Loving Shark Week? Here are Great Classroom Resources

One of the coolest things I have enjoyed from this year's Shark Week is discovering the great educational resources hosted by Dr. Neil Hammerschlag and the University of Miami Shark Research Lab.

Check out the "Virtual Expedition" where learners can experience a shark tagging research trip from prepping the gear to identifying sharks they've tagged.

Other resources your students will find fascinating are:

• Tracking Sharks in Google Earth
• Odyssey Ocean
• University of Miami Shark Lab Media Library
• Digital Atlas of Marine Species and Locations
• Five Module High School Curriculum
• Conservation Biology e-Book

Worst Preso Ever: Jon Corippo explains how to integrate this gem into any curriculum

Here is a gem from Jon Corippo that I have used over and over with kids of all ages as well as with professionals in workshops.

It's the "Worst Preso Ever" activity and it is part of the Smart Start program Jon developed for establishing culture and foundational skills when he led the opening of Minarets High School in Central California.

In the video Jon gives the rationale and the steps to how making awful presentations can lead to really great ones and a community of learners and creators.

Beyond Presentations: Customize Google Slides to any Dimension

One simple tweak under hood can unleash a world of freedom!

Now, that sounds like something a gear-head teenager might say after barreling out the carburetor on his mom's Passat. What we're talking about here though is Google Slides. With one not-so-obvious click, any Google slide can take on any dimension.

Make it tall and rectangular and create infographics. Make it long and rectangular and trick out your Twitter banner (1500x500 pixels) or your Facebook cover photo (851x315 pixels for desktop, 640x360 pixels for mobile) or go square for Instagram like I did. You can choose dimensions in inches, centimeters, points, or pixels.

To customize the slide, go to FILE and then PAGE SETUP.

 The thing I find most useful here is the fact that Slides connects so nicely with Google Photos. If I am posting to Instagram and want to create a collage of pictures from a trip or if I want to add words of wisdom to an image then Slides is one stop shopping. You can download your image as a JPEG in the FILE menu. It's too bad we can only post to Instagram from a mobile device.

Customizing slide size is just another way a lot of creativity can be fostered through Google Slides...and has nothing to do with just making slideshows.

For more creativity tools, especially for Chromebooks, check out the Chromebook Creativity Project and follow #CreateWithChromebooks on social media.

Turn Keynote into a 3D Design Studio

With the advent of a growing shape library in Keynote and virtually unlimited fonts (if you use the Mac version), the presentation application can be leveraged into a dynamite design tool...even for 3D printing.

For years I have been using Keynote for just about everything except slide shows. I create fun graphics for video production, t-shirt designs, as it is where I stop long before I fire up Photoshop. Now with a growing assortment of silhouette shapes and symbols, the creativity possibilities have increased exponentially.

Here is a quick workflow for turning Keynote creations on a screen into 3D printed reality.

1. Design in Keynote. Just make everything black so it will convert easily. Here I have designed a shark that will stand up on a small pedestal (to be added later in Tinkercad) with the words "Great White Shark" added to the base. Notice how I added some grass and star fish to liven up the design a bit. I did this one quickly on my iPad so fonts were limited but had I used the Mac version, I could have gotten a lot more in depth with my text designs. Note: Everything you create in Keynote will essentially be one object in the CAD program so it will all print at the same thickness. If you want objects to have differing thickness, just create separate slides for each individual part.

2. Export your slide as an image and then convert to a scalable vector graphic (.svg file). The easiest way I have found to do this to use is SVGcreator.com. It's a simple upload, automatic conversion, and download process.

3. Open your 3D design app or site of choice (I work mainly in Tinkercad.com) and import the .svg file or files you created from the converted slides.

Add any extra pieces you want and then assemble the pieces. I added a wedge piece for the base and then under my text, I slid a small rectangle that will help keep my text together. Eventually I will glue that printed text onto the front of the base.

4. Scale, adjust, and download for printing. Really, that is all there is to harnessing the tremendously creative power of Keynote into something you can actually pick up and handle.

Here is the final product as produced with our XYZPrinting DaVinci Mini Maker. Like most designs, this one too could use some refining. The text ended up being too small to be useful and a little poster putty went a long way to help our shark stay afloat. Still, this is a fun example of what Keynote, creativity and some free conversion tools can help you and your learners create. Think about all of the knowledge they

Check out "Check This Out with Ryan and Brian" podcast

I've followed the great ideas of Ryan O'Donnell and Brian Briggs for a long time on Twitter. On Sunday I discovered their podcast "Check This Out".

