Local District 4 Instructional Technology News

In these difficult economic times, we are constantly looking for ways to save time and money.  This year we are being faced with numerous cuts in staff and resources, yet we are still expected to continue our work and be just as resourceful. We all know how difficult it is going to be to maintain a level of quality instruction with half the resources, so what can you do to continue your work?

In a previous post, I had mentioned the use of Google Tools for Educators.  Many of you might have looked in to it and some of you probably didn’t see the benefit of using this tool at that time.  I’d like to revisit Google Tools for Educators in this post and invite anyone to share experiences and educational uses of this tool.  Below are a few ways in which you can use these tools in education. 

Google Calendar

• Students can keep track of upcoming events, assignment due dates, field trips, etc.
• Parents can keep track of due dates for assignments, Back to School Night, Parent Conferences, Open House, school council meetings, and so on.
• Principal’s can post important school events to share with teachers, parents and community members.
• Create school schedules for the Library, Computer lab, conference rooms, etc.
• List professional development dates

Google Docs

• Have access to office tools such as word processing, spreadsheets, forms, and presentation software.
• Access your files on any computer.
• Share and collaborate on documents in real time without having to email documents to each other.
• No need to worry about using a PC or a Mac.
• Create Forms to gather feedback, give quizzes, etc.
• Share the weekly bulletin instead of printing it out every week.
• Teachers can review student work without having a stack of papers to go through.
• Upload existing MS Office documents and continue working on them online.
• Office staff can work on MEMOS or any document without worrying about having the correct version of the file.

Google Groups

•      Create online meeting places to share resources.
•      Teachers can use Groups to have online discussions with students.
•      Teachers can have students submit their assignments electronically to the group.
•      Teachers can post assignments and share files with students.
•      Grade level teams can share resources with each other.
•      Administrators can post newsletters, agendas, bulletins etc. for the staff
•      Administrators can have online discussions with staff members and/or parents.
•      Work in a secure environment.

 These are just a few suggestions to help us become more resourceful and save time along the way.  With more possible cuts coming our way, we need to keep our options open and be open to new tools to help us get through the madness.  How are you using Google Tools?

Tags: cuts, Docs, Education, Google, LD4

I recently attended an Apple Seminar titled Think Ahead in which participants learned how to use an iPod Touch for instruction. We were shown how students, using 21st century skills, can work collaboratively in real world classroom projects and publish their work to be viewed on an iPod Touch.

Podcast/Vodcast

Instead of creating a basic power point presentation, where the power point slide show takes precedence over the students oral presentation, students can create a podcast or a vodcast.  When students create power point presentations, they usually just repeat what is on the slide.  Students don’t really get to internalize what they have learned.  Most of the time, students just copy and paste what they find in text or on the web and put it in a bulleted list with a picture and they are done.

With the podcast, or vodcast, students need to understand and take ownership of the content before they can create the product.  They need to write out a script and chunk it into sections.  Each section also needs to have an appropriate image to accompany it.  Because the product is going to be published and synced to the iPod Touch to be shared with the class or made available online, students are going to put more effort into their work in order to put out quality work.  And because it is going to be synced to the iPod, students will be able to listen to their work over and over.

iTunes

Another benefit for using iPods is the ability to get “just in time learning.”  Teachers and students can use iTunes to log into the iTunes Store and access thousands of free educational podcasts. iTunes also has a number of Universities participatng in iTunesU, which offer free college level course material in the form of podcasts.

Fluency

Want to record your students fluency readings?  With the use of a Belkin microphone for the iPod, you can record your students as they read and track their progress.  Think about the impact this will have on your EL students.  This will give them the opportunity to practice speaking and reflect on their ability to pronounce words correctly and improve their fluency.

Recording their fluency is just one of many uses of an iPod.  How about having students record the sound spelling card sounds and publishing it on a CD for others to use. How about digitizing stories so that students can listen to them on a CD or iPod?

If you have any other ideas or suggestions, post them here to share with others.

Tags: 21st century, Antonio, collaborative, Education, instruction, iPod, iPod Touch, LD4, podcast, reading, vodcast

Here is a list of web resources I came across to help you manage your time and integrate technology at the same time.  Most of them are free of charge and some require a small fee or a subscription.

