Taking the Long Way Home - Building a Google Lit Trip

When I joined the ranks of Google Certified Teachers over a year ago (GTA SWE 2013), part of my Google Project that I embarked upon was to build a Google Lit Trip . . . from scratch . . . to go with my father's award winning memoir "Things That Must Not Be Forgotten - A Childhood in Wartime China" by Michael David Kwan.  My deadline for completing this project actually passed by two months ago (as I gave myself a year to build it) but in a sense I did make my original deadline . . . kinda/sort of.   Let me explain . . . I began work on the GLT last spring and then put everything on hold until the summer so I could gather more information and old photos at home in Canada.  Then, in the fall, I came back to the project and inserted everything that my summer research had uncovered, and continued my research to try and find the locations of some important places in the book. I was able to just meet my Christmas deadline, but little did I know that I was not even close to being truly finished with the construction process.

What I had not accounted for in the entire process was the amount of work that was required to get it into a presentable state . . . I made a serious mistake here in underestimating the level of detail that was required and the amount of writing that had to be done!

I had met Jerome Burg (the father of Google Lit Trips) before at a Google Geo event, so I got in touch with him about getting my GLT published on his official Google Lit Trips website.  Jerome was very receptive to helping me develop my GLT, and was really excited about including historical non-fiction on his website, especially one set in China.  Jerome's editorial work and feedback was fantastic.  He combed through what I had produced and really pushed me to think about the overall experience of the reader and the fact that I was really telling two stories in the Lit Trip - both my father's story from the book and my own story of discovery as I researched and located different sites and information about my family.  With Jerome's extensive feedback in hand (and burning a hole in my brain with each passing day), I decided to tackle everything over the long winter holiday . . . which never happened (getting the work done, that is ;-).

Six weeks later, I have reworked most of what I had previously produced, formatting and organising everything according to Jerome's guidelines and suggestions, rewriting practically everything to tell my own story with links and ties to my father's story, and taking the time to build a supporting Google Site.  Now, I think I finally have a product that can be distributed and used by others which serves to tell my story of discovery, enhance the reading experience of "Things", and to provide the reader with visuals and background for the places in my father's book.  I really hope that Jerome likes what I have created and that it is now in a publishable state - I just sent it off to him to peruse, poke and prod . . . fingers crossed!

My father David Kwan, with my grandfather John YL Kwan (circa 1938)

Lessons learned and take-aways from building a Google Lit Trip

• Completing the research and gathering all of the extra resources is only the beginning - the creation/writing process takes even more time
• Conducting real-life, hands-on research with primary sources is tough, challenging and frustrating - trying to piece together information from old family photographs, or coming to terms with place names which have changed over time or are written differently, is very time consuming
• Patience is a virtue - you will need a lot of it and you will be tested
• You never know what surprises your research will uncover - now I know that I am 1/4 Serbian?!?, whereas before I thought I was part "white Russian" or Swiss (see my accompanying GLT website for the details of how I came to this realisation)
• Brush up on your basic HTML coding skills - these will come in handy as you build information into Google Earth
• As a teacher, I think having students build Google Lit Trips is not a simple endeavour to be undertaken lightly - perhaps teams of students could collaboratively build a GLT, or it could be undertaken as a major research project, or a tool like Google Tour Builder could be used to create a simpler Lit-Trip-like experience
• Building a GLT will take far longer than you ever thought - double or triple your original time estimate
• Think about where you will store online extras like photos and documents which will be part of your GLT - I used a Google Site to house these items
• Working with historical sites which date back to before the satellite imagery contained in Google Earth takes some imagination and serious sleuthing powers
• If you can find historical maps (which are drawn reasonably close to scale) that you can use as overlays in Google Earth, this adds a very rich and interesting dimension to the Lit Trip experience - but you will need that abundance of patience to get them to sit right, on top of the satellite imagery!
• Creating a resource like this which is close to your heart is very rewarding in the end - building and sharing this kind of resource is one of the reasons we are teachers, right?  And I think this kind of thing is seriously related to your Computing Karma . . .

Have you ever created a Google Lit Trip or tried to build one?  What was your experience like?

Author - Michael David Kwan
Photo by Russel Kwan

This is for you Dad!
And for everyone reading, studying or who has been touched by your book.

