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Playing with Glogster

When I'm not swimming in the turgid waters of middle school discipline as the Dean of Students, I'm wearing that other swimming cap I deal with -- Technology Integration Specialist. As I told another colleague, our students are digital natives who swim in technology with ease. They perform the backstroke, breaststroke, and crawl with the zero effort; we, on the other hand, swim as though we have a large rock tied to one foot. The trick is practice -- never stop swimming, because to stop will mean to drowned. Part of my job is exploring and experimenting with technology, so I can continue to swim with the digital natives, even if it takes me longer to swim a lap.

Today's lap involved swimming with Glogster again. I came up with this work to share. I hope people enjoy it, the actual focus was not on the content itself, but rather the experience of using the tool. Glogster allows for hours of creativity and messing around, which can be shaped into hours of educational material, if used correctly and with some teacher creativity. One of KIS's art teachers, Sarah Digges, is using it as a reflection tool in the artistic process.

Often times teachers come to me asking for advice about technology and the best advice I can and do give is "Don't be afraid to jump into the deep end of the pool with those digital natives." You will find that the laughs you hear from them are not because of your inept skills, but because of their joy in sharing and learning with you.

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Twitter for Educators

I field a bunch of questions about Twitter from teachers. What is it? What is it for? How do you use it? Why do you use it? Twitter links for Educators is a great place to get started using Twitter, if you aren't already. It is also an excellent places to gather ideas of other things you could do with Twitter that you may not be doing. The information is clear and the ideas practical. As for my self, I use Twitter as part of my Personal Learning Network (PLN) and a general networking tool. For example, I met Aron Solomon, the head of Think Global School, through Twitter. I have several other Apple Distinguished Educators and Technology Integration Specialists in my network.

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So Your School is Blocking Facebook, eh?

"Free the technology! Free the technology! Free the technology!"

This should be the chant in front of every administrators' door. For those that are in schools where Facebook is blocked; where cell phones and iPods are banned; where the future as been shoved in a closet with a blanket thrown over its head and beaten with a metal bat -- the chant of, "Free the technology" must be heard. Your students are being short changed. They will not be prepared for the future. Share this link with your administration: One Hundred Ways to Use Facebook in the classroom. That's right -- 100! Count them baby! How many way can you use that textbook? Go ahead now, count the ways... Is it 100? NO!

One of the things I love about Korea International School is the freedom given to teachers by the administration. The administration trusts teachers to make wise, professional, educational choices with technology. Because of that trust, our students are learning and growing with technology. When they compete for university acceptance and jobs with other students, they will be ahead of the game, not behind. I have to give a great big thank you to Rich Boerner, Robin Schneider, David Christenbury, Shane Kells, Bruce Roadside and Dan Choi for creating an environment of innovation and collaboration about technology. Without their continued support and trust, our exploration and experimentation with technology would not be possible nor feasible. Thank you gentlemen!

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Prezi and Glogster

This is a suggestion... Wait! No, this is a command to immediately drop everything and anything you are doing and check out Prezi and Glogster. I'm serious here. Why are you still reading? Get to it! Both sites are unbelievable and incredibly interactive.

Prezi allows you to develop presentations vastly superior to PowerPoint or Keynote with the added advantage of being stored online so you can edit or present from anywhere with any computer as long as you have Internet access. Prezi allows movement -- zooming and panning, lines and pathways, text boxes, photos, and video clips. The layout is on a giant canvas that you design and control. The final products are visually stunning and make a powerful impact on audiences. Students will love the freedom to explore and experiment placing items on a giant canvas and having the presentation move around to each new location. Teachers who want to get their students attention should try this website.

Glogster is a powerful blogging tool. It also provides a canvas for the artistically inclined to place graphics, text boxes, images, audio files, video players, and links in creative and original ways. You can use a template or build your own from the ground up. (What? Virtual ground, I guess... My metaphors are cliche dangerously outdated.) However, unlike Prezi, the idea here is to post and have visitors, rather than use it for presentations. But now that I'm thinking of it, Glogster could be used for a presentation tool as well. I plan to use it as a blogging platform for my classes in the future, because I will be able to teach elements of layout and design at the same time. Plus, the students will love the freedom of having text, audio, and video to share their thoughts.

Regardless, both websites offer ample opportunities to explore self expression through technology and I hope that educators will start using these tools with their students. One of the joys of working overseas in a private school is the freedom to experiment and grow as an educator. I'm proud of my administration for not falling into the trap of slapping handcuffs on the technology by making silly rules and blocking websites. Teachers need to fight for the right to use these technologies in the classroom and it is high time that the unions back home step up to the plate with teachers and demand the administrators and school boards fund and allow technology in the classroom. Anything less is criminal.

   

Click here to download:

Prezi_and_Glogster.zip (1121 KB)

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Think Global School

12 trimesters, 12 different international cities, a 1:1 Mac environment -- an incredible education -- that is the Think Global School experience, or at least it will be starting in the fall of 2010. I had an amazing opportunity last night to network, brainstorm, collaborate, and interview with Aron Solomon, the CEO & Head of TGS. (He also picked up the tab on dinner; great guy, right?) TGS will take group of students and a team of teachers around the world over the course of four years. The idea is innovative; the logistics laborious; the energy exciting, but no matter what happens, it will be one amazing adventure for those who are bold enough to take the journey. There will be homesickness and culture shock on a grand scale, but there will also be truly global citizens immersed in a real global education.

Some ideas that were discussed during the meeting -- a travel magazine by young adults, for young adults. They students will be traveling to these 12 cities and can use their experiences to build a wonderful magazine targeted at their age level. Who knows better about what teens are interested in when they travel than other teens. The goal could be to publish one edition every trimester and over time, as the program grows into its full four years, different sections could focus on different cities -- surfing in Sydney and shopping in Hong Kong. After talking with Aron, my ideas really started flowing; his love of education and openness to innovation were infectious (but not in a scary H1N1 sort of way). One step further from the magazine idea, an on going podcast, or full television series, with the same travel magazine idea at the core. There must be some companies dying to advertise on a program like that, right?

Something that came to me after the meeting was the opportunity for the school to be a traveling Apple Training Center. During the first year, students could be trained and certified on Apple programs. Then they could train host-school students and teachers on iLife and iWork products while borrowing the host-school's physical structures. Talk about win-win situations and collaboration!

Cheers to Aron! Thanks again for dinner, conversation, and one gigantic, great idea about what education can/should be in the future.

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