tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1603360801573371182024-03-14T07:42:06.536-07:00EdTechBridgeGames and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-4639492093848707552015-05-21T08:23:00.001-07:002015-05-21T08:23:30.039-07:00#EdTechBridge: Using #EdTech for Content Creation: 5/20/2015 Full transcript<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com34tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-80067638963413464002014-11-20T11:56:00.001-08:002014-11-20T11:56:07.413-08:00#EdTechBridge in Action - Software testing for BrainPop<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">#EdTechBridge is all about collaboration. The notion behind the community is to develop authentic relationships that are mutually beneficial to developers and end users. As #EdTechBridge evolved it became clear that most developers do understand the value and were looking for opportunities to create these relationships.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few weeks back, Katya asked if BrainPOP could do some software testing with my game design students as well as </span><a href="http://matthewfarber.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matt Farber's</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (</span><a href="https://twitter.com/MatthewFarber" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">@MatthewFarber</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) Social Studies students. For my students, this is a great opportunity as one of the key elements of my course is iterative design (the process of designing, beginning development, product testing, receiving feedback, and continuing development based on tester feedback). It is also important for my students to understand the importance of peer testing. The visit from BrainPOP was incredibly valuable for my students and an authentic testing environment for BrainPOP. This is what #EdTechBridge is all about.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Katya, Scott, and Will came to visit two of my classes yesterday. Katya is the lead on user testing, Scott is a project manager for in house games developed by BrainPOP and Will is one of the game designers. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One class was my 8th grade video game design and development class. They worked with paper prototypes of the game. There were two variations of the prototype to test certain mechanics that brainpop is considering for the game. It was great to see students make comments playing one version that affirmed the value of the added mechanic of the other version. This whole exercise was especially valuable for me as a teacher and a learner. Prototyping is an important part of the design process. My students create design documents and sketches of levels, but rarely create and test games with a true paper prototype. It was great for me to see the process. Likewise, it was great for my students to experience and served as a natural springboard to discuss the process as it relates to their games. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8VQo-UAMxG2AIYlcHOWcF1Q8WqAdCp0_YrQnnCinZkzgmECj5pi8eIGJLEAey9Q7COlAwG0EvNn80eIQ-0P_7cYdXISYxfp54ULhmWJ_AiN81bswsDWASStz3G8Pi3Kpt56ojpBzDiQ/s1600/IMG_2999.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK8VQo-UAMxG2AIYlcHOWcF1Q8WqAdCp0_YrQnnCinZkzgmECj5pi8eIGJLEAey9Q7COlAwG0EvNn80eIQ-0P_7cYdXISYxfp54ULhmWJ_AiN81bswsDWASStz3G8Pi3Kpt56ojpBzDiQ/s1600/IMG_2999.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My seventh grade game design and digital storytelling students played a digital version of the game. This group will be going through their first iteration of peer testing soon so it was great for them to experience the process and provide valuable feedback. There is no doubt that their experience with peer testing will be enhanced from having had this experience. Observing the students playing the games and commenting on the game mechanics, periodic glitches, etc. was great. I think they were able to understand the true value of their contribution. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b6JpubY9xjxbm0wyq0v5tuxL5v2VEcLxF9xAn5p3ealvKXMvWM-nAHq07wVCkclmnVpAz9MZvIPfRrARaiUiY4CbmJLoyz62QionUKMoxzRPoyDl7__3CA1ruMBTYY8VV3J7ic92r9g/s1600/IMG_3006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2b6JpubY9xjxbm0wyq0v5tuxL5v2VEcLxF9xAn5p3ealvKXMvWM-nAHq07wVCkclmnVpAz9MZvIPfRrARaiUiY4CbmJLoyz62QionUKMoxzRPoyDl7__3CA1ruMBTYY8VV3J7ic92r9g/s1600/IMG_3006.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyUwEYIx2fAPjXWCl0ZFQBLnfKCj4Vmy4SXL-GGPLr4ul8XsmZa4CPsQ-B2RfKD3YZuxw2IoL3dXiD9qRWJ4txjZhX47jPXDbPEYTogBw6rUgv9v9aoZlfdPZfNqJ7EYzNR3WK-527h8/s1600/IMG_3022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoyUwEYIx2fAPjXWCl0ZFQBLnfKCj4Vmy4SXL-GGPLr4ul8XsmZa4CPsQ-B2RfKD3YZuxw2IoL3dXiD9qRWJ4txjZhX47jPXDbPEYTogBw6rUgv9v9aoZlfdPZfNqJ7EYzNR3WK-527h8/s1600/IMG_3022.JPG" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://matthewfarber.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Matt Farber</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> teaches middle school social studies. He uses games and simulations to authentically model real world events. His students entire school year has been framed by the</span><a href="http://www.brainpop.com/math/probability/gametheory/preview.weml" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Game Theory</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> BrainPOP video, in which Tim and Moby explained how rational people make important decisions—just like in a game.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Farber uses digital and tabletop games to support his project-based curriculum. His students have playtested games from GlassLab (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">SimCityEDU, Argubot Academy</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">) and E-Line Media (</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Historia</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)—both companies that also playtest with teachers and students. In mid-November, Farber’s class tested two versions of a new BrainPOP game: two variations of a paper prototype and one version of it digitized. Both were multiplayer games. Like GlassLab and E-Line, BrainPOP brings in teachers and students early on in the design process. Because students knew that their input mattered, the BrainPOP playtest gave everyone an increased degree of engagement </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Aside from resolving technical glitches, the iterative design process helps designers create fun and meaningful experiences. Playtesting with intended users sheds light on issues that designers may have overlooked. For example, one of Farber’s students pointed out that when she dragged a digital object onto a part of the screen, a box with a red outline appeared. The student informed the design team that the color red looked as if she was doing something wrong—even though her action was correct. This detail would not have been noticed if BrainPOP did not playtest with student users.</span></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-77568379768251699862014-11-17T10:43:00.000-08:002014-11-17T10:43:39.184-08:00Open Ended (Open Educational) Resources: A Guest Blog Post by @TeacherTabitha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">This week. the #EdTechBridge chat topic is #OER or Open Educational Resources, also referred to as Open Ended Resources. Teacher Tabitha (@TeacherTabitha) will be joining us as a co-moderator. I couldn't help but ask her after catching her tweet this morning, </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Following is the blog post written by Tabitha. She asks some very important questions that will certainly come up during our chat on Wednesday. Below the post are my thoughts in response to the <a href="http://teachertabitha.wordpress.com/2014/11/17/open-ended-resources-oer/" target="_blank">original post</a>. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">First, I have to admit that I had no idea what <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OER&src=typd" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Open Ended Resource">#OER</a> meant a week ago. After participating in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/edtechbridge" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="#EdTechBridge">#EdTEchBridge</a>‘s discussion last week, the discussion leader, Katya Hott (<a href="https://twitter.com/katyamuses" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" title="Katya Hott">@katyamuses</a>) proposed talking about <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OER&src=typd" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Open Ended Resource">#OER</a>s or <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ECE?src=hash" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Early Childhood Education">#ECE</a> next week. I’ve been in the education world enough to know that <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ECE?src=hash" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Early Childhood Education">#ECE</a>stood for Early Childhood Education, but I am so glad I asked what it meant because I got several responses back from not only Katya, but also Karen Fasimpaur (<a href="https://twitter.com/kfasimpaur" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Karen Fasimpaur">@kfasimpaur</a>), K12 Open Ed (<a href="https://twitter.com/k12opened" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="K12 Open Ed">@k12opened</a>), and Alex Kluge (<a href="https://twitter.com/AlexVKluge" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Alex Kluge">@AlexVKluge</a>) as well as encouragement from Steven Isaacs (<a href="https://twitter.com/mr_isaacs" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Steven Isaacs">@mr_isaacs</a>) to return again. After their explanations and a little Googling (I found <a href="http://content.mobicip.com/tags/open-ended-resources-0" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Open Ended Resource Explination">this article</a>) I felt like I was truly apart of a community where we could discuss ideas and I could contribute. Thank you guys for pulling me in, I hope this gives encouragement to other lurkers to join in on chats they are following.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I have a Love/Hate Relationship with <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23OER&src=typd" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="Open Ended Resource">#OER</a>s. I use them all the time, in fact when I was asked to start a technology class at our school, that is where I gathered and curated the vast majority of my curriculum from. In fact, my class (or my sanity…or my job) would probably not exist without them. I agree completely with the concept that knowledge should be given freely and that learning should not cost you a thing. The problem that I have is that peoples time, your time, is finite and should cost a premium. Finding the balance in this equation, knowledge gathering/giving vs. time it takes to create resources to learn from, is my (although maybe selfish) problem.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I know that if it were not for other educators and developers that created resources that were free to me, I would be out of a job or have a very poorly designed course for a lack of materials and resources. People that develop games and tools that actively engage my kids are truly some of my favorite people. I strive to be like them for others by learning new skills (currently working on learning HTML/CSS/Javascript) to help develop resources for myself that I can then share, but then I become selfish.