The Eden Prairie News reported on our kick off this week.

Geography – have the kids take snapshots of the geography of places, then using the comic book app, label import components. Insert thought bubbles giving insight into the importance of a specific location / feature / historical event.

Math – Chemistry – Physics.  Leverage the camera to take pictures of their work, then add thought bubbles to give insight into process and the decision making process. Share the products with each other, or use as an assessment.

Biology – label the picture, or image. Have them find the tree in the “real world” taking pictures with iPads or cell phones. Label those, instead of the sketched representation of the object. Easier for them to transfer real world to real knowledge.

What have you done?

My big quote “I make the education that surrounds the technology work.”

Go get it. Amazing notetaking app.

Really, a must have for just about everyone.

Using an iPad to encourage drawing is a huge hit for anyone, and this group excelled.

I’ll get more art uploaded later, along with a video or two!

Our German students got a chance to skype with another group of students from Germany. The German kids stayed after school to chat, (a surprise to our kids.) After a few technical learnings the kids had a great time asking questions, some in German, others in English.

Many of the things I learned had nothing to do with Skype. Things we did right, or need to do next time…

• Introductions
  teach kids how to introduce themselves on Skype
• “count to 2″
  after and before you speak, there is a delay, plan for it
• one speaker at a time
• Plan for something after the Hello
  have a list of questions available – in the moment of the conversation, kids get tongue tied
• Who’s going next?
  if in small groups, have hand signals indicating who is going to answer / ask, not everyone should speak at the same time
• The Stars
  your non-academic kids just might surprise you
• be flexible
  half your kids might be on a field trip
• text
  use the texting part of skype
• Teacher Conversations
  set up a text conversation with the other teacher – when accounts don’t work, or the noise is too much, having the ability to text will help
• Plan for Goodbyes
  If the kids want to talk more, what other ways can they connect, and trade information – facebook, email, twitter

Yes, I fish. Not really something to talk about on an instructional technology blog, but I’ve got the “hook” for it.

When I started fly fishing 20 years ago (really? that long ago?) there were four fly shops in the area. There was one in Richfield. Richfield isn’t exactly the area I’d expect to find a fly shop, but there it was, just a mile from my house. Needless to say, it isn’t there anymore. Actually none of them are. The one in Eden Prairie had a fantastic staff, I’d go in, just to check to stream reports board, chat with someone about what’s hatching, get the info on some new stream to check out, or just look at stuff. You really can’t have enough “stuff” for fly fishing.

Well, none of these fly shops exist anymore. The number of online fly fishing sites has exploded. I can get the stream reports from a whole number of web sites now. From right here at my desk, I can tell you what’s hatching in Montana.

Just like I can read the newspaper from Livingston. When I traveled, I got the local newspaper, and skipped USA Today. It was fun to see what matters to the people around me, water rights are a big deal out west. Reading it from the local paper really brings that front and center. Today I can take a little vacation and read the stream reports, water arguments and grizzly attacks.

What a great time to be a teacher, or really the learner. I can put myself in the middle of Livingston today, see what matters to people today, and see the impact of decisions (from years past) on the culture of today. Compare what is in the local paper, with what is in the Livingston paper.

I was thinking, I have a Personal Learning Network for fishing, instructional technology, being a mom, well…lot of different things. What if our textbooks went the way of my local fly fishing stores? I now have access to more, sometimes better, sometimes not. But it is personalized, multi-dimensional, and gets my hooked into fishing just like going to the store. I just get to do it more often. What if?

Now, being a Mobile Me user, I had options. But not everyone invests in mobile me, and hardly any of the kids will spend $99 a year for cloud based storage.

Finally found a fantastic solution. Drop Dav. The short description …it is a forwarding service from your iPad to DropBox. If you are working in Pages, Numbers, Keynote you use the DropDav service to put and get files from your DropBox account. Free to those who are using the free storage on DropBox. Their website explains everything, go take a look.

I’m working on ideas for how we could use them in class, this is an example of a mixed media (yes, I have an Art degree next to the Math one.) Sorta creepy example, still cool.

Off to develop ideas for teacher / student projects!

We are trying to create accessible resources for students, helping find ways to make text into speech, making it a little easier to understand and focus on the written word.

Macworld came out with an article facing MobileMe and Google off, helping you see what features they both have. I use MobileMe, and like the ease of use between macbook – iPhone – iPad. Something that Google doesn’t offer. If I didn’t want to pay for the service, I’d spend the time figuring out how to do the Google Sync. Thankfully I don’t have to spend anytime figuring it out. Nice that it exists.

If you are looking for a solution, this article is helpful.

Pizza for lunch usually means a presentation. Spent the day with people from all over northern Minnesota, talking about how EPHS is changing instructional practice using hand helds, video and focusing on engagement & our lowest 15% performing students. That day, Little Falls announced a 1:1 iPad project for all 5 – 12 grade students. Bravo. Access during school is important, having a teacher around to support digital learning will help us edge schools in the right direction. I wish them great learning.

I wonder if I could commute from Little Falls to EP.

Put this on as a ‘game‘ it gets you doing math without knowing it.

