Writing A B & C

This summer, as with all summers since he started school, my son will be writing journal entries about his summer. Well the first couple of years he drew pictures then over time developed a paragraph to write about his summer camps, vacations and other experiences. This summer would be no different. I considered allowing him to use the computer in order to type his entries, print them and then place the entries in a note book. Another option was to have him blog about his summer.

Then, I realized that he could use a little practice improving his penmanship. For that reason, as painful as he thinks it is, this summer he will again be journaling with pen and paper. Even with this task, technology comes to the rescue. Using the internet to search for penmanship resources, my findings include the following websites. Some of the sites provide printable practice worksheets for manuscript, cursive as well as forming numbers.

http://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/manuscript-interactive-pages.htm
http://www.handwritingworksheets.com/print-k/make-pk-dots.htm
http://www.instructorweb.com/resources/handwriting.asp
http://abcteach.com/directory/basics/handwriting/
http://www.askkids.com/web?q=handwriting

Picture from Microsoft Clipart Online graphics

Socialbookmarking

I was talking with Angie this week about socialbookmarking with Delicious. She was preparing to attend a workshop on Delicious, and I was trying to explain why I've enjoyed socialbookmarking and how it's helped me out. And I thought, "There's my blog for this week."

There are many tutorials and videos that do a very good job of explaining socialbookmarking, and sites like Delicious and similar sites like Diigo, so I'm going to stick to three ways I think socialbookmarking, and specifically Delicious, can be a valuable tool.

• Web-based Access- I've blogged about cloud computing and its benefits. Delicious is "cloudbookmarking." If you bookmark a site locally on a computer, you can't access it from other computers, and if the harddrive crashes your bookmarks are lost. A few years ago I had an excel spreadsheet with many links I would carry around on a flash drive-which I would often misplace. I needed an option that allowed better access to my bookmarks. Delicious allows access from any computer (or device) connected to the Internet.
• My Network- Socialbookmarking is allows me to access other user's bookmarks and gives them access to mine. It's not really "social" for me; it's more about having a "network" to connect with and benefit from their ideas. This all feeds the idea of having your own personal learning network. Want to pick the brain of colleagues or pioneers in a field? Delicious is a great way to do it. Check out Marlo's links regarding copyright. Look what Wes Fryar has on Internet safety. How about my links tagged "antivirus," which I have sent to several friends who needed help with their home computers. Your network can be a great tool for finding relevant information on the Internet and pulling or pushing links out to others.
• Exploration & Search Tool- Although it is unlikely to replace your favorite search engine, Delicious can deliver a look at what all users are tagging. I've occasionally found good links from the main page (which lists the "most popular bookmarks on Delicious" at the time) or by searching tags. It is important to note that although I've not seen sites I would consider inappropriate, the searches may yield results that could be blocked by web filters or just might be like searching for the needle in the haystack. Sometimes you have to have some time to search to find resources.

If you are interested in socialbookmarking, there is a workshop offered by our department, or you can take a look around at delicious.com.

Picture Perfect Photos Created by YOU

If the old adage that references a picture’s worth is true, then having the ability to bump up the appearance of a photo should increase the personal value even more. I would suppose that today’s technology would make this endeavor possible.

It’s no secret that technology enhances all aspects of our lives and if so, why not the ability to generate a picture that exceeds our past expectations. Today, with the aid of digital cameras and a plethora of photo enhancing software, an individual is given the potential to improve photos to near perfection

As a neophyte in the world of photography, I am not comfortable recommending a specific photo enhancement software. Yet most software packages are easy to use and several of them are affordable, if not free. The following list, though not a complete list, may assist in your search to find the photo enhancing software that’s right for you:

Adobe Photo Shop Elements
Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2
PhotoImpression 6.5 Gold
http://www.picnik.com/
Picasa

Picture of Leonardo Da Vince & the Mona Lisa from Microsoft Graphics online

Online School for Girls Launches This Fall

This will be the first ever Online School in secondary education for girls. The online school was developed by a consortium of independent all-girls’ schools.

The four private schools that will offer the pilot courses next school year are: Harpeth Hall School located in Nashville, Tennessee, a 5th – 12th grade college preparatory school; Holton-Arms School located in Bethesda, Maryland, a 3rd – 12th grade college preparatory school; Laurel School located in Cleveland, Ohio, a K – 12th grade college preparatory school; and Westover School located in Middlebury, Connecticut, a selective boarding school for 9th – 12 grade girls.

Currently 44 states have some type of virtual secondary schools but none of these virtual schools specifically address the educational needs of girls. Ann Pollins, President of the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools stated, “We believe that girls inhabit online spaces differently than boys and that this initiative can combine a powerful, transformative online learning environment for girls with a high-quality, twenty-first century academic experience.”

