I've joined Bluesky!

 Bluesky is a social media app that began in 2023 as an "invite-only" platform.  When it became publicly available in February 2024, it had three million users.  Since then, Bluesky has had rapid growth. In September 2024, it hit ten million users; last month, it achieved thirteen million users; this month, it has crossed over twenty million users and was the number one download of the Apple and Google Play app stores.  (Bluesky's growth is impressive, but to put that total number in perspective, X currently has 586 million monthly active users and Instagram has two billion MAUs.)

Generated with Gemini AI. Digital image, 11/23/2024.

In the last few weeks, I checked out the platform, liked what I saw, and decided to sign up.  It's free of course, and what could be seen as a positive sign of its current corporate independence, there are no Google or Facebook or Apple shortcuts to create an account; you have to provide an email address and date of birth.  My two new Bluesky account handles mirror my two main social media handles across multiple platforms:

• watsonedtech: bsky.app/profile/watsonedtech.bsky.social
• kyedrpg (Kentucky Educators for Role Playing Games): bsky.app/profile/kyedrpg.bsky.social

After using Bluesky for a bit, I wanted to share some quick thoughts and initial findings.  I should point out that last year I signed up for Threads (under the Meta umbrella of apps), and as you'll see below, I can't help but make some comparisons between the two.  

• The interface is very, very similar to X, which is not a shocker when you learn that Bluesky was started as a Twitter project under Jack Dorsey before Bluesky cut ties and went its own way.
• There doesn't yet seem to be options to post from Bluesky to other social media platforms, or vice versa.  This is in contrast to being able to choose for an Instagram post to simultaneously also post on your Threads, or quick shares of an article or Amazon item to X.  I imagine this will change as the popularity of Bluesky grows.
• You can text up to 300 characters!  (For X, it's 280, unless you pay for a premium account.)
• The browser interface is as adept and robust as the mobile app, an issue that plagued Threads when it first launched.
• There are more filters and options to choose what shows up on your feed than with most other major social media apps.
• Multiple hashtags work just fine and in the way you are used to experiencing them on X, Instagram, or Facebook.  A popular one for educators is #EduSky.  (That still remains a sticking point for me about Threads -- it launched without any such tagging, and even now only allows one "topic" per post.)
• My favorite part of Bluesky is the opportunity to create or find "Starter Packs."  Basically, creating a Pack means choosing a title, writing a description, and adding a group of users that fit around your described theme or topic.  (You can edit all of these elements at any time.)  Other users can see your Starter Packs under your profile, and when looking at its list of accounts can "follow all" or individually choose people to follow.  A nice bonus feature is that when looking at your Starter Pack, you can see only the posts made by the users listed in the Pack.  Here's one I made of Kentucky educators I have learned from over the years, and I'll likely add new friends as they join the platform.

Hope to see you where the blue wings flap!

What are your thoughts on Bluesky?  Post a Comment below.

Aurora Institute Symposium 2024

A few weeks ago, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to be in New Orleans attending the annual Aurora Institute Symposium.   It was my fourth time over the last decade, and my second time presenting!  I discussed tabletop roleplaying games in the classroom, particularly from the perspective of personalized competency-based education (CBE) and equity.

Special thanks to my colleague Kathy House for taking photos of my session.

Besides my gratitude at being able to lead a session, there were plenty of memorable learning experiences, from keynotes to breakout sessions to chance encounters in the hallway.  Here are a handful of highlights:

• Rhonda Broussard was a keynote speaker. (Later, I purchased her book One Good Question and was excited to get it signed!) She helped me think differently about classroom inquiry by posing the following three characteristics of what makes a good question for students: 
• It's not about the teacher (don't reveal your own teacher bias).
• Anticipates multiple perspectives.
• Requires mixed-methods reflection (needs sources outside of yourself).
• There was a student panel (led by Broussard) which generated some great quotes.  Samarah Bentley, a freshman at LSU, pointed out that when looking at what we value in school, an educator's "investments reveal your intentions," and when including students in your learning space, it should be beyond tokenistic representation in your curriculum or just asking survey questions, but a true dialogue: "Not just input, but an exchange!"  When Broussard asked the students to pose one good question for us in the audience, David Ramirez (a student at New Orleans Charter Science and Mathematics High School) gave a powerful plea: "Will you listen?"
• Representatives from CAST -- Melissa Sanjeh (Senior Professional Learning and Implementation Specialist) and Sherann Jackson-Alkins (Head of ABCD University HS, an alternative school in Boston) -- shared some wonderfully pragmatic and effective tools when universally designing for learning (UDL).    I particularly liked the website's interactive guidelines, as well as the idea of "journey mapping" to see the lesson/unit from the perspective of different students to determine barriers and plan for scaffolding.
• Another keynote by Sabba Quidwai on artificial intelligence reminded us that our concern that AI is producing the work and not the human doesn't quite fit how we treat assistive, collaborative writing in other contexts: "Politicians have speechwriters. Authors have ghostwriters. Musicians have songwriters. Entrepreneurs have investors."
• A panel on "Advancing Equity Through Grading Reform in K-12 Education" was led by Starr Sackstein (Mastery Portfolio), Bryanna Hanson (Learner Centered Collaborative), and Sierra Holtzheuser (SpacesEDU).   Among many good points and shared resources, I particularly appreciated Mastery Portfolio's glossary of equitable grading terms, Learner Centered Collaborative's CBE Reporting Playbook site, and Holtzheuser's reminder that digital portfolios should avoid a "scrapbook mentality." 
• Finally, it was good to run into old friends. Laurie Gagnon and Chris Sturgis reminded us where we've been and where we are going with CBE.  Karin Hess, Jonathan Vander Els, and Brian Stack have recently published a wonderful new book Elevating Competency-Based Learning in a PLC at Work (full disclosure: I'm quoted in the introduction and first chapter!) and ran a helpful session about effective professional learning communities.  With an introduction from David Cook (former Kentucky Department of Education Director of Innovation), Adrienne Usher, Jesse Bacon, and Michael Ekbundit shared how strategically and intentionally they have involved the Bullitt County community with implementing their Graduate Profile.  Sarah Snipes (the current KDE Director of Innovation), along with members of the University of Kentucky's Center for Next Generation Leadership (Susan Dugle, Karen Perry) and the Center for Innovation in Education (Gretchen Morgan), discussed Kentucky's journey toward a local assessment accountability system.  Last but not least, my OVEC colleagues Carmen Coleman, Lacey Eckels, and Rachel Albright presented on their portrait of a learner work with Kentucky's Fayette County Dixie Magnet Elementary School.

My embedded Wakelet collection below has an expanded story of my Symposium experience with additional resources and links.   Be sure to also check out social media posts from the event using the hashtag #Aurora24.