Beta Version

We now have a beta version of our app.  It's time for fine tuning! This will take place over the summer and we are looking at a fall launch. Exciting!

I will be presenting this project at the esymposium rscon3 http://reformsymposium.com/  at the end of July and Ian will reveal where this project is going next.  He plans on taking what we've learned and developing it into something bigger. Ian is committed to providing opportunities for creativity in children. If you haven't visited his other work in progress,  http://sendfelicity.com/being_prudence.html please do.  

Esa Helttula has been another key figure in this project and I haven't mentioned him much.  In fact, last week my students finally asked, "Who is this Esa guy and what exactly is he doing in this project? Why haven't we skyped with him yet?" So during our last week of school we will do this. Esa designs math apps and you can find his work at: http://idevbooks.com/  and http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/santa-hat-sewing/id400705631?mt=8

Cynthia Jabar, illustrator and digital media artist,  has been giving my students advice about design, colour and story. Her work can be found at: http://www.cynthiajabar.com/ 

I'll be exploring the beta version today and can't wait to show it to my students on Monday.

Time to Vote: Main Page

Final submissions for the main page were posted in the wiki and Ian, Esa and Cynthia provided excellent feedback.  The students took their comments seriously and examined each image carefully.

https://sites.google.com/a/flexapplications.com/where-i-live---a-diy-app/design/design-workshop/main-page

Before we voted we had a discussion about acting professionally during this process. Their choice had to represent Dundas and had to be what they felt was the best work from the class.  They were not to worry about hurting someone's feelings or choosing their friend's design or that their own design was not being selected. They needed to remember that whatever they chose was going out into the public for all to see and would create an impression of our class.

Then it was time to vote. Students sat by themselves so that they could vote in privacy. We voted by process of elimination.  We went through the 15 designs one by one; students crossed off those that they felt would not be the best choice and were left with a smaller selection. We went through them a second time and then a third until a winner was chosen. Once again I was surprised at the maturity with which they approached the task.  They were professionals at work.

Class 62 ended up selecting number 3 on the list, followed by number 13 - only 1 vote separated the two choices.  Based on advice, Taylor has agreed to intensify the colour of her design; it's the one area that needs improvement.

When I began this project I had no idea just how beneficial it would be for my class to work directly with professionals. Students respect their opinions and have learned so much from them. Thank you Ian, Cynthia and Esa. You have brought these students to a level of understanding and commitment that I could never have done on my own. That is the richness that is available to all educators who choose to work in a Web 2.0 world.

Now we just have to choose the splash page, upload our recording of ghost stories and then we are done!

Perseverance

Today, more than any other day I`ve  realized how our work on the app project is different from anything I`ve done with a class in the past.  The students' willingness to persevere is beyond anything I've witnessed previously in my classroom.  Every single student demonstrates a commitment to completing this task and to completing it well.

We should have been finished this project weeks ago; however, term 3 has been marked by interruptions  which I've commented on previously.  We are scrambling constantly for time. The design of the splash page and main page have been left until the end and now we've only one week of schoo `to go.  Typically at this time of the year it is difficult to get students to put their best effort into anything.   With this deadline looming, students submitted their page designs - what they thought would be their good copies - for the app.  We left some of them on the Wiki for Ian to look at, but I knew they were not going to pass muster and I was worried about this. When I came back at the class today and said their work wasn`t good enough, how would they react?  Would they give up at this point because they are simply tired of school?  Would they redo them half-heartedly just to get them done?  Would I face a mutiny? I really had no idea what to expect from them.

This morning we had a talk about how projects work in real businesses and that designers need to go back to the drawing board many times until they get things right. I spoke to them about leaving emotions about their work out of the process and to look at what they had done with critical eyes.  Was their artwork good enough to be accepted by Apple?  This really is the only opinion that will matter and the list of why an app might be rejected is several pages long.  (see wiki)

Would their design be a good user experience?  Would a user want to download and use their design? Once we had that discussion we looked at their designs from the previous day. (They re on the wiki for all to see) On the screen, large in size, the flaws were obvious and Class 62 recognized the problems. They realized for themselves that they weren`t good enough, that they needed to do better.  They spotted all the errors - design flaws, blurry writing, sloppiness, poorly drawn lines, poor colour choices, spelling mistakes, buttons too close together,  layout  - they didn't miss a thing.  I pointed out the importance of focusing and working quietly so they were truly concentrating while they worked.  We even discussed the tools - sharpening pencils, using rulers and carefully outlining.

