Musings on Instructional Technology

Presentations and Raw Teaching At SMU Revisited

2011-06-24T12:30:00.003-04:00

Two years ago I read an article detailing a movement at SMU to remove technology from their classrooms because professors had become too dependent on showing powerpoints. This move, known as teaching "naked" or "raw teaching" was designed to create a more engaging classroom environment; encouraging interaction and discourse between instructor and students. And Dean Bowen began taking computers out of the classrooms.

As a technology user and evangelist I was shocked that a university in 2009 would remove technology from classrooms for any reason. Sure, there are important points to be made about the way technology is used in classrooms on any level, but was stripping the classrooms of technology a good way to remove the "crutch" of powerpoints? So students (who use technology in most areas of their lives) are no longer going to use it in the classroom? How about expecting technology to be utilized more appropriately in education? Shouldn't 21st century classrooms and professors model the use of the available technology as an important tool for learning and accessing knowledge? Won't students be better prepared for the future because they were in technology-rich classrooms? If one of my children was attending SMU, I'd have some questions about how stripping technology was preparing my child for a their future...I thought.

But now, looking back I think I missed the point. I had a knee-jerk react to removing technology but didn't really think about the reality Dr. Bowen was addressing - many lectures and powerpoints are really bad.

It wasn't and isn't about the technology, but how we change the way we interact and teach when we are in face-to-face spaces. Powerpoint is easy to attack because it has been so overused and sometimes abused. But are bad powerpoint presentations more like Frankenstein's monster returning to haunt our courses and students, where we as the creators are responsible? And after all, creating a presentation in any form you think will be engaging takes time and effort.

I've been kicking this around in my own head because recently one of the most popular workshops I've offered has been on Prezi. I like Prezi and have used it and have enjoyed leading the workshop. But I always make the point there really is little difference between a bad presentation with powerpoint or prezi. The broader message I'm trying to convey, "It's not about the instrument - it's about the artist" and "You are the presentation."

It's about the craft of presenting and how good presenters connect ideas and engage their audiences. Which is not so different than what I think Bowen was trying to express. And while I still don't know about the notion of pulling technology from classrooms to prevent its poor use. I do think I would ask teachers who use technology to lecture or present to be thoughtful about it, to plan and reflect on how best to communicate and facilitate ideas and learning.

Resources:

A lot of my ideas about proper presenting were shaped by the work of Garr Reynolds and his book Presentation Zen , Guy Kawasaki and the "10/20/30 rule" and the "knowledge-able" Michael Wesch. I also think one of the best places to watch great presenting is TED.com or surf a few of the presentations on slideshare for ideas.

Frankenstein photo by rafapanadero used under CC license

First Impressions of the iPad

2011-04-21T10:42:00.011-04:00

Recently I was lucky enough to get my hands on an iPad. As an owner of an (aging) iPod and other Mac products I wasn't completely unfamiliar with the platform, but I've heard a lot about tablets and specifically the iPad so I was pretty excited to try this one out.

The following are admittedly my first impressions, so take all with a grain of salt and feel free to contribute your impressions or set me straight as needed. :)

Pros

I'd heard the iPad was light, but it really is ultra-light. I was amazed at the difference between carrying a laptop and the iPad, and I'll admit to double-checking a few times to make sure it was in my bag.
The iPad's display is also really impressive. The picture is crisp and easy on the eyes. This is the way to read any content online.
The combination of the above coupled with the adequate volume and audio quality make the iPad an excellent device for media as well.

Cons

iTunes - Ugh- In my experience there are few programs that slow down computer performance like iTunes. I know I'm using a PC and the Mac-heads would look disapprovingly and suggest that is my problem. But I'm not the only person running iTunes on a PC, and it be nice if getting an iPad didn't mean subjecting myself to the iTunes ecosystem (more on this in a minute). I looked at some alternatives to iTunes (like Songbird), but for the updates and apps I bit the bullet and installed the bloated iTunes on my laptop. Oh, look another update for quicktime....(shaking my head).
Flash - Yeah, I know this one has been covered so I won't go on about it. I'm just saying it would still be nice.
Lastly, and most importantly I'm not sure I like being here in the iStore with my iApps on my iPad. This is a closed environment. Apple will tell me what is available in this world and will control their environment. This is a little troubling because as a fan of opensource software - somehow this seems like the opposite of that model.

With most of my other devices I am allowed to choose (with some limits) what programs I want to install and what OS I'd like. This is a great time for finding free opensource applications or even webapps. I am reminded of a Lawrence Lessig talk called "Open" where he speaks to these points about the closed environment of Apple and whether that is a good thing. It's worth watching and considering.

For Education

The Chronicle recently ran an article on iPads for professors which gave a great deal of insight into how the contributing professors used the iPad. It was a good read but it lacked an "aha" moment. And while it's clear the iPad (and tablets) will make a huge impact on the future of textbooks, again I wonder if this is a more controlled "DMRish" environment. If so, how would it impact OERs?

Finally, for the K-12 environment, I've seen a lot of extremely positive postings on classes and schools that have gone with iPads. No disrespect to the postings and successes students and teachers are feeling. However, I wonder if these same classes and teachers wouldn't have experienced similar success with other technologies if they were given the needed time and training. Finally the technology isn't as important was how it can be used to learn. And really is there anything I can do on a $700 iPad that I can't do on a $300 netbook?

photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/andyi/5546164954/

Delicious, Bookmark Housecleaning and Graveyards

2011-04-04T10:19:00.000-04:00

Last December I was one of many alarmed to hear Yahoo would be shutting down delicious (or del.icio.us if you're kicking it old school). I've used the tool for many years and enjoyed the web-based bookmarking that freed me up to move between computers and access my saved bookmarks.

After using it to bookmark my stuff, I soon found that Delicious was an area I could search before going to google and get better results because others were sharing their bookmarks as well. I quickly added smart people to my network and would search their bookmarks for links that had the benefit of being vetted by a trusted source. The light bulb turned on, and I became aware of the "socialbookmaking" part of delicious.

Delicious became a favorite subject of mine for workshops with teachers. I extolled the benefits of using a network of others to help find websites to use in class. And talked about how much time can be saved when teachers are networked and bookmarks are open. And like many who use web2.o apps, I assumed delicious was secure and would be around indefinitely.

So as I read through many of the "alternatives to delicious" links, I felt like an evicted tenant sizing up my options for where to move to and call home for my huge family of bookmarks.

But I was determined to find some silver lining. Although this was an inconvenience- some good might come of this still. Like a family who moves houses, I have a great opportunity to size up what I need to take with me.

I don't really have a problem with hoarding physical items. My office is pretty barren. I could put all my "work" belongings in one box. But "digital" is another story. My delicious account is bloated, and it's been a long time since I've done any work to pare down the jungle of folders and bookmarks. Delicious is a great system for organizing bookmarks, but one that requires a little attention to organization.

I've heard Delicious referred to as "the graveyard for bookmarks," and I'll admit there are more than a few zombies in my bookmarks. Links or tags I haven't revisited since bookmarking them (years ago), and some duplicate tags litter my Delicious page. Pages that I have bookmarked and then never returned.

Do I really need a "video" and "videos" tag? How many of the 240+ twitter links should I really save for the future? I thought that link was in "internetsafety" or "digitalcitizenship" but it's not; maybe "cybersafety"? I know I bookmarked it, now where is it? Yes, there is a search window in delicious, but what if I can't recall the meaningful keywords I would have tagged it with?...Ehhh, what a mess.

Maybe some housecleaning is in order. Time to sort and box up what to take and maybe what to leave behind when I move to the new place. So although I don't welcome the change, maybe it's time to reconsider how I organize my bookmarks. I'll streamline my system and look back at this as an important moment. I won't haul my bloated zombie hoard to Diigo or Google . I'll embrace organization and structure. (cheering) U-S-A, U-S-A!

Let me at 'em!!!

UPDATE: After the outrage over the closing of Delicious circulated for a bit, Yahoo! announced it was not being shut down. Whew, glad that is over....

UPDATE II: Then this: "Delicous in Peril" via Mashable. Time to be concerned again?

UPDATE III: Like the customer hanging around until the neon OPEN sign is turned off, I'm still in delicious and I still haven't really cleaned up at all. I looked at "Diigo" but it seemed a little too busy, and although I like google bookmarks I haven't seen how I get my "network" in there. I guess truthfully I like my graveyard the way it is, and I'll probably hang out until they close the doors. However, I do like what I am hearing about freelish.us.

If you too are looking for options and need a little help, Richard Byrne has a useful post on how to prepare a migration of bookmarks out of Delicious and into another platform. And here is the link to a list of delicious alternatives on googledoc via Alec Couros.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/topgold/3341034725/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/16381666@N07/1791928248/

Foursquare, Science Fiction and Paranoia?

2011-02-23T08:04:00.012-05:00

One of the best feelings as a blogger is when someone takes the time to comment on a post. If they agree, it's affirming; if they disagree, but do so respectfully, it's a chance to grow and see ideas in a new light while rethinking your own position. I almost always enjoy the conversation.

One of the blog posts I wrote last summer that received some comments and feedback was on foursquare and its role in twitter. I posted here on this blog and on my former district's blog .

My point was that I thought foursquare and apps like it dilute the value of twitter and made it harder to explain the networked learning that occurs on twitter to those who are not in it. I suggested Foursquare made twitter more easy to dismiss. People who I'd talk to about twitter and learning looked at updates from grocery stores and fast food restaurants and decided this "twittering" was just not for them.

I was pleased to receive all comments, one by Vicki Davis (whose work I've followed for sometime) gave me some food for thought. And while I did not agree with all the comments - one comment closed with "I am not an educator robot," which I thought was ironic because the foursquare updates have a very robotic feel. I can almost here HAL900's voice state, "I just became the mayor of Starbucks on foursquare." I appreciate that folks took the time to post comments, and I did spend some time reflecting and wondering if this foursquare disgust was a little of my "old codger" flaring up and whether I had missed something.

Well, I'm at it again. And while I stand by my earlier thoughts about the twitter "noise" created by services like foursquare, I've changed my focus to some potential pitfalls to using foursquare or any other geolocation reporting apps.

Before making my case, there are at least a few items I want to make clear:

I believe geolocation based apps that might enhance a learning experience have real potential. I'm watching some of the augmented reality projects for education with great interest (see also The Civil War Augmented Reality Project )
I've advocated teaching students to use technology and social media responsibly at workshops and PTA events. So I am not for the blocking of socialmedia or most websites for our students and schools. I don't believe in scaring people off the Internet (more on this soon).
I am not a "conspiracy theory kinda guy." I am not blogging in my basement with a tinfoil hat on to prevent the government from spying on me. I do think we landed on the moon. I don't think the US government blew up the Twin Towers...
Finally, I am not arguing teachers or anyone else doesn't have the right to use services like foursquare or should be treated any differently than any other person.

While it may be a sign I'm not that social to start with, the idea of self-reporting locations throughout my day seems on some level pointless, a little narcissistic and maybe even foolish to me when it first came out. Now I'm wondering if services like foursquare, gowalla and facebook locations might be . . . dangerous.

I know, I know I can hear myself saying that and thinking I sound just like some of the fearful internet safety presentations I've sat through and later tried to dispute. I'm not a cyber fear factor kind of guy. What would danah boyd say?

I'll start with a movie. I am a sci-fi movie fan and remember a scene from 2002's Minority Report , where protagonist John Anderton lives in a future where retina scans reveal locations, recent purchases made at the GAP and caters the ads to fit the person. The movie explores some important big themes regarding freedoms, surveillance and freewill. But I remember being a little creeped out by a future where every movement and purchase is potentially recorded and monitored. And I thought I wouldn't want anyone tracking all of my movements and behaviors like that. And we live in America - we'd never let that kind of surveillance happen.

I'll cry fowl when I feel like technology is invading our privacy, but this is another issue - this is incentivized self-reporting of location, habits and probable purchases using technology. I wonder if these are dangerous habits?

Report your every movement and purchase, and I'll give you a badge or a free latte. What would Orwell or Phillip K Dick think of this?

So when Please Rob Me came out, I thought it was a brilliant way to address the issue of "over-sharing." The site no longer reveals updates stating "We are satisfied with the attention we've gotten for an issue that we deeply care about." Apparently ICanStalkU feels it still has a point to make as they've continued to "raise awareness about inadvertent information sharing." But I'm not sure if some of us understand "over sharing" anymore. Or think about the caches of data it can create.

I'm not afraid of the "social web," and I know that is the direction the 'net is headed. But I'm not sure if this is the same as getting advice on a restaurant or film to see, and I wonder if this kind of self-reported surveillance has any unforeseen consequences for those "checking in."

Again am I wrong? Paranoid?

"And while new media bring with them new possibilities for openness, transparency, engagement, and participation, they also bring new possibilities for surveillance, manipulations, distraction, and control" - M. Wesch

A Few Related Links:

EFF.org "Location Privacy"
How I became a Foursquare Cyberstalker Guardian (July 2010)
New Facebook Location Feature Sparks Privacy Concerns NYTimes (August 2010)
Foursquare Infographic (2011)

Photo under CC license http://www.flickr.com/photos/wiredwitch/5295175015/

The Best of Times in a Digital Age

2011-02-03T16:11:00.001-05:00

Last fall I watched "The Best of Times" starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell. It had been years since I'd watched this football classic from the 80's. I remembered the tale of lovable Jack Dundee, haunted by the catch he failed to make- an event he is reminded of and relives often, watching the film projector in his office he dreams of recreating the moment. Jack’s burden of the “man who dropped the ball” is a mostly self-imposed title, but he is also remind by those around him of his transgression from years ago.

