Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Web 2.0 Demystified

Here is the rest of the video series presented by Discovery Education.

Open House Video---Go Chets!

Open House from Rachel Bridges on Vimeo.

My Wish for the New School Year

As the new school year begins and students pour into classrooms around the state, there is a sense of new hope and fresh beginnings. Schools that didn’t meet standards are ready to tackle the difficult job of meeting or exceeding goals, and schools that didn’t meet AYP have their work cut out for them. Those schools that meet AYP and are excelling know that to keep making progress, they must keep doing what they do, only better.

Infusing technology into the mix of state mandated testing and expectations is challenging, but is critical for our students to keep up with the pace of our world. Thankfully, companies like VoiceThread have made a concentrated effort to help teachers do their thing, (only better) and safely use technology to inspire students.

It is my hope that this year brings knowledge, common sense, and reflection to those who attend schools and those who run the schools. It is no easy task being a student, a teacher, or an administrator. I wish no greater gift to all than to be a learner in whatever role you play in the game of education. Have a great year everyone! Game on!

On the Subject of Internet Safety...

Those of you teachers using Blogger to create your class/school/teacher blog may want to take a safety precaution and remove the random "blog-out-of nowhere" navigation bar at the top of your screen. I got this code from @holtsman


Here is the cut and paste version, and below is a screenshot of where it belongs (click it to enlarge):




Basically, go into Layout, then edit HTML. It advises you to save a current copy in case something happens, and if you don't save a copy, then something will happen, and if you do save it than nothing will happen, so just save a copy somewhere on your hard drive like they recommend. Then add the code.



#navbar-iframe {height: Opx;visibility: hidden;display: none;}



It might save you a heap of trouble.
Just sayin'.

Games in Education

This is a very interesting video that I found here . (Games Designer in Brazil)

Why Blog?

How Geeky am I?

Marierush's Geek Chart

Coveted Job in Education

The topic of jobs in education is a timely one for me, as I have been giving it a great deal of thought. I think we may be missing out on some fabulous growth in education by not truly harnessing the power of the Internet’s collaborative abilities. Last week, while virtually attending National Educational Computing Conference (NECC), I literally booked marked thousands of resources, and read more blog posts than I am even able to admit to. I have found myself truly engaged in a conference, and I am not even “there.”

It really has me thinking about the power of technology in educational settings, and the importance of engaging all teachers in this new way of communicating. That being said, there are very few schools here in North Florida that have embraced the digital age. I do know of one school that has really taken the flow of new technologies and they are rolling with it. They send one or more teachers to the conference each year, and the attendees blog about their experiences at the school professional development blog. They have a Google Certified teacher who leads the digital learning.

I know of one teacher in the Jacksonville area (Duval and Clay counties) who has the job that should be in every elementary, middle, and high school. The job role that should be available in every school is: Drumroll please…Digital Literacy Coach. The job entails teaching digital literacy, technology integration, and teaching both students and teachers how to safely harness the power of the Internet and technology to boost the end result, student engagement and achievement.
Ask a child. Would they rather read a book about building a circuit, or would they rather actually build one online? Would they rather tell about what they have learned, or show what they learned?

If you know of any other schools in the Jacksonville area that have embraced the notion of digital literacy and are poised to get the training to the teachers to engage the students, please comment or DM me on Twitter @elemteachers. I’d love to visit and write about you!

NECC 09

I had the pleasure of virtually attending the National Education Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington D.C. last week, and met many amazing people with amazing ideas about how to best teach our children (and ourselves) using new technology. With breakout sessions like “Develop Deeper Understanding with Digital Primary Sources” and “Classroom Learning Stations: iPods, Palms, Laptops, Nintendo DS, and SMARTBoard” there was something for everyone. Being able to attend the conference without leaving my home was a true treat, and allowed many other people who could not attend to join in the learning about teaching and teaching about learning frenzy!

Using hash tags in Twitter allowed those of us to keep up with all that was going on whether actually attending #necc09 or #notatnecc09 (I was proud of myself for creating the “not at” tag!) If you plugged those tags into Twitterfall, then a world of information literally dropped (and continues to drop) into your hands.

My next few posts will include what I consider to be the highlights of the conference, and I will be including information from north Florida area folks who actually went to the conference!

Virtually Attending NECC

Awesome Ideas!

PLN's

The Future is Here...Meet Them

I find this really powerful, and it so aligns with my thoughts about educational technology, and the old-fashioned thinking that goes on in many places regarding computer use. Technology adds depth to learning, and teaching children to use these new tools is our responsibility as educators. It is not an option. It must happen. I have written about this notion here and here, and I suppose I will keep writing about it, until I can get into the classroom and teach it...

Cameron is the bomb!

