The Google Suite

View a full screen version of this overview of the Google Suite of online applications.

Spreading the Word

A big thank you goes out to Will Richardson for the mention of The Tech Curve in his latest article in District Administration magazine.

The article entitled, "Now Playing: The Live Web" discusses how live interaction on the internet is changing the game.

"...more and more tools are allowing realtime
publication and interaction among global audiences."

Also a great big thank you goes to Cheryl Oakes who mentioned my students on the Tech Learning Blog referring to the interview they did on the latest WOW20 podcast.

"What does technology integration look like?"

A question had been circulating throughout the ACTEM list serv that I subscribe to. (ACTEM is the Maine technology educators group) and one member asked

"What does technology integration look like?"

Being a Technology Integrator myself I find this question really important and like David Jakes I realize that we should be well beyond the need for the term integration and the tech should be part of the daily life of a teacher. Because that is not yet the case, here are three rules of thumb I use for tech integration in the classroom:

#1) Replace, don't add on.
Nothing seems so trendy as education, and this is especially true when talking tech. I think the approach should be to replace an existing task teachers have rather than piling one more thing on. And if a task isn't going to be improved by using technology, don't force it!

#2) Honesty about the tech curve.
The 'Tech Curve' is that period of time it takes to learn anything new (not just tech) and how during that time your productivity actually will go down. Integrators must build enough trust that the teachers will take that initial effort to see their productivity go farther than they ever could have without the technology.

#3) Use the technology yourself, WITH STUDENTS!
I often read or hear suggestions about using this gadget or that website. But, unless the integrator has used the tech in a classroom setting with students I hold off passing it on. It's difficult to answer all the inevitable questions that will come up, usually it's the things you don't plan for, but could thwart a great idea. If you don't take the time, teachers will pay the price and you'll lose some of that trust you've built. (See #2)

This list doesn't cover everything, of course, but it seems to work for me as a rule of thumb when I'm looking a new projects to work on with teachers.

Women of Web 2.0

Too cool for school!! Alice Barr and I were asked to bring some students with us to be interviewed on this weeks Women of Web 2.0 podcast.

You can find the audio here: http://www.edtechtalk.com/node/3078

The kids did an amazing job, and I hope it starts something more - maybe a student led tech help show of some kind, much like The Tech Curve Show, we'll have to see . . .

Student Technology Showcase

The third Student Technology Showcase at Sebasticook Valley Middle School was a great success. Sebasticook students showed off many of the technology projects they've been working on this year. It was a real hands on day where students, parents, and friends were encouraged to participate in activities throughout the school.
These included, programming robots, racing boats or building a skateboard. Attendees commented on student weblogs, created songs with GarageBand, found satellite images of their homes with Google Earth, created programs using the language Scratch, watched animated stories from Mrs. Bickford's fifth grade class and much, much more.



There were a few contests going on as well. The People's Choice Award for skateboard design won a Zoo York board. The winner from those who completed the scavenger hunt drawing with over 100 entries also won an iPod. Be looking for another Technology Showcase at the end of the year at Somerset Valley Middle School. Please go to www.itsvms.com for more information.

The Twitter Two-Step

Bob Sprankle recently posted about Twitter and it's something I've been thinking about with my own experience. (For a better explanation of what Twitter is than I could easily make, check out Common Craft's video below.)



So what happens is what I call the Twitter Two-Step. Someone follows me, then I receive an email asking to follow them. A quick scan of their page and I make the snap decision of whether to follow them or not. Talk about superficial. 99% of my how I lean is based on who they're following. Though I only have about 100 followers, (chump change compared to many) it still seems an odd way to develop a network.

Presentation Zen

I just finished the book Presentation Zen by Garr Reynolds which carries the subtitle: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery. If I had to sum it up in three words, 'Less is more.'
Not that it's surprising, but still a worthwhile reminder. Especially for anyone who has been stuck in front of The Powerpoint Presentation from H---

I think a great video that showcases how much design influences content, in done in an easily accessible way is this Youtube video which was actually created by some members of Microsoft.

"Microsoft Re-Designs the Ipod Packaging

District Tech News - March

Click here for full page version.

Webzine

Here's a sample of the www.issuu.com website where you can take PDF files, upload them to your account and offer them as a 'webzine' or web based magazine. If you do not have a PDF creator, try Primo PDF Creator, a free application that creates PDF's from Microsoft Word.

Bonjourno!

A group of student from Nokomis Regional High were lucky enough to tour Italy during the February break.

