NCCE 2012 -- Day 3 -- Seattle

Google Apps:  The Whole Kit and Caboodle

Presenters:  Marc Elliott, Director of Information Services; Tanya Narramore, Instructional Technology TOSA; Mike Sheldon, Manager of Information Systems; all from Bethel Public Schools

The story of this workshop was the story of Bethel's migration from a FirstClass system of tools to Google Apps.  By the end of the session, one could be pretty much sold on the superiority of what Google offers and the wisdom of leaving commercial services behind.

Opening Keynote -- Taylor Mali -- Poet

I'd have to confess to expending hardly a moment taking a look at who Taylor Mali was before it was time for his keynote.  I did take note of the name but little else.  Then when he was being introduced and he was described as a "poet" I did a mental double-take.  A what?  Wait a minute, am I at NCCE?  Is there some regional poetry slam going on at the WSCC right now and I wandered in the wrong keynote session?

Nope.  It turns it that 1) Taylor Mali *is* a poet and, 2) he was the keynote speaker at NCCE 2012.  It took a little while as he read some poems and did his opening shtick but it wasn't really that long before it became clear that Mr. Mali was not a very conventional poet and, furthermore, many of his poems were very entertaining and more than a few were quite thought-provoking.  He is a very effective performer, too.

In addition to his focus on poetry, he is also a dedicated advocate for learning and teaching.  He currently has a project to inspire 1000 people to make a commitment to become a teacher.  He is very close to reaching his goal and, actually, seems to have scheduled the fulfillment of this goal this coming April 7 (at which point he will cut off 11" of his hair [aka ponytail] and donate it to someone.....I forget who).

Like I say, many of his poems are very appealing.  Below you'll find a video version of his poem "What Teachers Make" from YouTube.

Best Web 2.0 for Online Learning

Presenter:  Katie Kotynski

A fairly straight-forward presentation that showcased a number of online resources that are useful in the classroom.  Katie anchored her presentation around her website called BestWebForEd Wiki site.

Integrate Computational Thinking Skills Using Scratch

Presenter:  Phil Big

The focus of this sessions was Scratch and Computational Thinking, just as the title suggests.  The main point was the set of four problem-solving skills/techniques that, it can be argued, our students need to be 21st century literate.  These skills include:  1) decomposition; 2) pattern recognition; 3) pattern generalization & abstraction; and 4) algorithm design.

Phil's contention is -- and it seems quite plausible -- that Scratch is a great vehicle to give students practice in developing, using, and refining those four skills.

NCCE 2012 -- Day 2 -- Seattle

Google Sketchup in the Classroom -- Part 1

Presenter -- Regina Cain

Google Sketchup in the Classroom -- Part 2

Presenter -- Regina Cain

These were long-form workshops (3 hours each; lasted all day with lunch break) taking a look at Google Sketchup.  Using a tutorial document from Google, Regina took us through step-by-step the various tools that Sketchup offers.

The non-pro version of Sketchup is free to all; the $400+ Pro version is available to teachers who go through an approval process in which they establish their bona fides as classroom teachers.

As a 3D design tool, Sketchup is indeed amazing.  Even I was able to create a couple structures -- including a fairly decent-looking schoolhouse with row upon row of windows, trees circling, and a bit of picket fence, too.  My doghouse was fairly decorative as doghouses go but I wasn't as proud of it as the schoolhouse I worked on in the latter stages of the workshop.

NCCE 2012 -- Day 1 -- Seattle

Kodu: Learn How to Excite Middle School Girls to Game Programming

Presenter:  Brad Gibson/Senior Program Manager
Microsoft Research FUSE Labs
This evening workshop was a great way to start my 2012 NCCE experience.  Kodu is a programming option I had never heard of.  The presenters, which included a panel of middle-school aged young women from two schools, made a fairly convincing case that Kodu is a must-consider option when one is weighing various options for teaching programming and the principles of computer science.
As valid as Scratch and LOGO are as options for giving students, especially middle-school aged kids, experience in this realm of computer science, the 3D and narrative possibilities offered by Kodu are difficult to resist.

Not to worry....I'm still around!

