PSU MakerCommons and MediaCommons

Today I had a chance to visit the PSU Media Commons and Maker Commons and wow!  These are great spaces and opportunities for their students.  The Media Commons is a lab with 40 iMacs arranged in an X configuration.  

Students can use the lab to learn how to use media and tools such as iMovie.  What impressed me most, was the philosophy behind the lab.  The space is located in the library.  In the "old" library, students had to learn how to locate resources - card catalog and all.  The "new" library is about tools - like 3D printers and Video Studios.  Going back to the old, we don't want students spending so much time looking for their resources that they don't have time to actually use them.  I remember microfiche and trying to get the right source.  Moving forward, we don't want students to focus on the how to of using technology.  Instead, they should be focused on the project and academic learning that is taking place in completing their project.  PSU has made this happen.  Students can use the space to learn how to work with media effectively.  Teachers can assign the students to the space as well.  The key is that there are tutorials and consultants (PSU staff who work with students to guide them in the creation of their project and support where needed).  I like the term consultant.  It fits perfectly with what they are doing - guiding and working with students.  There were several spaces in addition to the lab.  There was a 1 button studio.  PSU created this (and it is a free download) to allow students to record video by essentially clicking one button.

Above is a good shot of the studio.  Notice everything is off the floor.  If you check out the website, they have an equipment list and details on installation.

We then moved to two other rooms.  One had the 3D printer farm.  Yes, it is a farm.  There were 36 printers just working away.  They "harvest" the printers twice a day.  Students can send their jobs to the printers from anywhere online.  Once printed out, students can pick them up at their local PSU library - even on the branch campuses.  

The final room was the Invention Studio.  This room had little bits and legos.  The tables move up and down and had a moveable white board that slides on the table.  It might look messy, but they had lots of tools for student to work with and mounted iPads for research or media collection.

Overall, this was a great visit.  I really liked how they talked about Design Thinking being the most important part of the studio spaces.  They also talked about letting students fail in their work so that it leads to a conversation.  That is how we correct and move forward in the design process.

Tech Day at West York

In working with the station rotation model at West York Middle School, I have been providing professional learning opportunities for staff.  On the day before Thanksgiving, I was able to be there while the students led the PD session.  Billed as a tech learning day, the reins of some of the presentations got turned over to the students who led the teachers through some tech integration.  Students gave up a day of their vacation to attend.

Dennis Albertson was the faculty organizer.  He used Google Hangouts to communicate to all of the rooms.  Students introduced themselves and communicated throughout the morning.  

This was a great chance for students and staff to become invested in learning about technology.  Kudos to WYASD - I'm glad I get to work with such a dedicated staff:).

Pumpkin Chunkin'!!

There is a great STEM event held at West York high school for the past number of years.  This is the Pumpkin Chunkin' championships.  Led by physics teacher, Kevin Wolf, local schools are invited to build catapult type devices to launch pumpkins ranging in size from 8 - 15 pounds.  The pumpkins have to hit a target that is set between 30 and 60 yards.  I know I saw different schools constructing their devices in my travels throughout October.  Some schools have students building on their own outside of school while others incorporate it into the curriculum or extra curricular activity.  Regardless, it is a great chance for the authentic work we have discussed previously.  There is a lot of excitement as students take turns launching.  I even had a chance to visit and reminisce with the Red Lion team.  I have brought teams to the competition for the past several years.  Check out some of the pictures:

At the end, all teams lined up for a group launch.  See the video:

While it could be argued that all districts were winners the top five included:
Dover - 1st, Hanover - 2nd, York County School of Technology - 3rd and 4th, and Red Lion 5th.  Other participants included Central York, West York, Susquehannock and Dallastown.

A Visit to Greencaste-Antrim School District

Another day and another great visit!  This time, I ventured over to Greencastle-Antrim.  This tour was led by Chief Education Officer Bob Crider.  We toured the middle and high schools.  The first stop was in a 6th grade classroom and Stacie Shaner.  She is leading the initiative to push STEM to the elementary classrooms.  She has earned a grant to develop STEM carts that can be deployed to elementary students.  This is an aggressive plan to take activities to students.  It also combines with a GAMS STEM Carnival in the Spring which I hope to attend.  I liked how the room was designed with students working in pods and they were clearly engaged in the lesson at hand.

We moved on to 8th grade where students work on a robotics curriculum as seen above.  Students work in teams to build Lego bots.  They are currently using NXTs but are transitioning to EV3s.  You can see the lines on the floor to make use of the light sensor.  All students will rotate through this course.  They are also building projects throughout the semester.  What caught my attention was on the board.  They are using the design process.   It is so important to provide students with a framework to rely on for design work.

We then moved to the high school where they have just started a STEAM program.  You can see the curriculum below.

