Wanted Moster

INTRO

I used to be a Hagar the Horrible fanboy. The Dik Browne strip was a hoot and helped me get my day started right. One of my fav strips was where a bartender asks Hagar what he wants. His reply is something I cherish to this day.

WHAT DO I WANT? WHAT DOES ANY VIKING WANT?

Today's #ds106 daily create challenge was to produce a wanted poster.

To get some ideas I googled "wanted poster". An animated poster of Have You Seen This Wizard caught my eye right away. So that's what I decided to make.

OUTRO

I love using my iPad to ideate and prototype. The daily create challenge helps me open up my creative mindset.

 

Pains of Glass

INTRO

I spent most of the morning after Christmas looking out my back window and sketching. My mind, free to wander and wonder, eventually coalesced around a pane of glass

INTO THE AIR WE EVENTUALLY THRUST OURSELVES

I used to make a mean paper airplane. It was fun experimenting with folds and tossing them into the air. Some flew mostly straight. Other planes flew erratic paths in the air.

Somewhere, sometime, I remember someone telling me there would come a time when I would have to put aside my childish things. So at some point in my life I did.

Now, many years later I find myself wondering, is there a difference between childish and childlike? As usual when my mind drifts too far afield I ask Mrs for her perspective. What usually happens is while she's sharing I either have a sudden AHA! moment of crystal clear insight or my thoughts go off on an unexpected tangent.

Today it was a sudden insight that brought understanding. Childish suggests something having to do with one's maturity. Caught with my hand in the cookie jar do I deny it's my hand or do I ask, "Want a cookie too?" Childlike, on the other hand, speaks to innocence and wonder.

OUTRO

It's sometimes painful when I look back and recollect. What might have been, if.. I used to think they were cognitive excursions of the wasteful kind. The past is immutable, right? But of course they're not wasted. Reflections can lead to the old seen in new ways and to new directions.

Which brings me to my granddaughter Carly. We light up when we see each other. I've mostly given up sharing things I know with her. We both get more out of our time together when I experience what she shares with me. I like being childlike alongside her. Problems I'm working on seem smaller when I see them as I think Carly might. No pane, no gain.

 

Experience It

PROLOGUE

Bored, the boy took off his watch and began fiddling with it whilst the teacher droned on about predicates. Turning his head he gazed out the window at the concrete playground. Lost in a daydream playing ball with his friends his watch, somehow, found its way into the cuff of his uniform pants. "Five more minutes. Please God make the time go faster." the boy prayed as he stared at the clock high up on the wall. "My watch! Where did it go?" he thought as he sat up suddenly, his face worried. His right arm shot up, hand waving frantically trying to gain the teacher's attention.

LEARNERS EXPERIENCE LOSS EVERY DAY

This actually happened. A few days after Christmas Break in 1969 I lost my watch. The sister, at Our Lady of Guadalupe School teachers were nuns of the Incarnate Word Order, when she noticed my raised hand smiled. Maybe she thought I was going to ask a question predicated on predicates? Sadly, we'll never know. What I do know, much to my embarrassment, was what happened next. After I told her I'd lost my watch she asked the class to help look for it. Before anyone could start Peter, sitting at his desk in the row next to mine said "He stuffed it into his pants cuff a few minutes go." What do you think happened next?

I learned lots of stuff in school. Reflecting on my experience now, so many years later, it surprises me that I did. I mean so much of the time in class I was daydreaming.

Fast forward to now: I finished watching George Saunders: On Story. My takeaway from his talk, I watched it several times, is that story is experience boxed up. Opening the story exposes someone to wonder. Being individuals we appreciate the story based on our experience. So I reflected on this a little more and connected some dots.

What if an online learning experience was more about story than facts? I'm taking HumanMOOC at the moment. I'm learning how to make online learning experiences a bit more learner friendly and engaging. The course is presented in two modalities that I don't completely understand. One is instructor directed whilst the other, I think, is learner directed. As usual in school the subject matter is chunked into lessons or modules the thought of which makes me shudder. They're artificial structures designed to make it easier for.. sorry, I'm going off on a tangent that has nothing to do with my story.

Except that it does. When a student is engaged in her learner experience hours can seem to pass in a blink. In this MOOC I'm put off by the structure of the first modality and confused by the second. The dissonance I feel makes me seek a third learning mode: rhizomatic learning. It's where I come up with a question and go in search of stuff. Sometimes I find answers. Most of the time what I find is more questions.

This is where the magic happens. Rather than poring over media the course designer and/or instructor thinks will provide learning I go on my own way. I don't believe it's serendipitous. It's purpose driven. It's my purpose that motivates me to go out and learn based on my own needs via my own resources.

EPILOGUE

My face, I'm told, flushed the deep red associated with life-threatening embarrassment as sister bent down to retrieve the watch from my pants-cuff. Geez that memory comes back so clearly despite the passing of almost 50 years. How might we leverage story to build life-lasting knowledge and skill? Might it encourage learners to open a door and, curious, go out into the night and experience it?

 

 

Where The Teachers Are

INTRO

I spent Saturday October 24 with a roomful of ELA (English Language Art) teachers at the Arizona K12 Center. We learned about educational technology tools, including how to leverage them to support teaching to Arizona’s college and career ready standards. Disclosure: I’m not a teacher. I do instructional design.

IMPROVISATIONAL PD: FAILING TO GET IT RIGHT

Me not being a teacher is a good thing. I don’t know enough to keep quiet when something was introduced during the workshop. It’s all new to me. Except that it’s not. I learn a lot about K-12 strategies and educational technology at the EdCamps I participate in. Through some applied improvisation later on I figure out how to apply it with the adult learners I support.

I get asked sometimes why participate in so many EdCamps? I think I’m up to 30 so far: EdCamps in Texas, Arizona, California and Washington, DC. It’s because I like the improv. Hearing about something cool I want to try it right away, or as soon as possible, before it gets stale. I view doing something that I just learned from teachers as improv because I’m flying without a net. I don’t know what the cues are. Not being a teacher means I’m not sure about context. So I give it a try and add or drop stuff as seems to make sense.

OUT-OF-THE-BOX THINKING INSIDE OF A BREAKOUT EDU BOX

I hear now and then how we instructional designers need to be more innovative and creative. A lot of times the ideas that come back from “How?” involve advanced educational technology. Since EdCamp I prefer simpler more natural and humanistic approaches.

At CUEROCKSTAR Las VegasI learned about this Breakout EDU thing. The way it works is you get a box. But not just an ordinary box. Noooo. You get one with a sturdy hasp. About that hasp, it’s an electricians lockout hasp. There can be as many as six locks on this hasp.

The teacher, or in my case instructional designer, crafts an engaging story. This is what teacher and author Dave Burgess calls “A Hook”. My name for it, after watching Jack Black in Goosebumps, is “The Twist.” Anyway, the learner or learners, once engaged, work to solve puzzles. The puzzles and their solutions are grounded in what the learner is being taught or trained on.