The Online School will offer two pilot courses this fall with four additional courses being offered spring semester of 2009-2010 school year. The Online School will focus on several key principles based on current research on how girls learn best: emphasizing connections among participants; incorporating collaboration into the learning experience; inspiring and rewarding creativity; and engaging in real-world problems and applications.

In the future the Online School will provide an online education that is flexible, affordable and accessible to a diverse, worldwide student base including students who need a flexible school schedule, students who are home schooled, or students who need opportunities for challenging and/or unique coursework.

To read the complete article from Harpeth Hall School:
https://www.harpethhall.org/podium/default.aspx?t=204&nid=538755

To read the complete article from Nashville Business Journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/nashville/stories/2009/06/22/daily10.html

Image from Microsoft Clip Art

Standard Course of Study... in an instant!

The NC Standard Course of Study should always be in the forefront of your mind. Always. But, here in the 21^st Century, what can you do to immediately blend the SCOS with technology? Lots!

Check out these resources that align the NCSCOS with technological skills that are sure to engage your students instantly. Key word? Instantly.

netTrekker

What IS netTrekker? As defined by netTrekker, an online application that delivers digital content, organized by grade and reading level all aligned with the SCOS. Differentiated instruction tools are the key!

Watch a video about netTrekker from our very own Project Manager for Instructional Technology, Marlo Gaddis. Watch another video explaining netTrekker in comparison to Google. (This video is from a teacher’s perspective)

Curriculum Pathways

What IS Curriculum Pathways? As defined by SAS, Curriculum Pathways is an online resource for students and teachers. SAS Curriculum Pathways provides standards-based content in all the core disciplines, covering grades 8-14.

Watch an introduction video for Curriculum Pathways and get a great overview of what to expect when you log in.

Learn360

What IS Learn360? Streaming media that covers content from all areas of the K-12 curriculum. Example video resources are provided for teacher/student use from PBS, National Geographic, Standard Deviants, Slim Goodbody, and Sunburst Visual Media™, just to name a few.

Watch the demo for Learn360

Simply need access to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study Online? Take a look at these two sites.

http://www.ncpublicschools.org/curriculum/

http://www.learnnc.org/scos/

Only need access to a copy to print?

Question:

What is the goal in producing a technology rich curriculum?

Answer:

A learning yet interactive experience in which your students gain core knowledge, insight, new perspectives and new technological skills.

As you begin looking towards a brand new academic year… include netTrekker, Curriculum Pathways and Learn360 in your lesson plans! A learning yet interactive experience in which your students gain core knowledge, insight, new perspectives and new technological skills is sure to follow.

HiFi, SciFi, WiFi now MiFi

In looking around on the web lately and trying to find something that will allow me more free range use of the Internet on the go without being strapped in somewhere or limited to certain areas I came across a small yet unassuming product that could reshape WiFi use across the world.

The company... Novatel Wireless... the product MiFi 2200

What is it, well if you have not heard or have been under a rock for the past few months. This is the first "intelligent mobile hotspot" in the world. Yes mobile, that is what I said. This small yet unassuming item about the size of a credit card and as thick as a couple sticks of gum will allow you to connect to the Internet from anywhere. Anywhere you have a signal that is... have to put in that disclaimer, so if you are out in the middle of he ocean or at the top of a mountain you still may not have a signal.

Here are some of the specs:
It is enabled for CDMA, 802,11 b/g and GPS.
Runs on Windows (XP and Vista), Mac (10.3.9 +) and Linux
Can run up to 5 wireless devices at one time.
Rechargeable Lithium battery
Has a range of about 30 feet
Check out the data sheet for more information.

It looks as if this is starting to hit the Cell phone stores and has been featured in Gizmodo as a product for Verizon, PCMag, Slashgear as a product for Sprint and many other reviews which have been written about the functionality of this product.

The price point for the MiFi will differentiate between the carriers but with a base price for the product between $99-$149 based on comparisons with a little give and take thrown in for good measure.

Check it out see what you think,
me I am talking with my cell phone provider right now to figure out if it is worth adding it to my plan.

image provided by Novatel Wireless
video provided by CNBC/YouTube

ActivInspire Actions

One of the great features of ActivInspire is the ability to place actions on your flipchart. There are over 200 actions you can add to your flipcharts. There is also a tab for drag and drop actions that are not included in the tally of 200. You can simply drag and drop an action to reset the page, snap to grid, access the protractor, compass or ruler to name a few. The actions are divided into command actions, page actions, object actions, voting actions and document/media actions. These actions can be chosen by selecting them from the drop down in the action browser.
For example, you could create an action that opened a student’s term paper by clicking on a picture of them that you inserted on the flipchart page. You could have an action that opened every student’s term paper when their picture was clicked. You could attach this file to your teacher website so that parents could see their child’s work.
You could include an action that sent you to a specific page in the flipchart when a certain object was clicked. This would be great for a table of contents or an index page in your flipchart.
The process is pretty straight forward. If you want to apply an action to an object you have on your flipchart page, just select it. For my example today, I’ll choose an electric guitar. Click on the action browser and choose the type of action you want either from the whole list (over 200 actions) or refine the list of actions by choosing the type of action you want from the drop down menu (such as object actions) and then choosing the specific action you desire. So for example, I’ll choose hidden. This brings up a target action properties box in the action browser which allows me to hide another object on the page. For this example, I’ll hide an electric keyboard. I select object I want to hide and click the “apply changes” button. Now when you put the mouse over the electric guitar, the mouse (arrow) will have a play button below it. When I click on the electric guitar, the electric keyboard will disappear. You can use this “hidden” action to make the answers to questions on the flipchart page appear or disappear.
There are hundreds of great actions you can add to your flipcharts to involve the students in your lessons every day. Try it out!

