Clif’s Notes

Write Elected Officials about Educational Technology Funding

We learned about this possible opportunity during the Teacher Educators (SIGTE) meeting during NECC. I’ve been intending to write a post about it, but I think my good friend, Drew, covers all the high points. The following message was originally posted on The Playground.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved legislation to fund an educational technology initiative. However, the U.S. Senate looks to be undecided on whether they will support funding. You can be involved. Go to the Ed Tech Action Network and put your zip code in the box at the top of the page. It will generate a letter to your U.S. Senators that you can modify as you see fit. In the next month, there is a chance that we will see more funding for educational technology and perhaps even a large funding program similar to the PT3 initiative.

Please take some time and voice your opinion,
Drew Polly

• Noteworthy from NECC
• EBC and NECC Preparations Underway
• Firefox Is the Browser of Choice
• Technology in the Classroom

A Lesson from South America

by Trevor Acy

When you think about the country of Colombia, one of the first thoughts many people have is of the drug cartel. Previously famous for it’s cocaine traffic and murder rate, Colombia was one of the most dangerous countries in the world. And also one of the poorest in terms of income and education. But things are changing down there, drastically and at a surprisingly fast rate.

About a week ago, we got a promotional newsletter about the investment opportunities in Bogota. I was floored. The international environment there is staggering and many companies are using Bogota as a hub for the Central and South American markets. Not only have they reduced crime in the major cities (Bogota, Medellin) but also greatly improved public transportation which is benefiting the impoverished community and reducing pollution. They have attained a steady growth across multiple markets and have fantastic tax benefits for investors.

So why, if I received this information weeks ago, am I writing about it now. Well one of my heroes Anthony Bourdain has updated his personal blog with a similar story and what I think is definitely worth sharing. In his latest travels he visited Colombia, in particular Medellin. Medellin up until recently was the murder capital of the entire world. Now, it is relatively safe considering the time frame from its dangerous past, as said the public transportation has been significantly improved, foreigners (Americans in particular) are welcomed with open arms (a rare deal indeed these days). But the most impressive thing about Colombia is the government is spending an unheard of 40% of the total budget into education. Can you imagine what that kind of mindset would do here in America.

Here’s a link to Tony’s blog. If you don’t want No Reservations, I strongly recommend you do. You learn so much about other places by his interactions with real people. I would give anything to be able to do that for a living.

Edit: What changes do you think we would see here in America if our government even came close to investing that much of the budget into our educational system?

• Perfect Use of Vlogging
• Random Notes from Clif
• Another Example of the Possibilities of Technology in Education
• NECC This Morning

Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0

I’m posting this again as the course will begin in less than a week. Please join the fun!

I’m teaching a special topics seminar this summer for graduate students. The topic will be Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 Technologies. I began preparing for this course in June 2007 and I’m very excited about it. While we’ll consider common trends and issues and survey many of the popular tools and services related to Web 2.0, the heart of the course will be learning to effectively integrate Web 2.0 technologies and principles with teaching and learning. The focus will be on K-12 education but accommodations can be made for individuals from other fields (health, corporate, military, higher education, etc.). This draft version of the Course Topics provides an overview of the likely curriculum.

While the dominate driving force in the development of the curriculum and resources has been the upcoming class, I always planned for this to be a relatively open learning community. In keeping with the principles of Web 2.0 I encourage the participation of everyone with an interest or expertise in this topic. You may contribute to the discussion and fun by using the following tag/keyword: idt7078

Related Resources

• Course Wiki
• Google Reader Shared Items
• Diigo Group
• News Notes on This Topic
• More Coming Soon

• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Developing Educational Technology Courses
• Games and Simulations in Education: A Resource List for Newbies
• PD for the Holidays: Web 2.0 Tutorials for Teachers

NECC This Afternoon

Here are the presentations/discussions that I attended/ participated in during the first half of this afternoon.

