Jason Ohler on Discovery EdTech Connect, Wed 12/17, 7pm EST

Jason Ohler is this month’s featured speaker on Discovery Education’s EdTech Connect.  I got to know him last March when he came to the MACUL Conference.  The Elementary Education Special Interest Group sponsored a digital storytelling pre-conference session faciliated by Jason Ohler and it was FANTASTIC.  He understands the importance of telling a good story, and sees technology as secondary to the writing process.  I watched him transform technophobes into digital storytelling masters within a few hours!   Register to attend the webinar now!

One-to-One Webinar

I am facilitating a webinar with Michael Gielniak and Kate Kennedy for the One-to-One Institute tomorrow (Dec 11, 2008) at 2pm EST on Wimba.  The topic is "Implementing a one-to-one program."  We'll be sharing info about 1:1 sustainability, best practices in the 1:1 classroom, and the latest regarding 1:1 evaluation/research. 

 

If you are available at 2pm and want to listen in, go to http://www.wimba.com/.  You’ll see “Implementing a one-to-one program” in the left column under the heading Distinguished Lecture Series.

Disruptive Innovation

I attended Michigan Virtual University's Online Learning Symposium at MSU yesterday.  Michael Horn, one of the authors of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns.  He was introduced by a high school student, Amanda, who is enrolled in an online class.  She spoke about how taking an online class let her learn at her own pace and in her own way.  She said: "We need a disruptive force to change the US educational system.  That disruptive force is on-line learning."

Michael Horn has a business background and studies the reasons businesses have come and gone over the years.  He explained how initially products that seem to have no merit (“disruptive”) grow to take over markets; thereby pushing out older established companies.   He argues that our educational system needs to find a way to reach students according to their interests, needs, learning style, and pace.  He believes that online learning will be used first to help keep kids in school and to provide assistance when they flunk a class.  Then, once it is proven that online learning can help students in danger of dropping out of school, then it will be explored for all students.

The number of online course registrations has increased at a steady pace over the past few years.  Only time will tell if Mr. Horn’s predictions will come true.  In the meantime, I’ll be working with teachers and administrators in my district so that we are ready!  Thinking outside of the box is in order.

I'll be buying his book.

Google Street View

Today's e-newsletter from Google, called the Sightseer (sign up here), highlights a cool new feature of Google Earth.  Street View is a layer now available.  Once you turn on the layer, you will see icons of cameras in several locations.  You can zoom in for a closer 3D look!  Street View imagery is now available in the US, France, Spain, Japan, Australia, and Italy.

You can also access Street View from Google Maps.  I just virtually traveled to the waterfront shops in Detroit.  Yes, there really are some beautiful areas in Detroit!  Wouldn't you like to take a scroll down this street? 

How-to directions for using Street View in Google Earth are available from Google Earth's web page. 

To access Street View from Google Maps, click and drag the yellow figure/man on the left side of your screen.

Cool 3D Design: Roxik

Check out this web-based tool from Roxic.  I drew a person, clicked a button, and it began to dance in 3D!  Next time, I'll take more time and add some color.  Hope you have as much fun trying it out as I did! How do you think this can this be used in a K-12 classroom?

Come to the MACUL Conference

This year's Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) Conference will be on March 18-20, 2009 at the Cobo Center in Detroit.  It is always an outstanding conference! Here is a short promotional video:

Home from 3-Day PBL Workshop

Project Based Learning is an instructional method that I totally "buy into."  It fits beautifully with technology (especially 1:1 learning).  I've spent considerable time helping teachers see the benefits of PBL. 

All of us who attended the workshop picked up some new ideas, design tools, and management strategies. The two 7th grade social studies teachers and I created a  project about the impact of human actions on the environment (called Messin' Up the Environment: How Humans Screw Up the Earth).  Not only did we learn about good PBL design, we learned how to encourage and teach cooperative learning, how to assess projects (both formative and summative), and how to mangage a PBL classroom. 

I mentioned in my last post that I wanted to learn more about PBL assessment, specifically how to assess both individual and group work.  Mr. Ross recommends that teachers use several rubrics to assess content, presentation, critical thinking, and other 21st century skills.  Assessing skills with more than one rubric gives a truer picture of student performance.  The project receives a group grade, the other assessments are given to individuals. 

What I've learned and experienced over the past three days has helped me see more clearly how standards-based PBL can and should be used in today's curriculum-packed classroom.

PBL Session in Boyne, MI

Today a bunch of Michigan educators braved the ice and snow to participate in a 3-day Project Based Learning Workshop at Boyne Mountain.  The facilitator is David Ross from the Buck Institute for Education.  He is in the picture (middle) with Marilyn Totten and David Schade, 7th grade social studies teachers from Walled Lake.

Today was an enjoyable day of collaboration and learning.  We began by brainstorming qualities that we think are important for all high school graduates (being a team player, problem solver, communicator, tech savvy, etc).  Mr. Ross says that educators expect our students to have all these qualities, yet we do not necessarily provide them the opportunities and learning experiences to help them attain these qualities.  He believes (as do I) that project based learning instructional methods, when done right, can help us better prepare our students.

Tomorrow we will work on the process of designing effective projects.  I am particularly interested in learning new strategies to make students individually accountable for group projects. The Walled Lake team will be identifying a project to go along with new 7th grade social studies curriculum.

Edublog Award Nominations

Here are some blogs that I'd like to nominate for the yearly Edublog Awards:

Best individual blog: Cliotech
http://cliotech.blogspot.com/

Best group blog: Digital Learning Environment Blogs
http://www.guide2digitallearning.com/blog

Best resource sharing blog: Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/

Best teacher blog: Langwitches
http://langwitches.org/blog/

Best educational tech support blog: Teach42
http://www.teach42.com/

Best educational use of audio: Parents as Partners
http://www.ourschool.ca/

Best educational use of a social networking service: MACUL Space
http://maculspace.ning.com/

Best educational use of a virtual world: DEN in Second Life
http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/secondlife/

Week 2: 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger

Steve Dembo at Teach42 is hosting a 30 day challenge to bloggers, and I have kept up with his challenge.  I continue to enjoy the daily tips and ideas to improve my blog. 

