Microsoft Support for Educators

Innovative Teachers Network - free resources for teachers - http://www.innovativeteachers.com/Pages/Welcome.aspx

NECC SIGAdmin Forum

Don Kinezek, CEO of ISTE, discussed the importance of leadership support for sustainable positive change in education. Knowledgeable and persistent leadership is key for success and the new national educational technology standards for administrators (NETS-A) details the characteristics necessary. The new ISTE NETS-A sections are (ISTE, 2009):

1. Visionary Leadership
2. Digital Age Learning Culture
3. Excellence in Professional Practice
4. Systemic Improvement
5. Digital Citizenship

The first standard focuses on leadership that nutures effective and positive change. Leaders who cannot affect change positively will not survive. Digital Age Learning Culture (Standard 2), focuses on leaders' ability to model, promote, and support "rigorous, relevant, and engaging education for all students" (ISTE, 2009).
References

• ISTE. (2009). National Educational Technology Standards. From http://www.iste.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=NETS, on June 30, 2009.

Just a piece of NECC's Exhibition Hall

This picture shows just a piece of the NECC 2009's Exhibition Hall -- it was massive, with over 290 asiles of vendors. Literally, this seemed to just go on and on...

Wordle - Create Beautiful Word Clouds

Wordle has got to be one of the coolest free tools out there to see your writing in graphical form. Here is one using the words from Robert Frost's poem, Nothing Gold Can Stay.

Kathy Scrock's Winning Strategies for Information Overload

Kathy used her easy-going manner to share ways to help manage the extensive amount of information that floods all of us. You can check out details at http://kathyschrock.net/score/. Besides giving details about how to filter email and setting up ways to access your email with IMAP, Kathy also gave details about the "must have" hardware which can make life easier to manage information. She recommended 1G 8.9" netbooks for the best bang for your buck. Secondly, she recommended the use of "very smart" phone. She also discussed blogging, microblogging with Twitter, sharing Google Docs with her whole district.

Teaching Elementary Students with Scratch Programming

Christopher Michaud, Nebo Elementary
Tuesday, 6/30/2009, 11:00am–12:00pm WWCC 150 B

Christopher used his expertise with working with elementary students to help us digital immigrants how to use the free open source program called SCRATCH that allows students to create games, simulations, and tell stories through computer science and programming. The main information for this presentation is located at http://nebomusic.net/necc2009BYOL.html.

Check out Chris' link at http://nebomusic.net/Polygon_Step_By_Step.html which has the directions for creating a shape painter program in SCRATCH.

This is such an amazing and "tangible" way to teach math, logic and technological fluency! I think this activity alone could incorporate so many of the NJ State Standards.

Web 2.0 Exploration Presentation

Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools
Monday, June 29, 2009 - 11:00 am - 12:00 pm

"Technology is the support for learning." - Adam Garry, Presenter

I agree with this 100%! So often, as a technology director, so much of the time is gobbled up with the details of supporting the technology equipment, providing professional development, and dealing with mandates / requirements. Although these leeches are essential aspects of leading educational technology, the focus needs to be on finding ways to nurture student AND teacher learning.

Chris O'Neal, one of the presenters, recommended that it is best to find a tangible task and bring it back to motivate a change. Perhaps find a way to have your building administrators actually give technology trainings to their staff.

eToolKit - http://www.etoolkit.org - Web 2.0 tools and resources are on this website.

The toolkit has resources on data gathering and information such as surveys and data collection assessments. information also includes Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) is the overlay of technology, content, and pedagogy. Additionally, there are many tips on how to get policymakers behind your vision. Overall, this website provides constantly-updated resources to support movement towards the new / updated version of school. ISTE provided a copy of Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum's (2007) book entitled, Web 2.0 New Tools, New Schools.

Tammy's Tech Tools

Bright and early, Steve Chard, Donetta Marconi, and I arrived for our first real session. Her handout can be found at...

http://www.tammyworcester.com

Tammy's session was very practical and a great way to get started. She started out by sharing the gem called - http://www.todaysmeet.com which allows you to set up an impromptu chat room for free using a web browser.

