The Omnipotent CTO - Avoid Temptation #edtechchat #edchat

Source: http://goo.gl/2UV9N

The role of the CTO is, as you might imagine, rife with temptation. For example, consider the following case:

“This defendant is accused of lining his pockets with millions of dollars intended to be used to educate the children of the Cuyahoga Heights School District,” Dettelbach said. “Our office will continue to go after those who would abuse the public trust.” 

Palazzo was employed by the Cuyahoga Heights School District as its Information Technology director until February 2011. Palazzo was responsible for managing the district’s IT Department, which included purchasing hardware and software and making other IT expenditures to benefit the district and its students, according to the information.Source: FBI.gov

Abuse of the public trust is one of the many temptations Chief Technology Officers face in their jobs. But, there is one more pernicious, more debilitating to an organization than the temptation to be all-powerful. It can be marked by unilateral decisions on the part of Technology to take actions like the following:

• Indiscriminately block web sites, citing CIPA concerns, but providing little explanation or room for discussion.
• Purchase equipment that's easy to deploy and maintain without regard to what end users see as necessary or worthwhile.
• Spend district funds to the sole benefit of the Technology infrastructure to meet world-class standards without carefully considering how those purchases align to district goals.
• Implementing data management processes without involving stakeholders.
• Unblocking or blocking services (e.g. VOIP) to further an agenda (my favorite story is the blocking of VOIP technologies because the CTO wanted to push a particular solution he was sold on...hmm).

The omnipotent CTO works under the illusion that his expertise makes him THE final arbiter of technology issues. "I know best what the school district needs," s/he says to himself, and then with arrogance, sets out to prove the case, "This is the best solution and you shouldn't ask me why, you shouldn't question my motives, because, after all is said and done, you hired me for the job and you must trust me to do right by the District."

This temptation to embrace omnipotence goes hand in hand with the willing individuals who surrender their ability to ask probing questions. It goes something like this: Don't you agree that you, as Technology Director, should be the one who makes decisions about this? 

So, how do you avoid temptation? Surprisingly, one does so exactly by doing a gut check, a motive inventory where you ask yourself, what can I do to help others understand the ideas and information I have to share with them? How can I encourage everyone to share their thoughts, ideas, yes, fears even, so that we have a pool of meaning that facilitates rich dialogue?

By asking questions like this of ourselves, we remind ourselves that our first priority isn't to exercise our superiority, display our power as technology geniuses, ride roughshod over the contributions of others because they are not in the technology department. We set aside our egos, our anger at being challenged, our fear of embracing a solution that we did not first put on the table, and strive to ensure that all stakeholders appreciate our true objective--improve service to the District and those it serves.

In the final analysis, it's not our vaunted abilities to serve, but rather, placing our abilities in service of the organization that make the difference.

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Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Chromebooks in the K-12 Library

Source: http://goo.gl/H1OPn

While reading my unautographed copy (yay!) of Doug Blue Skunk Johnson's The Indispensable Librarian, I found myself reflecting that any technology planning guide should include libraries. I confess that I'd left libraries out of my technology planning guide, not because I forgot them per se, but because, well, they weren't my first priority. A mortal sin, I know.

One of Doug's points in his book is that as we move online more, our "students' homes become our library." I suppose my favorite line from the first few pages of the book are:

When information is transmitted to a class instead of the class being transmitted to the library, where should the Virtual Librarian be working with students?

When I think of a library these days, I see a hybrid of virtual and physical resources and books vying for attention. Instead of rows of desktops, why not Chromebooks? These are less expensive, allow for easy replacement of obsolete boat anchors (e.g. OS X-X.6, WinXP computers) that use up tons of space and electricity.

Source: http://goo.gl/OucpQ

Check out the results of this Ohio study (shared February, 2013):

Overall, the Chromebook does appear to meet its promise of easy use. 89% of patrons found the Chromebook reported that they were able to complete their tasks using the Chromebook. 

