tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76966483518007529482024-03-18T23:35:19.852-04:00Beyond the ToolsA resource to help teachers, schools, students and parents navigate the use of technology tools in and outside of the classroom effectively.Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-5922745199855326112014-11-27T11:27:00.000-05:002014-11-30T11:29:15.258-05:00Learning On Demand<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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When I first conceived the basic idea for this post it was in a more nascent state than I realized. My thought began with how to use technology to provide students the ability to learn anytime, anywhere, which I call On Demand Learning, similar to how many of us - and, especially, our students - have become accustomed to accessing our entertainment. I thought On Demand Learning could be a future model for our education system as a whole, or for individual schools or districts to adopt. The general concept is that students in a classroom have a personal device to use to access content. This content would perhaps sit on the lower levels of Bloom's Taxonomy where the cognitive stakes are low. The student and device are mobile, so the learning can take place in any space in the room, or in any space outside of the room. The content is delivered when the student pushes play, if you will, so the learning can take place at any time. In this model, the students can learn as a group as well. For example the teacher (or learning coach) can push content to the student devices for simultaneous playback for the purpose of group learning or introducing a group activity. The students can work in small groups or one-on-one to access the same content and learn together. On Demand Learning provides students with the ability to participate in their learning and have some element of control; it is not unlike models we already see out there in the realm of blended learning or hybrid models. I like this model of learning on demand and I do believe that it will be a cornerstone of the education delivery in our world, if not our country, in the near future.<br />
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Since this earlier thought, as I continued to read and talk to colleagues my idea of learning on demand developed and expanded to include the elements of content. I came to realize that On Demand Learning lends itself well to differentiating learning. So now the idea becomes the technology providing students control of content access as well as the type of content they access. Where this gets interesting is when you begin to flesh out the potential of differentiating the learning. Imagine if instead of say 100 teachers in a region teaching the same math course, we change the model to have say 10 stellar teachers creating digital content for this single course that caters to different learning styles of students and at varying levels of comprehension and/or aptitude. Now we have the ability for students to be in the same course but to learn the content or concepts in a way that works best for their learning style. So, let's back up to the earlier example of the students in a classroom with a personal device. The teacher decides it's time to learn about the Pythagorean Theorem. Students, at their desks, can choose which of the 10 teachers they need to use to teach them the concept. (Maybe based on a preliminary assessment, one or two teachers are identified as being the ideal teachers for a student to select.) After the device activity concludes, the teacher in the classroom can then assign activities or problems for the students to work on together or alone and get help in person and begin to work on the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy with the students. You can imagine also that this can extend to outside of the classroom where perhaps the learning of the concept is a homework <br />
assignment (flipped model) and the students come to class ready to participate in activities and solving problems.<br />
This can morph into a national system whereby the best in class content deliverers (rock star teachers) can reach all students and provide the knowledge and comprehension, and our local educators become learning mentors and help the students make the necessary and appropriate connections to the material they are learning, focusing on the higher levels of Bloom's Taxonomy. This last part is quite controversial, I know. But, imagine if...Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-77261606719658620322014-05-01T16:00:00.000-04:002014-05-01T16:00:00.191-04:00Technology Department StructureIf you are looking for ideas on what the best model for structuring a technology department looks like, the chart below offers a suggestion on how you might organize the general technology roles at your school.<br />
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There are two schools of thought surrounding the separation of the academic technology leader role from the operations technology leader role. Some believe that it is important to keep the two roles separate - as in separate people - in order to enable the two to focus on their intended areas of duty. Others believe that having a central role requiring the knowledge and acumen of both academic and operational technologies enables a more macro management structure. It is important to identify which camp your school will align with. The model provided in this post allows for either to exist.<br />
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The roles in the chart can be combined into one person or split into many. It will depend on the size of your school, the number of people available, and their skill sets.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTGFM1sATI2PtamREAzj0MmQzel8YynnFzFpDF__OegU0U0DhCmpiuCXhgDvbODkgKfsmGyyrDhAZyas35lOGQ5I097ZzgXxuWNdibIM9nlgmT-3l6YRgnxYxtsCE77bH_rdHGcR1Uuzt/s3200/TechDeptStructure.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTGFM1sATI2PtamREAzj0MmQzel8YynnFzFpDF__OegU0U0DhCmpiuCXhgDvbODkgKfsmGyyrDhAZyas35lOGQ5I097ZzgXxuWNdibIM9nlgmT-3l6YRgnxYxtsCE77bH_rdHGcR1Uuzt/s3200/TechDeptStructure.png" height="300" width="400" /></a><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">I am happy for comments, as always!</span><span style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;">Thanks for reading</span></div>
Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-87156190574369640622014-04-04T15:00:00.000-04:002014-04-04T15:00:00.447-04:00What do I need to consider when deciding to use technology in my lesson?If you ever wondered: "Should I adjust my lesson to integrate this technology tool," then this blog post is for you!<br />
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If you ever thought: "I wish there was some list of suggested justifications to use technology in my lesson," then this blog post is for you!<br />
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The document below offers a set of questions you can ask yourself before deciding if using a particular technology tool or resource or activity in a lesson.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpxL2NwQj4UpskauaAPIIEDFNGTzx8t1ciy5upRzUP_LF8w7DdMNI5CwPNIlWeTE6sGxB1VEAxa93j-vlXMj-3cgayIrcTzUgOd9Y76-JWqCrChmG5uoCTcXjtfmltp7hgUxd_acyepdP/s3200/when+to+include+tech+in+a+lesson.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdpxL2NwQj4UpskauaAPIIEDFNGTzx8t1ciy5upRzUP_LF8w7DdMNI5CwPNIlWeTE6sGxB1VEAxa93j-vlXMj-3cgayIrcTzUgOd9Y76-JWqCrChmG5uoCTcXjtfmltp7hgUxd_acyepdP/s3200/when+to+include+tech+in+a+lesson.jpg" height="640" width="494" /></a></div>
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For a larger, printable version please go to <a href="http://goo.gl/fZIkpZ">http://goo.gl/fZIkpZ</a>.</div>
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I welcome comments, as usual! Thanks for reading and sharing!</div>
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<br />Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-87163428544662694812014-03-25T21:48:00.000-04:002014-03-25T21:49:31.177-04:00Tips for Creating an Online CourseI recently created a tip sheet outlining a few key pointers to use while developing and creating an online course.<br />
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For a larger, printable version, please visit <a href="http://bit.ly/1gWW73D">http://bit.ly/1gWW73D</a>.</div>
<br />Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-42857881904033297132013-01-08T13:46:00.001-05:002013-01-29T09:51:32.933-05:00Thinking Outside of The Box<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
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Happy New Year! And welcome back to school.<br />
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For some of you reading this, you may have come to this epiphany already, but as I was meeting with a teacher this morning, we began to discuss the use of PowerPoint (PPT). Many teachers I know use PPT religiously - for presentations, to distribute content to students, etc. But I find that PPT has many limitations that do not enable it to work nicely in today's education environment. For example, if a teacher using an LMS posts a PPT presentation for students to access, the teacher is assuming that all of their students have PPT installed on their machines and are thus able to view the file. I believe as we move along the education technology trajectory we can no longer feel safe in this assumption. PPT is expensive and PPT is immobile. Both of these factors render the use of this application, well, limiting.<br />
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This particular teacher I was meeting with this morning wants to post a series of PPT presentations on the school's Moodle site. When posting to an LMS, I always counsel teachers to think about posting files that are platform-independent, OS-independent, and software-independent: posting files that fit this description enable students to be mobile in their learning, and able to learn on any device they choose. PPT does not fit this description. So, we moved on to thinking of other ways to provide this content for students, outside the confines of a PPT presentation. It then dawned on me: Moodle provides the perfect structure to present (or provide) content for students while remaining true to the concept of platform, OS, and software -independence.<br />
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My out-of-the-box epiphany is that a PPT presentation can be broken apart and presented to students in bundles of material. Imagine, if you will, that a PPT presentation is a closed, opaque box filled with information you would like to give to a student. In order for the student to be able to see the information, he or she must open the box and he or she must have the exact tool required to open it. If the student does not have access to the tool, he or she will not have access to the information. Furthermore, if the student would like to quickly access a piece of the information, he or she would have to sift through all of the contents of the box to pull out only what is needed. In a world where we break open the box and make the content accessible regardless of tools available and reveal the topics of the content openly, students have a much better experience with the content and accessing the information. To achieve this, a video can be pulled out of an original PPT presentation, to be followed by a set of reflective questions one of the presentation slides may have contained, but now in the form of a quiz, complete with instant feedback from the teacher! This really opens the concept of "presentation" and gives us the opportunity to present <i>anything</i>, not just the elements that a rigid software application like PPT restricts us to.<br />
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So, the teacher and I have decided to conduct this experiment. We will take a more complex, mutli-media rich presentations and blow it apart to create an LMS experience that will provide more flexibility for both the teacher and the student. I am looking forward to this and anticipate that it will open me up for future epiphanies to come!<br />
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Thanks for reading!Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-87621131003693618832012-10-30T22:01:00.000-04:002012-10-30T22:01:18.896-04:00Two Other Projects for the YearInterestingly enough I left off two other major projects I'll be working on this year. First is our conversion to a new student information system. We decided last year to go with Veracross as our SIS and the implementation begins now. Our initial meeting with the project management team was last week. This should be interesting.<br />
