Key+Note+1+- 

Day 1, Wednesday 7th October

Key Note 1 - Gary Stager

[|www.stager.org/ulearn]

10 Things to do with a laptop

Computing is not about software not hardware. If you can make things with computers, then you can make a lot more interesting things. It is about what you do, and what you do determines what you learn. Computing as a verb.

1) Write a novel, write more, write better, write differently, podcasting, using a range of media. not all about just looking things up.

2) Share our knowledge, the changing nature of memory. Wikipedia, access to current info, breaking news, authentic audiences, there is always something else you can do, learn, improve... one source is not reliable for knowledge. You can lead kids to the internet but you can make them think. No substitute for good citizenship. **It is perfectly reasonable to enact policies that protect children, it is completely unreasonable to protect the computes from the children.**

3) Answer tough questions. A web quest alternative. questions lead to new questions. Knowledge continues to grow on the internet. Learning is possible, kids are capable and willing if given the chance. Access to primary sources, unparalleled opportunities for publishing?

4) Make sense of data**, tinkerplots ,** use software to use data to ask new questions

5) Design a video game. Not just consume them. [|www.microworlds.com] Bad ideas are timeless, good ideas are fragile. Kids can learn a lot from designing and creating a game as opposed to just playing them. When you don't know what is impossible, then anything can be possible. Develop your own set of habits of mind. Should all kids learn this? How do we make this curricular decisions?

6) Build a Killer Robot - multi-age classes working together. computationally-rich learning. project based. how is it possible? how can it be completed by a child who has never used these materials before? how do the results come about? pedagogical theory - a good prompt is worth a thousand words. (prompt, access to materials, time, support) The technology ecology - ecological view. Video for teachable moments and making private thinking public (emillo approach)

7) Lose weight - communicating with ipod. connect ipod to the computer and keep track of the trends. do not deprive kids of the learning opportunity by giving it to the system. Less US, more THEM. more agency to the learner, put them at the centre instead of doing it for them.

8) Direct a blockbuster. 2 rules in every classroom - Your video should be shorter, your video should be edited at least one more time. should mirror the writing process.

9) compose a symphony - Authentic problems, real construction materials. they can ALL be great composers. Music is powerful and influential in kids lives. garageband? protege?

10) Change the world! civil and political activism

Be anything you want to be.....

Possess the confidence to begin to answer questions for yourself. Technology matters. It allows children to engage in a range, depth and breadth of problems. its about the PROJECTS. Knowledge is a consequence of EXPERIENCE.