Tag Archives: everyone can create

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WEP 147: So You Want to Help the Underdog, An Interview with Mat Pullen

An Interview with Mat Pullen: Creator of The 'So You Want To...' eBook Series, Apple Distinguished Educator

In this episode, I interview Mat Pullen, an Apple Distinguished Educator from South Wales, and the creator of the popular ‘So You Want To…’ eBook Series. He will enchant you with his accent and blow you away with his brilliance of all things EDU. He is truly the embodiment of the everyone can create movement in education. I am excited to share my interview with Mat with you!

Mat is an Apple Distinguished Educator, Class of 2013 and is also a senior lecturer in Initial Teacher Education at the University if South Wales. A physical education teacher by trade, and now works closely with future teachers and established educators.

He is passionate about supporting those that education can sometimes leave behind, the ones that just need an alternative way to show what they are capable of accomplishing. 

Finding the true impact of technology back in 2010 with his students, Mat now looks for creativity and problem solving approaches to support his learners and to inspire other educators.

Mat is the author of a successful series of eBooks that are simple yet creative and helpful guides to show you how you can use tech in the classroom.  The ‘So You Want To…” series now has over 30 titles.  Mat is a public speaker, consultant and avid social media sharer, he has just completed his Masters in Innovative Learning with his final thesis on Sketchnoting and the impact on learners.


Mentioned in this episode: 

Mat’s free eBook series, ‘So You Want To…”: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book-series/so-you-want-to/id1417317481?mt=11

Mat’s favorite book: The End of Average by Todd Rose.

Another of Mat’s favorite reads: Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action by Simon Sinek

Follow Mat on Twitter.

Follow my Santa Every Until Christmas art on Instagram.

Win a singed copy of Kids Deserve it! by Todd Nesloney and Adam Welcome by commenting on Adam’s photo in my Instagram feed. One winner will be chosen.

I am giving away a signed copy of Kasey Bell’s Shake Up Learning; just tweet “I love listening to The Wired Educator Podcast” and tag me, @wirededucator in your tweet. One winner will be chosen.

Are you doing something amazing in education? I want to know. I want to recognize listeners of the podcast in some special way on www.WiredEducator.com, and I my even choose to interview you on the show. Stay tuned.

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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 147 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 127: Everyone Can Create Learning Environments, an Interview with Jason Fahrenbach

In this episode of the Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Jason Fahrenbach about his work with the Everyone Can Create curriculum, designing learning environments, and so much more. His passion and enthusiasm for teaching is enchanting, and his perspective will empower many teachers. This is a great interview that will inspire all listeners.

Jason Fahrenbach is currently the Arts Department Team Lead at Walt Disney Magnet School in Chicago, Illinois. He has worked with various Arts organizations including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, The Walt Disney Family Museum, and Adobe, in creating authentic and meaningful Arts Integration Projects.

Jason was most recently recognized for his work in the classroom by the Apple Distinguished Educator program, and he was selected as one of the “20 Educators to Watch” in the Chicago area.

I am excited to share Jason’s story and his work with the Everyone Can Create Curriculum. What he is doing in education is outstanding, exciting and beneficial to all educators. 

You are going to love this podcast!

Mentioned in the Podcast: 

Everyone Can Create

Books:

The Clips App by Apple

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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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WEP 122: Everyone Can Create with Ben Mountz

In this episode of the Wired Educator Podcast, I interview Apple Distinguished Educator, Ben Mountz about his work using apple’s Everyone Can Create Curriculum, his journey of relocating from Pennsylvania to Hawaii, what it means to be an Apple Distinguished Educator and more! I know you will enjoy this interview with Ben. He is one of the most creative educators I’ve ever met. His kindness and care for others has no limitations.

Ben is a Physics, Robotics, and Digital Storytelling instructor at Hanalani Schools in Mililani, HI.After teaching for 13 years in southeastern Pennsylvania, in 2016 he and his wife Jess realized their dream of relocating to Hawaii and continuing their teaching careers there. The rich environment allows Ben to pursue his love of creating images and media, as well as exploring the natural wonders of Hawaii through hiking, swimming, and surfing.

As an Apple Distinguished Educator, his most recent passion has been in using the various facets of Apple’s Everyone Can Create curriculum in his Digital Storytelling courses to help students find their creative voice.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Everyone Can Create Curriculum: A collection of project guides that that bring creative expression to every subject. Ben and I talk about this at length. What a fantastic resource! It is awesome and free.