He feels his moment of failure has become one of the defining moments of his life, as well as the history of the town. Without giving away too much of the film’s plot, Jack formulates a plan to replay the game in an attempt to delete the embarrassing event from the past.

After watching the movie again and considering some of the themes, I’ve wondered if this comedy from the early 80’s has any parallels to the present day and the future when technology has enabled events in our lives to be very public (by choice or not). When our videos, pictures, writings and lives stay on the web, forever sometimes, without context or permission. This is great for sharing life’s positive experiences - maybe not so great in life’s inevitable failures or mistakes.

I wonder if we are prepared for how we will react as all of our inner Jacks will be forced to deal with the unflattering information that is sure to surface that might be available to friends, family, love interests, prospective employers, members of our future communities. Because I don’t think humans will stop making mistakes, and I don’t think technology will become less available or mobile, and I can’t imagine publishing content on the Internet will become harder, I wonder how we will all react when our “dropping the ball” moments are public and persistent?

I think a common approach in the past was to try to scare people, and I’ve sat through more than one “Internet Safety” session that seemed at its core to be telling people not to get online. But I’m not sure if this message really resonates with many young people who are increasing online and willing to share in digital spaces.

And it wouldn’t be hard to pull up numerous examples of when embarrassing moments have gone digital, public and viral and have lead to tragic outcomes. But it doesn’t seem right to cite those examples in this post that started with loveable Jack Dundee. I could cite articles like “Welcome to Facebook, Where ‘Deleted’ Photos Live On For 16 Months” by Carol Scott which outlines the persistence of photos deleted from Facebook, but I don’t want this post to be about Facebook or Youtube or any specific technology or website.

Instead this post is about us. And while I think it’s a great idea to continue to talk to our students about their digital identities and how to shape them in positive ways, it will be equally important to see a shift in the way we as a society evaluate content online and the context (or lack of context) for the content we have online. We might need to allow ourselves to “forget” - even if the web doesn’t. Otherwise generations of kids might be dealing with their inner Jack Dundee every time they apply for a job or consider running for public office.

Burning My Videos DVDs

2011-01-19T20:16:00.000-05:00

So you want to take some of those video files with the easy Flip camera and turn them into a DVD for your family? Sounds pretty simple, but when I first began to look into options for burning my home videos to DVD, I was disappointed at the lack of relevant information on the web for simple steps to do this. I found a lot of suggestions for different apps, but nothing I found took me step-by-step. And often the information seemed to be about a product to purchase. I wasn't looking for editing software for helping me create a work of art-I simply wanted to take what I had recorded on the Flip and put it on a DVD that I could give to family to play.

I had two "musts" for this project:

All the software used must all be free and relatively easy to use. Bonus points for using software already on my machine.
The process must yield a DVD that can be played in a standard DVD player.

So the following are the steps I've used to burn home video files to a DVD that can be played in DVD players. I've found this to be very useful when sharing family videos that are too large to send in email attachments.

I recorded my video with an older model Flip video camera. The raw video is in avi format, and I imported those files into Windows Moviemaker which is included on my machine running XP. My version of the Flip uses avi as the video format, but it should be noted newer versions of the Flip camera do not use avi. Windows MovieMaker needs to be in a format like avi that can be imported in the program.

After editing I saved the file in MovieMaker. I learned the key step is to save as "DV-AVI (NTSC)". My first attempts failed because I didn't select this format.
Next I downloaded and installed DVDstyler(for free). It is simple and may lack frills, but the I found it very easy to use and create a menu with buttons that point to the imported video files. When done select the "Burn" option and check to make sure the file ends in .iso (for example "Save to C:\dvd.iso")
It will take a few minutes depending on the size of your project to generate a DVD image. When you are done you'll need to be able to locate the iso file.
Last step is to burn the iso file as an image. It is important to create an image to burn to a DVD which will allow you to play it on most DVD players. I use Infrarecorder , which is another very useful free app, but any software that allows you to "burn image" ( in infrarecorder it is under actions). Now navigate to the iso file , make sure you have a blank DVD and select burn.
When the burn is complete you should have a finalized DVD capable of being played in any standard DVD player.

So far my experience has been a very good one with all these programs and this process. I've been able to share a lot of family videos without the emails or home video viewings.

Early Impressions of Moodle2

2010-12-02T15:34:00.007-05:00

It has been a few weeks since I attended a distance learning conference in Durham, and several days since the eagerly awaited release of Moodle2. In that time I've tried to connect the info in the sparse notes I've taken and resources on the web with what I am seeing in Moodle 2.

I owe my early impressions to both the "tire-kicking" I've done in a few Moodle2 servers and my attendance in an excellent session on Moodle2 from Michelle at Remote-Learner and Martin Dougiamas's keynote at the NC3ADL conference. I'll limit my post to a few elements I think are "big deals," as well as a few areas I'll be watching before I get too excited.

The Big Deals:

Files - File Management in Moodle2 will be a big change. The ability to easily access files over different courses and the adding of repositories from external sites like Flickr and GoogleDocs will be game changers. The "file picker" is easy to use, but this will be a significant change from the current system and the way files operate.
Hubs- I love the idea of a moodle hub as a repository sharing courses. I hope this will not only create some opportunities for openness and collaboration but also might encourage more discussions about the elements of a good online course. Sharing quality course materials across institutions, colleges and departments seems like an idea whose time has come.
Conditional Activities & Completion Tracking- Completion Tracking might be the perfect tool for allowing students and instructors to track their progress in a course. Activities could be set for automatic marking or allow students to check when complete. Conditional Release is one of the additions Moodlers have anticipated most. The ability to allow an activity only when a condition has been met might change the ways many courses are currently setup. I did hear at least a few calls for caution in using this lest your course become a series of conditional releases creating a maze for your students to navigate.

Cautiously Awaiting Word on....

Backups - This is also a big deal. The file extension for Moodle2 backups is different and given some of the significant differences between the two versions, I wonder when (don't want to think "if") there will be a way to restore a Moodle 1.9 course backup into a Moodle 2 course.
Blogs and Wikis -I have never liked the blogs or wikis in 1.9. Maybe its because there have always been better tools provided outside the walls of Moodle. So I am interested to see more of how these will look in Moodle2. The new blog in Moodle2 allows comments, and they may be linked to create a “blog about it” scenario. For Bloggers already using an outside/external blogsite, content can be easily pulled down into the improved Moodle blog. The new wiki tool has supposedly been rebuilt, but I haven't yet explored or seen the differences.
Mobile Moodle - Although it is not a part of the new release of Moodle, Mobile Moodle was mentioned by Martin Dougiamas as a part of his conference keynote. I'll continue to be interested in the development of the official Mobile Moodle App and how it might create more anytime environments for learning in Moodle.

As with any release of a new version of any technology there is level of of uncertainty. I have heard more than once from several sources, "I'll probably wait until 2.1 or even 2.2". But I like what I see so far, and this version doesn't seem to be adding more but possibly making better what is already in Moodle.

Openness, Sherpas and ECI831 or Why I Follow So Many Canadians

2010-10-27T13:51:00.010-04:00

"Open"courseware is not new. There are several institutions, including heavyweights like MIT that are offering up course materials available for anyone to take and use. There are materials on iTunes U and YouTube EDU but how many institutions or professors will allow noncredit students to attend class sessions and interact with the class?

For the second year in a row I'm taking the ECI831 course, and I didn't fail it the first time. I'm a member of Alec Couros' growing group of non-credit students/mentors. I participate in as many of the online sessions as I am able and interact with the students in the course through the blog posts and twitter. True there is no credit for the course, but I'll benefit from the resources, ideas and learning in the course even if the topics are familiar to me.

Not only do I enjoy the course, but I'm a big fan of Alec's efforts and work in open education. He's not the only person advocating for Open(ness) in Education, but he's likely one of few who will invite you to participate in his classes.

This kind of openness requires a shift from the traditional closed classroom with teacher delivering content model. As part of Alec's recent session he talked about the role of the sherpa guiding learners through landscapes filled with social media and networks, knowledge and media literacy. This is the role that must be embraced at least partially for openness in our schools to occur. It's a little scary being open and transparent in our practices. Being open puts us out there for other to judge and maybe criticize. But it also allows for support and connecting, and as uncomfortable as it may be to shift to the sherpa role, I suspect that is more of what's needed now.

For one, the world is more open, allowing us the potential to make new connections and learn in amazing ways. But it's also needed because both education and teachers have been under fire lately. Openness and transparency might allow schools to connect with communities and parents and show the kinds of learning experiences happening in their classrooms. As a parent with a young child in public school, I like openness in the classroom, not because I want my child in the open and not because I don't trust her teacher, but rather because I want to see the learning that takes place and applaud and support the efforts of her really fine teacher.

A little more openness in education, whether it's courses in universities or in elementary schools, might give all a chance to be a part of a bigger learning community.

Additional Links:

Wikipedia on Open Educational Resources
ECI831 Session List
Curriki is a good site for finding OER in several different subjects and grades

Why I'll Keep Blogging

2010-09-16T16:12:00.010-04:00

I used to be a lot of "pull" not a lot of "push" on the web. I was a little more "R" not a lot of "R/W." The Internet was a vehicle for finding info., and while I enjoyed the birth of web 2.0 sites, I didn't do a lot of sharing or publishing myself.

I could come up with a lot of reasons I didn't share; not enough time, not enough energy, and concern about privacy/sharing too much. But I'll admit mostly is was because I've never liked committing to the process of writing. I like brainstorming and writing, but don't like editing and revising much. Coming up with blog ideas is fun - writing it out in a way that makes sense - not so much. My wife, who is an editor by trade, can attest to all that I am saying.

Finally, there also was something a little unsettling about putting my ideas "out there." The ideas are now available for the learning, but also the critiquing and evaluating . . . globally. Sometimes it sounds a little far-fetched to say so, but I knew it was what the technology allowed- your ideas to be on display for anyone online. So really, for all those reasons, it was easier not to blog.

But all that changed when I went to work for Marlo Gaddis, head of instructional technology in Winston-Salem. Her department had a blog which all members of the team were invited to (expected to) contribute. So in May 2008 I became a blogger.

My first several posts were admittedly unspectacular. I posted early on because it was a requirement, but over time I found I enjoyed the process of publishing and sharing ideas. It became an important step for reflecting on my learning.

In August of 2008 I was pleased with my post on "The Hole in the Wall Project" and the one about my favorite tool at the time Zoomit. Then in March 2009 I got a comment on my blog from a teacher in Norway. And pretty soon I was jotting down ideas during the week of what might be my next blog post.

I remember the conversations about the posts with one of my colleagues, April, who was a gifted writer herself, and found I enjoyed our discussions about blogging. She mentioned the idea of creating a blog to cross post to that could serve as a collection of all my posts; a great idea for an online portfolio. After some consideration I took the additional step and created this blog for cross posting.

I can't say I've gotten a lot of comments on this blog, as most of the attention went to posts on the bigger district blog, but still it's been a worthwhile project. Still the highlights have been some of the comments and conversations from educators I respect who have taken a moment to comment on the posts. The process of blogging, publishing and connecting has benefited me a great deal.

In fact a few months ago, after proofing my latest post my wife casually remarked that my writing had improved (a little) since starting to blog. It was high praise coming from the editor who will often shake her head at my cavalier attitude towards conventions and grammar rules.

So now that I've moved into another job, there's no clear expectation in place for continuing to blog. But I think I still will. I've benefited from the reflection and writing process that goes into blogging, and I don't want that to end. I think I'll keep it up with a tip of the hat to my former boss who applied the gentle nudge that started the ball rolling. I think the blogging is less about the publishing and more about the learning and connections that are made.

So I'm going to try to keep it going.

What You Can Do with Creative Commons

2010-09-10T12:50:00.001-04:00

In the past it seems the only time I've been asked to talk about copyright is when there was a danger someone might not be observing it. I've held many workshops where there is just a short time to remind participants not to post copyrighted material to their website, blog, wiki etc. . . And because the workshop wasn't solely about copyright and because copyright can be confusing, I've seldom had the time to fully answer questions or give what I feel are good alternatives. Therefore the quick message was a lot of "don't" and "can't" and not much of "can" or "do." And this is often the same message passed on to students.

But I think we can empower ourselves and our classrooms with some "can's" and "do's." A good alternative is Creative Commons (CC), which is a movement I've been a fan of for some time. To be clear, I am not a copyright expert or a lawyer, but from my perspective, the appeal of this option is that it seems relatively straight-forward. There there are some great posts and sites on how CC can be used by educators. Perhaps one of the best examples are the posts by the Clever Sheep who has created several resources for Creative Commons and education.

So here is my best take on using Creative Commons materials in your classrooms:

With CC, the creator can license work for reuse or noncommercial use. There are some guidelines, but much of the material is licensed for noncommercial use, so educators and students have the ability to use and reuse great media without the fear of copyright violation. There are a lot of sites with high quality media that are licensed with Creative Commons. I have listed a few of my favorites below.

CC Licensed Images:

Flickr CC Search flickr is full of fantastic CC images
Compfight another way of searching flickr for CC images

CC Audio:

ccmixter.org community audio site
Jamendo free music downloads
freesound.org
soundbible sound effects and clips

All CC Media:

creativecommons search good starting place in searching for all media
wikimedia commons cc and public domain section of Wikipedia

One of the best options for students and teachers may still be creating your own media. Basically if you take the picture or create the music, you own the copyright. And this could be a great moment to discuss the licensing options and how it impacts a creative work. Maybe you and your students will license your work with Creative Commons license and add to the content being used and shared by educators.

