tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88031661307138415122024-03-18T20:10:03.699-04:00Adam Watson's Edtech ElixirsEducation technology resources, tool tips, innovative pedagogy musings, and general "thinkalouds" of a Deeper Learning Design Specialist. Follow my educational journey on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @watsonedtech, my Facebook Page (facebook.com/edtechelixirs), and the blog hashtag #edtechelixirs. Note that opinions are mine alone, and reviews/mentions of edtech products do not qualify as an endorsement.Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.comBlogger200125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-57321847926745034792024-02-24T14:40:00.011-05:002024-02-26T15:18:56.452-05:00KyEdRPG Spotlight: Chad Collins and "The Academy"<p><a href="https://twitter.com/CollinsClassSC" target="_blank">Chad Collins</a> has been with <a href="https://www.spencer.kyschools.us/" target="_blank">Spencer County Public Schools</a> (KY) since 2013, first as a middle school social studies and ELA teacher, and currently as the campus Gifted and Talented Teacher for Spencer County Middle School (SCMS) as well as Spencer County Elementary School. He is also one of the SCMS Academic Team Coaches, which led to the start of the journey that is the basis for today's blog entry.</p><p>Not long after Chad began at SCMS, principal <a href="https://twitter.com/MrMercerSCMS" target="_blank">Matt Mercer</a> wanted to try something different during fifth period schoolwide: Mercer envisioned all students receiving extra time for reading and writing enrichment. Chad and the other Academic Team coach and SCMS science teacher Sarah Parnell pitched the idea of having an Academic Team elective class for its team members during the same period. Mercer agreed, and the course was born. This elective would eventually not only grow to include students who are <i>not</i> Academic Team members, but also in sheer numbers; in 2023-2024, the roster is over eighty students, split by grade level into three classes, and SCMS math teacher <a href="https://twitter.com/michellegross" target="_blank">Michelle Gross</a> joined Chad and Sarah to become the third teacher to lead a section.</p><p>As the years went on, Collins, Parnell and Gross all felt the Academy Team class needed to be a deeper learning experience, but how? In the summer of 2023, Collins had an epiphany. He had learned about the work of <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg/home" target="_blank">KyEdRPG</a> educators, particularly <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1imARtaa6Xd8dnExdSPlwBF905YWpOZbDSWB3KseZnWw/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">John Brewer</a> of Jefferson County Public Schools. (Here's a fortuitous <a href="https://twitter.com/CollinsClassSC/status/1677800065476313088" target="_blank">X exchange between the two</a>!) While not a tabletop roleplay gamer himself, Chad has played video games since he was a child, and recognized the DNA of the latter was built on the former: “While I don’t have much experience with these types of tabletop games, and definitely not running that type of thing in my classroom before, I’ve been playing video games that use many of the same systems that are in these games since I was the age of my students or before." With that in mind, Chad was the architect behind the new structure of the elective course: The Academy. <a href="https://youtu.be/_hdxwn2HwvY?si=MilVVZwzZCIH8PRv" target="_blank">In the following YouTube video</a> (where the previous quote came from!), Chad explains in more detail why and how The Academy was created (19:17):</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/_hdxwn2HwvY" width="320" youtube-src-id="_hdxwn2HwvY"></iframe></div><br /><p>We should also give credit that Sarah and Michelle didn't hesitate to embrace the course design for their own grade level sections, and since the launch of The Academy, have added their own content materials and revisions.</p><p>But...what is The Academy, and how is it different? Storywise, the premise is that students have been transported into another world where they are enrolled in "The Academy," a place similar yet different from their own. Each quarter, students choose one of several "classes" (in the TTRPG parlance of the term) in order to pursue their studies: The Bard (arts & humanities), The Beastmaster (language arts), The Magician (math), The Ranger (science), or The Knight (social studies). Each of these classes has a corresponding Google Site as first designed by Chad, which consists of unique, personalized paths of learning. These pathways have a series of Main Quests (must do’s), Side Quests (should do’s), and Feats of Strength (aspire to do’s). In actuality, these Quests and Feats form various Mastery Checks of learning that are assessed by the teacher, and if the student does not meet the requirements, are asked to revise and resubmit. Successful completion of the Main Quests earn Experience Points (XP) and this total amount earned is what eventually determines the student's grade for each quarter. This progression of XP can be monitored by students and parents alike in real time on, fittingly titled, Progress Trackers (Google Sheets) embedded in the Google Sites. Successful completion of Side Quests can earn "coins" that can be used to purchase items from an in-class "market." Lastly, completion of most Feats of Strength are for learning enrichment and the "honor and glory" of helping the whole Team, as opposed to coins or XP.</p><p>Chad was kind enough to let me copy and create sample snapshot versions of each of The Academy's class Google Sites midway through the school year, which you can preview below:</p><div align="left" dir="ltr" style="margin-left: 0pt;"><table style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none;"><colgroup><col width="147"></col><col width="477"></col></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Arts & Humanities</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassartshum/home" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassartshum/home</span></a><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Language Arts</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassela/home" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassela/home</span></a><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Math</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassmath/home" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassmath/home</span></a><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Science</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassscience/home" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclassscience/home</span></a><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;"> </span></p></td></tr><tr style="height: 0pt;"><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">Social Studies</span></p></td><td style="border-bottom: solid #000000 1pt; border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-left: solid #000000 1pt; border-right: solid #000000 1pt; border-style: solid; border-top: solid #000000 1pt; border-width: 1pt; overflow-wrap: break-word; overflow: hidden; padding: 5pt; vertical-align: top;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><a href="https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclasssocialstudies/home" style="text-decoration: none;"><span face="Arial,sans-serif" style="-webkit-text-decoration-skip: none; background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: 400; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre;">https://sites.google.com/view/scmssampleclasssocialstudies/home</span></a></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p>Chad would be the first to acknowledge the pedagogical structures that undergird and inspired The Academy. For one, it's a brilliant example of <a href="https://aurora-institute.org/our-work/competencyworks/competency-based-education" target="_blank">competency-based education</a>, with tenets such "meaningful, positive, and empowering" types of assessments; students having different learning pathways; and <i>mastery</i> of learning, not seat time, is the metric of progression allowing students to "move when ready" to new content or higher levels of complexity. Secondly, the language of structures like <a href="https://intercom.help/modern-classrooms/en/articles/5261634-must-do-should-do-and-aspire-to-do" target="_blank">must do's/should do's/aspire to do's</a>, Mastery Checks, and <a href="https://www.modernclassrooms.org/blog/our-auto-updating-progress-tracker" target="_blank">Progress Trackers</a> come from the <a href="https://www.modernclassrooms.org/" target="_blank">Modern Classroom Project</a>.</p><p>Many digital tools are employed in The Academy, both in the design of the course as well as students' day-to-day instructional interaction. Chad used several artificial intelligence tools, such as <a href="https://elevenlabs.io/" target="_blank">Eleven Labs</a> (to create a narrator voiceover for a <a href="https://youtu.be/Y_qXvmOzD6E?si=B2NApbmzRivsx7kK" target="_blank">video introducing students to The Academy)</a>, <a href="https://www.midjourney.com/home?callbackUrl=%2Fexplore" target="_blank">Midjourney</a> for images, and <a href="https://chat.openai.com/" target="_blank">ChatGPT</a> for monster and scenario descriptions. For content delivery and note-taking work, he uses <a href="https://edpuzzle.com/" target="_blank">Edpuzzle</a>; for Main Quest Monster Hunts, there is <a href="https://quizizz.com/" target="_blank">Quizziz</a>. For "sparring sessions" (where students review content via some friendly competition), Chad rotates through several tools, such as <a href="https://www.gimkit.com/" target="_blank">Gimkit</a>, <a href="https://www.blooket.com/" target="_blank">Blooket</a>, and <a href="https://www.quizalize.com/" target="_blank">Quizalize</a>.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNferZIXHW7-d_GWFukU86dkH3osE4jyPfpOewDs7TRJMjtqfznMPuUcDmzb1OhBi5sg6prkYmdmQ4xoM68oOM076xHLCjSuLr6JGMN7IXkifgc_Js0eqEduoBxcj85Q8IX_uXCFPinksmTi4D93Ow_AzjSr5kUtfULzZ6Riekss_VOtpPZYaszIcwMU/s2048/collins%20display%20case.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLNferZIXHW7-d_GWFukU86dkH3osE4jyPfpOewDs7TRJMjtqfznMPuUcDmzb1OhBi5sg6prkYmdmQ4xoM68oOM076xHLCjSuLr6JGMN7IXkifgc_Js0eqEduoBxcj85Q8IX_uXCFPinksmTi4D93Ow_AzjSr5kUtfULzZ6Riekss_VOtpPZYaszIcwMU/w400-h225/collins%20display%20case.jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The display case outside of Chad's classroom. Note the d20 dice, the examples of "Treasure Cards," and the "Roll for Prizes" chart.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p>In my in-person visit to Chad and Michelle's classrooms back in November 2023, I was a delighted witness to some of these sparring sessions. Since most of these head-to-head digital tools embed a leaderboard indicating ranking of winners, this allows an incentivization protocol where the top three student finishers use a d20 die to roll for prizes and therefore draw from an indicated jar. Some of these tokens include stickers and candy, but a premium item is a "treasure card" worth an "upgrade" in class. Here are some examples:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZYzFUiPYl0J-BZslem7kmVGaWAxtYZBtJx5muw2R3tTVrHxPfMvuAQbL5rlGOF4bzszIZT1sHbLuS2mEKOGnYG21UXmV1_z0MHDFLKSJzw1CGpOvt1RCvteZblKK1OtO8B7WJQQWTnLng4Pz1lnqeRHxxb0RNKSSbs2wLlkAbcDiUlB64r1ug608XXY/s1077/cc%20card%203.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="1077" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYZYzFUiPYl0J-BZslem7kmVGaWAxtYZBtJx5muw2R3tTVrHxPfMvuAQbL5rlGOF4bzszIZT1sHbLuS2mEKOGnYG21UXmV1_z0MHDFLKSJzw1CGpOvt1RCvteZblKK1OtO8B7WJQQWTnLng4Pz1lnqeRHxxb0RNKSSbs2wLlkAbcDiUlB64r1ug608XXY/w400-h228/cc%20card%203.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51n7l9Wg6MIr3_GKWNA9AUO0xEkipmUPLbmkmEbeYeidk8w5IEXNnrn-UrmU_gxrV2YOH8dwMP3bogRZDux0vg1apbXdU_MAXkB-uorVoBouMD_Q1pu9eLdQL2Ba8aSLp5hyw_xcB0i-cUOCIY-bkzIhg-H8l7zv5oKzOdA9CUGKO7n6_xojfDeKY7X4/s1076/cc%20card%204.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="1076" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg51n7l9Wg6MIr3_GKWNA9AUO0xEkipmUPLbmkmEbeYeidk8w5IEXNnrn-UrmU_gxrV2YOH8dwMP3bogRZDux0vg1apbXdU_MAXkB-uorVoBouMD_Q1pu9eLdQL2Ba8aSLp5hyw_xcB0i-cUOCIY-bkzIhg-H8l7zv5oKzOdA9CUGKO7n6_xojfDeKY7X4/w400-h226/cc%20card%204.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTmj5dd-VQbg9Sk2GYoPAhu7X0U0Pbh0NEusEmCKg9uuwQqrtsrm6XMMZeLs2CEM6ZJU9cV5k3X8b0speJvqsdbs_O27NES2scLIdJDjvTLGL6bli44sVEayN6JDbmhzzFvX6lGsWxB3tx2xI9Jz9agYO05L711Is4Y7gTcYHJo09BsusWDRdBKzzjyw/s1075/cc%20card%201.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="610" data-original-width="1075" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyTmj5dd-VQbg9Sk2GYoPAhu7X0U0Pbh0NEusEmCKg9uuwQqrtsrm6XMMZeLs2CEM6ZJU9cV5k3X8b0speJvqsdbs_O27NES2scLIdJDjvTLGL6bli44sVEayN6JDbmhzzFvX6lGsWxB3tx2xI9Jz9agYO05L711Is4Y7gTcYHJo09BsusWDRdBKzzjyw/w400-h228/cc%20card%201.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrJ6d0ZxU1ZFYoJ1xztxngM93PK0sPUMVOamXqHj0rOjaOsXsnxEB7Mk483_DbthUcOmZJ7_Ye1QUlxu4e2YYffoWk8TUak_BPOL8iLY2s47_Jstap1hb7ID2yYC4T4YJxuzdBcQJpLHBbxWF1rG1xKQyhI8HJVK8KL2qgZ7RUxG5rFjGnf-c1OOfbuc/s1076/cc%20card%202.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="617" data-original-width="1076" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxrJ6d0ZxU1ZFYoJ1xztxngM93PK0sPUMVOamXqHj0rOjaOsXsnxEB7Mk483_DbthUcOmZJ7_Ye1QUlxu4e2YYffoWk8TUak_BPOL8iLY2s47_Jstap1hb7ID2yYC4T4YJxuzdBcQJpLHBbxWF1rG1xKQyhI8HJVK8KL2qgZ7RUxG5rFjGnf-c1OOfbuc/w400-h229/cc%20card%202.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>In Michelle's class, <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzH15SIrfFf/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==" target="_blank">I recorded a video of students happily rolling for their goodies</a>:</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzH15SIrfFf/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border-radius: 3px; border: 0px; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) 0px 0px 1px 0px, rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.15) 0px 1px 10px 0px; margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0px; width: calc(100% - 2px);"><div style="padding: 16px;"> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzH15SIrfFf/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 0; padding: 0px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank"> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0px;"></div> <div style="display: block; 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font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div></div><div style="padding: 12.5% 0px;"></div> <div style="align-items: center; display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px;"><div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12.5px; margin-left: 2px; margin-right: 14px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px); width: 12.5px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div> <div style="border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); border-top: 2px solid transparent; height: 0px; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg); width: 0px;"></div></div><div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="border-right: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); transform: translateY(16px); width: 0px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; transform: translateY(-4px); width: 16px;"></div> <div style="border-left: 8px solid transparent; border-top: 8px solid rgb(244, 244, 244); height: 0px; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px); width: 0px;"></div></div></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"></div></div></a><p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0px 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CzH15SIrfFf/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">A post shared by Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games (@kyedrpg)</a></p></div></blockquote> <script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p><br /></p><p>The student agency was palpable in these classes, as was the joy of learning. From the perspective of TTRPGs, there were so many wonderful elements present, yet the only thing really "missing" was the actual playing of a role-playing game! Chad shared that he was looking to have more cross-content, collaborative opportunities for his students, so creating some group mini-RPGs modules may be in the future. I'm excited to see how The Academy will "level up" in the years to come!</p><p>Speaking of the future, Chad may now be a Gifted and Talented Teacher with new responsibilities, but part of the agreement for taking his new position is his ability to still teach his section of the SCMS fifth period Academic Team elective. With that in mind, Chad shared that <a href="mailto:chad.collins@spencer.kyschools.us" target="_blank">he would appreciate any feedback</a> on his structures and ideas, especially as other teachers attempt to incorporate them into their own courses. Or share them in the Comments below!</p><p><i>Be sure to check out Chad's guest turn on a recent Modern Classroom Project podcast episode (<a href="https://podcast.modernclassrooms.org/177" target="_blank">Episode 177, "Gamification," 2/18/24</a>, 61 min long). Also, for those who will be attending <a href="https://sites.google.com/kyste.org/kyste24/session-matrix" target="_blank">KySTE 2024 in March</a>, Michelle and Chad will be presenting a session about The Academy ("Play to Learn: Building a Class with Game-Based Design") on Wednesday, March 13, at 11:30 am.</i></p><p><i><br /></i></p><p></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-16937354073233595802024-02-13T17:37:00.001-05:002024-03-03T11:21:30.823-05:00Announcements for February and March 2024!<p> Hello friends! This blog entry is fairly short, but since I had several upcoming appearances, I thought I would put them all in one announcement.</p><p>Last weekend, I had the good fortune to virtually meet <a href="https://twitter.com/MelodyMcAllist7" target="_blank">Melody McAllister</a> and be her guest on the <a href="https://open.spotify.com/show/2JujzaMu9vUiaCO8dj3eEO" target="_blank">Growth Over Grades</a> podcast, produced by <a href="https://spacesedu.com/en/" target="_blank">SpacesEDU</a>. The focus of our talk was on game-based learning -- in particular, tabletop role-playing games in education, and <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg" target="_blank">KyEdRPG</a>! The 41 minute episode went live on February 29; the link to the podcast on Spotify <a href="https://open.spotify.com/episode/1v3dtEnfdBc75UoIRpyA2m" target="_blank">is here</a>, plus you can watch it <a href="https://youtu.be/qV9egxu5vyc?si=BNlwwOZGi_lV_7Hl" target="_blank">on YouTube</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qV9egxu5vyc" width="320" youtube-src-id="qV9egxu5vyc"></iframe></div><br /><p>TTRPGs in education continue for today's theme. Next up, I'll be presenting at the annual international industry convention for game publishers and gameshop owners, the <a href="https://www.gama.org/page/gama-expo" target="_blank">GAMA EXPO</a>, coming to Louisville on March 3-7. My session is "<a href="https://tabletop.events/conventions/gama-expo-2024/schedule/31" target="_blank">Teaching with TTRPGs: How Publishers and Hobby Shops Can Help</a>." I'll be presenting on the morning of Tuesday, March 5. (The conference can only be attended by GAMA members; no general public is allowed.) This is the <a href="https://www.gama.org/page/Future-GAMA-EXPO-dates" target="_blank">first of three years</a> that GAMA will be in Louisville, and I'm excited and proud that our city is hosting this prestigious event -- especially in the year of the <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1660-dungeons-dragons-turns-50-see-how-were-celebrating" target="_blank">50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons</a>!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00LCXT8YdVxXEnKOYLaZ8BZVllo8uyTdAWfWOuE3uZxTsABdrfo4QUx8yhgR4AAyKDS6PB3BskylHoHW4Mmb1qVYLiF3A75_L3hJ1_1wTmxToe91CtdXTeWKHiNiCEGJ30IUvKzq1JWQZcA6Y2lJ1HyxpPyBiX_sASjJd4O-o446RJilrVIlMvgxFLoU/s1148/Screenshot%202024-02-13%20at%204.15.48%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1048" data-original-width="1148" height="365" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh00LCXT8YdVxXEnKOYLaZ8BZVllo8uyTdAWfWOuE3uZxTsABdrfo4QUx8yhgR4AAyKDS6PB3BskylHoHW4Mmb1qVYLiF3A75_L3hJ1_1wTmxToe91CtdXTeWKHiNiCEGJ30IUvKzq1JWQZcA6Y2lJ1HyxpPyBiX_sASjJd4O-o446RJilrVIlMvgxFLoU/w400-h365/Screenshot%202024-02-13%20at%204.15.48%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The last announcement: I'll be presenting at <a href="https://sites.google.com/kyste.org/kyste24" target="_blank">KySTE</a> (March 13-15), also in Louisville. My session is "Dungeons, Dragons, and Digital Tools: Tabletop Role-Playing Games in Schools & Classrooms" and it will be on <a href="https://sites.google.com/kyste.org/kyste24/session-matrix" target="_blank">Wednesday afternoon, March 13</a>. I hope to see old friends and make new ones!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCztHuK0me-NWi_PtbEH4YLG_V0G2QEH8b0Wm03nJi0zqRuUiS1ZWmu3XKSZI2TSqVFUqDTLv38Z0NPL8EqI985El0HNMtO6S0tk8w4gNQbWHVwsB1X1eSOZVshMuIEpBvOCJb6Aign0m3qC8jz1AdqhF-SlFP__GOFMu7tD9gV7EZiVH578q9likJsE/s2574/KySTE24%20Social%20Media.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1446" data-original-width="2574" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYCztHuK0me-NWi_PtbEH4YLG_V0G2QEH8b0Wm03nJi0zqRuUiS1ZWmu3XKSZI2TSqVFUqDTLv38Z0NPL8EqI985El0HNMtO6S0tk8w4gNQbWHVwsB1X1eSOZVshMuIEpBvOCJb6Aign0m3qC8jz1AdqhF-SlFP__GOFMu7tD9gV7EZiVH578q9likJsE/w400-h225/KySTE24%20Social%20Media.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Thank you to Melody, GAMA and KySTE for the opportunities to share with, and learn from, others!</p><p><i>Update 3/3/24: The links for the Growth to Grades podcast were added once the episode went live on February 29.</i></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-27819642563442332242024-02-05T20:15:00.008-05:002024-02-13T17:37:32.372-05:00Credit Discovery, Not Recovery<p>Recently, I was flattered and honored to be the guest of Season 2 Episode 2 of <a href="https://www.education-perspectives.com/" target="_blank">Education Perspectives</a>, a podcast hosted by Liza Holland. Our talk ranged from edtech to game-based learning. You can listen to the episode on your favorite platform <a href="https://education-perspectives.buzzsprout.com/2038558/14373317-season-2-ep2-adam-watson-gamification-of-education" target="_blank">from here</a>.</p><p>On the podcast, one of the topics I briefly discussed was the need to shift from a "Credit Recovery" system to one of "Credit Discovery." I wanted to extrapolate on that subject for today's blog entry,</p><p>Credit recovery, as educators well know, is a pretty common hallmark of the traditional educational system. For a semester or a school year, a student attempts to get a passing grade in a class. The student is marched dutifully through a curriculum. For a variety of reasons -- likely aggravated by absences, low grades or missing assignments <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2020/01/how-sbg-led-us-to-empower-tyranny-of-82.html" target="_blank">that creates a statistical hole the student cannot climb out of</a> -- the student reaches the end of the timeline, only to fail. In some cases, the student may have an opportunity to spend time in the summer "making up" for the class, somehow achieving in a few weeks what the student could not do in months. In other cases -- especially if there are several such classes to make up -- a student may be put into a program where they can tackle several credits side by side, thanks to an online course platform that asks students to watch a video, take a quiz, watch a video, take a quiz, then take a multiple choice test.</p><p>There are, of course, well meaning variations to the above. Perhaps the student completes a PBL in the summer, knocking out credits for a few classes simultaneously. Perhaps the online course platform has some interactive tools to make the learning more engaging. In the end, however, credit recovery is mostly a seat-based solution to learning that rarely takes mastery or personalized interests into account. It is also an inefficient approach that closes the door after the cow has already left the barn. Last but not least, it saves the <i>innovation</i> of learning until the end. If somehow a novel way of teaching can really work in just a handful of weeks -- in a PBL, or through a digital platform -- why would you waste the prior instructional months in frustration just to arrive at failure?</p><p>If we don't like such outcomes of a traditional system, let's start something new by changing the questions. What if we instead turn a reactive, post-mortem, negative approach to learning into a pro-active, diagnostic, positive one? What if students were allowed to <i>discover</i> a way to earn their credits, with their input front and center from the start? What if the rigor of learning was raised, right alongside the joy?</p><p>Breaking away from Carnegie Units and fixed seat-time scheduling is not easy, but it is not impossible either. I've blogged before about <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2019/03/project-blocks-not-bells-pbl-in.html" target="_blank">William Smith High School in Colorado</a>, and how its courses (created with teacher passions and student input in mind) ingeniously blend traditional credits into PBL classes that are high interest with a complex, authentic performance assessment as a final product. Back in November, <a href="https://twitter.com/CorySteiner10" target="_blank">Cory Steiner</a>, superintendent of <a href="https://www.northerncassschool.org/" target="_blank">Northern Cass School District</a> of North Dakota, visited OVEC educators (he'll return next month to talk to our regional district leaders). He shared the many innovations of Northern Cass, but one that particularly jumped out for me was the studio classes being put into place at its secondary schools. From the beginning, these inquiry-based "courses" are co-designed between students and advisors in order to complete credits the way <i>students</i> want to earn them, through independent mastery-based projects. (For more on Northern Cass and its "microschool" program, read this <a href="https://www.gettingsmart.com/2023/05/11/rural-places-big-visions-a-visit-to-northern-cass-school-district/" target="_blank">Getting Smart article</a> from May 2023.)</p><p>As educators, we can be commended for all the energy we spend trying to save a student who has already "failed." But this may not be the best way to focus our time, and certainly suffers from framing a student in a deficit mindset rather than an asset-based one. Instead, let's invert the model. Let's spend at least the same amount of energy <i>empowering</i> our students who often are the victims of a failed, traditional, outdated school system. Let's help our students discover their own greatness, and be the exploring pioneers of their own learning.</p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-28679823393158285772024-01-17T19:11:00.016-05:002024-01-31T16:31:58.799-05:00The Refurbishing of Artificial Intelligence<p>Hello everyone, and welcome to 2024! Hope you had some happy and restful time with family and friends over the winter break.</p><p>Back in December of 2022, I published a blog entry titled "<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/12/how-ai-will-save-education.html" target="_blank">How AI Will Save Education</a>." It was just a few weeks after ChatGPT 3.5 had debuted on November 30, and as I put it back then, it "exploded into our zeitgeist seemingly out of nowhere, and it feels like something foundational has rapidly and irreversibly shifted in education...indeed, the world." There was a lot of strong feelings in the air: wonderment to be sure, but also fear. And there were many questions. What does it mean to be a "writer" or an "artist" when AI seemingly has the capacity to be creative? How does teaching look differently in such a world? Perhaps most worrisome for educators: What can or should I do if students "cheat" with AI? <i>Is</i> it cheating to use AI? Will my time be consumed with a neverending quest to catch students passing off AI-generated work as their own?</p><p>Certainly, we still lack <i>definitive</i> answers on those questions, nor is it possible to be definitive when discussing something as rapidly evolving as artificial intelligence. On such a topic, pressing "publish" almost instantly puts you out of date. But a year later, some answers have emerged. While I won't dare presume to be the oracle or the burning bush of artificial intelligence, I thought it might be helpful to offer my perspective on some AI trends that have caught my personal eye, and share some selected articles and tools that have emerged in the last twelve months.