Reflection for Best Practice

This course has covered several new and emerging technologies along with learning about Web 2.0 tools to enhance instruction in order to support student learning. As you begin to create a best practice for you classroom, keep in mind some of the following questions

1. How can technology influence student academic performance?
2. How can technology develop higher order thinking and problem solving?
3. How can technology improve student motivation, attitude, and interest in learning?
4. How can technology help to prepare students for the workforce?
5. How can technology address the needs of low performing, at-risk, and learning handicapped students?
For help with many of these question visit the online links below.
Online links and more Q&A’s

Please post a reflection by Monday 1/14/2008, describing your Best Practice and the impact on student learning. You Best Practice Video is also due this week. It would be great to have available before the due date of 1/18 in order to share at a school committee meeting on Wed. 1/16/2008. Thanks!!

Maximizing the Impact: "The Pivotal Role of Technology in a 21st Century Education System"

Click here for full report
Maximizing the Impact: "The Pivotal Role of Technology in a 21st Century Education System"

In a new report, Maximizing the Impact: "The Pivotal Role of Technology in a 21st Century Education System", the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills urged renewed emphasis on technology in education.

The report urges federal, state and local policymakers and other stakeholders to take action on three fronts:
1. Use technology comprehensively to develop proficiency in 21st century skills. Knowledge of core content is necessary, but no longer sufficient, for success in a competitive world. Even if all students mastered core academic subjects, they still would be woefully underprepared to succeed in postsecondary institutions and workplaces, which increasingly value people who can use their knowledge to communicate, collaborate, analyze, create, innovate, and solve problems. Used comprehensively, technology helps students develop 21st century skills.

2. Use technology comprehensively to support innovative teaching and learning. To keep pace with a changing world, schools need to offer more rigorous, relevant and engaging opportunities for students to learn—and to apply their knowledge and skills in meaningful ways. Used comprehensively, technology supports new, research-based approaches and promising practices in teaching and learning.

3. Use technology comprehensively to create robust education support systems. To be effective in schools and classrooms, teachers and administrators need training, tools and proficiency in 21st century skills themselves. Used comprehensively, technology transforms standards and assessments, curriculum and instruction, professional development, learning environments, and administration.

The report supports the Partnership for 21st Century Skills’ framework for 21st century learning, which calls for mastery of core subjects and 21st century skills. The report also highlights effective practices in states, districts and schools that are using technology to achieve results. And it provides guiding questions and action principles for policymakers and other stakeholders who are committed to maximizing the impact of technology in education.

Together, SETDA, ISTE and the Partnership for 21st Century Skills represent dozens of leading U.S. companies and organizations, six leadership states, education technology directors in all 50 states, 85,000 education technology professionals and 3.2 million educators throughout the country.

Click here to view the full report, Maximizing the Impact.

Wednesday 12/12 - Class

Please create your own TeacherTube Account http://www.teachertube.com/ Click on Free Signup - Remember username and password. This will allow you to upload your video and link to your wiki, blog and/or class wiki to share a best practice.

Go to the class wiki and on the sidebar locate MovieMaker and Video Tips

Please remember to bring your camera, video and cables to class this evening!
Sheri will have my Aiptek camera for the rest of the month, if anyone needs to share, please contact her.

Please keep in mind Copyright issues -
Here is a link to "The Educator's Guide to Copyright and Fair Use"
http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2002/10/copyright.php

** Video Best Practices should be posted by Monday January 14th OR no later than Friday, January 18th.. Please post your reflection by Monday January 14th in order to share with the school committee, on Wednesday January 16th.

Please monitor the blog for readings, etc before our next class.

Enjoy the holidays!
- Mary

More classroom ideas for wikis and blogs

FYI
Here are some more wiki ideas for the classroom.
http://teachersfirst.com/content/wiki/wikiideas1.cfm

More idea for blogging in the classroom
http://teachersfirst.com/content/blog/blogideas1.cfm

This Month's Teaching and Learning Magazine

The first night of class I had all of you sign up for a few free magazine subscriptions. Last month we discussed the Zamzar tool (download YouTube Video) to have available offline to cut down on the school bandwith issues.

Please post a commnet if you are recieving Technology and Learning Magazine. This months issue has a review on "clickers"

Clickers Rule! http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604803
by Susan Bush and Susan McLester
Rapid responders are the new classroom essential.

More on the magazine http://www.techlearning.com/content/about/tl_current.php

Hopefully, the magazine will keep you well informed on technology trends long after the class ends.

A celebration on 1/30 to showcase your work!

