Tech-Driven Creativity

I love Photoshop. I have a confession.  I like Photoshop, and I'm self taught.  I'm a geek, and I taught myself.  I might be a bit different than everyone else, because it isn't an easy application. The problem is that Photoshop is a bit of a difficult program for some people to wrap their heads around.   So, here are some of my beginner's steps to getting their head around Photoshop...

3D Design & Printing 3D printing is a new frontier at my school, where they have invested in purchasing 4 3D printers this year.  As many students use iPads, this post is geared to use the touch interface to create 3D objects on the iPad, and export for 3D printing. This is a work in progress, and as I learn more, I will add more to the post.

I believe that all teachers should have a way to reach out to others, and build a Professional Learning Network (PLN) of like minded educators.  We all have interests, problems, questions, and need advice. There are many ways to build this PLN, and there are many educators using Twitter. Twitter is an online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". It is a microblogging platform, which allows you to post and show what you are doing, ask questions, and follow an interesting feed of information. Many people use Twitter to: Share ideas Develop a PLN (Personal Learning Network) Connect and collaborate with people Reflect and engage in dialogue with others Access to new resources...every day Follow interests Expand your professional development Here are some common definitions of commonly used terms in Twitter. #tags (n): hashtags are markers placed in a Tweet that can be traced by other

Design Thinking Design Thinking is a method of creation, that builds in Innovation.  It is a cycle of thought, that moves you through a creative process.  It starts with empathising with a problem, normally of another person.  Attempts to understand the problem through definition, then moving towards Ideating solutions.   Prototyping means to build or create a tentative a solution. Testing the solution is about carrying out the plan, or a limited run of the plan. I believe that Design Thinking can be used all throughout education.  It is a great way to think about Differentiation for students.  Every student has different needs for which we need to have empathy. Communication in schools needs to keep all stakeholders needs in consideration.  There are so many problems within schools, that could be solved through better problem solving. The best part of this model, is that it is not satisfied with a first solution.  It's about constant improvement and innovation.  

'Social Media apps' by Jason Howie  via CC 2.0 Ok, I am a busy guy.  I have kids, a wife, and lots to do at school as a tech integrator.  But, I love sharing, and I have a lot of social media accounts.  I was looking for a way to incorporate a lot of my tools together, so that I can post once, and the rest of my social media will get the same post. I love Instagram, and Twitter for professional items.  But, I noticed I have a lot of Google Plus followers, but I only post my blog posts there.  I asked myself, how can I cross-post better?  How can I use Google Plus, and Linked In more effectively, without wasting time. I found an outdated post , and I added some updates. So, this workflow starts from Google+, then Tweets it, and Posts to LinkedIn.  Since Google Plus is the hardest to automate, lets start the workflow from there.  What you need is an RSS from your Google Plus profile.  Go to your Google Plus profile, and copy the URL in the browser window.  

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1P9sBy3 3d Printing is a big thing in Education, especially when looking at a 'Design Thinking' education or MakerSpaces.  I had the pleasure of running a test print in one of KIS's new 3D printers today. Nearly done! First 3D print! A video posted by Art Schultz (@artschultz13) on Oct 11, 2015 at 6:58pm PDT

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1KYywoK Having a good time in Kuala Lumpur @stevegatoz has been a great friend, allowing me to stay with his family! The iPad Conference @ ISKL has been great so far, time to get ready for day two! #ipadkl #artschultzblog

via Instagram http://ift.tt/1NBBa2t Getting started at the #iskl 2nd annual iPad Conference #ipad #artschultzblog

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via Instagram http://ift.tt/1X0sEi1 I've been playing with Canva for iPad.  Here's a post from my Instagram feed, that I created the layout from Instagram posts and a graphic organiser I created in Canva...

I've been playing with Canva for the iPad for a little while, and it is an amazing app.  It works cross-platform, and it pretty darn sweet. Canva is a layout editor for the iPad, that has many custom themes that you would expect out of a text editor. The good bit, is that this app does so many other styles of layouts, including Instagram squares, blog posts, and so much more! So, here is a creation, made on my iPad, made in the Canva app. Here is a related page about Canva, one of my iPad Sessions... The good bits: The app does so much, it allows complete control of your colour scheme, image rotation, recolouring of photos... It keeps on going. This app is very versatile. Clean interface between Camera and Camera Roll for inserting your own images! The bits that could be better: I am using an iPad 3rd generation, and it can be a little laggy for me. I'd expect better out of a newer iPad. It would be nice to have an iPhone version... Applicatio

Photo Credit via Creative Commons Returning to KIS for my 4th year is going to be fabulous. I have had the chance to work with enthusiastic educators, stupendous students, and amazing administrators in the past four years. New faculty are arriving, and its getting exciting to start this next school year. Faculty orientation is going to be quickly upon us. With so many new people coming in, I thought it would be good to look at what I do at KIS, and think about my goals for the upcoming year. New year, new team, new goals! So, a little background. My role at KIS is of an Educational Technology Specialist. I work to build capacity with Technology in the classroom. I teach teachers in the KIS Fishbowl Classroom . I plan and deliver lessons on current technology tools for the classroom. But there is so much more... Infographic created by @stevekatz The Fishbowl classroom is just the surface. My role is to understand what is happening around my school. I suppo