Second, I am taking a course with the Online School for Girls called <i>Charting a Direction for Your School: Online Learning</i>. This is basically a year-long course that will help school leaders determine a course for implementing online learning into the fabric of the school. I expect this to be an incredible learning experience and fully expect to increase my knowledge base about online education.<br />
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The one-on-one meetings with teachers have been progressing fabulously! I admittedly was initially skeptical that teachers would want to be obligated to a class period with the technology integrator one day per week, but I am happy to say that I have been pleasantly surprised by not only the response to the time commitment but also the desire to learn! Many teachers come to the meeting with lists of topics and questions they'd like to cover, and others are so very open to learn what they don't know to ask about. One-to-one instruction has always been a part of the total technology integration model, but I have not experienced it to this magnitude before now. The time required of me to be able to meet with everyone has been considerable. I have begun to consolidate meeting times by scheduling a least two teachers in one period and with the plan of possibly alternating each appointment every other week. In the off-weeks, the intention is that the teachers will work on projects and goals we've set up together either on their own or with another teacher partner. Currently, we are still in the start-up stage and in the process of establishing the goals and projects.<br />
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The iPad program is expanding almost exponentially! We have added three library skills classes to the "pilot" and will soon make an all-school announcement that the iPads are available for any class if they are available. Additionally, we are adding 5 new iPads to enable more teachers to get their hands on one to explore and consider for their curriculum. Because there is one set of iPads that students share, we needed to establish some standardization of the organization for the iPads. I created a "page" for each subject area and placed the app icons in the same locations on each iPad. This way students will basically know where to go on the iPad to locate the apps they need regardless of the specific device they pick up. With the announcement of the iPad mini last week, perhaps we will test a few of those out in the near future to see how they fit in our environment.Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-36498578816216181572012-10-14T23:39:00.000-04:002012-10-14T23:39:11.233-04:00Welcome Back to School!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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Welcome back to school! Yes, it has been anywhere from five to nine weeks since school started, depending on what region of the country you are in, but things have been so busy that I am only now able to stop long enough to post! The summer was busy with developing processes for maintaining the backend technology at my school as well as developing a strong teacher training program, reviewing and evaluating the results of the previous school year's initiatives, and determining a process for creating a vision for technology for the school. As usual, the summer went by quickly and here we are: five weeks into the new school year.<br />
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An Update </h4>
My previous posts have included the mention of an iPad Pilot Program. I would like to offer a "report" of how that initiative fared.<br />
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We began the initiative with 15 iPads for an eight grade science class with as many students. The teacher of this class was very diligent about the use of iPads in her curriculum and made sure that it was the central tool for her course. The students used many science-specific apps like Pig Dissection, Chem Lab, and Quiz Chemistry, as well as some productivity and creation apps like Explain Everything and Evernote. I sat in on many classes and was witness to the excitement the students exuded when producing video explanations of the parts of the body or a chemical reaction. In the end, the pilot was a success. All of the 15 iPads we began with are still with us and in great condition! We used the ASVPP with one Apple ID so we still have all of the apps used last year to continue to use with this year's eight grade science class. In addition to continuing the Science 8 initiative, our middle school French teacher has been added and we are now exploring expanding the program to 6 more classes. We have graduated our classroom-sized pilot into a middle school pilot. A new adventure for a new school year.<br />
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Posts to come</h4>
I plan to continue to report on our iPad program this year. I am certain there will be a lot to learn from it. We have also begun a new initiative surrounding teacher development. The school administration has decided that integrating technology and supporting teachers as they learn to do this is so important that time has been allocated on their weekly schedule to devote to this endeavor. I have been meeting with every teacher weekly (our faculty is small enough for me to - barely - do this) to work on developing their technology and integration skills and knowledge. Again, I am certain there will be much to learn from this endeavor and I plan to update this blog with the progress. A third major project this year is the work of establishing a technology vision for the school. This is an exciting step forward as we think about and mold the future of our school.<br />
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So, please continue to read and I hope that you can glean something useful from the posts. As always, please share your comments, thoughts, and questions with me and other readers. Discussion is always welcome!<br />
