Whether you are in New York or Texas you can enjoy news live from the NECC conference via this space from Sunday, June 29th through Wednesday July 2, 2008. Model schools representative, Sarah Martabano, will report back on exciting innovations, events and generally cool stuff she finds while there.
If you would like Sarah to investigate something specific for you, this is the place to let her know. Simply reply using the comment feature below to indicate your interest and Sarah will search for it and report back.
Keep checking back as this site will be updated several times per day during the conference. Enjoy and happy blogging!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Web 2.0 Newbies
Today we are going to show you a few new Web 2.0 tools that you will surely want to try, Voki, Skrbl, and VoiceThread.
Working with my colleague, Linda, we found this incredible use of page flakes from the Tarrytown schools - http://www.pageflakes.com/jcalvert0.
Teachers have created class pages using RSS technology and a few very fun Web 2.0 plug ins to make them interesting, contemporary, relevant and yes -- fun!
My favorite right now is an application called voki, where you can create a talking avatar, easily. You can design their look and feel, add a background from a vast variety of themes and record your, or someone else's voice to personalize the message.
Check out voki at http://www.voki.com
Another favorite Linda is playing with is called Voice Thread. In this free application users add images and record voice narration, using a micro phone and computer recorder or telephone for to add comments and messages enhancing the meaning of the still or video image. We thought DBQ responses might be a good use as well as narrated short stories. There are many free examples on the site and it is free. You can use a We are still experimenting with this one, take a look for yourself at;
http://www.voicethread.com
Here is a simple, easy drawing tool that we like just because it is so simple. For those of us that have spent decades teaching and using applications such as Hyperstudio and Kid Pix, which not a full blown replacement, this may simplify and/or enhance some of the more tradition uses. This application called scribble (skrbl) allows user to easily create simple drawing that can then be downloaded as image files, saved as html, emailed to teachers or peers, or saved on the skrbl account.
http://www.skrbl.com
Check out more about classroom uses of Web 2.0 tools and how it can be used to differentiate your classroom at the NYSCATE Metro conference in May.
Working with my colleague, Linda, we found this incredible use of page flakes from the Tarrytown schools - http://www.pageflakes.com/jcalvert0.
Teachers have created class pages using RSS technology and a few very fun Web 2.0 plug ins to make them interesting, contemporary, relevant and yes -- fun!
My favorite right now is an application called voki, where you can create a talking avatar, easily. You can design their look and feel, add a background from a vast variety of themes and record your, or someone else's voice to personalize the message.
Check out voki at http://www.voki.com
Another favorite Linda is playing with is called Voice Thread. In this free application users add images and record voice narration, using a micro phone and computer recorder or telephone for to add comments and messages enhancing the meaning of the still or video image. We thought DBQ responses might be a good use as well as narrated short stories. There are many free examples on the site and it is free. You can use a We are still experimenting with this one, take a look for yourself at;
http://www.voicethread.com
Here is a simple, easy drawing tool that we like just because it is so simple. For those of us that have spent decades teaching and using applications such as Hyperstudio and Kid Pix, which not a full blown replacement, this may simplify and/or enhance some of the more tradition uses. This application called scribble (skrbl) allows user to easily create simple drawing that can then be downloaded as image files, saved as html, emailed to teachers or peers, or saved on the skrbl account.
http://www.skrbl.com
Check out more about classroom uses of Web 2.0 tools and how it can be used to differentiate your classroom at the NYSCATE Metro conference in May.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
PM Keynote: School 2.0 Panel with Tim Magner
Tim has been the face of "School 2.0" in our region since the beginning of the year. He says much of the same that we have suspected for some time: technology has made connections personal, immediate, ubiquitous. The flow of information (media to home) has changed dramatically since the 1970s. The average American home has 26 "devices". Broadband penetration is reaching 50% in this country. We're seeing a flattening of ages of internet users.
