Tech-Driven Creativity

Photo Credit: jacobovs via Compfight cc This week in the KIS EdTech Fishbowl , we have been discussing the upgrade to OSX Mavericks, and some of the features of the New Pages application.  Some of these features are great, and well received.  But one feature in particular, about the New Pages, adds a small layer of complexity, when attaching a Pages file to a Gmail email.   The presentation below is from this session.   If you would like a copy of the presentation,  please contact me.

Image Source The Problem. "A Student sent me this Pages file, but I can't open it!" The cries of the teacher were heard across the EdTech office. Administrators calling the office... "Hey, I upgraded to Mavericks, and installed the new Pages... now people getting my Gmail attachments tell me they can't open it." We were at the start of a problem. At Korea International School, we were mostly running MacBooks running the "Lion" operating system. But there was this new operating system, "Mavericks" that was free from Apple to download. It was time to make a change, and do some Professional Development.  With the lesson, we already identified the need. As it is a new operating system, there are many students upgrading their systems, many students have been sharing files to turn into their teachers, but teachers having troubles opening them. Administrators were having trouble attaching files to their GMail. In this lesson, it i

Photo Credit: racatumba via Compfight cc This week's reading has me reflecting on my career as an educator. Marc Prensky's article, Shaping Tech for the Classroom , has a way of looking at technology, that is broken down into some simple categories.  I'd like to reflect more on this reading, but first watch this clip . An excerpt from the 1968 film "2001: A Space Odyssey" directed by Stanley Kubrick. I have often felt like Dave.  School IT Admins have decided that I cannot do something.  Principals and Parents have decided that new technologies, do not belong at school.  Dave, in 2001: A Space Odessey, struggles with a computer that will not do what he needs, with life and death consequences. In Education, we often struggle with different consequences, some parental, some from administrators, some from politicians, and others from students, but all of them are very important. Old Things in Old Ways Record keeping and educational reports have not