Yes, I’m Still Unpacking ISTE 2017

Two weeks after ISTE 2017 in San Antonio, Texas, I’m still unpacking my suitcase and sorting through the experience. It was an enormous 4-day gathering of 21,000 energetic educational technology educators and vendors with thousands of sessions and events to attend.

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The first thing I discovered upon returning home was unexpectedly inside my suitcase. The TSA had generously given me a free travel resource flyer! It included websites about how to pack my bags, suggestions for securing my luggage with TSA approved locks, and of course, a short statement about my good luck that my bag was selected for inspection. I would have preferred a pound of Texas brisket .

I’m sure it will take more weeks to unpack my reflections and experiences about ISTE 2017 along with all the presenters’ online resources, vendor flyers, vendor tschotkas, stickers, and business cards. These represent the deluge of artifacts of attendance, but the impressions are much more valuable.

Overall, my best experiences flowed from one person to the next rather than from any event or presentation to the next. The events were destinations on my daily schedule that designated a pathway to reach 15K steps and meet interesting people. It was about the journey, after all, and the other travelers along the way. I enjoyed walking with the intention of finding a serendipitous interruption, thanks to advice from Bill Selak (@billselak). I found tremendous value in saying “yes” to the chance to linger a bit longer between event destinations. The learning that happened outside the scheduled presentation rooms, in the hallways, byways, and bloggers’ cafe, were, for the most part, more valuable than the scheduled destination.

The first “yes” pathway was the evening before the conference started. I was invited to a great Mexican restaurant, Tomatillo’s Cantina, where friends of friends and soon-to-be-friends gathered in an interesting collage of compatriots and experiences. We were a group brought together by one man, Rushton Hurley (@rushtonh). We were four principals from New Zealand (Andrew, Patty, Simon, and Tony) and folks from Michigan (@dprindle), Maine, and California, to name a few I can still remember. I really enjoyed saying “yes” to the unexpected chance to socialize over a great meal and discover new, interesting colleagues and friends.

That good experience inspired me to say “yes” to another dinner invite. My friend, George Garcia (@edtechchamp), from Santa Clara Unified School District, introduced me to his TOSA Chat (#TOSAchat) peer, Ann Kozma (@AnnKozma723). Our greetings and exclamations sounded like we had been friends forever. That evening they invited me to the fantabulous Fullerton (California) School District (@FullertonSD) TOSA team dinner. That was definitely an over the top fun, interesting, and way cool night. Ann’s smile and exuberance were infectiously joyful. Being a part of their group inspired me to consider moving to Fullerton! Reflections about this experience, include: The first “yes” made it easier for the second “yes.” As Rushton has often stated, “What better way to enjoy a meal than with fantastically interesting people!” For me to have said “yes” rather than “Oh, sorry, I can’t join you. I have a presentation to finish for tomorrow,” was a major advancement over my previous conference experiences.

Jad Abumrad, host and creator of NPR’s Radiolab program, was the opening keynote presenter. His presentation was a story of his journey to find his voice. Voice! This really resonated with my quest to find my own professional voice as an education consultant. Jad offered us the idea that finding one’s voice requires perseverance and overcoming the “gut churn” that no one may be listening. Say “yes” to the potentially gut-churning opportunity because your passion won’t let you quit. His presentation was deep and metaphorical. For days afterward, I was still unpacking it. During a reflective conversation with Noah Geisel (@SenorG), a Spanish teacher, and blogger, we uncovered nuances of Jad’s presentation that connected to education. We mused together as he wrote this blog post for Medium about Jad’s keynote, “Sound is a Touch at a Distance” How did that meeting happen? While taking another “yes” pathway with friend and colleague, Jon Corippo (@jcorippo), Innovation Director with CUE, Inc., we walked into the conference press room where Noah was writing. It turned out to be an amazing twofer serendipitous opportunity.

When I actually entered a presentation session, the “yes” attitude continued to lead me into conversations with other attendees and presenters. In the past, it would have been easier for me to quickly leave the room for the next destination. I decided to bet on the chance I might be able to get 2-minutes of the presenter’s time and learn something more. I scored when I reconnected with eQuatIO guru, John McCowan (@Texthelp), the artistically enlightened and heART inspired Aussie, Cathy Hunt (@art_cathyhunt), and visual literacy craftsperson, Ken Shelton (@k_shelton). While watching Ken’s presentation, “Storytelling, Creativity, and Communication through Effective Presentation Design,” I had the extraordinary added benefit of sitting next to the consummate learner and teacher, Kathy Shrock (@KathySchrock)! Another twofer gold payoff for saying “yes!” and allowing serendipity to be a trusted friend.

