David Lee EdTech

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzCyIEvfsBE "I don't have time to teach my students how to use the techology." This is a challenge I face constantly. I work with about 600 students across 28 classes. Because we don't have a designated "tech lesson," it is up to the teachers and me to find pockets of time to integrate digital skills. Recently, our 4th graders were wrapping up a Social Studies unit on Responsibility . They explored the driving question: How do our choices as consumers affect the world? To move beyond just learning the content, we wanted them to take Student Action —to create a campaign to influence others using digital media. The Problem: The Sustainable Model Initially, our EdTech team thought about pushing into every classroom to teach specific tools (websites, posters, videos). We quickly realized this wasn't sustainable. With so many students and conflicting schedules, we couldn't be everywhere at once. The S...

Imagine looking at a local river and seeing the water turn a thick, neon green. That is the image we presented to our 5th graders to kick off their latest science unit. We challenged them to become environmental engineers . In this post, I want to share a STEM project I designed with my colleagues, Jessica Jordon and Courtney Gienapp, where students didn’t just study algal blooms — they designed real solutions to stop them. To kick things off, we started with a “provocation.” We showed students images of algal blooms in Singapore and around the world. Although we couldn’t go on a field trip this year due to restrictions, the visual impact of the discolored water was enough to generate curiosity. The Inquiry Cycle This provocation led to three main categories of student questions: The Cause: What is algal bloom and what causes it? Plant Growth: What makes the algae grow so fast? Consequences: How does this contamination affect the ecosystem? Students researched how nutrient-rich ...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHy4SqmxgsM I want to share my "Digital Citizenship Integration Model." My goal with this framework is to help you integrate digital citizenship concepts easily and meaningfully into your students’ learning experiences. Ultimately, it’s about developing a culture of compassion, responsibility, and well-being within our digital lives. What is Digital Citizenship? According to Common Sense Education, digital citizenship is "the responsible use of technology to learn, create, and participate." While technology offers our students incredible opportunities to connect and discover, it also brings challenges—from cyberbullying and privacy violations to digital distraction. To truly help our students, we need to move beyond isolated lessons and build a Digital Citizenship Culture . This consists of shared attitudes, beliefs, and practices for responsible technology use championed by every stakeholder in the school. Here is how my two-part ...

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRP7g4Sn5Fw Want to take your students’ conceptual understanding to the next level? I had the incredible opportunity to join the first cohort of Julie Stern ’s “Learning Transfer Endorsed Educator” course . As someone whose school uses a conceptual approach, I couldn’t pass up the chance to learn directly from the expert herself. Here is a breakdown of the key tool I learned—the Learning Transfer Mental Model —and how I used it to design a 4th-grade STEM project. Why We Need This Model Our world is becoming increasingly complex. Students need more than just information retention; they need to think divergently and apply knowledge to unpredictable challenges. The Learning Transfer Mental Model helps organizing information into “concepts”—fundamental elements that act like mental folders. This organization builds schema in the brain, allowing students to retain information better and transfer it to new contexts. The Storyboard Phases 1. Acquire (Sur...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HQsDlL4bIXU In this video I wanted to share with you all a glimpse of what I did as a teacher, specifically as a 4th and 5th grade Design & Innovation Specialist at Singapore American School. Learn more about what I do here: www.lpbeta.org

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQbUrFo8WG8 As a learning designer, I love finding connections between seemingly disparate subjects. Recently, I collaborated with Sean Smith, a 5th-grade teacher, to merge two unlikely partners: NGSS Science standards (Ecosystems & Earth’s Systems) and Fantasy Writing. The result? A project-based learning experience centered on Worldbuilding . The Challenge: Connecting Middle-Earth to Science  We needed to integrate standards about matter, energy flow in ecosystems, and the interaction of Earth’s spheres (geosphere, biosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere). Looking at these concepts through an “eduPermaculture” lens, I realized they are essentially the rules that govern a world. This led me to J.R.R. Tolkien. His creation of Middle-earth wasn’t just about characters; it was about geography, history, and systems. This process is called “worldbuilding.” We used this real-world creative process to frame our driving question: How might we create a ...