Similarly, 90% of staff members also reported that they were able to complete their tasks using the Chromebook. Common praise of the device was the quickness of loading and the speed of the browser

...many staff members commented that their dissatisfaction with being unable to get ebooks from the library on the Chromebook. Patrons can in fact get ebooks from the library via the vendor Overdrive on a Chromebook using a free app called the Kindle Cloud Reader. To accomplish this task, the patron would need both their library card and an Amazon.com account. 

Patrons were unequivocally in favor of the service: 97% said that this was a valuable service the library should provide

While you will want to read the study in its entirety, what about using Chromebooks as replacements for aging computers in K-12 school district libraries?

With Chrome apps like Readium (DRM-free ePubs), Kindle Cloud Reader, B&N's Nook for the Web, reading content isn't as much an issue. Thoughts?

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Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

PBL Your Way to Crucial Conversations/Confrontations

The importance of mutual purpose and respect

Wouldn't it be neat to get an email like the one in the quote section below?

Winner! Winner! Winner! YOU have been selected as the team to present, "Crucial Conversations" to the district leadership team in 1.5 hours.

What an opportunity! What would YOU do?

For fun, what would this look like as a Problem-based Learning Enhanced Professional Learning opportunity? Here's what I mean by PBL-enhanced:

The wonder of the PBL approach as employed with adult learners is that they will not perceive your workshop as a long, boring exploration of a topic at the periphery of consciousness. 

The CC approach can be done via individuals to answer this question:

What conversations are you not having that are keeping you from advancing or moving forward in your organization? 

or, another way:

What conversations are we not having as district leaders that are keeping the organization from advancing or moving forward?

Either way, here's one way to approach it:

Given 90 minutes (1.5 hours)....

1. 15 minutes: Introduce them to what strategies we really want them to get out of the Crucial books and want them to apply in work setting. I would recommend breaking them up into small groups to explore various resources (e.g. videos, print documents) that summarize the key ideas, and have them share back to the large group.
   
2. No Time - This takes ahead of the session, so no impact on time to present: Craft a scenario that reflects current undiscussables in the organization, or, if preferred, common situations between individuals they are sure to encounter. The scenario should include a variety of stakeholders. Another variation would be to craft multiple scenarios, then have different groups work through them (Step 4 below).
   — What information, processes or strategies do we really want them to learn?
   — Why is it important that they learn this?
   — What problems or issues would they be able to resolve with the information, processes, strategies they've learned?
3. 5 minutes: Share the scenario with staff.
4. 30 minutes: Facilitate the following in large group:
1. develop hunches/guesses about the problem,
   
2. share what they know based on the scenario (find the facts),
   
3. write questions about what they want/need to know to help solve the problem
4. prioritize the questions and organize them according to various stakeholder groups (e.g. principal, district leaders, teachers, community, board members).
5. 20 minutes: Divide leadership staff into stakeholder groups represented in the scenario. Then, have them craft solutions to the scenario that address the questions and
   
6. 20 minutes: Teams present the Crucial key concepts introduced to them.
   

  

Of course, I'm just playing with the ideas here. Is this too much?

• Outline of Problems as Possibilities
• Make the Connection
• 5 Actions to Big6 PBL Lessons using Graphic Organizers
• Ill-Structured Problems

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Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

A Reluctant Moses: Getting Crucial

Source: http://goo.gl/MBsHD

Earlier this week, I received an email informing me that I'd be part of a team introducing staff to Crucial Conversations concepts. A part of me said, "See? You blabbed about trying to apply this in your life and someone listened." The problem is, I'm not an expert at it. If I had to rate myself, I'd say I'm at Rank: Beginner.

Of course, I don't want to play the part of a reluctant Moses here. What? You're not familiar with that timid Moses, who when God asked him to speak, he tried to bow out a few times? Well, that's who I identify with (which is quite ironic since I am occasionally called upon to keynote):

Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”

You have to love an exasperated Almighty! Slow of speech and tongue. This is one of my failings as well. And, one of the reasons why Crucial Conversations is such a powerful text. I'd remarked on the applicability of this earlier within the context of "straight talk:"

Often straight talk is exactly what IS lacking in much of what we do in schools. I often think poor teachers don't hear that they ARE poor because we don't want to call down the wrath of union or legal representation (depending on the State of the Union you work in). 

