ETTC and Capitol Tech Video Link

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Synching Up With The iKid

A great read!

Teachers who once struggled for students' attention mainly against daydreams, passed notes, class clowns, and cross-aisle flirting now also face a formidable array of gadgets and digitized content. Smart schools -- and smart educators -- are scrambling to figure out how to use these same tools and information- distribution techniques to reach and excite young minds. "You have to work with the kind of brains we've got now," says Susan Blackmore, who holds a PhD in psychology from Oxford and frequently writes and lectures on new technology's effects on consciousness.

According to Blackmore, today's brains are shaped by various information streams -- sometimes referred to as memes -- constantly popping and sparking and competing for attention. This new generation of digital learners -- call them the MEdia Generation -- take in the world via the filter of computing devices: the cellular phones, handheld gaming devices, PDAs, and laptops they take everywhere, plus the computers, TVs,and game consoles at home. A survey by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation found that young people (ages eight to eighteen) mainline electronic media for more than six hours a day, on average. Interestingly, many are multitasking: listening to music while surfing the Web or instant-messaging friends while playing a video game.

Educators must figure out how to compete with this frenetic memestorm coming at them from marketers and other students. Many are. The last few years have seen a rapid class- and districtwide use of collaborative course-management systems such as DyKnow as well as so-called social technologies -- blogs, wikis, and media-syndication systems based on the Really Simple Syndication (RSS) protocol -- that allow anyone to shift from consuming media to being a media creator. (Blogs, from weblogs, are simplified personal Web sites, and wikis are Web sites, either password-protected or public, that anyone can easily edit.) Giving students powerful media-authoring tools means relinquishing a degree of control, but doing so also makes it possible to help them learn in more effective ways (and tighter time frames) than ever before.

Link to full article

Capitol Tech - January 30th

Capitol Tech, a collaborative effort between Georgia's schools and the state's Educational Technology Training Centers (ETTC), features Georgia's students demonstrating the application of 21st century skills to the educational process.

Annually, Capitol Tech spotlights Georgia's students using the fundamental technology tools necessary to succeed in the 21st century. These Capitol Tech School representatives are selected from the Spotlight on Technology Innovative School Award recipients by each local ETTC.

Students and teachers are eager for their local legislators to see how these tools are helping to increase student achievement and build community partnerships.



Also, we got mentioned in the State Impact Initiatives in the Technology Impact in Education Month website.

21st Century Collaborative Blog

Here is an outstanding blog written by Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach, who is a doctoral student and adjunct instructor of educational technology at the College of William and Mary.

This blog will be used to explore, exchange, and create ideas around 21st century collaborative learning and virtual learning communities and how these communities can be used to help teachers prepare their students for success in the 21st century.

21st Century Collaborative Blog

World Map Counter!

Running Excel from a Server

Here's a preview of a new feature of Excel 12.

Excel Services is brand new server technology that will ship with Office 12. Excel Services supports loading, calculating, and rendering Excel spreadsheets on servers. There are two primary interfaces: a web-based UI that lets you view spreadsheets in the browser, and a web services interface for programmatic access.

Link to Article

Teacher gleans federal kudos for bookless classroom

This is outstanding!! From Utah:

Jerry Mangus' textbook-less teaching has dazzled the U.S. Department of Education.

Mangus, who teaches fifth- and sixth-grade math at Plymouth Elementary, uses only computers to teach fractions and other numerical concepts to kids. He's built computer labs in his school, each of his students has his or her own machine, and their test scores have leaped.

For his efforts, the federal education department on Wednesday bestowed Mangus with its No Child Left Behind Act American Star of Teaching Award. The award, for which the department received some 2,000 applicants, goes to one teacher in every state and Washington, D.C.

"He's someone who has gone far and above," said Carolyn Snowbarger, director of the department's Teacher-to-Teacher Initiative, who presented the award.

Link to Article

Getting tuned in: iPod-enhanced reading a hit

The San Bernadino Sun published a nice article on iPods, but they took the article down. Here it is in its entirety.

C.L. Lopez, Staff Writer

REDLANDS -- Silence enveloped the classroom.

Students listened raptly as pet mongoose Rikki-tikki-tavi fought a battle to the death with Nag, the cobra.

Rikki-tikki-tavi won, as the 19th-century story was brought to life on a 21st-century device for the 15 children in Linda Bomar's seventh-grade English class at Clement Middle School.

