The New Five-er

Not that I get a chance to hold onto many of these, but the U.S. Treasury Department has released the newly re-designed $5 bill. I ran across this page which describes and shows the various features of this new design and thought you might be interested.

NCCE -- Northwest Council for Computer Education -- February 25-29, 2008

NCCE Journal 2008

Day 1 – Tuesday – February 26, 2008

Session 1 – Workshop

Adobe Photoshop Elements in the Classroom
Presenter: Joe Dockery -- Mt. Si High School dockeryj@snoqualmie.k12.wa.us

After briefly introducing himself, Mr. Dockery gave an overview of his plan for this workshop on Photoshop Elements. Our primary activity was going to be following a series of tutorials that he recorded (using Camtasia) to edit and otherwise manipulate graphics he has on the disk he gave us. He frequently interrupted our individual work to respond to questions or other issues that people discovered as they went through the tutorials.

One of the first things I noticed – naturally! – is that this session is going to be using a new version of Photoshop Elements. Our school image has Photoshop Elements 5 and at the workshop we’re working in version 6. Sometimes I wish they would not keep producing new versions of stuff!

Mr. Dockery started us off with the tool of Photoshop Elements called the Organizer. He put a great deal of emphasis on the importance of taking the time to put tags on pictures. For grouping and finding specific shots, tags can speed up that process greatly. This is especially important as one’s photo collection grows and grows and grows. You can always view all your pictures but tags can narrow your search a lot and save time.

He also had us spend time in the Editor. The Editor is the place in Photoshop where you go to make the changes/enhancements/conversions/special effects/etc. to pictures.

Examples of some of the tasks we did included adding labels (arrows and text fields), resizing, merging multiple images, grouping, and creating a web gallery. I ran short on time to complete all the tutorials. Fortunately, Mr. Dockery’s disk also includes all the tutorials, so I’ll be able to catch up later.

Session 2 – Workshop

Introduction to Adobe Premiere Pro
Presenter: Joe Dockery -- Mt. Si High School dockeryj@snoqualmie.k12.wa.us

Mr. Dockery’s method was similar here as in the earlier Photoshop Elements workshop. He began with an introduction to Premiere and gave an overview of the plan for the coming three hours. We again had a DVD with his tutorials and with an array of source video for use in Premiere. The goal he gave us was to produce a treatment of this video about a particular car that made effective use of the clips he provided.

Using these supplied clips, we were to assemble the various exterior and interior shots into a movie (not unlike a commercial for this car due to the nature of the footage). He also supplied us with an audio file we could use as a soundtrack. These clips were great and it was fun putting together something that looked so professional! That soundtrack was cool, too.

In addition to combining and editing clips, we were asked to add transitions and shown how to add text to clips, create titles, as well as options for exporting the finished project as a movie.

As in the Photoshop workshop, there’s more tutorials to do and, in the case of Premiere, I also want to come back to re-do some of the ones that I went through once but need another time or two to really sink in.

Day 2 – Wednesday – February 27, 2008

[I was at school in the morning since my only session downtown today did not start until the afternoon.]

Session 1 – Workshop

Classroom Documentaries with Adobe Premiere Elements 3.0
Presenter: Joe Dockery -- Mt. Si High School dockeryj@snoqualmie.k12.wa.us

The example that Mr. Dockery used to illustrate the power that he has found in having kids make classroom documentaries is an actual documentary that students at Mt. Si High School put together in support of a food bank in their area. He showed it to us and it is, indeed, a polished and effective use of video. Watching this student project was very good way to demonstrate how much impact videos done by students can have.

Mr. Dockery’s DVD included many resources to view sample classroom documentaries, using and making Public Service Announcements, and oral histories. He also had links to sites where one can find easily licensed or free music.

He pointed out that, through PSESD, there are a number of high quality courses available in technology. He especially wanted to point out that Adobe has a special set up with PSESD to offer “T3” trainings of some of their software (such as Premiere & Photoshop) for extremely reasonable tuition…..like $10 for a six-hour class! Something to look into!

