Rodd Lucier : Weblog

Give Thanks; Get Involved

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 01:54:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/466863831/give-tha

As the American Thanksgiving dawns, I'm reminded of the significant roles we play, both as parents and as educators. In designing our shared future through the nurturing of our children, our responsibilities are awesome. To help make the point, I'm happy to give a broader audience to an video by Heidi Hass Gable.

This piece came to my attention thanks to Cindy Seibel, and artfully combines text, photos, music and a Heidi's passionate voice, in a hopeful plea to parents and educators. "What I Want for My Children" is something money cannot buy...

Putting Down the Revolution

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 02:49:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/464594107/putting-

You may already be familiar with the image chosen as the 2008 NECC Button Winner, designed by Bill Moseley. The caption proclaims: "I'm Here for the Learning Revolution"

I'm wondering if anyone else sees the irony in the poster below that I photographed (with my cell phone) in one of our schools. The caption accompanying the poster announces: "No Cell Phone Use in School Buildings"

10 Ways to Harness the Power of Google SketchUp

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 13:55:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/462884093/10-ways-

With the recent release of Google SketchUp 7, I posted a brief interview with Guzman Tierno, who has used SketchUp to engage 13 year old students in the creation of 3-D products.

Guzman's lessons are available for sharing, but I'd like also to suggest a few other potential rich project ideas:

1] get with the holiday spirit in designing a virtual Santa's village;
2] create new and improved student desks to accommodate learning tools of the future;
3] draft floor plans for new (or old) schools; homes; shopping centres...;
4] reproduce existing products in 3-D;
5] review Google Patent Search before constructing products from various time periods;
6] host an invention convention where new ideas are shared in Google Earth;
7] recommend a new school/community playground or recreation area by construction demos;
8] recreate famous movie scenes (The Wizard of Oz; Gunfight at the O.K. Corral; Mutiny on the Bounty...);
9] explore news archives before creating a virtual reenactment a famous event;
10] design and build new 3 dimensional board games.

To get started, visit the 3D Warehouse, or watch the Google Sketchup video tutorials:

Do you have any ideas to add?

Art 2.0: Digital Pixelation

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:48:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/462424890/art-20-d

Mashable shared this artistic use of Google Docs that may be worth considering if you teach technology, mathematics, or visual arts:

The theme of this piece certainly fits with all the snow we've had in southwestern Ontario in recent days, but with these instructions and free access to the spreadsheet template, a comparable project could be undertaken, with just about any subject matter. And while I love the collaborative nature of the project above, similar work could also be carried out by an individual student, perhaps using non-digital tools like paint and paper.

An artist might start by borrowing a rich creative commons licensed image from the Multicolr Search Lab then using photo-editing software like the free and very powerful Picnik, to manipulate the image. The 'pixelate' tool can be used in concert with other effects tools to help students create transferable images with specific numbers of pixels.

For those looking for innovative large scale pixelation, it might be worth revisiting the Jason Eppink's Pixelator project.

What do you think? Is there a place for using digital image manipulation in your classroom?

Does Education Need to Change?

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 02:11:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/460274740/does-edu

George Siemens' recent post makes me smile:

"As a small research project, I’d like to ask people to answer the following questions (on their blog, in YouTube, Seesmic, or wherever - please post a link in the comments section below):

1. Does education need to change?
2. Why or why not?
3. If it should change, what should it become? How should education (k-12, higher, or corporate) look like in the future?"

I’ve been engaging in dialogue with my PLN about these questions for the past few years and I’m still nowhere near completing my response!

None-the-less, I'll assume this is a point form test, and that there is only one slim blank line below each question. Here are my responses:

1. Yes.

2. Because most present day educational practices are irrelevant, addressing expectations for previous generations, while failing to prepare students for what promises to be a very different future.

3. Education should foster the evolution of a diverse menu of learning experiences. Classrooms should be flexible environments able to adapt to the needs and interests of an increasingly connected student body.

Care to respond? Feel free to add your thoughts below. If you choose to make a blog post of your own, be sure to add a link to your post in the comments section of elearnspace.

