Local District 4 Instructional Technology News

This is a video featuring Alan November, a whirlwind of big ideas and provocative questions. He thrives on confirming and challenging educators’ thoughts about what’s possible in the world of teaching and learning. More than anything, he is a teacher at heart, with a wealth of experience teaching learners of all ages.
This is an excellent thirteen minute video of ideas from Alan November about transforming our schools into the learning spaces we need in the 21st century.
Find more videos like this on NL Connect

There is an increase use of  iTouch devices in schools these days.  Educators are seeing the benefit of these devices and are realizing that students are more engaged in their learning.  I’ve  had fun downloading apps for personal use and for enjoyment.   In doing so, I’ve notice how my 5 year old son enjoys using my phone and exploring through my apps, a typical “Digital Native”.  Seeing that he enjoys playing with gadgets, I added a couple of apps for him to use on my phone.  Some of these apps are a bit much for him, but he likes being challenged.  If your students use an  iTouch in class, I recommend you take a look at these.

This is a screen shot of some of the apps on my phone.  All of which are available for free from the iTunes store. 1. ShakeSpell-  This app allows you to create as many words as possible from a randomly generated grid that is created by saking the phone/itouch.  Create as many words as possible within  a set time limit.  Words must be three or more characters long.  It’s a fast paced game that will have your students thinking. 2. Word Families- This is a simple app that allows students to select a word family to practice with.  Each word is displayed on at a time wit the option to hear the word pronounced. 3. Sight Words-  This app is similar to Word Families.  Sight words are shown at random wth the option to hear hem pronounced. 4. Math Drills Lite-  This app gives students the opportunity t practice their math facts.  Choose from addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, or mixed review. 5. Presidents- Students can scroll through each president’s flash card and view general facts about each one.  It also has a quiz feature to test your knowledge. 6. Capitals- Students can scroll through each state’s flash card and view general facts about each one.  It also has a quiz feature to test your knowledge. 7. USA Free- This i a more extensive app on US history.  Unlike Presidents and Capitals, which are flash cards, this app will give you detailed information on documents, states, maps, anthems, flags, presidents and more.  It also has a quiz feature to test your knowledge. 8. Wordoo Free- This fun app is part slide puzzle, part word game. Slide the tiles to unscramble the letters and form a phrase with a word on each row. Get it right, and you’ll get rewarded with the punchline. Wordoo is not the typical random word game… each puzzle is hand crafted, based on famous quotes, catchy phrases, and current events. 9.  Word Bubble- Unscramble words by tapping the correct sequence of letters. Try to beat your own high score.  You are being timed, so think fast. 10. TanZen Lite- Find your Zen, with this updated version of the classic tangram puzzle game! Tangrams have been challenging minds for centuries, with the deceptively simple goal of combining seven geometric pieces into a shape. 11. Zentomino- This is smilar to TanZen but with the use of shapes, or pentominoes, to fill in different pictures. 12. Dice-  A simple app tat allows the user to select anywhere from one to five dice to roll.  Simply shake your iPhone/iTouch or use the “roll” button on the app.

These are screen shots of  the apps I just mentioned.

You can find additional educational resources  for the iPhone/iTouch at www.michaelnunn.net.

For a list of the Top 50 Apps for Educators, go to the OEBD website.

If you are using a great app that you would like to share, feel free to add it as a comment.

Developing a School Technology Plan

LACOE has created an online Tech Plan Builder to assist you in creating a School Technology Plan.  Your plan should include input from all stakeholders and should cover at least a three-year span.  Set goals and reachable benchmarks along the way with the outcome focused on student achievement and not how much technology you have or need. The website is modeled after the State’s guidelines. Sign up at http://ito.lacoe.edu/tpb.

Digital Voice Awards 2010 Entry Deadline: March 31, 2010

The California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) Region 11 and Multimedia Services of the Instructional Technology Outreach division at the Los Angeles County Office of Education (LACOE) invite K-12 school educators from Los Angeles County to submit exemplary classroom instructional technology projects to the Digital Voice Awards. Information can be found at http://ito.lacoe.edu/dva

California Streaming Digital Photography Contest Deadline: March 14, 2010

The CaliforniaStreaming Digital Photography Contest judges will select up to six student winners and two teacher winners that best reflect the 2010 contest theme: ENERGY!