And, at the end, I didn’t win the drawing for a free copy of Premiere Elements, but I did win a t-shirt!

Day 3 – Thursday – February 28, 2008

Session 1 – Concurrent Session

Simply del.icio.us Learning
Presenter: Elise Mueller -- Larrabee Elementary School -- emueller@bham.wednet.edu

This session was in overflow mode by the time I arrived. I did manage to find a seat and get my laptop out (this was one of the NCCE sessions where attendees were asked to bring their laptop). Ms. Mueller was showing her del.icio.us bookmark collection. She emphasized the importance of tagging the bookmarks you put up there as a way of narrowing and filtering bookmarks when it comes time to use your del.icio.us account for the resources you’ve collected. The tags will group those bookmarks with similar or related content and they also allow you to avoid having to scroll through long lists that will no doubt build up over time as one continues to find new sites worthy of hanging on to.

del.icio.us/forelise2
del.icio.us/larrabee345

A teacher of 5^th graders, Elise maintains that a social bookmarking site such as del.icio.us can be very helpful with her students and parents, giving her a way to share information using her tagged bookmarks with both groups. Her kids go to the larrabee345 account (not her own), the content of which is carefully overseen.

The obvious advantage is the fact that these collected bookmarks and the resources they represent are available to all the students and parents who know the name of the site (Larrabee345). Apparently, kids and parents are allowed to add to the site, so they know the “easy to remember” password to get into the site, too.

I would have liked to see and hear more about how she uses del.icio.us (i.e. specific scenarios or examples) and less just showing us all the del.icio.us listings, their tags, and how to sort and otherwise group them. There was more than enough switching back and forth between forelise2 & larrabee345. It was great hearing about the support and enthusiasm of the parents and other teachers but more examples of “real life” classroom teaching and learning using del.icio.us and examples of how kids and families at Larrabee are using del.icio.us as a learning tool would have been even better.

As much fun as it was to be able to log onto del.icio.us ourselves, it also meant that those of us in the room collectively spent time exploring del.icio.us and less time either hearing how Ms. Mueller uses it for her classes or other people in the crowd find useful about del.icio.us in terms of learning and teaching.

Keynote Speaker – Thursday, February 28 – 9:45 a.m.

“Engage Me or Enrage Me – Educating Today’s Learners”
Speaker: Marc Prensky -- marcprensky.com

Mr. Prensky began – after the opening humor and ice-breakers – by posing the question to the entire audience, asking them to finish the statement: “My Biggest Concern as an Educator Is…….” We were supposed to write out our response and hand the slip of paper to someone collecting them. Unfortunately, no further reference was made to the audience response to this question.

According to Mr. Pensky, our biggest challenge is not only to keep up with the change going all around us, but to keep up with the pace of change (is that a distinction without difference?). Not surprisingly, he maintains that we are not keeping up with the kids (the learners) we find in our classrooms. We are supposed to connect kids with the world around them, but far too many teachers are still in their “digital immigrant” mode and losing contact (not to mention the attention) of the “digital natives” in the classroom. Our students are bored, bored, bored.

As an illustration of the pace of change (apparently pointing to the ease of access to online information), Mr. Prensky had everyone in the hall turn on their cellphones and do a web search for a certain person. People were to attempt to answer via an online search on their cellphone and identify this person and note his major accomplishment. Not having a cellphone with web access, I was unable to perform the search. Plenty found the right answer using their phone but the exercise seemed a bit pointless.

The methodology of far too many teachers – according to Mr. Prensky – is the “old paradigm”: teaching kids. What we must do, in this digital age, is move to a “new paradigm”: kids teaching themselves (with guidance, he hastens to add).

While I strongly agree that the day of “stand and deliver” teaching in a lecture modality is gone, gone, gone (and good riddance), I had a little difficulty accepting the totality of Mr. Pensky’s message of bored kids and pedantic and unimaginative teachers. Sure, I know we have the teachers only going through the motions, but the process of learning and of teaching is far more complex and calls for creativity, especially on the part of teachers. But much of a teacher’s success comes from how the infuse their classroom style with their personal energy, imagination, and creativity. My experience has taught me that the manifestation of great teaching, therefore, comes in many guises and styles. One size of teaching method does not fit all and that unimaginative teaching using technology is as deadly as unimaginative teaching without technology.