A Plan for Wiki Adoption by Ken Pruitt
Ken’s presentation was an adaptation of Stewart Mader’s Wikipatterns. Ken shared suggested strategies for implementing the use of wikis at all levels.

Educational Technology and the Law facilitated by Jon Becker and Scott McLeod
While preparing for the Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 seminar I’ve realized how important it is that I become more knowledgeable about copyright, intellectual property, plagiarism, and related topics. I especially liked how they were able to pose existing IRL analogies for the virtual situations under discussion.

I’m off to the the much anticipated (at least by me) poster presentation of the ISTE Classroom Observation Tool. I plan to share what I learn soon.

• NECC This Morning
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Noteworthy from NECC

NECC This Morning

I’ve spent most of today participating in the following sessions and meeting online friends in the Bloggers’ Cafe. I’m looking forward to the presentation of the ISTE Classroom Observation Instrument (ICOT) later today. I’m curious to see how it stacks up against similar instruments like LoTi. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to post my thoughts about it. For now, here’s what I’ve attended to day.

Diigo: A Swiss Army Knife for Your Browser by Maggie Tsai, Diigo Co-Founder
Maggie gave a crash course in the basic features and use of Diigo. After her presentation she asked to interview me on camera and I reluctantly agreed. I shared some of the most common ways that Diigo is being used by my students, teachers with whom I mentor in professional development, and by me. She also asked me to share ways that I thought their technology could be improved and I reiterated ideas that I’d previously shared on Miguel’s discussions (here and here) related to this topic. I was pleased with her responses to my technical and design suggestions (She even contacted the engineers about one of the issues while we were talking.) and she provided Diigo’s rationale for why the ads, for now, will continue to exist throughout the tool. She assured me that they are indeed considering

Creating a Ning Network from Scratch by Steve Hargadon
If you want to learn about setting up your own Ning you might as well learn from the master. I’m comfortable using this “tool” but Steve provided useful insight regarding design and implementation which I found valuable.

Using Understanding by Design (UbD) to Create Technology Rich, Deep Learning Unit Plans by Chris Lehmann and Marcie Hull
There are oodles of similar models out there but I found this one to be practical but thorough. I’m going to take another look at Understanding by Design when I return home.

• NECC This Afternoon
• Diigo 101 Podcast
• It’s Good to Be Back
• EBC and NECC Preparations Underway

This Afternoon at EBC

Diving Deep into Google Earth and Google Maps

• Lucy Gray’s presenter notes
• Adding images in Google Earth
• Geotagging
• Maps, directions, and more
• Google Book Search Library Project

Web 2.0 in Teacher Education (Program Info)

1. My presenter notes
2. Alternative to the term Web 2.0 is the Read, Write Web
3. Teacher education and professional development that effectively helps teachers better integrate technology with teaching and learning
• Allow the teachers to select their own goals and help them reach them
• Online social networks can more easily provide the in-time assistance, coaching, mentoring, etc. that individuals during development/learning, but teachers often don’t think about using the networks
4. How do we prepare teachers to teach in the 1-to-1 environment?
   • The emphasis should change from "teaching" to designing learning that engages the students.
5. Resources for future teachers
   • Social Network
   • Bookmarks

Designing the 21st Century Global Learning Environments (Program Info)

1. Building on some online discussion that has been ocurring for the past year here and here.
2. If there were no barriers what would education look like? Brainstorming notes

• Suggested Reading
• This Morning at EBC
• PD for the Holidays: Web 2.0 Tutorials for Teachers
• Daily Blog Post 06/29/2008

This Morning at EBC

I’ll be updating this post throughout the day to alert you of things happening here at EBC San Antonio. The full list of sessions is here. I’ll be sharing information form the sessions that I’m attending. The session titles are in bold.

Social Networking for Professional Development

Scott Merrick is sitting next to me and streaming this discussion live.

1. Should it be organized or self-forming?
• Should the tool(s) be dictated?
2. An atmosphere promoting risk-taking is imperative.
3. Teachers know what they want to learn. Professional development should be tailored around them rather requiring them to attend PD in which they had no say.