EPHS is also using this graphing app

If you’d like to see lots of math options…

1. Twitter Post–Using only 140 characters, create a twitter post capturing the essence of the person or the term. You may use Twitter spelling, symbols, and abbreviations. (4 points)
2. Academic Paragraph–Using MLA parenthetical documentation, write a mini-report on the term, concept, or person. These should be a minimum of ten to twelve sentences. The Creative Impulse must be used as one source. First, read and synthesize the information from the page listed in The Creative Impulse. Then use at least one cited outside source to add depth to your paragraph. Be sure to include a topic sentence, transitions, and a summary sentence. Mechanics will be a portion of the assessment. (20 points)
3. Visual Representation–Find two images that either represent or illustrate your topic. Explain how the images define, represent, or illuminate your topic. Write one-two sentences for each image explaining how each relates to the topic. (3 points per image)
4. Works Cited–Using correct MLA format, list the resources used to help develop this page. Be sure to list The Creative Impulse, the source of the visual representation, and at least one other academic resource used to create your wiki page. (5 points)

Does the topic really matter? Couldn’t we do this with anything? Shouldn’t this be the practice our students have for the real world?

See, one of the great pieces this teacher brings to class, she’s from the farm. Her parents still farm eastern Colorado -mainly grain, some cattle. Understated, calm people. Proud of the trees they’ve planted. Mom and Dad did a great job talking to the classroom via skype.

At one point, walking the laptop out to show off the tractor. Remarking that the son there is 6 – 2. He’s shorter than the tires, a comment that was mostly missed by the kids who were comparing themselves to the farmer boy, not the tractor tires.

Skype was the thing that made it work. Our P2V document camera was a great classroom camera, along with a snowball mic, so Farmer Dad could hear the kids.

Being a teacher today rocks.

When I’m lecturing to kids, (the thing most people think of teaching), the students don’t really ask a lot of questions, so I’m really just talking. Kind of like the radio talks to you, or the TV broadcasts to your house. Later, when the kids are working on homework, they ask a lot of questions, of each other and myself.

When learners make meaning for themselves (learn) they ask questions, set to clarify, cement into the brain new knowledge. Why not be available to help with that?

Here’s yet another person, doing a really great job of just this. He’s a Science teacher in Bozeman, and we use his stuff in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Our students brought him to our attention. They were asking for help, from the people available when they are making meaning.

This video is the one I personally love. Anyone who can work Angry Birds into the lecture has game in my book.

Let’s change practice in classrooms, have the work happen in school and the lecture happen where ever it makes sense. This helps us raise the rigor, and help every kid be the change.

It is interesting to me to think about how each of these men is trying to influence education. In the end, I’m not sure Gates is really setting out to change society, he’s changing short term practice by putting money in place. He’s changing practice later in the development process.

Changing teachers, not changing learners.Today in our society, I think we have to change both. Kids today, need to become really good at constant learning and application of learning. Teachers need to help create learners not the learned.

Jobs seems to me, to be changing practice differently. He’s changing the nature of the learning process, changing the way students act, the resources available to learners – and teachers. Creating a powerpoint is about delivering my learning to others, using GarageBand is more about creating a new product and sharing it with others. Publishing a podcast allows the learner to become the teacher.

Maybe Jobs is the Gates for tomorrow. Gates did change desktop computing, Jobs is changing mobile life.

Jing – http://www.jingproject.com Mac or PC
free to create swf files, cheap to create mp4′s

What are other people using?

Creating 21st century habits in learners is transformational education.

Sure way to blow them out of the water is to invite them into our choir classroom. They use iPads to help kids learn to sight read. Watching 80 some kids sight read, using iPads (with music apps) to play their own parts is powerful. Listening to them sing the music lifts the soul.

Starting creating audio recording (podcasts) of the books the kids ask for again and again. Right now they are sitting in their room (early) listening to the recordings on their iPod Touch. Over and Over and Over again.

Awesome. Tomorrow, I’ll add another book to the audio library.

Legos are really well made. Think about the number of blocks that are built, over the number of years, and they all fit together. In terms of manufacturing, they have amazing quality and production tolerance.

Thanks Kyle, for sharing your learning. The student becomes the teacher, kinda fun.

Now, the other thing that I love about this picture, are the number of uniquely created vehicles. I just love that he makes his own stuff. He has a ton of wheels and “stuff” that makes the cars cool (thanks Lego for making more types of pieces) and creates things that fly, drive, and float across the imagination. Maybe now I can stop purchasing the sets, and just get bulk stuff from the LegoMan.

I got a great deal, someone else cleaned out the boxes of toys no one uses, and the LegoMan made some money. Five years ago, this job of LegoMan didn’t exist. What it will be in another 5 years remains to be seen. How do I educate kids for an ever changing world like this? There are so many things LegoMan needs to know about that didn’t exist five years ago…

My son has created more vehicles in 6 hours, not from kits – but from scratch (cars for the guys). Everyone wins.

A 24 port powered hub. I’ve ordered one today. I’ll update once we try it out.

After finding this one, I was thinking it would fit well into the back of the computer carts we store our iPad in, then fish up the syncing cable so we can sync and power all at the same time. If anyone has tried it, let me know. I’d like a better solution than syncing “by hand” touching each device, each time we sync.

Pocket Mod lets you create a custom book from a single piece of paper. Messing around, one of my first thoughts was to create a Pocket Mod for the big project you’ve assigned, the research paper, web site, 5 paragraph essay, stats project, or music report. Piece it up into smaller jobs (which you do already) and help them use a checklist to keep track of steps, custom pages for the details and so on.

