Computational thinking is really about thinking. It’s about formulating ideas in a structured way, that, conveniently enough, can in the modern world be communicated to a computer, which can then do interesting things.

Stephen Wolfram

…“computational thinking”… is about formulating things with enough clarity, and in a systematic enough way, that one can tell a computer how to do them. Programming — and programming education — have traditionally been about telling a computer at a low level what to do. But thanks to all the technology … one doesn’t have to do that any more. One can express things at a much higher level — so one can concentrate on computational thinking, not mere programming. Yes, there’s certainly a need for some number of software engineers in the world who can write low-level programs in languages like C++ or Java or JavaScript — and can handle the details of loops and declarations. But that number is tiny compared to the number of people who need to be able to think computationally…

Stephen Wolfram

What Are We Doing to Inspire Students to Problem Solve in a Computational Fashion

(or "Why I chose to create a Drone Obstacle Course Challenge")

• Engagement - Drones are one of the most fascinating categories of technology and robotics right now.
• Three Dimensional Literacy - After becoming fairly competent in planar (two dimensional X-Y axis) digital design, I still remember the stretching of my abstract thought when going to three dimensional design.
• Students Want Relevant Math - A recent survey found that students want more "out-of-the-box, creative, relevant" math activities in secondary schools.
• Students need to exercise creativity and hone design skills - There should be a design component that the students get to create and build something.
• STEAM relies on quantification and measurement – Science and Engineering requires this and students are not measuring enough stuff themselves!

What You Need

Tags: STEAM

Teacher stress, anxiety and workload levels are heavy on my heart tonight! Teachers are frustrated, crying, and spending countless hours trying to plan and play catch-up! Schools all over have multiple openings and are struggling to get good quality applicants for their positions. It is difficult to find substitutes. I wonder what we are doing to our poor teachers... Makes me sad, when I know all they want to do is teach, because that is their passion and purpose. The problem is they do everything else but... Hmmm, I will be reflecting this weekend!

Tags: culture, shortage

Create a Stage to Showcase
Creativity, Focus, Persistence, and Achievement

Ace fighter pilots with kills on the nose of their plane, Boy Scout and Girl Scout sashes, wrestler belts and olympic medallions; we have long celebrated achievement and excellence in human history with badges.

Changing Classroom Culture With Badges

As mentioned in many educational circles (and previous Shupester post) providing achievement badges is very meaningful in a personalized learning classroom.

Digital or Physical?

Digital badges have become a thing in online games and in many learning systems. When you level up in a game, or take a short course and pass a test, we have digital badges and micro credentials.

Unfortunately, digital badges are only visible when logged into that particular learning system and often require you to navigate to each individual's profile rather than being showcased in the learning community.

For this reason, I decide to take digital badging back into the physical world.

Some say the first badges were scrawled into cave walls by brave hunters millennia ago.

• account_circle

  “

  Decades ago, a keynote speaker at an education conference noted how education institutions at all levels celebrate achievements in athletics, and sometimes the arts (theater, band, chorus). Aside from the honor role – we did very little to showcase individual learning gains and achievements. I committed that day to find ways to provide a stage for learning achievements.

  That became a focus of our school news program, Stone Students Rock! Web Blog, Facebook page, and Badging program.

  – the Shupester

  ”

Tags: branding, gamification, gamify, motivation, accountablity, achievement

I don't think anyone would question that soft skills are important to businesses that innovate and create. Whether you could say they are more important than technical knowledge is really questionable though! It isn't an either/or situation; the synergy is found in individuals that possess both soft and technical skills.

Tags: STEAM, STEM, assessment, job-ready

Developing A Healthy Self-Image

• I am not good at (subject area).
• I cannot do (subject).
• This makes no sense to me.
• I am not a (subject) person.

The students had reached a self-image wall:
Their self-image had gone from Let's Try! –> to –> I can't!

Tags: STEAM, lesson, visual literacy

Tags: 1:1, gamification, gamify, levels

1 :  harsh inflexibility in opinion, temper, or judgment :  severity (2) :  the quality of being unyielding or inflexible :  strictness

• Public education is a large part of the state and local budget. You are paying for this. It is an an expensive endeavor.
• Public education is one of the answers to social stability. (Notice I didn't say the answer.)

Tags: Testing

Do education policy makers recognize just how important a Technology Specialist, Technology Integrator, or Technology Innovation Coach is at the local school level?

Tags: innovation, technology literacy, leadership, Policy, Political Action

• The idea that learning occurs on a schedule, in a standardized fashion for all students is ill informed.
• The legitimacy of using a single test given one time and one time only is not a legitimate way to grade instruction nor the instructor.

Tags: Testing, Policy, Political Action