Moving at the Speed of Creativity
http://www.speedofcreativity.org

Moving at the Speed of Creativity podcasts focus on education, twenty-first century literacy, authentic instruction and technology integration.

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Discussing EV (Electric Vehicle) Technology and Plugin Hybrids
Posted: August 2010

This podcast is a recording of an interview with Nathan Parrow of Oklahoma Robotics LLC, discussing EV (electric vehicle) technology and plugin hybrids. According to their website: Oklahoma Robotics LLC is a group of design engineers ready to take on your custom project. They have worked in various fields including electronics, programming, audio/video, computer, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and more. We are now the US distributor for the LifeTech lithium line of products. Call us to find out about this quality line of lithium batteries and how we can customise it for your specific needs. Oklahoma Robotics is one of the few companies in Oklahoma that offers EV conversions and EV conversion consultation. Nathan Parrow is a Oklahoma State certified EV technician. We are now offering classes in basic electronics and robotics featuring LEDs and Beetle Bots. Contact us for more information about teaching a class for your group or event. [end of website description] I met Nathan thanks to the workshop Oklahoma Robotics offered about making LED light pens and "painting" with LED light pens and digital cameras at the Oklahoma City CoWorking Collaborative. Refer to the podcast shownotes for links and resources related to our conversation on Friday, August 27, 2010.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Cool Tech Tools for the Classroom by Cheryl Freeman
Posted: August 2010

Cheryl Freeman is a math teacher at Canyon High School, in Canyon, Texas, and presented "Cool Tech Tools for the Classroom" on August 17, 2010 during the district's annual professional development fall conference. I was not able to attend this session in person, but Debbie Boyer enthusiastically recommended Cheryl as an innovative presenter and Cheryl generously gave permission for me to record and share this session. The official description of the session was: Participants will experience easy ways to incorporate web and other technology into the classroom. Examples include instant polling, cellphone activities, random student selectors. Applicable to any grade level, but our focus will be 7-12.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Behind the Curtain of the NORAD Tracks Santa Program
Posted: August 2010

This podcast is a fortuitous interview recording with Stacia Reddish, who was the US Air Force Public Affairs officer in charge of the "NORAD Tracks Santa" program for five years. Stacia was responsible for getting Google involved with NORAD Tracks Santa and taking the program (which dates from the 1950s) to the next level with Google Earth, KML files, embedded YouTube videos, and more. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to the official NORAD Tracks Santa website, YouTube channel, and more. I interviewed Stacia at Camp Alexander, Colorado, when we were both there for the closing campfire of our boys' summer camp experience.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Free, Online K-12 Education Options for ALL Oklahoma Students
Posted: August 2010

This podcast is an interview with David Chaney of Epic Charter Schools in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on June 25, 2010. In early-June 2010, Oklahoma governor Brad Henry signed Senate Bill 2319 into law which radically changes the groundrules for online, virtual learning in Oklahoma. In this podcast, David discusses the model of virtual learning which is now available FREE for ANY K-12 student in the state of Oklahoma through Epic One on One Charter School, and a little background about how the law in Oklahoma changed about two weeks ago to permit statewide online enrollments. David explains each student in Oklahoma receives a "student allocation" from the state, which is calculated based on an "Average Daily Membership" formula. Oklahoma K-12 students can enroll full-time OR part-time in the online program offered by Epic Charter Schools, no matter where they live in our state. The law requires public school districts in which students are residents permit students to still participate in after school, extracurricular activities (including sports) even if the student is enrolled fulltime in an online charter school. Oklahoma law currently restricts charter schools from physically existing anywhere outside the Oklahoma City and Tulsa metro areas, because of population restrictions written into the law. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Education's website, "State law authorizes charter schools in 12 school districts: Broken Arrow, Edmond, Jenks, Midwest City/Del City, Moore, Mustang, Oklahoma City, Owasso, Putnam City, Sand Springs, Tulsa and Union Public Schools." The constitutionality of this charter school restriction was legally challenged for a time by the Tulsa Public Schools, but that challenge was eventually dropped. Based in part on the model of Golden Valley Charter School in California, David and others have created a charter school model which does NOT lock parents and students into the use of curriculum from a single or sharply defined list of curriculum providers. Instead, parents are permitted to direct the expenditure of a portion of their child's "student allocation" from the state (approximately $1000) through Epic Charter School, to select online curriculum as well as other instructional materials appropriate to the student's grade level, skills, and needs. These instructional materials CAN include a laptop computer. In fact, one of the marketing messages of Epic is, "Ask how to get a free computer!" Epic Charter School is sponsored by the University of Central Oklahoma (UCO) in Edmond, but is an official charter school in the Oklahoma City Public Schools. To my knowlege, none of our major media outlets in the state (newspapers or television stations) have run an article or a segment on Senate Bill 2319 and its implications for free, publicly funded online learning options in our state. This situation brings to my mind the ideas in Clayton Christenson's book, "Disrupting Class." The learning landscape of the twenty-first century continues to become even more interesting, and online learning is clearly a big part of the disruptive changes which are reshaping public education today.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Artillery at the Battle of Yorktown, Revolutionary War Field Surgery, and the...
Posted: July 2010