The difference was the iPod Shuffle, a digital audio player about the size of a pack of gum and weighing no more than a car key.

The widely publicized Shuffle is the latest alternative to books on tapes or compact discs. Since its arrival at Clement, pupils are finding it easier to tune in to the audio versions of books and stories.

``The iPods are great tools to have in the classroom because they support the students' reading,'' said Bomar, who uploaded the audio version of Rudyard Kipling's story about the heroic mongoose onto the devices for her students.

The children listen to the story through earphones as they read it from the book. It gives each student the power to move at his or her own pace, moving ahead or going back to listen again to an earlier segment or skip around in the story, something that is awkward to do on a tape or CD.

Digital devices like the iPod have random access memory. On a tape, if the listener is near the end of a story or lesson and wants to go back and check a fact at the beginning, he or she must wait for the tape to rewind.

The iPod also allows the pupil to learn the pronunciation of difficult words as they are read by actors, professional storytellers and sometimes by the author.

Clement got its iPod Shuffles at the end of last school year, but teachers have been using them more this school year, said Principal John Massie.

Massie came up with the idea for using the iPod Shuffles after he began listening to audio books during his commute to Clement from his Rancho Cucamonga home.

Representatives from other school districts have visited the campus to see how the iPods are used in the classroom.

``Any time the kids get excited about learning, we feel successful,'' he said.

He said that students have the technology to make their own audio stories for the Shuffles. Drama students can use them to make programs patterned after old radio shows.

The school also has a cart filled with notebook computers that have wireless Internet access and Alphasmarts, a portable keyboard and notetaker.

The school has about 40 Shuffles, valued at $99 each. Some are for students to check out, and the rest are for teachers to use in their classes. More iPods will be bought as the need arises, Massie said.

``At Clement, the technology is being used for all students -- kids are kids here,'' Bomar said, noting that students of all abilities get to use the Shuffles.

Some of Bomar's students are in the school's resource-specialist program or on an individualized education plan, meaning they have average to high IQs but low grades.

English can be challenging for students with language problems or learning disabilities, and on English-language learners, she said, adding that hearing the story on the Shuffle sparks their interest and helps them understand. Sometimes the students answer questions listed in their textbooks while listening to the story.

Bomar doesn't use the Shuffles in the classroom every day, but she said they are an important part of her program.

Before the Shuffles were introduced into the classroom, Richard Pfeifer, 13, admitted English was not one of his favorite subjects, but since listening to the stories on a Shuffle, he likes it better.

``It adds more to the story and makes it more interesting,'' Richard said. ``Instead of reading the whole story, you can browse through it and listen to the whole story.''

It's a departure from the days of students reading a story silently or aloud in class.

``It's one person reading it, and I like that it is not just my teacher or us kids reading it,'' said Sara Archuleta, 12. ``I pay more attention.''

Reading on their own boosts some students' confidence.

``I am by myself reading it,'' said Harrison Fakas, 12. ``It is fun because you can hear the story without everyone else talking.''

Apple, which makes the iPod, has a list of lesson plans and ways to incorporate iPods into the classroom for various subjects. So far, only the English teachers have checked out the device.

Their use also goes beyond the classroom. Students talk about the audio stories and then recommend them to their friends.

A sign in the library lists what's playing on the library's iPods, their length and a picture of each. Students can check out Shuffles from the library as they would a book, but only for a day. And they can request audio books they would like to hear be loaded onto a Shuffle for them.

``They are always out and circulating,'' said Robert Weber, the school's librarian. ``As soon as one comes back, another student is waiting to take it.''

Depending on length, the 512-megabyte-capacity Shuffle can hold three to five books. Weber said if students bring in their own iPods, he will put the audio books on them.

All of the school's audio books are downloaded from audible.com. The Web site features audible books, stories, newspapers and magazines. Textbooks might be available on the site in the future.

``The data we have shows that 30 percent of people are auditory learners they learn more from hearing than learning,'' said Stevan Allen, a spokesman for publisher Pearson Education. ``This provides a new way for people to learn and study. It is an exciting approach to learning and teaching.''

Here is the original link, which has now been taken down.

You can also find it, for a limited time, in Google's cache.

Thanks Tony!

Got MERLOT?

Here is another one to add to your favorites.