What got my attention was when Brian tagged me in a tweet announcing their latest episode. In episode 81, the two California educators spend some time talking about my "Chromebook Crisis" post earlier this winter. Not only are they keeping the conversation going about the need for more more creative uses of Chromebooks, they drew a nice connection to another project already underway.

Ryan has been presenting on and posting with the #CreateWithChromeBooks hashtag since the Fall of 2016 when he launched his own initiative to promote more creativity in learning with Chromebooks.  His efforts are right in-line with what I am trying to do with the Chromebook Creativity Project on this site. One of my favorite ideas these guys mention is who cool a CUE Rock Star  camp would be if it could be entirely Chromebook creativity themed.

Other cool parts of this episode include throwbacks to an app that emulates 8 bit Where in the World is Carmen San Diego? and the new handheld Oregon Trail game device. They throw in some rants too about a few things in edtech that could use an improvement or just hit the bricks. You also have to tip your hat to a couple of podcasters who share their favorite podcasts. Check out their show notes for links and give the episode a listen.

I am off to listen to more episodes....and get rid of the cutesy tile font I changed my Twitter name to. I agree guys, they're pretty lame.

Apple's New Homework Ad is Everything it Should Be

As part of Apple's launch of its new educationally focused iPad, the company debuted a new ad showcasing the way the device can be used to creatively transform homework.

Using a recitation of Jack Prelutsky's poem "Homework" as its background,  we follow home a group of kids from a boring old science class and watch how much fun they have completing their group project on gravity with their iPads.

Apple's tag line for the new iPad that retails at $299 for schools and $329 for the public is "The perfect computer for learning looks nothing like a computer."

What I find most intriguing is that Apple has tapped into the reality that in too many cases kids have far more fun learning at home on their own than they do in their classrooms.

In our STEM classes we are doing our best to make what you see the kids doing at home in this video, what our kids do at school.

Unplug and Let 'Em Cut!

Our kids don't get enough practice cutting and pasting. No, not the cheating on a term paper kind of cutting and pasting....real cutting and pasting. Today in Young Fives STEM we just unplugged from iPads and starting cutting the nature magazines provided by a local conservation club...and it was awesome. Beautiful snake collages now decorate numerous refrigerators around Hamilton, Michigan.

Help Kids Develop and Conduct Scientific Tests with an EduProtocol

Yesterday I wrote about how I have designed an "EduProtocol" to guide students through the design process. For those of you not familiar with an educational protocol, here is a quick description from Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern's new book The EduProtocol Field Guide: 16 Student-Centered Lesson Frames for Infinite Learning Possibilities.

"EduProtocols are customizable, frames that use your content to create lessons to help students master academic content, think critically, and communicate effectively while creating and working collaboratively,"  

Kids are good at trying stuff out but not
 at developing scientific testing procedures.

A key factor in the design process is the testing of prototypes. Although I have found that my K-4 STEM students "get" the overall idea constantly designing, testing, and tweaking, they struggle with creating scientifically sound tests to know how well their prototypes work.   

Our elementary STEM program uses the Next Generation Engineering standards, specifically.

Students who demonstrate understanding can:
•3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
•3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
•3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

One of my independent professional growths goals this year has been to improve students' abilities to nail that third goal. I mentioned earlier that I find kids struggle to focus on the finer points of testing beyond "just trying something out." From an instructional side, I too have struggled with how to effectively teach this. It just seemed inherent to me that kids would understand controlled conditions and how one variable effects the others....umm...no...they don't.

Protocols to the rescue. For the last month I have been working to develop a protocol which effectively helps the learner see all of the variables in play, specifically independent, dependent, and controlled variables.

I finally have a functioning protocol developed that I am finding guides kids through the steps as well as provides some onboard vocabulary support that helps them keep the terminology under control. It is also deepening their understanding of the cause and effect relationships between all of the variables. 

I have also included a second page that helps students record data, make sense of their test results, and reflect on their testing design. 

A Google Docs version is available here for you to view, download, or make a copy and tweak as you would like. Share all you would like but please don't sell it. I hope it can help your kids as much as it is helping mine. 

Design Process Student Protocol by Andy Losik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at mrlosik.com.

