It's always easy to get inspired after going to a conference. I'm full of big ideas I'd like to implement next school year, but I know that once classes begin, I'll get bogged down in day-to-day operations. So for my last post, I want to point out three easy resources I know I definitely will come back to throughout the year.
As a tech team member, I plan to access i-SAFE, a site that offers free training and tips for making the Internet safer for students worldwide, over and over again as we deal with students using their online resources inappropriately, especially as the laptop program expands.
As an English teacher, I often use Web sites in the classroom, but it becomes cumbersome to recite long URL addresses for students to pull up on their own computers, so I plan to use TinyURL to create shorter and more easily copied addresses.
As a media teacher, I plan to experiment with the trick of simply changing the extension of a file to make it compatible with a program that doesn't want to recognize it; for example, sometimes you can just change the .mov from a QuickTime file to .wmv so it will open in Windows MovieMaker.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Top Reasons to Use Games
I think most of us know that kids love games, but at least if you're me, it's so hard to incorporate them into the classroom, because they require so much preparation. Even with the Internet, where templates abound, it's hard to track down what you are looking for. But Cheryl Temple, assistive technology services specialist for FCPS, has done the legwork for us. She compiled a bunch of templates on the JOSTI CD I have (which, once again, will be available to check out from the library), but here is a sneak peek.
Basically, Temple identified three types of games that can be modified for educational purposes: traditional games such as Connect 4, Tic Tac Toe, Cootie Catchers, and Bingo; video games such as Sim City, America's Army, and Revolution for social studies, River City, Quest Atlantis, and Food Force for science, and Skill Builders and Whyville for elementary; and game shows such as Chain Reaction, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and The Price is Right.
There are plenty of collections online to find templates for all three types of games: Try Jefferson County Schools, Internet4Classrooms, and EducationWorld. If you're feeling more adventurous, you can make board games from scratch. The drawing tools in Microsoft Word are usually enough to make a game board, and the Avery Wizard download for Word is good for creating game cards.
I've used the traditional game Charades and the game show $10,000 Pyramid for review in my AP Language class. And I use lots of video games from News University for instruction in my journalism class. The students' enjoyment is enough of a payoff for my hard work. But if you want to take the pressure off yourself, don't forget that you can have students design games themselves. After all, most of us learn best by teaching others, even when fun and games are involved.
Basically, Temple identified three types of games that can be modified for educational purposes: traditional games such as Connect 4, Tic Tac Toe, Cootie Catchers, and Bingo; video games such as Sim City, America's Army, and Revolution for social studies, River City, Quest Atlantis, and Food Force for science, and Skill Builders and Whyville for elementary; and game shows such as Chain Reaction, Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, and The Price is Right.
There are plenty of collections online to find templates for all three types of games: Try Jefferson County Schools, Internet4Classrooms, and EducationWorld. If you're feeling more adventurous, you can make board games from scratch. The drawing tools in Microsoft Word are usually enough to make a game board, and the Avery Wizard download for Word is good for creating game cards.
I've used the traditional game Charades and the game show $10,000 Pyramid for review in my AP Language class. And I use lots of video games from News University for instruction in my journalism class. The students' enjoyment is enough of a payoff for my hard work. But if you want to take the pressure off yourself, don't forget that you can have students design games themselves. After all, most of us learn best by teaching others, even when fun and games are involved.
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Freedom of Speech Vocabulary 2.0
I'm a teacher of the verbal, but really, I'm a visual learner. Even though I love words, I learn them by seeing pictures in my head (just ask how I remember some Hebrew letter sounds). Amy Crowley-Gonsoulin, Kurt Kohls, and Aron Sterling, all technology specialists for FCPS who will present "Freedom of Speech" throughout the summer, know that many students are visual learners too, which is why vocabulary instruction is so challenging. Vocabulary also is also one of the main reasons for the achievement gap in schools, according to curriculum consultant Robert Marzano. And to increase vocabulary, he says, one must increase background knowledge. Pair this with educational consultant Lynell Burmark's belief that visuals are the fastest way to instill background knowledge, and you have a recipe for Vocabulary 2.0, the idea that reading and writing images is becoming just as important and effective if not more important and effective than reading and writing words. Marzano plus Burnell equals making vocabulary instruction interactive and visual, just like the Web. Every step, from direct instruction to independent practice should include images and sharing.
So when teachers introduce new words, they should always be connected to visuals, through word art in Microsoft Word (see Word and PowerPoint Tricks posting), clip art in PowerPoints (see Word and PowerPoint Tricks posting), or photos (from a copyright-free site) in PhotoShory (see Digital Storytelling posting).
Then, during guided practice, students should put definitions of vocabulary into their own words, which they can share with visual tools online, such as Blabberize and Gizmoz, both of which are serious fun for adults, so you can imagine how students would react, especially when they know the world can see their work. (A quick tip for using Audacity with these sites: You can use a two-prong audio cable to plug the headphone into the microphone to play pre-recorded files straight into the online recorder.)
For independent practice, students should associate words with images, through comic strips, photos, or videos. All of these site are interactive, because they allow students to share their work with classmates and Web users worldwide; Voicethread, in particular, is basically a photo blog, where others can even comment on your postings.
I think the biggest realization from this session, though, is that the visual learners are taking over the world. In fact, we're revamping the 12th-grade English curriculum to focus on "media literacy," which focuses on reading other media besides words, such as art, film, advertisement, and even multimedia Web sites. Indeed, our whole idea of what reading material is will continue to change, so vocabulary instruction must continue to adapt.
So when teachers introduce new words, they should always be connected to visuals, through word art in Microsoft Word (see Word and PowerPoint Tricks posting), clip art in PowerPoints (see Word and PowerPoint Tricks posting), or photos (from a copyright-free site) in PhotoShory (see Digital Storytelling posting).
Then, during guided practice, students should put definitions of vocabulary into their own words, which they can share with visual tools online, such as Blabberize and Gizmoz, both of which are serious fun for adults, so you can imagine how students would react, especially when they know the world can see their work. (A quick tip for using Audacity with these sites: You can use a two-prong audio cable to plug the headphone into the microphone to play pre-recorded files straight into the online recorder.)
For independent practice, students should associate words with images, through comic strips, photos, or videos. All of these site are interactive, because they allow students to share their work with classmates and Web users worldwide; Voicethread, in particular, is basically a photo blog, where others can even comment on your postings.
I think the biggest realization from this session, though, is that the visual learners are taking over the world. In fact, we're revamping the 12th-grade English curriculum to focus on "media literacy," which focuses on reading other media besides words, such as art, film, advertisement, and even multimedia Web sites. Indeed, our whole idea of what reading material is will continue to change, so vocabulary instruction must continue to adapt.
