Below are notes from my VSTE conference, February 22-24, 2009
Sunday, February 22
What Can Google Do For You? Steve Fisher (Virginia Beach)
Documents: Google doucments work on a wikki theory. Several people can colloaborate on the same page. You can create a word document, spreadsheet, or presentation and house it on the web. You can print out the doucments as a pdf. It would make a great way to promote collaborative notaking. The steps are:
1. Upload or begin a new document.
2. Edit easily.
3. Pick and invite people to have access to your document.
4. Share changes on the document. You can revert back and you can tell who made the change.
5. Files are stored securely online.
6. It's free
Reader: This is a great place to house all the RSS feeds on one page that you read on a regular basis.
Google Earth: Google Earth has an upgrade which includes the ocean, moon, and Mars. You can embed voice and create tours. Save these as KML or KMZ files. Great way to teach platonics.
There are other services that Google offers that teachers need to check out.
Google Webpages
Google Talk
Google for Educators
Note to Self: Remember the Alt-Tab trick
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Encouraging and Evaluating Technology Integration Karen Richardson
We need to get beyond the tools. The administrator must set the vision. This vision should be communicated to to your ITRTs who will carry the vision to the teachers who in turn use the vision for enhancement of instruction.
Visions need to adapt and grow as the needs of the students and teachers change. Vision needs to take into account the skills students have as well as the skills they need to demonstrate.
It's my vision to help teachers in my division get past "using technology" if they can fit it into their pacing guides.
Here is the web page advertizing the Kid Tough digital camera. This camera was aimed to three year olds. Does our vision fit?
Accounding to the Pew Internet Research
85% of our students use electronic communications
65% of our students don't consider EC writing
64% use "informal" styles of writing in their school assignments (ie: LOL, BTW)
57% have created internet content (13-17 year old students) This may include Facebook, MySpace, etc
This generation are critcal consumers of information; they are bombarded with information constantly. They are also critcal creators of knowledge. Are we taking advantage of this in our schools?
What is it that we should be teaching? It has many names:
information literacy, multimedia literacy, 12st century literacy, digital literacy, computer literacy, media literacy, ITC literacy, visual literacy. They are all the synonyms. They are VERY IMPORTANT and are being overlooked in the classroom. Think about this: Is your Smartboard nothing more than a white chalkboard? If so, you don't get it!
MIT has a Friedman video. This summarizes his book: http://mitworld.mit.edu/video/266/
CQ + PQ = IQ
Curiousity Quotient + Passion Quotient = Intelligence Quotient
What are we looking for in classrooms?
Variety of media
Critical reading (Matthew Brady)
Real world connections
This photo is a fake. The soldier died elswhere and was dragged into this place by the photographer. What was he trying to say?
A proper vision:
The pervasive and productive use of educational technologies for the purposes of teaching and learning. Harris, 2005
Why can't a web log be used for reader writer workshop? Check out librarything.com. Technology should nto be an add on. It should be a tool used to demonstrate learning.
When considering technology think about
1. The relative advantage
2. Comapibility
3. Complexity
4. Trialability
5. Observabiltiy
If teachers don't know how to use graphic organizers, don't do a workshop on Inspiration, Do a workshop on graphic organizers and include Inspiration.
TCPK.org
The conversation is important.
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VSTE Keynote Speaker Dr. Tim Tyson (tim@drtimtyson.com) "Hyper-Connected Students"
Challenge Your Thinking
Profound shifts over the last 600 years...
- New Technology = Textbooks!
- Telephony
- Recorded Audio
- Television (Broadcast) - controlled the content and disseminated culture
A New Age (far more significant) = The Era of the Internet
- connect people instantly
- collective action for change
- inexpensive
- "hyperconnected"
implications for educators?
- a platform for participation and engagement
- the internet is in it's "adolescence"
- distribution and accessibility
- the small can act really big!
- every URL is a latent community
- potential to challenge the status quo
- invite participation
- welcome depth
- consensus
The student generation:
- consume
- produce
- share
- community
- personal production to the masses
- not limited by geography
- quality = expertise
- Few role models for quality, depth, and significance: experimentation and display that lacks these things ("Hello Educators!!")
Attention Economy:
- limited attention, only able to give our attention to one thing
- media is distracting
- information has to be compressed to fit between commercial breaks
- irresponsible media?
New research:
- stop multitasking
- actually make learning less effective
- learn more slowly
- brain research says there is no such thing as multitasking: continuous partial attention
- true multitasking: motivated by a desire to be more productive and more efficient
- continuous partial attention: motivated by the desired tob e a live node on the network ("addicted to technology")
The need to be connected is beginning to be dissatisfying. Is everything really that important?
- overstimulated
- overwhelmed
- unfulfilled
Are we imitating our hyperconnected students or are we modeling for them?
60% of students actually used their phones to call or text after they turned the lights out to go to bed
Can we communicate efficiently and effectively with "twittering"?
