EdTech Avenue

How do schools handle their AUP? At St. Wenceslaus, I thought we were having new families (all kindergarteners and any other new families in grades 1-8) sign ONCE. Then annually teachers would review our acceptable use policy and sign a record stating they (the teacher) reviewed our policies with the students. In reality, what is happening is we send home, in the fall packet, an AUP form for parents to sign - or opt out of. So this is EVERY YEAR, FOR EVERY STUDENT. I am thinking for the sake of paper alone, we could improve on this practice.

As well, who has anything included in their AUP dealing with video? Since more and more items are being posted - not just pictures and names anymore! How about we bring a copy of our AUPs to the first Tech Coordinator meeting? Or post somewhere here?

Also, I need my memory refreshed. One of the reasons (I thought) we needed - or it was a good idea to have - an AUP is that some federal funds are available only if we have an acceptable use policy in place? As well, isn’t there something about CIPA that requires us to have one? I know, I should know the answers to these things. I just have one in place for our school because I knew we needed it (for lots of reasons.)

Will Richardson (the Tools)
What are the types of literacy and skills students need as they are leaving schools today
Educators need to understand that in many cases we are using technology but the pedagogies have not yet changed.  We have taken only the first step.  Now we need to develop new pedagogies to prepare our students.

(Staff Development)
The kids are different, but we’re not.  It’s about respecting your audience, which brings Web 2.0 tools into play – respect for ourselves and others for the information we have and can share.  People are constantly inventing new ways to facilitate our learning.  Right now it’s blogs and wikis, but that will change.

Lynne Schrum (Research and Pre-Service Teachers)
Technology is great, but does it increase student learning?  We need to be able to document learning with technology.  If we as teachers believe something is good for our students, we will do it.  We need collaboration.

Gwen Solomon
We need models.  There are some wonderful teachers out there using technology effectively, but not a lot of them.  We need viral marketing.

Tim Magner (Starting the Conversation)
New initiative for starting the conversation about Web 2.0.  Opportunity and Challenge lie in what is unknown and not yet talked about.  There’s no big picture of what this could look like.  Learning Ecosystem/School 2.0 image.  Communication and connection between schools and their communities.  We need to articulate our needs to empower our education system.  It’s a community conversation - not just for the school.  This image is a catalyst for a conversation with hopes of leading to systemic planning and implementation, will need to edit and change and transform as the information changes.  Image is available at school2.0.org, and more tools will be available as well.

Send your stories and experiences to Gwen_and_lynne_book2@yahoo.com.

Conversation is open.

Teachers are looking for ways to expose students to these powerful tools in a safe environment.  One looking for a MySpace-type space for students under 13 to share and collaborate on a smaller and safer scale.

David Jakes comments that where it will begin is in professional networks and for professional development for teachers.  Informal learning takes place, and this will create authentic experiences for teachers, will in-turn give teachers ability to teach the tools.

My wireless keeps going in and out, so unfortunately I’ve missed getting a lot of the conversation typed out. 

Scriptovia.com by students at University of Washington to share study guides, notes, etc.

Parent wants to put more pressure on teachers to get information online about their courses instead of that pressure coming from administration.  Parent group has created a site called www.thegroupery.com.  Another parent concurs that she wants more teachers to communicate electronically - this needs to start with pre-service teachers.

Resource for professional development: Library 2.0 (Google it) has self-paced experience for librarians on Web 2.0 skills.

Community Walk - mapping tool being used for Geography and History, tour of Ellis Island, personal work for students.

Downer’s Grove using digital storytelling (David Jakes).  Digital Diplomacy Project - you have 2 minutes to tell us what it means to be an American.

Spanish tool called eboca (?) for assessment

I think Edutopia.org recorded this session?

Sorry for the sketchiness of this post - it was a little tougher to take notes while following this very quick-moving discussion!

Presenter website: http://web.mac.com/artu/iWeb/maestrotools/Home.html
Wiki: http://eduese.pbwiki.com/ 

I have a 1 MB connection this morning, so I hope blogging will update correctly.  I’ve been keeping backups, copying text before I save just in case…

There are many resources listed and referenced in this session according to the NECC program - I’ve copied this information to the bottom of this post for easier accessibility. 