EVENT WHEN IT DOESN’T WORK IT WORKS OUT

At AZTEA’s P3: Problems, Projects, and Possibilities conference I presented a session on designing interactive presentations. One of the things I demonstrated was the Breakout EDU box. There were “technical difficulties”, however, and I had to do some improvisation to get over the bump.

Here’s how it was supposed to go. First there was the trailer. Then the backstory. Lastly was the vital clue. Anyway, given technical difficulties I had to play all the parts live. I got to feel the learning. It was pretty cool. I have a whole new perspective on how to do it next time. I’ll definitely have some backup stuff, too.

SCORE ANOTHER ONE FOR THE ZOMBIE (LEARNER) APOCALYPSE

One thing I need to work on, what teacher Chris Long calls Self-Development is the BOOS (Butts-Out-Of-Seats).

I think, and some research studies suggests, learning efficacy can be deepened when learners are actively engaged and moving around doing learning activities.

THATS WHERE THE TEACHERS ARE

To review, why do I get most of my PD (Professional Development) from EdCamp & CUE? Because that’s where the teachers are.

 

Prototyping Guild Chat

INTRO

I have an unscheduled trip later today. Two of my kids, Carly my grand daughter, and I are going to California. There's been a death in the family and we need to visit my sister. I don't want to miss tomorrow's Guild Chat so I prototyped what I'd share. In case I can't make it the prototype can be my input. If it turns out I can make the chat then the prototype was good reflection.

PLOTAGON: MY FAV PROTOTYPING TOOL

Plotagon is this 3D animation app available for iOS, Mac, and Windows. If you can type you can make cool 3D animation.

As shown in the screen captures above Plotagon's interface has two areas: scripts and scenes. I first chose the scene and characters I wanted in my plot. Next I typed what I wanted the characters to say and do.

When it's all done I click Share (button not shown) and add some hashtags to make finding it easier.

OUTRO

Plotagon is an amazing app. It makes storytelling with animation easy and engaging. Here's the Guild Chat prototype.

 

 

Play Time PD

INTRO

EdCamp Tucson is tomorrow, Saturday September 12, 2015. Unlike many unconferences that I participate in this one’s practically in my backyard, only 90 minutes away. Usually I travel hundreds of miles to EdCamps. I reflect on what I might learn on the way there. On the trip home I reflect on how I might apply learnings to my instructional design practice.

PLAY TIME PD: A LEARNING ACTIVITY BEST EXPERIENCED WITH OTHERS

A few PD (Professional Development) conferences ago, it might have been CUEROCKSTAR, I heard someone describe PD as play time. I’ve been thinking a lot about viewing PD as a fun enjoyable thing to do.

When I was a child I loved when Papa would take me to the park. His experience and mine while at the park were, I believe, a lot different. Sometimes he’d bring the newspaper to read. Other times he’d watch me for a while then kind of zone out and relax. He worked in a Kaiser steel mill feeding coke into a blast furnace. I can imagine what relaxing in the shade of a tree in a quiet place meant to him.

How I experienced park play time depended on who was there, too. Sometimes there were friends I would run around with. Other times, probably more often than not, there were kids I didn’t know that I could get to know, play with, and learn from. Once in a while Papa and I would have the park to ourselves. I think he liked the quiet: me, not so much.

Fast forward to the present day: EdCamp Tucson. There will be lots of people there. It’s going to be held at CITY Center for Collaborative Learning. It’s someplace I haven’t been to before. Their website says it’s an “umbrella organization” but what does that mean? As it kicks-off we’ll post what we’d like to learn there. We’ll post topics we can facilitate conversations on. All this is standard stuff at an EdCamp; they have no preset agenda. Anticipating what will happen reminds me of my park experience. The best times, the ones that come back most vividly, are filled with memories of lots of kids interacting with each other in varied ways.

I was in Little Rock, Arkansas last week meeting with a development team. On my drive there and back, 2600 miles round trip, I stopped often to take pictures of interesting stuff. One of these times was near the village of Honobia, Oklahoma. It seems that every October there’s this Bigfoot Conference hosted by Christ’s 40 Acres.

Anyway, a little before Honobia was this big Bigfoot T-Shirt sign. I thought: “Kodak Moment”, so I stopped to take a selfie. Being alone it took a few minutes to balance my iPhone on the hood of my Pilot, set the timer so I’d have enough time to press the shutter release then run back up to the sign. I was huffing-n-puffing running back and forth trying to get the timing and my positioning right. Honobia is up in the mountains, high up. I was sweaty and breathing hard by the time I finally got it. Admiring the photo I took while I caught my breath reminded me of going to the park again: good times.

OUTRO

Why do I go to so many EdCamps and PD conferences? Is it for the keynotes? Is it for the pre-conference workshops? Is it for the concurrent sessions? Not really. EdCamps don’t have any of those things. The ATD conferences I’ve been to, the eLearning Guild’s DevLearn and mLearnCon have them and they’re informative and valuable PD resources. But where I really learn is when I interact with others. Talking about what their experience was like and then contrasting it with mine has the most value. How about you? Why do you participate in PD conferences?

 

Peas and Queues

PROLOGUE

During last night’s (August 20, 2015) #lrnchat this question came up: What advice would you give a 13-year old to prepare for a future that doesn’t yet exist?

PEAS

“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” -- George Santayana

I reflected on this question at length afterwards. This morning over breakfast with Mrs I asked for her thoughts. We both came up with the idea that to get a clear picture of an indistinct future we should look to the past.

At 13 I was more or less clueless what I wanted to do for a career. I liked taking things apart and putting them together again. I remember being increasingly concerned about the Vietnam War. It was always on the TV news. I didn’t wanted to get drafted into the Army in five more years. There wasn’t much of a future for me there, I remember thinking.

Mrs and I recollected the technology we had at our fingertips at 13. For me this was in 1969. Transistor radios the size of a paperback book was it for portable entertainment. We had a color television in our home; it broke down a lot as I recall. At school there were overhead projectors and mimeograph machines. There were heavy noisy typewriters. We laughed at this, remembering what it was like having to load two sheets of paper into the thing and fumbling to get the mechanical tabs and margins and paper to line up just so.

Uncle Andres was a radioman in the Army during World War II. He lived some distance away from us so we didn’t see him too often. He’d bring gadgets on his visits. He showed me the first power inverter I ever saw. It was a kludgy thing with terminals on top (the connections were naked wire -- touching them could mean instant death). Car stereos: that was another entertainment device. I remember now why he brought the inverter: to power the car stereo inside my room. This is the first innovative act I can remember.

I had a couple of sisters who went to college. Stella was a teacher for a time. She ended up working for the Social Security Administration in an administrative and then later a managerial role. Avelina had a career as a nurse and later, after completing her Masters in Nursing, an educator. These jobs didn’t seem that interesting. The former involved working with the public and pushing papers. Nursing held little interest: antiseptic smells and those caps. The men in my life, Papa and my uncles, were workers: steel mills, cement plants, and manufacturing were where they worked. I guess that’s where I saw myself working too, when I was 13. The space race was going strong in 1969: July 20, 1969 Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. I had no idea what it would take to be an astronaut so I resigned myself to being earthbound.

