Why Do Teachers Not Practice What They Believe Regarding Technology Integration?
Cover the Material – or Teach Students to Think
2008 DonorsChoose.org Challenge
Joint Statement of CoSN and ISTE Hailing Passage of Internet Safety Education Legislation
View my Shared Google Reader for more suggested reading.
How do you think your students would respond to this?
Scott Merrick shared an interesting resource with me in response to yesterday’s post. Where We Stand: America’s Schools in the 21st Century aired on PBS and presents an evaluation of the American educational system. I encourage you to watch the program and look through the site and reflect on your opinions/beliefs related to this issue.
As I mentioned yesterday I’d enjoy discussing this with anyone else that is interested. I welcome all points of view, too.
Be sure to spend time with loved ones this weekend.
All the Best,
Clif
I found this article from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution to be intriguing and provocative. Two columnists with differing perspectives jointly authored this piece. I’d enjoy discussing the topic with anyone interested.
photo credit: trazomfreak
Karl Fisch‘s famous presentation has undergone another iteration as Sony BMG Music Entertainment remixed it to be shown to “150 of the company’s top executives gathered in Rome for [their] annual Global Management Meeting. As part of Sony BMG’s mission to improve the music experience for consumers living in “exponential times”, the video illustrates the demand for change.”
I’m still trying to catch up from my recent trips to Kannapolis, EduBloggerCon and NECC. I have notes, pod/vidcasts and photos that I intend to share but more pressing matters (Family, research and writing, preparations for professional development workshops and 2nd summer semester courses) have kept my attention. Here are a few things that I want to make sure I at least go ahead and point out.
Measuring What Really Matters: The 21st Century Skills Assessment Project
“…a collaborative effort designed to create viable methods of assessing of higher order learning outcomes, and the higher-order skills required by independent, lifelong learners.”
ISTE’s Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT)
"A FREE online tool that provides a set of questions to guide classroom observations of a number of key components of technology integration."
Ed Tech Action Network
"ETAN provides a forum for educators and others to engage in the political process and project a unified voice in support of a common cause – improving teaching and learning through the systemic use of technology. ETAN’s mission is to influence public policy-makers at the federal, state and local levels and to increase public investment in the competitiveness of America’s classrooms and students."
Possible Federal Funding for Educational Technology
There is a possibility that we will see more funding for educational technology and perhaps even a large funding program similar to the PT3 initiative.
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
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
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.
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.
