“I Learn, You Learn, We Learn” Blog

Google Teacher Academy - Vicki Davis - Keynote Part 2

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From Vicki Davis’ Blog at  http://coolcatteacher.blogspot.com/

Although Picnik has been around for awhile, it is worth mentioning again for all of you who don’t know about it. You don’t have to create an account to use it and it is FREE! Upload a picture and customize it in many, many, many, different ways. You’ll have loads of fun!

Here is a photo I created for the DEN Leadership Council Institute Attendees. I uploaded it into Picnik and was able to make the border B/W and keep the important part in color.

Why don’t you give it a try?

Seems like everyone is having fun with WORDLE these days. Here’s one for the DEN! (Sorry if I forgot anyone)

Creating a WORDLE about personal characteristics would be a great activity for students and would make terrific bulletin board.

Enjoy WORDLE at http://wordle.net/

What do you get when you add 20,000 DEstreaming images ,Gimp and Dennis Swain? 

You get a fantastic DEN webinar (hosted by none other than the northeast’s own Dennis Swain)full of practical, easy and fun tips for using images from DEstreaming.

Dennis showed the webinar participants how to search for, choose the correct size for your project and how to edit the photo chose with Gimp. Gimp is a photo editing software you can download for FREE. You can find it at http://www.gimp.org/. 

Gimp can be used to easily crop this photo of the Roosevelt Bridge. 

Dennis didn’t forget the Writing Prompt Builder in DEstreaming either. He showed us step by step how to incorporate one of those 20,000 images into a writing prompt: a simple way to incorporate technology media into your classroom.

Thanks for your expertise, Dennis!

Today I was having an honest and interesting conversation with a person who was showing me a thing or two about networks.  It lead me to thinking (again) about how decisions are made about filtering at the K-12 level. Here is a poem I found.  What do you think? What will you do with this poem? Post your reply within a comment.

We have a web filter
We are compliant with CIPA
We do not block applications
Needed by our teachers
To teach students
In the 21st century

Our filter blocks categories
Determined by a committee
Of teachers
And technology specialists
And media specialists
And district leaders

We block sites
To protect our children
Not to block instruction
When a teacher needs access
To a site that is blocked
We Unblock it

Requests to unblock sites
Are sent to an instructional leader
Not a technology hardware manager
Who is not grounded in
Instruction
But is more concerned about
The network

We allow web 2.0 apps
Like blogs
And wikis
And podcasts
And video streaming
And social networks
And social bookmarks
And anything that will prepare
Our students to learn
In the 21st Century

We believe that a web filter should
Allow for creative learning
Not restrict it
We understand that students
Will sometimes encounter

Sites that are not appropriate
I would rather have students encounter
A small number of questionable sites
If that means they have access
To the tools they need to learn
Rather than having inadequate access to learning tools
In order to never encounter risky sites

I believe that students
Need to be taught
How to navigate the web
And all of its glory
And all of its dangers
If they are never exposed
How will they learn to be
Digital citizens

I am sad that there are students
In our state
In our country
Who cannot collaborate
With other students beyond their classroom
Because their school leaders
And district leaders
And teachers
And parents
Are scared

We have a web filter
We are compliant with CIPA
We do not block applications
Needed by our teachers
To teach students
In the 21st century

Original Poem can be located at http://pargonet.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/web-filters-a-poem/.

A recent issue of Brass magazine posted these new modern college majors for your high tech students:

1. Website Wizard  - Bachelor of Science in Web Architecture

2. CSI Sleuth - Bachelor of Science in Computer & Digital Forensics

3. Protection Pro - Bachelor  of Science in Homeland Security

4. Marketing Mastermind - Bachelor of Science in Integrated Marketing Communications

5. MySpace Mogul - Master of Science Information with Social Computing Specialization

6. Digital Director - Bachelor of Fine Arts in Digital Film-making

7. Green Giant - Bachelor of Science in Organic Agricultural Systems

8. Video Game Virtuoso - Bachelor of Science in Simulation & Digital Entertainment

9. Telecom Titan - Associate of Applied Science in Electronic Wireless Telecommunications Technology

10. Commerce Kingfish - Bachelor of Science in E-Commerce Technology

It is true, there are abuses to some of the social networking sites out there. But like much in the media, don’t we only hear about the bad things? 

The possibilities of social networking “done right” can open up the world to our students. By cautiously selecting  sites used, digital citizenship education with students, and carefully planned guided activities; social networking could possibly be one of those tools that just might engage our students.

Article: http://www.techlearning.com/shared/printableArticle.php?articleID=196604996

Time is running out to register for the best virtual conference of the year! Go to http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/tstandhart/category/professional-development/ for all the information you need to register for this event! If you are not near the Schenectady venue, click on the registration link to find a venue near you ( dozens to choose from).  Even if you aren’t near any of the venues, you can attend in the comfort of your own home - all you need is an Internet connection.

Have fun and enjoy the show!

What an opportunity! On Saturday, February 2,  Discovery Education will be hosting its first ever Discovery Educator Network Virtual Conference!

During this unique professional development experience you will connect with educators across the country either in person or online.  If you would like to attend in person, the conference will be located in many venues across the state, but in my neck of the woods it will be held at Schenectady High School . If you would like to attend online, you can do so anywhere there is an Internet connection.

Register Here for the event either online or in person, and to find out where there is an in person venue near you.

For more information about the in person event in Schenectady, NY click here virtual-conference-flier-schenectady.pdf

Sessions: 
Keynote - “Lost in Translation”  presented by Lance Rougeux  Times: 9-10 am EST / 8-9 am CST/ 11-12 PST
How many of your students are bilingual?  An easy way to find out is through a simple math formula.  Take the number of students in your classroom and multiply it by one.  There’s your answer.  All students today are bilingual and d 4n tongue dey knO so weL L%kz fune & cn b kind of hard 2 rED, @ lEst 4 adults.  So how do we meet the needs of our students when we’re the second language learners in the classroom?  In this kickoff session, we’ll take a look at ways we can use media and other technologies to help get us up to speed and speaking their language.

Keynote - “Revenge of the Digital Immigrants: Teaching with Media Technology”presented by Hall Davidson   Times: 12-1 EST/ 11-12 CST/ 9-10 PST
What veteran teachers suspected the research has finally proved: 21st Century students are different.  With different attention spans, higher IQ test scores, and social networks, their sophistication comes earlier—with a different skill set.  There is a silver lining: We can teach this “New Brain” more effectively, more efficiently, more engagingly.  We have the technology!  Media has evolved and education must evolve to match.

“50 Ways to Spin a Digital Story” presented bySteve Dembo  Times: 1 -2 EST/ 12-1 CST/  10-11 PST
An in-depth overview of the digital media available in Discovery Education Streaming and 50 different ways to tell digital stories using it.  DE Streaming provides your classroom access to thousands of videos, images and audio clips.  Learn how to integrate them into cutting edge Web 2.0 sites to make your students’ digital stories come alive!

It’s going to be GREAT!   

Register Now!

Include a couple of screencasting tools in  your list of online tools.   Both  of the tools below allow you to record anything you are doing online.  Tutorials can be created for professional development, students can create online movies as an addtional way to be creative with projects in class and teacher can use them as an instructional  tool.

SnagIt7 for Free for a Limited Time

Register for your SnagIt 7 Software Key

Here is the ftp link to download Snagit (you will still need key from the link above) ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/

That’s right TechSmith is not only giving away Camtasia Studio for free but they have also made available their Snagit software for screen captures. This is only for Windows and for a limited time.

Jing 

Capture Images, Record Video, put it all together and share.
Jing is also multi-platform so it works for us multi-platform users.