This podcast features three different recordings from the Yorktown Victory Center in Yorktown, Virginia, on July 3, 2010. Historical interpreters on the site brought history alive for our family and others in attendance, describing a 6 pound gun as well as mortar like those used in the siege of Yorktown which ended the American Revolutionary War. The same interpreter also shared (earlier in the day) a presentation about field hospitals and the the work of surgeons in the Revolutionary War. The final recording tells the story of The Battle of Great Bridge, an important but lesser known battle from early in the war which led to the evacuation of British forces from Virginia for five years of the war. Refer to the podcast show notes for referenced links and resources related to this podcast. It seems appropriate to share this podcast on Independence Day here in the United States! Happy Birthday to the USA!

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Crisis in the School: Redesigning the Delivery Model by Steve Wyckoff
Posted: June 2010

This podcast is a recording of a presentation by Steve Wyckoff at the June 2, 2010 iConnect, iLearn Conference in Colby, Kansas. The title of Steve's session was, "Crisis in the School: Redesigning the Delivery Model." Steve relates how ESSDACK (The Educational Services and Staff Development Association of Central Kansas) hosted a summit last April for schools to study different alternatives for redesigning educational models focusing on project-based learning. I titled my text notes from Steve's presentation, "Helping kids connect to their passions and become remarkable: SAVING money shifting to Project Based Learning." Educators in Erie, Kansas, (USD 101) have found that by shifting to a project-based learning model students can be more engaged in their learning, while teachers shift their roles to be the "facilitators" rather than just the "deliverers" of the curriculum. This model can prove LESS expensive than the traditional school staffing model. Steve explains how.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Reflections on Technology Classes for PreService Education Teachers (Part 1)
Posted: May 2010

This podcast is a recording of a conversation over skype on May 14, 2010, with Dean Mantz in Sterling, Kansas, Dean Shareski in Moosejaw, Saskatchewan, Cyndi Danner-Kuhn in Manhattan, Kansas, and Wesley Fryer in Edmond, Oklahoma. For the past several years, each participant has taught pre-service technology classes for undergraduate college students. In this conversation (which runs long, about an hour and a half) topics ranged from how course activities are selected, structured and assessed, epiphany or "a-ha" moments in teaching, changes which have been made to the course or how the course is taught (mixing face-to-face, online and blended modalities) and how to best leverage face-to-face interaction opportunities with students. LOTS of great ideas here. Check the podcast show notes for most (if not all) of the referenced websites, curricula and resources from our conversation. This podcast is labeled (part 1) because we plan to continue the discussion in upcoming months!