Serendipity knows Matt Miller (@jmattmiller), too! He’s the author of Ditch that Textbook (http://www.ditchthattextbook.com). We had the fun of crossing each others’ paths at least two times a day while among 21K people spread out over umpteen acres of floor space. The first pathway crossing with Matt occurred with friends Jon Corippo and Andrew Schwab (@anotherschwab) on the Expo Hall floor. The cheery Paulette Donnellon (@sdpaulette) of Gooru appeared. It has taken three ISTE conferences for me to finally connect with her for more than a hot second. A “yes” attitude to serendipity can even hop, skip and jump over itself through space and time.

The Exhibitors in the Expo Hall were everywhere, so I systematically walked the rows and columns. My wife, The Gloria (@glori2glory), an edtech 5th-grade teacher, decided to give me targeted objectives instead of allowing my wandering ways to lead me randomly. She was cheeky enough to post my “#HoneyDo” list of exhibitors to visit on Twitter. There’s nothing like group accountability among my PLN to keep me on the “yes” track!

Taking the humorous high road through my honey-do list, I crafted a sympathetic line for each vendor I visited. Generally, it was something like, “Hello, my name is Steve, I’m Gloria’s husband. [dramatic pause] I’m on a mission to find _________. Can you help me stay in her good graces when I return home?” Add the image of a grown man’s puppy dog pleading eyes to the discussion. Quickly, I had the sympathies and good humor of new friends from: GoAnimate (@GoAnimate), Ozobot (@Ozobot), Sphero (@Sphero), Mentoring Minds (@mentoringminds), Remind (@RemindHQ), Tynker (@goTynker), and LittleBits (@littleBits). Hooraayyy…#HoneyDo #ISTE17 #Done! That was a special benefit of allowing someone else to guide my “yes” opportunities into another dimension of the conference experience.

While on the mission for Gloria, I purposely strode through the aisles with a focused gaze, trying to deflect any potential distraction from my honey-do purpose. My steely-eyed gaze must have appeared too friendly. I was interrupted by Dr. Edward Tse (@doctorET), Director of Education Strategy at Nuiteq and a developer of Snowflake, a collaborative touchscreen software. Sales pitch warning bells went off in my head when he invited me to take a closer look at a huge touchscreen mounted on a motorized stand. I’m actually surprised I said “yes” to the invitation. There was no way I would buy a $4K+ device, especially if it wouldn’t fit in my office.

By end of our 45-minute discussion, I realized the interruption was not for the purpose of learning about a cool technology (it can handle four applications simultaneously running in different locations on the screen). It was all about meeting a new friend and like-minded peer. Edward has a genuine, compelling heart and passion for education that actually surprised me for a guy pitching a software/touchscreen package. We found kinship in the idea that technology is a service for the collaborative learning experiences that bring students and teachers together in unique ways. Edward is a compelling educational technologist. Watch him on his YouTube Channel, “Ed on Edtech“. Sometimes choosing “yes” is for a different (and surprising) purpose than either party had originally thought.

Another surprising vendor encounter happened with Alec Chen, the charming senior sales manager for Ibenzer, a company that makes cool looking and rugged cases for MacBooks. Since I am not a buyer or influencer for school districts to purchase MacBook cases, I thought I could easily dismiss his coy questions about my preferences for a laptop case. This initial “no” position slowly turned into a long, friendly “yes” conversation about his life as a Chinese national living in New York and his college-abroad experiences in France. Note to self, don’t be quick to jump to “no” when an energetic, positive person selects you as a candidate for their questions.

There are more “yes” stories of unexpected paths taken and more ISTE conference reflections to unpack. I will let those settle into place, for now, allowing them to form new and deeper impressions. The significant value of the ISTE 2017 experience was the people I met. I was inspired by and sincerely appreciated their willingness to talk with me when my “yes” instincts led me to “serendipitously” interrupt their conference pathways.

I also recapped this ISTE 2017 conference experience in Storify to capture the social media viewpoint.