But it's what we're doing with this connectivity that makes us fundamentally different. We look for things differently, and we look for different things; both products and services. We are connected in ways we haven't been before. Students surround themselves with an entire media landscape. They personalize the media they surround themselves with. These distinctions are age-specific and this is a global phenomena, not a monolith.
How does this shape student expectations about what it possible? About how they learn? About how that learning can be personalized, like the devices they command?
Is there truly more information outside of school than inside of school?
(Ed. note: there's going to be a chunk missing out of this post because of technical difficulties - the simulcast transmission outside the auditorium seems to be on the fritz. There's a ton of irony in here. )
Unfortunately it's well into the keynote and the group of us participating by simulcast are still subject to audio difficulties - Tim's voice is still coming through in waves. But we see that he's showing the audience the now familiar "School 2.0" visual that represents the interplay between school classrooms, buildings, neighborhoods and communities. The word "change" just came through loud and clear, as did the words "data" and "devices."
But it's what we're doing with this connectivity that makes us fundamentally different. We look for things differently, and we look for different things; both products and services. We are connected in ways we haven't been before. Students surround themselves with an entire media landscape. They personalize the media they surround themselves with. These distinctions are age-specific and this is a global phenomena, not a monolith.
How does this shape student expectations about what it possible? About how they learn? About how that learning can be personalized, like the devices they command?
Is there truly more information outside of school than inside of school?
(Ed. note: there's going to be a chunk missing out of this post because of technical difficulties - the simulcast transmission outside the auditorium seems to be on the fritz. There's a ton of irony in here. )
Unfortunately it's well into the keynote and the group of us participating by simulcast are still subject to audio difficulties - Tim's voice is still coming through in waves. But we see that he's showing the audience the now familiar "School 2.0" visual that represents the interplay between school classrooms, buildings, neighborhoods and communities. The word "change" just came through loud and clear, as did the words "data" and "devices."
Tech Expo 2008 AM Keynote - 16 Trends and Their Impact on Education
Gary Marx is a "Futurist ". Which is to say, he seems to feel as at home describing the future as he does the present. Gary starts out challenging the group to feel how fast and unpredictably the world is changing. For example, in 1865, he reminds us that it took 12 days for the news that Lincoln had been assassinated to reach the newspapers. How fast did the news about Spitzer make it to the public consciousness?
"Nothing is Certain, Everything Changes." – Michael Gelb.
And then the anchor slide: Progress is optional – we need both hindsight and foresight.
And then the facts – population is skyrocketing. China produced 1 million engineers last year; the United States produced 70,000. Gary reminds us that we are in an age of massive migration as people cross borders and pursue dreams.
Why should we care? Why should educators care? Are we of this world, or separate from it? Are we flexible enough to meet needs of such a fast changing world? Gary pleads for us to get reconnected to forces impacting the whole of society. This indicates a necessary shift from strategic planning to living and evolving strategies that can turn on a dime. And he reminds us that ISOLATION is not an option; that education is connected to the advancement of quality of life and no longer just the sage in the community. We are called to "help release the genius that’s already there "–that is the purpose of education.
Trends – seismic shifts (often violent or uncomfortable), societal forces. We have a choice – defend the status quo or create a future.
Gary identifies 16 "big idea" trends and only a smattering had to do specifically with technology. How do these trends impact our schools and systems? What are the implications of each of these trends: aging, social and intellectual capital, ethics, scientific discoveries, career trends ("leisure consultant", "artificial intelligence technician", "shyness consultant", "robotics theologian", "ring tone composer", "media archaeologist")? Note: this list of anticipated careers went on and on, to the delight of the audience. What does it mean that for the first time in history the old will outnumber the young in the Western World? And in the context of these 16 broad trends, we ask the question - are we as educators truly invested in making sure that every person has access to a good education?
And what happens after the Millenial Generation about which we have become so intimate (at least in recognizing how different they are from the rest of us?) Marx awaits a "Generation E" – equilibrium. The world will move so fast that people will literally stop understanding what’s going on. This generation will need to "consolidate our gains, cut losses, and establish a new norm."
