New members continue to join the Fremd TechSpot wiki. New content is not really being added at this point, but I have this feeling people are wanting a place of collaborative ownership; somewhere to go to for quick help, general information, or to share their own educational technology tips and discoveries. I blogged a few weeks ago that OneNote can be that personal organizational tool that gets you going everyday. The Fremd TechSpot wiki, on the other hand, can be that place to wander with the comfort of knowing the information found there has been added by our colleagues both close to home and perhaps even in the neighborhood. Colleagues from PHS have caught wind of our wiki and have joined so they can help add to the knowledge base, too.
The wiki is taking on its own structure so be sure to follow it should you want to add a new page. I am promoting some of the more active Tech Coaches to the role of moderator as I know you will enjoy having more freedom to make changes as you see are needed.
Tablet tips will be archived at the Fremd Tech Spot wiki. Summaries of our monthly technology learnings will be kept there as well. I'll even try to do something with the tablet training topics. Less email is more and a more centralized location for information, beyond a static webpage, where true collaboration takes place, could be a welcome sigh of relief for us all.
I hope I'm 'getting' it. Please let me know.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Open House Week
This week saw a flurry of activity surrounding the use of technology in preparation for Open House. A few teachers stopped by the TLC wanting to learn how to use the Classroom Performance System. They had heard of other teachers using this as the sole means of presentation for the evening and wanted to join in on the fun. My hope is this will carry over into further use of CPS in classroom activities to enhance learning. I actually got busy and created a quick start guide for the new version of CPS software found on our computers. It is a bit different but easier to use, overall. The guide was prompted by Angie Gergen asking me to show her and her staff how to create a CPS database and enter questions into a basic multiple choice format. Angie and her staff are now able to take questions from teachers and create CPS presentations to help save teachers some time. 
A few more teachers stopped by to learn or re-learn how to update their web pages as they knew their site was going to be presented to parents. Web sites are a good way to present one-way information to the world and teachers are aware of the importance of keeping these pages current although actually keeping them current is another matter!
Another teacher was motivated to create a blog after hearing how several teachers would be commenting on their blogs during their Open House presentation. A fruitful discussion resulted in him creating three new blogs for his classes that will be up and running soon. I believe a sense of community is established in a classroom when students comment to blog posts and thought a brief summary of blog use at Fremd, as I see it, would be appropriate, as well as little nudge into a new direction.
I see Fremd teacher blogs currently being used in three ways. First, teachers are using them to report on daily classroom summaries of lessons. Second, they are being used as interactive tools where students have to respond to comments to the teacher's post. Third, a combination of the first two exits. I am not aware of any Fremd teachers who are using students to make a post that summarizes the lesson of the day, however. The idea is to use students as daily scribes. This concept has actually been used by teachers for a few years. High School math teacher Darren Kuropatwa has been recognized by his peers as a pioneer in this area. The link above makes for good reading. I love his thoughts about the scribe posts actually becoming a 'text book' for the course as it evolves throughout the school year. Imagine being able to return to a certain point in the school year and re-read posts to review the area(s) where learning was especially difficult. It seems to me, without trying this myself, that scribes would automatically become more attentive in class especially if no one knows who the scribe will be for the day! (Yikes!) All students would know that their peers will by relying on them for an accurate summary of the lessons!
Teachers who have students respond to blog postings already know this aspect of blogging helps them see areas of weakness in their own teaching and student learning. The same type of teaching reflection could also take place with a scribe system in place. Teachers could also begin the next day with a class reflection on the scribes post the prior evening.
One way to jazz up a blog post is to add some photos or videos that might correlate to the days lesson summary or response type post. TeacherTube and YouTube provide a wealth of material. What about podcasts in a blog post? Can do! Technology even exists where you can phone in comments to your blog. Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about adding these to your blogs.
Nicole LaBeau uses simple Smilies from SmileyCentral.com to add some eye-catching fun to her posts. I love them and have begun using them, too! Thanks, Nicole! Currently she can only add them from home as the SmileyCentral site is filtered at school; something I am working on to remedy! Smilies are cool!
Nicole LaBeau's post about the 'extras' echos what I believe to be the thoughts of many teachers who are feeling that while technology can help "enhance, improve and save time," it may actually cause you to have less time because of learning curves, or the additional work that gets added to your plate since you now have more time. Nicole is entirely correct when she states it all comes down to balance and priorities.
Remember, it's not the technology tools that will make a change in teaching and learning, it's how we use the tools with our students. So, while it is nice to use the new tech tools for the 'WOW' factor at Open House, it is important to remember that technology tools must be sustained by the teacher and their use continually evaluated as to whether or not they are impacting our student's education as they are currently being used.