Visual Voice 2

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Part 2: Present with Memory-enabling Power

In part 1, the visual voice is described like a presenter’s fingerprint. It is the visuals that accompany the verbal (spoken or written) part of a presentation. This post uncovers the effects visuals have on the brain’s ability to remember what was seen and heard.

We live and work in the context of a multimodal world where it is rare to encounter visual images by themselves, rather people often experience visuals with some form of text that combines written language, design elements, and visual imagery. These forms work in concert with one another to represent meanings and convey information.

Since humans rely on visual aids to interpret the world, they routinely use visual and nonverbal communication. Your visual voice encompasses your visual and nonverbal communication but is much more than just making your slides and materials look good. Research suggests the use of visuals and visualization strategies can also improve the audience’s cognitive ability to select, organize, and integrate information for better retention and recall. This is very important when presenting data. Edward Tufte has written and designed books that show visuals are easier to understand, especially when comparing complex data, correlations and trends in charts or graphs.

We are tapping into a presenter’s hope: to be heard and understood. When the message is heard AND seen the chances of it being understood increases greatly. Given that presenters are intentional communicators and when their purpose is instruction, then they may also be called educators or trainers. Regardless, the goal is the same; to transfer facts, concepts, and ideas into the memory of the audience.

Visualization engages people and helps stimulate their brains function to store information, thus increasing the chances it can be recalled. How? Human Dual Coding Imagememory can process verbal and visual information simultaneously and store it in two distinct memory locations with interconnections that increase the chance of recall according to research by Psychologist Allan Paivio. Paivio’s dual-coding theory proposes that nonverbal and verbal information are stored separately in long-term memory. Imagine that information presented in both visual and verbal forms has twice the chances of being stored and then later remembered!

However, presenters often do not effectively use both verbal and visual communication skills (i.e., their full visual voice) to help the audience encode the information into long-term memory for easier recall. While the verbal component of a presentation may be understandable, the visualization is often lacking the same communicative quality. If the visuals look distracting or unreadable, then you can expect the audience to lose interest and not engage with the content, which is contrary to the presenter’s purpose.

Visual voice assists the expression of the presenter’s tone. Visual images can communicate powerful emotions in succinct ways that language alone would take much longer to communicate. Images showcase swaths of complex information quickly and when combined with graphic design elements can enhance the visual quality of the presentation.  Developing a visual voice is a solution to creating visually stimulating presentations that help the audience engage with the content in meaningful ways that also support memory retention. A memorable presentation is worth the time it takes to watch it.

The presenter with a strong visual voice is rewarded with a more engaging presentation and the audience is rewarded with information delivered in a manner that is relevant and meaningful, thus increasing the chances it will be remembered.

In part 3 of the Visual Voice series, I’ll describe how presenters at any perceived level of creativity can develop their visual voice by consistently applying four design principles with a few fundamental design elements. The principles and elements work together to support the audience’s cognitive process to select, organize, and integrate information into memory for better retention.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Jason Roswell (jason-rosewell-60014.jpg) at Unsplash.com

 

Visual Voice

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Part 1: Discover What’s Missing from Your Presentation

If people learn a majority of content from visuals, it’s important for presenters to show what they’re saying as much as speak it to their audience. You have likely seen a few presentations so filled with words, both spoken and presented in the slides, that you had difficulty hearing the message.

Presentations are best understood when delivered with a well-spoken message and an equally good visualization of the message. A great speaker with poor slides is using only half their power to speak to the audience. The missing half is a complementary partner to their speaking ability: their visual voice.

The visual voice is like a fingerprint. It is a presenter’s communication style using images and design elements to deepen the meaning of and multiply the impact of their verbal presentation.

Effective use of visual voice helps the audience to remember the presentation by guiding them to better select, organize, and integrate the information into something meaningful in their memory. The visual voice supports the verbal voice to create a coherent message where the verbal and visual are meaningfully presented together.

The effective presenter’s visual voice can enhance the audience’s understanding of the message by showing what they are saying. The ability to visualize a presentation with the appropriate and judicious use of graphic design is the beginning of developing one’s visual voice.