QUEUES

Looking forwards I have lots of questions. I am planning to retire soon. How soon is soon? I don’t know. That’s another question. I think I would like to get a teaching certificate. Not to teach though. The certificate would add credibility to what I think I most want to do: help educators with their professional development (PD). But do I really need to get a certificate? I’ve met lots of educators the last couple of years through EdCamp unconferences. What if I were to present at conferences ideas on how to engage teachers in thinking differently about their PD? How might teachers take ownership of their PD and not rely on what their schools and district offer? How much control do teachers have now regarding their PD?

So many questions!

EPILOGUE

To 13 year olds everywhere who should be thinking about their future selves here’s what I recommend. Start by asking yourself what’s it going to be like? Take a good look at the past. Take a really good look at your own past. What do you like to do? What brings you joy? Start asking questions of the people around you whom you respect and admire. Google questions like crazy. That’s the advice I would give. Ask many questions.

COLOPHON

I started this post on my new Chromebook in GoogleDocs. The lrnchat graphic was snipped from TweetDeck using SnapChat. Not being sure how to use my blog's web interface I opened the document (it had been saved on GoogleDrive) in Desk on my Macbook Pro. There was a moment or two of fumbling getting the lrnchat graphic inserted. Desk is weak in that area.

 

Write This Down

PROLOGUE

“Write this down."

BACKSTORY

A month from now it will be two years that my PD (Professional Development) has taken place primarily through interactions with K-12 educators. I started participating at EdCamp in September 2013. I became a card-carrying member of TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) around the same time. My learning through CUE conferences and CUERockstar happened this year. It's time and effort well spent.

A few days ago I attended an Explore Teaching session at Rio Salado College. The experience was designed to give pre-teacher students a glimpse of what being a teacher is like. It was quite different from what I expected: the application of pedagogy and technology and engagement. No. It was basic stuff, some of which I had missed during my own K-12 educational experience. Though I had heard that “Being a student doesn’t qualify one to be a teacher." the deeper meaning of the phrase had escaped me until now.

BASICS

My K-12 experience took place in the nineteen sixties and early seventies. I would have liked to have learned about Cornell Notes back then. That’s one cool way of note-taking. I liked learning how to use them as a study-aide too. It’s a more structured way of taking notes but I can see its value.

Beyond learning about note-taking tools I was a little surprised to find that not much else had changed. Teachers still stand at the front of a room pointing and talking. I was a little shocked when the presenter would say, “Write this down.” That was my first aha moment.

ROCKSTAR

The EdCamps and CUE conferences I’ve attended have been dynamic learning experiences. They are heavily focused on educational technology. But the presenters always share how to apply technology to facilitate learning and enable student success. CUERockstar, the most recent K-12 learning experience I completed, was in many ways a capstone where everything came together: creativity, innovation, technology, learning experience. But what about the basics? The teachers I learn from have the basics down. Even the new teachers have student teaching and observation experience.

This was my second aha. Funny to think that it took me almost two years to figure it out. I don’t think I would have gotten it otherwise.

ENGAGEMENT

Since CUERockstar Las Vegas, it ended a couple weeks ago, I’ve tried two things. The first was creating an infographic and using it as a talking point with a subject matter expert (SME). It was amazing. It took my usual design thinking approach to interviewing, something I learned via EdCamp, to a whole new level. The ideas flowed. The SME ended up doing the initial workshop outline for me. This is a big deal because usually I create the outline and the SME reviews and approves it or kicks it back for edits. This saved us a LOT of time.

The other thing I tried was the Breakout Box experience. We, the SME and I, didn’t actually have a box. I explained how it was a box with several locks that needed to be opened and how problems had to be solved to unlock to locks. The SME and I were together for 90 minutes. It was at about the 25 minute mark I mentioned Breakout Box. We hit flow-state a little after.

PROBLEMS

The learning experiences I design are meant to enable learners to be better at solving problems. But what’s a problem? When the SME heard about the Breakout Box the problems all of a sudden seemed to become simpler. They weren’t problems at all. They were puzzles to solve. We could make the workshop a game. I learned from a podcast, I think it was with Jon Corippo, that rigor doesn’t mean harder. It can mean challenging. The SME said it before I did. “How about if we make it so the first activity is easy. They (learners) will have lots of time to solve the puzzle.” Yes. Each iteration of the activity learners have less time to solve the puzzle.

EPILOGUE

A week and a day after CUERockstar Las Vegas ended I earned the Rockstar Badge. Going forwards I have to approach projects using a simpler frame. I can already imagine how to make learning more engaging while consuming fewer resources by getting back to basics. I think I’ll enroll in the teacher program at Rio Salado College. Not to necessarily become a teacher, but to enrich my understanding of how instructional design can teach.

 

Shiny Object Guy

PROLOGUE

I’m a “Shiny Object” guy.

SHINY OBJECT #1

I’m a Navy veteran. I served in the late seventies and early eighties for six years. Some memories from my experience have faded so much that I think they’re fantasy; others remain so vivid in my mind that they seem to have happened only yesterday.

One of the latter vivid variety memories happened on September 13, 1978. On that day I boarded an Air Force C-141 Starlifter. It would take me one half the way around the world to my first overseas duty station: NavComSta Diego Garcia. But that isn’t what this post is about.

What it is about is something that took place many months earlier. A standard Navy activity is reading the Plan-of-the-Day (POTD). During one such reading my instructor, I was then taking Electronics Technician 1 at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, read about a new program wherein students could dream-sheet a sixth choice of what advanced training they wanted to receive and where they would like to be stationed. A dream-sheet gave sailors the opportunity to provide their detailer (the Chief in D.C. who cut orders) input on where and what; usually we could submit up to five choices. He said if we asked to be stationed on Diego Garcia we wouldn’t have to bump one of the other choices to make room for it. So I did. I had no idea what Diego Garcia was.

Diego Garcia was, and remains, a shiny object for me. It’s difficult for me to tell this story because of all the tangentential stories about my time there that scream out to be told, too. Anyway, the gist of it is that as the Starlifter, after leaving Travis Air Force Base, flew over the Golden Gate Bridge (man how I wish I knew where that photo was) I was filled with a sense of wonder and joy for what was to come. It’s a rare feeling.

SHINY OBJECT #2

I have to work today. I’m worried it’s going to be a long one. At the end of my work day I’m going to be getting underway for Las Vegas. I’ll finally be on my way to CUEROCKSTAR. I signed up for it back in March after a CUE conference with Jon Corippo.

I was so motivated by the CUE experience. That CUE ball cap I’m wearing in the selfie with Jon is the first hat of any kind to be on my head since I left the Navy in ’83.

I do and I don’t know what to expect. I know it’ll be three days of learning with K-12 teachers from all over. Not being a K-12 teacher I have a fuzzy idea of what I’ll be learning. The past two years I’ve participated in something like 24 EdCamps. I’ve learned a lot about how our children learn during their K-12 experience. Some of what I’ve picked up has made it into the learning experiences I design. But the thing is EdCamps are brief experiences; several 50 minute sessions over the course of a few hours. I make connections with some teachers and encounter others during educational chats on Twitter afterwards. But CUEROCKSTAR will be different. It’s THREE DAYS!

