Technology Delights, Discoveries, and Disasters

Ch, Ch, Ch, Changes Coming to Trantwood

SheilaT — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 01:26:48 +0000

(Delight)My Trantwood Technology 2.0 session is quickly approaching. I’m both excited and worried. If I try to show too much, I will lose them. If I don’t do enough, I will not make the impact I’m hoping for. There is a very fine line!

My Presentation Goals:

1. What is 21^st Century Learning/Teaching?

2. What is the urgency of creating a digital classroom with “Higher Order Technology Integration”?

3. New ISTE goals, New VBCPS Proficiencies, and our New Trantwood 2.0 Plan

4. I want our staff to agree upon a common technology vision and determine which needs are most urgent to reach our technology goals.

5. (Discoveries) Model some of the new Web2.0 tools we will utilize this year-

a. Edublogs

b. 21Classes

c. Wikispace or Wetpaint Wiki

d. Voice Thread

e. Epals

f. JingProject

g. Pageflakes

h. Twiddla

i. Sharepoint

j. Windows Messenger

k. Video Conferencing

I’ll be highlighting some of these tools and will provide a link to my wiki for further investigating. I’ll be shifting the rest of my support documents to this wiki real soon. http://elementarycrs-vbcps.wikispaces.com/ Currently, you will find the handouts I used in my Scratch presentation at our summer conference and handouts for my Edublog and Podcasting PDP course for Virginia Beach teachers. I have lots more to move over to this “PD Parking Lot”.

(Discovery)I believe we all have a responsibility to learn on our own and to share what we know. I’m hoping Jing will allow some of my students and teachers to create and share helpful tutorials. Have you used Jing? http://www.jingproject.com/ .
Here is one I created:
How to Load Scratch http://www.screencast.com/t/vxODDNnk7

(Disaster)I copied and pasted the post above from Microsoft Word. Yikes! It looks terrible. The text has different styles/fonts and the bulleted list looks atrocious. What you see is not what you get. I won’t be pasting directly from Word anymore.

One Thing Leads to Another

SheilaT — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:10:48 +0000

(Delight) I was connecting with my personal learning network on twitter, which led me to a blog http://www.ncs-tech.org/?p=1414, which shared a youtube video that made me think. Which led me to write this post. WARNING: When using the internet, often times- one thing leads to another.
At first, i thought- WOW this is so on target with why education must change for our 21st Century learners- i must use this in my staff presentation on the 25th of August. But, when I listened to it a second time something happened. I realized that I started a journey up the “new” Blooms Taxonomy pyramid. First, I remembered the website, name of the video (Learning to Change, Changing to Learn), and it’s main developer (coSN). Then, I decided to share what I understood about the article in this blog post. Next, I started questioning and thinking about the different points of view. I felt the need to analyze and compare/contrast these opinions with my own. I started taking the video apart in my mind- evaluating and judging the information/opinions. I agreed very strongly with so much of it, but a few parts I found dismal and somewhat untrue. Now, i want to discuss it and connect with others to see what they got out of it- both pros and cons. Perhaps i need to start a blog club and model it after a book club.
(Discovery)This is an example of a journey I would love for my students to take when learning!
Well, here is the video “Learning to Change, Changing to Learn”-

My take on the video:

Yes!	Yikes!
Every turned off device is potentially a turned off child	The level of business ”I.T. Intensiveness” rank education last. (Education is not a business and I cringe when it is compared. I.T. Intensiveness does not make a successful learner- many other factors do!)
Technology is not a choice, it has created a world, it has invented a completely different learning environment	“Bricks and mortar classrooms” (This sounds so cold and uninviting. Many of our current schools are safe, nurturing, and warm places!
It’s about creativity, connectivity, access, synthesis ability, communication, teamwork ability, multi disciplinary, multicultural, collaboration, problem solving	“It’s the Death of Education and the Dawn of Learning.” (To me, education is going through a metamorphosis, it’s not going to die, and it will emerge more powerful and beautiful than ever… if I have anything to do about it!)
The best quality teachers will help make the bridges, start with the teacher
Kids will be using cell phones to collect and share data
We have a classroom system when we could have a community system, open the door to connecting and opportunities
The jobs our students will be having will NOT call for a right answer vending machine approach
As nclb fades away, it will allow for innovation

