Innovations in Ed Tech

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2010-03-29T09:32:00.000-07:00

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2010-01-21T06:26:00.000-08:00

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Free Technology for Teachers: Real World Math

2010-01-07T08:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/search/label/Real%20World%20Math
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Embedding PDF into Google Docs

2009-12-04T16:42:00.001-08:00

Here is the link that provides info about embedding a PDF into a Google Doc.

http://digitizor.com/2009/09/13/how-to-embed-pdf-documents-in-your-website-using-google-docs-viewer/

Values

2009-11-24T13:00:00.000-08:00

Values vary depending on the individual teacher. Different subject areas are just the beginning. Even those in the same teaching area may have different tools that they will value. How do we find which technology will be the most valuable? Is there a way to find this out? We need to know each one of our students better. Perhaps beginning with the home and about me page is a place to start. Values. Hmmm
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2009-11-16T10:40:00.000-08:00

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2009-11-16T09:32:00.000-08:00

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2009-11-16T08:30:00.000-08:00

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2009-11-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

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Education & Technology Quotes

2009-11-15T05:51:00.001-08:00

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Education & Technology Quotes

View more presentations from Tony Vincent.

Obama Can Target Aliens!

2009-11-13T08:39:00.000-08:00

So much for aliens - Obama is on it...

Cloudy with a Chance of Obama

2009-11-13T08:24:00.000-08:00

Now, even I think technology may go a little too far. Check out what Obama says about the weather near you.

Even When You Think You've Covered All Your Bases...

2009-11-12T15:42:00.000-08:00

Animoto: Teaser about K-12 Online Conference 2009

2009-11-10T18:47:00.000-08:00

http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=400

Find more videos like this on K12 Online Conference

K-12 Online Conference! Please participate!

2009-11-10T18:42:00.000-08:00

A Must Participate Conference: Week of November 30th
http://k12onlineconference.org/

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2009-11-09T14:08:00.000-08:00

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The Simpsons Go Mobile!

2009-11-08T16:09:00.001-08:00

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2009-11-08T14:53:00.001-08:00

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Post

2009-11-08T13:26:00.000-08:00

Data driven decision making,acuity,
Smart board, prometh, activsoftware inspire edition,polyvision eno,learning.com(aha!sciencewhiteboardedition),interactive desktops,averpen interactive collaborative learning solution,
Delicious (my account)
Prezi
Lesson planning (curriki)
Synchroneyes
Jing
Skype
Online teacher discussion board
CoPs
What is web 2.0?
Internet safety: www.wenetok.com
Fuelourfuturenow.com
www.4029tv.com/video/18712497/index.html

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2009-11-08T13:00:00.001-08:00

Data driven decision making,acuity,
Smartboard, prometh, activsoftware inspire edition,polyvision eno,learning.com(aha!sciencewhiteboardedition),interactive des

Example Content Exploration Blog Post

2009-10-06T06:34:00.000-07:00

I reviewed BrainPop, specifically for English education. I plan to teach English as a Second Language. BrainPop is a fun and easy way to get the content across to students with limited language capabilities. The visualizations help students understand the context of what they are talking about thus enhancing the students' understanding of the content, even if they don't necessarily understand all of the words. In addition, BrainPop has recently created a BrainPop ESL version.

In particular, I could use this to help my students understand blogs. This video provides information on what is a blog, how to set it up, and the history of blogs. It also includes some helpful hints.

Other teachers have used this resource to inspire students to explore their own content by creating their own Tim and Moby adventures.

Although it primarily presents information, and thus would be considered a reference tool, there are quizzes available so it could also be considered a tutorial.

NCTM Illuminations

2009-09-28T17:40:00.000-07:00

A long-time favorite of mine when it comes to tech tools is the set of "Illuminations" from the National Council for Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). Illuminations are manipulatable java applets that bring abstract mathematical concepts to life. The catalog of tools is available at http://illuminations.nctm.org/, with lessons and all.

Illuminations benefit teachers in students in countless ways. From a teacher's standpoint, these are fantastic, ready made tools and lessons that save you tons of time. Creating manipulative-based lessons, as we all know, can really take forever. The benefits for efficiency here are huge.

But illuminations don't just save time- they offer bang for the buck. They make concrete concepts that have never been concrete before, allowing students an unprecedented learning experience. Students have a lesson truly enhanced by technology, able to do thing as never before and understand them in new and great ways.

Prezi

2009-09-28T17:04:00.000-07:00

A great new tool I just discovered is a presentation tool called "Prezi" (www.prezi.com) that puts PowerPoint to shame. Prezi lets you make dymanic presentations that viewers can follow while still maintaining an idea of the "big picture." Watch a demonstration of Prezi here. Once you've been wowed by the demo, click here for a tutorial on how to make your own.
Prezi would make for a highly effective teaching tool. Typical presentation tools like PowerPoint only allow you to create linear presentations, but not all topics are linear! Students especially often lose track of "where they are" in a long presentation; they can't figure out how the current slide fits into the whole of the topic. They lose perspective. A presentation made with Prezi, that kept students perspective on the whole instead of the parts, would be effective in promoting retention of presented information.

Week 5, Technology Integration Decisions

2008-09-29T12:26:00.000-07:00

Overall, today went well. I felt like there was good interaction with the students. They were able to answer questions and interact with me and each other. All the lecture worksheets questions were designed to deliver in groups. This seemed to promote good student interaction. I will try to incorporate more group questions. I'm not sure that individual questions every really worked well.

Interestingly enough, I can hear students complaining about the readings and how they had no clue where the readings were before. However, they think that with the test review, everything should be OK. We shall see. The more I see about their knowledge of applying standards and objectives, the more nervous I get. We need to make sure that we have multiple copies of the standards. I like this, but we need to have WAY more explanation about this. I'm almost thinking about dropping the objectives section.

We definitely need to have a good/bad objective slides. Games that ask students to select what they would do, what's wrong, etc...

I spent too much time on the students slide. Also, I think we should eliminate objectives and stick with students and environment. The first one,

The video from YouTube is terrible. It had a dirty name for the intro. I missed this. But it provided a laugh.

Perhaps we need a whole section on the objectives. Or at least a tutorial. We will need to talk about how critical this actually is.

Things to add

2008-09-15T12:19:00.000-07:00

Podcast study sessions

Edited versions of the PD principal movie with Principal Ottenbreit

Watching other people do the same lecture or review the same content as you gives you some great ideas. As I'm watching Doug present, I really liked a couple of things he did. First of all, he posted a fun article for students to read as they came into class. This gave students something to look at during those few minutes before class. Great idea. I'm planning on doing this in the rest of my lectures. Perhaps even using videos that way. Also, I liked how he drew on specific points from the video. I actually wanted to pause the first video to make comments - but I'm not sure how halting this would be and how much it would disrupt the flow.

Week2 Lecture, Introduction to the Course

2008-09-08T11:11:00.000-07:00

Today went well. I started with an introduction to the course. The Simponize characters went over well. After a brief review of the course, I had students get into groups based on their content areas. It took me some time to reorganize them once they were in the correct spots. The TAL learners kind of mixed things up in the 1st lecture and so now all the TAL folks are up at the top in one small corner. I will try to move them a little. They had a mission to create a collage of their pictures and names. I didn't care how they did it, but they needed to get this to me by Monday at 8:00. I already have one team that sent theirs to me. A little more time was dedicated to this assignment since they all seemed so energized about it. I will try to give them more problems to solve. I really liked this approach and it seemed to energize them.

Next I discussed some aspects of globalization and the flat world and how it's impacting our students. I think this gave them more of an appreciation of how our world is expanding. However, some of the stories and short quips need to be worked on. I think perhaps watching Thomas Friedman's MIT video and then finding a PPT or video on how this concept applies to K-12 education would be helpful. That's my note on professional development.

I had some good videos, but unfortunately, the sound didn't work too well on the students' description of why to use technology. These should be deleted or checked back on to see if the audio is audible next semester.

Overall, I felt like there was a good energy in the room and students really talked to one another about the questions. I think the first two questions are a little drull, but probably need to be asked (about globalization). Perhaps there is a way to spice this up. The second two questions were interesting, but I need to find a way to make students expand on the questions and to get more excited or engaging with the content. By changing the content area to the group section, they could circle it there and have more space to write. Or perhaps I make these all 2 sided or have all the questions at the top and have them number their responses below.

