Emerging Technologies

Historical events are shaping the new “normal” in the ways we learn right now. The scope of the effect is not just in one particular school district or state but global in its extent, and not just in schools but also the work place and beyond. Very quickly we have had to rethink how we can provide learning and this week’s essential question is very prescient. Facing pandemic situations and challenges, educators have had to pivot on polices around how we educate, more specifically how we educate in online and remote settings. Fortunately, many school districts have been reshaping their missions, vision and values to student centered approaches that put the learner at the helm. (Alberta Government, 2013) This gives way to policy reform and frameworks that can support a very swift move to support students and staff in the face of “shelter in place” orders. For myself working in a public sector setting is really no different as IT teams rush to support work from home scenarios through VPN access and web conferences. All of the sudden the word “Zoom” is part of everyday life for many students and employees. Having to shift so quickly has left policy makers scrambling to establish the new normalized learning approaches. Many concerns about access and security dominate the conversation as forced closures of schools have raised questions around accountability and instructional time. As I read through the Alberta Learning and Technology Policy Frame work, I was impressed with how cleanly it all fit together and how well it maps to the current events of Covid – 19. Additionally the 5 policy directions that comprise it are made up of very similar core components of high functioning business organizations e.g. strong mission statements, professional development, & innovation. The Alberta schools and Government Mission is simple but powerful: Inspiring Education through the innovative and effective use of technology in K–12 schools. Effective use of technology is being tested right now, and when things go sideways policy and procedures are the backbone of quick and professional response in crisis times. Both in the work place and in the class room what I have observed are policies that are helping with access e.g. economics of providing ways for all student to participate and remotely and safely. Professionally my contribution’s to support technology policy lately have been centered on building remote work learning & resources courses for AHFC employees and incorporating completion data of telework agreements for staff. This is really no different than what many of my peers in the class room are experiencing with shifting to online curriculum and “zoom” meetings with students. In conclusion, I really liked the Alberta schools outlook on the opportunity of optimizing technology with three key imperatives “the economic, the cognitive, and the social”. As districts and businesses scramble to draft new policies to address Covid – 19 learning scenarios using these key imperatives I believe will make the most of the opportunity we have to reshape the human learning condition.  

References:

Alberta Enterprise and Advanced Education. (2013). Highlights of the Alberta Economy 2013. Accessed 02/25/13 from http://albertacanada.com/files/ albertacanada/SP-EH_highlightsABEconomyPresentation.pdf.

At Home Learning. (n.d.). Retrieved April 16, 2020, from https://www.alaskapublic.org/education1/athomelearning/athomelearning-page/

A young person today has more. There is just more of everything, better technology, more information, tutorials, obscure materials, etc. When I think back to my own secondary education the options were very fixed and traditional, computing was in its inception and the goto classes for crafting fell to Wood & Auto Shop or Home Economics. We now have DYI mentality and a strong maker movement, augmented with readily available materials source from all over the globe. In her 2012 Ted Talk Leah Buechley paints an amazing picture of whats possible with sketching up circuitry such a cool concept and highly creative. I tried to search up where this tech was today in 2020, and was surprised to find very little how silver ink pens have evolved. I did however discover a cool software app that makes it easy to create complex circuitry and test it all within the application. Albeit this would only appeal to an electrical designer so a bit out of reach for the K-12 set but it does highlight the advancement of electronics to prototype and test at a much accelerated rate. I believe the “moores law” effect also applies to the speed of creative development giving rise to integrating electronics into nex-gen creative endeavors.  Back to the fundamentals of the EQ, I would argue that using a computer to design museum installations in Minecraft is an example of crafting with electronics. But another approach could be using electronic tools such as stylus type pens for graphical input or a 3doodler to create 3D art.  I was working at Apple when the first apple pencil was released and have to laugh as Steve Jobs was famous for saying “Who wants a stylus. You have to get em and put em away, and you lose em” The apple pencil is essentially an electronic device that augments a simple tool: the pencil. This is a great segway into the Arduino/Raspberry Pi/Microduino world and for myself is the most relevant example of electronics and creativity for educational & professional purpose. This also answers my question of Leah Buechley and “were are they now”. Leah went on to create LilyPad Arduino and more recently Sew Electric DIY e textiles guide. Great example of how the very act of being creative in this case with electronic components can lead to new things. Which I think answers the viability question and even inverts it to ask how are electronics not viable tools in the creative process? 

References:

Mellis, D. A., Jacoby, S., Buechley, L., Perner-Wilson, H., & Qi, J. (2013). Microcontrollers as material. Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Tangible, Embedded and Embodied Interaction - TEI 13. doi: 10.1145/2460625.2460638

