Thing 23, Oh... One more thing....

I was able to pick up on the reasoning early on. Using 23 things as a guide, we were able to explore and be creative with how to integrate technology. I learned a few new things along the way. I was already using Twitter, but after doing some twitter thing, I passed the thing to the satff with a morning PD. I did learn some things about the ISTE standards. In fact, I developed a 12 week course for my staff using Galaxy Tabs or iPads and ISTE standards following the 23 things model. That class did not get the go-ahead because I did not have my ducks in a row in time. One of those things I guess... But still, now that I have completed this assignment I feel like I know enough about it to carry out something similar with the HHS staff.

Thing 22 - Almost there

I attended the Greenbrier County session on the work of a TIS. They talked about some of the great things that come with being a TIS. They also shared ways to avoid some of the pitfalls. It was led by our dear friends and fellow TISs in Greenbrier County. At the end of there sessions they took questions from the audience. That was also helpful. The Technology Dept Head spoke about their one-to-one program. Even though that was not the focus of the session I found that to be very helpful and we plan to use their experience as we all move to one-to-one.

Thing 21 a webinar

I hate the name. It just sounds boring and nerdy. But then again, I am kind of boring and nerdy.

We get to do a lot of these. I could write about any of them but I was in one yesterday and its fresh so here goes.

On 2/9/2011 @ 2:30 Karen Karr hosted a Elluminate session. All EETT TISs were invited to attend. She spoke shortly about a few house keeping things. Then, Will Totten from SVHS shared some helpful info on his iPad project. After that, Karen asked Jason Jackson and me to share some info on our Cyber Safety class. We had some bandwidth issues, but basically Elluminate has work really well for us.

Is Elluminate a free program?

Thing 20 A free Photo?

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/urbanwoodchuck/3948901083/

My new house. JK.

Thing 19 Skype

Thing 19 is pretty cool. The idea behind things like Skype, FaceBook, and Twitter is to bring people together. We've talked about real tech integration. We agree that tech integration becomes so much more relevant when it makes something otherwise impossible, possible. The best way to keep in touch with old friends, FB. The best way to share something neat with people who care about what you have to say, Twitter. The best (and cheapest) way to learn from a soldier in Iraq, Skype.

We have one of our staff in Iraq right now. He, of course, cant wait to get home and be with his family/ students. Even though he has never met this group of students face-to-face. He has still been able to join them for some awesome physics demos all the way from Iraq. Pretty neat. And, you cant do that with technology.

The AUP Thing 18

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1i_FmmndWDDOWNiYWZiYjEtZGNjMi00YzZmLWIwMWItODkyNDQxYWVlNzBh&hl=en&authkey=COexqvoE

Here is a link to our AUP. We have a full time sys-op who is charge of the AUP. She does keep it current and has lots of information for students and teachers (and everyone else with computer privileges.) All AUP are signed and kept on file at HHS. Students, teachers, and everyone else are not issued a HHS computer login until he/she signs their AUP. So, computer work can not be began without this.

Thing 17 Twitter for CyberSafety

I did a twitter search for #cyberbullying. Wow! You should try that. I would like to use this in a classroom to show students how a specific topic (such as cyber safety) is relevant and being discussed in the the world...get this RIGHT NOW. This is one of the best things about twitter, it is real time. I think that changes things for students. It can be really difficult to talk about current issues using printed text but, using something digital...much better.
Also, you can have the students post issue to twitter using tags and see if a conversation arises in that situation.

Thing 16 Twiddla

Awesome!

Thing 15 RSS

RSS is technology that allows media content you want, to come to you!!!!

Thing 14 be a reader of Blogs.

http://save-the-teacher.podomatic.com/entry/index/2008-04-09T21_01_54-07_00

I am a little shocked at what I found here. Our school is part of the Successful Practice Network. They have something very similar. http://www.successfulpractices.org/spn/article/RRFramework We even refer to this as "The Three Rs: Rigor Relevance & Relationships."

All in all, not a bad podcast or teaching practices. Like I said, HHS is very focused on teaching being guided by the Rigor/Relevance framework. Im just taken back by the striking similarities. Not to say that there is any copyright issues here, Im not even sure such a concept can be copyrighted.

Another observation, blogs and podcasts are starting to blur. Really what is the difference between a audio blog and a podcast. The same can be said about video. Most of the "Blogs" I looked at in this assignments could easily be considered podcasts. In fact many of them were ever called podcasts. Interesting I think.