Not a Science Fiction Movie: History of Computers

During the year 1939, the introduction of the computer may have been met with contempt or with great anticipation? Perhaps then (1939) some people may have asked the question – "Why technology? "

Now in the year 2009, years after Charles Babbage introduced what was known as the “Babbage Engine", a first generation computer, the question is not why, but "why not technology?"

To find out about the history of the computer following its introduction and its metamorphosis from 1939 until 1994 visit the “Computer History Museum” website at http://www.computerhistory.org/ Make sure you visit the timeline link that provides chronological timelines of computer related topics. Also worth a visit are links to the various exhibits that showcase computer artifacts.

Where does the history of the computer belong in the classroom? In my opinion, the very existence of at least one computer in every classroom warrants a visit to the "Computer History Museum" website.

Pictures from: Microsoft Office Online Graphics

References: http://www.computerhistory.org/

Creating ActivInspire Resource Packs To Share

To create a new folder in the resource browser, click on a folder that you want to create your new folder in. Then click the menu icon on the right of the folder name and choose “create new folder”. Once your folder is created, you can add images by dragging them from your flipchart page to the folder name or the area where the images are shown in the resource browser. The next step would be to rename the images. ActivInspire will give your image a default name. To rename it, just click on it, click on the menu that will appear in the upper right corner and choose “rename resource file”. In this way you can create folders of content you use most often. ActivInspire also gives you the ability to categorize your most often used images very easily. Keep in mind that you are loading this resource pack on your computer. If you go to another computer, you will not have access to the images. However, you can export the folder and all the images it contains. Click on the folder you created, then click on the menu of that folder and choose “export to resource pack…” Save it to a thumb drive or a server you will have access to on another computer. Open ActivInspire on your new computer, click on the file menu in the upper left corner of the ActivInspire window and choose “import”, “resource pack to my resources…” This will load your folder of images in the same place in your resource browser. However, it will not be in “shared resources”. The folder of images will be in the “my resources” of your new computer. Now that you know how to do it, go out there and create resource packs and share them with people that teach the same subject or grade level that you do!

Why Twitter Deserves Your Attention

A few weeks ago I mentioned to one of my college buddies that I had been using Twitter and wondered if he had an account. Since then he has been occasionally sending me clever little emails like the following:
Wondering whether to fix a sandwich or go out to lunch. I am leaning towards going out.

He assumes Twitter, as advertised, is about "What are you doing?" and that most of the updates are about reporting on the real time (mundane) details of one's life. He is not alone. I think a lot of folks are wondering about Twitter and its uses.

Prior to setting up an account I thought "Do I really need another account to keep up with and do I really have time for this?" What can Twitter do for me? But curiosity got the best of me, and although I have seen posts that just report on"what are you doing?" I've found it is a powerful way to communicate ideas. So I'm humbly submitting a few thoughts on how I've used Twitter and share maybe why it might deserve your attention:

• PLN builder- In past blog entries I've shared some of the blogs I follow with my RSS feedreaders. Twitter, like the feeds from blogs, can be a great tool for continuing to build on your own personal learning network (PLN). Twitter is another way to connect with people and promote important ideas. Because Twitter is limited to 140 characters, tweets are concise and ideas are often updated more quickly than a blog, but tweets can be useful in promoting ideas because the tweets can include a link to a url. One of my first tweets included a link to an blog entry from bloggingagenda.com about why "retweeting" is important. Retweeting is simply sharing someone else's tweet. You retweet if you think your followers might benefit someone else's thought or idea. I've already benefited from the tweets of others and ideas that have been shared with Twitter.
• Real-time news- Over the weekend while the Iranian elections where taking place, I was reading up on it on Twitter. Instead of getting the CNN version I was getting real time updates from "trending topics." The trending topics (on the lefthand side) measure the topics receiving the most tweets. Although you have to evaluate the source, Twitter allows everyone with an account and network access to report on events. I remember when the plane landed in the Hudson River recently, Twitter was one of the first sources for news. And another friend of mine who uses Twitter follows Lance Armstrong, who uses Twitter to bypass the media and share information with his followers. Twitter gives you real time, unfiltered access to information.
• Conversations/Feedback- Twitter can be a tool for conversations. April tried this with a post earlier this year, asking what students gain from using technology in their classrooms."Twitter allows you to get immediate feedback from those answering your tweet. So you can tap the knowledge of your followers for feedback or ideas. I've seen national speakers, like Will Richardson and David Warlick, use Twitter in this way during conferences and get really interesting feedback. Although you may not have many responses at first (April :) it is a starting point.

