Some would find this purchase to be somewhat odd. Indeed it is, somewhat. Those who know me have heard my rants about needing a “real” keyboard. My typing skills are not the best by any means but I seem to be able to do it faster and with fewer mistakes if I can get a tactile response that’s more than the whole device vibrating.
It’s why my last computer purchase was a tablet PC – and mind you, I don’t regret that purchase. That computer does almost everything I intended for it to do. I enjoyed the challenge it gave me to install and configure Linux on a computer with a touch screen, and for times that I need to use Windows (they do occur) I have to say Win 7 is the nicest version of that OS that I’ve ever seen.
But here I am, now owning a tablet. I use it for the following things:
Netflix
It has a 10.1″ screen, which is large enough for anything I don’t intend to use at more than an arm’s length away. To that end I’ll often go through a Dirty Jobs (or other show) marathon while grading student work on my main computer.
Audible
I love Audible for many of the same reasons I love podcasts. I spend a decent amount of time commuting, and good audio content keeps my mind active. My mind also tends to wander when trying to read nonfiction, so it’s a good way for me to digest that information if I have someone reading it to me. The only downside is that since I refuse to pay for a 3G tablet I have to download the books before I head to the car, but that’s not hard to do.
Schoolwork
The first school day after I purchased my tablet I decided to see if I could leave my main computer at home. As it turns out SchoolMax (our content management system for grades, attendance, and other student records) works just fine with any Android browser, as does Edmodo. Edmodo even has an app for that, which I recommend. For an intense “grade everything and grade it all now” session I still prefer a more powerful computer, but for what I normally do it works quite well.
Reading
Google Books, the Kindle App, and more are available for most tablets. My tablet weighs about the same as some books I’ve read and much less than others. One of the biggest selling points I can see for schools switching to a 1:1 ratio is the replacement of dead tree textbooks with digital equivalents. Are there more reasons? Of course! But the biggest complaint I hear about moving to a 1:1 ratio is the cost. Tablets are cheaper than most computers, and the more $50+ textbooks they replace, the better.
Beyond that, there are several apps that make browsing online content very convenient. I particularly like Feedly, though there are others with the same functionality. It has the ability to sink up with my Google Reader feeds and display them in an almost magazine style format that allows me to skim through content without the usual feeling of being overwhelmed.
Games
I fully admit it, I’m a gamer. Puzzle games, adventure games, MMORPGs, I like most categories. There are a wide variety of games available for whatever tablet OS you care to use. My favorite, currently, is Robo Defense. It’s one of the few apps I have that wasn’t free, and it was totally worth it.
Next up, I’ll make a post about the things I don’t like about tablets.
Reaching A High Score Presentation[ 29:25 ]Download (210)
Last year I rewrote my curriculum to make it into a game, and doing so helped my students master the content. This is my presentation on what I did, as given at this year’s Powering Up With Technology Conference.
Apologies for the poor audio quality, I was projecting (using my “teacher voice”) to the participants and that tended to overwhelm my mic every time I was next to the computer.
Due to reasons beyond my control, I won’t be anywhere near the internet for most of this Thursday. In fact, I won’t even be in the same state.
Naturally, the first thing I thought of was the first grade kids I had been planning to teach!
Now, most of them are able to log in on their own, but most is not the same thing as all. I could have them do an online lesson, but instead I pulled out a project I had my students do a fewyears ago back when I didn’t have a computer lab to call my own.
With some construction paper, a little glue, and some markers/crayons/colored pencils, we’ll be making our own laptops. The point of the lesson will be to talk about how computers are used to communicate with others online. The end result will be a neat toy laptop to call their own.
I’m in a market for a Tablet PC. I’m sure part of the reason is because my wife keeps flaunting the iPad she’s walking around with, but I’ve wanted a computer with a touchscreen much longer than the iPad’s existed, so there’s more to it than that. Here’s what I’m looking for.
Under $600. I’m trying to stay within a budget here. I have some disposable income, but not a lot.
A touchscreen. (Kind of obvious there, huh?) The larger the better. Multi-touch is a plus, but not a necessity.
A REAL keyboard. I’m OK with a smaller keyboard, but those keys need to move, dagnabit. Typing on a virtual keyboard slows me down and annoys me to no end. This rules out most of the tablets on the market, because “you can connect a keyboard with Bluetooth” Means I’m now carrying around a tablet and a keyboard. At that rate, I might as well buy myself a netbook tablet PC for the same price so I can install Linux on it. Speaking of which…
An open operating system. This is another complaint I have with iOS. I wouldn’t mind that every app in their store requires Apple’s seal of approval if they were more consistent with who gets through the floodgates, but there you go. A PC can dual boot Linux, which is about as open as it gets. (Android isn’t too shabby either though, I have to admit.)