Here are some of changes I made to Yes Tech!:

• Created a new RSS feed.  I may have inadvertantly lost some of my previous subscribers in the process (sorry about that), but it didn't appear to be working well.  We'll see what happens! 


• Learned about Browsershots, a tool that lets you preview any web page in many different browsers with one click.


• Spiffed up my sidebar: added a pull-down menu to my archived blog posts.   I've been blogging for two years now, and the list was getting too long to keep in the sidebar.  Happy birthday to Yes Tech!


• Added a "contact me" form to make it easy for folks to easily ask questions and keep in touch.


• Laurie Fowler from Fresh Fowlers was a guest blogger on my blog, and I was a guest blogger on her blog.  I really enjoyed this swap with Laurie!


• Created a "Best of Yes Tech!" page with links to some of my favorite blog posts.


• I continue to watch the data from Google Analytics.  I am now able to see where my readers come from, what sites referred them, what keywords they used in a search engine to land at my site, and more.

Thanks, Teach42, for organizing the challenge!

Plurkin' and Lovin' It

What a treat!  Laurie Fowler is guest blogging today.  See her entry below. 

I am a guest blogger today on Yes Tech! Pam Shoemaker and I are partnering to complete one of the many tasks assigned to those of us taking part in Steve Dembo's 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger. So here is my post. Please take a look at her post on my blog, Fresh Fowlers.

I joined Plurk in July 2008, probably as the result of a blog post about it or because of something I heard on a technology podcast.  I really can't remember. Or maybe that is just when it started.  At first, I was not sure about it. But then, I played around with Plurk and found that just like my Gmail it kept my microblogging entries or plurks grouped together in conversations. I found that you could add friends so I looked for names I knew from podcasts, blogs, and online projects. Wow! I found over 100 people who share my passion for technology and education; and, much to my delight I found people who love to talk about important stuff like politics, fun stuff like games to play, and silly stuff like TV show and sport updates.  Plurk is truly a unique circle of friends and colleagues with which I am privileged to be associated.

In my short tenure at Plurk, I have witnessed some Awesome Plurk Incidents. Here are some of the ones I can remember:

• I reconnected with a friend who moved from AL to NC several years ago.


• I met people I had listened to on podcasts or whose blogs I read regularly.


• A group of us "plurkers" were able to offer support and encouragement helped a fellow community member who was having MAJOR trouble getting her dissertation accepted by her committee so she could graduate.


• I met all kinds of teachers from across the world—UK, Australia, NZ, Canada, South Africa. And I have met a ton of teachers from across the U.S.


• I have created this extensive network of technology coordinators, teachers, library media specialists, and retired teachers who are always sharing links to great articles, videos, student created projects, collaborative projects, podcasts, and web sites.


• I have a great support system for my new venture into Weight Watchers.


• There was a mom with a son in college in Chicago was able to get a plurker from Chicago to check on him when he had a kidney stone. That is a powerful network when you can reach across the country to help an online friend!


• Another mom with son accepted to the University of Alabama wanted to know information about Tuscaloosa from me.


• And finally, I connected with others who are doing the 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger especially Pam Shoemaker who invited me to share my thoughts on her blog here today.  Thanks, Pam!

About Laurie:  "I operate my own professional development consulting business, Ready, Set, Think!, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I have a BA in ENglish and Classics, a Master's in Educational Administration, and a Ph.D. in Instructional Leadership with an emphasis in Technology.  I have 18 years of experience in the K-12 arena and have also taught undergraduate and graduate classes at the University of Alabama and the University of West Alabama respectively.  I am a self-avowed Geek Girl and love to play with new technology and new web sites."

Beliefs about Grading

Dennis Keeney, my district's Technology & Data Analysis Director facilitated a presentation/discussion at a principal's meeting.   It was eye-opening and thought provoking.  He talked about a book he recently read, by Rick Wormeli, Fair Isn't Always Equal: Assessment and Grading in the Differentiated Classroom. 

Dennis talked about the reasons we give students grades: to document student progress; to provide feedback to students, parents, and teachers, and to inform instructional decisions.  With these reasons in mind, he discussed some common grading pitfalls according to the author:

1. Avoid nonacademic factors (behavior, attendance, etc).


2. Avoid penalizing for multiple attempts at mastery.


3. Avoid grading homework.


4. Avoid recording zeros for work not done.


5. Avoid group grades. Cooperative learning helps students learn, but is not an indicator of proficiency.

Gulp.  Teachers I know are all over the board with deeply ingrained beliefs about grading.  I have changed my own thinking about grading over the years. I totally agree with #1, 2, and 4.  When I was in the classroom (my last year was in 2001) I was no longer giving zeroes.  I get that... I did the math and was convinced that a zero skewed the info, so I gave a 55 instead of a zero.  I also believe that students should be given the opportunities to demonstrate mastery of concepts - test retakes (if they are given a different, but equal assessment),  I also believe that students should receive the highest grade.

Homework is a toughie.  I always graded homework because I thought at the time that the feedback would help students master the concepts, and I thought that students wouldn't do the work if it wasn't graded.  I have no idea if I'm right or wrong about that.  This would make a nice question for an action research project.  Will students do homework if it isn't graded?  What factors make homework more meaningful for students to complete?

Giving group grades is also one that I grapple with.  I think that an occasional group grade can show mastery, if set up with an evaluation rubric, checkpoints along the way to make sure everyone is doing the work, and clear expectations.

As a parent, I can look at my two children to make some general conclusions about how they learn and what they know.  One of them could care less about the grade & didn't always do homework, but he would ace the test. The other did every single homework and extra credit assignment and also aced the test.  GPAs were vastly different.  ACTs were very similar. 

These important conversations must take place in schools.  Mr. Keeney was masterful in facilitating a conversation about this topic.  He pulled individual student data out of our student information system (removed names) for discussion purposes.  As a group we discussed how they were graded and if the grades were indicative of their mastery of the content.   It seems to me that discussing individual situations somehow nudges people to think much differently than talking about generalizations, and is the way to go.