Just a Short Jaunt to the Dojo

This is just a Short Jaunt TechXcursion into the mysterious world of the ninja.  At the Learning 2.012 conference last year in Beijing (back at my old school, the Western Academy of Beijing, so I had to make the long trip from Europe ;-) Jeff Utecht demonstrated the Google Apps Ninja Program that he developed based on the official Google Apps Certification program.  I had met Jeff before, in my previous days working at WAB, and his presentation of the Ninja program intrigued me.  He originally developed the program at the International School of Bangkok and has since released it for any school to implement for free.

As you can tell by the name of the program, Jeff has branded it and made it for student consumption.  There are online quizzes and ninja belt levels to work through, as students (and faculty) work through the different belts on their way to becoming a Ninja Master.  I have implemented and launched the program here at ASW, but I have to say that it was no small feat.  It is a huge job!  As another blogger mentions here, it has taken me numerous hours to take the Ninja materials and fashion it into a workable program at my school.  Updating and checking all of the quizzes was a big job, and I took my cues from the materials and logos to make it a little campy as well.  Do you understand, Grasshopper?  In building the program for my school, I also took the opportunity to reorganize the program into 5 Disciplines corresponding to the different quizzes that are available - Search, Communication (Gmail), Organization (Calendar), Collaboration (Docs/Drive) and Contribution (Sites).

I took a slightly different path for my implementation, as my school uses both Google Apps and Moodle as our primary learning platforms, so I built our Ninja Dojo in Moodle along with placing all of the associated materials in Google Apps.  This particular Moodle course is not currently setup for Guests, so I cannot provide you with a link into it here. So you will just have to be content with the screenshot above and the other links at the top of this post.  However, I will say that I have put myself through the entire program (which makes me Grand Master Kwan) as a test of all of the materials, belt tests and processes for grading the quizzes through Flubaroo . . . it is challenging and fun, and there is a lot to learn for staff and students alike.  I have pushed this out directly to a few faculty members who wanted to learn more about Google Apps this year, and have done a soft-launch with the HS student body . . . a few have signed up already so it's gaining some traction.  The other angle that I am playing with this is to turn it into a CAS service project for students, where the idea is to become a Google Apps Ninja Master Sensei after completing all of the belts . . . sounds cheesy, but it might just work.  I have already created a student tech help group in the HS which I have named the AppleCorps to help with in class support for our new Mac 1:1 laptop program, so why not try to build a similar student program for Google Apps?  Have a look at the Ninja Program, and if your school uses Google Apps for Education then you might want to start a dojo of your own.

Do you think becoming a Google Apps Ninja Master can change your Computing Karma?  Have you started a dojo in your school?  What have been the challenges and successes?

Six Months into a TechXcursion to the MacWorld - Part 1

We are now just past halfway through our first year of a platform change for our 1:1 laptop program in the HS - this blog entry contains my thoughts and reflections on the change of platform, how the process has gone, and where we are now in the world of Macs.

A Short History Lesson - Origins of the ASW 1:1 Laptop Program

I think a little history lesson is needed, to get started - going back to the beginning. The American School of Warsaw has had a PC-based laptop program for about 7-8 years now. It started in the MS and then spread to G5 in the ES, before moving up into the HS the year before I came to Poland. As there were some connections between the school and a US-based PC manufacturer, the 1:1 laptop program was launched with PC laptops in the MS. By the time I arrived here, the HS had evolved into a Tablet-PC laptop program. Coming as an Apple Distinguished Educator from the oldest MacSchool in China, I was a little concerned about the laptop program that I was inheriting, but was encouraged by the fact that the school had Tablet-PCs rather than regular PC laptops.

All of my previous schools have either been PC-based or multi-platform, so working in a PC environment was not an issue. I was actually quite excited to be going into a Tablet-PC program as that was new for me, and provided a different dynamic in the classroom - namely a stylus/pen to go with each machine. The school had already gone down the road of implementing a school-owned model for the laptop program, due to the significant cost of the Tablet-PCs, which was also new for me. The reality of the program that I walked into though, was far from sparkling.

There were a number of factors which led me to explore the possibility of changing platforms for the school, away from the existing Tablet-PC model. Without getting into all of the nitty-gritty details, the main factors at the time were:

1) The Tablet-PC program was not introduced into the HS with enough support and training for the faculty, or any lead time to put the new machines into the hands of the teachers before giving them to the student body. It is crucial when introducing a laptop program into a school to ensure that the faculty are comfortable with the machines, thoroughly trained, and very well supported as they adapt to a huge paradigm shift in their day-to-day pedagogy. Needless to say, the first year of the laptop program (before I came here) was pretty rocky for the faculty. A common refrain that I heard from teachers was that the "tablets were dumped on us", and that they had no input in the process or decision to bring in the laptop program.  Part of the fallout of this was that the 1:1 program was faltering and sporadic when I came onboard, and hardly anyone was using any of the tablet features of the machines.