Thing 13 Reflection

Im still enjoying this. Blogging is somewhat therapeutic I think. Education and technology are fun topics for me to talk about. So, this kind of thing feels very natural. In seeing a few other blogs, it seems like others are having fun with it too. Here is my only concern: sometimes I wonder if anyone will ever read these posts. If I randomly put the work "taco" in a blog post, will anyone see it or care that its there? I dont think so. But honestly, I dont think it matters. The blogs have been good for me. Ive learned things by doing this research and Ive felt good about expressing some reflections. So, if someone wants to write something silly in the middle of a blog post, go for it. Chances are I will never catch it. Just make sure you enjoy the research and try to learn something along the way.

I dont think the same is true for our kids though. I believe having an audience that cares is very important to them. Passionate adults can blog our hearts out about topics we love, and if no one reads it, who cares? Its still good for us! But most kids are not going to buy it. Of course we would require students to post to each others blogs and that is a step in the right direction. It is still important to make the students feel like the work has a purpose. Read it. Comment on it. Tell them in person that you enjoy the work. Try to get it posted where others can see and enjoy it. All good things!






taco

Thing 12 Message Hop

MessageHop is a free website that allows you to post photos and messages. Then the site organizes them in a neat little presentation. You are then given the link to the presentation to send in an email or share in some other way. You can also post the message directly to your favorite social network. No usermane or password is required which is a major plus!

Learning with video. Thing 11

I feel a little like a video snob...I dont mean to be but I would like to see the education business pay a little bet of attention to details on digital media. We always ask a lot from our students, but its not uncommon for us (leadership) to throw together something mediocre. Here is what I mean, watch the podcast posted in Thing 10, short and sweet, easy to listen to, no weird hums or nosies in the background, and a simple backdrop. Then, we have a typical educational podcast. Its dark, noisy with hums, and full of distractions. It has nothing at all to do with the camera or editing software. Someone can do good work with a flip cam and movie maker. We just have to raise the bar a little. Sorry. The content of this video is good. But it is still hard to watch because of its poor quality.

Digital Age Assessment - Thing10

Last year, near the end of the year, I was able to obtain a set of smart responders. I knew it was going to be a little work to set up my classes, so I only used them in anonymous mode. Um....maybe that was not the right choice. I see many of my teachers using responders to take tests, informal assessments, BRs, all kinds of things. What I love most about using responders is the feedback the teacher can receive. Imagine being able to make adjustments on the fly to meet the students needs. I've been in dozens of situations when I was teaching, and seeing lots of head nods and smiles and I think "WOW! they are getting this! really getting this!" Then, the students bomb the quiz or test! Sound familiar? Well if the teacher is using responders (not in anonymous mode) then he/she can better judge learning. PERFECT!

Shutter Speed (Part 1) Thing 9

I am currently work with our Digital Imaging teacher to educate our students on how to obtain proper exposure with digital cameras. Most of the examples I show with my own camera so the students can have a hands on experience. However, the guy on the video is brave enough to remove the lens and release the shutter (something I would never do with my own camera). So, I used this podcast to demonstrate what happens inside the camera when a picture is taken.

Shutter Speed (part one) from 2bit Photos on Vimeo.

Thing 8 - Reflection

I have visited a bunch of blogs. It's neat to see how everyone is doing and what all we have come up with. Im not sure if the reflection is supposed to go here, in this new blog, or if it should be as a comment on the blogs we read. So, I am going to do both.

I had a project worked up to adapt the 23 things project to a series of trainings I was going to lead at HHS. Unfortunately, that lesson series is not going to fly just yet. However, I still have plans to pull in a few of these. We'll see how it goes...

Thing 7 Image Editing

I love doing this! I stared with a crop. Then a little vignette to focus the attention on my beautiful wife and baby bump. I used color curves to adjust the colors a little. Lastly, I added a warming filter. Before on left, after on right.

Thing 6 VoiceThread

Thing 5 My favorite Bible verse.

This is my favorite verse. Can you guess it?

Thing 4 Wallwisher.

Thing 3 Tweet!

I tweeted this.

I received this.
This was cool because I got feedback and advise from twitter users (experts on this topic) in only a few seconds. Plus, the info comes to me rather than me going out and searching the web for days!

Thing 2 All Kinds of Things!

I love things! Things are a good thing. The idea of sharing things with teachers is also a good thing.

HAHA! Really though, what a neat idea! This blog will follow my journey through the 23 things project in WV Learns. As I lean new "Things" I will blog about them here and share this "thing" with my staff. Here we go!