Guess what?  I'm still here!  Yes, I know that my most recent post is from eons ago but -- what can I say? -- I've been busy.

What's on my mind, you ask?  Well, I'm intrigued with a new (to me) service/site called Eyejot.  I haven't used it yet to communicate with my students but it sure makes it simple to post a quick webcam video and almost instantly send it out via e-mail to whomever on a subject of interest or import.  No dedicate client or app necessary on the recipient's end.  Video is housed by Eyejot and the vid is viewed in the browser.  Seems both cool & something with potential in the vidworld we live in.

NCCE 2010 - Seattle -- Day 4

First session was called "Beyond Cool.....Does It Work????". Presenter was Dan Matthews who is Instructional Technology Coordinator in Yakima. There was also a video feed by Dr. Janet Spybrook, a professor at Central Washington University. This was an instance of a workshop title giving an impression (to me) not borne out by the content. I looked at this title and thought, "One of the challenges in adopting technology, especially as we explore new tools and make decisions about curricular integration, is to not be seduced by the 'Wow! Factor' that is often near-irresistible when new things come along, especially if they're accompanied by hype. I know I'm as prone to fall for the hype as anyone. This session looked like it would offer some guidance on gaining a kind of healthy skepticism about the ingredients to look for in the "new" or hyped stuff so you waste less time falling for the now-it's-here-now-it's-gone.

Although there was an element of this incorporated by Mr. Matthews & Dr. Spybrook, the upshot of their presentation was really quite a bit more focused on mathematical analysis of databases measuring how various tools (like interactive white boards, for instance) are used. Not really useless information but quite a bit more narrowly focused and database-analysis-heavy for what I was looking for.

The next session boded well. I've attended previous presentations by Patrick Crispen at other conferences and he didn't disappoint then. He didn't disappoint today either. He presented on the subject: "A Random Walk through Cyberspace: Patrick Crispen’s Completely Updated Collection of Truly Useful–and Not So Useful—Websites and Web 2.0 Tools" In this hour he took us through a variety of helpful (and also fun & entertaining) sites ranging from a site that will give you your upload/download speeds of your Internet connection you're using to Instant Chan (try it, if you dare!!!!). It was well worth the 60 minutes we spent with Mr. Crispen. Now it was time to grab a quick lunch.

Partly because of how effective this session was, I decided to go ahead and return to another session of Mr. C's, this one called: "The State of the Craft: What’s New—and What’s Next—in Ed Tech, Consumer Electronics, and More". From his standpoint, the following are things "out there" that have the potential to be game-changers: solid state drives, electronic ink, liquid crystal displays, the iPad (or the Microsoft Courier, an upcoming eReader/tablet hardware combo), 4G networks, portable devices that are always on with very fast connections, voice control of devices, "hardware agnostic" clickers (polleverywhere.com), augmented reality (e.g. GE's "Plug Into the SmartGrid"), and personal learning networks (PLNs), among others. His main point was that the way in which we interact with computers will fundamentally change....perhaps sooner than we think. And, to my frustration, he did not give us a rock-solid answer to this question....which I would LOVE TO KNOW!!! That question is: How do you keep up with it all?????

The final part of my Friday I spent jotting down some notes from the previous three days and then taking my first look through the vendor exhibits. I took a fairly leisurely stroll through the many booths there although I can't say any particular product jumped out at me and said, "I'm the next cool [and useful!] thing! Buy me!!"

While I would have to admit having come away from NCCE 2010 with few things I could characterize as "seismic", attending these four days of NCCE 2010 a most worthwhile four days of exploration, finding new things, and looking ahead. Without wanting to sound immodest, I got some satisfaction noting the number of tools I've incorporated into my teaching that are still being touted as having true value in the world of 21st century teaching and learning. Just to rattle off a few of those things mentioned in these past few days: Ning, Wordle, SchoolTube, Photoshop.com, Glogster, Scrapblog, Google Docs, Audacity, TED....... A little affirmation is good, too. :-)

I appreciate the support from the school that made my attendance at NCCE 2010 possible.