2) The Tablet-PCs were very expensive to buy and support. As a result of their huge price-tag (over $2000 per machine, times by over 300 faculty+students), the program was brought in as a school-owned model with a 4-year replacement cycle. This initial proposal must have sounded good on paper, but was not sustainable - not even for the first few years.  The 4-year program was simply too long for a school-owned model - it was apparent after the first year that the machines would not last three more years of heavy usage in student hands.

3) The Tablet-PCs were very fragile and expensive to repair. Combined with the school-owned model where there was very little sense of ownership amongst the student body, and with only a 3 year warranty/care agreement in place, this created a sure-fire recipe for disaster. Machines were always getting broken, were taking a long time to be repaired, and students had no ownership or sense of responsibility for their machines. The school started the program in more of a library mode - students would get a machine kind of like taking a book out of the library, use/read it, and return it when you are done in whatever condition - good, bad, or ugly. Charging students for damage or loss of their machines was an unpopular policy that I introduced in my first year here, but it has certainly helped to change the uncaring attitude of the student body towards the machines. A further extension to the model that I introduced at the same time was to have each machine assigned to a student so that it stays with them until they leave the school, graduate or the machine gets replaced, to create a greater sense of ownership. Even so, these changes did not completely solve the problem - they merely addressed some of the symptoms with bandaids over the gapping holes in the management of the program.  In short, we had a laptop program populated with machines that didn't work or were frequently broken.

4) The Tablet-PCs that we had were underpowered and frequently crashed/failed. Fully 2/3 of the student machines were DELL XTs (the first model of Tablet-PC that they produced) which have numerous well documented problems, incompatibilities and design flaws, all of which were painfully evident every day when placed in the hands of students. They simply did not work. Combined with the frequent freezing/crashing that occurred when students tried to use the stylus for inking on documents, these machines were reduced to being very expensive, fragile, underpowered and sickly laptops.

As last year was the 4th of the HS laptop program working with these Tablet-PCs, we were due for a refresh for the beginning of this school year. The shortcomings of the laptop program that I inherited were apparent, so I began working on our laptop program refresh one-and-a-half years in advance. If the refresh was going to include a platform change, I knew that we would need a lot of lead time - in fact, it wasn't enough!

Changing Platforms - Reflections on the Process 

With a complete refresh of our HS laptop program coming in August 2012, I set about working on the question of platform as early as I could. Even though I started this process in the spring of 2011 (almost a year-and-a-half in advance) it turned out to be not enough lead time. The first order of business was to form a technology committee, the likes of which had never been seen in the school before, which I dubbed the HS Tech Collective. Note that I was not using "collective" as a reference to communism or the Soviet organization of work units. Rather, it was a term that was used at my previous international school which I always liked in a geeky, trekkie sort of way, which I adopted. I have always liked branding and the concept of putting an identifying mark on things, and by calling it the Tech Collective I could use it in many different ways. For example, our first order of business was to make some "collective" decisions for the HS . . .

Key words from our HS Technology Vision Statement research

I sought to have representation on the Tech Collective from each of the departments in the HS, as well as for Technology and the Library. In the few remaining months of the school year we set about working on two goals to complete before the end of the school year: writing a Vision Statement for technology in the HS, and to start exploring what the faculty wanted from the 1:1 laptop program in the future. There has never been a Vision statement for technology written specifically for the HS, and working through this process really brought the Collective together through a collaborative research and writing project. The question of what the faculty wanted from the laptop program had never been asked before, so this was the logical next step after the Vision Statement was completed.

With the first goal completed, we approached the laptop refresh question by asking teachers "what do they want to do with technology to enhance teaching and learning?" As our tech director puts it, the question focussed on the verbs rather than the nouns - what the physical machine was going to be was left out of the discussion. Feedback was gathered from all of the departments, which was sifted through, organized, summarized and analyzed by the Tech Collective. Surprisingly, this stage of the process was not as time consuming or as onerous as you might think. The primary outcomes from this research was as you might expect: that the faculty wanted to engage students with more multimedia projects and video, to communicate and collaborate more within the school and with the wider world community, to move students into being digital producers rather than consumers, and to better integrate technology into their classrooms to enhance teaching and learning. The one message that stood out however, was that everyone wanted "machines that just work".  I took this as a clear message of pushback about the failings of the existing Tablet-PC program.