Teaching and learning are indeed active, lively pursuits but they also demand patience, persistence, reflection, and social interest.

Session 2 – Concurrent session

Copyright Wisdom When Using Music in Multimedia for Education
Presenter: Barry Britt -- a rep from Soundzabound -- barryb@soundzabound.com
http://www.soundzabound.com

This was not my first choice for this time slot, but there was no room at my first choice. I was half-expecting an hour of promotion for Soundzabound since the organization was clearly identified as a resource for teachers of “royalty-free music for schools” and Mr. Britt works for Soundzabound. What better potential customer base for their product!

Somewhat to my surprise, then, Mr. Britt spent most of his time keeping the discussion more focused on using music while respecting copyright, not really giving any explicit plugs to his employer. He invited us to describe some scenarios and presented some of his own. Although not intending to give us a scare, he did cite a couple specific instances where RIAA lawyers had taken districts to court and forced schools to settle copyright disputes with fines (typically settled out of court, according to Mr. Britt).

One point he made is that organizations like RIAA are beginning to target individuals and not just entities…..corporations, school districts, universities, and so on.

His handout included a number of links:

• United States Copyright Office: http://www.copyright.gov
• School Law Article regarding WARNING by RIAA: http://www.nsba.org
• Free Information sponsored by RIAA: http://www.music-rules.com
• Fair Use Guidelines for Education: http://www.utsystem.edu
• Q & A regarding copyright: http://www.digitalvideoediting.com
• Music United for Strong Internet Copyright (MUSIC): http://www.musicunited.org
• US Dept of Justice/Computer Crime and Intellectual Property: http://www.cybercrime.gov
• Recording Industry Association of America: http://www.riaa.com/

Session 3 – Concurrent Session

Did You Say Free? Images, Lesson Plans, and Management Tools
Presenter: Joseph Machado -- a rep from Tech4Learning, Inc. -- jmachado@tech4learning.com

As we talk to our students about copyright, I’m always on the lookout for copyright-free content for our kids to use. Mr. Machado’s presentation was focused on products his company offers many of which, fortunately are, indeed, free. Some of them also appeared to be pretty useful.

He began at Recipes4Success which offers lessons plans and various software tutorials (offered in three levels of complexity for younger to older kids). Other free tools include a rubric maker, a graphic organizer maker, and a citation maker.

He next took us to Pics4Learning which he claimed offers 25,000 images. This is a trove worth revisiting.

The over-arching company that offers these resources is Tech4Learning. As I said, I came away fairly impressed with what is offered by these three sites. I want to come back and do more in-depth exploring.

• Tech4Learning -- http://www.tech4learning.com/
• Recipes4Success -- http://www.recipes4success.com/
• Pics4Learning -- http://www.pics4learning.com/

Day 4 – Friday – February 29, 2008

Session 1 – Concurrent Session

Google 201: Advanced Googology
Presenter: Patrick Crispen -- http://www.netsquirrel.com/ --

Mr. Crispen is a lively and effective presenter. His subject for this session was tips to improve the quality and effectiveness of the searches one gets from Google. He began by offering an explanation (simplified) on how Google works. He emphasized that Google is a phrase-based search. I understood that to mean that Google looks for the search terms you type as they appear in “real” English rather than random placements in paragraphs. I’m not sure I’ve completely absorbed the implications of this in terms of effectiveness of a search engine, but Mr. Crispen was emphatic about the importance of us understanding the Google is a “phrase-based” search engine.

Next, Google measures adjacency or how closely the search terms appear together or near each other. The more and closer the adjacency (is that a real word?), the better.

Finally, the number of occurrences of each search term is measured as a “weight” on as each searched page is ranked.

