Pied Piper of Educational Technology - Tim Tyson - NECC 2007 n07s713

http://mabryonline.org/

Tim Tyson is principal at Mabry Middle School. For the past six years, the school has had a Film Festival engaging students in their learning.

Highlights from his presentation include the amazing videos created by his students. He mad them a promise that if they created perfect work and meaningful to the world, he would make sure it was published internationally. They met the challenge with excellence. He also made sure that what they created

"Making a movie is like learning on steroids." - Mabry Student

"We need to shorten the distance between children and reality" - Tim Tyson.

"We have an untapped wealth of ability"- Tim Tyson.

I was impressed by all the videos that were created by Mabry students. Some of the selected ones I highly recommend include:

-Organ transplant
-Genetically Modified Foods
-Storms on the ivory coast
-Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research

They are all either Best Picture or Best Documentary form 2006 or 2007. Here are the direct links to these areas:
http://www.cobbk12.org/~mabry/movie_html/2007BestPicture/index.html
http://www.cobbk12.org/~mabry/Movies/2006FilmFestival/2006-Best-Picture.mov
http://www.cobbk12.org/~mabry/movie_html/2007BestDocumentary/index.html

In closing, this session was incredible demonstration of what these students were able to produce for real audiences and meaningful topics. I think too often we underestimate to power of a curious student.

Creating Student Video Portfolios with iMovie NECC207 n07s540

http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/uploads/NECC2007/KEY_39969231/Burdick_iMovie_portfolios.pdf This was a BYOL session that was well prepared and effectively hands on. The premise was having students create a portfolio of learning. The portfolio included images of work, video, and audio. The example of Cole was nice to work with. I think everyone left with the concept and how to combine the media. As I recall, Cole created the portfolio with minimal supervision. The handout steps through quite effectively on how to import the media, organize it and create a final presentation. I was impressed with the thoughtful reflection that Cole was able to share about his learning in several subjects. Using the combination of video and audio made the impact. This project demonstrated qualities in all aspects of IML.

What’s Hot for Tots: The Best Websites for PK-2 NECC 2007 n07s637

http://www.gaillovely.com/ Gail's presentation was a treat. She moved very fast through her sites; however, the full presentation is available online at http://www.4shared.com/file/18743094/82208a4a/NEWpdf_handout_necc2007GailLovelySession.html I enjoyed this session for two reasons.
1. I have a 5 and 7 year old so I was excited to find new sites for my girls.
2. I often get primary teachers explaining how they don't have time to "do technology"

The websites shared specific activities on each site as they applied to learning for PreK to Grade 2. Highlights when choosing website activities for students included:
-Non cluttered interface
-Fast Loading time
-An interface that requires little user-support
-Being Curriculum based Being very clear and reinforcing concepts
-Being language independent (for early learners)

I have archived most of the websites that were showcased in del.icio.us as http://del.icio.us/amboe_k/primary I believe a site not listed in the presentation but were discussed includes:
Kinderkids podcast http://web.mac.com/agearrings/iWeb/KinderKids/KinderKids%20Podcast/KinderKids%20Podcast.html

I believe that Gail's presentation was very well organized. She highlighted a series of sites that would address each of the refreshed NETS-Student. Thank you Gail for a wonderful assortment of websites that are aligned with supporting student learning and appropriate for primary students.

Information Avalanche Rescue: RSS Feeds in the Classroom - n07s562

http://eduscapes.com/hightech/spaces/blogs/rss.htm
http://eduscapes.com/sessions/rss

I feel fairly confident with RSS. I found this session a great primer for getting into RSS. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication.

I had been using Safari's Bookmark Bar. This was effective; however, I did not have the ability to transfer my feeds to other browsers. I have now switched most over to Google Reader.

Google has many benefits.
-I have put a direct link to the google reader in my bookmark bar
-I was able to import from my older RSS feeds at Bloglines.com

Sharing Feeds....
I haven't set this up yet; however, I know that Del.icio.us offers coding to send your daily bookmarks out as a blog. †I think that most of my feeds meet my interests and my bookmarks are more what I would share.

Classroom applications
I have used RSS for my personal growth for about 1 year now. It is incredible the time that it has saved me in going to sites to see if things have changed. I know what for sites to change and notify me.

