Prologue
It's been more than a couple years since my last Connect the Dots blog post. A lot has changed since 2012; I accidentally deleted the 2012 posts -- you'll just have to trust me on that point. Since then some things have come together. As seems to happen in my life they were more serendipitous than planned.
Challenges
I worked far from home from 2010 to early 2014. I was out in the field with customers a lot. I had to be self-sufficient: you know, having two (sometimes three) of everything for 'just-in-case' moments. I deepened my end-to-end production knowledge and learned tons about engagement through design thinking and rapid prototyping. One day, for example, I was observing trainees in a New Mexico blizzard and.. but I digress.
If you follow my Puzzling Mix blog it'll come as no surprise the effect that EdCamps have had on my personal and professional life. I won't go into that a whole lot here but suffice it to say that EdCampWestTexas changed everything: story, engagement, assessment, passion for what I do all got kicked up another notch there.
The Three Little Pigs
Growing up I loved when my mom told me stories: the old standards, Aesops Fables, mythology, family history were all favorites. I use stories a lot in my instructional design craft. The characters in this story are EdCamp, Show Your Work, and iPad.
At EdCamp I met educators: K-12 teachers, librarians, principals, and innovation specialists. They, in turn, introduced me to a brave new world of apps, acronyms, and ways of knowing. I'm a firm believer in Teaching Like A Pirate, designing learning experiences where students and learners do a lot more of the heavy lifting than the teacher, and this cool thing that You Matter. You'll see where these fit in the story a little further down.
Show Your Work is a cool little thing I learned from someone I met on Twitter: Jane Bozarth. In a nutshell it's the idea that we all benefit when we (yeah, it's that simple) share what we do with others.
I've had an iPad since they first came out. At my first EdCamp I learned about app smashing. App smashing involves using several apps to do things that one app alone can't. In the Show Your Work image above for example (clockwise from left) are animated characters giving presentations for remote project team members, sticky notes and me (braced for the cold observing workers on the Baltimore docks). These were smashed together on an iPad mini with PS Touch, Tellagami, Pinnacle Studio, and Diptic.
Connected Educators
October is Connected Educators month. I'm looking forward to connecting with peers at the 2014 DevLearn Conference. I'll be sharing what I learned connecting with K-12 teachers and staff over the past year. If you're at the conference look up session 813 Applying K-12 Strategies and Technology in Corporate Learning.
Epilogue
Thoughts and comments much appreciated. I'm looking forward to our shared learning experiences.