</p><p><b><u>The Reality of Students "Cheating"</u></b></p><p>As it turns out, perhaps we can dial back from the feeling of panic that befell us in December 2022. As Stanford researchers discovered, "<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/13/technology/chatbot-cheating-schools-students.html" target="_blank">Cheating Fears Over Chatbots Were Overblown</a>" (<i>The New York Times</i>, 12/13/23). In their recent survey of over 40 high schools in the United States, the amount of students who admitted to have cheated at some point has remained the same 60-70% range that it has been for years. More fascinating, "[m]any teens know little about ChatGPT...[a]nd most say they have never used it for schoolwork." Two sets of numbers from the research jumped out at me. The first is that when looking at <i>all</i> U.S. teens, 44% said they only knew a "little" about ChatGPT and 32% said "nothing at all." That's three out of four students! The second shows what could become a disquieting trend of racial and socioeconomic inequity. When deconstructing the total teen numbers into White, Black, and Latino demographics, the <i>total</i> numbers of "little/nothing at all" are relatively close. However, when broken down by group, you can see the awareness of ChatGPT inching upward for Whites (50% know at least a little about the tool, versus 27% knowing nothing at all) when compared to Blacks (35%/44%) and Latinos (42%/37%). Household income makes the disparity even stronger. For households under $30,000, students that know "a lot/a little/nothing at all" about ChatGPT is 11%/30%/59%, compared to the students from households $75,000 and over: 26%/50%/24%.</p><p>Does this reflect that ChatGPT is being blocked more at schools in "certain areas"? Are educators trusting, and teaching AI to, some students more than others?</p><p>In a separate set of experiments in September 2023, Stanford researchers explored <a href="https://hechingerreport.org/proof-points-its-easy-to-fool-chatgpt-detectors/" target="_blank">how well AI cheat detectors were working</a>. The short answer: not well. There were a number of both false positives and false negatives. In fact, when the scientist simply asked the chatbot's generated essay that had been previously detected as AI to "elevate the provided text by employing literary language...[d]etection rates plummeted to near zero." Another disturbing finding: actual essays written by multi-language learners were often falsely flagged as AI. This is likely because the more simplistic, emerging language skill of such students seem to reveal the bias of the AI detection programmers: simple text "must" mean a machine wrote it.</p><p>Of course, this issue of cheating doesn't address the powerful opportunities to ask a chatbot AI to generate an<i> initial</i> draft of a paper for the student to improve and revise, or to have it provide major points to consider in an argument, or the need to make sure <a href="https://style.mla.org/citing-generative-ai/" target="_blank">AI is properly cited when used</a>. Passing off someone's work has always been cheating, whether you Google an essay and pretend it's your own, or when a machine (or human!) writes something for you and you just put your name at the top. What <i>is</i> important is for students to learn, debate and practice the <i>ethical</i> use of AI.</p><p>So, in summary: students may not be using AI chatbots as much as we think, and student cheating with AI (and the software that detects it) is a complicated topic at best. In fact, we may need to think more closely on how AI is being permitted on school devices and networks, if enough awareness and ethics of AI are being taught, and at the most basic level, reflect on how our concern of "cheating" may be unfairly manifesting itself into inequitable practices in our classrooms.</p><p><b><u>Proactive and Positive Uses of AI in Teaching and Learning</u></b></p><p>On a more positive note, there have certainly been numerous reports in the news and research of the potential of AI having a positive impact on learning...or at least approaching it with cautious optimism. Here are a few recent examples: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Carnegie Learning has launched several AI tools to help students and teachers. In particular, <a href="https://www.livehint.com/" target="_blank">LiveHint</a> AI is providing real-time math tutoring support. The tool helps coach students to understand the problem-solving issues of a difficult problem, not simply giving them the right answer: “ 'When students use it, they have the ability to provide line-by-line feedback. If there’s any particular response that they either like or don’t like, [the students] can comment on it,' Carnegie Learning Chief Data Scientist Steve Ritter said. 'And then overall, in terms of the overall quality of the session, they can also comment on that.' " According to Ritter, the tool has been received positively by faculty and students. ("<a href="https://technical.ly/startups/teaching-math-ai-tools-carnegie-learning-pittsburgh-tech/" target="_blank">This Pittsburgh edtech company uses AI to help kids learn math amid ‘uncertainty’ about the tech</a>," technical.ly, 1/4/24)</li><li>Harvard researchers have been studying the impact of AI-generated feedback on students. The results were positive for teachers, but mixed for students. Teachers appreciated how AI sped up their ability to respond, as well as gave them ways to customize their feedback to a student's needs. Many students appreciated how such feedback improved the feeling of a perceived "caring classroom culture" (likely because it was timely and seemed to be responsive), but some struggling students felt the feedback was "unhelpfully short and insensitive." ("<a href="https://www.wbur.org/news/2023/12/27/boston-harvard-artificial-intelligence-students-study" target="_blank">Harvard researchers explore how to use generative AI for student feedback</a>," WBUR Public Radio, 12/27/23)</li><li>The University of Kentucky's Center for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning has published some AI resources on its website. In particular, I'm impressed with their "<a href="https://celt.uky.edu/ai-course-policy-examples" target="_blank">Course Policy Examples</a>," which give an instructor options and exemplars for clarifying whether AI is permissible in their class, from "No [Student] Use" at all, to "Conditional," to "Unrestricted." </li></ul><p><b><u>From Prompt Professors to Pragmatic AI Professionals</u></b></p><p>When the generative chatbots came out in full force in early 2023 (ChatGPT and its rivals like Google's Bard, as well as various graphic-generating AI), there seemed to be a brief time when the educator who was an expert in "prompt engineering" might be the next new thing. Certainly, we soon became awash in websites and PDFs offering effective prompts to copy and paste for our own AI adventures (such as <a href="https://prompts.chat/" target="_blank">this one</a>). What it reminded me of was the pioneering past of other Internet tools. Do you remember the halcyon days of Geocities, when the idea of publishing your own personal website made us hungry to HTML code? Or the beginning of Google Search, when we all were ablaze with Boolean operators and the power of a well-placed parenthesis or quote mark? This was grand stuff for early tech adopters, but for most of us, the effort of process overwhelmed the product. We don't want be an expert HTML coder unless we plan to create sophisticated websites full-time; we just need a decent templated site that gets our message across. We prefer a natural language inquiry that gets us the right result, rather than pondering whether it is better to type "AND" instead of "OR" in a search engine. In short, it is the content that is king. </p><p>In the same way, the appetite for using an AI tool like ChatGPT is also shifting. We appreciate the power of AI, but want to concentrate on where the vehicle takes us, not so much the vehicle itself. What that has led us (in a remarkably short amount of time!) is into a world of tools that refurbishes artificial intelligence into an interface that is more inviting and user-friendly. The word "refurbish" may at first bring to mind a negative connotation, if you only think of the broken device that is fixed and resold at an electronics store. However, I'm leaning into the original Oxford Dictionary definition of refurbish as<i> renovate and redecorate</i>. That is an almost literal description of what many new AI tools are doing. They often take the same "raw" AI code -- such as ChatGPT -- and put it in a renovated, redecorated package that is easier and often more effective to use. In fact, if the tool has a premium tier, people are now often willing to pay for such convenience, regardless if or whether the raw AI engine underneath the tool's hood is free or relatively inexpensive. There's a bit of irony at work here; many of the same people (especially educators) struggling with their "buy in" for AI in 2022 are now<i> buying</i> AI.</p><p>Here are just a few AI tools that offer outcomes that would have seemed impossible for technology to achieve just a few years ago. (While there are not necessarily education-specific, it takes the smallest leap of imagination to see how they could be used creatively for learning by a teacher or a student in the classroom!)</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="http://beautiful.ai">Beautiful.ai</a>. An AI-assisted presentation tool, this is particularly powerful in creating infographics within seconds.</li><li><a href="https://www.synthesia.io/home" target="_blank">Synthesia</a>. This can not only create videos with AI, it can insert a virtual lifelike avatar that speaks the script you type for it, in over a hundred languages.</li><li><a href="https://explainlikeimfive.io/" target="_blank">Explain Like I'm Five</a>. As the title suggests, the tool takes what could be complicated subjects and adapts the explanation of such topics for an audience of varying needs. Note that you can not only toggle how you're feeling on the topic ("pretty dumb/dumb/smart/pretty smart"), but also whether you want the reply to be sarcastic or not. The snarky language aside (which arguably may not be appropriate for a young student to interact with), the nuanced functionality of the tool makes it worth mentioning.</li><li>I also need to mention that many popular online tools now include some sort of embedded AI tool, from Zoom to Canva to Google Docs to the writing of LinkedIn posts.</li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrvEPA6njEM_KWrf4bkl6ha_-FdjdvgIxVB0KSeTyYZX_2Rf8kiFjUG6YgLDcoxXsv0Elz6La29r-v6rD5xS5uAtTyUhhnfk8Gb5yylzcXT5bOxsGr25rOsza9HkN2WaBfa1Oy4JNKuODi53GUXjfp-2gwVYjSSZyniP_gEhel5Y_9WCNedvJ-JRURJQ/s2126/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%203.07.12%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1340" data-original-width="2126" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrvEPA6njEM_KWrf4bkl6ha_-FdjdvgIxVB0KSeTyYZX_2Rf8kiFjUG6YgLDcoxXsv0Elz6La29r-v6rD5xS5uAtTyUhhnfk8Gb5yylzcXT5bOxsGr25rOsza9HkN2WaBfa1Oy4JNKuODi53GUXjfp-2gwVYjSSZyniP_gEhel5Y_9WCNedvJ-JRURJQ/w400-h253/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%203.07.12%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>From the website Explain Like I'm Five.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div>This refurbishment concept can particularly be seen in educational tools. It is no small thing to save me time from constantly having to tell AI at every new prompt, "I'm an educator," so that it shapes its answer accordingly. As such refurbished and personalized AI becomes increasingly sophisticated in the near future -- it will soon know and remember that I am a fourth grade teacher who needs a science lesson every Tuesday, and which of my students will need a translation in Spanish -- the possibilities for AI to become my "artificial instructional aidebot" loom larger and larger.</div><p>Here are some promising education-specific tools, with some accompanying cautionary tales:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.toddleapp.com/ai/" target="_blank">Toddle</a>. A learning management system I first discovered at the <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2023/10/aurora-institute-symposium-2023.html" target="_blank">Aurora Institute 2023 conference</a>, it was the first LMS I've seen that incorporated AI into its platform. When the LMS has been preloaded with your district/school curriculum, it can leverage this (along with information about your grade level, content taught, etc.) to have very specific results within Toddle itself, which can then be easily exported or incorporated into your classes. (And Toddle is not unique in its AI upgrade; since I first encountered it, I've seen several more learning platforms add a version of AI to their toolbox.) It's great to keep your AI generation within the same browser tab as your LMS! It should be noted, however, that the purchase of Toddle does not automatically include AI, as it is a premium feature (and likely this would be true of other LMS's that add AI as a feature).</li><li><a href="https://curipod.com/" target="_blank">Curipod</a>. Another AI-powered presentation tool, but more focused on student and teacher usage. By entering in your prompts, a lesson plan in the form of a multi-slide deck with built-in interactives for students is generated. The features and the name remind me of <a href="https://nearpod.com/" target="_blank">Nearpod</a>, and like that platform, a student can join a teacher's live session with a PIN. There is a limited free account available.</li><li><a href="https://www.litlab.ai/" target="_blank">LitLab</a>. A tool for creating "AI decodable books" to help primarily with early literacy. Once perimeters are given, an online book is generated with customizable text and images, which can then be shared with students via its URL. However, the images, while clearly AI generated, are not very sophisticated, nor are they specifically tied to what is occurring in the text of its particular page. While currently free (if you nab one of the limited initial seats available), the platform will become a paid service in June 2024.</li><li><a href="https://www.magicschool.ai/" target="_blank">Magic School AI</a> is impressive by having a one stop shop approach to AI integration. You can discuss ideas with Raina the Chatbot, which can then export your result as needed. Additionally, there are several dozen AI "Magic Tools" that lean into a specific need. Examples include "Text Leveler," "YouTube Video Questions" (give the video URL, and you can create a custom assessment based on the video's content customized by grade level and number of questions), "Choice Board (UDL)," "Project Based Learning" (create a plan), "Rubric Generator," and much more. (Again, it should be pointed out that free chatbots can generate many of these outputs, but perhaps without the specificity and convenience this platform can achieve.) While Magic School offers an initial free trial, it does eventually cost to use.</li></ul><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9pF5eBCTbcelmWKEcX_E0Xsiuxo5ZKFZyAzBnJNolUA2QhHIONzt0mhDxJGCus7oOZYoBOywAcK1wJXO2D26yWblEjk1QQgtwoCz-XfHPzbd0MY85uf09xa7eySM0U2QDWR45h6XPNWoiBJwyRCbr0KB-uJoXogn_Dmdl3wzz2ewpHLU6NNcbC_oCWA/s2824/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%203.11.25%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1276" data-original-width="2824" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy9pF5eBCTbcelmWKEcX_E0Xsiuxo5ZKFZyAzBnJNolUA2QhHIONzt0mhDxJGCus7oOZYoBOywAcK1wJXO2D26yWblEjk1QQgtwoCz-XfHPzbd0MY85uf09xa7eySM0U2QDWR45h6XPNWoiBJwyRCbr0KB-uJoXogn_Dmdl3wzz2ewpHLU6NNcbC_oCWA/w400-h181/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%203.11.25%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Magic School AI</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>One of Magic School's "Magic Tools" is an "IEP Generator." This brings up one of the biggest takeaways and pieces of advice about using AI, regardless of the platform or type: <b>be mindful of what you put into a prompt, and be careful how reverently you treat its output.</b> To further explore this example, I asked my OVEC colleague and special education teacher Dr. Debbie Mays for her opinion, and Dr. Mays shared some thoughts she and her ECE colleagues have had on using AI for creating an IEP: "We have the concern of confidentiality and information being exposed [when personally identifiable information is inputted into an AI tool]. Also, if AI just considers federal requirements, it may miss the unique state regulations and statutes that do need to be considered and followed. It has to do both, as well as follow district policies and procedures. Finally, the intricacies of an IEP – all the connections and 'threads' that need to be addressed for that specific student throughout the program -- will probably be missed, opening the district to legal ramifications." Ultimately, Dr. Mays gave her personal "thumbs down" on AI-generated IEPs, but acknowledged "there may be ways to use it. The trick is a teacher needs to know how to write an appropriate Individual Education Program. If they don’t know how and need help, they may not know how to fix one either, if AI started one for them." Again, while applying AI to IEP creation is a very specific use case example, it illustrates the general need for educators to practice discernment. AI is not infallible, nor is it always "right."</p><p>As I wrap up this entry, we can see that the last year has proven the reality of AI is somewhere between an apocalyptic destroyer and consequence-free manna. In May 2023, the U.S. Office of Educational Technology published "<a href="https://tech.ed.gov/ai-future-of-teaching-and-learning/" target="_blank">Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Teaching and Learning: Insights and Recommendations</a>." In a <a href="https://tech.ed.gov/files/2023/05/ai-report-core-messaging-handout.pdf" target="_blank">brief handout</a> with the paper's core messages, a comparison was made between electronic bikes and robot vacuums. Robot vacuums may be treated as somewhat independent machines, with a "mind" of their own; such machines may be disruptive in the way that they can substitute for a human completing the task it was designed for, or perhaps more ominously, replace the human worker that was previously needed for such janitorial labor. However, the OET would assert that it is more accurate to think of artificial intelligence as not our eventual robot overlords, but as an electric bike: "We envision a technologically-enhanced future more like an electric bike and less like robot vacuums. On an electric bike, the human is fully aware and fully in control, but the burden is less, and their effort is multiplied by a complimentary technological enhancement."<br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_te7aBGJAS_Isc7bpMAhf3zhbrB2y-wBv6EMHMzKb0xyP1TXJaIzKdpaRe-XJjzNTjuFYzj3Qplgx-a47FsxottTDhv-f8L1UcoTKqZMHKyvw82gRczLa4AMdJtg1mJo2XMhY7oj0s0YqVOvIhPN7_-xCIucgj4y2kedP0wuIFu8qkMihVBdyresF0Q/s1404/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%202.59.32%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="524" data-original-width="1404" height="149" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV_te7aBGJAS_Isc7bpMAhf3zhbrB2y-wBv6EMHMzKb0xyP1TXJaIzKdpaRe-XJjzNTjuFYzj3Qplgx-a47FsxottTDhv-f8L1UcoTKqZMHKyvw82gRczLa4AMdJtg1mJo2XMhY7oj0s0YqVOvIhPN7_-xCIucgj4y2kedP0wuIFu8qkMihVBdyresF0Q/w400-h149/Screenshot%202024-01-17%20at%202.59.32%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>From the OET's summary <a href="https://tech.ed.gov/files/2023/05/ai-report-core-messaging-handout.pdf" target="_blank">handout</a> of their May 2023 full report.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>In the world of our educational future, we should hope to use more artificial intelligence "electronic bikes" for ourselves and for our students. Let's embrace AI to augment and enhance what makes us human so we can dare to dream, think, make, and create in even more innovative ways, and by doing so, transform the learning experience.</p><p> </p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-23412322056306612472023-10-26T19:02:00.008-04:002023-10-26T20:42:08.907-04:00Aurora Institute Symposium 2023<p> Last week, my colleague <a href="https://twitter.com/Kathymhouse" target="_blank">Kathy House</a> and I went to the <a href="https://aurora-institute.org/" target="_blank">Aurora Institute</a> Symposium 2023 (<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aurora23" target="_blank">#Aurora23</a>). It's the first Aurora Institute Symposium I've attended in person since a pre-pandemic one in Nashville several years ago when I was still with Shelby County Public Schools. I was so thankful to go, and it was a great conference. In short, it replenished my well to the brim and beyond! </p><p>One of the most unexpected delights of the Symposium happened in the hallway of the convention center. I was talking to <a href="https://aurora-institute.org/team/eliot-levine/" target="_blank">Eliot Levine</a>, the Research Director of Aurora Institute. We had emailed and Zoomed over the years but hadn't been face to face for a stretch. Suddenly, a young man who was walking by had stopped to stare at me. </p><p>"Mr. Watson?" he asked.</p><p>I took him in. There was a beard now, but he looked familiar. Of course I cheated and looked down at his lanyard. My mind reeled backwards to my classroom teaching from a decade ago. This young man was a former student of mine. </p><p><i>"Clay?" </i>I was gobsmacked. How on earth could a Kentucky high school graduate (who had never expressed the desire to teach), per his lanyard, move to Utah, become a teacher, and now be standing in front of me in Palm Springs, California? </p><p>Eliot graciously yielded the space, and Clay and I quickly caught up. Turns out that a few years ago, Clay was feeling burnt out in his then career of finance and his wife suggested he teach instead. As he shared with me, "At first, I thought of all the reasons that teaching <i>wasn't</i> a great choice. Then, I thought of some teachers that I really loved, the ones who made a difference for me. What if I could be one of <i>those</i> teachers? And Mr. Watson, you were one of those teachers." A few hops later through a job interview, a move to another state, and an alternative certification pathway, Clay and his colleagues are now preparing to open a new school in Utah in fall 2024. The Symposium was helping the school's staff get ready for their innovative road ahead.</p><p>You might not believe in fate or destiny, but while I was staring at this young man in the middle of California, teary eyed, I had to feel that the Spirit of Life had conspired to make us cross paths, and to send a message. And that message was one that all of us as educators should heed: <i>If you are unsure that the learning you facilitate and the relationships you develop today make an impact, be patient. Sometimes, seeds you plant may take years, or even decades, to sprout. </i></p><p><i>But they sprout.</i></p><p>So, Clay, if you read this, thank you!</p><p>Back to the conference. I was busy posting on social media and taking lots of pictures and notes, so as I was mulling over how best to share my Symposium journey, I decided to utilize <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2020/02/wakelet.html" target="_blank">Wakelet</a> and curate a multimedia collection to put on Edtech Elixirs. You can <a href="https://wakelet.com/wake/AlCvMB1r3zaOzYXqiDr25" target="_blank">click here</a> or view it embedded below. </p><p>As I wrap up this entry, THANK YOU to all the presenters and facilitators, particularly the several Kentucky friends you'll see in the Wakelet. I can't wait to go back to the Symposium next year. Mark November 4-6, 2024 in New Orleans down on your calendar!</p><p><br /></p>
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Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-76556585034421999722023-08-06T15:02:00.009-04:002023-08-06T22:14:12.069-04:00GenCon 2023<p>When I first began playing tabletop role-playing games in the mid-1980's, I read about <a href="https://www.gencon.com/" target="_blank">GenCon</a>. It seemed a faraway and magical gathering where attendees played games for hours with their fellow enthusiastic fans, and vendors offered previews of upcoming releases while also giving away swag. GenCon was officially started in 1968 by <i>Dungeons & Dragons</i> co-creator <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Gygax" target="_blank">Gary Gygax</a> and had <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_Con#1967%E2%80%932002:_Gen_Con" target="_blank">humble beginnings in legion halls and university campuses</a>; it took several years for it to become a multi-day event that topped 1000 attendees. By 1985, GenCon made its first move to a Milwaukee convention center and had around 5,000 participate, but that was just the start of its runaway train of growth. GenCon <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gen_Con#2003%E2%80%93present:_Gen_Con_Indy" target="_blank">moved to its current home in Indianapolis</a> in 2003 with a pre-pandemic high watermark record of around 70,000 attendees in 2019. That's a long winded way of saying that GenCon is a big deal that earns its moniker of "The Best Four Days in Gaming." But like many things of youth, attending GenCon seemed to be a fever dream that faded over time. I convinced myself that I needed a practical, pragmatic, or professional reason to go, which seemed unlikely.</p><p>Then in early spring of 2022, I heard for the first time about <a href="https://www.gencon.com/gen-con-indy/trade-day" target="_blank">Trade Day</a>. Considering that I had just started <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg" target="_blank">KyEdRPG</a> last summer, it felt like fate. </p><p>Trade Day is GenCon's "day zero" on the Wednesday before its official four day launch on Thursday. It is open only to vendors, educators, and librarians, and includes hourly sessions on the intersection of education and gaming. (Your Trade Day badge also gives you a pass for the rest of the four day convention.) Trade Day was my opportunity to fulfill a long-delayed quest, a way to learn from other educators who are using game-based learning, and a unique chance to celebrate KyEdRPG's first year anniversary. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrv0yjOhsHzcHaR9bjtrXOGHfsjMiwq5VbPZRDePjPWuXpgjXGBGq3bwaNzTS2XyEPmWZe9t8qfBqGCYMxgJ-EpPQ8OA7t4Dbxf7Tijgkl6QZsTGae3KTw9DdqFEVgMjt00daj25BA1PVMnLvqj3Fr6rC6MUT-NwlyCCUXrJOImfsEr9HUbfBXO5UpGs/s4000/20230803_083616.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2252" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLrv0yjOhsHzcHaR9bjtrXOGHfsjMiwq5VbPZRDePjPWuXpgjXGBGq3bwaNzTS2XyEPmWZe9t8qfBqGCYMxgJ-EpPQ8OA7t4Dbxf7Tijgkl6QZsTGae3KTw9DdqFEVgMjt00daj25BA1PVMnLvqj3Fr6rC6MUT-NwlyCCUXrJOImfsEr9HUbfBXO5UpGs/w225-h400/20230803_083616.jpg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p>To say that GenCon filled me with knowledge, ideas and joy would be an understatement. I wanted to capture here some highlights.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>Trade Day Sessions</u></b></p><p>Like many education conferences, I got some golden nuggets throughout Trade Day, but I wanted to mention three memorable sessions in particular. </p><p><br /></p><p><i>Playful Learning: How Board Game Stores, Schools and Libraries Can Collaborate to Benefit Children</i></p><p>Jamie Mathy -- owner of <a href="https://www.redraccoongames.net/" target="_blank">Red Raccoon Games</a> in Bloomington, IL and married to a fourth grade teacher! -- gave an excellent keynote address. He is clearly passionate about issues of equity, starting with his belief that "Everyone should have a safe place to play games." He sees the fastest growing segment of gamers is high school girls playing D & D, which as a father of two daughters, makes me happy! Mathy had many ideas for how a game store can work better with a school, including:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>As educators reach out to a store and need to purchase games for extracurricular clubs or events, have ready some pre-packaged "tiers" of starter sets at various price levels, depending on the school's budget.</li><li>Coordinate with event schedulers as far in advance as possible, especially for public libraries.</li><li>Have small giveaways for students who complete reading programs. Mathy talked about having an aquarium full of inexpensive polyhedron dice where students are allowed to pull out two. Costwise, it is a modest investment for him: barely .15 a student.</li><li>Offer staff as volunteers to help run gaming events.</li><li>Create coupons that a school can give away for a percentage off a single item, with a small percentage of the coupon sales going back to the school. (A variation of this is a percentage of sales on a certain night or weekend going back to the school for those that mention the school's name, similar to how schools use "pizza nights" as fundraisers.) Of course, this is good promotion for the store as well.</li><li>Have a social media partnership. A store can repost the gaming events/opportunities at the school to help it spread the word, with the hope that the educators can do the same for the special events of their game store community partner.</li><li>Host in-store opportunities to "teach the teacher" how to play popular and just released games.