Making templates available to our research students, in the most secure and time efficient way, has been something Karen Kliegman and I have been playing with this year in research. We've tried creating collections for each teacher (like making a folder) and sharing the collection with the students in that class. When anything is place inside that collection, it is automatically shared with all the students that the collection was shared with. Students then have to "make a copy" of the document and rename it. They can then share that document with their partners, as well as Karen and me.
What we discovered this morning was how to "submit to template gallery." If it is a document template, you have to click "Create, from template." They can then navigate to templates saved into our domain. Students still need to rename and share, but it makes accessing the document easier.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
iPad Investigations, Navigations and Reflections
Last spring, our school was gifted with 7 iPad from our Indo-US Community. Their implementation has hit a few roadblocks. Here's the funny thing about roadblocks; they eventually crumble. The key is not to give up but to "keep calm and carry on!" It takes a group effort and trust to get something new off the ground and running.
The traditional policies regarding purchasing software with purchase orders didn't jive with purchasing apps for the iPads. Without being able to use a district credit card to set up an iTunes account, we couldn't even download the free apps to get us started. Roadblock number one! Just like many school districts, the business office has very strict guidelines. They need to be audit-conscious and the way digital goods are purchased was something our business office wasn't ready for.
With the help of a contact given to me by Karen Kligman, our library media specialist (and also my partner in crime and ed tech innovator), we were able to gather more information about the relationship between Casper, by Jamf, and iTunes. The district's network specialist and our high school tech integrator/interim tech director, were already investigating how Casper could provide the audit-friendly, over-the-air device management system we were looking for. Anthony Martini, was able to share with us his first hand experiences with Casper. Right now, we only have 7 devices. The way iPads in the classroom setting have taken off, especially with the special ed community in our district, we are bound to get more. Before we purchased more, however, our districts tech folks wanted to make sure we had a system in place to manage our devices. Now, we are waiting for the Casper/iTunes connection to finalize before we can take advantage of Apple's Volume Purchasing Program and Casper to get us going!
This doesn't mean that the iPads are sitting in a box, doing nothing. No, that was last spring, when the tech integrator failed to recognize, on her own, that the best people to have the iPads at that point, were the teachers. (I can say that without fear of retribution since that person is me!) Roadblock number two!
When I was in the classroom and about to introduce a new manipulative to my students, what did I do? I gave them time to free explore with the item. Teachers need the same opportunity when new technology comes their way. They were the ones who would be using the iPads with their students. Summer vacation would give them the time to play and investigate. My principal gave her OK to allow for extended loans, something our district had stopped allowing. It is now October, and we are still waiting for the Casper/iTunes relationship to finalize. Teachers continue to experiment and provide feedback on what they find valuable. Paul Michaels, one of our Speech teachers, is using it with some of his groups as conversation prompts. Gale Vanore, an ELL teacher, has tried it with a student with limited English.
It takes a group of folks to work together when implementing new technology. What one person might over look, someone else can bring it up. Honestly, it takes a lot of trust to be open to suggestions, trust that no judgements are being made. One person can't do or think of it all, especially when we juggle so much during our days. I am surrounded by motivated, knowledgeable and fearless tech supporters in my building and for that, I am grateful. We also have to go about implementing new technology as informed and prepared as we can. Even if that means having to wait after the items have arrived. Implementation needs to be a thoughtful process. As much as we want to get them in the hands of the students who will benefit from their magic, we need to be sure it is done in the most efficient way.
The traditional policies regarding purchasing software with purchase orders didn't jive with purchasing apps for the iPads. Without being able to use a district credit card to set up an iTunes account, we couldn't even download the free apps to get us started. Roadblock number one! Just like many school districts, the business office has very strict guidelines. They need to be audit-conscious and the way digital goods are purchased was something our business office wasn't ready for.
With the help of a contact given to me by Karen Kligman, our library media specialist (and also my partner in crime and ed tech innovator), we were able to gather more information about the relationship between Casper, by Jamf, and iTunes. The district's network specialist and our high school tech integrator/interim tech director, were already investigating how Casper could provide the audit-friendly, over-the-air device management system we were looking for. Anthony Martini, was able to share with us his first hand experiences with Casper. Right now, we only have 7 devices. The way iPads in the classroom setting have taken off, especially with the special ed community in our district, we are bound to get more. Before we purchased more, however, our districts tech folks wanted to make sure we had a system in place to manage our devices. Now, we are waiting for the Casper/iTunes connection to finalize before we can take advantage of Apple's Volume Purchasing Program and Casper to get us going!