Now, the technology trend: technology will increase the speed of either progress or decline. Brilliant observation, in my opinion. Nanotechnology is bound to drive our future, down to medications that we can deliver to a single, diseased cell...or a "computer the size of the cube of sugar that has more power than all the computers that currently exist on earth." So who is going to further develop subatomic machines, new sources of energy and propulsion? (The examples he uses here would sound like science fiction if most were not currently in development.) And that begs the challenge - it is not the technology that "unleashes the genius " of students, staff and community." That is a very human enterprise. But only of those that believe progress is not optional, that we are accountable for the future, and that each of these trends touches us in our individual classroom silos whether we realize it or not.
Education, then, that develops enlightened individuals, pays attentions to student interests and sensibilities, develops disciplined and ethical minds, will not only withstand these trends, but will thrive on them.
"Nothing is Certain, Everything Changes." – Michael Gelb.
And then the anchor slide: Progress is optional – we need both hindsight and foresight.
And then the facts – population is skyrocketing. China produced 1 million engineers last year; the United States produced 70,000. Gary reminds us that we are in an age of massive migration as people cross borders and pursue dreams.
Why should we care? Why should educators care? Are we of this world, or separate from it? Are we flexible enough to meet needs of such a fast changing world? Gary pleads for us to get reconnected to forces impacting the whole of society. This indicates a necessary shift from strategic planning to living and evolving strategies that can turn on a dime. And he reminds us that ISOLATION is not an option; that education is connected to the advancement of quality of life and no longer just the sage in the community. We are called to "help release the genius that’s already there "–that is the purpose of education.
Trends – seismic shifts (often violent or uncomfortable), societal forces. We have a choice – defend the status quo or create a future.
Gary identifies 16 "big idea" trends and only a smattering had to do specifically with technology. How do these trends impact our schools and systems? What are the implications of each of these trends: aging, social and intellectual capital, ethics, scientific discoveries, career trends ("leisure consultant", "artificial intelligence technician", "shyness consultant", "robotics theologian", "ring tone composer", "media archaeologist")? Note: this list of anticipated careers went on and on, to the delight of the audience. What does it mean that for the first time in history the old will outnumber the young in the Western World? And in the context of these 16 broad trends, we ask the question - are we as educators truly invested in making sure that every person has access to a good education?
And what happens after the Millenial Generation about which we have become so intimate (at least in recognizing how different they are from the rest of us?) Marx awaits a "Generation E" – equilibrium. The world will move so fast that people will literally stop understanding what’s going on. This generation will need to "consolidate our gains, cut losses, and establish a new norm."
Now, the technology trend: technology will increase the speed of either progress or decline. Brilliant observation, in my opinion. Nanotechnology is bound to drive our future, down to medications that we can deliver to a single, diseased cell...or a "computer the size of the cube of sugar that has more power than all the computers that currently exist on earth." So who is going to further develop subatomic machines, new sources of energy and propulsion? (The examples he uses here would sound like science fiction if most were not currently in development.) And that begs the challenge - it is not the technology that "unleashes the genius " of students, staff and community." That is a very human enterprise. But only of those that believe progress is not optional, that we are accountable for the future, and that each of these trends touches us in our individual classroom silos whether we realize it or not.
Education, then, that develops enlightened individuals, pays attentions to student interests and sensibilities, develops disciplined and ethical minds, will not only withstand these trends, but will thrive on them.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Session Chat from Tech Expo 2008
Welcome - how exciting to see everyone gathered for breakfast and coffee. What a great networking experience for our district personnel. For now everyone is smiling!
11:00 Get ready for Alan November's session Post on "Building Learning Communities" around 11:00.
Still having a good time!
Alan November – Building Learning Communities
There is urgency in education to connect children with other around the world. For the business word this isn’t even a consideration it simply “is”.