NCCE 2010 -- Seattle -- Day 3

Session I -- Your Personal Magic Shop: 50 Ways to Use Discovery Education Streaming
The scheduled presenter was Hall Davidson but he apparently had to leave on a red-eye last night and Lindsay Hopkins, another Discovery Education Educator was there in his place.
She did the best she could to pinch hit for Hall. Discovery Education does indeed appear to be filled with a great deal of content with a big chunk of it coming (no surprise here) from the Discovery Channel and Network. Video, songs (450 "educational songs", .mp3 format, fully editable), sound effects (a ton), and images (over 20,000).
She also went on to talk about some non-Discovery sites such as Wordle and Blabberize among others.

Next came the keynote talk by Philippe Cousteau. Once again, a connection here is with Discovery Education. Philippe Cousteau. I believe his actual "position" with Discovery is: Animal Planet Chief Ocean Correspondent. It may go without saying that Mr. Cousteau is very charismatic and an extremely effective speaker. With his oceanic "calling card" it will also come as no surprise that his talk had an environmental focus with a great emphasis on how everything is so inter-connected. He clearly looked at all of us in the room and said that it's our responsibility to bring a strong awareness of the environment and the global responsibility to shepherd our Earth's future wisely. Another point he drove home is how everything we do is a choice, whether asking for "paper or plastic" at the supermarket or taking public transit instead of the car. I am not doing his talk justice here but I'll just reiterate that Mr. Cousteau was a terrific speaker and his talk was very well received.

(By the way, remembering that the theme of this year's NCCE was "Capture the Magic of Teaching and Learning", the warm-up act prior to Mr. Cousteau's keynote was an appearance by an honest-to-goodness magician. Unfortunately I've forgotten his name but he was very good!)

After lunch, I had my second three-hour workshop. The presenter was Jeff Miller. His topic was "Right-clicks, Tips & Tricks for Office 2007". I would have to admit being somewhat skeptical -- going into it -- that there could possibly be that many clicks/tricks/tips to occupy that much time. But, although there were a few "dry" spots, the number of things he showed us was 1) quite numerous, 2) appeared to offer many advantages of greater speed & efficiency, and 3) some were kinda amazing, as in "you can do *that* with a keyboard combo or right-click?" Jeff also provided a level of documentation that was both thorough and easy to understand and navigate. Plus he provided both a printed and electronic versions of all materials. He made it clear that these materials could freely be shared (with attribution, of course). Way too many tips/tricks to list here, but it was definitely worth the time.

NCCE 2010 -- Seattle -- Day 2

The main activity today was a gathering of IT and Administrators. The featured speaker was Hall Davidson. I've seen/heard Mr. Davidson once before and looked forward to this session. I was not disappointed. He remains the dynamic speaker I remember and he shared with us much information that was food for thought.

One aspect of his work more emphasized this time around than before is his connection with Discovery Education. He is one of the Discovery Educators on the Discovery Education Team. Given that Hall has this connection with Discovery Education and the biases that may go along with that connection, a number of the resources he showed us were, indeed, quite impressive. One outgrowth, therefore, of hearing his talk is my intention to delve more deeply into what Discovery Education may be able to offer my students and colleagues.

In no particular order, some of the other tools or ideas he touched on included:

1)iTunes University -- a resource used by a growing number of schools & university to post/offer coursework for students around the globe
2) The 3M Young Scientists Challenge
3) Polleverywhere.com -- giving and taking polls using your cellphone/smartphone to text answers......giving those in the "clicker" business something to have nightmares about!
4) Google Translate -- this service is getting better and better -- it's still free -- and the selection of languages keep growing, too.
5) Google Voice -- another free Google service changing the way we manage our phones and phone numbers
6) UStream.tv -- judging from the response from others in the room, I need to look into this one!
7) Discovery Education -- their home page......also something to delve into in the near future
8) Edmodo -- for teachers interested in a tool like Twitter but want a tool with more educational focus
9) .....and others

One of his pronouncements that he (I think) intentionally wanted to voice and see our reaction was regarding cellphones. He briefly recounted how most schools ban or tightly control their use at school. His advice: Let Them In! Have kids take polls using them. Have kids watch videos using them. Have kids surf the Web using them.