Google Tools in the Classroom
Just about any time I am on the computer, I use Google for something. And after hearing from Jeff Sisk, assistive technology services specialist for FCPS, I might use it even more, for searching, researching, calculating, and communicating.
Searching
Knowing the Boolean system upon which Google is based, I thought I was pretty efficient in my searching. But Jeff shared some helpful searches I didn't know about. First, you can search by file type. So for example, if you're searching for an animation to illustrate a process, you would be well served to use the Advanced Search page to look for Shockwave Flash (.swf) files. Ever been frustrated that the WBAIS Web page doesn't have a search function (don't worry, that is fixed in the new site)? Well, Google comes to the rescue: You can use the Advanced Search page to look within a specific Web site.
Researching
I finally have taught my students how to search for a phrase instead of a word so they get better research results. But with Advanced Search, you can search for these phrases in the title or URL of a page, which means the results are more likely to focus on the keywords. But we all know the credibility problems with Web sites, so that's why there is Google Books and Google Scholar (Schoogle). The former can be searched by full-text only to ensure useable results, and the latter can be search for scholarly journal articles for more informative results (Just beware that Schoogle also searches ERIC, whose citations will come up as "full text").
Calculating
That simple little text box on the Google page is more than a search engine; it's like an accessories package all rolled into one. Did you know that with some simple commands it can be used as a calculator, a dictionary, a spell checker, a weatherman, or a unit or currency converter? Check out this page to see all the features Google offers with just a few keystrokes.
Communicating
Google Labs is always introducing useful products for users, such Picasa, Gmail, and even this site Blogger. Some other great tools include Google Notebook, which allows your bookmarks to be portable much like with del.icio.us, and Google Sites, which allows you create Web sites that can act as wikis similar to Wikispaces and Wetpaint.
Google says its focus is on "rapid and continuous innovation," which can make it a one-stop surfing site for users. If you aren't ready to go traveling throughout the World Wide Web just yet, Google is by far the best place to visit for your first whirlwind tour.
Searching
Knowing the Boolean system upon which Google is based, I thought I was pretty efficient in my searching. But Jeff shared some helpful searches I didn't know about. First, you can search by file type. So for example, if you're searching for an animation to illustrate a process, you would be well served to use the Advanced Search page to look for Shockwave Flash (.swf) files. Ever been frustrated that the WBAIS Web page doesn't have a search function (don't worry, that is fixed in the new site)? Well, Google comes to the rescue: You can use the Advanced Search page to look within a specific Web site.
Researching
I finally have taught my students how to search for a phrase instead of a word so they get better research results. But with Advanced Search, you can search for these phrases in the title or URL of a page, which means the results are more likely to focus on the keywords. But we all know the credibility problems with Web sites, so that's why there is Google Books and Google Scholar (Schoogle). The former can be searched by full-text only to ensure useable results, and the latter can be search for scholarly journal articles for more informative results (Just beware that Schoogle also searches ERIC, whose citations will come up as "full text").
Calculating
That simple little text box on the Google page is more than a search engine; it's like an accessories package all rolled into one. Did you know that with some simple commands it can be used as a calculator, a dictionary, a spell checker, a weatherman, or a unit or currency converter? Check out this page to see all the features Google offers with just a few keystrokes.
Communicating
Google Labs is always introducing useful products for users, such Picasa, Gmail, and even this site Blogger. Some other great tools include Google Notebook, which allows your bookmarks to be portable much like with del.icio.us, and Google Sites, which allows you create Web sites that can act as wikis similar to Wikispaces and Wetpaint.
Google says its focus is on "rapid and continuous innovation," which can make it a one-stop surfing site for users. If you aren't ready to go traveling throughout the World Wide Web just yet, Google is by far the best place to visit for your first whirlwind tour.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Digital Storytelling
I'm sure it's clear by now that technology has provided us with many digital opportunities to tell stories, but Dianne Caron and Meaghan Tracy, assistive technology services specialists for FCPS, focused on one of the most accessible tools for all ages: PhotoStory, which is available as a free download for Windows users. The basic process of creating a story in the program is to import and sequence a group of photos, add text to any or all photos, record narration that accompanies a single photo or the entire series, then pick motion to transition from photo to photo.
Caron and Tracy also offered some tips for each stage to make a basic PhotoStory more compelling.
Photos: The size of a photo will not only affect the quality of the picture but also the added text, so when searching in Google images, go to advanced search to select the size of picture to search for, then make sure to click and save the full-size picture, not the thumbnail.
Text: If you need to place more text in areas not allowed by PhotoStory, you can add the text in PhotoShop before importing the photo. If you don't have PhotoShop, you can do the same thing with with a PowerPoint slide saved as a JPG.
Narration: If you want to use clips of music instead of a whole song, you can create them in MovieMaker and save them as WMAs to string together in PhotoStory. If you need even more complicated cuts in narration, you can import the entire PhotoStory into MovieMaker, where you can also add video.
Motion: In order to scan a single photo, you must copy the image multiple times in the photo sequence. On scan for the first photo, specify start and end and uncheck the transition box. On consecutive photos, specify the start point to be the end point of the previous photo.
The application of this program for language arts is clear: You can have students create their own stories or continue where other narratives leave off. But we also brainstormed ideas for other content areas. In science, students could document the stages of the scientific process with photos. In math, students could document the stages of solving a word problem, substituting photos for text. In social studies, students could present primary source documents about a historical event. As someone suggested, PhotoStory has become the new PowerPoint, adding just a little bit more flair to the typical Parents' Night and Welcome Back presentations as well. The good news is, you can import your PowerPoints into PhotoStory and find ways to make them even more engaging by adding photos, narration and motion. Better yet, why not have students do this for you after you present a PowerPoint? In technology, a better product always comes along, but at least with PhotoStory, the transition to better tools is relatively simple.
Caron and Tracy also offered some tips for each stage to make a basic PhotoStory more compelling.
Photos: The size of a photo will not only affect the quality of the picture but also the added text, so when searching in Google images, go to advanced search to select the size of picture to search for, then make sure to click and save the full-size picture, not the thumbnail.
Text: If you need to place more text in areas not allowed by PhotoStory, you can add the text in PhotoShop before importing the photo. If you don't have PhotoShop, you can do the same thing with with a PowerPoint slide saved as a JPG.
Narration: If you want to use clips of music instead of a whole song, you can create them in MovieMaker and save them as WMAs to string together in PhotoStory. If you need even more complicated cuts in narration, you can import the entire PhotoStory into MovieMaker, where you can also add video.
Motion: In order to scan a single photo, you must copy the image multiple times in the photo sequence. On scan for the first photo, specify start and end and uncheck the transition box. On consecutive photos, specify the start point to be the end point of the previous photo.