The graphic quality of the visual voice is like the tonal quality of a singer’s voice and both are developed through practice. You may be thinking that you’re not a graphic designer, but the truth is you have skills waiting to be developed! You may be thinking that you have no artistically creative cell in your brain. Even if the one cell that you have is hiding in the deepest recesses, it can be developed and then shown how to raise up a few others. You can learn to apply a few basic graphic design principles, or guidelines, to empower your presentation with visual voice. 

You can learn to apply a few basic graphic design principles, or guidelines, to empower your presentation with visual voice and increase the chance your audience will remember what you’ve said. 

In part 2 of the Visual Voice series, explore how the power of visual voice can literally create a more memorable presentation.

In part 3, uncover the how-to techniques of building up your visual voice with a few basic graphic design techniques.

Breaking Out of the Visual Box

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Did you know there is a professional organization that encompasses multiple disciplines?

Disciplines in the spectrum of education (all levels), instructional technology, sensory arts, art history, product design, graphic design, culinary arts, food science, textile technologies and visual arts, all find a comfortable fit in one place.

The IVLA is the International Visual Literacy Association. Founded in 1969 as an interdisciplinary collective of scholars and practitioners inspired to explore the commonalities of the visual within their different domains. My working definition of visual literacy is:

The ability to read, interpret and create visual imagery, works, projects, art, and communications including the activation of sensory and cognitive processes that are engaged in the decoding and coding of such messages presented in any media.

Doesn’t that sound like some aspect of your work? Visual literacy seems to be used by everyone who communicates using media, but without an appreciative understanding of the power of the visual language. Education systems devote extensive learning time to the written language, but not enough time for teaching students how to communicate visually. That seems to me like speaking and writing with only half of your vocabulary. I’m not talking about teaching visual literacy in art classes. I advocate that every elementary and secondary teacher introduce visual literacy in every subject. That idea has transformative potential for how students “see” the world and create their own impression upon it. The results would be divergent and out-of-the-box imaginative.

How might teachers get turned on to the idea of visual literacy?

Recently, I attended the 48th Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association, “Engaging the Senses” at Concordia University, Montreal (October 5-8), where I experienced multiple mind-blowing sessions, demonstrations, plenaries (yes, they use that word), and experiences designed for all the senses. Hosted by Dr. David Howes, Professor of Anthropology at Concordia University and led by IVLA President, Dr. Karen Tardrew, National-Louis University, the 3-day event featured a breadth of presentations, papers, workshops, forums, and demonstrations to fill each day with surprising visual, taste, and auditory experiences. In the small intimate environment, I met colleagues from around the world who shared a similar passion and focus on the importance of visual literacy for understanding our world. They presented photographic literacy, digital media representation, creative digital activism, comics, and early childhood writing. I found my people! A tribe of diverse scholars and practitioners, who boldy venture across cultural and social barriers to reach youth, indigenous people, even the blind. Yes, sensory literacy because eyes are not the only way of “seeing.”

Jason Edward Lewis delivered the opening keynote session, “Populatinimaginary_jasonlewisedwardsg the Future Imaginary,” which impressively connected visual literacy, social justice, and indigenous people. It was a fascinating description of his work with indigenous youth to claim their stake in the silicon soil of cyberspace in which they can wrinkle their to
es and tell their stories for future generations. Take science fiction and mix it with ancestral legends and traditions to create the legacy that become the stories of future generations of indigenous people. See his work at Initiative for Indigenous Futures an Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace production.

Give a careful review of the conference website and program to get a better understanding of the diversity of content.

Since returning, I have thought of all the disciplines that were (or should have been) represented and uncovered plenty of inspiring connections between my work in instructional design, educational technology, teaching at all education levels, and academic scholarship all within IVLA. The peer reviewed publication is “Journal of Visual Literacy,“ published by Taylor and Francis.

I enthusiastically encourage you to explore the possibilities of IVLA for your own professional learning. I feel confident you will be inspired to see your work, craft and scholarship through new sensory lenses. I know you will find colleagues who can help connect you more deeply into visual literacy and elevate your passion for your work.

The next conference is September 14-17, 2017 at Lesley University, in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The theme will be “Designing Visual Literacy Experiences” hosted in collaboration with the Harvard Art Museum (HAM). The call for proposals will be posted in early spring 2017. Mark your calendars and look for updates on the IVLA website.

I wonder what you might present to inspire IVLA 2017?

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Instructional “designer”?

What do I want to be when I grow up?

An instructional designer!