Probably the one group of people that get straight talk are campus principals. Not only do they have to engage in straight talk that is "velvet," they have to endure it when their campus fails to measure up.

Another more important reason for Crucial Conversations is the need to avoid conspiracies of silence. Have you worked in organizations where people were afraid to speak up, to share what the issues were?

“Why was there almost a conspiracy of silence?” John R. Kimberly, a Wharton management professor, asks of these scandals and others like them. “Why do we behave in ways that are inconsistent with our articulated beliefs?” He wonders why people with integrity behave differently within an organization than they would on their own.

In hindsight, especially to observers, it is clear what should have been done. Yet in case after case,companies overlook internal problems that at best impede performance, and at worst could bring down an entire organization.  (Source: Don’t Mention It)

Companies overlook internal problems. Well, school districts do it, too. I recall with some interest when someone said to me, "Miguel, John didn't say anything about this during the meeting because he was afraid of what Junie might say."
"You mean," I responded incredulously, "he was afraid to say something?"
"Yes."

Aghast, I realized that I was still grateful for this insight. I've made it a point of encouraging my team to speak up, to ask themselves, "What is it that you've noticed, observed but hadn't thought to bring up or maybe were unsure about bringing up for discussion?" I try to incorporate this into every meeting because this kind of conversation is absolutely crucial to finding out what you don't know about to even ask about.

Some of my favorite ideas from the two books, Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations, include these:

Crucial Conversations

1. “Each of us enters conversations with our own opinions, feelings, theories, and experiences about the topic at hand. This unique combination of thoughts and feelings makes up our personal pool of meaning. This pool not only informs us but also propels our ever action.”
2. “When two or more of us enter crucial conversations, by definition we don’t share the same pool. Our opinions differ. I believe one thing, you another. I have one history, you another.”
3. “People who are skilled at dialogue do their best to make it safe for everyone to add their meaning to the shared pool—even ideas that at first glance appear controversial, wrong, or at odds with their own beliefs. Now, obviously they don’t agree with every idea; they simply do their best to ensure that all ideas find their way into the open. The time you spend up front establishing a shared pool of meaning is more than paid for by faster, more committed action later on.”

Don’t fall prey to a Sucker’s Choice. A Sucker’s Choice is a this or a that, an either / or … etc. The assumption is that you have to trade one thing for another.

Find an “and” solution over “either / or“. Find a way to have it both ways. Challenge yourself to seek the higher ground.

Know what you want and what you don’t want. Stating what you want and don’t want are powerful because they clarify your intentions. Clarifying what you don’t want can be particularly powerful because of the principle of contrast. It can can also help take away perceived threats. Clarifying intentions is an important step because it’s easy to get lost in the content and lose sight of the real intentions. Your intentions guide you through your dialogue.

Crucial Confrontations

When problems arise, in the worst companies people will withdraw into silence. In the best companies, people will hold a crucial confrontation, face to face and in the moment. And they'll hold it well.

If you find yourself having the same problem-solving discussion over and over again, it's likely there's another more important problem you need to address.

CPR = 

1. Content-what happened; 
2. Pattern- what has been happening over time; 
3. Relationship - What's happening to us. The issue is not that other people have disappointed you repeatedly; it's that the string of disappointments has caused you to lose trust in them. "This is starting to put a strain on how we work together. I feel like I have to nag you to keep you in line and I don't like doing that. I guess my fear is that I can't trust you to keep the agreements you make."

1. People feel unsafe when they believe one of two things: a) You don't respect them as a human being (you lack mutual respect); b) You don't care about their goals (you lack mutual purpose).
2. Contrasting: To deal with predictable misinterpretation when discussing a problem with another person, take these steps: 1) Imagine what others might erroneously conclude; 2) Immediately explain that this is what you don't mean; 3) Explain what you do mean.
3. AMPP = 
1. Ask to get the conversation rolling; 
2. Mirror to Encourage; 
3. Paraphrase for understanding; 
4. Prime to make it safe for the other person to open up.
4. WWWF = Who does WHAT by WHEN - Follow-up

Contrasting, Who will do What by When (and following up), CPR, finding and solutions really help tongue-tied Moses type leaders get past their insecurities. 