There are 3 tracks for students to progress through.  Notice that the courses have and & in the title.  You could really see students working through several authentic tasks.  G-A has redesigned this space that was likely the traditional Tech Ed space.  Art not only has a space in this area but it fits with the curriculum.  Students are working with both physical and digital media.  Attention is being paid to the aesthetics in both design and detail.  Students can progress through a course sequence as seen.  The digital citizenship class forms the foundation of the technology to be learned.  The district is all Microsoft with students using Surface Tablets.  You can also see the plans to expand into AP courses in the future as well as robotics.  I thought it was a great use of existing tools and space.  Take a look at how they reshaped the classrooms.

There is some work to be done in bringing in the core curriculum to work with the STEAM program and they mentioned some revisions to the Digital Citizenship course.  I could feel the excitement among the staff as they discussed the hard work they have completed so far and the work to come.  Check out their work @ga_steam!  

A visit to Upper Adams

Earlier this month, I had a chance to visit Upper Adams School District.  My tour guide was Superintendent Wesley Doll.  This was a great experience just walking the halls and seeing his interactions with staff and students.  One goal of the district is to provide students with unique experiences.  I found this to be the case as I toured.  The school district is working with the PSU Fruit Research Center for students to have mentorships.  We stopped in the Ag shop to talk with two students who had just returned from a very successful FFA competition.  The students were explaining how they had to solve a problem involving trusses and supports.  This was a great explanation by the students who described two different methods of solution - one using technology and one using paper and pencil.  When their solutions matched, they were confident in the results and they won this part of the competition.  They are now working on restoring a tractor shown below.

Students have just about completed the work.  This type of authentic hands on work is very impressive.  Walking into the Tech Ed room saw a lot of student projects involving aerodynamics, robotics, multimedia and modeling.  They are doing work with TSA as well.  

  We then walked down to the library and saw the Help Desk team meeting.  This group of students was working with an Apple rep as they prepare to provide support to both students and staff.  The team took a field trip to learn about customer service.  I love this!!!!  Being able to provide support goes beyond the nuts and bolts of how the technology works.  Delivery and how you approach your work and "customer" are equally, if not more, important.  

  We walked into a classroom and I am struck by how different the rooms look.  This science room had comfy chairs!  

Students are working on brochures for the local state park that does not currently have any.  Again authentic work.  Overall, I was really impressed with the work I saw happening at Upper Adams!  Kudos to the Staff and Students.

A Visit to Littlestown

Visit to Littlestown

Thanks to Assistant Superintendent, Lori Stollar, for taking time to give me a tour of the Littlestown School District and discuss their upcoming plans for STEM.  There is construction going on in Littlestown as they are adding on to one building and plan to reopen it as a K-5 building next year.  Right in the middle of the building there will be a STEM room that will be used as a rotation for the elementary students. 

Pineapple Chart in MS Office

We started the tour at the middle school and WOW!  You can feel the excitement about learning throughout the building.  Students in grades 6, 7 and 8 are 1:1 with the 7^th and 8^th graders using iPads and 6^th graders using Chromebooks.  The middle school is Maple Avenue Middle School leading to the hashtag #mamslearning.  They have implemented a new program, the Pineapple Chart led by @cortgolden.  I learned that the pineapple is a welcoming fruit.  There is a chart in the office that teachers can sign up for to welcome visitors to see what is going on.  I thought this was a fantastic idea and you absolutely had the feeling that they want to show off the great things that are happening.  We walked around and found students interested and engaged in their learning.  One classroom had a makeshift Green Screen area.  Everywhere we went had 4Cs signs (http://www.p21.org/our-work/resources/for-educators/1007).  I could clearly see the culture is looking for students to embrace the 4Cs: communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.  We wound up the tour in the BLOC (Bolts Learning Opportunities Commons). 
This is the former library that has been reconfigured into a great space.  They had just unpacked a brand new 3D printer and had students lined up around it to watch it print.  There were comfy spaces, collaborative spaces with TVs, high tables to work at and special furniture to encourage working together.  I saw at least two classes using the BLOC at this time.

Comfy space in the BLOC

We also had a chance to visit the high school and elementary school.  More good things happening there as well.  The high school has a large area in the library they are looking to convert to a BLOC type space.  Students in drafting were working on plans – both the CAD type as well as brainstorming what would be needed in those spaces.  I heard about the 9^th grade experience or academy program with 4 courses built to help students.  They are actively working to have students working on career work.  This is the connection to real world work that is critical to helping students identify a successful career path.  The elementary teachers will be moving out and heading to new rooms (or back where they were for some) at the end of the school year.  I am excited to hear about their STEM rotation and how that person who fills the position will be able to work with others.

Overall, it was a great visit and walked away with several ideas for how schools could be working better.