Thanks for coming to my session today at the 2016 WTCS Tech Expo in Appleton, WI . I hope I was able to help you open some doors to a few adjacent possibilities for engaging your Generation C students. Please remember, this page was designed to function as your outsourced memory for today’s content. Feel free to use it and share it as you see fit. And, if you think of some ideas that I missed, feel free to share those with me. I am always happy to help guest authors share their favorite Teacher Tricks.
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Although it is a very difficult thing for many educators and other people to hear and face, and strange as it sounds, the truth is that for most people in the twenty-first century reading and writing are not the best ways to communicate.
According to Allan J. Kimmel, we can thank professors Jan Kietzmann and Ian Angell for the term.
“Generation C refers to Constantly Connected Citizens who are Creative, Capable, Content-Centric Curators, Copiers and Combiners who are Community-oriented, Collectively Communicative, Collaborative, and Co-developing Consumers of Common Content.”
Only 71 companies remain today from the original 1955 Fortune 500 list
The Adjacent Possible
This term was originally coined by the biologist Stuart Kauffman, but it was recently popularized in Steven Johnson’s book Where Good Ideas Come From. You will find an RSA Animate video summary of his book at this link. Basically, it refers to the fact “that at any given time – in science and technology, but perhaps also in culture and politics – only certain kinds of next steps are feasible.” For example, growing in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, many of today’s teachers learned or were made aware of adjacently-possible techniques for learning and sharing ideas (The book, the pencil, the notebook, the phone, Microsoft Word) Today’s kids live in a world with 1.6 million apps available from Google Play and 1.5 million apps available in iTunes (Statista, 2015). How many Adjacent Possibilities do these apps allow for? Are we sharing these possibilities with our students?
For those of you interested in the solution or wondering how to do the trick in your own classroom, watch the reveal video below. Click here or on the picture to the right to get the template with instructions. Have fun.
Playing videos inline is one of the best ways to design your content in online courses. Of course, designing this way requires you to understand the concept of embedding, click here to take embedding 101. If you are interested in another tool that you can use to safely share videos with students, you might want to try out Safeshare.tv
Ok, so the basic instructional idea is to allow for an APPy Hour in your classroom. Now technically, this doesn’t actually have to be an hour-long activity (although it could be); the APPy hour could simply be an activity in the first 5 or last 5 minutes of class where students and teachers can share APPs that they are currently using to help them learn or be more productive. APPs in the classroom open doors to a world of Adjacent Possibilities.
QR Codes (Quick Response Codes) allow smart device users to easily connect to the mobile Internet, and the Inigma QR code scanner is the fastest and most widely used QR code scanner on the market, simply point and connect. Use this with your students and connect them to anything you can share with them in the digital world. They will immediately be able to download, books, articles, quizzes, videos and more. To learn more about QR Codes, click here.
Cerego is an adaptive learning technology platform based on principles of neuroscience and cognitive science. Cerego’s patented technology uses the scientific method of spaced rehearsal as the basis for memory retention for content available via their website.
Quizlet’s free study tools are used by millions of students and teachers every day in every country of the world (196 if you’re counting) – from grade school to grad school to language learners to vocational students. They are building learning tools that let any level student improve their performance immediately.
Accessing Wikipedia has never been faster and easier than with Wikipanion, designed for easy, search, navigation and display of Wikipedia entries. Streamline your browsing with history grouped by visit date, and bookmarking that not only bookmarks individual entries, but individual sections within an entry.
Pocket was founded in 2007 by Nate Weiner to help people save interesting articles, videos and more from the web for later enjoyment. Once saved toPocket, the list of content is visible on any device — phone, tablet or computer. It can be viewed while waiting in line, on the couch, during commutes or travel — even offline. Pocket is integrated into more than 1500 apps including Flipboard, Twitter and Zite. It is available for major devices and platforms including iPad, iPhone, Android, Mac, Kindle Fire, Kobo, Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Opera and Windows. Now, my favorite feature of Pocket is its ability to convert Text To Speech, in other words, you can have your pocket articles read to you while working out, driving to class, riding on an airplane…wherever! This is a really great student/teacher trick to know for those of us looking for ways to be more productive. It is especially great for auditory learners.
