Chris selected as K12OnlineConference keynote speaker Each year the K12OnlineConference provides tremendous professional development for free, and entirely online. This year, they have selected me as one of their keynote speakers. I am thrilled to have been chosen and look forward to participating in the conversation. Read the full post announcing all the keynote speakers here.
Two quick links on Cognitive Load Theory I've been fielding lots of questions lately about Cognitive Load Theory. Here are two quick links that may be useful. First is an article talking about the practical implications of CLT on the design of learning. The second are some "recent" (as of 2003) developments regarding CLT. Happy reading! Update: I clarified the second...
Practical advice on kids and Android app development After hearing about my students' success developing an Android app, I've gotten several emails asking for more details as to how I practically worked with my kids. Here are some pointers that I offered to the first person that emailed me, perhaps they are of some use to you. Please note that your mileage may vary. It's ok to not be...
Publishing an App Inventor app to the Android Market As I mentioned earlier, my students and I published an Android app to the Android Market. See those links for more information on the background. This post is decidedly technical. First, once we finished the coding process, we packaged the app for to download to the computer. This is an option in App Inventor. This downloaded an .apk file....
Designing and publishing an Android app with kids This post is designed to provide some context around how/why we decided to build this app. The more technical details of the code and how we published it will come in a future post. My students and I recently completed and published an Android app, and here's how we did it. First, the genesis for this goes back to a question I asked...
Apr
16
Category : General
I just happened across Slideshare to check out some of the new features they mentioned recently in a blog posting, like the ability to download presentations.
I saw this presentation and thought of you! I have no idea who he is, but wondered what you’d think…
For those of you checking this out in a feed reader, here is the link, or visit my blog to see it embedded.
The whole initial part seems to be a bit anti-technology. His main argument against using technology seemed to be that attendance went down. I guess if you believe that people must all be in the same physical location to learn, that is a problem. His arguments against the technofreak didn’t seem to revolve around what was learned, just “butts in seats,” if you’ll forgive the phrase.
When he got to the idea of balance, the text was too small for me to read it, so I don’t know what his arguments there were. I’m not sure if balance is the right approach though; I’d rather talk about effective use of technology and the pedagogy behind the technology. You could be very technologically advanced and have a very effective course with lots of interaction. The trick is to figure out how to use the medium to its best advantage and to choose the most appropriate medium.
Sometimes face to face is the best medium. My company has a course which teaches listening and questioning skills plus nonverbal communication. Fully online, we can figure out ways to do listening, questioning, and tone of voice. Body language isn’t something we have good way to evaluate online though. We can show videos and pictures and text, but technologically we don’t have a good way give students feedback on their body language. So, we’re looking at a blended option to have the body language happen face to face.
In general though, the teaching methods are going to have much more effect than the medium. If we taught body language face to face but never had students practice with each other or do anything active, it wouldn’t be any better than showing videos online.
[...] as wanting to use educational technology for its own sake. That’s not true. Thankfully, via Chris Craft, I’ve found a presentation which explains very well what I’m [...]
What a great find! If often find it difficult to come across as anything other than an edtech evangelist. This midway position is exactly what I want to get across to teachers through both my blog and in my school…
I find that I am often bias when it comes to technology. I love it! In contrast, this is a good middle ground position. Like Doug said, we need to get teachers to a midway point. A point where they can utilize old school teaching and new school teaching (Classroom 2.0/School 2.0) to promote learning. Great find Chris! Thanks
[...] Slideshare is kind of a bummer proposition for me as it doesn’t make room for intra-slide craftsmanship. My presentation expertise is most evident in how I structure fade-ins and wipes — the design of information within the slides.That said, “Technology and the Three Kinds of Teachers” is a compelling show and plays well within Slideshare’s retarding constraints. The title plays things diplomatically when a more accurate title would’ve been: “One Good Teacher and Two Sad Cases.” That good teacher, it turns out, is a cross between Jason Bourne and James Bond. Should’ve seen that coming, I suppose. [via Chris Craft] [...]