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Why should all of the time that I spent developing this, be free for others to consume without some form of compensation for my time? I will gladly give you the resource, but the time I spend is valuable and that is what needs to be compensated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a specialist teacher at a private school I make well below (about 15k-20k less than) what the average (public school) teacher makes in our area. I say that not to throw myself a pity party, but to say that if I could use the skills I acquire to help supplement my income so I’m not living paycheck to paycheck and better myself and my families financial standing, shouldn’t I?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Most developers of the content that I use are paid in some form or another. Maybe the content they provide is free because they have advertisers (<span class="skimlinks-unlinked" style="box-sizing: border-box;">abcya.com</span> comes to mind), they are a developer and are paid through grants (<span class="skimlinks-unlinked" style="box-sizing: border-box;">mission-us.org</span> comes to mind), they charge a fee to use their content (<span class="skimlinks-unlinked" style="box-sizing: border-box;">brainpop.com</span> comes to mind), or they might work for a company (Google) whose purpose it to create and spread knowledge freely to the masses, but they (the individual developers who contribute) are all compensated for the time they spent to develop the materials.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a private individual, is the only way to develop something while still being compensated to have advertising on the product, work for someone else, or to simply give it away?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Then other questions arise. How to I get the product out to the masses? How to I help and serve those using the product while still maintaining the full time teaching job that I love?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your thoughts on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OER" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="#OER">#OER</a>?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you developed something, if so what was your experience like?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you used <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OER" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="#OER">#OER</a> from others? If so, do you know if they were compensated? Was the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OER" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="#OER">#OER</a> that you used something that you could change and develop further or was it simply a free tool?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I would love to hear your thoughts!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Blessings!</span><br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/TeacherTabitha" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;" target="_blank" title="@TeacherTabitha"><span style="font-family: inherit;">@TeacherTabitha</span></a></div>
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<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a class="mention" href="http://teachertabitha.wordpress.com/mentions/teachertabitha/" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;"><span class="mentions-prefix" style="box-sizing: border-box;">@</span>TeacherTabitha</a> is a private school technology teacher and school technology coach in Texas. She lurked on Twitter for almost a year before deciding to actually participate in a chat, got pulled in and loved the experience. She is passionate about becoming a #ConnectedEducator and trying to pull in other newbies as she begins. Follow her on Twitter <a class="mention" href="http://teachertabitha.wordpress.com/mentions/teachertabitha/" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;"><span class="mentions-prefix" style="box-sizing: border-box;">@</span>TeacherTabitha</a>.</span></em><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tabitha,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Thank you for posting this as it raises such great questions and certainly can spark our discussion for Wednesday night’s #EdTechBridge chat!<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I will gladly respond to your questions…</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">What are your thoughts on #OER?<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I am in complete favor of #OER! I believe that education should be free and we should share our ideas and resources. I am a firm believer in the power of constructivist learning. I learn from others all the time. In turn, I find that I have much to offer based on my areas of expertise and often this extends the learning to include my contribution. As such, we are learning together. I believe that I would be in quite a bind if it weren’t for freely available resources. In turn, I appreciate that I can contribute to the growing body of learning resources. Of course, there are many takers out there and quite honestly that doesn’t really bother me. If I can offer something and it is helpful to others that’s great. If it can further the teaching and learning of game design and computer science in an authentic way, that’s great. My contributions help me to be a leader in the field and that continues to lead to wonderful opportunities for me.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you developed something, if so what was your experience like?<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I have developed many resources. I use them in my teaching and am happy to share them in the hopes that someone else can benefit. Mark Suter (@garlicsuter) and I have been creating and curating content for the GameMaker Studio community by organizing and providing content for the YoYoGames Learn site (<a href="http://www.yoyogames.com/learn" rel="nofollow" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;">http://www.yoyogames.com/learn</a>). Likewise I have shared resources and lesson plans on sites like Graphite, GameDesk, the Brainpop Educators blog, and my own blogs (<a href="http://www.gamesandlearning1.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;">http://www.gamesandlearning1.blogspot.com</a> and<a href="http://edtechbridge.blogspot.com/" rel="nofollow" sl-processed="1" style="-webkit-transition: none; border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.0980392); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #bb0000; text-decoration: none; transition: none;">http://edtechbridge.blogspot.com</a>). In addition, Katya Hott (@katyamuses) and I started the #EdTechBridge community. I would have to think this falls under the #OER idea as well. It has been so rewarding to bring together people with a common interest in #EdTech and see them develop true collaborative relationships. This has been a labor of love and our hope is that the community will begin to grow both in numbers and in participation as others offer their resources.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Have you used #OER from others? If so, do you know if they were compensated? Was the #OER that you used something that you could change and develop further or was it simply a free tool?<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />ABSOLUTELY! I am completely self taught in terms of what I teach. Well, I say self-taught, but really that means I have found incredible resources to learn from. The majority have been free. I would be in quite a bind if these resources did not exist. I do know that some people get compensated. I contribute $1 per month to a user on Patreon to help subsidize his creation of tutorial videos which can ultimately help me and my students. I certainly don’t mind and while it’s not a lot, I feel like I am supporting his efforts as in his case they take time from his contract work which is where he makes his money (aside from the money he now makes thanks to Patreon). While I am supporting this I do believe in FREE! I have mixed feelings about sites like Teachers paying Teachers. I say mixed feelings as I am not against it, but at the same time I feel that we can grow quite a community of sharing by contributing to the free eco-system that has evolved.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I hope more people respond! Great thought provoking discussion for sure!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Steve</span></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-89637813095881414752014-10-29T06:55:00.003-07:002014-10-29T06:55:46.065-07:00Social Media as PD<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Hi Everyone,<br />
It's been a while since I've posted here. That is primarily because our #EdTechBridge transcripts are now being seamlessly archived thanks to @nurph!<br />
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This week I was asked a question from an administrator....<br />
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Steve,</div>
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I heard that you run a twitter chat weekly. I am presenting a workshop at
the K-5 meetings next week on using Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram
as professional development tools. If you have any info you would like me to
share regarding your chat or the benefits you have found regarding the use of
these tools I would love to hear it. </div>
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Well, Ask and ye shall receive! First, let me say that I am so pleased that this particular administrator is bringing this topic to her department meeting. It is so important for administrators to be connected and sharing the value with their teachers. Bravo.</div>
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Here's my reply:</div>
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Hi Kathy,</div>
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Finally came up for air and wanted to make sure I got some information and
hopefully insight your way. </div>
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I'll start with my views on twitter and social media as professional
development and the value of cultivating a PLN (Professional/Personal Learning
Network). Twitter has been a tremendous tool for professional growth for me for
the past 3 years. That may even be understated as it has been amazing beyond
words. I have developed relationships with amazing educators and other
stakeholders around the world. Generally speaking, the relationships begin on
twitter but the relationship that develops beyond twitter is where the real
value lies. My participation and sharing of what I do, resources, etc. has led
to amazing opportunities for me including presenting at National Conferences,
collaborating with EdTech developers, educators, etc. and being invited to
events by organizations like the Gates Foundation. In fact, this past weekend I
was at a convening in New Orleans for a Gates Foundation organization called
ECET2 (Elevating and Celebrating Effective Teaching and Teachers). The Gates
foundation took care of everything including transportation, lodging, food, etc
while engaging incredible teachers from around the country in inspiring PD all
weekend. It doesn't take much to become a connected educator and once started
there's truly no turning back! The community continues to be refreshing and
encouraging as we all continue to grow.</div>
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So, that was a little context.</div>
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The weekly chat that I co-founded and co-moderate is called EdTechBridge.
