital-literacy tools for screencasting is an excellent way for educators to motivate students to be not only consumers of information like Youtube, but producers and creators in sharing their knowledge and information. I have a clearer vision now for how to provide the ingredients of a flexible, multi-tasking, library that collaboratively that I hope will serve all the school community needs: This is only my vision, my perspective, and requires input and collaboration with students, teachers, and administration. I've tried to provide space for this collaborative input...
The Library Should have:
The New Media Consortium 2017 report outlines trends relating to technology regarding strategies in learning, inquiry, operations in research, and informational management services that are expected to drive the transformation of libraries. It serves as a reference & technology planning guide for libraries, as it outlines different technology trends and developments and their relevance to the transformation of academic and research Libraries. This document includes definitions of 7 Technology Categories monitored by NMC (see table excerpt from the 2017 report below) and through expert input focuses on providing an overview of 6 pertinent developments extrapolated from these 7 categories that foster change in technology. Furthermore, this document presents 6 trends accelerating technology adoption, includes a timeline for each trend and development to occur, and a 3 tiered rating scale for the challenges of implementation of these technology trends: "Solvable Challenges", "Difficult Challenges", and "Wicked Challenges". I've synthesized and summarized the 6 tech developments, and trends they outline with the benefits challenges and timelines summarized from the NMC Report in the tables of created and included below. Beside each of these tables I've commented on the relevance of these trends and developments to my library changes and challenges. 7 Technology Categories monitored by NMCThe Technology Developments fostering Change in libraries that are highlighted in the light green rows in the below table, are developments I believe to be "solvable", because I presently have the skills, tools, and resources at the School/District level to apply changes with minimal challenges in the short term. Making Digital technologies accessible, helping students with digital literacy, digital citizenship, and managing their digital footprint all seem possible to accomplish in the next 3 yrs. with little external support or extra training. The Challenges presented by the light green rows are manageable with on-going networking, collaboration, and professional development opportunities for myself, teachers, and students. The dark green highlighted areas in both tables are technology developments, and trends that I feel present "wicked challenges" and "difficult challenges" as they require "visionary leadership" and professional development in helping library staff to "envision new solutions and thrive in an evolving environment" (p. 35) extensive district support, trained experts, building partnerships with other libraries and the revamping of informational data bases, so that research systems operate together harmoniously where data may be exchanged seamlessly across institutions sectors and disciplines needs to be implemented. Reducing costs, by sharing findings, funders, and steak-holders, requires radical change with considerations of intellectual freedoms, open education resources, and prioritizing platforms for integrating future technology advancements. In meeting the developments and trends of the dark green rows, it is important to consider the role of the library and librarian, possible collaborative efforts and projects with external district libraries for adapting consistent, accessible, safe, secure and unified organizational designs for managing data in relation to new technologies in BC's public schools. These dark green highlighted areas, I believe, will present "wicked" and "difficult" challenges in the transformation of my Library. The "Trends Accelerating Technology Adoption" that are highlighted in the light green rows are developments I believe to be "solvable" and sometimes perhaps "difficult" challenges for my library. Through coursework, on-going professional development opportunities, and the exploration of diverse tech tools, and resources, I believe I'm developing a vision, and knowledge in how to create library spaces that leverage technology and provide for active hands-on innovative learning (UDL, PBL, Maker-spaces, STEAM, SMAR). Making Digital technologies accessible, helping students with digital literacy, digital citizenship, and managing their digital footprint all seem possible to accomplish in the next 3 yrs. with little external support or extra training.
I feel the challenge for me is developing processes, creating schedules, making spaces, and introducing resources that meet the needs of all users. Finding relevant data from teachers, and students to make relevant changes to spaces is imperative. Curating on-line spaces and prioritizing physical spaces based on user needs, interests, and expectations while considering all stake-holders is my biggest challenge. Making these spaces feasible, less costly by considering long-term innovations, and purposeful research to gain insights to the advancements of curation, research tools, and data storing technology possibilities. I must ask myself after collaborating and creatively collecting valuable input from all the important "Peeps": How can I creatively remodel virtual and physical spaces for short and long term agendas that align with curriculum, student interests, teacher pedagogical approaches, and school/district/community initiatives in both the short and long term.
