New Jersey

Kevin Jarrett turned me on to this video that David Warlick recently used at the NJElite Conference in Wildwood, NJ. You might recognize some of the speakers, including Daniel Pink, a former EdTechConnect webinar guest speaker.

Basic message: We need to stop “teaching” our students with tools of the past. We EXPECT the latest and best technologies to be used to manufacture the products in our lives (our cars, clothes, etc.), so why don’t we demand they be used in education as well?  What old habits are we willing to let go of?  What are we willing to change so that our students (and we) can truly learn?

Do you have a favorite education video? After watching this one, leave a comment with a link to a video you think people should see. I’ll compile them in a future post.

Whenever you get a chance, do yourself a favor & check out this Space!

What is Space?

• First of all, it is a GooglePage, so it’s another great example of the collaborate power of Google Applications (GooglePages is still in the Google Labs phase)
• Secondly, and perhaps most importantly, it is a Student “Project” created and managed by students, for students! (created by students from the Youth Twitter Network another post for another time- stay tuned!)
• Space is a global digital-literary magazine that presents students’ artistic work. There had been two issues published so far, and the third one is coming soon (Space Issue #2)
• Space is a great way for students to get their personal artistic work seen as well as peer-reviewed by students from all around the globe

What kind of work Does Space accept?

• Space accepts almost every kind of digital work- art, music, poetry, movie clips, essays, columns… any original work student want people to read, watch or listen to

How do students submit their material?

• How to submit work to SPACE
• Note: Submission deadline for Issue #3 is MAy 25th
• High School Student Submissions are Strongly Encouraged!

We should definitely keep our eye on this project to see how it progresses & also share it with our students to promote the cause! AND, in the true spirit of collaboration, after you check out the project site, please come back here and leave a comment sharing your thoughts

Did We Just Witness a Twitter Marriage Proposal? via kwout

A few days ago, lthumann inspired me to get back to twittering (Thanks, Lisa!) and I’m so glad I did How else would I have heard about what could be the next trend in marriage proposals? Where will twitter bring us next?

This quickly got me strolling down memory lane, thinking about my man & the day he proposed in August ‘99 (Narragansett Bay Cliffs, Newport, RI)- Great Memories!

If you too are already experiencing marital bliss, then you probably agree that every day is more blissful than the last….(yes, my husband is in the room while I’m writing this ) So, please leave a comment below about how the big question got popped for you- were you the popper or the popee? Make us cry, make us laugh, make us say “awhhhh, that’s so cute!”

In a few weeks, I will put all of your comments in a poll and we will vote on the “most memorable” - I can’t wait!

OK everyone- I’m like, totally going to use this tool ALL the time!

Jott is a free service that offers you a phone number to call in order to record a message that will be translated into text format and sent via email. Jotts can be sent to yourself or to a group of contacts. Jott can also import your email addresses from Yahoo, GMail and Outlook.

Here are some examples of what you can do:

• Jott yourself (sends you an email).  I’ve started doing this all the time in the car.  Hands-free reminders to myself that I can SEE in my email (which has basically become my to-do list).  Not quite sure yet if this extra efficiency isn’t just making more work for myself (i.e. I can’t “forget” to do the things I think of in the car anymore), but for now at least, I’m embracing it
• Jott someone else (sends him/her an email and/or a text message if you’ve entered phone numbers in your address book)
• “Bulk Jott” (sends message to a group).  Forgot to tell your students something in class & you suddenly remember while you’re in the car on your way to see the Nutcracker with your family on Sunday (yes, this happened to me yesterday)?  Bulk Jott everyone!
• Jott to your blog.  Jott supports the following blog engines:
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

• Jott to an Internet Voice Journal.
  • 
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• Jott to your online calendar:
  • 
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These are just some of the major ways I see Jott being useful in my own life.  Here’s a link that explains how other people use currently using Jott.

Now, the potential downside:

• Jott’s current technology has actual people (yes, real, live human beings) transcribing your messages.  Here are some potential issues I see with that:
  • maybe you feel uncomfortable knowing that a person is listening to your messages
  • increases the “ownership” issues of sharing intellectual property over a non-secure network (i.e. you might want to think twice before you Jott yourself a memo about the greatest idea since sliced bread that you churn up while sitting in traffic)
• The voice recognition has a few bugs- Jott seems to have trouble differentiating some key sounds, which translates into your contacts’ names not being recognized…A common problem that you can solve by saving contacts under more “unique” lables (I started doing this already for my OnStar car-phone)

Jott is not the only player in this game- but it’s interface is VERY user friendly.  SpinVox,a British company, offers a similar service and they use a Voice Message Conversion System (Not actual humans) to convert your messages to text.  I set up an account with them, which, FYI, took many more steps that it did with Jott, but I have yet to actually try it out & compare it to Jott- maybe you will & will let me know

So, although voice memo technology has been around for a long time, Jott offers a user-friendly way to convert those messages into text.  If you’re like me & need to SEE your to-do list, you might want to give it a try.  And then let us know what you think.