Education is the only place where we have to explain the need for this.
Do we really know how to search for relevant information on the Internet?
If we wanted to know what the impact of the Pope’s speech is on the people in Turkey how would you structure the speech?
Ideas from the audience: Impact on the Popes speech on Turkey, Pope+speech+turkey+impact+riots,…
The problem with this is that you get resources from western organizations – wrong perspective for our question?
The solution is to isolute results to come from Turkey. Need to learn how to do that.
Search string: Host:tr Pope Island riots speech
November suggests we need to get rid of technology title, might was well use director of printing press. Do we want to be the leaders showing how to use “technology”The real revolution is information and global communication. We are asking wrong questions, “who much tech” wrong – “how much critical thinking do we need?”
How does Google produce & organize search results?
1 to 1 match between URL and search criteria (a word)
Title of web page (one to one) 2 matches
Content
Map to Links coming in – map to the link link:http://en.wikipedia.org
Teaching kids how to use power point before we teach them how to think.
Cannot lead with technology – get rid of every technology planning committee you’ve got. The answer is not technology, it is what flows through technology.
Problem: Motivating people who are not motivated. Let’s find another rpoint of view – how can we do that. How do the British interpret the results of battles in the American Revolution and how does that differ from American perspectives.
Host: ac.uk *American Revolutions
What do you do when teaching American History, works for any content, and you have a different point of view from your textbook?
Real work is teaching teachers to design assignments that are more creative and rigorous and demanding that will motivate students to prepare for it.
Motivating event: debate with the British (authentic audience)
When ever possible connect kids to an authentic audience.
Can find schools in England studying the Am. Rev.
Live debate over Skype
Questions are prepared
Hit record button for audio file of the event (need third party freeware).
Turn debate in to a blog and/or podcast.
This engages kids – they will listen to the debate. Will they read your exam?
Skype – Single most powerful tool we can give educators.
Why is it blocked in schools?
They are using it anyway?
Why not allow it and teach students how to use it thoughtfully and appropriately.
It would be like not teaching kids how to drive a car, do we just give them a car and let them go without helping them learn how to use it, how to be defensive drivers, etc.
We need to use the intellectual capital in our educations in schools to show kids how to use these tools in way to help them connect, communicate and collaborate globally.
Do we teach Powerpoint before we teach critical thinking?
Why doesn’t content beat technology any day of the week?
We have access to authentic content and can implement authentic assessment using these tools.
Two parts: Be good at information in order to have an intelligent conversation. Worried that we are not teaching children the architecture of the web
The power of the web is collaboration – the meta skill.
Teach them how to ask the right questions, find the right information using the right technology. Building learning communities….
11:00 Get ready for Alan November's session Post on "Building Learning Communities" around 11:00.
Still having a good time!
Alan November – Building Learning Communities
There is urgency in education to connect children with other around the world. For the business word this isn’t even a consideration it simply “is”.
Education is the only place where we have to explain the need for this.
Do we really know how to search for relevant information on the Internet?
If we wanted to know what the impact of the Pope’s speech is on the people in Turkey how would you structure the speech?
Ideas from the audience: Impact on the Popes speech on Turkey, Pope+speech+turkey+impact+riots,…
The problem with this is that you get resources from western organizations – wrong perspective for our question?
The solution is to isolute results to come from Turkey. Need to learn how to do that.
Search string: Host:tr Pope Island riots speech
November suggests we need to get rid of technology title, might was well use director of printing press. Do we want to be the leaders showing how to use “technology”The real revolution is information and global communication. We are asking wrong questions, “who much tech” wrong – “how much critical thinking do we need?”
How does Google produce & organize search results?
1 to 1 match between URL and search criteria (a word)
Title of web page (one to one) 2 matches
Content
Map to Links coming in – map to the link link:http://en.wikipedia.org
Teaching kids how to use power point before we teach them how to think.
