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March 18, 2015 in News chez TTT&T, Kickstarter, History Turned On, Digital Publishing, Time Traveler Tales

I WANT YOU TO JOIN ME AND TEAM TTT&T ON

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

You're the first to know: We’re going for it. Finally. There’s still a long way to go before we achieve a thriving and successful venture. But after years of foundation building, we find we can't truly grow without capital.

So we’re organizing a crowd-sourced funding campaign on Kickstarter to raise money for the production of the next Story App Tour to be released by Time Traveler Tours & Tales.

I'd like to say: “We’re kicking off with a Kickstarter campaign,” because of the fun alliteration. But it feels more like we’re taking a plunge, because of the inherent risk. To be honest, this adventure is super scary most times (especially at night when I'm tired and still haven't managed to reach the end of the to-do list). But each morning I wake up and dive right into the task again. Why?

Six Keys to Turning Kids on to History

March 06, 2015 in Cultural Education, Curriculum & Teaching, Educational Resources, History Turned On, Teacher in the Vanguard

I’m just back from my second teaching visit to the International School of Dusseldorf. It is, without question, my favorite school visit of the year. Not only do I get to share my passion for turning kids on to history with a truly talented and dedicated teaching team, I also get to work with amazing young minds in a world-class learning environment.

There is nothing more rewarding than seeing light bulbs going on before your very eyes. And this happens on a regular basis at ISD!

You can read about my mandate with Grade 7 here. I also worked with Grade 6 students to give them a taste of what’s to come next year when they, too, will be asked to mash historical research up with digital storytelling to create interactive historical narratives of their own invention.

I am proud and honored to be part of such a 21st century interdisciplinary educational program. And I enjoyed enlisting my ISD colleagues in our search these past eight months for the keys to unlocking history for kids.

Here's what we came up with...

Turning Kids On To Turning History On!

February 26, 2015 in Cultural Education, Curriculum & Teaching, Digital Publishing, History Turned On, TTT&T Teacher Vanguard

Next week I’m heading to the International School of Dusseldorf for a second year. It’s a dream job. The ISD humanities teachers and I will be turning students on to how to Turn History On.

We will guide young minds in combining factual research and creative writing to produce tales of historical fiction.

And if that weren’t already excellence enough, we will then direct students in how to publish their masterpieces as interactive digital books!

Research + Storytelling + Technology = TURNING HISTORY ON

I told you it’s a dream job!

Case Study Spurred by Paul Revere

February 19, 2015 in App Development, Educational Tourism, History Turned On, Interactive Media, Museum Education, Cultural Education

This post is dedicated to Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Compelled by his challenge – outlined here – to find and “do something” with a set of Paul Revere’s spurs, I became inspired to craft a mini- Time Traveler Tour for the Met.

What follows is a snapshot of my brain in the midst of the digital storytelling process. I hope you enjoy this Case Study Spurred by Paul Revere.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments.

Sree’s Challenge: Locate Paul Revere’s spurs.

His Clue: The spurs can be found in the Met’s Arms and Armor exhibit.

The Hint: As I set off, I found myself chewing over a vibe I'd received from one of my Met hosts that the Arms and Armor exhibit was perhaps an odd place for a set of antique spurs. This sounded like a “pain point” to me: like the museum had these great objects, but didn’t know quite where to put them.

The New Kids on the Digital Block

February 05, 2015 in Educational Tourism, History Turned On, Interactive Media, Museum Education, Time Travel

For a long time now, I’ve been straddling the worlds of storytelling, education, and tourism, not knowing where I really fit in. Then, while treasure hunting in New York, I discovered the cool new kids on the digital block.

They go by such names as Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and Director of Digital Experience. They even have their own online club, which reports that their numbers doubled worldwide from 500 in 2013 to 1,000 at the end of 2014. They expect to double again in 2015.

I met and talked shop with two of them, and now I understand where I belong.

Frank Migliorelli recently joined the New York Public Library as Director of Digital Experience, a new position that was a perfect fit for him. His mandate: to lead the development of digital strategy for the vast library network.

Now we’re not just talking about digitizing text content. Oh No! Under Frank’s direction, our understanding of what a library is and does is about to undergo serious and exciting change.

Excavating the secrets, scandals, and untold stories hiding below the surface of life, and giving voice to the characters who make or made those hiStories happen.

SAVE THE DATE * SAVE THE DATE * SAVE THE DATE

I WANT YOU TO JOIN ME AND TEAM TTT&T ON

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

You're the first to know: We’re going for it. Finally. There’s still a long way to go before we achieve a thriving and successful venture. But after years of foundation building, we find we can't truly grow without capital.

So we’re organizing a crowd-sourced funding campaign on Kickstarter to raise money for the production of the next Story App Tour to be released by Time Traveler Tours & Tales.

Six Keys to Turning Kids on to History

There is nothing more rewarding than seeing light bulbs going on before your very eyes. And this happens on a regular basis at ISD!

You can read about my mandate with Grade 7 here. I also worked with Grade 6 students to give them a taste of what’s to come next year when they, too, will be asked to mash historical research up with digital storytelling to create interactive historical narratives of their own invention.

I am proud and honored to be part of such a 21st century interdisciplinary educational program. And I enjoyed enlisting my ISD colleagues in our search these past eight months for the keys to unlocking history for kids.

Here's what we came up with...

Turning Kids On To Turning History On!

Next week I’m heading to the International School of Dusseldorf for a second year. It’s a dream job. The ISD humanities teachers and I will be turning students on to how to Turn History On.

We will guide young minds in combining factual research and creative writing to produce tales of historical fiction.

And if that weren’t already excellence enough, we will then direct students in how to publish their masterpieces as interactive digital books!

Research + Storytelling + Technology = TURNING HISTORY ON

I told you it’s a dream job!

Case Study Spurred by Paul Revere

This post is dedicated to Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Compelled by his challenge – outlined here – to find and “do something” with a set of Paul Revere’s spurs, I became inspired to craft a mini- Time Traveler Tour for the Met.

What follows is a snapshot of my brain in the midst of the digital storytelling process. I hope you enjoy this Case Study Spurred by Paul Revere.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask them in the comments.

Sree’s Challenge: Locate Paul Revere’s spurs.

His Clue: The spurs can be found in the Met’s Arms and Armor exhibit.

The New Kids on the Digital Block

For a long time now, I’ve been straddling the worlds of storytelling, education, and tourism, not knowing where I really fit in. Then, while treasure hunting in New York, I discovered the cool new kids on the digital block.

They go by such names as Chief Digital Officer (CDO) and Director of Digital Experience. They even have their own online club, which reports that their numbers doubled worldwide from 500 in 2013 to 1,000 at the end of 2014. They expect to double again in 2015.

Now we’re not just talking about digitizing text content. Oh No! Under Frank’s direction, our understanding of what a library is and does is about to undergo serious and exciting change.

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