Bits and Bytes
WBMS Personalized Learning and Technology Newsletter
Kelvin's Story
15-Year-Old Kelvin Doe is an engineering whiz living in Sierra Leone who scours the trash bins for spare parts, which he uses to build batteries, generators and transmitters. Completely self-taught, Kelvin has created his own radio station where he broadcasts news and plays music under the moniker, DJ Focus.
Kelvin became the youngest person in history to be invited to the "Visiting Practitioner's Program" at MIT. THNKR had exclusive access to Kelvin and his life-changing journey - experiencing the US for the first time, exploring incredible opportunities, contending with homesickness, and mapping out his future.
After watching the video, we encourage you to take some time to think about some of the following questions.
- If this can happen in Sierra Leone, what barriers exist to prevent it from happening at Webb Bridge?
- "Kelvin learned by making,"- what does that mean to you?
- How is the MIT Innovative Lab similar to your classroom? How is it different?
- What would learning look like in your classroom if students had "unlimited creative freedom"?
- Describes David's role in Kelvin's journey.
- " Unless we have a host of young people who can think at any given point that here is a challenge, this is a problem, here is an opportunity to solve it, we won't have stable growth in national development." Agree or Disagree? Why?
- How do we create thousands of young people who are inspired by making stuff and to solve the problems that are in their own neighborhoods?
- What is your big takeaway from this?
All feedback is non-evaluative and is meant to support your continued growth. Remember, I am here for you, so if you want me to co-plan a lesson with you or model a strategy, you only have to ask! See you soon!
Did you know that WBMS has several tools to help you make VR happen in your classroom?
At GaETC, I had the opportunity to attend a session by Leslie Fisher about Virtual Reality and how it's being used in the world and in classrooms. You can check out Leslie's Presentation here, but essentially she pointed out that VR is being used anywhere from gaming to sales to the world of medicine. Doctors are now going through simulations to learn surgical procedures and cars salesman are allowing customers to experience the cars from the comfort of their homes before they ever go to the physical sales lot.
What does this mean for education? Companies such as Nearpod, MinecraftEdu, and Google Cardboard have started to develop VR appropriate resources for students. This topic is on the leading edge of educational technology and some even say it's a game changer.
In a recent Fortune article, Brandon Farwell, partner at Rothenberg Ventures, which invested in Nearpod, believes virtual reality is a platform that influences numerous verticals broadly across enterprise and consumer.
“360-degree immersive VR, especially in a classroom setting, will revolutionize education methodology,” Farwell says. “Students can affordably be transported to a novel 360-degree medium, whether it’s touring the Smithsonian or learning about the hard sciences like astronomy or anatomy. By using an affordable headset, like the ones Nearpod is providing classrooms, and a smartphone, teachers enable students to unlock their imaginations and enjoy learning.”
Want to try out VR? WBMS has
- 30 Google Cardboard
- 20 Nearpod VR
- 1 HTC Vive
Want a lesson on how to use these or need ideas for resources? Stop by RM 125 or email Katie Pardee for more info.
Want More?
One teacher, who considers herself a low-tech teacher, said, "Kahoot? Really? We've been using that for years and some people are just now hearing about it. I didn't realize how much more we already do than other schools."
Some our favorite sessions/ideas/ were:
- Breakout Edu
- Virtual Reality
- Tony Vincent's presentations
- Formative
-Sli.do
- Leslie Fisher presenations
-Quizziz
- Emaze
Here are some highlights of the conference.
Excerpt from "Why Don’t We Differentiate Professional Development?" By Pauline Zdonek
As I prepare for another afternoon of district-provided professional development activities, I always make sure that I bring plenty of work to do (papers to grade, lesson planning, etc.). This isn't because I have a bad attitude and hate professional development (PD). A great PD event can really energize me to improve my classroom instruction. However, the sad fact is that the majority of PDs I attend are repetitive, simplistic, or downright boring. I bring other work to do so that I don't get irritated when I feel that my time is being so carelessly wasted.
Wasted Opportunities
I am not alone. According to the Center for Public Education's Teaching the Teachers report (PDF), almost all teachers participate in PD throughout the year. However, a majority of those teachers find the PD in which they participate ineffective.
Thinking about this in the car on the way home after another wasted opportunity made me angry. Why is so much of the teacher professional development that I attend such a waste of time? Because, as Teaching the Teachers reports, a majority of PD is provided in a workshop model. And workshop models are inherently ineffective. It amounts to giving everyone the same information, regardless of their prior knowledge, skills, experience, and leaving it up to them to determine how (or if) it is implemented...
Contact Me
Email: pardee@fultonschools.org
Website: wbmsedtech.weebly.com
Location: 4455 Webb Bridge Road, Alpharetta, GA, United States
Phone: 470-254-8722
Twitter: @mkpardee