As a person responsible for others, I try to implement these strategies in my work. I know that my success rate is low, but sometimes, I imagine that they know that I'm working to achieve these principles (i've been transparent about it, much to my chagrin now that I get to share them with others).

One of the challenging observations, though, is that I don't think others necessarily see the value of CCs in their work. And, I don't want to be cast in the role of a sales person trying to push these ideas. Rather, I want to simply share my experiences and invite others to consider CCs in their lives and work.

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Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

The Disinterested Leader: In the Library

Altar of Sacrifice - http://goo.gl/IId00

"Why aren't people interested in my agenda? Don't they know that it's the best for students and staff?" The questions aren't uncommon among librarians, as Doug's recent blog post highlights:

The short answer: Figure out what the principal believes is important for you to do - then do it. This means creating a program that helps meet the goals and solve the problems in your school, NOT creating a program that meets AASL standards necessarily. It means deliberately learning what is important to your principal and then effectively communicating how you are contributing to those important issues. I don't know of another way to get a principal "on your side." Too many principals have worked with librians who have their own agendas which are viewed as irrelevant. 

It's easy to misunderstand Doug's short answer...it seems a bit of a sell-out at first glance, doesn't it? Just do what the principal or administrator wants so you can "earn some credit" in the system (a.k.a. political capital) that you can spend on what you really want.

In a previous blog entry, The Disinterested Leader, I shared the power of disinterest. That is, affecting the role of a disinterested leader who asks some simple questions to get him/her-self in the frame of mind that grants him/her impartiality.

The Crucial Conversations and Confrontations books advocate asking questiosn that that help us do a gut check:

1. What do I really want for myself?
2. What do I really want for you and me together?
3. Have I made the effort to build mutual purpose and respect?

These questions have profound implications for anyone who is trying to get things done and hitting a brick wall. For fun, let's explore these together...no promises this will make sense.

1) What do I really want for myself?

As a librarian, my goal is to encourage information literacy and problem-solving, encouraging reading. I want to do this well because it taps into my excitement and fulfills me as a teacher-librarian and a human being. I love crafting programs that engage students, staff and community. To that end, I'm willing to work a little extra because it's what I love to do. I want to be appreciated for this work because it makes me feel good. I don't want to be the school media manager and chase people down constantly about how they're abusing technology, or a media police officer.

2) What do I really want for you and me together?

I want you to understand that the world has changed, and although libraries may seem to be out of phase with current time and events, the fact is that information problem-solving is even more important these days. What I really want is to encourage teachers to feel as excited about building engaging, quality literacy programs for students and community members, and have the principal supporting this--not only lip service, but funding--every step of the way. 

3) Have I made the effort to build mutual purpose and respect?
You know, I often feel like I'm on one side of the fence and teachers are on the other, with the principal somewhere off in left field. We end up sniping at each other because we're about competing interests. Each party wants what they want and it's not necessarily what I think is right.

Everyone else seems interested in one thing or another--having a facility that looks great, works great, is organized, clean and inviting, high stakes test scores, using the library as a meeting room but seldom as a core component of the school community--and I feel left out. I realize that maybe I've told myself a story about the way things are, and my bitterness comes from that.

I need to ask how what others really want out of the library, and then ask how we can accomplish this together. It's so easy to complain and whine about what I don't have or what others aren't doing. I need to engage others.

Reframing is a powerful tool for gaining clarity, generating new options, and finding strategies that work. Educational leaders need to have the ability to frame and reframe the issues they encounter. 

Source: Bolman and Deal's Reframing Organizations via slideshare preso

Stepping Back - The Way of Disinterest
If we assume the role of the disinterested librarian, there's a way to transcend the bickering, the infighting and disagreements among people who lack mutual purpose and respect. That way is to ask ourselves, What is best for the school and those it serves? When we re-frame our conversations with others from this perspective and do so genuinely, we send a message that is unconsciously picked up by those with whom we speak. Others begin to trust us more because we're not working for our own gain (e.g. MY project is more important than your's) or trying to block you from achieving gain.