Social Networking in the Classroom

Vicki Davis is sitting by me and is streaming this seession here.

1. Teachers in the room are using Ning, Elgg, and several private online communities.
2. Julie Lindsay and Vicki Davis updated us about the Flat Classroom and the Horizon Project.
3. How important are digital citizenship and pedagogy in these decisions?
4. If someone says a curse word in the classroom do we close the school? If there’s a fight at recess do we quit having recess? Why do we over react to these problems in online spaces?

• This Afternoon at EBC
• AECT’s Teacher Education Division’s Online Convention Activities and Resources
• NECC This Morning
• Greetings from North Carolina

Teaching Economics with an Educational Game

What do a stranded alien race and microeconomics have in common? You just have to see this to believe it!!!

Here are some random thoughts that I’d very quickly like to share.

Discussion

1. What is your reaction to this instructional strategy?
2. What other ways could this be integrated with the curriculum?

• Teaching and Learning up in the Air
• Civil Rights
• A Fun Mini-Game
• Games and Simulations in Education: A Resource List for Newbies

Learning to Change - Changing to Learn

Here’s something that will be of interest to all of us. Those with an interest in STEM areas like me should especially take note.

To emphasize the importance of education to the nation’s future and to drive home how much schools need to change in order to educate the children of tomorrow, the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), and the National Education Association (NEA) have teamed up to develop a public service announcement (PSA) campaign aimed at the presidential candidates. [More...]

Source: eSchool News

Further Reading

• Not Going to NECC?
• Listen to RSS Feeds
• Newsletter on Educational Technology
• Suggested Reading

Let’s Help a Student

The following request is from a college student and came to me through a couple of friends. She is seeking assistance with her research paper. I’d like to include your input along with my response.

My paper is focused on the Internet being incorporated into the classroom as a resource and the need for high school teachers to be trained on how to use the Internet in their classrooms and how that will benefit students. If you have any information in this area or know anyone else who I could contact that might have information that would be great.

• Technology in the Classroom
• Intro to EconoEdLink
• THE CHALLENGE to All Educators
• Teens Talk about Educational Technology

Imagination and Knowledge

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

–Albert Einstein

photo credit: darkmatter

• Did You Change the World Today?
• Did You Hug Your Kids Today?
• Did You Read to Your Children Today?
• We Remember

Developing Educational Technology Courses

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’m teaching a special topics course this summer titled Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0. I’ve enjoyed engaging with many people from around the world on the topic and content of this course and encourage anyone with an interest to join the fun.

Kimberly McCollum left the following comment regarding one of my previous posts on this topic.

I also teach a course about technology in k12 education, so I [am] really interested in your curriculum. What is the balance between pedagogical theory and tool training in your course? Also, with so many tools out there, how did you decide what will be included or excluded from the course?

I think Kimberly has asked some very important questions – questions that many others will be facing in the very near future – and I’d like to start a dialogue here. Here is my slightly edited reply to Kimberly’s inquiry.

Wow, these are good questions that do not have simple answers.

This course will primarily focus on teaching and learning with the understanding that the technology is meant to enhance learning. You can look at the draft version of the Course Topics and see that we’ll begin by looking at various instructional models, rationale for networking, the principles of web 2.0, related current topics and issues, and more before we ever look at any specific tools.

We’ll survey a variety of Web 2.0 technologies and the learners will have some flexibility in which tools they choose to use (For example, for the social bookmarking unit the learners could choose to use Diigo, Del.icio.us, etc.). Again, the tools are not the primary focus as many will be vastly upgraded or obsolete 18 months from now. The idea will be for the learners to become familiar with each general group or genre of tools and begin developing strategies for integrating them with teaching and learning in their own classrooms during the coming school year.

I’ve tried to group the tools according to use in the classroom. For example, I’ve grouped everything related to audio together. This class does not seek to be on the bleeding edge of innovation so we’ll look at tools that have examples of being implemented in classrooms and have at least a small community of edu-users. I intend to allow for some flexibility to allow for emergent learning opportunities as learners discover topics and technologies of particular interest to them individually.