Our mission is to help foster collaborative relationships among educational
stakeholders (EdTech developers, Teachers, Researchers, Parents, and Students)
in order to develop better EdTech products to ultimately enhance learning
opportunities for the Students we serve. My part in the collaboration started
based on work I've been doing in terms of collaboration with companies like
E-Line Media, YoYoGames, and GameMaker. A developer from E-line media (and now
brainpop) asked if I would like to co-present a problem solving session on
bridging the divide between Entrepreneurs (Developers) and Teachers at South by
Southwest EDU in Austin this past March. Our commitment was to work with the
attendees to break down the issues and develop a community that would live
beyond the conference. Our primary vehicle has been the twitter chat which
takes place on Wednesday nights at 7pm EST. The community is awesome and is made
up of a nice mix of people from edtech companies as well as teachers,
researchers, parents and students. Each week we have a different topic and
generally invite the person who's topic idea it is to co-moderate with us. It's
been truly amazing and I have met a number of our chat participants on my trips
to various conferences. That's the best part. Outside of the chat we are
continually hearing stories of the relationships that are forming and the
collaboration that is coming from them. You can see the past chat transcripts
and stats by visiting <a href="http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge/chats/past">http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge/chats/past</a> and
the #EdTechBridge blog (<a href="http://edtechbridge.blogspot.com/">http://edtechbridge.blogspot.com</a>).
Tonight's chat can be accessed through @nurph by visiting <a href="http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge/chats/930">http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge/chats/930</a>.
Nurph is nice for people new (and old) to twitter chats because it puts you in a
chat room environment for the chat making it far less distracting compared to
trying to follow the chat through twitter or other twitter apps. Generally
speaking, people can always access the chat by visiting <a href="http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge">http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge</a>. </div>
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While I'm at it, I'll also throw out a plug for my new twitter chat
addiction, #BFC530. This 'spark' chat is held at 5:30 am EST and 5:30 am MST
(7:30 EST). It's only a 15 minute chat with one question and a different
moderator each day. It's a great community of people. The chat happens to have
been started by another fine NJ educator (@ScottCapro) and it is a truly
inspiring way to start the day. I get up close to then anyway and find that
lately I am popping out of bed instead of hitting snooze several times as the
chat really starts the day off right. </div>
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Please feel free to reach out for any more information or support with
regard to bringing more Bernards Township Educators on board. I can no longer
imagine being a teacher without a PLN.</div>
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Have a great session this afternoon!!</div>
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Steve</div>
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P.S. Hope to see you tonight at 7pm EST for our weekly chat! http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge/chats/930 </div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-59863395891290911912014-08-13T16:19:00.003-07:002014-08-13T16:19:26.087-07:00Complete transcript from 8/13/2014: #EdTechBridge: Back to School Edition<div class="storify"><iframe src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-back-to-school-edition/embed?border=false" width="100%" height=750 frameborder=no allowtransparency=true></iframe><script src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-back-to-school-edition.js?border=false"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-back-to-school-edition" target="_blank">View the story "#EdTechBridge: Back to School Edition" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-12230291572830985352014-07-30T20:28:00.001-07:002014-07-30T20:28:00.046-07:00Complete #EdTechBridge chat transcript: 7/30/2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-63888390080806855292014-07-28T10:15:00.003-07:002014-07-28T10:31:49.425-07:00Relationship building is the KEY to #edtech collaboration<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Teacher relationship-fatigue extends beyond the classroom</h3>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>(This post co-written by me and my like-minded buddy <a href="https://twitter.com/LindseyOwn" target="_blank">Lindsey Own</a>. Most of the writing credit goes to Lindsey :) )</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Relationships” are a hot topic. Social media is all about streamlining and scaling social and business relationships, social relationships are studied closely for their effects on psychology and health, and “building customer relationships” is a frequently discussed goal of both startups and established businesses. This certainly applies to the education technology world as well - building relationships between schools and technology providers is critical in driving the disruptions and growth we’re all striving for.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Simultaneously, a thoroughly established “pain point” in education is lack of time for teachers. </span><a href="https://www.edsurge.com/n/2014-07-20-opinion-who-needs-learning-relationship-management-we-all-do" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Gunnar Counselman</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> even recently wrote on EdSurge about how teachers struggle to maintain deep relationships with the very very many students they are tasked with educating. Although Counselman’s article is ostensibly about teacher-student relationships, much of it applies to teacher-edtech relationships as well. To quote the EdSurge Innovate introduction to his article: “</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But there's a natural limit to how many bonds teachers can create and maintain.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take these two points - (1) customer relationships are critical, and (2) teachers are so overwhelmed with lack of time that even maintaining relationships with their students is challenging. Based on those two points, the current most common method used by well-meaning technology providers to reach out to new customers makes absolutely no sense. From where we sit, that method seems to be cold-calls declaring a hot new product “perfect for your classroom!” and requesting beta testing, watching informational videos, or even setting up a </span><a href="http://agbeat.com/editorials/lets-coffee-insulting-request/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">coffee date</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. This is the opposite of relationship-building.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are two enthusiastic and vocal classroom teachers, who probably expend far more energy than is really sustainable on our pursuits of excellence in driving forward innovation in education. We hope that this means that, being so visible, we receive far more of these cold-calls than our beleaguered colleagues. They come in every online format - Twitter, email, LinkedIn, and more - and are relatively constant at about one per week. Often, they are for products with little relevance to our classrooms, demonstrating the clear shot-gun approach being used in sending out the requests.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As we see it, this method of reaching out to potential customers has some of the following effects:</span></div>
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<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">teachers are fatigued by the constant onslaught, resulting in less willingness to try </span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">any</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> new technologies</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">teachers are less likely to become an advocate for the product in the future, left with a bad taste from the impersonal introduction</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">receiving few responses, technology developers may continue to sit in the </span><a href="https://www.edsurge.com/n/2014-03-09-opinion-the-myths-and-realities-of-the-edtech-community" style="color: #7d181e; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">myth</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> that teachers don’t care enough to try new innovations</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are working hard to support stronger, more lasting and meaningful relationships between teachers and </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">developers of those products that are meaningful to their classrooms</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Steve co-moderates the #edtechbridge chat with a partner who works at </span><a href="http://www.brainpop.com/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">BrainPop</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, building a great community </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to develop the authentic relationships that will ultimately provide a larger impact towards creating an understanding / buy-in for new education technology products. Lindsey co-organizes the Seattle EdTech Meetup with a partner who works at Seattle’s </span><a href="http://www.activelylearn.com/" style="color: #7d181e; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">ActivelyLearn</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. We both spoke - on separate panels - on exactly this topic at 2014’s SXSWedu. We continuously try to support positive interactions, including trying to explain to shotgunners why their emails were poorly received.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We have a few ideas for how to support building the kinds of relationships that will connect education technology developers with teachers who will become their advocates and even partners.</span></div>
