Constructivist Conference

This is almost 6 months old but worth watching. If you want to challenge your thinking about what you are asking kids to do on a daily basis and the role technology has in that request, spend a few minutes really thinking about Dr. Stager's message. There is so much food for thought here that I have to pause, think, write, and then press play again. I will be participating in Dr. Stager's Constructivist Conference later this month. I will be blogging about what will sure to be a challenging, exciting day.

Gary Stager Excerpts from NECC '09 Keynote Debate from Gary Stager on Vimeo.

Technology Projects

So much has been happening in my new District role as Instructional Technologist. I'd like to share and comment on some of the varied projects I am working on.

Google Apps for Education-About 750 seniors were recently trained on Google Apps tools including email, calendar, docs, and sites. Our students use Google Sites as a way to maintain an electronic portfolio for their Senior Projects. I encourage our students to use Google Apps as much as possible and point out the collaborative sharing and publishing features that might be useful to them. Some students are quick to figure out Google Talk, even though it is not included in my training session. My hope is for our district to expand Google Apps to more grade levels.

Moodle- I also trained 750 seniors on using Moodle to submit their Senior Project proposal online. Moodle allows us to manage all these proposals by assigning 50 students to 1 teacher using the "groups" feature. As a result of seeing how well Moodle manages assignments, I've added 2 more teachers to our Moodle users group for AP Physics and Business Applications.

Flipped Classroom-I encouraged another Physics teacher to experiment with a "Flipped Classroom." So far the reports have been positive. Mr. Enck posts 15-minute lecture videos on-line for homework. Students come into class ready to apply the information to Physics problems. This model follows with the philosophy that if something in the classroom can be delivered electronically, it can be assigned as homework and classtime can be used for hands-on applications and/or discussions. Mr. Enck plans to use the CPS System (see below) as a check on how well the videos are being understood, in addition to the problems delivered in class.

CPS (Classroom Performance System) Project-I've been working with our Social Studies department to set up a CPS project that includes a shared database of questions that can be pulled into an individual teacher lesson for a variety of SS courses. The goal is not only for one teacher to increase formative assessments but to compare and share instructional strategies between teachers. This project is also beginning a discussion on writing questions that get at all levels of Bloom's Taxonomy.

Plato Software-I was recently trained on Plato Software which our district is considering using for credit recovery situations. It's basically a way to put together an online course in the core subjects. It is customizable in many ways and unique courses can be set up for individual students who are missing a course or sections of a course.

Electronics Use Policy Committee-I am a member of a high school committee on evaluating our current electronic use policy (no devices from 7:30-2:30). Parents, teachers, and students have come together to work on a recommendation.

Voicethread-I've been working with a LOTE (Spanish) teacher on using Voicethread as a fun way for students to practice speaking skills by reciting Spanish poems on a teacher Voicethread.

Technology and Professional Developement-our department has been moving in a different direction as to how technology professional development is delivered. Our goal is to have the PD be ongoing, collaborative, and embedded (in instruction). This is not an easy task as time, money, and scalability are often at odds with these goals. If you do this with success at your school, I would love to hear about your strategies.

On the horizon...the NYSCATE Conference is in a few short weeks and I am looking forward to hearing from Chris Lehman and Sir Ken Robinson. I am in the process of selecting sessions I will attend and a couple of us are using Google Wave to discuss these conference opportunities (and yes, I have a couple of invites remaining). Our Spanish class wants to connect to another Spanish-speaking classroom so that is another project to get up and running. Our district continues to install SmartBoards and we are working to provide embedded instruction around the SB tools.

Latest stuff...this is some of the latest stuff I've run across. I just started using Mobile Air Mouse today, an app for my iTouch that allows me you use my iTouch as a remote mouse. There are so many learning opportunities on iTunes University specifically for Teaching & Education professional development. A sampling of titles include Audacity-Editing Audio, Moodle Support, and Intermediate Spanish just to name a few. I also like the Readability toolbar button to use with projectors, visually-impaired students, and cleaner print options from the web.

So this is how I've spent most of my time in the first 2 months of school. I am looking forward to helping teachers and students using technology for learning. I'd love to hear about other projects out there! Please leave your comments.

Screenr.com

If you need to create short tutorials to train staff or students to navigate the web or software, screenr.com might be the answer for you. Screenr.com is a web-based screen capture tool that allows you to record a 5-minute video then immediately tweet the video to Twitter. However, once you tweet the screencast you have options to share the link, embed the video, or even upload it to YouTube. So you can either view my screencast on how to use Photo505.com (a fun photo effects website) at http://screenr.com/n37 or view it on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKe0Gcc6Eyw. Either way, very cool...if I get a question about how to change the theme of our teacher websites, I can get a tutorial like this on youtube in less than 10 minutes!
Update: I've been asked by School World to take down the tutorial on editing themes on teacher websites because it shows the admin area of their product.

A Poor Man's Guide to NECC 2009

For those of us who are not fortunate enough to attend NECC 2009 (National Educational Computing Conference), this blog is for you. First of all, what is NECC about? NECC is all about educational technology. At this national (or should I say, international) conference, you can find information on virtual educational worlds that exist only in Second Life, the latest classroom gadgets, debates on 1-1 computing and cell phones, the latest on Doodle, Moodle, and Google and much, much more.

1st stop: The Official Website
Official NECC 2009 Website
Program Search allows you to browse over 1000 different sessions by audience, theme, among other filters. By clicking on individual program titles you will be presented with an overview of the event along with links to websites, Nings, handouts, and emails. You can also find research papers here.
ISTE Connects provides for live video streaming of NECC 2009 events using UStream technology that allows you to participate in a back channel conversation while listening/watching the live event. You can also participate in debate forums and follow Twitter feeds.

2nd stop: Social Networking
Blogs. At last check there were well over 100 attendees blogging about what they are finding at the conference. Some bloggers might wait till the conference is over while others might engage in live blogging. Check a variety of bloggers to find those who might be coming from a similar grade level or content area.
Twitter. Follow isteconnects on twitter. Then go a step further and follow some of the 1800 people who are following isteconnects. You can also search #necc09 to see all the tagged tweets related to NECC 2009.
Facebook. Join the ISTE group on Facebook. You might want to check out ISTE's related groups as well, for example, Classroom 2.0 would be a group to join. You won't feel the benefit of this group until you connect with members and participate in the discussion board.
NECC Ning. This online NECC community is a place to share ideas, videos, links, photos, and more. You maintain your own page, add to forums, and join specialized groups. Lots of contacts to be made here. And if you want video, check out ISTEvision to view popular sessions. If you want a year-round community then join the ISTE Community Ning as well.

3rd stop: Social Bookmarking
Delicious. Use the popular social bookmarking site to see all the shared links that have been tagged with "necc." At last count there were 4560 bookmarks here. Use the drill-down feature to find websites that connect to your subject area and/or grade level.