live blogging

Gary Stager – Ten Things you can do with a Laptop

Laptop Institute – Memphis, TN

———–

Intro by Susan Einhorn, AALF…Gary is abrasive, annoying, challenging…but passionate about learning

Gary…

Online handouts… http://www.stager.org/memphis/

Question…what is the world like for kids who haven’t even entered school…

We spend a lot of time on PowerPoint…why are we spending a lot of time training kids to be used car salesman…

Software determines what you do and what you do determines what you learn…

ideas…

1. Write a novel – authentic work valued by other people…kids can write more, better, differently, fan fiction…different media, podcasting, fiction / non-fiction..create…if the reason for having a computer is to look stuff up, why are we surprised when they look up inappropriate stuff

2. Share your knowledge – changing nature of memory…authentic audience…passion = accuracy

3. Answer Tough Questions….”Who Should I Vote For?” – a webquest alternative ( http://www.stager.org/whoshouldivotefor )…kids will go a lot further than we think…use primary sources…

4. Make sense of data…google Earth, GIS software, Inspire data, tinkerplots, etc…

5. Design a video game …instead of consuming them, kids can design them…games are not necessarily a great learning tool…but as designers kids are learning about math and design…

6. Build a Killer Robot – esp. great for Math/Science…tactile, outside of computer, testing, debugging…

good prompt, appropriate materials, supportive culture and sufficient time  = ability to solve problems

7. Lose Weight – “Less Us, More Them”…always ask…how do we make the experience richer for kids as opposed to easier for us…

8. Direct a blockbuster –  Two rules needed for every classroom…video should be shorter and should be edited one more time….mirrors the writing process, different genres (science experiments)

9. Compose a symphony…finalnotepad.com or apple.com/garageband…multimedia studio inside…EVERY kid can be enriched…not just those with access to expensive studio…(e.g. http://www.missyhiggins.com kid started creative in early laptop school)

10. Change the world…move beyond the computer as a prop…create change…engage in the global community

Imagine an educational system that had a grad requirement that you had to answer a question…

Technology Matters…extends the learning opportunities…

tags: technology, education, whipple, learning, laptopinstitute, gary stager