I’m excited to share that CEP 811: Adapting Innovative Technology into Education has been awarded Best Fully Online Course in the annual MSU AT&T Award Competition in Instructional Technology! I’m so proud of this course and so honored to work with the amazing individuals below and our amazing students who bring CEP 811 to life!
This afternoon about 500 participants at the #iPDX15 conference collectively authored a book, in about 20 minutes.
Here’s a quick behind the scenes peek into what we did, and, how you can do it too!
Almost a year ago Darren Hudgins emailed me and challenged me to create an interactive keynote for about 500 people at the IPDX15 conference. A year or so of thinking culminated in a fun activity that took place this afternoon. I have been running Quickfire Challenges for a while now, but, I’ve never done anything to this scale. At the core of a Quickfire challenge is a deep (hopefully) transformational learning experience in a short time period.
Here’s how this challenge played out.
My goal:
I wanted participants active at their tables curating the information that had been shared over the 3 days of the conference. I wanted the activity to have a meaningful & tangible outcome. I decided that the outcome of this activity would be a collaboratively authored book and I worked backwards from there.
Pre-activity preparation:
I created 50 open google documents (with custom bit.ly links) with about 45 different writing prompts.
To start the session:
Each table was given an envelope with the bit.ly custom URL.
I told everyone the smartest person in the room was the room and that we were going to collaborate. (It’s very important to note that they knew nothing of the final outcome!)
When the timer (20 minutes) started the participants accessed their google documents and began on their prompt/challenge. The prompts ranged from writing poetry, to creating images to sharing a “just one thing” take away for specific disciplines.
The timer stopped.
Then, it was at this point that I gave them a little background. I had been listening to how overwhelmed they were by all of the information, how could they cull through everything? And the surprise was revealed…they had all collectively authored a book called: TL;DR The Quick, Creative, Crowdsourced Guide to #iPDX15 http://bit.ly/ipdx15tldr
Then, I talked a bit about bricolage, Sherry Turkle’s Evocative Objects and then added one more twist … I let everyone know that there is an Espresso Book Machine at Powell’s Bookstore and they could take these raw materials and print a book! I gave them an extra 10 minutes to go back to their document to edit/clean up the text for printing.
It’s about an hour or so after things have wrapped up and I have posted the raw first draft of the book. As you can see – it needs another level of copy editing. The beauty of this being an open, collaborative and living document is that it can continue to be improved! I have downloaded all of the files and will work on a second draft to add more context and clean up some of the copy. (This is just a brief reflection, but, if I had to do this again I will think more about the scaffolding I provide participants in terms of formatting.)
If anyone is interested in printing the book, there is one more level of formatting that needs to be done to prepare the text for the Espresso Book Machine. Formatting directions are here (https://www.powells.com/bookmachine/) or (for a fee) Powells can help with the formatting as well.
To summarize:
One of the key things I wanted people to take away from this was that there was an intentional and tangible purpose to our activity. It was really important for me in creating this activity for our group to collectively create something that could be useful to others.
I believe this idea could be repurposed in many ways. Say you’re working on curriculum alignment – you could have a large group of people with carefully constructed tasks, give them a short amount of time, then SURPRISE – you’re half-way to aligning your curriculum to standards. As a classroom teacher you could do a derivative of this activity in almost any discipline.
I would sincerely like to thank everyone for playing along! This was a tremendous challenge to me and I hope you enjoyed the experience. If you take this idea and run with it, please keep in touch and let me know how it plays out!!
If you are an educator in Ireland (or if your summer travel plans include Ireland) be sure to attend the free 8th annual MAET/ICT/Educational Technology Conference (#GREAT15) on the campus of NUI Galway in Galway, Ireland on Thursday July 16, 2015 from 1pm-4pm (IST).
Last year’s #GREAT14 conference again exceed our expectations. Several of our #edchatie friends made it to Galway for the conference and the addition of the Youth Media Team was incredible. It truly was an amazing day and we are looking forward to reconnecting and making new friends at #GREAT15.
The conference is organized and presented by the Year 2 Overseas MSU MAET students as a requirement for their CEP 815: Technology and Leadership course (see the assignment here), and is targeted towards anyone who works in the field of education (K12, higher ed, and beyond).
