Teacher 2.0 Teacher

Cell Phones in Class? Really? Yes!

2012-01-17T16:53:00.011-05:00

Today I received an email from online-phd-degree.net. It was a notice of nomination for The Most Fascinating Blog Award in the education category. Specifically, the Cell Phone in the Classroom post in 2009.

I'm not so sure it is fascinating but it sure has gotten some buzz. I have had several emails from undergraduate and graduate students who request information about what I do and how my school handles it. It seems there is some fascination with what I've done.

I believe we should embrace the technology. Some of us will still be fighting the cell phone when it's replacement comes along! And we all know that will come soon. How soon? I'm not sure but, it will come.

I was a classroom technology teacher for 16 years and then moved to instructional technology director for 12 years. I have been back in the classroom for 3 years now. I can tell you that I have been practicing what I preached. It works. However, it is not without problems.

I strongly believe that if a district were to implement cell phone use, starting in elementary school, many problems would not exist. Hear me out. If we start in 2nd or 3rd grade and ask parents to equip their children with cell phones you know most of them would! We would need to train the students, teachers and yes, even parents to use them productively. I think if we give students enough reason not to abuse them they wouldn't. We need to give them those reasons.

Now for the people who see this as a have and have not issue, we need to be creative on how we solve this. If we always did nothing because a few can not afford it we would never do anything. I have never been one to cater to the lowest common denominator.

Each year my students find several new ways to use their cell phones in school. They are always impressed with what is available for school use. They may all have them but that does not mean they fully utilize it. We need to do better!

Cell Phones

2011-03-14T07:21:00.003-05:00

I taught my unit in Cell Phone Use for School again last semester. You can see what we did at our class wiki. This was the first time all students had cell phones. Unfortunately not all students had "smart phones. Some students with smart phones weren't allowed to use the Internet on their phones. One student even had a hard time convincing his parents that he needed it for a school assignment.

I tried a new service where students could create their own mobile webpage. It is called Winksite. Each student could choose from several features to have on their mobile page. They thought it was pretty helpful and gave them a central location for their school needs.

As usual I find students to be really good at what they want to do with their technology. However they only know what they truely want. This leaves them pretty much clueless about the abilities and functions of a majority of the cell phone's abililities. We all learned a lot from this activity.

Yes, I did get permission and was encouraged to do more. We do have a policy banning their use, but the principal has the right to allow us to use them in class. So far so good!

Hello! Again!

2011-03-05T16:41:00.005-05:00

It's been a long long time since I felt the need to post here. I'm surprised that blogspot has not shut it down. So what was the reason I left? What has brought me back? Read on and I'll share my journey and the reasons why I'm where I am in my life. It's not some sappy story just the truth about education and it's spiral out of control. It finally came home.

I used to be the IT Director in our small rural school district. In fact I was the IT Director when I last posted. Now I'm back in the classroom teaching full time. The change was due to budget cuts. That was the district's stance. I had worked for 12 years in that position. I planned and implemented the installation of the first cnetwork, laptop for teachers, wireless, and a teacher in-service program. There were several other initiatives as well. We were podasting, using video, ipods, sub notebooks, skype, distance learning, some cell phone use, and much more. My goal was to be the best in our area of the state. I felt we were fast approaching that goal when, it all came to a screeching halt. My job was eliminated, they let my network manager go and replaced us with several workers from BOCES. In NYS that's a branch of education that provides services to school at a reduced rate funded by the state. The one piece they did not replace was the leadership I provided for staff development and implementation of instructional technology.

I am now in my second year of teaching middle school technology. This was some what of a culture shock since I have spent the previous 28 years teaching high school and adults. I have to say though that I really enjoy it. It has taken me this long to recover from the shock of losing a program that was highly successful and just about at the top of the game. I have focused my energies on creating a technology program at our middle school. So far I think it's going well. I get to share first hand with the students all that I have learned over the past few years with instructional technology. My middle school kids are creating videos, podcasting, using voicethread, wordl, wikis, and many of the web 2.0 tools out their.

Maybe it's time to share those stories with you. I can tell you that today I read a comment about my use of cell phones in the classroom. It was this comment that inspired me to write again. So for what it's worth, here I am and I'm ready to post.

Cell Phones in Class

2009-01-03T16:21:00.008-05:00

I have created an activity for my computer applications class at the high school level. I will have the students work in pairs. They will be researching 3 different applications for cell phone use in schools or for school work. Once they find an application they like they will enter a description on the class wiki. They will then create an online tutorial using Camstudio and WebCamMax. Tutorials will be placed on YouTube and the school website page. Students will be using Diigo to keep track of their research and for note taking.

We start Monday and I will allow three weeks for this project to start. It should be interesting to see what different applications they find and want to use. We will start with Liz Kolb's website Cellphones in learning.

Yes, I asked for permission to have students use their cellphone! I'll keep you posted!

Please let me know if you have any favorite cell phone apps that the kids can research.

I Think I Get It! Now, What to do About It!

2008-12-16T21:50:00.006-05:00

I have been looking through my blogs and there is a common thread running through many of them. People in my PLN are upset with Obama's pick for Secretary of Education, but that's not what motivated me to jump in here. It is the discussion around that topic. The discussion of change.

We all know that change is very difficult for some and somewhat difficult for most. In the best of times when everyone appears to be moving forward change still comes slowly. This has always seemed to be true of education.

I think I might have stumbled upon the reason why this is so. It seems that the harder some of us try to move forward the more the system pushes us backwards. Most people are not aware of this and mistake the change backwards as real progress.

Let me explain this phenomenon as I see it. You see I have been working very hard to get teachers around my area to see that students have changed and that teachers must adapt to their electronic world. It's a connected world out there and our students understand that, at least they understand it on their turf and terms. So what have we done about this. We've tried to cut them off from their world and are trying desperately to keep them in ours.

I'll bet that almost every educator wants their students to become life long learners. We even know how to do that. Students who are self motivated do much better than most. It's really hard to keep someone uneducated when they really want to learn. However, we are doing our best to do just that.

I have always been told that tracking is a dirty word in education, yet we have created the biggest track of all by trying to convince all students that they must go to college. Take a look at our college drop out rates and you'll see that it just hasn't worked, but what k-12 educator feels responsible for that. Hey we graduated them and sent them on to college didn't we? We did our job! Really?

I believe our strength as a nation is our people and our creative genius. Some have called it good old Yankee Ingenuity. We are letting that slowly slip away as we teach to the standards and the tests. Why should our children be excited about school when they are practicing for the tests, reviewing for the tests, taking the tests, and then debriefing the test results, only to gear up for the next tests. I would bet that if we could some how create a test on test taking, our nation would be number one in the world. Hey, maybe then we would satisfy the people who think that student achievement is best measured with standardized tests. We could then just teach our students about test taking and get on with real education. Giving our students reasons to want to learn about everything again!