Capture App – The Youtube Capture App allows you, or your students, to capture great moments in the classroom and then easily stitch them together to tell a story. You can then edit and crop your videos on the go and even add music backgrounds. Once finished, you can easily upload them to Youtube and share. Adjacent Possibilities: Record a presentation and share with students or have students share with you, have students record a 1 minute Pecha Kucha teach back, Use the Capture app to make a video and then use that video in EdPuzzle. (Android users should check out WeVideo)
Thing Link App – Use ThingLink to instantly add video and text to images. Create unforgettable greetings, interactive travel photos, and capture best moments. Share images to your friends on Twitter or Facebook — and communicate in new ways. Adjacent Possibilities: Have students search for images, videos, and handouts then take a picture of something you are learning in your textbook and have students bring that image to life with Thing Link. Have students find infographics on the content you are teaching and ask them to Thing Link the infographics.
Kahoot –With Kahoot, you or your students can create, play and share fun learning games for any subject, for all ages, for free! Adjacent Possibilities: Have your students create a first 5 game (a game/quiz that you play in the first 5 minutes of class) to refresh/summarize content learned in the last class.
TED App – AppleAndroid– TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Adjacent Possibilities: Give extra credit assignments for students who watch in discipline TED talks and then write a reflection. Search for great TED talks to use in your classroom. Use those same TED Talks to flip your classroom with EDPuzzle.
Remind – Remind is a communication tool that helps teachers connect instantly with students. Send quick, simple messages (with attachments) to any device. Send a one-way message to every student in your class. Subscribers receive Announcements as texts, emails, or smartphone notifications. Create a private chat network with your students. Manage communication by setting availability and enabling or disabling Chats. And it is all FERPA safe. Adjacent Possibilities: Open up new ways to do virtual office hours. Share handouts, visuals, and questions with students. Share related classroom content to give your students interesting things to talk about.
Easybib – AppleAndroid – EasyBib allows you to automatically create citations for your bibliography in seconds. Log in with your Easybib.com account to quickly add citations to your project, right from your mobile device! Create perfect and accurate citations because they’re checked by librarians and teachers. Instantly create citations by scanning book barcodes with your phone’s camera. Use the search tool to create citations for books and websites. Export to email so you can send your citations to your inbox quickly. Switch between MLA, APA, Chicago and over 7000 citation styles, including Harvard, ASA, AMA, CSE and ACS formats with one click!
Lino – Lino is a free, collaborative sticky note and & canvas service that is device and browser agnostic. From your phone or computer you can take and post notes, pictures and sticky notes, set reminders on the notes, add in videos, share and present to others and more. You just kind of have to see it to understand it, but when you do, it will likely open up some adjacent possibilities in your classroom.
Veracity – With Veracity, you can perform reverse image searches on any image, otherwise known as “search by image” if you are a Google Images fan. Adjacent Possibilities: Bring in pictures of the content you want your students to learn. Rather than teaching it, have them do the reverse image searches to learn the content and teach you back what they learn.
Nearpod – Nearpod is a must have application for teachers and students who have access to tablets, smartphones, Chrome books, or PCs/MACs. For the most part it is device agnostic. The Nearpodplatform enables teachers to use their tablet to manage content on students’ mobile devices and computers. It combines presentation, collaboration, and real-time assessment tools into one integrated solution. Lot’s of Adjacent Possibilities with this app.
Plickers – Plickers is a powerfully simple tool that lets teachers collect real-time formative assessment data without the need for student devices. So, if you want to quiz your students, but don’t have good wifi or they don’t have access to smart technologies, Plickers is your solution. Adjacent Possibilities – Break students into groups for multiple choice or family feud style gaming in your classroom without having to teach them technologies.