When I first sat down to do my post for this week, I was going to go in a different direction. I hadn’t watched RIP Manifesto for a few years. I knew there was a guide that went through the documentary and asked many guided questions. It was a great experience just getting access to the NFB Campus edition through the Ministry of Education. There is a wealth of accessible information and resources that are free for Saskatchewan teachers. So this experience in itself reminded me that there are many open resources available to teachers if we just do a little more research and ask a few more questions. (Here’s a copy of the guided questions along with my responses from RIP Manifesto (I took off the music questions). I sat down at my computer wondering where I should start this blog. Then I thought what if I checked out the blog hub and see what others thinking. As always, there are some great posts filled with great insights and resources. I feel that our class blogs are a great source of open source learning. I wrote replies to the blogs I viewed put thought using a couple of points from each blog to write my blog would be in the spirit of what open source learning can do. So here’s my attempt at a blog remix.
copyright on the entries we got. There were some amazing projects that did not get submitted because copyright permission was not obtained. I always thought that was too bad because it limited what students were producing and submitting. There were some success stories to as some people granted permission and students created medium like their own music which was awesome. I also appreciate open source like BCcampus Open Educational Resources. Last semester I tool ECI 834 and have access to Tony Bates’ textbook was amazing. It was free and extremely useful. I didn’t not expect a university level course to provide free access to a resource. The costs of textbooks can provide a lot of stress when deciding on if a taking a university class is feasible. Her story about the Cpl. Funduck is also very interesting. I know that in my own school division we have received e-mails from lawyers of people whose work has been included in newsletters or other materials basically saying you need to pay for using their images. Even though she gave permission, I’m sure she could look for compensation if her images were being used for profit or gain from the people using them.
information and ideas. To me this represents the ultimate view of open source learning. We have so much access that it can be an intimating and frustrating process. That’s why developing a PLN is so important to help and share with this process. The opportunities are endless.
resources in Google only not realizing that many of the resources on the first page paid to be there. This is probably due to the fact they want their message promoted for whatever reason. I also feel that Wikipedia is a great open source information and a good starting point, but definitely need to sift through the information on there. The need to create critical thinkers is more important than ever before. Open source can provide amazing information but it can also be a haven for misinformation as well.
for students and can prevent students in developing countries to improve through education. If all teachers had access to quality educational content without barriers, and educators had the ability to collaborate with the materials, teachers can and will make a positive difference. I also like the checklist of eight ways teachers can share. I’m happy to report I can check all eight:
I’ve also experienced using MOOCs (like the Saskatchewan Education Digital Citizenship MOOC that was developed in part by Dr. Alec Couros and the Innovator’s Mindset MOOC by George Couros) and other online learning endeavors. There is a wealth of amazing learning opportunities that exist out there. I am also interested in Matteo’s learning project as there are similarities to mine. I also sometimes question myself is this good enough to share especially online (such as a blog or You Tube series)? Sometimes you just have to let go and enjoy the learning experience for yourself and more often than not the material you share will reach at least one person ‘out there’ even if you don’t get a response. Kinda like this blog remix :-) Bonus Material
Found a Quizziz on Open Educational Resources Give it a go by opening joinmyquiz.com and enter this code 476500 Here's a MOOC one can join (might be a bit late) https://www.europeanschoolnetacademy.eu/courses/course-v1:ITELab+Networked_21C+2019/about
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Coding With The Agent Update
and I have always felt coding is an important skill (even helped me with the few times I needed HTML on some early websites I did). I even had to 'teach' Computer Science a few years ago and my knowledge of BASIC (again I adore my 64) made me a 'qualified' instructor of QBasic . In the past few years, block coding has emerged to help students (especially younger students) be able to explore the world of coding. One of the most known ventures in this area is MIT's Scratch (check out their About Page for some background information). There are many other block coding programs out there including one I dabbled with when I had access to iPads called Hopscotch. I truly believe that providing students with these opportunities to become familiar with coding and computational thinking are important. Movements like Hour of Code and books like Code Breaker have attempted to awaken educational institutions that coding is not only fun and engaging for students but it is educationally sound (with references to Seymour Papert) and critical in future industry (who will program the robots). I also think we need to instill our students the need to be producers of technology not just consumers or risk being at the mercy of those who are the producers. I love using Minecraft in my classroom. In the last couple of years, Minecraft has been bought by Microsoft (see article) and Microsoft has since made an education version (see previous link). One of the features of Minecraft Education Edition is the addition of the Agent. The Agent is your block coding friend and is a great fit in the world of blocks (click here to learn more). The Agent uses a similar block coding to Scratch called MakeCode ( which is also used to program Microbits which I may also explore more on this journey). I also like the fact that I can 'look under the hood' in MakeCode and check out the JavaScript that goes into each block. That may be a journey for another day and one I can work with my own son on as he is learning JavaScript in his AP Computer Science class. I am starting to be able to predict what block code will come next, understand the logic in how the blocks are connecting, and seeing how I can use this feature in my social and math classes and provide students with valuable coding experience while meeting curriculum outcomes. I have been using Screen-Cast-O-Matic (see Matteo's Review) to record my tutorial videos and I really like this tool. I also can appreciate Matteo's journey with his class on creating coding tutorials. I am also grateful to Curtis for sharing his coding journey and I can relate to the 'debugging' process which is a great learning experience in itself. I have been tweeting at least on tutorial a day and I'm pretty happy with my consistency. It was also encouraging to get a shout out from Minecraft Education Edition on my work on this too. I'm looking forward to continuing my 'block party'. Check out my playlist below for episodes of my fun with the Agent.