What a great class last night! I went home feeling a sense of accomplishment watching all of you capture your video and knowing that it works. What a relief! Our next class on 12/12 please bring your video in order to edit and post your best practice.

I mentioned in class that after attending the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference. http://www.nhcmtc.org/ in Nashua this week, I realized they majority of the topics at the conference are being covered in our class, (Smartboards, Clickers, Tablets, Web 2.0 Tools, blogs, wikis, rss, igoodle, video, etc). The progress that we have made in a few short months is significant!

I sent a message to Karen Martin suggesting our last class on 1/30 be a celebration to showcase our Best practices videos and to continue the conversation about Web 2.0 tools, emerging technologies and their impact on Lunenburg students. We can discuss the best process to communicate our needs in a positive manner. Maybe a VoiceThread http://www.voicethread.com/ (group conversations around images, docs and videos) exercise on the blog! I would like to extend an invitation to a few people in my district.

We can discuss this at our next class and determine an agenda. I think it’s important that your administration and colleagues see your progress!

Feel free to comment with your thougths!

- Mary

VoiceThread - Technology in the Classroom Sample from Maine

I mentioned a voicethread sample yesterday that I saw at the Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference. Cheryl Oakes from the Wells-Ogunquit School community in Maine showed her school blog and presentation to the school committee using Voicethread. A new tool that seems to be gaining popularity in the blogging community, here is the link.
http://wocsdtechtalk.blogspot.com/2007/11/presentation-to-school-committee-nov-7.html - or http://voicethread.com/#q.b19249.i111572

If you want to leave a comment (voice or text) you have to have create an account http://voicethread.com/#home (Voice thread is a group conversations around images, docs and videos. Transform your presentations, )

If you have time to experiment with the site let me know what you think!

This could be another way to demostrate a best practices instead of moviemaker.

Here is a link to the wiki at Christa http://www.nhcmtc.org/Extensions/?s=397 with all their links/handouts.
Mary Marotta

Presidential debates via youtube!

Did anyone see the debates last night using youtube? http://www.youtube.com/debates


This is an amazing use of technology!

Edublog Awards 2007 Finalists Announced

Lots of great blogs and wiki's to review in all subject areas.
Take a look!
http://edublogawards.com/edublog-awards-2007-finalists-announced/

Pocket DV Cameras (Flip Video and AIPTEK)

There are many low end video devices to record student work to post to the web. Will Richardson is talking about the Flip Video in his blog http://weblogg-ed.com/2007/testing-flip-video/

I would like to test out the two devices with the class (FLIP and AIPTEK). One advantage to the AIPTEK model, I can record to a memory card and have multiple cards for students to use. It appears the Flip model would require students to pull their video immediately from the camera so another student could use.

Do you have a digital camera that will let you record a video? Try taking the video off the camera and saving to a computer. We can experiment with this in our next class.

Flip Video Ultra Series 60-min. Camcorder - Black (F260)
• Point-and-Shoot Video Camcorder For MPEG 4
• 2x Digital Zoom
• 0.31MP Digital Still
• 1.5" LCD Monitor
• Records in VGA-Quality Recording
• LCD Features Color TFT LCD Display, VGA Playback, Battery Information Display, Easy Color Menu System, LCD, 640 x 480 Resolution
Link
http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=sc_iw_r_1_0/601-9180021-8239316?ie=UTF8&asin=B000V1PXMI

2. Aiptek Zoom-DV 6MP Digital Camcorder
Note I have the Pocket DV model 5800, but could not find online.
• Digital Camcorder For MPEG 4; Works with Secure Digital Memory Card
• 3x Optical Zoom, 4x Digital Zoom
• 3MP CCD Video Resolution ; 6.0 Megapixel Digital Still
• 2.4" LCD Monitor
• Records in MPEG4 Video Clip Format
• LCD Features LCD
• 2GB Built-In Storage
• Flash Modes: Red-Eye Reduction
• White Balance: Fine
• Includes Adapter
• 2.5 "; 1.5 Lb.
Link
http://www.target.com/Aiptek-Zoom-DV-6MP-Digital-Camcorder/dp/B000EHIQ00/qid=1194371045/ref=br_1_10/601-9180021-8239316?ie=UTF8&node=13052291&frombrowse=1&rh=&page=1ce

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM)

The Technology Integration Matrix (TIM) illustrates how teachers can use technology to enhance learning for K-12 students. The TIM incorporates five interdependent characteristics of meaningful learning environments: active, constructive, goal directed (i.e., reflective), authentic, and collaborative (Jonassen, Howland, Moore, & Marra, 2003). The TIM associates five levels of technology integration (i.e., entry, adoption, adaptation, infusion, and transformation) with each of the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments. Together, the five levels of technology integration and the five characteristics of meaningful learning environments create a matrix of 25 cells as illustrated below.

