December 09, 2014

Updated Library to Learning Commons Implementation Guide

Is your school thinking about shifting your library to a learning commons?

A learning commons gives students access to the learning resources they need, when they need them. It provides a space for innovative teaching and learning and transforms teaching and learning by allowing staff and students to co-create knowledge. A learning commons is a place where the buzz of learning can be seen and heard.

The CBE has updated its Learning Commons Implementation Guide. This guide provides information about the learning commons movement, asks guiding questions, and looks at the holistic picture of a learning commons in a school.

This guide is accessible through staff insite here.

November 05, 2014

Web 2.0 Guidelines

As teachers, we all recognize the immense potential that Web 2.0 tools provide in the classroom. Students are able to demonstrate their learning in powerful ways, whether it be through a post on KidBlog, a multimedia poster using Glogster or create an animation using Pow Toon. Web 2.0 also offer opportunities for students to collaborate and share with their classmates, from any place and any device. It was in response to the power of the these tools that the Web 2.0 Guidelines were developed. The Web 2.0 Guidelines were designed to ensure that student information and data was protected and that a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA) be completed prior to using a tool with students.


The PIA process is completely focused on assessing the impact on student privacy, the pedagogical benefits of the selected tool is left to the teacher. It is also important to remember that with thousands of Web 2.0 tools out there, it is impossible to provide professional development and support for all these tools. We work to connect teachers with other teachers who may be using a similar tool, but it is important that you discuss the tool you hope to use with your Principal and School Tech to ensure you don’t have a frustrating experience. Wrapped in all of this is the importance of Digital Citizenship, all schools have a digital citizenship plan and it is always a good idea to consider how the use of this tool will fit into this larger plan.


So how do you know when a PIA is needed or not? Quite simply, whenever student data is going to be collected. If you are having students sign up for an account with their name or email address, a PIA is required. However, if you are looking to set up a class blog under your name and email address a PIA is likely not needed as no student data is being collected. The question in the second instance is usually surrounding student work and/or photos. If student work and/or photos are going to be shared, it is important that consent is received from the student’s parent or guardian before publishing.


Ultimately the PIA process is designed to allow teachers the ability to use Web 2.0 tools to design meaningful instructional tasks while also protecting student data and privacy. If you have any questions about the process or would like to discuss a specific tool, we encourage you to contact us or join our growing network at:


Google Plus

October 30, 2014

Are you thinking about Maker Education or Robotics?


Professional Learning | Innovative & Learning Technology


Making Makers | Information Webinar and Professional Learning Series


Who | Teachers who want to learn more about maker education and design thinking

When |
Webinar: Thursday, November 13, 4:30 - 5:30pm
Face to Face (1st meeting): Thursday, November 20th, 4:30 - 6:30pm

Where |  
Webinar: online
Face to Face: Future of Learning Lab, Education Centre, 1221-8 Street SW

What |
Maker Education is an approach to learning where kids use their hands to activate their brains to solve problems and design solutions. This webinar will:
·        Give some background and information about maker education and design thinking
·         Provide an overview on the series of professional learning events where you will experience design thinking to create a learning task for your students around the ideas of maker education and/or design thinking.
·         Details of future face to face meetings will be discussed.

RSVP | Please register for these events.
Webinar: Register
Face to Face: Register

Details for Face to Face |
Eat | Light refreshments will be served.
Parking | There is some free and paid 2 hour parking on the streets around the Education Centre. There is also a paid parkade under the Education Centre, accessible from 12th Avenue SW. (see map below)

Robotics Roundup


Who | Teachers who are using robotics in their work - core, options, or extracurricular. Teachers of all grades are welcome.

When | Wednesday, November 12, 4:30 - 6:00

Where | Future of Learning Lab, Education Centre
1221 - 8 Street, SW

What |
Are you teaching with robotics? Do you want to connect with others who do too? The Robotics Roundup will bring together robotics teachers to share ideas and ponder questions together. This professional learning event will be structured much like an EdCamp: We will ask questions, and you can identify areas you feel comfortable speaking to, and we will work through these problems of practice together.

When you leave, you will have:
·         Some questions answered
·         Some ideas for teaching with robotics
·         A network of colleagues to move forward with

Bring |
·         Anything you want to share - task design, assessment tools, project ideas, your robots (if you want), resources you have found valuable.
·         Your questions

Eat | Light refreshments will be served

RSVP | Register   

Even if you can’t make it to this event, we would love for you to e-mail elquinn@cbe.ab.ca or tadalton@cbe.ab.ca so we can connect you to the network.

