Check out UStream TV - Live from Model Schools!
Ustream TV is a streamed video service over the Internet that is FREE and provides the ability to record live events or recorded events using an inexpensive web cam, cell phone, and a computer with Internet connectivity.
The recorded clips will show when we are "Off the Air". When we are on the air you will see a live stream from the event or session we are hosting. As new innovation in educational technology we will continue to unpack it and explore the relevance and implications for K-12 education.
Feel free to subscribe to this blog using the link on the right of the page, to receive updates to posts and scheduled UStream TV events.
For more information about UStream TV visit the website at http://www.ustreamtv.com or call Sarah Martabano at the LHRIC (914) 592-4203 x3411.
Enjoy the Show!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Live from TLI (Technology Leadership Institute) at Mohonk
Friday - Dr. Curtis Bonk
By day two of this invigorating and inspiring conference -- we were all drinking the cool aid from a flattened world.
Our guest, Dr. Curtis Bonk, a professor and published author out of Indiana University who addressed our crowd of 40 about how the learning world became flat.
Dr. Bonk shared concrete examples of how collaborative the learning world has become due to the technologies afforded us on a daily basis. The examples were explosive and voluminous starting with a quick pre-assessment of the group;
1) Who has shared music on an MP3 or iPod - majority of the room
2) Who has used collaborative software (Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, Etc.)
You get the drift. The room was filled with collaborators that appeared well versed on a variety of tools that are used in their work and play to communicate and collaborate on a variety of levels.
As the session continued we found ourselves chanting in unison "We Can Learn" prompted by Dr.Bonk on que after a summative on the ten forces that opened the learning community, tools and processes that are used to learn in collaboration on demand.
We saw a variety of solutions to gain access to higher Education courseware such as the FREE MIT courseware and the increasing numbers of universities doing the same! http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
There are almost unlimited sources of information as well as ways to store and present knowledge - collaboratively! We now have access to read and write to and from sophisticated search engines, ebooks, maps, timelines, blended learning environments, virtual worlds,
http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/
Dr. Bonk talked about the 10 trends that Opened the Learning World;
1. Web Searching in the World of eBooks
2. E-learning and blended learning
3. Availability of Open Source and Free Software (e.g. Moodle)
4. Leveraged Resources and Open Course Ware
and more....
Three hours of reviewing collaborative web sites and new innovations in the field has left me fuzzy headed to say the least. Some of the most intriguing are posted below:
http://www.diigo.com/ - collaborate around documents that you can collaboratively edit, highlight, etc.
http://www.librarything.com/ - Largest online book club
http://www.chinswing.com/ - Global message board - multilingual
http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/LearnMore - interesting, creative and effective educational materials that the global educational community can use for free.
Dr. Bonks Power Point presentation as .pdf file can be found at this URL below the link for this conference:
http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/news.html
Thursday - Steve Dembo
If the drive up the autumn tree lined country road wasn't spectacular enough - I have the pleasure of listening to Steve Dembo discuss 21st century tools, learning and blogging and what that means to us in our every day lives on the front lines of education.
This is the first conference I've even been to that I was invited to turn ON my cell phone because we would be using it, and of course my computer was great too! Shift Happens...
After about 1 hour of ideas and demonstrations we somewhat spontaneiously skyped with a fellow technologies Dean Shareski and talked about "outsourcing Teaching and Learning". The concept behind this is that Steve was able to bring Dean in to our day to share his thoughts on a topic of specialty - outsourcing a portion of the content. Similar to bringing an expert in to your classroom however now it is easy to do without the restrictions of time and place.
If that wasn't relevant enough - we searched on Twitter "Is anyone available to talk to us right now on skype about school policy as it relates to Acceptable Use Policies". We took a 10 minute break and by the time we got back we Skyped/Video chatted with several folks about how they are updating/addressing their local AUP. Isn't it nice that if the situation warrants it we can have these "teachable moments" in cyber space?
Major points worth noting;
It is the publishing and sharing of information that makes technology meaningful.
Is your school prepared to allow students to use the Web 2.0 digital tools of their
choice when approaching teacher assignments?
Do you have school policies that reflect a web 2.0/school 2.0 paradigm?
Do you or your teachers have the knowledge to unblock a website if warranted for
instructional purposes?
CIPA - Children's Internet Protection Act allows a level of local control as it
relates to school district implementation of filtering.
People of Interest...