Not Lenovo or Sony. I have grievances with both of those companies that I will not address in this particular post.
So I’ve been shopping around for several days now, including but not limited to a salesman and I seeing if an Android tablet could fit in one of those iPad cases that comes with a built in keyboard (it couldn’t). What I’ve ended up with is this. It matches every criteria I’ve set for myself. Problem is, I’ve no idea if there’s something better out there. I’ve been looking, but that doesn’t mean I’ve been searching all the right places.
So here’s where you come in, my wonderful PLN – Based on what I’m looking for, should I get the computer in the picture? Is there something better? Should I just hold off? I could kind of use some additional opinions here before I make a $500+ dollar decision.
*In this case, these “rules” are not unlike the “Pirate Code” from a popular movie series. They’re guidelines, meant to be followed when it’s convenient for you. For the most part, they’ve been convenient for me.
With the advent of Google+ there are a lot of people thinking (and not thinking) about how to properly use a social network. The typical behavior when a new network is discovered is to dive in headfirst and find every person you’ve ever known that’s currently using the service.
This is completely normal. It’s akin to showing up at your class reunion and scanning the room for familiar faces. You don’t want to be the awkward person that’s all by yourself, after all.
What’s not such a good idea is what brings me to my first rule:
1. Don’t follow everyone!
While the top image is relevant to this rule, the bottom one is even more telling. Mr. Dembo‘s a very smart person with a lot of Web 2.0 savvy and a job that centers around community building. He could theoretically surf social networks in his office and honestly say that’s part of his job description. If he says something is too much, it’s too much.
If you want a social network to be social and not just a noise machine, there is a definite limit to how many people you can follow and still have a conversation. On Twitter (the social network I’ve spent the most time on, historically), my personal limit is somewhere between 50-100 people depending on how active they are and how much time I have to read posts. Your own mileage may vary, but when I see someone following over 100 people I begin to seriously doubt that they could be following any of the conversations.
Of course you can still use your network as a megaphone to broadcast things, but that just requires more people to follow you – not the other way around.
2. Have more followers than you follow!
Minecraft creator Notch is doing things right, at least by my standards. The mystery person… not so much.
A good social network is an asynchronous one. With the exception of a newly created account, you should always have more people interested in what you have to say vs. the other way around. Following a grossly disproportionate number more than you have following you – particularly when it’s over 100% or 100 followers more – makes it seem like you’re playing the numbers game.
What’s the numbers game? That’s when you’ve decided to treat your social network like a game and your follower count like a high score. A “cheap” way to get that number up is to break Rule # 1 and follow everyone you can. A percentage of those will follow you back out of gratitude. You then unfollow everyone and repeat the process until you’re happy with how many people are following you.
(Except they’re not really following you, because if they follow everyone who follows them then they will quickly have all meaningful conversation drowned out by noise and spam.)
If you see someone like the censored picture above, chances are they’ve no interest in what you have to say. Following them is a waste of your time and a reinforcement of their negative behavior. I tend to block people like that.
3. Block people!
The above account was also following 18,514 people at the time I took the screenshot. It started following me while I was writing this post, and I blocked it before I took that screenshot.
There seem to be a lot of people who feel the “block” feature on a social network is meant for accounts that are vile, profane, or promote illegal activities.
It is.
It’s also useful for helping to police social networks. Any network that’s reached a “critical mass” of users is far too large to be adequately regulated by that network’s paid staff. They have to crowd-source that responsibility to their user base.
There’s a reason why Twitter has a “Report Spam” option. It acts the same as the “Block” option, except that if enough people report that account the staff will look into it to see if it should be shut down.
Don’t be content to allow spammers to follow you. Report/block them, and you’ll end up helping to make that social network a better place – one click at a time.
OK, enough about not following – let’s talk about who to follow – me!
Just kidding.
Who you follow is totally subjective and depends on only one person: you. Life is too short for you to spend all your time scrolling past posts that don’t hold your attention. Every person you follow should be interesting to you. Frequent posts about mundane activities (I’m going to bed! I’m getting sandwich! I’m studying!) might be interesting to you if you are particularly close to that person, but if you’re not, they’re noise.