Simplify Teaching the Design Process with an "EduProtocol"

We can put up posters and charts and show YouTube videos of the design process, but I have had the most success at guiding third and fourth graders through it with this original "EduProtocol".

"EduProtocols are customizable, frames that use your content to create lessons to help students master academic content, think critically, and communicate effectively while creating and working collaboratively," state Jon Corippo and Marlena Hebern in their new book The EduProtocol Field Guide: 16 Student-Centered Lesson Frames for Infinite Learning Possibilities.

Whether you are teaching kids how to form complex sentences or how to properly compare and contrast, protocols work. Having been inspired by Jon and Marlena's work, I have developed this road map for students to navigate the design process steps in terms that make sense to them and requires them to think critically along the way.

Our elementary STEM program focuses on the Next Generation Engineering standards and this protocol drives student attention to the these three standards.

Students who demonstrate understanding can:
•3-5-ETS1-1. Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
•3-5-ETS1-2. Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
•3-5-ETS1-3. Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Students must start with a driving question, consider available materials as well as constraints and limitations. From there a prototype is sketched and a test is planned. Once the actual object is built it is tested and results are analyzed with students looking for points of failure. The process repeats itself as students get to work on correcting the points of failure, redesigning their prototypes and testing all over again.

So far with my third and fourth graders, I am seeing a whole new level of focus. In the past, despite all of my best efforts to make it serious and scientific,  a project like building gliders from straws and grocery bags felt more like crafting than engineering. That has definitely changed with the protocol as time must be deliberately spent on reflection and analysis. With the gliders, utilizing the elements of flight became more important than how rad your glider looked.

Additional attention beyond the protocol is given to learning about variables and testing, as well as evaluating multiple design options. Protocols are in the works for those as well as I am struggling to really develop understanding of those aspects in my students. (Update: just launched a protocol for understanding and using variables)

Here is the design protocol. The first page is the starter and then multiple copies of the second page are used for each additional generation of the design. This allows our young engineers to track their adjustments over time, but also forces them to really consider why adjustments are being made and how they will know those changes made a difference.

A Google Slides version is available here for you to view, download as PDF, or make a copy and tweak as you would like. If you share it, great! A mention is appreciated but please don't sell it.

Design Process Student Protocol by Andy Losik is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at mrlosik.com.

A Great Big Valentine full of Math Puzzles

It only seems appropriate to share this great big valentine full of math puzzles on February 14. Sarah Carter is a high school math and science teacher in Drumright, OK and her Math = Love blog is full of great resources.

Sarah recently created a page with links to all of the puzzles she's shared across various posts going back to 2011. Although many are geared for high school students, some may work for elementary or middle school and adaptions can be made to the basic ideas shared.

Because the hook brings (them) back...I ain't telling you no lie

"Hook" by Blues Traveler is just one of those songs that makes me feel good any time I hear it. I was listening to it around 5:30 this morning as my brain was slowly morphing from dreamland to its educational focus.

Although this song was written more than 25 years ago about music, what hit me today was how it applies to what we do in the classroom. The line "Because the hook brings you back" is exactly how teachers are crafting experience to build long term student engagement.

Dave Burgess has done tremendous work transforming the way educators practice their craft with his Teach Like a Pirate (TLAP) approach. One of key parts of the analogy (I almost wrote metaphor but it uses "like".) is the "hook". Get it? Pirates, hook? It's basically what John Popper is singing about in the song by the same name.

The hook is that irresistible little piece of the lesson that creates instant buy-in. I have discovered several hooks that get our learners amped each week to come to STEM. Sending Legos down a zip line made of fishline is one of our most popular activities. Another is building Lego drones by Flybrix. By hooking them with the unique experiences, I am able to pile on all of the learning like countless reps of going through the design process or analyzing elements of flight at work.

Bonnie Capes from South Brunswick Public Schools in New Jersey has a great blog based around leading her colleagues in a TLAP book study. Her "Crash Course in Hooks" post outlines in helpful details all of the different ways Burgess suggests teachers can  their kids.

Now, let's get back to the music. What I hadn't ever noticed in "Hook" was one stanza that deepens the song's connection to teaching even further (proper grammar aside).

And it don't matter who you are.
If I am doing my job, it's your resolve that breaks.

Yep, that's our job...breaking the resolve of reluctant learners. Math teacher Dan Meyer is famous for describing what he does as "trying to sell a product to a market that doesn't want it but is forced by law to buy it." Check out his Ted Talk and you will see how he's a master at breaking that resolve with a unique tool box of hooks.