Nearing the end of my M.Ed. journey, I have had the privilege of learning from my peers and researching a variety of gamified learning applications such as Kahoot, Classcraft, Nearpod, Plickers ClassDojo, Minecraft and so many more. Many of my peers are currently using these in their own educational practice with great success. Being that I work with mostly adult learners in a professional workplace setting I am always looking to adapt essential questions to solving for employee development challenges. For this week’s question I wanted to think differently about what employees could use to augment their skills, and bonus points for gamified elements. Truth be told learning for work is in many ways not unlike playing your favorite board game or phone app, the content is more a function of your left brain vs. the right in many cases. This is not to say that the creative brain can’t get some exercise as well. There are a variety of game-like learning platforms available that incorporate leaderboards, badges, levels and more, however these are not always relevant or beneficial to the desired learning outcome. In my work currently we use Adobe Captivate Prime which has these gamified tools available within the LMS, other honorable mentions include Hoopla, Mindspace and Talent cards. To pivot a bit away from those types of motivators towards a self-driven approach I found a platform called “Rehearsal” that is excitingly different. The premise is a video based practice platform giving an employee or team a virtual space to build human based interaction skills and receive fearless feedback to improve. The obvious applications are for sales people or communications professionals however I see real potential for almost anyone working in a professional setting who may want to practice…perhaps a challenging conversation with an employee or delivering a lesson plan to students. Lets face it, no employee is climbing over their peers to do the next “role play” activity in workplace training…yet this skill set is the one career staller for so many employees and with a little practice it can be greatly improved. I think Rehearsal could be a great answer for this practice training gap. We are entering new horizons in education right now and we have to find new ways (sans in person proximity) for students to practice their skills through virtual and/or augmented means. Districts are scrambling to stand up online education across the academic system and across the world. Exciting times indeed and game-like learning experiences I believe can improve outcomes and will someday become ubiquitous. 

References:

Video Role-Play Training Platform. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://www.rehearsal.com/#_

* Right Brain video games - VS - Left Brain video games *. (n.d.). Retrieved March 25, 2020, from https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/927750-playstation-3/64915908

Donna St. George, H. N. (2020, March 23). Schools are shut, so how will kids learn amid the covid-19 pandemic? Retrieved March 25, 2020, from 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/schools-are-shut-so-how-will-kids-learn-amid-the-covid-19-pandemic/2020/03/22/dac4742e-6ab7-11ea-9923-57073adce27c_story.html

My first thoughts on this weeks topic immediately ran to what is the latest thing happening in the 3D print space (more on that in a bit) but after more reflection I returned to the fundamental question: How can we think different about 3D printing in educational spaces. First off I went to: 3D HUBS  for a bit of a refresher on current 3D printing science. Some take aways are that with 3D printing it is an additive process building layers based on a digital model vs injection molding (formative)or subtractive processes like CNC machining. I learned about different types of print machine setups like FDM & Industrial SLS. I was surprised to learn that Sci Fi author Arthur C. Clarke was the first to outline basic functions of a 3D printer back in 1964. Having worked in tech for 20 years more often that not in order for a technology to thrive it has to have value and initially the hype around 3D printing overshadowed its usefulness. But when looking at it through the lens of education it has become a very useful and relatively low cost entry into prototyping, tool fabrication and beyond, other wise in accessible due to cost, materials etc. As for cutting edge...Metal 3D printing is a hot thing and it’s pushing the boundaries of whats possible for example in Aerospace tech significantly cutting down lead times and consolidating many parts into one.  

I still feel the dominant variable in the classroom... is cost. The conversation around outcomes in education most ofter return to what must be sacrificed due to limited or no budget. Based on what I have seen this is the change that holds promise when considering 3D printing tech for classrooms, employee dev. etc. as doing more with less will allow for 3D printing to thrive and perhaps inspire the next cohort of creatives. 

References:

For this week's essential question, I reflected upon my own children’s learning journeys matriculating through school in Alaska. My daughter attended a Waldorf school until 8th grade, and my son has attended a Montessori based school K-5, each school having different academic philosophies  and neither has placed great emphasis on coding in particular. From a development perspective I have seen amazing results in reading, creativity and arts from focusing on outdoor play, story telling, singing and crafting. When I think about coding, it’s from a perspective of building something purposeful for humans, but the way you get to building something cool or useful is not to sit down with a bunch of tools and hope something comes together. I believe it starts with the contextual elements and must be felt, heard and experienced before one can synthesize meaning and organize code into beautiful things for people. With that said learning coding is really no different than learning a language, studies have shown us that starting language learning at an early age and retaining the subtle nuances is much easier  similar to Mitch Resnick of MIT referencing “new technology fluency” in his Ted Talk. In my work I tend to do a lot of fancy footwork to mitigate lack of tech skill in learning new applications with tenured employees. For many adult learners they see themselves as too old to “code”. Creating relevance in the need to learn something new is even more prescient when doing employee development but also key at the student level as well. Practical application can be a huge motivator, as evidenced in the Iowa BIG program that gives students real problems like organizing a middle school summer class about coding. I was impressed with the breadth of reach and impact that “Hour of Code” has had across the globe. Of course coding may not be for everyone but the benefits of introduction can lead anywhere vs no where if not made possible. During my tenure at Apple they put a lot of development into providing resources for both educators and students to ignite interest in coding for kids. The “fun” element of coding can be a great introduction through puzzles and games which gives way to practical applications as confidence and skill grows.  In conclusion the argument for introduction of coding in schools is...absolutely however it should follow a growth mindset approach layering in complexity based on real world application solving problems the students can taste the outcome of their intellectual investment. Again I really do believe high level coding is not for everyone however what’s possible must not be limited by a venture into coding not taken.

References:

20 Best Programming Languages for Kids. (n.d.). Retrieved February 23, 2020, from https://www.codecamp.com.au/blog/20-best-programming-languages-kids

Smith, D. G. (2018, May 4). At What Age Does Our Ability to Learn a New Language Like a Native Speaker Disappear? Retrieved February 23, 2020, from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/at-what-age-does-our-ability-to-learn-a-new-language-like-a-native-speaker-disappear/

Resnick, M. (n.d.). Let's teach kids to code. Retrieved February 23, 2020, from https://www.ted.com/talks/mitch_resnick_let_s_teach_kids_to_code?language=en

Angela references the “growth mindset” as one of the best ways to build “Grit” in students.