Techno Constructivism

The following message was sent to members of ISTE RE: Economic Stimulus and Advocacy

Don Knezek is the CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education. His message to members is copied and pasted below!

Dear Members,

As you can imagine with a new U.S. President being sworn in, a new Congress seated and the passage of an historic economic stimulus bill, it has been a busy few months for ISTE and our advocacy efforts. The coming months, however, will become increasingly important at the state and local levels as the stimulus funds are disbursed. I’m writing to make sure you have the information you need to participate in state and local deliberations and make wise spending decisions.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) that was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009, directs more than $100 billion to education. This is the largest one-time federal infusion of funds for education ever and it is up to us as a community to spend these funds wisely. Collectively, we will be accountable to show that these dollars were spent quickly to meet short-term economic goals with long-term school improvement and reform benefits in mind. 

To quote Secretary Duncan, “Our goals are to save jobs and improve education… balancing the need for a speedy release of funds with the need for aggressive and thoughtful school improvements and reform to improve results for our children.”

ISTE worked closely with the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress to ensure that the ARRA included a dedicated funding stream for classroom technology and professional development through the Enhancing Education Through Technology program (EETT, Title II Part D of NCLB). In addition to the EETT program funds, ARRA also includes opportunities to invest in classroom technology and technology professional development via the State Stabilization Fund, Title I and IDEA. ISTE encourages all members to collaborate and work closely with your district and state leaders to leverage these dollars to ensure our students are educated in 21st century classrooms by teachers who have the skill and training to teach well in them. 

Below is a short description and timing information as we know it now on the major K-12 education programs in the ARRA. Be sure to regularly check the Department of Education’s website as this information is continually updated: www.ed.gov/policy/gen/leg/recovery/. (Our upcoming webinar, “So the Stimulus Passed, Now What?” will provide additional information about ARRA as well; find details about the webinar in the bulleted list below.)

State Stabilization Fund: The Department of Education is preparing to disburse State Stabilization Funds within two weeks of receiving a state’s approvable application. The application should be up on the Department of Education’s web site by April.

Title I and IDEA: Fifty percent (50%) of Title I Part A funds and fifty percent (50%) of IDEA Part B funds will be released to the states by the end of March. States will not need to complete a new application to receive the funds released in March.

Enhancing Education Through Technology: All of the EETT funds are now slated to be dispersed in the fall of 2009.

State Incentive Grants or “Race to the Top” fund: States will submit an application to the Secretary of Education to receive these funds. More guidance from the Department of Education will be forthcoming. These grants will help states to drive significant improvement in student achievement.

Innovation Fund: Local partnerships will submit applications to the Secretary of Education to receive these funds. More guidance from the Department of Education will be forthcoming. These applications will reward partnerships that have made significant gains in closing achievement gaps to serve as models for best practices.

As you develop your plans for investing the stimulus dollars, do make use of ISTE’s resources.

• Check out L&L and its unparalleled archive of best practices. Visit the ISTE bookstore, browse the titles and excerpts. And be sure to peruse the digital age stories posted on ISTE’s 30th anniversary pages. You’ll find phenomenal creativity, optimism and efficiency at work in classrooms all over the world and shared through numerous ISTE channels. Be inspired by your peers!

•  Reach out to your colleagues coordinating IDEA and Title I programs. Take them to lunch. Understand their priorities and constraints. Perhaps a program you had in mind could really enhance learning opportunities in a special ed or high-need classroom. Check out ISTE’s Special Interest Group for special ed, SETSIG, or search on NECC program content for sessions and workshops that expand your familiarity with these issues.

• Team with ISTE in providing professional development to your teachers and administrators. ISTE’s offerings include a breadth and depth of services, from books and webinars to the rich offerings at NECC, June 28 – July 1. We’ll also work with your school or district to customize professional development.

• As you’re developing plans and proposals for ARRA funding, be sure to keep ISTE’s widely adopted educational technology standards in mind. Learn more about the NETS for students, teachers and administrators.

• Meanwhile, we’re also working with U.S. policy-makers on the FY10 budget and various pieces of legislation aimed at innovations in student learning and teacher preparation. Our board of directors recently authorized our policy agenda for the start of the Obama Administration and the new Congress.

• You might also want to bookmark our policy forum on ISTE’s community ning where Hilary Goldmann, ISTE’s director of government affairs, has been posting updates several times a week.

• Join Hilary Goldmann and me on Thursday April 2nd for a free webinar exclusively for ISTE members titled “So The Stimulus Passed…Now What?” We’ll be featuring guest panelists David Byer of Apple and the Chair of ISTE’s Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, Deborah Rigsby of the National School Boards Association, and Davis Brock of Elmore County Public Schools in Alabama. Sign up for the free webinar here.

