Discovery Education and Wilke’s University are launching a new online master’s degree program in instructional media! This has been in the works for a quite a while now, so I’m thrilled that we can finally announce it.
The 30-credit instructional media program will prepare teachers to engage today’s students in learning through digital media. It will educate teachers to become specialists who can effectively blend academic rigor with the latest technology, from video to Web 2.0 to virtual field trips.
Courses will focus on topics such as digital storytelling, using digital media in the classroom, using technology to support creativity, and applying brain-based theories of how students process information to technology integration. Kathy Schrock, a nationally known leader in technology integration in the classroom, will design “Internet Tools for Teaching” scheduled to begin in spring 2009.
I can’t speak for current teacher prep programs, but I can say that the technology preparation I received while getting my education degree was nowhere near adequate to leverage the incredible tools that are available today. This program will help teachers maximize technology to improve their ability to educator their students.
“The program is designed to help all teachers effectively integrate media-based technologies in helping their students reach new heights of academic success,” Speziale said. “This is one of those special programs that can have an immediate transformative effect in a teacher’s classroom.”
In most states now, teachers are required to earn continuing education credits to maintain their certification. There’s no better way to stay certified, move up in the pay scale, and learn how to be a more effective teacher using technology, than by earning a master’s degree. And if you’re going to earn one, you can guarantee that Discovery Education is going to stretch your thinking. And we couldn’t have picked a better partner than Wilkes University, one of the leaders in graduate teacher education.
Wilkes University is currently accepting applications for the Fall 2008 semester. Prospective students are encouraged to visit the university’s website at www.wilkes.edu/instructionalmedia, where they can find additional program information and sign up to receive application alerts via email. All Wilkes University Graduate Education Programs are accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
See you in class!
You might think this post is about old Coach Brennan dusting off the playbook and throwing his hat in the ring for Bobby Knight’s former job, but it’s actually about the One Laptop per Child Program (OLPC) or the “$100 laptop” as the press had labeled it. Local district tech director Chris Brown put out a call to his techie buddies to join his faculty on their institute day yesterday for a bit of conversation and play with these clever little laptops. Enough people had taken advantage of the buy one, give one program over the holidays that we had ten of the little green machines available for our local mesh. By putting the two rabbit ears up on either side of the screen, the laptops can find each other for chatting, collaborating and connecting to the Internet. Because of the security on our host school’s network, we couldn’t get on. But we got an idea how easy it would be for kids in a village to hop an Internet connection from the local school to/through laptop to laptop.
We thought we were doing pretty good until a 6 year old dropped in to show us how he does some basic programming using a version of the venerable Turtle language, plays matching and memory games, and creates his own music. He even had his own colorful mouse to plug into one of the 3 USB slots. I won’t go into the specs of the computer - you can read that for yourself. Suffice it to say I was very impressed with the design, the screen, the power and potential for the price. I know these are intended for 6 to 12 year olds in third world countries, but I’m sure they would be welcome in many homes and schools here.
Which brings me to my point. I got to see Nicholas Negroponte’s keynote a couple of NECC’s ago where he introduced and defended his OLPC program and then challenged American education to make the most of the tools that we have at our disposal. In answer to criticism that these computers would not be available to American students, he replied that our students could have access to as much technology as their community deems important and is willing to support. As he put it, “the American equivalent of our laptops (from major computer makers) just cost around $5-600. Which is still cheaper, relatively speaking, than what an OLPC laptop costs a Peruvian village in the Andes.”
So, no earth shaking answers here. Just some observations and food for thought as we prepare our students for their future. And I have to add that I am a big fan of Hall’s strategies for the iPod. For $249 you can get the whole Discovery Education streaming library on one ($149 for less capacity with a Nano). Add free lectures from Harvard or Stanford, etc. via iTunes. Create quizzes and study guides. Add your own students’ pod and screen casts. I guess you know what’s on the presents’ list for my young grandchildren in the upcoming years.
How do we help our students use the resources that those villages in Peru and Mongolia are struggling to get?
I had an interesting question come through the inbox today, regarding how ELL teachers could use Discovery Education Streaming to support their students. I started to type out a a few ideas that popped into my head, but then it occurred to me that I should really turn the question over to all of you!
Do you teach ELL students, or have a colleague who does? If so, we’d love to hear how you’re using Discovery Education Streaming in the classroom to improve learning. Even if you aren’t an ELL teacher, please feel free to share your ideas. You never know which direction inspiration is going to come from.
Thanks!
Many of us are packing and heading to NECC this week so I thought I’d sneak in one more reminder about the two, 1 hour "Gamer Generation" episodes re-airing on the Discovery Times Channel before the blog posts come pouring in from Atlanta.
