Learning 2.014 Bangkok Conference - Part 2

This is the second part of my reflection article about Learning 2.014 Conference.

Saturday - Extended Session: Understanding and Connecting to the Non-Traditional Student - Michael Boll:

During my morning session of Saturday, I participated in Michael's session. He started by sharing the following site with us: http://www.innovativepd.com/outlier/. This is a very important resource that comes with access to his podcasts about autism. The premise to his session was that "all kids want to do well". We talked about how Concordia in Shanghai has started to support kids with mild needs. We looked at sensory processing disorder, a few videos here and there and some other information that can be read from his site.

I enjoyed following Maximo from GoNoodle.com (https://www.gonoodle.com/brain-breaks). There is an animation called cozy chair. Just follow Maximo and you will feel, "Lo Maximo!".

We also took the Index of Learning Styles Questionnaire from www.innovativepd.com/learningstyle2. This is what I got out of it:

In my particular case, I am

both Active or Reflective

More Sensing than Intuitive

More Visual than Verbal

Both Sequential or Global

We also spent some time looking at tools for non-traditional students. By means of SpeedGeeking we all took turns describing the tools that we had explored. These were some of the ones that we saw:

• Think Through Math
• No Red Ink
• Zeal
• Khan Academy
• Fish Tree (Learning DNA - adapts learning for kid)
• Edulastic
• DeansList
• Exit Ticket
• Class Kick
• Knewton
• Study Room
• Blend Space

This site has links to the tools above: http://www.innovativepd.com/outlier/

Saturday - Unconference: Smash Apps:

This early afternoon session on Saturday, gave me a chance to talk to some teachers who have been using iPads in their classroom. Today was all about App Smashing. After working with iPads for any amount of time in the classroom, one will quickly realize that most processes can’t be completed with just one app. While many apps slightly overlap in terms of functionality, there tends to be a few black holes in each app that require the use of another app to complete the process. This leads us to App Smashing. App Smashing defined is the process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project. I will have to spend some time trying to test some of the apps in my iPad though.

I also looked at this cool resource (http://edtechteacher.org/apps) that has lots of resources for the class from different platforms. Finally, we spent some time talking about iPad apps management in various countries in Asia.

Saturday - Workshop: Putting the Present in Presentations with 21st Century Style Presentations - Rab Paterson:

This presentation by Rab walked you through the 5 elements in a good presentation. A lot of what he said I had already seen in other presentations. It was interesting to know that our attention span for a presentation is only 9 minutes, after which comes a drop off point. What Rab recommends in a presentation is just when reaching the level of 9 minutes, to put a different modality of showing the information. He talked about dopamine production and the importance of taking advantage of that moment to give key points away to the audience. Picture superiority effect is vital since people remember images than text. One of the important points of his presentation was the way that he covered attribution of images and videos. He suggested, not putting the attribution at the bottom of the slides but creating a final slide with all the information accompanied by a thumbnail image of the photos. This also includes not displaying huge URLs but using shortened versions as well. I really like this format for Photo/Video credits.

Rab has a lot of video resources in YouTube.

Saturday - In a Nutshell: Creating Your Own Classroom Guide: RIP Textbooks - Jeff Utecht:

During this session, Jeff shared his idea of using Flipboard as a container for information. His premise that anything on the Internet that is older than 3 years is not worth looking at is the reason why people need to create their own magazines. Wikipedia is more accurate now. People don't use the ratings that go from 1 - 7. He suggests creating a PLN with Flipboard where students can also participate as collaborators. Each person has complete control over the magazines. All students are flipping content. Students and teachers are finding information together. These public magazines are accessible to anyone in the world.

He also talked about Twitter and his idea that it is not about people but about communities. He stated that he does not follow anyone. He just follows communities that are formed around hashtags. By using the hashtags, you can send messages directly into the communities. It's possible to go to www.twitter.com/search and look for hashtags of your interest. Instagram ties with Twitter. In a class you can ask students to take images and share with a class hashtag, like #isbscience6. His last part of the presentation was focused on teaching students how to do good Google searches.

Overall, I believe it has been a good conference. There are many key takeaways that I will share with my colleagues at International School Bangkok. I have to say though that I feel that many schools have truly embraced technology and are lifting the conversations to higher levels. No more are schools spending much time at the levels of hardware, but are gaining better understandings of how technology is truly impacting student learning. There is a large number of schools that are moving towards the path of data analysis to inform themselves of the decisions that involve professional development and teacher support programs. 

This is my 4th Learning 2.014 Conference. The first one was in 2011 in Shanghai at Shanghai Community International School - Pudong Upper School Campus. The second one was in 2012 in Beijing at Western Academy of Beijing. The third one was in 2013 in Singapore at UWCSEA campus. This last one was at NIST in Bangkok. Look forward to future learning conferences with my colleagues in Asia. 

Learning 2.014 Bangkok Conference - Part 1

Learning 2.014 (Oct 2nd - 4th) is over and I will spend some time to record some important events and reflect on them. This year I participated in the conference as a Cohort Leader for the Tech Leaders/Coaches in Middle School. I was not alone though. Leading this cohort was also Steve Katz from Korea International School. Our goal was to create lasting networks which reached beyond our time together in Bangkok. During our cohort sessions we shared and collaborated on different topics of interest to us. We managed to put together a Google Document that captured some of these moments. All the contact information from the participants in this cohort can be seen here.

