CUE Conference 2018 - Recap

An Adobe Spark Post I created during the conference during The Tech Rabbi's talk

I recently attended my 2nd CUE (Computer-Using Educators) Conference in Palm Springs! Here's a quick recap of the interesting ideas I took away from those three days:

Breakout EDU

I've been hearing buzz about this platform for a long time now and wanted to see what the hype was all about.

• It's a puzzle box with physical and digital elements for students (or teachers during a PD) to try to crack. 
• You need to buy the kit (each one is about $150) and a digital platform license, and then you have access to lots of pre-made Breakout EDUs or you can make your own. 
• Great for spicing up boring units or lessons and having students collaborate, problem-solve, and be creative!

Michael Cohen's talk "Igniting the Spark: Empowering Students Through Media Creation"

• The World Economic Forum just chose creativity as one of the top 3 skills people will need to thrive in the workforce in 2020. Are we fostering creativity as much as we need to be in our current education systems? 
• Cohen also referenced multimedia learning theory, most popularly attributed to Dr. Richard Mayer. One of the big points in this theory is that people learn better when they are only processing spoken language rather than than spoken and written language at the same time. Text-heavy PowerPoint/Google Slides presentations are not brain-friendly!
• Cohn urged us to seek out the possibilities of visual representations instead of text.
• Easy tools for students (and teachers) to use are the Adobe Spark Suite of Apps.  

An Adobe Spark Post I made during Cohen's Talk

Rushton Hurley's talk on "Much Better Staff and Team Meetings"

• Hurley's basic driving question was, "How do we establish cool meetings?" since so many faculty/staff meetings in the education world are boring, dry, pointless, and even loathed.
• Staff meetings need to be places where teachers can share the great things they are doing in their classrooms and get inspiration to do more cool things that empower students.
• General announcements need to be saved for an email (Typical question that follows:"What if my staff members don't read their emails?" Hurley's response: "What makes you think staff members are listening at meetings?").
• Hurley has a great website with tons of video resources (like inspirational videos) to share with an discuss with fellow educators!

Rushton Hurley's talk on "Four Video Projects that are Academically Meaningful"

• Having an authentic audience changes things for students. Students want it to be good if they know they're sharing their video with peers. They want it to be good enough if they're just making it for the teacher.
• The Creative Commons search page is a great resource for tons of media that's free to use (as long as you still cite that media).
• Project 1: 90 Seconds or Less - creatively explain one thing you might encounter in school (or do a "How Not To..." video).
• Project 2: Service Project - tell about people who make their communities better
• Project 3: EL Project - use focused vocabulary (colors, days of the week, etc.) and make one video with subtitles and one without, then submit to the NextVista EL Project
• Project 4: Submit to the Global Student Voice Film Festival

 Erin Klein's talk on "Creating a Brain-Friendly & Beautiful Classroom"

• We can bring the fun back into our classrooms by redesigning them and rethinking the "Cemetery Effect" (desks are arranged exactly like headstones...depressing...)
• "Traditional" learning spaces reinforce "traditional" teaching and learning. If the goal of a technology initiative is to put technology in the learning environment, you'll only get technology in an old learning environment: 21st century technology in a 20th century classroom!
• We need to create spaces that allow students to create authentic products - not just crank out worksheets - mindset that you're on task when you're doing what you love.

Overall,  it was another great year at CUE! Here are some other "buzzwords" around the conference:

• AR (Augmented Reality)
• VR (Virtual Reality)
• Blended and Flipped Learning
• Makerspaces and tinkering labs
• Universal Design for Learning
• Digital Citizenship
• The 4 C's: Creativity, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Communication
• Authentic audiences & authentic products
• Global connections
• Design Thinking/Design Engineering
• Coding and programmable robots!

The SAMR Model and Why You Should Care

I know that parents and teachers worry about how much screen time students experience in a day, and the long-term effects of technology on young people. It's hard to deny that "kids these days" are spending quite a bit of time immersed in their phones, tablets, computers, and video games.

