Art doesn’t spring from nothing. It emerges from something that already exists in the world. As Michelangelo famously said: “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” A major barrier to creating art is how to …
It’s been awhile since I’ve had a work-related dream. But a couple of nights ago I dreamed that I was leading a group of young people in some sort of after school program that was going very badly. The youth were supposed to learn some poem or chant in an African-sounding language. I think they …
“We’d like to help children through some of the difficult modulations of life.” – Fred Rogers I finally got around to watching the documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor“ a loving tribute to long-time television personality Fred Rogers, or “Mister Rogers” as he was universally known by children and adults for three decades. The film …
I have on my desk a pile of plastic 3D-printed marine animal parts that I’ve kept for years. I’ve use it as a reminder of that: Technology can and often does behave in unexpected ways. Running a Digital Learning program involves a certain amount of risk and uncertainty. Plan accordingly. I realize that I’ve been …
I’ve been binge-watching the reality show “The Great British Bake Off” for the past couple of months. For those that haven’t watched it, “The Great British Bake Off” is a baking competition in the UK where amateur bakers compete in a weekly series of cooking challenges, set by two expert culinary judges. If you are …
I am thrilled to be returning to the Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC) conference this year, happening next weekend in San Jose, California. It’s been a couple years since I’ve been to ASTC, one of my favorite science education conventions. And it’s great to have it in our backyard, just a few miles …
As you may know, if you follow my other blog, I was recently traveling in South Africa. One of the best parts of my trip was getting to go on a four day safari in Kruger National Park. Being in the Kruger is an incredible experience, one of the most amazing nature experiences I’ve ever …
Last Tuesday, I co-facilitating an educator training in Chicago for Science Action Club, along with my colleague Andrew. I enjoyed getting to share our latest unit Birds in Your Schoolyard with 20 after school educators. We worked hard to make it a fun training for them. They learned about and tested out the latest citizen …
On Wednesday, I am giving a talk “87 Tips on Running A Successful Serious Game Jam,” for the Digital Media and Learning conference in Irvine, California. I was being a bit facetious in my title. But upon reflection, it was not hard to come up with 87 actual tips, based on my experience organizing game …
I’m excited to announce that I will soon be taking on a newly created role at the Academy, the Senior Instructional Design Lead for Science Action Club. This is a new position working with our largest youth program, the Science Action Club (SAC), a high-impact STEM learning program that designs professional development and teaching kits for middle school afterschool …