Vintage Innovation: Leveraging Retro Tools and Classic Ideas to Design Deeper Learning Experiences

I had so many creative sparks inspired by John Spencer's ideas in this book. I felt validation for what I do in my classroom. I wrote my ideas in the margins, highlighted, and bookmarked so many pages. The toolkit that comes along with the book as an online website was a broken link, I contacted the author but did not receive a response. However, I was allowed access to the files and so much more through another reader who was able to get ahold of him. His brain is AMAZING, and it was so cool to be able to feel there is someone else out there who thinks so differently.

I love all books by John Spencer. This book pretty much captures the work I do on a daily basis with purposeful play, LEGO, and hands on learning.I am taking the online course and preparing a roundtable book discussion of this book on my podcast which I am really looking forward to.The biggest takeaway is that you can't throw the baby out with the bathwater. We need new tech and tools, but some of the most powerful learning are the things that have been around for a while.We must blend all of it together.As I always share it is Old School + New School = One School

Awesome book especially for teaching and making an impact on student learning. No nonsense approach(s) that boost learning experience for students and faculty too. If your school, college or university is pursuing or using Universal Design for Learning for instructing methodology this is one of those must haves. You will discover and soon highlight (marking) a number of techniques and creating your own methods. All ready made an impact in my classes! All those things in the back of your mind, should I try? Let this book serve to you, your aha moment. Moreover, this book provides you precedence to try and succeed.

I am currently reading the book but really would have loved the option of an audiobook as well.

John Spencer has put into words what I think every 21st century teacher has felt for so long: that technology is good; technology is worthwhile; technology can amplify learning; but technology does not make great teaching! Building relationships, empowering students, and fostering creativity does. Technology is instead a great way to assist in all of these. Vintage Innovation is not only a reminder for what makes a successful classroom, but it provides concrete ideas and processes to do so. This book isn’t just about how to use the latest technology to help students succeed. It’s about helping students develop a mindset, a way of thinking and problem solving, that will allow them to succeed no matter what the latest technology or education fad is. Using stories and research, Spencer taps into the heart of teaching and how teachers and students can develop a Vintage Innovation mindset, using classic technology to solve modern problems.

I was hoping this book would be filled with ways to use the stacks of transparencies and floppy disks left in my classroom from an anonymous teacher decades ago. What I found, however, was something much better. John Spencer has focused on overarching concepts that we should focus on first, and implement technology when relevant for student growth. By focusing on things like empathy, social justice, problem-solving, and communication, John Spencer has demonstrated that the skills students need in the real world haven't changed and that if we forget about that we will have students who can build an app on a smartphone, but have no idea how to communicate to others what their app actually does.

This book is well researched and beautifully presented with a mixture of diagrams, data charts and prose. It reads so well that you almost forget that it’s informative! Spencer has created something special here - an easy to follow innivation guide that allows ideas to guide technology and innovation - not the other way round.