TECSIG October 7 & 8

I was lucky enough to attend the TEC-SIG Fall 2010 Meeting in Austin, Texas on October 7 & 8.  The TEC-SIG or Technology Education Coordinators Special Interest Group is made up of a great group of individuals from different K12 Districts, Colleges and Universities across Texas that share a great deal of knowledge and experience when it comes to technology and education.  I have had the pleasure of being a part of this group for 2 years now and hope to continue to be a part of this group for a long time.

This TEC-SIG Meeting covered an array of topics from Project Share, Technology Applications TEKS Update, iPad, iPods and Apps for Education, Cybersafety and AUPs, Open Source SIG, Google Sketchup and of updates from the Texas Education Agency on several topics.  Like most meetings or conferences if you are a one man show you can only attend so many sessions, however, in the last couple of years that I have been part of TEC-SIG or just Technology Education in general I met several extraordinary people who tweet, blog, and even post video about the sessions they attend; this meeting was no different.  Below are a list of links from those individuals who provided notes, blogs, tweets and video of the sessions.

• Maria Henderson TEC-SIG Keynote Speaker Notes (via Tim Holt’s Intended Consequences blog)
• 60 Sites in 60 Minutes – Lori Gracey (via Scott S. Floyd’s A Piece of My Mind blog)
• Lori Gracey’s 60 Websites: Information (via Tim Holt’s Intended Consequences blog)
• Technology Applications TEKS Update – Dr. Bruce Ellis (via Tim Holt’s Intended Consequences blog)
• TEA Project Share (via Miguel Guhlin’s Around the Corner blog)
• TEA Update October 2010 (via Miguel Guhlin’s Share More Wiki Notes)
  • Candace Threadgill TCEA Update
  • Anita Givens, Richard LaGow, Karen Kahan
  • Project Share, Technology Applications TEKS Review, Instructional Material, Technology Funding, EBSCO Database Updates, TXVSN, PowerOnTexas, Project Tomorrow, TechAppsNetwork.org
  • TEA Update Recorded Sessions (by Tim Holt – El Paso ISD)
    • TEA Technology Update Part 1
    • TEA Technology Update Part 2

Although this is not a full list of all the sessions that were presented at the Fall 2010 meeting it was the ones I found or knew; however I hope these are of some help.  I would have also liked to have tweeted, plurked, or blogged about the sessions I attend however I made the mistake of taking the wrong laptop from my office to the meeting and therefore pretty much leaving me with just my cell phone and a pen to take to the meeting.  I will be better prepared next time and be sure to take the right laptop with me or maybe a new iPad; we will see.

Just saw a sneak peak of the new Twitter.com that offers an easier, faster, and richer experience.  Some of the new items include a new design where there will be a left side and right side to what we see on the screen.  Twitter will also make it easier to see embedded photos and videos posted by others.  A new details pane will show additional information related tothe author or subject of the Tweet.  Last but not least itlooks like there will be a mini profiles section that will allow you to view a someones profile without leaving your page that will include bio and recent Tweets.

As far as the rollout it looks like it will be done over the next several weeks and you will have to option of switching back and forth from the old to the new design however their goal is to eventually move everyone over to the updated version of Twitter.com

It has been quite some time since I have posted a blog.  At times I tend to get extremely busy and it seems like there is not enough time in a day, a week or month to get things done.  Although education and technology have played a huge roll in my life in the last few years I also have other items on my plate that I like to work with and this summer I decided to try and unplug my life a little to see what its like.  I have to admit that it was very difficult at first.  My friends, for as long as I can remember have always told me that I need to pull away from my desktop PC,  put my laptop down a little, stay off my smart phone, etc; unplug.  I have always told them that I could do it if I really wanted to and that Im not addicted to technology like they claim. Although I have to work all year round and have to use technology on a daily basis at work, I decided to unplug at home.  At first it was kind of difficult and although I was able to let go of being on my PC and laptop on a daily basis, I just couldnt let go of my smartphone.

However, I have to admit that it was a little refreshing by unplugging even if it was just a little bit and for a short period of time.  I started doing other things that I used to enjoy doing in the past like playing basketball with friends, picking up my bass guitar and learning some new songs, drawing, fishing with my dad, and just relaxing and enjoying some quiet time.  Before I became an administrator and started working year round those were the kinds of things I would do during the summer and it was great.  I have to admit that I miss doing a lot of those things and I am finding it difficult to try and fit those into my daily schedule while working a full time job as an Instructional Technology Administrator and as a part-time Instructor at a local college.  Even weekends seem to be full of “things” that need to be done with friends and family that I dont really get to do some of the things that I enjoy.

I love my job and the work I get to do but sometimes I wonder if it takes up too much of my time; am I being consumed by education and technology so much so that I have put off some of my other hobbies?  Or is this something that happens when you start to gain more responsibilities in your career?  What do you think and how do you balance both work and hobbies in our busy technology filed lives?