So, next time you hear Blues Traveler sing "Hook" think about true it rings in the classroom.

1:1 #SneakChat : Chromebooks, iPads, Running Shoes...It's all the same

Michigan district puts the skids on sneaker initiative.

The following is a fictitious "what if?" account of what usually happens when educators are blinded by the notion that 1:1 solves everything. It was originally posted in September of 2013...and still rings true.

What was initially hailed as a groundbreaking effort by the Rivermont Public School district (Mich.) to fight childhood obesity is now being re-examined and possibly moth-balled by school administrators over concerns of student mis-use. When students arrived at the district's three schools twenty-five minutes north of Grand Rapids this September, each was issued a new pair of Saucony running shoes in the nation's first ever 1:1 sneaker initiative. The district received a special mention on Good Morning America and a framed, hand-written letter of congratulations from First Lady Michelle Obama hangs in the foyer of each building.

Less than a month into the new school year, the district has slammed on the brakes and each teacher is being asked to collect the athletic shoes and store them in a closet until further notice. The holdup you ask?  Apparently the kids are having too much fun in them.

"Our grand vision was that students would use the sneakers for a school-wide fitness program that is guided by a rigorous curriculum of lap running and agility training throughout the day," stated superintendent Eli Tanis. "Our teachers are coming to us and telling us that the kids have no interest in these activities and instead are using the shoes for their own personal activities."

"Never before have we seen so much spontaneous running, noise, or such large groups of roaming mobs playing tag at recess. It can get terribly stressful," said first grade teacher Susan Vanderslice who has been at the same position for 31 years. "Before the shoes were just given to the children without any formal teacher training the playground was much calmer. Children simply milled around. It was very easy to maintain control."

After talking with a few students whose families asked that their identity be concealed to avoid any problems with staff at school, most kids don't see what they are doing wrong.

"They gave us these sweet shoes," says Fifth Grader (we'll call) Jake. "I couldn't wait to get on the court at recess and work on the cross-over dribble I have been perfecting this summer. Our teacher won't even let us wear the shoes outside though because he is afraid they will get dirty or something. He only lets us carry them to the track, put them on to run laps, take them off, and then carry them back inside. Running laps feels like doing penmanship."

Jake's parents echo their son's sentiments. "It seems like they are really missing the forest for the trees. They seem so focused on limiting what the kids do in the shoes. Shouldn't they just encourage any activity and movement at all? Take the time to teach the kids new games and give them time to just enjoy being active, whether that is outside when the weather is nice or inside once winter comes. We think that should be the ultimate goal, building healthy habits."

Rivermont curriculum director Shirley Wolverton defends the district's approach. "We have to insure growth. If we simply let the students play whatever they want in the shoes then there is no way to guarantee teachers will meet the benchmarks we have prescribed. If our lap numbers don't increase, our staff will have failed. The only way to increase a student's ability to run laps is to run more laps. "

A meeting is scheduled for Monday night at the school's board room where a sub-committee has been formed to investigate what modifications might be made to the program.

"We hope to have some answers quickly," Superintendent Tanis explains. "My biggest fear is that we will wait too long and the students will have all outgrown the shoes by the time we return them. We are also missing valuable lap-time on the track. Students need to know though that there is a difference between serious school work and the taxpayers of this community aren't financing just play."

Thankfully the above account is fictitious. There is no Rivermont, Michigan but unfortunately  this kind of thinking is far too prevalent in education. This silly post was the mental fruit cultivated by my hearing that Los Angeles Unified School District is temporarily moth-balling its one billion dollar 1:1 iPad efforts because students have easily hacked the devices' security controls.

Certain school districts seem so worried that students or in many cases staff will use a device for something other than "school work". We are not talking about accessing adult content here, but doing things like connecting with the rest of  the world through social media or making a multimedia project of vacation photos. To me, any time on the device that is not malicious or obviously inappropriate is learning. It is learning to use a tool to communicate and create. It is building comfort and efficiency within the operating system. The more you use it, the better you become.  (Author's Note: I am pumping the brakes on my own thinking here as it has evolved in the 5 years since I originally wrote this and especially in light of my recent post on Chromebook use. While still a believer that play equals better understanding of a device, we need to make sure we are smart about the activities and how we are using the time with the devices. We can design fun experiences that are learning-specific...but a moderate amount of free time is still okay now and then.)