The size is a little different, so they’ll be intrigued. Might help those randoms become a little sequential.

Today in the Times, David Carr writes about the experience:

On the desktop, we clink links, scan the result and then click some more, drilling down in search of information, but never actually reading much of anything.

Because of its screen size and relative heft, the iPad allows and encourages the user to quit typing so much and lean back and actually read something. And in the process, it renews the romance of reading: People want to touch what they are learning about, and the iPad enables that intimate relationship, along with reading something longer than a Twitter post or a news alert.

If you have another narrative, description that will help be begin to articulate the love of reading, on a device, please share.

Air Sketch.

It is the whiteboard app for the iPad that can be displayed on a computer(s) that connects to it via a browser.

Social stories. Have stock pictures of people, situations, give the iPad to the student who needs to help explain what people were thinking. They now don’t have to be up in front of people, yet they can communicate knowledge / learning from their seat.

Math classroom. Kids, in their teams, create solutions. The teacher can choose who is up on the screen (or the students!)

Ok, go get it, play with it a little (you can start with the free version). Come up with ways it fits into the classroom in everyday practice. Not today’s everyday methods, this is the game changer, change the Instruction.

Then share your practice with peers.

If the iPad contains my books, my sketchbook, the graphing calculator, my writing journal, videos, TED talks, music, presentations, internet access, email client, why not have one for every student in our high school? I’m having trouble with any reason NOT to move to a system that isn’t 1:1 iPad.

Sir Ken Robinson was the keynote. Some pretty great TED talks if you weren’t there.

The poetry unit is really boring, I want to do something with the iPads to make it more exciting.

So, off to the store, to purchase and try out apps we went. Running across a lot of boring apps, that might be a little more exciting than the poetry unit is today, but reeked of tech for techs sake, we finally found Poetry Magnets.

Free little app, if you can skip just one category of words (romantic) is the perfect way to get high school seniors (ok, really, all high school kids) to create poetry. They stand up, sit down, lay on the floors, look like they are hanging out collaborating. The noise in the room is a little more excited than when reading poetry out of the book, or bending over paper to write a painful exercise of a poem.

When asked later, what was the best part of the term, the Poetry Unit rose to the top of the list. Maybe because they got to use iPads, maybe because it was more collaborative, maybe because the teacher intentionally tried to make it more exciting. Whatever, why-ever, it was better than before.

Class time could look a lot more like this. Kids, sitting around, looking at, talking about, making connections, arguing points about architecture and its place historically and currently in society. Everything but “dancing about architecture” – which for me is a lot like “talking about music theory.” I guess that might lead to another blog post, another day.

We have a lot of textbooks, they are expensive textbooks. More recently adopted textbooks have an online component, a disc that came with the adoption, and of course the book.

I’m really looking forward to the day when we get to just purchase what we need. Better yet, we as educators have time to work together to create a continually improved set of resources that include multimedia, text, discussion, primary source material, project ideas, international connections, and application to students lives.

Is that too much to ask?

Our peer counselors are working together to talk about choices around drug use, dating, grief..etc.

Using the 21st Century Learning Space is giving the kids a place for brainstorming, access to appropriate technology, support from the teacher, peers and technical staff. Given the overheard conversation, they are doing an amazing job!

The additional conversation we had was around cyber bullying and digital footprints. We need to be talking to kids and sharing stories about the implications of their online actions. Sitting back and hoping someone else, in some other class, or a parent is going to have the conversation isn’t enough.  Just like we share with them how to behave in class, we need to share with them how to behave online.

An amazing English teacher has a plan to jigsaw Huck Finn, so to get the groups planning they came into our 21st Century Learning space. Each group had a computer or 2, whiteboard space and the assignment to plan out each group members jobs. The teams split out the jobs differently, some by section, some by task (create the movie, research these pages, work on the powerpoint, find video examples..etc).

The buzz in the room was productive and electric.

The tables are also on wheels, power underneath with the ability to daisy chain power between groups. Chairs are also on wheels, with a piston to enable a change in height. This is really a big deal, take a look at the differences in our 9th grades with our 12th grades, we serve a lot of different kids, so one height doesn’t always fit all.

The most exciting part of the room finished late last night! Color on the walls. In times of short budgets (our perpetual state of mind) color on a wall is about the last thing you get to influence. The difference is really amazing. Remember that professional sports teams have been exploiting the influence of color (visitor locker rooms being pink…) for years, why not education?

We are putting together a 21st Century Learning Space.

Amazing furniture choices, flexible, comfortable, functional.

Now the painters are here. Wow. Remarkable what happens when you put bold colors on white walls.

Come back tomorrow, I’ll speak more about the why behind this whole project, and post the pictures of the space.

This wasn’t on my mental list, and WOW!!

Choir is using Cleftunes to help kids who don’t play the piano practice their music. The students can transfer from the music to the app, matching where the note is on the staff from paper to iPad.

The group  that showed the most improvement day one were the basses. Audible improvement!

I keep coming back to this video, watching, looking for the application to education.  I suspect I go back so often because the application to education, for me, is so profound. Mathematically, a great way to talk about place value, magnitude of numbers, relationships between really large numbers and proposing a great way to display relationships. From a Social Studies teacher perspective, showing the social implication of money, how values of a society are reflected in the money spent on X as compared to Y. Here, X & Y being graphics and not numbers, everyone can participate in the conversation, not just the math-y kids.