Digital Courtesy

Digital Courtesy should be a mandatory class for anyone responsible enough to have an e-mail account. My suggestion to make this required coursework in which the students would practice proper techniques with their teacher until they are deemed "digitally courteous." Here is a sample course outline:

Digital Courtesy 101

1. Be concise and to the point
2. Answer all questions, and pre-empt further questions
3. Use proper spelling, grammar & punctuation
4. Make it personal
5. Use templates for frequently used responses
6. Answer swiftly
7. Do not attach unnecessary files
8. Use proper structure & layout
9. Do not overuse the high priority option
10. Do not write in CAPITALS
11. Don't leave out the message thread
12. Add disclaimers to your emails
13. Read the email before you send it
14. Do not overuse Reply to All
15. Mailings > use the bcc: field or do a mail merge
16. Take care with abbreviations and emoticons
17. Be careful with formatting
18. Take care with rich text and HTML messages
19. Do not forward chain letters
20. Do not request delivery and read receipts
21. Do not ask to recall a message
22. Do not copy a message or attachment without permission
23. Do not use email to discuss confidential information
24. Use a meaningful subject
25. Use active instead of passive
26. Avoid using URGENT and IMPORTANT
27. Avoid long sentences
28. Don't send or forward emails containing libelous, defamatory, offensive, racist or obscene remarks
29. Don't forward virus hoaxes and chain letters
30. Keep your language gender neutral

Image by dampeebe via Flickr

31. Don't reply to spam
32. Use cc: field sparingly

source: http://www.emailreplies.com/

Repeated failure to abide by etiquette rules should result in immediate revokation of digital privileges, or at the very least the function of "send" being disabled from the e-mail/cell phone client.

Or revert to dial-up, whichever is most painful to the offfender.

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• The 25 Golden Rules of E-Mail (ethelthefrog.com)

Follow Friday, and Why Technology?

It is "Follow Friday" on Twitter, and I enjoy jumping around and looking in to see who is doing what with regards to educational technology. I literally stumble upon really great stuff! Today I landed on Ben Grey's post (see excerpt below) which was triggered by Kelly Hines post. Then I read the comments on Ben's post, and the first comment led me to Peter Pappas post, which got me thinking.

"Something has been happening lately in education, and the implications are a bit unsettling. People are beginning to ask a cogent question, but I fear it's being framed for the wrong reason. I'm hearing more and more important decision makers asking, "Why are we using technology?" ... If tomorrow you had to stand in front of your Board of Education and respond to the question, "why should we continue to use and pursue technology in our district," what would you say?"

Why should your district continue to use and pursue technology?

Ben is correct, it is not an easy answer. I believe that this is a critical pivotal time in educational technology, and in education in general, and I believe that as such, there will be a large number of children unprepared for the rigors of life in a technological world. There is such a disparity across the United States in regard to the "haves and the have-nots." Schools that have full technological integration, where teachers and students are communicating freely and safely across states and countries are countered by schools that have just received connectivity but have not had professional development to harness the power of web collaboration. It depends whether a district is using the computer as a single user interface, or using the computer to dig richer and deeper into the educational standards by teaming with other educators and students around the globe. As Ian Jukes says, "It is about the headware, not the hardware." So, I suppose that technology in education could be expendable if it is not used properly. Bummer.

Various school mottos say:

• The Race For Excellence Has No Finish Line
• Committed To Excellence In Education
• Preparing Students

  Image by Getty Images via Daylife

  For Success In A Changing World
• We Work Best When We Work Together
• Teaching: Turning Today’s Learners Into Tomorrow’s Leaders

The US Department of Education states: "ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access." Specifically, there is an entire Office of Educational Technology (OET) dedicated to technology in education, which has developed the School 2.0 eToolkit . "It is designed to help schools, districts, and communities develop a common education vision and explore how that vision can be supported by technology."

Getting back to the question, why should districts continue to use and pursue technology?

Because we have stated, at the U.S., state, and county levels that we agree to "foster educational excellence." Simply put, it is our responsibility. That's why. Thoughts?

Read the Words Sample

www.readthewords.com

Me: Digital Immigrant

The In-Between Generation Meets the Digital Natives

I think I am the "in-between" generation--somewhere between the typewriter and the iPhone. I believe I am called a “digital immigrant.” I am desperately trying to learn new technologies, and to understand how they relate to what teachers need to support learning. I'm having an Etherpad conversation about learning these new technologies with some colleagues at my school, and it always comes down to time. Time that we have committed elsewhere, for learning that was taught from the teacher to the students. It was one delivery method, very linear, with lots of paper, lots of handwriting and in my opinion, quite boring.

Now, don’t get me wrong here, I realize that sometimes we need to “go back to basics,” but seriously, is that how adults like to learn? What is it? It is somehow learning the skills to teach these new digital media children, or digital natives. It’s about self-study, self-direction, independent learning infused with collaboration. It’s about asking, combining, respecting and daring. It’s about teaching them to think and discern. It is about using the technology we have, and not being afraid of it. It is about dropping some old things and bringing in some new things, even if we aren’t “perfect teachers” of it.

It is about what sixteen year old Kyle Hutzler wrote, “Many of you, I am sure, are familiar with

Image via Wikipedia

the quotation from Thomas Edison to the effect that movies would come to replace textbooks (and by implication teachers), as you are with the similar claims made about radios, television, and the Internet. Let me say unequivocally that while I believe in technology's promise in education, there is no computer program, no podcast, no book that I would not willingly replace with a great teacher. Technology enables learning, but it does not teach.”

There, he said it; we aren’t replaceable by technology and new digital media. I say we come out of our comfort zone and give it a go. I say let’s ask them, the students. “How did you do that?” “What is the most interesting way for you to learn?” “What can we do together to help you remember?” As awkward as this may feel to veteran educators, the children are counting on us to be their guidance.

Fumbling or not, we can make a difference.The children, the digital natives, don't need our perfection, they need our direction. New digital media is here. Let's figure it out together, and make learning a collaborative and engaging activity which encourages creativity and innovation, for all.

Build Your Vocabulary!