Hat tip to Mrs. Powers from Washington Elementary for sharing this great collaborative video:

Marco Torres shared in his T+L keynote that 14-20 year olds are creating, but not at school!!!  They are creating in their bedrooms…and we need to catch up with what they are doing!

and then we move on to the next challenge not because it is easier but because it is harder!!!

T+L Conference Denver, CO

October 28, 2009 (Weds.)

Steve Hargadon

Educational Networking

Web 1.0

Web 2.0

Clay Shirky

Social Networking has taken over

MySpace

Facebook

Social Networking:   aggregation of tools in a single environment

http://www.classroom20.com

Educational Networking

The Confluence of Social Networking + Live Collaboration

http://www.learncentral.org (Elluminate)

http://www.educationalnetworking.com

http://www.stevehargadon.com

Keynote

(pre-keynote info:  Intro to JETS Program)

Frans Johannson

Diverse things coming together

Knowledge has value

Prepare students to innovate

Diversity drives innovation

Combine ideas to break new ground

Medici Effect brought diverse people together (Renaissance)

Creativity: combination of existing ideas

Teams generate and execute more ideas

Diverse teams generate more ideas

1. Find inspiration from cultures other than your own explore connections

2. Diverse teams outperform quickly

3. You will not know what idea will work or not (Reserve resources for many trials)

4. Passion maximizes the chance of success

How to foster creativity in schools:

5. Encourage students to explore Idea combinations on their own

6. Encourage students to make mistakes (not when they should know what they are doing 2+2)

Make unlikely connections!!!

Lunch Presentation

Paltry

Students as creators changes how they view and use content.

http://www.digitalnative.com

http://www.learning2go.org

T+L Thursday

October 29,2009 (Thurs.)

Scribis software (Try it!!!)

10 Common Pitfalls on the road to Open Source in an organization

Revolution Linux http://revoultiionlinux.com

10.  Technical interests superceding user interests

9.  Lack of user input (Ask what users are looking for:  solutions)

8.  Training Issues (Do trail runs, be careful of just in case training)

7.  Individual Needs vs. Organizational Needs (Balance is necessary)

6.  Changing software and versions too often  (OpenOffice failure story be careful  of new releases, test betas)

5.  Interoperability between systems (use open source apps that work on several systems) Firefox, Audacity, and Open Office for example

4.  Lack of local support (Create user groups)

3.  Buying a product, without giving the same kind of support as you usually do

3a.  Putting too much focus on hardware in the wrong moments

2.  Neglecting user interface (example the Drupal user interface, needs modification for regular users to use)

1.  Going for Open Source only to save money on license fees (You still need PD and probably should take license savings and put toward PD of the Open Source software)

Web 2.0 in Schools:  Fad, Folly, or Future?

Karen Greenwood-Henke

COSN Web 2.0 Initiative Results

Horizon Report

Key Trends:  mobiles, clud computing, smart objects, the personal web

The Global Education Collaborative

73% admins see significance of Web 2.0

3 priorities for use:  engagement, needs of different learners, develop critical thinking skills

3% of schools have formal policies to address Web 2.0

COSN addendum

Respect for community

Personal Responsibility

Trust

http://www.cosn.org/web20

Forsythe Georgia district open network see their AUP

Also see Madison City Schools Madison Alabama

Change is Coming

Cathleen Norris

Elliot Soloway

Youth have moved from digital to mobile generation

Speak up Day

1:1 problems no Ed software or prof development or sustainability

Pearson video (Keller, TX?) Mobile Learning Institute

Used Microsoft Mobile

Strongly suggest a learning management system (GoKnow showcased)

Luncheon

Project Knect

Stanley Yang

Look mom no hands

NeuroSky

Mindset

Math Trainer

http://www.neurosky.com

T+L Friday

October 30, 2009

Keynote

Marcos Torres

San Fernando, CA

Stay in the question:  narrative

a+b+c=$ not true!

Know learn create

10000 hours rule to reach mastery

What do we do with our bank of information (expert)

Einstein don’t ask questions you can look up

Eric Hoffer quote

Stay in the question:  Learning

Network is valuable

Stay in the question:  Expertise

The why question is still in our corner ( how what)

Rubiks cube clip Will Smith

Stay in the question:  Studio stage community (ideal learning space in the middle)

Create celebrate learn and share

Johann Pachabell video YouTube Canon Rock

Mythbusters start by not knowing the answers

Move from regurgitating to remixing to redefining

Movies digital storytelling

Ham and eggs clip http://www.sfett.com/html_movie/Ican5/ham_and_eggs.html

Focus on the story

Into the light clip

Stay in the question:  Narrative

Torres21

http://torres21.typepad.com/flickschool/

http://www.sfett.com/html_movie/Ican/4.html

This afternoon I travel to Denver with a team of teachers from our school district to attend the T+L Conference in Denver. I look forward to attending some valuable sessions, and I will share much of what I learn here and elsewhere. Check back and see what I have discovered!

Technology can be deceiving, and what is inside is really what counts!!!

Nice work and it’s healing well!

NPHS Marching Band rates a Superior at the Harvest of Harmony contest in Grand Island, NE!!!

In this video presented by Mobile Learning Institute, Alan tours his hometown of Marblehead, MA and comments on the historical global vision of his community. Alan challenges us to think about the emerging role of “student as contributor” and to globalize our curriculum by linking students with authentic audiences from around the world. (For more, read Alan’s article, Students as Contributors: The Digital Learning Farm. novemberlearning.com/resources/archive-of-articles/digital-learning-farm/.)