MERLOT is a free and open resource designed primarily for faculty and students of higher education. Links to online learning materials are collected here along with annotations such as peer reviews and assignments.

MERLOT is also a community of people who are involved in education. Community members help MERLOT grow by contributing materials and adding assignments and comments. Many community members make their professional information available in MERLOT's member directory.

Click here for MERLOT

Kathy Schrock Whiteboard Resources

Our good friend Kathy Schrock now has a blog, and she made a great post with lots of whiteboard resources.

Link to Post

New Teachers in Arizona Must Prove Skills Via Videotape

This is something that more states may decide to institute.

Novice teachers in Arizona will soon have to pass a test of classroom skill via videotape to get a long-term license.

The new requirement is expected to make Arizona one of just three states that require a videotaped lesson to advance from an initial credential to a more permanent one, according to data collected by Education Week. The others are Connecticut and Indiana.

State officials argue that the assessment will set a much higher standard than the existing licensing system, which includes only one test—on subject matter for beginning high school teachers.

“Now, we don’t even know if the teacher at least has the capacity to communicate with students,” said state schools Superintendent Tom Horne, who has been an advocate of the change, which the state board of education approved this summer.

Teachers first licensed after the current school year will need to pass the assessment to get a license that’s good for six years. They will have three years from the time they start teaching to produce a videotape of a classroom lesson and submit it along with a written analysis to independent evaluators.

The assessment is the same as one used by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards as part of its voluntary program for certifying experienced teachers. Arizona has hired the Educational Testing Service of Princeton, N.J., to set up the new program, and the privately organized Arlington, Va.-based board has licensed use of the test to ETS.

Link to Complete Article (requires free registration)

NCLB and Turoring - Some Interesting Questions

Here is an article from the Washington Post which deals with tutoring and No Child Left Behind.

Under No Child Left Behind, schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress and are deemed in need of improvement must offer eligible parents a choice: Change schools or use free after-school tutoring services. Eligibility is offered to low-income children who attend Title I schools, institutions at which a percentage of children qualify for free and reduced-price lunches on the basis of family income.

State officials have said they need broader, more precise measurements. The first systemwide effort to attempt an evaluation was released recently by the Chicago school system, which had more than 60,000 students in 343 schools tutored under Supplemental Education Services in 2004-05. Officials concluded that they could not make broad conclusions about whether the tutoring programs were working.

Link to Article

iPods become music to teachers’ ears

It looks like this technology is really gaining in popularity.

Podcasting is just one of the interactive technologies, like blogging and hand-held computers, being used to motivate students nationwide. It took off across the country last year, an offshoot of the surging popularity of iPods. A survey of 470 high school students released this month by analysts with Piper Jaffray & Co. found that 61 percent of students had some kind of MP3 player, up from 40 percent in their spring survey.

"This is the kind of technology they use for their daily lives. If schools want to reach today's learners, they can't ignore it," said Don Knezek, chief executive of the International Society for Technology in Education.

Link to Article

Tux Paint for Kids

Thanks again to Jef from the SEGA Tech Blog for this.

Tux Paint is a free drawing program designed for young children (kids ages 3 and up). It has a simple, easy-to-use interface, fun sound effects, and an encouraging cartoon mascot who helps guide children as they use the program. (See the full list of features.) It provides a blank canvas and a variety of drawing tools to help your child be creative.

Tux Paint

Physical Education Online?

That's exactly what's happening in Minnesota!

The Minneapolis school system's online physical education allows kids to choose a physical activity they enjoy, do it for 30 minutes three times a week — on their own time — while keeping an online journal. A parent or coach must confirm the student did the activities, and a fitness test at semester's end will turn up any cheaters.

Course choices have ranged from weight-lifting to swimming to horseback riding.

The course is proving phenomenally popular in Minneapolis, and teachers and administrators who developed the course believe they've hit on a way to help kids grow into adults with lifelong healthy fitness habits.

Link to Article

Pennsylvania students using handhelds

Here is a great article from the Keystone State.

It's 10:30 a.m. at South Fayette Elementary School and Scott Sundgren's third grade class is unusually quiet. The 21 students are busy writing and editing essays on tiny, handheld computers.

"They're cool," says a freckle-faced boy holding up his Palm Zire 72. "They're a lot more fun than using pencil and paper."