So although I am not guilty of twittering extremes I do think this could be a useful tool for educators and students. And I'm not the only one. Recently the Centre for Learning and Performance Technologies asked teachers to rank their Top 100 Learning Tools 2009 and Twitter was number one (up from 11 in 2008). So look around and kick the tires. See what Twitter can do for you.

Online Games for Learning

Online games have been described as casual games, serious games and advergames but to teachers and parents what do these labels mean?

Casual Games
Casual Games are designed for entertainment. Some casual games are preloaded on computers such as Solitaire while other casual games are downloaded. Learning can occur but mostly casual games are for fun.

Serious Games
Serious games are designed for learning. Simulations, military training, corporate education, health care are just a few ways games are designed for learning. It’s easy to find educational games on the internet from pre-school to university level. Serious games are categorized by genre, complexity, and platforms building maturity and learning.

Serious games focus on specific learning outcomes that can be measured. But do these serious games really promote learning? When the game design is focused on learning outcomes, then learning is possible. According to Mary Jo Dondlinger a game that motivates players to spend time on tasks mastering the skills of the game, is time spent stimulating learning outcomes. Even some casual games like EVE Online can produce real learning outcomes. One player from EVE Online stated that once he had managed a virtual corporation that spanned a universe he could easily manage a real corporation on earth.

Computer games with 3D graphics are being used in the workplace, for recruitment, to improve communication and train employees at all levels. The military trains soldiers using “virtually real” environments where soldiers build teams and prepare personnel for specific missions. One of the most popular games online today is America’s Army.

Advergames
Advergames are a combination of casual and serious games and have been used as a form of marketing for movies and television shows. Advergames are sometimes the most visited section of brand websites promoting repeated traffic and reinforcing the brand.

But what does this mean for education in public schools?
A virtual learning environment needs to encourage content exploration, be learner-centered and individualized. Our digital native students prefer to:

• Receive information quickly
• Multitask
• View pictures and videos
• Interact and network with others
• Receive instant gratification and rewards
• Learn information that is relevant, useful and fun

Digital learners today need online learning that is stimulating and develops critical skills. Once successful program is DiDA Delivered, a diploma program in IT skills for secondary students in the UK. To check out the site please click here: http://www.dida-delivered.org/
The curriculum for this program includes 4,000 learning objects and 300 serious games and teachers can develop their own content to add to the learning environment. DiDA looks similar to Second Life and Active Worlds.

Considering that children ages 8-18 spend at least 50 minutes per day playing video games education needs to provide stimulating, learning environments where students acquire 21st century skills necessary for today’s workforce. To do this learning designers and game designers need to work together to provide a more engaging and effective learning environment for all students incorporating social networking, and other Web 2.0 technologies.

To learn more about online games for learning please read the entire article Serious Games: Online Games for Learning at: http://www.adobe.com/products/director/pdfs/serious_games_wp_1107.pdf

Web Camera with Lights?

The next latest and greatest from the minds of manufacturers seems to be the Self Illuminating Web Camera. Yes I said self illuminating.


Gone are the days of worrying about back lighting or having to pay for a more expensive webcam that will auto adjust for light.

New out is a USB webcam that has six built in LED lights, which will allow use of the webcam in low-light situations. Not only that there is dimmer switch that allows you to adjust the light intensity and the push of a button.

Now for some specs. The camera is 2MP and will auto focus. There is no base, the camera is attached to a pliable arm that can bend in any direction. Of course it's connection is USB 2.0. The camera will capture video at 640x480 up to 1600x1200, now the key there is the fps the higher the resolution the lower the fps rate. It has a built in microphone as well so you do not have to purchase anything extra. The device runs for not only Windows XP/Vista users, it will also run on Mac OS 10.4+. Oh and the final tidbit of info, the price. The webcam has a price point of around 89.95

Now for some other possibilities, after reading a post on Twitter by Kathy Schrock I got to thinking and what she had to say was pretty ingenious. Now let me first premise this as my own personal thoughts and are not meant to disrupt the natural order of things for purchasing options for any company or ed facility. Kathy made a good point that this could be used as a low cost alternative for a document camera. Right now most document cameras run in the $400-$500 range with some higher and some lower.

With the light on the webcam, the ability to manipulate the arm in any direction, and the auto-focusing capability it could really lend itself to people who want that functionality of a document camera but cannot afford the outlay cost.

image from coolest-gadgets.com

ActivInspire, A Step Way Beyond ActivStudio!