I like to say that I design transformational learning experiences. That means learners will be butts-out-of-seats moving around doing stuff. They’ll be making their learning visible: to themselves, to their instructor/facilitator, and to their team back home. CUE ROCKSTAR will be transformational.

EPILOGUE

In my mind’s eye I can see the jewel that is San Francisco Bay through the Starlifter’s port-side porthole. A few minutes after leaving Travis I undid my jump seat belt and ambled over to the porthole (this wasn’t a smart move as the heavily laden transport plane, unlike a passenger jet, bounces and heaves like nobody’s business as it claws for altitude. I made my way past pallets piled with who-knows-what and gazed back in wonder at the bay, the bridge, and all that I had known before.

I’m going to be different after CUEROCKSTAR. It’s going to be different. How? I have no idea. That’s how it is with shiny objects.

 

 

Sit n Get

INTRO

My K-12 experience spanned from 1961 through 1974. My butt polished a lot of chairs in that time.

SIT

I can't recall many times, outside of PE class, where I wasn't sitting down in school. Sure, there were those terrifying moments working problems on the blackboard. But this activity wasn't something a kid looked forward to.

The classrooms I knew had rows of chairs. Desktop collaboration was difficult. Aside from the floor flat surfaces to spread out and collaborate on were few. I cannot recall a time when we used the floor.

@ErikWahl and @KidsDeserveIt if you want to move education forward then your delivery needs to get students' bodies moving.

GET

I design learning experiences for adults. In the almost two years that I've been participating in EdCamp I have learned many ways to teach kids. I have been able to use some of these techniques and strategies and tools with the learners I support. The best of them involve movement.

Devices and technology give students reach: to information and each other. The information stores, libraries, that I encountered in the 1960s were places to borrow books. The Internet of the day, card catalogues, were slow and cumbersome and in the end useful only insofar as the library was able to keep the resource: book, periodical, or map. Accessing the resource required that I go to the library. Today the information comes to students through browsers and apps.

Students need to be set in motion. In a Twitter chat some time ago I heard about Heutagogy. In a nutshell I think its about going after learning. Students, whether adults or children know what they need. It's arguable that maybe adults have a more definite idea of their needs than children. I'm not so sure.

OUTRO

If we're serious about growing flexible, curious, and creative people we have to set them free to go after what interests them. It's our job as educators to design learning experiences that facilitate that chase. Set our students free. My granddaughter Carly is counting on you.

 

 

Focus Operandi

PROLOGUE

There are lots of things vying for our attention. Maintaining the laser-like focus many of our jobs demand can actually distract us from innovative insights.

FOCUS OPERANDI

Erik Wahl, guest writing in the Kids Deserve It blog notes that innovative insights often occur during times when people are intent on doing their jobs. The problem is, given how busy we are, it’s easy to miss ideas that flit in and out of our consciousness during while we’re busy doing our thing.

Wahl suggests setting aside moments to let our minds wander. Hopefully we’ll notice and be able to cajole some of the insights to stick around long enough for us to get our minds around them.

EPILOGUE

Storytelling and sketching are what I do to open and rest my mind. It helps me focus on something quite different from what I’m usually doing. If only for a few minutes I listen to my little voice of wonder and curiosity hoping to hear something cool.

Training Has a Problem

INTRO

I read the other day where the Classroom Desk has become passé.

It’s finally bit the bullet.

TRAINING

The best training experience I ever in my life had was in 1993 when Intel hired me as a manufacturing technician (MT). Hundreds of people were hired to work in Fab 11 in Rio Rancho, New Mexico. It was the stuff of myth. You see, the state of the art Pentium factory existed mainly as a dream on blueprint. It was over a year away from going online.

In my experience before Intel, training happened piece meal. It seemed an after thought. It was all about skills for jobs that existed now.

To gain the skills I needed Intel sent me to work at an existing fab in New Mexico for a couple of weeks. Then I went to a fab in Santa Clara for three months. It wasn’t just me. The many hundreds of other new hires were sent to Intel factories throughout the world. Yes, the world. It was as much about learning Intel’s culture as well as process, operations, and problem solving skills. Like I said, the stuff of myth: developing critical thinking workers.

Some of the training happened at desks. Most of the training involved movement, collaboration with others, and making things like reports and job-aids.

SADZ

I started writing this post in response to reading “Is This a Training Problem?” by Dr. Patti Shank. She was sharing her thoughts about a process for improving human performance. The hook in her post that grabbed me was whe she said “Training is expensive."

After I read her post I skimmed the Six Boxes document she referenced. I think it’s missing something. In the Analysis section the Six Boxes author describes a process for gathering information about environment and individual as they relate to a performance problem or opportunity. It’s similar to the process I’d learned for developing training. That is, up until I learned about Design Thinking at an EdCamp in 2013.

The bit I added to my workflow is Design Thinking. I do the same things the Six Boxes describe. But I do it with the learners I’m supporting instead of to. I think it’s an important distinction. It’s like being at a carnival and watching the action from the perspective of a parent. I like to get on the ride with the learners.

OUTRO

Is training expensive? In the grand scheme of things the cost of training pales compared to the cost of not training. It’s more than the cost to the organization though. What about the cost to individual learners? Are they a piece of a workflow leading towards a solution to a training problem? Or are they a contributing member of the learning and development team?

(Not) Being There

PROLOGUE

Time was that to get something out of something one had to be somewhere. No more. A bit vague? Read on.

ISTE

ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) had it’s annual conference in Philadelphia last week.

The conference brought thousands of K-12 educators and others together for several days of professional development and networking opportunities. I wasn’t able to attend. Except that I did. Sort of.

Through the magic of streaming media technology like Periscope and the efforts of caring teachers like Jen Wagner, Cori Coburn-Shiflett, and many others I was able to observe bits and pieces, some large and some small, of keynotes, presentations, and conversations.

BEING THERE

My being able to connect with the ISTE15 experience as much as I did started with the NotAtISTE15 Google+ group created by Wagner. The group brought together lots of people interested in learning as much as possible from ISTE15 participants. The other half of the equation was people like Coburn-Shiflett using Periscope to live-stream keynotes, presentations, and other events. I hadn’t experienced this level of connectivity and collaboration before.

Most of the time when I connect with others attending an event its through Twitter; its 140 character limit constrains the conversation. While tweets are useful as pointers to deeper and richer content or to arouse curiosity it’s a bit harder for deep (content) diving.

That’s about all I have to say about NotAtISTE. For a little more you can check out my PuzzlingMix blog.

NOTAT CHANNELING

Reflecting on my not being there learning experience started me wondering. How might we leverage Google+, Twitter, Periscope, Pinterest and other collaborative social media tools for other events? What might a framework for NOTAT___ look like?

EPILOGUE

And that’s as far as I got. Jen Wagner read my mind (or a tweet/blog) and provided an amazing How To #NotHere step-by-step guide.

I love my PLN. Thank you so much Jen!