The application of this program for language arts is clear: You can have students create their own stories or continue where other narratives leave off. But we also brainstormed ideas for other content areas. In science, students could document the stages of the scientific process with photos. In math, students could document the stages of solving a word problem, substituting photos for text. In social studies, students could present primary source documents about a historical event. As someone suggested, PhotoStory has become the new PowerPoint, adding just a little bit more flair to the typical Parents' Night and Welcome Back presentations as well. The good news is, you can import your PowerPoints into PhotoStory and find ways to make them even more engaging by adding photos, narration and motion. Better yet, why not have students do this for you after you present a PowerPoint? In technology, a better product always comes along, but at least with PhotoStory, the transition to better tools is relatively simple.
Word and PowerPoint Tricks
I've been using Microsoft Word and PowerPoint since I began teaching, and I thought I was making ultimate use of them. I was wrong. Even these most basic programs can be utilized better to create more interactive activities for students, according to Sandra Morrissette, assistive technology services specialist for FCPS. There are so many unsung options of Word and PowerPoint that I can't list them all here (I have a disk with all the ideas from JOSTI, which I will copy, so it can be checked out from the library), but here are a few that I found particularly intriguing:
Word
Use forms to create digital quizzes (yea paperless!): By going to View, then Toolbar, then Forms, you will get a menu bar that lets you insert check boxes, for multiple-choice questions; drop-down menus, for true-false questions; and text fields, for short-answer questions. You get the same feedback, but students feel like they are filling out an online survey instead of an assessment. (In terms of preventing cheating, I would suggest having students give their answers to you by USB disk instead of by G drive.)
Convert documents to Web pages to give hints: If you put the hints in white-colored text in a Word document, when you save the file as a Web page and post for students, they will be able to triple-click on hidden text, which highlights it and therefore makes it "appear." This especially works for younger students who like looking for the hints. Unlike the above suggestion, this would probably be used for independent or group practice, not assessment.
Use word art to make vocabulary look like what it means: By going to View, then Toolbar, then Drawing, you will get a menu bar that allows you to Insert Word Art. Once you insert a word, you will get a new menu bar that allows you to put a picture within the word: Go to Format, then Color and Lines tab, then Fill Effect, then Picture tab, then Select Picture; here, you can choose a photo or clip art from your files to reflect the word. Picture the word "summer" with suns inside, for example. You could even have students create their own word art, then compile all their submissions into a set of flash cards for partner drilling.
Word to PowerPoint
Use the presentation outline in Word to create a guide for PowerPoint: By going to View, then Toolbar, then Outline, you can create a traditional outline with as many levels (I, A, 1, a) as necessary. You could fill in some blanks for students or have them start from scratch. Once the outline is completed, use Send to PowerPoint under File, so the outline is converted to PowerPoint slides. Students like to present, but they don't always think about organization as much as when they write; this allows them to pay attention to order without making extra work.
PowerPoint
Use typeable text boxes to make presentations more interactive: By going to View, then Toolbars, then Control Toolbox, you will get a menu that allows you to Draw Text Box. You will not be able to insert any text during editing, but once you go to Slideshow mode, the typeable text boxes will appear. By showing the PowerPoint on a SmartBoard, you could have students fill in the blanks as you go through the presentation, which turns it into a group activity instead of an individual presentation.
Word
Use forms to create digital quizzes (yea paperless!): By going to View, then Toolbar, then Forms, you will get a menu bar that lets you insert check boxes, for multiple-choice questions; drop-down menus, for true-false questions; and text fields, for short-answer questions. You get the same feedback, but students feel like they are filling out an online survey instead of an assessment. (In terms of preventing cheating, I would suggest having students give their answers to you by USB disk instead of by G drive.)
Convert documents to Web pages to give hints: If you put the hints in white-colored text in a Word document, when you save the file as a Web page and post for students, they will be able to triple-click on hidden text, which highlights it and therefore makes it "appear." This especially works for younger students who like looking for the hints. Unlike the above suggestion, this would probably be used for independent or group practice, not assessment.
Use word art to make vocabulary look like what it means: By going to View, then Toolbar, then Drawing, you will get a menu bar that allows you to Insert Word Art. Once you insert a word, you will get a new menu bar that allows you to put a picture within the word: Go to Format, then Color and Lines tab, then Fill Effect, then Picture tab, then Select Picture; here, you can choose a photo or clip art from your files to reflect the word. Picture the word "summer" with suns inside, for example. You could even have students create their own word art, then compile all their submissions into a set of flash cards for partner drilling.
Word to PowerPoint
Use the presentation outline in Word to create a guide for PowerPoint: By going to View, then Toolbar, then Outline, you can create a traditional outline with as many levels (I, A, 1, a) as necessary. You could fill in some blanks for students or have them start from scratch. Once the outline is completed, use Send to PowerPoint under File, so the outline is converted to PowerPoint slides. Students like to present, but they don't always think about organization as much as when they write; this allows them to pay attention to order without making extra work.
PowerPoint
Use typeable text boxes to make presentations more interactive: By going to View, then Toolbars, then Control Toolbox, you will get a menu that allows you to Draw Text Box. You will not be able to insert any text during editing, but once you go to Slideshow mode, the typeable text boxes will appear. By showing the PowerPoint on a SmartBoard, you could have students fill in the blanks as you go through the presentation, which turns it into a group activity instead of an individual presentation.
Lights, Camera, Education!
All right, all right, I'll admit that going to this session was purely self-indulgence. I had no delusions that I would be able to apply this video class to anything other than English. Indeed, Dave Watnee and Anita Musser, technology specialists for FCPS, explained film in terms of narrative: a shot equals a paragraph, a scene equals a chapter, and a movie equals a book.
And the American Film Institute program they explained included elements of the writing process. As a class, we actually did an activity that students could do. First, we freewrote to brainstorm: We had only 10 minutes to shoot a short film about a mysterious noise behind a door. Then after learning more about film shots, the equivalent of writing devices, we prewrote: We outlined the film in storyboard format. As we planned, we revised our initial brainstorming: We added more effective shots, especially to convey suspense or, in my group's case, comedy (let's just say our story was literally toilet humor). Next, we peer-revised: We traded storyboards and shot another group's film. Last, we published our work: We showed our films to the class for critique. The only step missing was time for the original group to redo the film after seeing the results of the peer shoot. And we did this all in three hours, roughly two blocks.
How, you ask, did we manage to complete such a tech-intensive activity in such a short amount of time? We went old school: The entire film had to be created shot for shot in real time, without the aid of editing software, then we simply hooked up each camera to the projector to show our films. At least for most typical assessments I can think of, outside of film class, this technique would work perfectly. Instead of students taking a test or quiz, they could have so much time to plan and make a film about a concept being taught. Maybe they document a scientific experiment. Maybe they create an educational film for children about angles. Maybe they recreate a scene from history. And having to plan and rationalize their shot choices increases the depth of their understanding.