This is mountains out of mole hills, a timeline of global media panic. (Laughter) So, I’ll label this for you in a second. But the height here, I want to point out, is the intensity of certain fears, as reported in the media. Let me point them out. So this, swine flu — pink. Bird flu. SARS — brownish here. Remember that one. The millennium bug — terrible disaster. These little green peaks are asteroid collisions. (Laughter) And in summer, here, killer wasps.

Fear – a society issue, the influence of media – who covers that in class? English…maybe.

Thanks TED, for 18 minutes that could help form a day’s worth of learning and exploration for a kid; a weeks worth of study for others.  Free, for anyone to watch. In my mind, this is a big value add to our lives.

If you need Algebra II, Sewing, Geometry, Statistics, Chemistry, Physics help…come see what we’ve been developing. We are a few years into our project, doing amazing work, short learning chunks that go onto kids’ iPods – into their pockets. We decided against Youtube as the publishing agent because we wanted the mobility instead. The textbook travels, why not the lectures?

Karl Fisch is doing the same thing, Daniel Pink is talking about it.

If you need material for your class, your student, your learning – come grab some of our teaching – put it in your pocket and learn anywhere, anytime.

We’ve been measuring the difference in student achievement, which is really our motivation behind the shift, and the gains are consistently high across the board. One standard deviation in one study, 10 percentage points in another. The statement is backed with research – “When kids have access to teacher created content, they do significantly better on assessments.”

Providing instruction 24 / 7 is today (not the future), providing face-to-face time is the other key component of student success.  Using video to shift learning and remediation out of the classroom allows for face-to-fact time around things that impact students – video enhances instruction – doesn’t replace it.

Looking at Keynote on an iPad was eye opening, and yet a little duh. It is really easy to create Keynote presentations on the iPad. And the iPad helps you think more visual – touching the screen feels more visual – and less structured around lists and bullet points.

I’m wondering how many people are giving mini presentations using their iPad – using it at lunch meetings, or sales calls. Seems like the tool, just wondering how quickly it is being implemented.

On your iPhone, iTouch, iPad…

Force quitting an app is really easy,

1. hold down the power button (the one on the top)
2. push the home button (instead of powering off)

Funny. Simple. HUGE.

I saw a two-year old kid (in diapers, in a stroller), using an iPod Touch today. Not just looking at it, but browsing menus and interacting. This is a revolution, guys.

Seth Godin.

It is a revolution. What itouchs are doing for education, PRE K – 12 is staggering. I’d love to have you watch my 4 1/2 year old playing (learning) on her itouch. Podcasts by Sesame Street (and 30 other great creators), Games about letters, colors, words, counting for a buck. The vocabulary is amazing when amazing is what you put in front of them.

The same extraordinary learning happens with high school kids. If you can, get your student an itouch, load it up with apps – the educational kind – along with a couple “fun apps.” If you don’t have a student in your house, buy it for the kid you mentor.

This is a game changer.

My kids play Oregon Trail on their iTouch, they time shift everything, and watch Sesame Street Podcasts when ever, where ever. Where I was the Sesame Street / MTV generation, they are the iTouch generation. The learning that goes on in their hand, is what Sesame Street promised for the TV. This is personalized, individualized, mobile education, it is what Sesame Street promised for the masses drilled down for when ever, where ever learning.

The apps combined with the podcasts make for great learning. Gaming for letters, colors, sequencing, sight words etc. Everything a preK teacher would boast about in the classroom, minus the social / physical interaction. Those can’t and shouldn’t be replaced with technology. (a whole other blog post)…

Encourage learning using the iTouch, I can’t wait to see what the kids write about in 30 years.

At work, we’ve measured some powerful growth using Teach Me Toddler with students. In the backyard it kept a young learner engaged while the other kids were running around, jumping on the trampoline and swinging. He’s an active kid, so I was surprised to see him so engaged.

It speaks volumes to the educational benefit of having the tool in their hands, sized small, go anywhere (even camping). I’m not advocating any replacement of the outside run around, play with friends, learn from physical interactions. Just adding the iTouch as a tool to practice skills, during the downtime kids naturally need. If you fill your device with educational “games” and PBS podcasts, that is what they watch/play. If you fill the device with mindless games…it becomes another game boy – mind sucking device.

So, purchase wisely, this is the Sesame Street of their childhood.

Adding the iPad to the mix, or an iTouch in every student’s hand is going to revolutionize the way class is taught.  Here’s what is on my test iPad, we’ll be messing with this next fall, measuring academic impact the best we can, asking students for feedback, and seeing if it changes spending habits.

Here are the “apps” as of now.

• link to Classzone
• link to Podcasts (those instructional videos)
• PI83
• Moodle

Any others?

I’m beginning to believe that if all people had some background experience with publishing to the web, maybe at a basic level using something like google sites, or publishing articles in a cms, them maybe the other part of communicating to a larger group would become easier.

So, is that the new standard instead of office??

Do you think college recruiters are any different? Employers? It feels like part of our job as educators is to create opportunities for students to share their greatness in a way that helps them get the next job / college acceptance / fellowship.

High Tech High is one portfolio I’ve run across this morning.

Won’t it be great to send the students to the next “great place” with a portfolio in thier pockets?