Cannot lead with technology – get rid of every technology planning committee you’ve got. The answer is not technology, it is what flows through technology.
Problem: Motivating people who are not motivated. Let’s find another rpoint of view – how can we do that. How do the British interpret the results of battles in the American Revolution and how does that differ from American perspectives.
Host: ac.uk *American Revolutions
What do you do when teaching American History, works for any content, and you have a different point of view from your textbook?
Real work is teaching teachers to design assignments that are more creative and rigorous and demanding that will motivate students to prepare for it.
Motivating event: debate with the British (authentic audience)
When ever possible connect kids to an authentic audience.
Can find schools in England studying the Am. Rev.
Live debate over Skype
Questions are prepared
Hit record button for audio file of the event (need third party freeware).
Turn debate in to a blog and/or podcast.
This engages kids – they will listen to the debate. Will they read your exam?
Skype – Single most powerful tool we can give educators.
Why is it blocked in schools?
They are using it anyway?
Why not allow it and teach students how to use it thoughtfully and appropriately.
It would be like not teaching kids how to drive a car, do we just give them a car and let them go without helping them learn how to use it, how to be defensive drivers, etc.
We need to use the intellectual capital in our educations in schools to show kids how to use these tools in way to help them connect, communicate and collaborate globally.
Do we teach Powerpoint before we teach critical thinking?
Why doesn’t content beat technology any day of the week?
We have access to authentic content and can implement authentic assessment using these tools.
Two parts: Be good at information in order to have an intelligent conversation. Worried that we are not teaching children the architecture of the web
The power of the web is collaboration – the meta skill.
Teach them how to ask the right questions, find the right information using the right technology. Building learning communities….
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Crowdsourcing as a Literacy
Recently a colleague of mine introduced me to an oddball sounding buzzword that made me take notice. "Crowdsourcing", as defined by Wikipedia, is a phenomenon in industry and academia that seems to have one basic principle at its core: many of us are smarter than fewer of us. Ironically, the entry in Wikipedia points to itself as a sentinel example of the collective intelligence of crowds, strangers, teams, competitors, and even adversaries. Apparently this pheonomena predates what we call the information age, but it's the tools of the information age that beg the question - is there an inherent wisdom in wikis and other shared spaces that we are failing to tap into for students and teachers?
To test this theory I visited a site called Nowpublic. com, a prime example of crowd-powered media, a budding movement for citizen journalism. The front page of the website was a living organism, literally rewriting and refreshing itself as I watched. Not like the static, etched in HTML content of other news and information sites. My first thought was, "how cool", followed by, "how scary." I was able to pull up "eyewitness" accounts of the fires in San Diego which are still burning. People describe the smoke in the air, and have pictures and videos that would probably not make it to prime time news.
So how does this fit into the whole concept of "information literacy?" What kind of risks do we have to take if we embrace the idea of "crowd widsom" without some clear mediating authority? I can just imagine some of the conversations I could have with teachers and library media specialists about a thousand reasons why this is not good for students.
Sites that invite equal expression are what puts the "2.0" in Web 2.0. Rather than close the door on something so intriguing, I think we ought to reconsider who we call an expert, and what information we say is credible. Those that penned the earliest accounts of history were often times mere eyewitnesses as well, and they now enjoy the stature of historians. Perhaps now that's a stature we can all enjoy and aspire to: not just in recounting events, but in sharing interpretations of events which reveal the complexity that we hope education attempts to embrace.
We do a lot of work here encouraging teachers to take a serious look at technologies such as wikis and blogs, and other online shared spaces. Rather than debate their value in terms of fact or fiction, perhaps we can reposition them to be less about facts and more about meaning. Because we know that "facts" don't cut it anymore, not in this complex of a society.