But, of course, you could take any such activity to the next level, by allowing students to perfect their films through editing. Perhaps an "educational video" category could be added Festivid, Fred? And if that doesn't work, Dave Navis, of Hong Kong International School, would be happy to see more entries for his school's Virtual Film Festival. Much like with podcasting, film allows for an assessment format that goes beyond the teacher's eyes and therefore toward the student's interest.
And the American Film Institute program they explained included elements of the writing process. As a class, we actually did an activity that students could do. First, we freewrote to brainstorm: We had only 10 minutes to shoot a short film about a mysterious noise behind a door. Then after learning more about film shots, the equivalent of writing devices, we prewrote: We outlined the film in storyboard format. As we planned, we revised our initial brainstorming: We added more effective shots, especially to convey suspense or, in my group's case, comedy (let's just say our story was literally toilet humor). Next, we peer-revised: We traded storyboards and shot another group's film. Last, we published our work: We showed our films to the class for critique. The only step missing was time for the original group to redo the film after seeing the results of the peer shoot. And we did this all in three hours, roughly two blocks.
How, you ask, did we manage to complete such a tech-intensive activity in such a short amount of time? We went old school: The entire film had to be created shot for shot in real time, without the aid of editing software, then we simply hooked up each camera to the projector to show our films. At least for most typical assessments I can think of, outside of film class, this technique would work perfectly. Instead of students taking a test or quiz, they could have so much time to plan and make a film about a concept being taught. Maybe they document a scientific experiment. Maybe they create an educational film for children about angles. Maybe they recreate a scene from history. And having to plan and rationalize their shot choices increases the depth of their understanding.
But, of course, you could take any such activity to the next level, by allowing students to perfect their films through editing. Perhaps an "educational video" category could be added Festivid, Fred? And if that doesn't work, Dave Navis, of Hong Kong International School, would be happy to see more entries for his school's Virtual Film Festival. Much like with podcasting, film allows for an assessment format that goes beyond the teacher's eyes and therefore toward the student's interest.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
The World of Podcasting
Up until this session, I'd heard mainly from technology experts, so I wanted to attend a workshop with regular teachers. Betsy Sandstrom, a Russian teacher at TJHSST, and her colleagues Carter Vaden, a German teacher, and Koji Otani, a Japanese teacher, shared their perspective as teachers of the podcast project outlined by students in the opening presentation. Self-described "technovices," they explained how they got over their fear of being less informed than their students.
They obtained a grant that provided money for equipment: digital voice recorders (or in some cases microphones for iPods) for recording, iPods for downloading, MacBook Pros installed with GarageBand for mixing and uploading, and external hard drives for storing. More important, because of the investment in its equipment, Apple coordinated training of teachers (and students, if they wanted it), including on GarageBand at the local Apple store. As you might imagine, companies have a vested interest in getting users to understand their programs. So if you ask for training, they're usually happy to give it to you, so you'll continue using their products. The same would go for PC products like Audacity and Windows Movie Maker, I'm sure. Besides, it never hurts to ask.
Since the equipment is all Mac, I'm not going to go into the technical details of how the students created and uploaded podcasts to iTunes. But the fact is, from these teachers' perspective, the technical aspect wasn't the point. The objectives of the activity focused on proper vocabulary and grammar use in scripting and proper pronunciation in dialogue, so the rubric reflected that. Success (or lack thereof) in posting a podcast was not part of a student's grade. To these teachers, grading the technical steps would be like grading handwriting on an essay: It's only the mode of expression, not the purpose, so it shouldn't be assessed. Still, the real-world application for their work motivated students to complete the project, even without being graded on the final product.
Basically, these teachers went into the project expecting their students to be able to figure out the intracies of the technology, just like most teachers would expect that a student could figure out how to use a pencil. Sure, some students weren't be as tech-savvy, but by working in groups, students could find their own strengths in completing the project.
But, they said, even if you don't think your students are ready to make podcasts themselves, they should be considered more often as a teaching tool. After all, there's a specific section for podcasts on iTunes. And other sites, such as Podcast Alley, are devoted solely to podcasts. Podcasts tap on all four of the basic modes of communication: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Imagine this project: Students listen to a podcast from NPR News, so they can speak about the issues presented in a class discussion, then they read related material from a textbook, so they can write a response to the ideas presented, which they can actually publish on the NPR podcast site. Basically, podcasts work like any other text, but students often are more engaged by them. And once they're engaged, they like to experiment with the technology themselves. You see where I'm going with this, right? Students finally have the opportunity to be the creators of the same kind of material that they study in the classroom. If that doesn't instill the responsibility of being citizen rhetors, I don't know what does.
They obtained a grant that provided money for equipment: digital voice recorders (or in some cases microphones for iPods) for recording, iPods for downloading, MacBook Pros installed with GarageBand for mixing and uploading, and external hard drives for storing. More important, because of the investment in its equipment, Apple coordinated training of teachers (and students, if they wanted it), including on GarageBand at the local Apple store. As you might imagine, companies have a vested interest in getting users to understand their programs. So if you ask for training, they're usually happy to give it to you, so you'll continue using their products. The same would go for PC products like Audacity and Windows Movie Maker, I'm sure. Besides, it never hurts to ask.
Since the equipment is all Mac, I'm not going to go into the technical details of how the students created and uploaded podcasts to iTunes. But the fact is, from these teachers' perspective, the technical aspect wasn't the point. The objectives of the activity focused on proper vocabulary and grammar use in scripting and proper pronunciation in dialogue, so the rubric reflected that. Success (or lack thereof) in posting a podcast was not part of a student's grade. To these teachers, grading the technical steps would be like grading handwriting on an essay: It's only the mode of expression, not the purpose, so it shouldn't be assessed. Still, the real-world application for their work motivated students to complete the project, even without being graded on the final product.
Basically, these teachers went into the project expecting their students to be able to figure out the intracies of the technology, just like most teachers would expect that a student could figure out how to use a pencil. Sure, some students weren't be as tech-savvy, but by working in groups, students could find their own strengths in completing the project.
But, they said, even if you don't think your students are ready to make podcasts themselves, they should be considered more often as a teaching tool. After all, there's a specific section for podcasts on iTunes. And other sites, such as Podcast Alley, are devoted solely to podcasts. Podcasts tap on all four of the basic modes of communication: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Imagine this project: Students listen to a podcast from NPR News, so they can speak about the issues presented in a class discussion, then they read related material from a textbook, so they can write a response to the ideas presented, which they can actually publish on the NPR podcast site. Basically, podcasts work like any other text, but students often are more engaged by them. And once they're engaged, they like to experiment with the technology themselves. You see where I'm going with this, right? Students finally have the opportunity to be the creators of the same kind of material that they study in the classroom. If that doesn't instill the responsibility of being citizen rhetors, I don't know what does.