ActivInspire is the new program by Promethean for your ActivBoard. I think you will find it easier to do many of the things you did in ActivStudio. They totally revamped the program. The layout is totally new. There are menus across the top of the window that give you access to many of the programs commands and tools. Your pages can now be viewed in the page browser much the same way you see them in PowerPoint or Smart Board notebooks. You can reorder your pages by dragging them in the desired order. Many things can be changed or added by dragging and dropping them. For example, if you want to move an object on the flipchart from the top layer to the middle layer, just open the object browser and drag the object icon from the top layer to the middle layer. You could have changed the layer of ten objects in the time it took me to type these instructions. I have never been known for my typing skills, but you get the idea. You enter the design mode by clicking the design mode icon in the top right area of the window. The design mode enables you to edit locked objects, see hidden objects, disable action objects so that you can manipulate them, disable grid snapping and more. This is a good mode to work in. You can test your action objects by simply clicking on the design mode icon again.
You can customize the program anyway you want and save your preferences in a profile. You can have as many profiles as you want. You might want one for Math where you include the working protractor, compass and ruler in the main toolbox. If you also teach Science, you could make a profile for that class or perhaps you just want the select tool as the default tool when ActivInspire opens.
All the tools work even if your computer is not connected to an ActivBoard. The handwriting recognition tool is an example of this. Just write a word in cursive with your mouse and watch the program turn it into typed text, which by the way can be edited. This was not the case when working in ActivStudio. The shape recognition tool works much the same way. Just select it and draw a square or circle and watch as ActivInspire turns your crude shapes into perfect objects.
ActivInspire has a browser window that has tabs along the top for the page browser, resource browser, object browser, notes browser, properties browser, action browser and the voting browser. All of these are very easily accessed and user friendly. I will go into the details of these in future blogs. Try it out and see how easy it is to manipulate your objects.
Click the desktop tools icon to close the flipchart and have access to the desktop tools wonderwheel. This allows you to access several tools including the camera tools, on screen keyboard, sound recorder, tickertape, calculator, screen recorder and more on your desktop.
There are so many changes to this program that it is not an upgrade. It is a totally new program. You can still keep ActivStudio on your computer if you want to, but why would you? Once you become familiar with ActivInspire, you won’t want to use ActivStudio. By the way, you can open the flipcharts you created in ActivStudio and save them in ActivInspire. Enjoy it!

Time: According to Who?

If someone asks you for the official time, your response will depend to some extent on the region of the country you live in. Keeping up with the time around the world could become a time consuming task. Nevertheless when it comes to reporting time, there are two United States Agencies who are responsible for “keeping time”. These two agencies work jointly to keep up with what they regard to be the “Official United States Time”. The two agencies entrusted with this responsibility are the United States Naval Observatory, also known as USNO and the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a Department of Commerce agency whose acronym is NIST.

In a physics classroom, the precision required by both agencies to calculate and report the most accurate time, may easily become the topic of several classroom discussions. According to the website, http://www.time.gov/about.html, the accuracy of the time captured by both the USNO and the NIST is called “World Time” or “Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)”. The website also indicates that “whenever both agencies report their time, the variation in their reports should absolutely not exceed 0.000.0001 seconds.”

References: http://www.time.gov/
Pictures: Microsoft Graphics Online

Gender Gap & Computer Science

Recently Danah Boyd, researcher and fellow at the BerkmanCenter for Internet Safety, blogged on "gender gap in perception of computer science" which cited a recent study about the perception girls have about careers in computer science. The big stat that stood out to me was when asked about computer science as a career choice "only 9% of girls rates it 'very good' and 17% as 'good'."
Yikes!
This reminded me of April's blog a few weeks ago entitled Tech Girls , which also addressed the gender gap in computer related fields. As a father of a daughter and someone who works with technology, this alarms me. Some (like Bill Gates) believe computing is the new literacy for the 21st century. How might the perception of computer-related careers be impacting our current female students standing in a 21st century global economy? How do you change these perceptions?
It is a complex issue that I don't have an answer for. But I do think this first-grade classroom has a great video to start the conversation. This was the winner of the K-5 category for the Interwrite TeacherTube Makeover Contest.
If you haven't seen it yet it is worth a look.

Meet Mr. Marzano

Speaker. Trainer. Author of 30 books. Writer of 150 articles. Educator.

In education, there are constantly terms thrown around like Marzano’s Instructional Strategies and Marzano’s Standards.

Who exactly is Marzano? Internationally known, Dr. Robert J. Marzano, has made it his mission to study, research and impact our educational society today. He has done dozens of research projects, carefully studying the outcomes of instructional strategies today. His research is known as practical, applicable – and classroom changing.

What does he believe should happen in every classroom and in every district? Simply put? Three things (or commitments, as he refers to them):

- Commitment 1: Develop a System of Individual Student Feedback at the District, School, and Classroom Levels.

- Commitment 2: Ensure Effective Teaching in Every Classroom.