Week 1: 30 Days to Being a Better Blogger

Steve Dembo at Teach42 is hosting a 30 day challenge to bloggers, and I decided to begin the journey with him one week ago.  I have really enjoyed the daily tips and it has re-energized my desire to keep my blog up-to-date.  I recenly am finding a lot of benefit from microblogging with my professional learning network on Plurk, and spending less time writing thoughtful entries on my blog.  I know that writing blog entries makes me a more reflective practitioner, and I now have new goals to spend more time thinking, setting goals, and sharing with others on my blog. 

During the first week of the challenge, I learned that a professor at the University of Rhode Island uses one of my blog entries, "Cover the Material or Teach Students to Think" as part of her grad class' curriculum.  I wrote this entry in Feb 07 after reading an article in Educational Leadership magazine.  Students read the original article, then my blog post, then comment on a class wiki.  I learned this as a result of signing up for Google Analytics.  Pretty cool!

The other major highlight of the week was learning about the Google Translate widget.  You can convert an entire webpage to another language (35choices) with one click.  I added this widget it to my blog, and then shared it with my district's Bilingual/ESL Coordinator.  After a brief look she was anxious to share it with her staff.  I tried posting the widget on our district webpage, and it worked there as well.  This little widget could really help many families who speak a primary language other than English!

There were other benefits to participating in this challenge.  I found some dead links on my blogroll and added a Creative Commons License.  I also met some new like-minded people who are also participating in the challenge. 

30d2bbb image by Jason Robertshaw is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Broccoli Brain

I recently read an Edutopia article, "Broccoli Brain: Developing Enthusiastic Consumers of Nutritious Knowledge" by Hugh Osborn.  I loved the author's analogy.  His premise is that kids are always too full to eat their broccoli (yuck), but somehow they have room for ice cream (yum).  Their broccoli stomach fills up much quicker than their dessert stomach!

The author states, "I believe that our children also have a broccoli brain and a dessert brain. Unfortunately, it is the broccoli brain that is being fed at school, while the dessert brain stays hungry. And now, with standardized assessment defining public school curriculum, the broccoli brain is being stuffed to overflowing with drill-and-kill test prep."

Mr. Osborn believes, as I do, that innovation is the critical piece that must be in place for effective education.  There are ways to ensure that the state-mandated curriculum is taught that utilize students' dessert brains.  There are pockets of classrooms across the country that feed students' dessert brains every day.  The challenge is figuring out a plan to make this type of learning possible on a nation-wide scale.  I think a lot about how to make this possible on a district-wide scale, since that is my job (and my passion).  Perhaps my title should be "Dessert Brain Specialist."

I believe that lessons that feed students' dessert brains often utilize technology.   I think of the improvement in writing and presentation skills when students are given the opportunity to create a digital video in any content area.  I think about the importance of students knowing how to solve problems with others who may have different opinions, personalities, and talents; skills that are becoming more important than ever in today's global marketplace, with technology making it possible. 

I will work tirelessly to support teachers in my district as they learn to teach the district/state curriculum using strategies that feed students' dessert brains.  In future blog posts, I'll be writing about some of the innovative projects going on in classrooms across my district, state, nation, and world.

Wordle

I made this graphic with Wordle, a tool for generating “word clouds” from text that you provide. The clouds give greater prominence to words that appear more frequently in the source text. You can tweak your clouds with different fonts, layouts, and color schemes.

I used text from my own blog entries to find out the most common topics and themes I write about most often.  Pretty cool, eh?

Discovery/MACUL Event a Success!

(This is a cross post from the Michigan DEN blog.)

What an awesome day!  The Michigan Leadership Council hosted an in-person professional development day for teachers at Haslett High School.  This was co-sponsored by Discovery Education and MACUL (Michigan Association of Computer Users for Learning).  Mike Bryant, Discovery Regional Manager, made a surprise visit.  He announced that our Michigan event had the most people registered nation-wide!

In addition to the fabulous virtual presentations, ten hands-on breakout sessions were offered.  The MI DEN Leadership Council team facilitated sessions on a variety of topics:  DiscoveryStreaming Basics, New Features of DiscoveryStreaming, Podcasting, Digital Storytelling using Photostory, Global Collaborative Projects, MovieMaker, and Screencasting with Camtasia and Jing, and Interactive Websites.  Session handouts and other resources for the hands-on sessions are posted here. 

The virtual presentations will soon be available for viewing.  I'll post the link when it is ready.

FREE ONLINE CONFERENCE!

Mark your calendar!  The K-12 online conference is coming soon!  It officially begins the week of October 13th.   Session teasers, short videos to entice you to tune in, are available now.  Educators from around the world who are interested in innovative ways technology can be used to improve learning will participate.  The theme is "Amplifying Possibilities."  To help newcomers gain the most benefit from the conference, tips are available. Consider participating in both the live events during the conference, as well as asynchronous conversations.  I hope to see you there!

Getting Going with MOODLE

Oakland County Intermediate School District is now hosting MOODLE to all the districts in the county.  Their technical and instructional staff have been doing a fantastic job supporting us.  Questions are answered promptly and a MOODLE usergroup of folks like me who are the local district administrators has been formed.  In my district, it is beginning to take off.  I now have every secondary student loaded into the system, so that teachers who want to use MOODLE can do quickly (after some training, of course). 

Once teachers know that they can use MOODLE in many different ways, from a super-structured unit to a more informal "use as needed" tool, they become hooked.  Teachers can use one feature or all of them.  It can be used for two weeks or the entire school year.  The features that excite teachers the most are:

• The online discussion board forums.  Students can discuss topics they are learning about.  On occasion, teachers can set up the forum so that students cannot see their classmates responses until they post their own reponse. 


• The ability for students to submit assignments online.  Printing is no longer required, and teachers can open the files from home or school (no more fishing through student network folders, either!).  Providing feedback on MOODLE is quick & easy.


• Teachers can host a study session the night before a test using the chat feature.  It's like a safe environment for instant messaging, with an educational purpose! 


• Students can collaborate on group assignments using the wiki feature.  Teachers can see who is doing the work!


• Teachers can create self-grading quizzes. 

If you are a Walled Lake teacher, and you want to learn more about MOODLE, contact me today!

Discovery Educator Network Streamathon

I have not written here for a few weeks.  I've had some trouble with my account and have had my password reset a few times.  I think I'm back in business now!