At about 3rd grade, students make the shift from Learning to Read –> Reading to Learn. I’m wondering when students make the shift from Learning Academic Technology –> Technology Skills supporting Academic Learning.

Kids (and some parents) speak to how technological the students are today, how the digital natives set the time on the dvd player, set up the computer, are online and understand computers so well. The kids are the ones who set the ring tones on parents phones. Most parents / educators will agree… Kids are good with technology.

AND many of our students struggle with our ACADEMIC technology demands.

I’m going to offer that we define Educational Technology as a bit different than Facebook, Gaming, and what happens in the homes of our students.

Educational technology is sometimes converting documents between the Office version that the students have at home, with the other version that exists at school. Educational technology is about how to create together in a group, with everyone on different versions/brands of software, with different levels of access. Educational technology is about how to evaluate information, and validity of sources. (The frightening reality is MOST of our students think that GOOGLE is a valid source.) Educational Technology is about using Technology to Learn, a bit like the shift from Learning to Read –> Reading to Learn that happens in about 3rd grade.

Students who are comfortable online at home, come to school and act as if they can (without help) use Technology to Learn…I’m going to suggest that they aren’t always ready and still need a little energy spent on Learning to Use Technology….This doesn’t mean they need the same help as adults, actually quite the contrary, they need a very different type of experience.

Here is a really great tutorial that shows you how to copy text and use Automate to process it into an MP3 file. WOW, it is fast. The voice is really pretty good, Alex (the automated man) even breathes.

Right now we are using it to create audio files of things that students read in class (without the expensive software), putting the files on an iTouch for the student to use, and soon we should have some measurement metrics of success. Our first target set of students are those transitioning out of the ELL program and into regular coursework. Thinking social studies, science and English…areas with lots of reading and academic English for the students to learn will be job(s) one.  I suspect the hardest part is going to be scaling it to match the needs of the whole building.

Take a look at the Automator, really great idea!

Direct Link to sign up on Apple’s Website.

We are planning on sharing our Mathematics / Science data, Early Childhood successes and the latest work with ELL students!

Apparently I’m way behind, as I have been using Notes (the app that comes pre-installed) on my iPhone for a while. Evernote puts my notes in the cloud, allows access from a browser, and my Evernote iPad app does the same things as my iPhone (plus a couple more) app. Write the note and sync it with the cloud when you have network access, great for iTouchs / iPads, nice for iPhones!

I shared this and Dragon Dictation with someone at work and we went crazy with ideas around kids who have trouble writing! Have the student dictate the beginning of the paragraph into Dragon, copy it to Evernote, sync up with the cloud, do the final markup on a computer, print and the paragraph is done! I can see this working for a lot of material, both school and work.

I can see using this to take notes in meetings, class, organize the grocery / Costco list. You need to pay for the sharing feature, which isn’t much.

Looking for a cloud based solution for students as I hope we move towards a 1-1 solution with iPads in the near future. What are people using, or thinking? I’ve heard Google Apps is going HTML5 this spring, hoping that is a solution for some. The nice piece about Evernote, it just turns on, you don’t have to wait for the pages to load and connect to the server and syncing the documents later has a LOT of appeal.

I don’t write about games, I don’t even play games often enough to acknowledge that I do it.

Until now. Angry Birds is a blast. Part physics, part geometry, part geeky fun. Different birds are better at destroying different material (glass, wood, concrete) that protect the pigs who have stolen eggs from the Angry Birds’ nests. The angle of elevation determines where your bird is going to land. So really, I am earning 2 credits.

A great study in reward learning. Go play it if you know you have self restraint (*note that you have been warned and I am therefore, in no uncertain terms, responsible for any addiction formed to this game*). Otherwise, go read the discussion boards dispensing advice regarding level advancement. All this for a buck. Nice programming!

Create a shortcut on your screen of the link to your Delicious account. How to: In Safari, click on the “+” sign, choose “Add to Home Screen” option and name the button. It looks like every other application on your screen, but it is really a link to your bookmarks.

While reading something at Mashable, I ran into an article about Internet trends that had two different links. One to the PDF, the other to a link that loaded into Good Reader – the 99 cent document storage system application that I reviewed a couple days ago. I was able to click on the second link, it loaded the file into my Good Reader application, and now I can read the PDF whenever, where ever!!

Adding a number of things to Delicious has been great, now I can easily access these resources from my mobile devices. This is probably a thought that others have had, it was just my 2 minutes of rock star action today. If you want to see what I’m reading, go for it!

I can see using eClicker for quick and easy formative assessment. Keeping records of student responses was an area that we weren’t successful in testing. Maybe it is a limitation, maybe user error.

For the money it is a great resource for teachers. We look forward to further testing and application. This would be great in a Higher Ed tool, no need to purchase a device, just use the phone/laptop they bring to class.

Good reader opens files off line for you to read. I’ve connected my mobile me account, google apps, and ep apps, so that I can download and read things when I don’t have wifi. I have also downloaded my o’reilly books.

The files stay in a cloud, so i can get to them from multiple devices.
Access is off line, helping me when I travel, and with battery life.
This would be good for students as well, getting pdf’s from teachers…reading on the bus,

Written using the word press app for my iPad, with the internal keyboard.

Good Reader Web Site

Fantastic! AND there is a bit of work to do to ready them for the classroom.

