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WEP 153: The Future of Education, An Interview Jakob Ebsen Hanson

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Jakob Hansen. Jakob has more than ten years in education as an innovative educator and leader. He has now turned his attention to the future of education. He is an educational consultant helping schools now prepare students for the future. This is an amazing interview and conversation that will really get you thinking.

Jakob was one of the leading forces behind FlowFactory, Denmarks’ first High School that was 100% based on Challenge Based Learning and cross-curricula, Real World projects, together with both local and international corporations and organizations (like LEGO Education, SamLabs and Danfoss). His mission is to inspire us to reinvent education … to dare to think differently about learning and to aim higher and to see new creative possibilities for learning that are based on future trends instead of historical traditions. 

Jakob Hansen has a background in industrial and interaction design and has been teaching Design, Entrepreneurship and Coding and App Dev. (Swift coding in X code.)

Last year Jakob left the classroom and works now with schools all around the world (South Africa, England, Ukraine, UAE, Germany, Denmark) as an independent consultant. The focus is on Challenge Based Learning, Leading Change and the Design of new Learning Spaces.

Jakob is one of three co-founders of the new nonprofit organization toward2030.org. The mission is to give schools and decision-makers the opportunity to dream big and set big goals for where they want to be in 2030, a decade from now, by providing creative tools and facilitate workshops and bring ambitious schools across the world closer together.

Mentioned in this episode:

Follow Jakob on Twitter and Instagram at: @jakobesben and Instagram

Jakob’s company is called, The Friendly Disruptor – www.FriendlyDisruptor.com (website temporarily offline – working on a huge redesign.)

Toward2030.org: www.toward2030.org (Will be online from the end of next week. (the 18 of Jan 2020))

Last chance to receive my eBook, The Greatest Year of Your Life, updated for 2020. This opportunity closes on January 15, 2020, and then the book goes on sale. To help you kick off the new year and to help you reach your goals and resolutions this year, I am giving away a free copy of my 64-page eBook, The Greatest Year of Your Life (2020 Edition) to everyone who signs up for my newsletter. Become more productive. Get things done. Level-up your leadership. Design a more dynamic life. All you have to do to receive the free copy is to sign-up for my free newsletter. Just click this link and enter your email. That’s it. It’s that simple. This eBook is available only until January 15, 2020.

2) Last chance to apply for coaching with me. This opportunity also closes on January 15, 2020. I am even giving away one seat away fro FREE. Would you like to work with me to help you achieve your goal of publishing a book, building a website, hosting a podcast, starting a business, becoming a speaker, or achieving another awesome life goal? Complete the following application before January 15, 2020. One lucky applicant will win free coaching. Here is the application: https://forms.gle/762GxbJ8b5oD8xEK9

3) I want to speak to your school or organization this year! I know January and February are two big months for organizations to start planning their professional learning and speakers for the year. I would love to work with your organization to level-up your leadership. To learn more about my speaking visit www.KellyCroy.com and www.WiredEducator.com. Last year I traveled as close as a neighboring town to work with a financial firm and as far as the Philippines to speak at an international education conference. I would love to speak at your event. No matter what the challenge, leadership is the solution!

Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker, and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 150 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram  

 

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WEP 152: Class Tech Tips, An Interview with Monica Burns

In this episode of The Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Monica Burns, the founder of Class Tech Tips! Monica was guest back on episode 72. It was great catching up with Monica and seeing the wonderful resources she creates for educators. You are going to love this episode.

Dr. Monica Burns is a Curriculum and EdTech Consultant, Apple Distinguished Educator and Founder of ClassTechTips.com. Monica was part of her school’s leadership team and was a vocal advocate for bringing one-to-one technology into her classroom. As a classroom teacher, Monica used iPads to create an engaging, differentiated learning experience to meet the unique needs of her students. Realizing the power of digital tools in the classroom, Monica started ClassTechTips.com to provide a resource for educators.