Winners will have their photographs incorporated into a collectable poster, which will be distributed to classrooms across the state of California. Two teacher winners will receive a 16GB iPod touch and six student winners will receive 16GB iPod nanos. For additional information, go to http://ccetc.net/photocontest

* For a list of current and/or ongoing grants, go to http://www.grantsalert.com/gsft.cfm

Here’s additional site with available grants. http://www.vernier.com/grants/corporate.html

President Barak Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan have announce a video contest asking students to inspire them with their stories. The contest, called “I Am What I Learn,” is accepting entries from middle school, high school, and college students ages 13 and older. Students can submit videos up to two minutes long, and entries must be received by Nov. 2.  The top three finalist will receive $1,000.  Winners will be announced during the week of December 1.

Here are the rules:

- Each video must be submitted by an active student, age 13 or older.

- Contestants chosen as finalists will be contacted through their YouTube account and must respond within seven business days to confirm eligibility.

- Finalists under the age of 18 must submit a parental consent form.

- Videos must be two minutes or less in length.

- The contest’s page on the U.S. Department of Education (ED) web site (www.ed.gov/IAmWhatILearn) must be featured in the video.

- The video content must be original.

- The video must convey the importance of education, as well as the student’s individual academic goals.

source: eSchool News http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/index.cfm?i=60852

Local District 4 News

As you may or may not know, Local District 4 is no longer at the Harbor Building.  As of September 1st, we are now on the 11th floor of the Beaudry building.  Things are definitely different around here, but we will continue to support all of our schools as best as possible.  Our resources have been diminished so please be patient with us if we do not get back to you right away.  Since we no longer have a large conference room, we will not be having our monthly Tech Coordinator meetings.  If you would like to host a meeting at your school site, please email me so that we can schedule it, otherwise please continue to check our blog for news and updates.

Local District 4 Website
Our Local District 4 Website will be undergoing construction as we update information on it. Please give your input on what more you would like to have access to on our website.

LAUSD District News and Events

Site Computer Inventory MEM-4170.2
All schools should complete the Site Computer inventory by October 1, 2009. For more information, please refer to the memo.
Note: The site used to update a school’s inventory: http://site-computer-inventory.noc.lausd.net/, appears to work only within the firewall.

EdTech Profile
All staff at each school in our local district should update their EdTech profiles at http://edtechprofile.org If the principal at your school would like to designate someone to be the administrator for your school, please have him/her send me an email with that person’s name. An administrator of the school’s edtech profile information can send staff their login information and gather data from the survey.

LAUSD iTunes U
LAUSD is now online on iTunes University. (Please note: This link requires iTunes) The site is still under development and will be populated with more content in the near future.  If you have content you would like to contribute, please contact me.

EdTech at LAUSD
Visit the LAUSD EdTech WebPage for regular updates on Educational Technology resources for LAUSD.

School Websites
Many schools have requested information on how to update their school’s website. There are several great resources available to address this:

iWeb Workshop
On Monday, October 5th, Dave Douglas, Apple Systems Engineer for LAUSD, will be offering a workshop in the  Local District 6 Office from 3:45 to 5:45 on developing your school’s website using Apple’s iWeb software. For more information, download this flyer. This is an easy way for schools to easily update their web presence using free tools and LAUSD’s web server.

School Loop
School Loop is offering free websites for all LAUSD schools. This is a fantastic opportunity to create an interactive website for your school. To find out more, please visit the website

Upcoming Conferences

21st Century Learners Symposium - Friday, October 23, 2009 7:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
LACOE’s Instructional Technology Outreach offers this conference to all educators. The cost is $95 per person or $375.00 for a group of 6. For more information, download this flyer.

CUE Los Angeles Technology Fair - Saturday, November 14, 2009 8:30 – 3:30
Paradise Found at Mulholland Middle School. Registration and more information coming soon!
The keynote speaker this year is Ted Lai.

Thanks to Janice Stearns from LD6 for sharing her resources.

To Meet the Demands of a New Age from Steven H on Vimeo.