This doesn't mean that the iPads are sitting in a box, doing nothing. No, that was last spring, when the tech integrator failed to recognize, on her own, that the best people to have the iPads at that point, were the teachers. (I can say that without fear of retribution since that person is me!) Roadblock number two!
When I was in the classroom and about to introduce a new manipulative to my students, what did I do? I gave them time to free explore with the item. Teachers need the same opportunity when new technology comes their way. They were the ones who would be using the iPads with their students. Summer vacation would give them the time to play and investigate. My principal gave her OK to allow for extended loans, something our district had stopped allowing. It is now October, and we are still waiting for the Casper/iTunes relationship to finalize. Teachers continue to experiment and provide feedback on what they find valuable. Paul Michaels, one of our Speech teachers, is using it with some of his groups as conversation prompts. Gale Vanore, an ELL teacher, has tried it with a student with limited English.
It takes a group of folks to work together when implementing new technology. What one person might over look, someone else can bring it up. Honestly, it takes a lot of trust to be open to suggestions, trust that no judgements are being made. One person can't do or think of it all, especially when we juggle so much during our days. I am surrounded by motivated, knowledgeable and fearless tech supporters in my building and for that, I am grateful. We also have to go about implementing new technology as informed and prepared as we can. Even if that means having to wait after the items have arrived. Implementation needs to be a thoughtful process. As much as we want to get them in the hands of the students who will benefit from their magic, we need to be sure it is done in the most efficient way.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
1st Grade Blogging
Lindsay Kohart, a first grade teacher, and I have started a blogging project with her class. We are using Classblogmeister for the blogging tool and Vocaroo for the tool of expression. Since her students were only in the beginning stages of being writers, we thought it would be easier for them to record their thoughts and then embed the code into the blogmeister article. So far, we've set Lindsay up with a blog account and created all the student accounts. She has also explored how to use Vocaroo on her own. Our next step will be to teach them how to use Vocaroo.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Goggle Calendar Migration Progress To Date...
My husband has become a fan of Google Calendar. We got him a new web enabled phone a few months ago and he's been spending some time exploring GC on his own. So far, his calendar is up and shared with me.
My calendar is created, but not filled in.
I created calendars for each of my son's, to keep track of their activities and all are shared with my husband.
The three school calendars are created with GC and I'm in the process of filling them in. I will be cross-checking them with the network-based web pages each week. Soon, I will try to endorse the use of the lab schedules on Google by sending teachers a screencast on how to register with Google and ask them to fill out a Google form to share their Gmail address with me. I can then share the technology schedules with them.
Things to do-
I need a web enabled phone. The stress of not being able to access my GC where ever I am is keeping me from moving forward with my personal calendar. I wanted to wait to replace my phone until next year after hearing rumors that the IPhone will be carried by Verizon, but now I'm not sure I can wait. I need one with a big enough screen to be able to see the calendar clearly.
Finish filling in the repeating events on the three school technology calendars.
My calendar is created, but not filled in.
I created calendars for each of my son's, to keep track of their activities and all are shared with my husband.
The three school calendars are created with GC and I'm in the process of filling them in. I will be cross-checking them with the network-based web pages each week. Soon, I will try to endorse the use of the lab schedules on Google by sending teachers a screencast on how to register with Google and ask them to fill out a Google form to share their Gmail address with me. I can then share the technology schedules with them.
Things to do-
I need a web enabled phone. The stress of not being able to access my GC where ever I am is keeping me from moving forward with my personal calendar. I wanted to wait to replace my phone until next year after hearing rumors that the IPhone will be carried by Verizon, but now I'm not sure I can wait. I need one with a big enough screen to be able to see the calendar clearly.
Finish filling in the repeating events on the three school technology calendars.
Moving to Google Calendar
One of my life goals/school goals this school year is to migrate to Google Calendar. I'm hoping to use this blog to capture my steps and reflections in this huge process. In order to understand this change, here's a little history.
Since 2000, I've been a Palm Pilot girl. This was my link to home (paper calendar on the fridge with my/husband/son's schedules) and school (plan book). I had three mediums to sync, but I always knew I could look at my Palm and know exactly what I was supposed to do, when it was to happen and where.
During school hours, I have three technology schedules: Computer Lab, Laptop and Technology Support schedules. The first schedule is for teachers to use when they want to book time in the lab. The second is for reserving our cart of laptops for use in the classroom. The last is for teachers to schedule time to meet with me for planning/learning/co-teaching. I'd create these three schedules using MS Front Page at the beginning of the year and it was quite a project. Image creating a series of web pages, one page for each week of the school year, plus and index page. That's 41 web pages for year schedule, multiplied by 3 schedules. Teachers were only able to access these schedules from school since I "hosted" these pages on our server. Crazy, I know...but it was the procedure.