Digital trial and error is not understanding
Literacy is predicated on the intelligent and intentional action to achieve meaningful goals
Curriculum focused on the bigger picture. Doing and saying what we truly value.
- Math isn't about numbers
- Lit isn't about letters and words
- Music isn't about notes chords and rhythm
- School isn't about grades adn high-stakes testing
Positive emotional attachment to learning and knowledge
Help them think deeply, to feel with their hearts compassionately, and to create
We are training children to go out and "make a buck" = globally competitive
Live your calling passionately!
Blooms 21st
- Remember
- Too much focus on education
- Understand
- Apply
- Analyze
- *Contribute
- note just remix
- not just connect and acknowledge
Students love technology, but for all the wrong reasons
If we repurpose 1% of world's cognitive surplus: 10,000 Wikipedia projects
Collective action instead of low-level use of cognitive surplus
A passion for contributing to the beauty of humanity.
If we leverage these tools...to do that which is unparalleled...
What will we do when students begin bringing cell phones that will record and stream live audio and video??
We're not engaging them in their own learning process?
Can we move fact acquisition out of class time?
Where will you spend your energy....banning engagement or guiding facilitation, model best practices, help students make meaningful contribution
Manipulate how they use their cognitive surplus.
iTunes k12
Are we giving our best to our students? What's holding us back?
The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one's opportunities and to make the most of one's resources.
Monday February 23, 2009
Here, There, and Everywhere: Technology for Administrators Matt Monjan, Account Manager for the Discovery Educator Network
Telephone: 240.662.6731
Fax: 240.662.8741
Mobile: 240.338.9388
Telephone: 800.323.9084 ext. 6731
This presentation demonstrated how to pull reports from United Streaming. My account was upgraded to division admin for ACPS. Matt also moved my star status from the United Streaming account I have with Live Text to my ACPS account.
Goal: Maximize resources
1. technology
2. teachers
3. time
Start with media.
1. It improves student achievement
2. Students are engaged
3. It straddles the line between digital and analog
1989 Pepperdine Research Study showed a relationship between media and test scores.
http://admin.unitedstreaming.com Coming in March
Who should have access to the admin site:
1. all division ITRTs
2. all building admin
3. all library media specialists
media sharing coming for a cost. Encourage your folks to become Den Stars. They get this service for free.
Remember that 30% of the content is closed captioned.
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Engage, Entertain, and E-nvigorWrite in the Classroom 2.0 Style:
Rich Kinsey (Virginia Beach Public Schools)
There entire presentation from this workshop can be found here.
http://envigorwrite.wetpaint.com/?t=anon
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I'm in a Hurry Thomas Kern and John Mather
Here is the link to their presentation: I'm in a Hurry
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Voicethread: Sheila Teri
Here is the link to her presentation: http://vb-vste09.wikispaces.com/VoiceThread-+Sheila+Teri
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Teaching Math The Smart Way Terry C. Grimm and Cindy L. Foster
Find Grampy
http://www.visualfractions.com/FindGrampy.html
National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vLibrary.html
Addition Base Blocks
http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/NAV/frames_asid_154_g_2_t_1.html
Count Hoot's Number Game
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/laac/numbers/chi.shtml
Harvey's Home Page
http://almarolh.googlepages.com/
Mr. Duey Improper Fractions
http://www.mrduey.com/ His home page
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=ebd7c1e1b7118af88edc&page=1&viewtype=&category
Cricketweb
http://www.cricketweb.net/
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Leadership 2.0 Karen Richardson
Many of her resources found here: http://school2.wikispaces.com/
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Teaching the Nintendo Generation Camilla Gagliolo Arlington Public Schools
Teaching the Nintendo Generation: Teaching with Nintendo DS
21st Century Students have/use all these every day
- Cell Phones
- Game Platforms
- iPods
- Computers
Project Tomorrow (http://www.tomorrow.org)
- Results Overview (full report due next week)
- Students prefer learning online
- Want to learn with the devices that they have and use everyday
- Prefer to learn with games
Engage Me (Robin Hood School, Birmingham, UK)
Digital Kids
- Connected
- Engaged
- Social
- personal Learning
- Differentiation
- Different learning styles
Why Nintendo?