By doing this, we enable others to trust us because they know our motives and intent are purely focused on the good of the organization and those it serves. This is important, as Stephen Covey points out:

 When trust is low, in a company or in a relationship, it places a hidden "tax" on every transaction: every communication, every interaction, every strategy, every decision is taxed, bringing speed down and sending costs up. My experience is that significant distrust doubles the cost of doing business and triples the time it takes to get things done. 

By contrast, individuals and organizations that have earned and operate with high trust experience the opposite of a tax -- a "dividend" that is like a performance multiplier, enabling them to succeed in their communications, interactions, and decisions, and to move with incredible speed. A recent Watson Wyatt study showed that high trust companies outperform low trust companies by nearly 300%! 

We are saying, simply and powerfully, that we're willing to sacrifice our sacred cows for the benefit of the organization. We communicate that we're team players that hold nothing above the good of the organization. When an idea is challenged, we don't respond from what is the AASL's perspective, or our fiercely held beliefs, but rather, from the perspective of, what actions will result in the best way ahead for the organization?

The way of disinterest, of impartiality means setting aside what we most desire, transcending the bitterness that results from failed attempts to dominate and control the conversation. Calmly, one can put ideas, information into a pool of meaning, engage in dialogue that focuses on what is best for the organization.

Are you ready to make that level of commitment? I assure you that the way of disinterest is the way to organizational success.

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Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

avast! Free for Education

For fun, I asked fellow school districts in San Antonio, Texas area  how much they were paying for antivirus/anti-malware solutions...for large districts (42K students), $300K over 3 year period. I was surprised at how much they were paying! Many school districts combine this desktop protection tool with Fortigate to prevent malware intrusion. In this way, school computers are at less risk of contracting virus/malware because malware intrusion solutions protect them. 

Take computers home, though, and they risk catching whatever is out there and then bringing it into the District. The question is, will your desktop anti-virus/malware protection hold up against the bad stuff that students and staff may expose their hardware to?

Although I'd heard of avast! anti-malware solution, I had no idea that it was available at no charge to educational institutions, such as K-12 school districts. Several of my colleagues in Texas mentioned it , and I was thrilled to see this information that was sent to me by avast! Free for EDU folks (thx, Stephanie!). 

The application process is quite simple and we were on our way quickly.

All public educational institutions in the US are eligible to use AVAST’s premium, business-grade avast! Endpoint Protection Suite at no cost. Each educational license includes two central management control options, which enables IT administrators to remotely manage antivirus protection on laptops, desktops and servers across any campus, large or small.

• Two central management control options (with each educational license)

• Protection for Windows endpoints

• Protection for servers supporting 5–30,000 endpoint devices

• Remote management for all supported devices on campus

Who is eligible
You must be a public or non-profit educational institution/organization (this includes grades K-12 and higher, vocational / trade schools, head start programs or other entities with educational purposes under 501(c) of the IRS Publication 557 - Organization Reference Chart section) or public library, operating in the United States (includes all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories of American Samoa, Guam, Marianas, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. 

How to apply
Review our Eligibility and Participation Requirements and then complete and submit the application form. If you have questions about the application process, please email us at edu@avast.com.

We are piloting avast! on Windows computers, as well as placing the Mac version on Macintosh computers. With Windows computers, there is a management console that allows you to easily install avast! on those computers remotely...that's right, no need to touch the machine. The Mac version isn't quite as far along, but if you have a remote desktop management system--such as JAMF's Casper Suite--then you can push it out without issue.

Here's some info from their press release:

The AVAST Free for Education program, which launched in November 2012, approaches the two-‐million-‐protected computers mark, freeing up about $20 million of US education budgets.

Six months since its launch, AVAST Free for Education covers nearly 2 million computers and servers belonging to over 1,400 schools, districts, universities, libraries, and other educational institutions. At market price, these institutions are saving $20 million per year by getting the AVAST enterprise-‐level protection for free.