You see I think we are going backwards and the reason I am so frustrated sometimes is it's not just helping to steer people in the right direction but also getting them out of reverse first. Here's what Ira Socol said that put this into perspective for me,

"But in schools, we go backwards. We even declare it, saying, we're going "back"wards "to basics." When we let a few new things trickle in, we control them so fiercely that they change almost nothing. Rather than tearing down classroom walls our kids now spend more time in school and even take fewer field trips. Rather than alternative evaluations we now have standardized tests for all ages. Rather than project-based learning we now have Core Curriculum. Rather than social justice we have "zero tolerance." And rather than the freedom of mobiles in the classroom we have the coercive control of clickers. Rather than the freedom of the Internet we have filters and blocks. Rather than the interaction of messaging and blogs and Twitter and Skype we have rules against these technologies. Rather than pushing past Wikipedia and print-based knowledge design, we don't even allow Wikipedia in so that we can discover its limits. Rather than computers allowing for individualization, we "lock them down." We've stopped dreaming - unless we are dreaming of the Eisenhower Administration and pretending it was all things I am quite certain it was not. And since we've stopped dreaming, we've stopped progressing. We're so afraid these days. I never understood how Europeans just 'gave up on progress' when the Roman Empire fell, but now I do. We have done the same. Retreated to our dark, isolated classrooms, hiding from the world, hoping it all goes away."

This is what we are up against. I see that now. What to do about it is another thing altogether.

Students Blogging

2008-12-14T09:03:00.004-05:00

My media class is about to begin their first blogging activity. This is not the first time I have done this with my media class. However this is the first time I am reaching out to the blogosphere for feed back. Please visit my student's pages and feel free to make comments. I know that they would be thrilled.

If you have a class that would like to participate in the discussion please do so. You can contact me at .

Here is the activity. I ask my students to give me their opinions to questions relating to the media. I conduct this activity over 5 or more weeks. Students are to formulate their opinions through research on the web. They must cite their sources in their post. They can use any form of source they wish. This could be text, pictures, audio, or video.

I usually will ask different questions based upon their responses. The conversation can go in just about any direction. It really depends upon their interests. Of course I keep it all media related.

I have found that I get more thought and more writing out of the students. I used to give this assignment as a research paper. Boy has this changed the outcome of what the students learn.

I hope we get some participation from many students and teachers. If you want to join in, or if you can't, please share our activity with a colleague.

The blog can be found at http://classblogmeister.com/blog.php?blogger_id=68130

Student Podcasts!

2008-11-28T08:48:00.004-05:00

I have been reflecting lately on my digital destination due to this year's NYSCATE theme of "Discovering Your Digital Destination." I've been thinking about how much my personal learning has evolved and how much my teaching has changed. I've realized I owe it all to podcasting. Yes, podcasting.

I have met some fantastic people through the many podcasts I have produced. My PLN has grown in ways that were impossible only a few short years ago.

We were one of the first to use podcasting in eduaction and have been spreading the word since our first podcast nearly 3 tears ago. We have created a CD that outlined how to use podcasting in the classroom. We no longer have that available.

I have begun to write a book about student podcasts. I was inspired by David Warlick to do this. I do not consider myself a write so it should be interesting. I am going to try to self publish it online. It was through this self reflection and seeing where my journey has gone that gives me the confidence to try my hand at writing this book.

I will begin the process of asking my network for help with this endeavor. So, if you could tell me how you have used podcasting in your classroom or school I would really appreciate it. You can tell me stories of your experiences or even a colleague. I would be very interested in the information.

You can comment here or twitter me at mdionne. Here is a list of podcasts I am involved in.

The TechPodZone
PSUCast
Room 531
Hall Pass

Thanks so much for being part of my PLN.

Access Denied!

2008-11-28T07:49:00.004-05:00

I recently gave a presentation at the annual NYSCATE conference. The topic was Personal Learning Networks. My discussion was more about what my PLN has done for me and my teaching and learning than about how to create and use a PLN. You can see my presentation at the NYSCATE Wiki. I used google docs for the slide show. I also tried to backchannel, but the wireless connection was not very good.

My partner could not make it this time. Rob Hansen tried to connect from home via Skype, but again the Internet connection did not work well enough for us to use it. I was disappointed about the lack of a good Internet connection. There were two activities that we could not demonstrate because of it.

During the conversation I realized a couple of things. One was that there are an awful lot of people who are seeing actual web 2.0 activities for the first time. The second thing I observed was that most people there were frustrated with their abilities to use these tools online because they are being blocked at school.

I see this as one of the major roadblocks if not the major roadblock that we face. Why? This is something that we can control. I do believe in some level of filtering, but not excessively. Especially when educational tools are blocked.

I attend several tech meetings during the school year with techies from all levels. So far the reasons that I am hearing for the excessive blocking are."That's my job", and "We need to protect the kids!". Once you get into a discussion with them you can tell that the real reason for this behavior is to protect their job. Why do we let this false sense of security trump our kids education?

There are some people who take this as a challenge. I believe there is more energy spent trying to stay ahead of the kids than there would be educating them. I think it is hypocritical of us as educators to out right ban the use of technology when we can educate the kids to use it appropriately. We believe kids can be taught higher order thinking, math, science, etc., but we can't teach them how to use the Internet appropriately?

Fear should not rule here. I think if you create a culture of trust you can get so much more from your students. Once students are taught how the technology should be used in schools they will for the most part behave accordingly. Yes, you can point to a few every now and then that will cross that line but then deal with it. Way to often we make blanket policies to deal with individual problems.

I believe you should trust, but verify. This actually takes less time than waiting and watching for violators. Some techies are proud to say that they beat the kids at their game. I wonder why you need to play the game at all!

Personal Learning Networks!

2008-11-16T08:58:00.006-05:00

When I am asked, "How did you figure that one out?", I answer with "It's the network!" Now I don't have the large group of people to point to like the guy in the phone ad, but they're there.

Personal Learning Networks (PLN) have been around and discussed forever. People have coined many phrases to describe this concept. No matter what you call it, it's the social aspect that makes the network so valuable.

Our networks used to consist of mostly physical tangible resources and people. They consisted of our colleagues who were close at hand. In fact, our network was geographically centric. The closer the resource or person was to you the more you relied upon them. The only time your networked area grew was when you physically moved. Occasionally your network expanded for a brief moment when you used the phone. This was very rare because most classrooms did not have a phone and still do not.

Now your network is not bound by physical location or geographic area. We can work with anyone from anywhere. We just have to reach out. Whenever I do reach out I am astounded with the number of people willing to share.

I am presenting at NYSCATE, NY State's annual tech conference next week. My topic is PLN. I will be discussing the tools I have used and implemented in my classrooms. Here is a link to my presentation. I will post the entire presentation after November 25th.

However I would like to discuss some personal experiences I have had since I've jumped into the "Network".

It's been a Zillion Internet Years Since I Posted Last!