Overall, I'd like to think of more ways to involve them in discussions with their subject area group in the lecture. This is important because it is probably the majority of interaction they will have in their subject area. Think-Pair-Share is always a great possibility. I'll have to think of some more ways to increase interaction in a large lecture hall. I could always ask one person in each group to bring their laptop in. Hmmm.....

I would like to find more videos that show the amazing ways technology is being used. The Hamilton High video, Shift Happens, and A Vision of Students Today were all great. However, the new tech high page was dull, as was the Evansville page and perhaps even the Kokomo movie (although the later part of this movie was well done.

So for next week, I'm looking at standards, electronic portfolios, and I have less information in that presentation that I need to cover (this lecture had a LOT of videos).

Random Indiana Earthquake

2008-04-18T03:51:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning to go for a run and at 5:37am, I felt a huge gust of wind shaking the house - like a washing machine off-kilter gone crazy! I thought the house was done for. This lasted for only about 5 seconds, but I could still feel a less significant shaking for about 10-15 seconds. My running buddy (who's from the West coast) called me and asked - "Did you just feel that? That was an earthquake!" I was completely shocked! An earthquake? In Indiana? But it's true. Evidently, we're on a fault line. The USGS Earthquake Hazards website keeps a record of the earthquakes recently reported in this area.

My parents (who live in the Detroit area) said they did not feel it themselves, but they were outside with their dog who ran back to the porch at that exact time like something horrible had happened. Now he won't set foot on the grass outside.

The interesting thing is I tried to fit this within my own schema. I attributed it to a strong wind, or the fact that I had taken cold medicine the night before and my head could have been a bit foggy. I never even thought of an earthquake until my friend called me. Even though I know about earthquakes from a geological perspective, it never crossed my mind as a possibility for this area. This instance shows me that we need to keep reminding ourselves to push the envelope of thinking...to look beyond the typical explainations we are comfortable with and find the truth. Hmmmm.... How does this relate to research? :)

Leveraging Educational Technology to Keep America Competitive

2008-04-12T04:28:00.000-07:00

In October 2007, I was part of the Indiana University team with the Center for Evaluation and Education Policy (CEEP) that received a 3.1 million dollar contract from the Office of Education Technology in the Department of Education titled Leveraging Educational Technology to Keep America Competitive. This project focuses on examining how current and emerging technologies are being used in classrooms and how to prepare new teachers to best use these tools. Myself and Dr. Tom Brush are working on two main areas. The first area is a national study of preservice teacher education programs studying how they to prepare their gradautes use technology in their future K-12 classrooms. We are employing a three-phase mixed-methods study to answer the following questions:

What technology experiences are included in pre-service teacher education programs, and how do these compare to technology experiences supported by the research literature?
What technology experiences do teachers (a) find relevant and meaningful to their teaching and learning practices, and (b) integrate into their teaching and learning practices?
What are the similarities and differences between the technology experiences included in teacher education programs and the technology experiences teachers (a) find relevant and meaningful to their teaching and learning practices, and (b) integrate into their teaching and learning practices?

We have been documenting our efforts on our Levergaing Technology website. You can also visit AECT's Teacher Education Division Blog to listen to our discussion of the project online. Please note that there have been several changes in our research plan, but it might be interesting to see how it has evolved with all the feedback from experts and the Department of Education Ofice of Educational Technology. Before we begin our study, we need to get OMB approval. This takes at least 4 months so we plan on launching our study in September.

The second aspect of this contract is A Parent's Guide to the Internet. We are still working on this and I'll post a recent version of this in my next post. This project will be updating the 1997 version as quite a bit has changed since then...

New Thoughts on Learning Contracts

2007-05-04T03:45:00.000-07:00

After participating in a new faculty meet-n-greet two days ago, I reflected more on the notion of learning contracts. I think this is a prime method for encouraging self-directed and self-regulated learning in our students. Especially as teachers, students will need to engage in active reflection and life-long learning to improve their professional practice. I think that with learning contracts, we could better facilitate this process and it would be a scaffolding tool for now that would hopefully carry on into their future careers as a teacher. I still believe there needs to be an electronic tool that diagnoses and facilitates this entire idea. I have a paper prepared from my dissertation on this. I also plan to blog about my dissertation and results another day. Perhaps later on this week. For resources, I've been looking at WPI's Teaching with Technology Collaborator's site on Learning Contracts and About.com has some interesting information and links for Learning Contracts as well.

Preservice Technology Integration

2007-05-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

So, I've been thinking a lot more about my technology integration course. What exactly are the objectives? What do I want my preservice teachers to be able to accomplish by time they leave the course. At IU, we have an interesting set-up of technology integration courses for teachers.

First, our students start out with the typical technology skills course (1 credit hour - w201), then move onto the technology integration course (1 credit hour - w301) which is coupled with their methods field experience course and then finally move onto the technology integration capstone course (1 credit hour - w401) which is coupled with their final field experience before they go into student teaching. This is a great approach because it builds up technology skills, then focuses on integration where they have a venue to try out ideas and talk about integration on a level that is more educationally and pedagogically aware.

We also have an Advanced Technology Integration Focus for our preservice teachers where they take w210 (Survey of Computer-Based Education - 3 credit hours) and w310 (Computer-Based Teaching Methods - 3 credit hours) and end with an online course w435 (Technology LEadership in K-12 - 3 credit hours). I taught w210 this past semester (http://www.indiana.edu/~cel/w210) and had some good and bad reactions.

One student commented in his blog that

"I was expecting more of a lesson of how to incoporate technology into the
classroom. But I feel odd about that subject because I feel as if the class
did not expose me to that subject; but you certainly showed up podcasts and
blogs and other stuff. So I feel like you did your job perfectly. But the
problem is, I think I already knew how to incorporate that type of stuff
into a class. Perhaps it was because of other classes in the School of Ed I
have taken. I also understand that this is the 1st course in a series and I
am looking forward to using these methods in the future." (http://pseib.blogspot.com/)

I guess I'm still confused on exactly what their notion is of integrating technology into a classroom. I had originally set-up this class to have them define their own notion of meaningful technology integration. I did not want to impose my judgements on them. However, perhaps with preservice teachers it's different. They need a little more guidance on what works in classrooms, what's thought of as innovative, what's going to be the most impressive, what's going to result in better learning... One of the difficulties with this was that I had students ranging from Freshman status to Graduate status, secondary social studies to elementary education majors. I tried to cater to each individual and then find topics that we could all engage in discussions on, and I think we succeeded for many of them. I think that this notion of individualized education plans should apply in our college classes as well. Therefore, my solution to this problem is to create learning contracts based on the NETS ISTE standards and their individual interests. We can create a customizable plan at the beginning of the semester noting the various topics they are interested in, learning goals/objectives, and then designing projects to complete these. This should also deal with the concerns over the lack of flexibility within project/lesson plan design. Examples should be provided, but their final project should be similar to the COATT portfolio, showing how they met the NETS standards with projects they created in this class.

I tried showing Web 2.0 tools, encourgaing them to look at examples that directly pertained to their subject area, but they still don't feel like they learned that much. Hmmm....if I start looking at the NETS ISTE standards, I think I can show them how much they have learned. Perhaps in the context of COATT, they can see that they know more than they think.

Others seemed to note that technology was not really taught in this class. I tried not to "teach" technology because technology is always changing. I think it's silly for us to spend class time on that when they could go out to YouTube to find videos that would help them with this.

So what are some projects that I can have them do as a class? Is this necessary? Can they just communicate via online? I also need to find out if I can make this class meet more than once per week. That may motivate students to participate more. I just had a brainstorm! If I pair up the preservice teachers with a K-12 student in their area, then I could use their lab time as a specified time to meet with me and discuss their progress on a weekly basis. That would be my office hours as well. I think that could work. I still need to think about projects to complete for this course. I'll get back to that later.

My First Podcast!