Next Generation Research Tool
It's not many times I wish I were a high school student again, but man, after hearing about Zotero, I wouldn't even mind going back to do some of my research papers over. Trevor Owens -- who works at the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University, which developed this free extension for Firefox (because that browser is open source, unlike Explorer) -- said the product's motto is "Goodbye 3X5 cards." It's true, I have the bumper sticker to prove it. And I will stick it somewhere, because I am a Zotero convert.
Here's how it works: After you download the extension, a Zotero icon will appear at the bottom of your browser page. If you click on it, it pulls up a source-organizing system that is based on iTunes playlists, which most students are familiar with already. Any time you go to a Web page, the extension recognizes which type of source you are looking it. With one click of the mouse, you can add the source to your list, with complete bibliographic information. The program can do this because it has added converters compatible with many common online databases; for example, EBSCOHost, one of WBAIS library's database subscriptions, is completely compatible. When I noticed that Destiny, our library's catalog, was not, I e-mailed Trevor; within a day, he wrote back to say that it could be added easily.
Here's how you can ditch the notecards: Individual quotes within a source can be highlighted before adding the source to the list. Doing this records not only the source information but also the direct quote, as a "note." Multiple notes can be added to each source for paraphrasing purposes, and notes even can be added to an entire source collection, perhaps if the researcher thinks of something he or she wants to come back to later. "Tags" can be added to each source to make the entire list searchable. To me, these tags function as the topics of the sources. If a teacher wants to check a student's research progress, a report of all the sources, notes, and tags can be generated. This digital file then can be printed or simply sent as an attachment (yea, paperless!). Alternatively, an entire source collection can be transferred from computer to computer via a USB disk. This is also helpful for students, who can transfer their collections from their home computers to school computers easily. This also is important to remember as students start using different models of laptops at school, because it allows for consistency: Since Firefox is open source, teachers can require students to use a USB disk with portable Firefox plus the Zotero extension, so they have it no matter whether they are in class or at a lab.
But here's where I am really jealous: Citations and footnotes, of multiple research paper styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.), can be inserted automatically into Microsoft Word through the use of a free plug-in. This feature also generates bibliography and works cited pages based on the citations in merely a second. That's a far cry from the hours it took me to use the template from "Bud's Easy Term Paper Kit" on a typewriter. Kids really do have it good these days.
Here's how it works: After you download the extension, a Zotero icon will appear at the bottom of your browser page. If you click on it, it pulls up a source-organizing system that is based on iTunes playlists, which most students are familiar with already. Any time you go to a Web page, the extension recognizes which type of source you are looking it. With one click of the mouse, you can add the source to your list, with complete bibliographic information. The program can do this because it has added converters compatible with many common online databases; for example, EBSCOHost, one of WBAIS library's database subscriptions, is completely compatible. When I noticed that Destiny, our library's catalog, was not, I e-mailed Trevor; within a day, he wrote back to say that it could be added easily.
Here's how you can ditch the notecards: Individual quotes within a source can be highlighted before adding the source to the list. Doing this records not only the source information but also the direct quote, as a "note." Multiple notes can be added to each source for paraphrasing purposes, and notes even can be added to an entire source collection, perhaps if the researcher thinks of something he or she wants to come back to later. "Tags" can be added to each source to make the entire list searchable. To me, these tags function as the topics of the sources. If a teacher wants to check a student's research progress, a report of all the sources, notes, and tags can be generated. This digital file then can be printed or simply sent as an attachment (yea, paperless!). Alternatively, an entire source collection can be transferred from computer to computer via a USB disk. This is also helpful for students, who can transfer their collections from their home computers to school computers easily. This also is important to remember as students start using different models of laptops at school, because it allows for consistency: Since Firefox is open source, teachers can require students to use a USB disk with portable Firefox plus the Zotero extension, so they have it no matter whether they are in class or at a lab.
But here's where I am really jealous: Citations and footnotes, of multiple research paper styles (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.), can be inserted automatically into Microsoft Word through the use of a free plug-in. This feature also generates bibliography and works cited pages based on the citations in merely a second. That's a far cry from the hours it took me to use the template from "Bud's Easy Term Paper Kit" on a typewriter. Kids really do have it good these days.
Integrating Assistive Technology
Oh, how I wish we had the luxury of an assistive technology services department, like Fairfax County Public Schools has, so we could better serve special-needs students with available technology. Two members of that department, Jenn Regardie and Heather Thompson, get to focus on finding ways to help special-education teachers use technology effectively. They develop a specialized AT collaboration plan with each school based on its resources and students; when teachers aren't sure what they need, the department holds technology fairs to present options. From these collaboration plans, the department realized that teachers most needed help turning passive instruction into active learning, which is more beneficial for most special-needs populations. But I can't see why their applications wouldn't be enjoyed by other students as well. Here are just a few of their ideas (even more can be found at the department's Web site):
PowerPoint: Too often, students dread PowerPoint presentations because they are nothing more than jazzed-up lectures. Regardie and Thompson offered suggestions for using them as guided review activities. For example, a PowerPoint can be turned into a cloze activity by copying the original PowerPoint, replacing key terms with blanks, then printing out a slide map for students to fill in as the teacher goes over concepts.
Inspiration: This program often is used as a graphic-organizer creator, but it also can become a Webquest without having to worry about html coding. Simply take your typical graphic organizer and add notes containing links and instructions on what information to find there. Even better, students can answer questions about the links, then the diagram can be switched to outline form to act as a concise study guide.
Portables: FCPS uses a variety of student-response systems, such as the Neo2, to aid with classroom management. The reduction in grading time for teachers allows them to give more individualized instruction to students. The devices aren't cheap ($239 a piece), so we won't be buying any soon, but we have been looking at purchasing Senteo, a more basic system to use with SmartBoards. Until then, though, there are many resources online, such as book companion sites, that students can access to answer questions and to send scores automatically to an instructor's e-mail. Here is an example from a psychology textbook. I plan to use a similar site for grammar reinforcement next year.
All three of these technologies are available at WBAIS. It seems a waste that we are underutilizing what is available to us. Certainly, understaffing is an issue at such a small school -- we will never have an assistive technology services department -- but we can make an effort. I know it's crazy to suggest more time for planning, but along with vertical and horizontal planning, we might want to consider, uh, "diagonal" planning, where grade-level or department teams meet with resource and ESL staff to evaluate technologies that could help all students, but especially those with special needs through, dare I say it, differentiation.
PowerPoint: Too often, students dread PowerPoint presentations because they are nothing more than jazzed-up lectures. Regardie and Thompson offered suggestions for using them as guided review activities. For example, a PowerPoint can be turned into a cloze activity by copying the original PowerPoint, replacing key terms with blanks, then printing out a slide map for students to fill in as the teacher goes over concepts.