Assignment - Make a Post this week! Articles from Technology and Learning Magazine and YouTube Article

Hi -
Last month I had each of you signup for a few free magazine subscriptions. When I got home tonight after class, my October issue of Technology and Learning was here. This months issues featured three articles that we discussed in class this evening.
1. Downloading YouTube Video - According to the article, the authors liked Zamar (and was able to move the file to his ipod). He tested several tools and like Zamzar, a free online file conversion service.

Here is the link to the article
http://www.techlearning.com/showArticle.php?articleID=196604743
"To use Zamzar, you can either upload a file or enter the file's URL, then choose a format you want to convert to, enter your email address (to receive a link to the converted file), and click Convert. I chose to convert to MP4 for my iPod. It took about three minutes for the conversion, and a few minutes later I received an e-mail telling me the file was done and giving me a link to download it."

Article 2 - Tablets
Tablets Dispensed article by Miguel Guhlin
A look at how to make the best decision when purchasing a slate or convertible (tablet, notebook/computer).
Article 3 Bandwith for streaming video
How Fast Is Fast Enough? (bandwith)by Karen Greenwood Henke - The issue of bandwidth is increasingly the question of the day at schools nationwide.

Read one of the articles, try the YouTube download here is a link to the class wiki(posted under Web 2.0 Tools and YouTube)http://lunenburgtech.pbwiki.com/Web+Tools Make a post here in the blog sharing your experience!

Do you have a blog or a wiki? Tell us about it on the class wiki site http://lunenburgtech.pbwiki.com/Your+Wiki's+and+Blogs+-+Post Click on Your Wiki's and Blogs - Post in the sidebar.

Also, I posted tonights notes on Tablets and Office 2007 (Thanks Sarah!)Notes from tonight on Vista/2007 posted in Using the Tablet PC (and Office 2007 tips) wiki page . I will continue to look for updated content for Office 2007.

Go Sox!

Class Wiki - go visit

I have also created a class wiki using pbwiki for Lunenburg http://lunenburgtech.pbwiki.com/FrontPage link http://lunenburgtech.pbwiki.com/

On the sidebar is each topic we will cover to edit you may be prompted for a password waws emailed to you.

If you get a chance, start look at the pbwiki tour

Have you created a blog or a wiki? Post you link here http://lunenburgtech.pbwiki.com/Your+Wiki's+and+Blogs+-+Post

Fall Conferences - K-12 Online Conference and local

The K-12 Online Conference - What Keynote and post a comment

1. The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2007 conference theme is “Playing with Boundaries”. This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote the week of October 8, 2007. The following two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26, forty presentations will be posted online to the conference blog (this website) for participants to download and view. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” and a culminating “When Night Falls” event will be announced. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during the conference as well as asynchronous conversations.
** Online and free, our class will be participating.
October 8th Keynote - Watch or listen and post a reflection
This presentation, by 30+ year educator, author, and technologist, David Warlick, will explore some of these changes and challenges and arrange them as a set of converging conditions that might just help us to redefine and retool the 21st century classroom.

Presentation - Watch or listen and post a comment!
Video
http://k12online.wm.edu/davidw.mp4

Audio
http://k12online.wm.edu/davidw.mp3



Other Conferences -
2. MassCUE - November 15-15th - Sturbridge

3. Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference "I Touch the Future, I Teach". The Radisson Hotel Nashua November 27-29th.
I will be presenting with a math teacher Using Tablets/PCs in the Classroom With Students
NOTE: Session on the Sentro Clikers
W2-16 - Wed November 28th!
Ashwood Court
12:00-1:00 SMART Senteo Interactive Response System
Rachel Jeantry, SMART Technologies, and John Kozlowski, SMART Technologies
ET
Level: Beginner
Grades: All This session focuses on how the Senteo interactive response system is designed to enhance interactive teaching and learning. With it, you display or speak prepared or ad hoc questions, students anonymously key in answers with their remote, and responses are tallied, then displayed on a projection screen or interactive whiteboard. Tallying and displaying results occurs immediately. To assess student understanding, you can use a variety of question types, including true or false, multiple choice, numeric response and more-than-one-right-answer. Decimals, fractions and negative numbers can also be incorporated into questions and answers. This session will be led Rachel Jeanty, SMART Technologies Education Consultant for The Northeast and John Kozlowsky, the Northeastern US Area Manager for SMART Technologies.

