Presentation for today's session at NY/NJ Google Apps Summit. Also provided is an overview for the session.
The use of mobile devices in classrooms increases opportunities for
teachers and students to reflect upon their own learning. Through
leveraging cameras embedded into iPads, iPod touches and smart phones,
footage of classroom experiences can be archived for further analysis
and discussion.
Come see how the Morris School District is using
film and its use of Google Apps to focus a conversation on reflection
and personal growth
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Starting To Take Shape
Starting to provide a structure and vision for our design school. Thanks to @ahab6633 and @mylatinteacher for their assistance.
MHS intends to open a design school for the 2014-2015 school year. The MHS Design School will exists as a school within a school and serve as a hub for innovators at MHS and the larger community. At its core, the design school will focus on building student capacity to develop a process for producing creative solutions to any challenge. The Design School will also be rooted in the premise that students learn best by doing. Students will engage in self-directed inquiry and problem solving under the mentorship of faculty, staff, and community members.
The curriculum will employ an interdisciplinary approach to learning that blurs the lines between subject areas to engage learners in the inherent nuances and complexity of real-life issues. Our goal is to develop learners who refuse to narrowly define themselves according to a single subject area. Reversing the traditional sequence of industrial model learning, which is dependent upon building students’ knowledge up to considering a problem, Design School students will begin with their curiosity and define their lines of inquiry through observation and experimentation, backing into those needed components and required skills to address the problem. We will build relevance and meaning in learning from necessity. Students need opportunities to try on different hats to see what fits.
Consider an engineer, who needs to proficiency in Math and Science, but who also needs to be able to speak and write persuasively for their audience.
Much of traditional school is concerned with the past, teaching individual subject matters with a sense of history that may or may not have anything to do with the students and their lives. The MHS Design School is a school where the present and future are prized and celebrated.
Students will employ cutting-edge technology and leverage the power of living in a connected world to uncover real human needs, to inform their exploration and to fashion the world around them. Throughout the Design School experience, students will be free to experiment with their curiosity and imagination, ultimately, connecting their skills, gifts and passions to attend to something greater than themselves.
MHS Design School
MHS intends to open a design school for the 2014-2015 school year. The MHS Design School will exists as a school within a school and serve as a hub for innovators at MHS and the larger community. At its core, the design school will focus on building student capacity to develop a process for producing creative solutions to any challenge. The Design School will also be rooted in the premise that students learn best by doing. Students will engage in self-directed inquiry and problem solving under the mentorship of faculty, staff, and community members.
The curriculum will employ an interdisciplinary approach to learning that blurs the lines between subject areas to engage learners in the inherent nuances and complexity of real-life issues. Our goal is to develop learners who refuse to narrowly define themselves according to a single subject area. Reversing the traditional sequence of industrial model learning, which is dependent upon building students’ knowledge up to considering a problem, Design School students will begin with their curiosity and define their lines of inquiry through observation and experimentation, backing into those needed components and required skills to address the problem. We will build relevance and meaning in learning from necessity. Students need opportunities to try on different hats to see what fits.
Consider an engineer, who needs to proficiency in Math and Science, but who also needs to be able to speak and write persuasively for their audience.
Much of traditional school is concerned with the past, teaching individual subject matters with a sense of history that may or may not have anything to do with the students and their lives. The MHS Design School is a school where the present and future are prized and celebrated.
Students will employ cutting-edge technology and leverage the power of living in a connected world to uncover real human needs, to inform their exploration and to fashion the world around them. Throughout the Design School experience, students will be free to experiment with their curiosity and imagination, ultimately, connecting their skills, gifts and passions to attend to something greater than themselves.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Different Take?
Potential structure for our design school. This is just a rough rough skeleton. We do like the idea of changing the way we view/call students. Again, just a rough sketch of what we are thinking.
Year I Students- Apprentices
Year I would be anchored by metacognitive studies, idea of detox and design theory. Apprentices would engage in developmental design challenges such as the Sol LeWitt and Wikiseat Project. Additionally, Apprentices would assist upperclassmen on their capstone endeavors.
Year II Students- Journeyman
Journeyman would begin to design their own projects and still assist on other projects.
Year III Students-Forman
Students would design and serve as a project leader on a community inspired design challenge. Endeavors would be complex and take on an integrated approach.
Year IV Students- Designer
Designers would work on developing and following through on a capstone project. The capstone project could build off previous challenges and each Designer could be required to build a team.