And -- no surprise here -- Hall invited us all to........follow him on Twitter!!! :-)

Following the presentation, we were able to roam around the room and hear mini-presenations about open source resources, check out the Amazon Kindle eReader, creating your own personal learning network, and a table with some netbooks and iTouch to try out (I brought my own iTouch).

NCCE 2010 -- Seattle -- Day 1

I have attended other, though not all, past NCCE Conventions. Although this event has some of the "crowd" feeling that most of these large professional gatherings, I've come away from a number of previous NCCE gatherings feeling that the time spent was quite worthwhile. I hope that will be the case again in 2010.

Today's NCCE activity was a 3-hour workshop called: Photoshop.com -- Online Photo Editing. Trainer/Facilitator was Joe Dockery. The focus of this workshop was to showcase what image-editing tools & resources are available through this free online website (http://www.photoshop.com). Aside from the very big advantage of this resource being free (offers 2GB of storage with the free account: more storage capacity can be purchased), a big huge plus to editing using Photoshop.com is that everyone accesses it via a browser. Therefore it doesn't matter what operating system you're using. You have online access & a browser? You're in! There is even an app available for the iPhone/iTouch and the Android phone.

This OS-independent factor is a significant "deal maker" in my situation where I have students with Windows laptops and others with Mac laptops. Finding software at a reasonable price (or, better, free) which is dual-platform is doable but often has other complications. Not so with Photoshop.com. The interface you work with on a Windows machine is exactly the same as on a Mac. This is GREAT!

Joe is an effective trainer and this was a rewarding session. As it happens, after signing up for Joe's workshop some weeks back, I came to the image-editing unit in my Laptop Prep class. Since having read about his session made me aware of Photoshop.com's existence, I went ahead and tried many of its features before NCCE came along. I chose to create a separate Photoshop.com site for each of my five sections and the site worked beautifully for the type of image-editing exercises we needed to do.

For the primary editing assignment, I supplied a wide variety of images (about 240) and uploaded them to each section's Photoshop.com site. After editing an original image, each student saved their own version. They assembled an album of all their edited pictures which we embedded as slideshows at our Laptop Prep Ning site (http://lmsprep0910.ning.com; you must join to access).

Is Photoshop.com a replacement for Photoshop? Or even Photoshop Elements? Not really. But it offers a lot for certain kinds of digital image projects. It worked out great for me and my kids!

2010 Is Right Around The Corner

No great insight, there, I would agree. Still, the new year is just about upon us. As so many will say (and really mean), 2009 has sped by.

Here's to a great 2010!

Best Wishes to All!

We Chose The Moon

Last month many of us marked the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's successful mission to the moon which included, of course, the first humans to step off onto its surface. On cable and network TV, not to mention newspapers (online and in print), there were many stories marking this achievement.

One site that I've found especially fascinating -- with its combination of high quality graphics and animation plus archival video and pictures from the mission and the training that preceded it -- is We Choose The Moon.

One unusual aspect of this site is that the entire mission is available, stage by stage. In other words, you can re-live this amazing mission in real time. Or you can start at any of the 11 stages of the mission.

And to think lift-off was back on July 16, 1969. Incredible!

PNAIS 2009 TechShare Conference -- Day Three

Session 1 -- Educator Track

Structuring an Online Conversation: The Why Not?

Presenter: Richard Kassissieh (Catlin Gabel School)

The focal point of Richard’s presentation was the video Skype conversation he showed us (on video) of an instructive and powerful online conversation between students in his classrooms at Catlin Gabel and a group of students in the Gaza Strip.

Watching and listening to these young people grapple with other cultures and listen to each other with such patience and effort to understand the unfamiliar or to revise previous assumptions about others, was, in itself, inspiring. It was a very good demonstration of the power inherent in some online tools in truly bringing us together as a global community.


Final Session -- Educator Track

Building Projects Around Common Goals & Lesson Plan Development

Presenters: Richard Kassissieh (Catlin Gabel School) and Jimi Robinson (Evergreen School)

Richard and Jimi challenged us to take a topic in our groups at each table (there were five tables) and, in this small group, come up with a plan and strategy for bringing that topic to our students or into a curriculum we were involved in. The subject that arose at our table was ways of using video in the classroom and tools that make video accessible and useful, ranging from which cameras to use to methods of distributing/sharing student video projects (i.e. SchoolTube, TeacherTube).