You might find that Creative Commons is a way to have copyright discussions that don't just revolve around what you can't do.

Additional resources for CC in education:

The Clever Sheep's Creative Commons in the Classroom
Wes Fryer's Copyright Resources http://teachdigital.pbworks.com/copyright
Danny Nicholson's Guide to Creative Commons

Images used:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/guervos/361969834/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/purpleslog/3244332524/

WSFCS Online Learning

2010-08-02T08:43:00.005-04:00

Sometime in June, WSFCS Online Learning had it's 600th participant receive credit for an online technology course since October of last year. If I'd planned ahead I would have had confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling and a shopping spree for the lucky teacher.

Although I think 600 is a huge number, and we'll exceed 700 almost immediately in the new school year when courses again open for enrollment, I think the numbers are only important in that they show the growth and the prospects for the future.

The real story is the way our district has changed the ways we offer professional development to better meet the needs of our educators. Teacher's time is at a premium, and while I think it will always be important to offer face-to-face workshop in professional development, teachers appreciate having the option of taking some courses and some coursework online. Courses can be self-paced and participants can choose when to take the courses. This can be a important factor for teachers who need more time in workshops or educator's whose schedules don't always allow them to attend the workshop when scheduled at their schools. There is tremendous value in allowing educators in our district these choices.

So what does the future hold for WSFCS Online Learning? The site and course catalog has grown exponentially over the last year, and there will be more and more professional development in many different areas for interested educators. We'll continue working with the great folks in our instructional department to make sure all professional development has a place on our site, and we hope to build programs that help new teachers in our district. So we're growing and hope you'll take the time to experience online learning for yourself. You might find the time and ownership it affords you is exactly the ingredient you need in your professional development in the new school year.

"AwesomeHighlighter" is...well, awesome

2010-07-20T08:51:00.014-04:00

We live in an exciting time for web-based tools. There is no shortage of great free options that can be used in the classroom. The challenge often exists when wading through all of them on the Internet and finding the right ones for your class. My latest recommendation for an addition to your "teacher toolbox" is "the awesome highlighter."
The awesomehighlighter can be used to highlight text on web pages and create a link to the highlighted page.

It's a great way to provide a little guidance or instructions for using a site (above) or maybe posting discussion questions on a website (below). After you have highlighted the site and posted discussion questions, you will be given a unique url that you can then share via email or on your website. It is easy to use and free without the need to set up an account. Although you may choose to create one in order to save highlighted pages.

I think the awesomehighlighter can be used in classrooms with interactive whiteboards, projectors or mounted flatscreens, but also by teachers who would like to add the awesomehiglighted link to their websites.

Awesomehighlighter, a cool little web tool worth adding to your collection.

Twitter & Foursquare-A Game Worth Playing?

2010-07-01T09:49:00.013-04:00

My blog posts, for the most part, follow a predictable pattern. I blog about experiences in ed tech or maybe a new tool I've found that I feel deserves attention. I generally avoid topics that I think will create a stir, in part because I cross-post on my department's blog, but also because I don't like to publicly rain on parades. However, sometimes a lot can be learned from a discourse on a subject and maybe a good comment to a blog post will help me learn something.

So here goes . . . I don't like Foursquare, and I think it deters efforts to encourage educators to use Twitter.

I'm not a "foursquare expert," but I'll explain it as best I can. On Wikipedia, Foursquare is described as a location-based social networking website that allows users to "check in" at locations and earn points, badges, etc. . . . Foursquare can be integrated with Twitter so when a Foursquare user "checks in" the update is broadcast in Twitter.

In the past year I've spent some time talking about the ways I think Twitter can be a great tool for educators to build a PLN that will share ideas and resources related to learning and education. I've tried to dispel the notion that Twitter is for movie stars and narcissists who think the rest of the world cares what they are doing. Because I believe Twitter is a great tool for making connections and sharing ideas with other skilled, passionate educators from around the globe. Then along comes Foursquare which allows users to turn in location-based reporting into a game. Collecting badges and ousting others from their "foursquare Mayor" duties.

Now I'm not arguing there couldn't be educational value attached to Foursquare (on field trips, for example), and I know there is a need to learn technology ourselves so we can help guide students to make wise decisions using mobile technology. I won't even scratch the surface on some of the privacy issues that need to be considered with any location-based programs. And I don't have issues with geolocation games (who doesn't like games?).

I'm focused on Foursquare's impact on Twitter because my twitterstream will now occasionally include:

"John Doe just became Mayor of Best Buy"
"Jane Doe just unlocked her newbie badge"
"I'm at Chick-fil-a at Northgate Mall"

(Sigh) Now I know I could "unfollow" users of Foursquare and these updates would disappear. But a lot of these people often bring real value to my network. I respect and learn with many of these educators, and I don't want to lose that value. And I am not against some of the social aspects of Twitter. I really enjoy some of the support and water cooler banter that is on Twitter every day. So I'll tolerate the updates on where you ate lunch because I value you, your ideas and your commitment to education.

But for the new user, the skeptic, the teacher short on time who is still evaluating Twitter or the tech dept making decisions about whether Twitter is a website worth unblocking for teachers, I think Foursquare is a negative force. I think it adds to the notion that Twitter is just a social tool meant to report "What's happening?" I think while Foursquare helps Twitter become a more "social" tool, it harms the credibility of Twitter as a "learning" tool.

So Foursquare users am I uniformed? Not giving Foursquare a fair chance? Missing out?

Additional Reading:

Vicki Davis recently posted a Foursquare Beginner's Guide from ISTE (including Steven W. Anderson) that is well worth reading and maybe has a different view of Foursquare.

Image Credits:
Both images used were licensed under CreativeCommons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dpstyles/3367761841/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marco40134/3264740932/

New Promethean Planet for Storage

2010-06-16T10:41:00.016-04:00

When Promethean Planet recently upgraded their site and released the news they would be giving users 1 GB (yup, 1 GB!!) of storage space, I immediately thought of all the teachers I've known who've dealt with issues regarding how best to store their Activboard flipcharts.

Our district offers each teacher space on district servers, but teachers who are heavy users and develop and save flipcharts all year long often eventually max out that space.
I've seen teachers who have carried around several color-coded flashdrives each filled with flipcharts or purchased external hard drives to hold all their flipcharts. Of course issues arise when you don't have the equipment on hand or the hardware is misplaced or fails.

The best solution now may be to keep Activboard files on the Promethean Planet. I've expressed my love for cloud computing in the past, and I'm pleased to see Promethean is providing this service for Promethean Planet members. With 1 GB of space for flipcharts teachers can purge those "My Documents" and flashdrives and use Planet not just as a place to search for resources, but also a place to store files as well. Kind of a one-stop shop for Promethean-related files.

Teachers always need to be aware of the information they put online, but the vast majority of the flipcharts I own don't contain any specific user information, so I'll enjoy having my flipcharts in one spot.

The one drawback I can see in my plan is that I am at the mercy of my Internet connection and Promethean Planet's site, but the lure of 1 GB of storage is enough to get my attention. And as teachers who use Promethean Planet plan and prepare for the next school year, I'll encourage them to look into this free storage option.

Summertime Blogs

2010-06-08T15:45:00.010-04:00

The summer can be a great time for reflection and planning for implementing new ideas for the upcoming school year. Teachers often use the summer months as the time to try out some new things and plan for how to integrate technology into their lessons. So as the school year begins to wind down for 2009-10, I'd like to suggest my Teacher's Top 3 Blogs for Summer Reading.

These are all blogs I've been following that I feel provide easy ways to incorporate technology into your classroom, whatever grade you teach.

I've mentioned Richard Byrne's www.freetech4teachers.com before as a great blog to follow for reviews of tech tools and ways they can be used in the classroom. His blog posts are concise and often don't just discuss the tool but also ways it can be used for educators.
Kelly Tenkely's http://ilearntechnology.com/ blog is another blog worth following. I think Kelly's Promethean Quick Tips should be required reading for teachers in our district who have activboards. But her audience is not just teachers with activboards. Her blog often highlights a site or tool that any classroom could use.
Vanessa Cassie's blog moved this year to http://sharpsav.com/blog/ . She offers several posts for the SMARTboard users, but like Kelly offers a lot of tips for people using any interactive whiteboard or even none at all.

Again all these blogs are short reads that yield a lot of valuable content and would be great sites for those who are just starting to following blogs. There are several others I feel could be added to the list, but it's the summer after all, so I'll keep the reading list brief. Just a little extra education for that much-deserved vacation. :)

If You Build It....

2010-05-17T13:52:00.012-04:00

Our district is currently changing website providers from Schoolcenter to Schoolwires. No small feat for a district our size. So much of my time lately has been spent in these efforts at schools and online providing help for teachers to move content and create with the new Schoolwires site.

In some of these work sessions, I've heard teachers voice what is a common concern at some of our schools.

"Why do I need to create a webpage? My students don't have Internet at home, and parents don't check it."

I've heard this response before when talking about blogs, wikis, voicethread, animoto, or almost any web2.0 tool. And when answering I try to channel my best voice from Field of Dreams.

"If you build it they will come."

It is true some of our communities do not have widespread Internet access, but I suspect if they feel the teachers are providing important information and showcasing their child's classroom many in fact will come and find a way to check the site. I've found students also find ways to get online and check classroom sites if they have a reason, especially if they think they'll see some of their own work. Indeed some of the best blogs and websites in our district belong to teachers whose students and class parents may or may not be able to get to it at home. But those teachers' sites look great, and I suspect people find ways to get to the sites.

And although it wasn't in Field of Dreams, I can almost guarantee that if you don't build it they will not come.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/3677676815/sizes/m/

Making Connections

2010-04-29T15:03:00.013-04:00

I was invited to Ms. Alexander's Science class last week. Her fifth grade class was being taught a science lesson involving energy and simple machines by a guest instructor at Carolina Biological in Burlington. All week her classes had the opportunity to watch and interact with this scientist via videoconference.

And as I watched the students ask and answer questions of Mike, as he performed experiments, created simple machines and quizzed the kids on the results, I thought of a memorable quote by Will Richardson.

"We as educators need to reconsider our roles in students' lives, to think of ourselves as connectors first and content experts second."

The quote appeared in Edutopia as well as on a picture on flickr by Dean Shareski (see below). I've used this quote for some time in presentations during technology integration sessions. The picture from flickr provides that visual for "teachers as connectors" I like to use. And I like that "technology" is not mentioned. Technology is a great vehicle for the connections, but it's still about the teachers and students.

Technology has the most potential in classrooms where teachers, like Ms. Alexander, embrace the idea of becoming a connector. And for technology to make the biggest impact, it needs to be used as a tool for transforming instruction not an "add-on" to the current instruction in the classroom. Ms. Alexander wasn't showing videoconferencing to her students, but instead allowing videoconferencing to show her class a guest instructor. And I think the important distinction to make is that she was utilizing technology to create an educational experience rather than just using technology.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/shareski/3589627137/sizes/m/

The Write On WSFCS Wiki Year 2

2010-04-22T13:58:00.008-04:00

This month wrapped up the second installment of the Write On WSFCS wiki, a wiki webpage used to create a district writing project for elementary schools. I was pleased many of the teachers and classrooms involved last year were willing to take it on again this year, and despite the snow days elementary schools across the district did an awesome job taking turns writing and illustrating this year's story.

This has become one of my favorite projects over the last two years, and I hope the students and teachers enjoyed the project as much as I did.

My thanks to all the classes and teachers that participated. Please check out our story at http://writeonwsfcs.pbworks.com/.

The 2009-10 write on wiki schedule
Last year's story "What Did You Say?"

Need Some Earth Day 2010 Resources?

2010-04-19T09:17:00.012-04:00

With Earth Day 2010 only a few days away, it's a great time to integrate a few Earth friendly activities into the day's lessons. Whether your school has planned a day of events or whether you'll be observing a little Earth Day in your classroom, it's nice to have some ideas and resources to pull for use in the class.

In years past I'd spend some time googling "Earth Day" to see what came up, but now I've found several educators and websites who have put together lists of great Earth Day resources.

Here is a list of a few sites that can connect you to some great ideas for Earth Day:

Larry Ferlazzo covers a lot of well-done Earth Day sites in a recent entry on his "Websites of the Day blog.
Education World also has a worthwhile list of links to sites on Earth Day and the enviroment
ThinkGreen.com - Discovery Ed and Waste Management's site has a lot of activities and lessons for all grade levels.
If you still need more ideas, check out the directory of sites on Earth Day, recycling and the environment on Cybrary Man's Environment page.

Happy Earth Day!

NCTIES 2010: Why Tweet?

2010-03-11T19:26:00.010-05:00

This is the first blog of what I'm sure will be several posts inspired by my time at the 2010 NCTIES conference in Raleigh. As I've reflected and read some of the recent blog posts from the great educators and presenters who attended the conference, I echo many of their thoughts. The conference is a whirlwind of new ideas and a brief chance to meet some of the really important figures in Edtech.

And I was pleased to have the opportunity to present a session at this year's conference. My session "Why Tweet?" was designed to make the case for why educators should use Twitter as a tool for creating a personal learning network (a phrase I heard repeated several times at many different sessions). My session grew from my realization that the Twitter workshop I've led in the past didn't always result in teachers who continued to use Twitter after the workshop. I always got good feedback and people enjoyed seeing the tool and hearing me talk about it, but they stopped short of using it for very long themselves. Why? I think maybe too much of the workshop was about "the tool" and not enough about "why use the tool."