Below you will find archives of the past 7 conferences to give you an idea of the spirit of the conference:
2014 #GREAT14: http://great14.weebly.com/
2013 #GREAT13: http://great13.weebly.com/
2012 #GREAT12: http://great12dublin.weebly.com/
2011 RELATe: http://relate2011.weebly.com/
2010 RELATe http://sites.google.com/site/maetrelate2010/
2009 PLATE http://2009plateconference.weebly.com/index.html
2008 PLATE (parts of site available on archive.org)
If you’re interested in coming, fill out this simple form to register your interest. We will send more updates as the schedule emerges: http://goo.gl/7VmSc
One more opportunity to connect:
If you’re an educator or maker in, or around, Galway I would love to talk to you about the possibility of visiting your classroom/learning/making space! Our students are eager to not only visit classrooms, but potentially collaborate with you on an activity. We will be in Galway June 28 – July 24, 2015. I know this is the end of the school year and into holidays (which is a tricky time) but we are very interested in connecting with you! Just tweet me (@gravesle) if you’re interested!
Ten years ago I posted this to my blog:
Well 29 year old Leigh, the past 10 years have been very eventful. I have:
Turning 39 isn’t bothering me like 29 (apparently) did. It’s hard to start to gracefully articulate the incredible opportunities that have presented themselves over the past 10 years. 10 years ago, I had never stepped foot outside of the US/Canada. Directing the MAET program has truly been a defining, life changing part of the past decade. I feel incredibly fortunate that I can say, without hesitation, that I have a friend wherever I go, on earth. Everyone reading this, each and every one of you that I have had in class, as an advisee, as a friend, acquaintance has transformed my life. I have a lot more left to learn and experience. It’s quite exciting to anticipate what the next decade will bring to my life – 49 here I come.
Today I had the honor of kicking off the Plymouth-Canton Community Schools i3 Tech Conference at Salem High School. i3 = Inspire, Innovate, Integrate and the conference hashtag is #PCCSi3
Plymouth-Canton Community Schools (PCCS) is in the early stages of a large technology transformation. A recent passing of a bond has allowed for many exciting 1:1 initiatives (both iPad and Chromebook) a migration to Google Apps for Education and upgrades to labs and new STEM labs. Now, 1:1 initiative may seem fairly routine in these days, however, if you’re not familiar with PCCS you need to know that the district is comprised of over 19,000 students, 1020 teachers, 606 support staff and 63 administrators…it is practically its own city!
I was asked to come to kick off the teacher led (yay!) PD days today and tomorrow. Now, as I told my friend Michelle – I can’t get up in front of a bunch of teachers who are being asked to use Google Apps & Chromebooks and present from my MacBook, I would look like a total j*****s! So, I ordered an Acer C720P Chromebook, it arrived Tuesday and I started delving into the world of Chrome. My dearest MAET students helped me out and pointed me towards some incredible resources (which are embedded in the Google :) presentations below.) These three in particular led me to extraordinarily helpful resources:
Google the Good Stuff (via Jason Kaiser)
Chrome Keyboard Shortcuts (via Sara Best)
Extensions, Add-Ons and Apps, Oh My! How to Utilize Google in Your Classroom (via Melissa Gorsegner)
I went all in and presented from Google Presentation. I’ve used it for low stakes things, but never for anything this important! I made great use of the free Snag-it plug-in for screenshots. It all worked wonderfully. In full disclosure, when I was working on the presentation I was mostly using my MacBook air, but, that’s the beauty of Google Apps right?
I’m not one to use much text on my slides, so, as standalone resources the slides below don’t make much sense – but there are embedded hyperlinks on each page that take you to the resources I was discussing. It was great presenting from the Chromebook and things were very smooth – no discernible difference, a presentation is a presentation! I’m really enjoying learning all the great things Chrome and the Chromebook can do, certainly pushing me out of complacency and reminding me that I have to do a better job at keeping up with all platforms.
BIG thanks to all of the PCCS Elementary teachers for coming today (some MAET students and alums!) Looking forward to kicking off the day for the secondary teachers tomorrow. Though I have the easy job, the sessions delivered by the teachers were phenomenal!
Elementary Group (Thursday):
Secondary Group (Friday):
This is my 5th year blogging for Ada Lovelace Day. It’s a wonderful exercise in celebrating women in science, technology, engineering and maths.
This year I would like to celebrate a group of women here on campus at MSU – the MSU Women in Computing (WIC) group. They are a phenomenal group of young women here on campus (here is their current executive board.) I had an opportunity to work with a member of the MSU WIC community at a hackathon planning meeting a few weeks ago and I was so inspired by her knowledge and drive. I’m so excited these women are leading the way for MSU and beyond!