Finally, we talked about button names and came up with better titles:

Welcome
Downtown
Fun Places
Historic Sites
Nature
A.R.

There was not one complaint, which frankly astonished me.  A few admitted to complaining on the inside, but they didn`t do so in front of me.  They just set to work and got the job done.  I was so very,  very proud of them for this and as they were working I tweeted their thoughts on having to do their pages again and why they weren`t complaining.

Nicole: we don`t mind because it`s fun to think about the actual design
Taylor and Emily - we don`t want our app to be rejected by the app store.
Justin C. - I saw the mistakes I had made in my design and wanted to fix them.  I wanted to get it right.
Nikki - you could tell they needed more work and they`re going out into the world.  We don`t want our work to be rejected.
Taylor When I first started, I was just sketching and thought we`d be remaking them on the computer. When I realized that they were the good copy and will be scanned, I knew I had to do better.
Carlie - I knew my writing was messy and I really wanted to fix it.

The consensus was that it was worthwhile to do and that they weren`t going to give up now, not after all that`s gone into this project.

Here for all to see are the a few of the main pages that were submitted today. There are more, but they are not quite finished.

 Taylor

Bianca

Sara

Ashley

Nicole

Sydney

Avery

Justin C. (one more element needed still)

What pleases me in particular is the thought that has gone into the design. Rather than buttons sitting on top of the artwork, they have become part of the pictures.  Understanding of how design and functionality can fit together has been learned.

EdcampTO - Planning Begins

I was very pleased when I saw on twitter this spring that Stephen Hurley proposed bringing edcamp to Toronto.  Today we had our first planning session at the Canadian Education Association offices (CEA) on Spadina in Toronto. Eighteen people were present from very diverse backgrounds, all with an interest in education.  We spent time discussing our understanding of edcamps and how they are very different from traditional PD. (more about this will follow at a later date). We tossed out dates and possible venues. (Again, more to follow, later).  We also met f2f, people we've been in discussions with on twitter. That was fun!

Some key phrases stayed with me from the discussion. The first came from Sean who works for the Section 23 schools in the TDSB.  What we are doing is education on the fringe. We are the innovators who are driving education in a new direction, now how do we bring people in?

The next came from Stephen Hurley: the idea of this place called "school" is about to be shattered. Things are changing so rapidly that those educators, administrators and stakeholders who do not begin adapting their practice are going find themselves steamrolled into irrelevancy. 

The third came from Jennifer Chan, founder of Exhibit Change.  Her words were profound and caused an immediate shift in my understanding of "school improvement plans".   We don't work for the Ministry of Education, we don't work for the Superintendents, Directors and Boards of Education - they work for us: the communities, students and educators in which schools exist.  If the "school improvement plan" is only talking about what happens within the bricks and mortar, it is failing by limiting growth and possibility.  It ignores a key factor: students and teachers do not exist just within a school, they exist within dynamic communities - we need to have community improvement plans of which schools are a part.  Teachers don't own the schools. Principals don't own the schools. The Ministry does not own the schools. They belong to all of us.  We need to open our doors and let others in.

Reflecting on Our Year

This week we took some time to reflect on what is was like working in a connected classroom.  What did we actually learn?  What impact has the introduction of Web 2.0 tools and connecting to the world had on us as learners? And, of course, what didn't go well with technology in our classroom?

We first generated a list of the technology we had learned to use. We were all surprised at the length of the list.  Here it is:

The App Project
Hub 21 TV - livestreaming
Collaborize - our discussion/social media site
Blogging Buddies
Skype: Dr. Bruce Bradley, Ian, Cynthia,  and even with Austin, a classmate, while in Florida on vacation
Prezi
Photoshop
Digital Cameras
Texting
E-readers
Laptops
Assistive Technology
Blog - The Amaryllis
Smartboards
Mathletics
Digital Cameras
Litcircuits
Ipods,
Webcam
Audacity
Glogster
Twitter
Wiki
Facebook
Google Docs
Gmail
Cell Phones
Minecraft
Ipad

We had a great discussion about the impact.  I gave the students the following questions to think about.