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<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Target recipients of your contacts carefully, and describe why they are the type of teacher you are looking for. Comment on something *specific* about that particular teacher that caught your attention (and not just that it said “teacher” on their LinkedIn profile).</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Start conversations, rather than jumping straight to the “ask.”</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Even better, before sending any emails in the first place: immerse yourself in teacher conversations as a fellow learner, and get to know the individual contributors to those conversations. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and other sites all have great conversations happening every day. (See the second sentence of this opinion.)</span></li>
<li style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0.25em; padding: 0.25em 0px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you do ask for </span><a href="https://www.edsurge.com/n/2014-05-02-prompting-for-great-edtech-feedback" style="color: #7d181e; line-height: 1.15; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">feedback</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, do so in a way that will elicit deeper answers. (Reading the answers to boring questions is almost as miserable as answering them.)</span></li>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We believe that innovative technology has the power to genuinely disrupt education for the better, improving learning outcomes for all students. We are strong advocates within our schools and in the larger edtech community for driving the meaningful use of technology throughout the learning process. And we are dismayed when our colleagues express fatigue at being hounded by too many options in finding the right technology tools for their classrooms.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We continue to hope and work towards strong, positive, and deep relationships between teachers and education technology developers. <b>We hope to see more developers thinking critically about how to reach out to teachers in a way that builds relationships rather than generic shotgun emails - again, as Gunnar Counselman said - “</b></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>for the sake of efficiency, making them cold, transactional and unmotivating.”</b></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/13598046414415965048" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #7d181e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-decoration: none;"><img alt="My Photo" class="profile-img" height="80" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_icnlHw0cEKUmMsDW5XWa8QICUMRYKINb4uBTgMpfz1HBFC-SCeOtAmLeCMeezic4iWrcw0BlAq1-UGD46gJOJYhpxwZIzJ1jo-0UgwFlqSKa-wzDfSvD4RIBv2PPlaH5vHPOtOT8d9wq/s220/LOwn90x90.jpg" style="border: none; float: left; margin: 0px 0.75em 0.5em 0px; position: relative;" width="80" /></a><span style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></span><br />
<dl class="profile-datablock" style="background-color: #fefdfa; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em;">
<dt class="profile-data" style="font-weight: bold; margin: 0px;"><a class="profile-name-link g-profile" data-gapiattached="true" data-gapiscan="true" data-onload="true" href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/13598046414415965048" rel="author" style="background: url(http://www.blogger.com/img/logo-16.png) 0% 0% no-repeat; color: #7d181e; display: inline-block; min-height: 20px; padding-left: 20px; text-decoration: none;">Lindsey Own</a></dt>
<dd class="profile-textblock" style="margin: 0.5em 0px;">I teach 6th and 7th graders in "health" and "science" classes, but work on empathy, global literacy, systems-thinking, evidence-based decision-making, and other such 21st Center Skills in those classes. I'm also a 7th grade "advisor," which at my school means I am the point-of-contact teacher for 15 7th graders as we work on goal-setting and reflection; social and emotional development, awareness, and skills; community-building activities; and much much more. I tweet @LindseyOwn</dd></dl>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com225tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-35574558523500439172014-07-15T10:06:00.000-07:002014-07-15T10:06:15.242-07:00Connecting EdTech creators and teachers : #edtechbridge<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Guest Blog Post by Suzy Munroe, aka Teacher Suzy</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reasons I joined the #edtechbridge twitter chat</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hi, I am Teacher Suzy, a teacher from Ireland now living in San Francisco. I would love to share the reasons why I was attracted to the #edtechbridge twitter chat. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">never joined</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a Twitter chat before. This one is a </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">great place to start.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It is a great way to </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">collaborate</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with like-minded professionals.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It has an exciting mix of professionals interested in </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">solving the disconnect </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">between educators, developers and EdTech tools.</span></div>
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<li dir="ltr" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; list-style-type: disc; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My passion is to make </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">connections</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> between EdTech developers and educators.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teacher turned EdTech entrepreneur</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNpd7ZfrLfAA6juTaqml8Y-aa-n3EjEsNoHiKHOR0qwjiK3MvPBt6JKro_JcAhUI-ZPvfs8S0HM9_lmgef2oSllqWZhyphenhyphenssSGBp65NfGJiakHFc5Bjoi1Bi1D5fkysvhBNj3WYgZGY-kTA/s1600/tinker_ed.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNpd7ZfrLfAA6juTaqml8Y-aa-n3EjEsNoHiKHOR0qwjiK3MvPBt6JKro_JcAhUI-ZPvfs8S0HM9_lmgef2oSllqWZhyphenhyphenssSGBp65NfGJiakHFc5Bjoi1Bi1D5fkysvhBNj3WYgZGY-kTA/s1600/tinker_ed.png" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As mentioned above, I have a passion to help solve the disconnect between EdTech creators and teachers. For this reason I recently created </span><a href="http://tinkered.co/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">TinkerEd </span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. The idea came from my real life experience when I moved to San Francisco and created a teachers meetup group to meet other teachers. Instead of attracting teachers, my meetup gained the attention of EdTech developers who wanted to </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">share their ideas with teachers and get feedback</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realised there was a need for a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">place for these connections to occur.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Embarking on my EdTech journey</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I went to </span><a href="http://startupweekend.org/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Startup Weekend Education</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in San Francisco and nerve wrackingly pitched my idea to a room filled with EdTech enthusiasts. My idea was to build an online </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">collaborative community </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">where EdTech developers can </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">connect</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> with teachers. After a fun filled and hard working weekend, TinkerEd was </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">awarded the winner </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">by judges who commented that,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“TinkerEd is trying to solve a real world problem for the entire ecosystem.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Who can join TinkerEd </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EdTech entrepreneurs</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><a href="http://tinkered.co/edtech" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">EdTech creators join us </span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and get connected to teachers who share their expertise to enhance your product development. We share your specific EdTech projects with our teacher community and find the perfect teachers to meet your needs. </span></div>
