Making things… Learning Things
"I am convinced that the best learning takes place when the learner takes charge…" –Seymour Papert
It's effortless to hop onto social media, whatever social media you interact with (for me it's primarily Twitter, Medium, WordPress, and news sources), and read through stories and ideas created by other people. In fact, I 'found' myself the other day after work having spent about 90 minutes straight on social media. But many other... Continue Reading →
Okay... indulge me! Try this experiment (and try it with your students, too!): Activity #1 - Think of a topic in which you have a strong interest, and broad, expert knowledge/skill. Then, search the web and find three really good sources of information for that topic. Activity #2 - Think of a topic in which... Continue Reading →
I received an email from a teacher colleague last week and it contained a single sentence--a question: "I wonder if you might give me your definition of modern literacies?" I was intrigued, not only by the question but also by the reason behind asking it (which she explained in a later email). In any case,... Continue Reading →
I did a little research because I didn't want to assume... But, as far as I can tell, many school districts in Canada and in the United States call a group of educators writing together a "writing team." They assemble writing teams to write curriculum resources for teachers, documents that promote best practices in assessment,... Continue Reading →
At this point in the information age, our personal digitals tools, data and valuable resources are often protected by a username and password combination. Maybe this will change in the future but currently, the task of remembering dozens or hundreds of passwords is a challenge. Many people I know use one, or just a few,... Continue Reading →
[Note: Updated, April 22, 2015] App Name - ScratchJr Cost - Free Website - http://www.scratchjr.org/ Tablets - iOS and Android Developed by - Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tufts University iOS Download - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/scratchjr/id895485086 Android Download - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.scratchjr.android What is ScratchJr? ScratchJr is a tablet app that young children can use to create simple programs such as stories, games and... Continue Reading →
In a recent blog post by @MatthewOldridge, he questions the 'whys' of learning to code. And rightly so, I think. If you are at all following educational trends, you are probably aware that people are seriously discussing the merits of coding/programming in terms of a new literacy. For example, you have probably seen all or part of this... Continue Reading →
Prensky's 'digital natives' and 'digital immigrants' dichotomy is just one current incarnation of the old "generation gap" cliché. Yes, I do concede that there might be a gap in the general knowledge and skills of what is happening in youth culture and what is happening in the culture of the parents of today's youth. I... Continue Reading →
Could critical thinking skills be learned as a self-extending system? Can children be taught how to think critically within an information literacy context? That is, it seems to be a consistent educational goal that students of all ages are able to critically evaluate the information that is conveyed to them. So, how does the ability... Continue Reading →
Making things... Learning Things 