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Thanks for reading!<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Links to apps mentioned in this post:</span><br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pig-dissection/id524822766?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Pig Dissection</span></a><br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/chem-lab/id339306833?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Chem Lab</span></a><br />
<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/quiz-chemistry/id471760774?mt=8" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Quiz Chemistry</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.explaineverything.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Explain Everything</span></a><br />
<a href="http://evernote.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Evernote</span></a>Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-18110535966223010242012-06-13T10:40:00.000-04:002012-06-13T10:40:14.577-04:00Create > Consume<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>I</b></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> have a guiding philosophy when it comes to technology use with my own children, as well as use in schools and with students: <b><i>create more than you consume</i></b>. As summer break begins for many children in the United States, many adults are looking for activities to keep children productively occupied. If the average elementary and middle school-aged children are anything like mine, then undoubtedly they will want to spend countless hours watching television and/or playing video games. Of course we'd all like to see them outside playing and running around with neighborhood friends, or using old boxes or unused items to play make-believe or create some new game. But the reality is this just doesn't happen as much anymore and the technology of the day has encroached upon our children's playtime. So, to compete with this phenomenon, I submit this to you: <b><i>let the children use their playtime on technology, but insist that most of the time is spent creating something with the technology, not just consuming it</i></b>. We can channel the creative energies we had as kids making up games, playing house with dolls, or using the living room furniture to make a fort into encouraging our children to design video games, produce a short story on video, or create a photo collage of their summer vacation. Not only are these activies fun and entertaining for our children, but they also help them gain and hone valuable skills for producing content, working with technology tools, and using their creativity. </span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIAM9NeGjntAnkttAWQ1qBHyDmV1MdaZwyrrUA6vwBIf3Bc-Ik-1Jb2CbQlrvm1lKMQI9qPvKOKOg4-GVc7eXbXhJb4FD5vVDkNx8UD3TNOwNktmN2VDMJ99TkFhRKvDaepeSMyY_GXmm/s1600/IMG_0957.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIAM9NeGjntAnkttAWQ1qBHyDmV1MdaZwyrrUA6vwBIf3Bc-Ik-1Jb2CbQlrvm1lKMQI9qPvKOKOg4-GVc7eXbXhJb4FD5vVDkNx8UD3TNOwNktmN2VDMJ99TkFhRKvDaepeSMyY_GXmm/s200/IMG_0957.jpg" width="149" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I will share some ideas I've already begun to implement with my children. I have a son who is a big gamer. He loves everything video game! He'll play on the computer, the Xbox 360, Wii, DSI, whatever (and, yes, he does have all of these!). So, in order for him to earn playing time on these games, I require him to spend time designing his own games. This feat is not as daunting as it may sound to a non- techie! I use a website called Gamestar Mechanic. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The site is well-scaffolded for teaching an introduction to game design and incorporates a sharing element as well. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It teaches students the conceptual elements of game design, the mechanics of designing games, and allows them to play games along the way and share the ones they've created with their friends. The students work through a series of "quests" that are leveled video games and as they successfully complete each level they earn items that they can use to build their own games. As they navigate through the quests, students are ocassionally required to "fix the game," where they are learning how to create and edit a game and apply the elements of good game design learned in earlier quests. In the end, the students create their own game from scratch or a template and have the ability to share their game with others and to provide feedback to other designers. Incidentally, I've used this website as the primary tool in a game design class I led for middle schoolers at my school. It works really well! </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4AF9s8FXTCl9mulbTSiJTq44Ghc3nOfjreoXTUciJhANMmrcVgldKCHV21c20jNeBQeI01TgNwIWw5fCmjN1X-puc7lsRpnYeWMc3RXum39S8MKcocTyj1Y3tPBYNWONgIYEYd6Yy25Z/s1600/flip-video-flip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4AF9s8FXTCl9mulbTSiJTq44Ghc3nOfjreoXTUciJhANMmrcVgldKCHV21c20jNeBQeI01TgNwIWw5fCmjN1X-puc7lsRpnYeWMc3RXum39S8MKcocTyj1Y3tPBYNWONgIYEYd6Yy25Z/s200/flip-video-flip.jpg" width="181" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A second activity I've used is digital video production. My other sons loves television. If he could watch television everyday for the rest of his life, he would! So, naturally, I require him to make videos. The first one was a "day in the life" video. We spent the day visiting a museum and he took a Flip* video camera and an iPod Touch along with us and filmed various parts of the day. Once we got home, I showed him how to upload the footage and how to edit the footage using iMovie. Again, iMovie is an easy tool to learn and to use. Once the user gets the hang of trimming video clips, he or she can add sound effects, music, cool transitions, and text to the video to help tell their story. This activity is great for helping students learn how to organize their thoughts to tell a story. And the more they create videos, the more they will develop into better storytellers - when you use video to tell a story, you have to be very organized in the beginning of the project in order to capture all the footage you need to sufficiently convey your ideas. In the end of this activity, the student has a video of a memorable event, or a story to share with others. Digital video production is also a course I've taught and I see that video projects are being assigned by other teachers in other disciplines more and more often. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The ideal is to align your child's or student's consumption interests with their creation projects. Once you've identified what they are most interested in when they use technology, find or create a project that will require them to make it, or some aspect of it, for themselves. There are tons of tools and help sites out there to get you going. Additionally, I'd love to be part of your process if you'd like! Feel free to comment on this blog or send me an email to share your ideas with me or other readers of this blog. If you are already doing this, please share what you've done, as well as what has worked and what hasn't. We all want to learn from you!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Tech Tools Referenced:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://gamestarmechanic.com/parents/page1" target="_blank">Gamestar Mechanic</a> gamestarmechanic.com/parents/page1</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/" target="_blank">iMovie</a> www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Flip Video Camera (RIP)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><a href="http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/" target="_blank">iPod Touch</a> www.apple.com/ipodtouch/</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">*Note: We took along the iPod Touch as a back up camera in case the Flip ran out of space. It turns out we needed it! He captured footage using both cameras and also learned how to import the footage onto the computer.</span>Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-65727114871930883612012-04-13T15:59:00.000-04:002012-04-19T16:02:59.165-04:00Tweeting with Teens<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSOr5SSci67kkQqOOR5Gc_O88K2FodFbfQOB44o-iS9Gko2_oxygsXNKcyQ2mLhzfSx8AFIeZ5KjxpFHLU1DBbWZ43CTeXv88B7y81tWhuSRWHucsashuCqHDybca46p3x5Ag0myDtdFb/s1600/twitter-man-icon.png" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="http://www.iconshock.com/" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.iconshock.com/">iconshock.com</a></td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Last week we held an assembly for all of the high school students about digital citizenship. I was very concerned about the presentation being too formal and stodgy so I wanted to find a way to make it more interactive. I began to consider the use of cell phones as a means for the students to communicate with the presentation, each other, and with me, the presenter. Because the presentation was very short and packed with a lot of content, I needed to provide the students with a method of asking questions and offering comments during the presentation. Two possibilities emerged: texting and tweeting. One morning in homeroom several weeks before the presentation I took an informal show-of-hands poll to determine if the students had Twitter accounts, and if they were actively tweeting via their cell phones. Enough of the students appeared to meet these requirements so I decided on tweeting.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKSOr5SSci67kkQqOOR5Gc_O88K2FodFbfQOB44o-iS9Gko2_oxygsXNKcyQ2mLhzfSx8AFIeZ5KjxpFHLU1DBbWZ43CTeXv88B7y81tWhuSRWHucsashuCqHDybca46p3x5Ag0myDtdFb/s1600/twitter-man-icon.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I set up a hashtag (#PCSCyberliving) and used Twitterfall to aggregate and display the tweets during the presentation. I had a regular backchannel going! Technically, all worked well. I had a prepared Keynote presentation for the content and I periodically switched between the presentation and Twitterfall to field questions, highlight comments, and to publicly acknowledge the backchannel. I had a teacher serve as the "monitor" of the Twitter feed, so as I focused on presenting the material, she focused on making sure the Twitter feed was under control. She also posted links and resources that went along with the presentation. In the future, I would really like to have someone serve as a commentator in addition to moderator. That way anyone not attending the presentation but following the feed can also follow along with the crux of the presentation. All of the technology elements worked well and I found no issues using Twitter to make my presentation more interactive.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVUwfWIH8TtlslpQnyM2yPXFZYCG6xMu2ZjRTHI0jkVPxGFsWofSG_ckIqGjkrZap8X7rKPy06e8-fJfZFsyxuxIqLIujUYdrCq7bjr3dlZEtScrNXcQjhGPpqdXddMwSDjn6Fn0Kz4M-/s1600/iphone01-20110817095437-00036.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRVUwfWIH8TtlslpQnyM2yPXFZYCG6xMu2ZjRTHI0jkVPxGFsWofSG_ckIqGjkrZap8X7rKPy06e8-fJfZFsyxuxIqLIujUYdrCq7bjr3dlZEtScrNXcQjhGPpqdXddMwSDjn6Fn0Kz4M-/s1600/iphone01-20110817095437-00036.png" title="http://www.designdownloader.com/" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">designdownloader.com</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_bxmtdgHs47oVCEqn7bhoEZ28fiEjwerK8quMoYp8uBFHk9URD5muTgeN4Ct9Ga3I2t1Gw_rISYm_sbtRU6cUJjhaybOt21CFfe55HsV1ShTq94NpQUAlevB_x_KkwzrmS6934H5lYI3s/s1600/iphone_twitter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Socially, well that's another story! As expected the <i>Twitter resolution</i> was used for both good and mischief! (I was dealing with high school students after all!) Most students offered thoughtful and appropriate comments and questions, but there were at least two students that insisted on using the feed as an opportunity to play class clown. This is why the moderator was so important, as well as my announcement at the beginning of the presentation that I would be displaying the feed periodically to the audience. I hoped that these two factors would deter students from indulging in bad behavior. Overall it worked. The moderator had to send one or two direct messages to students that got out of hand and her intervention seemed to quell the behavior. I think that given the subject of the presentation - digital citizenship - the <i>Twitter resolution</i> was a perfect <i>lesson by doing.