A few more teachers stopped by to learn or re-learn how to update their web pages as they knew their site was going to be presented to parents. Web sites are a good way to present one-way information to the world and teachers are aware of the importance of keeping these pages current although actually keeping them current is another matter!
Another teacher was motivated to create a blog after hearing how several teachers would be commenting on their blogs during their Open House presentation. A fruitful discussion resulted in him creating three new blogs for his classes that will be up and running soon. I believe a sense of community is established in a classroom when students comment to blog posts and thought a brief summary of blog use at Fremd, as I see it, would be appropriate, as well as little nudge into a new direction.
I see Fremd teacher blogs currently being used in three ways. First, teachers are using them to report on daily classroom summaries of lessons. Second, they are being used as interactive tools where students have to respond to comments to the teacher's post. Third, a combination of the first two exits. I am not aware of any Fremd teachers who are using students to make a post that summarizes the lesson of the day, however. The idea is to use students as daily scribes. This concept has actually been used by teachers for a few years. High School math teacher Darren Kuropatwa has been recognized by his peers as a pioneer in this area. The link above makes for good reading. I love his thoughts about the scribe posts actually becoming a 'text book' for the course as it evolves throughout the school year. Imagine being able to return to a certain point in the school year and re-read posts to review the area(s) where learning was especially difficult. It seems to me, without trying this myself, that scribes would automatically become more attentive in class especially if no one knows who the scribe will be for the day! (Yikes!) All students would know that their peers will by relying on them for an accurate summary of the lessons!
Teachers who have students respond to blog postings already know this aspect of blogging helps them see areas of weakness in their own teaching and student learning. The same type of teaching reflection could also take place with a scribe system in place. Teachers could also begin the next day with a class reflection on the scribes post the prior evening.
One way to jazz up a blog post is to add some photos or videos that might correlate to the days lesson summary or response type post. TeacherTube and YouTube provide a wealth of material. What about podcasts in a blog post? Can do! Technology even exists where you can phone in comments to your blog. Please let me know if you are interested in learning more about adding these to your blogs.
Nicole LaBeau uses simple Smilies from SmileyCentral.com to add some eye-catching fun to her posts. I love them and have begun using them, too! Thanks, Nicole! Currently she can only add them from home as the SmileyCentral site is filtered at school; something I am working on to remedy! Smilies are cool!
Nicole LaBeau's post about the 'extras' echos what I believe to be the thoughts of many teachers who are feeling that while technology can help "enhance, improve and save time," it may actually cause you to have less time because of learning curves, or the additional work that gets added to your plate since you now have more time. Nicole is entirely correct when she states it all comes down to balance and priorities.
Remember, it's not the technology tools that will make a change in teaching and learning, it's how we use the tools with our students. So, while it is nice to use the new tech tools for the 'WOW' factor at Open House, it is important to remember that technology tools must be sustained by the teacher and their use continually evaluated as to whether or not they are impacting our student's education as they are currently being used.
Friday, September 12, 2008
OneNote Before the Weekend...
OneNote fever seems to be spreading among our teachers. I am excited about this and feel we should all be prepared to assist teachers to get up and going with this program as quickly as possible. Teachers are eager to learn on their own and are finding ways to organize not only their personal teacher life but also their classroom lessons. Please assess your current proficiency as a OneNote user. Perhaps we can visit this topic during our first meeting on September 23.
I see OneNote becoming one of the first programs teachers open in the morning; sort of a OneNote Starbucks. Yeah, that's it. Imagine creating a page with links to your blog, wiki, Delicious bookmarks, news feeder, favorite webmail program, course websites, your activity website, and so on. Imagine if Lotus Notes could somehow be incorporated into OneNote. On second thought, scratch that. Sorry.
I admit that using Google bookmarks or Delicious bookmarks can accomplish everything I've mentioned above. These two tools are, after all, available from any computer that has web access. OneNote, however, gives me the ability to add notes on the fly for each of those items. "Update blog," is a nice reminder that I would see everyday using OneNote. I am excited to see actual teacher examples of how OneNote is being used to manage courses and lessons. Bookmarks won't get you to that arena, either.
The largest, single factor, that seems to be driving teachers to use OneNote, though, is the ability to write directly on a page. Second, is ability to bring in copies of documents and webpages for easy access. Your lesson plan is ready to go when you walk into the classroom. The third driving factor, in my opinion, is the ability to share notebooks between users. Some departments are already using OneNote for their PLC.