Then came the element of change....what I'm hoping will be my end-all-be-all. I learned about many of the Google Tools while completing my ed tech masters course over the last two years. When I saw how you can allow others to see and edit your calendar, how you can overlay multiple calendars, how you can access these calendars from any web browser...the light bulb went off, bells began to ring, I knew I was on to something. This would be perfect for my teachers to access for our schedules.
Fast forward to 2009...I know my Palm Pilot is going to be obsolete (if not already) since Palm is not making a PDA that is not also a phone. I'm getting tired of the routine of cross checking my plan book to PDA and then cross checking my PDA with the paper calendar on my fridge. Google calendar will cover it all.
As a creature of habit, this process is scaring me a little. I am determined to streamline, to accept change and to help others see the benefits. Feedback is always welcome!
Since 2000, I've been a Palm Pilot girl. This was my link to home (paper calendar on the fridge with my/husband/son's schedules) and school (plan book). I had three mediums to sync, but I always knew I could look at my Palm and know exactly what I was supposed to do, when it was to happen and where.
During school hours, I have three technology schedules: Computer Lab, Laptop and Technology Support schedules. The first schedule is for teachers to use when they want to book time in the lab. The second is for reserving our cart of laptops for use in the classroom. The last is for teachers to schedule time to meet with me for planning/learning/co-teaching. I'd create these three schedules using MS Front Page at the beginning of the year and it was quite a project. Image creating a series of web pages, one page for each week of the school year, plus and index page. That's 41 web pages for year schedule, multiplied by 3 schedules. Teachers were only able to access these schedules from school since I "hosted" these pages on our server. Crazy, I know...but it was the procedure.
Then came the element of change....what I'm hoping will be my end-all-be-all. I learned about many of the Google Tools while completing my ed tech masters course over the last two years. When I saw how you can allow others to see and edit your calendar, how you can overlay multiple calendars, how you can access these calendars from any web browser...the light bulb went off, bells began to ring, I knew I was on to something. This would be perfect for my teachers to access for our schedules.
Fast forward to 2009...I know my Palm Pilot is going to be obsolete (if not already) since Palm is not making a PDA that is not also a phone. I'm getting tired of the routine of cross checking my plan book to PDA and then cross checking my PDA with the paper calendar on my fridge. Google calendar will cover it all.
As a creature of habit, this process is scaring me a little. I am determined to streamline, to accept change and to help others see the benefits. Feedback is always welcome!
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Story: Capturing the Power
In Daniel Pink’s book A Whole New Mind: Moving from the Information Age to the Conceptual Age, he talks about a right-brained sense that we must master in order to perform well in this new era in which we live. We must move beyond the mastery of facts and focus on placing these facts into the context in which they reside. Story telling adds an emotional connection to information and this is important in educating the youth of the 21st century.
Before people started to record history with paper and writing utensil, a groups history was preserved through the stories that were passed down from generation to generation. By telling a story, one is remembering facts, but making sure they remember the context in which they are important. This helps others to remember the information being passed with more depth. Digital storytelling has such an impact because images and music can be added to enhance the mood and emotion behind the story, thus strengthening its learn-ability.
Digital storytelling is also a powerful tool in the classroom. In order to tell a story, you must remember the facts. Creating your story involves the ability to evaluate what is important and then synthesize a product that has relevancy and emotion. Remembering, evaluating, and synthesizing are all elements in Blooms Revised Taxonomy. It is through these thinking skills, lower and higher order, that true, deep learning takes place. The process that one goes through to create the story also addresses important 21st century literacy skills. The planning, implementing, revising and publishing of a digital product addresses many of the NETS-S standards.
In the “Portfolio” section of the sense of Story, I read about many ways people are trying to preserve the “story” of others. My father has taken his hobby of investigating our family history and turned it into a post-retirement business for himself. He has pages upon pages of charts filled with names and dates. It wasn’t until he began to include little snippets of stories about the people in those charts that my interest in looking through the book was spurred. He realize late in his project that asking some of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the family tell him stories of their ancestors would add such flavor to his pages of data. I can only imagine the impact it would have had to actually video these folks speaking and telling their stories. It gives me ideas of what I want to do now so that my children’s children’s children will “know” about me and my family through the stories I want to capture. Such potential!