Parking | There is some free and paid 2 hour parking on the streets around the Education Centre. There is also a paid parkade under the Education Centre, accessible from 12th Avenue SW.

                                                                                                 


September 25, 2014

Doors Open YYC

“Over the last weekend in September, many of Calgary’s most intriguing and beloved sites get naked for Doors Open YYC. For this one weekend, buildings in all quadrants of the city open their doors – free of charge – to the public and providing special revealing tours and behind-the-scenes experiences.”



Innovation and Learning Technology will be at the Career and Technology Centre (2336 53 Avenue SW), along with some of our colleagues from the CBE. Our doors will be wide open on Saturday, September 27 from 10 - 3. 

The CTC will also be offering open tours and demonstrations. If you haven't been to the CT Centre yet, it really is a remarkable learning space. You will see student demonstrations, interact with automated engineering equipment, try your hands at welding and vehicle painting, attend live culinary demonstrations, provide the talent in the broadcast studio, and check out client services in esthetics or hair design.

ILT will be set up in the Learning Commons, with Junior Achievement, Beakerhead, and CBe-Learn, CBE Homeschooling, Campus Calgary Open Minds, and FIRST Robotics. ILT is bringing lots of maker education tools and resources, and would love to play with them with you!


Please visit this link for more information about Doors Open YYC. 

July 03, 2014

Professional Learning at Your Fingertips


Wow! What a fantastic year of learning, connecting and sharing! It has been inspiring to be a part of the ever-growing networks of educators who so graciously share, so openly welcome, and so actively learn together.

If you are interested in professional learning over the summer, CORE is a hub for a wide range of resources and can be accessed anywhere, anytime including on your deck and at your cabin! Below are some areas to get you started.

From all of us on the CBE ILT team we wish you a relaxing and rejuvenating summer vacation. We look forward to the 2014-2015 school year and continuing our learning journey together!


Google Apps for Ed (GAFE)


D2L


Learning Commons


CORE
  • Learn all about CORE including how to use CORE, how to contribute resources, and more: 
    • Access the [Guide to CORE] from the left navigation bar in CORE and select the [Getting Started] section for a wide range of resources (print and video)

Other Professional Learning Resources

  • Search “Professional Learning” in CORE for a wide range of PL resources
  • Narrow your CORE Power Search by selecting [Professional Learning] when searching a specific topic
  • Search “PLN” in CORE for professional learning network resources

Stay Connected, The Choice is Yours
Tannis Emann
on behalf of the ILT team

May 28, 2014

Calling All Teachers and Students: Google Show & Share Webinar

Through the ongoing feedback and ideas from our networks we are evolving the concept of the Google Show and Share and taking it to a new level by including student voice in our May 29th webinar (10:30-11:30 am). We are so excited! Tomorrow three CBE educators and their students will be sharing how they are using Google Apps for Education in their classrooms and schools.

Here is a sneak-a-peak of just some of the "GAFE in action" ideas being shared by students and teachers tomorrow:

  • learning through juicy questions
  • sharing learning
  • formative assessment through Google Forms
  • collaboration on group projects
  • how Google Drive has impacted the use of iPads
  • increasing awareness of learning
  • maximizing productivity
We are hosting this webinar during school hours in order to create an opportunity for teachers and students across the CBE to come together to learn and share online. We encourage you to join the webinar with: your students, your colleagues, other classrooms in your school, students in your learning commons. It can be projected on a SmartBoard for a large group to gather round and take part in the learning. There will be opportunities to ask questions throughout the session using the chat feature or your mic. 
Access the webinar room:  http://eduadvisory.adobeconnect.com/iltpl/ 

Support
The session will be hosted using the web conferencing interface, Adobe Connect. If you have never attended an Adobe Connect webinar before, the following resources may be helpful:

Important Notes
  • If possible, please access the webinar room at least 15 minutes before the start of the session to provide time to go through the audio set-up wizard (located under the "meeting" menu when you are in the webinar room)
  • For best performance it is recommended you use a hard-wired connection (blue cord) if possible and turn off your wifi connection
  • If you think you will ask questions using audio during the session, an external microphone is recommended (questions can also be submitted through the chat interface)
  • Please make sure you connect your headset/microphone to your computer prior to entering the webinar room.
Can't Attend? No Problem!
If you are unable to attend this session the recording will be available later in CORE. We have a variety of ways to stay connected and to find out when resources are available. Choose the one(s) that work for you!
Looking forward to seeing you online tomorrow morning!

