Caffeine Tangent – Reflections from Ian Simpson on the iPad Summit

Yesterday, during one of the first sessions, we discovered Ian Simpson’s (@familysimpson) Postach.io blog – Caffeine Tangent. Ian told us that his posts are more immediate reflections, so we asked permission to capture them here on the blog as well. Each heading links to his original post. Thanks to Ian for letting us share!

Boston iPad Summit Thursday

This is an experiment in live blogging using Evernote and Postach.io. I’ll go back and edit the information below, but the aim of publishing this as I go is to engage others in discussion. Please excuse any mistakes, but don’t forget to call me on them! Thank you.

The iPad summit keynote by David Weinberger – “The Shape of Knowledge in a Networked World” is detailed below. I’ve included pictures to aid my recall, but may replace / remove these later.

The conference was introduced by Tom Daccord and Justin Reich.

Tom Daccord:
Fundamental question – how can students learn using technology?
Knowledge is sitting in the hands of the students.

EdTechTeacher summer workshops? Any outside of the US? (Editor’s Note: not yet!)

Justin Reich:

Most important question is who do we want our students to be?

David Weinberger – The Shape of Knowledge in a Networked World

(Cluetrain manifesto)

A lot of people think that the internet is awash with bad information. If this is true then filtering and control makes sense.

We have developed a strategy – reduce what we need to know – because our brains are too small to comprehend our world. This strategy is being applied to technology use.

The order of things

private / public (darwin vs wallace example) – only when knowledge is public does it belong to you.

stopping points – can find out knowledge without having to redo the research, trust system, credential system = do you believe it? value of information

characteristics of the medium of knowledge

knowledge is set when published – once it is on paper you can’t take it back

we have imposed this limitation on the world of ideas – tragic scenario

Example of Oliver Goldsmith information in Encyclopedia Brittanica – 6000 to 1500 words in 90 years. Thowing out knowledge because they didn’t have room for it! Wikipedia article is 1400 words (ignoring hyperlinks). At this point we need to decide which links to follow. Shape of knowledge has been changed via this medium. Knowledge is much more like a network rather than a chapter in a book.

Stackoverflow – public / private

you don’t get a definitive answer, you get a discussion between peers. Explanation in thread – you have learned in public!

What happens when you have millions of people contributing to a body of knowledge?

Stack overflow defaults to public form of communication – you have to struggle to find a way to discuss privately. Why shouldn’t other people learn with you?

Call to move learning to public space – students should be encouraged to share and publish and discuss in public.

David then spoke about iPad being a closed ecosystem making it difficult to share knowledge publically

surely the fact that iPads are being used doesn’t matter? The web is the web – you can choose to contribute directly or not – but I agree to an extent that some iPad app developers need to recognise the opportunities of being able to create offline with the aim of sharing once online

1919 example –

Einstein newspaper report – you couldn’t argue, discuss or find out more.

2011 example –

Information published quickly to engage community in discussion – stimulate growth of web of knowledge. Knowledge didn’t live in any one paper – it lived on the web in pieces that disagree with each other. This is now part of the value of knowledge – a complete flip on the original idea of knowledge.

Agreement doesn’t scale. Consequence is that we see value in filtering, curation whereas we should see the value in original post of information: youtube, github, reddit – carefully curated collection is predicting what other people will find useful – that doesn’t work.

Knowledge then:

  • Unlinked
  • Settled
  • Work in private
  • Curated
  • Orderly

Knowledge Now:

  • Linked
  • Unsettled
  • Public
  • Filtered forward (filtering after the fact of publication)
  • Rich n messy

Can teachers trust the body of knowledge on the internet to be filtered by students to enable them to succeed at examinations?

“Mastery as a goal comes with a steep price”
Require domain with boundaries, requires canon, certification, testing and eventually accountabilism!!

It doesn’t scale.

Reddit at its best – scaled conversations between experts

But mastery is important – brain surgeon, pharmacists, chemists

homer brain pic

experts are on the web – engaged;; if they are not they need to be encouraged to build networks of knowledge

Knowledge Commons leads to Data Commons

Learning in collaborative networks in public = building the networked commons

#ettipad Transformative Game Changer: Unleashing the possibilities (Tracy Sockalosky, Karen Janowski)

This is an experiment in live blogging using Evernote and Postach.io. I’ll go back and edit the information below, but the aim of publishing this as I go is to engage others in discussion. Please excuse any mistakes, but don’t forget to call me on them! Thank you.

Unleashing the possibilities – intro http://www.tinyurl.com/ipadsummit13

Reflection survey – how well are you meeting the needs of all your learners? bit.ly/reflectSL

UDL and reading process recognition, strategic, affective. Impact of the affective network often overlooked! When fear response is activated the other networks cannot work efficiently. Judy Willis – neurologist who became middle school teacher – value of joyful learning.Making meaning from the text Decoding, fluency and automaticity

iOS 7 – Setting speak selection up in ios settings –> general –> accessibility

Safari

lines to the left of URL strips out all distractions – similar to clear.ly etc.

Voice Dream

Can bring in text from dropbox, google drive, itunes, evernote, browser, etc.


Can adjust and correct pronunciation

Focussed learning capability

Can highlight, define, etc like in iBooks

Export text or highlights – can also do in iBooks

— 15 minutes exploration time

(using padlet.com for feedback from the attendees)

Apps that support the reading / writing process

https://docs.google.com/document/d/168TZ7OyjGndaCrGTT4NkUI_oFN1gS7n4s-RpQj_1yYw/mobilebasic


Ignite session (to end the session, interesting idea)

Karen:

Want to avoid this phrase – “I will never read another book”
Goal – open-jawed awe in the classroom, paperless
TTWWADI – that’s the way we’ve always done it: doesn’t cut it anymore

Reflect on your teaching – challenge to use apps and ideas
“This is not in addition to. This is in place of.”

  • point is joyful learning, bypassing challenges

Tracy:

11 ways to organise with binders
“why are children walking around with paper they never look at?”

This is no longer our only choice. 96 students that Tracy teaches – only 2 do not bring their phones to school. They are told to leave them at home.

This should not be the c… of her education experience.

If differentiation is obvious, then it is not differenition. It is segregation.

“This teaches kids not to like school”

Technology provides choice. Choice amplifies confidence, independence and motivation. “Give them a choice how to get there” (to the outcome of the task).

With choice and flexibility, every learner can experience the magic of reading, and the joy of learning.

We need to strive to get children to love going to school.

#ettipad Designing thinking with Thinglink (Lisa Johnson) @techchef4u

www.techchef4u.com
@techchef4u on Twitter
[email protected]

Pinterest page – http://www.pinterest.com/techchef4u/ipad-lessons/


http://www.techchef4u.com/ipad/designing-thinking-around-thinglink/

Michelle Cordy (Hack the Classroom) – “Thinglink is the LBD of apps”

Canva app – currently in beta, invite only

“Date the tool, marry the ability”

Glogster – flash based – can do with a Thinglink – not flash based.

App-Smashing transcends to App Synergy – putting possibilities of what can be created in a number of apps into one Thinglink.

Used a padlet linked from a thinglink to gather knowledge from attendees.

Lisa recommends using large images so you can put lots of thinglinks on the image.

examples:

The Water Cycle

Visual thinglink vs printed worksheet

Lisa showed how easy it is to create a thinglink.


https://www.thinglink.com/scene/457632237643366402

Example of thinglink of resume – PDF has been saved as an image very easily, then can become a thinglink.

Keynote / Canva can be used to create images for thinglink.

Reflections after first year – image of popplet, thinglinks were added on top

Paper by 53 – can add feedback, links, reflections, etc on top of created image

Smore – www.smore.com/jx68-designing-thinking-with-thinglink
(create a flyer online)

Lisa recommends apps to create thinglink image e.g.
pic collage, keynote, strip designer, skitch, popplet, design for pages, paper by 53, canva, easel.ly

Example of book report using telegami, croak.it

Within the smore linked above there is a list of lots of apps / website that can be added to a thinglink.

(http://www.desmos.com/calculator – useful web-based graphic calculator)

Why is it best to create your own image:
– blueprint and plan your image
– note size of image
– watermark your image
– consider long term potential of image
– note privacy
– be thoughtful of user experience (too busy?)

Because I said I would project: http://becauseisaidiwould.com
“Setting an example is not the main means of influencing others: it is the only means.” – Alex Sheen

Complete PD toolkit – not complete yet, but check techchef4u.com website

Thank you to Ian for allowing us to post his thoughts and pictures! Make sure you follow him at (@familysimpson) and check out his blog – Caffeine Tangent – for more posts on Day 2.


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