Allowing kids to create content they are passionate about makes it all the more motivating for them to create a similar type of project on something being studied in the classroom. The same is true with giving every kid a pair of sneakers. Running laps isn't the only way to increase the ability to run laps.

TCEA Speaker Handouts are a Gold Mine of Professional Learning

Someday I would love to attend the TCEA Conference in Austin. In the meantime I will be digging through the absolute gold mine of presenter resources that is freely available on the TCEA site.

Thanks to Tony Vincent for sharing the link to these. At last count there were 529 different session resources posted. Tony's post today really opened my eyes to start making it a habit to go look for session resources from other great conferences held throughout the year.

TCEA 2018 Resources

Clear up the Google Sheets with One Quick Trick

Our district reading specialists are doing a great job by creating individual profiles for all of our elementary students. Those are shared via Google Sheets with other staff so we can best tailor instruction to each child's needs. With that comes a lot of clutter to Google Sheets in the "Shared with Me" section. Add in the fact that I am at four schools and it can get really messy.

I just discovered this trick though. In the search bar simply type "-" and the person's name sharing the multiple files. Everything they have shared with you disappears from the list. You can even type several names if you are trying to de-clutter even more.

I love that information is being shared to tailor education, sometimes I just need it out of the way in order to find the sheet I am currently needing.

The best part is that nothing is actually deleted, just hidden temporarily.

By subtracting certain owners, their shared documents are temporarily hidden.

Sports Journalism Class puts the 4Cs in Stop Motion Film Making

A lot of adults say, "You couldn't pay me to be a high school student in this day and age." Sure, I get the sentiment with the way social media has made the minefield of teen social interaction even trickier to navigate.

I think I would still go back...temporarily...just to take "Covering Hawkeye Sports" from Mark Behnke at Hamilton High School in Hamilton, Michigan where I teach.

Covering Hawkeye Sports has not only won 11 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association state championships but it is really an example of technology being integrated into learning at its best. Mr. Behnke's journalism class is essentially a college-level sports information department covering a mid-sized high school. They live stream games with commentary. They live tweet games and host social media nights just like major colleges and professional teams do...and these are 9th to 12th graders.

Check out CoverHawkSports.com

One of the coolest things these kids do is recreate game highlights in Lego stop-motion. This is a process where a film starring Lego characters is shot frame by frame and characters are repositioned after each frame to create the illusion of fluid movement. One second of footage can involve as many as 15 of these cycles.

Students have gotten so good at it that they even hosted a camp for elementary kids this past summer to share their craft. Oh yeah, they've also been asked by Oyo Sports to make highlight films of Super Bowl 51 and this year's college football national championship game. Oyo Sports is a major player in the Lego world by creating minifigures of major sports stars and teams. Oyo debuted CHS's Super Bowl video during last year's NFL Draft on its Instagram page.

At its heart the class is all about story telling and a stop motion video is the same way. The "Fours C's" are everywhere when you look at activities like these: collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking. Here's basically how the process works.

• An entire game has to be broken down into its most important elements and a team of designers has to be able to envision how the plays will be choreographed by minifigures.  (Collaboration, Communication, Critical Thinking)
• The geometry of recreating a sports venue in Legos is no easy task, whether that be Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta or the Hamilton High School shot put ring. (Creativity, Critical Thinking)
• It would be far too expensive to purchase team minifigures for each video, so players are repurposed by Photoshopping uniforms and logos that are printed as decals. Students even hand paint pieces when needed. (Creativity, Critical Thinking)

• When it comes time to actually shoot the stop action film, an incredible amount of precise math has to be calculated in order complete a scene in an efficient number of still shot. (Critical Thinking)
• Periodically Jared Jacobs, who is one of the world's top sports stop motion video creators, will FaceTime with class members if they hit a snag in the process or just need some insight into a "How did you do this?" technique. (Collaboration, Communication)
• Teamwork and student leadership have to be clicking in a project as well. When a group of students can divvy up the task and all stick to assigned roles the work can proceed at a manageable pace. How well a team works together is often reflected in its final product. (Communication, Collaboration)
• Before the final video can be shared, it is polished through normal video editing with graphics and titles added to complete the story telling. (Communication, Creativity)

Although Covering Hawkeye Sports might seem like a fun class to talk about sports, it is giving kids a chance to develop marketable skills like Photoshop and journalism but more importantly real-world life skills like leadership, empathy, and teamwork.