Inspiration: This program often is used as a graphic-organizer creator, but it also can become a Webquest without having to worry about html coding. Simply take your typical graphic organizer and add notes containing links and instructions on what information to find there. Even better, students can answer questions about the links, then the diagram can be switched to outline form to act as a concise study guide.
Portables: FCPS uses a variety of student-response systems, such as the Neo2, to aid with classroom management. The reduction in grading time for teachers allows them to give more individualized instruction to students. The devices aren't cheap ($239 a piece), so we won't be buying any soon, but we have been looking at purchasing Senteo, a more basic system to use with SmartBoards. Until then, though, there are many resources online, such as book companion sites, that students can access to answer questions and to send scores automatically to an instructor's e-mail. Here is an example from a psychology textbook. I plan to use a similar site for grammar reinforcement next year.
All three of these technologies are available at WBAIS. It seems a waste that we are underutilizing what is available to us. Certainly, understaffing is an issue at such a small school -- we will never have an assistive technology services department -- but we can make an effort. I know it's crazy to suggest more time for planning, but along with vertical and horizontal planning, we might want to consider, uh, "diagonal" planning, where grade-level or department teams meet with resource and ESL staff to evaluate technologies that could help all students, but especially those with special needs through, dare I say it, differentiation.
Open Source Integration with Education
Despite my better instincts, I veered from the teacher strand to attend a "techie" workshop about FOSS, free and open source software. Luckily, Dan Tran, computer systems lab manager at TJHSST and a University of Virginia student, put heavy emphasis on the "introduction" part of his session title. This was a wise strategy on his part because, essentially, this was a sales pitch. But can you call it that if you don't have to buy anything? Perhaps a better description would be a motivational speech, daring us to better ourselves by freeing ourselves from proprietary software. It's not likely that WBAIS will go full-FOSS anytime soon, but I did think that some parts of the pitch had merit for our school.
For 1-to-1 laptops: Linux
Dell, which is what we are now using the for the 1-to-1 program in middle school, now offers laptops pre-installed with Linux. The benefits of Linux are that it is easily deployable through a free server, meaning that teachers and even some students could download the program themselves without burdening Gintas. Also, it runs on less memory, leaving more power, so to speak, for other applications. Of course, the downside is, there are programs that won't operate with Linux, but never fear: If Linux is downloaded as the operating system, you can simply revert back to Windows by removing the program.
For student-owned laptops: Edubuntu
Ubuntu offers a package of free Microsoft Office-like software designed specifically for educational purposes and programmed to work with Linux. Once again, high-school students would be able to download both free programs on their own, so teachers would not have to deal with inconsistencies in software during instruction. Once again, there is a downside, mainly the myth that companies like Ubuntu will get students hooked on their products then start charging (yes, software as a "Gateway" drug), but Edubuntu has pledged to remain free forever.
For in-class desktops: Linux Terminal Server Project
As you know, eventually classroom desktops will stop being funded by the school, but if you wanted to bring breathe new life into desktops that have been designated as doorstops, you could consider the Linux Terminal Server Project. This allows multiple computers to operate off a single server that is loaded with the necessary software. The attached computers, called thin-clients, are only recommended to have a Pentium II/300 processor, 64MB of RAM, and a 4MB display card, in which case even the oldest of our computers probably could measure up.
For faster surfing: Squid
This program was introduced as a way to allow remote access to private databases (instead of having to post a bunch of usernames and passwords). But the more important point to me was Web page loading. Squid caches the first load of any Web page, meaning that any successive users who open the same page (your entire class, for example) will see it load much faster.
For e-mail: Zimbra
This software, which is backed by Yahoo, offers most of the features as Microsoft Outlook -- e-mail, webmail, anti-spam, anti-virus, databases, and contacts -- for free. Know how much you hate having to type in an e-mail address after looking up in that darned PDF file? Zimbra would solve that. It also could compile databases of e-mails by constituency (parent, teacher, etc.), so the administrative assistants wouldn't have to.
Dare I say it, for Blackboard: Sakai
The Sakai Project has developed a program that includes all the features of Blackboard and Moodle and adds new ones regularly. For example, the latest version includes searchable wikis, which many of you have wanted to develop for your classes. Because of this, many colleges, including the University of Virginia, are adopting this program over Blackboard.
So did I take the pitch? Am I FOSS believer now? Well, I'm at least thinking about the implications of the fact that this very philosophy exists. If you'd like to do a little bit of light philosophical reading yourself, you can check out Dan's presentation.
For 1-to-1 laptops: Linux
Dell, which is what we are now using the for the 1-to-1 program in middle school, now offers laptops pre-installed with Linux. The benefits of Linux are that it is easily deployable through a free server, meaning that teachers and even some students could download the program themselves without burdening Gintas. Also, it runs on less memory, leaving more power, so to speak, for other applications. Of course, the downside is, there are programs that won't operate with Linux, but never fear: If Linux is downloaded as the operating system, you can simply revert back to Windows by removing the program.
For student-owned laptops: Edubuntu
Ubuntu offers a package of free Microsoft Office-like software designed specifically for educational purposes and programmed to work with Linux. Once again, high-school students would be able to download both free programs on their own, so teachers would not have to deal with inconsistencies in software during instruction. Once again, there is a downside, mainly the myth that companies like Ubuntu will get students hooked on their products then start charging (yes, software as a "Gateway" drug), but Edubuntu has pledged to remain free forever.
For in-class desktops: Linux Terminal Server Project
As you know, eventually classroom desktops will stop being funded by the school, but if you wanted to bring breathe new life into desktops that have been designated as doorstops, you could consider the Linux Terminal Server Project. This allows multiple computers to operate off a single server that is loaded with the necessary software. The attached computers, called thin-clients, are only recommended to have a Pentium II/300 processor, 64MB of RAM, and a 4MB display card, in which case even the oldest of our computers probably could measure up.
For faster surfing: Squid
This program was introduced as a way to allow remote access to private databases (instead of having to post a bunch of usernames and passwords). But the more important point to me was Web page loading. Squid caches the first load of any Web page, meaning that any successive users who open the same page (your entire class, for example) will see it load much faster.
For e-mail: Zimbra
This software, which is backed by Yahoo, offers most of the features as Microsoft Outlook -- e-mail, webmail, anti-spam, anti-virus, databases, and contacts -- for free. Know how much you hate having to type in an e-mail address after looking up in that darned PDF file? Zimbra would solve that. It also could compile databases of e-mails by constituency (parent, teacher, etc.), so the administrative assistants wouldn't have to.
Dare I say it, for Blackboard: Sakai
The Sakai Project has developed a program that includes all the features of Blackboard and Moodle and adds new ones regularly. For example, the latest version includes searchable wikis, which many of you have wanted to develop for your classes. Because of this, many colleges, including the University of Virginia, are adopting this program over Blackboard.