Through a $10,000 Hands On Learning grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Education and a 25 percent match from the school district, Sundgren was able to purchase 30 "Palms" for his classroom.

The devices, which are manufactured by palmOne Inc., come equipped with a calculator, calendar, notepad, 1.2 megapixel camera, MP3 player, voice recorder, spreadsheet, slideshow and animation capabilities and an infrared port for sending information and pictures from one user to another.

Link to Article

iPods become music to teachers’ ears

An interesting take on one of the most popular items out there.

At some schools, the rules are clear: Kids can chill out to downloaded music on portable players, but once they're inside, iPods and other learning distractions must be stowed in backpacks or lockers and kept there.

At Jamestown Elementary School in Arlington, Camilla Gagliolo took another approach. Rather than fighting the fad, she's capitalizing on it by giving students iPods and re-imagining them as a learning tool.

In a private school near Detroit, middle-schoolers podcast performances of student-composed musical works. From East Oakland, Calif., high-schoolers paint an audio portrait, in English and Spanish, of their troubled community: "It's hard to see someone die in front of you." Gunston Middle School, in Arlington, has a cheeky student-made podcast that includes poetic commentary on Virginia's standardized testing: "SOLs are not your friends; they'll bring your life to an end."

Teachers say the benefits of making podcasts are clear: The trendy technology and the possibility of a wider audience motivate students. "My students research better, read more, write better and understand the material," said Beth Sanborn, a fifth-grade teacher at Willowdale Elementary School, near Omaha, where students have been making podcasts since last spring.

Link to Article

I Love that Teaching Idea

Here is another very good "All in One" site with lots of goodies for teachers.

I Love that Teaching Idea!


Thanks to the SEGA Tech Blog!

The Top 101 Web Sites For Teachers

Tim Stahmer, an Instructional Technology Specialist in Farifax County, Virginia, has an excellent resource site for teachers. You can choose your category on the left side of his site, and he has some outstanding resources for teachers of all levels.

The Top 101 Web Sites For Teachers

Jupiter's Red Spot

One of many great photos from NASA.



Click here to see more!

What is RSS?

RSS is a relatively new term for educators. It allows you to read multiple news feeds without having to visit each site separately. Here is a good site which explains what it is and how to use it.

How to Use RSS

The Da Vinci Glow

This is an interesting article for science teachers.

When you think of Leonardo Da Vinci, you probably think of the Mona Lisa or 16th-century submarines or, maybe, a certain suspenseful novel. That's old school. From now on, think of the Moon.

Little-known to most, one of Leonardo's finest works is not a painting or an invention, but rather something from astronomy: He solved the ancient riddle of Earthshine.

Link to Article

Designing Handheld Software to Support Classroom Assessment

Here is a very interesting article that is well worth the read.

Abstract: Since 2002, Project WHIRL (Wireless Handhelds In Reflection on Learning) has investigated potential uses of handheld computers in K–12 science classrooms using a teacher-involved process of software development and field trials. The project is a three-year research and development grant from the National Science Foundation, and it is a partnership between SRI International and a medium-sized district in South Carolina, Beaufort County School District.

In addition, this paper provides some preliminary answers to two of the key research questions we outlined at the outset of our project:

• What kinds of software designs can be feasibly implemented in classrooms that support effective assessment practice?
• What are the conditions under which teachers can adopt handheld tools to support classroom assessment?

Link to Article

Create Office Files Online for FREE!

I just finished trying this out, and I must say that I was very impressed.



ThinkFree Office!

Help for Dyslexics

This looks very interesting. If you have dyslexic students or children, it seems worth looking into.

There has been growing innovation to combat dyslexia, especially
for children, in the form of computer software. However, relatively
little design research has been done in the area of typography
and type design that might support dyslexics. Read Regular is
a typeface designed specifically to help people with dyslexia read
and write more effectively.

Read Regular aims at preventing a neglect of dyslexia, creating
a more confident feeling regarding the problems that occur
with dyslexia.

Link to Site

HANDHELDS - Benefits come with costs

This article is from the Kansas City Star. It requires registration, which is free but annoying. I have posted the entire article.

Since integrating handheld computers into her curriculum at Olathe Northwest High School, Misia Hollenbeck has seen the benefits firsthand.

“Motivation, first of all, to complete assignments has increased,” the special education teacher said.

