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“I’m at Canadian Embassy (501 Pennsylvania Ave NW, 5th St NW, Washington) t.co/shFvykQk
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“I’m at U.S. Capitol – West Terrace (U.S. Capitol Complex, Washington) t.co/2ZmPiZG2
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“I’m at National Museum of the American Indian (300 Maryland Ave SW, at Independence Ave and 4th St, Washington) t.co/ZZtXl31x
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“I’m at The National Mall (U.S. Capitol to Lincoln Memorial, btwn Constitution & Independence Ave NW, Washington) t.co/SRT84Ax2
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“I’m at Smithsonian Institution Building (The Castle) (1000 Jefferson Dr SW, btwn 9th & 12th St SW, Washington) t.co/B8a2bHTZ
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“I’m at United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (100 Raoul Wallenberg Pl. SW, Independence Ave. SW, Washington) t.co/r1lCwbVn
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“I’m at Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial (1850 W Basin Dr, Washington) t.co/N6h1ossZ
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“I’m at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial (1964 Independence Ave SW, Washington) t.co/T6KYJ51Z
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“I’m at Korean War Veterans Memorial (Independence Ave, West Potomac Park, Washington) w/ 2 others t.co/z3zx2pmT
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“I’m at Vietnam War Memorial (The National Mall, Washington) t.co/gAb4Asvi
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“I’m at Lincoln Memorial (Lincoln Memoral Cir SW, Washington) t.co/mjyLLIqE
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“I’m at GWU – Ivory Tower (616 23rd St NW, at G St NW, Washington) t.co/zD1G5KxE
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“I’m at George Washington University Hospital (900 23rd St. N.W., Washington) t.co/93WeINgq
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“I’m at Embassy Of The Netherlands (2347 S St., NW, 23rd St, Washington) t.co/cgyPIabm
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“I’m at Embassy of the Federative Republic of Brazil (3006 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Washington, DC) t.co/LpwHSn0K
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“I’m at Washington National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave NW, at Massachusetts Ave NW, Washington) t.co/fhIk4cdF
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“I’m at Embassy Of The Vatican City (3339 Massachusetts Ave NW, at 34th St, Washington) t.co/QmnwSmhJ
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“I’m at Sir Winston Churchill Statue (British Embassy, on Mass Ave NW, Washington) t.co/cJf64dlH
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“I’m at Embassy of Japan (2520 Massachussetts Ave NW, Washington) t.co/fYFqHJRr
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“I’m at Dupont Circle (1 Dupont Cir, at Connecticut Ave NW, Washington) w/ 5 others t.co/LzDKo7hW
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“I’m at Johns Hopkins University Zanvyl Krieger School of Arts and Sciences (1717 Massachusetts Avenue, Washington) t.co/aFNcJeaU
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“I’m at Embassy Of Australia (1601 Massachusetts Ave NW, at 16th St NW, Washington) t.co/IUOuWc0T
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“I’m at Thomas Circle (Thomas Circle, M St NW, Washington) t.co/eEKquN7g
PILGF, Day 2
I had every intent of visiting every display in the exhibit area that I missed yesterday. I admit it; I failed. My problem lies in the fact that I want to talk to everyone who has poured their energies into supporting student work on their projects. But, a quick look at the floor map made me realize how fruitless that was going to be in the two hours that I could devote to the floor. Now, I could do a speed walk through but that just wouldn’t do justice to any of the displays. So, I decided to continue with my theme of going to booths where there were just a few people so that I could get some personalized attention.
So, I did look at the exhibit throwing and catching fish at the Fish Market but elected not to stand in line. But, it was amazing what could be done with a Kinect system!
I did, though, get a lesson in making paper birds as part of a unit dealing with the migration of birds. I have a new found skill – I can do it! But, the documentation proof is tough when you’re the guy holding the camera. We did have a nice conversation, without an interpreter, of the migration patterns in Taiwan. I was able to give back a bit and talk about the Monarch butterfly migration through Essex County. For both the exhibitor and for me, it was an opportunity to show off our parts of the world via Google Maps. Fortunately, I remembered where the instructions were as the computer was not set to the English language. It was such a delightful experience.
My next stop was for a prolonged conversation with an Indian Business/Entrepreneurial Studies teacher. Over the course of three months, her students using some solid Problem Based Learning as they researched, developed, and then put into place a marketing and business plan for the management and promotion of their products. If anyone is looking for a great idea, one of the students had proposed a computer carrying cases that actually charged your laptop while you rolled it, picking up on the energy from the cart as you go!