</li><li>Mathy fairly pointed out that while stores may occasionally be able to donate materials or offer significant discounts, they are still a business and can't give everything away for free all of the time. It's a reminder that educators need to respectfully consider the type and amount of requests they make, not assume generosity is a blank check that lasts indefinitely, and to honor their side of developing an ongoing relationship with a store in finding ways to pay it forward.</li><li>Try to create legacy programs with schools that deepen and enrich (in both learning and financial ways!) over time. Having a relationship with a "teacher champion" of game-based learning is likely the key to start, but teachers also can come and go. Find ways to keep in touch with multiple levels of school leadership and community (the admin, the PTA, etc.) and keep telling the story of your mutually beneficial partnership.</li></ul><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Gaming in Libraries: Bridging the Gap</i></div><div><br /></div><div>Clare O'Tsuji is a public librarian with the <a href="https://kdl.org/" target="_blank">Kent District</a> in Michigan. <a href="https://www.canva.com/design/DAFd1GhYNxQ/acBMvFnJjicipa2NunV_rA/view#1" target="_blank">Her presentation</a> was chock full of statistics and research on the power of game-based learning, particularly on literacy. Firstly, she reminded me about Marc Prensky's work on the positive impact of games and play on learning -- namely, that playing games <a href="https://www.marcprensky.com/writing/Prensky%20-%20Digital%20Game-Based%20Learning-Ch5.pdf" target="_blank">reduces stress and increase productivity</a>. O'Tsuji emphasized that effective gaming program in libraries -- and <a href="https://clalliance.org/about-connected-learning/" target="_blank">connected learning in general</a> -- need to build relationships (teacher-student as well as peer to peer), incorporate student interests, and provide opportunities where educators can enrich and deepen learning via those interests and relationships. (One relationship-building tip: sit beside students and learn a new game together.) Lastly, I loved how O'Tsuji framed key literacy elements as "discussion, joy, and cooperation," all of which gaming naturally integrates. </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Creating a RPG Summer Camp</i></div><div><br /></div><div>I admit I have bias when I say that my favorite session came from Tom Gross and Dan Reem, high school educators from Illinois. (Tom and Dan host the <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dan-reem/" target="_blank"><i>Teachers in the Dungeon</i></a> podcast of which I was a <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2023/05/a-republished-blog-entry-with-aurora.html" target="_blank">recent guest</a>, and this GenCon was our first opportunity to meet face to face!) But Dan and Tom's session on their annual summer roleplaying game camp was full of pragmatic advice, as well as generous resources (including an example day-by-day schedule!) of how to effectively start up and facilitate such a camp at your own school. Dan and Tom's camp now runs four days long with the number of participants almost doubling every year. Here are some highlights from what they shared:</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Understand your "why" of having a RPG camp, and create a list of your camp non-negotiables. Dan and Tom's non-negotiables include using recent alumni and game club members to help facilitate camp attendee groups as their "dungeon masters," giving students <i>time</i> to learn and develop skills as well as play a multi-day continuous story, and introducing students to hobbies and careers adjacent to roleplaying games (such as dice making, comic book art creation, and miniature figure painting).</li><li>Invite other educator colleagues to come by the camp, especially from the school admin and your district central office. Seeing in person the positive learning culture, the development of literacy, and the students' practicing of durable skills will go a long way to earn support against skeptics who may think roleplaying games are frivolous and non-educational.</li><li>Catch a student "doing good" (for example, being helpful and inclusive to another student) and reward them with a ticket that can be used in drawings for door prizes at the end of each day and/or the whole camp.</li><li>Reach out to community partners early, to better ensure their ability to participate or donate.</li><li>Reciprocate in your partnership with community members, particularly those that donate materials, volunteer time, or offer something at a discount. Help publicize and celebrate their willingness to help. (This is a great echo of what Jamie Mathy said in his keynote!)</li><li>A student registration fee can help a student put "skin in the game" and be more likely to honor their camp commitment (Dan and Tom ask for $30), as well as help offset your expenses. But don't let fees be a barrier to students who might have a financial hardship. Offer camp scholarships.</li><li>Reflect on how the camp went as soon as it is over in order to find ways to improve it for next time, as well as celebrate your well-earned success stories -- in particular, capturing anecdotes about students who may have surprised you with how much they matured or rose to leadership levels. (On that very subject, Dan and Tom published a podcast episode after every day of this year's summer camp; the first episode of the series <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dan-reem/episodes/DnD-Summer-Camp-2023-Day-1-e26ptkk" target="_blank">is here</a> [15:38]).</li></ul><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4jMkElLXN5y2DjBmX1reeB2t-N2aWKbmTYDJFFqeA2wYAkIpYJdDdZ08LfcYA1duElBLA4HWLX9-l6xC48G9db94uo8StJDymuJ3lxnwgnv1tVCADgru9NEua6Taf77BmO-8JxlwqQrBw_SQC0Vt5kpE0gkPnT0MYpk4nw9CcyMN1wKz0RuESodNhGE/s4000/20230802_131938.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="4000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT4jMkElLXN5y2DjBmX1reeB2t-N2aWKbmTYDJFFqeA2wYAkIpYJdDdZ08LfcYA1duElBLA4HWLX9-l6xC48G9db94uo8StJDymuJ3lxnwgnv1tVCADgru9NEua6Taf77BmO-8JxlwqQrBw_SQC0Vt5kpE0gkPnT0MYpk4nw9CcyMN1wKz0RuESodNhGE/w400-h225/20230802_131938.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div><br /></div></div><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-02jL2X60VpkjBoor-y0gWmqzQPFA-UgHuDAbfDtvqUulHFZ9yqNpAOpKeZAifL2LdA5pP7b4iJa7FS8mPWgb65F9ogD7q-S7xvqlYXjbGLPLZak6HMjhHIjdHnZkq3GXI_Cw0dx4dqriTcu_UpvRy6Fa7emMRmjGTwy1sGrLjQgGIPthEGmlOQ5w5Jc/s4000/20230802_133919.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="4000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-02jL2X60VpkjBoor-y0gWmqzQPFA-UgHuDAbfDtvqUulHFZ9yqNpAOpKeZAifL2LdA5pP7b4iJa7FS8mPWgb65F9ogD7q-S7xvqlYXjbGLPLZak6HMjhHIjdHnZkq3GXI_Cw0dx4dqriTcu_UpvRy6Fa7emMRmjGTwy1sGrLjQgGIPthEGmlOQ5w5Jc/w400-h225/20230802_133919.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Among many delights and tips that Dan (right, standing) and Tom (left at podium) shared was a highlight reel of students reflecting on their RPG camp experience. If there is any doubt in the power of TTRPGs on learning, these student voices would convince you otherwise.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p><b><u>GenCon Vendors</u></b></p><p>From the Trade Day Demo Night to the massive exhibit hall itself, I marveled at many a game, accessory and piece of art. For the sake of this blog entry, I'll limit myself to highlighting some items that have educational potential, both as extracurricular and in-classroom opportunities.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>9th Level Games</b> has a "<a href="https://www.9thlevel.com/polymorph" target="_blank">Polymorph</a>" TTRPG (tabletop roleplaying game) system that is significantly simplified and socially inclusive. This, combined with their various thin pocket rulebooks, makes for compelling game options for younger students. For example, <a href="https://www.9thlevel.com/excellents" target="_blank"><i>The Excellents</i></a> is a princess-themed RPG that could work well with upper elementary and middle school students.</li><li><b>Alexandria RPG Library</b> is based in Seattle and is a registered 501(c)(3) <a href="https://alexandriarpg.org/" target="_blank">charitable organization</a>. They have amassed a collection of thousands of RPG rulebooks and boxsets going back decades, which they often curate and exhibit around the country. Their <a href="https://www.libib.com/u/alexanadriarpg" target="_blank">online database</a> may serve as a resource for teachers or students researching the history of tabletop roleplaying games, but their website may also be the start of some inquiry-based learning: What can the history of role-playing games tell us about a culture over time? How do various gaming systems create mathematical balance to ensure fair playability? In what ways are RPGs inclusive and exclusive (lack of translated materials, accessibility concerns, cultural insensitivities, etc.), and how can we make RPGs more inclusive? How can a roleplaying game charity positively impact a local or global community, and how can we help increase that impact?</li><li><b>Columbia Games</b> has (among other historical options) <a href="http://columbiagames.com/thelastspike/" target="_blank"><i>The Last Spike</i></a>, a board game about the expansion of railroads across the United States in the 1800's. Even more helpful is their <a href="https://columbiagames.com/lastspike/LS-Teacher-Guide.pdf" target="_blank">teacher resources to go with the game</a>.</li><li><b>Metal Weave Games</b> probably deserves a shoutout just for their adorable <a href="https://metalweavegames.com/collections/baby-bestiary/products/owlbear-plush" target="_blank">Owlbear plushes</a>, but for educational purposes, I want to highlight their <a href="https://metalweavegames.com/collections/baby-bestiary" target="_blank"><i>Baby Bestiary Companion Rules</i></a> supplement. The book uses D&D fifth edition rules, and shows how to incorporate a character rescuing and raising a newborn fantasy monster. This could be a way to bring in younger players into a roleplaying game experience that doesn't necessarily involve fighting and battles.</li><li><b>Nations & Cannons</b> is a newer TTRPG that would be perfect for a secondary social studies class. Using the D&D fifth edition rules, players can create characters set during the American Revolutionary War. From a local standpoint, I was particularly excited to hear they are working on a supplement that includes Kentucky's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Boonesborough_State_Park" target="_blank">Fort Boonesborough</a>! There's plenty of game material to peruse <a href="https://www.nationsandcannons.com/shop" target="_blank">on their website</a>, as well as some <a href="https://www.nationsandcannons.com/educators" target="_blank">educator opportunities</a> to explore. </li><li><b>Oddfish Games</b> has some items that are just plain fun, including a guidebook on <i><a href="https://oddfishgames.com/collections/how-to-rpg-with-your-cat" target="_blank">How to RPG with Your Cat</a></i>. But they also have products that could inspire some educational integration. Their line of <a href="https://oddfishgames.com/collections/adventure-scents" target="_blank">Adventure Scents</a> could not only add to the ambiance of a roleplaying game journey, but could also increase the immersive experiences during a readaloud of a story, be the kickoff (whiff-off??) of a descriptive writing piece, or amplify a "you are there" moment of history. Oddfish also publishes <a href="https://oddfishgames.com/collections/cooking-with-dice" style="font-style: italic;" target="_blank">Cooking with Dice: The Acid Test</a>, which could gamify a culinary arts unit or even the entire course.</li><li><b>Rowan, Rook and Decard</b>, who describe their company as "strange games for curious people," have made dozens of one page RPGs. These games obviously have very light rulesets which make them extremely playable when you have limited time or need something that won't overwhelm students with too much complexity, factors that are often the case in school settings. While some of their RPGs lean toward darker themes with adult language, they do have a collection of <a href="https://rowanrookanddecard.com/product/ten-one-page-roleplaying-games-for-younger-players/" target="_blank">ten one-page roleplaying games for younger players</a>.</li><li><b>Treasure Falls Games</b> is about to release <i><a href="https://www.treasurefallsgames.com/giant-adventure" target="_blank">The Quest Kids: Giant Adventure</a></i>. In their words, it is a "life-sized fantasy game experience" with a simplified rule set geared toward students kindergarten age and up. Large durable tiles are placed on the ground, and students are to choose a pathway from one tile to the next while overcoming challenges and collecting tokens along the way. There is a kinesthetic aspect about the game I find intriguing! This might be a good alternative activity for an elementary PE class, or even as a way to do a creative indoor recess.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p>In closing, I have to compliment the camaraderie I experienced at GenCon, which was truly moving. From nearly every attendee and vendor I met or literally bumped shoulders with, I encountered endless permutations of kindness and generosity. If by chance some of those new friends read this entry, thank you for your willingness to welcome me as a new member of the GenCon community. I certainly hope to return!</p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-54135886765615931692023-07-29T15:22:00.012-04:002023-09-27T11:53:29.702-04:00Figjam<p>While I didn't attend ISTE 2023 in person last month, I watched the social media about it from afar. One tool that came up repeatedly was <a href="https://www.figma.com/figjam/" target="_blank">Figjam</a>. The enthusiasm I read about it encouraged me to try it out for myself. The result was endless grinning and multiple Keanu Reeves-like "Whoa's" as I played around with it. Figjam is basically a browser-based collaborative whiteboard tool, but considering the possibilities and the joy it sparked for me, that somehow feels reductive. My hope today is to convey that joy of possibilities to you.</p><p>First, a clarification. Figjam is technically a program that has emerged fairly recently, but it's actually part of <a href="https://www.figma.com/" target="_blank">Figma</a>, a popular industry-standard design tool that's been around for years and used by the world's top corporations and designers. In order to use Figjam, you must create a Figma account, and that ends up giving you access to both tools. Figma is a powerful program with some features that overlap with Figjam. Figma is certainly worthy of its own blog entry -- <a href="https://youtu.be/1b6Qo3ztCZ8" target="_blank">and there are teachers and students who are definitely using it!</a> -- but in my limited time of playing with it, I found the learning curve to be a bit steeper, and its application seems limited to product-oriented projects that may require designing and prototyping. On the other hand, Figjam feels user-friendly right out of the box, and has the potential to be used by educators and students for learning on a much more frequent basis.</p><p>Strap yourselves in, because I'm about to make a new Edtech Elixirs world record for most screenshots in a single blog entry!</p><p><b>How does it work?</b></p><p>As you sign up (using your Google account is my recommended option), there is a process where you <a href="https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041061214-Verify-education-status" target="_blank">verify your educator status</a>. This takes a minute, but totally worth it, as you will get the full enterprise edition of Figjam (and Figma!) for free. Let me repeat that: even if you were willing to pay something, there are no other premium features, because as a teacher or student <i>you get the whole ball of wax at no charge</i>. A round of well-deserved applause for Figma's patronage to education!</p><p>Once you are logged in, your home screen will present you with several options, including opening up a previous Figjam board, making a board from scratch, or starting with a template.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yCHxmnoeyMJ1B6ALsEe0T6jRfY5NI_gU07j2hnicCLSw4jud6fuEPETbfktVOZRIYwYoprr4D5WkbbLL1_o-r0V4Gl3o_2icmxRUOFTSb5VMtJVjX4BW-dWi2iEDU1n7C1_gKZ_YJVi2ACWty3znFWO5evLgtpxYOWWt2aGpRLi67jsUr-nSpfPi-Ms/s2844/figma%20start.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1556" data-original-width="2844" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8yCHxmnoeyMJ1B6ALsEe0T6jRfY5NI_gU07j2hnicCLSw4jud6fuEPETbfktVOZRIYwYoprr4D5WkbbLL1_o-r0V4Gl3o_2icmxRUOFTSb5VMtJVjX4BW-dWi2iEDU1n7C1_gKZ_YJVi2ACWty3znFWO5evLgtpxYOWWt2aGpRLi67jsUr-nSpfPi-Ms/w400-h219/figma%20start.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>This is what your home screen looks like if you're looking at your "Recent" files (see the upper left).</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Let's jump right away to discussing Figjam's templates. The bench is deep on this one. In fact, I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a web tool that has so many useful pre-made models. Within sixty seconds you could conceivably launch a learning activity with students. While there is a whole template category "for the classroom," the other categories give you an idea of how versatile Figjam can be for brainstorming, having a meeting, planning a project, and more.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmwJDwxdA21ozqPXB-dEOV1IRV1pb1vzMs5SVuasXXti073JHBBjNfgOXwODK1L86LkfFztTeOclVEIlFkfc8gfGjPO17c8FYLAFkEigKHJcuJZjNfun7KKpi-FJVhZQpGwUF25KkLoJffWXYrDDFO9HgeytPdhRilF0HuGOyDjWYFl5znsw9JzPRUQg/s1772/figjam%20templates.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1104" data-original-width="1772" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxmwJDwxdA21ozqPXB-dEOV1IRV1pb1vzMs5SVuasXXti073JHBBjNfgOXwODK1L86LkfFztTeOclVEIlFkfc8gfGjPO17c8FYLAFkEigKHJcuJZjNfun7KKpi-FJVhZQpGwUF25KkLoJffWXYrDDFO9HgeytPdhRilF0HuGOyDjWYFl5znsw9JzPRUQg/w400-h249/figjam%20templates.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>You will likely find value in using a Figjam by yourself, but why be lonely? It really comes alive when collaborating with others. While you could create Teams with students or colleagues for ongoing work on particular Figjam boards, I love how you can also open up a board to anyone for 24 hours <i>and they don't even need a Figma account</i>. If you can give someone the URL, they can join you and work on the board in real time. (<a href="https://youtu.be/T01J_zsj4TI?t=1045" target="_blank">Here's a timecoded link</a> to a video showing how sharing works; it's at the 17:25 mark.)</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbcOq0Ks00VgTXa19TfWfmqZ1S8CdlwCramrZXSgKLOa8Th3fWg8nb9AG5_QhZHD6f9OggzsfgMEUiEMAAH0Fb6XNVUluoBFk4dzjeG12ssyYPmv4Pfix2HJPIwWIClx1VIoxzpJpcnjkIRrM-Wzbp82crlbcCwBveqMi-hZjTI-qXHL8TrdwID97VoU/s1058/figjam%20share.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="920" data-original-width="1058" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMbcOq0Ks00VgTXa19TfWfmqZ1S8CdlwCramrZXSgKLOa8Th3fWg8nb9AG5_QhZHD6f9OggzsfgMEUiEMAAH0Fb6XNVUluoBFk4dzjeG12ssyYPmv4Pfix2HJPIwWIClx1VIoxzpJpcnjkIRrM-Wzbp82crlbcCwBveqMi-hZjTI-qXHL8TrdwID97VoU/w400-h348/figjam%20share.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>By simply hitting "Start" and "Copy link," your students, colleagues or PD attendees could be seconds away from joining you in a "jam session." Note that similar to Google Docs, you can also limit a board's viewing or editing to specific people.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>The interactivity of Figjam is user-friendly and straightforward, mainly centered around its toolbar at the bottom of the screen. You can participate in multiple ways, such as drawing, inserting shapes or sticky notes, making line connectors between elements, using stamps and emotes, and more. There are also some clever "widgets" available to use. You are even able to <a href="https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/1500004414622-Use-audio-to-chat-with-your-team" target="_blank">have an audio chat</a> with others in the Figjam board, which can make it an alternative teleconference-style meeting.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroM5TOyOcURUwABtU3YOKAiIi9WMChRj7ua0FbU2J5bvrT42kVoIKO7R8QkbvdvZsF579jvZJLvjZl3c3iuWIRZVr0htxkxwX5MeDmE_LgAtDqfNiFdVHJlODvP3O7kPopwa7h-nztgOE8ym0u8gG10M7y4BsGaD5aJhuKc69rARbYy74twT--c4cTdc/s1666/Figjam%20toolbar.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1666" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjroM5TOyOcURUwABtU3YOKAiIi9WMChRj7ua0FbU2J5bvrT42kVoIKO7R8QkbvdvZsF579jvZJLvjZl3c3iuWIRZVr0htxkxwX5MeDmE_LgAtDqfNiFdVHJlODvP3O7kPopwa7h-nztgOE8ym0u8gG10M7y4BsGaD5aJhuKc69rARbYy74twT--c4cTdc/w400-h230/Figjam%20toolbar.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An annotated Figjam toolbar, slightly edited from the original found in the "Figjam 101 Overview for Education" Template...yet another aspect of Figjam that I appreciate, which is how many Templates they have that also function as tutorials.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1Ah965d2v23i22OVcEp4svFQk7YPzmhhL_TsljxjXp0edUpuY4BlWEiE-IZQTIEMosF7C4OWcargFe08f949EmdXkX5G3bCdsEYMBKWfTvaThSa_fDgRSsnLrNBh7nkxRMNXwniMWdeUP8xtgIDziJsWJSQs10TNuSBN5of-vdbyCgVHr1z7uZ0-RaY/s1018/figjam%20widgets.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1018" data-original-width="932" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgY1Ah965d2v23i22OVcEp4svFQk7YPzmhhL_TsljxjXp0edUpuY4BlWEiE-IZQTIEMosF7C4OWcargFe08f949EmdXkX5G3bCdsEYMBKWfTvaThSa_fDgRSsnLrNBh7nkxRMNXwniMWdeUP8xtgIDziJsWJSQs10TNuSBN5of-vdbyCgVHr1z7uZ0-RaY/w366-h400/figjam%20widgets.png" width="366" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Voice Memo (allowing you to record your voice for up to 30 seconds) and Photo Booth (which uses your webcam to take a selfie) are two particularly useful (and fun!) widgets to put on a board.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>As a facilitator of the board, you'll enjoy the built-in timer in the upper left of the screen, as well as the opportunity to play some ambient music. This can be particularly useful when participants have some work time for a portion of your live session before coming back as a whole group.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3K5OmzTHNYYR3jgQo8rVx2ABzSRaikSQ5LtvyFrcIg7H929dCmuE4A2VuB5lHMZ3iL1eKMIMsto0yf6MG9c7n2KWsQkkPDvwT0moDbN0TNuvydjI5H2zwllnzwG4sqwDazj-y33uQk94Ci9GdL74G-gVIeYUl1OFRTUaal1mJ2ik5fSdi62hdOB8IF9o/s1356/figjam%20timer%20and%20audio.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1356" data-original-width="928" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3K5OmzTHNYYR3jgQo8rVx2ABzSRaikSQ5LtvyFrcIg7H929dCmuE4A2VuB5lHMZ3iL1eKMIMsto0yf6MG9c7n2KWsQkkPDvwT0moDbN0TNuvydjI5H2zwllnzwG4sqwDazj-y33uQk94Ci9GdL74G-gVIeYUl1OFRTUaal1mJ2ik5fSdi62hdOB8IF9o/w274-h400/figjam%20timer%20and%20audio.png" width="274" /></a></div><br /><p>Here are some helpful shortcuts and tips that participants can use inside Figjam:</p><ul><li><b><span style="color: red;">E</span> </b>for Emotes/Stamps. </li><li><i>Tip: </i>While in the Emotes/Stamp wheel, click once on a stamp choice so you can stamp with it multiple times. You can also hold down you mouse to grow the stamp bigger and bigger until you release it on the whiteboard.</li><li><b><span style="color: red;">S</span></b> for a sticky note.</li><li><b><span style="color: red;">X</span></b> for connectors, and drag cursor to where you want arrow to stop.</li><li><span style="color: red;"><b>/</b> </span>to open a cursor chat for live interaction (not to be confused with making a more permanent text comment).</li><li><i>Tip:</i> be mindful when you are in "pointer mode" (which means you can select and move <i>elements</i> around on your board -- perhaps unintentionally!) and when you are in "hand" mode, which allows you to move the entire board around in order to navigate. Until you get used to this, you may be using <b>Edit>Undo</b> a lot.</li><li>Hold <b><span style="color: red;">H</span></b> and move cursor for waving your hand at other participants. Then they can give you a high five!</li><li><i>Tip:</i> Copy and paste a URL into a Figjam to create an embedded website or YouTube link. (This works for Google Docs too!)</li><li><i>Tip:</i> If logged into the platform on your browser, go to <b><span style="color: red;">figjam.new</span></b> in a new tab to quickly make a brand new board with some simple template options on the left side.</li></ul><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiNIrMJpI9JeH8r8GLPu342UeLfrS5ymTgCtpviD1TPfQN0ccVR6ZZO-YvZaNYrGrVFL964M4uvDVlcVXCheTrYA2KzQCDdli9K-zL1Po0xQ2RW3Wv4bCmKSQ5ga57IFqBH1w93HspGP8A7mAS4nHHpJFeHVqf75fjWawM7nVqXFcKt4fdgRbcjcRMDk/s2534/figjam%20dot%20new.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1374" data-original-width="2534" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZiNIrMJpI9JeH8r8GLPu342UeLfrS5ymTgCtpviD1TPfQN0ccVR6ZZO-YvZaNYrGrVFL964M4uvDVlcVXCheTrYA2KzQCDdli9K-zL1Po0xQ2RW3Wv4bCmKSQ5ga57IFqBH1w93HspGP8A7mAS4nHHpJFeHVqf75fjWawM7nVqXFcKt4fdgRbcjcRMDk/w400-h217/figjam%20dot%20new.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The landing page when you go to </i><b>figjam.new</b><i>. Note the quick template options on your left.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br />What if you want to share your board with others outside the platform, or want to save a "snapshot" of the Figjam for archiving your current progress? You can export the board as a PNG, JPG, or a PDF, either in its entirety or just a selected portion.<div><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbjdPXhHYWhAOvlw0TpFRkXGbx1wDtUA1mfjhX5UZJkW5skSWClpL0s8PRUyGsB29Vf82-_MrFI5DZ3ew7tFO7ZWOdwrG7NHgXYQO0g71IMwKHxkTaCiCKv2_EKtXEA9HRkncD1BMGbKnmphz9RiJCuP_tkv7QG59dJisp95xzdF_awAgf0Z5y2ps9aM/s2522/figjam%20export.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1032" data-original-width="2522" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGbjdPXhHYWhAOvlw0TpFRkXGbx1wDtUA1mfjhX5UZJkW5skSWClpL0s8PRUyGsB29Vf82-_MrFI5DZ3ew7tFO7ZWOdwrG7NHgXYQO0g71IMwKHxkTaCiCKv2_EKtXEA9HRkncD1BMGbKnmphz9RiJCuP_tkv7QG59dJisp95xzdF_awAgf0Z5y2ps9aM/w400-h164/figjam%20export.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Another excerpt from the "</i><i>Figjam 101 Overview for Education" Template.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="https://youtu.be/jjKarXKXY3Y" target="_blank">Here's a short overview video</a> of some of the basic collaborative features of a Figjam board (2:48):</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/jjKarXKXY3Y" width="320" youtube-src-id="jjKarXKXY3Y"></iframe></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>How could you use it?</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I've threaded some examples of use throughout the narrative above; if you're stuck for ideas, check out the massive list of different templates available! But I'll add a few more. Figjam can be a powerful way of making thinking visible for learners, as well as providing a wonderful digital space for collaboration and planning. Additionally, a person could use Figjam as an alternative presentation tool, either in person or as a shared screen in a teleconference -- you could set up its sections in advance and zoom in, out and move as appropriate to highlight the next part, as well as explore an image, play a video, or visit a website. Lastly, because of its export feature, both teachers and students might use Figjam as a designer tool for handouts, logos, and other graphics. </div><div><p><b>Downsides?</b></p><p>You know you're struggling to find fault when the worst thing you can come up with as a downside is the number of questions you have to answer when signing up in order to validate that you are an educator. It's really remarkable how much Figjam can do, and all at the cost of zero point zero zero dollars.</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope that you try out Figjam with your students soon. If you do, leave your story on how you used it in the Comments below. Now go out there and get Figjamming!</p><p><br /></p></div>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-32067624651467555232023-07-08T14:08:00.004-04:002023-07-09T10:11:37.658-04:00I've joined Threads!<p>It's not every day that a new social media explodes into the mainstream -- but here we are, and I have just joined Threads, part of the <a href="https://about.meta.com/" target="_blank">Meta family</a> (Instagram, Facebook, etc.). In fact, in your app store, you'll see Threads labeled as "an Instagram app," which gives it some great advantages while also creating some nagging issues to overcome; more on that in a moment.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_M_UuxLKL6SocsRwBdK_M_lwbJz4lPJ46AriDxVLrg5kiuatxqEyTbYrk2An3sacaV6gGQwf4doII1NyOxm2sB4_o_7o076lPJLLEolPrtY9onKxxKxeIKSsZ3Wl40Fzlbb-ujdYgStQzpuXeSaMQRopbFMAvUpaVHRm4_kptQowhej4d3nLFEGXNpY/s640/threads.