On October 14th, write a blog post about your STEM heroine and add it to our collection: Just follow these simple steps:
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2013 Post – Thank you Dr. Kyla McMullen
2012 Post – Thank you Mary, Pam & Catherine
2011 Post – Thank you Dr. Caroline Haythornthwaite
2010 Post – Thank you Dr. Catherine Mohr
Here are a few quick tips to think about as you’re getting online courses ready for fall!
#1 – Use personal videos
If you don’t like the way you look on camera, try to get over it! It will get easier with time. You need to create presence in your online course and a quick and easy way to do so is to fire up your webcam, iPhone or DSLR and get talking. Keep it short. Reiterate a few of the things that are important to you in the course and give the students an idea of who you are and what to expect (more on that in a moment.)
I don’t stop with the videos after the first week, they’re an easy way to create systematic presence. For more, read my post on Video Voicemails from a few years ago.
Please use a tripod and focus on production value (I personally prefer Vimeo over YouTube for posting and embedding). A little setting up and thinking through the production goes a long way!
#2 – Tell students what NOT to expect
We spend a lot of time crafting syllabi that tell students what to expect over the semester. Online students in particular come to the course with a set of a priori expectations and assumptions that may not be a part of your course. Now, this is all very vague and takes an experienced online instructor to know these norms, however, there is one easy place to start – and that is with feedback. This is the most important piece I have learned and improved upon over the years. There are unrealistic or undefined expectations in the student-professor relationship when it comes to feedback. Students say they want more, professors think they’re giving it. The problem (I have found) in online classes is that the conditions of feedback are unstated. Once I started to say “You will receive cursory feedback on this, in this format, within this # of days” or “You will NOT be receiving feedback on X, because” things improved dramatically. Students reported high levels of satisfaction with the feedback in end of semester evaluations, even though it hadn’t changed! I was setting realistic expectations.
This is a learning process for me that is under constant evolution. In one course I supervised last semester the TA spent copious amount of time writing incredibly helpful feedback to students in the Google Docs comments. He would pose questions to the students in the feedback, which often went unanswered. Seeing feedback as a dialogue is a wacky idea to many, SO, as an improvement this semester, we are making responding to feedback an explicit part of participation and evaluation.
#3 – Make sure you have clear deadlines and due dates
I unfortunately have seen one to many confusing online courses. In all of the courses I teach, each online unit has a “road map” – this is a simple checklist of what is to be read/watched and what is to be turned in. If you’re not an expert instructional designer, it’s NOT easy to convey this in a CMS or on a syllabus. Make a checklist and everyone is on the same page.
#4 – Clarify communication channels
Be explicit on how you prefer students to contact you (email, tweets, texts, etc) and state your standard turn-around for email. (During the semester I promise a 24-hour turnaround on course questions.) If you’re working with a TA, clarify if students should email both of you, or, if you prefer to have one point of contact.
That’s it – there is so much more, but, these 4 quick tips will give your online course a level up!
Do you have any quick tips and tricks? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments!
I was listening to CBC while running errands this evening and they were playing jazz piano tunes, which, made me think of my last piano teacher, Matt Michaels.
I had been playing piano since 4th grade and when I hit high school I was ready to give up, but, my mom wouldn’t let me. I did love Harry Connick Jr. and I would only continue if I could leave classical behind and play like Harry. I’m not sure how she found Matt Michaels, but, she did and I continued playing (for just a bit longer.)
When I got home I googled “Matt Michaels” and sadly found out he passed away a few years ago. Mitch Album wrote this wonderful article about him and his influence on Detroit jazz musicians. While I never played like Harry – I did appreciate the time Matt spent with me and he sure did teach me the basics of improvisation and fantastic chords.
I went downstairs and sure enough in my old piano music stacks I found a few pieces of sheet music that Matt wrote out. I loved that we didn’t have books – he just had a stack of sheet music on top of the piano and would pull off a blank sheet and start writing out the tunes. Thank you Mr. Michaels.