2008-10-30T19:50:00.005-05:00

It's been a very busy year at school. I have talked with several colleagues and we all agree that this year seems to be more hectic than ever. It seems that my schedule doesn't allow for any disruptions. If one or more occur than my whole day is in chaos. I haven't had the time to read my blogs and write. Does anyone else feel this way?

As I prepare for my presentation at NYSCATE this year I am reminded to follow some of my own advice. One of the pieces of advice I will be presenting is to keep your blog roll down to a manageable number. Mine has over 40 blogs in it. Now I'm sure that is small compared to some.

So what did I do about it? I found myself with only enough time to actually keep up with 4 or 5 of the blogs. Then, along came Flock. A new web browser that bills itself as a social web browser. I really like Flock. It has a feed reader built in. I now have only 4 or 5 blogs in Flock that I read. The others are in Bloglines and I get to them when I have time.

I hope to keep this blog more up to date. You can also listen to my podcast over at Podcasternews. It's called Hallpass and I discuss technology tools that can be used in the classroom.

Well, got to go and discover what's new out there. Maybe I'll bump into you!

Inspiration

2008-04-30T20:19:00.004-05:00

I was just inspired by our 8th grade class to create a post for my blog. Thank you kids!

About a week ago I was invited into our 8th grade English class to teach them how they could use a classroom blog. The teacher was so excited and immediately adapted a project for use with Class Blogmeister. I helped the teacher implement the program and showed the students how to use the blog.

Tonight I thought I would take a look at how they have progressed. Wow, am I impressed and inspired. This was the first time blogging for this teacher. I am impressed with how well they all have done with this tool.

If you haven't started blogging with your students you really need to. Let this serve as an inspiration to you as well.

Where will it all end?

2008-04-06T08:33:00.003-05:00

Is this where I'm heading?

Oh my! I am sitting here in my usual spot on the couch, with my feet up, listening to podcasts, and reading my blogs. Oh, it's 6:00 am, Saturday and I'm enjoying the quiet time.

The difference now is that I have 2 laptops I'm using at the same time. Am I going nuts? My regular laptop is tied up uploading my student podcasts to our server. I am also doing grades.

My other laptop is a brand new Eee PC. Wow what a great little device! We will definitely get some of these for our elementary students next year. It would also be great for several teachers as well.

So while my full size laptop chugs away, I have found more things to try. You just never know what treasures await you when you enter the network! Here are a few.

http://openpd.wikispaces.com I am hoping to share and learn from this group.
http://twitterpacks.pbwiki.com/education-pack Great Twitter resource

We held a class for teachers using our new professional development tool. Moodle. I think this is going to be an exciting tool for our teachers. What a way to teach Web 2.0 concepts.

Check out these links for other resources:

http://www.trailfire.com/mdionne
http://del.cio.us/mdionne
http://www.twitter.com/mdionne

Oh, gotta go, my other laptop is done.............geeeesh!

2008-02-24T20:26:00.001-05:00

If you are anything like me you started your tech trek several years ago. Maybe even used a TRS 80 or even a VIC 20/C64.

Back then the major source of computer information was a magazine. There were several to choose from. Believe it or not, I still subscribe to one magazine and it is a computer magazine.

Truthfully, I have been thinking I should not renew it next time. Until today. The most recent issue did a piece on free and open source software. Most of the list I recognized but there were enough nuggets to keep me subscribed for another year.

Besides it is still more comfortable curling up with a magazine than with my laptop. Here's what I found:

Nanoscan
Comodo
Adobebuzzword
YouConvertit
ooVoo
Windows Live Photo Gallery
IE7pro

Our Schools!

2008-02-02T07:54:00.000-05:00

I just read Wesley Fryer's blog entitled A contrary view of education and NCLB and have to agree with him. Here's my take on things.

I've read some where, sorry can't find the article that most communities are very happy with their schools, but when you ask the same people about our educational system as a whole they will tell you that it is failing. How can this be?

I have been in education for 27 years and have seen its ups and downs. I have watched our kids go to prestigious colleges, the military, and into the local job market. There have been some definite trends that are consistent. We have slowly walked away from occupational education. We have been selling the notion that everyone must attend college. We treat "tracking" as a dirty word. In doing so we have created the biggest track of them all, college bound.

Another trend has been even more disturbing. This is the trend of testing. The results are scary.

Students have no time to be kids. Schedules in schools have become tighter to make up for the time taken away for the actual testing and preparations. Participation in the arts has dwindled because we need more teachers to prepare students for the tests. Teachers have become paranoid because they know that they are being judged on results of testing when by they do not control all of the factors that go into the preparation.

Evidence of these factors above is pretty apparent in my district and I would bet that if you poll the parents they would say our school does a great job, overall. So, what are the results of all of this testing?

I think we are starting to see the results. I see middle and high school students who are experts at the mechanics of taking a standardized test. I see students who are fearful of failure and rely on directions from others too often. I see students who are not very creative and act like lemmings. I see more and more students who haven't a clue about their future aspirations. I also see a local business struggling to hiring skilled machinists. It just happens that our district used to offer courses in machining until 15 years ago. At that time we did away with the classes.

The biggest fear I have is that we are losing the ability to create and innovate. That clearly has been our nation’s biggest asset. Why are we focusing so much on testing? I believe it's because it's the east way out. In this age of sound bites how else can you point a finger?

Here's my solution. If politicians want us to become more like business then give us all of the control businesses have. For instance, in business they choose the raw material that they work with. I say, let me choose the students I work with. In business they have quality controls throughout the manufacturing process. I say, let me have quality controls and the ability to eject inferior materials along the way. In business they receive bonuses for raising the company’s bottom line. I say cheers. I believe if we had the same controls we would not need tenure because our success rates would be through the roof. Give me a year under these conditions and I'll compete on any test with any school or nation.

Of course I am not suggesting that we do this. Our kids are not widgets and we as a nation have decided we must educate everyone. Rightly so. Yet we constantly compare ourselves to other nations who do not.

I came into education at a time when the Nation at Risk report came out. Talk about having your enthusiasm put to a test! I am still here and as optimistic as ever. I just do not understand why we continue to beat ourselves up as an institution.

I believe we have the best economic engine in the world. I know it's tough to remain number one. But, I ask you one question. If our educational system is so bad how has our economy remained at the top and become the envy of most? We must be doing something right!

Students reaction to the Students2oh.org

2008-01-22T20:58:00.000-05:00

I've been using Classblogmeister as a final exam for my media class for high school seniors. Directions for the final exam were to post there opinions/reactions to my posts. Topics related to the media, it's role in society, and media events. Each student had to post every time I posted and comment on at least 6 of their classmates posts for each question.

I was very pleased with the results. First of all I had 100 percent participation. They all seemed to enjoy writing. This was their first time blogging and it was the first time they were able to read what each other wrote.

The last post I made asked students to visit students2oh.org and react to what they saw. I also asked them to comment on the web 2.0 activities they participated in in class. I think you might enjoy their reactions.