So did I take the pitch? Am I FOSS believer now? Well, I'm at least thinking about the implications of the fact that this very philosophy exists. If you'd like to do a little bit of light philosophical reading yourself, you can check out Dan's presentation.
Monday, June 23, 2008
SMARTer Lessons = SMARTer Students
Even though I knew the session wouldn't entirely relate to me, I headed to a workshop about Smartboards geared toward elementary-school teachers. By the end of the presentation, I was just as inspired as others in the group, mainly because I took the advice of Tammi Sisk, Fairfax County Public Schools technology specialist for elementary school, to heart. Smartboards will become your educational tool of choice if you just "get in and dig."
No doubt, it takes persistence to make a commitment to using a Smartboard regularly. There is a big learning curve -- going over the basic tools took almost a half-hour -- but once you get over the hump, to the point you can be creative, the opportunities are numerous. Here are just a few insights I gleaned, in hopes of inspiring you in the same way:
Accessories for Everyone
Senteo: Smartboard has released a student-response system that can be used for both informal feedback and formal assessment. Immediate feedback can be used to judge whether a concept should be discussed further, and long-term student-specific data can be exported to Excel, to be manipulated for standards-based grading.
Notebook 10: This software update can be downloaded from Smart Technologies, but you will have to provide the serial number from a Smartboard. Some new features include a shape pen, which allows you to free-hand draw a shape then turn it into a precise figure; a table tool, which allows you to create and manipulate tables instead of copying them from Word; and a magic pen, which allows you zoom (by drawing a square), darken excess information (by drawing a circle), and write slowly disappearing text (by using a pen).
Notebook Interactive Viewer: Students can download this program from Smart Technologies on their own computers to view teacher Notebook files.
Tips for Everyone
Recorder: To add voice and action to your files, you can use the recorder while you are teaching. Then these files can be e-mailed to parents to help their children with homework, prepared ahead of time for substitutes, and/or uploaded to Blackboard for absent students.
Orientation: The accuracy of the touch works on release, so it is better to slide your finger to the point and lift instead of tapping. If you still aren't getting enough accuracy, you can adjust the number of points for orientation.
Pens: When using interactive tools from the gallery, you can pick up a pen to choose a different color for a different user. This helps differentiate between a student attempt and a teacher correction.
Gallery: This portion of the Notebook software contains photos, clip art, movie clips, backgrounds, and flash animations sorted by subject area and tagged through search terms. In general, these files will be more reliable than ones copied and pasted from the Internet; if you do use files from online, you should save them to your computer and attach them to your Notebook file.
Tips for Elementary School Teachers
Props: Use a paintbrush to reveal a picture hidden under a white overlay drawn with pen, perhaps to introduce a topic or reveal an answer, or have students use a koosh ball or fly swatter to pick activities, which basically are hyperlinks to other pages in the Notebook file.
Resources: Many Web sites work great with Smartboards, such as Starfall, Internet4Classrooms, BBC, and Taggalaxy. Add-on downloads are available at a cost from Smart Technologies, such as SMART Speller and Number Cruncher.
Tips for Elementary School Math
Infinite Clone: This choice under the down arrow locks an object into place, so dragging off the object creates a copy instead; this works well for counting visually with base-ten blocks.
Ordering: This choice under the down arrow acts like shuffling cards, allowing objects to stack; this works well for isolating the hundreds, tens, and ones place in a number.
Tips for Elementary School Language Arts
Colors: Manipulating the color of text and backgrounds can show halves of words then the entire word; this works well for teaching phonetic blends and compound words.
Spellcheck: After scanning a student's work into the notebook, students can identify misspelled words, use a white pen to "white out" the error, rewrite the word, then use the "recognize as" command under the down arrow to see possible spelling options.
More Smartboard training will be offered this year, I imagine, but what I realized most from the session is that the best training comes from developing your own relationship with your Smartboard. Start by determining whether you're a person who likes to use the pen or a finger to write, for example. Then try one trick at a time, perhaps one of those above. One success might motivate you to "dig in" further.
No doubt, it takes persistence to make a commitment to using a Smartboard regularly. There is a big learning curve -- going over the basic tools took almost a half-hour -- but once you get over the hump, to the point you can be creative, the opportunities are numerous. Here are just a few insights I gleaned, in hopes of inspiring you in the same way:
Accessories for Everyone
Senteo: Smartboard has released a student-response system that can be used for both informal feedback and formal assessment. Immediate feedback can be used to judge whether a concept should be discussed further, and long-term student-specific data can be exported to Excel, to be manipulated for standards-based grading.
Notebook 10: This software update can be downloaded from Smart Technologies, but you will have to provide the serial number from a Smartboard. Some new features include a shape pen, which allows you to free-hand draw a shape then turn it into a precise figure; a table tool, which allows you to create and manipulate tables instead of copying them from Word; and a magic pen, which allows you zoom (by drawing a square), darken excess information (by drawing a circle), and write slowly disappearing text (by using a pen).
Notebook Interactive Viewer: Students can download this program from Smart Technologies on their own computers to view teacher Notebook files.
Tips for Everyone
Recorder: To add voice and action to your files, you can use the recorder while you are teaching. Then these files can be e-mailed to parents to help their children with homework, prepared ahead of time for substitutes, and/or uploaded to Blackboard for absent students.
Orientation: The accuracy of the touch works on release, so it is better to slide your finger to the point and lift instead of tapping. If you still aren't getting enough accuracy, you can adjust the number of points for orientation.
Pens: When using interactive tools from the gallery, you can pick up a pen to choose a different color for a different user. This helps differentiate between a student attempt and a teacher correction.
Gallery: This portion of the Notebook software contains photos, clip art, movie clips, backgrounds, and flash animations sorted by subject area and tagged through search terms. In general, these files will be more reliable than ones copied and pasted from the Internet; if you do use files from online, you should save them to your computer and attach them to your Notebook file.
Tips for Elementary School Teachers
Props: Use a paintbrush to reveal a picture hidden under a white overlay drawn with pen, perhaps to introduce a topic or reveal an answer, or have students use a koosh ball or fly swatter to pick activities, which basically are hyperlinks to other pages in the Notebook file.
Resources: Many Web sites work great with Smartboards, such as Starfall, Internet4Classrooms, BBC, and Taggalaxy. Add-on downloads are available at a cost from Smart Technologies, such as SMART Speller and Number Cruncher.
Tips for Elementary School Math
Infinite Clone: This choice under the down arrow locks an object into place, so dragging off the object creates a copy instead; this works well for counting visually with base-ten blocks.
Ordering: This choice under the down arrow acts like shuffling cards, allowing objects to stack; this works well for isolating the hundreds, tens, and ones place in a number.