Some of the sessions that I went to were:

Thursday:

• Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School

Friday:

• Extended Session: Shifting Your School: Creating a Community of Empowered Teachers - Kim Cofino
• Unconference: Minecraft server set-up and control
• Workshop: Professional Development That Works: Ongoing Professional Learning in the Fish Bowl - Steve Katz and Ben Summerton
• Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School

Saturday:

• Extended Session: Understanding and Connecting to the Non-Traditional Student - Michael Boll
• Unconference: Smash Apps
• Workshop: Putting the Present in Presentations with 21st Century Style Presentations - Rab Patterson
• Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School
• In a Nutshell: Creating Your Own Classroom Guide: RIP Textbooks - Jeff Utecht

So, what were my take aways?.

Thursday - Cohort: Tech-Leaders/Coaches - Middle-School

I really valued the different activities that we did together. The icebreaker One-Way and Two-Way Communication activity offered a chance to connect with others, although a small group. Probably not the most appropriate one to start the conference though.

We also had a chance to do a compass points (a thinking routine) activity in small groups to think and share some of our experiences and jot down some thoughts that relate to our roles as tech/coaches leaders. This really helped us start some conversations for the rest of the conference. We did 4 rotations of 5 minutes each to go through each point at our tables (20 minutes in total). Finally, we spent 10 minutes as a whole group discussing about some of the salient points.

On the final day, we started our session collecting information of our work and putting it in what we called the Tech Leaders/Coaches Chest. So this was a simple Google Form and Spreadsheet shared with all in the room.

Finally, as a whole group, we spent the rest of the time discussing about some of the items from the compass points protocol from the previous day and some other matters that we thought would be worthwhile for this cohort. Some of the most discussed themes were related to shifting the culture of school using data, investing pertinent models of professional development, and our roles and work dynamics as tech leaders/coaches.

Friday - Shifting Your School: Creating a Community of Empowered Teachers - Kim Cofino

Kim started by sharing her resources page and took us through various group activities that have been a result of her work in previous schools. We each had to read and then explain to others about our topics. My group was assigned the Strategies for Professional Development: Speed Geeking, Lesson Study, and Lab Site. 

We also did an activity of concentric circles where we shared successes and challenges in our work. Finally we looked at the empathy map, where we jotted down some ideas that we could put into action in our schools.

We need administrator's support (the lone nut) to create change. We, tech leaders/coaches are the first followers. The first follower transforms a lone nut into a leader. Watch this video: The Lone Nut + The First Follower = A Movement!

Friday - Unconference: Minecraft server setup and control:

On the second day, I had the opportunity to meet with some people interested in Minecraft. I learned about the importance of setting up a server with a Multiverse plugin. This can give an opportunity for students who want to be in a survival mode world, while others probably enjoying the creative mode world. I'll have to try it out.

I spoke to some of the teachers there about my struggle with allowing students to play PVP or factions. A server with a factions plugin installed plays quite differently than most any other server. In factions servers, players team up to dominate the map. This can lead to some epic fights, as well as much fun. However, players that are new or are simply uninformed can be quite befuddled by the different play-style. Anyway, some teachers talked about the fact that we teach kids about killing in chess, etc. For them it's okay that kids fight in Minecraft because it gives them a chance to experience concepts like war that are hard for them to understand. If we can teach them about war, let's also have them do the role play. The truth is that in Minecraft there is no blood nor horrible sounds. You simply respawn. It is vital though that the kids are never allowed to play the victim. We should never take the kid's power since we don't want to devalue their identity.

Another important feature to turn on are mobs. Mobs are living, moving game entities. Generally, mobs are affected by the environment in the same ways as the player: they are subject to physics, and they can be hurt by almost all the same things that harm the player: catching on fire, falling, drowning or suffocating, and of course, being attacked with weapons. However, some types have individual resistances or immunities.

We were lucky today to have Daniel come to support us. He proved to be very knowledgeable of Minecraft servers.

Friday - Workshop: Professional Development That Works: Ongoing Professional Learning in the Fish Bowl - Steve Katz and Ben Summerton:

In the afternoon of Friday, I went to see my buddy Steve Katz to learn more about the professional development model that Korea International School has put in place. They call it the Fish Bowl, home of EdTech Professional Development at KIS. The Fish Bowl is a great opportunity for students to see their teachers as learners. The room offers a prime real state, high traffic area, which is comfortable and equipped with a short throw projector.

EdTech is more a consulting/training center that caters for anyone in the entire school. All tech coaches attend all levels of the school. They are no longer assigned to a particular division. The elementary teacher left and all other coaches were in secondary. Another member was hired and incorporated into this autonomous team that reports directly to the school principal.

Teachers simply pick who they want to work with. Some coaches may have their particular skills and support the needs of teachers in their areas of expertise. It's important for them to have diversity in the team. However, consistency is an important criteria, since they have to make sure that they all teach the same things. EdTech also does in-class implementation by co-teaching and offering support on both technical or pedagogical needs. What ever training they receive, teachers walk out with something tangible to utilize in their classes.

In their schedule, their PD sessions are allocated to be offered at the following times: 8:20 - 9:00; 10:30 - 11:10; 12:35 - 1:15; and 2:05 - 2:45. EdTech offers one topic a week that lasts for 40 min. Every coach does 4 trainings in the week. This provides more than two hours of a week where each one can see more than 20 people. While one person presents, the other coaches are there to later provide feedback about the session.

All the professional development at KIS is voluntary. They believe that PD ideally should take place during the school hours. EdTech also offers up to six weeks of training programs to parents. I guess the question to ask would be, how does EdTech know what training to offer. Well, they talk a lot with teachers and receive requests from parents as well. EdTech meets every week and the second item on their agenda is "what are we doing next?". Every week is a new topic. Another important aspect of their work is that time and location are always a routine.

Maybe it's time we can start doing our own Fish Bowls at ISB during the school day in the Greene Room. This is certainly a model that we can take a closer look at. By the way, KIS educators and share teaching and education ideas on Twitter. There is a #kispd 'group' where ideas can be gained and contributed by anyone.

More in my next article.