In The Cloud

The economy has been affecting many people, companies, schools, etc.  So much so that professional development, training, and attending conferences has seen a drop of attendance.  It was a total let down that I would not get a chance to attend this years conference due to lack of funds.

However, have no fear, ISTE Connects Live at NECC 2009 is here! They will be streaming interviews, sessions, and events from the conference that is going on from June 28 - July 1.  They are making this possible through USTREAM.TV; a free website for streaming live video.

Check it out below!

I am currently in my second year of conducting a program in our district called the Summer Technology Integration Program.  It is a program that was created to provide teachers training on technology and how to integrate this technology into their lesson plans.  Last year I decided to do the training on Digital Storytelling and how they could use three different technologies or have their students use these technologies to create a digital story.

I taught teachers how to use a Web 2.0 service called Mixbook.com, Microsoft PhotoStory 3, and finally Windows Movie Maker.  Each one lends itself to be taught from beginning to end that allowed the teachers to create a final product in the 3 hours per day that each session provided.  Despite a few teachers in each session who clearly were not at a level to comprehend not only how the technology worked, but how to even begin to integrate it into their lessons, I felt that the program overall worked out great and some teachers went away with new knowledge of technology and ways to integrate this technology. I felt it to be successful and went away feeling like I had accomplished something!

This year Ive decided to cover Microsoft Office 2007’s Word, Excel, and PowerPoint along with how to upload their final products to their teacher website.  Part of the recommendation in attending the Summer Technology Integration Program is that you come with some prior knowledge of technology.  In only 2 days of this years sessions I am feeling a little disappointed.  I had setup my training to show some intermediate to advanced levels of the Microsoft Office Suite and how teachers can integrate these into their lessons.  However, that has not been the case in just the 2 days of training. I am spending more time showing them simple tasks like:

• How to navigate through a website to get to files that we would be using for the training.
• How create a folder with their name in the My Documents folder.
• How to download the documents from the website into their folder.
• How to actually open Microsoft Word and Microsoft Excel.
  • (I literally had to go over how to click on the Start Button, go to Programs, look for the Microsoft Office folder and then select Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel!)

Just those 4 tasks above ate about 30 - 40 minutes of the 3 hour session.

How can we expect our students to use and integrate technology if our teachers cant even accomplish the simple tasks listed above without having to hold their hands and walking them step by step on how to accomplish these basic tasks?  Should basic computer skills be part of every teachers certification requirements?  Should they be tested for these skills during the interview process? And what about our “veteran” teachers who have taught for 20 plus years, where do they fall into all of this, especially those who are trying to stay quite and hide until their retirement comes around?

Very disappointing to say the least.  I am really hoping that next weeks groups go a little differently.

Disengaged Students from jarrod robinson on Vimeo.

Tim Holt from El Paso ISD shared this video on Twitter today.  Oh how I have seen this in so many classrooms over the last few years that I have been in education.  It also reminded me of a situation that happened last week.  Last week I asked a principal from one of our district campuses to talk about the upcoming Summer Technology Integration Program that I run during the summer.  The reason I asked to speak to this campus was because I had only 3 teachers from that campus registered to attend the training while other campuses had about 10 -15 teachers registered.  I wanted to promote the program and discuss some of the technology we would be covering and answer any questions they may have about the training.

I really wanted to know why this campus had so few teachers attending the training.

While speaking to the teachers and promoting the summer training I had one teacher who I had never met before asking a lot of questions at first which I liked because it made it that much easier to talk about the training.  However, as I continued I realized that he really didnt have questions he was out to try and convince either the teachers at his campus or convince me that my summer program was a waste of time.  I informed everyone there that the summer training did involve technology integration and that it was a little above just basics and that those teachers attending the training would have to have some basic knowledge of Microsoft Office and other technologies but it was not required; I would be there to assist them as much as possible.  

This teacher continued to nitpick at the training and making comments here and there.  I quickly found out that he wasnt really against the summer training when he made the comment (complaint) that the “technology department had taken his computer lab PCs away and given him new ones that were running Office 2007″ and that what used to “take him 5 minutes to do in Office 2003 now took him 25 minutes to do in Office 2007″.  I was appauled that a Technology Teacher was complaining about getting new computers and that the new software installed on these new computers was too difficult to learn!  So I calmly said “I find it very disturbing that a Technology Teacher is complaining about having new computers and having to learn new software.  All this time I thought the problem was with our core teachers.  I can clearly see that at this campus it is the person who is supposed to assist and inspire other teachers to use technology who has the problem.  Maybe its time to look for another profession.”  At that point about 85% of the teachers in the meeting clapped and cheered at what I had just stated.  

This school is clearly stuck with a Mr. Mackey where the students have passed up the teacher.  It made me wonder, how many other campuses and districts have other Mr. Mackey’s teaching our students?