Please feel free to leave comments on their posts if you visit.

2008-01-21T07:29:00.000-05:00

Another class is over and I just hope my students are better prepared for their future. This semester was filled with web 2.0 activities. I think I have podcasting figured out as a classroom activity. My students produced some pretty good podcasts. They will be posted to the web soon.

I used the classroom wiki as the center of my class. Each student was given space and they posted projects and used the wiki for communications. I hope to improve the use of this space by encouraging the use of the forum and more classroom interaction. Comments from the outside world would be a big boost.

We have a new district website content management system. Each teacher is mandated to maintain a web page. We use a product called SchoolFusion. The classroom web pages have several of the web 2.0 tools built in. I am hopeful to take full advantage of these tools. It has a section for the teacher to make available files for students, (my class is paperless), a place for announcements, a calendar, a forum, and even a chat section. You can incorporate pictures and video. The best part about it is it's ease of use. I may even switch from my media wiki to the classroom web page.

I'm still not sure about our classroom blog and how to incorporate it yet. So far I have used it twice for a final exam. That seems to work very well. I am getting much more thought and writing out of my students. I am definitely getting more interaction between them. Now for some outside participation. Check it out. I think I'll try to assign a topic for each student to blog about and have them include multiple media types throughout the course. Any suggestions?

We have used some other tools along the way such as blabberize, youtube, flickr, bubbleshare, and several other video services. They seem to keep the students attention. As always, technical glitches abound. I think the best thing to realize is that it will happen and be prepared for a backup plan. Be flexible and understanding. I have found that my students appreciate it when I can be flexible when technical difficulties pop up. One of my goals is to teach them to trouble shoot and problem solve as we go.

So one journey ends and another begins soon. Hope to see you somewhere on the road to becoming Teacher 2.0 and beyond.

Our Own Youtube Channel

2007-12-31T20:37:00.000-05:00

It seems online video is all the rage now. SidneyCSD at You Tube is where we will post our schools video projects. There are many services to choose from such as Kyte TV, Google Video, and BlipTV. They all offer similar services, but You Tube is the most well known and seems to be the standard service.

We will be uploading class and group video projects. Once uploaded to our You Tube channel, viewers will be able to visit SidneyCSD at You Tube and see all of our videos, make comments, and subscribe.

One of the most exciting things about video online and You Tube is that you can easily embed your uploaded video on other sites. Each teacher in our district is required to maintain a web page. We use a web content management system called SchoolFusion. SchoolFusion classroom web pages and You Tube make it very easy for every teacher to embed video on their pages.

My media class videos are posted at our You Tube channel http://www.youtube.com/sidneycsd. You can also visit our school website to see our videos. My students will also be embedding their video on our wiki at http://sidneymedia.wikispaces.com .

The assignment for my students was to create a 60 second video of an inanimate object found around school. The video must not reveal what the object is. A sequence of shots must be edited in such a way as to fool the viewer or not allow them to guess what the object is. Objects chosen must be typical school objects that can be found in any school. This is a great exercise that focuses the students on composition, types of camera shots, angles, and editing. The students love the idea that it is supposed to be a mystery as well.

Help us by making your comments on our videos.

Webcams and the Internet

2007-11-23T18:39:00.000-05:00

I left the classroom 10 years ago to become the district technology director. I left behind several activities that have not been resumed until now. We have recently discovered that we can use the latest webcam software and Internet services to broadcast video to the community. We can basically do this with equipment we already have.

We will be using WebCamMax to create a news style show, complete with picture in picture. You can switch between several cameras, computer video, still pictures, and effects. This software is simply amazing for what it costs.

We can then broadcast live on ustream.tv and embed it in our school website. We also have the local public access TV station and can set our computer to the ustream channel and broadcast out over our local public TV channel, STV.

This is exciting and our students are very excited to be creating news and broadcasting events. We will be sharing the url once we get going. So stay tuned to STV on the net.

Another discovery for me recently was Wirecast. Wirecast creates a streaming media server out of your computer. This allows up to 50 connections to your computer on your network using Windows Media Player or Quick Time. We are going to use this for school announcements. We have tested it and it works great.

Video is back on the move in our district and who knows what future TV personalities we'll pump out.

Great time at NYCATE!

2007-11-23T18:30:00.000-05:00

We presented at the NYSCATE Conference this past week. As usual the conference was great. I saw a lot of web 2.0 tools being used. It was kind of validating to see. Sometimes I am very impatient. It just seems like everyone should be using web 2.0 tools in all classes.

Despite all of our efforts in my home school district there are not many people embracing the new ideas. Recently I presented to several of our staff and only 2 people have asked for further help. I guess I should be happy with this. One teacher has signed up for a blogmeister account and will be using it in her 8th grade social studies class. I'll keep you posted with her success.

It seems that the revolution is making gains ever so slowly. Check out www.nyscate.org and look for our video podcast presentation called "Podcasting, Wikis, and Blogs! Oh My!"

NYSCATE Presentation

2007-11-18T06:38:00.000-05:00

I just woke up and am now getting ready for our presentation at the Annual New York State Computer and Technology for Education Conference. My colleague and I are presenting how we use podcasting, blogs, and wikis in our classrooms as well as with our teachers.

I'll blog more about the conference once we get there. Until then here is our outline:

NYSCATE Podcasts, Wikis, and Blogs! Oh My!

http://www.google.com/notebook/public/11290838075924092416/BDQ6ESwoQ_JL42OQ

1. Wikicentric Classroom
2. Podcasts
3. Blogs
4. Teacher Resources
SidneyMIT Wiki
Trailfire
TechPodZone
PSUCast
5. Other wikis
SidneyPLTW Wiki
PSUCast
TechPodZone
Teacher2.0Teacher Blog

Trailfire - Its HOT!

2007-11-11T19:34:00.000-05:00

Somehow I discovered Trailfire this weekend. I even noticed it was a presentation at the K12 Online Conference. I have been using Google Notebook for about a year and a half. I was using it as a bookmark because I could write notes. I am someone who would use My Favorites but forget why I saved a web page. I saw Google Notebook as a great way to save, annotate, and share my favorite websites.

I have created quite a list of websites, tools, and notes. At least I have the notes. This, however, makes it quite frustrating to sift through to find anything. I have resisted creating several notebooks.

So, I have been looking for some way to catalogue my favorites or bookmarks. Along came Trail fire. Trailfire is an online collection of web pages. You can create your own private trails or share them. You can even make trails on the web that can be edited by others. A trail is made by marking websites and saving that mark. All marks saved under the same name make up your trail.

You can go to Trailfire and search for my user name mdionne. Choose mdionne under Match Users. This will take you to my list of trails. I have created 13 trails or categories with 213 marks. I spent most of the weekend transferring my Google Notebook notes, phew. Here is a list of my Trails:

Blogs & Blogging

Podcasting
Everything photos

Publishing Tools
Misc. Web 2.0

Slide Show Creators
Must see videos

Social Networks
Online Conferencing

Tagging
Online Video

Teacher Article Resources
Wikis

Hope you find something you like.