Follow people who frequently post things that make you sit up and take notice.
5. Post things that are interesting to you.
Yes, I finally caved in and posted a screencap of my own posts. Relevant, I guess….
Chances are that if you want to actively participate in a social network, you want to find people who have interests similar to your own. If you post things that you think are interesting, the (non-spammer) people who follow you will most likely be interested in the same things. It’ll take a while for the network to build up, but it will build up.
And you won’t have to agonize over what to post next or whether or not something will make you lose followers, because they’re already following you for being you.
Hopefully, being you comes naturally.
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I don’t assume that all these rules apply to everyone. They’re my rules that I’m trying to follow myself. That said, I’ve found them to be very helpful to me.
If you’re testing the waters of social networking – or you feel like you’re drowning in the deep end – perhaps some of these might work for you as well.
(And should you decide I’m interesting, perhaps you might want to follow me on Twitter or Google+. Only if you want to, of course.)
This episode of Academic Aesthetic is brought to you by antibiotics and cough drops. You see, early last week a combination of lots of talking (occupational hazard of teaching), and post nasal drip caused by a sinus infection made me lose my voice. It’s better now, but can only talk so long before my agonized squeaks become a source of amusement for all around me.
So submitted for your approval is an interview of me done by Dr. Kavita Mittapalli, someone whose name I most likely just mispronounced horribly so I won’t try to say it again.
The good Doctor visited one of my 1st grade classes last week, before the whole AWOL voice incident, and recorded a conversation with me afterwards. I rambled on, and then made the bad decision of requesting a copy of the interview.
And I still haven’t learned, as I’m now making another bad decision and playing it for you. Enjoy.
It’s that time of the year again, when I devote two days to education and technology … er, more so than usual, at least.
As usual, my conference was full of fun, excitement, and learning – so much so that I forgot to take proper notes! I did not, however, forget to post on Twitter up through the end of Tuesday’s keynote, so rather than reinvent the wheel I thought I’d copy/paste the highlights here.
The keynote itself was presented by Chris Lehmann (Website) (Twitter), principal of the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia, PA.
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theartguy Aaron Smith
Up at 4:30 / Whose bright idea was this? / Oh yeah, it was mine. #haiku #mset11
theartguy Aaron Smith
At the conference / No one at Registration / Opens at seven. #haiku #mset11
Oh yeah, games in education. I started in Episode 174 by giving a background of what I’d done up to that point, which I suppose means that’s not when I started at all, but that’s the post I named “Part 1″ so I’m just going to leave it at that.
In Episode 175 I discussed my current thoughts about turning my own Middle School curriculum into a game, including several problems and solutions I’d encountered. Some problems had multiple possible solutions, and I’m not quite sure which ones I’ll pick when I’m done.
Now we’re up to the errata, the extra things, the little details that help the big picture idea without making or breaking it. Also, keep in mind the disclaimer I offered in Part 2: All of this is not yet implemented and is subject to change based on whims as well as school policies. If my principal glares at me and says “Mr. Smith, stop being an idiot,” I’ve no choice but to salute and about face.
(FYI: My wording here is for effect. My principal might tell me “No,” but she would word it in a much nicer way than I did.)
Quest Types
When adopting a game-themed teaching strategy, assignments become known as quests. My students who have played any RPGs (A.K.A. Role Playing Games, such as Warcraft, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, etc.) will already be familiar with the terminology, and those who have not will still hopefully be able to make the adjustment.
Projects = Standard Quests
The word “standard” is used here only to differentiate these from other quests. Students select these, attempt them, and if they fail they can try again. When they succeed they get the points attributed to the quest and move on to their next chosen quest. Students cannot get credit for completing the same Standard Quest twice, though they can attempt to redo a failed quest as many times as is necessary. The only thing they miss out on is time.
Homework and Warm-Ups = Daily Quests
Some RPGs have a quest type known as a “Daily Quest.” This quest is repeatable – you guessed it – once per day. Rather than have the students copy/paste their work from previous days, these quests would be worded so that the work done would vary each time. Sample quests could include “Write down two things you learned in class today,” “Listen to this audio file and write down what you think is the main idea,” and “Leave a comment on Mr. Smith’s blog where you ask one question about your current project.”
The quest text could be the same each day or be selected from a pool of quests, but the point is these quests are meant to be repeatable with different results each time.