During my lunch hour today I ran upon an article on NPR.org written by Captain Benjamin Tupper called Combating Computer Illiteracy in Afghanistan.  In reading the article he explains how he “stumbled upon a large stack of dusty boxes” that contained computers.  So he ran to his commander to inform him of his find.  His commander responded by saying that previous commanders had determined that Afghans were to ignorant to use the computers and that they were to remain locked because the Afghan soldiers would “break them, steal them or sell them.”  After days of pestering his commander he was able to get him to release one computer.  He set it up for a sergeant in his area who was computer literate and within days “record keeping improved, efficiency improved and ultimately the productivity of the entire battalion improved.”  Eventually his commander released all the computers to all battalions and the sergeant began teaching all the officers on a nightly basis and the soldiers began producing documents and spreadsheets.

In my years of working in education as an elementary teacher, high school technology literacy teacher, and now as an Instructional Technology Administrator I have come across these “commanders” (principals) who feel the same way about computers and technology as well as about their teachers and students as Captain Tupper’s commander felt about the Afghan soldiers.  I worked at a campus where I came upon a library full laptop carts (15 carts with 25 laptops in each cart) and wondered why they were not being used in the classrooms.  I asked my principal why they weren’t  being used and he told me “the students on this campus cant be trusted with expensive equipment and besides our teachers don’t know how to use them.” I could not believe that he would rather have those laptops sitting in the library storage room collecting dust rather than out in the students and teachers hands integrating technology in the classroom.  After weeks of explaining to him the benefits of using these laptops in the classroom he finally let me try it out on one or two classes from two teachers who actually knew about the laptops and had been wanting to use them.  Within a couple of weeks the request for more laptops in the classrooms started coming around; mostly from students who used them in those two classrooms and wanted to use them in their other classrooms as well.  Eventually, by the end of my first year of working on that campus all 15 carts were being utilized in the classrooms.

I guess my point is, why do a few teachers, or Instructional Technology Specialists, Educational Technology Administrators, Technology Coordinators need to keep convincing principals that technology integration is a benefit for both students and teachers in the classroom?  Technology Integration is not new and yet I run into principal after principal who do not realize that each core teacher needs to integrate technology into their core subjects; about 95% of the principals Ive talked to have no idea that the Technology Applications from K-8 even exist!   They still see technology as a separate class or “time in the lab.”  Principals, in my opinion, are the leaders of the campus and should require, not recommend the use of technology in the classrooms by both teachers and students and therefore need to be sent to training not only on how to be a principal or how to be leader but on the importance of integrating technology.

I know that I am not the only who knows that principals need this type of wake up call but why is it not being done?  Is it because at this time TA TEKS and the “new” 8th Grade Technology Literacy Reporting is not a high stakes item like the TAKS ?  Does the lack of technology integration come down from those above the principals like the Directors of Curriculum and Instruction?

I guess for now I will pester principals to release one computer or technology item at a time, give it to a teacher who is computer literate, document that teachers progress and show the principal the benefits of technology integration and eventually have them release all the technology breaking the prejudices against the capabilities of their students and their teachers.

I know it is short notice but please take a look at attending the Gifted and Talented Conference/AP “Raising the Bar” Conference 2010.

Harlandale ISD, San Antonio ISD, and South San Antonio ISD are very excited about our collaboration for the upcoming Gifted and Talented/AP Conference 2010 “Raising the Bar”.  We have worked very hard to have quality presenters and vendors for you.  We look forward to seeing you at Edison High School on Saturday, May 15, 2010.  Please contact Nancy Seidensticker with any questions or concerns nseidensticker@saisd.net.

This conference is free of charge and will count as Days 4 or 5 for GT Certification or receive your yearly 6 hour update.

Where:  Edison High School

             701 Santa Monica

             San Antonio, TX 78212 

When:   Saturday, May 15, 2010

Register at the link below! 

 

Keynote: LaVonna Roth

We are very excited about Mrs. Roth’s keynote for our conference. Click here to read about Mrs. Roth.

 

Schedule of Events:

7:30-8:15          Registration

8:30-9:30          Keynote: LaVonna Roth

9:45-11:00        Session #1

11:15-12:30      Session #2

12:30-1:15        Lunch 

1:30-2:45          Session #3

2:45-3:30          Certification and Door Prizes

 

Conference T-Shirt: $10.00

Can be ordered on your registration form.  T-shirts ordered after Tuesday, May 11 at 11:00 a.m will be delivered the week after the conference due to ordering timelines.

 

Register for the Conference:

• Click on the link below to register for the GT Conference:http://bit.ly/gtconference

Present at the Conference:

• Submit your own workshop here. - http://bit.ly/gtconferenceworkshop

Review Conference Workshop Sessions: 

• Click here to read session descriptions