I believe there are several ways you can use this with your students. You can set up a trail of sites that will guide them through their search. You can have students work independently searching while they create marks for a collaborative trail. This is called a wiki trail. You can keep archives of class research from class to class.

Trailfire will work for me right now. Until the next best tool comes along. Happy trails to you. If you start humming that tune you are dating yourself!

Let me know if you would like to add to any of my trails. I can make them a wiki trail!

Leave me a comment about Trailfire and my trails if you would, please!

Web 2.0 Workshop ResultsI

2007-11-11T19:28:00.000-05:00

I was able to discuss reasons for teachers to adopt a web 2.o pedagogy with our staff. I shared several videos and tools used by so many today. This is a short summary of what I think they walked away with.

Some agreed with me about students and ahow they have changed. Others were compelled to try at least one of these tools. Still another just needed some encouragement.

I even have my first in class project. Our middle school social studies teacher will be using class blogmeister for her next project. I will be guiding her and her students throughout the project. I am looking forward to this project.

It's a beginning. Maybe the start that we need.

In Roads

2007-10-31T20:23:00.000-05:00

I just gave my first presentation to our staff on Web 2.0 tools. Even though I have been sharing, discussing, and presenting the tools for over a year now, it was my first time I could package and deliver the whole as pedagogy.

My approach was to use the web 2.0 tools to deliver the message. I stressed two points. I wanted teachers to consider building their own personal learning network and to consider trying one web 2.0 tool that would help them to do that. The second point was to consider trying at least one tool that would help their students to create their own personal learning network.

I had some very capable co-presenters. The K12 Online Conference presenters were there to help out. I used several of the videos and had some great discussion. I'll be back here to share with you any in roads that I make.

I especially liked Drew Murphy's 10 essential skills video. It made sense to my teachers and gave them a starting point. So check out the K12 Online Conference.

K12 OnLine Conference Response!

2007-10-10T19:32:00.000-05:00

I missed the live version of David Warlick's Fireside Chat. I won't miss the next one live. Even so, the recorded version is great. It has compelled me to chime in on question asked.

How do teachers use these new tools.

People learn best when they have a reason, when it is relevant, when it becomes personal. In a previous life I was a shop teacher. Shop teachers have always known that hands on project oriented learning is very successful. I can create a list a mile long with names of students over the past 27 years who succeeded in my classrooms, shop or technology, when they completely failed in other traditional settings.

This is an undercurrent in my mind as I learn about and implement the web 2.0 tools. I don't mean it to sound arrogant in anyway. The new twist on it all for me is the social aspect of most of these tools. You must not underestimate the power of the larger audience.

One of the projects my students complete is a podcast review. You can check them out here. Within the first few hours of our first post of a review, we were contacted by the hosts of the podcast. They had all kinds of questions for us. This made it very real for the student who reviewed the podcast. You should have seen this student scramble to see what he wrote in his review. The hosts ended up discussing the experience in a podcast. This was a moment they won't forget. This made it real. They were held accountable and I didn't have to say a word.

I believe you need to tap into this new form of accountability. Students will rise to the occasion. Make them the expert. Most activities I do, gives them the chance to share their knowledge with others.

ToolsI use are podcasting, wikis, classblogmeister, slide, google notebook, voicethread, and motionbox. The class is media, a senior english elective.

k12online07

Professional Development!

2007-09-30T19:26:00.000-05:00

We had a great discussion in the middle of all the humor at the TechPodZone this past week. It made me think about so many of our schools' mission statements and/or goals. I made a statement in the show about many teachers being hypocritical about creating life long learners. Many of these teachers are not life long learners themselves. They come to school, deliver their lessons, and go home.

I believe connecting to other educators with similar passions for their classroom can spark that original love for teaching. I have learned so much from my connections through podcasting and other online events. I do love to learn and look forward to listening to the new podcasts and checking my bloglines everyday.

One of the tools I love most are podcasts of conferences where the presenter is leading discussions. It makes you feel like you are right there. That is why I am looking forward to this year's K12 Online Conference. I hope to share this event with as many educators as possible.

Hope to see you there! I'll be the one sitting in the recliner couch with his feet up!

Got to get back into it!

2007-09-18T10:53:00.000-05:00

It's been hard to get back into the blogs and podcasts this year. I don't know why. I guess I need to just start. I have a few tools to share with you. Of course you can hear all about these over at the TechPodzone.

If you are using a PC to display information on a screen then you need ZoomIt. It is free software that can zoom you in and around the screen. It's great for older staff! You can use it to draw with as well.

I also started to use Slide. It is another online slide show creator. I like this because it is easy to use and you can embed it in your wiki. Wikispaces has been upgraded and Slide is a choice for embedding. They make it so easy.

Check out our classroom wiki and our teacher in service wiki. I use these tools everyday now to share with our staff all of the great tools out there. Don't be shy, let me know what you think or what you use.

First Day of a New School Year!

2007-09-04T19:31:00.000-05:00

Today we sat there just like every other year. Listening to the different school constituents pump us up for another year. At first I kept thinking about the past 26 times I sat here and how much each year seemed the same.

Then I started thinking about all of the new teachers and what it must be like for them. The sense of not knowing what to expect from this day and being nervous about tomorrow.

I was fortunate to be able to work directly with all of the new teachers last week. I spent a whole day giving them laptops, resources, and encouragement. I also took the opportunity to discuss the new web 2.0 resources and mindset with them.

I realized that I had a lot of work to do! When I asked them if they had ever heard of a wiki not a one raised their hand. We had a mixture of new and veteran teachers.

We will get them!

This year I look forward to my classroom wiki. We will be wiki centric! Check it out and follow along as my class begins another wiki year!

On stage in St' Louis!

2007-07-15T19:14:00.000-05:00

I would have never believed it if someone said I would be performing a podcast on stage ahead of Second City. You bet, that's what I did last week at a PowerSchool University Conference.

What a week! We learned so much about PowerSchool. We also learned that people who use PowerSchool are such great people. We interviewed people, discussed PS issues, and just had a great time.

You never know what twists and turns life will make. This was all because of podcasting. Who knows where this trip will lead. Check out our podcasts at PSUCast.com.

I think we may have also introduced podcasting to a few teachers. You can see our presentation on podcasting in the classroom at http://sidneymit.wikispaces.com/Podcasting

The presentation was made with a great tool called spresent. Check it out at http://www.spresent.com/

2007-06-29T19:27:00.000-05:00

It's my first week of summer! WooHoo! I am now just finding the time to catch up on my bloglines. It sure can fill up in a hurry!

For some people attending conferences during the summer can be exhilarating. For others, re-charging means some downtime away from it all. I would have to say that I am one who needs the downtime first, but only for a little while.