Since starting ClassTechTips.com, Monica has presented to teachers, administrators and tech-enthusiasts at numerous national and international conferences including SXSWedu, ISTE, FETC and EduTECH. She is a webinar host for SimpleK12 and a regular contributor to Edutopia. Monica is the author of Tasks Before Apps: Designing Rigorous Learning in a Tech-Rich Classroom (ASCD), #FormativeTech: Meaningful, Sustainable, and Scannable Formative Assessment with Technology (Corwin), Deeper Learning with QR Codes and Augmented Reality (Corwin), and co-author of 40 Ways to Inject Creativity into Your Classroom with Adobe Spark.

Monica visits schools across the country to work with PreK-20 teachers to make technology integration exciting and accessible. In addition to being named an Apple Distinguished Educator in 2013, Monica is a graduate of the University of Delaware and Hunter College, and completed a Doctorate in Global Education Leadership at Lamar University in 2016.

 

Mentioned in this episode: 

Moncia’s website: www.classtechtips.com

Monica’s podcast: https://classtechtips.com/category/podcast/

Follow Monica on these social media platforms: 

Twitter: Twitter.com/classtechtips

Facebook: Facebook.com/classtechtips

Pinterest: Pinterest.com/classtechtips

Instagram: Instagram.com/classtechtips

Monica’s Books: 

From Kelly: 

Sign-up for my free newsletter: To help you kick off the new year and to help you reach your goals and resolutions this year, I am giving away a free copy of my 64-page eBook, The Greatest Year of Your Life (2020 Edition) to everyone who signs up for my newsletter. Become more productive. Get things done. Level-up your leadership. Design a more dynamic life. All you have to do to receive the free copy is to sign-up for my free newsletter. Just click this link and enter your email. That’s it. It’s that simple. This eBook is available only until January 15, 2020.

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Coaching Application: Would you like to work with me to help you achieve your goal of publishing a book, building a website, hosting a podcast, starting a business, becoming a speaker, or achieving another awesome life goal? Complete the following application before January 15, 2020. One lucky applicant will win free coaching. Here is the application: https://forms.gle/762GxbJ8b5oD8xEK9 
Wishing you much success!
May your 2020 be filled with good health and happiness, peace and prosperity, much love and laughter.
Kelly

Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcastand subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 150 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leaderfor a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram  

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WEP 150: Top 20 Things I Have Learned Publishing 150 Podcast Episodes and Interviewing Amazing Educators From Around the Globe!

In this 150th Episode of The Wired Educator Podcast I share the Top Twenty Things I Have Learned Publishing 150 Podcast Episodes and Interviewing Amazing Educators!

I am so happy I started the Wired Educator Podcast, and it is amazing to me to see it now at 150 episodes. I have no intention of stopping now. In fact, I am looking to growing the podcast in new ways.

I am thankful that you listen to the show, level-up each week, and make a positive impact in the lives of students. You are awesome, and I am not embarrassed to tell you that every week.

I have learned a lot from publishing 150 episodes and interviewing educators from all over the world. I wanted to share a condensed list of what I feel my guests have in common, and what they do that makes them stand out.

As I share what I have learned, I’ll bet many will resonate with you. I’ll bet you see yourself in a lot of these amazing qualities. I believe this because you are taking time to level-up. There are many commonalities in success. Still, I hope there are many that challenge you to grow and improve as they did me.

It is my pleasure and honor to bring you the Wired Educator Podcast each week.

I wish you an amazing 2020 filled with love and laughter, peace and prosperity, & good health and happiness.

Happy New Year!

Kelly

Are you doing something great in education? Fill out this form! Are you #Wired2Teach? Are you doing something amazing in education? I want to know. I want to recognize listeners of the podcast and share it out to the world on www.WiredEducator.com, and I may even choose to interview you on the show. Check the show notes for a link to a form so you can submit your EDUawesomeness. Here is a link to the form: https://forms.gle/ovd1cZjd7YCx1Vyg7

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Sign-up for Kelly’s newsletter here. Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 150 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

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20 Resolutions I Want Every Educator & Administrator to Make in 2020

Educators are my favorite species. They not only work incredibly hard all hours of the day to make an impact in the lives of those they teach, they are also constantly working to improve themselves as well.