• Let us know how we can help! There are lots of venues for feedback and discussion – from submitting questions for the webinar panelists, to calling or writing us, to commenting on our new blog, ISTE Connects. 

• And finally, keep us posted on how your school and district are using the ARRA dollars. Complete the short survey here. This information will be a great resource for ISTE members and also for policy makers as we learn from each other and are accountable for this investment in education. Watch our website and blogs for feedback channels, and please contribute to this important and evolving conversation.

Thank you, as always, for your incredible expertise and commitment.

Respectfully,

Don Knezek, CEO
The International Society for Technology in Education

Think you have searched to the end of the WWW? Think again!  Stay up-to-date on the newest web applications by visiting www.GO2WEB20.net For two years running, this online index is one of the largest sites bookmarking recent applications that hit the web! Check it out early and often to be on the cutting edge! You may just stumbleupon something new.

Any teacher who has had access to a StarBoard, Promethean Board, or Interactive Whiteboard, etc. is lost when it malfunctions or for whatever reason is no longer accessible.  Tablet PC’s may be used in a similar manner.  True the functionalities and application tools may not be as top-notch, but any port in a storm.  Well skrbl.com has answered your prayers!

http://skrbl.com/

Skrbl is an easy online whiteboard that allows for multi-users to work together to sketch, text, share files, upload pictures and more all via URL. 

Create a FREE account and begin your brainstorm for the next writing assignment! Upload a diagram and have students label the parts. 

Go to: http://skrbl.com/more.aspx to learn how easy it is…here is a mini tutorial found on the site!   

Use file menu - ‘email invite’ to email an invite to your skrbl whiteboard, your guests get a link to click on, OR give your skrbl URL to your friends.
To write a note - just click on the blank screen and start typing.
To edit a note click on an existing note and edit.
To switch between drawing and text mode click on the or button.
To upload a picture or a file use the File menu.
The file menu also shows you a list of pictures and files you already have online.
To manage your whiteboards, pictures or files, go to your ‘My skrbls’ page.
Click and drag to move a note around the skrbl board.

Simple and easy online multi user whiteboard, start skrbl, give out your URL & start working together. Sketch, text, share files, upload pictures all in one common shared space. There are no new tools to learn, nothing to download, nothing to install. Brainstorm on our simple whiteboard to start thinking together, everyone sees the same screen, everybody gets on the same page.

There is a vital need for advocacy in the area of Geography Education. A poll conducted in 2006, National Geographic-Roper ASW poll (PDF) , identified a ”lack of basic geographic knowledge among 18-24 year-old Americans—the most recent members of our educational system: 37% of young Americans can’t find Iraq on a map. One in three young Americans can’t place the state of Louisiana on a U.S. map…after Hurricane Katrina. Three in four Americans think English is the most commonly spoken native language in the world…it’s Mandarin Chinese by a landslide.”  (http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foundation/policy_initiative.html) 

Despite the fact that the NCLB Act names Geography as a core academic subject, the federal budget does not currently appropriate funding towards Geography Education.  In response to this issue, National Geographic, Geography professionals,  and congressional leaders, have established an alliance and grassroots campaign, The Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act, to notify lawmakers of the need for funding for Geography Education.  The Teaching Geography is Fundamental Act was introduced to Congress on March 1st, 2007.  It has remained at that stage of policy making.  Please take a moment to make your mark and let policymakers know that this is an important issue in education:

1.         Visit http://MyWonderfulWorld.org

2.         On the Web site’s left-hand index, select the link to “Notify Your Lawmakers”

3.         When prompted, just enter your Zip code and the Web site will walk you through the rest!

(Please customize your email by noting how long you have been teaching, why geography is important to you, and how workshops and institutes have helped you and your students, etc.)

To learn more about TGIF initiatives visit:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foundation/policy_initiative.html

National Geographic’s Advice on how to get involved:

What You Can Do To Help

1. Support the TGIF legislation.

a. Write to your Senators and Representatives and tell them that teaching geography is fundamental. Ask them to support reintroduction of TGIF and to co-sponsor the bill, and to support the inclusion of TGIF in the No Child Left Behind reauthorization.

b. Check this page frequently for the latest updates on the bill.

2. Get active in your schools.

a. Download My Wonderful World’s self-assessment tool (PDF) to find out if your school is ‘geography ready.’

b. Download My Wonderful World’s PTA Action Kit (PDF) to approach school administrators, teachers, and parents and ask them to make teaching geography a priority.

