Being invited to HITC materialized for me the energy put into motion five years ago, with the Schools Of The Future Initiative. I feel grateful for being given the opportunity to participate. After the welcoming greeting chant from Kamehameha students and community song, the opening keynote with +Adam Bellow was a call to arms against the mustn'ts (in reference to Shel Silverstein's poem), and a reminder that anything can be.
My 5 Take Aways:
- I am in total awe of the work being produced from the Kamehameha Schools Hawaii Performing Arts Academy. I enjoyed seeing how hula, film, performing arts, costume design, and technology are being remixed into new creations. I think in addition to awe, I left the conversation wondering how do we hold, honor, and value each traditional discipline, while creatively remixing?
- Naviance: Family Connection–It is no doubt a few years since I myself went through the college admissions procedure in secondary school. I remember my father telling me back then, how different it was than when he decided to go to college. And, yes it is different for this generation too. I was enlightened by Kamehameha's College and Career Counseling team, and learned about many things this software program can offer. What kind of learner are you? What is your Myers-Briggs code? What is the average SAT/GPA for the college you want to attend? Need SAT prep? How do you rank? Start your college application? This just scratches the surface of what is built into this software program.
- 1:1 5th grade iPad Student Presentation: I learned so much from the fifth graders sharing their portfolios and other learnings from the year. They shared the process of how they post and share their class blog, http://blogs.ksbe.edu/kaahhee, and tweet out @5BFish. They were able to Skype with a best selling author, and are currently Quad blogging! Here were the top apps they recommended:
- Keynote (although hard to share work between students)
- Telegami (30 second videos, more sophisticated than...
- BuddyPoke which allows four minute rockstar videos)
- iMovie
- PicCollage
- Book Creator
- PicsArt
Ethical Use of Technology for grades 9-12 is taught and directed by the students of this group, under guidance from +Kealii Akina and +Kristi Martines. All students receive twenty minutes of instruction in this course on Thursdays. I'm looking forward to digging in deeper investigating this curriculum. Very cool.
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| Kaluhi, Luke and classmates patiently answered my many questions. |
5. MineCraft EDU with +Shane Asselstine: I took wood from the treasure chest, followed a path, jumped, placed wood and built a 24' aquarium using glass, wood, ice and ax. All in realtime with 20+ other participants. Awesome. Then I went home and created my first world, entering my first seed: Cow Poop USA (why of course when I'm being taught by my nine year old son). That night, using PE on an iPad, I was very interested in my teacher's shaka-like hand placement, as he naturally maneuvered the world using the iPad tool. I was so nervous for nightfall! Maybe I'll post a screenshot of my first dwelling. On second thought, that would just embarrass myself.
Unfortunately the day ended too soon, as logistics forced a quick exit. Closing keynotes are so challenging. I was sorry not to make it live for the oh-so-clever +Amy Burvall. The notes are inspiring, and I am disappointed to have missed her.