I have been following the NECC live blogs and other postings. It sounds as if it was a great conference. I tell you with all of the new technology you can really get a feel for what was happening there. In the next few days I hope to explore some more.

I need a few more days to re-charge so to speak. Maybe I will see some of you at PSU in St.Louis in 2 weeks. I will be running around with Eric interviewing and podcasting the event. Stop us and say Hi.

I will also be conducting teacher training in Pekin, Indiana in 3 weeks. Can't wait. It should be loads of fun to meet people.

Here's to summer!

A Gift!

2007-06-11T20:05:00.000-05:00

I received the best gift a teacher can receive this week. It only takes one of these every few years to make it all worth while.

One of my Odyssey of the Mind team members wrote a book in his 6th grade class. The books were sent to a company that professionally binds them.

This student wrote a book based on a character that we used this year on the team. What was extra special was.........as I opened to page 2...... I noticed that he had dedicated it to me. I was very very surprised and moved to a tear or two.

I now keep this book on my shelf in my office. When ever the day gets rough I just look at the book and I feel better.

Even though these moments are few it only take one or two to realize why we do what we do.

It's Great to See Someone When they "Get It!"

2007-06-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

I atended another one of Alan November's workshops last week. It was as great as ever. I attended with several colleagues. The administrators were very excited to learn what Alan November shared. My only disappoint was that I have been delivering Alan's message now for about a year throughout our district.

I guess that is why Alan November does what he does. It took him about 1 hour to explain the read write web. I think they "got it" for the first time. Let's hope so. Thanks Alan.

The lesson I learned? It's delivery of the message!

What Are We Creating?

2007-05-30T21:08:00.001-05:00

I have been involved with Odyssey of the Mind for 26 years. It has been quite a passion of mine. I have coached, judged, directed, and served on a state board of directors. The best part of my experience though has been with the kids. We just returned from The World FInals held at Michigan State University last week. Our team place 10th out of 45 and performed extremely well. I am very proud of them.

I do have a couple of observations though that I would like to share and hopefully get some insights and feedback.

I have noticed that this group of 6th graders are extremly afraid to make mistakes. I mean just everyday plain mistakes. They have a really hard time admitting anything when it goes wrong. This translates into their fear of risk taking. When something goes wrong they become extremely upset.

I have also noticed their eagerness to please. They will do anything to make you happy.

I am wondering if it's just this particular group of kids or if there is more to it than that.

My question is this: Could this be a result of all of the testing they have gone through? Could our teachers be emphasising the tests to the point of creating this anxiety I see. I can only imagine the pressure teachers are under to get good test results.

I am just thankful for programs like Odyssey of the Mind and hope it will be able to instill the skills needed to be a creative problem solver.

Teacher's Desk of the Future?

2007-05-06T07:04:00.000-05:00

Ok, so my first thought was how are we going to fit this into the classroom and how on earth are we going to train teachers to use it? Then I quickly realized I was shoving a square peg into a round hole.

What I should be doing is trying to envision how this desk can help us to better organize our students to learn. This may mean that our students might not be in the classroom, or even in the school building. Our resources may not even be in our classroom closet!

My second thought was how this desk would stand up to the person who stacks their space with just about every conceivable object known to man. How would they attempt to interact with the surface when they can't find the surface?

It's funny what pops into your head when you see something cool like this! How do you see a teacher behind this desk?

Internet Safety

2007-04-30T16:12:00.000-05:00

We have created an Internet Safety class in our high school. We have 5 students who were able to schedule their time on short notice, about 2 days before the second semester began. These 5 students have done a ton of work. They have become iMentors through the iSafe.org program. They have developed lessons about cyberbullying and predators. These lessons have been given to our 3rd grade classes by the iMentors. The students have planned a community night where they will deliver instruction to parents and community members. A contest was created as well. Students in grades 6 through 12 will be able to win an iPod Shuffle for the best product that promotes Internet safety. Students can write, create a slide show, movie, song, podcast, etc. The class will choose the best of each grade level. 7 prizes will be awarded. 3 assemblies will be conducted by the iMentors and local officials including the police. iSafe.org has been a tremendous help. Most of our material has come from iSafe.org. Our local police agency has some great resources as well.

I hope to share with you the outcome of each of the activities above. It has been a scheduling nightmare at times, but well worth the effort.

If you have any activities you have been involved with please comment below. I'd love to hear about them.

Please visit the Sidney iMentors blog and wiki. We are looking for other students who have become iMentors or who want to let fellow students know about Internet safety.

It Just Gets Better!

2007-04-22T07:32:00.000-05:00

A weeks vacation really helps! Jumping back in has never been better! This past week has been relaxing as well as enlightening. Every where you look you can see the influence of the Internet. It's all around us! How long before it becomes an integral part of education?

The comment, "education moves slowly" is very frustrating to hear. Yet I read that comment or hear it in a podcast all the time. Why? Will it take web 4.0 hitting us in the head before most of us even look at web 2.0?

This past week has been tragic and has caused us all to take pause and evaluate many things, including our childrens' safety online and in reality. If you pay attention you will see how the Internet has played a significant role in all of this. The major news outlets heard about it from the VT website. Police are perhaps getting their best evidence by searching Internet and e-mail records. Students and parents were able to communicate immediately via the Internet. Cell phones were a life line to many.

That reminds me, cell phones, hhhmmm..........good or evil? I think that we can really turn around the typical response to cell phone use in schools. Why not use them as a major communications tool. We can instantly communicate with our students using technology. There are several tools available. A five minute search revealed many tools available to send sms messages to mobile phones. Is anyone out there using one? What a concept...........a cell phone used for good not evil.

I also ran into another website ustream.tv. I have many ideas for using this. Check this out! More on this later. I need to play.

How Savvy Are They, Really?

2007-04-07T09:09:00.000-05:00

I am sitting here listening to David Warlick's podcast. He is discussing podcasting with a group of teachers. One of the attendees has sparked a thought that has been popping up every now and then. That thought is; How much do my students really know about the Internet and all that goes with it?

It has crossed my mind a lot recently because I have been using podcasting for over a year and blogs and wikis for about 3 months. Each time I have introduced these topics I ask my students if they have ever heard of them. Each time they respond, "no".

The most recent time they shocked me with that answer was this past week. I had posted to my blog about cyberbullying. I basically asked them what they thought of the Ryan Halligan story that I linked to. They were to read and then post about it themselves. Each answer or comment I received was the same. They have never heard of cyberbullying. The second comment was even more revealing. A few said that teachers are just making too much of this.

Are we? I do not believe I am in the most progressive school, but we are not the least progressive either. Sometimes I think we give our students to much credit, especially when it comes to technology. There is still so much we can share with them.

This is perhaps the biggest challenge we face. When do we lead and when do we follow. Most teachers have trouble with that. I have always shared with my students that I like to learn too. They feel comfortable teaching me. It wouldn't have happened though if I didn't initiate it.

I think we need to talk with our students. We need to know their level of tech-savvy. Do not over estimate them. Join them in discussion. You'll be amazed at what you learn.