(Disaster)

I had such a hard time inserting the youtube video above! Tried to use the add media button…no, also tried to use the insert embedded media button…no, also tried to use the add video button…no. Finally, simply used the HTML edit tab and pasted in code after completely finishing post. Helloooooo! It took me over an hour to do this. Live and learn I always say!Technology Delights, Discoveries, and Disasters w/SheilaT

Bill Gates, Roller Coasters, and Where R U?

SheilaT — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:03:16 +0000

(Delight) “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”- Bill Gates
All of us, in the world of educational technology, are leaders as we empower our peers, administrators, teachers, and students. With that leadership comes HUGE responsibility. Where am I with that responsibility? I am where 21st Century meets blank faces and blank stares.
I’ve been planning Trantwood 2.0 for about 5 months now. I must persuade and “sell” our entire school’s new approach to technology utilization. Our program structure will not be the same as it has been in years past. We will now focus on creative thinking/problem solving, connecting/sharing with others in and outside our school, communicating, and collaborating. This change will bring all of us out of our computer lab comfort zone. No more excuses. I’ve worked so hard this past year to explore and utiize web2.0 apps like never before- I’ve twittered, vokied, wikied, ninged, blogged, podcasted, video conferenced, voicethreaded, google sketch upped, igoogled, google earthed, tagged, rss’d, Aliced, Scratched, webinarred, youtubed, ustreamed, edtechtalked, and much more (pls excuse the creative spelling). What’s amazing about this is not the length of the list, but that i just started using this stuff LESS than a year ago! I committed to learning and using new Web2.0 apps and now i’m feeling more than ready to share my excitement! I tried them out on my computer club kids, small groups of students, and with several teacher power users and their classes. It’s time now to go whole school, no more old school. In general, changes on this scale are exciting and thrilling, but scary…kinda like the Griffon rollercoaster at Busch Gardens that i’m proud to say i rode on this week. We will experience sudden twists and turns, as well as an occasional steep drop (perahps off of our new wireless network). I’ll be taking the next few weeks to work on my presentation of “Trantwood 2.0″ for our staff professional development at the end of August. I have about 1.5 hours to motivate, convince, encourage, and beg our faculty and staff to join me on this wild ride.
(Delight) “Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting the kids working together and motivating them, the teacher is the most important.”- Bill Gates

(Discovery) Here is a great map a twitter friend posted today- http://www.appappeal.com/web-2-0-application-world-mosaic/ containing 1001 web2.0 apps. Just when i thought i had web2.0 down, they shared 900 more! (Both a pro and a con with web2.0!)

In my previous post, i asked “Who’s on What?”. My question for this one is “Where are you?”
(Discovery) My friend, JaneneG recently sent me this link to a quiz that reveals where you are technologically- http://www.pewinternet.org/quiz/quiz.asp
Here is a link to my results- http://www.pewinternet.org/quiz/results.asp?c=0 Pretty cool!!!

(Discovery)Also, decide where you are on this 21st Century teaching and learning continuum and think about what steps are needed to get to the next level.

I’m guessing i’m about 3.5

Technology Delights, Discoveries, and Disasters w/SheilaT

~ Sheila Teri

Who’s on What?

