Feel free to download a full-sized version of this poster for use in your school.
Maker Education: A Quick Introduction
Journey from a Makerspace to a Maker District
Building the Future: Tinkering and Playful Learning
The Maker Movement in K-12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research
Invent to LearnThe Maker Movement in K-12 Education: A Guide to Emerging Research
“When you drive a car down the road, you need an engine to move it forward and you need brakes to steer. The vehicle of technology requires both the engine of optimism and the brakes of pessimism in order to steer [us into a better tomorrow].”
Kevin Kelly, How We Build the Future.
I found Kevin Kelly’s ideas (video below) provocative and the visual presentation is creative. While important matters such as social, economic, and political issues aren’t addressed, I do think this adds intriguing flavor to the discussion of technology’s role in society and our future.
Enjoy the video.
WIRED founder @kevin2kelly explains why progress often looks like dystopia to the untrained eye.
— Big Think (@bigthink) September 20, 2022
This video is part of The Progress Issue, a Big Think and @Freethinkmedia special collaboration. pic.twitter.com/Oc38okxVOy
Dance group, Autism with Attitude, will brighten your day. Enjoy the video below.
Image Source: Newsner
“During this time of social distancing it is important to remember that creativity has not been canceled. We all can benefit from engaging into creative activities that stretch us and force us to look at our world and situation from another angle” (source). What does creativity look like in the current world of quarantines and social distancing? Kylie Peppler suggests that there are four types of creativity – “the technical, the critical, the creative, the ethical” and that the best creativity happens when we work within all four areas. (source). Peppler suggests that the wide open nature of the internet is a bit too much for students and that instead we should focus on interest-driven learning. DIY.org offers camp-like structures with small groups of people with similar interests who work together. Connected Camps is another program that also focuses on interest-driven learning. In our current situation of quarantines and social distancing being creative can be a daunting task so start small – 20 minutes a day. Lots of people are turning to music – learning an instrument or dance, baking, reading, completing puzzles, learning to paint, etc. Creativity does not have to be a huge project but it can make a huge difference in our overall mood and attitude even if it is just 20 minutes a day. What will you create today?
References:
Image source, Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash
All other sourced information is hyperlinked as applicable above.
@hollandkaylah
This week we’re investigating maker education, tinkering, and coding in our educational technology courses. Translating all the hands-on experiences from our face-to-face class meetings into the online learning environment has been a fun challenge. Thankfully, we actually began preparing this module for the online environment in Summer 2019, so it has been a work in progress. A special thanks to colleague and EdTech Team member, Melissa Marshall, for helping develop the module.
I thought I’d share some of the resources that I put together. Perhaps these will give families ideas to spice up their days of quarantine. Please share your ideas and recommended resources in the comments, so that our preservice and in-service teachers can learn from you, too.
Browse through this slideshow to view examples that might spark inspiration for your next maker or tinkering project.
Feel free to bookmark, save, or print the following document.
Powtoon allows you and your students to quickly make high-quality videos. They have ready-made templates with “drag and drop” customization. The process is as simple as making a PowerPoint. There is a wide range of styles to choose from, including animated, whiteboard, infographic, and live action.
This video from Jen Jonson is a great place to start:
Check out more in the Powtoon User Gallery
The free version of Powtoon may be adequate for many educators. However, there are benefits to purchasing a subscription. Click here for more details.
Powtoon Tutorials
5 Ways to Use Powtoon in the Classroom
11 Ways to Use Powtoon in the Classroom
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
“Express ideas with ease by combining images, graphics, audio, video and text on one digital canvas.” – Glogster
Students and teachers can use Glogster to present information in an engaging, multi-dimensional way. It’s a digital poster where visuals, audio, and video can all be integrated into one display. A glog is also a free-form canvas where the user can select and zoom into content at their own self-guided pace.
Upgrading to the paid version gets you more media choices and a closed classroom environment where teachers can post assignments and monitor student work. Click here for more information on pricing.
Here is a getting started tutorial from Jen Johnson:
Click the link to interact with this Glog:
https://edu.glogster.com/glog/alexander-graham-bell-inventor-of-the-telephone/30g1qord5ia?=glogpedia-source
Click the link to interact with this Glog:
https://edu.glogster.com/glog/biome/374r115g6qe?=glogpedia-source
Click Here for more examples
40+ Ways to Innovative Teaching Using Glogster EDU
Resources for Teaching with Glogster
Glogster for Visual Literacy
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
Students can use Voki to create talking avatars that they can customize and easily share with a URL. Audio can be created through text-to-voice, their own voice recording, or an uploaded audio file. The free version does not even require a student account.
Upgrading to the paid version gets you more avatar choices and a closed classroom environment where teachers can post assignments and monitor student work. You can also upgrade to Voki Hangouts, which mirrors an online social network experience while giving teachers full control. Click here for more information on pricing.
Here is a tutorial from Dr. Sharon Mistretta on how to use Voki:
Teachers can use Voki avatars to create engaging lessons that address multiple learning styles. For example, students can access instructional material with written text and a talking avatar reciting the information for more auditory learners.
Voki is a powerful presentation tool for students to creatively share their learning. The avatars are customizable, so students can practice the design process for a given task. For example, students could create an avatar for a character from Greek mythology, using their research to inform their design. Then they could write the script for the avatar to tell a story about one of their adventures.
Collection of tweets from teachers showing how they used Voki
Blog featuring ideas for how to integrate Voki into your teaching
Free Lessons that use Voki
5 Innovative Ways to Use Voki in the Classroom
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
Mystery Doug’s videos are geared towards elementary students, ages 5-10, to spark their curiosity and teach them how to be critical thinkers and problem solvers. The goal of each video is to nurture children’s curiosity by explaining how we know things, not just what we know.
The weekly videos are created based on questions submitted by kids, and at the conclusion of each video, viewers get to vote on which question will be answered next. Some recent questions were:
Teachers can use these videos during morning meeting, snack time, transitions, warm-ups, or even as rewards. Parents could use them with their children for enrichment.
Doug also has a full science curriculum that is definitely worth checking out.
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
This virtual makerspace gives students opportunities to engage in creative and critical thinking. They learn how to develop, problem-solve, revise, and persevere through the process of creation. They can even 3D print and see their designs come to life.
Something that makes Vectary stand out from similar tools is its special effects. For example, drawn objects can be texturized to look like photographs; you can even add lighting and shadows. Surfaces can be made reflective, so that as you tilt the object, it shows the reflection of other objects.
Vectary can also be a great collaborative tool. Students are able to work synchronously with one another in the same file and work as a team to produce designs.
The free version of Vectary is quite limited. Users may only have three projects at a time and their only sharing/exporting option is to create an embedded link. However, Vectory is offering free premium accounts to schools! Click here and scroll waaaay down to the bottom to request an account.
This video from Vectary is a great place to start:
Click here for their online gallery.
5 STEM Education Plans and Activities for Vectary
Vectary Tutorial Page
Teacher-Made Vectary Tutorials
Guest Blogger
Raina Burditt
