Lessons Learned at NCTIES 2011

Below are the notes and links from the sessions I attended at NCTIES 2011.  Enjoy! :-)

Social Learning: Networks Teaching Kids Where They Live – Kevin Honeycutt

·         Have students Google Alert their names

·         Can’t Over-reach School Walls

·         How can you get false fb pages off the web?

·         Kids should use Google Alerts for Research

·         Twitter bulletin boards – Life sized at Schools

·         Ask kids…What would you do if you were cyber bullied?

·         Have kids tweet how they feel each morning…write out and share with class

·         Gateway to fb…collaboration with Google Docs

·         Video of Street Musicians singing the same song – Stand by Me - Video Called “Playing for Change”  - Use video as a conversation starter for Local Collaboration

·         Use: Classroom 2.0, Plurk – Have Teachers Develop PLNs

·         Use Plurk as Homebase for other Networks Like Twitter

·         “FB is a Highway…it can get you places, but without Driver’s Ed, It  can get you killed”

·         Art Snacks Social Network…like greeting kids at the door – Volunteer Mentors that help Monitor & “Tag Team”

·         “Pet the Kitty” Widget ;-)

·         Have kids write books in Google Docs…ABC Book at Elementary Level

·         How many people read what kids write? Blogs vs. Essay Students are motivated by readers

·         Lulu can make student writing Public or Private

·         Use it first...”tame the tool”

·         Use Lulu for school Yearbook…fundraising

Cyber-bullying: A Growing Problem

·         Principals are required to report offenses

·         Teachers need to be made aware of the law

·         Teachers are responsible for teaching ethical behavior to students

·         Teacher could be held responsible for not addressing behavior

·         The school needs to communicate the Policy to Students and Parents

·         Free Tools for Parents:

·         Dr. Phil – “Keyboard Bullies are using weapons of Mass Destruction”

·         Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover – Share his story

·         4-Hour Video Course: Bullies – Their Making and Unmaking

·         http://gordonneufeld.com – School Counselor Can Be Certified

·          Discipline Help: #13 – The Bully http://www.disciplinehelp.com/teacher/list.cfm?cause=All 

·         What to do about bullying to prevent it in the first place?  Focus on prevention!  Not what to do after it happens

·         FunnelBrain.com http://www.funnelbrain.com/c-282524-adele-meets-frank-shares-interest-figure-skating-inter.html

·         Smokescreen, A Thin Line (MTV)

·         http://tinyurl.com/eSafetyContent  Google doc with Lots of Information

Lunch Speaker

https://sites.google.com/site/rushtonatncties2011/   

Will iPads Replace Laptops?

·         What are the merits of both? Weight and Size…Different types of laptops…iPad most portable

·         Battery Power…9-10 Hours for iPad

·         Interface:

o   Old iPad (iPad 2 has more capabilities) - touch screen, onscreen keyboard…can get external keyboard…portable…3G Capable…IOS…Pinch and Zoom…Multi-tasking?  Word cannot be up the same time as the internet…good that students can’t have multiple windows open…can add a mouse

o   PC – Many Options…Has USB Ports…VGA Output…Webcam…

·         Exceptions-Macbook Air & Tablet

·         Software:  App Store – Ways to take notes – Apps that dissects a frog – White board collaboration – You can still do Google Docs and Save in the cloud

·         http://teachwithyouripad.wikispaces.com/

·          No Flash on iPad – No workaround – Could be a deal breaker

·         Used to not be able to Skype, but you can, now

·         Could not use Dream Weaver on iPad

·         Price – $500 for iPad, $1,000 notebook – have to add lots to iPad…apps, case, keyboards, etc.

·         Implementation: Cart or Take Home? With cart, you buy 30 licenses but only install once… Cart makes it easy to manage…students would not be able to add apps…Take-home has big issues…have to give students gift-cards to install apps…Cart fits schools better, but not a true 1:1 situation

·         To Lock Down or Not Lock Down?

·         http://ipadeducators.ning.com

·         Sharing earbuds…gross!  What do you do?  Have kids purchase?

·         How do you Identify iPads? Give numbers to keep up with them…

·         Professional Development is needed for this to be used effectively in the classroom

·         Cases?

·         The Webb School of Knoxville: Told students they had to buy iPads to come to class…private school…don’t have to worry about accounts or pushing out apps…managed by parents

·         Cedars School of Excellence: Could not take iPads away from students…as vital as a textbook.

·         What do we need a laptop to do?

·         90% of your work can be done on an iPad…Is the other 10% worth the sacrifice?

·         Think of the iPad as a completely different tool from laptops

 Digital Citizenship – Your Passport to Today’s World

·         Multi-tasking is the norm…This generation can do two things at once

·         How do we move forward to teach our students in this age?

·         What does it mean to be a good citizen?

·         Where do student learn to be good citizens?

·         What changes when we add the word digital?  Becomes global…larger…more challenges

·         More exposure on the web

·         Students are already better at using digital technology than adults…adults need to catch up and teach students to be good digital citizens

·         Who will you be? Create/Credit or Steal? Video

·         A good digital citizen will always show all credits at the end of a video

·         “When I get to school, I have to power down.”