Tannis Emann
on behalf of the ILT team

May 21, 2014

Mobile Learning Show and Share (May 22) - Rescheduled

With the school year winding down and transitions being planned, Spring time can be a busy time for many people.  As a result, we have had to reschedule the Mobile Learning Show and Share originally planned for Thursday May 22 at 4:30 pm at the CTC.  We are hoping to offer this opportunity again in the Fall and will let you know when we've got a date.

There are still a few more Professional Learning opportunities available before school's out. We'd love to see you there.



PLN Networking:
PLN in 3D - May 27 - 4:30 pm - Tom Baines School

Show and Shares:
Google Webinar - May 29 - 10:30 am - online (with students)

Learning Commons:
3D Printing - May 28 - 4:30 pm - CTC
Library to Learning Commons - June 2 - 4:30 pm - CTC

To register for any of these sessions, please look at the calendar widget on the right and view the description details. 

May 14, 2014

Design Thinking | Fibre Tech and Wearables

What a pleasure to work with such an engaged group - and so willing to all pitch in and support each other. I'm so honoured to have been part of this event and look forward to what comes next!! (Kathleen Long, birchblanket@shaw.ca)

The second session in our Design Series was a huge hit! Participants had the opportunity to learn how to make a Rainbow Loom bracelet, how to create using felt and how to make a light-up badge!



We opened the session talking about Design Thinking, and some resources that have inspired the design thinking series.  Most notable is the book, Invent to Learn by Sylvia Libow Martinez & Gary Stager. We told the story of Caine's Arcade, about a young man who invented an arcade out of cardboard boxes and inspired a documentary.





Shannon Hoover inspired us to get involved in the wearable technology revolution with a presentation on the future of wearable technology.  He shared some of the creations presented at the recent Make Fashion Gala.

We have created a list of resources to share, and we'd love to add more! 

Please join the conversation on twitter @CBEILT, #yycbe, #cbectf, #designthinking, and at our Google Plus Community. Let us know how you are "designing for learning" in your classroom!



May 09, 2014

What does flying a drone have to do with school tech planning?

I had the opportunity to work with the Principal and staff of King George School around school technology planning (STT).  It just so happened that one of the parents at the school shared this awesome video with us prior to our engagement and we used it as a provocation to talk about how expressive activities lead to expressive outcomes (Eisner, 1979). Expressive activities precede outcomes and don't necessarily have any precise objectives.  The video below is an example of an expressive activity.  The parent decided to take his children outside to build and fly a consumer available drone. The drone came with a high-definition camera built in and they captured spectacular footage of the school yard.  He didn't plan the activity with objectives in mind. He simply wanted to have his children play.





So what's the connection between the STT and the conversation around expressive activities and outcomes? How do the two fit together? 

What came out of this was a rich conversation around all the possible outcomes these "Drone Kids at King George" might have experienced during and after this activity.  Teachers talked about possible scientific investigations they could engage in and the exciting narratives that could be written. They shared examples of expressive activities they experienced with students in the past and the learning that came out of it. They spoke about the need to offer opportunities for students to play and explore while designing appropriate learning tasks. 

Teachers also talked about the need to examine their digital learning environment.  How can the infrastructure support this type of learning?  What network capacity do they have?  What ed tech do they currently have in their school that can be used in different ways? Do they need additional ed tech to support their school development goals, and what would that look like?

After the conversation, teachers had an opportunity to play in the teacher studio at the Career and Technology Center at Lord Shaughnessy High School.  They explored Arduino's and Makey Makeys, built with lego and circuit boards, and dived into the world of mobile apps.

There are so many possibilities for learning.  As we are all architects in this landscape, what are your possibilities?  

Thanks to the students at King George School, Forrest and Meadow (future student) and their dad, Trevor Shaw.

Eisner, Elliot W. The Educational Imagination: On the Design and Evaluation of School Programs. New York: Macmillan, 1979. Print.

Shafina Dharamsi
Learning Specialist, Learning Innovation
@shafinad