Teacher’s Secrets Series

Direct your students to the Power to Learn Teacher’s Secret Series. There, they will learn not only how to make their assignments target the content you expect but also how to create reports and projects that have all the elements you are looking for. We all know that students can get carried away with the pizzazz of technology and forget the essentials of an assignment. This series, which so far includes PowerPoint presentations and podcasts, should help students to avoid the pitfalls of including animations, video, fancy colorful type, and graphics that do not enhance the target content. The series is in the Computers and Homework section of Power to Learn, so while you are there you might want to browse through the list of articles to see which others might be of use to you and your students.

Free Online Professional Development

If you’d like to learn more about technology and teaching with technologies, all you have to do is to check out the opportunities online. The January issue of THE Journal provides a nice list of professional development links for you.  To upgrade your skills, why not try ASCD Webinars, OK2Ask, Educator’s Professional Development, Classroom 2.0, and Teachers’ Domain? Of course, there are other places to investigate for professional development. Think podcasts, blogs, and for-pay online Webinars and courses. In today’s world you can learn on your own, what you want, when you want.

How to Start a Mobile Learning Program in Your School

On the eSchool News site you can access the Webinar archive, “Launching a Mobile Learning Program: What Every School Leader Should Know”.  Using the archive you’ll learn about Lake Tahoe’s Netbook program and how it saved the district money and saved teachers time in addition to increasing “student engagement and enthusiasm.” Leading the session are Dr. Jim Tarwater, Superintendent of Lake Tahoe School District and Linda Uhrenholt, Regional Education Director, AT&T.  Tahoe’s plan is for all students, Grades 3-12, to have Netbooks with cellular connections by the end of 2012. Uhrenholt says that we are at a tipping point with mobile learning in our schools both for students and for faculties. Students envision learning at their fingertips, not waiting to use computers during a scheduled period. That vision can be achieved with mobile technologies like Netbooks. No longer will students at Tahoe carry heavy backpacks, for their books and their homework will be on their Netbooks. To make the mobile computing happen, the district is partnering with AT&T, Cisco, and Microsoft Live at Edu.  Tarwaters says when you look at the cost of Netbooks compared to the cost of textbooks and laptops, you’ll see great savings. Tahoe will not purchase textbooks in the future except for special needs students. In the Webinar, one of the district’s two IT specialists explains how the program works.

Listening in Class While Taking Notes: Good or Bad?

When teachers are lecturing or there’s a class discussion, does taking notes detract from learning? Some educators, like Jacqueline Moloney, Executive Vice Chancellor and Head of Online Learning at the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, think so. Although she admits that she loves to take notes, she understands that when doing so, students miss some of the content. The idea is to encourage students to concentrate fully in class sessions while cameras capture through video what’s going on in class. Students can then go back and review lessons as needed. Studies have shown that learning from Podcasts and other videos of lectures can be effective, and if students have the advantage of the live lectures and discussions plus review through technology, they do even better.

Benefits of Podcasting in Education

PoducateMe focuses upon practical solutions for podcasting in education. Its PoducateMe Podcasting Guide is free and can be read online or downloaded as a pdf. If you want to get into podcasting with your students or for your students, PoducateMe can help by showing you how to find and use podcasts you want, how to learn what equipment you’ll need to get you started, how to create your own podcasts, and how to upload podcasts to the Internet. The guide also includes information about creating a podcast blog and sharing podcasts with students.