The number of groups of tools that can be studied will likely be more than we can study in the course, so I anticipate that we’ll all learn some of the most common tools together (blogs, wikis, microblogging, etc.) and then I’ll allow the learners to customize their learning by picking 4 or so of the remaining half dozen groups as they deem most appropriate for their needs, interests, personal/ professional development, etc.

As we survey all these tools, we’ll always bring the conversation back to the educational merits each brings to the design of instruction. I do not believe in using technology for the sake of using technology, nor do I wish for anyone to leave my class with that misconception.

I encourage you to join in the development of the content through the course wiki and welcome your input, suggested resources, ideas, engagement before, during, and after the course.

Those are my thoughts at this point. I still have just over a month until the course begins, so let’s discuss this more.

• How would you balance the "pedagogical theory and tool training" in a course like this one?
• How would you suggest organizing the content?
• With which technologies do you think it is most important for educators to be familiar?
• What suggestions for improvement can you offer?

Related Resources

• Course Resources
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0 (Introductory Post)
• Traditional Approaches and Digital Alternatives
• Bloom’s Digital Taxonomy
• Teach Web 2.0
• MSU Grad Students Technical Tools
• OpenPD
• TechnoThursdays

• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Greetings from Selmer, TN
• PD for the Holidays: Web 2.0 Tutorials for Teachers

Professional Development Meme

I’m a big fan of goal setting. It can provide a road map for the short or long-term and can be an effective motivational strategy. I have set a few professional development goals for this summer and have challenged a few of my friends/colleagues to do the same thing. Yesterday I realized that I could set this up as a blog meme and hopefully encourage some of my online friends to achieve a few items from their To Do Lists. There are a myriad of ways to approach this, but I’ve opted to take the short-term, easy-to-assess approach, but I’ll leave some wiggle room for you to customize it to meet your needs. The official information is below.

Directions

Summer can be a great time for professional development. It is an opportunity to learn more about a topic, read a particular work or the works of a particular author, beef up an existing unit of instruction, advance one’s technical skills, work on that advanced degree or certification, pick up a new hobby, and finish many of the other items on our ever-growing To Do Lists. Let’s make Summer 2008 a time when we actually get to accomplish a few of those things and enjoy the thrill of marking them off our lists.

The Rules

1. Pick 3 professional development goals and commit to achieving them this summer.
2. For the purposes of this activity the end of summer will be Labor Day (09/01/08).
3. Post the above directions along with your 3 goals on your blog.
4. Title your post Professional Development Meme and link back/trackback to http://clifmims.com/blog/archives/353.
5. Use the following tag/ keyword/ category on your post: pdmeme.
6. Tag 8 others to participate in the meme.
7. Achieve your goals and "develop professionally."
8. Commit to sharing your results on your blog during early or mid-September.

My Goals

1. Greatly improve video skills and integrate my own instructional videos into courses.
2. Finish redeveloping one of my courses.
3. Submit at least 2 of the articles/book chapters in progress for review.

I Tag…

• Meme - Passion Quilt
• PD for the Holidays: Web 2.0 Tutorials for Teachers
• This Afternoon at EBC
• Summer Wiki Challenge

Rethinking Education

Lloyd Rieber’s presentation, What’s in a Name?, during the PIDT Conference has caused me to carefully reconsider the terms that we use to describe teaching, learning, and what it is that educators do. I’ll say no more at this time to avoid influencing the data.

This poll is a means of gaging the collective thinking of educators everywhere. Please disseminate this broadly to get as representative a sample as possible.

This poll will close at 11:59 PM CST on June 6, 2008.

P.S.: I’ve decided to try out Zoho Polls with this activity. They do everything else so well I’m betting that this goes well, too.

• Tech Notes
• To Integrate Technology or Not to Integrate Technology?
• K-12 Online Conference
• THE CHALLENGE to All Educators