3. Bring the world into your home and community. Incorporate geographic learning into your life every day. Download My Wonderful World’s Family Activities (PDF) and Top 10 Tips (PDF) for more ideas.

4. Visit MyWonderfulWorld.org for more geography resources and information, and join this National Geographic-led campaign.

5. Tell your friends and community members to support geography education and refer them to this site.

The Huntington Elementary School, under the direction of the Superintendent of Schools, became the pilot technology school for the District in the 2005-2006 school year.  In response to low student achievement the District targeted the school for intervention and provided it with many additional resources, including upgrading the availability of technology, such as laptops for all teachers, student computers in all classrooms, in-focus projectors in each classroom and many software programs designed to improve teaching and student learning.  The District priority was to provide the professional development needed to ensure that teachers had the necessary skills to utilize this technology in a way that would truly have a positive impact on student learning. 

 In response to this need, I became actively involved in searching for ways to support the successful implementation of technology and was able to acquire a grant through the Brockton Educators Innovators Grant.  I conducted a survey to assess the staff proficiency level with technology.  The results indicated that many teachers were not comfortable with using technology in the classroom for planning, instruction, and data management. Based on these results, I formulated a professional development plan that addressed the needs of teachers.

I planned and facilitated a series of professional development workshops that addressed skills with which teachers indicated that they needed training.  Areas for professional development included, but were not limited to,  using computerized programs to create lesson plans, organizing and manipulating data, designing  lesson teaching tools such as using Inspiration Software to create graphic organizers and Microsoft PowerPoint to create presentations that would provide access to the course content for students of all learning styles.  Additionally, I provided ongoing and daily support for teachers by meeting with them individually and in small groups.  Additionally, I provided ongoing and daily support for teachers by meeting with them individually and in small groups. 

In recognition of my expertise in the implementation of technology in the classroom, I was asked to pilot innovative programs in the field for the entire school district.  The programs included the utilization of a StarBoard® interactive whiteboard which provides students with an interactive approach to understanding science and mathematics content creating graphs charts and tables, and provide a multimedia approach to learning. 

“70 % of the jobs available in the workforce are related to the acquisition and manipulation of digital knowledge.”

-Just in Time Web Delivered Instruction T.H.E. Journal. March, 1999.

As I am sure this statistic has grown and more jobs available in the workplace require the use, knowledge, and skills needed to work with technological tools.  As an educator who embraces all that technology has to offer in terms of enhancing a curriculum, it is unfortunate that technology’s role in the educational world has just recently made its mark.  In his Visions 2020 Report, Rod Paige, former U.S. Secretary of Education stated, “Indeed, education is the only business still debating the usefulness of technology. Schools remain unchanged for the most part despite numerous reforms and increased investments in computers and networks. The way we organize schools and provide instruction is essentially the same as it was when our Founding Fathers went to school. Put another way, we still educate our students based on an agricultural timetable, in an industrial setting, but tell students they live in a digital age.”

Although difficult to believe, yes indeed the field of education was one of the last industries to integrate technology into the practice.  Unlike accounting firms, schools with one computer in a classroom were considered privileged.  Since the inception of NCLB, federal grants have allowed for computers to enter into school system budgets. Paige went onto speak of the future opportunities that NCLB would offer for students, families, and communities “and a future where we embrace the potential for technology to influence the way schools teach and students learn.” (Rod Paige, Former Secretary of Education, national technology plan 2005) The fact of the matter is that technology and computers have changed the underpinnings of communication and business.  To ensure that no child is left behind, it is pertinent that technology be integrated into the classroom in that children are enabled to acquire the skills necessary to compete in the digital age.   

Although we, educators and DEN members, are not debating the point that technology is shaping the world not that of its importance on the educational front, we are here to discuss what the benefits of technology are and how we as educators can effectively utilize technology to meet the needs of all learners.  Technology offers educators with the tools to, optimize learning by accommodating a variety of learning styles, track each student’s progress, remediate the needs of struggling students, enhance curriculum and content, and challenge advanced learners.  Technology enables students to become independent learners as they actively engage in the acquisition of new knowledge, receive prompt and adequate feedback, access and manipulate information to better understand their own experiences, and become more engaged in today’s techno-society.   