Darren Kuropatwa - http://adifference.blogspot.com/
"Scribe for a Day" - classroom method turned to a blog.
Started as a class job, task and has now turned in to somewhat of a
competition that focused not only on creativity but the writing process and
technology tools.
Vicki Davis - Educational Technologist - Cool Cat Teacher Blog
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
David Langhorst - Guerrilla Season - Book project Blog
http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/
Jen Dorman - Collaborative Simulation between school in Bucks County, PA and
one in South Korea
http://cliotech.blogspot.com/
Presentation -
http://www.slideshare.net/cliotech/creating-online-connections-2008
Dean Shareski - Edublogger (skyped live from conference with us)
http://ideasandthoughts.org/
Lisa Parisi - 24 year educator who has been rejuvinated by technology.
http://lisaslingo.blogspot.com/
Maria Knee - Kindergarten Teacher (not a digital native but one of the most innovative teachers Steve knows.)
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=51141
Did you know...
Australia spent 84,000,000 on a country wide filter system for home - a 16 year old student cracked it in 30 minutes. The students message to everyone was, imagine what we could have done with that amount of money to educate the population.
A 17 year old student cracked the iPhone software and share that with the world.
Sites worthy of note...
http://www.bubbleshare.com
Wikis behind the firewall - http://mguhlin.wikispaces.com/walledgarden
http://www.ostube.de/en/ostube - Free open source "You Tube" type application. All you need is ability to download software and access to district web server.
http://www.mogulus.com/ - Live broadcast via website.
http://www.blabberize.com - simple tool for adding simply animations, voice over to photographs.
By day two of this invigorating and inspiring conference -- we were all drinking the cool aid from a flattened world.
Our guest, Dr. Curtis Bonk, a professor and published author out of Indiana University who addressed our crowd of 40 about how the learning world became flat.
Dr. Bonk shared concrete examples of how collaborative the learning world has become due to the technologies afforded us on a daily basis. The examples were explosive and voluminous starting with a quick pre-assessment of the group;
1) Who has shared music on an MP3 or iPod - majority of the room
2) Who has used collaborative software (Google Groups, Yahoo Groups, Etc.)
You get the drift. The room was filled with collaborators that appeared well versed on a variety of tools that are used in their work and play to communicate and collaborate on a variety of levels.
As the session continued we found ourselves chanting in unison "We Can Learn" prompted by Dr.Bonk on que after a summative on the ten forces that opened the learning community, tools and processes that are used to learn in collaboration on demand.
We saw a variety of solutions to gain access to higher Education courseware such as the FREE MIT courseware and the increasing numbers of universities doing the same! http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm
There are almost unlimited sources of information as well as ways to store and present knowledge - collaboratively! We now have access to read and write to and from sophisticated search engines, ebooks, maps, timelines, blended learning environments, virtual worlds,
http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/
Dr. Bonk talked about the 10 trends that Opened the Learning World;
1. Web Searching in the World of eBooks
2. E-learning and blended learning
3. Availability of Open Source and Free Software (e.g. Moodle)
4. Leveraged Resources and Open Course Ware
and more....
Three hours of reviewing collaborative web sites and new innovations in the field has left me fuzzy headed to say the least. Some of the most intriguing are posted below:
http://www.diigo.com/ - collaborate around documents that you can collaboratively edit, highlight, etc.
http://www.librarything.com/ - Largest online book club
http://www.chinswing.com/ - Global message board - multilingual
http://www.curriki.org/xwiki/bin/view/Main/LearnMore - interesting, creative and effective educational materials that the global educational community can use for free.
Dr. Bonks Power Point presentation as .pdf file can be found at this URL below the link for this conference:
http://php.indiana.edu/~cjbonk/news.html
Thursday - Steve Dembo
If the drive up the autumn tree lined country road wasn't spectacular enough - I have the pleasure of listening to Steve Dembo discuss 21st century tools, learning and blogging and what that means to us in our every day lives on the front lines of education.
This is the first conference I've even been to that I was invited to turn ON my cell phone because we would be using it, and of course my computer was great too! Shift Happens...
After about 1 hour of ideas and demonstrations we somewhat spontaneiously skyped with a fellow technologies Dean Shareski and talked about "outsourcing Teaching and Learning". The concept behind this is that Steve was able to bring Dean in to our day to share his thoughts on a topic of specialty - outsourcing a portion of the content. Similar to bringing an expert in to your classroom however now it is easy to do without the restrictions of time and place.
