FableVision’s Cross-Country Tour

Summer is here, so you know what that means: sun, fun, and our annual Summer Road Trip! We’re excited to hit the road once again to visit conferences and summits across the country. We’re sure to meet amazing people and take part in the important conversations happening in education, media, and technology. Follow along with our travels on Twitter, and if you find yourself at any of our stops, come say hi!

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Back in the Bay Area

We’re heading off to sunny California from June 10-12 to hear from some of the brightest minds in educational technology at the SIIA Conference. With keynote panels focusing on diversity and inclusivity in educational services, this conference is sure to be a deep dive into the future of edtech in the United States as well as internationally! Catch our colleagues from the Reynolds Center from Teaching, Learning, and Creativity in the Cisco booth presenting the FabMaker Studio STEAM program to create practical, affordable makerspaces using paper, cardstock, and inexpensive digital fabricators (details TBA!).

Building Your Internal Capacity Without Hiring: Working with Service Providers
What: Panel of experienced providers in conversation about company growth and making the most of your workforce. Featuring FableVision Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and Product Solutions Shelby Marshall.
When: June 12, 2019 at 10:15 a.m.

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Taking a Byte of the Big Apple!

Next up: New York! Join FableVision’s Communications Director Sarah Ditkoff, Executive Producer Peter Stidwill, and President and Co-founder Gary Goldberger at the Games for Change Festival, where attendees will hear from designers, developers, and others who are making games for social good. Along with Learning Games Network’s Shannon Frederick Meneses, Peter will speak about FableVision’s game, Quandary, which was awarded Game of the Year at the 2013 Games for Change Festival. We’re looking forward to convening with people leading meaningful changes in gaming through immersive media and applied principles in civics and game-based learning.

Life After “Game of the Year”: Sharing Six Years of Learning
When: June 18, 2019 at 11:45 a.m.
Where: Parsons School of Design at The New School, 63 Fifth Ave, NYC

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Exciting Edtech in Philadelphia

Join FableVision’s Sarah Ditkoff and Shelby Marshall in Philadelphia for the International Society for Technology in Education Conference. This conference highlights visual, cultural, and digital literacy. We can’t wait to meet teachers, business leaders, and others spearheading the movement for inclusive, accessible education technology (and perhaps pick up a tasty cheesesteak in the meantime)!

When: June 23-26, 2019
Where: Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

FabMaker Crew: Paper Prototyping for STEAM-powered learning

FableVision’s Paul Reynolds and Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning, and Creativity’s Andrea Calvin will showcase FableVision’s Fab@School Maker Studio at two workshops hosted in the CISCO Active Learning Space. Discover how schools, libraries, and programs around the country have used the FabMaker Studio STEAM program to create practical, affordable makerspaces using paper, cardstock, and inexpensive digital fabricators. During this hands-on session participants will experience the benefits of rapid paper prototyping, which allows for quick cycles of testing and iterative design enhancements.

When: June 24 from 3-3:45 p.m., June 25 from 11-11:45 a.m.
Where: Breakout Room 106AB

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Making Moves in Maine!

Ever wondered about how animation can revolutionize learning? Join FableVision’s Jane Reynolds and Dr. Denine Jimmerson at the Side x Side Summer Arts Institute in Portland, where they will explore just that! Take part in a comprehensive workshop focused on introducing important animation techniques and starting a conversation about using animation as a platform for every lesson imaginable.

What: “Using Animation as an Innovative Tool for Teaching and Learning” Workshop
When: June 24-25, 2019
Where: Portland, Maine

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Seriously Smiling in Montreal

We’re heading to the University of Quebec for the 2019 Serious Play Montreal Conference, highlighting the biggest achievements in serious games. We’re so excited to hear from developers, designers, and more who are leading the way in educational gaming and immersive learning. FableVision and our partners are accepting two Serious Play Awards for our games Lights, Camera, Budget! and Project Here Games. 

Silver Award Winner: Lights, Camera, Budget!, Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) and the Georgia Council on Economic Education (GCEE)
Lights, Camera, Budget! puts high school students in the shoes of a Hollywood movie producer in order to enhance their knowledge about personal finance, money management, and budgeting. In partnership with GPB and GCEE, FableVision created this game to reflect real life lessons in economics and help to increase students’ financial literacy.

Bronze Award Winner: Project Here Games, The Office of the Attorney General of Massachusetts, Health Resources in Action, and the GE Foundation
Project Here Games is part of a state-wide initiative to promote substance use prevention and healthy decision making among middle school students. Working with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office and Health Resources in Action, FableVision created this series of games that provide an interactive landscape in which students can develop socioemotional skills to handle situations involving substances and peer pressure, as well as stress management.

