Local District 4 Instructional Technology News

Thank you for taking the time to attend our Tech Coordinator meetings. Thank you Monte Vista ES for hosting our meeting. If you have any comments or need any information on the topics being discussed, feel free to e-mail me or post a comment on this blog site. Just click on the Comments link above.

Table of Contents

1. Updates
2. Online Tools for Teachers
3. Web Resources
4. Next Meeting

Updates

California Technology Survey 2007

The California Department of Education (CDE) is collaborating with the California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) to conduct the 2007 California School Technology Survey. This important data collection helps measure the progress of technology integration in California classrooms, is a requirement for several education technology-funded programs, and is used by the CDE to determine grant eligibility and awards. It is important for your district and schools to accurately complete the 2007 California School Technology Survey within the specified time frame in order to meet the grant requirements.

The window for completing the 2007 California School Technology Survey (district and school survey forms) is January 22, 2007, through April 6, 2007. The last day to complete the 2007 California School Technology Survey to meet the technology survey requirements of the Enhancing Education Through Technology Formula and Competitive grants is Friday, April 6, 2007.

All schools have received the PIN numbers and passwords to log into the survey. If it has been misplaced, an administrator can contact Antonio Hernandez, ITAF for the code. If schools have general questions regarding the survey, they may contact Sonia Hooks at hooks_sonia@lacoe.eduInfoTech 2007

InfoTech 2007

InfoTech is an annual event put together by LAUSD to highlight what schools are doing in respect with the use of Technology. This is an opportunity for students and teachers to share and learn from one another. This year, the event will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on April 21, 2007. The event will be held at the same time as the Parent Summit. Parents are welcome to attend both venues. We are expecting around 1500 to 1800 participants this year and you could be part of it!

Every Local District is recruiting at least 10 student showcases. A showcase can consist of any use of technology being used in the class. Students can demonstrate their power point presentations, websites, videos, etc. If you are interested in being part of this event, download the application and fax it to Antonio Hernandez, ITAF at 323-932-2112 as soon as possible. This is a wonderful opportunity for your students to show their parents, teachers and other students what they can do with technology. Application for Showcases

EdTech Vouchers

EdTech Vouchers are still being discussed among all Local Districts. A survey is being created to gather all stakeholders opinions and suggestions. More details to come on this soon. If your school receives calls from vendors asking you to use your vouchers before they expire, don’t listen to them. We do not have the vouchers yet. Vendors are using sales tactics to get you to buy from them.

E-mail Accounts

It’s finally going to happen! Schools will be converting to the @lausd.net accounts this year. You will no longer have to type the long @lausd.k12.ca.us any more. The process of converting from one account to the other has already begun. The process will be done in phases. By June of 2007, all accounts should be on the new system. Student accounts will remain the same.

All emails currently in your Epals inbox will be merged over to your new account. Any mail that is not in the Inbox will not be transfered. Contacts will not be transfered either. You will have to do those manually. Once you get your new account, you will see a folder called POP. This folder will contain the emails that were transfered from your Epals account.
What will my new email address be?

ex. aherna02@lausd.k12.ca.us will become aherna02@lausd.net

LD 4 Blogsite

Our blogsite has been updated and reformatted to include both important technology information and important files for downloading. If there is a particular file you are looking for and it is not listed, let me know and I will post it.

Staff Development

For a list of Course Descriptions go to http://update.lausd.net

For course locations and to register for a class go to http://lz.lausd.net

Classes are available in both Face-to-Face (F2F) and Online format. If you need salary points or you just want to learn something new, visit the UPDATE website and sign up.

Online Tools for Teachers

Jeannie Toshima from the Los Angeles County Office of Education had a presentation on Online Tools for Teachers. She demonstrated how teachers could use Trackstar as an online tool for learning. TrackStar is your starting point for online lessons and activities. Simply collect Web sites, enter them into TrackStar, add annotations for your students, and you have an interactive, online lesson called a Track. Create your own Track or use one of the hundreds of thousands already made by other educators. Search the database by subject, grade, or theme and standard for a quick and easy activity. There is a fun Track already made for each day of the year, too! Take a look at Track # 307431 to get some great links and ideas.

Another great resource for teachers is Altec. Altec has a compilation of online tools fro teachers. Some of the reseources that can be found here are, Rubistar, Quizstar, Web Worksheet Wizard, Notestar, and many more.

Web Resources

Next Meeting

Our next Technology Coordinator Meeting will take place February 15, 2007. We will be meeting at Plasencia ES from 3:30 to 5 pm. Our meeting will be in the form of a workshop. We will cover the same topics presented to the administrators by Hall Davidson from the Discovery Network. We will practice using iMovie, PhotoStory, and Windows Movie Maker to create video projects without the use of video equipment. We will be using some of the websites listed above to create simple projects students can be doing in their class as individuals or in groups.

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