As with my previous posts from NECC, please forgive typos, grammar, etc. These are notes from the sessions and are not intended for anything other than information. My plan is to come back, later, and “clean them up” and provide clarification, but who knows when I’ll find time for that!

Enjoy!

Presenters:

Will Richardson (http://weblogg-ed.com/)(@willrich45)
Cheryl Nussbaum-Beach
21st Century Learning - Here Comes Learning - check out Wiki

How learning looks different today

Important to be Learners, not teachers, first

YouTube video - Help with Bow drill set - example - Richardson
-Wasn’t afraid to not know something
-Showed what he did know and then asked for help - made it easy to teach him
-Didn’t ask teachers/parents - went to Web 2.0 forlearning
-Asked for feedback - plz, plz, plz - b/c it’s on YouTube there’s a large number of people who can help him
-Very comfortable with technology
-No name, no face - privacy
-How did he know he would get a response? Intriguing question
-Learning environments are changing

Connecting and Community - Cheryl
-New teachers - afraid to ask questions within their schools - fear of it being evaluative
-set up virtual community for PLN - Cheryl set up online mentors - ENDAPT - for new teachers
-found mentors did not lead the learning - everyone taught each other - virtual community of practice
-can learn and grow without feeling like they are being judged

-21st Century Learners Project — http://abpc21.org
-funded through grants (P21?)
-21st Century Learner’s Goals
-insight from project “necessity for change” - professional development needs to be centered around managing change

Richardson
-can’t look at classrooms the same way as we have in the past
-”Here Comes Everybody” - book recommendation
-Importance of forming groups - techtonic shift
-we are not fully aware of what is occurring right now - Iran and Twitter is example - can no longer be traditional journalist
-”Smart Moms” - another good book recommendation
-Connect around the tools
-Orbitz response to twitter complaint - called him!
-NCTE - Definition of 21st Century Literacies - much more complex today
-We form groups around what we write(Wikipedia) and what we read(Diigo - with comments!)

-kids moving into hyper connective and hyper transparent world - foreign to us - kids ARE using these technologies
-using them to socialize - MacArthur study - must read
-connecting to people they do and do not know
-that is a GOOD thing - millions of potential teachers for our kids - doing it without us because we don’t have the same type of context for learning in this world right now
-Some kids have no adults teaching them to use technology effectively for learning
-teachers need to be learners in this context, too - they have to connect, too

Cheryl
-Education operates on deficit based model, not strength based model
-ask them - what do YOU want to accomplish, learn, etc.
-from classroom to community structure
-teachers as colearners
-connecting and collaborating - for professional development
-What works for adults - job embedded learning - like getting personal recognition
-The Medici Effect - more suggested reading
-Professional Development - team approach - with learning communities - online ones!
-Different from the workshop driven approach
-Community Definition - from Wikipedia
-Communities of Practice - Community instigator/leader - one of the top 10 jobs in the next 10 years
-need to evolve over time
-product is co-created and collaborative with opportunities for feedback and ownership
-The Scaling Framework (From Microsoft?)
-PLP Delivery Model - Powerful Learning Practice - built on professional learning teams

Case Studies
Archdioces of Philadelphia - Nancy (@ncara)
-Technology Plan
-Team approach to putting together the plan - used online tools, too, (Twitter, Delicious, Ning)
-”surprised to find a social network could turn in to a professional network”

One to One program - Professional development for it
-Using PLP professional development worked better

Back to Will
-It’s all about being able to build a fire - figure out how to get your questions answered by being a global learner
-expansive and personalized
-Revolution isn’t online learning, it’s personalized learning
-Be Learners first, teachers second

In this session, ISTE gave some folks an opportunity to showcase their products that had earned the ISTE Seal of Alignment. Here’s what was presented:

Adobe Curriculum and NETS
-targets enabling instructors to be successful in the classroom

IC3 - Certiport Products
-Internet and Computing Core Certification
-Global standard for measuring digital and computer literacy

eMINTS National Center - about NETST
-new approach to teaching and learning
-from Missouri, originally
-professional development to help teachers with technology

School of Education from Johns Hopkins - Online Graduate certificate Program in School Administration and Supervision
-If you go through the entire program, you will have fully met the NETSA standards
-prepare school administrators to be technology leaders
-One year program - 18 credits
-focus on team-based learning community approach to distance education