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Be The Change You Want To See In Schools - Integrating Technology and Making ...
Posted: April 2010

This podcast is a recording of Shannon Miller's presentation with her students at the Iowa 1:1 Institute in Des Moines on April 7, 2010. The title of their presentation was, "Be The Change You Want To See In Schools: Integrating Technology and Making Connections to Create Change." Shannon is the teacher librarian / media specialist / technology coordinator at Van Meter School in Iowa. All the resources referenced by Shannon and her students in this fantastic presentation are available on a Google Site she created, which is linked in the podcast shownotes. This is the first year of the 1:1 laptop program at Van Meter Schools. It is clear to me that Shannon, administrators at Van Meter, as well as students and teachers have embraced a powerful combination of ingredients to not simple "do school" as it has traditionally been delivered in classrooms, but rather intentionally seek to transform the teaching and learning process. As you'll hear Shannon describe in her presentation, educators at Van Meter are helping students connect with their own passions in different domains. Students are not only writing and publishing about these topics, they are also reaching out to other experts in other places with Skype, Twitter, and other technologies. Van Meter schools are on the forefront of the learning revolution, and it was a treat to hear from Shannon as well as her students who are literally on the "front lines of change" at Van Meter.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Podcast346: Discussing Digital Literacy with Educators in the New Literacies ...
Posted: April 2010

This podcast is a recording of a Ustream presentation by Wesley Fryer on 16 April 2010 to educators at North Carolina State in the New Literacies Collaborative. We used a Google Moderator Topic Series to solicit questions for this open forum. Tablet technologies, 1 to 1 laptop initiatives, digital literacy, and helping students improve their critical thinking skills by making the shift from media consumer to media prosumer. Some of the questions addressed were: Will tablet technologies transform the predominant ways people use technology to work and communicate, or is it a passing fad? Mis-information seems to be at an all time high in our political world. How can we help students become good consumers of information, well informed citizens? How are disciplines affected by digital or new literacies? Do tablet technologies have a significant advantage over smart phone technologies for educators? How do you see literacy changing in the schools your work with? How is 1:1 changing how we define literacy? and for that matter how do you define literacy and the new literacies? How much of a limitation to 1 to 1 in education is the lack of flash on the iPad? I've used Flash based online resources extensively with my students.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Open Educational Resources (OER) - Iowa 1:1 Institute
Posted: April 2010

As more schools embrace 1:1 learning on a variety of platforms, the importance of digital curriculum will grow. Open Educational Resources (OER) are licensed under terms which permit other educators to both use and (in some cases) remix content to fit the standards, context, and needs of their classrooms. This podcast is a recording of a session on OER shared by Wesley Fryer on April 7, 2010, in Des Moines, Iowa at the Iowa 1:1 Institute sponsored by CASTLE. Audio from shared videos has been edited out of this podcast recording.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Technology Trends in Higher Education (April 2010)
Posted: April 2010

What are the technology trends in April 2010 which college faculty need to understand and leverage to extend opportunities for student learning? This podcast is a recording of a presentation shared by Wesley Fryer at Northeastern State University in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, on 9 April 2010. This presentation addresses the following topics: Tablets, Cloud Computing, Social Media, Laptops / Mobile Devices, Online Publishing, Multimedia Texts, Online Video, Digital Footprints, Open Licensing / OER, and Visual Communication. Audio from shared videos has been edited out of this podcast recording.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.

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Reflections on Race to the Top, State Charter School Laws ...
Posted: April 2010

This podcast is an excerpt of the April 1, 2010 Seedlings webcast on EdTechTalk, featuring commentary by Wesley Fryer focusing on Race to the Top and current "educational reform" efforts in the United States spearheaded by the Obama administration. Wesley discussed the apparent goals of Race to the Top, which appear to be public funding of for-profit schools (through the expansion of publicly-funded charter schools in the United States) as well as linking "teacher performance" measurements to student test score performance. The opinions expressed in this podcast and webcast are those of Wesley Fryer, and do NOT necessarily represent the views of the Seedlings or EdTechTalk. The Seedlings are Maine educators Bob Sprankle, Cheryl Oakes and Alice Barr. Wesley was the guest on the Seedlings webcast on April 1st.

An audio podcast in MP3 format.