For my tech tool review, I decide to share one of my new go to tools (was mentioned and listed on our Oct 8th/19 class notes and also listed in classmate Matteo's Tweet on the 92 Tools to Check Out Before 2020 (https://twitter.com/MatteoDiMuro/status/1183126568408891392). I used an edtech called Storify to collect and curate our school social media and produce electronic newsletters. It was an effective tool, but unfortunately like some tech tools do ... it ceased to exist and left me search for a new tool to collect and curate social media posts. It took awhile, but I was able to come across Wakelet. Wakelet had all the features I was looking for and more. This tool can definitely help you sail the 7 Cs of 21st Century Learning (check out an amazing blog on The 7 Cs of 21st Century Learning from an amazing colleague and former ECI831 student Genna Rodriguez) The ability to collect and curate a multiple sources of media was now at my finger tips and now I could also collaborate these collections with my PLN, staff, and/or students. Recently, Wakelet has partnered up with Microsoft and now has some amazing bonus features such as Immersive Reader and Flipgrid integration that really take things to another level. There is also an app for that so you can work on a Wakelet right on your phone. I am enjoying riding the #WakeletWave.
Want to learn more about Wakelet:
1)Checkout my video review below (I used Screen Cast O Matic for this (to learn more about Screen Cast O Matic check out Matteo's Review - Great review / Great Tool)) 2)Check out my embedded ECI831 Wakelet below (or click on the link) with media from our current class, past classes, and related info (here's the code if you want to jump in and add to the ECI831 Wakelet - https://wakelet.com/i/invite?code=7632872) 3)Check out a few of class/school/professional development Wakelets I have done: Archeology Project Ancient Civilization Research Current Event Slope Help Videos O'Neill Newsletter Connected Educator Presentation RCSD Podcast PD 4) To learn more about Wakelet - Check out the tutorial at the Microsoft Educators Communiy Site (great site - lots of other great tutorials/courses, Skype in the Classroom Resources, and a chance to become a MIE) My ECI831 Wakelet Review
My ECI 831 Wakelet
Our blog prompts / questions for this week are the following: 1.How do you take up teaching in a world where knowledge is becoming obsolete? I try to embrace this and teach in a manner that accepts this and sees this an important concept to share with my students.I look for new ways to engage and empower students to help them learn how to learn that works best for them.I see myself more as a lead learner than a traditional teacher that possess the knowledge to disseminate to the masses.I find myself taking more risks with new lessons and tools to help create the conditions that promote the ability to analyze and synthesize knowledge. 2. What steps should/could we as educators take in relation to bringing social networks into the classroom? I try to model what I hope that students could see as an effective way to harness the power of social networks.I have implemented my social networks into class and I’m trying to great students to build theirs.I try to create and promote collaborative projects so students can build networks and realize learning is social and active. 3. How do we balance the “moral imperative” to educate children to succeed in a rapidly changing world (see the NCTE definition of 21st century literacies) with concerns around student safety and privacy? I think the balance comes with many factors.Knowing that this is the world that we currently live in and that students are experiencing this first hand (most times without a compass in this uncharted world), schools should be preparing them for their future and not the past or the futures we think should happen.A partnership amongst stakeholders (students, teachers, administration, and parents) needs to be established in order to provide these 21st Century opportunities.There are many that argue ‘get back to basics’, but I’m not sure those that argue this understand that there are new ‘basics’.Our students (and I would argue all of us) need to learn how to navigate these new ‘norms’ in order to be successful in a global society. (I also thought it was interesting that the NCTE site stated ‘This position statement may be printed, copied, and disseminated without permission from NCTE.’) Mulling and Musings on this week’s assigned readings and videos:
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AuthorDean Vendramin. Educator for over 20 years. Currently Education Leader for Math/Science at Archbishop M.C. O'Neill Catholic High School. Have a passion for all things in education with emphasis on technology integration, assessment, professional development, and 21 Century Education. Posts are articles he has written for the Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation monthly newsletter The Bulletin, Saskatchewan Math Teachers' Society The Variable, blog requests from memberships he is a part of, and his own thoughts. Archives
February 2022
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