But, of all the factors influencing how search results are ranked – after the phrase search, adjacency, and weight have been calculated – the Page Rank assigned to the page by Google is a very important factor. Page Rank is a measurement of how many pages link to the page in question. The rationale is that the importance of a web page is related to the number of other pages that link to it. So, pages with a high Page Rank are going to appear higher up in the results you get when you perform a Google search. While a website’s Page Rank is constantly being calculated and reassessed, the actual Page Rank is assigned by Google and not assigned by your search.

Some specific tips he gave include: 1) don’t bother using quotation around phrases; Google automatically searches by phrases, so it’s not necessary to quote; 2) many of us taught that putting a plus sign in front of a word guarantees its inclusion. The plus sign does do that but, the way Google performs searches, it’s not necessary to use the plus; 3) the minus sign – which excludes particular words from searches, can be useful; 4) combining plusses and minuses can sometimes yield improved results.

Mr. Crispen went on to demonstrate how this works in actual searches which, of course, provides tips on how to perform more effective searches.

Session 2 – Concurrent Session

Patrick Crispen’s Complete and Total Waste of Time
Presenter: Patrick Crispen -- http://www.netsquirrel.com/ --

This session – again with Patrick Crispen – was sort of a “guilty pleasure”. I figured a session of more light-hearted content might be a nice breather. And, truth to tell, some of what Mr. Crispen chose to show us in this session was fun (and funny). Some of the sites even had potential relevance for use in the classroom! But, by no means, did they all. This session was a nice break from the routine.

Session 3 – Concurrent Session

Copyright & Technology: Dilemmas for Students and Teachers
Presenter: Tony Jongejan
Western Washington Univ/Instructional Technology -- tony.jongejan@wwu.edu

Mr. Jongejan’s focus was not as much on music as the multimedia copyright session of yesterday. He tried to cover a variety of content and the issues, including the limits required in Fair Use. He presented at least four scenarios and each time polled us in the audience whether we thought the action described was legal, illegal, or unclear because more clarifying information was needed.

One of Mr. Jongejan’s priorities was thinking about how (or if) our students think about copyright, the extent to which they understand the whole concept, and the importance for us, as teachers, to educate and model compliance. He maintained that students don’t understand copyright. Why is that? They don’t understand copyright largely because they’ve grown up in a period where “borrowing” stuff (whether with copy machines or copy/paste of digital content) is so easy. I agree that technology has made copying other people’s creative content easier than ever. I still do puzzle over the reason why it seems like many folks – students and adults – seem not to care. Maybe it’s always been true. I haven’t fully come to an answer for myself except that we do have to educate and model the right thing to do whether or not copyright infringement is worse now than 20 years.

Mr. Jongejan believes that students don’t “get” how copying stuff impacts the artist, author, or other creator when creator’s content is copied without compensation. I’ve also found that many people I talk to about copyright don’t realize much of the underpinning of copyright law is to protect the financial interests of the creator. Somehow people seem surprised that it’s “about the money.” Mr. Jongejan reminded us all that, as much as we can affect student compliance and awareness at school, there’s the whole realm of what happens in the home that we can’t control. What role do parents play in talking to their kids about an ethical issue such as copyright? What modeling is coming from the parents on this issue?

One question he posed to us at the session took me by surprise was: Is Copyright Obsolete? His own answer was neither yes nor no, but Mr. Jongejan clearly feels that our society is going to be struggling with how to respect the creative output of others while operating in a world of instant access and worldwide distribution of content.

Summary

As is almost always the case, after returning from a series of workshops and presentations, I came away from NCCE feeling a bit overwhelmed with the amount of material and knowledge out there that offers great potential. Trying to filter through the stuff that’s really helpful and leaving aside the material that is fascinating but not as useful is such a great challenge. It’s also invigorating and energizing. We often talk about technology as an area where great change is a constant. Well, going to a conference such as NCCE is a real life reminder of the massive amount of information out there and the myriad of tools available. It can be a bit hectic to try and keep up, but it’s a very rewarding race to run!

I Can Has Cheezburger

I just have to get this site up here.  Not time to add much text, but I don't want to forget.......I Can Has Cheezburger!!

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