Personally, I like the idea of using the following as a source of inspiration for our Designers:
“One of the most important things we can do is help young people find their way to be in service to something larger than themselves. Normally the only reason kids go to college or graduate school—and, in Wes Jackson’s words, the only real major offered—is upward mobility. But we fail to teach our children that service to something greater than themselves is far more likely to lead to a joyful and satisfying life, and one that is environmentally rich.... It all starts with the question: What’s the biggest and most important problem I can solve with my gifts and skills? Jensen, Derrick (2011-08-23). Walking On Water: Reading, Writing And Revolution (p. 45). Chelsea Green Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Year I Students- Apprentices
Year I would be anchored by metacognitive studies, idea of detox and design theory. Apprentices would engage in developmental design challenges such as the Sol LeWitt and Wikiseat Project. Additionally, Apprentices would assist upperclassmen on their capstone endeavors.
Year II Students- Journeyman
Journeyman would begin to design their own projects and still assist on other projects.
Year III Students-Forman
Students would design and serve as a project leader on a community inspired design challenge. Endeavors would be complex and take on an integrated approach.
Year IV Students- Designer
Designers would work on developing and following through on a capstone project. The capstone project could build off previous challenges and each Designer could be required to build a team.
Personally, I like the idea of using the following as a source of inspiration for our Designers:
“One of the most important things we can do is help young people find their way to be in service to something larger than themselves. Normally the only reason kids go to college or graduate school—and, in Wes Jackson’s words, the only real major offered—is upward mobility. But we fail to teach our children that service to something greater than themselves is far more likely to lead to a joyful and satisfying life, and one that is environmentally rich.... It all starts with the question: What’s the biggest and most important problem I can solve with my gifts and skills? Jensen, Derrick (2011-08-23). Walking On Water: Reading, Writing And Revolution (p. 45). Chelsea Green Publishing. Kindle Edition.
Saturday, March 2, 2013
I Want Kdis to Think
I want kids to think. This is what is most important.
This statement was shared during a classroom visit yesterday. It is a simple but yet powerful statement of what matters most. We want students to be able to think for themselves. We want students to think each and every day and spend time observing, reflecting and making sense of the world around them.
I hope we do not lose sight of this goal. I feel as if the past few weeks my focus has been on preparing for the PARCC exams and working with instructors to craft Student Growth Objectives (SGOs). A significant amount of talk has been about the new teacher evaluation system and specifically, evaluation percentages and developing algorithms to judge teacher effectiveness.
Again, I hope we do not lose sight of what matters most and that is helping mold independent and confident thinkers and as a former colleague used to say, those who live a wide-awake life.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Design School Manifesto
Further refinements to our design school manifesto. Feedback is welcomed....
Process Over Product
Even though the finished product is important, it is crucial that builders/designers/innovators reflect on the creative process and self-assess their growth.
Learning is Natural
We should give ourselves and each other permissions to; pay attention, listen deeply, listen differently and notice the unlikely.
Experimentation and Failure
Do not be afraid to fail. Embrace experimentations and the concept of prototyping. Failure is not punitive but instead an opportunity to learn, make adjustments and grow.
Consciousness Over Conditioning
Begin anywhere- John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
No End In Terms Of Growth
Love Your Experiments
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
Research Out Of Necessity
Research should be self-initiated
Everyone Is A Leader
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
Collaborate
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential. Embrace conflict, paradox and ambiguity.
Synthesis From Within
Learning Occurs Everywhere
Live the wide-awake life. Be mindful of your surroundings. Take time to stop, reflect, think, observe and analyze.
Nothing Is Ever Finished Or Permanent
Every movement leads to more questions. Always seek competing perspectives or view through a different lens. There are always questions to ask, improvements, places to go...
Go Deep
The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
Work The Metaphor
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
Work Is A Naturally Extension Of Your Life
Pursue happiness both in and outside of school. Work to blur the boundary between school and not school
Collective Will
Embrace the responsibility for helping one another to grow.
Design School Manifesto
Process Over Product
Even though the finished product is important, it is crucial that builders/designers/innovators reflect on the creative process and self-assess their growth.
Learning is Natural
We should give ourselves and each other permissions to; pay attention, listen deeply, listen differently and notice the unlikely.
Experimentation and Failure
Do not be afraid to fail. Embrace experimentations and the concept of prototyping. Failure is not punitive but instead an opportunity to learn, make adjustments and grow.