Photo Credit: 416style

14 Tools to Teach about Creative Commons

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 22:31:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/457757787/12-tools

One of the most powerful, misunderstood and under-utilized tools for teaching 21st century skills, is the Creative Commons. Besides providing access to hundreds of thousands of media works that can be used to augment the creative process, the Creative Commons offers a legitimate way for students to license their own creative works, be they audio, video, text or hybrid products.

2 Creative Commons Toolkits
Creative Commons International Licenses
Creative Commons Content Directory

2 Great Places to Host and License Your Creative Work
Flickr: a place to host and license photo collections
Blip.tv: a place to host and license video productions

2 Video Explanations of The Creative Commons

2 Creative Commons Audio Sources
CC Mixter: audio remix and share resource
Sound Transit: a Global sounds cooperative

2 of My Favourite Open Source Projects
Open Thinking Wiki: Alec Couros'Digital Resources Collection
M.I.T. Open Courseware : free lecture notes, exams and videos from M.I.T.

2 Slideshow Explanations for Education

Creative Commons in our Schools

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: cc copyright)

Open Educational Resources

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: iil08 downes)

2 Creative Commons Social Networks
The Creative Commons Fan Club on Facebook
YouTube Commons Creative

South Pole Quest

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:07:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/455980443/south-po

As proof of the ability to communicate from anywhere in the world to the world wide web, you and your students may be interested in following the exploits of Ray Zahab: ultra-marathoner. He was the first to run across the Sahara and is now poised to run an unimaginable event in "South Pole Quest".

This former smoker has founded "Impossible 2 Possible" where Ray and his team take on adventures to inspire young people to "protect this fragile planet and its people". His interview on "The Hour" with George Stroumboulopoulos gives great background on the story.

The Journey Begins ! from Nick G on Vimeo.

Billion Channel Universe

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 18:00:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/455126331/billion-

On Saturday evening, my brother Todd happened by with his Qik equipped iPhone. Although the technology is not yet ready for release to the iTunes App Store, it is easy to see how this technology will be another educational 'game-changer'.

Think about the magnitude of this change:

"Anyone with a mobile device, will soon be able to broadcast live to the web from wherever they are! And anyone with a web-enabled device will be able to watch the feed from wherever they are!"

- provide live updates from a field trip
- simulcast from a concert
- report from a sporting event
- provide updates from the site of a news event
- share traffic and weather updates from anywhere

So as Todd and I chatted about the need for education; industry; and John Q. Public to become aware of such technologies, we couldn't help but use the tool to share our discussion... broadcast live (and recorded) from my dining room table, in Komoka, Ontario.

The (not so) Smart Table

Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:16:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/453269486/not-so-s

In coming across this new technology, I'm left scratching my head wondering:

What child wouldn't rather have REAL paper, crayons, markers, and other manipulatives with which to learn?

"Because we can...", isn't a very good reason for doing anything...

Dragons at Bedtime

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:42:00 GMT

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheCleverSheep/~3/451342708/dragons-

Have you seen the kids cartoon Word World? It's a TV show that has been responsible for teaching my little guy a number of words, and spelling strategies.

Occasionally, bedtime for my 5 year old now consists of writing words on his Cars brand Magna-Doodle, and pretending that the words come to life, just like the characters and objects that inhabit Word World.

Tonight, I found myself laughing out loud as we dove for cover to protect ourselves from a variety of creatures. After starting with the fire-breathing dragon, and the water-breathing dragon, we met up with the popcorn-breathing dragon and ping-pong-ball-breathing dragon.

The puppy that burped ice-cubes, and the dinosaur that sneezed spaghetti soon followed, and I found myself wondering what amazing stories might be told by young people given such a simple premise.

I hold out hope that a creative teacher might engage online cartooning tools, or audio-recording tools to help students bring unique creatures to life. A bold educator might even provide students access to the freely available creature creator tool courtesy of Spore!

While bedtime always includes at least one book, taking time to get on the floor and pretend has become one of our favourite rituals to end the day. I just hope teachers will find ways to harness the creative thinking that at present, comes so naturally to my child.

Does anyone have any recommendations for other 'creatures' we might encounter at future bedtimes?