- Commitment 3: Build Background Knowledge for All Students.

Want a closer look? Check out the following…

• List of Marzano’s books
  
• Marzano Online
  
• Preview “Classroom Instruction that Works”
  
• Overview: Instructional Strategies that Work
  

Web 2.0 collaboration from start to finish

In my effort to find more free web 2.0 tools out there to help make your life easier I came across a pretty good site that provides you with a lot of tools that you can use.


Creaza is a ..."an integrated, web-based toolbox for creative work, both at school and in your free time..." The site provides four utilities that help you to create podcasts and vodcasts, research and project based learning, audio files, movies and many more applications that you can easily integrate into your everyday instruction and apply to your curriculum.


The products are:

Mindomo will help you to organize your ideas and thoughts into clear and concise points so through this online mind mapping software.

Cartoonist is a piece of software that allows you to obviously create cartoons, comic strips or funny images. Oh the possibilities for all curriculum areas from Health Education to English.

Movie Editor is a quick and easy movie creator software. There are plenty of canned images, videos, sounds and songs built in or you can upload your own content and create using your imagination.




Audio Editor is a quick audio program that allows you to take existing music, sounds and voice to combine into your own content. Again there are some canned sounds within the software or you can upload your own stuff.



Think of all the possibilities for school curriculum from Elementary science where students are discussing, through a podcast in the audio editor, plant life and what they are seeing in their terrariums, to High school English where they are creating political cartoons or recreating through claymation a movie on the Battle of Bull run in a Social Studies class.

Now the site offers you both a free and a pay account. With the free account you have access to the products and a sharing area as well as the ability to download your completed projects. Now there is a downside to the site, yes and I have said it before, you have to create a username and password to access the site. Again I suggest using something that you will be able to easily keep up with.

If I can leave you with anything I will leave you with this quick phrase, "go forth and play."

images provided by www.creaza.com

Who are the Virtual Students in Your Class?

Here is an interesting article to think about. As face-2-face teachers we all have ways to encourage class participation, behavior and time on task but how does this work in an online class? Who are the other students in an online class when students are enrolled from across the state or around the world?

Meet Jane Malan, a thirty-something part-time school teacher interested in languages. Jane was given the duty of being the second facilitator in an online class contributing to theoretical and technical assignments, and at times giving advice to students in the course. Jane seemed to know how to model collaborative behaviors the students could follow and she regularly participated in the “social” posts. I guess some would say she was the model student, or was she?

Jane Malan was placed in the online course to start discussions among the students, encourage others to stay with the course, and to participate in all discussions including the social posts. I imagine the other students liked her but Jane wasn’t real. Jane was a “ghost student” created by the instructor of the course and Jane was controlled by the instructor.

At the end of the course the instructor revealed Jane’s identity. The instructor wanted to answer two questions by “infusing” Jane into the course:

1. How does a virtual student enhance online community?
2. How do students feel about the ethical issues of instructor’s hiding and then disclosing the identity of a virtual student?

I’ve taken online courses and I began to wonder if any of the other students in those past courses were “ghost students” and how would I know? My next thought was why did the instructor feel she had to create a ghost student for the course? The instructor called her Methical Jane, the combination of mythical and ethical created to improve students’ online learning success. The instructor rationalized that if an online course had ineffective facilitation or lack of communication the students’ success and performance would be lower. Also a controlling instructor could weaken online communication and lower students’ success.

I do not see the rationale behind the instructor choosing to create Jane Malan and there is definitely an ethical issue of trust between the instructor and the students. Considering that students should follow proper netiquette when posting to an online class the instructor should already have the ability to monitor forums, blogs, assignments and other postings. So why be a ghost student?

If the instructor is worried about the quality and quantity of collaboration and communication between the students then the instructor needs to be better ained and prepared to teach online without resorting to “ghost students” selectively placed in a class. Another ethical issue would be the idea that an instructor could become a “ghost student” in a colleague’s course. For what reason? To spy? To take information from a colleague’s course to use in their course? To find a way to defame the colleague and/or their teaching practices?

This study raised a lot of ethical questions for me. More than I can ask in one short blog posting. So I invite you to read the entire study and the short summary article to see what ethical questions you have and to ask that you share your thoughts on the issue of “ghost students” in an online course?

To read the entire study please go to:
Methical Jane: Perspectives on an Undisclosed Virtual Student
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue4/nagel.html

To read a summary article outlining the study please go to:
Chronicle of Higher Education
http://chronicle.com/free/v55/i38/38a01001.htm?utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Displays That Bend and Twist

When I am watching CSI, I sometimes get lost in all their technologies. Especially when they are recreating scenarios and use a computer on the desk linked to the triple screens up front and then can "toss" the visuals from one of the screens to another, enlarge them with a touch, and it all looks like it is floating in mid air. I look forward to having that type of technology in everyone's hands. Oh to be able to bend, move, and twist those images.