Over the weekend everyone seemed to be talking about the Swine Flu; my family, friends and even people I ran into at the local grocery store. The funny thing was that everyone had there own story about it. Someone always seemed to “know” more about the Swine Flu, its origins, how it spreads, how many people have been infected and even something about how this is the start of an apocalyptic “dawn of the dead” start of our future. I, usually being a skeptic about things people “hear or read” asked where they got their information from. Most family and friends claimed their answers came from the news and newspapers. However, there are always those few family members and friends who say stuff like “they said” but never know who “they” are.

Technology, the Internet or the Web, can be a great resource for gathering information regarding this worldwide concern about the Swine Flu. However, we must remember that not all information on the Internet or the Web is accurate and therefore we must learn how to decipher what is true and what isnt; one of the many things we must teach our students when it comes to information gathered online.

Lucky for us cnet news’ Don Reisinger has put together a list of online resources that will provide us with much information about the swine flu and other information regarding this outbreak. Here are just a few he recommends…click on Read More at the bottom of this list for more information.

The Centers for Disease Control : The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is the best swine flu resource on the Web. You can learn about the outbreak of the flu and find key facts that help you understand it. There’s a video podcast by a physician, giving you in-depth information about the flu’s signs and symptoms, how it’s transmitted, and steps you can take to protect yourself. This should be your first stop.

Flu Wiki : The Flu Wiki from Wikia helps you learn about influenza. From its symptoms to its varied strains, the site provides a wealth of knowledge on just about any flu topic. It also has a swine flu wiki page that, while helpful, could be more in-depth. But since the swine flu is somewhat similar to other influenza strains, the Flu Wiki will still come in handy.

Google Maps swine flu outbreak map: The swine flu outbreak map helps you find every known instance of the swine flu around the world. The map also provides information on the current state of the ill person. It will be continuously updated, so you can track it each day. But like following minute-by-minute stock market fluctuations, we don’t recommend dwelling on this site.
… Read more

Now if for some reason this swine flu does somehow turn out to be a freakish disease that turns everyone into flesh eating zombies and you want to stay alive; you can always purchase The Zombie Survival Guide.

Interested in attending Educational Technology Conferences or workshops for FREE? Have some FREE time this weekend to spend? Miguel Guhlin, an exceptional Educational Technology Leader, has posted some information about a FREE conference this weekend on his blog Around The Corner.

The Educational Technology Graduate Program at Texas State University-San Marcos presents the first annual EdTech Conference “Modeling 21st Century Practices” on Saturday, April 25, 2009. Educators representing all academic disciplines and levels in the educational system and all phases of technology education are invited to attend this FREE one-day conference.

Who: Educators in a K-12 and higher education environment
What: Educational Technology Conference
When: Saturday, April 25, 2009, 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Where: Texas State University-San Marcos, Education Building, Room 1007
Why: Learn how to integrate technology into your content area

For more information regarding the EdTech09 Conference at Texas State University - San Marcos click here: EDTECH09.

Sometimes you run across something that is just really neat and you want to share it with others.  National Geographic has something new that is called Infinite Photograph and it is totally amazing!  The Infinite Photograph is created from over 300,000 photos that is has in its archives or pictures submitted by users, it takes those photos and creates a giant mosiac.  The cool part; it allows you to zoom in infinitely, basically allowing you to go deeper and deeper into each photograph that makes up the giant mosiac.  Take a look:

Somehow I doubt that an Art teacher or a Photography teacher would have any problem getting their students interested in art and/or photography in my opinion.  But, if they do, this Infinite Photograph item created by National Geographic is surely to grab their attention.  It is a really cool project and the pictures used to create the mosiac are really great pictures as well…something that looks like snow on one picture is actually a scene of something totally different…you have to take a look to see what I mean!

Want to create your own mosiac using your own pictures?  Try Image Mosiac Generator (v3.0).  Although it will not allow you to zoom in infinitely it is still a really good program that will allow you to create your own mosiac, give it a try, and then give it to your students and see what they can come up with!

A couple of weeks ago I recieved an email with a link to CustomGuide.com that provided a page with a ton of Free Quick Reference Cards that can be downloaded and printed free of charge.  They cover all sorts of software such as Microsoft Office, PhotoShop, and even items for the MAC.  These are great if you are a newbie to a particular software or if youre making the switch from Office 2003 to Office 2007.  Take a look: 