My notes from the session follow, with some interspersed comments from me in italics:

Effective Pedagogy: (books) How People Learn and Literacy, Technology, and Diversity

Technology Tools for ELLs should:

• Develop deep UNDERSTANDING of concepts, ideas and learning
• Provide AUTHENTIC opportunities to communicate and problem-solve
• RELATE to pre-exisiting knowledge and experiences
• Provide CHALLENGING learning opportunities
• Enable students and teachers to COLLABORATE
• Reinforce a positive IDENTITY

Big Ideas

• ELLs shold be both media consumers and media producers
• ELLs should produce and publish
• You already have what you need

Improved Sense of Self > Academic Achievement > Digital Media Production > Electronic Publishing > Positive Feedback > Improved Sense of Self…

Produce

• Narrative and Informational Videos
• Books (can be inexpensive to print now)
• Comics (ComicLife)
• Journals, Blogs
• Radio Shows
• Interviews

Publish

• Podcasting
• Blogs
• RSS
• Wikis
• Skype
• Lulu.com (publisher, virtually free)

Gaggle.net has translate feature and one that will read selected text to you.

Internet Archive (archive.org) has public domain videos students can edit and use to create their own content.

Camstudio.org has free tool for recording audio with screencast
Jodx.com (?) is free tool for converting audio to iPod format

UnitedStreaming - use script of narration in Teacher’s Guide (in Related Materials) to allow students to follow along reading while listening

Give them a reason to practice their English - record their own audio

Video by teacher in Houston ISD: ESL = English with Sound and Light.  Had students create a list of adjectives to describe themselves and records them.  He encourages them to use their voices, gestures and facial expresions to clarify.  GREAT effects, and really seems to engage the students and give them a personal ownership in their work and increased self image.  Another video shows students doing activities with a narrator (student) asking what the student did.  You need to answer out loud, then the narrator tells the answer with text.  This is an instructional video to help students learn the activities and practice verbs.  These videos are not published, but Arturo says you can probably email the teacher (Michael Shea) for a copy of the DVDs.  Occasionally they are published on the Reagan H.S. website.  A higher-end video editor is used for this project, but lower-end tools would work to get started.

Digital images available on UnitedStreaming for use in projects (but not for publishing on the web).  Pics4Learning is another good source for free images.  iPhoto has a book-maker feature (StoryBook) to create a bound hardcover or paperback book with photos and text.  Linter.com (?) also has tools for creating books.  MyPublisher.com is a PC version where you can create books - upload and they print or you can print yourself.

ComicLife is a comic book builder that is motivating and fun for kids.  There is now a Windows version as well as the Mac version that’s been around a while.  Teachers use to teach dialog - everything in the bubble needs to be in quotation marks.  Can also create a QuickTime movies from this.  Newer Macs (last year or so, the Intel-based Macs) include ComicLife software.

Graphic Organizers are another great tool (Inspiration/Kidspiration) for ELL students to learn concepts and connections.

Digital audio can be created easily by students, and this is a good opportunity for ELL students to record their own voices practicing their English.  Radio WillowWeb is a “radio” internet audio site for and by kids.  PCs and Macs have recording capabilities built-in, but other free tools are available.  Audacity is a free tool for Mac and PC.  iPod microphones are also a great took for portable recording (Belkin ToonTalk is recommended), but it does drain battery fast.  Podcasts are also good for practicing and enhancing lessons - enhanced podcasts include pictures and text!  One quote from a teacher: In our middle schools, they’re given 20 vocabulary words to learn, and they were learning 40 percent.  With the use of iPods and podcasts, learning has increased to 95 percent.

Robert Chavez, Harris Elementary, Austin ISD: Identity Text video.  When student is speaking Spanish as narrator, subtitles show English.  Photos and video of personal descriptors.  Email Arturo for a copy of the video.

