Skip to main content

Stories from NICEminicon 2016

Congratulations to the 300 - 400 educators who made a choice to sacrifice a Saturday morning for networking and professional learning. Yesterday's NICEminicon (Northern Illinois Computing Educators - mini-conference) was a shining example of how impactful a well-executed conference can be. A welcoming breakfast, engaging sessions, and attention to detail, our hosts, the folks at D219, deserve a pat on the back. In addition, the events don't effectively happen without the generosity of sponsors. It was terrific seeing so many of my PLN friends in attendance. Here are my takeaways and reflections from yesterday's outstanding experience.


Originally, I planned to sketchnote my thoughts and backchannel my session experiences. Fortunately, the level of activity and engagement prevented this from happening. I used my phone to capture and share a few highlights to Twitter, but credit the session facilitators, our lead learners, with keeping the activity and interest level high. There was good variety offered in the scheduled sessions, and I appreciated the organizers efforts to save paper by delivering conference information digitally. Following a chocolate muffin, and two cups of orange juice, my day began with making stuff out of cardboard and tape and ended with a discussion of authenticity through problem-based learning.

  1. Session One - "Building a MakerSpace out of Practically Nothing" - Katie Budrow kicked things off by asking us to suggest everyday problems that could be simplified or eliminated through innovation. She offered us a collection of cardboard, masking tape, string, rubber bands, and paperclips. We were tasked with "making" a device capable of mechanically stirring our breakfast oatmeal or morning coffee. It was interesting seeing the variety of iterations from the maker teams. We discussed the merits and challenges of classroom makerspaces, and there was time for a question and answer session. The hands-on lesson provided immediate engagement. Like many learners, my mind activates more readily with physical movement and collaboration.
  2. Session Two - "Game On: A Beginner's Guide to Gamifying Your Classroom" - Carrie Baughcum, besides being one of my favorite PLN pals, is also an excellent teacher. She personalized our experience by offering both digital and analog materials, she clearly stated the objectives of the session and peaked our interest by sharing a story of how gamification has evolved in her classroom. We discussed the "why" of gamification, and after seeing Carrie's examples, we were asked to come up with our own gaming themes. It may take several iterations before arriving at an ideal structure, and even then student interest and competencies will dictate a degree of adaptability. Having clear objectives, flexible experience points, and a leaderboard, help amplify the gaming experience for students. I could have spent the rest of the day working on my gamification ideas. If Carrie ever offers either a half-day or full day, gamification workshop, I will be one of the first to register!
  3. Session Three - "Authentic Learning for Authentic Audience" - Tracy Crowley and Sandy Mills did a commendable job of sharing examples of student projects, program materials, and references from experts in the field. I find the subject personally appealing. It's a challenge to attain much depth in fifty minutes. To their credit, they fielded questions skillfully, and the discussion grew organically. Once again, I could have spent the rest of the day learning more about their program and how to implement it in our own schools. Examples of student work, including videos, helped drive home the passion of their message. I believe the future of education will be based on the solving of authentic problems, and personalized collaborative, experiences. This was an interesting session that energized my thinking.






Total disclosure, I skipped the closing keynote because I wanted some quiet time to process all that I had seen and experienced. I've recently being doing a lot of conference organizing and presenting, so it was nice for me to enjoy the day from a participating learner's perspective. My intention with this post is to transparently celebrate our learning, reflect upon my experiences, and keep the conversations going. 






Learning is great, learning with friends is even better! NICEminicon was a masterfully run conference experience, and a great teaser for the upcoming ICE Conference in February. I am looking forward to re-engaging with my PLN friends as we work to transform teaching, learning, schools, and education.


Comments

Carrie Baughcum said…
Thank you so very much for your words Robert. Your reflection on my session held everything I had hoped a learner would feel and experience. I hope so much and it is my goal that workshops are in my future for gamification. Thank you for your words and thank you so much for the passion you bring to education and that I got to share with you!!!
Thank you Carrie. I thoroughly enjoyed your gamification session, and I look forward to learning more about this with you. Your comment and passion for connected learning are appreciated. Talk soon!
Bob

Popular posts from this blog

What Teachers Can Learn From Effective Coaches

In my educational world teaching and coaching involve the same processes. The people that impacted my own learning most significantly were coaches. Could it be that great coaches were ahead of their time with respects to instructional best practices? Let's take a look at ten coaching practices that thankfully have found their way into the classroom. http://www.coachwooden.com/files/PyramidThinkingSuccess.jpg Standards-based Grading - coaches aren't concerned with arbitrary measures of success such as letter grades. Great coaches identify a requisite set of skills that are necessary for advancement and success. Promotion and achievement are based upon clearly identified levels of skill mastery.  Authentic assessment - coaches are looking for their athletes to demonstrate their skill mastery under game-like situations. The best coaches incorporate game simulations and competitive, game-like drills into their practices. Winning coaches will use the contests as assess

Board Games in the School Library: 3 Reasons Why It's a Winning Play

"Play is the highest form of research."  - Albert Einstein “Play is the work of the child.”  – Maria Montessori In our recently remodeled school media center, we have a space dedicated to active engagement in fun learning activities. Part maker space, part literacy lounge, board games are being incorporated to promote a culture of joyful learning. Whether it's a game of Rummy , Yahtzee , or Scrabble , family game night serves as a communication elixir and solidifies our domestic climate of togetherness. Shouldn't similar opportunities for interaction, challenge, and fun exist somewhere in our schools? Broken families, cultural fragmentation, and poverty are impacting opportunities for children to play. As we unpacked and tagged our new media center games, I was more disappointed than shocked by the number of students who had never played Monopoly , Boggle , or Sorry . One skeptical teacher commented, "Oh great, now we're letting students pl

Self-Directed vs. Self-Determined Learning; What's the Difference?

"We need to move beyond the idea that an education is something that is provided for us, and toward the idea that an education is something that we create for ourselves." - Stephen Downes In this age of abundance of information, shifting classroom pedagogy isn't nearly enough to make learning in school more relevant and authentic for the learner. Self-directed learning ( andragogy ), and self-determined learning ( heutagogy ) are the ideals necessary in making students " future ready " to live and learn in a web-connected world. While original research applied these concepts to mature learners, it has become apparent that even young children have an abundant capacity for recognizing and directing their learning. Anyone who has observed toddlers learning how to walk and talk understand the motivation and skill development that quickly develops during these processes. Considered by some to be on a learning continuum, self-directed learning, and self-determined