SheilaT — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:42:13 +0000

(Delight) I just can’t get enough of learning new technology. Almost everytime i log into twitter i’m learning something new and want to try it out right then and there. I don’t get it when people “Don’t Get” twitter. Like Pavlov’s dog, my mouth starts to water and i dive right into to a new tool, blog, wiki, virtual world, or methodology. It’s an exciting time!! I wonder how many others feel the same way. I also wonder about how I can share all this cool stuff with other Computer Resource Specialists in our school system.
(Discovery) I had an idea to create a wiki to organize our new learning and to encourage others (and myself) to try new things. Yesterday @javarich posted a math wiki created by Ken G. using http://www.wetpaint.com/. My mouth started to water, my mind started to rev up, and my idea was born- Why not create a wiki to share all of this new digital learning?
(Discovery) I created this – http://vbcpscrs.wetpaint.com/ Virginia Beach CRS (& Friends) Who’s on What? wiki. I worked on this for the best part of an entire day. If you want the day to fly by, just embark on a new online project! Wow, did i wear my PJs all day? (did i just admit that?) So, right now I’m the only member of this wiki. I hope others will join in and share… or will this be a Disaster? I wonder if my wiki will make it. I’m thinking that a wiki is like a new restaurant- some make it and most don’t. Gotta wait and see. Together we can make it a great resource!
My take on http://www.wetpaint.com/ wikis:
-Very, very, very easy and user friendly to set up
-Voki widget easy to embed
-Tables easier than wikispaces (just right click in table to modify)
-Not sure if I like the More Tools>”add attachment” feature for uploading docs, they show up all the way at the bottom
-Not a fan of the abundance of advertisement on margins

Technology Delights, Discoveries, and Disasters w/SheilaT

Happy Independent Thinking Day

SheilaT — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:08:31 +0000

(Delight) The mixtape above is for your listening pleasure as you read this post- It’s 4th of July and a very proud day for many reasons. It’s also (tech) Leadership Day 2008 for many educational bloggers out there.
We are getting closer and closer to big changes in how our students are provided with thinking and learning opportunities. We have made amazing progress toward recognizing 21st Century Skills that we think will be needed for future jobs that don’t even exist today. We do know that creative thinking, communicating, and collaborating are among the key components of success. We need the continued support and leadership to make the shift needed for new curriculum, assessment techniques, and supplies needed for our 21st Century learners. If you think about it like a car with 5 gears, I would say we have only shifted into 2nd gear at this time, still let’s recognize that we are moving in the right direction!
I recently bumped into a former student and her parents at our local Relay for Life celebration. She had just completed her first year of college. Her parents asked if I was “still teaching”. (I get this question quite often and I just don’t know why.) They asked it as if I have been doing the same old thing in our computer lab since their daughter left our elementary school. I was so proud let them know that YES I was still teaching, but told them about the school blog, podcasting, video conferencing with others near and far, google apps, voicethread, and other web 2.0 tools we are using. (Discovery)They were shocked and amazed at my response and to be honest so was I. Until I put it all together, I realized that however small my steps are, I am making a difference with our students. With the help of school leaders, we can perhaps get into more powerful gears even sooner!
(Discovery) I remember making “mix tapes” for special occasions growing up in the 80s. I recently stumbled upon www.mixwit.com that can do the same thing in a wonderful web2.0 way. Here is a mix tape for school leaders to deal with the change needed to help our students succeed in our creative, connected, digital world-
http://www.mixwit.com/sheila_teri/mixing-it-up-for-21st-century-c
(Disaster) I tried to embed the code for my mix tape and it didn’t work, so i posted this link instead. I will work on this later and try again. That’s technology sometimes!)
*Update July 6th – Yeah, i got it to work! I just embedded the code at the top instead of here at the end.

Welcome to Technology Delight

SheilaT — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:51:32 +0000

To my PDP group,
Congratulations for creating your first Edublog today! I hope you will find it as an exciting addition to your teaching. You will see the excitement when your students share and connnect with world through your classroom blog.

Sheila Teri, CRS Trantwood

*To leave a comment, click the title of this post and scroll down. You will see where to type. Approved comments will be posted a soon as I have the opportunity to moderate.