I can see incredible opportunities for use in classrooms and for continued professional development.
Here is a brief summary of the Ten Tips for your Classroom provided in this session.

1. Stimulate Interest - provides a fresh look at traditional content
2. Evaluate information - evaluate information from multiple sources for bias.
3. Compare Perspectives - students have easy access to several views on topics.
4. Critique the Critic - students provide critiques for news or blog items citing evidence of their reading.
5. Listen to the Literature -
6. Promote Global Understanding - News feeds from around the world provide different views and information on culture.
7. Differentiate with Audio - iTunes can aggregate your audio feeds for Podcasts and VodCasts
8. Learn Step by Step -
9. Connect a Context - Upto date RSS feeds provide true world context.
10. A Daily Dose - You can either subscribe to daily dose sites for poetry, images, and sounds, or your students can provide them for the class, school or world.

For the Surrey School District, we have developed Information and Media Literacy student learning capacities. †Publishing to the Web and using RSS feeds can build capacity as a user, understanding ones role with technology, inquiry skills, communication, creation and critical thinking skills.

Really Simple Syndication has made my life long learning timely and time sensitive.

Another resource worth looking at is this video in YouTube about RSS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU

Contemporary Literacy in the New Information Landscape n07s705

http://davidwarlick.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.RedefiningLiteracyForThe21stCentury

David Warlick presents a convincing argument for students being literate in the New Information Landscape. When Wikipedia first came out, many thought it would be incorrect information shared by a bunch of morons. It is true that it can be incorrect as was shown with the US Congress manipulating the information about their opponents.

When you compare Wikipedia to other encyclopedias for accuracy, it is basically on par with many big company encyclopedias. (Here is one example - I have not checked it for validity as it lines up with other studies I have read or heard about. http://www.nature.com/news/2005/051212/multimedia/438900a_m1.html)

A huge benefit to Wikipedia is its honesty. It clearly gives you warnings if information provided might conflict other information. (Print rarely does.) With the easy access to information, people need to be able to validate what they read. A famous example is that MartinLutherKing.org is a biased site hosted by Stormfront.org (A White Nationalist group)

In our new landscape, to be a reader Be able to Find it - in a digital networked landscape. Be able to decode it - regardless of format Be able to evaluate it - Be able to organize it Google can help us stay informed with what we need and want to be informed. It can help to sift the grain from the chaff. If you use Google News, you can enter your search, select sort by date and then select RSS. This will give you a self updating list of news in your domain of interest.

There are lots of views on Second Life. The reality is that is a major application that many people are using. Four quick examples include ISTE, National Science Center, NOAA, and IBM. These are respected organizations.

To be a published author used to be for the rich or well connected (or lucky or risk-takers). There are now opportunities to write a book online, sell a book online, and have copies printed and shipped with no risk. (One example of publishing on demand is Lulu.com)

Final comments from David Stop integrating technology - start integrating literacy. We are preparing students for an unpredictable future - learn to teach yourself and share learning literacy.

My conclusions Times have changed. People need to be digitally literate, or my term is information and media literate. To be functional in todayís digital society, one needs to speak digital. It is true that people can function today without being digitally literate; however, it is also true that people can function without electricity, health care, schools and many other things. If you are not digitally literate, are you engaged into today's and tomorrow's society?

Misc additional notes Any discussion of Literacy must include ethical considerations- is what I produce going to cause harm, who is it going to help? On Davids site - downloadable and adaptable code of ethics landmark-project.com/sl - David Warlick office in Second Life. Can download handouts from there.

From Hand It In to Publish It: Re-envisioning - NECC 2007 - n07s584

This session by Will Richardson

BTW - Will is our Keynote presenter for CUEBCís conference held in Maple Ridge October 19, 2008. [ http://www.cuebc.ca/ ]www.cuebc.ca

This was a refreshing session to listen to Will. He is a great presenter and immersed in digital literacy.

My Notes:
Wikipedia may not be fully accurate - but neither are textbooks or encyclopedia. Wikipedia is current - how many books still have world trade center buildings as tallest buildings in USA

Wikipedia has over a million changes a day.....

