Eclectic Technology

Jackie Gerstein has a number of posts that look at the Maker Movement, and in this post she discusses looks at two issues within the movement that have come to her attention through social media (quoted from post):

* Maker movement initiatives are often driven by more affluent white males.

* The maker movement is too often being associated with the tech stuff – Arduinos, Littlebits, Makey-Makeys – stuff that less affluent schools and community programs can afford.

Gerstein shares evidence that addresses each of these issues and then moves on to discuss how we can provide learners with maker opportunities at minimal costs. This portion of the post is divided into three sections:

* Changing Perceptions about Stuff

* Changing Perceptions about What Activities are Considered Making

* Changing Perceptions: Making is about a Mindset and a Process Not About Stuff

Her bottom line, let's focus on the act of making. If you are considering adding a maker corner to your classroom next year, or have the opportunity to work with learners this summer and would like them to become a part of the maker movement, take the time to peruse this post.

What do young people need to know? Jackie Gerstein provides a great visual as well as a list of 18 ideas, and each has a link for additional information. She also requests that you send her additional ideas.

After you review the list you might consider how many of these skills are taught in your school, or consider which should be taught in school.
Five of her ideas are below. Click through to the post for the rest.

* How to be a self-directed learner – finding and using resources (both face-to-face and online) to learn and improve personal interests

* How to evaluate websites and online tools for credibility

* How to work in mixed-age groups

* How to code

* How to set and achieve goals

In this post Jackie Gerstein states "to fully understand the purpose of school, the history of its evolution as an institution needs to be understood." After this is discussed she provides refers to an article that discusses "how to bring our schools out of the 20th century."

The next section shares quotes from a wide range of people on schooling. Three are below.

* Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.  Albert Einstein

* Knowledge that is acquired under compulsion obtains no hold on the mind. Plato

* Education is one of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.  Bertrand Russell

She then looks at the messages sent out by our current school system and asks if we are questioning "What is the purpose of school?"

In fact, there are 8 questions that are raised in this post. You can find them in the image above, or you may click through to the post.

It is rare that I curate two articles from the same author over two days. This post by Jackie Gerstein is an exception. Gerstein has been discussing Maker Education for quite some time and in this post she states:

"...recent discussions with other educators and administrators made me realize that the idea of maker education is often vague and seems unrealistic in terms of regular classroom instruction.  As such, in the future, I am going to associate and discuss Maker Education in the context S.T.E.A.M. – science, technology, engineering, arts (including language arts), math, hopefully, encouraging regular classroom teachers to integrate maker education projects into their classrooms."

What follows is a lengthy list of articles and other resources that may assist you in learning about Maker Education and moving you towards implementing it in your classroom. The image above is also a ThingLink image, and will provide you with links to the same articles.

In this post Jackie Gerstein states that ethical decision-making is a skill needed today. Technology is advancing at a speed that is often beyond our comprehension and our understanding of how this technology may impact our future may not yet be known. After looking at why it is important to integrate ethical decision-making into the education of young people she shares a resource that "can be used as a source for ethical dilemma discussions in middle school and high school classes."

Some of the ideas suggested include:

* The Right to Privacy versus the Right to Know

* Internet Access as a Human Right

* Neuro-enhancements

She also shares some recent court cases related to online behavior that students might be interested in analyzing.

Teaching ethical decision-making helps students use critical thinking skills, focuses on Bloom's higher order levels, and provides additional skills discussed in the post. As always she provides additional resources.

This infographic illustrates how SAMR may be used as a framework as we move from Education 1.0 to Education 2.0 to Education 3.0. The actual post also includes a wide variety of links to additional resources.

Have you considered using the SAMR model as you develop new curriculum or revise curriculum. As you move up SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) Gerstein would say that Substitution and Augmentation are Education 1.0, Modification is Education 2.0 and Redefinition is Education 3.0.

For more information on these concepts click through to the post.