From there, the discussion turned towards the nouns - what kind of machine do we want which will fulfill the identified needs of the faculty? Four options were tabled for consideration and investigation: Tablet-PCs (as a continuation of the existing program); PC laptops (which was essentially what the existing program had devolved into being); Mac laptops (which were on the edge of the picture due to questions about servicing and support in Poland); and finally iPads (which were quickly growing in popularity for school programs). The Tech Collective's initial questions focused on funding for the refresh and how much latitude we would have in this decision. The answer to the budget question immediately took Tablet-PCs off of the table, due to their high price point and our history of dysfunctional and fragile machines in the school. With the question of latitude, we were assured that whatever decision we made was for education reasons and would not be reversed by administration. We were now in a place where we could explore and investigate what types of nouns would best meet our needs as a school, as a faculty and as a student body.

The question of using iPads for our 1:1 laptop program was explored in depth, as this was a very enticing possibility for the school. Many international schools, as well as ones back at home have been investing heavily in iPad programs, so there was a lot of buzz on this topic. As an Apple Distinguished Educator, a lot of the buzz in the Apple Education world was clearly centred on iPads in the classroom, so this option deserved its due attention. Now remember, we were researching this fully two years ago from the writing of this post, and the iPad world has significantly matured since then. Two years ago, it was readily apparent that iPads would be very sexy and cutting edge to bring into the school, but would not fulfill many of the requirements that the faculty had already identified about what the machines needed to be able to do. In terms of supporting our existing programs and courses, integrating and meshing with other existing technologies that were already in the school, and meeting the basic computing needs of the student body and faculty, the Tech Collective regretfully took iPads off of the table. If the same conversation, research and investigation were conducted today, the outcome might be entirely different. Now, we were down to the age-old question of Mac vs PC?

To complete the process as objectively as possible, we set about answering this question by matching up Macs vs PCs across each of the items that the faculty had already identified for what they wanted to do with technology. By no means was changing to Macs a foregone conclusion - there were a number of roadblocks and obstacles in the way, many of which stemmed from having a PC-based program for many years in the school. Rather than getting bogged down in the semantics of one machine has this piece of software or can do "this" while the other does not, we worked with broader generalities such as video editing capabilities, battery life, initial cost, cost of repairs and ease of use. All of this was complicated by the fact that not everyone on the Collective had previous experience with Macs, so they found it difficult to make objective decisions on each item. In the end, it was clear from our research and data that Macs fulfilled more of the wants and needs of the faculty, and would be the machines "that just work" that we were looking for. As such, the Tech Collective made the recommendation to the Tech Director and Senior Administration to change platforms, which was later approved and supported by the faculty as a whole. PCs have long been the machine of choice in this school, so our recommendation was immediately followed with a detailed feasibility study which delved down into specific software titles that would need to be replaced or purchased, implications for our network and servers, and training that faculty and technicians would have to undergo in order to be successful. But a firm decision to change platforms had been made which we were going to move forward with, and what a long and arduous trip it has been. Keep reading for Part 2 of this TechXcursion to the MacWorld, for how our platform change was raised from the dead - twice, how our eventual rollout went earlier this year, the training and support for the faculty and students that has been ongoing, and to look at where we are now, half a year into our great leap forward.

A Day in the Life of a Student - TechXcursion to 1984

So I have been thinking about hosting a "tech blackout" or "unplugged" day in the HS for some time now.  For some, hearing the Technology Coach & Coordinator talking about not using any technology for a day at school seems out of place, strange, or warped.  Our current generation of teenagers that I see every day at school are very tech savvy, engaged and wired all of the time.  My school is awash with iPhones, iPods, tablets of varying lineage and laptops galore.  As a 1:1 laptop school, I expect there to be an abundance of technology in the students hands, everyday.  But as a technology department, we have never prescribed that technology/laptops need to be used all of the time, 24/7.  Technology should be used only where and when appropriate, where it enhances teaching and learning.

The problem that I see in our hallways, classrooms and around campus is our students' preoccupation with their technology - at all times of the day.  We have students who feel the urge to be connected so strongly, that they have turned on their mobile notifications for their favourite social networking sites, so they receive a constant stream of buzzing text messages of updates from their thousands of "friends".  Being an international school, most of these "digital friends" are spread around the world - this must mean that the buzzing updates go on day and night.  How is this level of connectedness healthy or happy?  Do any of us really need to be online and networked all of the time?

