EdVentures in Technology

P2PU: Webmaking 101

John Martin — Wed, 30 May 2012 01:28:00 +0000

As I mentioned in a prior post, I’m exploring Peer-to-Peer University and examining its efficacy in delivering professional development. While I’ve seen and explored a number of “learning management systems”, something feels different about P2PU and I still can’t quite put my finger on it.

That said, this particular post is in response to a challenge I took called Webmaking 101, where I was asked to hand write (yes, that analog function that humans are still capable of) HTML and take a picture of it to prove it. Now, I’ve been coding with HTML since the mid-90′s so this wasn’t a test of my skill as much my examination of a scaffolded approach to learning and development. So without further ado, here is the fuzzy webcam shot of my rendition of the HTML code presented in the challenge.

P2PU – Peer-to-Peer University: A system for peer led professional development

John Martin — Sun, 27 May 2012 00:39:39 +0000

While doing research into the OpenBadges movement, my Google Search presented a link identified as a “challenge” on a site I had not yet heard of, P2PU. As I explored, started, and then quickly completed, the challenge presented by a fellow educator, Leah MacVie, I found myself growing increasingly curious about this new environment, and it’s potential for delivery PD.

~|~

Currently, I am exploring the Webmaking 101 Challenge. The current task is to “Write a magnificent blog post.” While not exactly magnificent, this particular post is a way for me to reflect openly on the ideas percolating in my mind. Which makes me think, “Mmm… coffee!” But I digress.

If you spend any time exploring this site, you’ll get a sense for who I am. But check out my digital footprint and you’ll see that I am a rather diverse, and some would say unique, individual.

Yes, I’m a geek. But I’m also an educator, a father, and an advocate for lifelong learning. I look at what Mozilla is doing with their Webmaker and OpenBadges initiative and want to apply it to education. I want the educational system to be better for my kids, and someday for their own. I’ve worked in higher ed, high school and now middle/elementary school. I’ve seen things that worked but I also see us doing a lot of the same thing, calling it something new, and saying we’ve “changed education.” I’m looking to cultivate a group of people who actually want to build something new. Hacking the system, the maker movement applied to EDU. That’s my dream.

Diigo Links 05/24/2012

John Martin — Thu, 24 May 2012 17:30:09 +0000

P2PU | Open Badges 101

tags: edubadges badge
Earn a badge, issue a badge « Lonely Lion

tags: badge edubadges
Erin Knight – Mozilla Open Badgeson Connected Learning – live streaming video powered by Livestream

http://livestre.am/1VNFr

tags: mozilla maker badges edubadges
Video Game-Maker Badges

tags: edubadges badges maker videogame
Maker Badges

tags: edubadges badges maker
Fab Lab Maker Badges

tags: edubadges badges maker
Robotics – MeritBadgeDotOrg

tags: edubadges badges maker scout robotics meritbadge
Time For Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts 2.0? | MAKE

Badges for achievements outside of scouts

tags: edubadges badges maker scouts
- “leaderboards” for skills
- Merit badges go hand-in-hand with scouting (Boy and Girl Scouts). What a great way to show and share something a kid has learned, and therefore earned. Earn enough and you’ve got a sash filled with skills.
- - Merit badges go digital: Boy and Girl Scouts award badges on their own social network(s).
  - Earn a badge online? It’s on Tumblr, Tweeted, added to Facebook/Google+ profiles.
  - Skill building: Use Google+ Hangouts to learn skills from troop leaders in other locations.
  - Nationwide leaderboard: Kids compete to earn the most skills over time.
  - Khan Academy for merit badges: Every video is online, every manual to earn a badge is a wiki. Merit badges go open source.
- - New badges, the maker set: 3D printing, laser cutting, microcontrollers (Arduino), bio-hacking, programming (HTML 5, app dev, Linux, Processing, etc), educational UAVs, soldering.
  - A new distributed “troop” that’s virtual, based on interests, not geography.
  - Kickstarter for Girl Scouts. They’re training girls to be the ultimate business persons with these cookies, so why not make it possible for other businesses to come out of the Girl Scouts?
- - Millions of kids are using iPhones and iPads, so an app that keeps track of their merit badges and ways to earn more of the digital ones.
  - “Mobile app/digital” versions of badges: It should be possible to check into skills just like checking into a location. There are privacy and location issues, more so with kids, but this is the world we’re in now. Every kid has a supercomputer with them, so maybe we can work toward figuring out ways to celebrate skill earning with them. There’s already an official Girl Scout Cookie App in iTunes (above).
  - Uniforms can be optional, but wearing something you made should be mandatory, from wearable electronics to fashion.
  - Which org will have the most repositories in GitHub? Girl Scouts or Boy Scouts? In the future, your repos and forks are all that matter.
  - Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts partner with hackerspaces, makerspaces, TechShop, Maker Faires, and FabLabs to have on-site workshops to earn badges and skills. Every Girl Scout should have access to a discounted membership at TechShop if there’s one in their area.
  - Or, go one step further, the local Girl/Boy Scout Troop IS a membership-based hackerspace for kids.