So I traveled to Raleigh with a new approach. Show the tool, share how I've used it, and explain the ways I've seen it utilized to share great ideas, resources and make connections. Thinking that if the presentation made sense, participants might spend the time to set up the account and get started.

Early Friday morning I presented "Why Tweet?" and was pleased and honored to see some folks roll out of bed to hear me talk about Twitter for an hour. I also appreciated the support of some who already use Twitter, are already a part of my PLN and really didn't need a rationale of why they should useTwitter but still were there; it's always nice to see a few familiar faces in the crowd.

So while I was satisfied with the session, I was even more pleased to connect with some from the session on Twitter. I'm a believer in the power of the personal learning network, and it's changed the way I learn and access information. So much good results when learners network.

I've included the presentation below if you'd like to check it out.

Livebinders

2010-03-01T21:17:00.007-05:00

One of my goals is to provide teachers with quality, usable technology tools for their classrooms. Most teachers want their tech resources to be easy to learn and use (no detailed handouts or pages of notes needed), they want the new tools to have a place in their own classrooms and subject areas, and they want the new tools to save them time.

Livebinders meets all those criteria and by organizing websites and webcontent. The setup is very clear. And if you have an idea of how you'd like to organize select websites around a subject, theme, class schedule, etc... you'll be binding websites together in no time.

Using it in the classroom:

If you have a projector, interactive whiteboard or flatscreen TV, Livebinders is a great way to present websites to your classes. In presentation mode the Livebinder is visually appealing and allows you to quickly jump from webpage to webpage without opening new browsers or tabs.
Your Livebinders can be used in centers on the classroom computers, allowing students to explore a topic or theme while staying on the websites chosen by the teacher.
Your binders can be linked to your webpage or embedded in a blog or wiki. This permits students to access the Livebinder from any connected computer. Livebinders are a great way to collect sites to support or enrich classroom instruction.
Finally, while a Livebinder can be set to "private," many of the livebinders are public and teachers can benefit from the broader community of educators using Livebinders - seeing and using websites other teachers have found.

Livebinders is a functional, easy-to-use addition to any teacher's tech toolbox. Check it out at http://livebinders.com/ and if you're interested in see a few examples first, check out my Livebinders on the SMART and Promethean resources below:

SMART resources

Promethean/ Activ Resources

"Best of" Edition: Great Examples of Animoto

2010-02-09T10:43:00.011-05:00

Animoto is not new. It's been available for educators to use for years, and Evan wrote a blog post on Animoto back in 2008. So although I'll mention Animoto and how fantastic it is, and how it has so many uses in your classroom, I want this blog post to be about showcasing some fabulous teachers and how they've used Animoto. In this post I'm giving a little pat on the back to some folks who deserve it, and perhaps provide a little inspiration to anyone out there considering using Animoto.

I've been working with several elementary schools this year, and at many of the schools we've covered Animoto as one of our professional development sessions. These are just a few of the really impressive Animoto videos created by teachers at some of the schools I work with.

Observing Ocean Life by Ms. Johnson - what a great way to showcase student work.
Fifth Grade Field Trip by Mr. Plane - field trip video embedded in his blog is a unique way for students to reflect on the trip they just took or to prep the next group of students (check out the student comments on the blog).
Super Snowpeople by Ms. Larson - what better way to excite a kindergarten class studying snowmen than to show a quick video.
Winter Party 2009 by Ms. Edwards - this video is a great way to share and preserve the experience with parents and community.
2009-2010 Speas Artwork by Ms. Laney- another great way to showcase student artwork for all to see.
Eshlemania at Sciworks by Ms. Eshleman - What student wouldn't be excited about going to Sciworks after seeing this video clip?

It's great to see some of the fantastic ways teachers use technology to support learning and the ways Animoto can be used in the classroom.

PhotoPeach

2010-01-25T19:59:00.004-05:00

Many teachers I encounter in workshops have one desire for professional development,

"I want it to be easy to use, and I want to be able to remember how to use it after you're gone."

It's a tall order to fill sometimes. Effective use of some technology tools can take time and practice. However, it's nice when I can give them a resource that is both useful and easy to use. Photopeach is one of those resources.

PhotoPeach is a tool for creating online slideshows and basic quizzes without a lot of hassle; think web-based Photostory with a quiz feature.

There are really only two steps:

Upload and arrange your pictures.
Select background music from their catalog.

After the slideshow has been created you may choose to add multiple choice questions for each slide. That's it. I've heard some positive feedback from several teachers who work with a variety of subjects and ages groups.

Check out my basic Photopeach slideshow quiz below:

Where are we? on PhotoPeach

Photopeach could be a great addition to your tech resources, without investing a lot of time learning the program.

Call for Administrators at NCTIES

2010-01-11T08:06:00.007-05:00

It's less than two months until the NCTIES 2010 conference in Raleigh, and I'm already looking forward to the event. I've been fortunate to attend and present at this statewide technology conference in past years. And there are several educators from around the state and speakers from around the country that I look forward to seeing. I've always left the conference with excitement and ideas about how technology can help educators and students. It's always a great experience.
That's why I'd love to see administrators from our district attend this conference. I think they would also be energized by the ideas they'll hear and the kinds of technology they will see. Administrators play such a key role as the head of their schools. The schools I've seen that seem to have the best technology integration have great teachers and tech facilitators, but they also have leadership that has a vision for technology and how it will be used in their school.
So I'm calling on the administrators (many of whom were in the Nothing But NETs Conference last summer) to look at attending at least some of the NCTIES conference this March in Raleigh and seeing some of the ways technology can impact our classrooms, teachers and students.

First Impressions of Google Wave

2009-12-03T09:43:00.009-05:00

So in one of the first "waves" ever sent to me, Angie (who I'd sent an invite to Google Wave) asked, "So can you describe Google Wave in five words?" Like many of us she wanted to know why she would begin using this new platform without watching the looooong video on the "About Google Wave" site and why she wouldn't just use email or skype.

Well, I've been using it a bit and reading some good posts on what others thought of the wave. And while I think the possibilities down the road are great, here are some of my early impressions.

Things I like:

Like many Google products it's very intuitive and has a friendly, clean interface. You don't feel like you need a manual to get started. And if you have a Google account already this is just another piece to add.
Possibility to be a great tool for collaboration. Sure you can use it for email communication, but it might be at its best with groups, where you need to track the thread of the conversation. Google Wave might really be a great way to share information, links and documents all in one "wave," in real-time.
Less email (the bane of my existence on some days...I can't even talk about it) or at least the possibility to create one wave that would allow participants to respond without several "replies to all" ending up in inboxes.

Things I don't like (right now):

Seems slow. In a few practice waves with multiple contributors the "real-time" communication was a little slow. I imagine this will get better as Google continues to work out the kinks.
Not enough people on wave. As invites to wave continue to go out this will also get better, but Google Wave is not very exciting if you don't have anyone to wave to.

To be fair Google Wave is still in "preview mode," so it will improve and there are all sorts of cool things I've heard will eventually be a part of wave. So for now I enjoy what it is and look forward to the future of the wave.

In the meantime I have three more invites to Google Wave. I'll send them to the first three educators who contact me with the email or gmail account they'd like to use.

Oh, and my answer in five words was skypeIM + email + Wiki = google wave. Not bad for a five word limit. :)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafagarces/4109012700/

Additional Links & Readings:

Jane Hart has a great Google Wave Reading List
Lee Stacey's short and sweet Confused by Google Wave? post
Google Wave Overview from the official site
ESchool News Google Wave has Great Potential for Education

Twitter for Your Personal Learning

2009-11-18T09:51:00.009-05:00

It's important to reflect on the implementation of professional development. Are the participants using the tools you're showing them weeks after the session? If not, why?

In the past few months I've had only a couple of workshops on Introduction to Twitter. However weeks after the meetings, many of the workshop participants don't seem to be using twitter. In the meantime I continue to hear about the power of Twitter as a learning tool for teachers and students and its possible impact on education. And I personally get great ideas EVERY DAY from twitter. So what's the deal?

I know there are a lot of factors to explain this, and I know teachers are very busy (and sometimes just need the tech credit :). And sometimes they just don't feel they have time to implement a new technology mid-semester. But with holidays around the corner, I'm going to encourage many of the educators to take a second look at Twitter. And I've reflected on a few reasons for the lack of use as well as a bit of advice for teachers who are interested in trying it out.

Why some educators might not be using Twitter (even after what I'm sure was an enlightening workshop:)?

Time - Twitter is sometimes difficult to master in a hour or even 90-minute workshop. I can give examples and testimonials of how great it is, but until teachers can see the benefit and build a network and receive great info - it can be hard to see. Twitter takes time. I followed about eight people for about a month before I felt I really got into it. And it takes time to maintain and update. However, once I started to receive lots of great ideas and resources from others (more on this below), the time I now save has been well worth the initial investment.
Misperceptions - I wish Twitter did not have "What are you doing?" at the top of the page because often the updates don't reflect that. Sure, there are some who use it as an opportunity to share what they're doing, but many of updates can be used to spread important ideas, information and resources. I get seven or eight sites every day with great information from Twitter. Information I would have spent much more time searching to find in Google or sites I wouldn't have know to look for. Unfortunately, for some workshop participants Twitter can sound very trivial, and although they'll politely pay attention and accept the tech credit, at the end of the day it's easy to dismiss as another fad in social networking. So don't limit Twitter to just a "social" network, instead think of it a "learning" network.
Following too many and/or the wrong people- Twitter is what you make it. And who follows you is not as important as who you follow. But it takes time to create a group to follow who will give relevant information. Following celebrities sounds fun, and I'm sure Oprah is a super person, but she might not give me the info. I'm looking for. I've seen too many teachers start off following all the suggested celebrities. While that might sound fun, it's probably not the best way to build a personal learning network. Twitter lists (a relatively new feature) make it much easier to locate groups worth following, but you may want to start slow with a handful of users and add more when as you get use to it.
Resistance to another social networking platform - In a few trainings I've heard, "This is like updating Facebook." And while the process is similar and you'll find those who integrated the two, I think a main difference is the audience (and this is a point to caution educators on). Facebook updates are mostly going out to a controlled group of "friends" while Twitter is a broadcast in a commons. There are some who "protect their tweets" limiting those who can see their updates, but this also limits those who you interact with. Be aware of the difference, if you choose to use both. Twitter can be the learning tool you use, while Facebook (or sites like it) can remain your social networking tool.
Too Much "Pulling" not Enough "Pushing" - For some of us who remember web 1.0 it can be hard to move beyond the web as a place to read and pull information and move into the web 2.0 model of the contributing and pushing of information. I suspect some educators are using Twitter to read updates but maybe not post updates themselves. Although there is nothing wrong with this, they aren't benefiting from the "network" part of this tool. I'm not saying constantly "push" because there are Twitter users I've "unfollowed" just because I couldn't keep up with the constant flurry of updates. But pushing out info, answering questions or participating in Twitter groups is part of what makes the learning in Twitter so powerful.
How am I going to use this in my class? - Twitter can be a powerful tool for learning more and connecting with other teachers, but if you want details about its use in classroom, there is evidence that students can use microblogging for learning too. The grade level will dictate the needed level of teacher supervision, but there are platforms like Edmodo that are available for use with students. Students can also benefit from the ability to quickly share information in a networked setting. But like a lot of technology, the teacher needs to become familiar with the technology before feeling comfortable using with students.

So give it a try (or another try)and see how much you can benefit from being part of a personal learning network using Twitter.

A Few Ideas for Blogging

2009-11-09T13:42:00.007-05:00

Lately, I've spent a lot of time talking "blogging" with teachers. Blogging is a great way to engage students and can be used in some fashion with all students. Classrooms without a lot of technology hardware can blog and collect a digital portfolio of students writing, while also teaching some valuable Internet safety lessons. Many teachers are interested in blogging but wonder if this might be one more thing to maintain and manage throughout the day. Blogs can be used in a lot of ways to help teachers work smarter not harder.

And sometimes everyone just needs a few ideas for getting started. And while there are many ideas for classroom blogging on the Internet, I'd like to throw out some advice and a few easy ways I've seen teachers in our district blogging with students.

Keep it simple and ask a simple open-ended question. Remember blogging is not meant to create a lot more written work for the teacher. Post a question and let the kids respond. Some of the best blogs I've seen used with students are less about the post and more about the comments/responses from the students.
Use pictures. Marlo presented Image Journaling as part of our session for NCTIES last year, and it was brilliant in its simplicity. Post a picture (observing copyright) and have the students respond to a question involving the image. Great for descriptive writing, prediction strategies, summarizing etc...
Use multimedia. With the popularity of hand-held video cameras (like the Flipcamera) teachers can easily upload lessons and group performance videos to their blogs. This is a great way to showcase some of the events in your classroom, while allowing students to create digital content. Please note large videos can be much harder to upload into a blog.
Showcase student work. Let the blog be a digital bulletin board for displaying student work. Pictures can be scanned in and student writing can be posted, giving students a chance to show off what they've done in class with a potentially global audience.

It does take some effort in getting started, but the majority of teachers I've spoken with who have blogged with their students over the course of a year really seem to think the blog has helped. Try it and I think you'll agree.

Some Good Sites for IWB Resources

2009-10-30T10:44:00.014-04:00

Interactive whiteboards (IWB), whether Activ or SMART are great tools for instruction. I've always thought an IWB doesn't make a teacher great, but the addition of an interactive whiteboard in the hands of a great teacher is an amazing tool for learning.
I've been lucky enough to see some of these classes in action where the interactive whiteboard has become an integral part of every day's instruction.