2006-07-05T06:06:00.000-07:00

I have recently just completed my first podcast. Chris Essex from Indiana University's Instructional Consulting Center and Doctoral Student in the Indiana IST department hosts a fantastic blog for teachers and technology, most commonly focusing on podcasting in education called Teach with Tech. We talked about multiple ways to use technology in your classroom tomorrow. One of the main problems with trying to get teachers to adopt technology as an innovation and tool in their classrooms typically relates to a few issues:

1. Complexity - The technology has too many bugs or potential problems. Many like to call the resulting behavior technophobia, but many teachers weigh the cost versus benefit and the time or frustrations are too much of a cost for the intended outcome.

2. Meaningful - If the technology has no real relevance for their classroom, no matter how cool the technology may be, teachers will not use something they don't see directly applicable to their classroom.

3. Belief - If teachers don't believe that technology enhances education, they will not use it. Will technology really enhance this educational experience? Or can I accomplish it just as easily with manipulatives? Technology is a tool, not a solution.

If you're interested in more, I plan on submitting a proposal to the Indiana Conference for Computer Educators (ICE): 50 Ways to Use Technology in Your Classroom Tomorrow. Based on my own ideas, and my parents (both educators: Sharon Ottenbreit is a 2nd Grade Teacher at Haigh Elementary in Dearborn, MI AND Joel Ottenbreit who is a retired principal from Ann Arbor Public Schools in Michigan) as well as many Internet sites and conferences, I have compiled a list of 50 simple ways teachers can use technology in their classroom without a lot of work or prep. I try to target a variety of grade and subject levels, as well as ideas that are multidisciplinary.

Teach with Tech PodCast

2006-06-26T04:55:00.000-07:00

For those of you interested, I will be engaged in a PodCast with a talented Indiana University doctoral student, Chris Essex, who has an excellent podcast and blog (Teach with Tech) for those interested in teacher education. We will be talking about 50 Ways to Use Technology in your Classroom Tomorrow (which I'll be presenting at ICE - hopefully). I think it should be a very interesting show. If you have any suggestions of simple ways teachers can use technology in their classroom without a lot of training or hardship on the teacher, send them my way. My email is anne@purdue.edu

Looking forward to hearing from you! :)

Dissertation Thoughts

2006-06-26T04:36:00.000-07:00

So, for those of you who don't know, I've been starting work on my dissertation, which is investigating exemplary technology-using teachers (those recognized by an award called the MCOATT - Michigan Consortium for Outstanding Achievements in Teaching with Technology) and trying to find out what really makes these teachers so outstanding in hopes of duplicating these efforts through preservice education programs. Therefore, my three main areas of interest lie in their visions of technology integration, the strategies they use when integrating technology, and their developmental process towards exemplary technology integration. So far, I have found several themes (although I have yet to fully analyze the data), but it seems as though all teachers started with an interest in technology. Either someone showed them the possibilities of technology with their students, or they grew up with an interest in computers in general (typically the second). This doesn't provide much hope unless we can get teachers and future teachers interested in the actual technology first.

However, I must note that technology is a tool. But I still feel it to be a different tool than other pedagogical tools. For instance, like reading innovations, (guided reading, phonics, whole language, etc...) seem to pop-up every year. How are these types of innovations different than technology innovations? Why are some teachers likely to adopt certain reading innovations? IS technology so different because it changes at such a rapid rate? OR is it different because it can be integrated into all disciplines? It brings up the question of - should technology be considered a separate part of teacher education or should it be integrated into a teacher's pedagogy. From my perspective, it seems as though with these exemplary technology-using teachers (ETUTs) that they used the keyword "seamless". I was amazed at the effortless production of new technology integration ideas. Most teachers said, I can do this lesson or this lesson. Some even volunteered different ideas once I showed up and said

I can do it this way, or we could do this, or... What would you like to see?

Another interesting thing is the commonalities between all the teachers. Their willining to first help with my project and open their classrooms up. They were all so motivated, excited, there was such energy in the room. It made me want to be in a classroom again! When we talked afterwards, I felt as though I was with kindred spirits - the excitement of talking about new technologies and how they could be used. Now, I don't necessarily believe that all teachers would get excited about this, but it brings up an excellent area of interest for me in my belief that brainstorming with other teachers and getting excited about new, creative ideas is a great way to keep teaching fresh, exciting, and innovative. Therefore, the collaboration between inservice teachers, preservice teachers, and universities should also be seamless. Through service learning and active learning communities, I believe we can improve not only teacher education, but K-12 education. I think this is the next step, and I intend to move my work in this direction in the up-and-coming years.

Service Learning - Where does this fall in education

2006-03-22T07:33:00.000-08:00

As a graduate assistant for the Center for Instructional Excellence at Purdue University, I am currently attending Dr. Bob Bringle's presentation on Service Learning. It's really piqued my interest. I see extreme implications for education students. For the future, at IU, Dr. Reigeluth actually does service learning with Decatur Township. It's very interesting that faculty volunteer their services to attempt to redesign education. For me as well, I'm incredibly interested in engaging in service learning projects with IUPUI and giving our preservice teachers an opportunity to experience diverse learning experiences. Also, having our preservice teachers work with inservice teachers to help them design technology-enhanced lessons. This is a great opportunity for preservice teachers to learn how to design lessons, work with a teacher, gain feedback, and prepare instructional materials teachers need and can use. Perhaps even seeing the implementation of their instruction would be a great way to gain knowledge and skills. Reflection would be outstanding in this regard!

One thing he emphasized was that service learning has to be:
1. In the community.
2. In a course. Partnered with a course that students read material, engage in discussions, meet weekly (or more).
3. Connection between the two. This is often accomplished through reflections. Make sure that you directly draw on this experience and focus on it.
4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT AND TYPICALLY OVERLOOKED: Do you have educational objectives/goals for the course to develop civicly responsible and involved graduates?

Also, what's your definition of Service Learning? Is it co-curricular (including student activities) or just in courses? We really need to make an institutional decision. We can learn from Student Services on organizing, managing, etc... Alternative Spring Break tips are great opportunities - but this isn't necessarily service learning. There is no course or specific educational goals. OR a hybrid method of the idea, to tie this in with a course of some kind.

Different Types of Journals
Three-part = How's it relative to them as a person, community, professional growth?
Double sided = description on one side, reflections on other.
Highlighter = they have to highlight all the incidents they've learned about from the course.
Critical incident = focus on the critical incidents
Key words = tell them what "key words" they feel should be included

Service Learning is more work for the Faculty. More faculty-student and student-student interactions than typical courses. Set up community placements. It's additional work. You get evolution in the course.

Use the concepts to put on worksheets so they can relate these to their experiences. A consistent list of communities sources. They are let known that these students are not just there for volunteering - it's more.

Also, see his chart on management of placements. We need to see what the students' needs, activities, key persons, time table, etc....

For more information about this, see Campus Compact.

EDCI 270 - Large Lecture Technology Solutions

2006-03-21T05:19:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I gave a brief presentation on the different types of software that future teachers could consider using. Based on many of my free demo from MACUL, I was able to consider some of the more pertinent software for these students. A PodCast of the lecture is available via BoilerCast (March 20). I felt it went rather smoothly, although we did have one quick problem when accessing Google Earth and the computer went down. Luckily, Dr. Newby was able to tell a story about Google Earth, and I was able to call on one of my students from another class (Laura Goldin in EDCI 271) and we discussed how she used Google Earth in one of her practicums when students were studying Geology. The other software items I presented were Scholastic Keys, Online Frog Dissection, BrainPOP, and we briefly talked about software evaluation. One of the interesting things I love about this large lecture is the opportunity to reach so many potential teachers and therefore so many K12 students in the future. If I can change their minds about technology, think of how many more K12 students may be affected - and that's the entire purpose after all: to change and improve K12 education. At least that's why I went into this business. Large lectures (contrary to popular belief) do not have to always utilize the "Sage on Stage" approach. However, with 465 students in our large lecture each semester, it becomes difficult to be a "Guide on the Side". Here are some ways we've tried to solve that:

1. Lab Pockets in Lecture. We organize students in their lab sections in lecture so they have a smaller community within the large lecture. The lab TA sits with these students and uses a sign (mine is bright pink with sparkles) to let the students know where they are sitting. Students feel more comfortable asking questions, and we can have active small group discussions/activities with the lab TA and a smaller more manageable number of students.

