What does #GAFE mean?

@WaukeshaNorth1 was able to send a group of teachers down to Illinois to participate in the GAFE (Google Apps for Education) Summit last weekend. On a Friday afternoon, when most teachers were heading home for a restful weekend, this group of Northstar warriors headed down to Illinois looking forward to learning and growing professionally with their colleagues around the use of technology to increase student engagement and achievement.

A summation of their take-aways are below. Please take time to read everyone's insights.

"I would say using digital portfolios for students to walk away from graduation with all the highlights of their high school learning experience.  The person we listened to has the kids use Google sites, then for a graduation gift she purchased a URL for every student. $.99 domain names, and after year 85% of her kids renewed their URLs."  ~Jill Werner  

"My biggest take away was that we need to teach kids how to lead with their knowledge. The "accessing technology" playing field is now pretty even in terms of the "haves" and "have-nots."  The new chasm/gap is between the kids who know how to leverage the information they find and produce meaningful experiences with it.  As educators, our role has significantly shifted...we need to teach kids skills...skills like leadership, innovation, collaboration, etc.  The tech that is available are tools that teachers need in order to teach their students those skills. I have always known what I just stated above is the "why", but the "how" became more clear to me over the weekend."  ~Becky Newcomer 

"My biggest take away came from the keynote speaker, David Jakes, who's topic was Expeditions, Journeys, Curiosity and Wonder.  He asked the question "Is your classroom and school a base-camp of wonder?", meaning, do you give people permission to wonder and explore their learning and big ideas?  He presented the quote "Inquiry starts with teachers as engaged learners and researchers, with the foundational belief that the topics they teach are rich, living, and generous places of wonder and exploration".  He incorporated this sense of wonder with technology and how people had the choice of technology use to be evolutionary and fulfilling that sense of wonder or controlled and viewed as a negative addition therefore seen as disruption.  

Another connection David Jakes made to a sense of wonder was the concept of Moonshot Thinking (http://youtu.be/0uaquGZKx_0) . Instead of a mere 10% gain, a moonshot aims for a 10x improvement over what currently exists. The Moonshot Thinking video clip discusses that what we know as the greatest things that have happened have only succeeded because it took someone the courage to try.  Also, if we become afraid to take these great big risks we stop inspiring people, we stop achieving things, and the biggest nightmare scenario is that we won't have what it takes to solve the really big challenges.  Having the mindset of "we don't know how we're going to do this yet, but we're going to do it anyway" sets the stage for wonder and curiosity which leads to these great expeditions, journeys and discoveries."  ~Darci VanAdestine 

"The biggest take way was learning about more apps to enhance the learning experience of students. Enhancing the learning experience includes empowering students with apps that are student learning focused and age appropriate. Moreover, I got some good ideas from several sessions on how I can help students think

creatively about telling stories (writing), presenting information, and making arguments."  ~Athena Alwan

"I came away with some digital presentation ideas and some apps that we can definitely use including the new Google Maps Lite engine next year for Human Geography. The more significant impression was hammered home during the demo slam. If we are not careful, we will get overwhelmed by the means and lose sight of the goal. What can we use in a meaningful way? What is cool but really a distraction? What works? We need to manage the assets out there, not let them manage us. The real interface to Google, and everything on the Internet, is a flesh and blood student."  ~Jim Nelson

"We (the collective We, that is) have "grown up" a little and are making more sensible choices. We can be and need to be more discriminate in the tech we choose, realizing that there are so many apps out there and, honestly some of them aren't good.  We don't have to use all of them to be cool teachers, we need to use some of them well to be more effective educators.  That's a shift in tone from previous sessions I've attended.  

This was evident in the "iPad Apps" session I attended.  Basically, an overview of about 25 apps that are useful, with dialogue and discussion.  It centered on finding the best apps for the job, not just 7 apps that do it but always have a problem, an issue, or a shortcoming.  There was very little "Gee, I wish it did THIS" and more "It does it all, and theres a neat thing coming in the next update!".  That's a definite paradigm shift. 

In the end, the takeaway is this:  Not every app needs to be used... it's about finding the right app for the job and sticking with it, as long as it meets the instructional need."  ~Lansing Dimon 

"Using "google docs" as a user-friendly research tool, using "google forms" for turning work in, and creating individual portfolios were valuable to me.  While I was taking notes for the "google docs research" seminar in "word" (feel the irony) I finally started making connections about why google docs can be more user friendly in terms of individual project based research.  Using the research, cite, scholar, images, etc. tools so easily sure can speed up a student's process. I have a lot of former AP Psych students who tell me they use APA format a lot in college papers and this resource will allow me to assign just such a project after the AP test.  Grading student work has been a challenge for me (is it in their folder?  did they email to me?  etc. etc.).  By using google forms, all their assignments will be together and easier for both myself and the students.  I am working on that now...found a few bugs but getting there.  My head was still spinning after the portfolio session (it was the last session of the day) but I do have the notes and contacts to pick this up when I have more time.  I would like to apply this to my Intro Psych class because it will be something they can use if they take AP.  I can also see how I can use these in AP as way to create their own review sessions but that is still in my mind's infancy stage! Thanks for giving me the opportunity to go.  It was great to get to know Darcy, Jill, Becky, Jim, Greta, and Lansing better! In fact THAT was probably the biggest biggest take away."  ~John Ricciardi

"Celebrate! We are doing some awesome things at Waukesha North in a 1:1 world. In fact, I would say we have many teachers and administrators who could easily have led terrific sessions at this conference. Broadly speaking, our school has been able to make the shift towards using iPads as a means of substituting technology for traditional practices (ex. creating a paperless classroom) and establishing more efficient practices (ex. using Flubaroo to grade formative assessments). In less than a year, our school has taken significant steps toward effectively implementing iPads into the classroom and helping our students develop 21st century skills. Now what? How can we transform the educational environment in order to help our students develop the skills necessary to effectively leverage electronic data as part of the new digital divide (those who can utilize the digital information effectively and those who cannot)? How can we use technology to push our instructional strategies to the M (modification) and R (redefinition) portion of the SAMR model by rethinking the classroom environment, learning space, and student educational experience? An iPad in the hands of a student will not inherently transform the learning experience, but I believe very strongly that we, as educators, can use technology to revolutionize how students learn. Technology is truly a game changer, but this requires us to live out our imagination, not our history. Some of the most powerful moments from the conference came from brainstorming with my colleagues. As part of these discussions, I began to view my classroom in a whole different way. In fact, I wondered how I could eliminate the structure (in terms of time, rigid content, traditional assessments, etc) in order to create a more personalized and meaningful educational experience. As a result, I am looking seriously into developing a Physics classrooms rooted in competency-based grading using E-Portfolios, creating the opportunity for skill-based assessments and flexible, personalized learning."   ~Greta Voit

And next week, I head out to Massachusetts, for the New England Consortium Schools, High School Re-Design conference! Let the innovation continue!!