• The Apple Distinguished Educator Program: Apple created the Apple Distinguished Educators (ADE) program to recognize K–12 and higher-education pioneers who are using Apple technology to transform teaching and learning. These are the educators who are looking to change the world. They are active leaders from around the world helping other educators rethink what’s possible with iPad and Mac to make learning deeply personal for every student.

• The most influential books Ben chose to share are the Bible and Resonate by Nancy Durante. If you are a creator, a speaker, and educator, or really anyone trying to “create” better, you need to read and apply Resonate.

• Ben’s favorite apps are Keynote and Procreate. Both are amazing tools for creation, design, art, and more.

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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7 Tips from a Convenience Store to Improve Your Classroom!

What can your class learn from Seven Eleven? Below I outline seven ways you can improve your class by examining what works at a typical convenience store. Well, I’m not talking about adding a slushy machine and rotating hot dogs on a grill to your room’s decor, however, I do believe convenience stores can challenge our thinking about learning environments, and help students learn even on days of cancellations. Maybe you think students deserve an experience better than a Seven Eleven? Awesome! I see that too, but hear me out.

Seven Eleven stores were originally called Tote’m stores because customers carried away or ‘toted’ their purchases. Then they re-branded themselves as “Seven Eleven” to emphasize their new extended hours of operation, from 7 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week. Now the stores are known for being open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Here are some ways Convenience-Store-Concepts can improve our classrooms:

  1. Re-brand Your Classroom to Reflect the Message You Want to Tell: The store was able to successfully rebrand itself several times, adapting to customer’s needs. They changed their model. Our classrooms tell a message and have a reputation, we can enhance it or change it at anytime. We do not need to do things the same way because we always have, we need to re-evaluate, improve and rebrand. What message does your class tell? What are your goals?
  2. Make Your Classroom Open 24 Hours a Day, Seven Days a Week: We are able to educate students seven days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year using Learning Management systems like Google Classroom, Edmodo, YouTube, Schoology, and other tools. Sure, it is not as great as being in your classroom, but it helps. Snow Days, Cancellations, illness, and vacations can interrupt a student’s learning experience, but technology and virtual classrooms can offer tutorials, refreshers, resources and more to anyone at anytime. And… they help students, like me, who need to see the material a couple more times.
  3. Convenience: Seven Eleven as well as all ‘convenient stores’ aims to make shopping convenient for their customers. Too often in education we make learning “hard to reach.” Sometimes we create obstacles and challenges for our students. Let’s make learning convenient.
  4. Customer Service: These stores work hard, albeit sometimes unsuccessfully, to train their employees to treat the customer with great respect and to be helpful. Employees are trained to greet everyone as they enter, help them, thank them, inquire if they found everything. Shouldn’t these ideals be even more present in our classrooms? I believe so.
  5. Something for Everyone & Differentiation: You can buy a donut or a protein bar at a Seven Eleven. There are bags of almonds or candy bars. Water or an 80 ounce Big Gulp. The stores provide each customer with what they want and what they need. If you’re ill, they have cold medicine. If you your car is giving you trouble, they have a quart of oil. Our classrooms need to identify the needs of each learner and work to try and meet their individual needs through a variety of ways. Technology can assist this, but not replace teacher interaction. Discover ways to provide alternatives and choices.
  6. Speed: For the most part, you can get in and out of a Seven Eleven relatively quickly. I am not suggesting all learning needs to be fast, but we do live in high-paced world. We need to change activities in the classroom to keep the attention of the modern day learner. We need to get them “on the road” to relevance quickly. Put them in the driver’s seat as quickly as we can. This means less lecture. I am a great lecturer, but that does not mean that is the best way for students to learn, but it also doesn’t mean I need to give it up completely either. Check Challenge Based, or Project Based Learning. Look into Inquiry.
  7. Customer as Worker: Who makes the slushy, builds the hot dog, and pumps the gas at a Seven Eleven? You do! Have your students do some of the work in the classroom. You don’t have to do it all, and you shouldn’t. It’s their classroom. The pride they will take in helping out will translate into ownership of the learning. They can help build lessons, set-up Breakout EDU activities, build resources for your Google Classroom, capture video for YouTube tutorials and more. Have the students help you teach so everyone can learn more. Also, students want to make things. Everyone can create, and every student should. Get your students making. Make your classroom a place of action and wonder.
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. • Sign-up for The Wired Educator Newsletter. • 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