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="360" data-original-width="640" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1_M_UuxLKL6SocsRwBdK_M_lwbJz4lPJ46AriDxVLrg5kiuatxqEyTbYrk2An3sacaV6gGQwf4doII1NyOxm2sB4_o_7o076lPJLLEolPrtY9onKxxKxeIKSsZ3Wl40Fzlbb-ujdYgStQzpuXeSaMQRopbFMAvUpaVHRm4_kptQowhej4d3nLFEGXNpY/s320/threads.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><span style="color: #050505;"><a href="https://www.threads.net/@watsonedtech">https://www.threads.net/@watsonedtech</a></span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Over the last year, In the wake of some turbulence in the land of the bluebird app, I have briefly flirted with some other social media tools. But Threads is by far the only one that I have liked right out of the gate. The user interface is clean and intuitive, and signing up takes seconds (assuming you have an Instagram account). T</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">here's a lot of potential in the tool and I can understand why it's gotten so popular within just a few days of its launch -- over 70 million subscribers and counting! There seems to be a lot of positive energy in Threads, especially among educators. Another bonus in a new social media like Threads is the chance to clear your feed -- things look a lot different when following dozens of people as opposed to thousands. You might use Threads to follow key individuals and friends instead of all the companies and celebrities you may have accumulated over the years on other platforms.</span></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_N3pH7DCthV_v6Jsna5Jx41NQiuV46K9N-i1ylTIsY1UKMnPOOPum0j5ZT-FZxcy51GqwmalFYmXR_1jwgIEPoOdYgLlsID4o1EUTkkAlxzAw5Hhkw5ivsPJ2MtwTxMKfJ7_RY8PXkHesV0vD1jr100_SUKFhT2g2YrFh6bKqJN-tygDc2KHE7Gxx-xQ/s1952/Screenshot_20230708_131329_Threads.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1952" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_N3pH7DCthV_v6Jsna5Jx41NQiuV46K9N-i1ylTIsY1UKMnPOOPum0j5ZT-FZxcy51GqwmalFYmXR_1jwgIEPoOdYgLlsID4o1EUTkkAlxzAw5Hhkw5ivsPJ2MtwTxMKfJ7_RY8PXkHesV0vD1jr100_SUKFhT2g2YrFh6bKqJN-tygDc2KHE7Gxx-xQ/w221-h400/Screenshot_20230708_131329_Threads.jpg" width="221" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Besides the typical Like, Comment and Repost buttons, Share has a few features including....Tweeting your post. Threads, you have swagger. </i></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Here are some of my quick observations about Threads. (Fair warning: such a new app is likely beta testing new features as we speak, so it's highly likely it will look different even a month from now.) </span></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You need an Instagram account to sign up. There's no way to get Threads without one. I find that strange, since you could conceivably, say, make a Facebook account without an Instagram account. From Meta's perspective, I suppose this is a shrewd way to keep you deeper in its family.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>The New York Times</i> reported on Threads in their <a href="https://messaging-custom-newsletters.nytimes.com/template/oakv2?productCode=NN&abVariantId=0&te=1&nl=the-morning&emc=edit_nn_20230709&uri=nyt://newsletter/22778a36-e557-595b-ac5b-8f6d296156b7" target="_blank">7/9/23 morning email newsletter</a>, and among other things, pointed out that you cannot delete your Threads account without deleting your connected Instagram account. I did see where you can "deactivate profile" in the app's settings, but NYT is correct about true account deletion.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">Once you create a Threads account, your Instagram profile will show a "button" allowing you to go to the person's Threads account. (Your Threads profile also has a button that leads back to your IG.) That is both convenient and likely some savvy tool cross-promotion. Interestingly, this button indicates what number subscriber you are -- I signed up as Threads apparently crossed the 73 million mark. </span></span></li><li><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">If you want multiple Threads accounts, you'll need multiple IG accounts, which is a bit trickier than it sounds. T</span></span>he Threads app currently has no way to easily switch between accounts, like you can on Instagram, nor can you see that you may have notifications on one account while logged in as another. However, on Threads, you can <i>sign out</i> of your current profile and <i>sign in</i> as another one. (After creating my initial Threads profile, signing out/signing in is also how I created a second Threads profile, but this assumes you are logged into your device's Instagram app with two or more IG accounts.)</li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">While you can look at a Threads profile online (such as my link above shows), you can only view the person's posts. You can't log into your own account or post via a browser or see any notifications -- you can only do those things via your mobile app.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You can Like a post, but as of yet there is no way to look at all the posts you Liked or make a Bookmark list like you can on Twitter. To be fair, however, this is similar to how Instagram currently works.</span></li><li><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">You can attach a picture from your device's photo gallery to your post, but there is no other media functions built into Threads. Apparently if a video is in your gallery you could conceivably post it, although I haven't yet tried nor have I seen others do so yet. The only way to insert something like an animated GIF is through your device's keyboard.</span></li><li><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">There is no (hash)tagging system in Threads, or any other structure that allows you to only follow or look up certain topics. My gut tells me this will be the next big upgrade for Threads, but for now, you are basically stuck just watching your feed based on who you follow, with your only search ability in looking up other people's accounts.</span></span></li><li><span style="color: #050505;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I need to know the verbs. Are we Threading on Threads? Do I post a Thread on Threads? Is it a repost or a Rethread? If I tweet on Twitter, do I Threed on Threads?</span></span></li></ul><p></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;">I'm not giving up on Twitter yet, but I definitely will keep playing around on Threads and hope to bump into you over there!</span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #050505; font-size: 15px; white-space-collapse: preserve;"><i>Edit 7/9/23: A whole whirlwind of findings meant I needed to already update this post. I added new info about your options for deactivating or deleting your Threads account, what it takes to switch or add additional Threads profiles, the current limit of looking up your Liked posts, and a better understanding of posting videos.</i> </span></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-75186211114233811092023-05-21T11:58:00.004-04:002024-02-13T17:37:50.074-05:00A republished blog entry with Aurora Institute, and a podcast appearance!<p>Today will be a short blog entry just to highlight some recent multimedia appearances.</p><p>Back in January 2022, I wrote "<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/01/from-good-to-great-initial-to-ideal-way.html" target="_blank">From Good to Great, Initial to Ideal: A Way to Improve Exhibitions and Other Performance Assessments.</a>" CompetencyWorks (the blogging arm of <a href="https://aurora-institute.org/" target="_blank">Aurora Institute</a>) felt my piece fit thematically with some other current work in the field of innovative education and in blog entries they have been recently writing, and therefore <a href="https://aurora-institute.org/cw_post/from-good-to-great-initial-to-ideal-a-way-to-improve-exhibitions-and-other-performance-assessments/" target="_blank">republished it on May 15</a>. Special thanks to Laurie Gagnon, the CompetencyWorks Director, for thinking of me and sharing my writing!</p><p>This school year, I've spent some time and <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/search/label/KyEdRPG" target="_blank">Edtech Elixirs space</a> on the intersection of tabletop role-playing games and education, starting with my launch of <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-one-site-launch.html" target="_blank">Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games</a> in August 2022. I've been humbled, flattered, and honored for opportunities to talk about KyEdRPG in <i><a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2023/01/kyedrpg-in-kentucky-teacher.html" target="_blank">Kentucky Teacher</a></i>, a television episode of <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2023/04/nglc-article-and-interview-for-ket.html" target="_blank"><i>Kentucky Edition</i>, and an article for Next Generation Learning Challenges</a>. The latest adventure involves Tom Gross and Dan Reem's podcast <i>Teachers in the Dungeon</i>, where they had me on as a guest for their <a href="https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dan-reem/episodes/Random-Encounter-Adam-Watson-of-Kentucky-Educators-for-Role-Playing-Games-e23llhv" target="_blank">May 16 episode</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4P_CIAAefEA87uGHLYfHSs3TPj69eeC_HD6vwXRizn2OZBCdp8bZ9MCP7F2StYeIv1XNkx-5EnFTuyPq_O-Jk0LK144hZcFp-J0IWASgvPhBLqlX5ZqxW54AwbHDoiTSWlPfwR4wQWwqEHeJJZ-T6AG4PxIwtE0lTEOQa_Zh4jPhVaU0j58o0Z88/s1323/Screenshot_20230516_123327_Google.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1323" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb4P_CIAAefEA87uGHLYfHSs3TPj69eeC_HD6vwXRizn2OZBCdp8bZ9MCP7F2StYeIv1XNkx-5EnFTuyPq_O-Jk0LK144hZcFp-J0IWASgvPhBLqlX5ZqxW54AwbHDoiTSWlPfwR4wQWwqEHeJJZ-T6AG4PxIwtE0lTEOQa_Zh4jPhVaU0j58o0Z88/w326-h400/Screenshot_20230516_123327_Google.jpg" width="326" /></a></div><br /><p>I had a lot of fun talking with Dan and Tom, and special thanks to both of them for having me on. I hope you give the episode a listen (42 minutes, if you need to plan accordingly!), and while you're at it, subscribe to their excellent series, available on multiple podcast platforms. </p><p>As the school year wraps up, my fervent wish for all the educators out there is to have a chance to catch their breath, spend time with family and friends, and recharge their batteries. Enjoy a much needed rest!</p><p><br /></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-39712550718951712182023-04-22T12:19:00.001-04:002023-04-23T10:12:38.648-04:00A shoutout for yellkey<p style="text-align: left;">Have you ever been in a situation where you need to share files or folders or websites and you don't have the time or the shared virtual space (like a Google Classroom) to easily do so? The challenge is compounded when using Google Docs and their very complicated and long URLs. There are, of course, custom URL shorteners available. To take a popular example, <a href="http://bit.ly">bit.ly</a> allows you to customize the shortened link to more "natural language." The effort of making a bit.ly is worth it if you plan to use that shortcut often, or at least more than just the one day and the one session. By creating an account with bit.ly, you can also find shortcuts you made in the past, if you need to revisit them. </p><blockquote><p style="text-align: left;"><i>Here's a helpful tip: putting the bit.ly at the bottom of every slide in a presentation helps answer the eventual “What’s the bit.ly again??” question that you’ll face repeatedly while facilitating a PD or leading instruction. </i> </p></blockquote><p style="text-align: left;">However, bit.ly and other shortener tools can be cumbersome. You usually have to create an account and log in, it takes several clicks to make and customize a link, and the effort may seem more than what it's worth for a "just in time" sharing situation or for a temporary learning context. </p><p><a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2019/03/kyste-2019.html" target="_blank">Several years ago</a>, I found out about <a href="http://yellkey.com">yellkey.com</a> and it changed my facilitation life! (Note that all lower case is how the tool presents itself.) The fact that I still don't see many others using it or knowing about it seems a shame, and that's what led to today's blog entry.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPYVXTb5M-MuPCozoeZzCgRABLu_5X2ZY2zhlBa0yBJvLUD1_StHGAaCcVJDxbu_fogDqJOZ4wzz-r9iSWzJsoTNq9SzkhsMl0B421KsDbraB8DMD-zprd507u6BSiXFmAiMcxCjkZeAca9qMuDPKO-bwh3M6d3XcTpCfpyrXDc-y7Bgq0JqtZjwV/s1292/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-21%20at%203.18.28%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1292" data-original-width="1160" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxPYVXTb5M-MuPCozoeZzCgRABLu_5X2ZY2zhlBa0yBJvLUD1_StHGAaCcVJDxbu_fogDqJOZ4wzz-r9iSWzJsoTNq9SzkhsMl0B421KsDbraB8DMD-zprd507u6BSiXFmAiMcxCjkZeAca9qMuDPKO-bwh3M6d3XcTpCfpyrXDc-y7Bgq0JqtZjwV/w359-h400/Screen%20Shot%202023-04-21%20at%203.18.28%20PM.png" width="359" /></a></div><br /><p>Here are some key reasons why I'm yelling about yellkey:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It's free!</li><li>It’s perfect for what I’d call “disposable shortcuts” in front of a live audience. It’s when you need a shortened link to something that matters for the session at the moment, but no one will urgently need to access later today or tomorrow.</li><li>It is super user friendly. You can make one in a few seconds without any account creation. I’ve made one on the fly before in the middle of a PD. Simply paste the URL from your original site, choose the time frame (see the last bullet), and click the site button to generate the yellkey shortcut.</li><li>The yellkey shortcut is in natural language with a single common word after the <b>yellkey.com/</b> forward slash – so you'll have none of the typo-causing “make sure you capitalize the second letter” or similar user error issues.</li><li>The common word is autogenerated, so it's a time saver in two ways over other URL shorteners - you won't have to creatively come up with something, nor will you have to deal with your initial choices being rejected as "already taken."</li><li>It has a built-in expiration that <i>you</i> set…as little as 5 minutes, as long as 1 day. Perfect for, say, a sign-in Google Form at the start of a PD that no one should or would be completing later.</li></ul><p></p><p>The only downside: the shortcuts eventually get recycled after they expire. So it’s highly likely that the same yellkey shortcut you use today will point to somewhere else in the near future. When I've inserted a yellkey in a Slide for a live presentation, I usually go back and remove it afterward, lest anyone see it a week later and try to use it or share it with others.</p><p>"What about QR codes?" you might ask. I'm a fan, and they can definitely be another way to quickly get participants to an online place. However, there are two complications about QR codes worth mentioning. The first is that a phone is the quick and obvious way most people read a QR code, but if you can depend on the participants having laptops, you may be providing a shortcut on the wrong device for the work at hand; consider what you are asking the person to do once they arrive to the URL. (Watching a video or signing in for a PD may be easy on my phone, but I prefer typing up long survey answers or interacting with Google Docs on my laptop.) The second is that people often forget that the density and complexity of the blocky imagery of a QR code is directly related to the length of the URL. That's why something like a Google Doc produces a QR Code that participants often struggle to get their phone to read. You could app smash and use a shortener for the URL and <i>then</i> create a QR code from the shortened URL, but you're increasing your steps. Of course, there is a "yes, and" approach - you could display both a QR code and a URL shortener like yellkey.</p><p>While this blog entry mainly contextualizes yellkey around its usefulness to a PD facilitator, it has classroom implications as well. For example, a teacher might find it easier to share a site or Doc with students using yellkey than all the steps necessary to share something via a LMS platform message. Compare the steps necessary for a student to quickly share something with a classmate with yellkey versus the process of making an email, sending it, the receiver getting to their inbox, etc.</p><p>Yellkey is not a dramatic or complex tool, but it excels in making the sharing of URLs faster and easier!</p><p> </p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-80179064648641274062023-04-04T13:55:00.000-04:002023-04-04T13:55:17.536-04:00NGLC Article and Interview for KET Kentucky Edition on Role-Playing Games in Education<p>Last weekend my youngest daughter, my nephew, and I watched <i>Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves</i> at the theater. We thoroughly enjoyed it -- it was fun on its own terms, but it also rewarded you if you are knowledgable of D&D lore.</p><p>And with the timing of the movie's release, I've been grateful for the multiple opportunities to talk about role-playing games in education. As I previewed in my last entry, here are two examples that went online this week:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I was interviewed as part of KET's <i>Kentucky Edition</i>, which<i> </i>aired "Learning by Role-Playing: How Tabletop RPGs are Changing Education" as part of its <a href="https://ket.org/program/kentucky-edition/march-31-2023/" target="_blank">March 31 episode</a>. For a timecoded link that leads straight to the segment (21 min, 12 seconds into the show), <a href="https://ket.org/program/kentucky-edition/march-31-2023/?t=1272" target="_blank">click here</a>. The segment also includes <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-two-power-of-d-d-club.html" target="_blank">Justin Gadd</a> and his students at Marnel C. Moorman (Shelby County Public Schools).</li><li>I wrote "<a href="https://www.nextgenlearning.org/articles/dungeons-dragons-durable-skills-sel-academics" target="_blank">Dungeons, Dragons, and Durable Skills: How Tabletop Role-Playing Games Make SEL and Academics into an Adventure for Students</a>" for Next Generation Learning Challenges. The article has resources, examples, and stories from Kentucky teachers.</li></ul><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipkKFor-KpIqFB4CBDyEeDmuN6QUFFZoPV_s8_9niBnQ8imRP15mPPybl15kljbTmlpc3mo91feWbw_nqWigpbbB4_v-cx4BWwsWp6EuJm-hxeEQMEte9r692gtBoob9xQtWQn3aFgOpXa9v8LyyI_DTSo6wNTctPwaaXnNHswz-EslEeJE8PxA8Ju/s1080/ket%20interview.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1080" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipkKFor-KpIqFB4CBDyEeDmuN6QUFFZoPV_s8_9niBnQ8imRP15mPPybl15kljbTmlpc3mo91feWbw_nqWigpbbB4_v-cx4BWwsWp6EuJm-hxeEQMEte9r692gtBoob9xQtWQn3aFgOpXa9v8LyyI_DTSo6wNTctPwaaXnNHswz-EslEeJE8PxA8Ju/w400-h266/ket%20interview.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY9P9q_3rOltClV2s9mzmoAUOdEvsjRSB8wX3paEFDK-ck4GOhtAe88CWGQ5ulZOBCBd5hv4jUMvLsZ4_VOCppAiYFREkFQ5k5MJCd50NE-08WgCaZV18am5dAteBV6KrO9UzBj-MJRN9t-Ow34ppSP5O8i_mbeD_UOkMYbH2xDTYr1eROw_14wCa8/s2130/justin%20ket.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1158" data-original-width="2130" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY9P9q_3rOltClV2s9mzmoAUOdEvsjRSB8wX3paEFDK-ck4GOhtAe88CWGQ5ulZOBCBd5hv4jUMvLsZ4_VOCppAiYFREkFQ5k5MJCd50NE-08WgCaZV18am5dAteBV6KrO9UzBj-MJRN9t-Ow34ppSP5O8i_mbeD_UOkMYbH2xDTYr1eROw_14wCa8/w400-h217/justin%20ket.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFq3xwyDInTRa1nK0You5oQCMB1HiuMpxrzEs1RL35HYc64JgyF8HXHkun0hc-bMALDYoWdOI4NtxXTV18j5rHVSKHTG-c9jsLO25rSbPLAvcQXDl53YUkcquZISNEO1dR5B7NTWMq_B6QhLgtNhedLDbnJO4EqFChYord4Lgyp7Wswbo-h3H17Cro/s2128/ket%20kyedrpg.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1164" data-original-width="2128" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFq3xwyDInTRa1nK0You5oQCMB1HiuMpxrzEs1RL35HYc64JgyF8HXHkun0hc-bMALDYoWdOI4NtxXTV18j5rHVSKHTG-c9jsLO25rSbPLAvcQXDl53YUkcquZISNEO1dR5B7NTWMq_B6QhLgtNhedLDbnJO4EqFChYord4Lgyp7Wswbo-h3H17Cro/w400-h219/ket%20kyedrpg.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Special thanks to Sarah Helton at KET and Kristen Vogt at NGLC for helping to make the above happen!</p><p>For more on RPGs integrated into schools and classrooms, be sure to check out <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg/home" target="_blank">Kentucky Education for Role-Playing Games</a> (<b>#kyedrpg</b>). </p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-66434444563082591522023-03-31T13:17:00.001-04:002023-05-07T10:01:23.036-04:00Role-Playing Games in a Southern Indiana Elementary School<p>Today's blog entry is a combination of things related to role-playing games. Firstly, if you're a <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons</a> fan, we need to celebrate <a href="https://www.dungeonsanddragons.movie/" target="_blank">the new movie</a> that premieres today (I plan on seeing <i>D&D: Honor Among Thieves</i> with my youngest daughter this weekend)! There's also some upcoming adventures on the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg" target="_blank">KyEdRPG</a> front:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Tonight (3/31) at 630 pm EST on KET's <a href="https://ket.org/program/kentucky-edition/" target="_blank">Kentucky Edition</a>, I was interviewed for a segment discussing how role-playing games positively impact education. <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-two-power-of-d-d-club.html" target="_blank">Justin Gadd and his D&D club students</a> will also be featured. </li><li>Next week, <a href="https://www.nextgenlearning.org/" target="_blank">Next Generation Learning Challenges</a> will publish an original article I wrote on the same topic!</li></ul><div>I'll do an Edtech Elixirs entry next week with links to the episode and the article once they go live online. </div><div><br /></div><div>Meanwhile, in today's entry, I'm happy to share an interview with teacher David Bennett. As you'll see, he brings several perspectives that I haven't yet discussed here or over at KyEdRPG: he's a Kentuckiana <i>elementary</i> teacher integrating role-playing games with his students, he's using a game <i>other</i> than D&D, and he's doing so in a short time frame during the instructional day. Without further ado, let's get to the interview (slightly edited for clarity)!</div><div><br /></div><div><b>David, welcome to Edtech Elixirs! Tell us about yourself.</b></div><div><br /></div><div>I started at <a href="https://www.bes.bhsc.school/en-US" target="_blank">Borden Elementary School</a> in southern Indiana last November as a 5th grade teacher. I’m new to teaching after just leaving a career in marketing that I had for the last 5 years, with a company I’d been at for 10 years. I made the switch because I had always felt teaching was a calling, and during Covid I had begun to wonder about my future. I truly loved the job I had but felt it wasn’t really what I should be doing, so I started in the "Transition to Teaching" program at IUS.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>You shared with me that you play a fantasy role-playing game called <a href="https://paizo.com/pathfinder" target="_blank">Pathfinder</a> with your students during recess, which is definitely unique! However, before we get more into that story -- can you tell us about Pathfinder and how it is different than D&D?</b></div><p></p><div>When I first decided to run a game with my students during recess, my original plan was to run Dungeons and Dragons. Character creation was easy with <a href="https://www.dndbeyond.com/" target="_blank">D&D Beyond</a>, and there are plenty of ready made materials to use. However, our first session of combat was taking too long, and it was a lot to keep track of during a 30 minute recess. So I thought about other systems I’d played in the past and remembered <a href="https://peginc.com/savage-settings/savage-worlds/" target="_blank">Savage Worlds</a>, which is a system that is slightly less detailed than D&D, with the idea being that you tailor make the system to fit your needs. However, I still wanted to do fantasy, so I looked at the fantasy options for Savage Worlds. It turns out that just around a year ago, Pathfinder and Savage Worlds got together and there was a <a href="https://peginc.com/savage-settings/savage-pathfinder/" target="_blank">port of Pathfinder for Savage Worlds made</a>. Going just a bit deeper into the weeds here, Pathfinder was made as a continuation of the 3.5 system of D&D, using the old 3.5 rules, but creating their own world for the lore. The benefits to Savage Worlds is there are less skills and weapons, as well as less feats. Combat is simplified in that most monsters the players fight only have 1 hit point, while major villains have 3. Heroes also only have 3 hit points as well, before they fall unconscious. This keeps combat flowing because most of the time if the characters hit an opponent a simple roll will say if the opponent is still in the game or not. That means less time keeping track of hit points for monsters, When it comes to skill checks all skills start at needing a 4 or better on a roll, but unlike D&D skills are based on die types. So a starting skill is d4, while the highest you can get in a skill is d12. </div><div><div><br /></div><div>The shorter answer is, I chose Pathfinder for Savage Worlds due to the streamlining of skills and combat. Due to the short amount of time I have to play with the students, and the number of students who usually play, I need a system where I don’t have to keep track of 4-8 different monsters' hit points, or worry about what an appropriate skill check needs to be. The setting has enough lore that I have a good jumping off point, and there are premade characters that I can let my students look through to decide what they want to play. This makes character creation a breeze as well, as almost all needed information can fit on a half sheet of paper. Also, if you are just starting to roleplay with students and want a cheaper alternative to D&D with less rules, there are plenty of other options as well. The truth is, the system you choose isn’t nearly as important as how you play the game. Give your students the chance to make their own decisions and feel like they are impacting the world you created, and the game will be enjoyable to everyone, no matter what rules you are using.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>What inspired you to start playing Pathfinder with your elementary students?</b> </div><div><br /></div><div><div>To be honest, when I first started teaching, I didn’t really have any intention of starting a fantasy RPG group. I assumed that students today would be much like the elementary students from when I was a kid, and games like D&D wouldn’t really be on their radar. However, <i>Stranger Things</i> has really changed that, and when I started teaching I kept over hearing students talking about D&D. So I talked to Ms. Hurst, the principal at Borden Elementary, and asked if I would be able to run a group during recess. I wasn’t sure what the rules were for things like that. She recommended I make up a permission slip and students who wanted to try just had to get the okay. At first I had about 10 students sign up. So really my students showed their interest and I just went about seeing what I needed to do to make it happen. </div><div><br /></div><div>When it comes to how many students play my numbers can fluctuate, especially when the weather has been too cold or rainy, and our session might be one of the nicest days in a week. I always let students know that I completely understand when they choose to go outside and play versus staying in and playing Pathfinder. I do this for two main reasons. The first is that unlike regular sports where being on a team is a commitment and the team will suffer if you aren’t there, tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are collaborative storytelling and I can alter the events of the story to make up for a student not being able to make it so that the students who are there aren’t going up against a challenge they have no hope of overcoming. The other reason is, playing with someone who doesn’t want to be there isn’t fun for that person, or the other players. With only 30 minutes of playtime, students want to feel like they got to spend their time on something worthwhile.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><b>What are the challenges of playing a TTRPG with elementary students, or playing for only 30 minutes?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>My biggest challenge is giving each student a chance to shine in a 30 minute session. With some sessions getting up to 7 players, that’s less than 5 minutes of real action per player. Luckily for me, I have a bit of time I can spare right before the students have recess, so I usually have everything set up before they get up to play. The only other challenge is helping students to understand that their in-game actions can have in-game consequences. I had a student get bored in one of our sessions and grab a civilian and jump into a pit holding the civilian. I explained that now the town guards were going to be looking into this to figure out why he did that. Other than that, most sessions go as smooth as any other TTRPG I’ve run before.