As the final session of the conference, there was also some time spent on thank yous and farewells.

.....and adieu

As I found in my previous participation in TechShare conferences, my time at the 2009 version was well-spent. I’m grateful that PNAIS offers this kind of professional development opportunity. One difference for me at this conference was the fact that I was one of the presenters. I’m glad that the presentation that Lillian and I did was pretty well-received. It was a very useful exercise and I learned a great deal in putting together the presentation and actually making the presentation in front of these TechShare colleagues.

I’m glad to have had the opportunity to attend this conference and I appreciate the support the school has given to make this possible.

PNAIS 2009 TechShare Conference -- Day Two

Session 1 -- All Attendees

Developing Best Practices around Digital Citizenship

Presenter: Jimi Robinson (Evergreen School)

Using the ISTE definition as a starting point (“Digital citizenship can be defined as the norms of behavior with regard to technology use.”), Jimi took us through the highlights of a presentation he uses on this subject. Other subjects he helped us explore included what specific behaviors constitute digital citizenship, the notions of digital etiquette and netiquette, what responsibilities fall to technology leaders, informational literacy, as well as copyright/fair use and the Creative Commons initiative.

We spent some time reflecting on the question of Internet Safety including some of the findings of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force and their report, Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies (from the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, Harvard University). We took a look at some of the important central findings posed by this report with respect to what parents can use to keep minors safe on the Internet (e.g. technology can play a role but cannot be the sole input to improved safety for minors online; the most effective technology solution is likely to be a combination of technologies, etc.).

The message in this session for me was all of us in schools can do much more to inform ourselves, along with parents and students, on the issues surrounding Internet safety. More than an opportunity to further inform ourselves, perhaps we are obligated to do this.


Session 2 -- Educator Track

Tech Training for Teachers: A Technologist’s and Librarian’s Story

Presenters: Lillian Godreau, Harold Johanson (Lakeside School)

This was the presentation that Lillian and I put together to talk about, reflect on, and gather suggestions for tech training for teachers.

Our focus was to tell our “story” of the TechTalk Thursday series we put together during the ’08-’09 school year. Through the mechanism of a PowerPoint presentation, we explored the issues we faced and the challenges in trying to come up with an effective (and, we hope, well-attended) series of technology trainings that would bring new tech tools and practices to the teachers in our building. We shared some of the content we presented and the things we thought worked well and the things we plan on tweaking for next year.

Our “story” seemed to be well-received and, in the discussion/Q&A period, we did get some useful suggestions and reflections based on what others at the session had tried at the respective schools.


Session 3 -- Educator Track

Web 2.0: Embracing the Monster

Presenter: Cheryl Wolotira (Northwest School)

The subtitle of her presentation was: Social Media in Schools. Cheryl did an effective job of showing us the many, many tools available (that fall within her definition of Web 2.0). She began by talking about wikis, blogs, social networks, RSS, IM, and the notion of personal learning networks (PLN).

This latter concept is quite intriguing. The idea is that, with the wealth (or, better yet, torrent) of online information from which one can choose every day, it can be useful to think about what places one uses on a regular basis to sort through the deluge. We all develop habits of finding the information that we think we need to know. Knowing those specific sources/tools you come to rely on can be helpful in analyzing what information is of value to you. Being aware of your PLN may help you let go of sources that end up not repaying your time and attention and moving on to better sources. Reflecting on this whole notion of a PLN seems to have potential in some of my work at the Middle School in the coming year.

I was glad to see that Cheryl took time to point out some of the potential down- and upsides of this informational onslaught, not only on adults but also on kids. Three downsides she talked about: a) inappropriate content; b) the distraction factor; and c) potential for cheating. Upsides included: a) like-minded people can readily share and communicate; b) communication is easy and quick; c) collaboration, collaboration, collaboration; and d) none of us is as smart as all of us.