Each year I taught, I wanted to make my classroom, lessons, and engagement better. I was always trying to level-up. I still am. I made resolutions each school year and again at the start of the new year. I love those imaginary reset buttons! I shared my resolutions each year with my students and hung them on the classroom wall. Why? Because I knew my students would hold me accountable. And boy did they! I didn’t hit them all, but I hit more than I would have if I didn’t share them.

Below are 20 Resolutions I believe will help you and your school level-up and make an even greater impact.

Which of the following resolutions are you nailing? Scared of? Challenged by?

Here are 20 resolutions I believe every educator & administrator should make:

  1. Subscribe to an Educational Podcast: Podcasts are booming and for good reason! They are a fantastic way to learn and level-up. They are fun to listen to, too! Podcasts are the ONLY form of social media that are safe to consume while driving. You can make your commute fun and learn ways to make a difference in students’ lives. There are lots of great educational podcasts out there. I recommend my podcast, The Wired Educator Podcast where I interview amazing educators from around the world. You will love it.
  2. Give Better Feedback to Students: As educators and leaders, we need to closely re-evaluate every opportunity we have to connect with students. One that is surprisingly overlooked is the feedback we give on projects, presentations and assignments. We need to give more meaningful and valuable feedback. The best feedback is face-to-face communication so there are no misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and where questions can be asked. Our primary purpose with the feedback should be, “How do I want the student to feel after receiving this feedback?” Some teachers struggle with this approach. They see themselves as grade-givers rather than student-growers. Re-evaluate the feedback you give. Perhaps you are knocking it out of the park. Perhaps you need to hit reset and redesign what you hope to gain. The same is true of administrators and evaluations of teachers. Great feedback seeks: growth, understanding, and an opportunity to connect.
  3. Help to Build a Positive School Culture: Your words and actions contribute to the culture of your building and school district. You are a leader and influencer even if you don’t think you are. You are. Are your words and actions improving the culture of your school district? Are you waiting for someone else to fix the problems? Are you better at pointing out the problems or leading solutions? It starts with you. Don’t wait for someone else. Start.
  4. Make Your Class Open 24 Hours a Day from Anywhere in the World: Turn your class in to a 7-Eleven. Use Google Classroom or other Learning Management Systems to help students who are absent, traveling, or need to see things for a second or third time. Kids can learn anytime from anywhere. They can even do work on snow days.
  5. Build a New Community in Your School: Look at the students in your school. Which groups of students don’t have a place to share their talents and feel like a contributor? Find them and build that community. You don’t need to be the expert. Just identify what is missing, talk to your administrator, throw a poster on the wall, make an announcement and get going. Maybe it is a group of video gamers, lego builders, robot drivers, or a book or food club. Ask your students and help them feel a contributor to their school.
  6. Add a Portion of Challenge Based Learning to Your Year: Call it what you want, Project Based Learning, SOLE, Problem Based Learning or CBL, but add a little to your school year. Students need to be making and thinking and collaborating and solving. Check out startSOLE or Apple’s Challenge Based Learning: A Classroom Guide. You don’t need to change everything, just add a little. It goes a long way. You will love it, and it is the future.
  7. Collaborate with Your Colleagues to Build Dynamic Lessons and Units: Work with the other teachers in your building to collaborate on lesson plans to increase engagement and design interdisciplinary thematic units. It’s fun for you and the students. The most memorable lessons I ever experienced were working with my colleagues. You can even plan remotely using PlanBook.com, Apple Numbers or Google Sheets.
  8. Take Less Home: Living in constant overwhelm and frustration is not normal nor admirable. Everyone is busy. Teaching is fun and noble. It’s time to get efficient, take less home, and have more pride and joy being a teacher. Design a curriculum plan for your class and change just a small percentage each year rather than constantly trying to redo everything. Take less work home. Really. What are you taking home anyway? What are you trying to assess and measure?Try to do more in class with the students in the form of labs, workshops, presentations and SOLE projects and less 19th century grading of tests and quizzes.
