garystager on July 28th, 2008
Dear Colleague:
You are about to embark on a four-day learning adventure in which computers, construction, collaboration and creativity are all part of the learning process. Please put away your “teacher hat” and spend as much time as possible in the role of a learner. We hope you find the right personal balance between a single-minded focus on project development and tinkering. Since knowledge is a consequence of experience, CMK08 seeks to create a learning environment in which a wide range of experiences are possible.
We offer lots of material with which you can work, including a variety of rich software environments for you and lots of “objects to think with.” Please look out for each other’s computers, books and other materials.
Collaborate with others, work alone or enjoy a combination of both, but please spend as much time as possible taking full advantage of the gift of time you have given yourself to learn. Fantastic speakers are part of the program, but CMK08 fought to avoid interrupting your project work for a series of speeches. Our goal is for you to return home remembering that you spent time with a speaker, rather than having listened to him or her. Along the way, you might want to think about your thinking and blog or keep a journal to assist in the reflective process. Read as much as you can. Lots of materials will be shared on the blog and in our library.
If you need to go for a walk to help clear your head, go for it. Take a swim or spend a few extra minutes at lunch, but remember that there is so much you can do and projects will be exhibited Thursday afternoon. Please don’t miss the speakers or daily reflection time. We will begin each morning at 9 AM.
If you have a question ask it! The only dumb question is the one never asked. If you want to learn a specific skill, let us know and a mini-tutorial will be arranged. Don’t be passive. The faculty and your fellow participants possess a wide range of skills and are here to help. CMK08 participants represent Preschool through 12th grade and beyond. We’ll try hard to meet everyone’s needs. This will be much easier if you temporarily forget that you are a teacher and become a learner. Embrace each learning adventure with gusto and you’ll exceed your expectations.
Welcome!
Gary
Constructing Modern Knowledge thanks the following for their generosity:
- The six member companies in The Constructivist Consortium
- The Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation
- Tech4Learning
- Logo Computer Systems, Inc.
- Inspiration Software
- Josh Morgan of Morgan/Dorado PR
- Sibelius/M-Audio
Lesa King (www.graphicreporter.com) and iStockPhoto.com
- Make Magazine
- Craft Magazine
- Peter Reynolds
- Cynthia Solomon
- Sylvia Martinez
- Melinda Kolk
- Bob Tinker
- John Stetson
- Alfie Kohn
Let’s go out and make something!
admin on July 24th, 2008
Recommended Software
- MicroWorlds EX Robotics (multimedia Logo programming language and robotics control environment - Mac & Windows)
- Inspiredata (data collection, visualization and analysis tool for K-12 - Mac & Windows)
- Tech4Learning Imagination Suite (Frames, Pixie, ImageBlender, WebBlender, Twist - Mac & Windows)
- iLife ‘08 (iPhoto, iMovie, iDVD, Garageband, iWeb)
- Sibelius (the gold standard for music notation and composition) - Mac & Windows)
- Finale Notepad (music composition software - free - Mac & Windows)
- Tinkerplots, Fathom and Geometer’s Sketchpad (statistical analysis and geometry software - Mac & Windows)
- Animation-ish (animation software - Mac & Windows)
Programming Environments for Learners
Cool Tools
- Audacity (open source Mac/Windows/Linux audio recording and editing software)
- Delicious Library (catalog books, CDs, videos on a Mac)
- Fission (native audio editing for the Mac)
- iShowU (low-cost video/screen capture for the Mac)
- Tubesock (download YouTube videos)
- TubeTV (Mac software for capturing all sorts of web video, including Google and YouTube)
- Visual Hub (convert all sorts of video formats)
- VLC (play all sorts of video formats including DVDs from other regions)
admin on July 22nd, 2008
Gary S Stager, Ph.D.
Director & Founder
Teacher educator, journalist, speaker and consultant, Dr. Gary Stager, has spent the past twenty-six years helping teachers on six continents make sense of their roles in the digital age. In 1990 he led development efforts at the world’s first two “laptop schools” in Australia. Since then, Gary has worked with countless laptop schools from Maine to Melbourne to Mumbai. Stager has taught at Pepperdine University’s Graduate School of Education and Psychology for the past decade and in 1998 helped create its groundbreaking Online Master of Arts in Educational Technology degree program. In 1982, he created one of the nation’s first computer camp programs and was the Director of Professional Development for NJ’s Network for Action in Microcomputer Educator from 1983-93
Gary is Senior Editor for District Administration Magazine, Editor of The Pulse: Education’s Place for Debate and former Editor of Logo Exchange. He is a frequent conference presenter, workshop leader and keynote speaker at conferences across the USA, Canada, China, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, India, Switzerland, France, Bermuda, Costa Rica, South Africa, The Slovak Republic and Venezuela. Dr. Stager is an Associate of Thornburg Center and worked with Seymour Papert to create the Constructionist Learning Laboratory at the Maine Youth Center. Gary’s work with incarcerated youth in Maine was the subject of the PhD. dissertation from the University of Melbourne. Dr. Stager is also a member of the One Laptop Per Child Learning Team, a collaborator in the MIT Media Lab’s Future of Learning Group and the Executive Director of The Constructivist Consortium
Gary has a degree in elementary education and once studied to be a jazz musician. He has worked with public schools, private schools, gifted students, at-risk learners and homeschooling communities, Dr. Stager’s corporate clients have included: Disney, Microsoft, LEGO, Apple Computer, Compaq, Tom Snyder Productions, Universal Studios, Toshiba, Logo Computer Systems, Inc. and Claris. Converge Magazine named Gary Stager a “shaper of our future and inventor of our destiny.” He was a finalist for best columnist in the 2006 Association of Education Publishers Distinguished Achievement Awards
Most recently, Gary was the new media producer for The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmeri Project - Simpatíco, 2007 Grammy Award Winner for Best Latin Jazz Album of the Year. The album also won the a similar award from the Jazz Journalists Association
Go to www.stager.org for more information and materials written by Gary.
Gary Stager is a unique speaker who never fails to entertain, inform, and inspire. Gary’s offers a unique combination of intellect and wit that provokes conversation and smiles alike. He is a committed educator who comes to a conference ready to roll up his sleeves and work.
Gary can have audiences on their feet cheering at a keynote and a half hour later be fielding questions and presenting his latest ideas in a breakout session or at a conference reception. He is straight talking, fearless, and a visionary educational leader who ‘tells it as it is’. Gary’s presence has always brought our conference to another, higher, level.
- Pete Reilly, President of NYSCATE