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<a href="http://tinkered.co/edtech" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can join our growing EdTech community here.</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">: </span><a href="http://tinkered.co/teachers" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Teachers join us </span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> to explore new Technology and help shape EdTech tools of the future. Our teaching community can access a range of paid roles with exciting EdTech companies.</span></div>
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<a href="http://tinkered.co/teachers" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can join our growing teaching community here.</span></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The #edtechbridge chat is a great way to engage with a community who are excited to find new ways to collaborate and take on the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #3f312e; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">challenge to solve the disconnect.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21YznU6xKeeNaADM6iF1GYQl0-YLNGPDFJcoH-hdb3m_rgoHzlRoPF9eGRDrwLo_rqXH5y8XWSoHKgoZEJ9olbXip5Y8WipWry6vUKLIOt9MucAaRksMxAiHNVVv2Br85dtuQFD5zj0M/s1600/suzanne_400x400.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi21YznU6xKeeNaADM6iF1GYQl0-YLNGPDFJcoH-hdb3m_rgoHzlRoPF9eGRDrwLo_rqXH5y8XWSoHKgoZEJ9olbXip5Y8WipWry6vUKLIOt9MucAaRksMxAiHNVVv2Br85dtuQFD5zj0M/s1600/suzanne_400x400.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"><b>About Teacher Suzy:</b></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">Suzy is Elementary teacher from Ireland, where she taught for 5 years. She recently moved to live in San Francisco where she enjoys learning about new EdTech. She also enjoys tutoring, volunteering at Reading Partners and connecting teachers with EdTech companies through her latest adventure, </span><a href="http://tinkered.co/" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;" target="_blank">TinkerEd</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;">. She is also a huge Startup Weekend Education fan, where TinkerEd won first place in November 2013. You can connect with </span><a href="https://twitter.com/teacher_suzy" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;" target="_blank">@teacher_suzy</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: normal;"> on Twitter.</span></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-75096760851863880102014-07-03T09:09:00.002-07:002014-07-03T09:09:53.650-07:00Complete Transcript from #edtechbridge chat: 7.2.2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-34892040477788730982014-07-02T12:55:00.001-07:002014-07-02T12:55:38.729-07:00#EdTechBridge chat 7.2.2014 6pm ET: #iste2014 and #notatiste2014 recap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Join us tonight at 6pm ET / 3pm PT/ 11pm GMT via @nurph http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge/chats/495 or twitter using hashtag #edtechbridge. Looking forward to it!</div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-72232850488650496732014-06-21T09:26:00.003-07:002014-06-21T09:26:27.669-07:00#EdTech Bridge Video Recap: 6/18/2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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As a new feature, @katyamuses and @mr_isaacs will be providing a short video recap of the tweetchat including some of our favorite tweets. We hope you enjoy the videos.</div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-41101230846605157042014-06-18T17:38:00.003-07:002014-06-18T17:38:19.216-07:00#EdTechBridge Chat: transcript 6/18/2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="no" height="750" src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-chat-wednesday-6-18/embed?border=false" width="100%"></iframe><script src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-chat-wednesday-6-18.js?border=false"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-chat-wednesday-6-18" target="_blank">View the story "#EdTechBridge chat: Wednesday, 6/18" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-37931087529349393452014-06-18T14:35:00.001-07:002014-06-18T14:35:23.008-07:00#EdTech Bridge chat: Wednesday, June 18: Developing Relationships at Conferences<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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Join us at 6pm ET tonight as we discuss Developing Relationships between EdTech Developers and Teachers at Conferences...</div>
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Check out our new @Nurph Chat room: </div>
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http://nurph.com/EdTechBridge/chats/453</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQFgPEXndx6ltEoe91rXS79Xzi3TIhYP44g1-ndqLRveguIc7lv9avoBLTKVP4s6S96LS5YEqKbDPjE8jCfnrmuKvqek3Q3wKDDmItZMuUoSCLoAg-MagywoCzWmvdRvqMUr_7EiEYpc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-18+at+5.32.07+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyQFgPEXndx6ltEoe91rXS79Xzi3TIhYP44g1-ndqLRveguIc7lv9avoBLTKVP4s6S96LS5YEqKbDPjE8jCfnrmuKvqek3Q3wKDDmItZMuUoSCLoAg-MagywoCzWmvdRvqMUr_7EiEYpc/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-06-18+at+5.32.07+PM.png" height="504" width="640" /></a></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-43247486451015201562014-06-09T10:31:00.002-07:002014-06-09T14:02:31.264-07:00Summer #EdTechBridge Professional Development Opportunities<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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During our PD #edtechbridge chat I had mentioned that I was planning on offering some of my school district Professional Development courses to the #edtechbridge community. Following are a number of courses that I would like to invite members of our community to take advantage of. I teach and offer PD for Bernards Township Public Schools and our administration welcomes guests to learn with our staff. My hope is that we can ultimately develop a consortium of school districts that share this vision.</div>
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Participation in all courses is limited and Bernards Township Public Employees will receive priority in terms of registration. Also, if courses do not meet minimum enrollment they may be cancelled. If you would like to sign up for a course, please, visit http://staffcollege.bernardsboe.com. In the lower right hand corner is a link to 'Request a Guest ID'. Please complete that so that you will have access to the site and the ability to register for classes.</div>
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All courses listed below are free and will be conducted entirely online. Generally speaking, the courses are presented in an asynchronous manner with discussions throughout the course. This provides you with the opportunity to review most of the content and formulate your discussion posts at a convenient time for you. However, you will want to log in throughout the week to engage in discussion. Some of the courses will have optional synchronous sessions to bring participants together.</div>
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Following is a list of courses I will be teaching and they are offered online:</div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>Game Based Learning: Minecraft in Education</b></span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">In</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> this course we will go beyond theory and into practice as you will find yourself stranded in the open sandbox world of MineCraft. </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Minecraft is a fascinating game for so many reasons.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">Interestingly, the game really does not come much instruction or direction yet our students have managed to learn how to play and what they have done in the environment is nothing short of amazing.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">You will learn like our students do…as you go! You will learn how to build, dig, and gather resources by utilizing the many online resources available.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">You may find yourself watching youtube videos to learn how to survive your first night or searching for crafting recipes on one of the many minecraft wikis.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">By walking in your students shoes you will experience learning in a unique manner.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;">After immersing ourselves in the game you will contemplate ways that minecraft could be used in your area to enhance student learning and engagement.</span><span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="letter-spacing: 0.25pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; letter-spacing: 0.25pt;">There will be several synchronous (real-time) sessions where we will explore the multiplayer aspect of the game. All participants will receive a minecraft account that they can use for the duration of the course.</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>Game Design with Gamestar Mechanic</b></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>July 29 - August 2</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHH0PUysQtwEZ87mCagBEqbGwIl0FPkH7r2Qpdj0CQV2O3PZfwLxJvo3UlCKHxg0kZWWiJZfvDlYrjoA7vroVM2nhEtTbvzStniwvJnCjPCXFpKge_yYD-Yp2kIt9g5_ZpGw5iOfSxuyQ/s1600/gamestar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHH0PUysQtwEZ87mCagBEqbGwIl0FPkH7r2Qpdj0CQV2O3PZfwLxJvo3UlCKHxg0kZWWiJZfvDlYrjoA7vroVM2nhEtTbvzStniwvJnCjPCXFpKge_yYD-Yp2kIt9g5_ZpGw5iOfSxuyQ/s1600/gamestar.jpg" height="138" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Game design is a wonderful way to
introduce students to a variety of skills including storytelling, design
thinking, and logical reasoning.