Cyber Communication: Progress or Problem—What Kids Say

This year’s Optimist International Oratorical Competition for students focuses on the topic: Cyber Communication: Progress or Problem. After listening to many student speeches, these thoughts went through my mind. (1) Students, at least the ones participating in this competition, know the dangers of the Internet. (2) They know social networking sites have a minimum age, but they ignore it—it’s like it’s not there and doesn’t matter. (3) They realize cyber communication is here to stay and say people should get used to it and learn how to use it correctly. (4) They have no idea what to do about the problem of cyberbullies, but they know that it happens and feel for those who have been victims. (5) Although they text and video chat mostly, and still use email and instant messaging, many love to get written letters—one speaker even wrote an obituary of a love letter and then recited from one of Abigail Adam’s letters to John.  (6) They can’t imagine carrying a dictionary around or having to look words up in a dictionary. (7) It’s foreign to them not to be able to type their essays into the computer. “I couldn’t just sit down and write my stories on paper,” one commented. (8) They see cell phones as a necessary part of their lives, but they do not think parents should give cell phones to young children. (9) They are not sure about the option of technology to locate where they are. “That’s scary,” according to some. Others thought it could be useful for parents but noted that parents might purchase a cell phone for young children for this reason and not realize the other dangers present in cell phone options. (10) They see that cyber communication can be a powerful force for good in our world even though they realize that everyone doesn’t use it as they should—one speaker said, “You’ve got to remember that everyone isn’t nice.” Another said, “Alexander Graham Bell didn’t invent the telephone so that people could make crank calls or threatening calls. We must step forward with the technologies we have today thinking how we can help our world.”

 

ISTE Season Pass for Webinars & More

The International Society for Technology in Education offers a Season Pass for all the Webinar sessions throughout the year, along with use of ISTE resources and archives. If you sign up, you’ll have access to all the Webinars that have been held since August 2009 in addition to the rest of the Webinars for this year.  Past Webinars have tackled topics such as: Screencasting, Project-Based Learning, 21^st Century Skills, Assistive Technologies, Open Source Software, and New Media Literacy. A list of future Webinars includes: Battery-Powered Computers, Emerging Technologies, Podcasting, MMORPG (What it is and how it can help students), Twitter, Math and Technology, and many more. The Pass is available to members for $200 and to non-members for $500. Admittance to individual Webinars is listed at $50 for members and $125 for non-members.

Are Your Students in the Here & Now Only?

At the Annual Conference for the Association of Independent Maryland Schools, several of the sessions focused on students and their use of technologies.  Discussion during the sessions addressed problems students face and/or students cause when using the Internet, computers, and digital devices. The consensus was that students are so focused upon “the here and now” that they don’t take time to consider how their actions online may cause problems in the future. For example, why do many post inappropriate photos online, when they’ve certainly been told that these photos can damage their reputation, attract those they don’t want to attract, and stand in the way of their college admissions or job opportunities? Why do some students continue to bully others when they have to know that this behavior is unacceptable? Is it about looking good in front of peers? Is it about social acceptance and wanting to make oneself look better than others? Is it about students asserting their independence from the adults in their lives—students trying to grow up and be noticed and accepted? As educational professionals we know that kids’ problems, which sound silly to us often seem like “life and death” dilemmas to them. How do we find ways to give kids what they need so that they will feel safe enough with their “here and now” to do what’s right for their future?

Getting Started with Podcasting?

ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) has published “Student-Powered Podcasting”. The book, written by Christopher Shamburg, is priced at $32.95 ($23.95, ISTE members).  You can listen to an interview with the author at ISTE Casts.  The book includes chapters about radio drama, readers’ theater, foreign language podcasting, historical interviews, audio tours, fan fiction, and much more.  Appendixes tackle topics such as legal and ethical considerations, classroom rules, and copyright and fair use. Check the site for teacher and student competitions such as the creation of a one-minute story with the following sound effects: water splashing, engines vrooming, matches striking,

Professor Garfield Has All the Answers

Jim Davis, creator of the Garfield comics, say that this site's meant to "tickle the brain and the funny bone" while taking kids' brains to the "extreme". Actually, it's our old friend Garfield as Professor Garfield encouraging kids to get moving in reading, science, mathematics, social studies, music and art. The site features a Comics Lab, art lessons, a Music-Bot, Brain Busters, a brain sparker, and even a Sleep Center.  An Art-Bot helps kids understand that they can tell stories through cartooning, and the ScholarShop helps them with learning about their options for the future. You'll also find 15 Garfield Foundation art lessons available free as Podcasts from the iTunes store. The Podcasts and site are sponsored by the Professor Garfield Foundation and the Virginia Department of Education.