·         Can students learn online? Yes, but will they learn what we want them to learn?

·         What are some hazards of digital communication? Scratching the surface, but never going deeper…lazy communication…predators online…texting while driving…misinformation…

·         “When a student graffitis the bathroom wall, does the school discontinue bathrooms?”

·         “Screenagers”

·         Adult’s role to model good use of technology

·         Digital Danger in London of people running into polls while texting, or looking at their phones

·         Focus on us, not them…what are some changes that need to take place in our schools?

Web Design – LeslieFisher.com

·         Content is King…do not create a website without content

·         Prepare to Babysit your website

·         Who controls the content?  Who owns it?  Is it a problem child…

·         Put your website in the form of an organizational chart

·         Has to make sense on paper before it can make sense virtually

·         On the org chart/spread sheet mark how often this content needs to be updated

·         This helps to avoid being blamed when the website is not updated

·         Watch out for those who think their content needs to be on the front page

·         Gathering content is the biggest issue

·         Design: Must have a design committee ….use anything that creates Brand Identity for the school…use colors, mascot, etc.

·         Could hire a designer or purchase a template…this is getting cheaper to do…Wire Frame $200+-

·         Crowd-Sourced Web Design…Hire many people to design your website…Anyone submits designs to you…you can choose the best from 20 different designers…you pre-pay for the template – Go to 99 Designs and check it out

·         Template Websites

·         Make sure that you do not tackle more than you should

·         Students forget that content exists…they are more visual…Do not put them in charge of the school website!

·         Create A Site using html: Adobe DreamWeaver is the best for this

·         Make your website easy to edit, so others can do it and you are not locked into it

·         Adobe Contribute: Can set up users and groups with this application…you can accept or reject changes from your users…$100 a copy…just email key to other users, and it transfers all info to that user

·         Weebly.com, google sites,

·         Content Management System like Moodle – Expression Engine $99

Alice: The Free, Fun  & Easy Way to Introduce Students to Programming

·         http://www.alice.org

·         http://aliceprogramming.net

·         http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/aliceinSchools/workshop08?lessonPlans.php

·         http://www.cs.duke.edu/csed/alice/aliceinschools/workshop08/tutorials.php

·         http://www.personschool.com

·         http://learnalice.blogspot.com

QR Codes-Why they matter to education

·         Pet Shop Boys – Integral  -  Videos that go to websites

·         QR: Quick Response – Physical link to the virtual world

·         Chrome – Apps Store – QR Reader

·         Create your own QR Codes that take you to websites

·         Webcams can take you to QR links, also

·         Ideas?  Have students write reviews of books in the media center, and then put the codes on the back on the books for students to access with Smartphones…etc.

·         Google: QR Codes on Library Books http://www.google.com/search?q=QR+Codes+on+Library+Books&rlz=1I7GGLD_en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7

·         Students that have trouble typing URLs can scan QR Codes and this will take them to the site that you want them to go to

·         The Yellow Arrow Project: http://yellowarrow.net/v3/ 

·         SCANveger Hunt: http://scandayton.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=89&Itemid=309   

·         http://www.qrstuff.com/   The more text, the more complicated the QR Code

·         Interactive Bulletin Board:

·         Students Checking Their Answers: Make Flashcards so, they cannot easily check the answers…they would have to scan

·         Students can scan the answers to their Quizzes

·         Can have a quiz inside the QR Code

·         Use QR Codes for Voting

·         Twitter: @QRNCTIES11

·         Rewrite the ending to books in a Google Doc

·         “I live in the future & Here’s how it works” – this books has QR codes at the beginning of each chapter, so the author can provide additional information later

·         Create a comic strip…make the thought bubble a QR Code

·         Lesson Plans: Post QR Codes on your door for Principals to scan, so they know what you are doing that day – Less printing and less disruptive

·         Get Directions:  Have assignments posted on color coded QR Codes – Teacher is repeating self less

Tim Smith: timothy.smith@cms.k12.nc.us

Jake Standish: Jacob.standish@cms.k12.nc.us

Sharing Through Moodle

This past week I started a Moodle page to share with the teachers at my schools.  Here is the link:  http://moodle.fcschools.net/course/view.php?id=1517 

I've been trying to get the teachers interested in using Google Apps for Education.  Within this Moodle page, I've included step-by-step instructions for using "Web Apps".  I hope that this will encourage the teachers to use it more.  I did provide a PD workshop at one of the schools, but it is clear that more instruction is needed.  Web apps could be a useful and valuable tool for all teachers to use if they would just take the time to learn how to use it.  

First Day in a New Class

I just enrolled in ECI 719, yesterday.  Today is my first day trying to navigate around the course, and seeing who my new classmates are.  Luckily, I do recognize quite a few names.  I can't wait to meet the others and learn from each of you. 

Since I am currently working as a Instructional Technology Facilitator in a public school, I hope to share my knowledge with you.  This morning I assisted another ITF in instructing teachers how to use templates in Google Docs, publish them as web pages and then link those documents to their Moodle pages.  It has been a very interesting day! :-)