Oh, and like Standard Quests, these can be repeated if failed. They just can’t be successfully done more than once per day.
Quizzes and Tests = Boss Battles
In the “real world,” so to speak, a boss is an employer – someone who tells you what to do and (hopefully) pays you for it. In most video games, a boss isn’t your employer. Instead, they’re bigger, nastier enemies for you to take down. This is compensated by earning better than normal loot and XP (experience points, remember) when you win. My quizzes and tests fit well into this category. Quizzes and tests as a whole are worth only a small percentage of my students’ final grade, but as I give far more projects than quizzes each assessment becomes worth more individually than any single project.
As with the quests, these boss battles should be repeatable. If a student takes a test 20 times to pass, but then passes, then they’re showing they’ve learned the content being covered. Getting it right the first time becomes less important than getting it right eventually.
Content Management Software
A component that has been part of my course since my first day on the job has been the submission of work online. I just don’t see the need to require an assignment to be created on a computer, then be transferred to a dead tree, then have its grade placed back on a computer. That middle step seems pointless and, considering the days where my wife’s health issues have kept me out of the building, a major road block at times.
I’ve tried multiple solutions for online assessment, including Drupal, Status.net, WordPress (the self-hosted version), and Edmodo. I’ve been quite happy with WordPress, as it solved several problems I had last year with Edmodo (I’ll get into those in a little bit), is simpler to use than Drupal, and doesn’t allow the students to send private messages to each other like Status.net. Unfortunately WordPress lacks an addon that will manage points the way I want to manage them.
Fortunately, Edmodo does that part perfectly. Using my old grading system I chafed at the way Edmodo totaled up points when I graded assignments, but their method of counting up all the points equally will fit right in with the new standard for my class.
A previous issue I had with Edmodo, where students submitted the wrong file for a project and had to wait for me to delete their submission so they could try again, has been resolved. Students can resubmit a project as many times as they want until I grade it. As I won’t grade them until they’ve completed the quest, this works out very well.
My only misgiving with Edmodo at this point involves student profiles. They have the ability to change their profiles, including their avatars to whatever they want. This could give rise to issues ranging from inappropriate imagery to students changing their names to attempt some form of anonymity while they harass someone. I’ve dealt with one student this year already who thought nothing of insulting other students online, and that was on a site that afforded me a lot more control over student accounts than Edmodo ever did.
That issue makes me think of proceeding with caution, but unless I find a better, more controlled solution, we’ll be using Edmodo when I start using my Game strategy. After all, I can always set an offending account to “read-only” until the issue that made me take action is resolved.
Classes
In most RPGs, players are able to select different classes, or archetypes for their characters. Common class examples in existing RPGs are warriors, mages, rangers, hunters, rogues, priests, paladins, and so on. While I’m not planning on implementing this idea right away, I’m toying with eventually allowing my students to pick a class while … um … taking my class. Since I teach at a Creative & Performing Arts Academy, classes can align with the majors that are available.
Students could choose to be bards (for the music-themed or drama majors), artificers (visual arts), performers (drama or dance), or go with the catch-all technologists. Each class could have specific requirements (Mandatory quests? Specific boss battles?) and / or perks (Bonus points when completing quests that align with their class?).
Naturally something this complicated will take a lot of planning to use in an effective manner, so I’m starting to think about it now, long before I intend to try it out. With luck I’ll be able to work out the details over the summer and have students selecting classes when they take my course next year.
Well this concludes my brain-dump for now. Rest assured there will be a Part 4, but don’t expect it right away. I’ll write that one out when I have enough new content to make it worthwhile.
Yesterday’s post was not meant to be as long as it was. My initial goal was the content of today’s post, but as I sat down to write it I thought I’d start with an overview of where I was coming from.
Apparently a 2 paragraph introduction can be stretched into a 7 minute podcast.
In any case, as I wrapped up my “story so far” it was painfully obvious that I’d crossed the fine line between not enough information and too much detail. I saw a good stopping point and hit “Publish.”
Which brings us to today.
I’ve had people say wonderful things about my classes, but what I mainly see is room for improvement. If 90% of my kids are on task. that means a full 10% of them are distracted somehow. I need a hook to reel in that 10%, 5%, 50%, or whatever percentage that isn’t learning in my room.
And so we look at video games.
Keep in mind that this is a “behind the scenes” view of my thinking process. Nothing here has been implemented by me yet. I may think of something better. I may find out that there’s a policy preventing one facet or another. This post is a snapshot of my thoughts as of right now.