Referenced Web Links (copied from NECC online program)

Digital Video
iMovie: http://www.apple.com/education/imovie/
Movie Maker: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/default.mspx
iPod in Education: http://www.apple.com/education/ipod/
Video - The Letter: http://homepage.mac.com/dbranam1/iMovieTheater19.html

Digital Images
iPhoto (Mac): http://www.apple.com/support/iphoto/
Photo Story (PC): http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/photostory/default.mspx
Websites to publish your photo books:
http://www.sharedink.com/
http://www.mypublisher.com
http://www.blurb.com/
http://www.lulu.com/
Inspiration: http://www.inspiration.com/
Comic Life (only for Mac): www.plasq.com
Comic Book Creator (only for PC): http://www.mycomicbookcreator.com

Digital Audio
Audacity (free audio recorder for Mac and PC): http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
iTunes (Mac and PC): http://www.apple.com/itunes/
Garageband (Mac only music and podcast tool): http://www.apple.com/ilife/garageband/

Podcasts
Breaking News English: http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/
English as a Second Language Podcast: http://www.eslpod.com/website/index.php
Digital Chalk: http://www.digitalchalkworksheets.com/
Rolling R’s (Middle School Spanish Lessons): http://rollingrs.com/

ELL Web Resources
Colorin Colorado (ESL resources from PBS) http://colorincolorado.org/
Space Place (Math and Science for kids in English and Spanish): http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/sp/kids/
HPRTEC (Rubistar and Casa Notes): http://hprtec.org/
Pics4Learning (free safe images) http://www.pics4learning.com/
Venatanas al Universo (Math and Science for kids in English and Spanish, leveled): http://www.windows.ucar.edu/spanish.html

Web 2.0
The Clem (Class weblog): http://visitmyclass.com/blogs/burnett05/default.aspx
Goochland High School (Teacher weblogs): http://www.glnd.k12.va.us/gateway/go/ghs/teachers
Skype (free computer to computer calls anywhere in the world): http://www.skype.com
Edublogs (free weblog site for teachers): http://www.edublogs.org
Wikispaces (free collaborative website builder): http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers

References from the NECC session listing:
Historical Blogs overview (PDF)
The Integrated Mac website (Cobb County)

The session is about to start, and it’s packed, all seats/tables are full and it’s standing room only around the back.  (photo later) 

Below are my notes from the session:

Starting with photos of the area where their school is in Marietta, GA.

Why a blog, not a website for these projects?
- Journal format fits the project, already have hosting, ease of creating, not as limited by network policies

Historical Blog is a website created by teachers and studens based on a historical figure or research on a period of history.  Posts, and sometimes comments, are written from the point of view of the time period or characters.

Harriet Tubman site created in a 3rd grade classroom.  Each post represents a chapter (each student assigned one chapter), written by a student as Harriet Tubman may have written.  Teacher read book out loud to give students information about which they could write.  Students created fictional story about Underground Railroad, practiced paragraph writing.  Web of Character Facts using Kidspiration maps important facts about Harriet Tubman.  Advanced students create a fictional character based on what they have learned about slavery and answer questions asked by a “reporter.”  Interviews are conducted using GarageBand on a Mac.

Podcasts/Multimedia videos used (Macs easier but they don’t have many of them).  Timeline created using KidPix to create illustrations.  Kidspiration used for character maps.  Images were gathered from sites like Library of Congress, Wikipedia, and other photo sites.

Good PPT instructions but went too fast — couldn’t get all info down here.  Breakdown of steps for the lessons very detailed on the PPT, and time used for the project also listed.  3rd grade student created banner for the site in PhotoShop.

Had some barriers from district policies not allowing students to post directly, and comments were not allowed to be open.  Posts were written in Word and posted by the teacher.  Recent policy changes make student publishing possible with moderation by a teacher.

Two more project examples: World War II (comments were open) and Civil War sites.

Recorded description from teacher on WWII blog.  This project was for 8th graders.  Students chose a particular person and their role, did research, then posted a blog entry in character.  Other students commented, also in character.  Teacher says many reluctant readers and writers were energetic about the project.  Motivation for students was great, and teacher is looking forward to using the project again.  Image site banner was again created by students in PhotoShop.  All research was done before technology was brought into the lesson - students were ready to write.  Posting and comments were done over about 2 days in what sounds like a lab setting.

Civil War site was done by 4th graders.  They didn’t have as much time for this project, started towards the end of the school year and limited access to computers.  No comments were used simply due to lack of time.  Looked into video blogging and photo blogging.  Same premise - students are in character after doing research about the time period.