Introducing Relationships and Defining the Terms:
Both of these terms are found in the ADST curriculum; Arguably, the defining qualities of these terms are inherent in all curriculum content areas and grades. "Computational Thinking" and "Robotics" involve understanding, disseminating and deconstructing the parts to piece together and create a whole new design. Both involve understanding the pieces to create a whole. These terms imply ways to think, plan, and do by harnessing technology, using design, process, sequences, innovation, coding, and problem solving. In learning the applications, and processes inherent to these terms, you are learning to build life long skills and behaviours to manage and solve and support complex inter-disciplinary problems using creative thought and hopefully achieving innovation while harnessing technology for progressive designs to meet cutting edge societal needs. Instilling the skills of Robotics and Computational Thinking across curriculum content and grades empowers and accelerates innovation and designs across disciplines and instils the skills necessary to be progressive in the 21st century technology age. The incentives of computational design thinking and robotics are ultimately the same: to design a product using materials and pieces to provide symbolic representations or concrete visual behavioural responses to affirm that one’s goals in design have been accomplished, which is the essence of the new BC ADST Curriculum content. Curriculum Connections There are differences in how frequent “Computational Thinking” and “Robotics” are referred to in the BC Curriculum across content and grades. Computational thinking and fluency is integrated throughout all grades and in many curriculum content areas. In contrast, Robotics is mainly focused in the ADST curriculum areas and doesn’t become a part of the curriculum content until grade 6. After doing a curriculum search for Robotics and Computational Thinking. Primary Connections The curriculum does not use the term “Robotics” in the early grades, although computational ideas of decomposition and breaking numbers and patterns into parts definitely relates to computational fluency and is the beginning skills of programming. Although the curriculum does not explicitly use the “robotics” and “computational thinking” language in the primary grades, connections to the primary curriculum include using patterns and sequences and the processes of decomposition and breaking wholes into smaller parts are inherent in programming and building a code. Robotics may also connect to the ADST primary curriculum in that you can use basic apps like “Makey Makey” to ideate and create and explore building designs with robotic technology. Students in the primary grades would benefit from vocabulary front loading and free exploring, as they will make greater gains than we could imagine in a short amount of time with simple introductions and peer mentoring and collaboration to coding and robotic technology using basic patterns, sequences and programming tasks, using simple directional language and symbols. Middle Grade Connections Robotics has connections to only the ADST curriculum in grades 6 through to 10, and relates to Computational Thinking in that a Robot is described in the curriculum as “a machine capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically” or, in other words, a machine capable of being programmed. Programming a robot to follow a series of steps requires computational thinking: pattern recognition, sequences, and creating algorithms. The Robot’s response to the students programming provides for opportunities to view the program sequences visually, and continue to progress with more innovative complex sequences and programming goals based upon their observation of the Robots expected or unexpected behaviour response to the program or code. Computational fluency within the programming framework is accelerated when you have a visual robot model to perform the steps and confirm if your “code” meets your intended goal. What was Surprising in my inquiry and Curriculum Term Search!!! I discovered that the combination of terms “Computational fluency” and “Computational Thinking” don’t appear in the BC Curriculum document until grade 4. Big ideas in grades 4 to 6 are developing computational fluency through patterns and relations, using simple algorithms, visual representations of programming and languages. Another layer is added to the curriculum Big Ideas in grades 7 to 8 where students are expected to use software programs and sequenced instructions that have obvious patterns that can be discovered and repeated by others. At this level, students are practicing to break problems into small pieces and represent this data using number systems, and visual programming using text-based and modular/block components. Using the App “Scratch” and “LEGO Mindstorms” help build and instill concrete visual examples of computational skills at this level. After grade 8 abstract symbols and decomposing patterns, and algorithmic thinking become more complex. Questions???? What are the curriculum connections to primary for these two terms and why us there no common language across the grades to draw attention to curriculum connections for "Robotics" and "Computational Thinking"? Isn't it important to create a common language to instill the notion of computational thinking and the basics of robotics at an early age? What language could be inserted that would help teachers make the computational, design, and programming/coding curriculum connections to the ADST curriculum across the grades? Being on the same page and formulating introductory language seems plausible and provides a foundation and expedites the learning and progress for the upper grades and ultimately our community. Tinkercad is an online tool for designing 3D objects. Although it requires an on-line connection, it is a program accessible for most all students beginning in the primary grades. I began exploring a design as part of one of my Queens coursework assignments. My design is a prototype for seating ideas in my library. I like the cross shaped bench that I puzzled together after making a duplicate of one bench. The cross shaped bench idea, could also work as a table with cushions for seating and students could share their Ipads while kneeling or leaning their back against it. I like the idea of having it as a bench too, for jigsawing mobile tables on wheels to work on projects in groups of two. I truly love the idea of creating prototypes using the Tinkercad tools, although I have to admit, it was definitely a learning curve for me and one I found very tedious at first. After exploring more than one tutorial, and videos that I found off the website and also on Youtube, i discovered how to look at my design from all angles, group my pieces together to make one object, insert colour, and holes using a variety of different 3D shapes, and explore the apps ability to manipulate the dimensions of my design. It is a program that keeps you tinkering for sure, and would be of great interest for many of the students in my grade 2/3 classroom. Not all but many... I think this a an excellent tool to make curriculum connections in intermediate grades and moving through all secondary levels of designing STEAM projects. I would be hesitant to use it in anything