  9. Rethink Homework: “But students need the practice!” Really? I’m not telling you not to give homework, but I am asking you to rethink what you are sending home. Check out the book Ditch That Homework by Alice Keeler and Matt Miller for ideas. Talk with fellow teachers and admins. Rethink homework. Please.
  10. Use Technology to Create!  Technology does not need to be used the majority of the time. What a misconception, but when it is used, it should be used to create content, and only briefly to consume. Examine how you are using tech in your classroom. Don’t use devices as electronic babysitters having students research for the majority of a period on their own. Have multiple students work on one device.  Offer your students amazing ways to create and publish what they know. Create digital textbooks, videos, presentations, animations, and more! Get going. If your students are mostly on websites clicking answers, well… you’re using it poorly.
  11. Start a Blog, Podcast or YouTube Channel: Take all of the great things you and your students are doing and share them with the world on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, a blog, YouTube or write a book. Everyone benefits. Start this, this year! I highly encourage you to start a blog, podcast, or YouTube Channel.
  12. Attend a Conference: It is always awesome to get out of your classroom and learn something new, get inspired, and apply it. I recommend returning and giving a presentation to your building and maybe even your board. If you don’t return and apply it, then maybe you should let someone else go in your place. Apply. Heck, don’t just attend one! You should Apply to Speak at a Conference: Share what you know! Don’t have anything special enough to share? Then it’s time to level-up and get after it. I’m serious.
  13. Nominate a Colleague: Yes, find someone in your district you admire and nominate them for some recognition. Why? Because they deserve it, and when one educator is looked upon positively, all educators are looked upon positively.
  14. Collaborate with a Colleague: Open the door to your classroom both figuratively and literally and find ways to collaborate with other teachers. I suggest creating an interdisciplinary thematic unit with a culminating activity with other teachers at your grade level. It’s fun, memorable, and good for students.
  15. Lead: Rather than complain about something you don’t like, create a solution and begin implementing it. That’s called leading. We are all educational leaders. Need help? Read my book Along Came a Leader, or one of my favorites, Start. Right. Now.
  16. Start a YouTube Channel for Your Classroom: Hey, it’s all about video. I found myself watching someone cook a fish dinner the other day on Facebook. I watched the whole thing. I don’t like to cook, and I hate fish. My point is… video done well can be engaging, and your class could be open to students 24/7. Do this now.
  17. Get Connected with Other Educators: Build Your Personal Learning Network (PLN) either online by using Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or reach out to educators in your building, district, or state. Share what you know. Learn from them. Show other educators how to do this.
  18. Publish Student Work: Find unique and powerful ways to share and publish the work your students do in your classroom. Give them authentic audiences and genuine purposes to create. Build a website, start a podcast, host a “fair”, publish them on a blog, YouTube, or SeeSaw. Have them create digital books as published authors using Book Creator or Apple’s Pages. Publish their work.
  19. Contact Every Family You Teach: Seriously, forget the email. Pick up the phone or send a postcard home to every family you teach. Find something positive to say about every student and offer them a personal challenge in your class. Let them know you care about them. When you do have to contact home for something less than positive it will be easier because you have already talked with them about something positive.
  20. Read an Educational Book: There are so many great educational books out there that will change your career. Grab one and see what a difference it makes. Looking for suggestions? Try Tom Murray’s new book, Personal and Authentic: Designing Learning Experiences that Impact a Lifetime. It is awesome!  Tom is an amazing educational speaker and you will love his book. Also check out my podcast for links to fantastic educational books mentioned by my guests.