Mindfulness is a new buzzword that is floating around our school right now.  In the spirit of being more mindful, and connecting to the cyber-citizenry section of the ISTE NETS-S standards (which we have adopted for our student body), I think an "unplugged" day challenge for faculty and students would be an interesting way for students to reflect on their connected lives.  In our Digital Footprint student seminar, when I talk with HS students about how they perceive themselves and how deeply their need to be connected is, most seem to downplay how dependent they really are.  They either do not want to admit their addictions to themselves, or they just do not see it at all (it's all normal to them).  So how to raise student awareness, mindfulness and self-reflection?  I propose going back to 1984 for a day in the life of a student.

Remember these?  Who still has one lurking at home in a drawer?

What I have been formulating is '84 on 8/4 - having a full day at school where the theme is 1984, on April 8th (Europe goes by D/M format for dates).  In keeping with the 1984 theme, we could restrict participants from using any technology that did not exist in '84.  This would mean no laptops, no mobile phones, no mp3 players, no digital projectors, no interactive whiteboards and no internet.  Students (and faculty) could still use a landline phone, could watch tv when they get home, listen to music on a Walkman (if they can find one ;-) or could actually have a face-to-face conversation with a real person/friend/teacher/family member or pick up a book to read.  There will always be a contingent of staff and students who will object to such an exercise - how to engage and involve them all?  Do we make this an optional "challenge" or try to impose it on the school?  I don't actually know, as this is a complex problem.  There will always be some who will argue that their use of technology that particular day is unavoidable and crucial to their teaching or learning.  Perhaps involving everyone goes into the "too hard box" for now.  Perhaps getting the first try at such an event off of the ground as a staff/student challenge would be the best way forward . . . start small and grow it from there.  And I think the theme aspect of it is important for students.  I'm already working with student council on the idea and it can be turned into a spirit dress-up day and/or be connected with curriculum as well - what high school doesn't study Orwell, right?

Have you ever hosted an "unplugged" day or something like it?  What were your motivations for staging such an event?  What was kind of pushback was there from staff and/or students?  How did it work out?  What were the good and bad outcomes from the day?  Most importantly, would you do it again?

Going on Walkabout - A TechXcursion in your own School

Classroom walkthroughs are a popular and current tool for administrators to gauge what is going on in their school, but I have found walkthroughs to be a simple alternative to observational meetings as a Tech Coach.  I have divided up the HS into four different areas or zones, and I am intending on conducting a Walkthrough/Check-in of each area about once a week.  I have always been interested in getting into more of the HS classrooms on a regular basis, other than when I am meeting with a teacher, perhaps observing their class on their request, co-teaching a class, or delivering some kind of tech-related lesson to students.  Getting into HS classes can be especially challenging due to the usual reasons of time (many teachers equate a classroom visit to an unwanted disruption, or they go the other way to "put on a special tech show" for that one class), compartmentalization in the HS (a few teachers have a "closed-door" policy and do not want to be disturbed, ever), and fear of observation (some teachers perceive classroom visits as part of the teacher evaluation process).

I have only done a few of these walkabouts to date, but I think I have cracked the nut - finally!  I am branding my school walkabouts as Walkthrough/Check-ins to make them informal, short, strictly observational if there is a lesson going on, and teacher focussed if they are in a prep period or if they can stop and talk for a minute while I am there.  By making this less about the observation of their class (and the use/integration of technology in their lesson) and more about checking-in with them for how things are going (with the use/integration of technology in their classes), I am seeing an openness and appreciation that I have not seen before.

The "closed-door" teacher became much more welcoming and open when I was simply checking-in with them, rather than observing them.  The simple act of going to them to see how things are going seemed to validate that whatever level the integration and use of technology in their class is currently at, that it's alright.  I was coming to see them, to see how I can make things better, how I can help them "just in time" with something that they are working on, or tease out that niggling problem or question which they have never bothered to ask before or have forgotten about.  To me, a short check-in visit in a teacher's own space really helped to build currency between us.

Early days in our HS 1:1 program

For the "do not disturb" and the "am I being evaluated?" teachers, the unscheduled, informal and brief nature of the Walkthrough/Check-in has served to relieve the anxiety of the more formal (and lengthy) classroom observation.  I got a more realistic view into what is going on in their classroom with technology, had a chance to talk with students about what they are doing, and took the opportunity (if it presented itself) to check-in with the teacher on how things are going.  I find that the informal nature of the walkthrough, combined with the teacher-centric focus of the check-in, has helped to reduce "evaluation anxiety".  A good friend and mentor once told me that what I am best at (as a tech person) is "keeping it real".  I think the Walkthrough/Check-in model does just that, and gets rid of the anxiety and facade of classroom observations.