A nice set of very useful OneNote links is available below, in our Tech Coach notebook, or you can view them at the Fremd Tech Spot wiki.
Visit the Microsoft Office Online OneNote site for an introduction! All of the links below are taken from this site.
OneNote Help and How-toOneNote Community (blogs on OneNote)
August 7, 2007 webcast (with some education ideas-download)
Top OneNote TipsKeyboard Shortcuts for OneNoteOneNote TemplatesPodcasts for OneNote (and other Office products)
RSS Feeds for OneNote (Visit the Fremd Tech Support RSS page to learn about RSS!)
Calculate Mathematical Equations in OneNote!
OneNote Mobile Quick Start Guide - Take OneNote with your phone!
Zoho Notebook is an online application that seems to have many of the features of OneNote except that you cannot ink directly on the page. This may be yet another evolution in our quest for that all-in-one early morning Starbucks Technology stop.
How do you see it?
I see OneNote becoming one of the first programs teachers open in the morning; sort of a OneNote Starbucks. Yeah, that's it. Imagine creating a page with links to your blog, wiki, Delicious bookmarks, news feeder, favorite webmail program, course websites, your activity website, and so on. Imagine if Lotus Notes could somehow be incorporated into OneNote. On second thought, scratch that. Sorry.
I admit that using Google bookmarks or Delicious bookmarks can accomplish everything I've mentioned above. These two tools are, after all, available from any computer that has web access. OneNote, however, gives me the ability to add notes on the fly for each of those items. "Update blog," is a nice reminder that I would see everyday using OneNote. I am excited to see actual teacher examples of how OneNote is being used to manage courses and lessons. Bookmarks won't get you to that arena, either.
The largest, single factor, that seems to be driving teachers to use OneNote, though, is the ability to write directly on a page. Second, is ability to bring in copies of documents and webpages for easy access. Your lesson plan is ready to go when you walk into the classroom. The third driving factor, in my opinion, is the ability to share notebooks between users. Some departments are already using OneNote for their PLC.
A nice set of very useful OneNote links is available below, in our Tech Coach notebook, or you can view them at the Fremd Tech Spot wiki.
Visit the Microsoft Office Online OneNote site for an introduction! All of the links below are taken from this site.
OneNote Help and How-toOneNote Community (blogs on OneNote)
August 7, 2007 webcast (with some education ideas-download)
Top OneNote TipsKeyboard Shortcuts for OneNoteOneNote TemplatesPodcasts for OneNote (and other Office products)
RSS Feeds for OneNote (Visit the Fremd Tech Support RSS page to learn about RSS!)
Calculate Mathematical Equations in OneNote!
OneNote Mobile Quick Start Guide - Take OneNote with your phone!
Zoho Notebook is an online application that seems to have many of the features of OneNote except that you cannot ink directly on the page. This may be yet another evolution in our quest for that all-in-one early morning Starbucks Technology stop.
How do you see it?
Friday, September 05, 2008
Tablet Training
Several teachers came to the TLC or worked with Tech Coaches in other locations this week for tablet training. I am happy to say I've heard that teachers are generally happy with the information they learn. Are they sponges soaking up whatever we give them? Maybe leaky ones right now but repeated use of new techniques will help them retain what they learn. We all know this is a daunting task we face. Thanks, Tech Coaches, for making a difference! Let's hope these teachers go back to their departments and spread the word about their easy and enjoyable tablet training experiences!
I don't know about you but I seem to learn something new every time I help someone. I am hopeful this is a sign of the tablet learning/using/sharing culture being alive and well. Teachers are investigating on their own and discovering ways they can make the tablet do what they want it to do. For example, using the SnipIt! tool to encompass the entire IE7 window is a slick way to 'ink' on the Internet. (Normally, this can't be done with the standard inking tools like those found in MS Office.) Using SnipIt!, one can drag the + cursor over the open IE7 window to make a screen capture. That part won't be completed, however, until you tell SnipIt! what to do with the capture. So, ink away on the screen; just don't finish the capture unless you want to save it for a future use.
I had to trouble shoot an issue with a Word 2007 document all of a sudden not allowing inking. I found that if I save the document as a 97 - 2003 version, I was allowed to ink on it. I was also able to ink on the document if I then convert the 2003 version to a 2007 version. Very strange.
Please notice the new counter at the top right of the blog. Thanks to Nicole LaBeau for sharing that with me. Click on the link over there to go to the Easy-Hit-Counter.com site. Choose a counter and copy the code supplied. Go to the HTML/Java gadget and paste the code in the window that opens. Click OK and you are done!