Class 1 (online assignments)

The online portion for this momth is to practice the new tools covered in class, implement with students, assess and post about it in the class blog.

Please post a respose on the following topics before our next class.

1. Your experience with the Senteo remotes (Note scheduled reviwed in class)
Note: I will update my PBwiki site for class on the Senteo(click here)
2. Using the multimedia cart and document Camera
or
Other options (SmartBaord setup and Primary School for demo on 10/24)
3. K12Online Conference - Review the speakers and KeyNote on October 8th
4. Practice your classroom Blog, School Center and/or takePBwiki tour and create an account.
Other options Voicethread or RockYou.
5. Sign up for Subscriptions recommended in class.
6. Use igoogle/google reader to subscribe to blogs. Here is a screencast in YouTube on igoogle.
7. Download Skype at home so we can im and cha. Maybe on a Wednesday evening around 7:00 if that works for people. Or post to the blog. (Try to post weekly to keep the conversation going or try skype to im and chat - 10/3, 10/10 and 10/17)

I will be check the blog, make sure you comment!

PART II - Integrating Tech to Support DI - Week 1 - In-Class Session Wed 9/26

New Class Integrating Technology to Support DI - Part II
Class Date:
Dates - 10 hours per month (5 meeting and 5 online) Meet 20 hours * 4 hours online 20 hours * 5 hours

Class One
In Class - Wed 9/26/07 (3:15-7:15pm)
1. Registration, Syllabi, Review of Web 2.0 topics and new hardware. Class Blog, direction of class and assignments.

2. Document Camera Ken-a-vision
Instruction Manual
Applied Vision Software User Guide
Problem with installation and fix *new software due out in December 07

3. Senteo interactive response system (download for software) CD out of date, regitration code, see Peggy.
Schedule for evaluation for class see below
High School
1.Foreign Language Department Week 1 – (October 1-5th) *Peggy Proctor will facilitate training and support (note Peggy passes to Martha)
2. English (Martha, Errinanne and Nicole) will use 10/9 – 10/16 **Martha will facilitate (Martha will then pass to Sherry at the elementary school)
Elementary
3. Sherry at the Elementary/Primary School 10/17- 10/22 *Sherry will return back to Peggy on 10/22 - Not sure there is anyone else from class in this building??

Middle School (Steve’s mac will not accommodate at this time)
4. Steve’s mac o/s will not accommodate at this time.

Peggy bring back to class on 10/24 back for the second class.
*As mentioned in class, please keep locked and secure when not in use.

4. Subscribe to Subscribe to Techology and Learning Magazine, Edutopia and EdCompass Newsletter from SMART Technologies and configure your coogle read for topics of interest.

5. Class Blog postings
6. K-12 Online Conference
Welcome to the K-12 Online Conference!
The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from all educators from around the world who are interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This is a FREE conference run by volunteers and open to everyone, no registration is required. The conference theme is “Playing with Boundaries”. The 2007 conference begins with a pre-conference keynote the week of October 8, 2007. The following two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26, forty presentations will be posted online to the conference blog (this website) for participants to download and view. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” and a culminating “When Night Falls” event will be announced. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during the conference as well as asynchronous conversations
7. Assignments between Sessions (Learn -Practice-Apply in Class-Assess-Share)
8. Online portion of class before next session.* Class Blog and K-12 Online Conference (poster to share with a colleague) review/participation.

Look at PBwiki and the tour. My pbwiki site
Note: A blog is about conversation and a wiki is more of a collaborative tool/site.

Online Topic - 1a. week ending - 10/11/07 (following weeks 5 hours - assignments)
See above topics 5-8

2. Wed 10/24/07(3:15-7:15) 2a. week ending - 11/9/07
Sharing of lesson, moving forward with Tablet PC's and multimedia carts.
K12 Online Conference
Blog (your class blog or School Center Site)

3. Wed 11/28 (3:15-7:15) 3a. week ending 12/6/07
Video Editing Tools and postings (MovieMaker, VoiceThreads, TeacherTube)

4. Wed 12/12 (3:15-7:15) 4a. week ending 1/11/07
Online Assessment of Project - Share with district

5. Wed January 30 (3:15-7:15) wrap-up session
TBD

Review Class for new users

Welcome - Topics for today

Did You Know video

Why are you here?

How has the Internet changed?
How do students use the web?
Pay Attention Video

What is Web 2.0? The Machine is Us/ing

What is a blog?
Getting started reading blogs

Create a Blog in Blogger, YouTube downloads and other tips
Using TeacherTube to create a blog using blogger.