When: July 10-12, 2019
Where: University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada

Moving Libraries Forward: A Libraries, Games, and Play Conference Recap

Happy National Library Workers Day from all of us at FableVision! Here at the studio, we are acutely aware of the impact that libraries and the librarians who keep them running have on communities, access to literature and educational resources, and spaces for learning and creativity.

This is why FableVision was honored to co-host the inaugural Libraries, Games, and Play Conference on Saturday, April 6 at American University with the American University Game Lab. As longtime advocates of engaging students of all ages in their own learning through media and interactives, bringing educational technology and game-based learning tools and best practices into formal and informal learning spaces, such as libraries, is a topic very close to our hearts.

In their opening remarks, J Collins asked attendees to enter into the conference space with a lens of inclusion and an awareness of who is not in the room. Not all librarians are able to leave their libraries, and the children who rely on them every day, to attend a conference. In the spirit of the inclusion, access, and network that is at the heart of every library, FableVision Studios has created a recap blog of the one-day conference for everyone who could not be there.

From the opening keynote address and gaming workshops to FableVision Learning and the Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning and Creativity’s showcase of the Fab@School Maker Studio and Paul Reynolds’ closing keynote, let’s dive in and see what the day held!

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Opening Keynote

Following the opening remarks, Lindsay Grace, Knight Chair of Interactive Media at the University of Miami and founder of the American University Game Lab, delivered the opening keynote. In his address, Grace recounted his own experience learning to code as a child using copies of Nibble Magazine he checked out from his local library. Libraries provided the access and the space for Grace to learn how to code, experiment with coding, and engage in his own learning through play.

In his keynote, Grace brought out that play itself is an evolutionary necessity. When we think of popular games that children play, many of them teach evolutionary skills. “Tag,” for instance, is a game of hunter and hunted. “Simon Says” is a game that teaches impulse control. The two purposes of play, according to Grace, are practice and laboratory. Games, in particular, are structured play that give players safe spaces for practice and experimentation. Game design creates problems and offers solutions, which is why games and game-based activities are so important for learning spaces such as libraries.

Showcases

During the conference, the Reynolds Center and FableVision Learning showcased their innovative, STEAM-powered edtech product Fab@School Maker Studio. The Fab@School Maker Studio, an affordable and easy to implement digital design and fabrication software that introduces students to 2D and 3D printing and model creation, was a big hit with the public and private librarians at the conference.

Schools, libraries, and programs from across the United States have already been using the research-based Fab@School Maker Studio to create practical and affordable makerspaces using paper, cardstock, and inexpensive digital fabricators. The software provides hands-on opportunities for students of all ages to get comfortable with easy, paper-based digital design and fabrication tools.

FableVision Studios was also able to share more information on our portfolio of engaging media and interactives that educate, inspire, and move people to action. In particular, we shined a spotlight on CyberChase Fractions Quest and Project Here Games. CyberChase Fractions Quest is an immersive, story-based mobile game that engages 3rd and 4th grade students in fractions learning we created in partnership with THIRTEEN Productions LLC for WNET and the Education Development Center’s Center for Children and Technology (EDC/CCT). Project Here Games is a collection of games dedicated to ending substance abuse in teens that we designed and developed in partnership with Health Resources in Action, the GE Foundation, and the Massachusetts Attorney General Office. These projects, along with the various others in our portfolio, highlight the power of using games and other media to supplement traditional educational tools and engage students on a variety of topics.

Closing Keynote

The day ended with a closing keynote address from FableVision and Reynolds Center co-founder and CEO Paul Reynolds. Paul began his talk by expressing his love for libraries and their role in inspiring the next generation of creative problem-solvers. Especially in this rapidly emerging age of technological and climate shifts, libraries are becoming more relevant as they embrace change and offer exciting new portals into playful learning.

Libraries not only foster learning through gameplay and making games, but they are also the key to growing the creative human potential the world needs. In a punitive and assessment-focused culture where many students are afraid to do things they don’t know in fear of getting marked down, creativity and playful learning are crucial to providing students with a safe space to learn, fail, and learn from their failures.

Using personal accounts of teachers who encouraged him and his twin brother Peter H. Reynolds to create bravely, his own advocacy work with the Dedham Library Innovation Team and other schools and public libraries in the country, and digital tools FableVision and the Reynolds Center have developed to support storytelling and self-expression, Paul spotlighted and celebrated librarians and other creative educators who understand the critical mission of developing and protecting creativity.