Today was another indicator of why I love the DEN (Discovery Educator Network) so much.  The DEN hosted an all-day streamathon, with some amazing topics and presenters.  It was a great example of successful on-line professional development.  I was able to attend portions of some of the sessions throughout today’s Streamathon.  The chat rooms were lively and folks were very appreciative of the fantastic professional development offered.  The sessions will be archived for later viewing on the DEN national blog.

I posted some of the web 2.0 tools that Steve Dembo demonstrated on my district’s technology integration website.    Check them out!

Other professional development is readily available from the DEN.  Log on at http://discoveryeducation.com, and click on the Professional Development button at the top of the page. 

The Michigan DEN is planning a combination face-to-face and virtual conference in Haslett.  It will be an all-day event on October 25th.  Details will be posted in the near future on the Michigan DEN blog.

Back To School Motivator

This is a must-see for all educators at the start of a new school year. It is 9 minutes long and well worth the time.

Spice It Up Conference a Success!

Walled Lake Consolidated Schools' "Spice it Up!" Technology Conference was a smashing success! The day began with a bit of stress when Bruce Umpstead, our keynote speaker, was stuck in a one-hour traffic jam on I-96. He arrived about 20 min late, and handled it like a pro. His message was clear and it aligns with Walled Lake's philosophy - you cannot just throw technology at students and hope it makes a difference in student achievement. Instead, teaching must change to allow the positive changes to occur. Students must collaborate, investigate, create, and think - adding technology makes it easier to provide learning experiences that are differentiated and meaningful.

The staff at Sarah Banks Middle School understands the importance of customer service. The custodians worked extra hard to move furniture, shine floors, and make the school a beautiful place to learn. The secretarial staff worked like busy beavers - from providing directions and information about the conference on the phone, to purchasing and selling lunches, to making more copies of handouts. Lynn Dunn, the school computer resource teacher, worked with me on her day off to set up computers, projectors, power strips and other equipment. Bryan Koval, district technician, helped set up computers, install needed software, and made 30-foot long ethernet cords in case the wireless network had issues. Mark Hess, who worked with me as co-chair of the conference, provided exceptional leadership in every way.

Over 30 Walled Lake teachers, stepped up to share their knowledge and experiences as presenters. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. I wish I had offered more Office 2007 and Schoolworld web sites sessions, these were packed! Teachers learned to podcast, create video, make websites, use web 2.0 applications, use MOODLE, among MANY other things.

Mike Bryant, regional manager for the Discovery Educator Network, traveled all the way from Illinois to present three sessions showing teachers how to incorporate DiscoveryStreaming video, audio, images, and more into any curriculum.

Laura Cummings and Mike Soudin, Oakland Schools, showed their support by presenting on a variety of topics and participate in other sessions.

Lunchtime was also a time for learning!  Mrs. Beverwyck, our Asst Superintendent of Curriculum, shared her thoughts about technology use. Next, we saw the video "A Vision of K-12 Students Today" to prompt our thinking, and finally asked questions of a student panel, five high school students who shared their experiences and ideas regarding using technology at school and at home.  One student stated, "One of my teachers recorded podcasts to help us review for tests, which was helpful.  However, if we could have created our own podcasts, we could have learned even better, because if you are teaching others, you learn the material better."

Mark Hess facilitated a half-day administrative session. I was able to sit in for about 20 minutes, and was very impressed with what he shared. He spoke about how he became interested in technology without ever having taken a computer class. He talked about vision, setting goals, and how to create an environment where technology use is a part of everyday school life.

I'll be creating an on-line survey to solicit specific feedback from the attendees. It's never to early to begin thinking about ways to improve the conference for 2009!

Back to Work

I actually wrote this entry last night, but was unable to log into edublogs for some reason... 

 

It's time to get back into a normal routine after a glorious summer.  I was fortunate enough to take two vacations with my family (TN and SC), attend the fabulous Discovery Educator Network Institute in Silver Springs, MD, and visit three college campuses with my daughter.  Now I'm rested and ready for the new school year!

 

The biggest day of the year for me is my district's annual "Spice it Up" Technology Conference, which is tomorrow!  Bruce Umpstead, Michigan Dept of Education Educational Technology leader, is providing our keynote address.  Mark Hess, one of our middle school  principals, is leading a half-day session just for administrators (Yeah!), and many talented Walled Lake educators are facilitatiing a wide variety of sessions.  See the conference offerings at http://www.lulu.com/content/3478169.  It's going to be a great day!

 

 

Goodbye to an On-line Friend

I just learned that Lee Baber died last night.  I have never met Lee in person, only on-line through Skype or one of the Edtechtalk.com shows.  She has always been so helpful to others - guiding, encouraging, and nudging us all as we work together to increase the occurance of 21st century instruction into classrooms around the globe.  She has been researching and studying what a classroom of the 21st century should look like.  Read more about her ideas and research on her blog.

I am feeling sad with the loss of my online friend.  It is a somewhat strange feeling; I've never felt this type of sorrow for someone I have never met face-to-face.  I suppose this is one small indicator that shows the way the world is changing due to the power of technology. 

I will miss Lee's friendship and support; I hope that I can influence others in similar ways - people I have met in person & people I have only met on-line.

How to hyperlink a video from an image in PowerPoint

A colleague asked for some assistance to hyperlink a video from an image on a PowerPoint slide.  I used Camtasia to create a short how-to video.  I often create videos to help show others how to use misc technology tools from afar (saves gas, too)!  If this is something you would like to know how to do, click on the link below to play the tutorial!  Be patient, the video may take several seconds to begin playing, depending on your Internet speed. 

Although I used Camtasia to create this tutorial, I would like to put in a plug for Jing, another TechSmith product that is FREE!  You can create videos and screenshots with Jing.  Try it!

hyperlinking-in-ppt

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Discovery Institute: An Awesome Week of Learning and Fun!

I was fortunate to be able to go to the Discovery Educator Network National Institute last week.  It was fantastic to be able to network and learn with like-minded technology enthusiasts!  Highlights of the week included:

• Meeting new people and forming friendships that can be maintained on-line with social networking tools.


• Going to the Discovery Studio to be videotaped in front of the green screen used by Discovery Channel stars.  We made a video to help teachers understand what the DEN is all about and to learn about the benefits of becoming a DEN STAR educator.