Consciousness Over Conditioning
Begin anywhere- John Cage tells us that not knowing where to begin is a common form of paralysis. His advice: begin anywhere.
No End In Terms Of Growth
Love Your Experiments
Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day.
Research Out Of Necessity
Research should be self-initiated
Everyone Is A Leader
Growth happens. Whenever it does, allow it to emerge. Learn to follow when it makes sense. Let anyone lead.
Collaborate
The space between people working together is filled with conflict, friction, strife, exhilaration, delight, and vast creative potential. Embrace conflict, paradox and ambiguity.
Synthesis From Within
Learning Occurs Everywhere
Live the wide-awake life. Be mindful of your surroundings. Take time to stop, reflect, think, observe and analyze.
Nothing Is Ever Finished Or Permanent
Every movement leads to more questions. Always seek competing perspectives or view through a different lens. There are always questions to ask, improvements, places to go...
Go Deep
The deeper you go the more likely you will discover something of value.
Work The Metaphor
Every object has the capacity to stand for something other than what is apparent. Work on what it stands for.
Work Is A Naturally Extension Of Your Life
Pursue happiness both in and outside of school. Work to blur the boundary between school and not school
Collective Will
Embrace the responsibility for helping one another to grow.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
Future Fabrication Lab
Thinking about building a few fabrication labs in our schools. A fabrication lab is a small-scale workshop offering digital fabrication. Activities in fabrication labs range from technological
empowerment to peer-to-peer project-based technical training to local
problem-solving to small-scale high-tech business incubation to
grass-roots research (http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/faq/). There is not a set list of tools, but generally fabrication labs contain the following resources:
1. Transformative Learning Technologies Lab (Stanford)- overview of what is a fab lab and shares information about FabLab@school, a partnerships between the university and schools.
2. Southview Middle School Gets Grip On Design With Dimension 3D Printing- highlights the experiences of 8th graders using 3D printers during the design process
3. Nike Debuts World's First Football Cleat Built Using 3D Printing- As a world's first, Nike introduces its next wave of football cleat innovation at the 2013 NFL Combine: new Nike Vapor Laser Talon, the first football cleat to use 3D printing technology.
6. Why I Love My 3D Printer
7. Scott Summit- The Future of 3D Printing
- CNC Machine
- 3D Printers
- Laser Cutter, Vinyl Cutter
- Milling Machine
- Programming Tools
1. Transformative Learning Technologies Lab (Stanford)- overview of what is a fab lab and shares information about FabLab@school, a partnerships between the university and schools.
2. Southview Middle School Gets Grip On Design With Dimension 3D Printing- highlights the experiences of 8th graders using 3D printers during the design process
3. Nike Debuts World's First Football Cleat Built Using 3D Printing- As a world's first, Nike introduces its next wave of football cleat innovation at the 2013 NFL Combine: new Nike Vapor Laser Talon, the first football cleat to use 3D printing technology.
The contoured plate of the cleat is fabricated on a 3D printer with
Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) technology. The SLS process uses
high-powered lasers to fuse small particles of materials into a
3-dimentional shape, allowing Nike to prototype a fully functional plate
and traction system which is impossible with traditional manufacturing
methods. In addition this also allows designers to update the design
within hours instead of months.
4. The Case for Campus Makerspace (Watters)- author makes a case for establishing makerspaces on college campuses
This is a very long-winded introduction to my case for the campus
makerspace. It's a case that invokes some of the educational practices
that we know work well: small group discussion, collaboration,
participatory, project-based, and peer-to-peer learning,
experimentation, inquiry, curiosity, play. These practices, their values
as we help students learn to build and make their own knowledge.
5. Wired's Chris Anderson: Today's 'Maker Movement' Is The New Industrial Revolution- Chris Anderson talks about his new book and the importance of the maker movement
“The real revolution here is not in the creation of the technology, but the democratization of the technology. It’s when you basically give it to a huge expanded group of people who come up with new applications, and you harness the ideas and the creativity and the energy of everybody. That’s what really makes a revolution…What we’re seeing here with the third industrial revolution is the combination of the two [technology and manufacturing]. It’s the computer meets manufacturing, and it’s at everybody’s desktop.”