Can do this on your own server with the right tools: need a server or host, PHP and mySQL must reside on server, and need blogging software on server (MoveableType, WordPress).

This school wants to create teams with other schools for reading buddies, book study, math, science, social studies, fine arts, digital video and podcasting.  Contact Herman Wood for information.

My comments:

This was a fantastic idea session.  I know I can bring this tangible lesson back to my teachers and implement it immediately!  I’m excited about this more engaging history activity and am looking forward to brainstorming with teachers in other subject areas to find more ways to create more lessons like this.

Below are my notes from the session by Thom Dunks & Kelly Wade:

Software used: uPortal for building site.  Open Source Java-based software.  They have 2 Java programmers helping with the coding.  Caution - might not be able to use uPortal without a Java programmer.

This session is not about vision or writing code, it’s about pragmatics.  Looking at a tool as a sample of what audience may want to implement.  They have a 4-person team working on their sites.  This session will be more classroom-based.

Thom is director of Technology Services (12 in department) for the district, has background on school sites.

Why an Educational Portal?
Research projects - most students will start with Google, but will it truly give us access to information the way they need it?  Students may have the ability to decipher information from web addresses (.com, .edu, .org).  Portal can also include subscription services such as UnitedStreaming for videos and many other options that would not be available on a general Google search.  Thom gave example of Google search for Martin Luther King Jr., finding sites that seemed to be appropriate but one you get into and find it’s a white supremecy site!  This is not the kind of information we want our students to have to sift through for information.  Instead of this, teachers can add a bookmark for their students when necessary for projects.

Portals centralize resources for both schools and community.

Tour of Santa Cruz portal
Good list of resources available and more information is posted on the NECC session listing.  Login is available for free viewing of the Santa Cruz portal until the end of September, 2007.

Entire site is single-access, meaning one login gets users in to all services, with only a couple of exceptions (NetTrekker, Gaggle, and RxNetWriter).

Curriculum Resources tab includes services such as UnitedStreaming, DigitalMath and NASA.  Some are free, some are paid subscriptions.

Research and Reference tab links to Grolier’s Encyclopedia, Dictionary, and links to free pictures, texts and AP multimedia resources.

Teacher Resources tab is mostly California-based information, but the idea is to give teachers a resource for using technology and other standards information, etc.

Administrator Resources tab for administrators also good for technology leaders with links to ISTE and information about CARET.  TICAL link also has many great tools and resources.

Parent Resources includes internet safety information, homework help links, and special needs information.

Funny “cat-herding” movie commercial for EDS. 

Stage 2 will be students will have their own tab with information about courses, homework, and other information.  They will use a regional server through the portal to Moodle.  They originally used Blackboard but it was cost-prohibitive, so they’ve chosen Moodle as an Open Source solution.

Stage 3 is devotion to build professional learning opportunities: RSS, blogging, etc.

Q & A

Are you monitoring use?  The tool is still in early stages, but they can see use by school right now.  They use informal discussion to assess teacher use.

39,000 students - databases acquired from schools, use password generator to create logins for all students, but each site has its own manager of the database for that school?

Librarians & Media Specialists have their own logins to maintain their own bookmarks.

Q: Talking about students “using teacher passwords” to access bookmarks.  How does this work?  A: Teacher logins are private, but they maintain bookmarks under a main “password’ that students can use, directly linked to the students’ logins.

NOT a heavily encrypted password site, so should not be linking SIS or webmail passwords to this portal.

With Creative Commons licensing, many more photos and images are available to download for educational purposes than ever before. But Pics4Learning (offered by Tech4Learning) screens photos and makes sure they are appropriate for educational venues of all sorts. You can even contribute some of your own images! This is a terrific site for teachers to use when they want a one-stop site for finding images for student projects. They have categories and a search function to find just the photo you want. I would imagine as this site becomes more well-known, we can expect the library to grow and grow.

Do you know of any other good sites for images or audio for education?

