Information Technology Education

If you are one of the millions who tried the Hour of Code this year,  you know that one of the themes was Star Wars and that by the end of the hour, you could create your own Star Wars-themed game. Every student at my school completed the Hour of Code, but I got to thinking about the final puzzle where they had the opportunity to create their own Star Wars-themed game.  I decided to connect this with the game design and the design process itself with user feedback and all.  Here's how we did our galaxy walk in one class period: 1)  Students were placed in small group of 3 students who were then tasked with creating a Star Wars-themed game using the commands and events in the final stage of the Star Wars Hour of Code. They were given 20 minutes to brainstorm and create their games. 2)  Groups of students then did what I call a "galaxy walk" - really a modification of the gallery walk.  They rotated through all the other games created by their classmates. Dur...

Photo by Maggie Zehring Have you ever taught a science lesson on animal adaptations and wished you could show something more compelling than a photograph or labeled diagram in a textbook? Have you dreamed of teaching about fragile coral reef ecosystems by going for a dive and really looking closely at these amazing creatures? A few years ago, I never could have imagined that I would be able to show students closeup glimpses of Mars in 3D. But all of this and more is  now possible through the Google Expeditions Pioneer Program.   Available at no cost to schools, the program visits schools around the U.S. and provides everything needed to run virtual reality (VR) expeditions for the day, including cellphones and Google Cardboard, which are VR viewers. They also include a short training to guide teachers in leading a virtual trip for their own students. To get started, submit an interest form to find out if the Expeditions Pioneer Program will be coming to your area. Instant en...

As a way to understand how my students view computer scientists, I asked them to draw a picture of a computer scientist or an image to represent computer science.  It was fascinating to see their perceptions and understandings come alive through a drawing. I love how this student addressed misconceptions about what people think of when they think of computer scientists and then addressed those myths by including images of "tech women" and "tech man." I love this drawing with the message that "anyone can do it!" and that computer scientists always have their "thinking cap" on.  Then there is the message that computer scientists are "always using their knowledge to think of new innovations." Last, but not least, computer scientists are today's superheroes! Here's another representation with the message of iteration and perseverance.  "Computer scientists iterate until the achieve what they wanted to achieve!"

Exciting news is that I just found out that my team was awarded Best in State in the Verizon App Challenge 2016  for 6th-8th grade.  I love this particular competition because it really provides the opportunity for my students to dream big and dream local at the same time.  Big in that they have the room to be creative with the app concept they propose and local in that they use their app-concept design to solve and address a local problem.  I am so inspired by all the entries found here - the students from all over are so incredibly creative, yet practical.  They are finding ways to solve real problems - an app that helps inform students about the various clubs on campus, one that will "protect our parks" and another that helps educate kids on managing money.  The ideas are as varied as the problems that exist.  No matter what the problem, though, it's clear that there's an innovative app-concept for that! Here's a short video infomercial about ...

With 2015 now behind me and already in 2016, I've had some time to reflect on my past 15 years of teaching.  The word that kept coming to me was the word 'urgent.'  There is an urgent need for me to continue to teach like I have never taught before.  An urgent need for me to continue to learn and develop professionally for my students who will be the next generation of innovators, inventors, problem-solvers.  Why this and why now?  Well, it all started with a parade, the Fiesta Bowl parade.  I was invited to be in the parade along with 9 other teachers.  As we were waving from on board our AZ historic vehicle, a red shiny fire engine, a parade volunteer shouted out to us while giving a thumbs-up - "Teachers have the most important job in America.  Go teachers!"  So, for all the teachers out there reading this - this is for you too!  Go you! I was also given a gift in December - one that hearkens back to my very first class when my 4th gr...

I started off my evening reading the NMC 2015 Higher Education Report where trends, challenges and developments in educational technology are identified.  It was fascinating to read about where we are and how quickly the landscape is changing.  Things that we never would have imagined even 10 years ago are now commonplace - makerspaces and wearable technology being within the 2-3 year timeframe. This led me to this really great article on innovation + culture = culture of innovation.  It was a piece that caused me to reflect on all the facets of not just building, but maintaining a culture of innovation. There was even a self-reflection tool where I went through considering all of these facets in my practice, context, and setting.  Leadership, capacity, policy, structure, process and more all play into this culture of innovation. Then, I somehow ended up in this amazing space through some miracle of time travel... Stanford 2025 . Here, I explored several possi...

Buster the dog, a disco room, and a talking, chopping fruit ninja?  What do these all have in common?  They were all made by middle school students using Hummingbird robotics.  It was amazing to witness the journey.  First, seeing them all learn the basics of programming, then seeing teams of students collaborate to sketch out their robot designs.  This was followed by the process and journey of selecting and using a variety of materials to create their team's unique robot. Throughout the process, they kept an engineering-design journal with entries that focused on what they accomplished, challenges they faced and how they plan to overcome their challenges.  They also used their phones to document their robot-building captured in photos and videos. Here is a reflection from a team member: " If you have an imagination, a computer, and a HummingBird robotics set, you can make anything you want to  make. HummingBird Robotics is a series of wires, lights, ...