In addition, Cheryl highlighted the following specific tools:

Wordle -- http://www.wordle.net/
Eyeplorer -- http://eyeplorer.com/show/
VoiceThread -- http://voicethread.com/#home
Animoto -- http://animoto.com/
Tidyread -- http://www.tidyread.com/
Free Tech 4 Teachers -- http://www.freetech4teachers.com/


Session 4 -- Educator Track

Video Chroma Keying

Presenter: Ethan Delavan (Seattle Country Day School)

Ethan gave us a demonstration (with a partial hands-on component) where he set up a green-screen, lights, and video camera to demonstrate the relative ease in video taping people in a technique that allows one to make those people appear to be various places on the globe though the subjects were actually taped in a studio and the pictures were overlaid on the green-screen area.

The technique is used routinely by TV weatherpeople. In schools, chroma key can be a useful technique for placing students in places without having them actually having to travel there for a wide variety of video projects and presentations.

PNAIS 2009 TechShare Conference -- Day One

Session 1 – All Attendees

Global Education

Presenters: Vicki Butler (SAAS) along with other members of the TechShare planning committee

Vicki started us off thinking about the ways in which the integration of technology can enhance involving our students in the issues of the world we live in. We watched a PowerPoint presentation she used to help identify the issues.

Soon we were invited to break up in groups and accomplish a couple goals. One was somewhat practical in that organizers had brought with a clutch of video cameras (most were Flip) and wanted us to have our own opportunity to have some “hands on” experience using this video technology. A second goal was to use those video cameras to record images or scenes that, in our small group’s view, somehow identified the global connection we saw in the things around us.

These exercises were a nice way to bring focus to the group on our coming days together since many of us had spent a significant chunk of the day traveling by car to get to Welches.


Session 2 -- Educator Track

SmartBoard Presentation and Demo

Presenter: Jimi Robinson (Evergreen School)

Jimi had brought a portable SmartBoard to the conference and used it for his presentation.
This, admittedly, was pretty much all review for me. However, based on the amount of energy and interest displayed by others in this session, there apparently are a number of people still unacquainted with SmartBoards.

There was also brief mention of some alternate hardware (i.e. Mimio, Promethean Activboards) which were used by some of the other attendees in their schools.

PNAIS 2009 TechShare Conference -- Introduction

This year’s TechShare Conference (sometimes referred to by organizers as an “un-conference” to suggest its relative informality and friendly spirit) was held at a resort in Oregon. Alla B , Lillian G, and I carpooled from Seattle to Welches, OR. The conference sessions started at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 28.
As has been true in other TechShare get-togethers, an attempt was made to offer a thread of subjects to appeal to two of the primary groups who attend these conferences: educators and network and/or technology administrators. My plan was to attend those sessions with an educational focus.

Our National Parks

I hate to start out any post by saying something like.....the older I get the more I appreciate.....but when it comes to our system of National Parks here in the United States, I would have to say that I am growing more and more appreciative to those who made the effort and took the time to bring about this set of national treasures.

A Ken Burns PBS series called: The National Parks: America's Best Idea will air in September, 2009. Click here to visit this great website.

Fremont Solstice Parade 2009

I simply can't help putting up at least one thing about the 2009 version of the Solstice Parade in dear Center-Of-The-Known-Universe Fremont. Saw some of it live and in person yesterday and was once again smiling big time most of the day just from the palpable fun and enjoyment on the part of the many, many, many Seattleites there. Click here for some photos (thanks to the Seattle P-I)

Earth Day 2009

What better way to mark another Earth Day than to visit a site like Encyclopedia of the Earth. Their goal is to be "a new electronic reference about the Earth, its natural environments, and their interaction with society."

What a wonderful resource!

Trying Windows Live

I’ve just downloaded and begun experimenting with the various components of Windows Live.  This bundle of programs – including Mail, Messenger, Writer (which I’m using now to post this to my blog), Movie Maker [beta], and more – that will apparently be part of the upcoming version of Windows, Windows 7.

Fun to give things a whirl!!!

My First Post About Banking

As of today no one can any longer say that I never posted about a banking system, let alone the one in Switzerland.

I've had some fun (and learned a thing or two) at the HowStuffWorks site. Here's their "how" on how the Swiss banking system works.

For Fans of Mark Twain

Guess what? He has an official website and it looks both interesting and funny (his memorable quips, for example). Well worth an amble into the world of Twain.

Click here.