</i> There was even a student out sick that day who participated in the Twitter feed.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you think about employing this technique I strongly recommend you do - whether it be for a big presentation or in a classroom. It is an excellent way to encourage and enable students to use technology in a more academic way, if they are not already. It also provides teachers an opportunity to see how this technique can be used in a classroom setting. And it gives students an opportunity to practice good behavior using technology while under the guidance of adults. I'd say it's a win-win-win solution!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Feel free to email me or comment below with questions or share your own experience!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thanks for reading!</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tech Tools Referenced:<br />Twitterfall http://twitterfall.com/<br />Twitter http://twitter.com<br />Keynote http://www.apple.com/iwork/keynote/</span>Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-43355039719778435592012-04-03T11:39:00.001-04:002012-04-19T16:03:56.246-04:00The [Instructional Technology] Age-Old Question: How do we train our teachers?<div style="font-family: Arial;">
Having been in the profession of technology in schools and curriculum for 7 years now, I have sort of developed an opinion about what does and does not work when it comes to how I get my teachers trained in the technologies we need to use. There are a variety of approaches my colleagues and I across the nation engage in regularly: one-to-many lecture style trainings, one-to-one individual meetings, small groups, faculty champions or department leaders, and even online asynchronous trainings!</div>
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One method that I strongly feel does not work is any iteration of the technology workshop. That would be the likes of 'Wired Wednesday', 'Tech Tuesday', or 'Monday Tech Madness'. Now, I am open to suggestions and open to continue to try this method if I can find cases where it has worked. This openness has led me to my latest version of the technology workshop: 'Lunch & Laptops'. I am trying one more time (at the strong urging of my head of school) to put in place this method of instructing teachers. I'm thinking of it as sort of my office hours when teachers know they can always find me available to answer questions or help with a skill. I am also holding one session per week after school (Though a clever name for this session has eluded me! Any suggestions?!). I only started this last week and this week is the end of the quarter, so, of course, attendance has been low (three sessions => three students). </div>
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This brings me back to the question in the title: How do we train our teachers? I've attended several conferences and special interest group meetings and spoken to my professional network about the topic, and as anyone reading this in the profession knows, we don't yet have an answer! Especially in the schools where leadership has not made the training a requirement for the teachers or attached some sort of accountability. If you have discovered the recipe, please share with the rest of us! In the meantime, I will give my latest creation a solid try and hope that I can raise the bar for myself in my marketing and cajoling skills and get the chairs filled!</div>Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0Manhattan, NY 10023, USA40.7769059 -73.98006450000002640.767958400000005 -73.98896150000003 40.7858534 -73.971167500000021tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-63845891473012707422012-01-20T10:22:00.001-05:002012-01-20T10:23:49.340-05:00What is Technology Integration REALLY About? A PCS AnecdoteHappy New Year!! I am back and ready to move strong in 2012! I hope you are too!<br />
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My first post this year is a spotlight on technology use in the classroom of a real teacher at my school. I try to frequently highlight what teachers are doing in technology to other teachers at the school through our school's internet portal. I periodically post an Academic Technology message with tidbits for the faculty to consider as they execute their daily routines. Here is the latest <i><b>Technology Spotlight</b></i>:<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>What is technology in education all about?</b></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="font-size: small;"><i>A PCS anecdote</i></span></span><br />
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</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I wish I had a tape recorder on when Roberta [our music teacher] came into my office this morning to share her latest experience with me.</span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: arial;">I'll try my best to recount her story:</span></div><div style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: arial;"><br />
</span></div></div><blockquote style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><blockquote style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div><div><a href="http://www.kryonrecords.com/en/images/stories/musica-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://www.kryonrecords.com/en/images/stories/musica-.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: small;">Today is my last class for Music Theory. I was planning to play Musical Theory Jeopardy with them but thought that would be too boring. So instead I decided I'd like to analyze a piece with them. I realized that I did not have the CD that contained the symphony with me, but, I remembered that I could search for it on YouTube. </span></i><span style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: small;"><i>Not only did I find it, but I had several performances to choose from! </i></span></span><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: small;">I then made copies of the score to give to the students, </span></i><i><span style="font-family: 'times new roman', serif; font-size: small;">hooked up my laptop to the TV to project the symphony performance, and carried on with my new lesson plan.</span></i></span></div></div></blockquote></blockquote><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">What is technology in education all about? This is what it is all about! </span></div></div><blockquote style="border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 40px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"></span></b></span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The ability to be flexible in your teaching and in your planning. </span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The ability to have just-in-time access to the materials you need. </span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;"><b><span style="font-size: small;">The excitement that results when you are able to execute your vision for the lesson!</span></b></span></div></div></blockquote><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: arial;"></span><br />