2. Email Students. When a student participates in lecture, the TA sends Dr. Newby their name, email, and comment. Dr. Newby then emails the student to thank them and offer additional information on their comment. You wouldn't believe the impact - they act like someone famous has emailed them and they brag about it in their lab!

3. Videos on Basic Materials Ahead of Time. In order to engage in more applied knowledge (the whole point of education), Dr. Newby goes over his basic knowledge from the book in his "From The Author" video presentations. Students watch these before lecture and come prepared to discuss the material from the book and those videos. We apply that knowledge with some type of classroom activity.

4. Clickers. We use the clickers for more student interaction, polls, attendance, all sorts of things! Still technical problems, but we're working through them. We like to model as much technology integration as possible, as well as show them to have a back-up plan and be flexible. :)

I found a few other good ideas for technology integration in large lecture courses:

Convince Teachers: Notes for Future Presentation and Teaching

2006-03-10T10:42:00.000-08:00

One very interesting tactic from a presenter at MACUL, he asked "Does anyone have a problem in your school?" I love this idea for me in terms of working with teachers. I feel that by asking teachers for their problems and showing them the possibilities of technology, it establishes me as a more credible source and shows them how to begin brainstorming about technology integration. Ideally, I would like to analyze the brainstorming process. What makes exemplary technology-using teachers figure out ways to use technology? A lot of it has to deal with their pedagogical creativity. From my own opinion, a lot of quality is directly correlated to creativity and it can be taught.

In my own teaching with preservice teachers, I typically ask them to have a SEMESTER LONG THEME which aligns with their topic area. This gives them more focus, and they begin to establish technology-enhanced learning resources as a unit. It also helps them really investigate one topic and see how many great resources are out there and begin the brainstorming process of "I could use that software in this way" and they begin to bounce ideas of each other and draw ideas from each other.

One of the limiting factors is pairing them up with similar interests. Although the trend is to move towards interdisciplinary, by at least pairing up grade levels (i.e., all elementary together) then we could work on the interdisciplinary push much easier.

Turn wired jack into wireless (3COM - XJack/XJAX).
APC Travel Power.
Digital Paper.

WOW - What a district!

2006-03-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

At MACUL, one of the neatest things I heard was about this school that has THE technology set-up, that just makes your arms get goosebumps. The presenter first gave an overview of some of the "newer" technologies and then gave a case study example of THE tech school.

Ideas for new technologies:
Polycom Interactive Whiteboard (more than just a smartboard)
ThinClients - ClearCube.
Extended Batteries
Acer - Tablet PC (no swivel heads)
Biometric encryptions
GoSpeak - portable presenter, self contained, little personal A/V system, fairly big classroom, wireless mics, not mounts, portable, cafeteria, school play, teacher to teacher.
Bretford Cart - portable laptop system, secure laptop cabinet, wheel from room to room
Proxim - wireless access point, mesh wireless capabilities, use different points as a transport
NEC Projector - projection systems, carry with me, portable, 2.2 lbs, highest display, industries brightest display, remote control
KEYBOARDS: Keyboards, Trackballs, Keyboards on the smallest size

CASE STUDIES. Doctor's Charter School. IT Admin 3 months to prep an entire IT infrastructure. Building a school with a blank check and a blank slate. What are some of the new stuff they did?
Walk through the door, first thing you see is a series of LCD displays for announcements (parents, teachers, students). Interactive. Principals can type in and change the display. Lunch schedule, announcements, teacher location.
Classrooms. Interactive whiteboards, connected printer, and projector. PC for every student. ClearCube. Every single student has the device under their desk with a swing away monitor.
Wireless throughout the entire district. Teachers and students are set-up on different networks. You can ride on a public (students and parents) or private (teachers and staff) network. The network scans the computer before allowing it to access the network. Looks for viruses, content, etc... on the computer asking to connect.

Entire building. Wired for audio/video. Send streaming content to student desks. The principal comes through the video on each classroom.

Voice over IP in every single office. It extends through the district. They can ring your desk. As they build more charter, it seamlessly integrates as well.

Able to pull some of the best technology to this school district. EVERYTHING IS GOING WIRELESS. We're in a different age - don't rely on wires anymore.

Simple Themes - KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid)

2006-03-10T10:06:00.000-08:00

So interesting theme I've noticed throughout this conference: Making things simplier. Teachers won't use technology if it's not simple. How do we keep things simple? Well, first it means not being able to necessarily introduce the "bleeding edge" technologies right away.

It seems like anything we can do as educational technologists that's easy, free, or allows us to do something exciting for K12 students, we'll do it. I've also

NTeQ Lesson

2006-03-10T09:15:00.000-08:00

Still at MACUL, these Freedom to Learn teachers utilized a 10 step aproach to designing a better lesson.

Their website handout is...
They specify that you need to be flexible. Always have a back-up plan.

They had some very broad overview ideas on their handout.
Computer Functions:
Spreadsheet:
Convert, Modify, Analyze, Calculate, Compare of Contrast, Estimate, Predict
Database:

Note to self- check out the 1:00 session on WORD. Mom would like this one.

STEP 1: Specify all your lesson objectives. (technology and not technology). Match your objectives to computer functions.

STEP 2: Computer functions that support your objectives. Make sure that you match these.

STEP 3: Specify the Problem. MAke it authentic, realistic, real-world events, from the students' world and let them suggest the problem.
STEP 4: Data Manipulation. Supply the data or help them find it. How will they manipulate. Perhaps job aids, or think sheets (questions and ideas for students - I love this term!). Make it as easy as possible to find the data. They really need to be able to identify the data. Searching is not the most important thing.

STEP 5: Results Presentation. How will they share/present the results. Printed reports, etc...

STEP 6: What activities while at the computer? entering the data manipulating, creating a report, grou7p?

STEP 7: Activities prior to comptuers. What do they need to do ahead of time? For teachers, the computer lab is limited. Key words for searching, collecting data, etc... Waste of your lab time. They should be prepared even if they have laptops.

STEP 8: After computers. Kids that finish early, how will you wrap it up? Closure? Next step?

STEP 9: Supporting activities? Addtional activities that support. MEaningful learning, etc...

STEP 10: Assessment. How will you know they've achieved the objectives?

It seems that they are using the Morrison and Lowther model which has specific lesson plan elements and even an online lesson planner. Which coordinates with their model. They also have links to their presentations. This model emphasized, student centered environment, use computer as a tool, solve real-world problems, learn content while solving problem. EMPHASIZE STUDENT-CENTERED LEARNING.

It seems like we need to take the emphasis off the technology. The technology is a way to enhance the education. This was a great presentation on thinking about HOW to think/brainstorm about

One teacher emphasized using "Job Aids" which will answer any technology problems. Another teacher has the "reader" and the "doer" so one person reads and the other drives the mouse. These teachers emphasize the "job aid" and giving it to the students as you go over it. They debated on "Should the students have written plans?" They typically have something on paper.

I think more people need to think about the planning that goes into a technology lesson. It's not just go into the computers.

They came up with some more ideas:
M&M - Check this handout because it's got a great think sheet!
Tissue Comparisons

Unfortunately, I need to go meet up with my lunch crew, so I have to leave half-way through this presentation. I think they had some great ideas of lessons. I would recommend checking out the teacher's websites/their posts on the NTeQ lessons?

I’m back.

One of the teachers did a really nice presentation on using a map background and use the grids in order to place stars.

Use Microsoft Word to compare genres of literature by highlighting different nouns,

Use Microsoft Word for peer editing, topic sentences, comparing details, etc.. Help students think about details more. Give them a story and they need to think about adding details. Do a “Track Changes” in order to see the changes.

Again, I got to chime in and add my thoughts. I recommended thinking about “hidden text” for giving directions. This is a really great way to provide students with a “template” with

Another teacher used the preamble to put it into a chart. The phrase is then matched with a picture and the students needed to give a rationale about why it applied. Also, use the readability tool to highlight different areas. It comes across as a 12th grade level. Give them the goal to lower the readability to make it easier for others to understand. Think about using the thesaurus. This would be great for a student project where teachers would ask the students to make it easier for immigrants to understand information. How would people who have difficulties with English be able to understand our laws and democracy. Or have them help younger students who need to know it for the MEAP.

