Kasey Bell is my first guest from outside of Western New York.... How did THAT happen? Well put simply... Twitter made it happen. Twitter is an amazing resource if you know how to follow amazing people and amazing trends. As I was checking my daily feeds, Kasey's Twitter handle continually showed up, and every resource she shared was relevant and timely. So I figured, why not reach out and say hello and see if I could chat with her... and pick her tech brain. Kasey immediately responded and we scheduled a meeting that gave me a half hour of uninterrupted Edtech chat. Being from Texas, Kasey's perspectives were really valuable because it gave me a perspective beyond the region. I would highly recommend following Kasey's amazing Shakeup Learning Blog, as well as, follow her through social networking. Please check out Kasey's comments in the Coffee with a Geek Hangout Session Below! Kasey's info: Blog: Shakeuplearning Twitter: @Shakeuplearning Google Plus: + Kasey Bell Pinterest: Shakeuplearning
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Funny as it is, Mark lives probably the closest of all the people I have interviewed for Coffee with a Geek, and yet, we have rarely crossed paths in person. Rather I have seen Mark at the Annual Digital Wave Conference, in West Seneca. At this conference he came upon my radar pretty quickly through participants in his workshop talking about how dynamic his presentation was. So, I easily tracked Mark down at his local school system. Dunkirk Central Schools. Mark certainly didn't disappoint as an interviewee. He is lively, engaging, and downright inspiring. I was really impressed how he has taken a subject that is traditionally text book, lecture style, and made it dynamic and digitally engaging. Mark's vision for the future and his passion for teaching come through loud and clear. Please watch and enjoy Mark's insights and great ideas. Resources that Mark recommended for making videos: Adobe Ideas: iTunes App Link HERE Paper by 53: Website Link HERE Programs: Apple's Keynote, Garage Band, Microsoft's PowerPoint Connect with Mark: Twitter: @markdrollinger Youtube Vids: HERE Google Plus: HERE Mary is one of the amazing colleague's I get to work with on a regular basis. She is our staff artist and she has a great touch with other artistically minded educators. I remember shadowing Mary on a workshop that was helping music teachers learn the Finale Music Notation Program. To demonstrate the power of the program, Mary sang a few bars of "Amazing Grace" in front of the whole room. She immediately won the respect and admiration from the entire group of highly trained music educators. (and me!) She could not only walk the walk... but sing and talk! It was brilliant. Mary is a wonderful talent to work with. She has a great mind for technology and for creativity. A really awesome combination. Please check out my interview with Mary, and follow her on Twitter ! Recently I have been introduced to the concept of Guest Blogger. Namely, instead of writing your own post, have a friend or colleague write one for you. Its a great idea for several reasons, but in my case it is very synchronous with my goal of this blog: learning about innovative Educational Technology practices by talking to innovative thinkers. With that in mind, I asked my colleague and co-conspirator of the Heir of the King Project, Mary Howard to be my first guest blogger. Mary is a 6th Grade teacher at Grand Island Central Schools. Mary is creative, innovative, and driven to push the boundaries of Edtech. She has been a perfect fit to collaborate in my bleeding edge virtual world project. Mary and I will be presenting our work at the CIT Conference at the end of the month. Want to learn more about how Mary approaches education? Read below and then check out her blog: Yoursmarticles INNOVATORS: Purposeful Pioneers or Involuntary Insurgents? By: Mary Howard Technology innovators are often referred to as pioneers; the ones who forge the way. Unfortunately, I may not be as brave and purposeful as the word “pioneer” implies. Call it whimsy. Call me capricious, but my storm chasing and manipulation of putty just happens. I am a technophile AND an educator with ideas that are anything BUT the status quo. I promise, however, that I am not brave or necessarily purposeful in my initiatives. If there is such as thing as an involuntary insurrection against traditional pedagogy, then that might be the best way to describe my technology drive. Innovators need to be inspired. My grandfather loved clocks. A painter and fisherman by trade, he spent hours each evening buried beneath springs and gears, pendulums and numerically adorned faces. It happened upon him by accident, through boredom, actually. He was in bed ill and had nothing to do, so he disassembled a clock. The wonders within drew him to explore and seek more. He found his hook and was inspired to seek more knowledge and to exact change. Innovators need to be captured and enraptured. More importantly, they need to be willing to thrive on the process, not reliant upon an extrinsic reward; but how? #1. Glom. (Is that a word?) Stand on the shoulders of the giants before you. Build a Personal Learning Network (PLN). Follow technology educators through whatever social media resources you can: Twitter, Instagram, Edmodo. Pinterest, and more. Follow (and read) EdTech blogs. As far as the educators that are gangbusters about technology, you don’t have to “be” them, just “see” them and see what they’re doing. #2. Share. Start a blog. Present at a conference. Podcast. Pin. Share, even if you have nothing TO share. Merely having an audience will drive the creation process. #3. Fail. “Every new beginning comes from some other new beginnings end”. It happens, and then we learn. I often tell my student teachers, “You can’t break the children with your mistakes” and you