6. Why I Love My 3D Printer
7. Scott Summit- The Future of 3D Printing
Peter
Grimm, an industrial technology teacher at Southview Middle School in
Edina, Minn., has challenged his eighth-grade pre-engineering students
to find a solution for this messy problem. And the Dimension the uPrint®
Personal 3D Printer is helping students find creative answers. - See
more at:
http://www.dimensionprinting.com/successstories/successstoryview.aspx?view=57&title=Southview+Middle+School+Gets+a+Grip+on+Design+with+Dimension+3D+Printing#sthash.EOOXI9lJ.dpuf
Monday, February 18, 2013
Constantly Innovating
Yesterday while the family was discussing interior design at the Anthropologie store in Chelsea Market, I made my over to a small newsstand located near the 9th Avenue entrance. While browsing the selection I came across a recent release from Fast Company about the world's 50 most innovative companies. I figured the trip through Anthropologie could take some time so I bought the magazine and started reading through the piece about the 50 most innovative companies.
I was somewhat surprised to see that in their estimation Nike was the most innovative company for 2012. However, Fast Company presented a compelling argument as to why Nike has such an impressive year. In 2012, Nike's experimentation yielded two breakout hits in the FuelBand and Flynit Racer sneaker. The FuelBand is an electronic bracelet that measures your movements throughout the day. Buttons on the device will tell a user how many calories one has burned, the number of steps taken and generally assess your activity level. The Flynit Racer is a revolutionary shoe that is ultralight and because of its construction method could reduce long-term production costs.
Throughout the article several prominent Nike employees were interviewed. Nike CEO Mark Parker was one of those quoted in the piece. During Parker's tenure which started in 2006, Nike's profits are up 57%, its market cap has more than doubled along with the fact that Nike owns half of the running market and 92% of the U.S. basketball shoe business. For me, there are two memorable moments from the article both attributed to Parker. One, Parker states the need for Nike to be innovative and not solely rely on celebrity endorsements and the culture of the swoosh to boost sales. In talking about this point, Parker says the following:
I was somewhat surprised to see that in their estimation Nike was the most innovative company for 2012. However, Fast Company presented a compelling argument as to why Nike has such an impressive year. In 2012, Nike's experimentation yielded two breakout hits in the FuelBand and Flynit Racer sneaker. The FuelBand is an electronic bracelet that measures your movements throughout the day. Buttons on the device will tell a user how many calories one has burned, the number of steps taken and generally assess your activity level. The Flynit Racer is a revolutionary shoe that is ultralight and because of its construction method could reduce long-term production costs.
Throughout the article several prominent Nike employees were interviewed. Nike CEO Mark Parker was one of those quoted in the piece. During Parker's tenure which started in 2006, Nike's profits are up 57%, its market cap has more than doubled along with the fact that Nike owns half of the running market and 92% of the U.S. basketball shoe business. For me, there are two memorable moments from the article both attributed to Parker. One, Parker states the need for Nike to be innovative and not solely rely on celebrity endorsements and the culture of the swoosh to boost sales. In talking about this point, Parker says the following:
One of my fears is being this big, slow, constipated, bureaucratic company that's happy with success. Companies fall apart when their model is so successful that it stifles thinking that challenges it.
The other enduring segment was contained in a discussion about the disruptive potential of the Flynit Racer. According to Parker, the Flynit Racer is one of those technologies that has incredible potential, not only within running, but across multiple categories. The innovation lies in how the shoe is constructed. Fast Company explained the change in the article.
The old Nike model involved cutting rolls of prewoven material into pieces, and then stitching and assembling them. But with Flynit, a shoe's upper and tongue can be knot from polyester yarns and cables whicc gets rid of all the unnecessary excesses. The Flynit Racer is 5.6 ounces, roughly an ounce lighter that its counterparts with Nike only using as much thread as it needs in production.
We have also been reminded over the past couple of weeks that yesterday Michael Jordan's 50th birthday. As Jordan literally and figuratively soared above the NBA, the swoosh became the most recognizable symbol world-wide. Even with the end to Jordan's playing career a decade ago, Nike has continued its international dominance (also helps that Basketball has become more of an international game in large part to Jordan and the 1992 summer Olympics). Despite Nike's popularity, it is clear that the Company and its CEO feel the pressure to push the envelope of design and innovation.
Parker's commentary about an organization becoming constipated frames the argument for prototyping and experimentation. Furthermore, the Flynit Racer reinforces the ideal that we should embrace disruptive innovations. While there is plenty to criticize about Nike and in particular its well documented suspect labor practices, the article pushes each organization to consider the potential harmful effects of complacency and fear of disrupting what is familiar.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)