If that wasn't relevant enough - we searched on Twitter "Is anyone available to talk to us right now on skype about school policy as it relates to Acceptable Use Policies". We took a 10 minute break and by the time we got back we Skyped/Video chatted with several folks about how they are updating/addressing their local AUP. Isn't it nice that if the situation warrants it we can have these "teachable moments" in cyber space?
Major points worth noting;
It is the publishing and sharing of information that makes technology meaningful.
Is your school prepared to allow students to use the Web 2.0 digital tools of their
choice when approaching teacher assignments?
Do you have school policies that reflect a web 2.0/school 2.0 paradigm?
Do you or your teachers have the knowledge to unblock a website if warranted for
instructional purposes?
CIPA - Children's Internet Protection Act allows a level of local control as it
relates to school district implementation of filtering.
People of Interest...
Darren Kuropatwa - http://adifference.blogspot.com/
"Scribe for a Day" - classroom method turned to a blog.
Started as a class job, task and has now turned in to somewhat of a
competition that focused not only on creativity but the writing process and
technology tools.
Vicki Davis - Educational Technologist - Cool Cat Teacher Blog
http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/
David Langhorst - Guerrilla Season - Book project Blog
http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/
Jen Dorman - Collaborative Simulation between school in Bucks County, PA and
one in South Korea
http://cliotech.blogspot.com/
Presentation -
http://www.slideshare.net/cliotech/creating-online-connections-2008
Dean Shareski - Edublogger (skyped live from conference with us)
http://ideasandthoughts.org/
Lisa Parisi - 24 year educator who has been rejuvinated by technology.
http://lisaslingo.blogspot.com/
Maria Knee - Kindergarten Teacher (not a digital native but one of the most innovative teachers Steve knows.)
http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=51141
Did you know...
Australia spent 84,000,000 on a country wide filter system for home - a 16 year old student cracked it in 30 minutes. The students message to everyone was, imagine what we could have done with that amount of money to educate the population.
A 17 year old student cracked the iPhone software and share that with the world.
Sites worthy of note...
http://www.bubbleshare.com
Wikis behind the firewall - http://mguhlin.wikispaces.com/walledgarden
http://www.ostube.de/en/ostube - Free open source "You Tube" type application. All you need is ability to download software and access to district web server.
http://www.mogulus.com/ - Live broadcast via website.
http://www.blabberize.com - simple tool for adding simply animations, voice over to photographs.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
NECC Tuesday p.m. - Programming for Elementary Students with SCRATCH
Christopher Michaud, Nebo Elementary was the facilitator of a hands on laptop session where we installed a program out of MIT called Scratch. According to Michaud,
"Scratch was developed by MIT to teach young students programming concepts and skill in multimedia communication. Using a visual system of "Tiles" that contain commands users can connect together to create scripts. These scripts direct the characters and objects in the program."
In one hour we created an animated game with sound in the form of a simple animated dog working his way through a maze and getting reward of food and barking when he makes it to the end. While this was a simple application - it required a significant amount of logical sequential, cause and effect thinking. Students will learn problem solving, project design skills and Scratch provides a way to teach fundamental ideas around technology and programming. Computer Science skills students will learn are sequencing, iteration, threading, variables, boolean logic, variables, conditions, algorithms and random numbers.
Scratch is a free download from the MIT site (hard wired suggested) at www.scratch.mit.edu.
Project examples
Presentation
Happy programming!
"Scratch was developed by MIT to teach young students programming concepts and skill in multimedia communication. Using a visual system of "Tiles" that contain commands users can connect together to create scripts. These scripts direct the characters and objects in the program."
In one hour we created an animated game with sound in the form of a simple animated dog working his way through a maze and getting reward of food and barking when he makes it to the end. While this was a simple application - it required a significant amount of logical sequential, cause and effect thinking. Students will learn problem solving, project design skills and Scratch provides a way to teach fundamental ideas around technology and programming. Computer Science skills students will learn are sequencing, iteration, threading, variables, boolean logic, variables, conditions, algorithms and random numbers.
Scratch is a free download from the MIT site (hard wired suggested) at www.scratch.mit.edu.
Project examples
Presentation
Happy programming!
Monday, June 30, 2008
NECC Monday p.m. - Wikipedia in the Social Studies Classroom
Professor Thomas Hammond from Lehigh University points out valuable ways to use Wikipedia as an information STRUCTURE and not as a SOURCe which is frequently debated in libraries and classrooms across the K+ community.