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Gamestar Mechanic takes learners through a story driven game to teach
design principles and problem solving as players must fix elements and ultimately
create their own game.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The approach is
simple and gamestar mechanic is appropriate for students in grades three
through eight.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In this course, you will
play the role of a student as you work through the missions to learn how to
create your own games.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">By the end of the
session you will create your own simple game that includes all the key elements
including story, appropriate level of challenge, and functional game
mechanics.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">After taking the course you
may choose to create a game for your students or guide your students through
the process of creating their own content related game.</span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>Tweet Chats: Grow Your PLN on Twitter</b></span></div>
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<span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><b>July 29 - August 2</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXe_N9JRY5YwtcXXKD4fFIps3XLSOAXXFEyfYV8F93cCVbhMdjK3HbHOwMkCvmO7TNvxHuxbihNhck_2LkwJwMPgLEf-idjKF4zvH8ecx3tlmyRgtjAAW4vbCWUqdz95MyrfqyAU6UgK0/s1600/twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXe_N9JRY5YwtcXXKD4fFIps3XLSOAXXFEyfYV8F93cCVbhMdjK3HbHOwMkCvmO7TNvxHuxbihNhck_2LkwJwMPgLEf-idjKF4zvH8ecx3tlmyRgtjAAW4vbCWUqdz95MyrfqyAU6UgK0/s1600/twitter.jpg" /></a><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Are </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">you on Twitter? </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Have you ever participated in an educational
‘tweet chat’?</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Tweet chats are typically
hour long real time chats conducted using a twitter hashtag.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">The conversations tend to be high spirited
and invigorating and they are made up of some of the most passionate educators
you’ll ever meet.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">During this session,
participants will engage in tweet chats based on professional areas of
interest.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">In addition to participating
in the global tweet chats, we will participate in our own online discussions
sharing our reflections on the experiences.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">
</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">By the end, you just may be hooked and find yourself participating
weekly in addition to growing your PLN and interacting with your ‘tweeps’ on a
regular basis.</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></div>
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<span style="color: #322f31;"><b>Introduction to Coding with Scratch<br />August 18 - 22</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrIPY5aBPTbvWCP9Nl5UJLdH8ioIJtwa5jk3f2GxtrA33hsq11IR2ra9o71C9w0RES5CUlTX7-zP0aG4gxg5RfV2o5FxaU1AKUT_FYZp9ma_PKmA5UvUjN4I7VLS_qQn-fdDZ0vC1PUuo/s1600/scratch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrIPY5aBPTbvWCP9Nl5UJLdH8ioIJtwa5jk3f2GxtrA33hsq11IR2ra9o71C9w0RES5CUlTX7-zP0aG4gxg5RfV2o5FxaU1AKUT_FYZp9ma_PKmA5UvUjN4I7VLS_qQn-fdDZ0vC1PUuo/s1600/scratch.jpg" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #322f31;">With Scratch, you can program your own interactive stories, games, and animations or re-mix those created by others. Scratch helps young people learn to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively — essential skills for life in the 21st century. Scratch is a project of the MIT Media Lab and is provided free of charge.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #322f31;">Scratch is designed with learning and education in mind. Educators have been supporting Scratch creators in formal and informal learning environments since 2007. Scratch has been used across all curricular areas in grades K-12.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #322f31;">Now is the perfect time to learn and teach coding as there has been a large push to teach coding literacy as an important skill for all students. In this course you will explore, play, and create in the Scratch environment and consider ways to incorporate Scratch in your teaching. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAPVgZV_lklQMC9csCq5w6sB4F2dC1NRtMsi_7uVaFju9tNpHlvNd03zIzeIC2bUeoxebGk8rVUnnhZIg_vS1GeVX6aw_LyeaDqGTvjz4ibf7ua8WwEd0_FX1-MsY4Asqdq5qGSk6NcU/s1600/code.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdAPVgZV_lklQMC9csCq5w6sB4F2dC1NRtMsi_7uVaFju9tNpHlvNd03zIzeIC2bUeoxebGk8rVUnnhZIg_vS1GeVX6aw_LyeaDqGTvjz4ibf7ua8WwEd0_FX1-MsY4Asqdq5qGSk6NcU/s1600/code.jpg" height="200" width="200" /></a><span style="color: #322f31;">This past
December, Computer Science Education Week encouraged students across the world
to participate in the Hour of Code </span><span style="color: dimgrey;">™</span><span style="color: #322f31;">, an initiative geared at exposing all students to
computer science in order to teach coding literacy, an important skill for all
students. The initiative was promoted by code.org, an organization dedicated to
providing opportunities to teach and learn coding in grades K-12. A wide variety of activities were offered
utilizing different products. Tutorials
and activities are offered on tablets, computers, smart phones, and offline
through a variety of non-digital activities.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #322f31;">In this
course, you will choose several hour of code activities to participate in and
reflect upon. In addition, we will
discuss ways that you could incorporate coding or the Hour of Code with your
grade level or content area. </span></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-46785694946808560202014-06-04T18:57:00.001-07:002014-06-04T18:57:20.721-07:00#EdTechBridge complete transcript: 6/4/2014: Classroom User Testing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="no" height="750" src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-complete-transcript-from-6-4-2014-ch/embed?border=false" width="100%"></iframe><script src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-complete-transcript-from-6-4-2014-ch.js?border=false"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-complete-transcript-from-6-4-2014-ch" target="_blank">View the story "#EdTechBridge: Complete Transcript from 6/4/2014 chat" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-54494069714030776132014-06-04T06:38:00.000-07:002014-06-04T10:47:46.695-07:00#EdTechBridge Chat: June 4, 2014 6pm ET / 3pm PT / 11pm GMT<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" /></a></div>
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Join us for this week's #edtechbridge chat!</div>
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Topic: Classroom User Testing</h4>
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Date / Time: June 4, 2014 6pm ET / 3pm PT / 11pm GMT</h4>
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Where: Twitter - use hashtag #edtechbridge throughout the chat</h4>
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Tentative Questions:</div>
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Activity: Please take a moment to complete the contact survey: https://t.co/HcNVMCZ8YA so we can facilitate collaboration among members.</div>
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Q1: Did you do your homework from last week? Share your experience connecting with another member of #edtechbridge</div>
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Q2: Have you ever had devs test a product in your classroom / have you ever tested your product in a classroom? How was it?</div>
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Q3: What do you find is the best way to get feedback on a product from kids?</div>
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Q4: How can you maximize a short class period for testing and getting feedback?</div>
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Q5: How can we ensure that classroom user testing values and respects the teachers and students?</div>
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Q6: What are ways to follow up and keep in touch after classroom testing?</div>
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Q7: How often should you test an #edtech product in the classroom?</div>
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Q8: Are you interested in participating in classroom testing (devs and teachers)? If so, what products would you like tested (or to test)?</div>
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Summer will be a great time to establish relationships for classroom testing in the fall. Ideally, teachers can use the summer to become familiar with products and collaborate with #edtech devs.</div>