So here are some of the better sites I've seen to look for resources for either the Activboard, SMARTboard or both.

Promethean Planet for Activboards and
SMART Exchange for SMARTboards are still two of the best places for starting. Each site has downloadable lessons and good resources for their software.
Kenton Co School's SmartBoard Smartmath (SMART) Kenton County School's has notebook files to download as well as a list of interactive websites.
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives (Activ or SMART) good site for interactive math manipulatives and tools to use with IWBs.
juliethompson.com/SMART (Activ or SMART) This site has a nice collection of links to interactive sites for use on an IWB with K-3 students. Although the site specifically mentions the SMARTboard, most of the sites I checked out could be used on either board.
WPS's smart-lessons (SMART) Great collection of K-12 notebook files by grade level and subject area.
topmarks.co.uk/interactive (Activ or SMART) this site has a lot of free educational materials for IWBs and the downloaded files are in swf which can be inserted into either IWB.

So there's a small list I'd recommend to teachers searching for some resources. Do you know of some I need to add?

Top Sites for CopyrightFriendly Pictures for Your Blog

2009-10-16T09:27:00.014-04:00

"When you use pictures in your blog please make sure you are observing copyright."

Okay so where can I get pictures to use?

It's a fair question. Sometimes the "copyright" mention in the workshop sessions (any workshop session) turns into a lot of "don't." So where should you get pictures for use in your classroom blog?

Most of the time teachers aren't really interested in hearing me talk about how much I like creative commons, they really just want a few sites to check out and see if they can find the pic they need. So here are a handful of sites I'd recommend, but I'd also need to mention that one of the best ways to use pictures would be to take your own (or even better have students take them). This won't work for all pictures but is a way to avoid any issues in copyright.

I'll also say that while many of the sites are "copyright friendly" and not likely to have any questionable content, it might not be a good idea to pull up pictures with your students. I've used all these sites before and not encountered anything objectionable but enter disclaimer here.

Top Sites for Copyright-Friendly Pictures for Your Blog:

Pics4Learning This site grants teachers and students the use of the pictures on its site, many of which were submitted by teachers and students. I love the idea, but there are some areas that there is not a lot of content. As a plus, it is very easy to use the site.
Flickr Flickr is a great one for finding pictures uploaded by users who in many cases have some real skills in photography. In most cases you'll find more than enough images to choose from. However not all content should be used. Be sure to check under Additional Information for details on the rights for the image. You may need to become familiar with creative commons licenses.
Compfight isn't a part of the Flickr site, but it does provide an easy option for searching. In Compfight you can easily search Flickr for only creative commons images. Just set the search option at the top of the page to Creative Commons Only.
Photo8 is maintained by a photographer who has a nice collection of quality photos that are now public domain. Again, this site might not have the volume of pictures other sites offer but should ease any copyright fears.
UncleSam'sPhotos The government might seem like an unlikely source of great photos. However, they have a nice directory of free stock photos available for commercial or personal use. There are a few steps to get to the content, but there are many good pictures related to the military, civics and United States.

Finally in many cases "copyright-friendly" still means cite the source. Even if this step is optional, it is still a good to model the process for our students.

So there they are, not a comprehensive list but a good starting place for pictures to use on your blog (voicethreads, webpage, etc...)

WSFCS Online Learning

2009-10-06T15:07:00.007-04:00

This month the WSFCS Instructional Technology Dept will offer self-paced online workshops for the teachers in our district. We've talked for some time about the ways we are going to transform the way we offer staff development using Moodle, and this month is a big step in that direction.

Teachers seeking tech credits will be able to login to the WSFCS staff development webpage and register for online courses. These courses will be listed as Other- Online in the location. Once the teacher has registered for the course, directions will be given about setting up a WSFCS Online Learning account and the course's enrollment key. Workshop participants can then complete the course anytime during the month the course is offered.

This month we have teachers enrolled in workshops on Photostory, Learning Village, Schoolcenter, Google Docs, Audacity, PowerPoint, Excel, Learn360 and Moviemaker. We'll continue to offer different technology workshops throughout the year online, hoping to meet the demand from our teachers.

The feedback we received from our pilot teachers was that they very much enjoyed being able to do the workshop on their own time. Teachers' days are very busy, and often the times we can offer face-to-face workshops are at times when teachers are preparing or recovering from a full day with students. Online learning is a vehicle for offering on-demand staff development at times the participant chooses.

If we can better provide WSFCS teachers with technology tools and knowledge, then they can better transform the way they offer instruction to their students. I think this is a very powerful idea whose time has come.

A Chance to Transform

2009-09-28T08:47:00.011-04:00

President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan are discussing the need to change the school calendar in an effort to increase the number of instructional hours for students in the U.S.

Earlier this year the president stated, "The challenges of the new century demand more time in the classroom." More time in the classroom or more time learning?

While I agree there is a need to examine ways to make certain our students will be competitive in a global economy, I wonder if sending students to school more or for longer hours is missing an opportunity to really transform the ways we offer education and learning.

This issue has many elements to it, not the least of which would be funding, but for argument's sake I'd like to focus just on the issue of time spent in the physical school vs. time spent learning.

What if we expected more learning outside of schools rather than more time in schools? What if instead of trying reform we made an effort to transform schools. Instead of more of what we are doing, what if we looked at something instead of?

Currently NCVPS offers students in North Carolina the chance to take courses and earn credit online. April Patterson is currently the contact for our district. What would happen if instead of requiring more time in the physical school building, we could provide opportunities to take more learning online and look for ways to provide Internet access to all homes in the U.S. It seems to me this might be a better way of preparing students for the future, while focusing on the digital divide in our country.

I know that there are probably many issues I haven't anticipated, but I wonder if this isn't an opportunity to transform the model of the classroom and take a look at how learning could and should take place in a digital age.

Technology Beyond the Classroom

2009-09-24T19:36:00.008-04:00

An advantage to the year-long staff development model is that you have the same participants every session, so there is opportunity to reflect on the prior sessions. This time can be an opportunity to ask questions or share accounts of how the technology was used since we last met.

Today I planned to start off the session reflecting on the September session when we covered RSS and Google Reader. I love RSS and am a big believer in the ways it can be used to make teachers' lives easier. However, RSS can sometimes take some getting used to. Sometimes it takes a while to figure out how best to use it and how to get around in Google Reader. So I wasn't sure what to expect when I asked for teachers to share any stories of how they'd used RSS or Google Reader since our last meeting.

After a few murmured responses a teacher said I taught my husband how to set up his Google Reader account. (laughter) What a great response.

I think too often in the effort to make connections to the curriculum, we forget to connect with the teachers who are people. If educators make connections between the technology and their lives outside the classroom, they'll be more willing and comfortable using the new technology. It's no coincidence some of the better teacher bloggers I've seen recently also have personal blogs they share with their families and friends. If subscribing to RSS feeds to the local paper, sports page or Target encourages checking the Google Reader account, that also has some ideas for teaching, so much the better. I've seen that the teachers who use Skype to communicate with family, then come to Skype workshops are much quicker to put it to use in their classrooms.

It's not about teaching just the technology, it is about giving teachers tools that they are inspired to use in and beyond the classroom.

Twitter and Your PLN

2009-09-11T13:29:00.011-04:00

In previous posts I've expressed my interest in Twitter and how it can be a tool for growing one's own personal learning network (PLN). I thought this week I'd share just a little bit of how I utilize it.

Twitter is a great way to connect to other smart, innovative, creative people in your field or with similar interests. I think there are some who have given Twitter a try and decided it didn't work for them, probably because they were not connected to the right people. If you connect to users who are only reporting on the state of traffic or what they had for breakfast that day ("life tweeters"), then you probably won't see the value, and if you follow only celebrities or just your family, I doubt you'll get the full benefits. However, if you connect to users who are willing to share ideas and genuine feedback, then Twitter is a great tool for building a potential personal learning network of other users whose ideas and insight you can benefit from.

Okay, so here are only a few of the nuggets from my last 24 hours or so on Twitter that I hope will illustrate some of what I think the value can be for educators.

A Collection of (mostly elementary) Interactive Whiteboard Resources http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=3747 (tweeted by @kjarrett)
A link for the 10 best and worst cellphone for radiation tweeted by http://tinyurl.com/ntu6xv (tweeted by @PaulaFrey)
A link to Watch BrainPOP's "September 11" today for free http://is.gd/394fQ (tweeted by @web20classroom)
A Science teacher I might like the link to this flash-based periodic table http://www.rsc.org/chemsoc/visualelements/PAGES/pertable_fla.htm (tweeted by @web20classroom)
I enjoyed the link for 5 Of The Best File Converters That Can Make Your Lives Easier http://bit.ly/Mlslk (shared by @jessenewhart)
A link to the article on 5 easy, practical steps toward better digital integration in your classroom. http://bit.ly/eZqJz from @edutopia

And honestly I get good ideas and information from Twitter every day. I've written about the blogs I think educators should follow, so its no surprise that most of the same ones are on Twitter. It is an easy way to be connected and benefit from the resources of many.

You can follow the WSFCS Dept of Technology at http://twitter.com/wsfcsdit and me at http://twitter.com/evmaiden

Voicethread, Even Better

2009-09-03T15:12:00.005-04:00

I think Voicethread is great. I don't know that I've seen a better tool that can be used by all levels of students for any subject. I'm continually amazed at some of the great ways educators and students have used this web-based tool. And now (pause for dramatic effect) it has a few more cool features.

At the end of August, Voicethread announced it had added media from the New York Public Library . In addition to the option to upload this new media from Voicethread, there is also a separate site for the library content at http://nypl.voicethread.com/. I have included the voicethread that gives an overview of this feature below.

You also may choose to create copies of your voicethreads; useful if you'd like to create a copy for each class to comment on or for backing up a current voicethread before editing. Although there are different options for accounts in Voicethread, all of these additions are part of the free version. If you haven't looked at Voicethread, its well worth checking out.

The 21st Century Classroom

2009-08-24T10:01:00.011-04:00

What does a 21st century classroom look like? The subject has inspired a lot of debate and discussion in many school systems. After spending time in the last few weeks at the newly renovated Ibraham, the new Caleb's Creek and Kimmel Farm, I have seen what it can look like and was impressed at the setup for the classroom teachers who were moving in for the first time last week. And I felt the same way at Reagan High's new wing during the Nothing But NETS conference several weeks ago.

It's not about the tools and technology. I've seen incredible teachers who didn't have access to a lot of technology, and I don't believe you can place an ineffective teacher in a technology-rich classroom and expect them to transform into a master teacher. Technology is only a tool for engagement. But the teachers at these new schools will find a wealth of technology to engage students. These new classrooms are outfitted with computers, interactive whiteboards, slates, student response systems and sound systems.

What an amazing setup for teaching students.

The challenge for these new schools will be to use these 21st century classrooms to impact their instruction and engage their

students. Teachers may need to revisit their practices. The technology in these 21st century classrooms shouldn't just be an "add-on" to what has always been done. The hope is that these technologies can transform instruction for teachers and students at these new schools. It won't happen overnight, but it was very encourgaing to see the excitement from the teachers in these new classrooms, and their desire to receive the kinds of training that will allow them to realize the potential of these 21st century classrooms.

Nothing But NETS

2009-08-24T10:00:00.000-04:00

Last week administrators and leadership in the WSFCS system converged on Reagan High School for the Nothing But NETS technology conference. It involved two full days of sessions related to some of the current technology going on in our district. I finished thinking of what a great opportunity it had been to have contact with the principals and instructional staff in our district and how impressed I was with the participants in my sessions. I heard similar positive things from others session instructors.

Because leadership "buy-in" is critical for the successful integration of technology, I was pleased to see and hear such supportive feedback from the participants at the conference. Principals not only allocate funds for technology and plan the training sessions for the use of technology, but also set the expectations for the use of technology in their schools. Some of the best examples of schools and classrooms using technology in our district come from schools that have strong leaders who promote the use of technology by their teachers and expect to see teachers and students using technology in meaningful ways.

The Nothing But NETS conference was a unique opportunity to connect with those who are currently setting the stage for technology use in their school for the new year.

West Virginia Unplugged

2009-07-26T19:04:00.004-04:00

I spent the last several days camping in West Virginia with family and friends. Three and a half days of being completely cut-off from technology and the information it provides. Very little blackberry or cell phone signal. No wireless, no email, no RSS feeds, no twitter, no TV. No DVR or DVDs. No electricity of any sort on the campsite.

Now I really enjoy technology and all the information that can be accessed using it. And although I enjoy being connected, I was fine with being unplugged for a few days. My wife and I have introduced our young children to the concept of balance. We want to be sure their activities are not overly-spent in front of a screen. We allow them to enjoy watching certain TV programs and play games on the computer and iPod, but we try to balance that "screen" time with activities both outside and inside that don't involve the use of digital technology. This weekend was an opportunity for me to practice what I preach and completely shutdown for a few days - which really wasn't that hard to do.

Tonight I'm plugging back in and rebooting for the week.

Summer Tech Workshops

2009-07-16T15:31:00.010-04:00

This week I spent three days holding tech professional development with some teachers from Bolton Elementary. It is sometimes hard to have three full days of training in any area-in technology it can leave the participants feeling overwhelmed. But the group seemed to pick up on a lot of the tools and make connections with how it may help them in their classrooms in August. So I left the training this afternoon feeling really positive about the experience and looking forward to the upcoming follow-up sessions.