The following are some quick tutorials I created to help people out with some new features and settings in Skype and how to utilize a neat tool, YouTube Downloader, to download video and convert video too.  I also threw in a tutorial on iSpring Free that allows you to make a flash video of a PowerPoint presentation:

Skype Screen Sharing Feature

Safe Skype Settings

YouTube Downloader the Basics

iSpring Free PowerPoint Plugin

Enjoy!

8 years ago I stood and delivered information and became involved in one of the most important classroom discussions with some wonderful, scared, and bright students.  September 11, 2001 changed each of us that day, and it was an extra honor to be my student’s social studies teacher that day.  We shared shock, sadness, love, and respect for all those that were directly touched by the events of that day.  We all were influenced in a meaningful way, and I will never forget those that lost their lives that tragic day.

The following is a list of sites that have been shared with me over the past several days.  Generally, you will see all kinds of findings in my Delicious links on the top right hand side of this blog.  Enjoy!

What to read?

Library Thing Suggest

What Should I Read Next?

BookLamp

WhichBook?

Math

That Quiz Math Test Activities (Science & Geography too!)

Social Studies/Current Events

Know Thy Congressman

NewsMap

National Geographic Little Kids

Science/Health

NSF Scrub Club

iSpecies

Digital Citizenship

Creative Thinking Home

World Languages

Foreign Internet Radio

Virtual Field Trips (All Subjects)

SimpleK12

Seth Godin and Tom Peters explain why!

As always  I have found interesting information at Miguel Guhlin’s blog Around the Corner!  The following three videos are worth reflecting on.   Thanks Miguel!

In this first video I hope the answer is YES!!!

Since I reside in Nebraska I wish I could have caught this act, but alas tragedy struck!!!  It’s kind of like my trees the power district cut down and the one they butchered (I have to let this go, but this song captures some of what I feel!).

It seems amazing to me that we would need to create a sense of urgency in education, but the ideas presented here are valid for any organization.

This is a great article from Maximum PC and takes a fun look down memory lane of web browsing:  ”Surfing Since 1991:  The Evolution of Web Browsers.”

Article exerpt:

“No matter which browser you choose to surf the web with, the features you take for granted today are the result of nearly two decades of browser design. On the following pages, we’ll take you through a visual tour, in chronological order, of every major PC-based (read: not Mac) web browser that ever was, starting with the very first one: WorldWideWeb. We’ll tell you what made each one unique and, when applicable, what it contributed to modern browser development.”

Enjoy!

“U.S. Department of Education Study Finds that Good Teaching can be Enhanced with New Technology“

“Providing further evidence of the tremendous opportunity to use technology to improve teaching and learning, the U.S. Department of Education today released an analysis of controlled studies comparing online and face-to-face instruction.

A systematic search of the research literature from 1996 through July 2008 identified over 1,000 empirical studies of online learning. Of these, 46 met the high bar for quality that was required for the studies to be included in the analysis. The meta analysis showed that “blended” instruction – combining elements of online and face-to-face instruction – had a larger advantage relative to purely face to face instruction or instruction conducted wholly online. The analysis also showed that the instruction conducted wholly on line was more effective in improving student achievement than the purely face to face instruction. In addition, the report noted that the blended conditions often included additional learning time and instructional elements not received by students in control conditions.

“This new report reinforces that effective teachers need to incorporate digital content into everyday classes and consider open-source learning management systems, which have proven cost effective in school districts and colleges nationwide,” said U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. “We must take advantage of this historic opportunity to use American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to bring broadband access and online learning to more communities.

“To avoid being caught short when stimulus money runs out, school officials should use the short-term federal funding to make immediate upgrades to technology to enhance classroom instruction and to improve the tracking of student data,” Duncan added. “Technology presents a huge opportunity that can be leveraged in rural communities and inner-city urban settings, particularly in subjects where there is a shortage of highly qualified teachers. At the same time, good teachers can utilize new technology to accelerate learning and provide extended learning opportunities for students.”

Few rigorous research studies have been published on the effectiveness of online learning for K-12 students. The systematic search found just five experimental or controlled quasi-experimental studies comparing the learning effects of online versus face-to-face instruction for K-12 students. For this reason, caution is required in generalizing the study’s findings to the K-12 population because the results are for the most part based on studies in other settings, such as in medical, career, military training, and higher education.

“Studies of earlier generations of distance and online learning courses have concluded that they are usually as effective as classroom-based instruction,” said Marshall “Mike” Smith, a Senior Counselor to the secretary. “The studies of more recent online instruction included in this meta-analysis found that, on average, online learning, at the post-secondary level, is not just as good as but more effective than conventional face-to-face instruction..”

The study was conducted by the Center for Technology and Learning, SRI International under contract to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Policy and Program Studies Service, which commissioned the study.

The full report can be found at http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/opepd/ppss/reports.html#edtech.”

By the way, these are my relatives (nhokanson)!!! Way cool video!!! My cousin and I spent a considerable amount of time in Walmart, of which he took some video of on his phone. The video quality is lame, but I’ve edited them together and put it on the internet for you to see.

I am an instructional technology professional, a teacher, and this is my first day back on the job since I broke my arm 40 days ago.  I am so thankful for my kind colleagues that have welcomed me back but also pulled for me over the past few weeks.  I am glad to be back, and I’m excited to be preparing for the return of teachers and students in the coming days.  I am thankful that despite my current limitations I am able to be a part of the greatest work:  teaching and learning.  I am tired at the end of this day, but I have missed this kind of tired that comes from being a part of education and the future.  It is a good tired, and I hope you are all “good tired.”