other than a brief overview of introducing the tools and the names of 3D objects in the primary grades; However, I can absolutely see many students in the primary classes wanting to play and design with this tool quite possibly on their own time or as part of a design challenge, and with mentoring, leadership, and role modelling from older students, I think the younger students would adopt more skills than we could imagine in a short amount of time. Curriculum connections to the grade three curriculum include describing, identifying the name and exploring the attributes of 3D objects including: spheres, cubes, prism, cones, cylinders. Tinkercad would allow students to identify and manipulate 3D objects when creating designs and provides opportunities for teachers to compare how rectangular prisms and cubes are the same or different, by allowing students to explore and manipulate these objects in a digital format. Understanding and manipulating dimensions, as well as flipping, and rotating, and repeating patterns while building objects using a variety of different shapes are all skills that are explored while using this on-line 3D design tool. This Tool is accessible, free and safe for the classroom. Students and teachers are offered free lessons and support videos, and the program is compatible with different file types allowing for the import and export of AR and to 3D printers. Teachers can create groups for students under the age of 13 and monitor their work. Make 3D dimensional objects for free using Tindercad with your mouse and then print out your prototype or design using a 3D printer. In my District and School, students and teachers have just been introduced to coding this past year. It is a very exciting time, and a huge learning curve for myself and many of my colleagues in learning how to integrate technology as a part of our pedagogical practice to meet the new BC Curriculum outcomes. For all teachers, I recommend visiting http://codebc.ca and https://code.org/where there is a wealth of information to help educators and parents get started in all ages and grades. My assignment in learning coding for this course begins with “Scratch”, which is an online application that educators use to engage students in computational thinking and can be integrated into a variety of subjects. “Scratch” teaches the basics of programming by using a drag and drop system of commands. This app allows students to build skills to become future programmers. In learning how to create new designs, students use systematic reasoning, creativity, innovation, logic, and gradually build on visual knowledge to introduce coding basics using blocks, while working collaboratively with others. The flexible programming allows students from ages 8 and up to create new and interesting projects and build visual stories, musical performances, games, and other animations. In our District Resource Centre, we have a box of “Scratch” cards, that offer challenges for this App, as well as books like "Helloruby", that are compatible and work using the tools of the “Scratch” App. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4ktPBNNw60 At my school, our primary students have been using a “Code and Go” Robot Mouse Activity set, which is much like “Bee-Bot”.These sets help students beginning in kindergarten learn how to code by developing directional language. Students begin by building the area with hands-on plastic puzzle pieces using one of the included paper maps as a guide. Then they place instructional cards down to help in the next step of programming the mouse to get to the cheese from its starting point. Students press the buttons on top of their mouse using the same sequence of their helping cards to program their mouse robot with a set of instructions using arrow, forward, and turn buttons to get the cheese. This process provides opportunities to problem solving, because if there is something wrong with the programmed sequence students must review their steps and find a solution by reprogramming their mouse until they have success. I began with this Robot Mouse activity in my grade 2/3 class, as it was an excellent introduction to coding, and way to teach directional patterns, using symbols to define a sequence with restraints, and decompose a task into smaller elements. Our District Resource Centre has purchased many Coding and Robot resources this past year to provide opportunities for primary and intermediate students to use the latest and greatest computational and logic building technology including: "Sphero’s" made by Apple and “Dash” and “Dot” Robots from the "Wonder Pack". “Learning to code can seem like a daunting prospect, especially if you don't know where to start. However, the development of toys such as the "Sphero SPRK" removes the uncertainty and fear by engaging users in a fun but easily understandable way through gradually building on visual knowledge to introduce coding basics.” (https://www.zdnet.com/product/sphero-sprk-edition/) Using the “Dash” and “Dot” robots offer a choice of being controlled by 4 progressively more difficult "Make Wonder" levelled Apps that gradually builds more complex coding and computational skills in the learner. Tablets, or other handheld devices may be used to pair the Robot to Bluetooth. Depending on which app you choose for your classroom will depend on the skill level and experience of your students and teacher, because the coding skills that each App teaches range from very basic steering maneuvers to quite complex logic and computational thinking. The four Wonder Apps to control “Dash” and “Dot” include: The “Go” App allows the user to turn on sounds, lights and steer the robot much like a remote-control car. This is a great start for students to learn the basics of using the Ipad to pair with the robot using Bluetooth functions. The “Path” App, introduces the idea of creating a path by programming your Robot by simply drawing a line with your finger, which helps students develop measurement and mapping scale skills. The “Blocky” App, is very much like Scratch in that students program the sequence for their robot to move, light up, and make noise by dragging and dropping block commands in a sequence of their choice. The “blocky” App, similar to “Scratch”, provides for problem decomposition, logical reasoning, and understanding algorithm design processes using symbols, pattern knowledge, and data sets. The Last “Wonder” App allows students to program and save their creations it is definitely recommended for older students. For me the concept of “Computational programming” becomes less abstract as students become more skilled in coding using more complex apps. All of these Apps/Robots/ and coding tools gradually build on visual knowledge to introduce coding basics. “Sphero", similar to “Dash”, “Dot”, and “Scratch” are all created for learner progression. These Apps allow students of all ages build skills in logic and computation using technology, innovation, and algorithms, for creative coding designs. o edit. |
AuthorI've been an educator for 14 years. I've worked with ELL, Aboriginal, Rural, Multigrade, and Urban, classrooms across all grades from K-12 in more than 8 communities in BC and Alberta. I believe in inquiry, and collaboration, and an ever-changing growing practice built upon reflection and a shared community vision. ArchivesCategories |