What are some interesting sites that work in a blog?(YouTube, TeacherTube, Skype)
Subscribing to website/Blog
RSS in Plain English(Real Simple Syndiction)

Your School Portal - School Center Tutorials

Google has more to offer when you sign in to your Google Account. You can customize pages, view recommendations, and get more relevant search results. ...
Google Accounts

Google Reader Tour (a quick tour)

igoogle (tour in YouTube) making gadgets and share

Google docs watch a video of Google docs in Plain English

Other terms
Wikis in Plain English
Social Networking in Plain English

Sample Wiki on Skype in Education

Digital Students @ Analog Schools - Marco Torres
How can this new technology enhance student learning?

iTunes, Podcasting, Skype and more

New Hardware (tablet/pcs, document cameras, Senteo clickers, Smartboards and E-Instruction)

Define .... What do you want to learn?

Review the class blog and links before our next class.
Post a respone in the blog using your google account.

New Equipment - Part 1 Class and K12 Online Conference

Did you receive new equipment this fall? Would you like to share your experience?
What plans do you have to integrate the course into your classroom?

Check out the K12 Online Conference http://k12onlineconference.org/ starting in October.

- Mary

Thinking about taking the Fall hybrid class?

If you are thinking about taking the upcoming fall class and you did not take the course last June then please sign up for the one day prequiste class for new users to be held on Sat 9/22 (time location etc)see Karen Martin to signup. Based on your requests we will offer as a hybrid class. Part of the course will be hands-on and the second part will be using the class blog, Web 2.0 tools and the new equipment acquired from the last class.

New Class Integrating Technology to Support DI - Part II
Class Date:
Dates - 10 hours per month (5 meeting and 5 online) Meet 20 hours * 4 hours online 20 hours * 5 hours

1. Wed 9/26/07 (3:15-7:15pm)1a. week ending - 10/11/07
(following weeks 5 hours - assignments)
2. Wed 10/24/07(3:15-7:15) 2a. week ending - 11/9/07
3. Wed 11/28 (3:15-7:15) 3a. week ending 12/6/07
4. Wed 12/12 (3:15-7:15) 4a. week ending 1/11/07
5. Wed January 30 (3:15-7:15) wrap-up session

Best Buy Grant Opportunity - Due 9/30

Hi folks!

I hope you are still checking this blog for information. As part of our class you were asked teachers to put together a proposal around technology funding for your classroom. Please make a post and let me know what you received and how you are using it! Also, I hope to see many of you for Part II of this class starting on Wendnesday 9/26/07 at 3:15. Please contact Karen to signup!

If you would like to submit your proposal for a Best Buy Grant it is due September 30th, 2007 http://communications.bestbuy.com/communityrelations/teach.asp

Rewarding Schools for Engaging Students
At Best Buy we believe technology can excite and engage students, creating a more valuable educational experience. Through Best Buy Teach Awards we provide gift cards to schools so they can purchase technology for their students.

Highlights:
• Since 2004, the Best Buy Teach Award program has awarded nearly $14 million to over 5,000 K-12 schools.
• This year Best Buy will present awards to more than 1,300 schools
o $2,000 Best Buy Teach Awards for up to 1,300 schools*
o $10,000 will be awarded to up to 50 schools*
o $100,000 will be awarded to 8 school districts*
• K-12 public, private and parochial schools using interactive technology in classrooms are eligible to apply.
• Schools must be within 50 miles of a Best Buy store to apply.
• Educators must apply between July 1 and September 30.
• The 2008 Teach Award Winners will be announced on February 18, 2008.
If you could provide them with specific demographics on their School and District population (see below) they can submit an application online.

** I will ask your district to provide you with the logistical information for the online application.

School Information
School EIN - Federal Tax ID number
School Fax and Phone
School Enrollment

SCHOOL Information
Ethnicity of children in your school (combined total must equal 100%)
% Asian/Pacific Islander* =
% American Indian* =
% Caucasian/White* =
% Hispanic/Latino* =
% African-American/Black* =

What percentage of students in your school qualify for free or reduced lunch?*

What is the average percentage of students in your district who qualify for free or reduced lunch?*

District INFO
DISTRICT EIN - Federal Tax ID number
District Phone and FAX number

WHAT YOU NEED TO WRITE ABOUT .... (I would suggest you do this in word and cut and paste into the application).

Answer 4 questions
Question 1
Please respond to the following question in 2000 characters or less. If you exceed the character limit, highlight excess text to be deleted, then right click and cut or delete the text before editing the remaining response.