“By now we are protecting computers for about 7 million students,” said Vincent Steckler, Chief Executive Officer of AVAST Software. “As the National Center for Education Statistics puts total US enrollment just over 75 million, we’re protecting roughly 10% of US students, which keeps us on track for the 30% market share we expect to have by the end of 2013.”

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Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

App Smashing Stuff #ipaded

In this blog entry, I shared a bit about an app smashing session I'm facilitating tomorrow. Here is some more stuff I put together to help me get my point across:


Introduction to the Creative Apps

App Smashing Intro

Job Posting - Technician (San Antonio, Tx area) Closes 06/14/2013 #edtechchat #txed

Please be aware of this Technician job posting available through East Central ISD in San Antonio, Texas.

The position of Technician will be available immediately. Employees of the district may apply in writing to the Personnel office. Others who are interested in this position may submit an application online at www.ecisd.net and then contact the Personnel Office at 648-7861 to express interest. The deadline for submitting an application is 4:00 p.m., Friday, June 14, 2013 or until position is filled.

Primary Purpose: Perform on-site technical work to install and maintain computer equipment and network and software applications throughout the district. Respond to work order requests by diagnosing and repairing network and computer hardware.

Duties and Responsibilities:

1. Install/upgrade operating systems on PC-Compatible and Macintosh computers and configure them to work with existing computer networks.
   
2. Assist other technicians with troubleshooting and repairs and display exceptional attitude.
   
3. Install/maintain software for network connectivity.
   
4. Implement hardware and software problems on multiple computer types.
   
5. Provide routine preventive maintenance of computers and other technology equipment.
   
6. Keep records of repairs, maintenance, and other service costs.
   
7. Commit to staff development on district systems and earning certifications required for advancement.
   
8. Perform other duties as assigned.
   

NOTE: Not all applicants will be interviewed. Each applicant’s resume, application and other available information will be considered n the screening process. Only those persons currently meeting all of the minimum requirement will be considered.

Minimum Qualifications:
1. Highschoolgraduateorequivalent.
2. Experience in computer troubleshooting.
3. Experiencewithpersonal/privatelocalareanetwork(LAN),networkprintersetuppreferred.
4. Experience with Windows, Mac, and mobile device (e.g. iOS/Android) operating systems.
5. PossessandretainavalidstateofTexasdriver’sLicenseandbeacceptabletotheEastCentralSchoolDistrict
insurance issuing authority for the operations of school district vehicles in the performance of assigned duties.

Equipment used: Computer, service tools, motor vehicle, telephone.

Working Conditions:
Mental Demands/Physical Demands/Environmental Factors: Climbing, stooping, bending, heavy lifting, and kneeling; frequent use of small hand tools and electronic test equipment; frequent district-wide travel between schools. Occasional prolonged and irregular hours. Normal classroom/office environments, and work around electrical energy.

Period of Employment: 260 day basis Salary: As per district salary schedule 

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Check out Miguel's Workshop Materials online at http://mglearns.wikispaces.com

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Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin's blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

App Smashing - Digital Poetry #ec3ta13 #ipaded #edtechchat

Note: Later this week, I'll have the opportunity to share some ideas inspired by app smashing concept...and share some of my favorite apps! Here's a draft of what I have in mind.

Becoming an App Smasher!

Definition of App Smashing: "The process of using multiple apps in conjunction with one another to complete a final task or project."

Source: Read more about app smashing here!

Today's Learning Goal: Create an app smashing activity that you can share.

        