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</span></div><div><span style="font-family: arial;">That is what technology in education is about!</span></div></div>Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-17651168210237656142011-12-09T15:25:00.000-05:002011-12-09T15:25:47.299-05:00iPad Pilot Program Launched!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZ8KL8040vSGb6WeSRw1E_NzstEKBTY_1XmjCz5LF39zqe9oSMVsJC5sXWopzcnKX0N6AaPtRzvyrubHTZwiQ2spvm3-VYwrijYbz8qM8ys8E_xx1PMG2r2OJjI7CLRlApZHCq7o5I5v6/s1600/IMG_0104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqZ8KL8040vSGb6WeSRw1E_NzstEKBTY_1XmjCz5LF39zqe9oSMVsJC5sXWopzcnKX0N6AaPtRzvyrubHTZwiQ2spvm3-VYwrijYbz8qM8ys8E_xx1PMG2r2OJjI7CLRlApZHCq7o5I5v6/s200/IMG_0104.JPG" width="200" /></a></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">We finally launched the iPad Pilot program in eighth grade science on Monday! Many of the students had not before used an iPad and were very excited to use one in the classroom - one student even wanted to continue to work on his class project during his free period today so he could finish (I wonder if the iPad influenced him?). </div><div style="font-family: Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br />
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</div><div>The teacher has big plans for this class - she is using several Apps that together help to create an interactive learning experience for the students. <b><i>mTouch+</i></b> enables students to access their Moodle content from the iPad; <i><b>Explain Everything</b></i> is an app that lets students create content for the class - they can draw and type as well as record the screen and their voices while drawing and typing! A powerful assessment tool. Another App they are using is <b><i>Evernote</i></b> (a personal and professional favorite of mine!). Evernote enables the students to take notes on the iPad, personal and group, and share them not only with their classmates, but also between any devices they have. Evernote syncs between mobile and desktop devices as well as with the Internet. You should definitely check it out! Here is the link to their website: http://www.evernote.com/ </div><div>Of course, there are several Science Apps they are using. <b><i>Chem Lab</i></b>, <b><i>VideoScience</i></b>, and <b><i>QRC Elements</i></b> are a few of them!</div></div>Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-55474527743620675152011-12-09T15:19:00.000-05:002011-12-09T15:19:47.722-05:00Final Setup of the iPad PilotI spent Thursday and Friday of last week setting up all of the iPads for the classroom. It was a tedious process - we have 15 iPads to set up. One thing I did not realize about the case for the iPads is that you can not sync and charge at the same time! If the sync cable is attached, then the iPads will not charge. Other than that glitch, the set up went well. I had to touch every device because out of the box, the iPads have to be configured at the hardware level as well as the software level (you know, all those questions that came with iOS 5?!).<br />
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See my next post for what is happening in the classroom with them!Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-60003838978911436822011-11-15T12:26:00.000-05:002011-11-15T12:26:13.463-05:00Using Moodle to Conduct Professional DevelopmentMoodle (or Blackboard, Vista, Haiku, etc. for that matter) is a great tool to use to deliver learning content. About a year into my role as an academic technology integrator and as a Moodle administrator, I decided to use Moodle not only to administer my classes to students, but also to deliver technology training to my faculty. I've actually used Moodle to teach...Moodle! Course delivery systems provide a great way to augment the classroom experience. In the same vein, they also provide a great way to deliver content, interact with participants, and assess learning. I upload short videos to demonstrate how to execute a specific skill, or I link to videos I find on the Internet. Any instruction sheets that I create I also upload to Moodle for my faculty to access.<br />
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This year I am going to try something new with my faculty - we are going to actually try running a course. In the past all of the content has been up on Moodle for reference. This year I am going to interact with the teachers as if they were taking an online course. I plan to keep the learning online, but to offer as much contact time as possible. I welcome any comments on experience you have had or any advise you'd like to give me!<br />
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<b><u>iPad Pilot Update:</u></b><br />
We finally got the covers in and we are still waiting for the cart!!! We've had some problems with inventory being available (covers) and we changed our mind about the original cart we bought and changed to a desktop model (as opposed to a rolling cart). This put our project back a bit, and we had to return the original cart and purchase the new one. Oiy!Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-16709498780188923802011-10-27T09:49:00.000-04:002011-10-27T09:49:10.237-04:00Selected a "cart" for the iPad Pilot Program!I continue to call it a "cart" because I don't have a short name for it!<br />