That's it for now!
I don't know about you but I seem to learn something new every time I help someone. I am hopeful this is a sign of the tablet learning/using/sharing culture being alive and well. Teachers are investigating on their own and discovering ways they can make the tablet do what they want it to do. For example, using the SnipIt! tool to encompass the entire IE7 window is a slick way to 'ink' on the Internet. (Normally, this can't be done with the standard inking tools like those found in MS Office.) Using SnipIt!, one can drag the + cursor over the open IE7 window to make a screen capture. That part won't be completed, however, until you tell SnipIt! what to do with the capture. So, ink away on the screen; just don't finish the capture unless you want to save it for a future use.
I had to trouble shoot an issue with a Word 2007 document all of a sudden not allowing inking. I found that if I save the document as a 97 - 2003 version, I was allowed to ink on it. I was also able to ink on the document if I then convert the 2003 version to a 2007 version. Very strange.
Please notice the new counter at the top right of the blog. Thanks to Nicole LaBeau for sharing that with me. Click on the link over there to go to the Easy-Hit-Counter.com site. Choose a counter and copy the code supplied. Go to the HTML/Java gadget and paste the code in the window that opens. Click OK and you are done!
That's it for now!
Monday, September 01, 2008
Off we go!
Staff Development, Late Start, and Institute day plans are all being made behind the scenes as we enter our third week of the school year. I am part of the Technology Staff Development committee that also includes Tony Miller and Eric Wenckowski. We've already met with Lisa Small and will provide her with what we think are most pressing needs of the staff for this school year. So far, we think that Tablet PC training, Web 2.0 tools, and Office 2007 are those top needs. Please think about these topics as I will ask for your thoughts on them at our first meeting in September.
Tablet training felt like 'Tablet draining' for me this summer but the enthusiasm teachers brought to the Phase 1 training sessions energized me each time I met with a different person or small group of teachers. They are excited and eager to continue training so it's up to us to hit a home run and provide the sustained support teachers need to bring the tablet into the classroom and anywhere else learning takes place. Many of you are setting a great example for your teachers, already, by using the tablet when you can with your students or to manage your daily teacher life more efficiently. I am so proud of you!
Phase II training will begin this week (as soon as I get the information out I tried to get send last week!). Please encourage teachers to use the TLC as the location for training. Perhaps a little reminder note in your office or even a cool poster (like Nicole put up in the English office!) will serve to remind teachers of the training they are expected to complete. I will continue to provide training to you and act as a sounding board for you so that you can become a Tablet PC pro. Remember, I'm only a few steps ahead of you so please don't be afraid to show me something you learn about the Tablet PC! I want to learn, too!
The DEG will have updates only a few times a year. Technology Services is going to put in fixes as needed, of course, but major changes, such as those listed in Jeff Butzen's recent email, will occur only a few times during the school year. This will help reduce the amount of time we spend troubleshooting any problems every time a change to the DEG is made.
Please remember to keep a log, journal, blog or some kind of record of your tech duty. This information should be updated periodically and made available upon request of your department chair.
I'm very excited about this school year and look forward to working with you, again!
Off we go!
Tablet training felt like 'Tablet draining' for me this summer but the enthusiasm teachers brought to the Phase 1 training sessions energized me each time I met with a different person or small group of teachers. They are excited and eager to continue training so it's up to us to hit a home run and provide the sustained support teachers need to bring the tablet into the classroom and anywhere else learning takes place. Many of you are setting a great example for your teachers, already, by using the tablet when you can with your students or to manage your daily teacher life more efficiently. I am so proud of you!
Phase II training will begin this week (as soon as I get the information out I tried to get send last week!). Please encourage teachers to use the TLC as the location for training. Perhaps a little reminder note in your office or even a cool poster (like Nicole put up in the English office!) will serve to remind teachers of the training they are expected to complete. I will continue to provide training to you and act as a sounding board for you so that you can become a Tablet PC pro. Remember, I'm only a few steps ahead of you so please don't be afraid to show me something you learn about the Tablet PC! I want to learn, too!
The DEG will have updates only a few times a year. Technology Services is going to put in fixes as needed, of course, but major changes, such as those listed in Jeff Butzen's recent email, will occur only a few times during the school year. This will help reduce the amount of time we spend troubleshooting any problems every time a change to the DEG is made.
Please remember to keep a log, journal, blog or some kind of record of your tech duty. This information should be updated periodically and made available upon request of your department chair.
I'm very excited about this school year and look forward to working with you, again!
Off we go!
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