Kamehameha Schools Distance Learning (KSDL) Owau

Gamification is a buzzword in education nowadays, and my blog post features two apps that I feel use elements of gamification, especially badges and "levelling up" particularly well: diy.org, and Duolingo. DIY.org This site and app offers badges for skills that people build. You pick a label--eg, Superfan, Bike Mechanic, Backend Developer--and complete small tasks that build toward the goal of earning the badge for the label. What I find useful about this site is that, unlike many online badge sites, not everything (in fact, most of the tasks) are not web-based, so that it applies to real-life or analog skills. Also, once you master a skill you can get both a virtual and a real badge: Finally, you can design a path for others to learn skills as well. Site:  Diy.org Duolingo This free, iPad app helps you learn a foreign language. You can choose from Spanish, German, Italian, French, and Portuguese. Each section is grouped into four or five lessons ...

This year's KS Ed Tech Conference was a bit of a disappointment for me. It seems like the same people present every year, so while the work they are doing may be interesting and relevant, it's not necessarily new or groundbreaking. Some tools I was able to walk away with: -Site: diy.org -Make Magazine -Site: challengebasedlearning.org -Learning communities of the future: create shared value together, foster relationships and communication, own successes and setbacks, create a safe space for failure, and the role of the teacher is to facilitate student collaboration. -Creative computing: CCOW -Site: The Internet in Real Time -Site: Common Sense Media And I won a gift card!

ISTE 2014 was held in Atlanta Georgia from June 28-July 1 at  the Georgia World Congress Center and had over 16,000 attendees.  It was a very memorable and insightful  experience and my first time attending a conference with so many  attendees.  The theme this year was:  Connected learning.  Connected world.  After reflecting on my ISTE experience, I  gained the high level perspective that most sessions and keynotes were all  contributing to the importance of personalized learning, authentic learning  experiences and assessments to challenge students to gain the skills, mindset,  attitudes and motivation to be successful no matter what challenges they  face.  An understanding of who we are as  learners and educators and how we can excel in a changing 21st  century was evident throughout the conference.   Opening Keynote The conference started off with an opening Keynote with Ashley Judd an ac...

Along with other Kamehameha Schools representatives and KSDL presenters, I was privileged to attend the week-long World Indigenous People's Conference on Education in May. The event reflected the common educational goals of native peoples around the globe. It provided a place and community in which to share stories, gain insights, and discover ways in which native cultures and traditions are being integrated into the learning experience.  I found the workshops and huaka‘i to be very thought-provoking. The challenges over time of native cultures to be recognized, respected, and to perpetuate traditions seems to be universal.  The effects of colonialism was a common thread.  It was fascinating to hear the different histories and how the challenges are being managed today. For me, the conference was a reaffirmation of the dignity of human life, no matter who you are or where you're from. Horses painted on a tipi at the conference:

Released on April 23, 2012, version CS6 is the 16th generation of Adobe Illustrator. Many new features were added in order to fix bugs and increase performance. When first opening the program, most obvious is the new user interface. The default workspace was redesigned from white to grayscale, with the ability to adjust for comfort for the eyes. Aside from appearance is a "buffet" of upgraded features, such as  the distinct improvement to converting raster images into vector art . I frequently use the "image trace" feature to render a perfect vector image of my scanned artwork, and appreciate the ease and accuracy with which this can be accomplished. Adobe Illustrator CS6 is my daily "workhorse" software of choice for KSDL graphics. This past fiscal year, I enrolled in an online Udemy course to become more proficient at using this powerful software. The course consists of 49 modules, to be taken at one's own pace. So far, I've completed about hal...