Something else that I was struck by was Pink’s idea that in a world of such abundance, it is story that helps us to create and reflect on a life of meaning. He stated that most epic stories of all times have a certain formula in their design. The hero begins by experiencing some sort of discord in his/her beliefs. He/she looks to find balance between what was once thought or believed and what the reality of the situation is. He/she strives to create that balance and then becomes successful by making changes in either action or frame of mind. This is true in our own life’s journey and process of positive change. When something isn’t working, we come to the realization that something needs to change. It is our drive and perseverance in making the changes necessary that determines our success. That becomes our story.
I remember Mark Weston, one of our TEAM mentors for a semester, stressing the same type of change pattern that needs to take place in order for current educational practices to evolve into successful practices for students of the 21st century. In the book Schools that Learn by Peter Senge, he talks about “Systems Thinking” and how this can bring about change. It is through a joint effort in Administration, Parents, Teachers and Students that we can help to change past trends. Through observing, reflecting, deciding and doing, change can be brought about. Story can help in this process of reflecting and sharing those reflections with all involved.
Story telling is not just fluff. It is a substantial piece of life today and what needs to take place in the future. Internet resources such as YouTube blogs and social networking sites all help to capture a story. It has never been easier and now, more and more people are finding its power. I hope to focus on story’s ability to change, unite and educate.
Before people started to record history with paper and writing utensil, a groups history was preserved through the stories that were passed down from generation to generation. By telling a story, one is remembering facts, but making sure they remember the context in which they are important. This helps others to remember the information being passed with more depth. Digital storytelling has such an impact because images and music can be added to enhance the mood and emotion behind the story, thus strengthening its learn-ability.
Digital storytelling is also a powerful tool in the classroom. In order to tell a story, you must remember the facts. Creating your story involves the ability to evaluate what is important and then synthesize a product that has relevancy and emotion. Remembering, evaluating, and synthesizing are all elements in Blooms Revised Taxonomy. It is through these thinking skills, lower and higher order, that true, deep learning takes place. The process that one goes through to create the story also addresses important 21st century literacy skills. The planning, implementing, revising and publishing of a digital product addresses many of the NETS-S standards.
In the “Portfolio” section of the sense of Story, I read about many ways people are trying to preserve the “story” of others. My father has taken his hobby of investigating our family history and turned it into a post-retirement business for himself. He has pages upon pages of charts filled with names and dates. It wasn’t until he began to include little snippets of stories about the people in those charts that my interest in looking through the book was spurred. He realize late in his project that asking some of the patriarchs and matriarchs of the family tell him stories of their ancestors would add such flavor to his pages of data. I can only imagine the impact it would have had to actually video these folks speaking and telling their stories. It gives me ideas of what I want to do now so that my children’s children’s children will “know” about me and my family through the stories I want to capture. Such potential!
Something else that I was struck by was Pink’s idea that in a world of such abundance, it is story that helps us to create and reflect on a life of meaning. He stated that most epic stories of all times have a certain formula in their design. The hero begins by experiencing some sort of discord in his/her beliefs. He/she looks to find balance between what was once thought or believed and what the reality of the situation is. He/she strives to create that balance and then becomes successful by making changes in either action or frame of mind. This is true in our own life’s journey and process of positive change. When something isn’t working, we come to the realization that something needs to change. It is our drive and perseverance in making the changes necessary that determines our success. That becomes our story.
I remember Mark Weston, one of our TEAM mentors for a semester, stressing the same type of change pattern that needs to take place in order for current educational practices to evolve into successful practices for students of the 21st century. In the book Schools that Learn by Peter Senge, he talks about “Systems Thinking” and how this can bring about change. It is through a joint effort in Administration, Parents, Teachers and Students that we can help to change past trends. Through observing, reflecting, deciding and doing, change can be brought about. Story can help in this process of reflecting and sharing those reflections with all involved.
Story telling is not just fluff. It is a substantial piece of life today and what needs to take place in the future. Internet resources such as YouTube blogs and social networking sites all help to capture a story. It has never been easier and now, more and more people are finding its power. I hope to focus on story’s ability to change, unite and educate.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Get Ready for Blast Off!
Right now, I am watching the live feed of our brave astronauts getting ready for their repair mission of the Hubble Telescope. http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html A few years ago, I had the privilege of meeting and having lunch with Michael Massimino, one of the astronauts on board, when he paid a visit to our school. I was excited to see this link sent to our school by the person covering my maternity leave. As I watch the astronauts getting suited up and being secured to their seats, I am experiencing an adrenaline rush, a rush I am sure they are experiencing at this very moment. Technology has given me this gift. What was once only experienced by astronauts and the people who work at NASA can now be experienced by anyone with an Internet connection. I am grateful to live in such a time. How many children are being inspired at this moment? What a gift....
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