EZTech from Learning.com (http://www.learning.com/easytech/)
-Ann McMullan - Director of Tech from Texas Klein school division
-how to integrate technology into core curriculum
-Continually adding new content (k-8)

PBS TeacherLine (http://www.pbs.org/teacherline/)
-Capstone Certificate Program
-30 week program - online professional development for Technology Educators

Verizon Thinkfinity.org (http://www.thinkfinity.org/home.aspx)
-free resources for teachers, students, parents, etc
-free professional development, too - with emphasis on integration

These are my notes from this morning’s Debate

Debate Topic: Bricks and Mortar Schools are Detrimental to the Future of Education

ISTE CEO - Don Knezek
- Now is the time for systemic change - step forward towards the future, schools shouldn’t be a step back in time
- Not easy, but definitely necessary
- 500 NECC attendees visiting Capitol Hill to advocate for Technology in Learning
- ISTE 2010 - June 27-30 - in Denver - at Colorado Convention Center
- NECC 2009 Awards Presentation
-Sylvia Charp Award - Glen Cove School District
-Outstanding Teacher Award - Sue Urban
-Outstanding Leader Award - Karl Fisch
-Kay L bitter Award - Kathy Cassidy

Robert Seigel - from NPR “All Things Considered” - debate moderator
-started off with opening poll using Turning Point “clickers” - most were against doing away with Brick and Mortar schools

Michael Horn - FOR - Author of “Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovations Will Change….”
-times have changed, schools haven’t
-bricks and mortar artificially restrict learning - detrimental to the future of education
-B and M schools - too much sameness, but every child learns differently
-Online Learning - CAN work - not limited by 4 walls - and still in infancy
-B and M schools - limit socialization - distance is no longer an obstacle - communication means anyone, anywhere, is accessible
-Students need to communicate and collaborate with people all around the world
-Learning happens everywhere, but where world has changed, our schools have not

Brad Jupp - AGAINST - US Advisor, US Dept of Education
-Anecdote about 4th grade teacher - the “Teaching Machine” - time to study, now lets get together to learn
-Get together and learn something - schools help us “get together”
-Schools represent committment to bettering learning and bettering lives
-Schools can become great tools - using technology
-Shouldn’t toss things away before we are done with them - yes, some are run down, but that can be fixed
-Schools - vessels of the wishes of our democracy
-Schools anchor our students in their effort
-We cannot leave our house of learning behind

Dr. Gary Stager - FOR - Visiting Professor, Pepperdine University - Constuctivist Consortium
-Focusing on nonsense - testing, NCLB, data warehouses - Lead us to deprive students of what they need!
-What are physical schools good for? - the very things that make physical schools valuable are the first to be stripped in tough times
-Socialization - online it’s good - “talking in school is number one infraction!”
-Online learing - is all about individualization
-Decentralize knowledge - Tech does that! What kids can do through their screens!
-SmartBoards - learning from the front - same old teaching done a new way

Cheryl Lemke - AGAINST - CEO The Metiri Group - and associated with Milken Foundation
-Not here to defend the status quo
-Instead envision what brick and mortar CAN be
-Combo of face to face and online
-Where children can access the virtual learning
-Bricks and Mortar - community center - education and community services
-Students don’t come to use as self directed as they need to be to do independent online learning
-Kids need to be socially and educationally connected to their schools - don’t get that with distant learning
-Face to face AND virtual to best prepare students
-Socialization needed for social capital - re-connect with our community - build that capacity
-Bricks and Mortar PLUS Online is the answer

Marshal Thompson - Soon to be Senior at Walt Whitman High School - Rebuttal - FOR
-Need a basis of community - not true - can meet with people around the world - no longer limited in my community
-Need place to learn and get together - no reason to limit it to just the people around us - education can not be limited to just the local community
-School is great, but we need to learn for more than just 8 hours a day

Eric Bakke - Soon to be Senior, West Springfield High School - Rebuttal - Against
-Excitement felt entering school - who I learn with and how I learn it
-Schools ARE adapting
-One need that we share in common - need to work in a group setting as a team - only in schools
-Socialization - through the dedication of teachers and love for that subjects that students also gain that love
-Through Schools we learn passions for extracurriculars
-Need teachers and faculty - introduced to those loves and those skills