What do games have that my curriculum is lacking?
The most engaging games are ones that have some elements that are simple enough to pull you in, but others that are challenging enough to build you up.
The most engaging games have levels of progression. These levels can be different zones, game maps, scenarios, or character power. Angry Birds and World of Warcraft are not that different when you dig down deep enough.
The most engaging games forgive failure. You can play a level over again, or fight that boss battle one more time. This is very different from the current academic strategy of allowing a student only one opportunity to pass a quiz.
Make the class a game.
Something I’d heard of last year was the idea of using a points system instead of traditional grades. Students earned points (called XP, short for Experience Points) by completing various tasks and assignments, and earning certain numbers of points allowed students to “level up.” One story about a college professor was republished a lot, but with little information on how it was specifically implemented.
The WoW in School teachers implemented a system with 2,000 XP per level, so a student with 0 XP would be level 1, at 2,000 XP they would earn level 2, 4,000 would get them to level 3, 6,000 for level 4, and so on, then assigned grades at the end based on levels reached. Assignments all had point values – Journals = 250, Forums = 250, Projects 500+, and so on.
What’s the incentive?
Competition: Some students will want to show they’re “better” by maintaining the highest score.
Clear Progression: If a student gets an A on their first project, they have nowhere to go but down. Maintaining a grade is not as exciting as building one from the ground up.
Choose Your Own Adventure: Linear lessons are all well and good, but different students have different interests. When I’m playing Warcraft I can often pick and choose which quests I want to work on. Why not let students pick between different projects that address the same objectives?
Level Perks: “Congratulations, you reached Level X! You’ve earned a homework pass!” “… You’ve earned the ability to listen to YouTube while you work!” “… You’ve earned the title ‘Master Technologist!’” “You’ve unlocked an extra credit project!”
Not every one of these incentives will work with every student, but not every facet of Warcraft appeals to every player. The goal is to have enough varied incentives to appeal to a wide demographic.
Align the new standard with the old requirements.
And so we get to the tricky part. My employer uses online grading software that has very specific requirements in place to force teachers to stay on task with their grading. I’m not about to complain about this software, as I think having something that allows students and parents to stay on top of student progress throughout the school year in addition to Progress Reports and Report Cards is a fantastic idea.
It does, however, present a challenge. How do I make an XP grading system compatible with an A B C D F grading system?
One grade per week.
Teachers in my county are required to enter one or two grades per week based on how often they see their students. As my school is on an A Day / B Day schedule, I fit under the one per week category. The grade can be anything: homework, quiz, test, project, warm-up, etc., and I can always put in more than one grade per week, but I need that minimum.
The solution I came up with was to stop naming my Projects in the grading software. Instead, they’ll be “Week 1 Project,” Week 2 Project,” and so on. I’ll still require students to complete at least one project per week, but which they pick first will be up to them. When I grade the work, I’ll list the name of the actual project in the comment section in the grading software.
What’s an A?
The WoW in School teachers have said the most push back they got was from parents who still wanted to measure student progress by traditional letter grades. Saying “Well your daughter’s a Level 5 Technologist” can get looks of confusion compared to “She has a B.”
One solution to this is to assign grades based on levels. Let’s say for example that the maximum level possible from doing all the work is 20. I could say that all students that are level 18, 19, or 20 have an A. All students that are level 16 and 17 have a B, and so on.
The second option, and perhaps the one involving the least amount of work, would be to just let the grading software figure it out. Let the students pick their quests (projects), if they complete them they get the points. I hesitate to use this system as my limited math skills tell me that everyone who participates will simply get an A regardless of the effort put forth.
Another possibility is to let the students reach whatever level they can to determine the maximum level possible (less math for me), then have the top 10% have an A, the next 10% down have a B, and so on. Everyone will still have the chance to earn an A if they all get within that top 10%. The down side will be that it’s grading on a curve, and in the past I’ve disliked any grading system where one enterprising student could “wreck the curve” by outperforming the rest of the class. To prevent that from happening I’d have to include some form of weekly XP cap to prevent someone from hitting level 300 in the first week and therefore demotivate the rest of the class.
Well once again I’ve reached the point where my own eyes are beginning to glaze over and my ADD is kicking in. I’ll include the rest of my thoughts in Part 3.
So I bought a tablet. A 16 GB Toshiba Thrive, to be precise.
While the top image is relevant to this rule, the bottom one is even more telling. 