Tell us about the program or project you are submitting for a Best Buy Teach Award and describe how your students have used the technology products you identified earlier in creative, fun and hands-on ways to learn the curriculum in the classroom
2000 character limit (about 400 words)

**Note in Word you can do a word count (select the text) go to the tools menu and click on word count.

Question 2
Please respond to the following question in 2000 characters or less. If you exceed the character limit, highlight excess text to be deleted, then right click and cut or delete the text before editing the remaining response.

If you answered earlier that student engagement, comprehension and/or attendance have improved as a result of being able to use technology hands-on in the classroom please describe what the impact has been.
2000 character limit (about 400 words)

Question 3
If your school receives a Teach Award, what will be purchased with the Best Buy Gift Card to improve the program described in this application? Please include a shopping list of specific items you will purchase at Best Buy with quantities and estimated cost per item. Reference www.bestbuy.com for available products and prices. Please note that not all items available on BestBuy.com are available in Best Buy stores. (They could select from Tablet PC’s, Projectors, Digital Camera, Video Cameras, Microscopes, mp3 players/ipod, printers, etc)
You have space to list up to 15 different products or items. When entering cost/item, round to the nearest whole dollar and do not use any decimals, punctuation, or symbols (i.e. 1500 not $1,500.00)
Best Buy Product/Item: Qty: Cost/Item: Total Cost:

Question 4
Please respond to the following question in 4000 characters or less (about 750 words). If you exceed the character limit, highlight excess text to be deleted, then right click and cut or delete the text before editing the remaining response.

How will the products included in the previously listed budget improve the existing program described in this application?

4000 character limit (about 750 words)

If you do apply post a response in the class blog and encourage others to apply.
Maybe your school or distirct will win one of the larger prizes!


Good luck!
Mary Marotta

Future Technology PD

Several of you asked for a continuation of the Class (New Digital Technologies and Web 2.0 tools).

I found this online survey that plugs into the blog zoho and has several other features. Please take the poll and comment.

Are you interested in a follow-up class?


Part II of the class would be in a hybrid format. We can outline the details with Karen over the summer.
The class would be ten hours a month beginning September/October for four months.
- five hours month face to face (possibly Wednesday's 3:30-8:30 pm)
- five hours online using the class blog to implement and report back on Web 2.0 tools in the classroom.
- Other options could include multimedia, moviemaker, teaching online (using school center and/or blog). Please comment with your suggestions.

I also added a feature to the website so when you go over a url it shows you a snapshot of the website.

K-12 Online Conference that could be incoprated into our class.
The 2007 conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26 of 2007, and will include a preconference keynote during the week of October 8. The conference theme is “Playing with Boundaries.”

This class has inspired be to try new things our class blog!

Share your project and post your link!

Are you working on something interesting today?

Post a comment below with your link!

Thanks,

Teaching Tips: Differentiated Instruction

What is Differentiated Instruction?
This page offers a complete and outlined definition of differentiated instruction.

Layered Curriculum
This site for educators contains articles on how to implement a layered curriculum and other related topics.

Differentiated Instruction Links
This site contains links to resources such as articles on instructional theory, practical tips for the classroom, sample lesson plans, PowerPoint presentations, and other documents.

About Differentiated Instruction
This article defines and explains differentiated instruction, including guidelines for implementing it in the classroom.

More information

Did You Know; Shift Happens - Globalization; Information Age

Created by Karl Fisch, and modified by Scott McLeod; Globalization and The Information Age

Create a Blog in Blogger, YouTube downloads and other tips

Using TeacherTube to create a blog using blogger.



More templates for blogger and installing workshop

Other Tips - Need to download a YouTube Video for you class? Is it blocked in your school?

Tip 1 - Watch the video video

Another way .... seems like alot more steps than the video approach.
Tip 2 - Here are the steps (note, this needs to be tested in class)
1. Find YouTube Video and Copy address
2. Go to Ripzor.Com, and paste the URL of the YouTube video into the box.
3. Click "Get Video"
4. Click the download link
5. Save the file to "a folder i.e. class videos" folder, and make sure to rename it.add ".flv" to end of name.
6. Open FLVConverter, and hit "Add file"
7. Use default settings and Click"Process"

Technology Proposals

How would you like to use technology in your classroom/department/school?

Are you interested in submitting a proposal?

Post a comment to share with administration.

Lunenburg School Center - Online Tutorials

Need to learn School Center go to the online web tutorial and preview the flash tutorial or text tutorial.

Click on the StartPage Overview. You will be prompted to review the video or text tutorial.

Here is my class page on School Center

FAQ's to help you learn.

David Warlick talks about ... Of Course I think it Matters

Interesting observation about like long learning with teachers...