• Learning how easy it is to use Adobe Premier's chromakey feature.


• Creating my own Mobulus Station that I can use to live broadcast professional developement when needed. 


• Learning about the benefits of cell phone technology for the classroom from Hall Davidson.


• Discovering the benefits of geocaching.  Now I want a hand-held GPS to try it myself!


• Becoming aware of many cool web-based tools such as Poll Everywhere, Jott, and Riffly.


• Signing up for a Plurk account, a Twitter-like social networking tool.  I lOVE IT! 


• Creating a video modeled after the Boom-de-Ya-Da commercial.  This was the opening activity.  I worked with teachers from Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Texas.  So fun!


• Spending time in a "green building."  Water is saved by moving the toilet handle up for liquid waste, and down for solid waste.  Maybe Discovery can be highlighted during Earthcast 09! 


• Strolling the National Mall with friends before catching our flight home.


• Creating/sharing lessons & projects that use DiscoveryStreaming. 

My advice is to become a DEN STAR and apply to attend next year!

Back On-line After a Two-Week Hiatus!

My family and I went on vacation to a place without Internet access, and it was exactly what I needed!  Although part of me wanted to be in Texas at NECC, I needed the down time.  I read lots of books, golfed, and even went white water rafting.  I so much appreciate all who were able to attend NECC for their willingness to share their experiences via their blogs.  I intend to watch the videos and listen to the podcasts that have been posted on the ISTE website, and any others I can find! 

Next week I am fortunate enough to be going to the Discovery Educator Network's Leadership Institute in Silver Springs, Maryland.  I cannot wait!  I hear the networking and professional development is tops.

Firefox 3 Now Available

Mozilla Firefox became available for download today. I found a wonderful write-up about the new features that is worth taking a peek at from dria.org, "the intrepid girl reporter."  The malware and phishing protection are among the best new features.

HEY, THIS IS MY 100th POST!

Something Cool to Try This Summer

I was just browsing the Discovery Educator Network's "Streaming A to Z" blog, and found an entry about how to do the "green screen"  effect in Windows MovieMaker, something I've been wanting to try.  As you will see by reading the post, it is actually a BLUE screen/chromakey feature.  Links to step-by-step directions with screen shots are available, shared by Jen Dorman.

Why would you want to do this?  How cool would it be to be able to add yourself or your students to  an existing DiscoveryStreaming Video?  You can swim with sharks, interact with past Presidents, and explore the rain forest!

Fascinating International Study

The Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) wanted to find out the philisophies of Scandinavian countries, whose students have outperformed students from other countries in a recent test of math and science skills.  They learned that educators in Finland, Sweden, and Denmark believe that teacher autonomy, project-based learning, and nationwide broadband Internet access are keys to their success.  I read about this in April 2008 issue of eSchool News. 

These three countries have vastly different philosophies from the USA.  They do NOT have standardized testing, competitive grading, and top-down accountability.  They also have pre-school programs between ages 4 and 7 that stress self-reflection and social behavior, not academic content.  The pre-school programs help students take responsibility for their own learning.  Additionally, the countries have social programs that provide families with support; poverty and extreme wealth do not exist. 

Interesting, isn't it?

Create Free Video Tutorials with Jing

I have been using Camtasia, a TechSmith product, for several years now. I love it...it is easy to use and there are many rendering options. Creating video tutorials does the trick when I am not able to meet with folks face-to-face. Jing is a free screen capture program, also made by TechSmith. It lacks some of the slick editing features of Camtasia, but its simplicity and sharing options make it worth it. A few days ago, a teacher asked for help with grading collaborative projects using the Moodle gradebook. I was unable to meet with the teacher, and writing out the steps would have taken 30 minutes or more. I fired up Jing and created a short video within five minutes. I was able to send a link to the video to this teachers and all the other 8th grade social studies teachers who might also want to know more about the Moodle gradebook.

Jing even offers free server space to upload videos. I highly recommend that all teachers and administrators download and try out Jing this summer!

Reflections on Earthcast08

What an awesome day! To celebrate Earth Day, a group of 10 or so of us from all over the world worked together to pull off 24 hours of non-stop programming over the entire GMT day. The webcasting team came from Canada, Germany, Australia, the UK, Portugal, and the USA. Conversations centered around preserving the Earth. Guests included scientists, environmentalists, business leaders, educators, community members, and students! We recorded the day's events, which will be available soon for those to listen to later.

Participants filled the chat room to ask questions of the hosts and special guests - the live conversations were fun and informative. I was actively involved with about 18 of the hours either by hosting or providing behind-the-scenes support to the person hosting. This was true of the entire Earthcast team. It was the best teamwork I've ever been a part of!

The day was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time. The pass-offs at the hour mark when webcasters passed the streaming to someone else in another part of the world were times when everyone came together - checking the sound, offering suggestions, and encouraging each other.

Student voices were heard from all over the world about important environmental matters. They were poised and proud to be broadcasting to a worldwide audience and they were invested in the subject. Their teachers report that they want to know when they can do something like this again.

I felt a great sense of accomplishment at the end of the day. I streamed both audio and video from my laptop for the first time and I didn't mess it up. I enjoyed sharing the 6th grade blogging project done by April Warren and her students, and talking with Sue Hellman and her students about a video they created for Earth Day. I also interviewed Chris Clonen, the Project Manager of General Motors' Education website and loved the conversation and learning about hybrid vehicles, fuel cells, no waste manufacturing plants, and more.  Click here for archived audio of the interview.

This one one of the highlights of my entire career and I look forward to future similar experiences. The possibilities are endless!

Thanks to the entire Earthcast team and everyone who participated! This event would not have been possible without the support of WorldBridges and EdTechTalk.

Earthcast08 Has Begun!

Random Thoughts After Power Up! Conference

Oakland Schools (county in SE Michigan) hosted a technology conference today.  The opening keynoter was Lee Rainie from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.  His presentation was a timeline of when new technologies were introduced.  He eventually got to web 2.0 resources.  His presentation fit the need of the audience.   There were only four people who knew what Twitter was, and only a few that had heard of del.icio.us, to name a few of the tools that were mentioned.  A few people from my district asked me about some of what was mentioned in the keynote, so that was good! 