Bonus: Are you doing something great in education? Fill out this form! Are you #Wired2Teach? Are you doing something amazing in education? I want to know. I want to recognize listeners of the podcast and share it out to the world on www.WiredEducator.com, and I may even choose to interview you on the show. Check the show notes for a link to a form so you can submit your EDUawesomeness. Here is a link to the form: https://forms.gle/ovd1cZjd7YCx1Vyg7

 

What did I miss? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 150 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

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I Want to Celebrate and Promote the Amazing Things YOU are Doing in Education!

Be Featured on The Wired Educator Blog or Podcast. Complete this very short form.

Would you like to be featured on The Wired Educator website or podcast? Complete this form and you might be chosen: https://forms.gle/ovd1cZjd7YCx1Vyg7

(The link is a super short survey that helps me learn about you and what you are doing. From it I can figure out ways to share EDU awesomeness on social media, my blog or my podcast.)

I have decided I want to celebrate, promote and share MORE amazing stories from educators around the world. I do it each week on the podcast, but I want to find MORE ways to celebrate all that educators are doing.

Can you complete this super-short and super-easy form so I can learn what amazing educational work you are doing and share it out? https://forms.gle/ovd1cZjd7YCx1Vyg7

Are you #Wired2Teach? Are you doing something amazing in education? I want to know. I want to recognize listeners of the podcast and share it out to the world on www.WiredEducator.com, and I may even choose to interview you on the show. Check the show notes for a link to a form so you can submit your EDUawesomeness. Here is a link to the form: https://forms.gle/ovd1cZjd7YCx1Vyg7

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Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 148 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leaderfor a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

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WEP 137: Shake Up Learning, An Interview with Kasey Bell

An Interview with Kasey Bell

In this episode I interview Kasey Bell, author of the educational book Shake Up Learning and co-host of The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast. This was a fun interview with a very genuine and caring educator. I know you are going to find tremendous value in this interview with Kasey.

Kasey Bell is part sparkling smile, part witty personality and a whole heap of passion as big as a Texas–go big or go home, y’all! She is a disruptor of the boring.  An engaging, innovative, from the heart sharer who inspires educators while transforming their teaching with original, timely and use-tomorrow ideas for student choice, differentiation, and technology integration. 

Whether it is learning from home through online courses, professional development, conference workshops or as a keynote speaker Kasey is a relentless innovator of ideas and a devoted transformer of classrooms and teaching. 

Through teacher empowering publications and award-winning educational resources at ShakeUpLearning.com, learner-driven workshops and presentations and co-hosting Google Teacher Tribe weekly podcast, Kasey proves why we should never settle for the boring when it comes to bringing out the very best in our students, and we should always strive to Shake Up Learning!

Host of The Shake Up Learning Show Podcast

Author of Shake Up Learning: Practical Ideas to Move Learning from Static to Dynamic

Co-host of The Google Teacher Tribe Podcast

Access Kasey’s amazing online courses for Google Level 1, Level 2, and Trainer Certification and more!

Google Certified Innovator

Google Certified Trainer

ISTE Featured Voice

Digital Innovation in Learning Award Winner in “Sharing is Caring”

One of 20 TrustED Educational Thought Leaders

Award-winning blogger and social media influencer

Must Read EdTech Blog 

Edublog Awards Finalist 

The award-winning Shake Up Learning website and blog provides teachers with practical resources for using technology in the classroom, including how to use Google Classroom, G Suite for Education and other Google tools, as well as many other blended learning and technology integration resources. Here you will find free technology tips and tricks, free downloads and templates, in-depth online courses, books, lesson plans, and lesson ideas, cheat sheets, blog publications, and podcasts.

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Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 135 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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WEP 134: The Chromebook Classroom, an Interview with John Sowash

An Interview with John Sowash


In this episode I interview John Sowash about his book and podcast, The Chromebook Classroom. John is making an amazing impact in education. This is a great interview about how to use Chromebooks to create. John can absolutely help you and your district better use Chromebooks. John is brilliant. You are going to love this interview.

John Sowash is an experienced classroom teacher, former school administrator, author of The Chromebook Classroom, and founder of the Google Certification Academy. He’s also the host of The Chromebook Classroom Podcast. John inspires educators to use technology connect with and challenge students. Schools around the world have invited John to come and share with them. You can connect with John via his blog (www.chrmbook.com) or Twitter (@jrsowash).

Mentioned in this Podcast: 

• Planbook.com: Planbook is the best way to create, organize and share your lessons. We are proud to have them as our sponsor of this episode.

• John’s book: The Chromebook Classroom.

• John’s podcast: The Chromebook Classroom Podcast.

• John’s blog: www.chrmbook.com

• One of John’s favorite books is: Start with Why by Simon Sinek

• He’s currently reading These 6 Things: How to Focus Your Teaching on What Matters Most by Dave Stuart Jr.

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Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 134 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 

 

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Can Fortnite Make You a Better Teacher? Squad up!