By conducting a short walkthrough of a section of the school, I can cover 1/4 of the HS faculty in 30-60 minutes.  I take notes along the way, and typically find a number of issues/problems/questions to further investigate, follow-up with and hopefully resolve.  Walkthrough-Check-ins also allow me to talk with students and see firsthand how technology is being used to enhance their learning.  I frequently hear about projects that particular teachers are doing with particular grades or classes.  But what about the other classes?  What about when their class is not working on a big or special project?  How is technology enhancing teaching and learning during those times?  What about the class or the teacher that I do not typically hear about?  What is happening in their class?  If I can conduct these Walkthrough/Check-ins on a regular basis over the school year, I will hopefully get some concrete answers to these questions.

Have you ever thought about doing walkthroughs?  Maybe you should!  If you are already going on walkabout, then how has it helped with being a tech coach or integrator?

Why an EdTechBlog? And why SNiCK in the first place?

Why an EdTechBlog?

Well, this is a slightly complicated question for me to answer.  The first reason behind starting a blog is that my Tech Director (Bill MacKenty) really thinks it would be a good idea for me to increase my online presence and share what I have learned over the years with a wider audience.  I have never been one to stand up on a soapbox and tell people what they should do or what they should know.  I guess that I am just a little modest that way - perhaps it's the Canadian way, eh?  I can blame Bill for pushing/encouraging me to start blogging . . . so here I am . . . kicking and screaming?!?

Practising some self-reflection

The second reason comes from my readings about blogging and reflecting on my own professional practice. One tidbit of advice that I have read numerous times is that you should start a blog for yourself and not for others.  This started me thinking and reconsidering a number of times about whether I should start my own blog or not.  After a few starts and stops and starts all over again, here I am.  I am really writing this for myself as a reflection on my career in educational technology, what I have learned along the way, the things that I am currently working on at my school, and the things that I want to work on in the future.  If someone else chooses to read it and can learn something from me, well, that's the whole point about sharing isn't it?

As I write this, I am in the middle of my 23rd year as an educator, with the last 14 of them living and working overseas with my family in tow.  I started out teaching computer science and IT classes (with a few math classes thrown in) back in Vancouver, Canada.  After 9 years working in the same public high school, we decided to go overseas and teach internationally.  I never thought at the time that I would spend more time living/working overseas than I had already in Canada, but we are well past that point and intend "to stay out" for a lot longer as well.  Over the years, I have taught tech in one form or another from grades 6-12, within the Canadian, American, Turkish, IGCSE, IB MYP, IB DP and AP programs.  Nowadays, I no longer have any classes and instead have the challenging role of Tech Coach which means working with the entire HS faculty and student body as well as managing our 1:1 Laptop Program.  As I have had a leadership/coach/mentor/integrator role in some capacity at every school that I have worked in, Bill has been suggesting that I start a blog to write down my thoughts, ideas, suggestions, questions without answers, and other musings.  So I guess that this is for him in some way as well as for myself - thanks Bill for pushing me . . . over the cliff and into the Blogosphere!

And Why SNiCK?

Well, there's the obvious point that this is my name (my first initial is "S" where I go by my middle name Nick), and sadly, I could not use Nick.Kwan for my account as it was taken a long time ago.  So I went with SNick.Kwan for my account and everything else has followed suit.

So I got to thinking that I needed a catchy title for this blog and I could not come up with anything that really stuck in my mind.  Then I started playing with the letters in my name and how I could pull some kind of meaning out of them, which led to the formula shown above.  Being the geek that I am, I kinda like it . . . what do you think?

Addendum

I recently changed the name of this blog from SNiCK-EdTechBlog to what you see now . . . SNiCK-TechXcursion as I was never very comfortable with the EdTech part.  I wanted something catchier like Lucy Gray's "High Techpectations".  After searching around and finding numerous websites, blogs and  even companies who are using Techpectations, Techpedite, Techsploration and Techceptional, I finally settled on TechXcursions.  I think this merged-word describes my world travels in international schools, as well as my exploration and work in educational technology.  If you are reading this, I hope you find something enlightening, interesting or at least humorous . . . and remember this is all Bill's fault!