Following the keynote, Paul signed books sold by local independent bookstore Politics and Prose.

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FableVision would like to thank everyone involved in planning the Libraries, Games, and Play Conference. Thank you, as well, to all who attended. And for those who couldn’t, we hope to see you next year!

June FableFriday: Andrea Calvin, Vice President of FableVision Learning

FableVision Learning, FableVision Studios’ sister company, is an educational publishing company with a BIG mission. “To put it simply, we’re a K-12 educational media publisher providing creative learning tools, resources, and support for the classroom,” explains Andrea Calvin, Vice President of FableVision Learning.

Looking bigger, FableVision Learning is a mighty team of creativity champions, educational professionals, software designers, and strategists who truly understand the challenging needs of the 21st century classroom. They have a relationship with over 42,000 classroom teachers and school administrators across the U.S. and around the world. This network includes many of the most innovative educators around who are early-adopters of new products and technologies.

“Our team works every day to ensure all learners reach their full potential,” says Andrea. “We also have a lot of fun along the way.”

From technical support and project management to marketing and sales, Andrea wears many hats at FableVision Learning. We sat down with her this month to chat about innovative programs in the classroom she’s working on – and some exciting new ventures coming up this year.

Before venturing over to FableVision, you were pretty involved in Boston's journalism world. How did you transition from working in the newsroom to FableVision?
After graduate school, I landed a job at the MetroWest Daily News in Framingham (at that point the paper was owned by Community Newspaper Company). For a few months I worked the night desk as a copy editor and inside page designer. Eventually I became a night news editor and front page designer for the Daily News Tribune.

The big turning point of my journalism career was when the company decided to launch the Dedham Transcript, a weekly community paper and daily news site covering the Massachusetts town of Dedham. It was an amazing ride. During those years, I met Dedham residents Paul and Peter H. Reynolds and heard all about FableVision. When I made the decision to leave the newspaper world, FableVision was there – ready to become the next phase of my journey. It has been quite an adventure.  

FableVision Learning's Patrick Condon, Andrea Calvin, and Bill Norris, wearing carnival-themed animal masks made in Fab@School Maker Studio.

Are there any skills that transferred from your journalism job to your job at FableVision Learning?
Journalism is communication and deadlines, two skills that are critical for any job. But any good reporter has the ability to learn new skills fast, weed out the facts, and roll with the punches. There were days in the newsroom that would start with covering a Girl Scout ceremony and end with chasing a massive brush fire. I have to be ready for anything. I’ve also learned to rely on my team. I work with fantastic people, Bill Norris, The Dot Connector, and Patrick Condon, Digital Media Engineer, the newest member of the FableVision Learning team.

You work closely with FableVision co-founders Paul and Peter H. Reynolds. How do you take their creative spirit and channel it into FableVision Learning?
Many would argue that that’s the secret to a long and creatively fruitful life. I find ways to listen to the big ideas and chunk them out into digestible nuggets for others to become inspired by. It is the spaghetti trick. I toss a lot of things out there and I see what sticks.

So—what’s coming up in June? We hear there’s a trip to Denver booked?
Yes, in June I will be traveling to Denver to finally meet the amazing Denine Jimmerson – our creative captain of Professional Development at FableVision Learning. Wait, you mean ISTE? Oh, yes, that’s happening too!

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On June 27-29, FableVision will have a hands-on booth that will be set up like a Maker Space and will feature our Creative Maker Suite of products – Animation-Ish and  Fab@School Maker Studio. Our friends at Steelcase have donated an amazing line of classroom furniture. Technology will be provided by Dell, Silhouette, and Canon printers. Each day, there will be focused sessions on using the software tools in the classroom and time for folks to really get to understand how the programs work. In addition to all of this, we’re going to have meet-up times for FableVision Ambassadors and the Early Childhood Fab Lab partners. It should be a blast. I highly recommend folks visit Booth #3704 while at ISTE. 

You’re part of a small, nimble team doing big things. How do you keep track of it all?
Post-it notes. I have walls of Post-it notes.