Why are we teaching with keyboard and mouse? - that technology will be gone in a few years. This part was pretty enlightening. Will showed a standard office and then removed all the traditional tools. One view of what this might look like is from microsoft at http://www.microsoft.com/surface/ There is another view from Jeff Hann in TED Talks bookmarked in my http://www.youtube.com/kevinamboe Youtube account or here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKh1Rv0PlOQ

Blogging as ProD
Blogging is similar to journaling of years ago. The difference is the audience. I now belong to several communities and either post directly to communities or through this blog. I can agree with Will that reading what is available and then writing reflectively on it is fantastic professional development. I can learn more in a couple of hours reading and blogging than I learned from entire university courses.

Looking at Literacy

Why are we assessing traditional literacy to determine if new literacies make a difference?
-Cooperative learning is contrived and not fully engaging
-Collaborative learning has all members engaged

IBM has 26 000 bloggers and 50 islands in Second Life.
- A graduate is not literate to work with IBM and has be retrained.

Our understanding of intelligence, literacy, and knowledge has to shift from retelling of facts. Rather than testing students on how many children are in Japan, how about asking them to determine who owns this site and whether to believe as authentic. Anyone can access a website - Can they access relevant and accurate information on a topic when they need it?

Moving from traditional literacy to Information and Media Literacy is move to real work for real purpose for real audiences.

Del.icio.us Research - n07s588

Lucie deLaBruere Lucie was articulate in sharing the history of social bookmarking. Her session notes are hosted http://necc2007.pbwiki.com/

My gleanings are listed below: While Del.icio.us was the tool of choice discussed, the merits of the following two were also included.
FURL.Net
Onlywire.com

- allows to sent to multiple tools I am a fairly confident Del.icio.us user already but was reminded of several features and learned a couple more.
1. You can create a single account and have your whole class use that one to tag and create a classroom resource.
2. By checking who else has tagged the same sites as you, you can also see if they tagged other sites that you might find valuable.
3. Using the notes section could be used to assess students understanding of the websites they are tagging. If a site is already tagged, students need to find other sites that meet the original criteria.

Other understandings
1. Gary Toews in Abbotsford created a neat way to have classes working together and be able to assess individual student contributions as well. http://sd34.homeip.net/STaRT-Training/topic/infolit/settingupdelicious/index.html
2. While Del.icio.us may not be ëauthorizedí resource such as an encyclopedia, it has only links that someone sees as valuable you can see who submitted you can see how many also tagged the site you can view other sites tagged by other users.
3. Will Richardson shared in another session a way to view how your Del.icio.us network is connected. http://www.twoantennas.com/projects/delicious-network-explorer/
4. Teachers are starting to use Del.icio.us to search for valuable sites before going to Google as the sites have all been ëapprovedí by at least one person already.

How does Del.icio.us relate to IML? Del.icio.us can easily fit all 6 aspects of IML. Using this Web2.0 tool involves understanding the social creation of knowledge, building inquiry skills, communicating, critical thinking and even creativity in how the bookmarks are socially shared.

Second Life Playground - n07s265

I consider myself fairly forward thinking but I had not stepped into my second life. After visiting the playground, I did sign up for my own avatar.

I signed in, learned how to navigate, and changed my clothes. Then I visited the ISTE island. I am still a newbie in Second Life; however, I see the potential Second Life has.

Some tidbits I collected:
-People are earning a living providing services in Second Life
-Communities are growing
-People of like interests are meeting in Second Life, then meeting face to face because their similar interests brought them to NECC
-There are guidelines for offering and accepting ëfriendshipí in SecondLife.

I have a lot to learn in Second Life but I have started the experience. Second Life is not just for teenagers. Actually, it is not for teenagers. Second Life; you need to be 18 years to join. There is a teen second life that is set up to protect children. If a teacher wanted to create a learning space for their class, they could do so but adults other than the teacher are not allowed in that space.

I think one of the most interesting aspects of second life for teaching is that you can attend a lecture or meeting and you act your role. †Acting your role includes fidgeting, shrugging and answering questions.
†
So how does this relate to Information and Media Literacy?
Second Life is more than a game for kids. † As of today, it has 7 803 000 residents and more than $2 million real US dollars were exchanged in Second Life. †Students of today are graduating into a world that includes Second Life. †There are two sides to consider in preparing our students - make sure they are safe and make sure they can be successful in their second life.

Why listen to vendor demos at conferences...

While at the NECC 2007 conference, I spent several hours on the vendor floor. There are two aspects that provide value. First, if you have no direct interest in a product, vendors often tell you all the great ways to use their product to improve student learning. A wise teacher plows through the "product" talk and gleans the good teaching practices that they are demonstrating their product with.