To test this theory I visited a site called Nowpublic. com, a prime example of crowd-powered media, a budding movement for citizen journalism. The front page of the website was a living organism, literally rewriting and refreshing itself as I watched. Not like the static, etched in HTML content of other news and information sites. My first thought was, "how cool", followed by, "how scary." I was able to pull up "eyewitness" accounts of the fires in San Diego which are still burning. People describe the smoke in the air, and have pictures and videos that would probably not make it to prime time news.
So how does this fit into the whole concept of "information literacy?" What kind of risks do we have to take if we embrace the idea of "crowd widsom" without some clear mediating authority? I can just imagine some of the conversations I could have with teachers and library media specialists about a thousand reasons why this is not good for students.
Sites that invite equal expression are what puts the "2.0" in Web 2.0. Rather than close the door on something so intriguing, I think we ought to reconsider who we call an expert, and what information we say is credible. Those that penned the earliest accounts of history were often times mere eyewitnesses as well, and they now enjoy the stature of historians. Perhaps now that's a stature we can all enjoy and aspire to: not just in recounting events, but in sharing interpretations of events which reveal the complexity that we hope education attempts to embrace.
We do a lot of work here encouraging teachers to take a serious look at technologies such as wikis and blogs, and other online shared spaces. Rather than debate their value in terms of fact or fiction, perhaps we can reposition them to be less about facts and more about meaning. Because we know that "facts" don't cut it anymore, not in this complex of a society.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Step In To The Future This School Year
There is so much chatter about the 21st century schools, schools of the future, school 2.0, teacher 2.0, classroom 2.0, web 2.0 and on and on. It can be overwhelming even for those of us familiar with the terms. Here are my questions about the future of schools. Is it as random as it seems? Is it in the hands of someone other then myself? What is my role? What does it really mean to the classroom teacher? What is in it for the kids? What do the kids think?
Clearly I'm no soothsayer, but perhaps it means that each each educator no matter what their job, level or subject(s) should take hold of one new technology this year. Something that they haven't used in their work, venture in to the center and see if it might be their future.
My promise to you is that I will try to stay on top of new things, keep trying something new and pass my experiences along. On that topic just last week I downloaded Skype, pretty easily I might add. The only problem occurred when I realized I didn't have any Skype friends (sob) and nobody to talk to (sob, sob). If you Skype (I think it can be a verb) look me up and we can chat (for free!). Lesson learned? No need to venture off alone, take the adventure with a colleague or friend.
So get on board with something new this year. Talk to your peers to see what they know and are involved in. Try a blog, wiki, or podcast. Perhaps Google Earth, Smartboards, or videos are more your thing. What ever it is at the very minimum read about it, look at some examples, attend a conference or read what the experts have to say.
Resources can be found on the Blog Roll and Ed Tech Gurus links on the right side of this page. If some of these technologies are blocked at your school, that's OK, try it at home or choose something doable.
Let's check it out together, we may find that the future of schools is already here!
Sarah Martabano for the Model School Team
Clearly I'm no soothsayer, but perhaps it means that each each educator no matter what their job, level or subject(s) should take hold of one new technology this year. Something that they haven't used in their work, venture in to the center and see if it might be their future.
My promise to you is that I will try to stay on top of new things, keep trying something new and pass my experiences along. On that topic just last week I downloaded Skype, pretty easily I might add. The only problem occurred when I realized I didn't have any Skype friends (sob) and nobody to talk to (sob, sob). If you Skype (I think it can be a verb) look me up and we can chat (for free!). Lesson learned? No need to venture off alone, take the adventure with a colleague or friend.
So get on board with something new this year. Talk to your peers to see what they know and are involved in. Try a blog, wiki, or podcast. Perhaps Google Earth, Smartboards, or videos are more your thing. What ever it is at the very minimum read about it, look at some examples, attend a conference or read what the experts have to say.
Resources can be found on the Blog Roll and Ed Tech Gurus links on the right side of this page. If some of these technologies are blocked at your school, that's OK, try it at home or choose something doable.
Let's check it out together, we may find that the future of schools is already here!
Sarah Martabano for the Model School Team
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