1. What things have we been able to do because we have access to technology?
2. How would the classroom have been different if we weren't connected?
3. How did the introduction of Ryan's Ipad change things in our room?
4. how has knowing that people around the world are interested in and following our work on Twitter and through our blog affected you?
5. How is working on a "real word" project (our app) different from regular projects?
6. What has it been like to have access to experts and professionals?
7. How has being able to contribute to and build our project made you feel? (ex: Sydney documenting with photography, Emily and Carlie managing the pictures, tweeting our questions to Ian, contributing ideas during the planning)?
8. What is the biggest contribution you made to the class this year?
9. For those in Minecraft - how is the learning that we do during M. Club different from the traditional classroom?
10. What hasn't gone well with our use of technology?
11. how is technology being used in other subjects and classes?
12. If you could give one piece of advice to teachers about how you wish school could be, what would it be?
13 With access to technology at home, do you still think school is necessary?
14. When is a traditional classroom still important? (sitting by yourself, working on your own, quiet)

We're not quite finished answering them, but here are some of the responses:

I think it was different to be working on a "real world' project because it was cool!  I was shocked when I heard our class was going to make an app for people to download.  I can't wait to see what people think about it! (Rebecca)

Knowing that people are following what we are doing and are interested makes me not want to give up on the app project, it shows me that other classes are relying on us to finish the app project so they can know what to do. (Emily)

I think that the Minecraft Club has been easier than with a classroom teacher at the front of the classroom.  You can just ask a friend at anytime instead of  holding your hand up until the teacher allows you to talk. (Justin E.)

Normally when you hear a teacher talking about a project, right away you would think to yourself, "Oh great, another project!"  But when I heard about making an actual app to put on the app store for anyone to download I was ecstatic.  I always wanted to focus on a project that was fun AND educational. (Nicole)

Knowing that people are actually following us on Twitter and our class blog means a lot to me.  When I heard that we had people from Portugal and the Caribbean it was an amazing feeling. I never thought that this would be happening. (Nicole)

The thing that we've been able to do this year because of technology is Skype with people around the world.  I think it's cool that we can talk over a computer. (Kyle)

Being able to contribute to the app project has made me feel like I was important.  Emily and I cropped pictures on photoshop which was a big part of the project.  It was fun, but a lot of work. (Carlie)

Knowing that people around the world are interested in and following our work has affected me in many ways.  When I go home and I go to Mrs. Siwak's blog and sometimes see my name in one of the posts, it makes me feel like I've accomplished a lot more. Also, the blog affected me knowing that people see the work I am doing.  I like working on a "real world" project hundreds of times better than a normal project.  The app project can be tough for some people at times, but knowing that we are the first class ever to be making an app, it's worth it.  I hope other classes are encouraged to make an app, because it gives students more experience than just a normal  project. (Bianca)

It was a privilege to work with professionals.  They helped us figure things out, crop our pictures, learn about archaeology and write our stories.  We could not have done certain things without them. (Sara)

Technology has helped us connect to the world including: Facebook, Twitter and The Amaryllis.  The Amaryllis so far has almost 3000 people visiting the blog.  The real world project has probably made me work harder.  With the introduction of my Ipad we've been able to answer questions and prove points such as the banana is an herb not a tree. Ryan M.



We have been able to have experts help with the app, like Cynthia and Ian when they gave us really good information and helped us along the way.  If we weren't connected we wouldn't have been able to do this project.  Skyping with people like Dr. B, Ian and Cynthia wouldn't have been possible.  Being able to work on an app project is different from normal projects because we get to connect with people around the world. Working with professionals has been so amazing for me.  How we got to talk with them via Skype and Twitter ... it is just so cool!  (Justin C) 

Knowing that people are watching our work and can see what we are doing has really helped me. Because we know that they're watching all our work, it makes us want to do a better job. (Nikki)

I believe it would make it much easier if we all had laptops. It would be much faster than writing, we'd have better editing and we can do research right away. It's easier to take notes. (Nikki)

Technology has helped us connect to the world because with technology it shows other teachers or even  students what we are learning and how we are learning. We are sharing and connecting different ideas about the use of technology (Sydney)

Working on an app project is different because when you're working on a project by yourself or with a partner you don't really Skype with someone who knows a lot of information.  You would just go to a website or look in a book. With the app project, you can't just make an app by yourself, you need people who work with Apple to help you. (Sydney)

Working with professionals has been very cool.  It has helped us understand the project more and helped me with my work.  I thought it was cool knowing that a whole bunch of people are watching our work. I hope we can do it again. (Sean)

Technology has allowed us to connect to the world.  I found it very cool to look at the map of all the people following us from around the world.  It was amazing how a bit of technology can get people together from around the world. (Carlie)

What has not gone well with technology is that when it comes to using computers it can be unpredictable such as things can be deleted and when talking to one of the professionals connections can be lost. (Sara)

Criteria are Set for Splash and Main Page Selection

We have entered almost all of our content for the app. Now it is time to decide on the Main and Splash pages. We had a look at the rough sketches and the feedback from Ian and Cynthia.  I thought we might be able to choose our pages based on the rough sketches, but that was not a good decision. The students really needed to see more before choosing.  Students have strong opinions and are attached to various concepts and we needed to make the process fairer.  Our first time through this process today did not go well and it was my fault for not thinking this part through carefully.  With the end in sight, I  wanted to rush the process in order to finish the project which led to some upset students. My mistake, Class 62.