Tips for Elementary School Language Arts
Colors: Manipulating the color of text and backgrounds can show halves of words then the entire word; this works well for teaching phonetic blends and compound words.
Spellcheck: After scanning a student's work into the notebook, students can identify misspelled words, use a white pen to "white out" the error, rewrite the word, then use the "recognize as" command under the down arrow to see possible spelling options.
More Smartboard training will be offered this year, I imagine, but what I realized most from the session is that the best training comes from developing your own relationship with your Smartboard. Start by determining whether you're a person who likes to use the pen or a finger to write, for example. Then try one trick at a time, perhaps one of those above. One success might motivate you to "dig in" further.
Let Students Take the Lead
Two years from now, we're expecting every high school student to have a laptop at their disposal during class. I decided to adopt that mentality as I attend JOSTI. At every workshop or session, I will be taking notes on this blog, so I can turn them into useable posts in the future. As I pulled out my laptop to replicate a student's actions, I thought the theme of the keynote session was just too apropos: letting students take the lead in technology.
Evan Glazer, principal of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, explained why his administration and staff adopted this policy: If students are already good test-takers, how do you challenge them? At TJHSST, the answer was giving them opportunities to be creative, especially with technology. And so, eighth period is designated for one of 150 activities, many of which are determined by students themselves; for example, one group of students collaborated with a local business to create a satellite. This activity period gives students the opportunity to show what they can do with technological resources, with the guidance of mentors. One of the most ambitious projects was explained by Richard Washer, information technology coordinator for TJHSST and techie strand coordinator for the conference: In 2002, students got source code from Blackboard to create courses for students evacuated from the American International School in Islamabad. In the seven years since the establishment of this virtual school, 27 more organizations and shcools have joined. Students clearly are excited about such empowerment in their education. In fact, four alumni are coming back to the school to teach. And six others shared what they came up with when they were given freedom with technological resources:
1. Recent graduate William Yang is student technical administrator and co-founder of a free alternative to mass-market review books for AP tests. All the material was created by and for students. Right now, the wiki is not available to users outside of the school (for security purposes), but William hopes to do so soon. After all, this might be not just a school project, but a small business someday. Why not get our students on board with this venture, if we can?
2. Recent graduate Josiah Boning is student head administrator of TJHSST's intranet. Basically, it is an in-school Facebook. Students join on their own, creating their own log-ins and profiles. After moderator-approved, students can search the directory for information. Registration and attendance for eighth-period activities is done virtually. Announcements are e-mailed to trained moderators to be posted. Class elections are held through online polls. Josiah said he will reveal the PHP language source code if some WBAIS students want to take on a similar project.
3. Jennifer Lee, a student of Japanese, and Nihaar Sinha and JeanMarie Stewart, students of German, contributed to the school's foreign-language podcast page. After teachers secured a grant to purchase MacBooks and iPods, students brainstormed ideas for podcasts. In German class, students wrote scripts about pictures introducing the sections of the textbook. Then they used GarageBand to record and mix photo and audio, and some students used their eighth period to create a WordPress blog where students could post their podcasts. Some creations were even uploaded to and now available on iTunes. And Nihaar even dispelled every teacher's greatest fear: No classtime was spent on instructing podcasting (students were able to figure this out themselves); to encourage risk-taking, grading rubrics were for linguistic goals only.
4. Sappho Gilbert, a recent graduate and proud member of Generation Y, interned at the National Institutes of Health for her senior research project, similar to the one at WBAIS. The tumor biology lab where she worked was revolutionized with a simple suggestion from this tech-savvy generation: Use print screen (PrtSc) to capture microscope images for cell counting. This process, which is still used in the lab today, "made work more manageable" and more accurate, Sappho said. Whose to say a WBAIS student couldn't tell any of us what would make our classes "more manageable"?
Which brings us back to the topic at hand: Trust your students to tell you what you should be doing with technology. They know, and they are just waiting for the opportunity to show you what they know.
Evan Glazer, principal of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, explained why his administration and staff adopted this policy: If students are already good test-takers, how do you challenge them? At TJHSST, the answer was giving them opportunities to be creative, especially with technology. And so, eighth period is designated for one of 150 activities, many of which are determined by students themselves; for example, one group of students collaborated with a local business to create a satellite. This activity period gives students the opportunity to show what they can do with technological resources, with the guidance of mentors. One of the most ambitious projects was explained by Richard Washer, information technology coordinator for TJHSST and techie strand coordinator for the conference: In 2002, students got source code from Blackboard to create courses for students evacuated from the American International School in Islamabad. In the seven years since the establishment of this virtual school, 27 more organizations and shcools have joined. Students clearly are excited about such empowerment in their education. In fact, four alumni are coming back to the school to teach. And six others shared what they came up with when they were given freedom with technological resources:
1. Recent graduate William Yang is student technical administrator and co-founder of a free alternative to mass-market review books for AP tests. All the material was created by and for students. Right now, the wiki is not available to users outside of the school (for security purposes), but William hopes to do so soon. After all, this might be not just a school project, but a small business someday. Why not get our students on board with this venture, if we can?
2. Recent graduate Josiah Boning is student head administrator of TJHSST's intranet. Basically, it is an in-school Facebook. Students join on their own, creating their own log-ins and profiles. After moderator-approved, students can search the directory for information. Registration and attendance for eighth-period activities is done virtually. Announcements are e-mailed to trained moderators to be posted. Class elections are held through online polls. Josiah said he will reveal the PHP language source code if some WBAIS students want to take on a similar project.
3. Jennifer Lee, a student of Japanese, and Nihaar Sinha and JeanMarie Stewart, students of German, contributed to the school's foreign-language podcast page. After teachers secured a grant to purchase MacBooks and iPods, students brainstormed ideas for podcasts. In German class, students wrote scripts about pictures introducing the sections of the textbook. Then they used GarageBand to record and mix photo and audio, and some students used their eighth period to create a WordPress blog where students could post their podcasts. Some creations were even uploaded to and now available on iTunes. And Nihaar even dispelled every teacher's greatest fear: No classtime was spent on instructing podcasting (students were able to figure this out themselves); to encourage risk-taking, grading rubrics were for linguistic goals only.
4. Sappho Gilbert, a recent graduate and proud member of Generation Y, interned at the National Institutes of Health for her senior research project, similar to the one at WBAIS. The tumor biology lab where she worked was revolutionized with a simple suggestion from this tech-savvy generation: Use print screen (PrtSc) to capture microscope images for cell counting. This process, which is still used in the lab today, "made work more manageable" and more accurate, Sappho said. Whose to say a WBAIS student couldn't tell any of us what would make our classes "more manageable"?
Which brings us back to the topic at hand: Trust your students to tell you what you should be doing with technology. They know, and they are just waiting for the opportunity to show you what they know.
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