Found a great resource today that started me thinking about how to share what we are doing, and how we are getting such great student achievement results. So, in an effort to make our success replicable, we’ve started documenting specific projects online, instead of just internally. If you have ANY questions, please contact me directly. We are just thrilled with the fruits of our labor, and most of all the success of the students!

We don’t have to wait for the textbook companies figure it out, instead we can use the content that people generate and share.

I like what has been created on Khan’s web site, really appreciate the time and energy that has been put into publishing these helpful tools – for both students & teachers.

Revolutions are like that. They invent and destroy and they only go one way. It’s like watching a confused person in a revolving door for the first time. They push backwards, try to slow it down, fight the rotation… and then they embrace the process and just walk and it works. ~Seth Godin

Isn’t it at least better to be out there, than just watching?

NOT rocket science. YET the results are out of this world.

Another teacher, another group of students. This time a little better statistical measure of the data. Students increased test scores by AT LEAST one standard deviation IF they watched instructional videos during the chapter of study.

Our biology teachers are recording labs with flip cams, sewing teacher recording steps of a project with the flip, math teachers do screen captures and flip (constructions), language teachers recording verb stuff on the screen, sign language with the flip.

It is amazing. It is simple, and I wish more students would use it. (AND more teachers would create material) The academic difference it makes is nothing short of remarkable.

• collects feedback
• creates a sign up sheet
• brainstorms ideas
• collects homework answers
• gets input on the latest process/building change

You don’t have to wait until your organization officially adopts Google Apps, you can use your own Google account to do the job.

In these rapidly changing times, sometimes just creating a way for people to submit ideas, give feedback, or measure response feeds our web 2.0 need. These don’t have to be created by outside organizations, they can be done by the people within your group today. Thoughtfully, yet without 5 meetings to plan the plan.

Classrooms are the same way, kids like to be asked, and listened to. This doesn’t always have to happen in class it can happen outside of class – offer up time for everyone to think about it, or offer up ideas quietly. Although, sometimes the thoughtfully written feedback is the most powerful.

Comes in really handy should I lose one of them along the way. It reminds me to take a moment, talk to the kids about what to do if we get separated and have them practice their full name (and as they get older, other details that will help them in the event we get separated). They have their picture taken so often, they have no idea what I’m doing, and yet it takes me just a moment to prepare for something I hope I never have to deal with – losing my kid in a sea of people.

Lots of people have cameras on their phone, not everyone uses it to send pictures, and in this instance, I’d only be sending the picture in a moment of crisis. Doesn’t cost me anything, yet helps out tons. I was always told, prepare for crisis – then you’ll never have to be in crisis. So, here’s to preparing.

The place where my kids go to preschool has a Facebook group as well. The other day it reminded me that the deadline for ordering scholastic books was coming up, so online I went to order a couple really great books for my kids. Pretty sure I wouldn’t have done that with the flyer that I’d already recycled.

What are you doing with Facebook groups? Bringing people together? Adding value to a service you provide? It isn’t just for the kids anymore.

Yet, they have the same technology need right now.  Imagine how hard it is to get 35 kids around a sewing machine, and show them how to tread a bobbin. Imagine doing biology lab demonstration with small pieces to a group of 35 students.

Enter the Flip video camera. Both teachers are using the Flip to record the demonstration they would normally give in class, submit it to our podcast server and then show it during class, on a big screen (or smartboard). They are able to stop, rewind, point out (on a large screen for all to see) discuss, answer questions without being tied to a little bobbin….that 27 kids can’t see anyways.

We take it a step further. Publish to the podcast server.

The enriched biology students watch the video at home, discuss things before the lab, and then get to work. The sewing students have a set of iTouches in class, when they get stuck with a step, grab an iTouch, watch the process – listen to the directions – correct their process and move forward. Stopping to ask the teacher questions that can’t be answered via video. Allowing the teacher to help kids who are really behind & struggling. Everyone is calmer and happier, because everyone is learning! (without having to wait)…

Try it sometime, video the demonstration, share it online if you have that ability. Or, use ours, they are out there for everyone!

calendar

I suppose this works better when the information comes to the device in your pocket. I know all the phones text, and I wonder how many of them would (or do) calendar if we asked them.

It is great to see people adopt this strategy, even if people then write the events down in a paper thing that goes into the backpack. It will sure make it easier for the crack-berry generation get a sense of what is happening with those teenagers (who hardly speak out loud anymore). It also speaks to my need for every kid to have a digital device that is small enough to fit in a bag..think netbook, iTouch, iPad. I can’t wait for us to be connected to the information so the learning can be about what to do with it, not recite it back to me.

I know we are close, it just isn’t there.

Yet.

Given 30 minutes and a video camera, – create a one minute public service announcement regarding the dangers of smoking, doing homework, joining the science club, advertisement for the book you’ve been reading in class. No editing, just multiple shot opportunities. Editing can be the death of video, make it just one easy shot without the edits. Students make more video and are forced to be more creative on the fly without the aid of advanced computer skills.

We used to do this all the time, before video went digital. The editing process is great, it is also a big time vacuum. Force the kids to live without delete, it is a good exercise for everyone. They’ll think you are retro. Which today, apparently is cool.