Podcasting, Vodcasting, and Screencasting

2006-03-10T07:10:00.000-08:00

Visiting Will Richardson's Wiki with the rww to edit.

Blogging supplies conversation. You need to find a way to make it more interactive.

This changes from students as students TO students as teachers They are now teaching about history - they become a teacher like when they mke a video - it becomes more internalized.

RSS - extremely powerful technology to pull information to you - a subscription. Regular programming schedule.

Loved his format - black background with white font. This is not just for iPods.

iTunes (there are other places to go, but it's the best place to find out what's out there. A listing of all the different podcasts.

Check out on iTunes, but there are more. There are students teaching with audio.

Radio WillowWeb - podcasting about your place (where you live).

Bob Sprinkle - Room 208. Very elementary. There is a blog, museum guide, etc...

Podcast with audio and other files (pdfs). The French PodClass. The Podcast includes pdfs.

(EDUTOPIA - with art. Virtual tour. Online site with the audio. The art museum did links. They could also listen to the students.) Great idea.

EPN The Education Podcast Network - WOW! All education podcasts.

Tim Wilson also has an excellent podcast.

Things you need:
1. Digital Recorder
2. Audacity
3. FeedBurner (server)

Dave Cormier - 1pm Eastern Time - World bridges.com

Skype - use skype to interview people, record it, and publish. It's not hard. WOW!

PowerGramo (add-on, allows you to record it).

Audacity fades, cut, audio, get the screencast. Export as mp3. Add meta data if you want.

Turn around time is about 15 minutes. Skype it up. ;) You can get 5 people.

Ed Tech Coast to Coast. Chatting while talking to prep. Garage Band.

Vidcasting...The next step up. The most popular vidcast is Rocket Boom.

Mash-Up - taking audio and putting it together.

Chapters of a book, news shows,

OURMEDIA.ORG - SERVER SPACE!!!

RSS Feed - FeedBurner.

iLife has server space too.

Copyright Issues: Creative Commons.org (creators of content can assign their own copyright) You can use this an way you want, but give me credit. Lawrence Lessig? Wrote

free culture

. Fair use will cover a lot, but GET SCHOOLED!

For video, save it as an mp4 file. Camtasia.

SCREENCASTING********************************
The best way to learn something is to teach it. If we can get the kids to teach what we're trying to teach them, they will understand the process. Taking a movie of everything that's happening on your movie screen.

Look into captivate.

How cool! I got to talk in Will Richardson's lecture.

Wikipedia Screencast. Check out this screencast of John Udell. He's teaching about Wikipedia. He's thought about it.

For me, I use screencasts to explain projects so I can show examples, how to use specific peices of software, and to teach about specific concepts. It's not a bad way to integrate Powerpoint, Internet, etc...

My students in EDCI 271 used Camtasia to explain how to use different pieces of software. It was great for problem solving as Will indicated.

Windows Media Encoder is free. However, I MUST have Camtastia, the newest version. You can do a video of yourself and do a

picture in picture

effect which is really good. Camtasia lets me export as a vidcast. I can use this program to transfer all of my video files. However, Will talks about thinking about it ahead of time. You need to script it. It's very important. However, I use it as a casual piece of software.

Will Richardson focuses on tools are not conversation pieces. How can we use this to ENGAGE our students.

as opportunities to TEACH

. When we have our students teach the material, they understand it better.

Storybook Online

2006-03-10T06:23:00.000-08:00

Super cool site. Think about having students just write one paragraph and allow other students to post and comment. (SImilar to merry-go-round stories where you have students get up and move to another student's computer to add to their story). Check on the tech savvy educator's blog for links to all this stuff.

Marvel.com (Comic books)

MACUL 2006 - For the novice

2006-03-10T06:09:00.000-08:00

One of the most interesting things is to observe my mother (who is a second grade teacher that doesn't necessarily feel comfortable with technology, but WOW you should see her in the classroom! I have never seen a more passionate, and compassionate teacher.). I use her as my inspiration. What are teachers really looking for? How can we make it more applicable for teachers to show them the possibilities for technology to take them beyond where they want to go?

Some of my thoughts are really becoming focused on connecting it directly to their classroom. After reading Dr. Peg Ertmer's most recent paper on Teacher Beliefs (in Educational Technology Research and Development), it really seems that we need the teachers to "buy-into" the innovation. I want to come back to this, because I've found some really great ideas by coming here. One of the more interesting sessions I went to was with a Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan. Back for more later.

Free Blogging Tools: I think.
Another great search engine for technology: Technorati
The TechSavvy Educator mentions free and non-comerical as important for educators to accept technology sites or use it. Otherwise, they don't have education in mind. MY thoughts? Even though there is profit behind it, sometimes profit drives it: Think Microsoft and Apple. Some of their developed materials and supprt are fantastic even though profit drives it.

Sky - Constellation Searches
Stellarium
Celestia - virtual tour.
Heavens-Above.com (Doesn't spam)
Possible uses with mimio board.

MACUL - Battle Creek Folks

TechSavvy Educator - MACUL 2006

2006-03-10T06:01:00.000-08:00

I'm here at the MACUL conference and I'm in the TechSavvy Educator. It's fairly interesting. I'm getting some new ideas. He's talking about blogs as a great way to show that the material is up-to-date. He also stresses that the material needs to be easy for teachers to use. I completely agree. It needs to be easy. However, for anyone to use it should be easy - that's the trend of technology. Why use something that will make things more difficult. We need to make sure as we're using technology as a means to improve, enhance, or make things easier.

Research Line: What came first, my teaching or my research? (chicken or egg)

2006-01-12T17:29:00.000-08:00

So in my latest 660 class (I've had so many of these, but they're all good) which is a doctoral seminar, I got to thinking about my research line/agenda.

I've always had a thing for technology integration. It allows me to be incredibly creative and take my mind further than anywhere before. I started out with K-12 integration. I loved thinking of ideas. For my student teaching experience, I had my first graders creating weather news reports and then I videotaped them. But that wasn't the ingenious part. I also wanted the backdrop like a real weather studio where the picture of the sun appears in the background. Since we didn't have the green screen :) I used a PowerPoint presentation with a picture of Michigan and animated clipart. I projected this image onto the screen with a LCD projector and placed the students in front of the screen. Lukily, the picture of Michigan had water (which was light blue, almost white) so there was no funky image projected onto the students. It turned out super cute and the kids had a copy of their own weather forecast when we finished.

It makes me come alive along with my audience. I am incredibly passionate about what I do and I love the technologies becuase it introduces a new possibility into the classroom. That's why, when a new technology comes out, I want to know all about and think about how we could use it in the classroom. It's a new way to address learning and make it exciting.

Therefore, if I had to pick my one research area, it would be technology integration into educational learning experiences (especially creative ones). More specifically, I really enjoy anything with preservice teachers, exciting them about technology. I think it's all about the manner in which you teach. The university faculty are some of the most important influences on the way these students teach. That why I want to be a professor instead of a K-12 school teacher. Think of all the children I will be impacting by preparing better teachers. I'm not just teaching technology, I'm teaching teaching.

271 - Philosophy from Week One: Learning skills and integration, incorporating vision, reflection and collaboration - the perfect combo for learning.

2006-01-12T17:05:00.000-08:00

So, I'm thinking that 271 is going better than I first thought. After the first class, I was kind of bummed, because my students just sat there in awe, not asking any questions. I was afraid I had totally lost them and it was WAY over their heads. We had some really cute ideas. Luckily, I had all early childhood education students so I was able to really focus the software and aim of the course. Hans took all the Agricultural Education students. I really think you need to connect education more directly to students. This is shown throughout education. Many accomplish this with a smaller group, but if you can tailor the instruction to better meet a whole group of students, isn't that better? More ROI. :)

Anyways, I was so pleased with my first planned course. I first had my students draw a representation of themselves in a Paint program (to learn how to use Paint). Next, I had them save those in the Public Folder (to get them used to saving things and where to save them) so they could present their drawing to the class. As they were explaining, students were supposed to take notes (using Word or Works or Notepad) of students who had similarities to them. Then each student came up and we used Kidspiration to draw connections to one another to emphasize how we share common bonds. I wanted to build a community of learners.