The technology has again delivered teacher insights from around the world to my living room. This is too cool!

Social Networking

2007-03-31T04:34:00.000-05:00

If there is one thing that I get from the Web 2.0 tools is the network. Teachers are no longer an island. We can share ideas, ask questions, and experiment with fellow educators and other profressionals from around the world. The really great thing is it can all be done in real time.

There are tools everywhere. Most are free. I just joined my first social network. Stop Cyberbullying.ning.com. You can join and have access to resources and people who share your interests. I joined, posted a comment, viewed some excellent resources, and in a matter of hours received a response.

It is extremely gratifying to know that people do share. I'm not sure where all of this is going to end up. David Warlick has some apprehensions about social networks. I'm not sure hwere I stand on all of this. I haven't been involved long enough. You can be sure though that my opinions will be shaped by my experiences in the near future.

My suggestion to you is this. Get involved. Join the network! Don't be an island!

Podcasting Wikis and Blogs Oh My!

2007-03-25T06:26:00.000-05:00

I have become the biggest fan of wikis. They can do so much and be integrated with just about every curriculum. I have created several wikis in the past 2 months. I have tried several wikis. The one I like best is WikiSpaces. They are giving away 100,000 free wikis to educators. They are at approximately 24, 000 today. Once you sign up you can create several different wikis.

I like WikiSpaces because it is easy to use. Teachers today will not use something they have to struggle with. You have to give them reasons as to why they should give up their time to learn something new. Let's face it successful classroom teachers are busy and an added activity better be good. A wiki is such an activity.

The important reason to use a wiki is that the students love them. My first wiki was created for my students in my senior media class. The students' first activity was to search for and critique a podcast that they liked. They used the wiki to display their critique. One of the students critiqued a podcast called Wicked Good Podcast. One day after the review was posted on the wiki, the podcasters from Wicked Good Podcast found it and responded to their review. My students were shocked, the lights went on all about the classroom, and they realized the power of this form of media. I don't think I've experienced an educational moment like that one in a very long time. It was great!

I have created a wiki for our teachers. We have a program called MIT, Monday Instructional Technology. Our teachers can sign up for different classes relating to instructional technology. I use the wiki to deliver the instruction. It will also be used to share our collective discoveries. This is also a tool that will be used as follow up to the training. Something that has been missing in most teacher development courses.

Other wikis I have created are for special programs or activities. I believe wikis can be used for just about any activity. Use them for a simple presentation or as an ongoing classroom web page. The ease of use and the options that you have make it a great tool for your classroom.

My other wikis are sidneyisafe, techpodzone, and psucast. Please join and share the wealth.

Internet Safety

2007-03-18T07:25:00.000-05:00

codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,29,0"
width="480" height="100" onClick="setValueBannerSelected">

We have created a class for 6 to 12 11th grade students who we think would benefit from an iMentor program through iSafe Inc. iSafe is a non profit organization that helps to deliver Internet safety programs to schools and communities.

The iMentor program trains students to present safety materials to students at all levels, parents, and the community. We currently have 5 students taking the class. They have become certified iMentors and have presented to our entire 3rd grade class.

The work they do involves creating lessons, organizing events such as assemblies, and delivering Internet safety materials to our parents and community. To help them complete these activities iSafe has wonderful materials available for free. They provide lesson plans, videos, handouts, posters, and digital materials including documents and songs.

The Sidney iSafe iMentors and developed an iSafe blog and an iSafe Wiki. Check them out and let us know what you think. We would love to have other schools teaching Internet safety either through iSafe or in other ways to collaborate and develop both of these resources.

Students with Blog Overload!

2007-03-11T15:36:00.000-05:00

Once in a while you have to get back to reality! Won't it be nice when web 2.0 is mainstream? I have been preparing a lesson for teachers about blogging. What a wonderful time to share. I have so much to share with my colleagues and so little time.

I am going to use Google Notes as my lesson plan. I have a notebook full of web 2.0 tips and tools. I have been using a Google Notebook to record every new useful tool or website I have come across over the last 2 months or so. What a list! If anyone would like to see my notebook email me through my profile link below. Leave your gmail account.

I have a big concern though, about using some of these tools! What heppens to the teacher who has 5 preps a day? I have 1 and spent about an hour a day on my class blog. A bigger concern would be for the student who has a blog to participate in for every class?

Has anyone experienced this? I would like to hear from you.

Too Much Fun!

2007-03-02T20:35:00.000-05:00

Today was a particularly fun day! Imagine all of this in your office at school all at once. Sitting at your desk participating in a Webx session and conference call. Discussing your student management system with about 8 different people and locations. Testing your Distance learning equipment via an ip video connection with 2 other schools. The neat part was that another district was doing the same thing and the video and WebX conference overlapped. Wow! I was watching people computing and talking on 2 different systems.

Oh, I was also conducting a class full of seniors in my media class. How did it come to this?

The schedule was not followed. I thought I had everything under control until one of the events was changed. The whole house of cards came tumbling down.

I have to learn to say no. With all of this communications at my fingertips I don't even know if anyone is reading this blog.

But, it was indeed so much fun!

Teacher 1.8 in School v .9 using Web 2.0 Tools!

2007-02-25T10:34:00.000-05:00

Confused? I sure am! I am realizing that there is no road map to the school of the future. I think despite the efforts of people like Will Richardson and David Warlick, it's an experiential thing. Don't get me wrong we still need to keep moving forward, upgrading each classroom one by one, but can we move a little faster please?

I sometimes get impatient. When I do I have to sit back and reflect. I have realized that it has taken me over a year to get to the understanding of the concepts of web 2.0 and how it impacts education. How can I expect a casual conversation in the hall with a colleague to have the same level of impact?

I came to understand these tools and concepts in a backwards sort of way. I was podcasting and using podcsting in my classroom for almost a year before I even new about web 2.0 or school 2.0. Once I learned about the tools and concepts behind them I started to think about my teaching differently. You can listen to this in our recent podcast at the TechPodZone. We have immersed ourselves in Web 2.0 and you can hear our take on things.

What's frustrating is not getting everyone to the same level of understanding. My other podcast, PSUCast, is about our student management system. We are periodically talking about how there are a few reluctant users. One of the methods we used to bring everyone to use the system was a mandate. This makes me wonder if that's what we will need in order to get all teachers upgraded to teacher 2.0.

I admit that I am not fully upgraded at this time. Only a few more patches to be installed and I will be up to date. Does this mean I am now caught in the never ending cycle of upgrades? We used to call that "Change". Oh no! The "C" word.

W2.0 Syndrome

2007-02-15T09:10:00.000-05:00

You know you may be obsessed with something when your friends tell you so! Last week one of my podcast partners on the TechPodZone podcast came into my office and proclaimed, as he usually does, that it was time to do another podcast. Normally it takes us about a minute or 2 to decide what our topic will be. This time he added within the same breath, “….and I have the topic”. He then proceeded to tell me that he thought it would be fun and informative to discuss Web 2.0 overload. In fact he said it would be good therapy for me.