This is not the usual statement from a child, rather a mid-career instructional technologist. I have been thinking about the differences and similarities of instructional “designer” versus “technologist” for more than two decades. My recent musings were triggered by an EdSurge article, “So You Want to Be an Instructional Designer,” which I highly recommend reading. Until that article, I had identified myself as a “technologist” because my master’s degree diploma states that I am one. Considering the main word “technology” has a zippy appeal in Silicon Valley where I live and perhaps most of all because people outside of the instructional technology field do not really understand the foundational concepts of it. I’ll save that definition for another post.

I want a different professional label as I launch into a new career as a consultant. I can define myself any way I wish! I really do like the term “designer” much more than “technologist.” I fancy myself a designer of anything and everything since earning an undergraduate degree in art design. So, I can legitimately claim the title of “designer.” But why abandon the “technology” term if I also claim to be an advocate for effective use of technology in instruction?

I am foremost an advocate for education, which, in my viewpoint, is for the benefit of the student to help them understand themselves, master learning, and nurture their ability and desire to learn in perpetuity. Education can be really helpful for developing a student’s passion for lifelong learning, whatever age they may earnestly start their new learning journey.

Technology is a tool for learning, not just an adjective or defining concept for instruction. The real power of technology is unleashed in the careful design of an instructional experience, whether in an education or training setting. The experience should never blindly be about the technology, rather focused on the learning outcome. Technology, as a term in common use, creates a defined box of concepts in one’s mind. I would like to further twist an often misquoted phrase to make a point, “…we don’t need no stinkin’ ‘boxes’.” I think boxes restrict and confine how instructional professionals can define the nature of teaching and learning. Designers, by nature, are inclined to creatively break the paradigm of the box. I like that idea.

If we take the focus off of technology, it becomes another tool, like chalk to the chalkboard, simply used to achieve a higher goal. It is no longer a novelty, a new concept to be added on to education, or a way of sounding modern and hip when defining learning activities. Technology may or may not be an effective tool for each learning outcome, that is why the skill of the instructor is needed to determine which tool best facilitates the learning of a particular concept or skill. In this scene, the instructor moves away from being a technology tool picker and becomes a designer craftsman of learning, using different strategies to accomplish the goal. Technology may or may not be a part of the solution. To clarify, I am not moving away from technology. I am choosing to define the field and my professional self in terms of what really matters…learning and teaching…not technology.

Imagine if learning is an experience, then I want to be a designer of learning experiences. Imagine what might result in an education system where the same type of careful thought and consideration for the end-user that goes into designing living spaces, automobiles, phones, dinnerware, and software interfaces, were used to craft a learning experience for students. The learner (i.e., end-user) becomes the focal point of the design ideas for the instructional activities. I bet the activities would be made better for ease-of-use, last longer, and become more relevant as they better meet the learners’ needs.

That’s why I want to redefine my professional label. Yes, I’m convinced I want to be an instructional designer.

Wait, on second thought, maybe I really want to be a “Learning Experience Designer!”

DivergentED

Divergent Education. Let’s discuss, show, imagine education that diverts from the norm, as in “out of the box.” Let’s find examples of creative thinking, design thinking, 20Time, collaboration, flipped, communication, problem solving, and critical thinking. Share your ideas, thoughts, musings. I’ll share mine. Let’s see where our imaginations take us…the divergent education road less traveled.
di·ver·gent
dəˈvərjənt, dīˈvərjənt/
adjective
  1. tending to be different or develop in different directions.
    “divergent interpretations”
    synonyms: differing, varying, different, dissimilar, unalike, disparate, contrasting, contrastive;

    conflicting, incompatible, contradictory, at odds, at variance
    “divergent points of view”
ed·u·ca·tion
ˌejəˈkāSH(ə)n/
noun
  1. the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university.
    “a new system of public education”
    synonyms: teaching, schooling, tuition, tutoring, instruction, coaching, training,tutelage, guidance;

    indoctrination, inculcation, enlightenment;
    formal edification
    “the education of young children”

Divergent education is the active process of discovery shared between teachers and students. It has no walls or limits to the possibilities of learning except time and energy. There is no “right” answer, rather there is process that leads to different solutions, different outcomes, differing viewpoints among participants. Divergence in education leads learning into and through a process of discovering the diversity of possibilities for solving challenges.

How might divergent education change the teaching-learning experience?