Bumpy, Nests, and Bests

INTRO

I have this Honda Pilot. It’s got all-wheel-drive. I go off road, the beaten path I call it, when I can. Yesterday I could. So I did.

BUMPY

I was on my way home from Long Beach, California to Phoenix, Arizona. A little past Chiriaco Summit I left Interstate 10 to follow an old jeep trail that roughly paralleled a string of high tension lines.

Now and then I’d stop to stretch my legs and think. About whatever. This is a wonderful time for me: out in the open, no distractions, just the burning summer desert sun and a hot breeze blowing through the cottonwoods.

It’s during times like this that I make connections. With what? Stuff. Like something I heard Scott McLeod say during NotAtISTE15 about “routine cognitive work” which led me to his blog. And an HBR (Harvard Business Review) article (thank you Lesley Price for putting it in front of me) on neglected workplace activities like learning. The part about the 70-20-10 learning rule was particularly illuminating. Turns out the science behind it doesn’t stand up to scrutiny.

BESTS

Did I come up with anything? What did I connect?

Distractions. I need more of ‘em. Especially when I think things make sense without me expending much effort. I probably missed something (major?) along the way.

There’s a couple-three-four PD (professional development) opportuntities coming up I’d like to participate in: EdCampLdr, EdCampGlobal (online), EdCampHOT, and CueRockstar Las Vegas. I’m going to try my best to make it to all of them because they’re distracting. They’re humdrum-less.

OUTRO

I’m going to go Periscopey during one or more of these upcoming PD gatherings. I’m going to do this with the fervent hope that I distract someone enough that they’ll go off the beaten track and maybe, just maybe, discover something (major?). At least until my iPhone's battery gives out. If you don’t have the Periscope app as yet..

EdCampUSA Reflections

PROLOGUE

"When the student is ready the teacher will appear." -- Buddhist Proverb?

EdCampUSA

Friday May 29, 2015 saw me keeping company with educators at EdCampUSA in Washington, DC. It was quite a the learning experience. My PLN (Personal Learning Network) grew a few sizes whilst I listened and shared.

REFLECTIONS

I'm going to be thinking about the stuff I learned today. Chief among these includes wearables in education, student voice, and caring enough to figure it out. Not for the first time something occurred to me along the way. Some of what I heard wasn't new. Maybe it was deja vu? Or perhaps I was rehearing something I had heard before and set aside. I can't say for sure. But engaging with peers in conversation and chiming up when I had a mind to made for an exciting time.

EPILOGUE

Brad Pitt, in World War Z, said something to the effect of, "Movement is survival." I think he said it. Any, I think of learning in a similar way. I have to put myself out there where others are. Deja vu or new doesn't really make much difference. When the student is ready learning happens and stuff begins to make sense.

 

 

 

High Hopes

PROLOGUE

“Next time you’re found, with your chin on the ground

there’s a lot to be learned, so look around.” — High Hopes by J. Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn

HIGH HOPES

AprilBlogaDay Day 20.. What am I working on? Designing a learning experience that looks a lot like a workshop that a bunch (say around 50 people) can work on and complete in no more than 40 minutes. Oh, and the activity will be written on the fly given that I don’t know who will actually be in the room with me.

What I’m afraid I’ll end up with is something that looks like this tractor (I think that’s what it is) that I came across a while back in Texas.

EPILOGUE

I’m trying to get better at designing learning activities that are grounded in the interests of whatever learners are in the room with me. I have high hopes that I’ll get there.

Tech Yes

PROLOGUE

AprilBlogaDay Day 19.. Teach tech? Tech yes.

TECH

I've seen technology evolve over the last 50 years. One thing that hasn't evolved with it is teaching how to use and respect it.

My first calculator was a slide rule. It was quite the experience learning how to use the C and D scales. Keeping track of powers of 10 was no fun either. Then there were the physical and environmental consideration. It was made of bamboo and was highly intolerant of moisture. Until I could afford my first HP the slide rule was IT.

YES

Each of my three kids had to buy a TI graphing calculator. No wait. I had to buy it for them. This was crazy given that they were expensive AND we already own iPhone apps that did what the TIs did and more.

Schools and teachers need to say YES to technology in their classrooms. If the don't learn how to use and apply technology in their lives where will they?

There's a disconnect when students and teachers could be connected to a degree never before seen in history. All it takes is to say yes, let's give it a chance.

Teaching how to use technology should be grounded in practicality. It should be anchored to what students do. Students can, I am sure, come up with novel ways to run with it once they get the basics.

EPILOGUE

Say Tech Yes.

 

 

TGIF

What am I thankful for? Carly's moving in.

 

 

Be Long

PROLOGUE

AprilBlogaDay Day 16.. PLC & PLN and why they matter.

BE

Old news if you know me but worth saying again: The know-how and skills I learned during three months of EdCamp in 2013 got me home. Home, Mrs and me agree, is where I need to be.

LONG

From 2010 through early 2014 my job kept me far from home. I'm talking thousands of miles over that-a-way. Eager for new ideas to inform my instructional design craft I researched educational technology from my cubby in New Mexico. Up to that time, this was August 2013, I'd been active in my PLN (Personal Learning Network) on Twitter.

I participated on chats. I heard about stuff. Only it was mostly tried and true stuff. Don't get me wrong. The instructional strategies I heard about were practical, effective, and easy to put into practice with the learners I supported. But I could feel myself sliding slowly into a rut.

That was when I found my first PLC (Personal Learning Community). I'm talking about EdCampWestTexas.

Subtle: the difference between a PLC and a PLN I mean. It's subtle. As I get it a PLN is a gathering of like-minded people located some distance from each other. Social media apps like Facebook and Twitter enable them to come together virtually periodically. Occasionally individual PLN members might meet at an event. But for the most part their interests bring them together online for brief periods of time to share. A PLC is a group of people rooted in a place. It's easy for them to gather and share.

Because PLC members are mostly local to each other it's much easier for members to support collaborative learning, sharing, and making.

Most of the PLCs I consider myself a member of are a long distance away. Still, I am motivated to go the distance for the deeper learning I know I'll find with them. PLCs are communities of practice. I suppose one could argue distance is relative. If it's worth it you'll belong.

EPILOGUE

EdCampNavadota (Texas) is this Saturday. I had planned to go the distance and participate. As it happens my work requires me to be elsewhere. I'll still get to learn from members of my PLN that do attend. It's going to be amazing.

 

Social Earning

PROLOGUE

Good news bad news: learning in collaboration with others via social media can be amazing when learners(and their organizations) engage.

SOCIAL

Learning in the company of others offers learners a significant benefit. Individually they learn from gaining and applying their own knowledge. In groups learners benefit from insights triggered by others sharing their perspectives.

A traditional classroom's capacity may constrain group learning. Environmental issues might hinder social learning as well.

EARNING

Learning via social media removes some of the constraints. One, with walls gone you can share knowledge with as many others as you can network with. You can leverage technology to share perspectives across a variety of media: writing, videos, podcasts to name a few.

To benefit from social media learners have to invest themselves in it. Thinking about learning as earnings they have to work at it.