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Students learning natural consequences from bad actions in a safe game environment sounds like an awesome reason for using a TTRPG in a classroom! What other positive effects on your classroom culture and learning have you noticed?</b> </div><div><br /></div><div>I honestly believe that for me the best effect is it helps me get to know some of my students who aren’t very outgoing during class normally. I’ve gotten to see sides of some of my students that I doubt I would have ever seen in the classroom setting alone. I also feel like the game promotes problem solving, and team work in a way that you can’t feasibly do in real life. I also think it's nice the types of students who play. At least for my grade level I’ve got kids in band, kids in sports, kids who are high achievers, and some who struggle. The mix creates an interesting dynamic in our sessions.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>What advice would you have for an educator wanting to incorporate a role-playing game into an elementary classroom?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>That’s tough. While I certainly see positives in my game sessions, I also know that it’s successful because the students want to do it. I would never try to use role-playing games with students who didn’t show an interest. However, like any thing we do in life, you get out of it what you put into it. If you want to use it as just a fun activity where students roll dice and fight monsters, that’s fine. If you want to help them work on social skills like empathy, you have to put those situations in the game. You want them to learn to solve problems together as a team, you have to create a problem that they can’t solve with one person doing all the work. I’m not saying I’m a pro at this. I just think that TTRPGs can be a tool to help work on these issues, but only if you create those opportunities.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Reflecting on what you've done and looking ahead, what's next?</b></div><div><br /></div><div>If I’m being totally honest, I don’t know that I’d recommend a recess session for everyone. I started it because I wasn’t sure how popular it would be, and I had no idea at the time of how to start an afternoon type organization. 30 minutes goes by so fast, and if you don’t have time to set up beforehand, and take down as well, you’re going to lose a lot of your time. That being said, I’m going to be working on an afterschool program for next year due to how much interest there has been.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p><div>Thanks again to David for sharing his wisdom!</div><div><br /></div><p></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-65691383214443551762023-02-09T13:20:00.003-05:002023-02-09T21:25:04.584-05:00EduCon 2023<p>Last weekend, my teammate <a href="https://twitter.com/Teach_2_Empower" target="_blank">Rachel Albright</a> and I went to Philadelphia for a three day event called <a href="https://2023.educon.org/" target="_blank">EduCon</a>. This annual conference mainly took place at <a href="https://scienceleadership.org/" target="_blank">Science Leadership Academy</a> (SLA) High School at Center City. SLA opened around 2006, with EduCon starting a few years later. SLA has become well known for its focus on PBL and internships, and has led to other Philadelphia schools following its model; most recently they have opened <a href="https://slams.philasd.org/" target="_blank">a new middle school</a> (SLAMS).</p><p>I've been feeling like attending EduCon specifically, and visiting SLA in general, was being nudged to me by Fate. I first heard about SLA/EduCon when reading <i><a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/11/book-spotlight-reinventing-project.html">Reinventing Project-Based Learning</a> </i>last fall, and then read about SLA again a few months later as one of four schools highlighted in <i><a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/12/how-ai-will-save-education.html" target="_blank">Running with Robots</a></i>. </p><p>On the first day of the conference, we were led by a senior student through a tour of the flagship high school. Besides being impressed with her obvious enthusiasm and knowledge for what SLA has to offer, I was also appreciative that such innovative instructional practice happened in an older facility with few shiny frills, minus some new machinery and equipment. SLA proves the point that while PBL, passion-based projects, and deeper learning may benefit from a school renovation or a new build, it certainly doesn't require it!</p><p>For the rest of the entry, I will highlight three EduCon breakout sessions I attended that personally stood out for me.</p><p><br /></p><p><b><u>"The Case for Dreaming in Public"</u></b></p><p>This session easily won for best titled, and was facilitated by <a href="https://twitter.com/TimothyMBoyle" target="_blank">Timothy Boyle</a> (founding principal of SLAMS) and <a href="https://twitter.com/djakesdesigns" target="_blank">David Jakes</a> (veteran school designer and author of <i><a href="https://davidjakesdesigns.com/my-book" target="_blank">The Design Thinking Classroom</a></i>). </p><p>The session mainly consisted of "dreaming big" on what a new school might be and sharing those ideas with tablemates, which was intellectually stimulating. But Jakes also shared anecdotes from previous school renovation/new build projects. For example, he recommended having all stakeholders (educators and community members) meet for a "Salon Dinner." At the dinner, he would pose two provocative questions: What would it take to get it right? What would it mean if we did? Jakes also shared an example when the answers to those questions led not to a school that could double as a community center, but instead to a community center that <i>just so happened</i> to be a school during the weekdays. Such a realization factored heavily into its design choices, and of course the kind of instruction and student interaction such a building would have. </p><p><br /></p><p><u><b>"Challenging Traditional School Leader Pathways and PD"</b></u></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn1KD55yc0zabtLcFKHh-XpmauEAbAXg5LSoZUpRgWQZe70uixFSklPlce-JQcUunrtjIviKL_bsnZJ_gu33OilKuj9S4VKdHJTc1Lka7NEIqN1NaUdtpOiHGzDchAkMUVqFnze8G-iz8Zr1ecvXg-xqrstyp24UVPJmY84xsWw1S91_3f7nncSazM/s4000/LPF.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="4000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjn1KD55yc0zabtLcFKHh-XpmauEAbAXg5LSoZUpRgWQZe70uixFSklPlce-JQcUunrtjIviKL_bsnZJ_gu33OilKuj9S4VKdHJTc1Lka7NEIqN1NaUdtpOiHGzDchAkMUVqFnze8G-iz8Zr1ecvXg-xqrstyp24UVPJmY84xsWw1S91_3f7nncSazM/w400-h225/LPF.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>This session was facilitated by three leaders of the <a href="https://twitter.com/PHLschools" target="_blank">School District of Philadelphia</a> (SDP), one of the top 10 largest in the nation: Katie Culver, Brandon Cummings, and Rosie Tarnowski. </p><p>A few years ago, SDP did a re-org that included changes in PD development. Among other changes, they decided to prioritize support for principals -- not only because of the need for hiring, internally growing, and retaining such important personnel, but because philosophically, SDP believes principals are the most powerful change agent of their school building as well as their surrounding community. This led to creating a new <a href="https://www.philasd.org/leadershipdevelopment/ld-leadership-pathways-framework/#1635451601878-e43ce6ba-a4aa" target="_blank">Leadership Pathway Framework</a> (LPF) which articulates criteria for the assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, teacher leaders, and central office leaders. In the session, they concentrated on one strand of LPF, Equity Centered Leadership. These leadership competencies are nothing if not ambitious. Consider this example, from the substrand "Trusting Relationships" in the Principal competency "Facilitates and Builds Trusting Relationships":</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dS8X3amA_FdJntrOXl5ZHZUTQJl44WwRLTwnhPZ7PEEV9WsIFizR6HcxnuSPWGAHt2S6dkeqdXJCVbMHTrcSp2VkQIndqfEKlHuHQR95TUzACiWCqK9cNm_mRhYpECtAjt_p3xvsHXKPcCmYyzwFPHDZCStIv987vnj39mw1FoVHYCA4P48q1u_v/s1046/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-09%20at%2012.04.15%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="710" data-original-width="1046" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1dS8X3amA_FdJntrOXl5ZHZUTQJl44WwRLTwnhPZ7PEEV9WsIFizR6HcxnuSPWGAHt2S6dkeqdXJCVbMHTrcSp2VkQIndqfEKlHuHQR95TUzACiWCqK9cNm_mRhYpECtAjt_p3xvsHXKPcCmYyzwFPHDZCStIv987vnj39mw1FoVHYCA4P48q1u_v/w400-h271/Screen%20Shot%202023-02-09%20at%2012.04.15%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>The SPD presenters noted that similar frameworks for teachers and students were in the works, and acknowledged that while such leadership competencies were meant to drive growth, raise expectations and determine PD needs of principals and others, they were not yet used evaluatively -- and there was internal debate whether they ever should be.</p><p>Additionally, SDP had recently launched leadership affinity groups. To take one group example, black male educational leaders now have meetings and a safe space to share and speak about their unique experiences. These affinity groups (as well as the leadership PD in general) have been highly successful -- see photo below for data --- but this has led to areas for future consideration. For example, for educators that identified as another gender, or gay, should they form new and separate affinity groups? Participate in the larger one? Both?</p><p>Overall, it was exciting and inspiring to see such a large school district acknowledge the complex needs of its educational leadership and find ambitious ways to serve and grow them, particularly in the area of equity.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW3xr9ucM2_tIKPNSee6mixPLM8N3sQiXwMZ-HkoGkDjdo1Qoq2F8Oi5c51tmbQSWAui2u6F8r6Cnl6eqAJYv-hsf8a2l9jscFQ-Y1UuV6Lk2cHnfuzKVIXwDLttwVcOhGEtvk_ny0hR3acqBq_IavEvVisa7UGUQFWjSSjqIdvVpsLdURwTXcgDl/s4000/Outcome%20Data.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2252" data-original-width="4000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdW3xr9ucM2_tIKPNSee6mixPLM8N3sQiXwMZ-HkoGkDjdo1Qoq2F8Oi5c51tmbQSWAui2u6F8r6Cnl6eqAJYv-hsf8a2l9jscFQ-Y1UuV6Lk2cHnfuzKVIXwDLttwVcOhGEtvk_ny0hR3acqBq_IavEvVisa7UGUQFWjSSjqIdvVpsLdURwTXcgDl/w400-h225/Outcome%20Data.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p><b><u>Let's Design a School!</u></b></p><p>While somewhat similar in tone to "The Case for Dreaming in Public," the major difference was the inclusion of a student panel facilitated by <a href="https://twitter.com/mbteach" target="_blank">Mary Beth Hertz</a>. Four students from SLA's middle and high schools had some great insights about education. Here are some paraphrased quotes.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Answering the question "I go to school and enjoy..."</i><ul><li>spending time with my friends and teachers I like.</li><li>extracurriculars (to allow students to think about what they want to do with their future).</li><li>classes with connections, teamwork, community.</li><li>how each class is unique, and teachers that try to make things fun.</li></ul></li><li><i>Answering the question "What is school?" </i>For what I want to do, some of my classes are beneficial, but some classes are hard to take seriously because it feels like kinda the same thing over and over since I was 4. It doesn't meet everyone's needs.</li><li><i>Answering the question "What do you think the purpose of education is? How is 'school' and 'education' different?"</i></li><ul><li>Being educated is different for different people. Some people like to educate themselves. Education is about learning about your own identity, and being mindful.</li><li>School feels like a competition. School turns education into a hierarchy. Awards ceremony can make us feel bad, because who wins feels more subjective than objective. But sometimes competition can be motivating too. More than an award, I appreciate a teacher checking in with me with "Are you ok?" Or give me a compliment.</li><li>I don't want scores and grades to define me.</li></ul><li>Sometimes you need to be a teacher, and sometimes you need to be a person. <i>(This quote hit me hard!)</i></li></ul><p></p><p>After the Q & A panel, we joined like-minded participants in groups to brainstorm what "our" new school might look like. The students from the panel even walked around to give feedback and advice! Although we had limited time, it got some great conversation going and had us questioning aspects of school we always take for granted.</p><p>Intriguingly, Hertz also shared that SDP is potentially piloting <a href="https://walkaboutphilly.org/" target="_blank">Walkabout Philly</a> for high school students, hopefully in the 2024-2025 school year. This would be the first <a href="https://walkabout.org/" target="_blank">Walkabout</a> school outside of their original location in New York. Walkabout Education centers around five "Challenge Areas": <b>Wilderness Experience</b> (a leadership building exercise for students before the start of school that involves actual camping), <b>Service Learning</b>, <b>Applied Academics</b>, <b>Career Internship</b>, and <b>Presentation</b> (similar to a Defense of Learning). A ten minute video that explains each of these Areas <a href="https://vimeo.com/155034632" target="_blank">is here</a> and embedded below. I'm definitely interested in following Philadelphia's journey in launching this school!</p>
<iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="288" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/155034632?h=0e1a5038f0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="512"></iframe>
<p><a href="https://vimeo.com/155034632">Walkabout School Model Overview</a> from <a href="https://vimeo.com/walkabouteducation">Walkabout Education</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
<p><br /></p><p>Rachel and I definitely got some nuggets of gold from the three day conference, and were grateful to the EduCon educators and students who took the time to share their wisdom.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-7348555986318665112023-01-29T21:56:00.003-05:002023-10-26T19:02:53.175-04:00Guest Blogging on Deeper Learning at Aurora Institute's CompetencyWorks<p>Another short Edtech Elixirs entry with a publishing announcement!</p><p>I have written a two part series for <a href="https://aurora-institute.org/" target="_blank">Aurora Institute</a>'s <i>CompetencyWorks</i> blog. I discuss the deeper learning work currently going on in Kentucky, from my perspective as a member of <a href="https://www.ovec.org/" target="_blank">OVEC</a>'s newly launched Deeper Learning Team (one of eight such teams throughout the state).</p><p>While <i>CompetencyWorks</i> has highlighted me in past entries, or republished something I previously wrote in Edtech Elixirs, this is the first time I've actually guest blogged for them. I'm proud to discuss the work of our team, and it's a great one -- working with <a href="https://sites.google.com/ovec.org/ovecdl/home" target="_blank">Carmen Coleman, Lacey Eckels and Rachel Albright</a> is fantastic.</p><p>Please give the series a read, and special thanks to Aurora Institute for the opportunity!</p><p><a href="https://aurora-institute.org/cw_post/diving-into-a-deep-blue-grass-sea-of-innovation-part-one-how-educational-cooperatives-and-deeper-learning-teams-are-poised-to-help-transform-kentucky-education/" target="_blank">Part One</a> (1/19/23)</p><p><a href="https://aurora-institute.org/cw_post/diving-into-a-deep-bluegrass-sea-of-innovation-part-two-early-lessons-learned-when-implementing-multi-district-deeper-learning-in-kentucky/" target="_blank">Part Two</a> (1/25/23)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJofoByE9yJR6p9KtqRxQugK_u6Rbuk2NF6AJ9sBrD5dfGux6JxubL2Kk_4pXdkeBplC8Bytgtzl02dSMAVk1sF2BkmbmnDnIGFCRZyOXSbY8dKc-1xSSZiXh6-R4XIcQlzi5zoIZCGjsq-M4mDjCGxcpNLL07acZz0dQZWflatk-VKH3SFZ6xplg/s2804/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-29%20at%209.53.02%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1482" data-original-width="2804" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCJofoByE9yJR6p9KtqRxQugK_u6Rbuk2NF6AJ9sBrD5dfGux6JxubL2Kk_4pXdkeBplC8Bytgtzl02dSMAVk1sF2BkmbmnDnIGFCRZyOXSbY8dKc-1xSSZiXh6-R4XIcQlzi5zoIZCGjsq-M4mDjCGxcpNLL07acZz0dQZWflatk-VKH3SFZ6xplg/w400-h211/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-29%20at%209.53.02%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-68250914529887756212023-01-17T21:48:00.001-05:002023-01-21T13:43:28.774-05:00KyEdRPG in Kentucky Teacher<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghhcGaYEI3U7EzFMpXfpQ3MX9bDGsFodbybsPa9vN8SJNmXtslwfALcBGozZVKEovoSgWmgbVWaSxY6mJhGuN8nZDJ9vblWB5ZRZL46j43YbIf8BGlMHClYbZbAsMBIeopG3l7FRbFvFpI2jtQxiObXUNcM_NU317MxNvTjoOZXCatmp-5AZVm5NC_/s2492/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-13%20at%204.58.36%20PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1546" data-original-width="2492" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghhcGaYEI3U7EzFMpXfpQ3MX9bDGsFodbybsPa9vN8SJNmXtslwfALcBGozZVKEovoSgWmgbVWaSxY6mJhGuN8nZDJ9vblWB5ZRZL46j43YbIf8BGlMHClYbZbAsMBIeopG3l7FRbFvFpI2jtQxiObXUNcM_NU317MxNvTjoOZXCatmp-5AZVm5NC_/w400-h249/Screen%20Shot%202023-01-13%20at%204.58.36%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Back in September 2022, I <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-one-site-launch.html" target="_blank">wrote a series</a> of three blog entries for the launch of my new site, <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg" target="_blank">Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games</a>. I also interviewed Justin Gadd (Shelby County Public Schools) about <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-two-power-of-d-d-club.html" target="_blank">his afterschool D & D club</a>, and shared how Patrick La Mar (Oldham County Public Schools) integrated an <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-three-westward-expansion.html" target="_blank">Oregon Trail-style roleplaying game</a> into a social studies lesson. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Last week, <i>Kentucky Teacher</i> published an article highlighting all of the above: "<a href="https://www.kentuckyteacher.org/features/2023/01/the-power-of-role-playing-games-for-deeper-learning-experiences/" target="_blank">The power of role-playing games for deeper learning experiences</a>." It's a great title and one that I whole-heartedly agree; game-based learning in general, and RPGs in particular, certainly have a lot of potential for deepening learning!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Special thanks to Audrie Lamb for writing the article, Justin and Patrick for taking the time to get interviewed, and <i>Kentucky Teacher</i> for featuring the <b>#KyEdRPG</b> site.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><br /><p></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-13554453995375706402022-12-30T15:19:00.000-05:002022-12-30T15:19:02.732-05:00The Year of 2022 in (Blog) Review<p> Happy holidays! Before 2022 ends, I was feeling reflective and wanted to briefly share some personal highlights of the year through the lens of Edtech Elixirs. </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Back in November 2021, I attended and led a session at <a href="https://ed-spaces.com/" target="_blank">EDspaces</a> in Pittsburgh, PA. It's a great conference and support resource for those looking to renovate or build new school settings. Adapting that session into an article eventually became a published piece for EDspaces <i>Essentials</i> online magazine this year ("<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/04/article-in-edspaces-essentials-magazine.html" target="_blank">Article in EDspaces Essentials magazine!</a>" April 20).</li><li>I had a pretty big professional change in 2022. After over eight years at Shelby County Public Schools as a Digital Learning Coordinator, I took a new job as Deeper Learning Design Specialist at the <a href="https://www.ovec.org/" target="_blank">Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative</a> in August ("<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/08/a-new-chapter.html" target="_blank">A New Chapter</a>," August 16). I'm happy with the opportunities to expand who I can help and how I can help others, as well as learn from them. I'm also very grateful to be a part of <a href="https://sites.google.com/ovec.org/ovecdl/meet-our-team" target="_blank">my new team</a> and employer.</li><li>This year, I launched two websites: <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/watsonedtech" target="_blank">my personal site</a> ("<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/07/launch-of-my-new-website.html" target="_blank">Launch of my new website!</a>" July 17) as well as <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg" target="_blank">Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games</a> ("<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-one-site-launch.html" target="_blank">KyEdRPG, Part One: Site Launch Announcement!</a>" September 10).</li><li>The most popular entry of the year in terms of views? That would be "<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-three-westward-expansion.html" target="_blank">KyEdRPG, Part Three: Westward Expansion, d20 Style</a>" (September 20), with 726 views as of today. </li><li>In terms of free edtech tools that I profiled this year, I think <a href="https://v2.versoapp.com/" target="_blank">Verso</a> is probably the one with the most positive potential for day to day instruction ("<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/04/verso.html" target="_blank">Verso</a>," April 2). However, the edtech story of the year is easily <a href="https://chat.openai.com/chat" target="_blank">ChatGPT</a>, one of the first clear examples of how artificial intelligence will make a huge difference in education in our near future ("<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/12/how-ai-will-save-education.html" target="_blank">How AI Will Save Education</a>," December 21).</li><li>Last but not least, I'm proud to be closing in on two milestones for my blog. This entry is my 185th since <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2014/08/hello-and-welcome.html" target="_blank">starting Edtech Elixirs in August 2014</a>, which means it's highly likely I will reach 200 next year. Additionally, I'm just shy of 200,000 views overall for the blog, and at the current rate I'll easily top that number by February 2023.</li></ul><div>As always, I appreciate your readership and your shares of my blog over the years. May all your New Year's resolutions for 2023 come true!</div><div><br /></div><p></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-50338001424018218132022-12-21T12:10:00.014-05:002024-01-17T19:14:03.711-05:00How AI Will Save Education<p>A decade ago, I was a high school English teacher blissfully naive to what radical changes were coming thanks to edtech. How innocent the days of 2012 seem now, when a teacher only had to worry about the ways Google Search posed a threat to cheating on multiple choice assessments (which began my questioning of the value of assessing regurgitated facts in the first place), or how I had to participate in the ever escalating "arms race" of combating students stealing online essays and quoting other people's words without citation by deploying the latest upgraded anti-plagiarism programs. </p><p>Recently I wrote "<a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/10/what-if-your-co-teacher-is-computer.html" target="_blank">What If Your Co-Teacher is a Computer?</a>" While I mainly addressed taking classic co-teaching strategies and applying them to scenarios that integrated in-person teaching with an online course or adaptive learning platform, I intentionally titled the blog entry with my tongue firmly in cheek, implying a day when a human would seriously have to wrangle with how best to work with an artificial intelligence (AI) educational partner. I imagined such a day was far, far into the future. </p><p>That was back in October. But like a Christmas miracle a few months later, <a href="https://chat.openai.com/chat" target="_blank">ChatGPT</a> exploded into our zeitgeist seemingly out of nowhere, and it feels like something foundational has rapidly and irreversibly shifted in education...indeed, the world.</p><p>It should be noted, however, that ChatGPT did <i>not</i> arrive on the scene in one fell swoop, and is merely the steady evolution of AI over the last several years. Consider the following developments in artificial intelligence:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>In 2016, the Associated Press began outsourcing its minor-league baseball dispatches to a company called Automated Insights. By merely taking boxscore data, the company's AI can write simple stories about the key facts of the game, which are then published in newspapers and websites nationally. AP has expanded its use of Automated Insights <a href="https://automatedinsights.com/customer-stories/associated-press/" target="_blank">into other sport dispatches, quarterly business financial reports</a>, and more.*</li><li>In February 2019, an IBM AI supercomputer named "Project Debater" was pitted in a competition against a human national debate champion Harish Natarajan. A journalist was impressed not just at Debater's ability to speak, but to listen: "It sort of took [the audience's] breath away to see that the computer, in its rebuttal, had actually listened to some of what Hari had said, digested it, and was formatting a response in real time to it...I think there was a sense from the audience that there was almost really a personality there." While officials ultimately judged Harish the winner, the audience voted that Debater was more informative.**</li><li>While rough "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepfake" target="_blank">deepfake</a>" videos have been around for several years, the proliferation of video manipulation that appear real enough to fool viewers really shifted into high gear in 2019 with the launch of multiple AI open-source software and mobile apps. (On a side note: I highly recommend sharing with students <i>The Washington Post</i>'s website "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/politics/fact-checker/manipulated-video-guide/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.4838bdd707cf" target="_blank">The Fact-Checker's Guide to Manipulated Video</a>"; this may require a free account to access.)</li><li>In 2021, as part of a project called "The Lost Tapes of the 27 Club," <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/nirvana-kurt-cobain-ai-song-1146444/" target="_blank">AI was used to create new music and lyrics in the stylings of several artists</a> that died tragically young, such as Kurt Cobain, Jimi Hendrix, and Amy Winehouse. Human soundalike vocalists were then utilized to actually record the compositions. The organization behind these "new" songs, Over the Bridge, did the project to raise awareness of mental illness among musicians. </li><li>In the last year, AI such as <a href="https://www.midjourney.com/home/?callbackUrl=%2Fapp%2F" target="_blank">Midjourney</a> and <a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/" target="_blank">DALL-E</a> that creates art based on user suggestions have soared in popularity while also raising the question of the ethics of such programs; for example, it has been discovered that some AI will find art already on the Internet to potentially blend into a new piece <a href="https://www.engadget.com/dall-e-generative-ai-tracking-data-privacy-160034656.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAANsCifcEWtTIrf6JFysFMcefLeVt_n1b9bzzCQlvWNqka1ObFlHkdRprfXGpe_Ur2yk8nlPLqOSc_fciFcb-MD8Lw3TAs2_DrSfYCZmiFpQvjLVESjzmSYxOj46xn68v1g_wAx6uLxJhTgy3qqXGdagvWhZBDfsYK-3fqOR62QH6" target="_blank">without proper attribution or compensation for the artists</a>, or the more basic fear that artificial intelligence apps will do for free what you used to pay and commission artists to create. </li></ul><p>In this context, ChatGPT -- a free online program that, in essence, takes your prompts and questions in order to produce original writing -- can be seen as the natural next step for AI. In some ways it's like a sophisticated search engine giving you a highly specialized, curated text (without, it should be noted, any citation of the primary sources or facts that led to such an answer). It relies on the huge database of the Internet, and like much of AI, is learning how to be more effective every time we use it. What fascinates and disturbs many people is not only the human-like style of ChatGPT's writing, but its ability to generate original and even artistic pieces. </p><p>I thought I could easily stump ChatGPT. But I was wrong.