I consider myself to be a techno-constructivist, ergo I am a constructivist and utilize technology in my classroom in such a way that integrates it into the daily classroom practice in that it “redefines” instruction.  In a constructivist classroom, students become owners of their own learning, they are able to access information, construct their own meanings from it, then create their own products to demonstrate understanding.  When technology is added to this approach, students now understand the many uses technology serves as a means of locating information, engaging in the process of acquiring it, and then using technology to demonstrate understanding.  Online projects, webquests, scavenger hunts, interactive games, virtual tours, webinars, virtual labs and more allow students to discover content in engaging ways which offers ownership.  Upon understanding content, students are enabled to demonstrate understanding by digital storytelling, creating multimedia presentations, pairing voice with that of digital photos, and more. 

Realizing the full potential of technology’s role in the classroom is realizing that it helps children build on their own experience, construct their own meanings, create products and solve problems successfully. The power of technology in influencing student learning is evident in my school and in my classroom.  By providing leadership at the school and district level, I was able to share the potential for the power of technology on influencing teaching and learning. Within my classroom, integrating such programs into the project based lessons I discovered that students were accessing the curriculum with ease and motivation. Technology offers my students the opportunity to explore concepts beyond their everyday world in a way that also allows them to be independent learners and thinkers.   Through the use of data informed instruction, providing a classroom environment that supports and inspires students to achieve to their utmost potential,  and offering students the opportunity to take advantage of the most current technology available I have created a classroom in which all of my students can be successful learners.  Possessing these qualities is wasted if not shared among colleagues as that is what best establishes lifelong learners among the staff.  I pride myself on the ability to contribute best practices with others and likewise appreciate the information presented and shared with me.   The best educational programs, the most advanced technology and the most focused approach to data driven instruction is all secondary to the most meaningful and significant impact a teacher has on the learning of his/her students.  Most important and before any of these other things can occur, you must have a strong and caring relationship with your students.   The primary contribution technology offers is that motivating students to learn and remain active in the acquisition of their own knowledge.

Article Written by Jocelyn Meek, Communications Officer of Brockton Public Schools.  Article posted on the bpsma.org website 

Though it might have passed the world by with little fanfare, on Friday, March 6th, Marybeth O’Brien’s 4th grade class at the Huntington School was celebrating an auspicious occasion: the 97th anniversary of the Oreo cookie. That’s right, that delectable creamy filling sandwiched between two rich chocolate cookies first appeared on shelves on that date in 1912.

Throughout the morning, the 4th graders dipped and dunked the monochromatic cookies in milk as they watched commercials touting the timelessness of the treats. The students took notes on the different themes of Oreo advertisements through the ages, carefully cataloging the different adjectives used by admen to sell their product and jotting ideas about what Oreos mean to them.

Later in the day, the students wrote essays on themes: “How I Eat an Oreo,” “Who I like to Eat Oreos With” or “If I only Had One Oreo Left, Who Would I Give it To?” Finally, they produced short commercials of their own using their writing as a means of selling the traditional snack treat.

“Descriptive writing is an important part of the MCAS test and an area that I think we need to work on, so I was looking for a fun way to get the students interested and invested in writing,” O’Brien said. “Since it just happened to be the Oreo anniversary, I thought it would be a good way to get the creative juices flowing. And who doesn’t love an Oreo?”

To illustrate her points using technology, O’Brien downloaded old Oreo commercials from YouTube to get her students thinking. She gave them the cookies and milk to give them a first person perspective, and then she had them use their Writing Ladder to gather and organize ideas, draft a storyline, revise their stories to elaborate and clarify their central points, proofread and edit their copy and then share their work.

Brittany Czarnowski, 9, thought the Oreo assignment was tops.

“Its yummy and its really fun,” she said, grinning. “Miss O’Brien plans fun ways for us to learn all the time.”

Anthony Camacho was equally enthusiastic.

“Just the fact that we’re learning about commercials and Oreos - and that we get to actually eat Oreos in class - that’s pretty fun. And it made me think about the words they use in commercials and how you can learn from TV sometimes,” Anthony said. “We get to do cool things with the computer, too, like make our own commercials.”

O’Brien says she tries to use technology, including the interactive whiteboard, streaming video and the digital video camera, to get students enthused about learning. Not every child learns the same, and it’s important to find different ways to catch their attention and focus them on the lessons at hand, she said.

“Whenever I can find a way to get them excited about the material, I try to do that. They’re not even noticing how much they are learning, because they’re so excited about the Oreo theme, and getting to watch commercials. But if you look at their notebooks, they are taking more and better notes than they would if I were just lecturing, and they are certainly more invested,” she said. “Hopefully, this will be a great experience that they can use to write about on MCAS or in other writing assignments later in the year.”

