Thursday, March 7, 2013

Goobric isn't just a cute name for a Google Rubric. It's kind of a miracle.

So I've been playing around (in a serious, totally work-related and productive way) with a Google Script called Doctopus.  This fellow Andrew Stillman is approaching deity-level status in his amazing output of helpful Google Apps Scripts AND his willingness to help a n00bie teacher like myself when she's having trouble.  His latest offering is an add-on to Doctopus called Goobric, which enables the teacher to create a rubric and attach it to the documents (or spreadsheets, drawings, or presentations) distributed via Doctopus.

Yes, I know, to the novice user, I am speaking Pig Latin.  But seriously, folks, this is EPIC.  Jay Atwood, another fine fellow in the field of EdTech, has made an overview video that makes these tools so much easier to understand:
 

Pardon me while I fall completely in love with PBS Idea Channel.

So I'm doing research on Minecraft in education, and of course a video comes to my attention from the people out there in the Interwebz.  And that led me to an earlier video by the same crew.  And I am hooked.

First video, about how things like Minecraft and Makerbot (3-D printing) may be helping to create the Post-Scarcity Economy, which heretofore has primarily been theoretical:
 

And then the video that led me to that gem,  Is Minecraft the Ultimate Educational Tool?

Of course, I'm excited about the content of these, and I love the continuous stream of humor and pop culture references.  But more than anything, I really just dig the format.

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Why a 13 year-old kid from Tahoe is my hero

Given that I work in a more-or-less traditional, achievement-driven school, it may seem surprising how excited I am about the concept of Hackschooling.  Think homeschooling on Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Covered Power Berries and a double espresso.

Hackschooling doesn't have to only exist outside traditional schools.  "Brick-and-mortar" institutions can learn a lot from this concept of re-tooling what we mean by the word "education."

If you do nothing else awesome today, take fifteen minutes, read Goli Mohammadi's brief article and WATCH THE VIDEO.  

Logan LaPlant, you rock, son!

Sunday, March 3, 2013

The post where Diane reveals that this blog is here so she can find stuff later...

BUSY weekend doing grades and comments on top of some other fun stuff.  So of course I get a ton of excellent reading across my screen and can't keep up with it.


First up, an entire collection by WeAreTeachers of resources on gaming in education: Game On


Then, thanks to my good friend Joe Wood, the latest Pew Internet Research on How Teachers Are Using Technology at Home and in Their Classrooms

And finally, a truly cool post by Jessica Pack about QR codes: How to QR Like a "G" in a BYOD World