FableVision Learning celebrated the release of Fab@School Maker Studio this year! How are you seeing it have an impact in classrooms?
The Maker Studio project has been one wild rollercoaster. After six years of research and development through The Reynolds Center for Teaching, Learning, and Creativity, Fab@School Maker Studio hit the online store in January. The early adopters were quick to get the program into their classrooms and the response has been stupendous. There is one school that is using Maker Studio as part of their colonial America curriculum. Fifth graders are assigned a colony to research, and then in Maker Studio they’re creating an object or a house or a plant unique to that specific location. Another afterschool program is creating projects in Maker Studio to sell in the school store as a fundraiser. And yet another teacher is using Maker Studio and digital fabrication to teach volume and shape. It is exciting to hear the reports from sites across the country on how the program is being used. 

What’s coming up at FableVision Learning that you’re excited about?
It is going to be a busy summer and fall for the FableVision Learning team. On June 15, we were invited to participate at the Abbot School’s Publishing Day Extravaganza. It’s a day to celebrate the work our 392 third, fourth and fifth graders have done in writing and illustrating a children’s picture book about Boston Marathon Race Director, Dave McGillivray. Paul Reynolds will open the day’s event and then there are the mini-marathon stations. Then there’s ISTE at the end of June. And then, on July 23, the team will be demonstrating Maker Studio at the Boston Mini-Maker Faire. I know there are more things happening, but that is what the next few months look like!

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Terry and Ellen Shay with Peter H. Reynolds

What’s a FableVision Ambassador?
If you think of FableVision Learning as a tree, FableVision Ambassadors are the branches. There are roughly 200 ambassadors across the country and they help us maintain a direct link to the classroom as we continue on the core mission to help all learners discover their true potential. Terry Shay is our Lead Ambassador and he works to nurture the program and the teachers. Fun fact, he is also my long-lost brother but I only discovered this last year at ISTE. I am joking, but in all seriousness, he is an amazing educator, creativity champion, and friend.

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on from start to finish?
That is a fun one. When I worked at FableVision Studios, I had the opportunity to help on a branding project for National Braille Press called Great Expectations. It was a program designed to teach parents and caregivers of blind children how to read picture books. My role was small, creating a postcard to explain Great Expectations, but I simply love the whole mission. It was an honor to work on that project.

Not client related, I had a ton of fun creating the marketing videos for Zoombinis, launching the redesign of the Studio website, and bringing the entire Fab@School Maker Studio product to market. I try to find the fun in all I do; if I can’t there is always a 3:30 p.m. dance party.

How are you making your mark on Dot Day in 2016?
That is the big question! More to come in July, I promise. ;-)

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You're a big camper. Do you have any especially adventurous camping stories?
The story my mom likes to share is… when I was 2 ½ I went camping for the first time with my grandparents. I loved it and have gone every summer since. A few years back, my husband Mike and I started hammock camping because it’s easier on a motorcycle. Basically, during the summer we pack up the bike with all the gear and head to the Berkshires. Our go-to places are along Route 2 or in North Adams. It isn’t horribly adventurous, but a few years back we were caught in a flash flood and only had our hammocks for protection and we couldn’t run for cover in a car, because we only had a bike. Luckily the hammocks come with a sturdy rainfly and we kept pretty much dry. Then there was a time we went “stealth camping” on logging trails in Maine and I think a deer or a bear or some wild animal was near the hammock. That wasn’t a fun night. But we went out for pancakes in the morning, so it was all good.

You’ve also got a pretty good green thumb. What’s growing in your garden this summer?
That is the big question. Last year it was all cucumbers all the time. The funny thing is, I didn’t even buy the plants, my mother-in-law did! I did make some sweet refrigerator pickles, you can check out the recipe here. This year, I am going in a different direction. I’ve planted red cabbage, arugula, beans, and lettuce so far. I hope to also grow broccoli, tomatoes, and peppers. I have a pretty big network of gardener-friends so we try to each grow a different vegetable to share.       

What is quilling?
The easiest way to describe quilling is the art of rolling paper and bending it into a shape to create a larger image. You can create really beautiful designs like flowers, birds, and animals. I find the whole process very relaxing.

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More about Andrea!

Favorite book: In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan
Favorite movie: The Matrix
Best vacation spot: The deck of a cruise ship
Guilty pleasure TV show: I watch anything and everything, right now I’ve been rewatching Party of Five
Favorite kind of pickle: garlic dill
Best place to go hammock camping: Mohawk Trail State Forest  
Favorite podcast: Welcome to Night Vale and Totally Beverages and Sometimes Hot Sauce
Podcast you’re most likely to recommend: Gosh, if I want to sound smart, I say RadioLab. But, I simply love Totally Beverages and Sometimes Hot Sauce