PNAIS "Share" Technology Conference -- Day 3

The morning session I attended on Friday was "Instructional Roadkill: What Didn't Work and Why". (Now as I'm sitting here days afterward, I'm thinking that maybe John mentioned the classroom management challenge at this session rather than the earlier one. In any case, the kinda lack of agreement as it being a problem for others out there remains.) I'm going to have to consult the notes from this one, too, because I didn't take any of my own. I do think that the overall sense of this was again a bit more positive than I was expecting....in other words, some people spoke about things that didn't work but more of the comments ended up being positives, which was good to hear. There were a few tidbits of deadends and lowered expectations which will be good to refer to at some point.

The final session of the conference was our third "megasession" where we all met together, just as we had started the conference two days before. The focus was "Why We Do It: Best Practices and Best Examples of Technology Integration in the Pacific Northwest." Jim Heyndrickx moderated this session and presented three examples gleaned from volunteers among our very own group. I remember seeing Josh's Little School highlighted but have forgotten the others (again I didn't take notes relying on the Wiki or notes sent out). Although a little fatigue/overload was beginning to set in, there was enough energy left to look at these examples as ones to celebrate and acknowledge. It was a great way to end the conference.

We were sent off to head home with much learned, much enjoyed, much experienced, and a box lunch. I think the organizers did a fantastic job of putting together the event, finding such an ideal location for it (okay, I guess I will have to admit that sharing a room was a tiny downside.....I would have gotten better sleep without the company but it could be that Islandwood did not have the extra rooms, or we didn't want to pay the extra cost, or some other reason, but, if it were up to me, that is one thing I'd change for next time), great food, great company, stimulating sessions (almost all of them), and a group that was big enough to have much variety in it but small enough where you could get to know people you didn't already know (having "family style" meals helped a lot in this, too). I hope they make this an annual event.

PNAIS "Share" Technology Conference -- Day 2

First session of Thursday began at 9. I went to the one called "AV in the 21st Century." Put on by Eric Stratton from University Prep (in Seattle), there was some general discussion about multimedia in the classroom and the shift that has taken place over the recent past. The main thing Eric had to present was the changes they've made to their rooms at U Prep. Over the last two/three summers they have upgraded around 40-50 classrooms with installations that include a ceiling-mounted digital projector, a large display screen (8 ft.), DVD/VCR capability, surround sound. Cheryl Wolotira, from the Northwest School, was another presenter, and her emphasis was on the use of document cameras (although the one she had to demo was not working). This was useful and cemented my belief that we can do more at the MS to upgrade the installations there, especially with the audio & assuring the ability to show DVD/movies. I think that 8 ft screens would be great, but until we see how far and wide SmartBoards are going to spread at the MS, we might hold off on mass replacement of smaller screens.

After a break came the second session of the morning. I attended the one called "K-12 Computer Science Curriculums: Is Symbolic Reasoning Essential for All Students?" and was presented by Jim Heyndrickx from Oregon Episcopal School. Jim started with a fairly impassioned advocacy of moving beyond merely automating tasks we already do (moving from hand-writing text to typing it into Word) to info-mating material, meaning primarily that the tools afforded by technology give us an opportunity to re-think how we collect, present, and distribute information. I believe the "automate" "info-mate" distinctions come from his ready of a book by Jane Healy where she lays out these principles (I believe in her book, Failure to Connect). He went on to strongly advocate for programming to be taught starting in early elementary (with programs such as Microworld), moving on to Squeak. In middle school, he advocates for robotics to be the center of the programming effort, moving to Alice 3D programming (http://www.alice.org/) in high school. He is working right now to get a computer science graduation requirement added to his high school's curriculum.

Then it was time for lunch break and another quite enjoyable Islandwood meal.

In the afternoon, the first session was another full-group (or "mega-session") called "The Dark Side of Technology". Meant to prompt discussion of some of the things that didn't quite live to up the promise or hope, it was an interesting exchange of things people have tried and the results. I didn't take notes during this session and am looking forward to the notes being sent out soon (or on the Wiki). I believe it was in this session that John brought up a concern that I certainly share, which is "classroom management." Surprisingly -- at least to me -- there was not much follow-up on that subject. Maybe it's just an issue that we are challenged by more than other school environments. I think that one of the reasons there is some wavering of support among some Middle School teachers about the laptop program is due to the amount of time/effort/persistence necessary to maintain focus and concentration in the classroom. More time than I would think necessary seems to be devoted to policing laptops rather than making optimal use of them. Other subjects discussed during this session seemed more positive and less "dark" so, again, I'm looking forward to the notes.