Computer gaming in its several forms is obviously an engaging and seductive pastime that taps into some primal learning strategies. Perhaps there is no "place" where you are freer to learn from your mistakes. I will try to sit in on at least one gaming session while I’m at NECC and gain some insight.
In the mean time, you can "take a hard look at the surprising and disturbing ways that computer games and the people who play them are changing the world." The episodes are showing twice the evening of June 26th and twice more during the very early morning hours of June 27th.
How can education "get in the game?"
From CNN.com (via Betsy):
A newly appointed state board started running the St. Louis school
district Friday and asked for the community’s help in trying to improve
its schools’ performance.
The state had voted in March to strip
the district’s accreditation because of unmet academic and financial
standards, and a judge ruled Thursday the takeover was constitutional.
All
three members of the appointed board pledged to seek input from
students, teachers, residents and members of the elected school board
that still remains, though it now has no power.
If you’re in the St. Louis area, or even if you aren’t, what are your thoughts on these events? How would you change things to improve the district’s performance?
Every once in a while, we hear from our brothers and sisters on the TV side of the Discovery family, who love asking us what the teachers in the field think. As you well know, the networks are committed to educational programing, for both adults and students alike.
Well, this time we have a request from the Science Channel. They want to get some feedback from Discovery Educators about what challenges you’re facing in schools. They’re determined to use their resources to spread the word about the importance of science education and achievement in the US and want your feedback to help guide them.
Please take a few minutes to fill out this survey and pass it along to any other science teachers you know. We’d really appreciate your two cents!
Many, many years ago, before it was common for schools and teachers to have websites, Alan November
shook my edtech world up a bit when he showed me how hate groups and
supremacist organizations “got” the Internet as an education,
communication and PR tool. I had that same feeling a couple of years
ago when I first heard David Warlick’s
spin on gaming. I have to admit to some manic gaming at one point in my
life. Someone had to save the world from those little space invaders
and keep the Pac Man family fed and free from ghosts (I never could
come up with an altruistic reason for Pong). Anyhow, most of you
probably ain’t seen nothing like this before - I caught pieces of two
shows on the “Gamer Generation” on the Discovery Times channel some
weeks ago. They have recently resurfaced in ON DEMAND on my cable
system until mid June and then it looks like they will be rebroadcast on June 26th and 27th.
You might want to check them out if you get the chance. You will
hear and see a Syrian first person shooter game producer proudly state
that he is “facilitating the acquisition of knowledge” for his people
as they battle Israeli troops and tanks on the screen. Another game
producer declares that this is a “new language for a new century.” If
you’re like me, there is a world of playing, learning and interaction
out there that is completely unknown and foreign. From a Woodstock like
gathering of hundreds of gamers near the arctic circle, to U.S. Army
recruiting, to fighting your own cancer cells, to buying (yes, real
money!) your own virtual vacation condo at a resort
some place out in space, to digital sweatshops where third world gamers
will play your character up to a certain level for a fee, to virtual
sex, gaming is in and TV is out for many young people and some adults.
Professional gamers in Asia are treated like rock stars with loyal fans
and endorsement contracts.
And I was just feeling pretty smug and au courrant
because I got myself dressed and I can get myself lost just about anywhere in Second Life
(still trying to get my “hands” on a DEN laptop and T-shirt there and
I’m not completely sure how I ended up with a ‘fro).
I just
hope that there’s a way for us in education to tap into this
stimulating and challenging medium like we have with web pages and
multimedia production.
Education Week recently released its Technology Counts 2007 report. Check out the IL blog where Scott posted a lot of the details including how to see what "grade" your state received when it comes to technology policy and practice (note to state bloggers: this could be an interesting post). In my former life, I had to submit data for this report and the process is really interesting…take a look for yourself.
I do want to point out something that Joe Brennan pointed out to me…
At least three of our STAR DEs are featured in articles that accompany the Technology Counts report. Thanks to Anne Reardon, Peggy Barger and Jim Hopton for representing the DEN in fine fashion. I hope we didn’t miss anyone.
Cable in the Classroom Magazine is seeking input from teachers for an upcoming issue. They’re looking for responses to the question:
How do you keep your students motivated through the last two months of school?
If you’d like to weigh in, send an email to Ellen Ullman (ellen.ullman@earthlink.com) with the following information
- A 2-3 sentence answer to the question
- Your name, title, school name, city & state
- Your mailing address (if you’d like a copy of the issue)
Please take a second to complete this very quick multiple choice survey about your use of media in the classroom. The results of this survey will be used to identify trends which will help us continue to provide you with up to date, leading-edge services.
We would love to have at least 500 responses from our members - so be my best friend and please take 2 minutes to complete!!
Thanks!
Click here to access the survey: http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB225U2568KBJ
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