I found out about the massacre on a flight to the RESPECt conference in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. What is the point of discussing how to teach computer science to young children when their lives are forfeit? Yes the gunman/child was most likely unstable. But the fact that the act of desperation is aimed at young children and the people who care for them? That is a social ill. We have to do better, we have to do something. We shall say prayers, but those are not enough. I just hope that this will not kick off a new campaign of denial debasing the loss of grieving parents.
This blog focuses on ways that art, technology, and literacy can interact in all educational settings.
Tuesday, May 24, 2022
Thursday, May 19, 2022
Computer Science as a Core and the Buffalo Massacre
The argument against teaching computer science to all came this week from some of our rural schools. They point out, and rightfully so, that the many jobs needs in their communities go far beyond computer science. Once again, I would like to stress that rural communities do need to manage their needs in flexible and locally sensitive ways.
My point, however, is that we should stop thinking about computer science as exclusively a Career and Technical Ed issue. It is not. Understanding and being able to get a sense of technology is a core knowledge. The metaphor for me is the difference between a health career class (CTE) and biology (core knowledge). All educated people need to understand core ideas in the way the world works around them. Technology-driven by the capacity of computer science is one of the most dominant forces in our lives.
An example in public discourse is how some platforms use algorithms that create extremist views by presenting users with a twisted worldview fed by engagement algorithms. Extremists from all creeds seem to find a community and become radicalized online. Teaching Computer Science will not solve this problem. It will, however, help at least some users understand the process and maybe resist it a little better.
Friday, May 13, 2022
Curriculum Unhidden
Sunday, April 24, 2022
Thinking about the Future of Conferences
Thursday, April 7, 2022
Finding my way around Fargo North Dakota and other Metacognitive tasks
This weekend I went to Fargo, North Dakota for an athletic event. Navigating a new city is always a challenge, and I started by activating Google Maps to get everywhere in town. I quickly found out that relying on google maps without any idea about the general direction was a disorienting and challenging experience.
I ended up looking at the routes for destinations in town before I started every drive. In this way, planning made me more certain of where I was going and less dependent on the device as the sole (and not always most efficient) guide. In the work we are planning to do in the next five years, our Art TEAMS project, we have been discussing sketchbooks as a metacognitive scaffold. It is a way to represent inquiry in a layered visual form opening up eyes to connections and insights. This weekend's experience opened up a different avenue of metacognition that I have not considered in the context of our current study. That is the use of planning and directionality to illuminate the initial experience and ensure that we have enough of a scaffold to begin, so we (and our teachers) do not feel disoriented.I find that planning is often missing in students' work. They write an essay, code a program, or create n art product with very little planning. The lack of planning often adds to resistance to editing and revision, which are the keys to moving from a fail to a win. It is hard to get our students to plan, but it is perhaps the most important metacognitive skill that we can teach. Make a plan, execute, iterate, and then reflect. But it all starts with a plan.
The workweek then had a significant planning session led by Kimberley D'Adamo. it was a gratifying experience to start charting the path we want to walk, making sure we feel like we know where we are going and having a reasonable plan to get there.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
Skill, Digital Creation and memory