Hammond points out three classroom activities that using Wikipedia:
1) Compare Entries
Compare version of article entries using the history tab to determine edits that were made to articles and spur conversation around the purpose and validity of those edits.
Compare Wikipedia article entries to other sources such as social studies text book articles for conversations relative to content differences, descrepancies, and similarities.
2) Close study of an article,
Use the discussion tab to trace debate around article content and foster classroom discussions around that debate.
Use the history tab to trace and observe edits and editors. What might be the reason an editor has made an edit to an article.
Evaluate the references in an article for validity as a source of information. Have conversations with students around sources for research.
3) Create/adopt an article
Have student pick a topic where they do indept investigation of an article or if the article doesn't exists where they create an article for submission. This allows them to participate with a larger collaborative group on the creation and editing of a body of information. Local history might be a good place to begin this.
What was interesting about Hammonds point of view was that he took the arguement out of Wikipedia being a valid source for information and shifted it to be a structure for information. An interesting and important shift that allows classrooms to include this as a valuable resources as student discuss topics and build their own knowldge of a topic.
To view hammonds wiki on this topic visit http://hammond.seedwiki.com
Hammond points out three classroom activities that using Wikipedia:
1) Compare Entries
Compare version of article entries using the history tab to determine edits that were made to articles and spur conversation around the purpose and validity of those edits.
Compare Wikipedia article entries to other sources such as social studies text book articles for conversations relative to content differences, descrepancies, and similarities.
2) Close study of an article,
Use the discussion tab to trace debate around article content and foster classroom discussions around that debate.
Use the history tab to trace and observe edits and editors. What might be the reason an editor has made an edit to an article.
Evaluate the references in an article for validity as a source of information. Have conversations with students around sources for research.
3) Create/adopt an article
Have student pick a topic where they do indept investigation of an article or if the article doesn't exists where they create an article for submission. This allows them to participate with a larger collaborative group on the creation and editing of a body of information. Local history might be a good place to begin this.
What was interesting about Hammonds point of view was that he took the arguement out of Wikipedia being a valid source for information and shifted it to be a structure for information. An interesting and important shift that allows classrooms to include this as a valuable resources as student discuss topics and build their own knowldge of a topic.
To view hammonds wiki on this topic visit http://hammond.seedwiki.com
NECC Monday a.m. - The Wisdom of Crowds
Yes, we are finally here along with 18,000 other attendees in 96 degree weatger 00 exciting, hot and a bit overwhelming to be sure.
Sunday night's keynote kicked the NECC event off with the first of many thought provoking concepts, The Wisdom of Crowds by the author of a book with the same title, James Surowiecki.
Surowiecki has some compelling research that suggests that the collective knowledge of people as groups is better and results in more accurate results than any one of us as individuals. While this isn't necessarily new as a organizational decision making approach, Surowiecki emphasizes the importance of purposeful group formation of the group and that the variety of perspectives, thinking, background and experiences of the group is as important as social diversity.
This is relevant to education as we explore Web 2.0 as a way to get groups of teaches and students together working on issues relative to education. It is also important to explore as a way of providing the tools necessary for students to collaborate and network with peers, experts and mentors in their quest to build new knowledge.
This is a must read for anyone who either believes in or is intrigued by the collective intelligence and ability of groups and the role of Web 2.0 tools in the education landscape.
Stay tuned to see what is next.
Sunday night's keynote kicked the NECC event off with the first of many thought provoking concepts, The Wisdom of Crowds by the author of a book with the same title, James Surowiecki.
Surowiecki has some compelling research that suggests that the collective knowledge of people as groups is better and results in more accurate results than any one of us as individuals. While this isn't necessarily new as a organizational decision making approach, Surowiecki emphasizes the importance of purposeful group formation of the group and that the variety of perspectives, thinking, background and experiences of the group is as important as social diversity.
This is relevant to education as we explore Web 2.0 as a way to get groups of teaches and students together working on issues relative to education. It is also important to explore as a way of providing the tools necessary for students to collaborate and network with peers, experts and mentors in their quest to build new knowledge.
This is a must read for anyone who either believes in or is intrigued by the collective intelligence and ability of groups and the role of Web 2.0 tools in the education landscape.
Stay tuned to see what is next.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Live from NECC in San Antonio!
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!
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!
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.
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