I never had the opportunity or finances to travel on a study abroad as an undergraduate. When I met my husband we put a lot of miles on our car driving from Michigan to Nova Scotia & back through the states one summer, then the following summer, from Michigan to Jasper to Vancouver and then back through the states via countless National Parks. I didn’t have the opportunity to travel overseas until I was 30. I had started my PhD program and began teaching with the MAET program and had the opportunity to teach in Plymouth, England in the summer of 2006. Since then, I have had the opportunity to circumnavigate the globe. As director of the MAET program, I also have the opportunity to provide this chance to others via our MAET overseas program.
There is a common agreement that it takes 10 years to become an expert…so…I’m getting close to having this travel thing somewhat down pat. I still learn and hone my strategies, but I feel I’ve come a long way over the past 8 years. This year in our MAET Overseas program, we have a handful of students who like me years ago, are venturing out for the first time. I thought it would be helpful to articulate a few things I’ve been told and learned over the years of travel that I either did very well, or, wish I would have known on that first trip. Experienced travelers coming across this post – please add your wisdom to the discussion!
Here’s what I know:
1. You, and only you, are responsible for getting yourself from point A to point B
My very first time setting foot on foreign soil was on June 20, 2006. I flew from Detroit Metro to London Heathrow. I had to rent a car and drive four hours from London to Plymouth, England. In 2006, it was not common to have a GPS unit – it was something silly like over 200 pounds to rent one. Thus, I had to rely on a road atlas and a print out of MapQuest directions along with hand-written tips from someone who had driven the route before. Before setting foot over in London I thoroughly researched the route. I read the atlas every night (ok, not every night, but a lot) before bed so I could build a mental map in my head. These were the days before international cell phone plans or easy to procure SIM cards. I really had to know where I was going and what to do if I got stuck. I think this experience set me up for future travel success. Everywhere I have gone, I do the same thing. Now, with international data on cell phones or unlocked phones + a SIM card, it’s easier, but, I never assume that I’ll be able to get online. I always have a good mental map of roads or transport systems I’m going to encounter on my way to the airport, to the hotel, or wherever I am headed.
I re-learned this lesson last year. I was traveling to India for the first time, and another first, I was going to be met at the airport by a driver. You know the people you see holding up signs? My name was going to be on a sign! It was very exciting – I thought to myself, for the first time I don’t have to worry about where I’m going – the driver will take me right there and I can relax. WRONG. As we got closer to the area where I was staying I started to notice that we kept circling the same block, several times. The driver didn’t have the exact address and didn’t know where to drop me off. Because I was being lax, I didn’t have a print out of the address or the address stored offline on my phone. ALWAYS KNOW WHERE YOU ARE GOING. Have it on your phone, on a back up piece of paper, and in your mental map. This leads me to my next point…
2. Don’t Panic
There is a good chance you’ll get lost. You may get on the wrong train or find yourself circling the same block in a city. The worst thing you can do is begin to panic. I recently had lunch with my friend Andy. We were discussing travel advice for newbies (in preparation for this post!) and he said “You can get anywhere with a passport and a credit card.” That is very solid advice. If you get on the wrong train, you’ll have to pay to get on the right train. If you miss your flight, you may have to pay to get on another one. Knowing that in advance takes away some of the stress (and also a tip to prepare a cushion for emergencies.)
Additionally, delays will happen. Getting angry isn’t going to make your connection happen. My advice here – be on top of alternate plans and have several ways of contacting your airline. Get those ducks in a row BEFORE you travel. Follow the twitter handle of the airline you’re flying. Social media is quickly becoming the go-to tool for customer service. Program the airline customer service number into your phone. If you miss a connection – chances are there is a plane full of people that also missed the flight. This means the counter is going to be busy, busy with angry people. You should be pro-active. Fire up your laptop (if you have one with you) or browse on your phone and look for alternate flights. If you’re flying to Europe, main hubs are LHR, AMS and CDG. A LOT of inter-Europe flights go in and out of there. See if you can find a route that may not come up automatically (you can do this by selecting multi-segment flights) and bring that to the table. They may not honor your request, but, at least you’re trying to get yourself from point A to point B.
If you get lost, completely lost, ask for help. If you’re in a country where English is not the primary language, very kindly ask for help. It may be advisable to search out a tourist office (if there is one close by) or at the very minimum, have a map out and show that you know where you are and point to where you want to go (another tip from Andy!) I make it a rule to always learn the words “thank you,” “sorry” and “do you speak English” everywhere I go. I do not make assumptions and always do my best to make first contact in the native language. I’m very happy that I have a working knowledge of French and wish more than anything that I could speak more than two languages.