Highlights from session:

Tammy's Tech Tools

1. Check out the link for the handout with all of the links - http://www.tammyworcester.com/Tammys_Favorite_Tips,_Tricks,_%26_Tools/Web_Tools.html.
2. Jamstudio - http://www.Jamstudio.com - allows students to use web to create music with various software instruments and then they can download and used in PowerPoint or other location.
3. Vocaroo - http://vocaroo.com - allows you to freely create recordings that can be embedded into web pages. Great use for posting to a class blog -- have students come up individually each day and record what happened during class that day.
4. Jing - http://www.jingproject.com and Skitch (best for Mac) - download the program to then capture screen shots, but instead of just sitting in the clipboard, you can annotate and do so much more. Additionally, this will record your voice and mouse movement. You can also move to Screencast which allows you to embed your video /image or download.
   
5. Similar Keepvid - http://www.keepvid.com - which allows you to harvest YouTube videos, KickYouTube helps teachers to download videos to bring into school. When you find the YouTube video on YouTube, in the address bar, just add "kick" before the word "youtube." Then you will be able to download it various formats. This is a huge advancement in working around streaming issues. No downloading, no fees, no extra links.
   
6. CoolTools - http://www.cooltools.net - has a Random Name generator http://classtools.net/main_area/template_loader.php/?fruit_machine that pulls up invidual names one by one for students to answer a question... You can use this when you are asking students to review facts as well if you enter the facts in the text box and then "pull the lever" to see which fact comes up for the student to answer. Another option is that you can embed this tool into your blog.
7. 
   

Too much on my desktop!

Here is a test!

I have been having freezing and hanging problems on Interent Explorer on my PC. I downloaded Firefox (go to http://www.firefox.com). Much better...

La

Diigo - social annotation and social bookmarking

Entourage - Outlook Export and Import Script

Moving data from PC to Mac can be a bit tricky when using Outlook and Entourage. However, I found this script online at http://scriptbuilders.net/files/exportimportentourage1.3.8.html .

I need to install and review.

Lara

Amazing Sites for Tracking Maps, Locations, WebCam, and Photos Tracked by Location

Technology is constantly evolving and growing. I was googling a bit early this Saturday morning and I discovered some sites that were just awesome.

Google Maps - http://maps.google.com

Mappr - http://www.mappr.com - Mappr takes the tags that users submit with their photographs that they post online to Flickr (http://www.flickr.com). Mappr then shows the photographs on a map so you can search by a location. Currently, they are using zipcodes and place names, but they are working on including longitude and latitude. Nat at O'Reilly Radar has gathered some powerful web sites and tools that are focused on images, tagging by location, and more (http://radar.oreilly.com/archives/2005/07/where_20_a_coll.html). Here is a cheat sheet for adding tags that tie in longitude and latitude from Phillip Torrone (http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2005/07/how_to_gps_tag.html).

NJ Elite 2005 - Engaging the Digital Mindset

Open-Source Software Resource Information

Open-source software is exploding all over the educational world and for very good reason. It is free! Also, many of the software programs are completely compatible with the epensive protected software.

Here are some links that provide information about using open-source:

1. http://richtech.ca/seul/ gives a directory of open source software by category. Also, you can search through the database by keyword to discover which software is for you.

2. http://richtech.ca/cgi-bin/seul/seulview.pl?recnum=656 - (http://sourceforge.net/projects/helpmeict/) - HelpDesk for Educational environment

3. http://www.brunswickwdi.com/features - - BIE allows you to bring data from various locations and protocols and merge them together to transform data in to information.

CSS Style Sheets Reference

Here is a wonderful reference for CSS stylesheets - http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_examples.asp

 

 

NECC - Debate about the use of Technology in Education Reform

Does Technology Enhance or Detract from School Improvement Efforts? [Concurrent Session at the NECC 2005 conference in Philadephia, Pa.] - http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2005/program/search_results_details.php?sessionid=7480354
David Freitas, Indiana University South Bend with Janet Buckenmeyer
Description of session: Two educators will debate the effect of technology on school improvement. Based on reality, relevant research, and best practices, conventional wisdom will be challenged.