This is a cool story:  A teacher from my district (the wonderful John Shaw) presented about a blogging project he did with 4th graders using Blogmeister, see handout.  He showed how easy it is to embed Flickr slideshows and audio recordings.  His student teacher was there, too.  She did not have an active role in the presentation, but she chimed in with a few thoughts here and there.  After the session, a curriculum director from a local district approached her and told her that they had two teaching positions available and told her to apply, telling her that she wanted to hire teachers that did these kinds of projects.  Hooray!

I presented in teh afternoon about an 8th grade Social Studies unit that is taught using Moodle.  All of our 8th graders will be involved, as this is used as a performance assessment for technology literacy.  It was fun to share about the development of the curriculum and the teacher professional development. 

At the end of the day, Julie Evans of Project Tomorrow shared the results from the nation-wide Speak Up data, as well as specific results for Oakland County.  The results are included in her PowerPoint presentation.  "The students want to be productive in school, and want to have access to their devices... their laptop, mp3 player, Smartphones, and PDAs!"

Bruce Umpstead gave an overview of the state of Michigan's use of technology.  He did a great job of highlighting the key points and his philosophy matches mine!  He will be the keynoter for Walled Lake's Spice it Up Conference on August 26, and his message would be perfect for our administrators and teachers.

Planning for 22nd Century Learning

I spent the afternoon with a great group of folks discussing & planning steps to help administrators be the kinds of leaders required to transform our schools into 22nd century places of learning... meaning we must plan for the future.  I wish I remember who said that at the meeting, but I really like the phrase "22nd century learning" much better than "21st century learning," a popular phrase that I believe has become overused.  If we are planning for 21st century learning, we're already too late.

Meetings I attend outside of my school district tend to be with people like me - people who work on instructional uses of technology.  Our ideas and beliefs are shared for the most part.  The meeting today was with a group of administrators (superintendents, principals, curriculum directors, etc) who come from diverse backgrounds .  I enjoyed hearing their perspectives and ideas -  it was fun to discuss educational technology with people who have such different job responsibilities from mine.  The lingo was a bit different from what I am used to, but we all are interested in changing the learning culture of schools and are striving for the same goals.

The discussion was rich as we talked about the "formula" for the development of the kind of administrative leadership that fosters student use of technology as a true learning tool.  What makes some administrators passionate about the topic?  How can students be added to this discussion?  How can we encourage the natural learning that takes place informally in homes to continue at school?   Should teacher evaluation have a technology component?  How can we best share ideas and network with others about this topic?  What are the routines and practices of our best technology-using schools?  Of course, there are many more questions than answers, but I am pleased to be a part of the discussion and planning process.

Also, a phrase I heard for the first time was "generative leadership."  ...I plan to learn more about what that means.

Earth Day 24-hour Webcastathon, April 22, 2008

 

What kind of Earth will your grandchildren's grandchildren grow up in?

 Act Locally; Share Globally! Come join the 24-hour long conversation about the health of our planet.  Participants will be from around the world. Special guests include local leaders, student environmental advocates, scientists, engineers, and people like you who are interested in helping to make the world safe and healthy for future generations.  Participation can occur anywhere there is an Internet connection!  There are three Ways to Participate:

1. Listen to the live show at http://www.webcastacademy.net/live.  There are several ways to listen to the audio:  iTunes, Windows Media, Real Player, and Ustream.  Select the option that works best for your computer system.  Use the chat room to ask questions or communicate ideas to the special guests.  See tentative schedule on the attached flyer.


2. Create your own video or audio that can be played during the webcastathon.  Share how you and your students are making a difference in your own community or any thoughts and ideas that you have about environmental issues.  Upload videos to youtube, teachertube, your blog or website.  Tag all content with earthcast08.  If you need help with the uploading or tagging process, contact Pam by leaving a comment. 


3. Add an an audio, video, or text comment to the EarthDay Webcastathon VoiceThread at  http://enviroscims.wikispaces.com/earthcast08+VoiceThread    

Please help spread the word!  Distribute this flyer to all your contacts who may be interested: 

webcastathonflyer.pdf

I'm "bilingual"

Everyone who knows that I recently purchased a Mac have been asking if I now prefer Mac to PC. Can't say that I do. Yes, it is different. I just like knowing both languages! At work, I use a PC. At home, I switch off. Almost everything I do these days is web based, so either platform works just fine. The creative suite of software on the Mac has been fun to try out, but there are PC equivalents to all of it. The business world is almost entirely PC, so I support my school district in sticking with PCs.

After about a month of use, here are my thoughts:

• The Mac is very hot on my lap. I quickly learned about the need to stick something between me and my laptop after scalding my thighs!


• The Mac makes a very strange bubble noise that I cannot figure out how to turn off. I have figured out that the noise is probably due to using Skype, and the noises may occur when people on my contact list log on and off. I've tried switching every settting, but I'm still dealing with that annoying noise. Yes, I could turn Skype off, but I like to use it.


• Microsoft Office on a Mac = Microsoft Office on a PC


• Camtasia does not work on Mac


• Photobucket is fun. This is a program that does not have a PC equivalent (at least I don't think so)


• iChat is also very cool. I love the computer-sharing function. I use Yugma to do this on a PC, but need to use Skype for audio.


• iMovie = MovieMaker


• I love the ease of using keyboard shortcut to snag images on the Mac - Vista now does the same thing.


• Less software updates on the Mac


• Garageband lets you do "enhanced" podcasts. I use Audacity on my PC, but there is no ability to add images. I'm not all that keen on the enhanced podcasts, because I am unable to use them on my video mp3 player (I have a Creative Zen... didn't go with Apple's ipod. My Creative has a built in voice recorder that Apple did not have.... Apple requires an additional piece of equipment that you have to buy).


• The ease of zooming in when presenting with a Mac is an awesome feature!

Back from MACUL... Now what?

 
The MACUL Conference was held in Grand Rapids, Michigan last week.  The conversations, networking, and social events helped me connect with others, and spending time with others who "get me" for three days was pretty cool.

The pre-conference session with Jason Ohler on digital storytelling was a highlight, for sure.  Jason was masterful at helping everyone see that digital stories have everything to do about the story, and little to do with the technology.  By the end of the day, EVERYONE had written and produced a short digital video using either iMovie or MovieMaker, then we shared our creations with the group.  The stories were fabulous! 