I firmly believe that the iPad will do the same revolutionary change to textbooks and books in general. Imagine how great it will be to go into iTunes U, download your book and have up to date text . audio . video . interactive assessments on your device within minutes. The price of the textbook goes down as the publishers no longer have to print, rather use dashcode to create apps out of the already online content. If there are textbook publishers out there, contact me, I’m more than willing to be the beta site for this to happen at the high school level.

Lots of people are writing about what is missing from the device. I don’t think that really matters, things will change, Apple will add features. We’ll figure out why they left off a feature, and LOVE that they did. Yes, I’ve had some of the Apple kool-aide. But really, who doesn’t think they change the way we …

The revolution has started, I’m ready to participate.

We are doing it. Seems like everyone else on the block has, or is making the move.

Starting with students, and the optional document usage and storage for staff. I do believe this is a game changer, field leveler for kids. If everyone has access to the same software from whatever web connected computer – isn’t that better than 5 different versions of different word processing software?

I do think that to make it work you need to start with staff, using things that they already do professionally.

Meeting notes – have a couple people taking notes at those dept meetings, then make them viewable by the whole staff, great place to teach how / when to Insert – Comment

Agendas – why shouldn’t everyone have the ability to add to the agenda before the meeting starts?

Shared Docs – helps people start controlling who sees what, and who can edit

The great thing about Google Apps, you can use it, without waiting for your district to get the cloud set up. Make the change for your students, now, share the success and get the change for everyone later!

We are a 95% PC district, and the podcast producer doesn’t care. We can submit audio / video files to the server from a web page. Combine this with Jing, a $15 screen capture software and teachers can teach anywhere / anytime.

Many districts use the OSX server to manage accounts and such, so all they would have to do is turn on the Podcast Producer service!

Right now, we are creating 5 minute (or less) videos that show people how to do things in Moodle, graph a parabola, answer questions about an assignment, listen to the paragraph spoken in French. There is a great correlation between watching video and success in class, so we are doing it as much as possible!

http://podcast.edenpr.org/

Now, think about having the ability to record what you are writing / doing on a smartboard. Watch and Listen to the teacher complete the square, diagram a sentence, read and explain the french sentence in English. This is the BIG MONEY app. Now as the teacher, am anywhere I need to be to help the kids at anytime of the day or night. When I’m off at a meeting, the sub now plays the snippets of me. I’ll say that again, now when I’m off LEARNING how to be a better teacher, the sub plays the snippets of me. This doesn’t replace me, it doesn’t hold their attention everyday, nor is a one directional lecture always the best, but it is better than the English major trying to teach graphing a parabola.

I’ve tried different apps, and keep coming back to Jing. Go, pick a screen capture tool, start creating short instructional videos for your kids, then share them on say…Moodle. Watch what happens when you run out of time doing homework problems, and they start saying, just Jing it. “Not everyone needs you to go over this problem, so could you Jing it for me?”

Next up: Podcast Server from Apple. Once you have one teacher who makes 200 videos for her class, and this idea catches on like wildfire, you need something more than just Moodle. I’ll explain more in the next post.

If you have a name like Jennifer Nelson, you can just hide in the multitude of jnelson’s out in the world. Or, you can try to become a little unique and answer to Jenn Nelson, only to find that other of us have adopted that same strategy. Maybe I’ll get pinned with someone else’s success instead of their drinking binge.

Talking to kids about what they post and what they don’t, is kind of like talking to them about driving. You don’t really know what happens when they leave your sight, until someone in the community sees them in your unique car. Maybe being Googled is something like that, having someone else see your child in your car out in the world.  I did call a friend recently when her son posted something a little too, wrong, (for age 9) on Facebook.  Yes, she’s doing all the right things with him on Facebook, she controls who his friends are, watches what he posts, manages his privacy levels etc. Exposing him at this age to the environment that he’ll grow up in, is a good idea. Having him delete a silly post is also wise.

At this age, his silly post is: I Hate School.

Much better than the binge drinking picture, hopefully he’ll learn the lesson before it can haunt him into job interviews.

Projector / Internet /Interactive Whiteboard in the Classroom

I’d add to this an interactive whiteboard, but bare minimum you need a way to project and create a visual classroom. This idea / requirement isn’t new so I’m not going to spend much time talking about it.

Moodle

If you have a way to collect and organize the electronic information for your students, everyone is better off. Moodle creates that extra layer of classroom tooling that makes it better than a web site. From a systemic perspective, you have a really great way of sharing materials between teachers. It spread like wildfire in my school, because the early adopters could give others what they’d created. Better than some of the social networking / web 2.0 tools out there as we can package and share between classrooms and schools. I like the idea of Ning, but it really isn’t the complete classroom tool that Moodle is for everyone.

Over the next couple days I’ll add to the list and probably talk more about the power of each tool (IWB, Moodle, Google Apps, itouch, Podcast Server, Screen Capture Software). Let me know what you think, and what 6 are on your list.

I think you’ll love this web site, for the organizing you need to do with groups. I’d love to say anytime is good, but the reality is, it isn’t always as good as we’d like it to be.

Next job, is to get decent art work, and a better description, although I’m afraid that might need snow leopard server to get completed. Oh well….at least it is there for others to use!

We use a variety of cases, depending on the need.

This camera case works really well for less than 10 devices. The fancy case above works great for 16, also allows the teacher to know, at a glance how many devices are still being used by students.