</p><p>My wife wrote an essay back in high school where she compared Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" to Shakespeare's <i>Hamlet</i>. A quick Google search resulted in no immediate hits of others writing such an essay. Yet, when I gave the prompt to ChatGPT, I got the following within a few seconds:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9c2M0tu5jYTB13OQP_O8rRHLRyyqQEHfbzKC3Qnl_QKLEZ_-G9mwyUy3yvyhHYXnJ_LJCj-MMxPfD0BfYyS3CCGp28Qpu6XSYtKYqEScpcU9hMR7M3ovAmzabBqdabjjZ3gvGx53iMrHGjkJO8pqBYD8fNVZGpGc9YYcCJC3m4MZAAo7-LT3VjG5/s1614/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-18%20at%201.12.52%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1008" data-original-width="1614" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy9c2M0tu5jYTB13OQP_O8rRHLRyyqQEHfbzKC3Qnl_QKLEZ_-G9mwyUy3yvyhHYXnJ_LJCj-MMxPfD0BfYyS3CCGp28Qpu6XSYtKYqEScpcU9hMR7M3ovAmzabBqdabjjZ3gvGx53iMrHGjkJO8pqBYD8fNVZGpGc9YYcCJC3m4MZAAo7-LT3VjG5/w400-h250/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-18%20at%201.12.52%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An excerpt (about two-thirds) of ChatGPT's original essay.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Next, I asked it to write a 12 line poem about dachshunds and Jedi Knights. While it ignored my directions and wrote four extra lines, I was shocked to get a poem that dutifully blended both subjects in non-rhyming, narratively consistent verse:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z3U7tBfH5mTVUcKOdK5I2KvkFhtCMlU9g7IEXyM3VTMss9iO2vEWbqHR76p_39iw_ZBQ8hoDtgmQheB64VjU0jbKW9PDEhauT-MbtZCpgfUjOENAtYaX-PrRUn01wVBBSHsAHI0D00tAvBHIii4k4DUVlWBejl4rX1l95Q1gJ1iihrkdV_nsRQs9/s1298/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-18%20at%201.18.09%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1298" data-original-width="1264" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-z3U7tBfH5mTVUcKOdK5I2KvkFhtCMlU9g7IEXyM3VTMss9iO2vEWbqHR76p_39iw_ZBQ8hoDtgmQheB64VjU0jbKW9PDEhauT-MbtZCpgfUjOENAtYaX-PrRUn01wVBBSHsAHI0D00tAvBHIii4k4DUVlWBejl4rX1l95Q1gJ1iihrkdV_nsRQs9/w390-h400/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-18%20at%201.18.09%20AM.png" width="390" /></a></div><br /><p>Not Shakespearean, and certainly missing some compelling imagery, but I would have considered it okay if one of my freshmen had submitted it. Still, I'm nitpicking about something game-changing here: <i>ChatGPT</i> <i>wrote an original poem in</i> <i>seconds</i>. Even more amazing, ChatGPT made some independent artistic choices. I didn't tell it to make the doxie a Jedi Knight, but by deciding to do so, it created a sense of whimsy. Can a robot be whimsical?</p><p>The last example I will share goes to the heart of instruction. I had heard of teachers using ChatGPT to write a lesson plan. <i>This will be kludgy and awful</i>, I thought. Especially if I load up my prompt with detailed specifics. The generation of the text took longer than the other two examples -- maybe an entire ten seconds -- but once again, I could not stump the bot.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArTBVIyeKG1DaBgf47PSGlxTTxECWHQWc3qm2dxY-KfFW-KiTaGfLvurDbDIFcQF_awL7r0FJrqtns2fBOaUVmYoSYY4TorjsnF2u8QKPaPiFMONIs9NEW4LWXSXTvcpG1KieHb2IFbEGIg5_AVOmkOeq_eKKhtsj-ffCi8WLcpvuMnxcGuxH2DeU/s1578/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-18%20at%202.21.12%20PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1304" data-original-width="1578" height="330" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhArTBVIyeKG1DaBgf47PSGlxTTxECWHQWc3qm2dxY-KfFW-KiTaGfLvurDbDIFcQF_awL7r0FJrqtns2fBOaUVmYoSYY4TorjsnF2u8QKPaPiFMONIs9NEW4LWXSXTvcpG1KieHb2IFbEGIg5_AVOmkOeq_eKKhtsj-ffCi8WLcpvuMnxcGuxH2DeU/w400-h330/Screen%20Shot%202022-12-18%20at%202.21.12%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Again, far from perfect, and ignoring some of what I asked for in my prompt, but I was pretty much astounded that AI could earn its keep as my instructional collaborator. (For the entire text of this example lesson plan, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1b2WAobSoAa4dhlV8_zltne37T9NNKum788p2o7T0qOM/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">click here to view as a Google Doc</a>.). </p><p>The implications of all of this seems clear if not outright ominous: if an AI tool today can now write essays and poems, how must that change how we teach and assess student writing? If a bot today can write a lesson plan, how does that change or even threaten the teacher's job in the future (in both the metaphysical and literal sense of the word "job")?</p><p>It should be no surprise that much of the reaction to ChatGPT is somewhere between existential dread and anxiety. This has already resulted in some traditional "arms race" approaches, such as fighting potential student (mis)use of ChatGPT <a href="https://huggingface.co/openai-detector" target="_blank">with a tool to determine the potential that a submitted text was created by AI</a>. But is this sidestepping a bigger question? Recently in <i>The Atlantic</i>, Isabel Fattal and Derek Thompson discussed our potentially "<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/newsletters/archive/2022/12/the-wild-future-of-artificial-intelligence/672442/" target="_blank">wild future</a>." If an AI can write a college essay, maybe we should re-evaluate the purpose of a formulaic college essay in the first place. As Thompson posits, "Some people argue that ChatGPT could replace the college essay, and Ian [Bogust, another staff writer] is saying: That’s only because the college essay is dumb to begin with. It’s possible that lots of things in the economy are dumb in the way that the college essay is dumb. If that’s true, then GPT can still be revolutionary. What it does might be dumb, but it’s also incredibly useful." An AI that can write a lesson plan might be better seen not as a threat to what an educator can create, but instead be an "inspiration stimulant" (Thompson's phrase) that serves to improve what a final lesson plan might be. </p><p>Earlier this fall, <a href="https://twitter.com/coreymohn" target="_blank">Corey Mohn</a>, President and Executive Director of <a href="https://yourcapsnetwork.org/" target="_blank">CAPS Network</a>, had recommended to our Deeper Learning Team a book that was just published in 2021 --- <i><a href="https://www.runningwithrobots.com/" target="_blank">Running with Robots: The American High School's Third Century</a></i> by Greg Toppo and Jim Tracy. (Corey had me at "Greg Toppo," as I've been a fan of his since <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2018/05/gamr-having-gaming-mindset.html" target="_blank">2018 when I first read one of his earlier books</a>.) When ChatGPT hit the headlines, I binge read the book, as it seemed eerily prescient to the current hot topic question of AI's impact on education. At this highly charged inflection moment, where the need for transforming school is critical, I could not more highly recommend this book. It's a fascinating and engaging blend of four narrative strands: an American public education history from the 1800's to the present; the impact and ramifications of recent AI developments with predictions on what is to come; a spotlight on four high schools operating today which serve as models on how school can and should be; and last but not least, a novelistic Rip Van Winkle utopian story where a principal falls asleep in 2020 and wakes up twenty years later visiting his radically changed school. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJWNWOD7taV-b7cqFns2yKgT-iTht8X5bLRYlKH6KkY1IJ5xW5_zOMtmuyI8pVpoEvcB67QbBaF3bsg_KHMwGugRMUDU5lbsHJx-wTGE3fR21cXlkfy5YsnXk_22P4OBV5CSbb4T9VWDZE_zJgDLvXofHDlhvbSMOk6vYJBfa2seD8sIHEmuiNf_w6" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img data-original-height="1925" data-original-width="1280" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJWNWOD7taV-b7cqFns2yKgT-iTht8X5bLRYlKH6KkY1IJ5xW5_zOMtmuyI8pVpoEvcB67QbBaF3bsg_KHMwGugRMUDU5lbsHJx-wTGE3fR21cXlkfy5YsnXk_22P4OBV5CSbb4T9VWDZE_zJgDLvXofHDlhvbSMOk6vYJBfa2seD8sIHEmuiNf_w6=w267-h400" width="267" /></a></div><br />For Toppo and Tracy, future AI should not be seen as the bleak robotic replacement of teachers and humanity itself, but instead a challenge we must acknowledge and address: "As a society, we need a 'pre-AI moment' -- that is, a systemic anticipatory response on a scale commensurate with a previous generation's 'post-Sputnik moment.' And, like the response after the fact of Sputnik in the 1950s, this should transpire as much in the realm of educational as in policy initiatives" (190). But our "systemic anticipatory response" must recognize why prior educational initiatives have failed in the past:<blockquote><div><b>[D]ecades of failed revolutions, of the "next big thing," of teaching machines and expensive technical marvels, have failed to transform a hidebound, nearly intractable system. Revolutionizing education is neither wise nor feasible. Rather, we must <i>evolutionize</i> education, seeking to forge the optimal synthesis of the best and most germane from the received tradition with the most promising of emergent pedagogical practice. After all, the received traditions have been honed over millennia and have much that is fine and still relevant, while new educational paradigms are often faddish and ill-considered. The careful sifting and selection is essential. (37, authors' italics)</b></div></blockquote><p>We don't have to throw the traditional pedagogical baby out completely with the "hidebound" bathwater, but we certainly have to evolve our educational practices in light of our near-future technology and needs.</p><p>Toppo and Tracy point out an illustrative example that involves math instruction. By the 1970's, pocket calculators became cheap and commonplace enough that an average student could easily own one. Technology offered us a chance to be a partner. This should have been a watershed moment for instruction, when math teachers began focusing at least as much (if not more!) time on mathematical <i>practices</i> -- on authentic practical application, on conceptional knowledge, on experiencing the aesthetic beauty of mathematical thinking -- rather than having students spend their time mindlessly plugging and chugging through memorized but ill-understood formulas. However, even a half century later with the latest smartphones and laptops and AI apps, we still spend a disproportionate amount of time asking students to compute like, and compete with, a computer instead of thinking math like a human and collaborating math solutions with humans. As the authors' fictional future principal puts it, "We humans are still pretty unique in our ability to make creative connections across apparently disparate knowledge areas....That's the value of omnidisciplinary literacy. The time that is freed up by not bringing every student to <i>content</i> fluency can be devoted instead to imbuing them with <i>process</i> fluency" (16, my italics). In other words, have students spend less time regurgitating facts that you can Google and on skills rapidly being augmented or replaced by AI, and instead spend more time learning the critical human applications that truly matter that can't be easily supplanted by a robot.***</p><p>The idea that AI can actually be the savior of educators, education, learners, and learning and not its destroyer really goes to the heart of our current Deeper Learning work. <a href="https://sites.google.com/ovec.org/ovecdl/home" target="_blank">We pose questions</a> such as "How might we reimagine the student experience to become more meaningful, relevant, and inspiring so that <i>every learner</i> is equipped for a successful future?" We know the answer is <i>not</i> more regurgitation of facts, more formulaic writing, more solving of inauthentic scenarios of two trains running toward each other on the same track. We cannot have students spend years learning the "hidebound" traditions of the so-called fundamentals before they get a chance to "play the whole game," to use <a href="https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-a-pernicious-myth-basics-before-deeper-learning/2018/01" target="_blank">Jal Mehta's excellent Little League analogy</a>. We need more lessons that emphasize Profile of a Graduate competencies that lead to application of durable skills, which will likely be the last bastion of uniquely human cognition left in the decades to come. If we hesitate to transform teaching now, AI may truly become humanity's rival instead of our partner in the future.</p><p>To take us back to our present ChatGPT dilemma for student writing, I offer three possibilities for teachers.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Lean into ChatGPT as an opportunity for a student to generate a first draft, provided the understanding is that the student revises that draft to further enrich and enlarge her/his thinking with additional detail and complexity. The student should also do "reverse engineering research" to find, validate, and cite any facts or quotes given in ChatGPT's text. As a student requires feedback and shows examples of their subsequent drafts, the student is responsible for being transparent about their writing process and is asked to reflect on how the paper evolved from ChatGPT's initial text to their own final product.</li><li>Create "mini-dissertation defense" opportunities where students must <i>orally</i> explain their writing to the teacher and/or peers. A student that can metacognitively talk through their thinking is a person who can demonstrate how they, and not a computer, have demonstrated mastery. Pose questions and inquiries like, "Where are you personally connected in the work?" or "Explain your use of metaphor here." Of course, such oral opportunities also provide practice and proof of those Profile of a Graduate competencies such as effective communication. </li><li>"Where's the epiphany?" If the expectation of the writing is to simply synthesize known facts into a narrative, tools like ChatGPT will continue to put the human 3.5 essay out of business. Let's instead make the expectation of the writing be the creation of a new insight or invention, instead of a regurgitation of bullet points. Consider ways to refine what your writing is asking for, such as the performance assessment criteria tool in my blog entry <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/01/from-good-to-great-initial-to-ideal-way.html" target="_blank">"From Good to Great, Initial to Ideal: A Way to Improve Exhibitions and Other Performance Assessments."</a></li></ul><p></p>I'll end with a rallying cry from Toppo and Tracy:<br /><blockquote><blockquote><div><div><b>So, if we want to help our young people thrive in a world of miraculous technology, we must forget the nouns -- the AI and robots and intelligence systems -- for these will always be changing. We must focus instead on the verbs: What it is we trust our young people to do that we don't trust technology to do? And how can we prepare them for this future? </b></div></div></blockquote><blockquote><div><div><b>For starters, let's not give them robots' work. Let's trust them to do better, harder, more rigorous, more interdisciplinary, high-stakes work -- and not just for the 10 percent, but for everyone. We must expect more of young people, not only because the world will expect it of them but because they are begging us to do so. (70)</b></div></div></blockquote></blockquote>Let's teach our students to run with the robots, and not against them.<div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><i>Some footnotes:</i><br /> <div><i>* Toppo and Tracy, pages 82-83.</i><br /><p style="text-align: left;"><i>** Toppo and Tracy, pages 201-203.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;"><i>*** "For so many students, school is simply not demanding enough - and the dilemma, of course, doesn't begin in high school. When the Education Trust, a civil rights group that advocates for low-income and minority students, examined more than 1,800 math assignments given to middle school students in six urban, suburban, and rural school districts in 2018, <a href="https://edtrust.org/resource/checking-in-are-math-assignments-measuring-up/" target="_blank">it found that most of the assignments featured 'low cognitive demand,'</a> overemphasized procedural skills and fluency, and provided little opportunity for students to communicate their mathematical thinking. The problem was often worse in high-poverty schools" (Toppo and Tracy, page 70). </i></p></div></div>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-80554996982159464462022-11-07T17:04:00.006-05:002022-11-08T07:10:41.835-05:00Book Spotlight: Reinventing Project-Based Learning<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBfdFh8N_KxP01XYdd0JXB0n3nXINZLPXpGJ0zU6lNrXcLD-ewjbL6xJuJWqS0aTcnci2uIwx-6emKSfTgtgEyO6uTq-d4Ko0oZeVICe3gc4BMtZ6XlD_qsktxid-n5e0usJU2CN6bm3h40ZkZmrXSyERvXs51Gwu3MNhOozBH1O03RGU69fOq0zf/s2048/Reinventing%20PBL.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1153" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNBfdFh8N_KxP01XYdd0JXB0n3nXINZLPXpGJ0zU6lNrXcLD-ewjbL6xJuJWqS0aTcnci2uIwx-6emKSfTgtgEyO6uTq-d4Ko0oZeVICe3gc4BMtZ6XlD_qsktxid-n5e0usJU2CN6bm3h40ZkZmrXSyERvXs51Gwu3MNhOozBH1O03RGU69fOq0zf/w225-h400/Reinventing%20PBL.jpeg" width="225" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>I <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/07/iste-2022.html" target="_blank">mentioned back in the summer</a> that I had purchased <i>Reinventing Project-Based Learning: Your Field Guide to Real-World Projects in the Digital Age</i> by <a href="https://twitter.com/suzieboss" target="_blank">Suzie Boss</a> and Jane Krauss (ISTE, 2018, 3rd Edition), a book I recently finished reading. The edtech angle implied in the title definitely was my initial hook for buying it (and it is useful providing tools and strategy in this area throughout), but I was quickly thankful for a much bigger picture on PBL; <i>Reinventing Project-Based Learning</i> helps me achieve ways to do just that. While spending the last few months settling into my role as a Deeper Learning Design Specialist, I was glad to have the text as a companion. Effective PBL is certainly not the only pathway to deeper learning outcomes, but it is undoubtedly a popular one, so Boss and Krauss's insights are invaluable in how to make project-based learning more impactful and manageable. While <i>Reinventing Project-Based Learning</i> is highly recommended from stem to stern, I wanted to share some of my personal highlights from the book in this Edtech Elixirs blog entry.</p><p><b><u>High Quality Project-Based Learning (HQPBL)</u></b></p><p>While I knew PBLWorks's "<a href="https://www.pblworks.org/what-is-pbl/gold-standard-project-design" target="_blank">Gold Standard</a>" design elements for PBL, I had either not heard of or don't remember the <a href="https://hqpbl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/FrameworkforHQPBL.pdf" target="_blank">HQPBL Framework</a> until reading this book (pages 18-20). (I should point out that PBLWorks was one of <a href="https://hqpbl.org/partners/" target="_blank">many partners</a> that helped shape the HQPBL Framework.)</p><p>The six criteria for HQPBL are:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Intellectual Change and Accomplishment</b>. "Projects should not just be 'fun activities' or 'hands-on experiences' requiring minimal intellectual effort. ... To complete a project successfully, students need to learn important academic content, concepts, and skills." I appreciate the emphasis on complexity, while also pointing out that PBL should <i>not</i> be just fluffy and devoid of academic rigor.</li><li><b>Authenticity</b>. "[D]o students engage in work that makes an impact on or otherwise connects to the world beyond school, and to their personal interests and concerns?" The key word here is <u>and</u>: a good PBL should both impact others outside of the four walls of the classroom while also connecting to student passions. When asked, a student should be able to answer the question <i>Why does this PBL matter to you?</i></li><li><b>Public Product</b>. A culminating event where the product is published or presented is an oft-cited hallmark of PBL. However, the importance of sharing the project not just at the end but throughout is also key: "In a high quality project, students make their work public by sharing it not only with the teacher but also with each other, experts, and other people beyond the classroom. This occurs both during a project, as part of the product development and formative assessment process and at its conclusion, when the product is shared and discussed with an audience." I also discuss the shift in thinking about "experts" as well as the need for continuous formative assessment later in this blog entry.</li><li><b>Collaboration</b>. As the Framework reminds us, collaboration "does not mean simply dividing up project tasks, completing them individually, then putting it all together at the end with no synthesis or discussion." In my early teaching, I often mistook and misassessed the equivalent of "parallel play" as effective student groupwork. Students merely working side by side is not enough to prove evidence of effective collaboration! Model and scaffold collaboration for students, and help teach the skill if necessary. </li><li><b>Project Management</b>. While a teacher may initially need to model for, guide and facilitate the students in "manag[ing their] time, tasks and resources efficiently," the goal is that students are eventually doing this for themselves.</li><li><b>Reflection</b>. Again, this is not just something for students to do after the project is published. They should "pause regularly—not just at the end of the project, but throughout the process—to think about what they are doing and learning."</li></ul><p></p><p>The <a href="https://hqpbl.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/FrameworkforHQPBL.pdf" target="_blank">Framework PDF</a> may only be six pages, but it repeatedly provokes thought on how to improve PBL (as some of the above quotes hopefully attest to), and is well worth the read. To be honest, I like this Framework more than the Gold Standard of PBLWorks; as it states in the Framework's introduction, while many "models and guidelines have been created" for PBL, they are "typically written from the perspective of the teacher." In contrast, the HQPBL Framework "describes PBL in terms of the student experience." As a person who is trying to help others envision a better, richer student classroom experience, I appreciate this focus.</p><p><b><u>Transforming Questions</u></b></p><p>Another route to deeper learning is Inquiry-Based Learning. It is not surprising that the idea of asking good questions and a student-centered approach to seeking out content is also a part of transformative PBL. Boss and Krauss remind us to keep the PBL's outcome in mind, and that asking questions can be part of a great hook to start the PBL. In the chapter section of the book titled "Promote Inquiry and Deep Learning" (175-178), they use an example of an instructional unit on money to show how to transform closed questions that have a narrow or single answer ("What is money made of?") to more open, driving questions "transformed for deeper inquiry" (such as "How would you analyze coins to learn what they are made of?" or "Is the process of making coins and paper money the same everywhere?").</p><p><b><u>The Need for Formative Assessments All Along the Way</u></b></p><p>In my opinion, the biggest difficulty for teachers is how to properly facilitate the long middle portion of the PBL journey. They may have a great driving question or event to kick it off, and have a solid idea for how to publish and present the end product, but it's the plan to check in on student progress (both in progressing to meet deadlines as well as progress toward mastering the academics) where teachers often get stuck. Boss and Krauss really shine in this area of support. Table 5.2 "Assessment Options" (131-136), which details formative assessment options during PBL, is alone worth the price of the book. The table has columns for "Teacher Activities," "Questions," "Assessment Options (means of finding out)," and "Teacher Response"; the rows give examples <i>when</i> to do this, from "During Planning and Preparation" through "Presentation of Project Work." </p><p><b><u>Fieldwork versus Field Trips</u></b></p><p>I've <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-100000-glove-reflections-on-object.html" target="_blank">written before</a> about the impact of place-based learning. Boss and Krauss remind us how place-based learning can be a powerful component of successful PBL as well (212-213). Firstly, it's a matter of inverting the notion of a class field trip as the "dessert" that may happen at the end of a unit or school year (if there's time, and if everyone pays the fee). Instead, why not make such a field trip a crucial component at the start or middle of a PBL? This allows students to do authentic field <i>work</i>, gathering data and ideas. For example, a visit to a museum may elicit inquiry beyond content and fact collection (149). How does the docent talk? How are exhibits constructed? How can an unplanned event or discovery trigger a new inquiry? If you can let go and have the students be the ones to drive learning, you can create a great start to personally driven PBL: "[S]ome of the best learning experiences unfold when teachers are comfortable asking, 'Where will the environment take us on this particular day?' " (149)</p><p><b><u>Be Creative in Finding "Experts"</u></b></p><p>Teachers may consider experts as panel members to make up the audience that students will present their final project to, but Boss and Krauss remind us that it is equally important to consider experts <i>during</i> the PBL as well, in order to provide formative assessment feedback as well as content resources. But we also must make the idea of "experts" more elastic. The potential expertise of parents also has to be considered and included (146-148). How might a teacher, at the start of the year, survey parents to determine their professions, hobbies, availability, willingness to help? (Of course, this should be done with the utmost respect and dignity, with a clear asset mindset that any parent can bring value to the classroom.) We should also utilize school or district work-based coaches, internship coordinators, and CTE pathway directors who have connections to the community workforce to help create not only partnership for PBL expertise, but potential place-based learning opportunities, or panelists for Defenses of Learning. </p><p><br /></p><p>One final humorous note. As I neared the end of the book, I almost fell off of my couch when I read <a href="https://twitter.com/kids_inspire" target="_blank">Carmen Coleman</a>'s name (page 246)! Boss and Krauss quote her from <a href="https://youtu.be/waKZQ9gaBkI" target="_blank">a PBS NewsHour story in 2013</a>, when she was the Superintendent of Danville Independent Schools and an early proponent of PBL. (It turns out that Carmen was equally surprised and unaware of the mention!) There's nothing like seeing your OVEC Deeper Learning Team leader show up in a best seller to make you proud of your opportunity to work alongside such educational innovators. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/waKZQ9gaBkI" width="320" youtube-src-id="waKZQ9gaBkI"></iframe></div><br /><p>What other PBL books have you found helpful in your educational journey? Share in the Comments below!</p><p><br /></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-48136771313607215142022-10-15T16:18:00.030-04:002023-08-16T22:50:29.557-04:00What If Your Co-Teacher is a Computer?<p>I was speaking to a principal who had what at first sounded like a fairly unique problem of practice. The principal's students were in an alternative setting and the main delivery and assessment of content came from an online course platform. The staff fully recognized the need to provide the students with a richer learning environment than simply watching videos that led to multiple choice quizzes and eventual unit tests. However, attempting to insert in-person instruction and implement a hybrid solution created struggles. When teachers leaned in with mini-lessons or other activities, students were inevitably knocked "off pace" from their time away from the online course platform. Additionally, some of the staff were not experienced teachers, so even deciding how or when to lean in was a problem. All of this created a spiral of stress for both the educators and students. How could they resolve this tension?