Social media can be a thorny issue for some organizations. Some I have produced learning experiences for have strict policies in place on how social media can be used. Others may prohibit it completely. There are cultural constraints as well. Things people share online via social media is visible. It takes a lot of trust for this exchange to happen.

EPILOGUE

Trust is the currency of learning with social media. When the trust is there learners are motivated to share. My job is designing training that leverages story, what some might call case studies, to hook learners interests and empathy. I keep advocating for it, designing it in where I can. We're getting there.

 

Expeditionary Mettle

PROLOGUE

"There's an old man sitting next to me.." -- Billy Joel -- Piano Man

EXPEDITIONARY

Why I teach.. My response to AprilBlogaDay Day 14.

Once upon a time, "When I wore a younger man's clothes," a US Navy uniform actually, I went on an expedition. I travelled far from home and all I knew. It's why I teach.

METTLE

I'm a little older now. I'm still expeditioning. These days my voyages are mostly over the American Southwest. At the helm of my Honda Pilot I travel far and wide to unconferences and conferences. I meet and learn from some amazing educators. Mettle. It's why I teach.

EPILOGUE

Why do I teach? I teach to learn. Those years I taught multimedia production, animation, and programming I learned from my students. I benefitted greatly from their questions and perspectives.

Today, as I design transformational learning experiences, I continue to learn. It's why I teach.

 

Telling Time

PROLOGUE

Time was, once upon a time, pieces had arms. No glows, no snoozing, just spindly hands spinning round and round. Light or dark, watched or not, spinning round.

TELLING

The big hand's a little past twelve. The little hand's on eleven. You used to have to think about time, telling time.

These days, numbers glowing or dark contrasted against light, you just know. There's no more telling to time.

TIME

Literate people talk. They talk about all kinds of things. Practical, whimsy, logical, creative it's all the same: talk.

EPILOGUE

Want literate people? We have to talk to each other. Any medium is fair game. Books, YouTube, Skype it's all the same. Talk.

 

Connect Ed

PROLOGUE

AprilBlogaDay Day 12: What is my passion project? Finally, an easy question.

CONNECT

If the last 18 months have taught me anything it's this: connect, with loved ones, with those in the know.

ED

In most things, maybe everything, the most leverage you'll have in a project is early on.

 

EPILOGUE

Carly is my granddaughter. My passion project is putting things in front of her she can learn from. Doing it from a young age is the thing. It's something I'm not going to pass on.

 

Hiddenest Selfs

PROLOGUE

"Our own truths can be the hiddenest of all." -- Me

HIDDENEST

Day 11, AprilBlogaDay: It dawned on me a moment ago that it's a challenge. We're being dared to keep at it ever day, all month long. That's 30 days of month days.

Today's suggested topic: What are you reading professionally or personally, and why? My holistic take is everything I read has application in my craft and is fun to one degree or another.

I am always on the prowl for instructional strategies. The other day my gaze fell upon this gem: Simpson's Grammar.

I tend to read during quiet times. It's been a while since I read with other readers nearby for more than a few minutes.

SELFS

I start lots of books. Mostly they're on my iPad's Kindle app. I like science fiction. Some cool ideas have come from the genre.

Many books come recommended by people I know from EdCamps or Twitter chats. The thing they have in common include making the learning visible, doing what it takes to engage curiosity, and setting high and achievable expectations.

A couple-three years ago my professional self noticed many learners were disenchanted by what and how they were learning. I'm mostly talking about the training we get through our employers.

The people I interviewed gave a lot of reasons why it turned them off. It all got down to b-o-r-I-n-g. But not in the dull mind-numbing sense that probably popped into your mind first. The learning experiences they were being subjected to were superficial: Designers didn't develop learning that grabbed attention, that drilled down into what people wanted and needed to really learn and apply to improve their job performance.

EPILOGUE

Maybe we do a better job going our own way, seeking out learning that clicks for us. Or not. One thing I learned a while back that really touched me deeply: When Mrs needs help I should jump. She needs help putting the new leaf blower together. What makes you jump?

 

Knot Tried

PROLOGUE
I’d like to teach the world to sing “I’d to teach the world to sing” — The New Seekers, 1972.
KNOT
Day 10’s AprilBlogaDay is suddenly upon me. Who knew it’d wrap me up in its all encompassing thrall? What have I not tried this school year that I want to? (Disclosure: I’m an instructional designer producing learning experiences for health care providers).

Sure, a Tangram is supposed to come with seven shapes. But if seven is good eight or more must be great!
Anyway, most of my better ideas for learning activities have their roots in K-12; the bulk of my PD (Professional Development) activities come from participation in EdCamps, CUE, and TCEA events. There’s some amazing things going on in K-12. The rub for me is my learners are quite a bit older than first graders, so there’s that. Other differences are a little more knotty.
For example, teachers sometimes assign stuff to be completed after school hours. With adult learners being trained this way can be a big no-no; unions have contracts and there are strict rules for overtime and so on.
I usually have to reflect tons and bounce ideas off my PLN (Personal Learning Network) before an idea morphs into something that I can test.
TRIED
Tried is tired spelled sideways.
When, as part of my design thinking instructional design process, I interview learners I hear a lot of moans and groans about stuff that doesn’t work or work well. Don’t get me wrong. Most of the learning I see is great. But there’s room for improvement.

The thing I’d like to try next is a series of case studies told over a campfire. There’d be a campfire hook (thank you @burgessdave and his Teach Like a Pirate book for that) to draw learners in. What would have been a series of PowerPoint slides on a wall and a lecture would instead be transformed into hearing about a problem and then working through to an actual solution.
My thinking here is that at by the end of the training transfer would have occurred and learners will have made something (job-aids, decision-trees, something I haven’t even thought of (!!)) to make their learning visual and discussable. To the English teachers in my PLN: apologies for that run-on.
EPILOGUE
A lot of technology goes into education and training. I’d like to try a more primitive and earthy approach next time out. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Own It Don't Moan It

PROLOGUE

What would I say to my still wet behind the years self, just starting out in education? That’s the AprilBlogaDay Day 9 question.

OWN IT

If you fail, own it. If you didn’t learn it during your formative years here it is. I was reminded of it during the educational technologist Adam Bellow’s final keynote at the CUE15 Annual Conference a few weeks ago.

You’re going to fail from time to time. Stand up and own it. Share what you learned during the attempt. Ask for help when you try again.

When you are learning it’s to be expected that the first time around might be difficult. Own it.

DON’T MOAN IT

I had a talk with a peer the other day about my ball cap. I got this cool tan cap at CUE.

I happened to mention that wearing the cap took me back to when, whilst in the US Navy, a ball cap was part of my work uniform. Me and that ball cap were inseparable. Except that soon after I completed my enlistment the cap turned up missing. I didn’t moan or lament its loss. I moved on.

Talking about my ball cap experience and my CUE cap my led my coworker to say that the next time I suggested or advocated a novel learning activity I slow down. He said maybe in my excitement to hurry things along I’m not giving others the chance to understand its benefits.

This was huge. And to think that if I hadn’t been talking about a lost then found ball cap our conversation wouldn’t have gone there.