They have been sharing some of the stories and pictures from their trip here.

http://nokomisitaly2008.blogspot.com

Seedlings

Last Wednesday we had a snow day throughout much of the State, and I was lucky enough to join Alice Barr, Cheryl Oakes and Bob Sprankle in a Seedlings podcast.

Find the show notes that Bob has on his site here.

We cover some education netiquette, crowdsourcing, and the PBS Frontline piece "Growing Up Online." And yes, that is my son yelling for me in the background :)

Puzzled

My son has really been into puzzles lately.

When I say 'in' I mean that almost every evening we pull out a box, spill it on the floor and start putting it back together again. As we're playing, the teacher in me wants to keep nudging, guiding or (what I consider) helping him find the place for each piece. I have to make myself stop 'helping' and let him try forcing a piece somewhere it won't go or try, fail and get frustrated with the same piece until . . . ahhhh, it fits.

This nightly practice has made me think about teaching and how in our genuine effort to help our students, we find it realllly hard to watch them stub their toe when we know it's coming and we can stop it. With a word sometimes we know we can guide them, but we have to let them fail successfully, and learn in the process. There's a great quote by Garr Reynolds,"The destructive process is part of the creative process." If the work students are doing, doesn't provide the rigor where mistakes are expected, understood as part of the process and built on, how do they learn.

Of course they must be expected to move beyond the setback, but when it's existence is understood to be part of the route students must take to complete the task, well lets just say it's a lot more meaningful to them when they're done.


Thanks to Sharon Peters linking me to Miguel Guhlin's presentation which got me thinking about all of this.

The Tech Curve Show - Episode 7

As follow up to my previous post, some of my high school students watch and discussed parts of the Frontline video 'Growing Up Online' and there is some discussion of the OLPC.

Show Notes

Frontline's "Growing Up Online"

The Frontline had an interesting episode earlier this week called Growing Up Online. It's certainly worth your time if you're a parent or teacher and there were are number of posts across the net about it. One post I thought was noteworthy was from Doug Johnson's blog. He makes the distinction between 'entertain' and 'engage' and I couldn't agree more.

The entertainment angle is something I'm hearing in more and more in edutech conversations around games in education or 'edutainment' (dreadful word) and something that would get the hackles up of many of my staff, "I'm not here to entertain them!" is a direct quote. At the same time just doing the traditional Chalk Talk is going to lose them. So, where do we go from here? We have to find, what Seymour Papert calls, the hard fun in what we're doing.

The most critical thing I took from the Frontline piece is how the students were craving the attention of others, not that that's anything new. A favorite past time of my 2 year old is to mug in front of the camera on our Mac (like I assume everyone does the first time they discover PhotoBooth.) But we no longer provide the audience our kids are looking for. It's a strange new world where everyone is a 'friend' with each other, before they even know their name. This is where we, as educators, must come in. Providing a real audience for our students is a way not only to engage them but tap into something they already are passionate about.

Multiple User Google Accounts

For anyone with more than one Google account who's tired of logging out and in again, and uses Firefox - I have the addon for you! (Two actually)

First install the Grease Monkey Firefox add-on Grease Monkey "Allows you to customize the way a webpage displays using small bits of JavaScript" but it's certainly more geared to the technically minded. The good thing is many people have made scripts to share like:

Second go to userscripts.org and install it. Once you are logged into your Google Account, where it had once said Sign Out, it now has a pull down to easily switch between different accounts.


For anyone not familiar with Google Apps here's a previous post about what's offered.

Stimulating Survery

One of the blogs I read is Scott McLeod's Dangerously Irrelevant and he recently posted an Edublogger's survey Which I recommend for anyone with a blog, the thing is . . . once I did the survey, I realized how much I've enjoyed blogging and how much I miss doing it. I keep putting it on the back burner whenever something else comes up. And so, I've made a New Year's resolution (the first ever I think) to start being more diligent about posting, ok, here goes . . .

The Tech Curve - Episode 5

The Tech Curve

Episode 5

(If you cannot see the video below, please unblock BESS)

SHOW NOTES

Google Presentations now Embeddable

Google Presentations now can be embedded into web pages, blogs or where ever. It was just a matter of time for this feature, like YouTube videos, or other gadgets. And now it's here!

Analog television

Even though this seems like an unlikely subject for the new year, I had someone tell me that over the holiday break that they had been in a nameless electronics box store and "the guy there told me I would have to by a new T.V. this year because everything's going digital and my old one isn't going to work."

First off, not true. Of course the salesperson there is going to tell you whatever you need to hear to get you to buy that new, big screen 50' plasma TV with optional cup holders.
What is really going to happen can be found here: http://dtv2009.gov

'Tis the Season