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Q9: For summer, we are thinking of biweekly #edtechbridge chats. Yes? No? What will work for you?</div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-44097073135876804462014-06-04T06:24:00.002-07:002014-06-04T06:24:51.310-07:00#EdTechBridge Transcript - May 28, 2014: Moving Relationships Outside of the Chat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="no" height="750" src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-chat-may-28-2014/embed?border=false" width="100%"></iframe><script src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-chat-may-28-2014.js?border=false"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-chat-may-28-2014" target="_blank">View the story "#EdTechBridge chat: May 28, 2014" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-49816532002119892062014-05-27T14:24:00.000-07:002014-05-27T14:24:03.016-07:00May 28 #EdTechBridge Chat Topic: "Moving Relationships Outside of the Chat"<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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Relationship building has been at the heart of the #EdTechBridge mission from the beginning. We started with a conversation (aka problem solving session) at SXSWEdu where we worked with the other participants in our session to look at the cultural divide (or perceived divide) that exists between Entrepreneurs and Educators. As I've mentioned before, other sessions that dealt with bridging this gap existed as well. The RESOUNDING take away from the Win-Win: Strategies for EdTech/Educator Engagement session conducted by Educators Lindsey Own, Stephanie Sandifer and Entrepreneurs Jay Goyal and Dion Lim was the importance of building and nurturing relationships. The session facilitated by Katya Hott and I was grounded in this sentiment as well. </div>
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In order to stay true to our mission we want to make sure that the chats can be action oriented and not simply discussion based. Some of the #edtechbridge participants have begun to form relationships outside of the chat and we want to facilitate this aspect of the community.</div>
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Our topic will focus on the notion of Moving Relationships Outside of the Chat. As such, we have drafted the following questions:</div>
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Q1a: Read the intros / profiles of people on #edtechbridge. Follow 3+ people with whom you'd like to colaborate with on an #edtech project.</div>
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Q1b: Who did you follow and why would you like to connect with this person outside of the chat?</div>
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Q2: What could you do after this chat to further establish a relationship with the people you want to connect with?</div>
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Q3: What #edtech tools do you currently use to manage contacts / nurture relationships? Why are they effective?</div>
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Q4: What kind of #edtechtool would you like to co-design / collaborate on with another member of #edtechbridge? Why?</div>
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Q5: In an #edtechbridge collaboration, would you rather be a designer / feedback-provider / advisor / other? Why?</div>
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Q6: Do you have any relationships / collaborations that have already been born out of #edtechbridge chats? Please share!</div>
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Q7: What would you like to see in terms of a tool to help you connect and collaborate with others?</div>
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HOMEWORK: Connect with 1+ people outside of this #edtechbridge chat and report back to us next week! </div>
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I think it will be a very exciting and productive chat. We hope you will join us for...<br />
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#EdTech Bridge: Moving Relationships Outside of the Chat</div>
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Wednesday, May 28, 6pm ET / 3pm PST / 11pm GMT</div>
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on twitter using #EdTechBridge</div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-68389126610681145292014-05-21T16:17:00.002-07:002014-05-21T16:18:38.014-07:00#EdTech Bridge: Full Transcript - Wednesday, May 21, 2014<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" /></a></div>
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<iframe allowtransparency="true" frameborder="no" height="750" src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtech-bridge-transcript-may-21-2014/embed?border=false" width="100%"></iframe><script src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtech-bridge-transcript-may-21-2014.js?border=false"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtech-bridge-transcript-may-21-2014" target="_blank">View the story "#EdTech Bridge Transcript: May 21, 2014" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-46959483402945261242014-05-20T16:46:00.001-07:002014-05-20T16:50:14.380-07:00EdTechBridge: How can we work to use edtech to create and maintain a healthy digital learning environment?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
For our next #EdTechBridge chat on Wednesday, May 21 we will be exploring the idea of Creating a Healthy Digital Learning Environment and the role #EdTech plays in this area. This came from a tweet during our last question of the evening, "What topic would you like to discuss next week.". We always seem to get great ideas from members of this incredible community. Emily Johnson (@rantoine2) shared the following idea:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR_tW2q51pdo5Y7pYzhvBCoS6joDXjQTauLDimtetURYvYHUD0yuXL8H5R3Kr9EilxXXD4kWYNbQDTKY4b10Jn1IMUSMBSK11FMPkq3VfBVx3EFChtFHi3Sm2OZkZWFNHHwsCjpgMt5E/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-20+at+7.32.33+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuR_tW2q51pdo5Y7pYzhvBCoS6joDXjQTauLDimtetURYvYHUD0yuXL8H5R3Kr9EilxXXD4kWYNbQDTKY4b10Jn1IMUSMBSK11FMPkq3VfBVx3EFChtFHi3Sm2OZkZWFNHHwsCjpgMt5E/s1600/Screen+Shot+2014-05-20+at+7.32.33+PM.png" height="226" width="400" /></a></div>
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As we began planning we figured there was so much here that it would more likely lead to two chats. For this week the focus will be on creating and maintaining a healthy digital learning environment. We are pleased to announce that Emily will join us as co-moderator for the chat!<br />
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Our tentative questions are:<br />
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<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>What tools do you think encourage digital literacy and what experiences have you had (positive / negative) trying to promote digital literacy?</li>
<li>What have your experiences been with regards to collaboration and digital citizenship?</li>
<li>What makes a healthy / unhealthy edtech environment in the classroom?</li>
<li>How can edtech developers and teachers work together to make tools that promote a healthy digital learning environment?</li>
<li>With technology in (and out of) the classroom, have your views on healthy / unhealthy behavior changed?</li>
<li>How can EdTechBridge promote and create healthy learning environments? </li>
<li>How can educators utilize edtech tools and social media to model positive online behavior?</li>
</ol>
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We are open to adding a few questions and always encourage input. Feel free to provide feedback regarding the topic and questions so we can encourage a thought provoking and engaging chat.<br />
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Join us on <b>Wednesday, May 21</b></div>
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at 6pm ET / 3pm PT / 11pm GMT</div>
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for the next installment of the #edtechbridge chat</div>
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Don't forget to use the #edtechbridge hashtag</div>
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The mission of EdTechBridge is to create a community of stakeholders (educators, EdTech developers, and students) with a goal of working together to create better edtech products to move education forward.</div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-43038729142324160922014-05-14T16:28:00.001-07:002014-05-14T16:28:42.786-07:00#EdTechBridge Transcript; May 14, 2014: Share your #EdTech story!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-73010005150253168462014-05-12T18:01:00.001-07:002014-07-15T10:29:56.370-07:00Share Your EdTech Story: Guest Blog Post by #EdTechBridge friend Scott Freschet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCWitp9GYOcX6ocrAu_f_g_3Tnz3hG43cEsiJYVLPJebogqcm6WRXh8TV8qfHcoYl0K97SZXPJZB2IYJQKIq410MDHpIRJCEmkQIKExicOoI3rjm7DkCOOp-JUXeQy4vYDu_haeYcO9x8/s1600/edtechbridge+logo_large.png" height="147" width="320" /></a></div>
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<b>Share Your EdTech
Story<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<b>Guest Blog Post by #EdTechBridge friend</b></div>
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<b>Scott Freschet</b></div>
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<b><i>Everyone loves a great story. Don’t forget to regularly share your how
you use EdTech with colleagues, friends,
family, and the world!<o:p></o:p></i></b></div>
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Every Wednesday at 6pm EST, educators and EdTech companies
meet on Twitter (#EdTechBridge</a>) to collaborate and work together to
meet the needs of our most important consumers... our students<o:p></o:p></div>
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And last week - right after the #EdTechBridge twitter chat -
we had one of those “magical” moments at the office.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Scott: “You know what?”<br />
Steve: “What?”<br />
Scott: “The favorite part of my day is when I get to hear a
“story” of how an educator is using Actively Learn with their students.<br />
Steve: “Duh! Me too.”<br />
Scott: “Next week’s #EdTechBridge chat should be about
CELEBRATING these stories. I know EdTech is being used across the country and I
want to hear more awesome stories!!”</blockquote>
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Immediately after this conversation, we spent 10 minutes
brainstorming ways for educators and EdTech companies to SHARE THEIR STORIES.