Secondly, since our district already owns district licensing for KidPix, Kidspiration and Inspiration, both of these vendors offer 20 minute sessions on how to use their products. I use both them them quite well and provide training on the software and I still learn something new at every session.

Keynote Panel -n07s755

This panel discussion on Tuesday morning was quite interesting. †The panel was a unique collection of creative thinker leaders.
†
Thoughts from Mary Cullinane:
How to teach and why - Microsoft school of the future
1. †Learning First
2. Focus on concept and power of the language - Principal is the Chief Learner
3. †Be comfortable not knowing †
†
A key to the design of the school of the future was the creation of adhoc gathering spaces.
†
†
Microsoft supported the school with human resources, not with funding. †Two concepts that flowed from Microsoft was that thinking is an activity and that you can spend time thinking and that there is a culture of being self critical (How can I get better?)
†
†
†
Dr. Francesc Pedro, OECD
†
Dr. Pedro shared some interesting statistics that are available through the OECD.
††††Percent of 15 year olds using computers at home and school †- Canada has the highest at home - but lower at school
†
††††More computers used at home, better at math, more computers used at school decrease in math
†
OECD.org - Understanding the brain (a report coming out soon)
†
Michael McCauley, Creative Director
†
We must have deep faith in technology and creativity and then the freedom exists to be creative
†
Imagine Innovation swimming downstream instead of getting tire swimming upstream
†
†† †This statement hit a chord for me. †I hadnít realized that much of what I do is swimming upstream....
†
Books to read
††††Whole new mind - Dan P
††††Dream Society
†
Elizabeth Streb - Strebusa.com
Elizabeth had a great energy and amazing stories to share. †My gleanings include:
†
††††Invent a mistake
††††Failure is an option - it is safe to fail
††††Get dirty, break things, go to the garage (where inventors go)
†
†
†
Listening to this panel and thinking about the questions from Andrew Zolli made this one of the best sessions I attended.
†
†
I donít recall who mentioned the next two comments
†
Ask a ninja.com - every teacher should check this out as most of our students are.

†
Goal of teaching - Make a positive indelible mark on someone's life.
†
So how does this session relate to IML?
I found this session to be empowering. †Learning doesnít have to be the way it has been for many generations. †We have the ability with technology to do more than ever before. †We could always be creative, but access to communicate beyond the classroom adds new dimensions. †
†
My two take aways

Imagine Innovation swimming downstream instead of getting tire swimming upstream.
†† †I will try and make sure that I am not the barrier to others.
†
Invent a mistake
†† †What a great way to learn. †Why try and learn what is already known. †Trying to make something next work take critical thinking and perhaps a better understanding.

NETS-T Refresh - NECC 2007 075933

This was an exciting event.  ISTE has provided leadership with the NETS for more than 8 years.  The NETS-Student was unveiled at the conference.  I fully support the resulting work of refreshing the NETS-S.  Being from Canada, we don't follow the NETS as requirement. Last July, I looked to many places for leadership on Information and Media Literacy.  NETS-S provided some insight but it was missing something.  As you have read earlier in my blog, we created our own IML Student Learning Capacities.  It was wonderful to see our IML very closely aligned with intent and even wording to the NETS-S.  After discussing the NETS-S at our table, the goal was to consider what NETS-T would look like.  Our table was so impressed that NETS-T should follow the same idea as NETS-S.  Teachers need to be information and media literate.  Much of the existing NETS-T included what I see as just good teaching - NETS-T 2,3,4,5. I would like to see that NETS-T take the 6 aspects of NETS-S and add a layer of the Art and Science of Teaching.  So much of what I believe so deeply is that we need to remove the concept of technology as something to learn.  Teachers teaching so students can learn will involve the use of technology but the focus should remain on learning.  Meeting the diverse needs of students can no longer be managed within the blinders of traditional literacy only.  A synopsis of another session by Will Richardson is appropriate here.  Students graduating today with skills taught traditionally will need to be re-taught when they are hired.  Intel has more than 26 000 internal bloggers and more than 20 islands in Second Life.  I don't know of a single Secondary English teacher preparing their students for this career opportunity.  (I realize this is a strong statement - If you know of any teachers that grow students literacy that prepare them for this environment, please contact me and I will immediately correct this blog.) More from EdTechConnection blog http://www.edtechconnection.net/blog/2007/6/24/necc-2007-nets-refresh.html

Is it about technology?

