EducampHB

What a great weekend hosted by Juliet Revell, Matt o'Dowda, Kieren Moriarty at he magnificent Richmond school in Napier! Here are the links to the wikispace, photostream  and google doc, thanks to Juliet. I  have also added my Storify.

http://educampnz.wikispaces.com/EducampHB

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1_xikWzRY6kfmzt9h3hoCrn8MrOELTNh8C5jfkO1Vfmk/edit#slide=id.gc5baa566_60

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96239365@N03/

Core Education 10 Trends

#gafecommunity

Minecraft - Lego Revisited?

I'm not keen about games, least of all card games; I haven't got the patience. I'd rather read.  As a child I played with dolls and occasionally stuff like Scrabble and Monopoly.  My own children favoured their Lego set and it's one thing I keep in the toy cupboard even though they've left those toys far behind.

I loved watching my children play.  Lego became a place where new communities were created and where they were lost for hours, completely mesmerised by the infinite power of their imaginations.  So it was with some intrigue that I had a second look at Minecraft after a student described it to me as "sorta like Lego."

Last year I discovered that a couple of students had downloaded the game and used it in class when they were meant to be on task doing something "educational."  I found the icon on the desktop of one of their classroom's computers. I asked about it and other students in the class "pimped" on the culprits.  Short of time, I asked the guilty parties whether they considered the game to be educational and they, looking at their feet, admitted that they'd been mucking around.  The game was duly deleted from the programme cache.  And life continued.

But I was curious.  What was this game?  Articles, blogs and links on Twitter started to appear.  I was already convinced that digital technology had its merits not least because it attracted students.  Blogging had been a successful tool in my writing programme because of its ability to reach a global and authentic audience. Lots of other applications were integrated into my teaching programme.  Games but not gaming.  The latter was not yet for me an "educational application".

And Minecraft?  It sounded like a war game.  Until David told me, "Mine means dig.  Craft means build.  Like Lego."

Time for a closer look.

cc image http://jetthebuizel.deviantart.com/art/SQUIRTLE-IN-MINECRAFT-256680688

From Hyperspace to Hyperlink

I read this blog post last night after following a link on Twitter – “Social Media for Administrators” - http://georgecouros.ca/blog/archives/2867 :

“There can no longer be an “opt out” clause when dealing with technology in our schools, especially from our administrators. We need to prepare our kids to live in this world now and in the future. Change may feel hard, but it is part of learning.  We expect it from our kids, we need to expect it from ourselves.”

There have been some key markers for me that have made me become a successful digital immigrant; though maybe I’m one of the early colonists. 

For a start, I’ve always liked science fiction.  I was an avid viewer of Star Trek right from the sixties and ingested sci fi novels at a great rate from the age of about eight.  I became aware of the way real life imitated art: Asimov’s “I Robot” was influential in the development of robots.  The flip phone and tablet had their early equivalents on Star Trek.  

Also impressive were the messages the series gave this young viewer: the importance of connecting, communicating and collaborating.  Like the NZ Curriculum vision, their vision was to value being:

a)     Confident - positive in their own identity, motivated and reliable, resourceful, enterprising (sic) , entrepreneurial, resilient

b)     Connected - able to relate well to others, effective users of communication tools, connected to the land and environment, members of communities, international (inter-galaxy) citizens

c)     Actively involved - participants in a range of life contexts, contributors to the well-being of New Zealand (the universe)  – social, cultural, economic, and environmental

d)     Lifelong learners - literate and numerate, critical and creative thinkers, active seekers, users, and creators of knowledge, informed decision makers.

Alright, Captain Kirk had a bit of biffo regularly, but that was more to do with TV ratings.  What always stood out was that lack of fear of the new and unknown.

A lot like our kids.  They aren’t afraid to get out there and "boldly go where no one has gone before."  I watched my young daughter pick up the new pair of mobile phones, and after a few minutes announce that she’d worked out how to set up the address book and remotely send it to the other phone.  No fear of the alien at all!  This was another key moment, when I realised that I had to have that ability to explore, without fear of getting something wrong. 

At Learning At School 2012, Simon Breakspear said it: “Fail fast. Fail forward. Accelerate learning.” We learn from our mistakes, so make them quickly. http://www.slideshare.net/manaeducation/simon-breakspear-wrppa-keynote-2

Captain Kirk kept a log – we keep a blog.  The third key marker is being selected to go to a workshop about blogging.  I’d heard the term way back in 2004, but never seen one.  Instantly I was hooked! My class had a blog and published their writing.  Mum, Dad and Grandma in England could leave a comment.  Wow! The cluster map showed that we had hundreds of readers, and we were excited.  I remember one young writer’s eyes opening wide when she realised that her little post had received 235 hits.  It was empowering.

We connected with a class in Malaysia through our blog to find out what they thought was a healthy breakfast.  We followed the travels of our teacher aide through words, photos and video as she travelled through Asia.  What a way to study Vietnam!

The fourth marker was a slideshow using Photostory, recounting one young man’s experiences on athletics day, which he created with the collaboration of a buddy.  He communicated a story of photos with captions.  He was proud of the quality of the presentation, and he shared it with his mother.  All firsts.  She had never come to the parent interviews before.

The fifth marker has to be what I see in my household: three young women who communicate by text and Facebook.  We Skype when they are at uni.  We buy our groceries and do our banking online.  We research with Google rather than a set of encyclopaedia.  I have an iphone, ipad and laptop, and can never find a pen.  This is my present, and I’m charged with preparing students for a future that we can’t predict.

So fellow educators, it’s time to get on board the Enterprise.  It’s already on its way, and has been for a while.  Be one of those who “boldly go where no one has gone before.” Take that hyperlink.