She’s seen her students meet their goals more quickly, and in some cases, the handheld computers have even helped them overcome writing disabilities, she said.Hollenbeck has found that handhelds help her measure goals better; track data better; give more immediate feedback to parents; and put more energy into class projects rather than paperwork.

The Olathe School District supplies all students and staff at Olathe Northwest and Olathe North high schools with handheld computers.

Olathe East and South provide students with classroom sets, while some of the junior high and elementary schools use classroom sets on a pilot basis.

The cost

The benefits Hollenbeck has seen don’t come without costs.

The district has dedicated hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to purchasing new handhelds, and replacing lost and damaged units.The school district began distributing the technology in 2003, with an initial investment of nearly $424,000. The following year, the district spent more than $402,000 on new handhelds for North High, Prairie Trail Junior High and four elementary schools.

This year, each high school received 30 new handhelds with wireless capabilities. Frontier Trail also received additional handhelds, and five elementary schools purchased handhelds with their building funds.

The cost: $265,000.

At a July meeting, school board member Jim Churchman asked about the loss rate of the handhelds and asked for a review of the benefits of supplying individual students with the technology.

“This was an issue presented to me by parents and students,” Churchman said during a recent interview. “I don’t claim to be an expert on the value of these handhelds; but we need to take hard look at (it) and question.”

Rita Lyon, director of technology, has said the district replaced about 60 lost or damaged units from last year at a cost of about $12,000.

“That is extremely low,” Lyon said. “We are very pleased with the loss ratio on that.”

With about 4,200 handhelds in the hands of students and staff, a loss of 60 would be lower than 2 percent.Handheld purchases are largely made using bond money or capital outlay money, which is funded from local sources.

Handhelds are issued and managed like textbooks, band uniforms or football helmets, Lyon said. They are issued to students and are to be returned to the school at the end of the year.

Students who do not return their handhelds are required to pay for them at the depreciated value.

Depending on the model, one handheld and keyboard combination averages about $300 or less, she said.

The current handheld/keyboard model used at the high schools and junior high schools is $250.

The handheld/keyboard model used at the elementary level, which includes a digital camera, costs $300.

With those amounts, the 60 handheld computers the district had to replace could have cost as much as $18,000. But Lyon said that sometimes the district must replace only one piece of the combination, making it difficult to pinpoint an exact amount. She estimated the cost was closer to $12,000.

The benefits

Administrators continue to tout the academic benefits of handhelds.

Superintendent Pat All calls handhelds key instructional tools.

She said handhelds benefit students who do not have access to a computer at home.

One of the goals of the Olathe School District is to give each student equal access to technology.

But whether handhelds are being used as intended by the district is a question.

Last school year, a group of students gathered by district staff to help in the search for a new superintendent talked about handheld computers.

A handful of them said they knew of students who didn’t use their handhelds, and one student admitted she used her handheld to play games.

“I think you would have to talk to larger number of students than that for a good feel for their use,” said Superintendent All.

However, she did acknowledge that use of handhelds varies from student to student.

“Like any other technology,” she said.

She also pointed to the element of time, saying that last year was the first year Olathe North students received the handhelds. She said it takes a while for students, as well as teachers, to use the handhelds at the level desired.

“We would see higher levels of use and more pervasive use at Olathe Northwest than at…Olathe North,” she said.

The superintendent is confident teachers at North are integrating handhelds into their curriculum more this year.

For Hollenbeck, at Northwest High, there’s no doubt about the value of the technology.

The teacher’s classroom curriculum is based 90 percent on handheld computers, and the technology has been invaluable for the education of her students with mental disabilities, she said.

“My students have their own opinions about it too,” she said. “But I’m sure none of us would go back to the old way. This is too empowering.”

Link to Article

Brain-Based Learning: Possible Implications for Online Instruction

Dr. Stephanie Clemons from Colorado State University has written a very interesting article on this subject:

Issues concerning student learning involve how they accept, retain and process information delivered in a course. This paper briefly defines and describes brain-based learning, a theory that is under investigation in higher education, and offers suggestions on how that theory may be implemented in the delivery of information and facilitation of online classes in higher education. Implications for online educators are also presented.

Link to complete article

ePALS Translation

Need to do some quick translating? The ePALS site has a good online translator. Online translators aren't always perfect, so don't rely on them for lengthy or complicated selections.

ePALS Translation