However, I believe that not all screen time is created equal. Think about what you do as an adult - your time spent in front of a screen typing doing a research project for grad school or creating a movie about your latest family trip is much different that the time you spend binge-watching Netflix. The trick about screen time is to reduce time student spend being information consumers and increase the time that they can use technology to create informative, creative, and inspiring products. But how do teacher begin to do that in their classrooms?

Dr. Ruben Puentedura created the SAMR model to help teachers conceptualize how to use technology with students to its greatest potential and as Dr. Puentedura says in his video, "evolve their practice." 

Image credit: https://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/Instructional_design/SAMR_Model/What_is_the_SAMR_Model%3F

I also love this very short YouTube video by John Spencer that explains the SAMR model while giving example of each stage:

Side note: John Spencer is amazing and has some excellent videos for teachers on his YouTube channel!

Of course, no teacher can always exist in the "Redefinition" mode, and it's all about fitting the task and desired learning goals to the tech tool. It's all about using all of the possible capabilities of technology in the classroom to enhance and deepen students' learning. Remember that 1:1 devices, such as iPads, have cameras, video cameras, speakers, audio recording devices, assistive technology capabilities, and access to the world (and possibly the universe) through internet connectivity. It's important for teachers to have their students use those tools wisely and purposefully.

Start small! Think about a lesson or activity that's now in the Substitution mode. Is there any way that it would better serve your students if you redesigned it so that it feel into Augmentation, or even Modification?

Want More? Here are some more resources:

Hear more about applying the SAMR Model from the source, Dr. Ruben Puentedura, on Common Sense Media's site.

Curious about Redefinition and want some concrete ideas? Here's a link to a post on Matt Miller's Ditch That Textbook blog that outlines 10 ways to reach the Redefinition level with an assignment.

Here's a BloomBoard by Valerie Ferguson with examples of how to apply the SAMR model to all grade levels and subjects.

Why I'm a Twitter Convert

I used to be very cynical about Twitter. I didn't want to even indulge in the Twitting. I had heard enough about the brash decrees of a certain world leader on Twitter and I wanted nothing of it. I stuck up my nose at it, even when I started discovering that so many amazing educators and education technology gurus were connecting with others through Twitter.

But as I went to more education conferences, listened to more education podcasts, and read more education blogs, my beef with Twitter began to break down. Twitter was a virtual educator hang-out filled with resources and excitement and I started to feel left out.

About a year ago I joined Twitter, but I resolved that it would stay a professional social network. I had plenty of other social media outlets in my personal life, and I certainly didn't need more to occupy my time. So far, I've stuck to that promise and I really do enjoy the network I have made with other educators and education organizations on Twitter.

Granted, I'm not a die-hard Twitterer, or whatever you call them. I don't post that much, I don't have that many followers, and I don't follow that many people, all things considered. However, I do know that glancing at Twitter in the morning before I go to work or in an odd moment while I'm waiting for something actually brightens my day: I get to see educators like me sharing things that they're passionate about, asking questions that I have, and sharing resources that I need.

Here are a few educators and organizations I follow:

KQED's MindShift @MindShiftKQED
We Are Teachers @WeAreTeachers
Common Sense Media @CommonSense
edutopia @edutopia
Jennifer Gonzales @cultofpedagogy
George Couros @gcouros
Regie Routman @regieroutman
Angela Watson @Angela_Watson
Jennifer Cronk @jenniferacronk - she is LD herself and very into assistive technology!
Rabbi Michael Cohen @TheTechRabbi
The Dalai Lama @DalaiLama (yes, even the Dalai Lama tweets these days)

Pretty much every presenter you will see at an education conference these days is active on Twitter, as well as many schools, classrooms, and even individual classes. I've yet to get into participating in many Twitter chats but I'm convinced that you can find them for pretty much anything you want to talk about in the world of education these days. Kasey Bell (@ShakeUpLearning) put together an excellent Twitter chat and hashtag database to get you organized and discovering what's out there.

If you want to follow me, my handle is @erikalewisedu. Happy tweeting!