What Ifs?: Education Provocations

@amyburvall#R2SCMS16
Thoughts, Words, Action
#whatifs

Provocation !
over !
Pontiﬁcation

…we had a
“what if?” mentality?

…we thought of knowledge
as connection?

…tapped into
the emotion
of learning…
the poetry
of knowledge?

…we had less “learning” and
more yearning?

…we kept learning
from Dr. Seuss?

…we broke
the glass ceiling
of an idea?

…a network
…was a graduation
requirement?

…radical transparency was the new cv?

…school moved from
brick-based
…to afﬁnity spaced?

Space as Muse…
…mise en scène

…there was less direction…
…and
more discovery?

…the question was
more important
than the answer?

…we privileged context over content?

…we taught like a concept album?

…we played
more than planned?

…there was less drill more thrill?

…we used mind
peeks / peaks
as an exit ticket?

…teachers were
more like Madonna?

…we made like
Billie Holiday and
never sing
the same song
the same way twice?

…made like Hitchcock cameos …
set scene and get out of way?

…we embraced the
power of storytelling
in all disciplines?

…the tool came ﬁrst and inspired
tinkering / forcing
into the curriculum?

…the WHEN and WHY
to use a tool was as important
as the HOW?

…there were absolutely
no constraints,
where would our
imaginations take us?

…we drew more
“wild cards”?

…we thought of “Open”…as a “spirit”?

…we thought of
Creativity as a Garden

…REMIX
was the ultimate
demonstration of learning?

…we juxtapose two seemingly opposite
concepts to create something new
(like use of anachronism)?

…we thought “toolBOX”
rather than “tool”
colour PALETTE
rather than colour?

Paul Rand
midcentury graphic artist

…we got to the “‘ness” of things
(pulled a Picasso)

…we embraced the
dooba dooba dooba?

…we were more artists
than artisans?

…we had more
“whitespace”?

…we could ﬁnd the
Wow in the Now…
Lingerlust over Wanderlust?

…we thought of
making
as a drug?

…we used our
Inner Instagram more?

…we turned TIRED
to INSPIRED?

…we used
melancholy as a muse?
“Quellancholy”

…we looked to
“making something good
everyday”
and leaving a legacy
like Van Gogh

…we ditch
“best practices”?

…Hackstorm
instead of
brainstorm?
(or “framestorm”)

…Remix Labs and Deconstruction Zones
were as important as Maker Spaces?

….we all had a mission
in a tagline?
ask people what they LOVE to do
not what they do

!
…vlogging and drawing
…were as important
as writing essays?

…teaching grammar included
visual grammar?

…we had water colours
in lieu of water coolers?

…”mobile learning” included
sketchbooks and pens?

…our curriculum was more like Wired
Magazine?

…we said ‘studio time’
instead of work time?

…we thought of learning
as a wandering trail…
a “derive”

…we replace the word “learn”
with “explore”?

….the new search engine was
your network?

Technology!
and!
Emerging!
Literacies

…we remove the E from “e-learning",
the “digital” from “citizenship”,
the “tech” from “ed tech”

…we changed digital
“footprint”
and “tattoo” to
“presence”?

…if “IT dept” stood for “Invention Team”
…and had to make something?

…SAMR rhymed?
SAME SAME (substitution)
!
NOT SO LAME (augmentation)
!
REFRAME (modiﬁcation)
!
CHANGE THE GAME (redeﬁnition)

…we had a vox box
in every room
and used it for
parent night too?

…we did less deﬁning
and more designing?

…backchannelling was basic practice?

…we took something we did in an
analogue way
and made it “tech”
– and vice versa?

…we used a different medium
or different tool set
to accomplish this?

…we had DEAD
(Drop Everything
and Draw) time?

…we broke the 4th wall of the media we
consume?

…even high school seniors got to
play with Play-Doh?

…the “group” in “group project”
was the world?

…we treated
network as skill

…#FF was for students…
what if teacher role is also ampliﬁer?

…Expression
trumped perfection?

…class became
a studio with no walls?

…we did a twitter Q of the week?
or student
“passion questions?

…there were
class paparazzi?

…we had TAG WALLS in the classroom?

…we built our courses
…around hashtags?

…our classroom
communities
became more like
“fan culture”?

…resident artists
were a part of
the school

…Wonder Walls were more important than
Lecture halls?

…we got King Arthur round table on class
room hierarchy?

…we built class around
a metaphor

…we could write on the walls?

…students were the tech curators?

…we celebrated
the victory du jour?

…made the abstract into the tangible,
articulating ideas visually…

…we had less testing
…and more questing?

…every course had
a #TIL like on Reddit?

…assessments had the 3 Vs:
Verbal, Visual, Vocal

…if slide decks
were only
pictures and
a question?

….we encouraged
students to create
a movement or meme?

…we expected students
to discuss process
and inﬂuences,
and have a lineage tree
that archives attribution?

…museum time and
ﬁeld trip time
replaced test time?

…students, as part of
their portfolio
or ﬁnal exam,
had to come up with
a lesson?

…there were universal project specs?
beautiful
relevant
poignant
unique
transparent

…all tests were
open resource…

…what if they had ‘artifact bags”?

…we evaluated using “Love it…What if…?”

…we reﬂected using cartoon structures?
@anasalter
@dogtrax

…we used tags and
emoji as reﬂection
of each assignment?

…we used “Weird,
Wonderful,
and Worrisome”
as a reﬂection?

…we became tourists
in our own land?

… we had PD
“walkabouts”?

…PD were more like genius hour?

…we truly listened to students?

@KaseyTamamoto
…we remembered the “white crayons”?

your big takeaway
a question
your personal
challenge
#R2SCMS16
#whatifs

@amyburvall
(on all social media)

What Ifs?: Education Provocations

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