EPILOGUE

So to my younger self I would say: When you fail, share what you learned and try something else. When an experience doesn’t go your way move on strong as ever.

Tuna Piano

PROLOGUE

It’s a mystery. "Show them something to ask about..” sung to the tune of Bonnie Raitt’s “Something to talk about."

TUNA

Somehow I made it to Day 8 of #AprilBlogaDay. No one’s more surprised than me. Okay. Maybe that’s not true. But it could be.

I have lots of stories to tell. Some true. Some not. Like the time on Diego Garcia when.. a story tangent best left for another day, methinks.

So Day 8’s suggested topic is “How do we (educators) get students (them) asking then seeking rather than asking then getting?" In other words, "Why would a student want to find answers for themselves rather than being handed them?”

Consider for a moment the title of REO Speedwagon’s 1978 album.

Nonsense or sense making? Anyway, the first time I heard the album’s name I did a double-take. And that was way before the Internet. Imagine where a little crazy could take your students?

PIANO

Seriously. I used to watch a lot of TV. Okay, I still watch a lot of TV but that’s not important right now. What is important is this: The Paper Chase. I didn’t really like watching it much though. The part about it that hurt had to do with the lecture hall.

Hundreds of students learning law from a Sage On The Stage. Maybe if you can find and watch an episode or two you’ll see what I mean. Then again, maybe there’s a gem in there that, had I stayed and kept watching would have enlightened and entertained. I may never know. But you might.

EPILOGUE

I think about learner engagement a lot. I think the way to get it, so they get it, is to arouse their curiosity. If you can factor in an emotion, laughter or empathy for example, better. I’d stay away from clever. It’s easy to spot and can be a major turn-off. Authentic, that’s the way to be.

Approximate Like a Champ

PROLOGUE

Mr. Crowley. There have been many in my almost six decades of life who have helped me in one way or another. This man stands out for setting me on a path that I didn’t even know I was on.

APPROXIMATE

My second trimester at DeVry Institute of Technology, Mr. Crowley taught analog circuit analysis. He taught a design technique that I use every day in my craft and elsewhere: approximations.

The design technique he espoused involved looking at a problem or solution in stages. The first stage was ideally. How does the circuit operate without losses or constraints? Each successive approximation drew closer to real-world conditions.

LIKE A CHAMP

My instructional design craft continues to take advantage of approximations. How would genius hour, a learning strategy I learned about at EdCamps, work with adult learners? First pass: It would be awesome. Motivated learners would.. The second pass through I’d add a real-world constraint like, say, a union contract that places limits on how and where workers can learn.

This, of course, guides me in identifying problems and steers me towards teaching and learning strategies that work in my environment.

“Approximations work like a champ.” I recall Mr. Crowley saying often. He was right.

EPILOGUE

How will I become someone’s champion? If it works with others like it did with me then I probably already have done or said something to help someone launch or continue boldly on their way.

Class Act

PROLOGUE

#AprilBlogaDay Day 6 is about an awe inspiring moment in the classroom today.

CLASS

I design training for adult learners. I don't get in the classroom much anymore unfortunately. Earlier today I was working with other designers on a project. My piece was coming up with instructional methods to help with engagement.

 

ACT

I'll just say it: I can't draw. This morning @ChristyCate inspired me and reminded me of something. If I don't act now, when? Let me say it a little differently. If I don't act, then?

EPILOGUE

So I acted and drew. I have to remember that the best way for me to design engaging learning experiences is to really engage in the process. I need to be fearless, ask for help, and stretch. I like to think I'm always learning. So today in my social learning classroom I was inspired.

 

Cache Shoes

PROLOGUE

I spend a lot of time in the country. Silos dot this landscape. Though I have no direct knowledge of their operation, the sort of hard-won experience earned through sweat and toil, I'm pretty sure they're used to store stuff like grain and whatnot. When I thought about what to blog on AprilBlogADay Day 5 silos immediately popped into my head.

CACHE

Silos are full of stuff. What stuff? No idea. That is to say, you have to be in the silo to know what's inside.

 

When I think about ways to move education forwards the first constraint I come up with is silos. I do instructional design. I've produced learning experiences for learners in academia, in the corporate realm (financial services and high technology manufacturing), K-12, and government. I've been able to glimpse inside some of the silos, K-12s mostly; however my deepest dive has been in the corporate realm. There's some cool stuff in there. It makes me wonder what caches of know-how are in the silos of other educators.

Through my participation in EdCamp unconferences and events put on by CUE and TCEA I've been able to skim the surface of K-12 teaching and learning strategies. There's some awesome stuff there, by the way. I like the learning and reflecting and, sometimes, figuring out ways of applying it to my craft.

 

SHOES

 

One of the major topics of discussion in corporate L&D (Learning and Development) centers on engagement. How do we, as designers, create training that engages learners so that the messages we try to impart stick more easily. But, and this is sure to upset some, the strategies and tools available to us haven't changed all that much over the years. I dread the NEXT (screen) button in elearing for example. Ditto with compliance courses that require learners to sit in front of a computer for a specific amount of time to be able to get credit.

 

EdCamp has taught me that there are things we can do to get adult learners moving and making. But to make real progress we, educators of all stripes, have to open up our silos to other educators. How's that expression go: Walk a mile in my shoes or something like that.

 

EPILOGUE

 

Sometimes when I suggest a learning strategy to a customer that's a little out there, teaching like a pirate for example, I get raised eyebrows. I immediately say that they need to suspend their disbelief for a moment. Sometimes a leap of faith is required to make real progress. I know the stuff in your silo is the result of years of sweat and toil. All I'm saying is engage educators serving learners other than yours and share what you know.

 

 

 

 

Carts is Parts

PROLOGUE

Today is day four of the #AprilBlogAday challenge on Twitter. The suggested topic is humanity -- describe a time when you connected with students in a classroom. Here's my tale.

CARTS

My first encounter with Joe Zombie wasn't during my tenure as an Intel basic fab skills training (BFST) program manager in the late 1990s. I'm certain there were many other instances before then.

Students are people. They aren't objects. They have needs. They have memories. They can move at will. You want them moving and making their learning visible.

Students aren't shopping carts. Let's get that out there. Empty vessels? Nope. Parking students in a learning space and teaching them leads mostly to boredom and disengagement. It's sleepy-time for the mind.

One of the courses in the BFST program concerned the fab's (Intel Pentium factory running P858 process) loss control system (LCS). The Level One evaluations were bad. As I recollect it, comments included stuff like "Snoozeville.", "How am I going to ever remember this?", and my personal fav "Death by PowerPoint."

Yes, it was one of those lessons where an instructor projects slides on a screen and reads them to you for two hours. Just in case you miss something you have a two-up handout with the slides that are verbatim what the instructor is displaying and talking about. A Joe Zombie moment for sure. Oh, and the students' supervisors let me know they weren't happy either.

PARTS

I asked the engineer who designed the course what she wanted the workers to do with the LCS. They needed to "Be able to record losses and near misses so we can improve factory yields." she said.