I was very young when I started working with different technologies that were available. I helped my dad build radios and televisions when I was nine years old. We still used tubes and transistors then with soldering irons for connections. Everything was so big to house all the parts and for heat control. Advancements came quickly; radios and TVs got smaller and much more affordable. I remember as a teenager asking my dad if there would ever be a way we could touch the TV screen to make it change channels instead of one of us girls having to get up, walk across the room, and change the station. His response was, "Soon." Short and to the point.

Look at the way phones have advanced in such a short period of time. We used to have to carry around that big bag to hold the phone and power supply and the cost was unbelievable. Now, I've seen phones the size of a credit card that hold a charge for days at a time, have touch screens or are voice-activated. One computer used to fill an entire room and now it will fit in your hand. Along with the main hardware changes, come advancements for all the accessories - keyboards, monitors/screens, mice . . . If I don't want to use my laptop keyboard, I have a keyboard that will roll up like a newspaper. It is very flexible, connects with a USB cable, and doesn't take up much room when I pack my computer bag. The wireless mouse works with bluetooth, and I can connect to a TV for a big-screen view. My thrill would be to have a display screen that would roll up like my keyboard and be able to place it anywhere, such as a wall, a window, or on a table.

According to Jim Brug with HP Laboratories, flexible displays will "evolve into real product designs within five years." Researchers have been working with "ink jet" printing of the transistors onto a thin polymer sheet, imprint lithography, and stainless-steel foil that can withstand high temperatures. Nokia Research has been working on a cellphone that will rollup, stretch out and twist into a bracelet shape. IPhones are great, but just think what it would be like to be able to pull the corners and make it stretch out to a bigger display or be able to roll it around your wrist and wear it like a watch. Samsung has a 4 inch flex display that is only .05 mm thick. Small, but powerful.

If it can be imagined, there is someone working on the process to make it real. I'm just waiting on them to make it affordable.

The Wonder Wheel Experience

When it comes to browsers and search engines, I’m always looking for some new element—something that will add to the experience. The Google Wonder Wheel won’t replace my traditional search process, but it has an interesting visual way to organize the results from a search. And the Wonder Wheel can help make connections to a topic or narrow a search for a broad term.

Enter a search term and when the results are displayed select “show options."

Wonder Wheel will appear as one the options on the left-hand side of the screen.

Your selected results will appear with your original search term in the center with related terms in a connected web circling the term. Click on any of the related topics and a new web is created. Links to the terms in the web are located on the right.

You can see that the Wheel is easy to use and is a great way to show connections between related search terms.

Why Not Have Students Write Their Own Book!

Do you feel the urge to write a book? What kind of book would it be? Are you in the mood the write a comedy, suspense thriller or a documentary? Perhaps your life has been interesting enough to write a bibliography or maybe you just want to write a book about your family history. Maybe you or your family just came back from an amazing journey and you would like to write about it. Of course you will need to include pictures of your adventures as well. Why not have your students write a book. This could be an ongoing major project throughout the year or you could have students collaborate. Please remember collaboration and creativity are some of the 21st Century skills that we are trying to inspire in our students. Wherever your passion lies, let your thoughts and/or your students’ thoughts flow. Go to http://www.blurb.com/my/dashboard register and download the software to begin writing your book.
The first step is to customize your front cover, back cover and flaps. However, if you are creating a soft cover book, you won’t have flaps. There are many design options to do this. The next step is to choose a design theme for your book which includes your font, coordinating colors, page backgrounds and other design details. You also have the ability to change the page layout. You can choose from several different designs. You have the capability to select the font attributes on every page which of course includes font type, size, bold, italic, alignment, line spacing, bulleted lists, etc. There is also a spelleng cheker, but who needs that? You can drag and drop photographs stored on your computer or add your photos from iphoto, slurp, Flickr, Picassa or SmugMug. You also have the ability to crop, zoom or rotate each of your pictures. Now, you wouldn’t hang a picture on the wall without a frame would you? Please tell me no! Well, go ahead and add frames around your pictures. The BookSmart software you are working in will inform you of any problems you might have in your book such as an overflow of text or a picture that is too large for the resolution you have chosen. At this point you are nearly done. Print out and proof your book carefully. Once you are completely satisfied with your work, click “order book”. You can have them print as many copies of the book as you would like and send them directly to friends, family or not so good friends. The prices of the books rage from $4.95 to over $100 depending on your book size, design elements and the number of copies you order. These books are printed professionally and look like the books you would buy at the bookstore. Furthermore your book is private by default unless you announce it as public whereby you can sell it in the Blurb Bookstore.
Look for my book on the best seller list. Of course this list most likely will be taped on the refrigerator in my kitchen, but a guy can dream big, can’t he?

What Exactly ARE 21st Century Skills?

We read about it. We hear about it. The Senate has a bill that supports it. But, what exactly ARE 21^st Century Skills?