The project featured developing marketing campaigns using Web 2.0 technologies as well as traditional desktop applications. Everything was driven by a blog where students would work on timelines and deliverables. It was a massive project. I still can’t believe the quality of work that was made possible in such a timeframe.
Digital citizenship, bullying, online identity were the order of the day for this Columbian project. My timing was bad for the poor exhibitor but I loved it! Her translator had gone for lunch and there was fear in her eyes as I asked about the project. She was very nervous to go it along but did a wonderful job. We talked about the problems that were the impetus behind this project. Do they seem familiar? It’s somehow comforting to see that educators all over the world are dealing with these issues. In this case, every bit of social media was explored. My host was totally surprised when I indicated that many school districts block Facebook and Tumblr which were two of the tools at the heart of this project.
These were primary level students and one of their methods for delivering the message was through the creation of Audiobooks. The auditory part, of course, left me behind but the visuals from the personally crafted drawings was perfectly clear. The students understood the problem and were using this media to address it. The class had their projects published on Facebook where parents as well as students were invited into the closed group to enjoy and discuss the student work.
The powerful theme throughout the sessions that I attended was about changing the world – or at least one small part of it. At a British display, www.askthemusicteacher.co.uk, a secondary school music class talked about their use of technology to create original music. In the movie studio, the students used a Kinect system to explore new avenues for creating and pushing their understanding of music.
Rather uniquely, the backdrop was actually an infographic to convey the message from the booth. Visitors got to wear headsets to listen to the original creations. And, cooly enough, a group formed a band, were signed to a recording label (we got complimentary copies of the CD!) and these lads are off and flying.
Click to play their first single “Flowdem”
It was an amazing day. While I was there at lunch, some of the exhibitors were out. I missed the Canadian contingent but did grab a couple of flyers. Mr. MacDougall’s Campbellton Middle School in New Brunswick explored Visual Poetry for perspectives on global events. And, J.D. Touchie’s class from the same school focused their attentions on creating Historical Novel Movie Trailers. Both were such great ideas and I’m sad that I missed demonstrations. There was also a very significant project from an Egyptian display. It’s the creation of a wiki entitled “Welcome Back, Egypt“. Devote some time to it and just picture how students can help change the world.
And, yes, the hashtag #PILGF was global again. Thanks to SocialBro, I was able to snag this picture of who in the world was contributing.
The time to view exhibits was cut short as we were up for 1:1 interviews with Lauren Woodman and Anthony Salcito. And, of course, there was the very motivating morning keynote about Big History from Dr. David Christian. There’s more to come about all of this when I get home.
Tomorrow night, though, is the big gala with the awards given now that the judging is complete. It’s going to be great!
OTR Links 11/10/2011
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5 Government Procurement Practices That Stifle Innovation
This is a good read. You could substitute “Your Local School Board” anywhere that the word government appears. We constantly talk about change in education and it’s increasingly more difficult to get the new tools when you have to work your way through old processes. There is certainly a need to have a procurement policy in place to ensure that you’re getting the best value for the dollar and to honour the needs of the vendor by a solution that falls between the old process and desire to use the new technologies needs to be found.
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Soundproofing the Skype Studio | ZDNet
Fortunately, the soundproofing and sound-sculpting materials work and work quite well. The room is now virtually silent and I’ve been able to get excellent recording and broadcast sound quality.
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Core77 / industrial design magazine + resource / home
Design Magazine and Resource – terrific resource for digital inspiration
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Walmart Goes Mobile With New Apps For iPhone & iPad | TechCrunch
Today, Walmart is launching an updated iPhone application and a new iPad app, in an effort to better connect customers’ offline and online shopping experiences. The iPhone app in particular brings a number of new features, including voice-enabled shopping list creation, barcode scanning and integrated manufacturers’ coupons, while the iPad app offers the ability to find items both online and at the local store.
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Apps in Education: Great iPad PD Session – from BalancEdTech
This is an excellent prepared inservice for staff or students on the iPad. This is a very extensive introductory self contained learning module. Have a look at the comprehensive links that BalancEdTech have included in this 6-12 hour set of iPad Professional Development.
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CPSR – The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics
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Content curation: Best practices
Best practices in Content Curation Presentation
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Presentation Sins « Ralph Talmont | Pictures, pixels & pages
As we all know, presentations can be either informative, interesting and inspiring or bland, boring and just plain bad. (Couldn’t resist the alliteration, eh.) What is interesting is that given the fact that both the presenters and the audience are usually drawn from the same pool of people, and no-one likes to attend boring presentations, why does it continue to happen? Doesn’t everyone already know what makes a dreadful presentation and what to avoid when making one?