Of Course I think it Matters May 9, 2007 at 8:45 am · Filed under education

From David's Blog - There has been an astonishing and healthy conversation going on about the blog entry I wrote the other day about that NYTimes laptops piece. The entry is entitled, What’s good about the May 4 NY Times Article about Laptops in Schools. Last night, in his signature prickliness, Gary Stager (not his first comment on this blog post) lamented that we have had computers in classrooms for 25 years, and that some teachers still resist them indicates “…a conscious effort to be non-learners.”

I’ve claimed my own frustration at teachers who ask, “But who’s going to teach me how to do that?” Sadly, we are a generation who was taught how to be taught — not how to teach ourselves. It’s one of the many reasons why the experiences that our children have in the classroom must become much more self-directed, relevant, and rich. They/we need to learn to teach ourselves. Teachers shouldn’t need professional development. They should be saying, hey, I’m going to teach myself how to do that this weekend. It’s about life long learning. Not about a life of being taught.

Go to David's Blog to see comments

Got Skype? Post a comment

Skype will allow you to:

website skype download

network with other instructional technology teachers
connect students with experts worldwide
connect students who are learning similar & related content
allow parents to see their students presenting
allow students who are absent a chance to participate
allow teams of teachers to meet virtually
allow administrators to connect with classrooms from their office
become the "teacher as facilitator"

More ...
Handout from conference
Download and register.

Post a comment and share your experience with the class!

Wiki's

Pbwiki in Education - take a tour

Wiki click here take a tour

Marc Prensky - Article Listen to the Natives?

What is RSS? Aggregators - Bloglines, GoogleReader, PageFlakes and more

RSS - Really Simple Syndication - content can be read using software called a "feed reader" or an "aggregator." The user subscribes to a feed by entering the feed's link into the reader or by clicking an RSS icon in a browser that initiates the subscription process. The reader checks the user's subscribed feeds regularly for new content, downloading any updates that it finds.

Oprah talking about RSS ... click on the link in the title or go to the blog

The articles starts ... "Now to explain RSS the Oprah way
Today, I’m going to explain how RSS can help you live your best life online. We all have busy lives with very little time. Web surfing is fun but can take hours going to visit every single website and blog you enjoy. Wouldn’t it be fabulous if you could just get all the headlines of the most current stories from all your favorite websites and blogs in one place? Well now you can, and it is called RSS feed.

The Oprah definition - The technical acronym for RSS is “Really Simple Syndication”, an XML format that was created to syndicate news, and be a means to share content on the web. Now, to geeks and techies that means something special, but to everyday folks like you and me, what comes to mind is, “Uh, I don’t get it?”

So, to make RSS much easier to understand, in Oprah speak, RSS stands for: I’m “Ready for Some Stories”. It is a way online for you to get a quick list of the latest story headlines from all your favorite websites and blogs all in one place."

Bloglines is web-based personal news aggregator that can be used in place of a desktop client.

Google Reader, keeping up with your favorite websites is easy. It constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new information.

igoolge - go to goolge login and customize your hompepage. You can bring individual RSS feeds or add the Google Reader.
With Google Reader, keeping up with your favorite websites is as easy. It constantly checks your favorite news sites and blogs for new information and updates!

Antother interesting personalized start page is Pageflakes. An interesting feature, you can share out a tab for other people to see. It also has a blog function. Looks like the next step up from igoogle.
Pageflakes- Pageflakes is your personalized start page with news readers, RSS feeds and various other features. Will Richardson talks about using PageFlakes as a student portal.

Getting Started Reading Blogs

Here are a few Blogs that I subscribe to

Weblogg-ed - Will Richardson collects ideas for Web logs in the classroom, asks questions to the teacher Web logging community, and reflects on his teaching.

2 Cents Worth -David Warlick, a 30 year educator,has been a classroom teacher, district administrator, and staff consultant with the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction. For the past ten years, Mr. Warlick has operated The Landmark Project, a consulting, and innovations firm in Raleigh, North Carolina. His web site, Landmarks for Schools, serves more than ten-million visits a month with some of the most popular teacher tools available on the Net. David is also the author of three books on instructional technology and 21st century literacy, and has spoken to audiences throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia, and South America. David blogs at http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/.

Marc Prensky is relatively well known in educational technology circles for his 2001 article, "Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants." (PDF) The vocabulary of referring to younger people as "the digital natives" for whom technology use comes more naturally and "the immigrants" to the digital landscape who comprise most of the adult population and teaching cadre in our schools and universities can be helpful in understanding the divides which often separate and define generations of learners.