Module 1 - Building Famliarity with Apps

Click to view larger image

Level 1 - Photo/Video Creation Apps

1. Note: There are a multitude of apps that allow you to create. These are a few that are easy to get started and get you going.
1. Camera Roll - This is an app that comes pre-loaded on your iPad. You have probably already used it to snap pictures on your iPad.
2. Skitch - This app makes it easy to add comments, circle or draw arrows, as well as blur student faces, in photos you've taken with your iPad. You can also save the marked-up photo--without losing the original--back to your Camera Roll, then import the annotated image into other apps like those below.
3. 30Hands - Take a collection of photos, organize them as slides in any order you want, then add audio narration. Include pictures of your Haiku Deck presentation. If you need to do some quick annotations on them, consider
4. Haiku Deck (in lieu of Keynote) - stunningly beautiful images, text and chart preso maker. With this app, you can quickly create a slideshow using free images (copyright-friendly) on the web or from your own camera roll. You can easily export this slideshow as a Powerpoint via email or view it on the web via the Haiku Deck web site. Tip: Avoid in-app purchases of images, etc.
5. Optional: Strip Designer ($2.99) - lets you create comic strips using photos from your Camera Roll. You can build your comic, then save it as a picture into your camera roll. Once a comic is in your camera roll, you can import into 30Hands, Explain Everything, Book Creator, or iMovie for further fun.

Level 2 - Narrating Your Work

2. Note: You can "remix" anything you've created at Level 1 with the apps below.
1. Explain Everything ($2.99) - Capture pictures and and video, then annotate and narrate them using this app. You can also use this to share your finished product to GoogleDrive, Dropbox, and many other places. All the products from Level 1 apps can be "remixed" to create something new inExplain Everything.
2. Book Creator ($4.99) - Create your own ePub books with embedded video, audio, text.
3. iMovie ($4.99) - Inexpensive movie creation tool.

Level 3 - Sharing Your Creations

1. Readdle Documents - Less of a creation app, more of a viewing app,this is an app that makes it easy to share your content with others, as well as copy your final product to Google Drive, Dropbox, and other cloud storage locations.

        

Module 2 - Structure of an App Smashing Activity:

1. End Result - Begin with the end in mind. Describe what the end product will look like.
2. Apps Smashed - Make a list of apps you will be smashing. Don’t worry about how you are going to get things going.
3. Smashing Workflow - This is where you detail the step by step process of app smashing. It’s helpful to make a flowchart but others may want to just type it up step by step.
4. Product Created - Show the finished product that represents what you’ve created.

Sample App Smashing Activity - Writing Digital Poetry

Background for Fellow Learners:

In his book,  Rose, Where Did You Get that Red?, Kenneth Koch writes:

When I became interested in teaching a particular poem, I would look for a poetry idea to go with it, such as for the Blake class, “Imagine you are talking to a mysterious and beautiful creature and you can speak its secret language, and you can ask it anything you want.” The poetry idea, as I’ve said, was to give the students a way to experience, while writing, some of the main ideas and feelings in the poem we were studying. . . .

Here’s an example of what that looks like.

End Result - Begin with the end in mind. Describe what the end product will look like.

Students will create a poem in response to idea that Koch shares: Imagine you are talking to a mysterious and beautiful creature and you can speak its secret language, and you can ask it anything you want.”

Apps Smashed - Make a list of apps you will be smashing.

1. Haiku Deck
2. Camera Roll
3. Explain Everything

Smashing Workflow - Detail the step by step process of app smashing.

1. Teacher shares mini-lesson on writing poetry, models it as students write on their own. View sample poem, Rose, Where Did You Get that Red?
2. Teacher then invites students to try writing a poem based on their mysterious and beautiful creature. Students can draft on their iPad (Haiku Deck at first, Explain Everything in time), or on paper.Sample poem written by Lynn Bonner:
   Rabbit, how come you twitch your nose?
   Rabbit, how can you run so fast?
   And why are you so feary and why do you run away from people?
   Why do you eat grass and carrots?
   Why don’t you eat bugs?
   Why do you hibernate?
3. Create slides that illustrate the poem with images, drawn either by the student or found on the web (cite images appropriately).
4. Load slides into Explain Everything or 30Hands to add narration.
5. Provide student some feedback by loading the slides into Explain Everything and then recording your thoughts as his/her teacher. Here’s a poor example of that (hosted on Dropbox).

Product Created - Show the finished product that represents what you’ve created.

• Butterfly, does the blue fire burn? (Sample Student Product)
• Feedback on Butterfly Fire (Sample Teacher Feedback)

SAMR
Where would this activity fall on the SAMR? I suspect, it's a simple augmentation with a slight step into modification. What do you think?