We’ve not run into a high end number of “how many itouchs can I sync at once?” Has more to do with the speed at which they sync.

When I was 30, I remember scraping together $500 to purchase a 500CC Honda. Talked to the woman who owned it, I think I found it in the newspaper, was all set to go pick it up (and have her drive it back to my house) and something broke in my house. So, the $500 dollars went to a furnace or something silly. Probably for the better, as I had no friends with bikes, so no one to teach me how to ride, or even ride safe.

Here I am a bit older, into the next decade, and I finally get to test drive a bike (Yamaha 400 for those keeping track) and almost crash into the curb on my first ride around the block. Ok, the crash would have been at 8 mph, yet scary enough for me to think starting off with a bike I have to shift isn’t maybe too wise.

Here enters craigslist and a scooter! So, a decade after the Honda 500, is a Roketa 150. Perfect. I’ve practiced in the neighborhood, heading to Lunds to get milk (notice the cool storage thing on the back?) and now to work! I’m having a blast. I’m certainly not as cool as I might have been at 30, on a bike that took all my money (leaving none for the helmet, insurance, and cool jacket). Yet today, I’m thrilled to be the scooter geek!

Last night I watched kids cleaning the highway in Waconia, thinking their bright vests were pretty cool looking, I wonder where I sign up to clean so I can get one too.

Students can see and hear the teacher writing on a smartboard, going over something they did in class, enabling the student to hear it again. I’ve had students in my office that were struggling math students all the way through the program to Calculus students who raved about how nice it was to see it more than once. Given how class time is finite, this blows the doors off the clock and gives the students 24/7 access to the bits they need.

Here we are creating videos to support teachers as they use Moodle, Jing etc to be there in the middle of the evening when they are posting that next assignment or creating the next quiz for their students.

There is specifically a picture of a little boy, asking to feel the President’s head, to see if his hair feels the same as his. The impact of that photo is a little overwhelming. The future is now, the ability for kids to see someone who looks like them, doing the work of leading. Now that has to have some sort of help, support, impact on student achievement, having someone to look at that is the President, who is telling them to study, work hard, follow his example.

“my future’s so bright, I have to wear shades…” a little Huey Lewis in action

• MyMoodle Page
  This is the second time in just as many days that this has popped up on my radar. Looks like something I should start to pay some attention to…
• Exabis e-Portfolio Block
  Seems like a natural next step
• Google Apps for Hybrid course collaboration

and finds the things they do more important than the meeting
is to say the least, a bit of a challenge for anyone
a friday afternoon in may made it even more challenging

at least we created this…or i should say, some created this cool wall…

i can’t wait to use this with teachers, students, process, etc
seems to be a great application for brainstorming from different locations, even same room, just different minds…felt a little like presenting to those that twitter,

if you are interested in getting together to talk and SHARE courses, strategies, professional development, this isn’t going to be a come and take but rather a come and share meeting with like minded moodlers!

Date: May 20th 1:00 CST

MCTM starts tomorrow morning, Sarah, Mark and I are presenting a little piece about how Jing, Smartboards and iTouches are increasing student achievement. Science and Math are the 2 areas we are seeing students really take off in today. Creating Jing’s for professional development, software and sharing of information (short presentations) are other places we are currently exploring.

If you are in Duluth, looking for something fun to do, stop on down. We all just might learn a thing or two together.

The Whuffie Factor: The 5 Keys for Maxing Social Capital and Winning with Online Communities (Tara Hunt) from Steffan Antonas on Vimeo.

It doesn’t take much, and the improvement happens.

We are doing something I don’t see as that hard, yet it is really changing the experience for kids, making the learning more accessible.

Things you need:

•  interactive whiteboard (we use Smartboards)
• a screen capture program (we use Jing)
• a microphone
• a short topic / skill to teach
• a way to publish (Moodle)

We put these things together and create short (3 – 5 minute) examples, explanations of concepts. Completing the square in Algebra II, chemistry problems, writing a good intro paragraph, the kids think they are watching the whole lecture, but really it is just a highlight reel.

I use Jing to create answers to questions that occur in my online class, when a teacher asks me how to do something specific on a computer, to show how to import kids into the clicker software, etc.

More than thrilled with the ease, the speed at which teachers adopt and bend it to fit their need. I just wish I had more time to get out and share it with people.  I do see this as a way to bridge the achievement gap. If you do it, let me know, I’d love to share videos. We are posting on iTunes (slowly), search EPHS.

The classroom really changes, technology makes the impact on student achievement we thought it should when we started this venture

Conference Description

School districts that are blocking You Tube are missing Obama’s information, being published ONLY on You Tube. There seems to be more and more information that is published on you tube only. Yes, I realize the crap that is shared, yet can’t we move past it and see the good instead?

I’ve been touting a lot of Jing lately for Math & Science (to start with).  I see it really as one of the quickest ways to provide a safety net to kids 24/7.  Another great application is when a teacher is absent from the classroom.  What a great way to write sub notes, put the Jing video clips in a Smart Notebook file, and ta da! The teacher is “in” the classroom while at a professional development workshop!

• connecting what the kids are reading with a word cloud
• what people are writing about online,
• what the textbook section is about…
• what other vocab is included that might be a challenge for students…
• priming
• review
• word cloud their paper as the cover sheet

I read this article about Colin Powell

and created this: