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Photo by Ian Usher

I can’t believe it, but another year came and went, and before I knew it, it was July and time again for the Adobe Education Leader Summer Institute. This year was extra special, as a new group of Higher Education Adobe Education Leaders joined us K-12ers in San Jose. The joining of the two groups was a brilliant move, with both groups learning from one another how we can all prepare students for the ever-evolving demands of the new workforce. In addition, as everyone there noted, the Higher Eds were raising the bar on the presentations and the discussions we were having throughout the Institute.

Ian Usher and I, along with Greg Hodgson via video clips, presented on our Game Design Workshop. Ian did an excellent job of formatting the presentation using different Connect layouts and our guest speakers (Colin Maxwell and two GDW students, Owyn and Rob) were wonderful at speaking a bit about their experience with the project. We received excellent feedback from Adobe staff and fellow AELs. We got great ideas for the future and made excellent connections with others interested in our concept.

Greg Hodgson and I are presenting the Game Design Workshop at the Creative Partnerships Conference today in the UK. Well, I’m presenting by videoconference and Greg is there in person, but we’re hoping to spread the word about the wonderful experiences the students and we had during the the course.

I just finished watching the unparalleled Ian Usher present (in just 7 minutes!) the work we did on the Game Design course via FlashMeeting. Ian presented at the TeachMeet Midlands. What’s a TeachMeet? The TeachMeet wiki describes it as an “unconference,” or a meeting that takes all of the icky parts out of a conference and sticks to the good stuff, like socializing, networking, discussion and presentations that are short and stick to point. They try to make it so not the same three people ate talking and asking questions every time by randomizing presentation schedules and making Q&A a big part of the meeting. Those who can’t go in person scan show up online. These TeachMeets are all centered around effective uses of technology in education and are broken into regional meetings. The thing is that these TeachMeets are a UK thing. So why don’t we have these here in the US? Or Illinois? Or Chicago? Or the Northside? Am I missing something? I only see people in my field at conferences, which are not always the best time to get to know one another and hash out the projects we’re working on and get some feedback, or even develop partnerships. Is there a TeachMeet equivalent I don’t know about?

Follow TeachMeet Midlands on Twitter.

Tomorrow morning at 11:30, I will be speaking at the 2009 Chicago Math & Science Initiative Annual Conference.  I’ll be speaking about the IDNR Biodiversity projects I’ve done at the Collaboratory, and how science teachers can integrate (free!) technology into their curriculum to give their students an engaging and hands-on experience with science.  I will [...]

This morning, I did a presentation on the Game Design Workshop via Connect to the Key Instructional Contacts (KIC) of the Technology Information Education Services (TIES) of Minnesota.

Monday night, I drove aaaaaallll the way up to McHenry Community College to do a workshop for McHenry’s Teaching American History grant. TAH is a grant that I think is doing great things, putting the focus on concepts and universal ideas rather than dates and forgettable facts in history. Plus, federal support for a solid educational program that doesn’t just focus on reading and math scores is okay in my book. How about we get kids excited about reading by letting them read cool stories about brave indigeonous people, dudes in wigs and tights, and riveter-weilding women who shaped this country?

McHenry is implementing the money they received for this grant in innovative ways, using the Collaboratory to have teachers exchange lesson plan ideas and reflections based on the speakers they have heard and the field trips they have taken. Their mentors can look at their lesson plans and comment on the different elements they think could use work. It’s a great use of technology for professional developement.

Looking for something to do on a Saturday morning that will give a little pep to your teacher step? Come visit me at the McCormick Freedom Museum 3rd Annual Resource Fair! I’ll be talking about how iVOTE! ‘08 can bridge the gap between civic engagement and democratic participation and how you and your class can be a part of it! I will be joined by a number of excellent exhibitors, including my good friends and partners in iVOTE!, Natalie Brouwer from the Citizen Advocacy Center, and the good people at the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago.

See you there!

The videos are posted from the 11th annual Collaboratory Symposium. It was strange and sad not having Gary there to guide us throughout the day, but the day went pretty well. I presented on iVOTE!, as well as demonstrated how to create a Collaboratory project of your very own.

Today, I gave a presentation to the Illinois Youth Summit Student Advisory Committee and their teachers in some beautiful offices near the top of the Willis Tower. The Youth Summit is an annual project that encourages high school students to debate three controversial topics and present their ideas to the Illinois Senate in Springfield. It’s a fantastic program by the fantastic people at the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago. The Summit students will be using the Collaboratory to share their ideas on topics, so I showed them how to use it for the great work they are doing!