This great visual shares Jackie Gerstein's look at the 21st century skills suggested by Tony Wagner. Along with the four listed above, effective communication, critical thinking and problem solving, curiosity and imagination, and agility and adaptability learn a bit more about:

* Collaboration across Networks

* Initiative and Entrepreneurship

* Grit and Perseverance

* Resilience

* Hope and Optimism

* Vision for the Future

* Empathy and Global Stewardship

* Self Regulation

Gerstein has written more on each of these areas and links to her work are also available on this post.

Jackie Gerstein shares her thoughts on what beliefs a growth mindset facilitator will have. From my experience we seem to have a growing number of learners whom may struggle with growth mindset. As an educator you may find some suggestions that you could incorporate into your classroom.

Jackie Gerstein shares a number of posts she has written that discuss growth mindset as well as an interview with Carol Reiley, who is publishing a book, Making a Splash, which is designed for children to learn more about growth mindsets (as well as parents/teachers). Along with the great image (shown above) that compares growth mindset and fixed mindset there is an interview with Carol Reiley as well as two short video clips.

You can also check out her website, GoBrain, to learn more the book and to find a larger version of the visual and information on growth mindset.

Do you teach your students about growth mindset? Is this a topic of discussion with other staff in your school? Jackie Gerstein has shared three excellent resources in this post that focuses on growth mindset.

She has created an infographic (image above) that looks at fixed mindset and growth mindset, showing how a student may identify based on their mindset.

The next step was putting the infographic into ThingLink and creating links to over 15 resources. Here is the link: ThingLink version of the infographic.

There is also a slideshow that provides additional resources (although some may be repeated in the ThingLink). The slideshow is split into four sections:

* Mindsets

* Historical Background

* The Educator with a Growth Mindset

* Teaching the Growth Mindset to your Learners

Since this post is based on a workshop she provided it is a great resource to share with teachers at your school (or other teachers whom you know). Make sure to check out the resources for students. You may find yourself creating a poster to help your students learn more about growth mindset.

Are you interested in being known as an educator whom is also a maker educator? This post from Jackie Gerstein provides a great visual that looks as many of the roles you might play, including

* Process facilitator

* Resource suggestion provider

* Lead learner

* Relationship enabler

* Technology tutor

This visual is designed in ThingLink and if you click through from the post you will find additional resources in the visual

And you might also view a SlideShare where Gerstein provides  additional resources.

Although our jobs as educators is to teach our students we must also be aware of their other needs. In this post Jackie Gerstein explores how Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs intersects with education and technology. The infographic above (from the post) shows how each of the area of needs intersects with technology and some of the 21st century learning skills.

The post looks at each area Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs and provides additional information in the six areas that may be addressed through technology. (Physiological needs, the base of the needs, is not addressed via technology.)

Jackie Gerstein reviews the skills identified by Tony Wagner as well as six additional skills and attributes she believes learners need today.  She then looks at a recent Gallup Poll that looks at Americans expectations of schools today. Quoting from the post:

"While student success may depend on mastery of content in core subject areas such as math and reading, it also depends on more than knowledge of core content. Critical thinking, creativity, communication, and other soft skills, as well as student physical and social wellbeing, are also necessary for future success in higher education and in the workplace. Americans Say U.S. Schools Should Teach “Soft” Skills"

The post continues and explores how the other 21st century skills may be classified as social-emotional skills and how the growth of these skills may positively impact students in other areas. As always Gerstein has provided a post that pushes boundaries and provides a variety of resources.

In this post Jackie Gerstein provides a great list of books that you could use to teach children about the skills and attributes that they need to learn. She states " Children’s books, as they are written and presented as stories, have great potential to explain these often abstract concepts.  There is also evidence that the brain processes stories differently and more powerfully than facts and lectures."

The stories are divided into sections:

* Grit

* Resilience

* Hope & Optimism

* Vision

* Self-Regulation

* Empathy & Global Awareness

There is also a list of books suggested by Tony Wagner in the areas of Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, Collaboration and Curiosity and Imagination.

Although geared to children some are appropriate for older students.