Since the course is still fuzzy to me, it was difficult to explain. It felt like I was going by the seat of my pants, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE being able to be creative and think of these types of things.

I was also able to introduce them to WebCT Vista (where they were supposed to post an introduction of themselves), Blogs (using Elgg.net), and the course in general. We just reviewed how the cases would work and viewed the three movies files I had which were the first case. I'll talk about those in a separate blog.

I am also having the students keep their own blog in Elgg. They subscribed to our EDCI 271 community where there will be a community blog (for course suggestions or it could be used for debates or posting about different technologies and how we could use them) and a community wiki (where we will define ideal technology integration and come up with one class definition). Overall, I really want to emphasize learning the technologies while accomplishing technology integration visions. I think this may be the key. They are learning both skills and integration techniques all at the same time while reflecting and collaborating. I discovered this accidentally, but what a brainstorm! I love it! Plus it's students centered. I asked them to answer a survey that lets me know what technologies they wanted to learn about. Therefore, I can tailor the course to meet their wants and needs. The important thing is to remain flexible.

Research Agenda Interests

2005-12-21T20:23:00.000-08:00

Research:
-novice to expert.
-process of learning how to integrate technology.
-process of learning technology for expert users.
-what is expert use of technology.
-how technology innovations are different than other educational innovations.
-different factors.

Notes from PodCast Lectures

2005-12-21T20:22:00.000-08:00

Expert mentorng -FAQs addressed by video.
Blog wiki?
Observations via video conferencing.
Teacher think alouds.
Electronic support system for training.
Portals, personalization,

podcasting to practice speeches and download and evaluate.

Choose you own adventure podcasts.

Think of technology and brainstorm.

Technology is a way to socially build knowledge.

Have exemplary technology teachers be distinguished speakers in 271.

Dissemination needs to be for research. Blog about findings. RSS.

classroom to lab to pactice. Kids are so much better and encourages then to be critica of education and incoporate into their own pedagogy.

Intellectual property is open source.

ideas by open source and interdiscciplinary. Not intellectual property.

Podcasting is a buzz word.

content aquisition is supported by content publishing.

look up edison services. Auto delivery. Sound sync tools.(tools for tours).

Audio the lecture. They respond with voice. Download and grade. Think edci 270 final.

Whats on your ipod.

ilife. Track intellectual progess. Digital archive of their lives.

Meta data

type in blog for meetings etc... Keep everything.

Carry less devices. Simple and effecive to track your digital stuff.

Think preschool and fingerpaints. Life ling storage. The role of archivoing to a system level.

MAKE A DISTINGUISHED SPEAKER PODCAST FOR ED TECH.

What are the needs and realistic realities of the classroom.

Eett funds from government?

COSN AND ISTE. ETAN. Share best practices.

technology is a moving target. Think about society and competing with wolrds.

Expanding learning is to give up responsibility to students. Kids are more self critical. Better practices. Ask kids what they want to learn. Develop a placement cycle.

Just because they are connected doesnt mean they are uptodate.

Help school districts with marrying tech with curriculum, assessment, to make strategic decisions.

Technology is the catayst to change education. Transform todays school from yesterdays school to develop tomorows students.
WEB 2

universal and challanenge slider

The reason acot made it like new teachers is a complete overhaul. Whats better slowly introducing or emersion?

Acot was restrictive. All teachers facing similar problems. Computers were relativley new. Not really model of what tech integration looks like in schools.

Longitudinal studies of how teachers first sign up. Incentive interest shown the positive in stident achieve. Mandate.

Computers may be novel whicj could show ueof motivation.

You have to look at the individual as opposed to the organization.

270 Ideas

2005-12-21T20:20:00.000-08:00

Give lesson plans - identify theory or strategies. Or add technology to lesson after discussion on student centered practices.

Model student-centered and teacher-centered lessons for PSTs to learn comp skills. Ask them to reflect. Emphasize reflection.

Problem solving process of expert technology using teachers.

270. As soon as you enter these doors you will only think of teaching.

Creative problem solving requires different ideation strategies to encourage and facilitate. No evaluation just brainstorming. Everything goes.

Factors - attitude cognitive ability and experience.

PSTs as change agents for tech integration and pedagogical change.

EDCI 270 & 271 Syllabus Ideas

2005-12-21T20:18:00.000-08:00

EDCI 271 and Online 270 Syllabus Ideas.

Wiki with beginning literacy or older summaries and critiques.
Video observations.
Teacher reflection podcast.
Video conference with technology for tots.
Tiers can apply to 271.

Software/Hardware to introduce:
*kidspiration
*kidpix
*tablet
*palm
*pocket pc
*clickers
*smartboard
*ipod
*podcasting
*blogging
*wiki
*course manage. Software
*leap-pad
*paint
*hyperstudio?
*fun brain
*brain pop
*internet games
*internet software
*TECHNOLOGY ENHANCES COMMUNICATION AND SOCIALLY BUILT KNOWLEDGE.
*alpha smarts
*voice recordings
*video camera
*digital camera
*cell phones
*gaggle.net
*breeze
*thinkquest
*ebooks
*moviemaker
*making cds/dvds
*vcr
*laptops
*gps
*tv
*tivo
*camtasia
*macromedia captivate
*cd-rom software
*frontpage

EDCI 271
*develop their own technology workshop. Perhaps using camtasia?
*technology extravaganza.
*develop lesson plan template.
*employ PIE checklist.
*ask Hans to switch for early ed.
*view modeling of a technology lesson.
*work with technology to interact with preK. (think of opportunity for tech and ag ed)

ISTE Standards in a portfolio.

*discussion of technology integration - when to use and how?
*assess and evalute technologies - make up evaluation checklist together.
*case study on ethical, legal, responsibility of tech.
*develop a vision of tech integration.
*view good and bad examples of technology use. VISIONQUEST.

***MODELING, OBSERVATION, FIELD EXPERIENCE, REFLECTION, REFLEXIVE, BRAINSTORMING WITH TEACHERS, SKILLS, PEDAGOGICAL BELIEFS,

how do I make my classroom constructivist?

When I first started thinking about my DISSERTATION!!!!

2005-12-21T20:16:00.000-08:00

Ideas
*interview recently hired to see where the gap is in preserving education. What is the biggest shock in terms of technology after being educated in preservice program? What didn't they prepare you for?
*Survey of what they think preservice teachers need to see in terms of technology integration. Would you be willing to be follow-up interviewed to gather more information?
*How does using technology enhance effectiveness?
**How do we alter pedagogical beliefs to fully integrate technology as part of their constructivist beliefs?
*What process do teachers go through to get from novice to expert?
*What process do expert technology users go through in order to get to this quality technology integration?
-is it affecting beliefs first?
-are the stages?
-different processes for everyone?
-make the process more individualized?
-test to see which way works best for each person?
-do they need to believe in the merits? Pedagogical?
-do they need to see it at work?
-do they need to learn skills? Then integration? Then methods? Then field experiences?
-do they need to see the connections to their field and subject matter before they will believe and then will integrate?
-what are the different factors that help people learn how to integrate technology in a quality fashion?
***I can take these processes and see which ones are the most effective in preparing teachers to effectively integrate technology. Perhaps have them choose their own process and document the process using a portfolio. Different workshops, mini-courses, opportunities for working with professors, integrating it into their other teacher education courses.
POTENTIAL QUESTIONS:
-What do you think preservice education should look like?
-Describe the process you went through to move from a novice technology integrationist to an expert?
-What is your current view of technology? And how does this influence your pedagogy?
-Can you give me an example of how you integrated technology in an exemplary way?
-What forms of professional development aided b

neilson survey.

EDCI 270 Online and EDCI 271 - AUTHENTIC TECHNOLOGY!

