YAPPER OF THE MONTH: Michael Fisher, Educator & Author
Michael is a Kannapolis, NC, native now working in Buffalo, NY. He first discovered Yapp last May at the edJEWcon educational conference in Jacksonville, Florida. As an educator teaching other educators how to integrate modern learning into the classroom, he was sparked to investigate. His first app ended up taking him about seven minutes to create, and he was hooked.
In his recent book, “Upgrade Your Curriculum,” Michael introduces app-making as a new skill that kids will need. “We’re trying to get teachers to see that the more students do their own work, the more they’re going to own the learning,” he said. For Michael and the education community, apps and technology are launching pads for learning at the highest level: creation.
Technology in the classroom gives students and teachers a way to get global feedback for edits and revisions, Michael said. It opens the world up for students to experience and gives them knowledge that they can and will hold on to. The learning, he said, comes from the research and connection that technology presents. A student can submit a link, justify why it gives the answer to the question, and then receive instant concrete feedback from an instructor that won’t go in one ear and out the other.
Michael’s other favorite apps include TMZ and IMDB for their easy design, Flipboard’s social magazine, and xTraNormal’s mini movie maker.
You can find Michael online at @fisher1000, in print in Cure for the Common Core and Upgrade Your Curriculum, and blogging at www.digigogy.com.
Yapper of the Month gives us the chance highlight one of our awesome Yappers each month. Know someone whose been sharing the Yapp love? Let us know!
