Tech Rationing 2017; What's in the Bag?

Last week, Aaron Davis asked, "what are your ed-tech survival rations?" What are those items that would cause you to turn the car around and head home to retrieve? In his post, "My #EdTech Rations", Davis quotes David Hopkins, "what are those essential devices that connect our personal and professional lives?" - #EdTechRations

The times that I go into "airplane mode" are refreshing but few and far between. In fact, I feel completely naked and uncomfortable without my cell phone and my Fitbit. At the risk of being too honest, I fear public nudity far less than digital disconnectedness. Initially, I thought Davis was playing on my minimalistic sensibilities, then I began to consider my daily packing and preparations. Are my tendencies more "mobile-istic", than minimalistic? It's safe to say that I'm at least 2:1 with mobile devices almost every day.

With the #EdTech conference season in full gear, this interactive image, created with Thinglink, shows my essential "tech rations"; my carry-on bag. I comply with F.A.A. airport regulations, so I never leave my bag unattended. With these items, I feel prepared to present or fully participate in any session. The only items not included in this picture are my Bluetooth speaker, wireless headphones, and of course, my smartphone used to take this picture. Call me crazy, but I need access to music at all times. My most recent playlist digs into Junior Brown, The Derailers, and BR5-49.

Click on the picture for more tech ration detail.

Help me scratch my minimalist itch, how many of these items can be replaced by the creative use of a smartphone?

Use the comments section to play along. What devices constitute your essential tech rations?

Comments

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

Nocking the Arrow

Search This Blog