<a href="http://www.ergotron.com/Portals/0/images/products/chargeCarts/24-237-085_lg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="http://www.ergotron.com/Portals/0/images/products/chargeCarts/24-237-085_lg.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
We decided on the <a href="http://www.ergotron.com/Products/tabid/65/PRDID/484/language/en-US/Default.aspx">Ergotron 24-237-085 Tablet Management Desktop Module</a> <i style="font-size: x-small;">(see how long) </i>to charge, sync, and secure our iPads.<br />
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The module is small enough to place on the counter in the science lab and will provide the security we need.<br />
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Just ordered it yesterday, so, I'll keep the blog updated on the progress.Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-56197122428282322092011-10-20T23:40:00.000-04:002011-10-27T09:40:36.547-04:00Pearson's OpenClass and Google Apps for EdI took a break from the iPads today and spent some time testing the new *free* LMS put out by Pearson called OpenClass. What interested me about it is that it was created to integrate with Google Apps for Ed and since our school is a GAFE school and we use a CMS (Moodle) I thought it would be good to see what OpenClass could do. I have been looking for a seamless solution that combines/integrates Google Docs and Moodle.<br />
On the first pass I created a teacher (Instructor) and student account to play around with. Because I was playing the role of three different people (admin, instructor, and student), I decided to use Google Chrome and log in as the teacher in an incognito window. THIS DID NOT WORK WELL! I was unable to access the teacher editing tools until I logged in in separate browsers. <br />
I have not read any manuals or watched any tutorials, so right out of the box there are some confusing features. <br />
1-I have no idea how to create an assignment with a due date (like in Moodle) or even if it is possible;<br />
2-the organization is confusing andi can't easily see how to customize it<br />
3-what is the difference between a "submission" and the other "gradable" items?!<br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OqKTFqwpPIR2OggCgUtsxh_5u_NQJT3hZBpbgxnh3sVoMgMS8aIhE7TLvqP2wRchIe12jeelu9q0UBFYj5iwHjoJIRd7i_qE-Fj0tuedpTgEnpTNX4sffRRrjef7alkbuijGqdI2ZI0U/s1600/openclass.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="27" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1OqKTFqwpPIR2OggCgUtsxh_5u_NQJT3hZBpbgxnh3sVoMgMS8aIhE7TLvqP2wRchIe12jeelu9q0UBFYj5iwHjoJIRd7i_qE-Fj0tuedpTgEnpTNX4sffRRrjef7alkbuijGqdI2ZI0U/s200/openclass.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Snapshot from OpenClass</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;">That said, some cool features I found is the ability for course participants to post on "the wall" and the icons on the top left that enable a user to see how many email messages they have as well as upcoming events taken directly from the Google Calendar.</span><br />
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Clearly I still have a lot of learning to do!Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-75909703107405109332011-10-19T22:43:00.000-04:002011-10-19T22:44:24.556-04:00iPad Covers and CartsToday I shopped for iPad Carts & Desktop models and iPad Covers.<br />
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We decided to go with a "cart" that enables sync and charge for at least 15 iPad 2s. Instead of using a floor model we decided on a countertop model. I found two models that provide security and perform the sync and charge asks effectively - and simultaneously.<br />
They are made by Ergotron and Datamation. [see my google spreadsheet of my research: <a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvdW1hAFh2vvdHpoNzNDZldGVmttWUkyYThDRnQyS0E&hl=en_US">iPad Purchases</a>]<br />
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I'll decide on which one to purchase tomorrow.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://ak.buy.com/PI/2/350/223277814.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://ak.buy.com/PI/2/350/223277814.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br />
Covers for the iPads are necessary. We are looking for a cover that is not expensive and also covers both the front and back of each iPad - they will be used primarily in a chemistry class/lab! I chose a cover that fits the bill; I decided on <a href="http://www.buy.com/prod/dual-case-polyurethane-smart-cover-front-hard-rubberized-poly/223277814.html">the covered pictured on the left</a>, $23.98 each at buy.com.<br />
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I also attended a webinar on Google Chromebooks today...but that's another post!!Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7696648351800752948.post-69881617618080745042011-10-18T15:30:00.000-04:002011-10-18T15:30:55.355-04:00Setting up the Apple Volume Purchasing Program on the iPadsToday we began opening the boxes containing the 15 iPads recently ordered for the iPad Pilot Program at PCS. The iPads are not loaded with iOS 5 and we do not yet have the sync/charge cart set up. Sooo, I connected two iPads to my laptop (MacBook Pro) and commenced to see what would sync.<br />
The big task was setting up the iPads with a single Apple ID. I signed up for the AVPP and already had a Program Manager account and a Program Facilitator account. What I did not have was a user account. So, we figured out that A minimum of three Apple IDs are needed to participate in the program - one for the management of the program, at least one for the purchasing of apps, and at least one for the iPads. To create the iPads Apple ID I used the instructions to create an Apple ID without a credit card [see: <a href="http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534">http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2534</a>] and then successfully downloaded apps and even shared downloaded apps between the two iPads I connected to originally.<br />
OH - We finally figured out that both devices would sync simultaneously using a USB hub, and are therefore confident that using a sync cart will allow us to sync multiple iPads at the same time.Lizbeth Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12939107672804129911noreply@blogger.com0