Developed in the National Biscuit Company’s (Nabisco) New York factory, the black and white sandwich cookie has come to be one of the nation’s favorite snacks and is billed as “Milk’s favorite cookie.” Since their inception, more than 362 billion Oreos have been sold all over the world, in a variety of flavors and shapes.

No one really knows where the Oreo got its name, but Kraft Foods (which owns Nabisco) lays out a few theories on its website:

1. OREO was named by taking the “RE” out of cream and sandwiching it between the two “O”s from chocolate - just like the cookie.2. The name comes from the word “OR” (meaning gold in French) - a color used on early packaging designs.3. OREO comes from the Greek word “OREO” which means mountain or hill. When the cookies were first manufactured, it was shaped like a baseball mound - hence the name OREO.4. Some say the name came about because it just seemed like a nice, melodic combination of sounds with just a few catchy letters and it was easy to pronounce.

Greetings DEN Members,

 This summer vacation sure has flown by! There is no better way to get back into the swing of things than by taking a few workshops.  My district sent me to a hands-on Apple Professional Development Podcasting Institute.  As a techie, I was thrilled to be going, for one reason above all others was that we were given the IPOD Classic/Video with an 80GB memory.  This was such a perk! This workshop was well paced, we were all comfortable to ask questions and work with the information given.  We used a great deal of Mac applications like garageband and iphoto.  These programs were so user friendly that it put my PC to shame.  However, this is nothing to hold the PC users back…the members of the class were so helpful that we all pooled our resources and shared quite a few ideas for making this just as easily adapted to that of the PC.  The pc version of garage band is that of Acoustica’s MixCraft 4.  Both programs allow you to create a voice recording, add pictures, music, and sound effects and animate in some ways.  As part of the institute we created little movies using the Aesop’s Fables.  It was really fun, and super easy! I can’t wait to create some great things for my students to use. 

 I would like to share some great websites that we learned about:

www.podomatic.com is a great site that allows you to publish and create your own podcasts.

www.pics4learning.com allows you to download pictures without worrying about copyrights.

www.soundsnap.com has a library full of sound effects that you can download and use again without worrying about those pesky copyright laws.

www.pbwiki.com is a wiki site that allows you to communicate and discuss things with your students…a lot of the teachers in the training were already using this and LOVE it. I can’t wait to try it

As we went through this workshop I realized that I was already creating Podcasts with my students we just weren’t publishing them to a wiki.  So I decided to take some of the projects created by my students last year and turn them into podcasts.  I published them to iTunes.  I was limited at one point because it was not in an iTunes format…rest assured, someone offered a great alternative.  The site www.ZAMZAR.com is a free convertion website.  I simply uploaded my project to this site, identified the file extension I wanted to convert it to (IPOD) and in a few minutes, I was emailed a link to download the new version! It was fabulous!

 I hope you have an opportunity to take a course like this! It was so much fun and so eyeopening to the things you can do!

Throughout the world, natural disasters have struck leaving many people hungry.  As my students learn more about the Myanmar tragedy and the Myanmar’s governments neglect to provide aide, they have discussed their desire to help.  A website www.freerice.com is a website that allows them to do just that.  There is no sign-up necessary! Students go to this website and play a vocabulary game.  Words are presented and students are asked to choose the synonym.  The students love to play and they learn new words.  The whole time they are playing, they are infact helping to donate rice to the hungry.  For each word the player gets correct, 20 grains of rice through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.  This game has been online since October 2007.  I wish I had known about it sooner! To date, 32,538,647,330 grains of rice have been donated through this game.  Yesterday, 193,454,560 grains of rice were donated! This is an amazing program! Our class is going to play as much as we can to help!

I think it is truly important to expose students to the happenings in the world around them.  A great way to inform students of current events is through the use of CNN Student News, http://www.cnn.com/studentnews/  This is a free tool that teachers may sign-up for.  Each night, an e-mail is sent in that you may preview the content.  For the most part, the content is appropriate for my fourth grade students.  About three times a week, we watch the 10 minute segment and then discuss the content.  The reals focused on the Presidential Election have proven to be a great resource.  This past week we focused on the tragedy of the cyclone that hit Myanmar.  My students have been motivated to write their own news stories to inform their fellow school mates about the tragedy.  Discovery Atlas has provided to be a great resource as well.  We used Atlas to locate Myanmar and learn about the people, government, customs, and history using the short video segments.  I used the Writing Prompts Teacher Tool to create the News Story Assignment.  Our class wrote great news stories to demonstrate their understanding of the event and share their feelings about the tragedy.  I am impressed with the caliber of work produced by these fourth graders.  Their enthusiasm and motivation was enhanced through the use of the technology and tools provided by Discovery Streaming!