Have you hit your “hundred hours” yet?

Us Garden Staters are familiar with the NJ State DOE’s structure for professional development (PD), commonly known as “100 Hours”. Basically, all instructional staff in NJ must fullfill 100 hours of professional development in 5 years, or about 20 hours/year.

NJ is in the midst of a paradigm shift in regards to PD. Starting in January, educators will start to fullfill our PD requirements by participating in Professional Learning Communities, or PLCs. My initial thought: “IT’S ABOUT GOSH-DARN TIME!!!” My second thought: “Everyone in my district should become a DEN member!”

It’s a huge relief to see the state finally recognizing, in a formal way, the BENEFITS of COLLABORATIVE LEARNING- Something the DEN illustrates EVERY DAY!

Our district held an in-service a few days ago to introduce the concept of PLCs to our staff. First, we played a trivia game to highlight the need for ALL of us to look to others for help & inspiration (We “pitted” our teachers against our administrators! IT was a blast!) Here’s the ppt I shared after the game as an intro to PLCs.

Please share ideas on what your district is doing to facilitate collaborative professional development.

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Have you been seeing advertising for terabytes lately, and wondering if that’s a dinosaur, or if you’ll BE a dinosaur without one? Do you
remember when you bought your last computer or hard drive? A few gigabytes seemed likeway more storage space then you would ever need. But along came a new operating system, a bunch of MP3 music files, and a bunch of videos (from Teachertube, I hope…)

Now, that hard drive is creaking under the load. Enter the Terabyte. Over the last few months, hard drive vendors have been pumping out
new products that crack the terabyte barrier. That’s 1000 gigabytes, or one TRILLION bytes of storage. How much space is that in practical terms? Do YOU need a terabyte? Read on at Ask BobRankin to find out more about terabytes…

This fall, Arsenal Tech and Decatur High Schools in
Indianapolis and Rochester High in Rochester, Indiana are launching
PBL-intensive New Tech High programs.

I know, I know, this post has nothing to do with New Jersey (at least, not yet!)

The New Tech High initiative in Indiana is the result of a
unique statewide partnership between Indiana leaders in K-12 education, higher
education, government and business. Its mission is to create successful,
replicable models of 21st Century education for Indiana’s rural, suburban and
urban high schools. Rochester Schools are implementing New Tech system
wide and is the first district in the nation to do this!

Visit the New Tech High School Website to Learn More About This Initiative!

Some people in the internet video industry believe that classic,
"linear" TV will soon be a thing of the past. When a viewer can see what they want, where they
want and when they want, why would anyone bother watching linear TV,
where you can’t control the content? 

Mogulus gives users the power to create live, original
television programming, all on their own global broadcasting
channel.

The Mogulus studio transforms all of the expensive
20th century hardware of "TV" production into one simple, easy to use application.  Before
Mogulus, the production control room was one fixed location, and all
collaborators in the process had to be in the same building. Remote
cameras for communication were possible, but also expensive since they
required satellite feeds.

Now, with Mogulus,
the "production team" can be in locations scattered around the world, and
still work together as if they were in the same room. Satellite feeds
are obsolete, since remote cameras are now inexpensive and easy to use.

Still in Beta, Mogulus hopes to soon offer two exciting new types of interactivity:

1. Viewers
   will be able to call their channel of choice, and participate in
   interviews and discussions using a web cam. Producers will have the
   ability to screen calls using the Mogulus studio switchboard, and can
   put a viewer live on the air
2. Interactive
   graphics and hyperlinks,
   including the innovative use of polls & games

Basically, Mogulus can help you & your students become media moguls.

Thanks to Stacy Kasse for sharing this cool new project with us all!

Mogulus is currently accepting applications for their initial Beta run.  Why not apply (Better yet, how about planning an international broadcasting channel as a collaborative effort with another classroom overseas)?  The possibilities are endless!

What will shape the future of education?

It could be video games. Bioengineering. Or health care. All of these forces
and more are explored on the KnowledgeWorks Foundation and Institute for the
Future 2006-2016 Map of Future Forces Affecting Education.

Look around the map. Explore it. While it is by no means a prediction, it is definately a valuable forcasting tool & offers
a clear point of view based on research, analysis and
expert opinion. Think of the map as a provocative tool, as the beginning of
a movement, or, at the very least, part of a good conversation. Join in & help shape the future!

KnowledgeWorks - Map of Future Forces Affecting Education - Education Map