It seems I have been going around our school talking about the Web 2.0 and all of it’s’ virtues so much that people are wondering about me. You can listen to our show and judge for yourself, but the Web 2.0 tools are just too cool.

It’s interesting that this topic came up in our school because I noticed David Warlick stated in a recent blog post, "I am so not ready for this",about his trip to Shanghai:

“The work has gone well, and my energy has been what was needed, exploring the qualities and instructional applications of digital content and one session on video games in education. But twice, since I’ve been here, I have experienced a sickness that I’ve never felt before. The only way that I can phrase it is Sensory Overload. “

I do believe that this can happen and has happened with me. My life style has changed somewhat because of the Web 2.0. I know longer sit passively in front of the TV to be entertained. I am now sitting in front of my computer devouring information and more importantly dispensing information as well. I am producing podcasts, creating wikis, and blogging. If that doesn’t change your habits nothing will.

I subscribe to about 12 different podcasts and listen to 3 or 4 religiously. I subscribe to 16 different blogs and read them almost every night. What keeps me coming back? I always find something new that I can use or share with another teacher. I use Google Notes to save everything I find. My list has grown substantially.

I need to figure out a way for people to be curious about the web 2.0 and not my affliction.

Find the Map! Which Way do I Go?

2007-02-04T08:10:00.000-05:00

It is easier to travel alone than in a caravan, especially if you are in the front. I have been implementing the many suggestions of my newly discover colleagues of the Web 2.0. The results have been wonderful.

I am in the third iteration of podcasting in my classroom. This time though I am combining it with a classroom wiki and blog. This has helped to transform my classroom. It has not been easy, but anything worth while is often hard work.

I have discovered that the immersion into the Web 2.0 has transformed my thinking as well. I can walk into any classroom, view a lesson, and immediately think how it can be applied using the new tools. Sometimes I share this and sometimes I don't. It all depends on the teacher.

Changing my classroom has been easy though compared to bringing on board the teachers in my district and area. How can we effectively introduce the Web 2.0 concepts? Introducing them is not enough. Somehow it has to be sustainable. Teachers have to embrace the concepts and create a long lasting change for themselves and their students.

Podcasting is the area I am most comfortable with. This is the activity that I have been involved with for almost 2 years. My enthusiasm has been transferred to other classrooms, but in some cases for only a moment. I have noticed that when the initial excitement wears off the teachers go back to there old habits. It also takes a long time just to get the word out.

The problems as I see them in the trenches are:

1. Web 2.0 is more contradictory to what's happening in this day and age of test scores and it's relationship with accountability. It has to be developed to run parallel.

2. The Web 2.0 concepts need to be more effectively communicated to the masses.

3. Web 2.0 needs to be packaged somehow so everyone can get their hands around it.

I have only recently come on board with these concepts and haven't discussed them as long as some of you. I am now starting to hear several of you say we are at a cross roads and something must happen. I agree!

I am in the process of creating a half day technology conference day in our district. This day best illustrates the fork in the road we have come to. I have several workshops that will show teachers how to use the tools. I have only a few that relate to the Web 2.0. We have several people who are just learning to use things like email. We have several people who want to learn about Web 2.0 but just cannot find the time because of the mandates. We have a small few who have come on board, mostly because they are not tied to the mandates. It is extremely challenging working with a diverse group. Kind of like a classroom, except the adults are not a captive audience.

I will be conducting a workshop entitled "School 2.0 Let's All Upgrade!" I will let you know how it is received and which fork we take. The caravan is a long one and my rear view mirror cannot see the end. Hopefully we move at a pace that will avoid a pile up and will not lose anyone!

Anyone have a GPS navigation system that has been programmed to reach the Web 2.0 safely?

Back to the Future?

2007-01-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

I am sitting in upstate NY looking outside and seeing snow, lots of snow. At the same time I am attending a conference from over a week ago, somewhere in Texas, I think. I say I think because the podcast introduction was recorded from the Dallas airport. Wesley Friar is conducting a workshop session about Flickr and BubbleShare. The only problem is I can't accumulate frequent flyer miles.

As I'm sitting here I am listening and I am participating as well. I have my laptop on my lap, listening to Wesley Friar discuss Flickr and BubbleShare. I am following along as he navigates the websites. I can see exactly what he is discussing. It is like I am one of the participants in the room. I just can't ask questions. It is a lively group and they are covering all of my questions anyway. Can you believe this? The power of the Web 2.0!

One nice thing about this podcast is I can share it with others who have questions about these tools. Our school district will be conducting our annual technology conference day soon and I intend on sharing this as a resource. What strikes me most about these new tools is the way in which I have discovered them and the avenues available for sharing.

One thing that I was hoping for that Wesley's session did not address is exactly how these tools are being used in the classroom. I think it is easier for many teachers to adapt a lesson using a new tool than it is to come up with a whole new activity. Maybe there is a social network site just for teachers to share in this manner! They could call it MyTeacherSpace. If it's out there please let me know.

Why Now!

2007-01-21T16:50:00.000-05:00

About a year ago I entered the School 2.0 arena without even knowing it. I discovered podcasting. I was so excited about this new tool that I spent many hours learning everything I could about it. It wasn't long after listening to my first podcast, School of Podcasting, that I wanted to podcast. As they say, "The rest is history".

Podcasting has led me down paths that I never dreamed I would travel. I have met several great people as well. Everyone involved with podcasting has been just wonderful.

I co-produce two podcasts for educators. One podcast involves three educators. It is called the TechPodZone. We discuss technology and the classroom. We have a lot of fun doing what we do and we hope people enjoy it.

The other podcast that I co-produce is called PSUCast. It is a podcast for PowerSchool users. PowerSchool is a popular student management system.

Both of these podcasts have taken me to several NYS conferences as a presenter and to the T&L Conference in Dallas, Texas. That was my first national conference! All of this in just one year! It all happened before I even new I had entered the Web 2.0.

As I stated before I have met so many good people. It was during a recording of the TechPodZone that I learned what Web 2.0 was really all about. Vickie Davis "Cool Cat Teacher" from Comilla, Georgia was an excellent guest. She motivated me to dig deeper into Web 2.0 or the ReadWrite Web.

Since that interview I have had my technology department at school install WordPress, Twiki, and Loudblog. I have used Classblogmeister in the one class that I teach. The tools that I have discovered and the techniques used to deliver the instruction have started to transform me from teacher 1.0 to teacher 2.0. I can't wait for version 3.0!

I want to share my classroom experiences and my discoveries with all teachers. The teachers that have not yet discovered this are the ones I would like to talk to. The challenge as I see it is, how to get these teachers on the upgrade path?

I hope to discuss how teachers can use these tools and all of the ones yet to be discovered. Join me on the path to School 2.0. Schools of the 21 century!