So it was back to the drawing board.

We have now come up  with criteria for the pages and a process for voting. Here they are:

The image must be portrait and not landscape.

The image MUST represent Dundas.  When you look at it, you should recognize the town.

It must be designed with the audience in mind: a tourist who might want to visit the town.

It must be a complete design, neatly drawn, coloured, with text.

There must be nothing unclear about the image nor the text.

All designs should be reducable to the size of the iphone screen: 2 inches x 3inches

The design  should demonstrate creativity and originality and careful planning.

Be creative in your button design.

Splash page should be colourful.

Main page: maximum 5 buttons that fat fingers can tap and not get the wrong button

Come up with appropriate names for the buttons.

The first button should say home or welcome or something to that effect as it is where we will introduce and explain our app as well as the mystery game.

Entries should be submitted anonymously. Mrs. Siwak does not want to know who did which one until after the voting.

Remember Cynthia's and Ian's advice: simplicity, colour, creativity, layout

The design may be submitted for the Splash Page or the Main Page, but not for both; however, you may submit two separate designs if you wish.

Students now feel comfortable that the selection process will be equitable.

All entries are due by Tuesday, 2nd Nutrition Break and we will vote in period 6.

Test . Test.

Today we began entering information into the content managment site. Emily, one of my students, has become our project manager.  She is working one-on-one with students to ensure that everything is entered correctly. Our lab is still closed for EQAO and will not reopen until June 9. We have one networked computer in the classroom that has access to all of the students files.  Ashley and Carlie continue to finetune the blog for the game portion of our app.

We've Reached an Exciting Stage

This week we will begin entering our data into the content management system to upload to the app.  We'll submit one complete location and run a test to ensure that all is working before we continue.

https://sites.google.com/a/flexapplications.com/where-i-live---a-diy-app/content-management-system

Next Year's Real World Learning Project is Falling Into Place

Next year? I'm already thinking about next year?  This doesn't normally happen to me in June. I'm lining up a real-world learning project for the fall. It involves an international space station, an astronaut who likes to sing, a forgotten hometown hero, and a school in the high arctic. Can't wait.

Post-Mortem: This Project is Not About the Mark

Now that the end is in site for our app project, I realize that in two weeks time, when we reflect on learning, we'll be able to have a much richer discussion than would have been possible in a closed classroom. Because our project was real work, we won't be going through the motions of self-assessment. We'll be able to look at our app that is now out in the public and reflect on our work.  A few of my students have begun to wonder what kind of reviews it will get, if any.  I am very curious to hear what my students think about what we accomplished, what do they see as the weaknesses in our process. What would they do differently now that they have a clearer understanding of the process?  What advice would they give to those who follow in our footsteps?  What did they actually learn and get out of this project that is going to stay with them?  What are they most proud of?

I've begun to think about assessment and realize that the only assessment that matters in a project such as this is the personal.   This project is not about the mark! 

A Productive Day

Today was one of those days where a core group of students put their noses to the grindstone and pushed the project towards completion. They worked the entire afternoon, once EQAO was finished, on the fiddly job of figuring out what is still left to be done.  They developed a plan and process for completion.  We hope to have all of our photos and text loaded into the app by Tuesday. The only thing left then will be to make a final decision on the main and the splash pages. They love the idea of the splash page - I think just because of its name: SPLASH! 
Emily and Carlie fixed the error in the resizing and cropping and spent the afternoon fixing the pictures. All are now at 960x640 and can be easily resized to spec.
Ashley made a checklist of all that had been completed and who still needed to complete what. We then worked our way through students one by one.
She and Carlie also created the blog for the game portion of our app.
We made a list of  photos of the important stages of  project development and made sure that we had a record of everyone's major contribution to the app.
I sat with students one on one and went through their writing one last time, checked that they had longitude and latitude for their locations, and made sure that the game element was included.
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We still need to make 1 voice recording, a few students have to finish their pictures and proofread their texts.