Diversity in Technology

At the start of this year Sam Kane said something that I had to really stop and think about.  "Think about what the things in your classroom are say and what they are not saying."  She then proceeded to use her library as an example, she shared that she knew she had very little or nothing in the library about deaf people, sign language or cochlear implants.
She had us all do an Audit of our Classrooms.  This got me reflecting on my classrooms over the years and about what I was going to display in my lab this year.  I then set out on a mission to uncover the diversity in Technology.  This proved to be far more challenging than I had ever imagined.  The world of Technology and more specifically computer science is full of white men.  As I began to dig I found many women also white some of whom I was already quite familiar with others who were unknown to me.

The search for men and women of minority groups, be it disability or ethnic groups, proved to be the most challenging.  I did slow begin to uncover the stories of several impressive people in the fields of Computer Science and Technology.  I have started a list of them here, in no particular order:

Guy Kawasaki

Jerry Lawson

Steve Chen

 Satya Nadella

Jayshree Ullal 

Stephen Hawking

Jack Ma

Vinod Khosla

Alfred Lin

Marissa Mayer

Yishan Wong

Sundar Pichai      

Yukihiro Matsumoto

Dr. Fujio Masuoka

Anousheh Ansari
Amit Patel
Angela Ahrendts
  

If you know of others that I should add to my list please feel free to name them in the comments!

Back to school get to know you activities!

This year being back in the United States I find myself looking for more interesting and expressive ways to get to know all of my new students.  In the past language barriers and deficits hindered the start to my school year in the computer lab.  The lack of quality technology was also a challenge at my previous school.

Here are a few fun ways I am getting to know my students this year!

KidPix self portraits Grade 1

The students were instructed to create a portraitist if you will a head shot that reflected who they are.  First they had to select a background that was fitting for them. After completing the image they were to use the stamp and sticker tools to add images that reflected things that are important to them.

About Me Acrostic Poems Grade 2 

 I had planned to use the iPads to create All About Me Acrostic Poems with the Grade 2 students. Using the Free iPad app Pic Collage and the iPad camera students create an acrostic poem about themselves and add stickers and a background to personalize it. Though the app was purchased it wasn't installed onto the iPads in time for the lessons.  So the Grade 2 also did the KidPix self portraits.  I am hopeful that next year I will be able to do something similar to the original project with my grade 2 students.

Word Clouds all about me Grade 3

Using Tagxedo students will create a word cloud filled with words that represent who they are.  They will them choose a shape that fits with some of their words and a color scheme they feel speaks to them.  These will be printed and shared.