A lot of people are playing Fortnite, and it’s not all bad. In a recent article by FastCompany, I learned there are 200 million users on Fortnite, with about 8 million of those on at one time, with the average user spending over 10 hours a week playing the game. It is now emerging as one of the biggest social media platforms, and generated over 3.5 billion in revenue from this ‘free’ game.

Love it or hate it, Fortnite is not going away, and I aim to show that learning just a little bit about the game will make you a better teacher, and help make your classroom a better learning environment. I’m not suggesting you spend hours playing the game, but I do suggest you read this post and crack the code of Fortnite’s popularity, and find ways to bring its addictiveness to your instruction. Learn what makes students love Fornite and apply it to your class.

  1. Students want to sky dive into learning: Make the start of your class exciting. At the beginning of the game, Fortnite, everyone is literally on a “battle bus.” The players parachute down to an island. It’s exciting. Hook your students in with something close to a 13,000 foot freefall. Parachuters get about 60 seconds of free fall. What can you do that is exciting, quick and relevant to the lesson?
  2. Students want to choose their destination. Let students make choices about their learning. As the players are parachuting they are gliding down and choosing which part of the island to land and explore. Students in your classroom want to make choices, too. It’s fun. Give them options or let them choose. What can you let your students choose tomorrow? Do it.
  3. Students want a sense of urgency and a quick paced session. When the players land in Fortnite, the players are racing to stay away from a surround storm that is tightening. Players must keep moving, encountering new adventures, and face challenges. Your class needs to keep moving forward with new challenges. Students get bored with one activity that goes on and on.
  4. Students want an environment to explore. In the game, players explore an island looking for tools, prizes and surprises. Get students out of their seat and have them exploring your class and halls. Put task cards on the walls, use BreakOut EDU boxes, and find other ways to make your class a hands-on exploration.
  5. Students want to make stuff. In Fortnite, players must build forts. They can get pretty creative. The forts have a purpose and making stuff is fun. I’ve seen my daughters watch videos of people making stuff for long periods of time. What can you have your students build and make that is relevant and fun in your class?
  6. Students like to compete. I know. I know. We hear it so many times, “Competition in school is bad.” But students seem to love it. Can’t some competition be good? Can we find ways to game in class to have fun and hook students? I say, yes! Fortnite keeps track of your wins and players celebrate this.
  7. Students want to collaborate. In Fortnite, players can work together to achieve wins. Let’s give them opportunities for collaborative learning in class. I don’t mean group projects, I mean learning with a partner and tackling the obstacles of learning together.
  8. Students want to communicate with classmates.  The headset is popular in Fortnite. Players like to talk with each other and bark commands and summarize plans. Give students opportunities to speak their learning strategies and communicate about learning with classmates. Find more creative ways to do this.
  9. Fortnite is fun! It’s full of crazy costumes, colors, music, and themes. They are constantly updating the game with seasons and new stuff. How about your class? Do students ever walk in and say, “Wow! What did you do? What’s all this?” They should. Surprise them. Switch it up.

I think Fortnite can be a ridiculous time-suck for most players. I really do. I also think a little bit of it is a lot of fun. Mostly though, I look at things like this and try to figure out what I can learn from it to connect with students. I hope you do too.

Squad up! Go teach those students.

Written by Kelly Croy (With the help of my daughter, Jaclyn.)

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Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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The Best Chromebook is… an iPad.

I have read many articles about which device is the best for education, the Chromebook or the iPad. Let me be clear from the onset: both devices are great for education. I believe there are many myths and flat out fallacies about each device that need to be explored.  After using both devices in my teaching I can clearly see the merits of using each. The iPad, however, clearly stands out as the best choice for many reasons, but I feel the one thing most people fail to consider, is that the iPad is also a Chromebook.

That’s right, the iPad is a Chromebook. I love using Google Apps for education in my classroom and the iPad has them all.

There are currently well over forty apps in the iTunes store created by Google for the iPad that include the Google Apps for Education suite:  Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, Gmail, Chrome web browser, Google Drive, Google Search, Google Drive, Google Calendar, Keep, Tasks, Google Voice and more. Teachers even have a special app Google Classroom. Blogger and YouTube Creator Studio are available and fantastic for student reflection and creation.