To access the full handout, go to: http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/uploads/NECC2005/KEY_7480354/Freitas_buckenmeyerNECC2005.pdf

According to Freitas and Buckenmeyer (2005), they reveal the following point / counterpoint about the future of technology in education:

Issue 4: The Future
Point
Technology integration is another educational fad. It’s an initiative doomed for failure. When student achievement stagnates or declines, a lack of technology support will likely be blamed. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, fortunately no excuses are acceptable.

Counterpoint
It must be acknowledged that a similar argument was made concerning other technologies, most recently and notably television. Some “research” studies at that time referred to this new invention as insignificant. Proponents, however, envisioned the education’s future through this new media. They argued that since the teacher in the box (television) was every bit as good as the teacher in the classroom, teachers could be replaced with the televised teacher at significant cost savings. Fortunately, this theory quickly short circuited. Few can argue the fact that the effects of computer and related technologies are pervasive and far-reaching. Such technologies are rapidly changing and affect every area in which we live, work, and play. Our graduates are expected to be comfortable and proficient with technology. If schools don’t prepare students to enter the workforce, aren’t they ignoring an important societal expectation? Accountability is one of the cornerstones of the No Child Left Behind Act. Now, the rising student achievement rates of every school, or lack thereof, is publicly shared. Success and failure will be analyzed. What role did technology play? This examination will likely yield more evidence of the link between technology and student achievement. (Feritas & Buckenmeyer, 2005, pp. 11-12)

Lara's Comments
First of all, the budget for next year sent by President Bush completely wiped away all funding for the EETT portion of the No Child Left Behind Act. Unless Congress puts money back in to fund educational technology, then educational technology advocates will declare that failure will be inevitable. Money is not everything, but it is necessary when upgrading school districts to be part of the digital world that is already in place outside of schools.

I would take this even further to state that educational technology when infused responsibly in to the curriculum and productivity of schools will not only help to meet the societal expectation, but also transform the depth of learning. Throughout the NECC 2005 conference, it is evident that educational technology is not about the business of bringing in gadgets that are fads, it is about empowering people - students, faculty, staff, parents, community members - to reach out to the macro and micro world in which they are a part. Weinberger (2005) in his keynote presentation at NECC 2005 addresses just this issue. He asserts that the individual's role in society is greatly expanded by the use of technology such as blogging, podcasting, etc. Evidence of this is seen through the dramatic example of Dan Rather of CBS News who was called on the carpet by a blogger. Individuals can now speak to a vast audience instead of just the confines of their community. Weinberger (2005) goes further to say that knowledge itself has been transformed (for more information, access Weinberger's site at http://www.hyperorg.com/).Today's students will be faced with a world that is more complex than the one that we currently reign within. Educational technology allows students in school now to move past the memorization of rote materials such as the periodic table and in to the ways that those elements can interact in a purposeful way to create something new and wonderful. Educational Technology is society's greatest hope for reaching towards the empowerment of all memebers of society to reach their fullest potential.

Lara

References

Freitas, D., & Buckenmeyer, J. (2005). Does Technology Enhance or Detract from School Improvement Efforts? Retreived June 29, 2005, from http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/uploads/NECC2005/KEY_7480354/Freitas_buckenmeyerNECC2005.pdf.

Weinberger, D. (2005). The New Shape of Knowledge. [Webcast of keynote presentation at the National Educational Technology Conference (NECC) 2005 in Philadelphia, Pa.]. Retreived June 29, 2005, from http://www.kidzonline.org/necc/agenda.html.

NECC - Podcasts and Blogs about NECC

It is amazing that in just a year, blogging and podcasting has exploded! The NECC 2005 conference is covered by numerous blogs - such as mine as well as podcasts from various ed tech leaders in the field. These communication methods are powerful ways to reach out and share the experience and knowledge.

To check out some of the podcasts and blogs - http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2005/glance/blogging.php

Enjoy!