In our iPad 'One to World' program, Summer Vacation is here!  Our students all have iPads... help them to stay in touch. Want your students to Pen Pal, Chat, and FaceTime this summer? Want to have your students to have a way of keeping track of each other after they move on to other places?  Well, let's get started. Student Step 1: First, have your students create a Contact for themselves in Contacts. Find your card, with the one that has "me" next to it. Press " edit " in the upper right. Make sure your Apple ID email address is saved as an "email".  This is used by default for FaceTime and Messages, assuming they are enabled by your Parents in "restrictions" Fill in only the information you want to share! Then Press "Done"  Teacher Step 1: Make a Chat for your class in Messages. Have your teacher create a Messages app chat for your class, using your class Apple ID list. One

So today my school closed due to the MERS illness that is going on around Asia.  I am not very concerned, but it is good to have precautions.  Students are working from home today.  This cropped up on us last minute, and I thought I'd share as to how to create a Google Hangout on Air for your Class. Prerequisites: You need a YouTube Account that is Verified.  Visit https://www.youtube.com/features  to do so. This needs to be done with a Computer, not a tablet or phone. All "attendees" must have a Gmail account. (Google+ is not needed) A list of your student "attendees" emails, I made mine in a Google Sheet. Set up your Hangout on Air.  Visit  https://plus.google.com/hangouts/onair When you are about to Start your event: Start your Broadcast  Remind students to Mute their Microphone when not speaking. The Hangout automatically puts the Speaker's picture in the main window. Share your Screen from the Green Button Below.

KIS students #coding with #osobot #artschultzblog A video posted by Art Schultz (@artschultz13) on Jun 2, 2015 at 4:12pm PDT I had the FANTASTIC opportunity to see Megan Godek's Korea International School 5th grade students working with students in California in Kristin Hick's class at Tierra Linda this morning. This project, as I understand, started through Twitter.  Students had been collaborating online with each other.  Ozobot, saw that these classrooms had been Tweeting about their product, and donated 'bots to each of the classrooms.  I would like to say that this is an amazing company for supporting Education. 5th Graders at KIS have been working with students in California via video conference, discussing how to make the Ozobot follow their commands.  The Ozobot is similar in commands to the old school programming language of Logo , but with other variables, such as color changing and twists and turns.  But with the Ozobot, the "turtle"

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The image to the left is a bunch of piles.  They are sticks, but imagine that the sticks were finished student assignments.  The student picks up their pile, parts of the pile makes it home neatly in a folder.  Some of the pile makes it home, crumpled up in the student's backpack.  Other parts of the pile are never seen again.   Photo Credit:  Ian Sane  via  Compfight   cc How do we get the good stuff home?   The answer is Publishing.  Blogger, is a blogging platform that students have accounts for, attached to their Google Apps for Education accounts.  Blogging is Publishing.   Are your students writing? Making movies? Drawing? Taking photos? Recording their voices?  These can all be added to their Blog, easily. If so, Let Blogger become their "one stop shop" to publish all of their work. Blog Setup & Settings Download the Blog Settings Cheat Sheet Conventions Blogging on the iPad Blogsy Pros:  Versatile app, allow

Image courtesy of  David Shankbone  via Flickr & Creative Commons License. How do I interact with those whom I haven't met?  I like Twitter, but I like to think about how else I might use it, in conjunction with my blog. While being in the Coetail Online2 Cohort, I have made attempts at engaging the COETAIL Community, via twitter, and through my blog. Here are a few of my Twitter posts:    I like Twitter, but I often do not find it engaging.  Maybe I prefer working with people I have met face to face.  Who doesn't?  But I wanted to find a way that I can get some interaction between my PLN and also a bit from the folks I have met in person. So I made few blog posts, using Google Forms to make them interactive.   Like this one.  and this one.      The plan was to pass out the blog post via Twitter, and via email to folks I know...  I asked the readers to fill in the form, and voila... the graphs automatically update.  I like that I was able to use the re

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Everything is possible.  You can publish amazing things, right from Instagram... with the right tools. This week in the fishbowl, we are talking IFTTT  to simplify your life...  Next week... a bit of Apple's Automator. Here is the post below. via Instagram http://ift.tt/1Gob66u This is a professional development opportunity that is for any Mac, iOS or Android user. Welcome to >_Automatic - a 2 Week session that perhaps unsurprisingly focusses on automation ! Goals Introduce ways to make your digital work/social life more efficient and walk away with some tangible 'gains'. Who is this session for?  People who are ready to take ordinary tasks, and automate them. It's also for the tech curious! We therefore dive into 3 levels of automation: Week 1 IFTTT - the innovative and clever service (brought together with the IF App for iOS and Android) links together many of your favourite social media and broader internet sites - delivering automated