If you don’t live it, it won’t come out of your horn. ~ Charlie Parker
Digital Learning Day
Teaching Design and Digital Composition w/Glogster
Feb 2nd
Yesterday (as part of Digital Learning Day), I brought all four of my sixth grade classes into Glogster.edu for the first time, and as expected (from past experiences), they loved it. They love the possibility of embeddable media, they love the clip art, and they love the colorful options of theme and “stickers” and more. But before they could even get their account information, we had a long discussion about “design principles.” For many of my students, this kind of thinking is new, although when we began to talk about Apple and its products, something clicked for a lot of them.
I began by explaining some of my own thoughts around design, with an emphasis on web design.
- “Just because you can do it doesn’t mean you should do it”
- Don’t make random decisions about your design – be thoughtful in your choices
- The way colors look together is important
- Images and video should be partners to text
- Be consistent with your theme (background, text, images, multimedia, etc.)
- Simple design is always better than complicated design
I then showed them my Glogster project (which I had shared with them the day before, as they knew they were going to be working on a Glog related to their short stories). I asked them to pick apart my thinking. Why did I choose what I chose, and how did those choices connect to my short story (which I had read aloud to them last week)? It was great. They noticed many of the elements that I wanted to notice.
Then, I shared this following Glog with them. I took the same text but purposely went anti-design. You should have heard the “whoahs” and “I can’t read that” and “yikes” that accompanied the first look. Then, again, I asked them to break down what I did NOT do when it comes to design choices. We talked about colors, about busyness, about lack of theme, about no connection to the original text.
I think they got it. Or most of them got it. Check out this project which a student began in class and then completed at home. I would say that it shows pretty decent design principles, don’t you?
Peace (on the Glog),
Kevin
We’re Glogging Our Way on Digital Learning Day
Feb 1st
I am bringing my students onto Glogster.edu for the first time this year, but we will be using the digital poster site quite a bit as the year progresses for projects around multimedia writing in ELA, engineering explorations in Science, and a history poster in Social Studies (and who knows, maybe some graphing in Math). What we will be doing today is talking about “design principles” and then, they are going to working on a Glog that connects with the Adventure Short Story they just completed yesterday. Their Glog will focus on:
- Summary
- Protagonist/Antagonist
- Setting
I want to keep it simple, and doable, but also, I didn’t want them to being a random project, either. Yesterday, I shared the Glog that I created for my own short story so they could envision what I am expecting. They also received a brainstorming sheet to gather ideas, so that today, we won’t have to worry about what is going to be written — just how it will look.
Peace (on Digital Learning Day!),
Kevin
WMWP Pop Culture/Technology Conference
Jan 31st
This Saturday, our Western Massachusetts Writing Project holds a technology conference in conjunction with Digital Learning Day. We will have about 25 to 30 people (including the presenters) attend as we explore the intersections of popular culture, technology and the new (Common Core-influenced) Massachusetts Curriculum Standards. I’m pretty excited about it. I am leading a session with my friend, Tina, on video game design and kicking off the day with a quick introduction.
Here is what I will be talking about to start off the conference:
Pop Culture, Technology and the Common Core PDF
Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin
The State of Technology Webcomic
Jan 29th
This is an annual survey that I give to my students, with some changes each year, to give me a sense of my students. This year, it coincided nicely with Digital Learning Day and an upcoming unit around digital citizenship and safety.
You can access the full comic here, too, if the flash format does not work for you.
Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin
Digital Learning Day: The Tech We Use
Jan 27th
Next week, on February 1, it is Digital Learning Day. I have some technology ideas brewing for my students, but I thought I would pull together some of the ways that we engage in digital media and technology in my sixth grade classroom. Since I will be bringing my students into Glogster EDU next week, I figured I would use Glogster as my platform to showcase a few of our projects, and explain why it is that I do those things with my students.
Here is my Glog overview (those of you reading this in RSS will need to use the link, I think):
Peace (in the sharing),
Kevin
PS — It’s not too late to get involved in Digital Learning Day There’s even a video challenge component to the day, sponsored by USA Today.
WMWP: Pop Culture, Technology and the Common Core
Jan 4th
Our focus at the Western Massachusetts Writing Project has been on ways to make the new Massachusetts State Standards (influenced by the Common Core) a workable reality for teachers in the areas of literacy. Our upcoming technology event will do that from a slightly different angle: looking at how our popular culture, technology and learning can come together in the classroom. This event was inspired in large part by Dr. Ernest Morrell’s presentation at last year’s National Writing Project Urban Sites Conference, in which he encouraged teachers to turn the lens on the culture that influences and shapes student interaction, writing and engagement.
We’re hoping to do that with a keynote presentation from a group of high school video producers called Video Vanguard, and then provide some opportunities for attendees to “learn and play” with technology around topics of gaming and social networking and more. We’ll also be providing time for reflection and connection with other educators. Our aim is to show how to validate the worlds of our young people while exploring the ways these cultural ideas can connect to the curriculum that we teach. In fact, the Common Core opens up a lot of doors to using technology, media and more for research, writing and publishing.
If you live in Western Massachusetts, please consider signing up for our event, which is taking place on Saturday February 4. (You can now register and pay online for WMWP events.)
This event is also in conjunction with the national Digital Learning Day, which seeks to highlight the ways that technology and digital media can transform education and engage students. We’re also putting together a survey for Massachusetts teachers around their use of technology and digital media in the classrom for Digital Learning Day, in hopes of creating a database of educators who are on the leading edge of this movement.
Peace (in the culture),
Kevin
Visitor’s Thoughts