Gary Stager - Summation - FOR
-Incorrect to assume everyone learns the same way - distributive learning makes it available to all
-Kids don’t have conversations with adults - emotional detachment
-Network policies treat teachers and students as imbeciles and felons
-We chain laptops down so they are no longer mobile

Cheryl Lemke - Summation - Against
-Do we need virtual learning - YES - but not at the expense of B & M schools
-Don’t want our father’s schools, we want our children’s schools
-Community schools can open doors for our students
-But DO need reinvention to existing B & M Schools
-There is common ground no matter what side you are on
-Still need the personal, that connection, to our students

Q&A Session
-How do we support the teachers as facilitators of learning, whether it’s B&M or virtual - To Horn
-Just in Time learning and professional development - NOT top down professional development
-To Jupp - What will the end of B&M mean for the socialization of our students
-We would have to reinvent a social space to replace the schools - but should imagine away our schools, instead make the socialization experience more rewarding - CAN use 21st century learning to help with that
-To Jupp - B&M bring fear of lawsuits - define, limit, and shape our curriculum - can we break the weight of those bonds
-Provides counter example - be vigilant - code of conduct applies - and communicate to students and parents
-false barrier that we need to see through

Closing
-Final Poll - more are against - winners are the against side

Presented by Tammy Worcester, ESSDACK

www.tammyworcester.com

http://handouts.tammyworcester.com

On instructional uses of cell phones - yes they can be bad, and most schools ban them - but they can be used for good, too!

Most kids say when they come to school they are “taking a step back in time” when it comes to technology

1-800-Goog-411 - Free 411 service from Google

Text questions, any questions, to Google at 466453

Google maps - choose the “send” option to send maps and addresses to your phone

http://www.google.com/mobile/ - has lots of tools that can be used with cell phones

Posting to blogs by cell phone - via email - set up through blog settings - can create project-specific blogs and students “send” (aka email) assignments - show up as blog posts - caution: students have to sign posts somehow, either with id # or name, so teacher knows where they came from - nice way to post pictures on blogs

Cell phone to Flickr - can email pictures to flickr, too, just like to the blogs - be sure to include tags - http://www.db798.com/pictobrowser/index.html can then be used in combination with tags to create slideshows and embed in blogs (But Flickr is often blocked, not sure how this will work in that case)

Podcasting by cell phone - really easy using http://drop.io/ - “drop” audio files from your phone - click phone link and gives you a number to call to record your message - can embed the audio

http://www.geograffiti.com/ - leave voice marks - marks it on a map - call in and talk about where you are at that time - nice for geography or family vacations - Caution: there is no filtering so kids can say anything

http://www.polleverywhere.com/ - Student response tool using cell phones - nice example of instructional use of cell phones

Additional links at end of presentation - check the presentation link - one really cool one on ring tones that can’t be heard based on your age - http://www.freemosquitoringtones.org/

(OK, I’m going to try and “live” blog this. First attempt at this, so bear with me and forgive my typos.)

Presented by Steve Dembo (@teach42, http://www.teach42.com/)

http://prezi.com/117545 - link to presentation

What is Web 2.0 - Entirely web based, interactive, plays well with others (mix and match content from one to another)

Bloglines - aggregator - http://www.bloglines.com - keep track of all your favorite blogs, news, searches and more - check out other subscribers – see who they subscribe to – use as “human filter”

(OK - this is about when my WiFi connection died — so much for “live” blogging)

Delicious – social bookmarking site – may not have the most features – simple - does what it does really well – http://delicious.com – searching delicious – only get sites human beings have looked at and decided if it is worth saving – another human filter – can then check out what others have bookmarked – ones with common interests – using tags – “steal” their bookmarks – wealth of info they’ve already aggregated together – can then subscribe to them – using RSS – and can see each post they add – add into Bloglines – subscribe to that person’s bookmarks – can also “bundle” links – to aid in research – under teacher or class names – Hylton’s Delicious is at http://delicious.com/hyltonhs

Sharetabs – share your links as tabs – http://sharetabs.com - very neat – don’t have to have all the urls, just the one, Sharetab, URL – nice preview version – thumbnails – even works in IE 6.0 – will still show tabs – nice, especially since our district is still using IE 6.0!