2005-12-21T19:55:00.001-08:00

So...My newest ideas are for EDCI 271. I really want to make this learning experience fantastic for my PSTs (Preservice Teachers) and have them interact with K-12 students using technology. After visiting my dad's school today, I really feel even more compelled to use more examples of technology. Here are some of the ideas I discussed with Jeff Flynn:
------
Wiki: Use a wiki to conduct literature circles. Students with reading comprehension problems work together to develop a summary - changing and altering as they see fit.
------
Elgg: Parent Forum, using the blog as a portfolio including artifacts.
------
Video conferencing: PSTs (preservice teachers) will hear what K-12 students think about technology, technology use in schools, and how they feel teachers should use technology.
-----
Audio conferencing: Through Skype/Gizmo to discuss things with K-12 students.
-----
K-12 students are using Media Blender to make State Reports. Perhaps my PSTs could give the students feedback on their projects.
-----
Perhaps work with small groups and use the Elgg, so they can view each other’s blog.
----
Moodle – large group, free flowing.Everone can see!
-----
PodCasting. How can I use this? Perhaps to give the state feedback? Or to record Jeff and kids, and teachers (especially ones at Bryant) to see how they are using technology in their classrooms. Think NECC Podcasting Outstanding Apple Educator Interviews... :) PSTs and K-12ers could also use Auduicity to record.
------
Fantastic Early Education use of iPods: Multimedia running record. Although Jeff suggests iRiver, instead of iPod.
-----
MY THOUGHTS:
Have PSTs videotape HOW to use the software to present to other teachers.

Ask K-12ers: What makes a good teacher? How do you enjoy using technology? What have been your favorite uses of the computer in class?

Help to improve their state reports. Give them feedback.

Pair my PSTs with one small group of students. They work together as more of a “pen pal” type situation. Exchanging and talking with them. Monitoring their progress. That way if some students are more talkative than others, etc…. We can use all: Moodle, Elgg, Podcating

Could be similar to the tutoring or homework help.

Distance Education is the answer to collaboration between Universities, ISTs, PSTs, and K-12 students. Remember, Technology is the catalyst for communication in terms of socially shared knowledge. Diversity, group work, constructivism are all facets of this new form of education: Systemic change!
------

Jeff Flynn, the computer teacher at Pattengill Elementary where my father is principal is doing some pretty amazing things with the 3-5th grade students. Check out this promo on up-and-coming tech stuff from Jeff:

If you have the chance check out the podcast in the blog, <http://technosavvy.org/?p=329> it and interview with the lead creator of moodle, which is open sourced as is elgg the next thing I am going to mention.

I would also encourage you to check out http://worldbridges.com/courses/listenandwatch/. It is our Elgg portfolio project. Feel free to register if you wish, it isn't a big deal and we could remove you if you wish later. elgg.net is the home group for that and that may be an online community you may want to check out.

www.edtechtalk.com and worldbridges.com are websites of a group who are working on webcasting and podcasts. Mostly they are the work of Jeff Lebow and Dave Cormier. The elgg guys are interviewed in podcast #8 <http://edtechtalk.com/node/38>. We have college people from Washington State, Oberlin, and teachers from Australia, Japan, Korea, and a lot from Canada. Skype in and join us from some of the conversations next year. It is a pretty wide open conversation with many contributing to the conference calls which are recorded and posted.

AECT - What's going on there?

2005-10-23T14:11:00.000-07:00

So besides a large amount of Disney and desserts, the AECT Orlando conference was a hit. I want to hit on a few highlights:

1. My presentations
2. PAET's table at the University Reception
3. Witty banter and positive thinking
4. AECT Ambassador proposal

1. My presentations
These actually went fairly well. I tend to get nervous in the first few minutes, but after I get into it, I calm down and am able to better answer questions without the ums. It's a process. :) My first presentation was a brief cameo in the TKB project looking at Low and High self-regulation in PBL classrooms. The second was a roundtable covering the Exemplary Technology-Using Teachers Enabling Factors study that I've been working on with another graduate student (Cindy York) and faculty member (Peggy Ertmer). We received some really good conversations about what is the definition of "technology integration" but settled on the fact that it is fuzzy, but we assumed that the awards were presented to those who used technology in a innovative and creative fashion. For our preservice teachers, I enjoyed the conversations about how to better prepare them. One participant mentioned we needed to provide them with more successful teaching experiences with technology. One difficulty with this is the lack of opportunities to coordinate them experiences. Currently I'm debating the best mechanism to accomplish this whether it is through simulations (which those will argue aren't realistic enough), mock presentations to their classmates (where even when assigned "problematic roles" don't really give this experience), video of quality teachers using technology in creative manners (which students aren't actually practicing), or placing these technology infusion requirements in their methods courses where they design lesson plans to use in the classroom which include creative manners to use technology. Kay Perschitte actually had an interesting point of having educational technologists as content experts. Therefore, science methods educators would also be experts at using technology in K-12 environments which is another interesting theory. We also discussed that in order for these preservice teachers to really use the technology after University life, they need to pedagogically believe and make a connection between their beliefs and practice while they're in their teacher education programs. This is important to study how we can influence these students' beliefs and show them how to connect between what they think works in the classroom and what they can do to accomplish this in the classroom. Perhaps constant reflection is a must through an electronic portfolio or journal. I'll get back to this. My third presentation went really well even though it was on Saturday in the afternoon concerning Preservice Teacher Perceptions of their Skills and Development and this application towards the Ed Tech 101 course. For Saturday, I had quite a few people (even though about 25% were from Purdue).

2. PAET's table at the University Reception
First of all, the University Reception always seems to be a great time. I had a whole number of those little apricot treats on the tray, not to mention too much cheese and bread (as usual). the PAET table was impressive and the handed of the bags to get them to visit our "treasure chest" was ingenious if I do say so, plus I got to talk to many people. I think Purdue is really beginning to show off how much impact we really have as a program on the Ed Tech field. I was incredibly proud of my board members as the Prez and our student reps as well.

3. Witty banter and positive thinking
Possibly one of the best lessons learned on this trip was that witty banter and positive thinking keep me alive and enjoying every moment. Whether it was enjoying the Seinfeld-like quirks of the Utah State clan, the carefree laughs with Purdue faculty, or the plane ride home with the 'tootinator', smiling and enjoying every second of my time gives me the sanity I need to make it through graduate school. I enjoyed every moment at the conference and believe that positive thinking and appreciating every gift I'm given will allow me to succeed.

4. AECT Ambassador proposal
As for getting involved in the organization of AECT, I'm currently trying to help maintain and involve graduate students more in the process of AECT. I'm under the current impression that we need WAY more involvement from our graduate students and encourage them to stay with AECT after graduation. I think one thing we forget is these students need to feel success at AECT to want to continue. We need to provide them with a reason to come back. I know we are encouraged to become involved, but beyond volunteering, presenting, applying for the internship program (only 5 accepted), reviewing proposals, we don't really get to be involved in AECT in general. As a year-long type assistantship opportunity, I'm proposing that graduate students can become involved in the Ambassador program to assist Divisions with monthly projects and problems. Ambassadors will need to serve as volunteers first to help with the program. We are also proposing a Graduate Student Committee to assist with the management of this program, as well as other possibilities.

This is AOL signing off. :)

What to do about Ed Tech 101?

2005-10-04T03:53:00.000-07:00

I’ve actually started my dissertation on this topic to see which technology integration programs allow K-12 teachers in the field to feel the most confident using technology and which courses seem to be most successful based on the teachers’ perceptions.

One thing I’m discovering in my literature review is the vast amount of technology integration courses. At our University, the required educational technology course teaches the two main components of instructional design (lecture) and technology integration (lab). The students learn how to construct technology documents by completing activities (i.e., making a newsletter, making a lesson plan, making a grade book with Excel, making a tutorial using PowerPoint, making a WebQuest using FrontPage, etc…). Then once the students have learned the basics of these programs, we have them go through the instructional design process (a modified one using P.I.E. – planning, implementation, and evaluation) to construct each of the four projects using the different types of software. We also just have one lecture that is dedicated to showcasing the newest technologies and their potential uses in the classroom. We also dedicate another lecture to assistive technologies and use technology as a model (i.e., PodCasting lectures, posting lectures online through other forms of software such as Breeze and Impatica, using a course management system in the labs for students to keep track of materials, grades, etc…).