During the first day's session I asked the group to respond to the following question as it relates to this staff development: "What do you expect to learn?" I recorded their answers and pasted the results into Wordle (a tool which presents the text and emphasizes the frequently used words). I've included the result below. I was most impressed that many of the responses were less about what I could do for them and more about their desire to help students learn and their willingness to be learners themselves. That attitude of being willing and excited about learning really is much more important for a school's technology than any amount of equipment. If July is any indication, it should be a great year for many of the teachers and students at Bolton.

Notes from the Ashe County Tech Conference

2009-07-07T14:41:00.010-04:00

I had the opportunity to present at a tech conference in Ashe County this week. It was a small but well run conference that brought in a lot of educators from the county and few from beyond. It is always great to interact with teachers on summer break. The teachers seemed excited and interested in learning about new technology, and I met some really dedicated educators doing great things in their schools. I think sometimes having the summer time to reflect and use new technology is a key factor in whether teacher will use it in their classroom.

The session I taught was on using Pageflakes and Netvibes, and my group did a good job of grasping how this could both allow them to organize web content for themselves, and also use these startpages to use in instruction. The participants in the session also seemed to understand the need for having tools like RSS feedreaders to organize the massive amounts of information online. A key skill for 21st century students will be learning to use tools to help access and evaluate the information on the web, and we need teachers to model these skills. I shared my email address and encouraged them to share their experiences with me. I'd enjoy hearing what they've done with these tools.

During the conference I am reminded of how all those in education are dealing with the same issues. Our districts may vary in size, our kids may look and talk a little differently, and classrooms may be outfitted with various equipment, but we are all searching for ways to engage students in learning with technology. I was very pleased to be a part of this conference and a part of that movement.

Broadcasting with UStream

2009-07-01T09:17:00.006-04:00

Ustream.tv is a free, web-based application for broadcasting live over the Internet. The site allows you to broadcast and record live video and sound and to post the session to the Ustream site. I've used it in the past to view sessions at technology conferences I couldn't attend in person. Sometimes the audio and video quality vary, but overall it is a great tool for sharing and broadcasting ideas. Until now I've always been a "puller" of content from Ustream, but I haven't "pushed" anything using it.

This week Matt Barfield from CSI delivered a session on ActivInspire on the first of July to a user group in our district. I've attended several of Matt's session in the past, and feel I take something new from each of his sessions. Wouldn't it be great to share his presentation and save it for teachers to view later? Wouldn't teachers enjoy being able to view (or review) this session when they had the time? This seemed like the perfect scenario for Ustream. I cleared it with Matt and began preparing for my directorial debut.

All I needed for setup was my laptop, webcam and ethernet cable. I logged in with my account and began broadcasting. Wow. It was very easy to use, and although it is not the same as sitting in the audience (it is hard to see action on board), I was impressed at how well it turned out. I think seeing and hearing Matt's session might be a great resource for teachers interested in using Activinspire or as a way to review the session they attended.

Beyond taping sessions of staff development, Ustream has much broader potential for use in classrooms and for teachers.

Interested in seeing the sessions on ActivInspire or just want to see how it worked? Check out the recorded sessions from Ustream:

Part 1 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1738078

Part 2 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1738148

Part 3 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1738249

Part 4 http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1738426

Socialbookmarking

2009-06-25T09:24:00.006-04:00

I was talking with Angie this week about socialbookmarking with Delicious. She was preparing to attend a workshop on Delicious, and I was trying to explain why I've enjoyed socialbookmarking and how it's helped me out. And I thought, "There's my blog for this week."

There are many tutorials and videos that do a very good job of explaining socialbookmarking, and sites like Delicious and similar sites like Diigo, so I'm going to stick to three ways I think socialbookmarking, and specifically Delicious, can be a valuable tool.

Web-based Access- I've blogged about cloud computing and its benefits. Delicious is "cloudbookmarking." If you bookmark a site locally on a computer, you can't access it from other computers, and if the harddrive crashes your bookmarks are lost. A few years ago I had an excel spreadsheet with many links I would carry around on a flash drive-which I would often misplace. I needed an option that allowed better access to my bookmarks. Delicious allows access from any computer (or device) connected to the Internet.
My Network- Socialbookmarking is allows me to access other user's bookmarks and gives them access to mine. It's not really "social" for me; it's more about having a "network" to connect with and benefit from their ideas. This all feeds the idea of having your own personal learning network. Want to pick the brain of colleagues or pioneers in a field? Delicious is a great way to do it. Check out Marlo's links regarding copyright. Look what Wes Fryar has on Internet safety. How about my links tagged "antivirus," which I have sent to several friends who needed help with their home computers. Your network can be a great tool for finding relevant information on the Internet and pulling or pushing links out to others.
Exploration & Search Tool- Although it is unlikely to replace your favorite search engine, Delicious can deliver a look at what all users are tagging. I've occasionally found good links from the main page (which lists the "most popular bookmarks on Delicious" at the time) or by searching tags. It is important to note that although I've not seen sites I would consider inappropriate, the searches may yield results that could be blocked by web filters or just might be like searching for the needle in the haystack. Sometimes you have to have some time to search to find resources.

If you are interested in socialbookmarking, there is a workshop offered by our department, or you can take a look around at delicious.com.

Why Twitter Deserves Your Attention

2009-06-16T08:20:00.007-04:00

A few weeks ago I mentioned to one of my college buddies that I had been using Twitter and wondered if he had an account. Since then he has been occasionally sending me clever little emails like the following:
Wondering whether to fix a sandwich or go out to lunch. I am leaning towards going out.

He assumes Twitter, as advertised, is about "What are you doing?" and that most of the updates are about reporting on the real time (mundane) details of one's life. He is not alone. I think a lot of folks are wondering about Twitter and its uses.

Prior to setting up an account I thought "Do I really need another account to keep up with and do I really have time for this?" What can Twitter do for me? But curiosity got the best of me, and although I have seen posts that just report on"what are you doing?" I've found it is a powerful way to communicate ideas. So I'm humbly submitting a few thoughts on how I've used Twitter and share maybe why it might deserve your attention:

PLN builder- In past blog entries I've shared some of the blogs I follow with my RSS feedreaders. Twitter, like the feeds from blogs, can be a great tool for continuing to build on your own personal learning network (PLN). Twitter is another way to connect with people and promote important ideas. Because Twitter is limited to 140 characters, tweets are concise and ideas are often updated more quickly than a blog, but tweets can be useful in promoting ideas because the tweets can include a link to a url. One of my first tweets included a link to an blog entry from bloggingagenda.com about why "retweeting" is important. Retweeting is simply sharing someone else's tweet. You retweet if you think your followers might benefit someone else's thought or idea. I've already benefited from the tweets of others and ideas that have been shared with Twitter.
Real-time news- Over the weekend while the Iranian elections where taking place, I was reading up on it on Twitter. Instead of getting the CNN version I was getting real time updates from "trending topics." The trending topics (on the lefthand side) measure the topics receiving the most tweets. Although you have to evaluate the source, Twitter allows everyone with an account and network access to report on events. I remember when the plane landed in the Hudson River recently, Twitter was one of the first sources for news. And another friend of mine who uses Twitter follows Lance Armstrong, who uses Twitter to bypass the media and share information with his followers. Twitter gives you real time, unfiltered access to information.
Conversations/Feedback- Twitter can be a tool for conversations. April tried this with a post earlier this year, asking what students gain from using technology in their classrooms."Twitter allows you to get immediate feedback from those answering your tweet. So you can tap the knowledge of your followers for feedback or ideas. I've seen national speakers, like Will Richardson and David Warlick, use Twitter in this way during conferences and get really interesting feedback. Although you may not have many responses at first (April :) it is a starting point.

So although I am not guilty of twittering extremes I do think this could be a useful tool for educators and students. And I'm not the only one. Recently the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies asked teachers to rank their Top 100 Learning Tools 2009 and Twitter was number one (up from 11 in 2008). So look around and kick the tires. See what Twitter can do for you.

Gender Gap & Computer Science

2009-06-12T10:55:00.001-04:00

Recently Danah Boyd, researcher and fellow at the BerkmanCenter for Internet Safety, blogged on "gender gap in perception of computer science" which cited a recent study about the perception girls have about careers in computer science. The big stat that stood out to me was when asked about computer science as a career choice "only 9% of girls rates it 'very good' and 17% as 'good'."
Yikes!
This reminded me of April's blog a few weeks ago entitled Tech Girls , which also addressed the gender gap in computer related fields. As a father of a daughter and someone who works with technology, this alarms me. Some (like Bill Gates) believe computing is the new literacy for the 21st century. How might the perception of computer-related careers be impacting our current female students standing in a 21st century global economy? How do you change these perceptions?
It is a complex issue that I don't have an answer for. But I do think this first-grade classroom has a great video to start the conversation. This was the winner of the K-5 category for the Interwrite TeacherTube Makeover Contest.
If you haven't seen it yet it is worth a look.

The Wonder Wheel Experience

2009-06-04T15:01:00.001-04:00

When it comes to browsers and search engines, I’m always looking for some new element—something that will add to the experience. The Google Wonder Wheel won’t replace my traditional search process, but it has an interesting visual way to organize the results from a search. And the Wonder Wheel can help make connections to a topic or narrow a search for a broad term.

Enter a search term and when the results are displayed select “show options."

Wonder Wheel will appear as one the options on the left-hand side of the screen.

Your selected results will appear with your original search term in the center with related terms in a connected web circling the term. Click on any of the related topics and a new web is created. Links to the terms in the web are located on the right.

You can see that the Wheel is easy to use and is a great way to show connections between related search terms.

Blogs to Follow

2009-06-02T12:46:00.001-04:00

Following blogs and sharing their information is a big step in growing your learning network. One of the steps I take every morning is to check RSS feeds from some of my favorite blogs – a step similar to browsing a digital newspaper. I decided to use this week’s post to share some of the blogs I currently follow related to K-12 educational technology.

Here are five blogs you might consider following:

David Warlick’s 2 cents Worth
Following his blog is not a new idea. His was one the first I began to follow after hearing him at a conference three years ago. I think everyone I know in Ed Tech follows him, but I really think his ideas about education, technology and the future of schools are worth reading.

Will Richardson’s Weblogg-ed
Same as above. I’ve detailed my following of Will Richardson in previous blog entries.

Mr. Byrne’s FreeTech4Teachers
Mr. Byrne’s blog is a wealth of tech resources with ideas of ways to integrate them into the classroom. And he keeps getting new ideas. It’s not uncommon for him to post five or six times a day – so be ready. He’s a great scout of new technology and has been a good addition to my RSS reader.

Instructify
I still like to browse this NCLearn’s blog dedicated to finding technology to use in the classroom. Their topics are varied and address a lot of practical tools for teachers. This is another good place to start if you want follow a blog.

Wes Fryer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity
Wes Fryar, like Warlick and Richardson, is another national figure in Ed Tech. His posts are not always about education or technology (today’s post was on the issue of torture), but many are and I’ve found his views on copyright, Internet safety and digital citizenship to be enlightening.

So dear reader, who are you reading?

WolframAlpha

2009-05-23T21:41:00.012-04:00

WolframAlpha was just recently released, and it's taken me a little while to get my head around this. The description on the site reads "computational knowledge engine," and it looks like an amazing step towards having a website yield answers rather than search results. So instead of entering a search term, you enter data or a question, and WA attempts to compute and answer the question. Here are the details from my test drive.

Type "winston salem" (below) and WolframAlpha quickly delivers data about Winston-Salem.

Type in "winston salem weather"(above), and you'll receive an amazing amount of information about the current weather and how it compares to the data readings from past Winston-Salem weather.

Try plugging in your height and weight, and WA will give you data about BMI, basal metabolic rate, body fluids and typical organ properties.

Finally, type in a question and WolframAlpha will try to answer it. If your query doesn't include enough information, you'll get "Alpha isn't sure what to do with your input."

However, you might be surprised what WA will answer (see below).

So WolframAlpha is great at delivering a wealth of data on a subject or answering a question with amazing speed. This could be a huge step in the ways we (and students) interact with technology. And it's even friendly. . . sort of.

Classroom Connections with Skype

2009-05-19T13:13:00.004-04:00

One of the best ways to introduce technology into the classroom without having to purchase a lot of equipment is to use Skype as a free video conferencing tool. Skype is the application covered in the Creating Global Connections workshop offered by my department. And it really goes a long way towards making communication and collaboration with other classrooms or Skype users easy. Many educators and classrooms in our district are already using Skype to connect with other classrooms and engage in some collaborative projects. Some are still looking for classrooms to contact. I'd like to help more classrooms get connected. If you are interested in getting started and would like to contact a classroom across the county before you communicate around the world, these are some folks who might be able to help.

Ms. Hutchens (Skype name leahhutchens) at Ward has been using Skype with her kindergarten class to contact places like California and Australia this year. Sam Walker (Skype name swalker21) at Bolton used Skype to set up a guest speaker for his school and has teachers currently working with classrooms around the district—like Ms. Lee at Southwest (Skype name>heidi.lynn.lee) and Ms. Edwards from Diggs (Skype name mwedwards815). In addition to the contact with Bolton, Ms. Edwards recently skyped a classroom in Georgia she’d contacted through the Skypeinschools wiki. Her experiences are detailed on her blog. If you are looking for a middle school class to get in touch with, Nanette Naylor at Philo (Skype name nmnaylor) is looking for Skyping partners for some of her classrooms. And finally, you can always Skype with me (Skype name emaiden3). At the very least I think I can help you get started finding another class to Skype with.