Myth #1: The iPad is about consuming not producing. Wow! This is incredibly false, in fact, I would say the complete opposite is true. There are far more apps for the iPad than any other device and the iPad has the best apps for creating and sharing authentic digital content. Students can create books using wonderful apps like Pages and Book Creator, create movies with iMovie, and as mentioned at the start, it is a Chromebook, so it uses all the Google apps and then add all the apps just for iPad. Fact: The iPad is wonderful creation tool for education. You can write, great websites, make movies, play instruments, and so much more. I challenge you to find a device that can create more than an iPad. Apple has dedicated an entire free curriculum titled Everyone Can Create that demonstrates iPads superiority to creating which is the DOK 4, the Quad D, the rigor and relevance, and the synthesis of students’ learning. Students should not be sitting and exploring “learning” sites by themselves going over facts, they should be collaborating with their peers creating standards-based creations.

Myth #2: The iPad doesn’t have a physical keyboard. This just isn’t true! First of all, if you have typed on the iPad I would contend that most students do not need a keyboard. Just because you do doesn’t mean they do. In fact, I had students who preferred no keyboard and typed very fast. Still, know this, there is a greater variety of keyboards available for the iPad than there are for the Chromebooks. Apple’s detachable keyboard is awesome. The Chromebook only has one keyboard available, the iPad has a variety from different vendors with built in cases if you prefer. The idea that a physical keyboard is superior is a concept created by older generations. Students don’t have physical keyboards on their devices. Physical keyboards are foreign to them and take as much time for them to get adjusted as it does adults to get adjusted to a keyboard screen.  If you want a keyboard for the iPad, it’s a choice, and you can pick one out that you like. I have seen many Chromebooks left unusable after a keyboard mishap.

Myth #3: Chromebooks cost less. No way can I agree to this! First of all, I see iPads outlasting Chromebooks every year. The iPad is better made inside and out and it’s like having multiple devices in one package. Still, there will be many who say their school simply can’t afford iPads. If you really believe that, you are doing your math wrong. Without adding in Apple’s Education Pricing or Bulk purchases, you can purchase a brand new iPad on Apple’s site (Cheaper on other sites like Best Buy and B&H Photo) for $329. This is one of their newest iPads that has great utilization with the Apple Pencil. Second, when I search for Chromebooks of similar quality as the iPad I get the the same price as the iPad, and you can do more on the iPad. I am certain discount packages for both devices for education are available. You can play the “pricing game” all you want, but you get what you pay for when ordering technology.

Six Reasons The iPad Dominates over the Chromebook in Education: 

  1. Accessibility: The iPad is loaded with accessibility features that no other device has that can help ALL students such as: Captioning and Audio Descriptions, VoiceOver, Display Customization, Guided Access, Speech and so much more! I use Speech to have my emails read to me and I love Magnifier and LiveListen. All students can benefit from accessibility features. Too many teachers think these features are for a particular group of student. Not sure. You can learn more about iOS Accessibility Features here. 
  2. Durability & Longevity: The iPad wins this one outright. The iPad is made of stronger materials and has less physical features to fail. Sure the screen can be of a concern but that I don’t think you would want to drop either device, and in a drop test I’ll take the iPad. Battery life on an iPad is superior from my use. The screen looks better on an iPad, the sound, sounds better on an iPad, and the overall experience of operation and use is better on an iPad than a Chromebook.
  3. Portability: Hands down, the iPad is by far a more portable device. The front and rear-facing camera, and the ability to use the iPad in any flexible seating situation makes it perfect for education. Combine this with the long battery life and its super-slim footprint, the iPad can go anywhere. Changing the brightness of the iPad’s screen also makes it great for portability; allowing the student to use it in a theatre and other situations without disturbing others. Watch how students awkwardly try to use Chromebooks to shoot video, in flexible seating, in labs, while standing and you will see why schools’ choice for the best Chromebook would be an iPad.
  4. Reading Device: The iPad as a tablet is an incredible reading device storing thousands of books. There are a variety of reading apps available including: Kindle, Nook, Google Play, iBooks and so many more. It’s a light reading device that is much more pleasurable to read with than a traditional Chromebook laptop. This makes the iPad the best Chromebook for reading. More books and a better format.
  5. Apps: There are far more apps, and educational apps and creation apps available for the iPad than the Chromebook. It’s insane how many awesome apps there are for teachers and students to use to amazing things! No other device has access to this library of GREAT tools to teach and make a difference.
  6. The Game-Changer: Apple’s apps designed especially for education, only to be found on the iPad: iTunes U, Schoolwork, and Classroom. iTunes University is only available on the iPad and I believe this is the game-changer for education. Giving teachers and students the ability to create interactive textbooks and creating online courses with embedded discussions is the future of education for all levels of education. iTunes University is being used from primary grades all the way through post secondary with incredible gains and impact. For this reason, you can see why the iPad would be the Chromebook of choice for teachers and schools.
  7. Everyone Can Create: Apple has a dedicated curriculum on using the iPad to create in the classroom and it’s called Everyone Can Create. You can learn more here.