AfterClass

This site allows the teacher to have an online classroom.  Learning does not have to end when the bell rings at the end of a period or at the end of the day.  Teachers can set up multiple classrooms for various topics and have their students sign up for the class.  It is a place for teachers and sudents to post to a classroom blog, upload files, podcasts, and engage in meaningful discussions.  For teachers, it is easy to set up and even provides pre-written posts related to the class.  At the end of the day, each participant gets an email with all of the days activities for the class.

Teachscape XL

Teachscape is an online professional development site designed to help teachers, administrators, coaches, and any other educational leader interested in improving their practice.  Get feedback from educators and researchers on issues and concerns you are having.  Get ideas and resources for your lessons.  Check out this video for more details. Teachscape

HotChalk

HotChalk is a learning environment for K-12 teachers, students and parents that includes a learning management system (LMS), a rich library of teacher-contributed lesson plans, premium digital content like NBC News video, and professional development for teachers in a Web-based environment. Available through any Internet browser, the HotChalk Learning Environment is an easy to use system and brings teachers, students and parents together to improve education.

Free Rice

Free Rice is an educational game website where a correct answer can help feed a needing family.  The website allows students to select the content they want to be quized on.  For every correct answer given, 20 grains of rice are donated through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.  The more answers you get correct, the more rice is donated.  If you answer incorrectly, you lose all of your rice… Just kidding! You don’t loose anything.  The website will simply give you feedback as to what the correct answer should be.

National Geographic

We have all seen or used a National Geographic magazine at some point in our lives or in our classrooms, but did you know you can access hundreds of resources specifically designed for education for free?  The National Geographic website has resources for educators and students. You can view videos, pictures, listen  to podcasts, download lessons, get maps, etc.  There are tons of resources available for you to use to help enhance your lessons.  The website also has additional programs available such as The Jason Project and The National Gegraphic Bee.

Google Knol

This site is designed to verify the authorship of articles, so every knol will have an author or group of authors who put their name behind their content.  Authors can collaborate on an article and any reader can suggest edits.  It is up to the author to accept, reject, or make modifications to their work.

Imprint Studio

Imprint Studio is a fairly inexpensive software program that will enable you to use your existing printer to print poster sized images.  It runs for about $22 and works only on Macs running OS 10.5 or newer.

Tags: blogs, collaboration tools, Education, Resources, software, teachers, web 2.0, websites

We are all familiar with YouTube and some of you may be familiar with TeacherTube.  But have you heard of HotChalk and SchoolTube?

HotChalk is a free site for teachers, students and parents.  This site offers access to decades of news archives, including direct news footage and discussion opportunities to be used in the classroom from NBC.  The site also provides training videos and other professional resources for teachers.

SchoolTube is another source for educational videos.  It has been endorsed by the National Association of Elementary School Principals for promoting a safe media sharing across the country.  There are numorous categories to search through, but what sets this site apart from others is the category dedicated to elementary schools.

Tags: Education, Resources, video

As we come to the end of another school year, I want to take the time to thank all of you for all of the work you put  in this year.  I want to thank all of the Technology Coordinators that hung in there all year long.  Without your work at the school site, change in Instructional Technology would not take place.

I especially would like to thank Dr. Linda Santana and wish her the best on her retirement. Dr. Santana has been a key figure at Plasencia Elementary.  She has taken the teachers at her school and exposed them to new ideas and helped equip them with the necessary tools to be successful. She has also opened her doors and welcomed anyone to come by and learn from her experience and see how she manages the lab.  It will be difficult to find someone that can fill her shoes.

We have learned a lot this year.  Many schools have gone through the Digital Storytelling training and I have seen some outstanding student projects.  Other schools have been learning to use SmartBoards in their class and have changed their way of delivering instruction. We have looked at various Web 2.0 tools and have introduced MyMail accounts to students, enabling them to have access to Google applications.  Many teachers have participated in the CTAP Acadamies offered through the County Office of Education and some are preparing to go up to Ojai, CA for week long technology workshops.

Students are now creators of content and not just consumers.  We still have a way to go, but with a great team of educational technology leaders such as yourselves, we can make change happen.  I believe the students are ready for change.  They are living in a digital world, but are learning in an analog environment. They don’t want to sit in rows and listen to lectures.  They want to be engaged.  They want to create.  Let’s work toward a learning environment that encouraged student to be creative, to think outside the box, to collaborate with their peers, teachers, community, and the world.

Tags: Education, goals, itaf, LAUSD, LD4, leaders, reflection