</p><p>As I sat in the office, I had an epiphany. The situation wasn't entirely unique. At its core, solving the issue takes trying to achieve one of the toughest goals in education: effective co-teaching. </p><p>Before continuing, a digression. Likely seeing a lack of pragmatic support for co-teaching in teacher prep and in practice, Marilyn Friend and Lynne Cook wrote <i><a href="https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/interactions-collaboration-skills-for-school-professionals/P200000001064?view=educator" target="_blank">Interactions: Collaboration Skills for School Professionals</a></i>, first published in 1991 and now in its ninth edition. It's interesting to point out that the authors came from special education backgrounds, and for most classroom teachers, that is usually their co-teaching situation: a gen ed teacher is the one "in charge," while an ECE teacher pushes in because several children with IEP needs are on the roster. Of course, the potential of two professional adults in the room to lead instruction often is unrealized, for reasons practical (lack of time to collaborate and plan together) and pedagogical (lack of training and practice on co-teaching structures). One of the more enduring and cited aspects of Friend and Cook's work is how they framed the six models of co-teaching:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>One Teach, One Observe</b></li><li><b>One Teach, One Assist</b></li><li><b>Parallel Teaching</b> (students are split into two groups; teachers simultaneously teach the same content)</li><li><b>Station Teaching</b> (students rotate through two or more "stations," with each teacher at a station teaching different content)</li><li><b>Alternative Teaching</b> (one teacher teaches the main content to a main group, while the other teacher teaches different content to a smaller group for a specialized basis, such as academic gap recovery)</li><li><b>Team Teaching</b> ("tag team teaching" where teachers both teach the whole class at the same time)</li></ul><div>Sean Cassel, in his article "<a href="https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-choose-co-teaching-model" target="_blank">How to Choose a Co-Teaching Model</a>" (<i>Edutopia</i>, 10/8/19), succinctly points out pros and cons for each model to consider. For example, "One Teach, One Observe" could be a powerful strategy if the observing teacher was capturing learning evidence and taking detailed notes of all student moves, rich data that is analyzed by both teachers later. It also requires little if any pre-planning time...which is why this co-teaching model (along with "one teach, one assist") is often chosen by pragmatic default. However, lack of time ends up also being the weakness of both "One Teach, One Observe" and "One Teach, One Assist": without instructional intentionality before a lesson, and without valuable debriefing after a lesson, there is little to show for the effort except an underutilized educator and a lack of student learning improvement beyond what one instructor could have achieved alone. Besides these pros and cons, teachers may switch these models up based on the needs of the given instructional day, and of course the personalities and experience levels of the teachers will influence the effectiveness of their model choices as well. (For more quick tips on effective co-teaching, I also recommend "<a href="https://www.ascd.org/el/articles/co-teaching-strategies-dos-donts-and-do-betters" target="_blank">Co-Teaching Strategies: Dos, Don'ts, and Do Betters</a>" by Wendy Murawski and Toby Karten, <i>ASCD</i>, 7/1/20.)</div><div><br /></div><div>All of this can be helpful when attempting to intentionally plan how to co-teach with another human. But what do you do if your co-teacher is a computer?</div><div><br /></div><div>It first should be noted that relying on a computer to help your instruction is not a bad thing. If I thought it <i>was</i> bad, I would have shut down Edtech Elixirs a long time ago! The issue is <i>effectively</i> working <i>alongside</i> a platform that is delivering instruction and assessing students. As I see it, such platforms fall on a spectrum, and for our purposes, can analogously be compared to in-the-flesh educators:</div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Platform as Specialist</b>: This is an adaptive learning platform (like <a href="https://www.lexialearning.com/core5" target="_blank">Lexia Core5</a> or <a href="https://www.dreambox.com/" target="_blank">DreamBox</a>) that teaches discrete skills, usually in response to pre-assessed learning gaps. "Lessons" tend to be short and are much more experiential, often with a game-based learning angle; they also tend to be in shorter time increments (perhaps, say, twenty minutes, and completing 2-4 of such lessons a week is the average expectation). Students are limited in both their ability to choose what lesson to take next (as the system decides their pathway) as well as their ability to see a sequence (as the lessons may address gaps across grade levels, as opposed to curricular "units"). The platform can also just "work" with little management from the teacher, although one hopes he/she looks at the data periodically to personalize future instruction! While students may "level up" as they successfully complete lessons, there is no real individual assessment grades to report. These platforms are analogous to literacy/numeracy/ECE specialists that may push in or pull out for a handful of students, usually only one or two times a week, and by the nature of their work is not necessarily connected to the lesson of the day. As such, they are the least intrusive and hardly factor into most teachers' general weekly planning of lessons, besides perhaps deliberately setting aside in-class time to get on the platforms. </li><li><b>Platform as Instructional Aide</b>: This is a learning platform that has full lessons (likely driven by a video or screencast), organized in units and with at least self-check assessments that give some kind of grade to help determine how well the student is comprehending the material. Alignment to academic standards is usually more prominent and obvious. However, these platforms are very flexible and modular in nature, so a teacher can manage its integration into daily instruction as they see fit; for example, the teacher may use the platform for "flipped learning" on delivering certain content videos several times a week as "homework" while face-to-face time is used for practicing math problems. An example of this kind of platform is <a href="https://www.khanacademy.org/" target="_blank">Khan Academy</a>. These platforms are analogous to an instructional aide that is significant to the classroom, may even be present daily, and might do some light instruction and formative assessment, but the "teacher of record" who is truly in charge of instruction and summative assessment is still clear. </li><li><b>Platform as Teacher</b>: This is an online course platform where the system both delivers all of the content and can formatively and summatively assess student performance. Such platforms, like <a href="https://www.edgenuity.com/" target="_blank">Edgenuity</a> and <a href="https://www.apexlearning.com/" target="_blank">Apex Learning</a>, could conceivably be done fully virtual even outside of a brick and mortar school, with little interaction from an educator unless the student needs tutoring help with content or to unlock a quiz or test. Pacing is usually established by the platform, with either activity due dates or another metric, providing feedback for a student ("You are two lessons behind") to ensure they complete the course in a prescribed timeline. Here, you can see how the situation is the inverse of the "Platform as Specialist": with an online course platform, the human teacher often serves a backseat role. ** </li></ul><div>It is in this last category, Platform as Teacher, where we can circle back to the issue that began the entry. If you are using an online course platform as the primary driver of instruction and assessment, all of the struggles you may have are exactly the same as one might have with a human co-teacher. Therefore, you need to first determine what co-teaching model will work best for you. Let's look at the models again adapted for this new "co-teacher is a computer" angle.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>Platform Teaches, Educator Observes</b>: The online course platform is the full driver of instruction and assessment for all students (which also implies that only autoscored assessments are kept in the course). However, the educator is constantly looking at two things. First, the educator is analyzing the data behind the scenes. How much are they logging on? Is the student barely passing the quizzes or taking too many attempts? Does the student make notes in Google Docs that can be shared and seen and Commented? Secondly, when the student is working on the platform in person, the educator is assessing the behavior of the student. Is the student bored? Frustrated? Either the educator helps the student with the academic or SEL struggles, or they are reported to those that can help, in a way that is least intrusive to the pacing of the online coursework. This model is most common with students in 100% virtual academies.</li><li><b>Platform Teaches, Educator Assists</b>: The online course platform remains the full driver of instruction and most if not all of the assessment for all students. However, the educator moves from merely being a data collector to more of an active role. This may include times where a student needs to be pulled off of the platform so the educator can teach a mini-lesson, help the student get on track, or serve other needs. These moments are usually brief and handled one-on-one only as needed. Potentially, the educator could also be assessing some of the online course activities that are not auto-scored, such as essays or lab reports. </li><li><b>Parallel Teaching</b>: One part of the class is taught and assessed by the online course platform, while the other part of the class is taught and assessed by the educator. It is relatively the same content and pacing for both. In a typical "two humans" Parallel Teaching model, you are encouraged to swap teachers and groupings for variety or as needed. However, for the sake of clarity, ownership, and pacing, I would recommend in this model example to keep this arrangement of "which student to which online/human teacher" as permanent as possible, except for small push-ins as detailed in "Platform Teaches, Educator Assists," This also requires the educator to know the online coursework very well, so they can parallel their instruction with the platform.</li><li><b>Station Teaching</b>: All of the students rotate through stations; a student is always working at one station at any given time. One of them is the online course platform, while the educator teaches and assesses at another. This fosters some independence and agency, as students always have something to do yet are given more trust to do so. You may want to consider adding a third or fourth station of independent work, whether <a href="https://www.blendedlearning.org/models/#stat" target="_blank">it is additional blended learning</a> different than the online course platform, or some other engaging analog work. In this model, the online course's default system-directed pacing and full grading is nearly impossible -- pacing likely requires due dates to be turned off or ignored, and the course needs customization as not all of its lessons/assessments/units will be completed if the educator is starting to do a significant part of the teaching and assessing. </li><li><b>Alternative Teaching</b>: The educator takes on the role of specialist that routinely pulls out a small group in order to fill in academic gaps and fulfill potential high-needs. The online course platform is still the main instructor/assessor for <i>all</i> students, which means there will be a constant tension of the pulled students falling behind pace because of their intervention time. (In a "two humans" alternative teaching co-model, a pulled out student missing crucial content teaching is also a concern.) If this results in a student being off-pace, this is either ignored or fixed via a customization of the platform/course. Note the difference from this model and "Platform Teaches, Educator Assists" is the <i>grouping</i> of students, the routine timing (as opposed to irregular and only as needed), and the significant length of pull out from the main instruction. </li><li><b>Team Teaching</b>: For nearly all online course platforms, a teacher can preview a course in "student mode," playing videos and interacting on some activities -- however, it knows you are a teacher and therefore doesn't march you through quizzes or grades your performance. With that assumption in mind, in this model, no student is technically "on" the platform. Instead, the educator (through a projector, shared Zoom screen, etc.) goes through the online course in front of the class. The educator may play content videos, possibly pausing them to pose questions to the class and supplementing the video content with their own instruction. When the online course arrives at an assessment or activity, they may be adapted or fully replaced with the educator's own. It is "team teaching" because you are depending on the platform to hold up at least some of the instruction in a back and forth way. However, since students are not technically on the platform, the educator must be the assessor. Clearly, an experienced teacher with prepared curriculum would not need this model (or an uncustomized online course in the first place!), but this model could be excellent for a teacher that needs "training wheels" to teach the content of a course. </li></ul><div>As you examine the models and start deciding which is best, I'll leave you with some general advice when working with online course platforms.</div></div><div><br /></div><div><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>When the going gets tough, remember your why. </b>In the scenario that began and inspired this entry, the teachers knew that their students needed something more enriching than a video/quiz/video/quiz/unit test instructional sequence. Let's state the obvious: an online course platform, especially when stripped down to only multiple choice assessments and traditional points/percentages grading, is nowhere near mastery or deeper learning. Most of the co-models above can be difficult to implement, as any hybrid model of instruction often is. So remember your why when the going gets tough.</li><li><b>Stick to one model. </b> With humans, swapping co-teaching models may be helpful instructionally or to establish variety. However, online course platforms run on algorithms and meticulous programming. They are designed to fully teach and assess a student, from first lesson to final end-of-course exam, from August to May...and most importantly, do all of this <i>by itself</i>. The more you customize the experience (especially with some in-person instruction), the more you mess with that programming and potentially cause yourself and your students some frustration. Therefore, pick one of the models above, make platform adjustments as needed, and stick with it for the duration of the students' courses. And speaking of frustration...</li><li><b>Let pacing go.</b> The more the educator steps in with instruction and assessment to customize the experience, the more that pacing will be "off" for some or all of your students. So when considering a hybrid model of online coursework and in person instruction, you might need to be an Elsa and just let it go...have students ignore the pacing, or deactivate it if possible. Remember, before online course platforms, <i>teachers</i> were the pacemaker.</li><li><b>Start small.</b> Some of the models above are clearly more complicated than others. Know your strengths and give yourself time to grow. Find a place to put your toe in the door. If you want to lean in more than an observer but not ready for the other models yet, consider a smaller way to be involved, which may take customizing the coursework. For example, bring back those essays or lab reports so you can be involved in assessing the student alongside the computer. Another idea: be fully in charge of <u>one</u> full unit in the course, in both instruction and assessment; the online course can keep its pacing, teaching and assessment for the rest of the units. The key with any customization is to be careful that whatever content you remove from an online platform course is replaced in person.</li><li><b>The assessor wears the crown</b>. One of the biggest classroom culture issues with co-teaching is that the students want to determine who is <i>really</i> in charge, and pick up on cues far more than you think. You may say, "We are like two parents and we are equally in charge!" but that is being Pollyannish, if your actions aren't consistent with that belief. Whose name is on the classroom door? Who has a desk and is there every day, and who comes and goes? Who talks the most? Last but not least, who assesses? The person who gives the grade is the one truly in charge in most students' eyes. If the online course platform is seen as the person passing or failing the student, and you reinforce this with statements like "Platform X says you are off pace," then you are abdicating your control to a computer. Which brings us to....</li><li><b>You determine the credit.</b> Ultimately, it is <i>your</i> signature that determines if a student passes or fails a course. <i>You</i> are the teacher of record, not the computer. Use your well-earned and well-learned professional judgment at all times. You should be kind to your colleagues and human co-teachers, but never be afraid to tell the computer who's the boss.</li></ol></div><div><i>Postscript: Sadly, Dr. Cook <a href="https://www.csun.edu/eisner-education/special-education/news/remembering-dr-lynne-cook" target="_blank">passed away in 2015</a>, after a long and remarkable career. Dr. Friend continues adding to the scholarship and strategies of co-teaching, which includes <a href="https://coteach.com/" target="_blank">her own website</a> of services and resources.</i></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>**10/16/22: For the category of "Platform as Teacher," I feel it is important to clarify this definitional use of an online course platform being so autonomous is based on the main way I have seen it implemented in multiple school districts. It is true that such a platform could be used for personalized learning as a smaller part of an in-person instructional plan (assigning, say, only one unit of the course to a student who needs an opportunity for asynchronous practice). It is also true that courses of nearly all such platforms have by default a variety of activities/assessments such as essay assignments, lab reports, etc. that would require human grading. However, its most popular use is to make the platform as autonomous as possible by eliminating all but the self- or computer-scored assessments such as quizzes and tests. I should also add that I am not judging such use as "good" or "bad," since the needs of the student and situation should drive such decisions. To take just one example that underscores the need for autonomous online coursework, imagine a virtual advisor trying to manage 40 students...across seven grade levels 6-12...taking six online courses each.</i></div>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-81693628096095491502022-09-20T17:41:00.003-04:002023-01-21T13:43:46.716-05:00KyEdRPG, Part Three: Westward Expansion, d20 Style<p><i>This is Part Three of a three part series to kick off a new website, <a href="http://kyedrpg.com" target="_blank">KyEdRPG</a>, and how role playing games can positively impact student learning. In <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-one-site-launch.html" target="_blank">Part One</a>, we celebrated the launch of the website itself. In <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-two-power-of-d-d-club.html" target="_blank">Part Two</a>, we shared the experience of a Kentucky middle school teacher who runs an extracurricular D & D club that has been both virtual and in person. In this final entry, we discuss how a Kentucky teacher created a more engaging and impactful way of teaching about U.S. westward expansion with an in-class role playing game.</i></p><p>Patrick La Mar is a social studies teacher at North Oldham High School in Oldham County Public Schools (KY-USA). When a principal asked if there were ways to make his lessons on westward expansion more engaging for students, Patrick became inspired and synthesized two games into one: <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Oregon_Trail_(series)" target="_blank">The Oregon Trail</a>. (Coincidentally, both of these started within a few years of each other; the first <i>The Oregon Trail</i> [text-based] video game launched in 1971, and D & D was first published in 1974.)</p><p>For this in-class RPG, the students are put in groups. They either choose or are assigned roles such as Banker, Doctor, Trapper and so on. Each role gives a certain advantage in one of its character abilities. Next, students embark on their journey via a Slides deck of twelve events, often rolling a d20 dice to see if they persevere through their challenge or fail. (Yes, death by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dysentery" target="_blank">dysentery</a> is a possibility.)</p><p>Coupled with an opportunity to individually reflect on the experience at the end of the lesson (what was the biggest takeaway? what would you do differently if you played the game again?), I imagine students have a much better appreciation for the hazards of westward expansion in the 1800's, and that knowledge can also spur some interesting conversations. For example, <a href="https://oregontrailcenter.org/indians" target="_blank">how often did the Sioux actually attack the Oregon Trail pioneers</a>? How might we look today at the point of view of various First Nations tribes that such settlers were moving through territory that pioneers didn't own and without Native American permission? We can see how the power of role playing games to both problem solve, as well as critically consider and think through alternative perspectives. </p><p>For Patrick's game materials, <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1y_psshS6TCDNLE4YHhc88rTzb6Nf-qdc?usp=sharing" target="_blank">check out the Google folder here</a>. And for more RPG teacher resources, check out <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg/resources" target="_blank">this page of the KyEdRPG website</a>!</p><p>I hope you enjoyed this three part series. For those new to the idea of role playing games in education, may it inspire you to find some ways to incorporate them into your own school or classroom. And for those that are educators and already ardent fans of RPGs, may you share your own resources, articles and ideas by interacting through the <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg/contact" target="_blank">KyEdRPG social media</a> as well as using the hashtag <b>#KyEdRPG</b>!</p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-32447051645838548692022-09-14T19:40:00.003-04:002023-07-29T15:42:03.383-04:00KyEdRPG, Part Two: The Power of a D & D Club<p> <i>This is Part Two of a three part series to kick off a new website, <a href="http://kyedrpg.com" target="_blank">KyEdRPG</a>, and how role playing games can positively impact student learning. In <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-one-site-launch.html" target="_blank">Part One</a>, we celebrated the launch of the website itself. In this entry, we prove how a D & D club can be a wonderful extracurricular opportunity...before or after school, in person or virtual!</i></p><p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV2b2vTvJmSDVR2L5mcbH_ueBYPDgVc96sdNyvbXwZnEXAWiEuvM3d7J2TAbZ7sZvhG3djXX0uNy4DGgpN0ICl4TIhUM70QsuPtX3C3pqt7u_NTUFsKKPEF0PgQzXz0LlvVyituhjmKlqPKj4q7q7HSpIN95sAA2fYXZ3DQxE7WX9tOdVWK5RoFII/s1024/1024px-Gaming_Dice_(4434184961).jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="683" data-original-width="1024" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMV2b2vTvJmSDVR2L5mcbH_ueBYPDgVc96sdNyvbXwZnEXAWiEuvM3d7J2TAbZ7sZvhG3djXX0uNy4DGgpN0ICl4TIhUM70QsuPtX3C3pqt7u_NTUFsKKPEF0PgQzXz0LlvVyituhjmKlqPKj4q7q7HSpIN95sAA2fYXZ3DQxE7WX9tOdVWK5RoFII/w400-h266/1024px-Gaming_Dice_(4434184961).jpeg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><i>File image from</i> <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gaming_Dice_%284434184961%29.jpg">https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Gaming_Dice_%284434184961%29.jpg</a>.</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><i><br /></i><p></p><p><a href="mailto:James.Gadd@shelby.kyschools.us" target="_blank">Justin Gadd</a> is a Kentucky social studies middle school teacher who recognizes the multiple ways that a <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons</a> extracurricular club can improve student learning, both socially-emotionally as well as academic. After hearing his story, I asked Justin if he would agree to an interview, which I'm happy to share below (slightly edited for clarity).</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Justin, welcome to Edtech Elixirs! Share your educator story. </b></p><p>Hello, My name is Justin Gadd. I am currently a Social Studies teacher at Marnel C. Moorman K-8 School. This is my 4th year of teaching and my second year in Shelby County Public Schools. I have taught both ELA and Social Studies for 8th, 7th, and now 6th grade.</p><p><b>When did you start playing role playing games? What got you started?</b></p><p>I got started playing role playing games when I was first introduced to D&D in college by a friend. I had only heard of it in pop culture prior to that, and when he invited me to play, I gave it a shot. We played the <i><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curse_of_Strahd" target="_blank">Curse of Strahd</a></i> story and it was so much fun. My first character was a Mountain Dwarf Barbarian named Tor'uk. I have played as a Bard, Warlock, and my current character is a Ranger, and I have been involved with my current campaign as a player for almost 3 years now!</p><p><b>What RPGs do you personally play today?</b></p><p>Currently I am only playing D&D but I have played some different one shots from friends that were set in different time periods but same rules as D&D. My favorite was a holiday themed one shot I played that a friend ran where we all played as different holiday movie characters to try and save Santa! I think it goes to show the versatility of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabletop_role-playing_game" target="_blank">tabletop RPGs</a>.</p><p><b>You've shared with me that you started a virtual D & D afterschool club at your previous school when the pandemic began, which is equally impressive and awesome given the obvious challenges. Tell us more about that experience.</b> </p><p>I worked in Oldham County Public Schools from 2019-2021. I began a DnD club with a co-worker at the start of virtual learning in 2020. We created it because we wanted something that was engaging, free, and something we could do safely from home at a very stressful time.</p><p>In the first year of the club, in the spring of 2020, we had about 5 students and it was pretty fun, although we didn’t use many manipulatives, maps, or dice rolling. It was more description and imaginary story telling.</p><p>In year two (2020-2021), we were teaching part virtual, part in-person and this time we were able to get a consistent group of about 8-10 students every week. The club itself was still virtual but it was from 6-8pm every Tuesday as that was a time that worked for everyone’s schedule but wasn’t terribly late.</p><p>We were able to use some funding to give each student their own set of dice but virtual rollers were utilized as well as virtual apps such as <a href="http://dndbeyond.com" target="_blank">dndbeyond.com</a> which is also free, and it can be used for effortless character sheet creations and managing a character's inventory. But really, the start up cost for a club was not terrible as there’s so many free online sources now for D&D and other RPG games.</p><p>I should point out that in Shelby County, we have a <a href="https://www.shelby.kyschools.us/domain/1353" target="_blank">Profile of a Graduate</a>, and what they do in D&D definitely authentically applies several of our PoG competencies: Effective Communicator, Responsible Collaborator, Critical Thinker. </p><p>The best part of the experience was we were able to build a really great community with these kids and it was such a stressful time where we were still part virtual and Covid was still looming. I had one student tell me after a game that “D&D nights are so great because it’s one of the times I laugh the most all week” and parents emailed us telling us how much fun it brought them and they wanted to start playing with their kids too!</p><p><b>Parents playing with their students, that's fantastic! I also love how playing D & D ties into your district's Profile of a Graduate, and clearly there is some great social emotional learning going on, too. Can you elaborate further on the academic benefits of students playing role playing games?</b></p><p>The academic benefits of tabletop games is pretty broad if you come into it with an open mind. There is creative writing when crafting a backstory for your characters and their motivations. For those who run a game as GM (Game Master) or DM (Dungeon Master), there is planning involved in preparing the story, and how they decide if one thing happens, what happens next? There is math and probability in the dice rolling, and making those calculated risks based on their character statistics is vital to success. In Shelby County, playing D&D definitely applies to several of our PoG competencies.