Drop.io – http://drop.io – can upload files and give others access to them – upload it, share it, fax it in, etc. – you can even call in whatever you want to “drop” off – FREE – can even do a whole podcast for free from a mobile service – http://drop.io/teach42/media - can share audio files via iTunes, too – parents ask “How was your day, today?” – they can LISTEN to how it was using this – podcasting using cellphones – this makes it easier – 100 megabytes for free – lots of features with this tool! – provides embed code

JayCut Online – full video editor in your browser – like older JumpCut that is now gone (sad) – looks pretty intuitive – has everything that MovieMaker offers – http://jaycut.com – unlimited size! – multiple users can use it – pull from same “bucket” of media and then they rename it on a save – gives them a nice starting point to the build their own media – provides embed code

Edmodo – like Twitter – but designed to be used with students – http://edmodo.com – microblogging with your students – is behind a password – private – option to “send to” specific groups – nice for classes – version 3.0 is on the verge of being released – allows you to embed media files, too – what Twitter would have looked like if it had been planned for a school environment – more enterprise features coming – may have an iPhone app for it – Tweet zemote (?) on Twitter for questions on this

Poll Everywhere – http://www.polleverywhere.com/ - classroom response system for every teacher for ever classroom that parents pay for – done via text messaging – USING CELLPHONES! – nice example of instructional use of cell phones – 30 votes per poll for free – good for classes of 30 – each poll gets 30 votes – can download results to excel – then clear them and be ready for next class – can also download as ppt – results show “live” in ppt - standard text messaging rates DO apply J - do have a for cost school version – can also use computer/laptop stations to do this for kids without cell phones

Xtranormal – http://xtranormal.com – used to create animations – text to movie – good for ESOL and World Languages – can even change the voice to match the language – nice for digital storytelling, too – can change camera angles (getting lots of ohhhhs and ahhhs with this!) – can change animations, too – very nice tool – “action” equals rendering – can take a little time – keep that in mind for classroom management – extraordinary tool – changes the paradigm – and does provide embed code

Livestream – TV studio in your browser – http://www.livestream.com – can even use your cell phone as a camera

Prezi — http://prezi.com - different type of presentation tool - what ppt would look like if there were no borders or slides.

OK, I am exhausted. I thought I could handle it, but I give up. NECC is HUGE. There’s no other way to describe it. I hope to post something more thoughtful, insightful, etc., but I’m just too tired right now. So, here’s what I have from the keynote.

Gladwell is a likeable fellow. In anticipation of his keynote address I downloaded his book, The Outliers, but haven’t had time to finish it before today. His keynote was pretty much a summary of what he wrote about (for as far as I’ve gotten). Key points:

1. 10,000 hours/10 years - no one achieves success without many hours of hard work. That includes Gates, Mozart, The Beatles, etc.
2. Capitalization vs. compensation - we can capitalize on our strengths, but we often learn more through compensating for our weaknesses. We need to appreciate the value of hard work
3. Trial and error - There is much to be learned from the feedback we receive through our “failures”.

Some things he talked prompted a “Yes!” in me. Others left me fidgeting uncomfortably in my seat, wondering if he really understood what today’s classroom looked like.

Final words on NECC: Overwhelming, exciting, fun. Hope to spend more time with Twitter and Bloggers.

We made it!

And for the final post of the year, I give you a classic song about summer!

grease-summer-nights

See you next year!

(Found at http://bitsandpieces.us)

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur’s Round Table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.
4. The butcher backed into the meat grinder and got a little behind in his work.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
10. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
11. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other, “You stay here. I’ll go on a head.”
12. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
13. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said, “Keep off the Grass.”
14. A small boy swallowed some coins and was taken to a hospital. When his grandmother telephoned to ask how he was, the nurse said, “No change yet.”
15. A chicken crossing the road is poultry in motion.
16. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
17. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
18. A backward poet writes inverse.
19. In a democracy, it’s your vote that counts. In feudalism, it’s your count that votes.
20. Don’t join dangerous cults, practice safe sects!

There’s just one more week to go and I’ve been struggling to figure out what websites would be the most useful to teachers at this time of year. Like our students, it’s hard not to “check out” mentally a little early. It’s so hard, in fact, that I’ve given up trying. This week’s featured website is just for fun. BeFunky.com is a cool online program that enables you ”turn your photos into incredible artwork with one click.”  