In the end, it comes down to the teacher and the classroom. If the teacher is simply going to use a device to type papers and take standardized tests, than that is pretty sad, and it’s doubtful that true innovation and transformational learning is going to be out of reach. However, if you want an innovative classroom that interacts and explores a platform of incredibly creative apps, I believe the iPad is the best Chromebook and best 1:1 device. The iPad does all that a Chromebook can, and then adds to it it’s own ecosystem of iPad-only apps that have in themselves transformed education.

I am an Apple Distinguished Educator AND a Google Certified Innovator. I see the value of the Google Apps for Education, but I also see the iPad as a superior educational tool.  I just want everyone to understand that the iPad is an amazing, stand-alone device for education and it is also a formidable Chromebook of sorts all rolled into one.

An iPad is a Chromebook and it’s, well, an iPad.

Written by Kelly Croy

 

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Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram 
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The Very Best Student Learning Experience, and Tom Cruise

Tom Cruise is one of my favorite actors. He may not be your’s and that’s okay, but to me he really seems to go out of his way to make a great experience for everyone that sees his movies. He said as much in a recent public service announcement about viewing movies on a smart TV and the problem of video interpolation, which is when the TV smoothing out the picture, which actually degrades high definition action movies. You can watch him talk about it here in this PSA if you are interested, but the focus is on his closing words, though, “…on behalf of everyone who works so hard to bring you the very best motion picture experience.”

Boom! That’s really it, isn’t it? That is what we should be focused on doing in education. Our goal is to create the very best student learning experience possible for everyone. We are a team working together on a common goal, from our janitorial staff preparing the school for the day, to the bus driver picking the students up, to the administration greeting students at the doors, to the teachers welcoming them to class, to the cafeteria workers making sure they get a great meal, and every experience in their day, including the work we send home for them to complete. All of it… every single piece should be about creating the best learning experience possible.

What would the result be? I imagine students just couldn’t wait to get to school. They would love their classes, build self esteem, learn, make lasting friendships, and become life-long learners that love to read and give back to their community.

Making a movie takes a lot of work. There is a lot of editing. When you see the credits roll for literally minutes you may be surprised on just how many people there are to thank for making that movie possible. The same is true in education.

The PSA linked above shows Tom apologizing for how smart televisions have a feature that needs turned off in order to enjoy his latest movie. The feature gets in the way of the magic of the movie. As educators, let’s focus on that “best experience” and turn off some of the features that get in the way.

Thanks for all you do in education. You are awesome!

~Kelly
Kelly Croy is an author, speaker and educator. If you’d like to learn more about Kelly, or invite him to your school or conference to speak please send him an email. • Listen to Kelly’s other podcast, The Future Focused Podcast and subscribe. • Subscribe to The Wired Educator Podcast with over 115 episodes of interviews and professional development. • Visit Kelly’s website at www.KellyCroy.com. • Looking for a dynamic speaker for your school’s opening day? • Consider Kelly Croy at www.KellyCroy.com • Order Kelly’s book, Along Came a Leader for a school book study or your personal library. • Follow Kelly Croy on Facebook.  • Follow Kelly Croy on Twitter.  •  Follow Kelly Croy on Instagram