If you don't belive me... take a look at our whiteboard!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>What Happened Next</u></b>:<o:p></o:p></div>
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I sent the idea to the #EdTechBridge community… and they
LOVED IT!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i> “Scott. I’m so
honored that you guys took the time to brainstorm for #EdTechBridge! Awesome! I
love the idea of a “Share Your Story” chat”<br /><o:p> </o:p></i></blockquote>
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The moderators Steve Isaacs (@mr_isaacs) and Katya Hott (@katyamuses) just shared with me the
tentative questions for the #EdTechBridge Twitter chat this Wednesday at 6pm
PST. They are below:<o:p></o:p></div>
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Q1 - What are positive/negative stories of how your students
use EdTech?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Q2 - What can you now do differently with EdTech in a
classroom that you couldn't do before?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Q3 - How has building/using EdTech changed your opinion of
education?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Q4 - How do you think classroom learning has changed as a
result of EdTech?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Q5 - What are you most proud of as a result of your EdTech
product/using EdTech in your classroom?<o:p></o:p></div>
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Q6 - What would you want to change about how EdTech is
designed?<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><u>So My Ask Of You:</u></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=160336080157337118" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>Please continue staring GREAT stories of how you use EdTech
in your classroom and with your students! Whether it is a story about Actively
Learn or another great tool... lots of people want to hear about your
experiences!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here are 2 small ways you can get started:<o:p></o:p></div>
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#1 - Share a great story of how you use Actively Learn in
the comments of this post!<o:p></o:p></div>
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#2 - Join hundreds of other educators and EdTech companies
on the #EdTechBridge Twitter chat this
Wednesday at 6pm EST.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">About the Author</b></div>
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<b><br style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;" /></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">Scott Freschet is a director at Actively Learn (a reading tool that enables teachers to improve student learning) who loves to build startups and cook for his wife. Follow him on twitter </span><a href="http://www.twitter.com/ScottFreschet" style="background-color: white; color: #009abe; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">(@ScottFreschet)</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #999999; font-family: ff-tisa-web-pro; font-size: 16px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">.</span></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-60399017642080156682014-05-07T16:30:00.003-07:002014-05-07T16:30:29.299-07:00#EdTech Bridge: Wednesday, May 7 Complete Transcript<div class="storify"><iframe src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-wednesday-may-7-2014/embed?border=false" width="100%" height=750 frameborder=no allowtransparency=true></iframe><script src="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-wednesday-may-7-2014.js?border=false"></script><noscript>[<a href="//storify.com/mr_isaacs/edtechbridge-wednesday-may-7-2014" target="_blank">View the story "#EdTechBridge: Wednesday, May 7, 2014" on Storify</a>]</noscript></div>Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-11917537701706837082014-05-05T11:51:00.003-07:002014-05-05T11:51:48.420-07:00#EdTechBridge: Would you like to contribute to our openPD initiative?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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We've had a number of great chats and it is clear that the idea of creating a community to bring EdTech developers and Educators together has been well received and is gaining traction. The mission of EdTechBridge is to foster a collaborative environment among Developers and Educators with a shared goal of creating great EdTech products to help our students and move education forward. It is very clear that creating and nurturing authentic relationships is the common theme to accomplishing this goal. <br />
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Last week's chat was about working together to improve EdTech Professional Development. The discussion was great. Now it's time for action. One of the ideas that was discussed involves the idea of offering inclusive Professional Development opportunities. How might this look?<br />
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Here are a few ideas:<br />
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<li>Open existing Professional Development opportunities to the greater #EdTechBridge community.<br /><br />My school district has a program called "Staff College". Every year, staff must complete six hours of PD (based on our large catalog of offerings) in lieu of a day of in-service. Essentially, those who complete this get the Friday before Memorial Day off. Staff who have not completed this requirement come in for a scheduled day of in-service. A number of years ago, while I was completing my Masters degree in Online Teaching and Learning I proposed adding online courses to our offerings. This idea was well received and now we offer a variety of online courses to supplement the face to face offerings. When the EdTechBridge discussion began I approached my Assistant Superintendent about the possibility of opening up these courses to members of our community. He was very open to welcoming others. This could become a great model especially if other districts, educators, and developers were interested in contributing and possibly offering courses that could also be opened to the community.<br /></li>
<li>Offer 'office hours' through Google Hangout (or the like).<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4A1MfYSjQhuq2Tm62qbF2PqDMA6x6dqeB3f2mXlA9ibIK7yVmxkavQzCz4rm_EvngqIuaT8TYQNKgN_65mzfh8v0TGN2BkFfRomr_tjFWXqgKEVl2L-7C3wc3stq06EhfWboIHnEDw8/s1600/office+hours.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4A1MfYSjQhuq2Tm62qbF2PqDMA6x6dqeB3f2mXlA9ibIK7yVmxkavQzCz4rm_EvngqIuaT8TYQNKgN_65mzfh8v0TGN2BkFfRomr_tjFWXqgKEVl2L-7C3wc3stq06EhfWboIHnEDw8/s1600/office+hours.JPG" /></a><br /><br />This possibility came up during a chat a few weeks ago. It wasn't directly tied to PD, but related to the idea of being available to educators, customers, etc. in order to facilitate relationship building. In terms of our 'openPD' initiative, regularly scheduled office hours could certainly serve as a casual, informal option for PD related to specific topics or products.<br /></li>
<li>Schedule PD 'webinars' through our Google+ community.<br /><br />This group is already composed of awesome individuals with varied skill sets. We can certainly create a schedule of interesting 30 minute talks on a variety of skills, tools, or concepts. Sessions could be recorded and archived on the #EdTechBridge YouTube channel (coming soon...) The events could be interactive through google hangouts and hangouts on air. This is not a revolutionary concept but it could certainly help put a face to community members and assist with professional development while staying true to our mission of relationship building.<br /></li>
<li>Curate and share existing on demand learning opportunities. <br /><br />Again, not revolutionary, but if we work together we can certainly develop a data warehouse of worthwhile PD related to EdTech products and classroom implementation. </li>
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That's a start and we are open to your thoughts. Do you feel another discussion on PD (PD Part 2: "Making Real Connections" or "Moving from Words to Action" would be worthwhile for this week's chat? If not, please don't hesitate to offer other ideas for chat topics. I know that one thought was related to Conferences or Relationship Building 'do's and dont's'. As a community, we are looking for participant input. Please post your thoughts on these PD ideas, chat topics, and if you are interested in joining us in this 'openPD initiative' please let us know!<div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-160336080157337118.post-73423005756868290802014-04-30T10:05:00.002-07:002014-04-30T10:05:52.230-07:00#EdTechBridge: Wednesday, April 30 6pm EST: Topic and Questions<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join us tonight for the 5th #EdTechBridge chat:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">When: April 30, 6pm EST tweetchat (use #EdTechBridge hashtag throughout the chat)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Topic: What can we do as a community to improve EdTech PD?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tentative Questions:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Q1: </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">How do we tell the difference between good PD and bad PD? </span>#edtechbridge<span style="color: #1a1a1a;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Q2: </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">How do we measure effectiveness of PD? </span>#edtechbridge<span style="color: #1a1a1a;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Q3: </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">What are common misconceptions people have about PD in schools? </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b>#edtechbridge</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Q4: </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">What are the most critical activities that all PD should include? </span>#edtechbridge<span style="color: #1a1a1a;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Q5: </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">How can teachers and devs work together to make better PD?</span><span style="color: #1a1a1a;"></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b>#edtechbridge</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Q6: </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">How can tools help make PD better? Any specific examples?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b> </b>#edtechbridge</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Q7: </b><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Can we use #edtechbridge to make better PD? How?</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #1a1a1a;">Katrina Stevens from #EdTechChat and @EdSurge will be joining us as our guest moderator this evening. Hope you can make it!</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1a1a1a; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feel free to provide your general thoughts on the topic and question here in the blog comments.</span></div>
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Games and Learninghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10525760825218991948noreply@blogger.com0