I just wish this thing had been around when I was in high school. 

Check out CHS' Adobe Spark story that the team updates daily with its progress on the national championship game video.

CS First: Code your own Google logo

Google's CS First program has introduced countless numbers of learners to coding and computer science through Scratch.

One of CS First's newest offerings is a module that teaches you and your students how to "Create Your Own Google Logo" like the Google Doodles that change daily on Google's search page.

The module starts with a plain Google logo and then takes you through a number of ways to modify it and make it more interactive, just like the daily doodles do.

All of the coding is done in the Scratch editor and if students have accounts, the projects can all be saved and modified later.

According to Google, the project should take about 30-60 minutes. This is highly dependent upon the user's previous experience in Scratch though. 

The activities are a great way to use the CS First resources without committing to the full curriculum.

Make it Safer Internet Day everyday

February 6 is the worldwide celebration of Safer Internet Day and Discovery Education's Europe branch has published an 11 page free activities packet that include lesson plans, activity templates, and  a great poster to hang up year around in your classroom. (Link to Resources)

The lessons seemed to be geared more for the elementary crowd but a number of ideas could easily be adapted for older students. Easy to lead discussion starters are a highlight that pose scenarios and ask learners what they would do.

Topics include online bullying and taking personal responsibility for appropriate use of a technology. A fun culminating activity is the blank template for students to create their own Safer Internet Day poster. There are also additional classroom posters and resources you can print and keep up all year.

Don't worry if you can't cram any of this stuff in today, the official Safer Internet Day. With these resources you can make everyday Safer Internet Day. Isn't that how it should be anyway?

Update: A ton more great resources from Better Internet for Kids, the parent organization behind Safer Internet Day. 

The Chromebook Creativity Project - Jump in.

Since sharing some depressing data on how Chromebooks are being used by over 5,000,000 students in America's schools, great conversations have begun over what do we do about it.

In my post I stated my dismay over the fact no creative sites were listed anywhere in the report. In order to help rectify this, I am beginning this page of links to sites that Chromebook-using learners can use to demonstrate learning in visual ways beyond the traditional typed document.

All of these sites are free and with limited or no apps. Many require no accounts to use and ones that do require accounts often let users use an existing Google Account. Some do have premium features that can be added for a fee.

This is very much an early work in progress and I will be constantly updating with new sites as well as lesson ideas.

Please share additional sites that can be added to this list via this Google Form. The form also gives the option of sharing your own expertise on the app like grade appropriateness, lesson examples of integration, links to student work, and any other insight you would like to share.

Charts and Infographics

ChartBlocks
Datamatic.io
Easel.ly
LucidChart

Photo edited with Lunapic

Piktochart.com
Plot.ly
Venngage
Vizzlo

eBook Publishing

Book Creator App - This one does require some front-loaded setup but is a great tool for students to share learning. Book Creator Ambassador Kelly Croy shares some insight on this episode of this Wired Educator podcast.

Photo Editors and Designers

BeFunky
Canva
Enhance.pho.to
Fotor
iPiccy
Lunapic (right click extension)
Makeup.pho.to
Pho.to Editor

PhotoRaster
Picozu (Chrome App)

Pixlr.com (Editor and Express) (right click extension)
Ribbet (Chrome App) - Access Google Photos and save back in Google Photos

Animate any portrait with facial expressions at Avatar.Pho.To

Really Fun but still Useful

Art.pho.to

Avatar.pho.to

Cartoon.pho.to

Photofunia - Small number of image effects may contain weapons of be of a PG nature. 

Celebrate Super Bowl LII by going inside EA Sports and Madden NFL Football

The NFL Players Association, EA Sports, and Discovery Education have teamed up to bring Madden Football to the classroom. These activities explore the math and science behind the game. 

See how much you really know about football and play footballbythenumbers.discoveryeducation.com.

How about taking your kids behind the scenes at EA Sports to see all of the "STEAM" that goes into making one of the most popular and successful video game franchises ever....and do it with Pro Bowl QB Kirk Cousins?

Explore Discovery Education's virtual field trip to EA Sports and all of the accompanying educator resources. 

Yes....and - Alice Keeler continues the Chromebook Crisis conversation

image: AliceKeeler.com

Thanks to educational ball-of-fire extraordinaire Alice Keeler for continuing the conversation after  deemed earlier in the week that we are in a Chromebook crisis.