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><i>Effective Communicator:</i> Students have to be able to communicate their actions with the players and DM running the game. </li><li><i>Responsible Collaborator:</i> Team work! It is so important to success in the game as well as the choices you make can have ripple effects in the story and world of the game! </li><li><i>Critical Thinker:</i> Thinking about your actions and the affect they have on others and the success of your mission.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Now that students are fully back in person, what are you thinking of doing differently with a D & D club this school year? </b></p><p>This year I hope to start a D&D club with the Quest program in October, which is an in-school club or area of interest for students to participate in for 9 weeks. It would be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings for 45 minutes and could be a fun experience to introduce the game to others and be able to play some D&D consistently. </p><p><b>What advice would you give to someone trying to start up a club like this in their own school, especially if they have little or no experience with playing D & D?</b> </p><p>The advice I would give to someone wanting to start a D&D or tabletop gaming club is to first just ask around and do some research! See who's interested in your school community in playing or helping run it. There are so many resources on the <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/" target="_blank">official Dungeons and Dragons website</a> for beginners wanting to start and even some beginner book sets with all the rules and stories written out for you. For my beginner players I give them a pre-made character (available <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/resources/character-sheets" target="_blank">from the website</a>) and then have them come up with the back story for their characters. Knowing how to play without having to stress about the whole character creation process gives you more time to focus on the play time!</p><p>I have found that overall, the D&D community on Facebook groups and Reddit can be very helpful resources for asking beginners. Just searching "D&D for beginners" brings up loads of helpful links. The next thing I would say is don't go too big your first time around. 8-10 is about the maximum size of a group I would run if you were the only DM because that way every player can feel included. If you have students who know how to play, encourage them to DM and then you can have more players in your club and smaller player-to-DM ratios. And feel free to <a href="mailto:James.Gadd@shelby.kyschools.us" target="_blank">reach out to me via email</a> to ask questions!</p><p><b>Last question, and for this one forgive me if I geek out with you a bit. D & D has some changes and expansions coming up, such as the Spelljammer sourcebook which allows your characters to play in outer space, and a playtest of a new backwards-compatible edition that will be launched in 2024. What are some things about D & D that keep you excited about the game? </b></p><p> I love to geek out about stuff! I think taking D&D into space could be a lot of fun. The beauty of Dungeons and Dragons is it is quite literally limitless what stories you can tell and "Homebrewed" spells and items you can use. For example, my DM, whose campaign I have been in for almost three years, mixed <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> stories with the regular D&D world and it's so cool! Teachers could make a story with any content or book they are reading with a bit of time and effort. I am grateful for shows like <i>Stranger Things</i> making Dungeons and Dragons "cool" for kids because it makes it that much more engaging when we bring it into schools.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>A huge thank you to Justin for taking the time to share his insights!</p><p><i>Be sure to check out <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-three-westward-expansion.html" target="_blank">Part Three</a>, where you'll hear how a Kentucky teacher uses a custom-created role playing game as part of his lesson plans.</i></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-78966294306768255312022-09-10T14:13:00.001-04:002022-09-14T20:13:00.020-04:00KyEdRPG, Part One: Site Launch Announcement!<p><i>This is Part One of a three part series to kick off a new website, <a href="http://kyedrpg.com" target="_blank">KyEdRPG</a>, and how role playing games can positively impact student learning. In this entry, we discuss the "grand opening" of the site itself. </i></p><p>I have certainly expressed my passion for game-based learning several times <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/search/label/game-based%20learning" target="_blank">in prior Edtech Elixirs entries</a>. On the digital side of the equation, the power of such gaming tools comes through in examples like the K-8 science and math lessons of <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2017/11/legends-of-learning.html" target="_blank">Legends of Learning</a>, the learning management system <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2015/01/game-based-learning-and-classcraft.html" target="_blank">Classcraft</a>, and an adaptive learning system like <a href="https://www.dreambox.com/" target="_blank">DreamBox</a> for K-8 numeracy.</p><p>But I also have a fondness for good ol' fashioned <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabletop_role-playing_game" target="_blank">table-top role playing games</a> (TTRPGs) and how they can have a place inside a school. I wrote about those possibilities <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2017/01/guest-blogger-on-classcraft-creating.html" target="_blank">in a guest blog entry for Classcraft</a> back in 2017.</p><p>In the five years since I wrote that article, I've been fascinated to watch how the popularity of <a href="https://dnd.wizards.com/" target="_blank">Dungeons & Dragons</a> (the granddaddy of all RPGs) has ascended to heights even its 1980's pop culture peak would envy. (This is, of course, in no small part to the popularity of Netflix's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_Things" target="_blank">excellent <i>Stranger Things</i> series</a>.) Indeed, as I write this, a new <a href="https://www.dungeonsanddragons.movie/" target="_blank">big budget Hollywood D & D movie</a> is months away from hitting the screen. Role playing games, and D & D in particular, are reaching rarified heights.</p><p>So with that in mind, I'm launching a new website: <a href="http://kyedrpg.com" target="_blank">Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games</a> (or KyEdRPG for short)!</p><p>KyEdRPG is several things:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>A place for <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg/resources#h.xf48rsxphbwi" target="_blank">articles and multimedia links</a> on how roleplaying games can, or are, being used in education and making a positive impact on student learning.</li><li>An opportunity for educators in Kentuckiana to share their <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg/resources#h.rfs6rlftluz7" target="_blank">resources and experiences</a> in using RPGs in their schools.</li><li>A series of related social media - <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/kyedrpg/contact" target="_blank">Twitter, Instagram, Facebook Page, Facebook Group</a> -- as well as a hashtag, <span style="color: red;">#KyEdRPG</span>.</li><li>A chance for Kentucky educators who play RPGs to find each other in order to join campaigns.</li></ul><div>To help celebrate the launch, Parts Two and Three of this series of entries will spotlight how two Kentucky educators are incorporating RPGs in their schools. </div><div><br /></div><div>I highly encourage you to check the site out, follow <b>KyEdRPG</b> on social media, and share it out with others!</div><div><br /></div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XjcyLLUYMTrqZUREfriKnKnuVRVMiIlX2umb_n2BrHqVZfcrzW99g1E_sAhluIXIYMwoDMO06ppomrx9FJXve7nH4UDPbYdH0mLn9pwlyqiCRTyMjZ8SmLSq5eaH6zBnv5AW4L6lB_kfAgWDUU_E8LYKcCq9jYL6g-NRMdwychcdVdxcd61qJd9q/s960/KyEdRPG%20full%20logo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6XjcyLLUYMTrqZUREfriKnKnuVRVMiIlX2umb_n2BrHqVZfcrzW99g1E_sAhluIXIYMwoDMO06ppomrx9FJXve7nH4UDPbYdH0mLn9pwlyqiCRTyMjZ8SmLSq5eaH6zBnv5AW4L6lB_kfAgWDUU_E8LYKcCq9jYL6g-NRMdwychcdVdxcd61qJd9q/w400-h300/KyEdRPG%20full%20logo.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><i>Be sure to check out <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/09/kyedrpg-part-two-power-of-d-d-club.html" target="_blank">Part Two</a> of our series, where we highlight a Kentucky teacher who has used an extracurricular D & D club to improve the social emotional as well as the academic lives of his students!</i></div>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-1883741930986177052022-08-16T22:12:00.005-04:002022-11-23T13:31:53.525-05:00A New Chapter<p>In July of 2014, I stepped out of my high school classroom at Oldham County and into a newly created district position that was both exciting and terrifying. As the first Technology Integration Coach for Shelby County Public Schools, I fully felt the weight of the task -- to help launch a technology 1:1 initiative for seven thousand students and hundreds of staff. Over the years, the position and responsibilities changed (as did the title to Digital Learning Coordinator!), and my educational journey at Shelby has taken me far and wide. Project-based learning, personalized learning, competency-based education, blended learning best practices -- all this and more has been infused into my educational DNA along the way. I've been very fortunate to grow my pedagogy in such an innovative district. My colleagues have become co-learners, friends, and an extended family.</p><p>And now, a new chapter of my educational journey is about to begin.</p><p>Late last July, I accepted my next challenge. This Monday (8/22/22), I'll be starting a new position as a Deeper Learning Design Specialist at the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative (<a href="https://www.ovec.org/" target="_blank">OVEC</a>). I'll be joining the just launched Deeper Learning Team (with <a href="https://twitter.com/LaceyEckels" target="_blank">Lacey Eckels</a> and <a href="https://twitter.com/Teach_2_Empower" target="_blank">Rachel Albright</a>) that's led by the legendary <a href="https://twitter.com/kids_inspire" target="_blank">Carmen Coleman</a>. Beyond the DLT itself, I'm also looking forward to working with the many other fantastic educators at OVEC, including the new incoming CEO <a href="https://twitter.com/AdkinsJason" target="_blank">Jason Adkins</a>. Lastly, I am excited to collaborate with the Deeper Learning Teams from the other seven regional co-ops around Kentucky.</p><p>What is Deeper Learning? It is a broad concept, and one that I will undoubtedly blog more about in the future, but this "elevator pitch" definition <a href="https://twitter.com/DrSmithKAEC/status/1557786935493644291" target="_blank">is a great introduction</a>:</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Our mission. Great things happening in Kentucky. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KYDL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KYDL</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/thrive?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#thrive</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/transfer?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#transfer</a> <a href="https://t.co/njkJhynOu2">pic.twitter.com/njkJhynOu2</a></p>— Robb Smith (@DrSmithKAEC) <a href="https://twitter.com/DrSmithKAEC/status/1557786935493644291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 11, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p></p><p>I am eager to spread, support, and celebrate the Deeper Learning innovation throughout OVEC's fifteen districts and 150,000+ students -- which includes Shelby as a member!</p><p>On August 1, 2014, <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2014/08/hello-and-welcome.html" target="_blank">I published the first post for this blog</a>, initially started as a way to share information and innovation with Shelby staff. At the end of the entry, I used the words "humbled" and "thankful." Those are definitely the words that come to mind now. I am thankful for the opportunity to work at OVEC, humbled to be chosen among many deserving applicants. But I am also so, so humbled by the teachers, staff and students of Shelby County Public Schools, who are amazing people and are doing amazing things. You have inspired me to grow, and stretch, and dream. I am thankful for all that you have personally done for my own learning journey, but even more importantly, I am full of gratitude to have been a part of your innovative, impactful team of educators for eight wonderful years.</p><p><br /></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-32379846650546218232022-08-09T12:53:00.001-04:002022-08-09T12:53:15.843-04:00Another school year launches, and a mention in Forbes!<p>Like many districts across Kentucky, tomorrow is Shelby County's first day of school: my ninth one since joining the district in 2014. Also tomorrow, back in the district where I live, my youngest daughter will be starting sixth grade. I'm definitely experiencing a lot of emotions as I look back both at my professional journey in Shelby as well as thinking about my daughter reaching the halfway point of her schooling. </p><p>Today, however, was celebration and kickoff. Shelby held its Opening Day ceremonies at the Martha Layne Collins High School gym. One of the highlights was members of the Shelby County High School Rockets choir treating us to a lovely rendition of "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/True_Colors_(Cyndi_Lauper_song)" target="_blank">True Colors</a>":</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Opening Day! <a href="https://twitter.com/shelbycountysch?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@shelbycountysch</a> educators, let your beautiful true colors shine through this school year. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/IL3?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#IL3</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShelbyInspired?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ShelbyInspired</a> <a href="https://t.co/vsRbJeFGEn">pic.twitter.com/vsRbJeFGEn</a></p>— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) <a href="https://twitter.com/watsonedtech/status/1556999103451729921?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 9, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async="" charset="utf-8" src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js"></script>
<p>In the opening remarks, there was discussion about promoting the legacy and story of Shelby County, including our recent mention in <i>Forbes</i>!</p><p>A quick recap for context: back in 2020, <a href="https://twitter.com/loratshields" target="_blank">Lora Shields</a> (the former Shelby County Public Schools Staff Developer) and I co-created and co-led our first "Shelby Speaks" <a href="https://www.youtube.com/c/ShelbyCountyKYPublicSchools/playlists" target="_blank">vodcast series</a> where we interviewed staff during the pandemic to share their challenges, their successes, and how their learning was going to be applied post-pandemically. Several months later, I created and led the second "season" in the vodcast series, with SCPS teachers sharing strategies on how to teach in a hybrid/concurrent model. The vodcasts were highlighted in a national report by <a href="https://www.nextgenlearning.org/" target="_blank">Next Generation Learning Challenges</a> -- with Shelby the only Kentucky district mentioned by name. (For more on the report itself, <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2022/03/vodcast-series-highlighted-in-next.html" target="_blank">click here</a>; for more on the vodcast series, <a href="https://watsonedtech.blogspot.com/2021/01/our-newest-vodcast-series-shelby-speaks.html" target="_blank">click here</a>.)</p><p>That brings us to last month. <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/phyllislockett/2022/07/28/some-k-12-systems-thrived-during-covid-19-what-made-them-so-prepared/" target="_blank">In an article about the NGLC report in <i>Forbes</i> magazine</a>, our vodcast series was mentioned again at length. So glad to see the hard work of SCPS staff recognized!</p><p>Educators, I wish you the best as your new school year launches!</p><p><br /></p>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8803166130713841512.post-49358992609908544542022-07-21T21:00:00.025-04:002022-07-25T09:37:21.625-04:00Streamable Learning<p> <a href="https://streamablelearning.com/" target="_blank">Streamable Learning</a> is new to me, and something that I'm excited our district is launching this fall. I would consider it less a digital platform and more of an opportunity to connect with dozens of experts from institutes and museums not just across the United States, but around the globe!</p><p>Summed up in an elevator pitch, Streamable Learning gives students an opportunity to take a virtual field trip via two ways: registering for a livestream event, or accessing a voluminous bank of archived webinar videos from the past. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ8PUxSG-uJ3koIxAgPYDuwBLUZPMpzPabASogHapMsd8DSv-sVFXmhhCMBvZryaFmZXSTf9bBo-ysjAn1b9nSadto5Z1D7_WN2lAEw0J0QrxTIS9TwHh5S60CyvmWX1dDL3tyYmi0UQ_xguNZ4TxqfR8UG8UThGPi_tfGU62KNWaQ0kS0ckhKdm9/s2862/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.48.07%20AM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1420" data-original-width="2862" height="199" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFZ8PUxSG-uJ3koIxAgPYDuwBLUZPMpzPabASogHapMsd8DSv-sVFXmhhCMBvZryaFmZXSTf9bBo-ysjAn1b9nSadto5Z1D7_WN2lAEw0J0QrxTIS9TwHh5S60CyvmWX1dDL3tyYmi0UQ_xguNZ4TxqfR8UG8UThGPi_tfGU62KNWaQ0kS0ckhKdm9/w400-h199/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.48.07%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>While access is mainly teacher-centered, some options exist for student access to prior recordings; more on that below. It should be noted that teachers will need the Zoom program to participate in livestreams, and that Streamable Learning is a paid service. Licensing is available at the school or district level, and homeschooling options are also offered.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>How does it work?</b></p><p>Streamable Learning can whitelist your domain's email address so that staff can self-create accounts, or it will work with Clever integration (which is what we use in Shelby). Remember, only teachers and staff need accounts.</p><p>As mentioned, there is a wide range of content partners working with Streamable Learning. Once logged in, you can browse them by clicking on the "Content Partners" tab at the top. You'll see the partners first grouped geographically, then listed alphabetically. Click on a partner to see more information about them and additional links (for example, to their main website). You also usually see links to check for upcoming scheduled livestreams and/or archived recordings with that partner.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxjWv8z7KqV45W1lNj85tkWN_fIp7etK3_2mtwVUjp0hcFd4MFRNEMhimMsjw5yGLNCtkd-mxlAWzqlADlImgbUlgsnXPDtzEHaDx4OKI7Srhn46t8u_zfST4VPF6CyQ9ALFMapFSfsKzTHwNrwFJzvK_zAexSGO8e1BeKczWz9ya6CtewyM_kmYh/s2818/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.03.52%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1572" data-original-width="2818" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIxjWv8z7KqV45W1lNj85tkWN_fIp7etK3_2mtwVUjp0hcFd4MFRNEMhimMsjw5yGLNCtkd-mxlAWzqlADlImgbUlgsnXPDtzEHaDx4OKI7Srhn46t8u_zfST4VPF6CyQ9ALFMapFSfsKzTHwNrwFJzvK_zAexSGO8e1BeKczWz9ya6CtewyM_kmYh/w400-h224/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.03.52%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>While many partners exist in the United States, quite a few are in other countries!</i></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmk5FKeqRG3DZANLVATmIMkmAFbd91eg2noChehvcu3zd4TiYeNlDSI3IPdZDSm_-_h01_VqiA4t8X4u5oCEpRlhIFHVmj0PKI8Bjp_eHOlvn9nxy8Mie6AD6hW1yND8_G1eTLr7vyD14SDHZItbouZXbKyEoqzaWDrEeMpbe4N8UvwaDfiRRJatN/s1938/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.04.59%20PM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1566" data-original-width="1938" height="324" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkmk5FKeqRG3DZANLVATmIMkmAFbd91eg2noChehvcu3zd4TiYeNlDSI3IPdZDSm_-_h01_VqiA4t8X4u5oCEpRlhIFHVmj0PKI8Bjp_eHOlvn9nxy8Mie6AD6hW1yND8_G1eTLr7vyD14SDHZItbouZXbKyEoqzaWDrEeMpbe4N8UvwaDfiRRJatN/w400-h324/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%201.04.59%20PM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Example of information on a partner.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>By clicking on the "Livestreams" tab at the top of the page, you can see their scheduled events for the school year via a calendar. (As of mid-July 2022, you no longer see the 2021-2022 calendar and the 2022-2023 has not been posted yet; it is usually up by early August.) The calendar allows you to find and register for a particular session, and there is no limit to the number of sessions you can choose. By registering, you will get the Zoom link emailed to you, along with a confirmation of the date and time. Streamable Learning told me that they usually have an average of a few livestreams scheduled every day Monday through Friday, with 400+ live sessions held over the course of a school year calendar. The sessions themselves are between 30 and 40 minutes. While the livestream will have some interactive elements such as a chat room and polls, remember that it is the teacher who has the Streamable Learning account and is technically the one logged into the Zoom; therefore, the teacher should be prepared to facilitate their students' discussions in their classroom and will be the one to type in the chatroom or make a poll answer choice on behalf of their students.<p>By clicking on "Recordings," you can access an archive of past sessions. (Be advised that some partners choose not to allow their sessions to be recorded and only livestream.) First, you will see a way to categorically filter for recordings via several checkbox choices, such as grade level and content area; it is also possible to type search terms in the search bar. One of the strengths of Streamable Learning is that is has surprisingly varied content. While Science and STEM are clearly popular, there are also Social Studies, Math, ELA, the arts, and even College and Career topics.</p><p><br /></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSKBo9jf9MRhx4rps_3w9libZAPTIsPk5ULZOKuabgBVlw27pZFMkQdsQ2cH3GLvdtsYVoWidZf2y_CnVCvdbEZpUzvZQ8x4nR5yfEylnATdcxUTE5C_MEzu6dmaJkINoItVOAtGW5ya7WMieFqZBe9iHwsBq7yx-FTu7S0-MvSeweQsp-AufprptH/s2244/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.49.47%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1564" data-original-width="2244" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSKBo9jf9MRhx4rps_3w9libZAPTIsPk5ULZOKuabgBVlw27pZFMkQdsQ2cH3GLvdtsYVoWidZf2y_CnVCvdbEZpUzvZQ8x4nR5yfEylnATdcxUTE5C_MEzu6dmaJkINoItVOAtGW5ya7WMieFqZBe9iHwsBq7yx-FTu7S0-MvSeweQsp-AufprptH/w400-h279/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.49.47%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Note the numbers in parentheses. This indicates the number of recordings available for that particular filtered characteristic/category.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>Once you find and choose a recording, they are playable on site; there is no need for Zoom for the end user.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaiN74D_WCiRrltNLfY9gjUhNL17eQVDm0ysGVolc8e1cnq6LXhRgeuO-hilF_wxONXfc9EdVzl8DM2atHHOnB9PDuO5_gIxKkq01rhV938hC-1mTJoOQlhN-BbVijidAb518kX_u3QUJJ0SjiQqK5iLIu1XiURst9koXTZxIy_enn06Pm6ZxdXYb/s2260/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.52.55%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1378" data-original-width="2260" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitaiN74D_WCiRrltNLfY9gjUhNL17eQVDm0ysGVolc8e1cnq6LXhRgeuO-hilF_wxONXfc9EdVzl8DM2atHHOnB9PDuO5_gIxKkq01rhV938hC-1mTJoOQlhN-BbVijidAb518kX_u3QUJJ0SjiQqK5iLIu1XiURst9koXTZxIy_enn06Pm6ZxdXYb/w400-h244/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.52.55%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>An archive recording from an American Civil War Museum webinar.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p>Many of these recordings also have a standards-aligned document to go with them based on a state of your choice. However, once opened, some of these alignment documents say "Coming Soon" or there is no link at all because no standards doc has yet been made available.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ccbpxZxHFE41QG_86LyNFYy0Z8_r8RP5HGKvx9q8xkKg0qqFjjJfG6_ScgO-UtHeVi4bWQJioTYdfGQRKcUN0NVRRPDdcjRqC8eSEvOfmFIA-lX4ZBNpnFe1Kh-X8jO4B1NEFY9WiV7cco594S7Kxttpz4_9WXRYXfrmVctuZioX8CYoc-kaK7GR/s2440/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.53.20%20AM.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1520" data-original-width="2440" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9ccbpxZxHFE41QG_86LyNFYy0Z8_r8RP5HGKvx9q8xkKg0qqFjjJfG6_ScgO-UtHeVi4bWQJioTYdfGQRKcUN0NVRRPDdcjRqC8eSEvOfmFIA-lX4ZBNpnFe1Kh-X8jO4B1NEFY9WiV7cco594S7Kxttpz4_9WXRYXfrmVctuZioX8CYoc-kaK7GR/w400-h249/Screen%20Shot%202022-07-20%20at%2011.53.20%20AM.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The standard alignment document for the above recording.</i></td></tr></tbody></table><p><br /></p><p>A final feature worth noting is that a URL to a recording can be shared with a student directly. In order to do so, the student will need your district's "code." (A teacher can look up the code for their district.) Once a student clicks on the link, they will need to type in the district code or they can't watch the recording. Again, Zoom is only necessary to participate in a livestream; no Zoom is required to watch a recording.</p><p>For a video overview of Streamable Learning, <a href="https://youtu.be/BwKSl-I801Q" target="_blank">here's a screencast I made</a> (11:00):</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BwKSl-I801Q" width="320" youtube-src-id="BwKSl-I801Q"></iframe></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>How could you use it?</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Teachers have always loved bringing in a guest speaker, but that might not always be easy or convenient; similar issues with logistics hamper just jumping on a bus with 30 students and going to a museum. (Especially if it's in Alaska or Australia!) Streamable Learning gives a convenient, cost effective, interactive, safe way of bringing outside expertise into your own four walls. Additionally, it's a great way to show authenticity around the content being learned in your classroom, by seeing more vivid examples of its use, impact and application.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Streamable Learning can also address equity issues and give some students virtual opportunities that they may have little to no chance to do in person. An affluent suburban district may have parents that can easily afford supplementing the cost for that annual class trip to Washington, D.C. or Chicago, but for high poverty schools or rural districts already far away from their own local cities, this may not be an option. Streamable Learning can potentially level that playing field. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The ability to potentially share a recorded webinar with students via your district code opens up other options. A student may get pushed a certain video that fits their personalized learning needs and passions. Another may use a recording as a way of vicariously exploring a career path. Or a group of students might benefit from a video to build schema for the focus of their project-based learning.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><b>Downsides?</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I wish that search results for recorded webinars were more logically organized, such as the most recent event at top and then going back in time, or perhaps have a few filtering options (alphabetically by partner, for example). Also, it would be helpful if the standard alignment documentation was more consistent. While I understand this may possibly be uploaded sometime after the archived video is put online, several that I randomly found were missing this information even months later. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">While the platform costs, the number and variety of content partners and the ability to access previous webinars can make Streamable Learning a valuable instructional resource for students!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Have you used Streamable Learning or another "virtual field trip" platform? Share in the Comments below.</div>Adam Watsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211906141431696450noreply@blogger.com0