I attended a wide variety of sessions, and picked up at least one thing from each of them.  I was on the MACUL blogging team, so I wrote about many of the sessions on the Conference blog.

So, now it's time to set goals to figure out new ways of bringing the joy and effectiveness of technology into the arms of the students and teachers in the classrooms.   After much thought, I think that one of the things that needs to be done is to find ways to reach the school principals... the instructional leaders at the building level.    One principal from my district attended this year, and he has already made plans to add on-line collaborative experiences for the students at his school.  What could happen if all the principals were to attend MACUL next year in Detroit? 

So far I haven't found a way to systemically communicate the need for keeping abreast of newer technologies that were not available even a few years ago to the building principals.  I've been asked to train them on using Word, PowerPoint, Excel, email, etc.  I'm  happy to do that, and learning to use these programs help them with their administrative tasks, but somehow there hasn't been time for more meaningful types of staff development.   When I do have the opportunity to speak with the group, I have a short amount of time in their packed agenda. 

I plan to work closely with the principal who attended MACUL, and I'm banking on him having clout with his peers to ensure that we find time for doing what we need to do to prepare our students for the world they now live in.  We cannot do it without technology.

Cover the Material - or Teach Students to Think

The Feb 2008 issue of Educational Leadership features an article titled "Cover the Material - Or Teach Students to Think?," written by Marion Brady.  The author questions the logic of adding "rigor" and high standards to the curriculum at the expense of teaching students to think.  The author believes that old answers rarely fit in eras of rapid social change, and that adaptation to changing realities require higher-order thinking skills.  Textbooks do not help develop higher-order thinking skills, because they represent the final conclusions of other people's thoughts and processes. 

Traditional instruction is more concerned with the study of opinions about the real world than with the study of the real world itself.  Internalizing others' views required just one thinking skill--recall.  Trying to make sense of one's own day-to-day experience requires the use of every known thinking skill.

Education leaders can take a crucial step toward getting students to use higher-order thinking skills by drawing a sharp line between firsthand and secondhand knowledge.  The best way to do this is to focus attention directly on some part of the real world. 

Our students need to have opportunities to make their own inferences,  hypotheses, generalizations, and value judgements.  Gobal collaborative projects such as the Roadkill 2008 Project (sounds gross, but you need to look into it... I heard about it on EdTechTalk this week), projects such as Cheryl Lykowski's Global Explorers project, and Technospud Projects would fit the bill. 

A few classrooms in Walled Lake are participating in The Oakland Schools Land Use Project, where students come up with a development idea that would improve their community.  They collaborate with local experts who push them to think about concepts such as the impact on the environment and the people, and local zoning ordinances.  The students survey their community to determine the need, calculate costs, and identify benefits and challenges.   They present their idea to the county experts by videoconference.  The project has meaning to the students and they are learning to think!

I agree with the author, who believes that a focus on real-world issues can alter the entire culture of a school or a school system.  It is relevant.  It shows respect for the students.  Tim Tyson, former principal at Mabry Middle School (Georgia) gets it.  His students all participate in a film festival where they create videos based on a current events issue.  Scroll down to the bottom of this page to see some examples.  Principal Tyson delivered the closing keynote address at last year's NECC Conference; it has been 8 months and it is still fresh in my mind.  He brought students with him who talked about their experiences doing their research, creating their video, and their feelings about making the world a better place.  It was highly motivating to them.  There is no doubt in my mind that the skills developed as a result of that project are the kinds of skills that are needed in today's working world. 

What can we do (and what needs to be done) to give more emphasis toward teaching students to think in a time when our country is so focused on standards and testing?  I am doing what I can in my school district in Walled Lake, but I know that there is so much more to do.  One of the things I'm excited about is an 8th grade social studies project that I'm developing right now.  It will be one that ALL 8th graders (about 1,200) will complete, and it involves students collaborating to create projects that requires them to think!   They will participate using Moodle, an on-line course management system.  Pulling this off requires lots of time, teacher staff development, tech troubleshooting, and advanced planning.  Hopefully the teachers will soon agree that time spent on a project like this is worth the time away from "covering the material."  Only time will tell.

MACUL Conference Session

This is a cross-post from the MACUL blog and the MI DEN blog.

I've been off this week for mid-winter break, and have spent lots of time preparing for my MACUL presentation. I have a few book studies that I facilitate, focusing on Using Technology with Classroom Instruction That Works. During my session, I'll be sharing how I structure and facilitate my book studies, along with all the materials I use.

Most everyone probably knows about Marzano's nine instructional strategies that improve student achievement, according to thousands of research studies (Classroom Instruction That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Increasing Student Achievement). This new book shows how technology can support the nine strategies. I thought about writing a similar book about a year ago... wish I had acted quicker, as the authors beat me to it!

My session will be on Thursday, March 6, from 2:30-3:30pm. I'll be sharing some on-line and printable resources that participants can use for their own book studies. K-12 teachers may learn about some ready-to-use tips and strategies that can make a positive difference for student learning. Hope to see you there!

Meme: Passion Quilt

Derrall Garrison tagged me on a new meme, called "Passion Quilt" that originated from Miguel Guhlin.

Miguel wants to create an edublogger passion quilt, with lots of contributors; one image per person.  The image should be one that captures what we most passionately want children to learn in school...from our particular perspective.  I created my own simple drawing in PowerPoint and saved it as an image.   

Here are the 3 rules for this meme:

• Post a picture from a source like FlickrCC or Flickr Creative Commons or make/take your own that captures what YOU are most passionate about for kids to learn about...and give your picture a short title.


• Title your blog post "Meme: Passion Quilt" and link back to this blog entry.


• Include links to 5 folks in your professional learning network or whom you follow on Twitter/Pownce.

The five people I am tagging from my Twitter network are:

1. Langwitches


2. Opening Minds


3. Stirring Up the Dust


4. Pam 2.0 


5. Bett's Places

If you are too busy, or don't care for these kinds of things, it's OK to not keep it going.  :-)

Did it... bought a Mac

I decided that I needed to be more well-rounded with all ed tech tools and apps. I've done a lot of research and learned that the new Apple computers can run Windows and Mac operating systems at the same time. I purchased a program called Fusion that allows an immediate switch of operating systems. Before I even install Fusion, I want to spend time using the Mac programs. I'm feeling a bit illiterate, not knowing how to do the basics. For example, I keep trying to right-click, and I still haven't figured out how to resize a window to the size I want it.