Here’s an example of what you can do:

There are some very good educational uses of this application–in our art classes and with any of your students presentations–but mostly it’s just fun!

The final export of the year is upon us! The final step in the export process is to check ClassXP and make sure the grades you see are correct. However, you can’t check that until Mr. A. imports your export file into SASI. So, if you think you exported your grades, but you’re not sure and you want to check:

1. Go to Start/My Computer.
2. Scroll down until you see Network Drives and double-click on the “N” drive.
3. In the “N” drive, open the “sasixp” folder.
4. In the “sasixp” folder, open the “IGPRO” folder.
5. In the “IGPRO” folder, open the “IGPData” folder.
6. In the “IGPData” folder, open the “071” folder.
7. In the “071” folder, open the folder with your teacher number.
8. Select View/Show Details.
9. In your folder, look for the file starting with “MK” and check the Date Modified and confirm that the date and time is when you exported. If it is, your export was a successful!

This story was sent to me by a friend a few days ago. As an animal lover, it really hit home.

A Dog’s Purpose? (from a 6-year-old)

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog’s owners, Ron, his wife Lisa, and their little boy Shane, were all very attached to Belker, and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the family we couldn’t do anything for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.

As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for six-year-old Shane to observe the procedure. They felt as though Shane might learn something from the experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker ’s family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away.

The little boy seemed to accept Belker’s transition without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a while after Belker’s Death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, ”I know why.”

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next stunned me. I’d never heard a more comforting explanation. It has changed the way I try to live.

He said, “People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life — like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?”

The six-year-old continued, “Well, dogs already know how to do that, so they don’t have to stay as long.”

With final exams fast approaching, here is a link to Hylton’s collection of bookmarked study tools.

http://delicious.com/hyltonhs/study_tools

There are links for educational games, practice tests, and test-taking strategies. Take a gander, and if any seem appropriate, please share with your students.

One of my favorite things about this job is that every year you get to start off fresh — new classes, new students, brand new shiny school year! However, one thing that won’t be “fresh” next year is your classroom computers. Those won’t be “refreshed” for at least another year or two. Knowing that, now might be a good time to “defrag” your computer. You’ll be too busy to even think about it at the start of next year, so do it now as part of your end-of-year clean up.

What does defragging do? It cleans up and re-organizes the files on your hard drive, speeding everything up.

So, to defrag:

1. Go to Start/All Programs/Accessories/System Tools/Disk Defragmenter.
2. Make sure the C: drive is highlighted.
3. Click Defragment.

Defragging can take a while, especially if you haven’t done it before. You can work on other things while it’s defragging, but it will slow things down a bit as it processes. I recommend doing it when you have a long break — maybe during lunch — and won’t be needing your computer.

I don’t suppose bankers have too much to do in this tough economy. Nice to see this one making very good use of all the extra time!

The Banker and the Ducks

It made me miss “our ducks” from the courtyard!

From the folks who bring us the Nobel Prize — here is a fun site with great Educational games!

http://nobelprize.org/educational_games/

Click All Productions in the top left to see a complete list of everything they have. Most of the games are for Science, but there are also some that might be good for Language Arts and Social Studies.

I received this from Cathy L. this morning and felt it warranted a “Feel Good Friday - Round 2″!

http://www.imtiredonline.com/smile/

Enjoy the long weekend!

This one will definitely leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. Many thanks to Netia E. over at Bull Run Middle for forwarding it along!

unlikely-friends

I only have one question — what’s up with the rabbit?

Recently we’ve had a number of reports about thumb drives not being recognized by school computers. You plug the drive in, go to “My Computer” and……nothing. The thumb drive is not listed. The problem is that the drive that would be normally assigned to the thumb drive is already being “mapped” to something else. The result is a very confused computer. To alleviate this confusion, our wonderful TSSPEC, Teresa H., has added an icon to your Novell desktop called USB Drive.

If the thumb drive is not being recognized, just click this handy icon and choose a different drive letter (I like “U” for USB).

This site looks very promising.

http://www.shmoop.com/teachers/

The mission of the site is “To make learning and writing more fun and relevant for students in the digital age”. While the focus is on literature and poetry, there are also nice resources for social studies, too. Check it out and let me know what you think!