Recently I was shadowed for a day by a WSFCS student for the SLIDE program. I tried to think of a ways to have her use technology in a meaningful way while she was here in the department. That afternoon I had her Skype in with classrooms at Bolton and Diggs, and I bet that was the best part of her day with me. Using Skype she was able to speak to and engage with students around our district who got a chance to ask questions of a high school student in her last semester here in WSFCS schools.

I think that is the real power of Skype—to engage students and create connections with other learners and classes far outside the walls of the building.

2009-05-18T20:58:00.023-04:00

Ahead in the Cloud

2009-05-05T10:49:00.009-04:00

I love cloud computing. Cloud computing refers to having your files and content stored not on the physical computer, but rather "in the cloud" that is the Internet. In a cloud your information is no longer tied to a specific computer or device but can be accessed from any computer. So you don't rely on the computer hardrive or flashdrive. In a recent workshop I commented to the group that if my computer fell in a lake I would be sad, but it wouldn't be the catastrophic event it would have once been because I have some of my content stored online.

Now there are drawbacks to being in the cloud. In order to get to your stuff you have to be online, and if you can't connect to the Internet, you can't get to your data. In addition, you must be willing to give into the idea that your data is online, and security for that data is in the hands of an online entity. There is a trust issue with cloud computing, so I don't plan to have all of my data online. But if Google wants to scan through my Google docs for my Powerpoint presentation files or my fantasy football draft 2008 spreadsheet, so be it. If the price for having all my delicious bookmarks available to me all the time from any computer is having them available to everyone, then count me in. And many of us have used some form of web-based email account (or accounts) for years. Now most of the applications I use on a daily basis could be described as cloud applications.

I'm not the only one that is onboard with cloud computing and thinks it could impact the future of education. The 2009 Horizon Report, which identifies emerging technology trends in education, listed cloud computing as one of the six technologies likely to enter future mainstream adopted use in K-12 education within the next two to three years. Part of the draw is how easy it is to collaborate using cloud applications, but another benefit that might drive this will be the money saved. When data is in the cloud (in most cases) you're not paying to store and back it all up. At this time I am using 24 MB (0%) of my 7323 MB inbox. And in a cloud, you don't spend funds on software. I'm not sure I would spend any money on programs that need to be installed on a workstation or server because in many cases there is a good web-based alternative that is often free.

Sometime soon maybe all students will really need on a computer will be a browser; everything else could be up in the cloud.

Revisiting Some Great Presentation Tools

2009-05-01T08:26:00.004-04:00

As a kid I used to hate it when my favorite TV show would have an episode full of flashbacks to previous episodes. But this is completely different. :)

I'd just like to give a second look at a few presentation tools reviewed in earlier posts on this blog that I've used and enjoyed. Sometimes I will use Powerpoint for a presentation - it's comfortable but predictable. I've enjoyed using the following web-based tools as an alternative to good old Powerpoint and think you might as well.

Vuvox - Vuvox was reviewed by Brian on the WSFCS blog this past January , still has the linear feel of Powerpoint but with more flow and pazazz. You can create "hotspots" within the sliding presentation images to include hyperlinks and different forms of media. You'll need to set up a free account to start using, but I think you'll find it is a nice alternative to Powerpoint while still being similar in nature.
Prezi - Evan blogged about Prezi back in March on our dept blog calling his post "Presentation 2.0." And part of Prezi's appeal is its presentations offer a nonlinear feel to them. You still create a path or map to text, pictures, media, etc... but the movement in Prezi allows the presentation to spiral, zoom and spin around the content. When used properly this produces a very engaging presentation. Like Vuvox you just need to setup a free account with Prezi to get started.
Pageflakes-Pageflakes was the subject of one of my blog posts earlier this month. Although Pageflakes isn't exactly intended to be a presentation tool (like Vuvox or Prezi), it offers a great way to present information. In Pageflakes you can set up an entire page with content related to a subject. I tried this out in a Google Earth workshop recently, where I created a page filled with content related to Google Earth (links, RSS feeds, video and text) instead of a Powerpoint. I don't think I'd try this with every presentation, but I think it worked well for this workshop.

So there they are; a few flashbacks errr..."gems" from past blog entries to help change the ways we look at presentations.

It's Not Either/ Or

2009-04-24T13:28:00.007-04:00

Recently I had a correspondence with a teacher whom I like and respect. We were discussing voicethread and the potential to share digital media with a global audience. Her response surprised me a little. "I don't see the appeal." My answer was something along the lines that it was the excitement that students feel when engaging in a broader audience outside the classroom. She replied (in what I read as a joking tone) was that she'd be more excited if the kids knew more basic math skills.

From what I know she is a very good teacher, and I don't think her feelings were that off base for teachers who, especially this time of the year, feel pressured by end-of-grade tests and all the expectations associated with preparing her students for next year. But I think many teachers might be missing the chance to do both--engage and excite their students with using technology to communicate with a global audience AND teach the math skills students need to know. In the reply I sent her a voicethread done by Ms. Edwards' class on math skills to show voicethread as a vehicle for student to learn math skills, and I pointed out it doesn't have to be either/or.

So as is the case with so much technology, it's not about voicethread but what voicethread can do for the instruction. Too often technology is seen as a separate piece or class instead of an actual tool to use in all classes. Technology alone will not raise EOG scores or produce better students. But I firmly believe in the hands of an effective teacher, technology can go a long way to engage students in the lessons and even make teaching easier.

RemixAmerica

2009-04-16T13:22:00.003-04:00

Recently I have been interested in two ideas: promoting the types of digital media students can create and share as well as the concept that we are in a “remix” society. I stumbled a across a site trying to address both within the framework of U.S. History.

RemixAmerica.org is a site that describes itself as being a "nonpartisan, nonprofit in-browser editing tool that allows citizens around the country to remix the great words and speeches of American History with the hot button issues of today.” Additional language on the site surrounds the idea of creating a platform for ideas, discussions, and public expression.

The result seems to be a lot of videos clips that pull together various media to tell a story, or represent an idea housed on the site where users can view and comment in a manner similar to youtube or teachertube. The site appears to be focused on both past U.S history as well as current events. Like any site that contains user-created content, some of it is very good (I watched a remix titled “Civil Rights 09” which was very well-done) while a lot of it is not. It will be interesting to see if this site will become a real resource for discussing history or a battleground for users to just create negative videos about those who don’t share their views and politics. The site appears to be relatively new—the oldest remix video I saw was from May of last year, but someone is uploading material daily (10 videos between 7:30 and 1:30 today), and much of it looks like student work.

And although I didn’t encounter anything vulgar or profane, I’m sure there is the risk. But there appears to be a system for reporting objectionable content, and with an option to download videos you choose, it appears there is a way to avoid some unwanted content. Besides, there are subjects in history and politics that may not be appropriate for every classroom.

To be clear, I’m not suggesting this is a site to start using right away with students, but I’m interested in its possibilities. And I’m in support of projects that have students engage in creating media and provoke discussions and feedback with a broad audience—and RemixAmerica.org has the potential to be a tool to do just that.

Pageflakes

2009-04-12T20:39:00.005-04:00

Some time ago I moved from my utilitarian igoogle page to a new RSS startpage. When choosing a platform I'd wavered between pageflakes and netvibes sites - there seems to be little difference in the two. Both provide a sleek ajax-based page with options for adding a variety of embedded media and updated feeds.

After using each of the sites I'd hoped to offer a technology workshop on organizing webcontent with these start pages. I eventually chose pageflakes as the subject of the workshop, because I found pageflakes seemed to work a little better with our district's webfilter. There is also a teacher pageflakes site that makes it even easier to set up a page with education in mind.

I held the first workshop over spring break, and I really think pageflakes could play a role in helping teachers by providing content to help teach units. Teacher could use the site in the way I use the site - mostly to organize my RSS feeds from sites and blogs I check most frequently. But teachers might also create pages that contain content for their classes or even each separate unit they are teaching. Pages can be published, through pagecasting, which can allow the page to be accessible from any computer connected to the Internet. Teachers could use the pages during instruction, and students could access the sites and media the teacher chooses for a lesson.

Pretty great, and as is often the case with much of the new tech stuff I like, it's free and web-based so no installation is necessary.

picture from pageflakes.com

Our Writing Wiki

2009-04-02T13:31:00.007-04:00

In January I contacted schools to gauge interest for using a wiki to create a district writing project for elementary schools. This writing project involved different classrooms in WSFCS working together to compose a story.With the global possibilities for using a wiki, it seemed like a modest goal to complete in just our district, but I wanted something we could get done in a couple of months and gather from teachers the experience they and their children had with the wiki project. If successful, it might open the door for bigger projects in the future.

Eight educators agreed to take part in the project that entailed a class from each school writing a section of a story and creating an illustration for their section. Melissa from Diggs came up with the idea for the story and volunteered (or maybe I pleaded with her) to go first. And as the story worked its way through the eight classrooms, the story grew and the plot took many interesting twists and turns. I was impressed at how little assistance the classes and teachers needed. Even with the snow days and outbreak of a nasty virus that hit computers in our district, each class met the due date and the story was completed this past week.

I hope the students and teachers enjoyed the project as much as I did, and I would like us to continue these types of collaborative projects across and beyond our district in the future. If you are interested in reading the completed story, check it out on http://writeonwsfcs.pbwiki.com/The-Story

Computer Labs 2.0

2009-03-25T12:42:00.007-04:00

It seems most classroom computer labs have been organized based on the placement of the electrical units and Ethernet drops and/or by having all the screens facing in one direction to make it easier for monitoring computer use. This setup often creates a challenge for anyone working on a computer while trying to pay attention to the instruction going on at the board. During tech workshops, I often see teachers switching back and forth between the whiteboard and computer trying not to fall behind. As we redesign and rethink the classrooms of the future I wonder if we can give the labs a facelift as well.

A short time ago I visited John at Jefferson Middle, in part because I was curious about his new lab setup. His lab looks a bit like a coffee shop with elevated seats and circular tables positioned around the lab with wireless laptops on each table. With a flat screen plasma on the wall, John’s lab has an inviting feel to it. And although I didn’t see it in use with students, I really liked the arrangement. And I’m betting the students prefer it as well.

Now if he’d only add a coffee station in the corner and charge me three bucks for a cup of house blend, I’d be there every day.

21st Century Tech Literacy

2009-03-16T14:26:00.005-04:00

My five-year-old is teaching my three-year-old how to use the computer. My wife and I have been impressed by the patience she's shown with him. Currently he is receiving a heavy dose of instruction on mouse skills and how to navigate through the Starfall website.

Although my daughter is very special to me and I am very proud of her, I'm not sure if her experience with technology is that different from her peers. But I know she'll enter kindergarten next fall with quite a bit of "computer time" under her belt. She knows how to access the Internet through “the Firefox” and knows Mommy and Daddy will allow her time on "educational sites."

To be clear I'm not advocating a lot of screen time for young children, and we monitor what sites she is on and how long she is online, but I would wager she is as comfortable on the computer as some adults I know (maybe more). I can’t help but wonder, if she is representative of a larger group of digital natives entering the classroom, I wonder if education is keeping up with them.

Recently I talked with a friend of mine who is in technology and also has a child starting school in the fall, and we both shared our desire for our children to be engaged with technology in school at an early age. The technology vision for the school will play a big factor in his decision on where his child will attend—not just the equipment but what teachers and students (even kindergarteners) are doing with it.. I don’t know if a trip to the computer lab 45 minutes once a week for “computer class” is what he is picturing, nor is it enough to prepare our future students for digital literacy.

Network Literacy at NCTIES

2009-03-06T09:16:00.005-05:00

I first saw Will Richardson present a few years ago at another NCAECT conference, and it was one of my favorite sessions. He presented again this year at NCTIES and did not disappoint.

If you are interested in instructional technology, webtools or education you might want to start following his blog. I find his ideas to be really interesting and provocative. I like his sessions because even when he is presenting on a subject I think I already know about like RSS, he still manages to bring something new to the subject.

I attended three of his sessions, and the last on Network Literacy was perhaps my favorite. I think he described it as "a thinking session for personal learning networks." There were several ideas I'll take from the session, but here were a few of the best: the need for us to teach kids and model how to build networks in safe, effective and ethical ways; teaching kids to become "clickable"; and if you are in education, and you don't feel pushed, then you are not paying attention.

It was time well spent.

Preconference at NCTIES

2009-03-05T07:18:00.000-05:00

The North Carolina Technology In Education Society Conference cranked up in Raleigh yesterday with the preconference sessions. Our historical adventure overcame a few obstacles-- a tornado drill? really? What were the chances? But in the end, the session really yielded some great results and interactions with educators around the state.

The session was held at the NC Museum of History and focused on integrating technology with NC History. Our group toured the museum, collecting ideas and pictures, then planned and created a product for the classroom using Activstudio. It was a great way to start what promises to be a great conference.

Brainstorming with Bubbl.us

2009-02-26T14:11:00.000-05:00

So lately my posts have been more along the lines of a true "web log" chronicling what I've been doing and the thoughts I've had. So with this post, I'm back to using the blog to highlight what I think is a cool web-based tool for brainstorming.

Bubbl.us is a site used to create mindmaps. Creating an account is free and allows you access to all the features, and you can even try it out without signing up. It's nice because once you have created a map, you can share your maps or brainstorm with others, and there is no download or software to install. When the brainstorming is done you can export as an image or print it out. It is easy to use and the final product looks pretty sleek. Check out an example I created below:

The Challenge of Sustainable Staff Development

2009-02-19T15:33:00.000-05:00

Lately, I've been in discussions with schools throughout the district on how to best support the technology training we've already had this year, rather than adding new workshops. And I've been out to schools to do follow-up sessions on blogs, smart and activboards and schoolcenter teacherpages workshops done earlier this year. The format has been group meetings that are focused more on reviewing and asking questions rather than delivering new information.