Incorporating the following into the curriculum delivers 21^st Century Skills…

· INTEGRATING CORE SUBJECTS & 21st CENTURY THEMES

· LEARNING AND INNOVATION SKILLS

· CRITICAL THINKING AND PROBLEM SOLVING

· COMMUNICATION AND COLLABORATION

· INFORMATION, MEDIA AND TECHNOLOGY SKILLS

· INFORMATION LITERACY

· MEDIA LITERACY

· ICT (Information, Communications and Technology) LITERACY

· LIFE AND CAREER SKILLS

· FLEXIBILITY AND ADAPTABILITY

· INITIATIVE AND SELF-DIRECTION

· SOCIAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL SKILLS

· PRODUCTIVITY AND ACCOUNTABILITY

· LEADERSHIP AND RESPONSIBILITY

To find a full explanation of this framework, take a look at this student outcomes white paper online. Visual Learner? Watch this short video which gives a great, generic overview of the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills and how/where to find additional information on their site.

It is great to know our government is on board with education reform and looking ahead to provide adequate support to our classrooms. As quoted in eSchoolNews.com, Shelley Pasnik, director of the Education Development Center's Center for Children and Technology states "The purpose of the 21st Skills Incentive Funds Act is to offer competitive grants from the Department of Education for states willing to invest in education reform. She sums up the senate’s support well. Be sure to take a look at the actual bill as posted by the Library of Congress.

Want more in-depth information? Check out this .pdf from the Partnership for 21^st Century Skills.

Last Days of School

Everyone is preparing for the last days of school. Students are studying for exams, catching up on the last few assignments, dreaming of vacations. Teachers are trying to teach and share the last bits of knowledge, review for end-of-year tests, dreaming of some time off to catch their breath. With all the tests, classroom or state, given and taken the last few weeks of school to find out how much has been learned, have you ever wondered how the students really felt about your class and how the year unfolded. A blog post by Vickie Davis, the CoolCatTeacher, reminded me of my days in the classroom and how I could learn more about the students and how to make my teaching better for them and myself. We both used anonymous feedback but with different methods - paper/pencil vs online.

I attended the Scholastic Banquet sponsored by the Kernersville Rotary Club the other night and was amazed at all the accomplishments of the top ten juniors and seniors from East High School and Glenn High School. The seniors were accepted by top-notch universities, all but a couple had declared their majors, and most had secured thousands of dollars in scholarships for the next four years of their lives. One item on the agenda that made this such a special event was when the seniors got together and gave an award and recognition to the teacher they had nominated as "Best Teacher of the Year." The students shared the reasons why and how this teacher influenced them. The number one reason was that the teacher had shown the students they really cared about them and wanted them to be all they could be and achieve their dreams.

When I was teaching in the classroom (let's just say I'm not quite as old as dirt) I used to ask my elementary students to write a paragraph about their year. Yes, it was on paper with a pencil but it had the same effect as when we do surveys with them online now. I did the survey so they didn't have to put their name on the paper. They seemed to feel more powerful and answered honestly because they were anonymous. Using some of their suggestions and ideas helped make me a better teacher with a progressive learning environment in the classroom.

A great way for teachers to do an end-of-the-year survey is to use the custom form page feature on their SchoolCenter website. Create text area boxes for their answers with open-ended questions asking for their honest opinions. The students could take the survey during a lab time or even from home. There will be some silly answers, but since they are anonymous you will probably get their true feelings. Not all the answers will be what you want to hear or read; some may make you really think about the way you've presented the material and hopefully there will be that one special response that makes your day, your year worth every minute of the time you've put into your teaching career.

In these last days of school, why not survey the students to find out what was important or not, how could the year be improved and ask for their HONEST opinion. We'll show them we are listening and they'll feel like they have been heard. All in all the year will end on a positive note.

The Federal Reserve is.....

Lately, the “Federal Reserve System” has been in the news quite a lot. What exactly is the Federal Reserve System? Are there resources available to assist with explaining exactlly what it is and how it functions? A matter of fact, there is. The Federal Reserve System offers not only information for the general public but also information that is specifically intended for students in grades 9 thru 12. The Federal Reserve calls one of their educational links “The Money Circle”. This link provides lesson plans, quizzes, games and a list of activities for teachers to use when discussing the economy and money related topics. The Federal Reserve website even provides a video entitled – “The life of the dollar bill”. Also supplied within this website is a document that helps to explain the Federal Reserve System.

In addition to “The Money Circle” link, information about the historical origins of the Federal Reserve is offered on their FED101 website link. To a great extent much of the information provided within the Federal Reserve sponsored website may be used while teaching an Economics course. Despite such a convoluted definition and the somewhat complexity of the Federal Reserve System’s structure, the present Economy almost demands us to learn more about it. And with that thought in mind, consider visiting “The Federal Reserve System Online” website and the other links within this blog post to learn even more.
Pictures from: Microsoft Graphics online