I am sending the following in an email to our teachers this week. I want to encourage them to not take off their thinking caps for the entire summer, just as they send out a summer reading list for students with the same intent. My hope is that they return in the fall with some fresh ideas for integrating technology as a means for creative assessment and that they use the time they have in the summer to really delve in and explore some of today’s great technologies and idea-sharing media.

• Find one educational blogger whose posts you consider valid and relevant to your teaching. Read on average at least 1 post a week, and be prepared to share what you have found during workshop week in the fall.
• Go to TeacherTube.com and find one video you could either use in one of your classes or replicate as a student project.
• Come up with one multimedia project you could use to enhance your curriculum in some way. This project could involve digital photos, music, movie clips, slides, clay animation, drawings, podcasts…
• Come up with one project in your class where you could use a blog with students. You post something and have them respond, give comments, reactions, reflections…
• Look into the following educational technology trends and buzz-words and prepare to talk about them and how they might impact not only your teaching but the learning of our students:
  • Wiki
  • Blog
  • Podcast, Webcast
  • Ning
  • Web 2.0, School 2.0
  • RSS, Aggregator, Feed
  • Streaming
  • Skype
  • Twitter, Meebo
  • Chat, Instant Message
  • Del.icio.us
• Complete the following regarding technology:
  • The one thing I wish I had in my classroom is __________.
  • One activity I wish I could do with my students is __________.
  • Technology would be easier to use in my classes if __________.

I may be setting myself up for disappointment here, but I don’t think so. I believe that the incredible staff with whom I work will come through. If just one or two teachers come back with a great idea, that energy will spark a flame that I can feed throughout the year!

At Blessed Trinity, I’ve given teachers and staff numerous methods for reporting issues, including the recent implementation of Windows Messenger and the Windows XP Remote Assistance application.  It was a huge surprise to me that teachers did not quickly embrace these instant-help options.  Teachers currently use email, phone or in-person methods to report problems with their computers or the labs.  I suppose they are not using their computers as often as I, but the thought that I could immediately see that someone is there and can answer my question without having to send email or make a phone call (or worse yet climb three flights of stairs) would be preferable to me personally.

And with all of these avenues available to them, some problems still don’t get reported to me.  For example:  We are at two campus locations.  I spend most of my time at the campus where the servers and majority of the computers are.  I have asked the teachers at the other campus many times that when something comes up in the computer lab there to record the error in the log I have provided AND email me about it so I know it’s there.  I don’t check that log regularly - it is not a reporting method, simply a log for my reference.  And yet I will hear later, sometimes weeks after the initial problem arose, that something needs to be fixed.  I try to explain that if they don’t email me (whether or not they’ve recorded anything in the log), I won’t know about it.  Unfortunately things have not changed in the four years I’ve been using the logs, so do I need to change something in my methods?  I want to find the best way to service my users.  They become frustrated when I don’t address issues quickly enough but will not follow the methods I’ve given them to get the best response.

What is the best reporting method for your school?  Why does it work for you?

As I was researching some Open Source applications, I came across a great tool in OpenOffice 2.1: PDF Export!  The program will export any document as a PDF.  This is just what we need to create forms for our website.  We had been using Adobe Acrobat to perform this task, but now the OpenOffice tool can be installed for free on any workstation, saving over $80 per user!  I still need to have one copy of Adobe Acrobat installed to convert our Microsoft Publisher documents, but it is still a huge savings for us.

Do you have other tools that export or print to a PDF file without the use of Adobe Acrobat?  Please share them with us!

I recently made a suggestion that we publish our teachers’ school photos, which are conveniently provided to us on CD from LifeTouch, with the staff directory page of our website.  I had mixed reviews from our staff after designing the page with photos.  Most teachers liked the page but made no mention of the general idea.  Others, those who are a bit more techno-savvy, objected to the idea.  Their reasoning was that if pictures are made readily available on the internet, we subject ourselves to possible mis-use of the photos on such sites as MySpace and other personal web spaces.  While I am not naive enough to think that our students would not think to do such a thing, it saddens me that the majority of people visiting our site will lose out on the personal touch the photos present.  I also would have liked the idea that for marketing and recruiting purposes, prospective families would be able to put a face with all the paperwork and other information they receive about our school.

For now, we do not publish photos on our web site, for the protection of our students and teachers.  What do you do on your school website?