A couple years earlier I'd completed an Accelerated Learning workshop. The strategies I learned were similar to what you'd learn reading Teach Like a Pirate by Dave Burgess. Thus armed with creative teaching and learning strategies I went out on a limb and got crazy.

Pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey: Remember that game? Hopefully you got invited to parties where you got a chance to make a fool of yourself by pinning a tail where it didn't belong. That was my activity. Students entering the classroom saw wafers (what integrated circuits like Pentiums are made on) velcroed to a fabric covered wall. They listened to an experienced fab worker describe the LCS. This lasted about five minutes. A few minutes more for questions followed.

Students were then handed out a sheet of paper simulating the LCS. They were tasked with taking a wafer off the wall. Turning it over they saw a blurb describing an actual wafer loss or near-miss. They then filled out the sheet based on their understanding of the situation.

I left Intel in 1999. I don't know if my LCS activity survives. I would guess not, given how effective Intel is with continuous improvement. For the time the LCS learning experience was part of BFST it made workers happy and able to use the system in the fab. Supervisors were happy because yields improved as problems were identified and fixed. I was ecstatic because it was the first time I used an authentic learning strategy that students could identify with, leave the safety of their chairs, and move and make. It moved me, too.

EPILOGUE

They listened. They asked. They moved and made. These are three essential parts of designing learning experiences. I continue to use these in the learning experiences i produce today.

 

Tool Time

PROLOGUE

I'm on my fifth career. I launched career number two, electronics engineering, whilst serving in the US Navy in the 1970s. It had its own language and tools. For something like 16 years in the military and after, I was deft keeping complex systems up and running. I have quite a few sea stories from that age that I share from time to time.

TOOL

Solder suckers, screwdrivers, and dice were some of the tools I had in that long ago toolbox. These days my toolbox looks a lot different. It surprises me how much my work continues to involve technology.

I love learning about and using new tools. One of them is this blog. Sharing thoughts about my craft serves several purposes. I get to practice and improve my writing skills. Blogging is deep journaling; it's cool how it helps me reflect. It also helps me connect with other educators.

A few hours ago I heard about #AprilBlogAday on Twitter. So yea! More practice time.

TIME

I'm at work nine hours a day. Family and personal time averages five to six hours per day. Rest periods eat up most of the remaining hours. I have time to blog. So why don't I blog more and regularly?

I have stuff to share. I think I have too much actually. The problem, if I can all it that, is they're incomplete thoughts. While I am intensely focused in my work my attention is a little more diffuse on other stuff. One thing that occupies more and more of my free time is the Joe Zombie effect. That's what I call learner disengagement, the result of ineffectual teaching and learning strategies.

EPILOGUE

I'm not nearly done with my research. Should I blog as I go or wait until I have a more complete picture? Maybe I'll have a clear idea by the end of the month.

 

The Ebb and Flow of Kick-Starting Creativity

PROLOGUE

Wow! Just wow!

EBB

Today I participated in the Digital Storyteller: Creative Bootcamp at Gangplank in Chandler, Arizona. Whilst I've spun a few digital stories in my day I wanted to learn this new Drafting and Crafting process. While similar in some ways to Design Thinking it differs in some significant ways.

How do I craft thee? Let me count the ways.

1. Plan
2. Checklist
3. Brainstorming
4. Drafting
5. Crafting
6. Measures

FLOW

The drafting and crafting process I learned today begins with a statement that says this is where I am. Whether brainstorming, drafting, or crafting each ends with this is what I made. It's apparent right away what happened. In the bootcamp session, facilitated by Ita Udo-Ema, there is also a timer set to count down from 45 minutes. Before and after each round there is a question: What well did you do? This is followed up with advice. Afterwards there is feedback.

KICK-STARTING

I tend to work digitally throughout my workflow. I liked filling out a checklist where I noted what I would do, what I did, and what I would do next. I did use apps. After the brainstorming I had this stack of stickies. I scanned these using 3M's Post-It Plus for archiving in Evernote.

I was reminded by how similar brainstorm, drafting, and crafting is to Design Thinking's define, ideate, and prototype.

CREATIVITY

An EdCampAwesome session encouraged me to give video blogging a try. After each iteration I recorded a few observations. They're viewable at:

1. Brainstorming
2. Drafting
3. Crafting

There were several times during the process where I felt energized. These coincided with feelings of being on the edge of my seat. It was fun. If this is creativity then I want more.

EPILOGUE

Inspired by Saturday's #WebComicChat I planned to create a comic of my own. I think I accomplished my goal. At the end of the bootcamp i noted two feelings. One, that my cartoon character looked a little like a sketchnote character. I could feel something well up in me at this point. This is the second feeling: What makes me think I can draw? The fact is, I can.

This takeaway was straight out of what I learned through EdCamp. Making really drives learning home. It makes learning visible.

 

 

 

 

Desktops, Tabletops, and Tablet-Ops

PROLOGUE

Blackboards and college ruled notebook paper: Back when I started school these were the media teachers and students wrote on. Period. Mediums have, of course, evolved since then. During last Saturday's EdCampAwesome (session notes) in Royse City, Texas I had a glimpse on how much has changed.

DESKTOPS

One of the EdCampAwesome sessions I participated in was Moving to Learn/Kinesthetic Learning facilitatedby Cheri Froehling.

One of the images she shared was of a young girl smiling over a sketch she had drawn, in marker, on the top of her desk. My immediate thought was, "Wow! Wonder how many erasers she had to clean after school?" Only of course, she didn't have to clean anything except her own dry erase markings on the desk. Said Cheri: "Naughty is engaging. Doing something you're not supposed to do in class helps learning stick more easily." Cheri and many of the teachers in the room with me had some great ideas, out-of-the-box for me, on how to engage body and mind in learning.

TABLETOPS

Which brings me to the adult learning environment I design for. Dry erase boards are everywhere in this space. Flip charts are common as well, providing places for notes to be written; hanging them on walls to be referred to later is a kind of group memory.

I wonder what might happen if the next training I develop has learners take notes or collaboratively work out problems on their tabletops? I haven't seen this done before, at least not with the encouragement of an instructor and the participation of others. I'm a big fan of the maker movement. Working out problems on something you think you shouldn't be writing on might make for an interesting learning activity.

In the adult learning spaces I design for learners working out problems collaboratively on their desktops might be a stretch. Maybe not. I don't know for sure but it's something to think about, talk about, and play with.

TABLET-OPS

Which brings me to a project I'm working on now. It involves design thinking and rapid prototyping. What would adult learning look like if learners worked out problems collaboratively using the mobile devices, smartphones and tablets, many use every day? I've learned tons from the teachers I meet at EdCamps I've been to in Texas, Arizona, and California. I'll be sharing what I've learned during my Mobile Rapid Prototyping Through AppSmashing concurrent session at the eLearning Guild's mLearn Conference in Austin, Texas this June.

EPILOGUE

The other EdCampAwesome session I attended was Flipping PD with Don Jacobs. It involved doing brief video clips, micro podcasts I guess, to share know-how with peers. So I think I'll give this a try soon. My weekend was EdCampAwesome.