3. Be Aware
If you read travel forums you will read lots of warnings that pickpockets are everywhere. And, they are. It doesn’t mean you should freak out and look over your shoulder every 5 minutes. It DOES mean that you should be very aware of where and HOW you keep your passport & money. I personally have a messenger bag that goes over my shoulder and I keep the bag towards my front. It’s really hard for anyone to get their hand in that messenger bag. If you use a backpack, do not, under any circumstances, put valuable items in the outer pockets. If you have a backpack I suggest a lock or twist-tie for the large zipper pocket as some one could come by and unzip and spill the contents of your bag. While you’re trying to pick everything up, the pickpocket team will be there waiting to pick your things up too.
You should only need your passport a few times when you travel. You will need to show your passport at the airport coming to and from your adventure. Also, you frequently have to show your passport at a hotel. At all other times, your passport should be in a place that is hard to reach. Do not let anyone keep or take your passport. Once I’m done showing my passport, it goes in an inner pocket of my bag that is not easy to reach.
As far as carrying money/credit cards – I keep those in my wallet, also in the messenger bag. However, when I’m in a train or bus station – I keep the small amount of money I need to pay for the ticket, or my single credit card if I’m paying with a card, in my front pocket. (I know how much to expect because I research ahead of time.) This way, I’m not fumbling around taking money out. When I get to the ticket window or machine I take the small amount money out of my pocket, pay, and get on the bus/train. I can put the change away later when I’m safely in my seat. If someone is sitting next to you, it’s wise not to flash your money or wallet there either. It’s the moments of vulnerability that the pickpockets are watching for – just be confident and know where your money is AND how to use the machine. If you’ve never used a ticket machine, google it! (Here’s an example of all of the amazing help at your disposal.) Even better, look up the transportation site for the country or system you want to use – they all have FAQ/help guides. Get those in your head BEFORE you leave so you don’t have to stress, you’ll have an idea of what to look for as you encounter new systems.
4. Do Your Research
As you’re preparing ask yourself, what questions should I be asking myself? When you formulate those questions, Google them! What type of power adapters do they use in X country? How much is my overseas data plan? Just like you need to get yourself from point A to point B, a lot of your preparation can be done with research. You can certainly ask others for help, but, a wise man once said “Don’t ask me questions that can be answered by Google.” This is not meant to be off-putting. A lot of travel advice is just that, advice…you shouldn’t just take my word from this blog post – Google around, what do other people say? There are lots of people with lots of opinions – triangulate them to make your own rules of the road.
5. Pack Light & Pack Smart
It’s almost a challenge for me now to see how light I can pack. It’s liberating. Just travel with a carry on if you can, however, for my summer travel where I’m staying in a country for over a month, this just isn’t possible. I still try to pack as light as possible, making sure I have climate appropriate clothing (Google it if you don’t know what to expect) and lightweight layers. I use the bundle wrapping method for my clothes. If you’re staying for a long time that means you’ll have access to coin laundry or a laundromat. I have recently found it less expensive to use a laundromat, especially in Europe as the washers just don’t seem to dry things out. If you do send your clothes away, understand that they may not take the same care and attention that you do – so any special garments that you don’t want to shrink, hand wash those. I purchased a very inexpensive hairdryer for Europe since voltage conversion can be messy with devices like hair dryers or curling irons.
I’m a techie traveler – and this is where the “pack smart” comes into play. I make sure I have the cables to charge all the devices. Also, since technology is the core reason I often travel, I make sure to have a few back-up cables. (Since it’s super high stakes, I even have a back up laptop for my summer work.) I keep everything as neat and tidy as possible, so, if I need to go into my laptop bag when traveling I don’t have junk falling out all over the place (see “be aware”). I love to look at “what’s in my bag” posts (like this one http://kk.org/cooltools/archives/14659) I always learn a new tip or trick.
6. Document Your Journey
I have found it extremely valuable to use social media to document my journeys – it started with Flickr and has moved on to twitter, Facebook, blogs, etc. Here too, use common sense – I don’t publish the name of the hotel where I’m staying (at least not while I’m there.) I frequently contribute to TripAdvisor and Yelp because I find those sites very valuable when I travel, so, I’m giving back and offering my opinion as well. Plus, by documenting all of my trips, I can help others who are going there as well and fondly reminisce about all of the incredible adventures I’ve been able to experience.