- Almost everyone has one
- Relatively inexpensive
- Students know how to use them
- Available software application
- Built-in networking abilities (Pictochat)
- Learning is entertainment
Benefits:
- No training needed
- Networked classroom instantly
- make learning transparent
- allows for differentiation
- one on one teacher to student tutoring
- fun and challenging
- low cost "multiplayer" downloads
Activities
- Brain Games
- Morning Warmup
- math, music, language, problem solving, memory, practice, time and space, soduko
Games in Class
- Math: Brain Age, Math Patrol
- LA: My Word Coach, Brain Age
"People can be reading or whatever and others can be communicating using pictochat"
Classroom Implementation
- Morning Warmup
- station work
- math practice
Classroom stations
- glogster poster
- la and math
- Palm, iPods, Nint DS, SMART
- Movies snippet with Palms
Language Arts
- reading groups
- book discussioons
Social Studies and Science
- pre-assessment
- review
- presentatin follow-up
- quizzes
Things to consider
- classroom management
- make sure focus is on curriculum/content
- grouping/station work
- etiquette and expectations (chat behavior)
- sending/submission strategies
Student voices
- "doesn't feel like learning"
- "learning is fun"
Global Perspective (if you're brave enough)
- students can also play against other students globally
- some games automatically track student progress and results can be compared
Millennials as Teachers
- Gaming Generation (computer, phone, online)
- Handheld Devices (pda, phone, iPod, texting)
Tuesday February 24, 2009
NASA + STEM Sharon Hurwitz
EIE = Engineering is Elementary
All of the resources Sharon provided can be found on her portal: http://guest.portaportal.com/shurwitz
A STEM lesson consists of science, technology, engineering, and math
Science is coming up with a hypothesis and developing a procedure to prove it correct or incorrect
Technology is a tool engineered to better the quality of life
Engineering is the creation of a technology
Math is the analyzing of data during the process of science
In our schools math and science are segmented. Students do not see the connection.
Every stem lesson is a science, technology, engineering, or math lesson but not every science, technology, engineering, or math lesson is a stem lesson. We should be striving to make our lessons stem lessons.
Our desire is to produce a 21st century workforce with quality training, skills, and creative thinking.
Two ideas I want to try during a professional development:
1. Bag comparisons: She had bags with two items in each bag
bag 1: cell phone and pencil
bag 2: lightbulb and candle
bag 3: old fashioned toothbrush and an electric tooth brush
bag 4: beef jerky and toy gun
bag 5: small fishing pole and can of tuna
Questions to ask:
1. Decribe both of your items. How are they alike and how are they different.
2. What are they made of?
3. What is their purpose?
4. Are they adaptable? Can they change? Why or why would they not change?
5. Do they improve or hinder the quality of life?
6. Hypothesize what they may look like in the future.
2. Toy rocket on the floor: She placed a 12 inch toy rocket on the floor at her feet and gave the challenge that a tower must be built that would bring the rocket up to a level where it was visible to all.
items:
12 inch rocket
100 index cards
roll of masking tape
A presentation needed to be made that documented the process and outcome. Process could be a ppt, voice thread, slideshare, online photo album, smart board.
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Deadly Desigh Joe Talaiver
During this presentation Joe gave some ideas and tricks for keeping students engaged with presentations
1. Keep it simple
2. Make it interactive
3. Insert mp3 voice over for content
4. consult color pallettes
5. Don't get too bright
6. Throw out comic sans and Times New Roman
7. Sans for presentations/Sans Serif for handouts
8. Images work well and then just have touch points with content popping up in short blurbs
9. Place the directions at the top in a coordinated color
10. Don't forget to use the virtual space.
11. Insert panoramic images in your presentations
12. Two panoramic images: one on top and one on the bottom
Sites:
1. Colorhunter
2. degraeve
3. color sceimer online
4. dafone
5. font farm
6. font hound
7. freeplay music
8. snound snap
9. earchives
10. google
11. street play music
12. live photo archives
13. sound dog
I attended another session called High Tech Tips. I didn't listen too well during this session as it was very crowded and I got claustophobic. One idea I did walk away with from that session was that I can insert Gizmozs into Windows Movie Maker.
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Maximazing Professional Development (Norfolk City Public Schools)
*Collaboration between ITRT and Library Media Specialist!*
Mission:
- Provide leadership in integrating technology to improve student learning
- Facilitate instructional software selection
- Provide teachers with development opportunities
Planning for the future:
Questions...
- How can we embrace the emerging technologies when there is hardly andy time to do"extra"?
- What can we do to get more lead teachers involved with the monthly meetings?
Answers...
- Offer Tech Training sessions for Prof Dev Credits
- "Give-aways" related to the tech training sessions
- Additional raffles for equipment
SOL data drives areas that can benefit from integrating technology
- Big suprise.....they all did!
- started with what the district already owned
Sessions offered (once a month after school):
- Tips and tricks for SMARTboard
- Digital images in the science lab
- Moviemaker
- Turning Point
- Super Support Saturday (Mini Tech Conference, once a month, 9-12)
- SMARTBoard
- Turning Point
- Digital Images
What happened?
- Teachers returned with basic knowledge and began to implement it
- ITRTs had more questions about how to integrate in all curriculum areas
How are we expanding?
- Middle/High sessions and department chair sessions
- Elementary teachers lead sessions
- Teacher "share fairs"
How can you get the ball rolling?
- How do you do staff development?
- What do you have available?
- Who can you partner with for training?
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I Didn't Know It Did That! MS Word 2007
I didn't get too much out of this presentation as I do not have access to Word 2007. The write up did not specify this and by the time I got into the room I was stuck.
Their presentation materials are located here: http://www.fcps.edu/ss/its/vste/
VSTE Links
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