The second afternoon session that I attended was "Digital Multimedia Authoring: How to Integrate Creative Digital Media Technologies in the Classroom". The areas of focus here were 1) Digital Storytelling (stories told through pictures & text; simplest in terms of technology; final product often PowerPoint or web-page); 2) Stop Motion Animation (story told with pictures & text but with motion added; can use drawings or physical media; might require special software/hardware; often results in movie); and 3) Digital Video Authoring (story told through pictures, text, sound, and video/film; can use existing or student-produced footage; also often requires special software/hardware, and end product is usually movie [video]). We were reminded that the formula for most digital (multimedia) projects is 80% planning/20% "doing" & 80% content/20% technology. Also: K.I.S.S. (aka "Keep It Simple and Straightforward") and guideline that for every minute of finished video count on 3 or more hours of post-production. All these principles are very important to bear in mind when putting a multi-media assignment together. As much as we want to challenge our students *and* get them to use technological tools to boost their creativity and learning, we also want to program into the assignment/challenge as much success for them as possible. Forgetting some of the basics of what it takes for them to put together an effective, successful digital media project is going to lessen the learning and probably hamper the creativity.

Next came a free time in the late-ish afternoon. I took this opportunity to walk as many of the paths in Islandwood as I could. I had seen in the Welcome Center a map that laid out the grounds and the landmarks....buildings, paths, and so on. I also had heard of a couple that were not on the map including a tree house that sounded quite amazing. So off I went looking for some of these things I had seen only on a map. I found the Bird Blind, the Tree House (which is truly amazing...hugging the trunk of the tree, substantially built, with a great view of the bog below), then headed the other direction and found the suspension bridge, Mac's Pond, and a fairly long walk. The scenery was great and the walk wonderful after all that sitting. Another tasty dinner followed and not long after dessert came the presentation in the Great Hall of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". That was fun to see after having seen it way back when!

PNAIS "Share" Technology Conference -- Day 1

Arrived somewhere around 2:30, found a place to park, packed up my miscellaneous bags, and headed for the Welcome Center. First impressions of Islandwood School was that this is quite a natural, unspoiled setting. The buildings are wooden, large but not out of place in the wooded area that is Islandwood. Checked in with the folks in the Welcome Center and traipsed off to where I was going to stay. First encounter after checking in was with a deer who was chomping on grass in a meadow adjacent to one of the housing structures. She looked up at me, gave me a good checkout, and resumed her grass munching. We were maybe 10-12 feet apart. The quiet and that sense of nature (and, dare I say, peace and relaxation) that was manifested there was a great introduction to Islandwood.

Our group assembled in a large meeting room for our first meeting which was scheduled for 3 p.m. Called the "Great Hall" no doubt because it is the largest open gathering room among the buildings, it still is not a huge place. We fit in there nicely. Noticed there was no air conditioning (the first observation about the "nature friendly" spirit of the facilities and all the amenities -- I didn't see a television once!) although the temp inside the building was very comfortable.

The introductory session was called "Cool Stuff" and pretty much turned out as billed. People volunteered a series of programs, strategies, etc., that worked for them. This entire conference was billed as a series of "sharing" sessions and this first get-together did just that. I hope the notes that were taken get shared. (At our final group session, it was stated that a wiki was going to be started that would grow out of these three days of sessions and I look forward to accessing & contributing to that resource.)

After a break, we had our first "break-out" session. I went to the one entitled "Choosing the right SIS (Student Information System). Much of this information was new to me. It involved various experiences, programs, strategies people were using at their schools to create, maintain, and share databases within the school community. There was a fair amount of discussion about one fairly widespread (the name of which I forgot!), SASI, and a couple others. We use our own in-house system, some of which is commercial (i.e. business office system) and some is custom software by Tom Rona. Although not exactly relevant to what I do, it was still very useful to hear about all the aspects of running a school -- including student records, grades, comments, but also development, alumni relations, finance -- that ideally would be great if it would work together seamlessly. In most schools, it sounds like this remains a dream much sought after.

A social time came next followed by dinner. The food was great (chicken, rice, tossed salad, steamed potatoes/carrots/beets) and dessert.

After dinner was unscheduled time. Some people finished get checked in -- my two roommates arrived at this time: William Larrimore, Technology Manager of the Meridian School in Seattle (in the Good Shepherd's Home in good ole Wallingford; and Kwame Pobee, who is the Network Administrator at Annie Wright in Tacoma. Nice guys and we had a little time to chat.

80 Days That Changed The World

Go to this TIME Magazine site to be reminded of historical events that have been monumental in their impact on our lives.

I suspect, as soon as you see the pictures scroll across the screen, you'll understand exactly the import of these events.

Virtual Skies: Aeronautics Tutorial: Introduction

I've always wanted to fly. Yes, me, actually fly. Not just in an airplane, but all by myself. Like most of you, I've dreamed of floating around and have, on a couple occasions, almost convinced myself that I could fly by flapping my arms.

Well, before that really happens, I'm going to have to conquer the realities of aeronaturics.

No better place to learn about what it takes to join the birds in the sky than the site below. A very well-written tutorial.

Virtual Skies: Aeronautics Tutorial