can’t. You’re human. The more human you appear to them, the more willing they are to try (and help you!) Mistakes spawn innovation. #4. Have it YOUR way. Not to offend the king, but I can be impossible….ask my colleagues. If it’s not in the font I like, I change it. If I don’t think my students will enjoy it....I don’t do it. If someone says “it can’t be done” I stand with an outstretched arm like Keanu Reeves in the Matrix and wave in the challenge. You know your students. Provide them with opportunities that light their fires and help them become 21st century creators and seekers of knowledge. #5. Just Do It (Alas, another media inspired slogan) Adopt one new strategy or one new idea, even if it’s not all that well thought out. Take a risk. There’s no formula for innovation. Some would say that innovators are inherently inquisitive…to the point where they’re willing to chase an idea to a possible dead end. But that’s ok. (See Rule #3) Eventually you’ll find a way to see the world differently, and when you do, you’re an innovator. Whether you’re a purposeful pioneer or an involuntary insurgent, be proud. Inspire. Celebrate. In the end, you’ll know when you’re getting it right. Last winter, Producer Marc Hunt and I had the great opportunity to travel to the lovely village of Springville, NY. Here in a cozy Coffee Shop called The Beans To Brew Cafe, I caught up with an amazing team of ed-tech visionaries, Ben Higgins and JoAnn Depue. Ben is the district's Technology Integrator and keeping up with all of his new and innovative ideas is quite impossible. No technology can go without being tried and tested by Ben, his imagination, and the students at Springville. One of Ben's most publicized endeavors was the Stratosphere Balloon Project which got the attention of several news outlets including nationally with CNN. The recipient of the prestigious, Making IT Happen Award from ISTE, Ben never stops exploring the powerful uses of technology to enhance learning. Paving the way for Ben's initiative and vision is Director of Technology, JoAnn Depue. JoAnn is a powerful advocate for technology integration and works tirelessly to promote edtech learning opportunities for the students of Springville Griffith Institute. As a team, Ben and JoAnn promote a culture of growth and innovation that is helping push the boundaries of learning and technology. To emphasize this spirit of innovation, JoAnn brought along Springville Griffith student and daughter Morgan Depue. Morgan provides clear evidence of the far reaching effects of technology integration as they relate to student academic growth and learning. There is a magical feel to these interviews. One reason for this is the dreamy elegance of this gem of a cafe in the heart of this lovely village. The other reason is the subtle intensity of Ben and JoAnn's vision for educational technology. They have high expectations and big ideas that keep getting bigger! They are inspiring leaders, and I was honored to meet up with them and catch a little bit of their inner flame. Also, it was great to have Morgan provide the student perspective, which is the ultimate bell-weather of a successful technology integration plan. Had a great chance to catch up with friend and colleague Rob Miller. Rob has been doing a lot of work integrating various tablets in schools in our area so I wanted to pick his brain about the some of the advantages of each tablet. Specifically, Rob has been working with iPads, Windows 8 Surface tablets and Chromebooks. All have fantastic potential with some features that make their brand unique. Catch Rob's analysis and his readiness for the Battle of the Apps at this year's Digital Wave Conference (NYSCATE). Lastly make sure you watch until the end as Rob answers the Speed Geek and Uber-Geek Questions.
Want to know more about Rob professionally? Connect with him via Twitter or Google Plus Twitter: @robkmil Google Plus: HERE Panama Central 6th Grade Math teacher, Pam Warner, will be doing a presentation for us about Class Dojo, a behavior management application and website, that she has found is producing great results with her class. Get a sneak peek of her presentation by watching my short video below. Make sure you watch until the end so you can hear Pam's answer to the "Speed Geek" Questions. You might be surprised! This was my interview with Innovative Educator, Lisa Nielson. I met Lisa at ISTE 2012 (San Diego) and attended one of her sessions. She is a very dynamic and thought provoking educator and blogger. She will be at Erie 1 BOCES in April so I will get to see a full day workshop with her. One of the traits I admire about her is her willingness to engage in educationally relevant topics and face civil discourse with logic, courage and conviction. One of my New Year's Goals is to make sure I interview an amazing Ed Tech Innovator at least once a month. To start the year off, I have interviewed friend and colleague Melanie Kitchen. Melanie does much of her work in the Niagara Falls School district. Her recent focus has been helping to implement the Flipped Classroom methodology. She is seeing great success and has some data to prove it! Here is my interview with her to find out about her projects, ideas for the future and her Speed Geek Insights! Nominating good buddy, Scott Merrick's Teacher blog. Scott is kind hearted and thoughtful and knows Edtech!. Check it out. http://scottmerrick.blogspot.com/ I also want to nominate good friend and colleague, Darlynda Miktuk for her amazing iPad SOS blog. You want great up-to date information on iPads. This is a one stop shop http://tinyurl.com/ipadsos https://sites.google.com/site/ipads1964/home |
the Geek
My name is Andrew Wheelock- I am a technology integrator who's fascinated with my fellow educators and their powerful uses of tech for learning. Archives
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