There are several schools I serve that understand that many teachers need more than a one hour "sit and get" if they are going to really use the technology in their instruction. Many teachers have follow-up questions and need time to reflect and brainstorm when they acquire a new tool, and I commend those willing to do this because the "carrot" of tech credit is gone for these sessions. These are teachers who are showing up because they want to better understand how to use the technology.

Yesterday at Jefferson Elementary three teachers came in after school to the lab for a help session on their teacher webpages. We answered group questions and reviewed some steps, but much of the time was spent working on their pages with Joan (their tech facilitator) and I assisting them. We started around 2:45 and finished around 4:10, and at the end of the day I thought each of them made real strides with their pages.

Too often I think staff development workshops (technology or otherwise) plant a seed but don't do enough to nurture its growth early on. Follow-up is key if we want teachers to use the skills and resources we are sharing.

NCTIES 2009

2009-02-13T16:07:00.000-05:00

I'm starting to get excited about attending the NCTIES (formerly NCAECT) Technology Conference next month in Raleigh. I've been fortunate to attend the conference many times, and last year I got to present there. Every year the sessions offer something new, and the nationally known speakers bring their knowledge and interesting perspectives in instructional technology.

This year I get the benefit of being part of what should be a great preconference session at the N.C. Museum of History. I was in Raleigh Monday for a planning meeting with copresenters Marlo Gaddis and Matt Barfield and really look forward to seeing how the whole day will come together with teachers from around the state. The session, sponsored by CSI, should be a good blend of technology and social studies and will be a subject for future blogging.

Activexpressions Make an Impression

2009-02-05T14:48:00.000-05:00

Today I visited Forest Park Elementary to assist in setting up their Activexpressions. Activexpressions are learner response systems for the Promethean Activboards. And although they are similar to the Activotes, which preceded them and Senteos, which is the Smarttech version, expressions are awesome because these devices allow the user to text answers in the same way a cell phone is used.

So along with the kinds of "True or False" and multiple choice quizzes you're used to with activotes, with CPS units or senteos you can set up questions that allow for short answer texting with the expression. Although the expressions currently require an additional software install, I was impressed with how easy it was to set them up and get started. I'm anxious to see how the teachers and students at Forest Park will respond to this technology.

Although these are currently being updated on our district technology price list, the price tag might be a deterrent. However, Promethean is currently running a contest where they are giving sets away to lucky classrooms. Check out the contest.

Additional thanks to April, who is now exploring a "hand modeling" career.

The Technology-Rich Classroom for Free

2009-01-30T07:56:00.000-05:00

There are an amazing number of technology tools available for teachers to support their classroom, and even more services purchased by our district for teachers. This tools aren't just websites to visit, but tools for instruction. And workshops in all of these are currently offered by our department. So although we hope all classrooms will eventually have interactive whiteboards, projectors, document cameras, newer computers, etc...these are some tools you can use now. And if your classroom is outfitted with good tech equipment these tools will enhance what you can do in class.

Blogs provide a great way to engage students using technology. Whether posting assignments or showcasing class events, blogs using Blogger are free and relatively easy to set up and get going.Photostory is a great program that can be installed on all computers, but if it preferable to use a service that allows you to communicate with a much broader audience and house digital stories, take a look at Voicethread. Accounts are free, and we have several teachers and schools in our district using this with students. If you need a kid-safe search engine, we have a district license for netTrekker. You can also use DEStreaming for finding digital media that we also have a site license for. If you want a way to organize bookmarks try delicious; for organizing RSS try out Google reader. If you'd like to videoconference but don't have a big budget, see if you have a projector and webcam in your school, and use Skype (part of the Creating Global Connections workshop). If you need to collaborate with a group in a website set up a wiki.

The great thing about using these tools is that most are web-based and don't require installation. So start working on that technology-rich classroom, on a budget, with some of these free and worthwhile options.

Gigapan.org.......wow

2009-01-23T08:35:00.001-05:00

There is no shortage of sites with great digital pictures on the web, but gigapan seems to offer something a little different. The images offers a panoramic view composed of many picutures allowing the viewer to move around the picture as well as zoom in to areas. The photo resolution is amazing. The only drawback I found was because the resolution is so impressive and the image is huge, it may take some time for it to load in your browser. But the payoff may well be worth the wait.

One of the recently featured panoramas is David Bergman's President Obama's Inaugural Address. This panorama was created from over 200 images with a final size of 1,474 megapixels. I was able to zoom in on the President as well as the snipers positioned on rooftops on buildings in the distance. The panoramas can even be downloaded and viewed in GoogleEarth (version 4.2 or higher). Check out the image from the Mount Rushmore panorama in Google Earth below.

This site can allow you bring images into the classroom in stunning detail.

Free Audio and Podcast Directory

2009-01-15T13:44:00.000-05:00

As America waits for the inauguration of our 44th president how about reviewing some other great speeches in history or audio files that might peek your students' interest or supplement your class instruction? The site learnoutloud.com offers a wide array of podcasts and audio files for free download. The podcast directory offers everything from Great Speeches in History to Learning Japanese to Aerobics. The site also links to other providers of media where you could find both the video or audio of Barack Obama's speech from the 2004 Democractic National Convention (complete with the transcript) on americanrhetoric.com.

Learnoutloud.com boasts "the Internet's largest directory of free audio & video learning resources." And you might be surprised at the variety and selection, which is the one drawback of the site. I found it time consuming to locate some of my files of interest. I didn't find an easy way to find my files, but once I did it was very simple to stream. So take a few minutes check out some of the audio offerings on Learnoutloud.

photo from http://www.learnoutloud.com/

Tales from Tech Workshops

2009-01-12T13:24:00.001-05:00

Last Tuesday afternoon I journeyed out to Moore Elementary for a technology workshop. And besides my frustrating (and self-imposed) exile to the stationary car-rider line prior to the workshop, I had a very good time. I was impressed at the turn out for this workshop. Twenty-three teachers converged on the "cozy" setting of the computer lab, some sitting on the floor in order to watch me give an overview of the interactive whiteboard and software for an hour after school. Most of the these teachers don't even have the boards in their rooms, but they hoped to get a head start on next year, as Moore Elementary will move into a new building outfitted with many interactive whiteboards in classrooms. I don't think these teachers were required to attend but rather wanted to get some early instruction or a refresher on using this technology in their future classrooms. I was pleased at their desire and willingness to learn about technology that for many of them won't be in their classroom until next year.

Sometimes installing new tech equipment is much easier than getting people to learn to use the technology to impact their classrooms and instruction. In this case, early indicators show this may not be a problem at Moore Elementary.

picture from www.wsfcsmagnets.net/moore-home.asp

WSFCS Wiki

2009-01-12T13:23:00.001-05:00

The wsfcs.pbwiki.com was setup by the Instructional Technology Department to provide educators with easily accessible online resources. I've used it during workshops and recommended it to teachers who were seeking more information on a workshop topic. It includes some helpful teaching resources, as well as district examples of technology being used in the classroom. I hope that as the wiki grows we will be able to include more collaborators and take advantage of some of the great ideas in our district. See something you could add to it? Check it out and let us know.

Doodle: Easy Scheduling

2009-01-12T13:22:00.001-05:00

Need to set up a meeting? If you're tired of sending out "reply to all" e-mails, calling or trying to meet with each member to see when they can meet, then Doodle might be for you. Within minutes you can send a "poll" to gather responses from the group on when to schedule a meeting (see below) or where to eat dinner. This site is very easy to use and e-mails you when group members respond to your poll. Each member can reach the poll and see the responses of the other members. You can even try it out without setting up an account.

Internet Safety: A Different Approach

2009-01-12T13:20:00.000-05:00

I spoke on the topic of Internet Safety at Vienna Elementary's PTA meeting last Tuesday. I appreciated the warm reception I received from the PTA members and those who stayed for the discussion. I felt past Internet Safety workshops/ presentations I had attended had occasionally been disproportionately negative in dealing with Internet safety. The presentations would sometimes outline all the "doom and gloom" of the Internet and leave the audience feeling they should cancel their ISP and disconnect the computer. I opened with a short clip from the PBS Frontline series "Growing Up Online" (included below) where Danah Boyd addresses the need for us as a society to deal with the fact that living online is an inevitable part of life in this age. I tried to frame my presentation around this idea. Internet Safety needs to take a balanced approach and deal with the education to create responsible digital citizens rather than just outlining the dangers on the Internet.

video retrieved from youtube

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?

2009-01-12T13:18:00.000-05:00

If you post to a blog and no one comments does it make a sound? In an effort to get more feedback on our blog entries I am offering a special limited time offer. If you post an appropriate comment on the wsfcsintouch blog, Brian will come out to your house and wash your car*.
Perhaps I should reflect on the subjects of my posts. Maybe no one is fired up by printing or programming, but there has to be some post that will provoke you (dear reader) into a thoughtful comment. C'mon let's post some comments and put Brian to work.

Photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/gordon_mckinlay/2443072362/

* Brian will be under no obligation legal or otherwise to come to your house to wash your car. This was a trick.

Making Every Page Printer-Friendly

2009-01-12T13:15:00.001-05:00

Do you need to print just a section of a webpage? Want to save some toner or ink? Then you will love printerwhatyoulike.com This free web page editor allows you to print only the area of the webpage you choose. Just enter the URL of the page and click start and begin to remove, isolate and move sections of the page until you have the page you'd like to print. Simple, effective and green.

Alice

2009-01-12T13:14:00.001-05:00

Alice is a free software program that can be used to create computer animation. Although that might sound complex, I was impressed at how easy it was to use. Its "drop and drag" nature made it very simple to select 3D models and begin creating a series of moves they would perform. This might be a great way to allow kids to tell stories or present ideas, while gaining a introduction into programming.
Here is a short example of a clip I created using alice.

Blogging

2009-01-12T13:13:00.001-05:00

Educators at several schools have been setting up some great blogs that not only engage kids in blogging as a tool for instruction but showcase some of the great things they are doing in their classes and school. Blogs can also be a great way to share a quick video with your students, parents and visitors to the blog. I've included a short video clip from a recent blogging workshop.
Although it is not a comprehensive list, we have included addresses of some of the blogs in our system at wsfcs.pbwiki.com/blogs. Interested? Sign up for a workshop and start blogging.

In Search of a Video for Class?

2009-01-12T13:11:00.000-05:00

Looking for a video clip to use in class? Youtube blocked? Try Teachertube (which Marlo blogged about last March) and Schooltube, which are two sites that strive to offer video clips for the classroom. The clips are screened for inappropriate content, and both can provide sources for video to support your lessons. Check out the Animaniacs 50 States and Capitals song included below.
Teachertube and Schooltube can also be utilized to get ideas for lessons and see what other classes are doing. Both sites are free, but supported by ads.

If the network or the site is slow (which is my one complaint about Teachertube) or you'd like to pull in video from another source, the site Zamzar.com will allow you covert an embedded video into a video file that can be played in Windows Media or Quicktime. There are some formats that are not supported but many are, and once you complete the process the link for downloading the file will be emailed to you when it is done converting. When I've done it, I've successfully gotten the email with the link in under an hour.

ZoomIt

2009-01-12T13:07:00.000-05:00

I've used a presentation tool for some time called ZoomIt, which I have downloaded on my flashdrive. This free download from Microsoft’s Windows Sysinternals includes a screen zoom, an annotation tool and a countdown clock. Many of these features are similar to parts of other software for interactive whiteboards, but ZoomIt's portability, simplicity and ease of use separates it from the others. The program will run on any PC and hide in the tray after you launch it. If you think this tool could help focus or emphasize parts of your lesson or presentation I’d suggest you download it and give it a try. Check out the short video beneath to witness the power of the zoom.

The Hole in the Wall Experiment

2009-01-12T13:06:00.002-05:00

A physicist in India had a radical idea when he offered new opportunities to some of India’s poorest children. What would happen if they were given access to a free high speed Internet computer? Director/Reporter Rory O’Connor filmed some of this experiment forFRONTLINE/World and a video clip is available on the PBS site athttp://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/india/thestory.html. Additional clips are available athttp://www.globalvision.org/program/how/how.html. This inspiring story addresses issues of the digital divide and shows the power of what can happen when new doors of information are opened.
Picture from http://www.hole-in-the-wall.com/

The Waiting is the Hardest Part

2009-01-12T13:06:00.001-05:00

Since the beginning of the last school year I have been anticipating the release of Activarena, the software package that will allow multiple pens on an Activboard. The Promethean website describes the Activarena as a pack upgrade that allow classrooms to “become dynamic arenas for team-based activities, projects, competition and group projects.” That sounds great… When can I get it?

The software updates of Activstudio which included the addition of a “Multi-User” section on the dashboard gave me the impression a release was imminent. The site currently lists it as being available for your classroom in mid 2008 and says to “Imagine the potential of two, three, or more students working together, or teachers working collaboratively with students at the same time.”

I can imagine it; when can I get it?

I watched the countdown on the prometheanworld website and assumed it was for Activarena, instead it was the new version of the prometheanplanet website.

The last update I heard was Activarena would be built into the new version of Activstudio set for release sometime early 2009.

Of course I want them to get it right before they release it, but at this point my expectations for this new software will be high given the wait.