There are so many different types of curriculum choices out there. I know that one University guides their students through a three-step process: (1) a technology skills course (teaching them the basic computer skills and introducing them to all the new toys), (2) a technology integration course (where they learn how to use the technology in education), and finally (3) a technology methods course (where they go into the schools and use the technology). Other schools have paired up a methods course (science/math/language arts/social studies) with a technology course so they can integrate the technology into their methods lessons to really get a feel for how to use technology in the classroom. Others have used technology training during student teaching to help engrain technology into an authentic sitation. Others use some form of PBL or Open-ended learning environment (many with software) to convey the importance of technology. The one thing I believe is the most important (suggested in many articles – Ertmer, 1999) is preservice really need to believe that technology enhances learning. Without this pedagogical belief, preservice teachers will not use the technology in effective ways once they do get to their classroom. I believe we still need to teach them the skills, but also have an effect on their pedagogical beliefs. I love showing my preservice teachers examples of great uses of technology. However, sometimes it’s difficult to find a model that provides the “I could do that” factor. Usually the example is an expert teacher who seamlessly integrates and manages technology in the classroom.

The other thing we need to convey to our students is the importance of using technology to increase higher order thinking skills. Sure it’s great for a Jeopardy game, but what about having the students collect data with Excel to graph it and come up with an answer to why we have more pollution in our rivers as opposed to lakes? What are the results? This is the type of thinking that requires that pedagogical shift. What can we do to effectively teach our students this information? Any suggestions?

PIDT 2005

2005-05-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

So PIDT has to be the most amazing experience I've ever had!!! I like the saying "It's like Professor's Camp". I was able to meet some of the biggest names in our field (Reiser, Ragan, Ely, Schwen, Wiley, etc...), gain advice about how to apply for jobs, and other practical advice. Not only was the conference motivating and informative, I have never had such fun! The skit we put together was just what an dorky instructional designer like myself would enjoy. I was also a finalist for the "bite the bag" game - it was much more difficult than it looked! I'm looking forward to taking all the advice and applying it. To check it out, go to PIDT's Home: http://www.wideopendoors.net/pidt/.

Here are the goals I've set for myself after attending PIDT:
Extend graduation until December 2006 or May 2007
Publish at least 3 articles
Complete my pre-lims by August 31st
Begin focusing my dissertation idea

After grading finals...

2005-05-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

After grading finals, I feel so sorry for the students that can't seem to read the questions right - can't seem to correctly identify the information wanted. It's sad really; these students have not seemed to have instruction on how to take tests. I'm often shocked at the ability of students - whether over- or under-whelmed. Sometimes students just don't live up to your expectations. As an instructional designer and educator, I have to believe that every student can learn from "close-to-perfect" instruction. However, this doesn't seem to be the case. From my perspective students need actual experiences. It wasn't until I got into the classroom, I really thrived and was able to practice my abilities and skills. Classroom management has to be one of the most difficult elements for teachers. There should be a class in every teacher education program, focusing on just this problem - but they also need to test it themselves. I am of the opinion that every future teacher (especially elementary) need practice interacting with students. Through summer camps or volunteering for an after school program - it should be mandatory for students to manage children. Honestly, even though I am in educational technology, and I believe in the power of technology, nothing can substitute for an actual experience in the classroom. By experiencing education from a teacher's lens (or at least a supervisor's lens) students will have a better view of how to conduct a classroom.

When I compare the projects that teachers created in EDCI 560 (in-service equivalent of EDCI 270 - Introduction to Educational Technology and Computing) to those created in EDCI 270, they just have a profoundly superior way to utilize technology in the classroom. They use functions of animation for moving parts of equations around the screen in PowerPoint to help students visualize the mathematical substitution process. It's just so amazing what teachers can come up with. Granted, teachers have had way more experience in the classroom, but how do you get pre-service teachers to begin to think like these experts? This is a question I am attempting to answer in my dissertation - How do you better prepare pre-service teachers to transfer their skills into practice?

Pre-Lim Proposal

2005-04-18T19:02:00.000-07:00

I've done it. My ideas for pre-lims have been approved. I start May 8th (since that is when this hectic semester is over and done with!) and will submit my actual proposals before that. Here are my ideas which have been approved by my committee:

#1: Dr. Tim Newby

How is everyone teaching technology integration for pre-service education?

I want to document how other programs are teaching technology integration for pre-service education. I propose to find the different ways people are teaching technology integration in pre-service education across the United States. I will collect syllabi, websites, contact faculty/instructors through email, research papers, observations, etc to find out the different ways and ideas people are using to implement technology integration courses. I will then construct a 20 page paper, documenting the different types and deciding on the best method, supporting this with evidence.

#2: Dr. Krista Simons

Create Publications; Get Published!

I want to be able to discover what it takes to create and submit publications based on previous papers written for classes and interest. I propose to create and submit publications from my proceedings paper at AECT 2004 (thesis) and my Motivation paper (with Pat but I would do all the work to revise and publish) from EDCI 591T.

#3: Dr. Jennifer Richardson

Researchers continually explore more effective means in preparing pre-service teachers to integrate technology into their classrooms. This study will investigate preservice teacher perceptions of technology integration, as well as the development of their computer skills and technology integration skills. Through quantitative and qualitative data sources, this study will provide information for the design of a more effective preparation course where pre-service teachers will be more prepared to implement technology into their future curriculum and classrooms. I will analyze the data from this study and submit the completed paper to a journal.

On a Monday night

2005-04-18T17:59:00.000-07:00

So I'm sitting here, going through all the Blogs I haven't read in quite some time and catching up on fun reading. :) I came across the cutest little stunt for an April Fool's joke - YaGooHoogle. Then, some shocking news - Macromedia and Adobe are merging. Evidently, Fireworks is going down. :(

Anyways, moving on to graduate work. Our last PAET newsletter was really a success. We catered our information to presenting knowledge to the Ed Tech community - things we would be interested in. The two fantastic articles were

Technology You Can Afford - Christopher Mong
The Blogging Revolution - Glenn Coulthard

These really were great uses of our space. Hopefully, we can use this space to provide tidbits of information on up-and-coming technologies and how they are used in the classroom (K-16).

These are some possible topics - if you can think of any more I should add, please comment:

PodCasts
Blogging (youth)
Instant Messaging
Macromedia Breeze
Wikis
Tablets
Handhelds
Macromedia Captivate
Camtastia
iMovie
iDVD
SmartBoards (innovative uses)
VideoConferencing (Over the internet)
TouchScreen Monitors
Interesting uses for digital cameras
Digital Storytelling

Please help me add ideas to cover!

PAET & Graduate Interaction

2005-04-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Our student organization PAET (Purdue Association for Educational Technology) has recently conducted our real first election, and I have been elected President. I am so excited! We have so many amazing things planned. We are planning on applying for the Graduate Student Lounge and welcome any other graduate student organizations to join us in this quest. Our current ideas consist of activities to join graduate students together in a network forum. The concept of interacting with other graduate students in other programs would be one worth pursuing. It would teach us the meaning of collaboration outside of our immediate circle of academia. It would encourage outside thinking, much along the line of the new paradigm Reigeluth speaks of in his Instructional design theories book. By participating in research efforts with other programs, we are able to widen our scope and better prepare ourselves for the rigors of academia. In the summer, Purdue has plans to work with Syracuse University to study multiple teacher education technology integration programs. I am really looking forward to this study. Currently, one other graduate student and I are working on a brief look into what pre-service teachers want/need for a technology integration course.

Beginning

2005-04-05T19:33:00.000-07:00

So I begin on my blogging journey. I have entitled this page Innovations in Ed Tech, because (1) I am a doctoral student in Educational Technology and (2) I LOVE the new ideas. I'm constantly going to conferences to see what's new and how I can use it in my pre-service teacher education courses. To check out my website, click here.

This is my true passion-teaching an introduction to educational technology course- in short, teaching pre-service teachers how, why and when to integrate technology into their curriculum. The most amazing part is I can see the students really get excited when they create a WebQuest. Since it is the introduction to education courses as well, this course ties so much in, we are constantly leaving our students with their heads spinning. And I come back with, "But wait! There are so many other cool things to show them!"

However, right now I must leave the blogging world for tonight because I am horribly procrastinating on my paper which is due on Friday.