Is it okay to waste some time learning technology?  Is it okay to experiment with technology and not have it work?
 
These are good questions and should be asked about any activity that involves teaching students.  
 
Waste is inflammatory, but catches attention.  Student learning is at the center.  There are many things that provide non-ideal situations for learning.  (Planning to have students do a science journal by drawing their learning and typing a sentence on the computer... only to have the power go out without saving or printing.)
 
Well I would ask the question - did the students learn?  Yes, they did.  They accomplished their journal, they did the reflection and learned to save when working with technology.
 
While computers have been in schools for 25 (ish) years, there are still students that could graduate without being Information and Media Literate.  Students don’t have to be using a computer 5 hours per day, not even 1 hour per day.
 
Students need to be using technology as it increases their current and future learning.
 
There are times that technology is not the right answer.
 
I remember doing a project 5 years ago with laptops.  We were studying the Yanomami of the Amazon.  Students were to create a persuasive video for why they (as UN field workers) should help this indigenous people.
 
After about a week we had some partially done on laptops and some video footage, but the connection with the content had already been achieved.  I scrapped the post-production and completion.  They had already done the learning - cooperatively planning, scripting with curriculum connections, acting, practicing and taping.  
 
When it became about using a laptop and making a movie, it was no longer about learning.
 
I learned and so did my students.  While their was some disappointment, the students learned that their learning was the focus .

Student IML Learning Capacity - Think Critically

Everyone today is bombarded with information.  What information is real?
 
This is hard to know.  I don’t believe it really matters if you know for sure; you need to have thought about it critically and made a choice for yourself.  I know what I believe.  I know what I measure new information against.  When I come in contact with information that doesn’t fit my belief system, what do I do?
 
I need to Think Critically.  I remember growing up knowing that the Encyclopedia at our school and in our basement was the Gospel truth.  While the Gospel hasn’t changed, many of the truths in those books have.  
 
I grew up believing that what was written in books was right, and what teachers said was also right.
 
Times have changed.  Just because something is in print in physical or electronic form does not make it right.  Just because a teacher says it, does not make it right.  (I remember teaching that Pluto was a planet. Now I know that I was wrong and some students should get extra marks.)
 
To be Information and Media Literate in today’s society one has to be able to take in (read, see, or hear) information and be a critical thinker.  There is too much information and too much BAD information to just accept it.
 
We can teach students to think critically.  They need to evaluate information for bias, and for errors.  They need to be able to validate information through multiple primary and secondary sources.  They need to be self-directed in building understanding from the resources available (both correct and incorrect).
 
How are students going to get these skills?
    They won’t if we block websites; they will if we teach them to think critically about any kind of information or media.

Should students learn socially?

Last week an article discussing Facebook and how some jurisdictions are responding was published.
http://www.timminspress.com/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=537122&catname=Editorial&classif= The article raises some interesting points.  First some background...



Facebook is a social networking site.  Social Networking sites connect people.  In this case, you must accept anyone you want to associate with or be associated with as a Friend.  If they are not a friend, you don’t see what they are up to and they don’t see you.  You can customize how you are seen and how you interact on the site.



There are distinct advantages to this site and the way it is set up.  First with Nexopia and MySpace, students can publish and anyone sees them.  You can set up networks, but they are not private.



Since Facebook is such a part of the culture, is it not important that students know how to act safely?   The Simon Fraser University network has 19 000 members (including me).  When our students graduate, should they not know how to interact safely with the other students at their potential university?  The Vancouver network has 253 000 members (including me again).  



I am not naive enough to believe that Facebook is perfect.  I do believe that social networking is something that we should be teaching and harnessing for educational potential.  Just this week, they released an add-on to share your Del.icio.us tags through Facebook.  



The world that we live in and our students belong to is different than it was 30 years ago.  We were all taught how to cross the street safely, how to read traffic lights, and what side of the stairs to walk up on.  These seem just natural.  For Digital Natives, social network is already natural.



Join Facebook and try it out.  I have enjoyed touching base with old friends and current friends.  Life is so busy sometimes we forget to reflect on where we have been in life.  This has given me some perspective