The school district I work for is strictly a PC district. Therefore, my new computer will most likely stay home for my own personal work and fun. I want to use it for webcasting and for the development of some on-line classes I am working on now for the One to One Institute. I look forward to comparing iMovie to MovieMaker.

Thanks, Julie and Derrall, for helping to get me going and for being there for all my dumb questions!

MIchigan DEN Virtual Conference

[kml_flashembed movie="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/46928cc51133af17/47a4e8cd9463e5b" width="432" height="250" wmode="transparent" /]This is a cross post with the Michigan Discovery Educator Network blog.   

What an awesome day!  I just returned home after attending the conference at Doherty Elementary School in West Bloomfield.  The day was a blend of virtual and face-to-face professional development sessions.  Kudos to Cindy Carson, who hosted the event at her school, and facilitated the day, making sure the presenters had what they needed, the food was ordered and delivered on time, door prizes were available to attendees, and other "behind-the-scenes" duties. 

Thanks to MI Leadership Council members Eric Strommer (Flint Schools), Cheryl Lykowski (Bedford Schools), and Pam Shoemaker (Walled Lake Schools) for facilitating breakout sessions.  The opportunity for attendees to ask questions and work with each other was a bonus to attending the conference in person. 

The virtual keynotes and breakout sessions will soon be posted to the Discovery session archive page.  I plan to watch the sessions I did not attend, as I heard they were great! Web 2.0 tools that I plan to also check out sometime soon are posted on Alan Levine's 50 Ways Wiki.



Flixn

[kml_flashembed movie="http://flixn.com/flash/players/camdefault.swf?videoid=tm3kjr" width="328" height="320" wmode="transparent" /]

A first grade teacher in my district just got a new webcam and is anxious to post some video on her classroom blog.  She asked me if I knew how to use Flixn.  I've never heard of it, so I figured I'd give it a try.  The program is very easy to use!  And it does not even require a log-in.  I look really tired and am having a bad hair day, so I apologize.  However, if you are a blogger and have a webcam, this program is worth taking a look.

Kudos to Barb, who has her first graders writing more than ever before... due to her blog.  The students love getting comments and sharing their writing with others. If you have a moment, they would love for you to make a comment.  Thanks!

Discovery Resources About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

 

Are you looking for classroom ideas and resources about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr?  If you are a subscriber, Discoverystreaming has many new videos, audio files, images, and writing prompts available.  Click here for easy access to these resources. 

Take students to the 1960’s and the Civil Rights movement with these resources.  Also get them thinking and writing about Dr. King, his message, and his impact on our nation and the world.

Weird Al Gives Lesson About Copyright

Click  here to listen to a Weird Al's lesson about copyright.

6th Graders Write Science Song and Perform Dance

Jean Buller, a sixth grade teacher at Clifford Smart Middle School, assigned her students to write songs to go along with the astronomy unit they were studying.  When I heard of this, I encouraged Jean to podcast.  With some brief training, Jean was using Audacity to record the students, converting to mp3s and posting the files to her website.  I had the pleasure of assisting her for a portion of the day while the students were performing.  The students really enjoyed watching their classmates sing their songs.   They were also very excited to be able to share their creative works with their family and friends!  Jean reported that her students did remarkably well on the unit test and she attributes their success to this activity.  

I happened to have my Flip videocamera in my purse (I don't go anywhere without it... I never know when I might need it!)  One group of students had choreographed a dance to go with their song.  I grabbed them and took them into the hall to record their performance on video.  Enjoy!

[kml_flashembed movie="http://video.google.com/googleplayer.swf?docid=-4720322722953385681" width="400" height="326" wmode="transparent" /]

Free Premium Yugma Account for Bloggers

Yugma : Free Web Conferencing, Online Meetings, Web Collaboration Service, Free Desktop Sharing, video conferencing, remote control software, net meeting, mac conferencing: home

Thank you, Langwitches for this tip!  Until the end of the month, free Premium accounts are available to bloggers from Yugma.  Yugma is for hosting web meetings, and it allows you to share your computer desktop with others, along with whiteboard and chat features.  If you are not a blogger, you can still sign up for a free account for up to 10 attendees.

I cannot wait to try it!  I've copied and pasted the info from Sylvia's blog below:

Hi, This is Connie from Yugma. On behalf of Yugma with our One Year Anniversary, I would like to thank you for mentioning us on your site and helping us to spread the word about our product. The blogging community had had an integral part in making Yugma one of the fastest growing real-time web collaborations services in 2007 with over 100,000 users to date.

To express our thanks, we’re donating/sponsoring Yearly Premium Yugma accounts (valued at $99.50) to bloggers who simply ask. To learn more about this program and how to get your sponsored Yugma account, check out the details on the Yugma blog – linked below.
http://www.yugma.com/blog/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=261&Itemid=1

Please be sure to check this out soon! The window to request your account through the Yugma Blogger Program will be through the end of January, 2008.

With Greatest Appreciation,

Connie and the rest of the Yugma Team

PS: Be sure to stay tuned! Yugma is set to release new features and improved performance in the next few weeks and months. To keep informed of all the happenings, check out http://www.yugma.com under the news and blog.

MoodleMeet Ning

Ning - Create your own Social Networks! via kwout

I learned about a Ning dedicated to Moodlers from Gates' Computer Tips blog.  If you have never heard of Ning, it is a social networking site that can be used for educational purposes.  I am a member of several Nings:  MACUL, Classroom 2.0, School 2.0, VidSnacks, OpenEducation, and the One-to-One Institute.  Nings can be public and private.  Of the ones I am subscribed to, all but one are public, as they are designed to share and collaborate with others from around the world.  The private Ning is used to work and create professional development materials for a large project that will be marketed around the world.  A private Ning could be created by any teacher to allow students the opportunity to use social networking as part of thelearning process in a safe way.

Happy New Year!

This was made with a fun Flickr tool.