Moving at the Speed of Creativity - Wesley Fryer

The Infinite Thinking Machine (ITM) is designed to help teachers and students thrive in the 21st century. Through an active blog, an Internet TV show, and other media resources, the ITM shares a "bazillion practical ideas" for turning the infinite universe of information into knowledge. We showcase examples of innovative instructional methods, talk with leading experts, and share real stories from the classroom to improve how we think, learn, teach, and live. And we try to have a little fun along the way.


A Difference - Darren Kuropatwa teaches math. A "difference" is one of the four fundamental operations. The slope of a line is calculated using a quotient of "differences" which, when we first study calculus, evolves into the "difference quotient" (AKA the derivative). Later we study "differential equations." The teachers in his department have decided to focus on using the teaching strategy Identifying Similarities and Differences. But more than all of this, the word "difference" suggests change. The breakneck evolution of technologies on the internet is changing they way we teach. It's hard to keep up.

Alan November and November Learning | Building Learning Communities November Learning promotes the effective use of information and communication technologies that support and enhance learning. Summer conference July 18-20th 2007 - Boston - Blogging and podcasts working together check out the gallery.


Speaking of History - Eric Langhorst, a junior high history teacher in Liberty, Mo., uses his podcast, Speaking of History, to hook students who dislike history but love their ...
speakingofhistory.blogspot.com/ Here is an article- After the Bell, Beyond the Walls: How middle schoolers use blogs, wikis, and podcasts to learn social studies by Eric Langhorst. I love reading about and learning new ways that teachers are currently using technology in a variety of disciplines to enrich their students’ learning.

The article discussed the way Eric uses podcosts and blogging technology to extend his teaching beyond the brick and mortar classroom. Eric creates “Studycasts” (podcasts) to help his students review for tests. He basically records himslef discussing, “major concepts that students needed to know for an upcoming unit test” (Langhorst, 74, Educational Leadership, May 2007). Students then download the content onto ipods, or he burns them a cd.

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

Web 2.0 ... The Machine is Us/ing Us

Weaving Web 2.0 into Classroom Practice

Web 2.0 this is posted on slideshare

Not all students are alike.

Not all students are alike. Based on this knowledge, differentiated instruction applies an approach to teaching and learning so that students have multiple options for taking in information and making sense of ideas. The model of differentiated instruction requires teachers to be flexible in their approach to teaching and adjusting the curriculum and presentation of information to learners rather than expecting students to modify themselves for the curriculum. Classroom teaching is a blend of whole-class, group and individual instruction.

Differentiated Instruction is a teaching theory based on the premise that instructional approaches should vary and be adapted in relation to individual and diverse students in classrooms.

Digital Students @ Anlaog Schools

I attended Alan Novembers BLC06 conference last summer and Marco Torres, was a keynote. In one of his smaller sessions he showed a great movie clipped and asked the audience to promote and share it. Movie: Digital Students @ Analog Schools Students today are native to technology and schools seem to be stuck in the past. They are not accommodating to todays digital learners. Here is a video where students speak out on what it means to be a digital student at a analog school.

Articles, Slides, links and more

Slides from day one - Posted using slideshare.net



Technology & Learning Magazine - April 2007
Blogs Are Not the Enemy by Jeff Utecht
Why teachers need to reconsider their attitudes toward blogging and how blogs can help students learn to express themselves. Plus: Vicki Davis shows us how to blog like a king or queen. Article

From this month's
Technology and Learning Magazine

David Warlick
A Day in the Life of Web 2.0 - article


Edutopia: Information and Inspiration for Innovative Teaching in K ...Hundreds of articles, expert interviews, research, and resources highlighting success stories in K-12 education. Short videos provide case studies in ...
www.edutopia.org/

http://www.edutopia.org/

Pay Attention

Watch the following and comment
From TeacherTube
Are you paying attention to how your students are learning?

Welcome and introductions to Integrating Technology to Support Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom

Welcome to your class blog.

This class is designed to provide you with an overview of emerging technologies to inspire collaboration and provide tools to engage 21st century learners. Some of the technologies will include Blogs, Podcasts, Skype multimedia tools (YouTube, TeacherTube, FlickR and more).

This class will support differentiated instruction models of learning and can be applied to all grade levels and content areas (language arts, social studies, science, math, world language, music, special education, library/study skills, etc). Students will apply this knowledge to an Understanding by Design (UBD) unit.

Please take the following Zoomerang Survey the week prior to class or during our first session. (6/11-6/18).

We will also post a reply to this blog in class. This will provide you with the opportunity to tell us a little about yourself and your experience with technology and any other information you would like to share.