Original post: An American Chromebook Crisis: new report shows sad trends of how students are using the devices

A new report shows a huge amount of Chromebook use is being spent on educationally questionable video games, low level assessments, and YouTube with the two highest trending websites for over 5,000,000 learners (after G Suite for Education) being CoolMath Games and Renaissance Learning, the parent company to Accelerated Reader and other assessments.

Having followed the great stuff Alice publishes for years, she was actually one of the first people I thought of when I read the study and couldn't wait to hear her reaction. Well, here it is!

Chromebook Crisis: We can and must do better. - AliceKeeler.com

My favorite thing about Alice's post is that it not only expands upon for my call for more students creating with Chromebooks in classrooms, but Alice gives teachers all kinds of suggestions on how to do this with the sites I mentioned in my original post.

And...that's what is so great about the educational technology community. The ideas and plans for doing better are freely available and Alice is one of the best at giving practical, implement-and-make-a-difference-now ideas that don't require huge levels of skill to make work.

Let's do this. We can and must do better.

An American Chromebook Crisis: new report shows sad trends of how students are using the devices

A new report is out that tracks how Chromebooks are being used in K-12 classrooms and it is one of the most disheartening things I have read in a long time. I am not lying or using hyperbole. My stomach dropped reading the release from Chromebook management company GoGuardian.

Read the GoGuardian Report here.

In short a huge amount of Chromebook use is being spent on educationally questionable video games, low level assessments, and YouTube with the two highest trending websites for over 5,000,000 learners (after G Suite for Education) being CoolMath Games and Renaissance Learning, the parent company to Accelerated Reader and other assessments.

Let me say it again. The two highest trending websites (after G Suite for Education) for over 5,000,000 learners are

CoolMath Games and
Renaissance Learning, the parent company to Accelerated Reader and other assessments!

Have you ever really visited CoolMath-Games.com? Maybe I am missing something but I struggle to see how most of these games are even math-related, let alone going to build skills? Yes, there is a ton of strategy and logic involved and kids dig the site because they're always asking if they can use it in STEM. Sorry guys, we have a lot more engaging ways to build both math, strategy, and logic.

But...but...it's got Math in the name so it has to be educational, right? I think that alone is a big reason why teachers allow it to get so much traffic...and that kids are quiet for long periods of time while playing on it. Sure, there are worse things they could be accessing, but when this site dominates the study it shows us that the current state of Chromebooks in the classroom is really stuck at the lowest common denominator.

Now, I am not as hugely opposed to Accelerated Reader (Renaissance Learning) as some in the educational technology community are. In the right doses as a SUPPLEMENT to a reading program and used only when students are free to choose their own books I have no problem with it. However when it shows up as the second most trending site in terms of hits and time spent on it, then that shows that far too many schools are making it the core of their reading programs. That could be a whole series of future blog posts. There are other assessments like Star Reading and Star Math that are likely contributing to this number. It would be interesting for GoGuardian to share out that breakdown. Still it's a gut punch to see activities like these taking up such a chunk of how kids are using technology in the classroom.

Okay, first rant over! The study overall is quite interesting and definitely does a thorough job at dissecting where students are spending their time online with Chromebooks.  The 2017 Benchmark Report: An analysis of emerging trends in Chromebook usage looks at what sites are being used most by students in three age brackets as well as what sites are most used by subject area. According to the report, "(The report) gives you an inside look into student device usage to inform best practices and provide a benchmark for your school’s technology programs. The Benchmark Report analyzes the aggregate device usage of 5 million K-12 students across the country."

GSuite for Education is by far the most utilized set of sites by Chromebook users and GoGuardian sets it aside from other non-Google sites, breaking down how the different parts rank. With 62.1% stated as Google Docs, it's my assumption that includes Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Drawings. I would like to see the percentage that each of those is used but the cynic me thinks it is highly likely that a huge chunk of that 62.1% is typing term papers like it's 1985...albeit using a really tricked-out Smith Corona. I do not mean to poo poo the use of Google Docs one bit though. This shows that all of the great aspects like sharing of docs and access anywhere are being used in great doses. Just over a year ago, I chronicled many of the advantages that the free suite offers. It's also important to remember we don't need to live in the "redefinition" realm of the SAMR framework and that technology should support sound pedagogy and Google Docs really can do that.