Access 2007
Access 2003
Access 2002
Access 2000
Access 97
Acrobat 8
Acrobat 7
Appleworks 6
Computer Basics
Dreamweaver CS3
Dreamweaver 8
Dreamweaver MX
Dreamweaver 4
Dreamweaver CS3(Mac)
Dreamweaver 4 (Mac)
Dreamweaver MX (Mac)
ECDL
Entourage 2008
Entourage 2004
Entourage X
Excel 2007
Excel 2003
Excel 2002
Excel 2000
Excel 97
Excel 2008 (Mac)
Excel 2004 (Mac)
Excel X (Mac)
Firefox 2
Fireworks CS3
Fireworks MX
Fireworks 4
Fireworks CS3 (Mac)
Fireworks MX (Mac)
Fireworks 4 (Mac)
Flash CS3
Flash 8
Flash MX
Flash 5
Flash CS3 (Mac)
Flash MX (Mac)
Flash 5 (Mac)
FrontPage 2003
FrontPage 2002
FrontPage 2000
Internet Explorer 7
Internet Explorer 6
InfoPath 2007
Lotus Notes 8
Mac OS X Tiger
Mac OS X Panther
Mac OS 9
Microsoft Office 2007
OneNote 2007
Outlook 2007
Outlook 2003
Outlook 2002
Outlook 2000
Outlook 98
Photoshop CS3
Photoshop 7
Photoshop 6
Photoshop CS3 (Mac)
Photoshop 7 (Mac)
Photoshop 6 (Mac)
Photoshop Elements 6
Photoshop Elements 5
PowerPoint 2007
PowerPoint 2003
PowerPoint 2002
PowerPoint 2000
PowerPoint 97
PowerPoint 2004 (Mac)
PowerPoint X (Mac)
Project 2007
Project 2003
Project 2002
Project 2000
Publisher 2007
Publisher 2003
QuickBooks 2005
SharePoint 2007
Visio 2007
Visio 2003
Visio 2002
Windows Vista
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows 98
Word 2007
Word 2003
Word 2002
Word 2000
Word 97
Word 2008 (Mac)
Word 2004 (Mac)
Word X (Mac)

Last year I attended the TCEA conference in Austin, Texas for the first time ever.  The technology that generated the most interest for that conference was podcasting.  Teachers were piling into sessions, workshops, and speeches about podcasting.  Some teachers were already podcasting, some were getting into it, and some had no clue what podcasting was.  It was great seeing all these teachers interested in such a great technology tool that could easily be integrated into the classroom, not only for student use, but for parents, teachers, administrators and the community.

This year as I attended the TCEA conference, I noticed that podcasting, although on the list again for sessions, workshops and speeches did not seem as popular as last year.  Had teachers become experts on podcasting within one year?  Was podcasting just a fad?  Had teachers given up on podcasts altogether?  Im really not sure.

However, Dr. Dani McKinney of SUNY Fredonia, has published a paper on the use of podcasts to help with studying for exams.  Although the New Scientist website has an article that says podcasts are better than attending a lecture in class and therefore students have another excuse to skip class,  Dr. McKinney’s published paper goes into a little more detail than that.

From the conclusion:

The finding that students in the podcast condition did significantly better than students who attended the in-class lecture was unexpected and somewhat novel in the body of literature on the use of technology to aid learning…The original intent of this study was to explore if getting a copy of the audio (along with copies of the PowerPoint slides) from a class lecture a student missed during the term would show the same detriment. The results of this study show there was no detriment—in fact, there was a significant advantage.

Although I strongly believe that podcasts will never truly replace teachers it does make sense for teachers to pay attention to podcasts and some of the ways we can use podcast technology to ENHANCE our lessons and our classroom instruction.  If we use podcasts in our classrooms will that really give students another excuse to skip class?  Or, would podcasts be a reason students would want to attend our class, a classroom that is being geared to 21st Century learning; learning that is being requested by our digital native students?

What are your thoughts?

Every month I conduct a meeting and training with our Academic Coaches and Instructional Facilitators. We discuss different ideas about how to use technology in the classroom or I answer any questions they may have that is technology related for about the first 30 minutes. After that I usually conduct a technology training for those in attendance. Last week we worked on creating a short digital story about a recent district Science Fair to use as a promotional video for the next year.

While I showed them how to use Microsoft PhotoStory 3 to create their digital stories, I noticed something about the pictures that were taken at the science fair. In the pictures, students were still presenting science fair projects with the old cardboard, paper, photos and handwritten items. Although most of them looked very neat and well done, I was a little disappointed that there was very little technology at the science fair (robotics was about the only technology I saw). It really got me thinking about how much things havent changed in the schools and wondered if this was the norm across the board.

• Did other school districts use technology in their science fairs?
• Were we the only district where technology is still lacking greatly in the classroom?

As I was reading some tweets on Twitter, I came across a tweet by Tim Holt, Director Instructional Services, El Paso ISD, which lead me to his following podcast.

After blogging about this topic for several years in a row, I figured maybe if I did a short video with Karl Fisch-like pictures and ominous music in the background, people may pay attention a little more. So here is my video: A Vision of Science Fair Projects Today.

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Apparently, I am not the only one questioning this lack of technology in science fair projects.

After watching the video, ask yourself “Where do you teach?”

Didn’t get a chance to attend the TCEA 2009 Conference in Austin?  Did you miss some of the sessions or didnt get some of their material?

Visit the TCEA 2009 Workshop Handouts page at the TCEA website.  Please note that they are zipped and you will need to extract the files.  Below are a list of those files.