Clif's Notes

Requesting Your Assistance: Making the Curriculum POP!

One of the professional development workshops I’m facilitating this week is titled Making the Curriculum Pop. We’ll be focusing on the use of digital media and alternative text selections to engage students’ interest in “pop” culture. I would appreciate any ideas for connecting music, TV, movies, newspapers, magazines, etc. with the curriculum, as well as links to images, audio, video, resources, etc. that you can share. I’ll certainly credit you for your suggestions, too.

• Connecting the Classroom and Outside World (Feedback Requested)
• Connecting the Classroom and Outside World
• Developing Better Presentations
• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo

The International Student Media Festival

The International Student Media Festival celebrates outstanding classroom media projects. Students and teachers from kindergarten through college are honored in a three-day event that includes workshops, screenings of winning entries, and an awards ceremony. It has now grown to be one of the oldest and largest events of its kind. ISMF has been sponsored since 1974 by the Association for Educational Communications & Technology (AECT).

There is also an awards ceremony during the festival where students are recognized for their achievements. Outstanding projects will receive an Excellence in Media Production award. From these, we cull out Judges’ Favorites and the highly-acclaimed Best of Festival designation. (Content and Image Source: ISMF.net)

Learn more about the ISMF and submit your entries.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (TAISTI)
• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (NCTIES)
• More Favorite Children’s Books
• Elementary Teachers, I Need Your Advice

End of Ed. Tech. Course Student Reflection

This is a really promising start for this future teacher. Kudos to AllyBii and her teacher(s).

• Teaching, Learning, Technology and the Future
• REPOST: Beyond Access Inclusion Conference
• If You Give a Teacher a Mouse
• Pay Attention

Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (TAISTI)

I’m back in Nashville today for the TAIS Technology Institute. I’m excited about having opportunities to work with and learn from classroom teachers, media specialists, administrators, and more. I’ll be sharing a workshop on Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media. The PowerPoint presentation is below and the full workshop notes are available on my wiki. Note that the links and logos in the PowerPoint presentation are clickable.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (NCTIES)
• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology
• Day 2: MECA 2010
• Web 2.0 Technologies for Elementary and Middle School Classrooms

Web 2.0 Technologies for Elementary and Middle School Classrooms

These are the slides for today’s presentation at the NCTIES Conference. Examples of how both teachers and students have used these tools are included. The full set of notes and resources from this session are available on the wiki. Thanks to everyone that attended, participated, tweeted, shared resources and ideas, etc.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (NCTIES)
• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology
• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (TAISTI)
• Planning District-Wide Technology Professional Development

Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (NCTIES)

I’m enjoying the North Carolina Technology in Education Society’s 2010 Conference in Raleigh, NC. I’m excited about being one of the featured speakers and having opportunities to work with and learn from classroom teachers, media specialists, administrators, and more.

Today I’ll be sharing a pre-conference workshop on Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media. This energetic session will demonstrate that with freely available digital technologies students can demonstrate their understanding of course content in multiple ways (images, audio, video, presentations, artwork, and more). Each student’s end product (learning artifact) allows them to personally self-express their understanding/mastery of the content/skills. Although teachers may not be comfortable using all of today’s technology it is important to consider allowing students to use it to communicate their understanding as they are often more naturally able to more fully express themselves with digital media. The PowerPoint presentation is below and the full workshop notes are available on my wiki. Note that the links and logos in the PowerPoint presentation are clickable.

• Multiple Representations of Understanding with Technology
• Multiple Representations of Understanding through Digital Media (TAISTI)
• NCTIES Conference
• Day 2: MECA 2010

Integrating Computer Games

Creating game-based learning environments or experiences using commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) games is becoming an increasingly tenable, valuable, and popular instructional method. COTS games are computer or video games created for entertainment purposes. A few popular examples are SimCity, Age of Empires, ZooTycoon, and Railroad Tycoon.

My good friend Dennis Charsky invited me to co-author Integrating Commercial off-the-Shelf Video Games into School Curriculum. Ten suggestions to help educators effectively integrate COTS games are shared in this research article. Below is an overview along with a few notes from this publication.

• Games and Simulations in Education: A Resource List for Newbies
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Teaching and Learning with Web 2.0
• Requesting Your Assistance: Making the Curriculum POP!

Publishing to AudioBoo from a Web Browser

Our kids and I have a lot of fun with AudioBoo. AudioBoo is a service that makes podcasting and audio blogging a snap and can positively impact your classroom (See previous posts1, 2, 3 and 4). Although the service has previously pretty much been limited to iPhone users it is now available to everyone. Here’s a screencast demonstrating how to use their recently released BrowserBoo feature which makes it possible to record to AudioBoo through any web browser.

Here’s the sample Boo that I created during the screencast above.

You can browse through my AudioBoo profile page to look through many other examples of boos that the kids and I have published.

I strongly encourage all teachers to take a look at AudioBoo. Whether or not you choose to use it as a teacher I believe there are students in your classroom that would enjoy using it and benefit from engaging this learning modality.

Sign-up for your AudioBoo account, friend me and other educators, and begin enjoying the valuable contributions this can bring you and your students.

• AudioBoo: Simple Podcasting from iPhone
• Creating an AudioBoo: A Quick Demonstration
• Bookmarks for 01/17/2010
• Kids Get Creative with AudioBoo

Free Apple Seminar for Educators

Reaching All Learners:
The event for forward-thinking education and IT leaders

Monday, February 8, 2010
9:00 AM – 2:30 PM
The University of Memphis, FedEx Institute of Technology

At this interactive event, you will have the opportunity to experience a digital learning environment first hand and see how Apple technologies can help you meet the diverse needs of today’s learners, including those with special education and language literacy needs.

Who Should Attend?
This event is designed to host leadership teams from your school district or private institution: Superintendents, Curriculum Supervisors, Board of Education members, Special Education Directors, Title I Directors, and Education Information Technology professionals.

Full details and registration is here.

• Interesting FREE Online Workshop
• Planning District-Wide Technology Professional Development
• Learning to Change – Changing to Learn
• Upcoming Opportunities for Professional Development

I Need My Teachers To Learn 2.0

• Elementary Teachers, I Need Your Advice
• Reply to Miguel Guhlin
• Learn with Us (IDT7078)
• AudioBoo in the Classroom (Thinking Out Loud #3)