What surprises me and frankly saddens me a little bit too is that so few of these students' teachers (8%) are using Classroom to manage their Chromebook environments and that Google Drive is only accessed 2.5% of the time.

GoGuardian breaks down how Google's GSuite apps are being utilized in the classroom by 5,000,000 US K-12 users.

Now we get to Rant #2. YouTube grabs almost 21% usage in the Google category. Yes, there are endless numbers of videos that can teach you just about anything. When we cut access to YouTube this Fall at one of my elementary schools due to students being off-task with it, we found out how much we rely on it for independent learning and quickly opened it back up (filtered of course). Still I would love to see a breakdown of the actual types of YouTube videos being watched by students on their Chromebooks. My heart really wants a disproportionate number to be educational but my head leads me to believe that kitty cats, dumb web series, and music videos are probably leading the pack.

To be fair this study is not all doom, gloom, time wasters, and drill and kill. Both Scratch and Code.org popped up numerous times with Scratch garnering a #5 trending overall ranking. It's good to see these computer science sites getting lots of use by Chromebook users. Teachers are also doing their best to gamify a lot of learning as Kahoot came in at the top of a number of categories. Another favorite site of mine that places highly is the set of science simulations from PHET at the University of Colorado. Also, the study opened my eyes to several new sites I hadn't previously visited so definitely spend some time going through the lists.

What bugs me the most (Rant #3): For 23 years I have been evangelizing the use of edtech tools that foster student creativity and I have recently been preoccupied with a suspicion that because fewer and fewer schools are buying Macs for students that ground is likely being lost in the battle to promote high level uses of classroom technology.  When I opened GoGuardian's email with the study all of those fears were validated. I was saddened but not really surprised. Zero sites for creativity are listed in the study. We know fewer kids are getting to create with Keynote, iMovie, and GarageBand due to device choice, but it doesn't look like they're getting many chances to use any of the Chrome-based alternatives to these apps either.

No Soundtrap. No Canva. No WeVideo. No Pixlr. No Emaze.

Creativity is so important and being able to convey a concept in multimedia is a skill all industries are demanding now. A local school board president was asking me about what's next in edtech and the discussion led to content creation. He holds a high-up position with a multi-national company that creates automobile interiors and he agreed.

"Everything, no matter the concept now has to be pitched in a highly visual and easy to understand way. Just using PowerPoint basic slides won't cut it anymore," he shared.

We need to be fostering those skills now.

At least there's Scratch which provides tremendous opportunities for students to develop creativity while building computer science skills. For me its popularity is the brightest spot in this study.

Bottom line: When the technological investment in five million learners is being primarily spent playing games with questionable educational benefit, taking low level assessments, and watching YouTube then we have an edtech crisis on our hands. We can have "certified this" and "distinguished that" honors in our email signatures and be "ambassadors" for a thousand apps and sites but this report shows us the grim reality of how devices are really being used. Many of us have dedicated significant portions our careers to helping our fellow educators use technology in meaningful ways and this report should serve as a wake-up call as there is still a ton of work to do.

We can and must do better.

Updated: ...and the conversations continue. 

•  Yes...and. Alice Keeler continues the conversation with follow post. 
• Explore and join the Chromebook Creativity Project and help teachers not only transform how Chromebooks are being used in the classroom but also transform instruction by including these great tools. 

It's Super Bowl Week! Get your kids moving with Vikings' Kyle Rudolph

Discovery Education is back with another Super Bowl themed virtual field trip. This year's is completely on demand and features Minnesota Vikings Tight End Kyle Rudolph along with cardiologist Dr. Courtney Baechler.

The American Heart Association and NFL Play 60 team up from the Vikings practice facility to teach about the importance of exercise and healthy eating. Like last year's VFT, this one also includes segments where your students will be asked to get on their feet and get moving in place.

Best of all, the virtual Super Bowl experience is free to all educators and not just limited to subscribers of Discovery Education. Teachers can also download a free classroom activity guide.

Visit now.

Hurry to enter Vans' $75,000 Custom Culture 2018 high school design contest

Every year Vans picks 500 U.S. high schools to design a one-of-a-kind sneaker. The winning entry scores $75,000....yes, seventy-five thousand dollars for its high school art program. Imagine what you could do with that dough!

Visit customculture.vans.com for all of the details. There is a great getting started video that explains the process.

Hurry because registration closes on January 31.