Lara

NECC - Webcasts

To access webcasts of the most popular sessions from NECC - http://www.kidzonline.org/necc/agenda.html

If you have Windows you will need to have Windows Media Player.
If you are using Mac, you will need the following:
1. Mac OS X
2. Windows Media Player 9
3. Internet Explorer for Mac - does not work on Safari

NECC - Session - Using Moodle

Use Your Noodle: Learn Moodle: A Free Alternative to Board
https://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2005/program/search_results_details.php?sessionid=7486473

Link for Moodle: http://www.moodle.org
Downloads can be found - http://download.moodle.org/?lang=en
Instructions for how to install can be found here - http://moodle.org/doc/?frame=install.html
Presenter's Own Moodle Class Web on Exploring Moodle - http://imp.usd465.com/moodle/ - - create your own login and password
Based on Social Constructivist Pedagogy
Resource for teachers using moodle - http://www.facultyroom.org
Check out this web site where educational developers put updates about what they are doing on their open-source - http://eduforge.org/wiki/wiki/nzvle/wiki?pagename=MoodleRoadmap

Quiz on Attitude Towards Thinking and Learning - http://imp.usd465.com/moodle/mod/survey/view.php?id=246

FREE - Open Source Software
Over 4,000 developers working collaboratively on this project

• Experience with Using Moodle
  - Every upgrades that the district has used over the last 2 years has been seemless.
  - Linux platform is more robust, Mac OS X Server does have some issues, can be installed on Windows Server 2003.
  - Can use LDAP authentication for this. There are documents at Moodle - - http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?f=25
  - When editing your profile:
  - Time Zone should be changed to ours.
  - Use HTML editor
  - DO NOT autosubscribe to forums
  - The question about city - use school name instead of city
  - Can filter words out, but because everything is logged, it really does not become a problem

To Gain Support from Staff - sell the modules that are easy and useful for them

Moodle Modules

• Assignment
  - You can put a bunch of assignments in and they can be scheduled in advance.
  - Allows electronic submission
  - Online or Offline
  
• Chat
  - can set it up so that all chats are trasncripted so you can monitor.
  - There is an instant messaging feature.
  - Can be turned off
  - Chat room is only for your server, your people
  
• Choice
  - Allows for polling features. Shows list of names who have chosen each one.
  - Can allow for one time response or multiple
  - There is an optional new module for questionaires
  
• Forums
  - Where most learning takes place
  - Can be set up to limit who can post
  - Can include rating for the posts (students, and / or teachers)
  - Posts can only be at a set time
  - Can spell check
  
• Glossary
  - creates hypertext dictionary
  - any user can submit, or additions can be restricted
  - can be turned off for quizzes
  - can be rated and comments
  
• Lessons
  - The Lesson module is a content creation tool that allows teachers to create a set of linked pages. Each page in a lesson provides information and a question; the next page in the lesson is dependent on the answer chosen by the student.
  - create flash cards
  - provide content and assess learning in one activity
  - Creates a series of linked pages
  
• Quiz
  - Create and give online quizzes
  - Variety of formats
  - Immediate feedback
  - Students learn more effectively with immediate feedback
  - can include media
  - can include equation editing
  - Can require password or specific network address
  - Option to set time limit
  - Variety of statistics provided for teacher
  - incredible statistics for teacher
  
• SCORM (Sharable Content Object Reference Model) - standards for learning online
  - Look like flash interactive
  - Go to http://www.google.com and search for SCORM and moodle
  - Check out - http://www.simplelearningcreator.com/
  
• Surveys
  - Pre-built surveys about teaching and learning
  
• Wiki
  - Wikis allow multiple users to collaborate
  
• Setting up Class
  - Can set up separate groups that do not see each other - like different periods of each classes
  - Can also have visible groups or no groups
  - There are 3 formats - weekly, topic, and social
  - Can copy courses and archive them
  - Show grades - if you choose no - then just the student will see the individual assignment grade
  - Force language could be useful for foreign language class
  - Meta course is a group of courses - for example like in a team setting

I created a test class on their server at http://imp.usd465.com/moodle/course/view.php?id=253&edit=on, my login in is my old one with my old pw.