Quite often I get asked questions like, “What exactly does an instructional technologist do?” “Why should teachers be using technology in their classroom?”  “How can interactive whiteboards be used for student learning?”  A student in our district nominated her math teacher for News10 Teacher of the Month.  I’m fortunate enough to know this student (along with her fantastic mom) and the personal story of how technology in conjunction with a engaging, relevant, and caring teacher has helped this student reach honors student status in a subject that she previously called her “worst class” for many years.

Take a moment to watch the video.  It does a great job of showing how technology, specifically academic discourse conversations facilitated by a classroom response system and video lessons on an iPods, can assist an effective teacher in reaching new academic heights with their students.

Joe

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. Today’s Front Pages
2. YouTube-CNN Debates
3. Christmas in August?

One of my favorite new books, and this week’s Book of the Week is The Digital Writing Workshopby Troy Hicks. In this book Hicks makes a compelling case for taking Writing Workshop into the 21st Century by adding technology for every step of the process.  From using RSS and social bookmarking to build student inquiry and choice to examining author’s craft through multimedia composition, Hicks clearly describes how technology can help students build their writing skills through a variety of tools.  I’ve only had the book for two weeks, but the cover is already well worn and the pages are full of notes and highlighter marks.  Between The Digital Writing Workshop and compelling stories shared by principals at our Writing Workshop schools,  I am starting to think about how I can incorporate Writing Workshop into subjects outside of Language Arts and use it as the basis for technology electives.  The marriage of technology and Writing Workshop naturally allows students to build the 21st Century Skills of information literacy, communication and collaboration, critical thinking, and media and technology literacy.  When you have a moment check out The Digital Writing Workshop and even join the Ning for the book.

Joe

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. Harry Potter Reflections
2. Generation Me
3. Are Boys Falling Behind?

If you attended the CalSPRA workshop today and are looking for the link to my presentation on 21st Century Teaching & Learning click on the image above.  Even if you’re just a lurker and curious what I was talking about, that’s okay too.  CalSPRA – thank you for taking the time to allow me to speak to your group and discuss meeting the needs of our 21st Century students.

Joe

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. Lessons Learned at Apple Training
2. About
3. Projects

Joe

Photo: Blogging Research Wordle by Kristina B

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. About
2. Projects
3. Contact Me

A few of you may have read my post from late last week about trading in my Macbook Pro for an iPod Touch (aka iTouch). Starting last Friday night I closed my laptop and didn’t open it (with a few exceptions noted below) until Monday morning. My goal was to experience life with an iPod Touch as my primary connection to the online world. I started this experiment with this question in mind – “What would be a better primary learning device for high school students – a netbook or an iPod Touch?”

A few of you (especially Karen) might be wondering why I am just now, a week later, posting my findings. Well, Saturday afternoon I became a little distracted by installing a Mac Mini as an Apple Media Center in my family room and I wanted a few more days to pilot. I also wanted the chance to discuss my findings with a few colleagues and work and allow my thoughts to congeal with their in site and suggestions. So with any further audo, here’s are my results from piloting an iPod Touch as a primary learning device.

Pros

While I’ve had an iPhone for quite some time, having and iTouch was a little different. First of all, its a bit smaller and lighter. I actually like its form-factor a bit more than the iPhone. Just like the iPhone, the iTouch is a great tool for consuming video, audio, and even e-books.  Another pro of the iTouch is that just like the iPhone its very simple to download and install applications. A simple stop by the iTunes App store will show anyone that there are tons of possible programs users can easily download on to the iTouch. Even the educational section has a vast variety of applications for any subject matter. For my own experiment I focused only on the free applications since school budgets are quite limited and more than likely many teachers I know will be asking students to download applications onto their own personal iTouches. A few of the applications I downloaded and enjoyed using for learning included Stanza, a simple to use e-book reader, Quick Graph, History Map, Wordpress, Google Earth, and Evernote. As a science teacher one of my favorites was iSeismo, which allows users to turn their iPhone/iTouch into a seismometer. Very cool, hands-on, fairly authentic tool to simulate how earthquakes are measured!  On a similar note I’m looking forward to Pasco’s release of their iPhone/iTouch app that will allow students to use these devices to make real-world scientific measurements with probeware.

Cons

As I piloted the iTouch this past week, a few big cons became immediately apparent – first of all, connectivity.  The iTouch works phenomenally well as long as you have a wifi connection.  Many of the applications I downloaded required some sort of internet connection.  Without wifi these tools were powerless.  Having had an iPhone I felt kind of dead in the water with my iTouch outside of work or my own home.  While this is no different than having a laptop, the fact the iTouch is much more of a “pull device” than a “push device” the lack of a internet connection can become a bit cumbersome unless all the user needs to do is watch videos, listen to audio, or read an e-book.  This brings me to another con, the iTouch is a very challenging device to use for creative pursuits.  The lack of a camera or built-in microphone makes collecting images and sounds quite problematic.  At the moment, many of our teachers use laptops to have students tell some sort of narrative or expository digital story.  iTouches do not easily have this capability.  However earlier this week, Wired posted some rumors about a camera and built-in microphone in the next generation iTouch.  In spite of the fact these tools are missing, users can still be creative by accessing websites including wikis and blogs to add and edit text.  It is though a bit more challenging than using a laptop due to the small keyboard and screen.

Final Conclusions

The results of my brief iTouch experiment are a bit of a mixed-bag.  Part of me is impressed by the convenience and access these tiny little devices possess.  The plethora of highly-usable apps is amazing.  However, the diminutive size of these tools, along with the lack of a built-in camera and microphone can also be a bit of a hindrance.  iTouches are amazing tools for watching video, listening to audio, and reading digital text in an e-book.  All of these are great examples of how the iTouch can be used powerfully as a “pull device” where data in the form of video, audio, and text is pulled down and consumed on the iTouch.  Unfortunately though, these devices struggle when users want to use the tool to produce some sort of digital content.  The screen size, keyboard, processing power, and on-board tools just aren’t there.  As a result, at this point in time I would say iTouches are not good replacements for laptops.  A few readers might be wondering why I would even make that comparison.  “Of course iTouches aren’t equivalent to laptops,” they might say.  Well, at this point in time I know of many schools that are asking themselves, “Should we buy netbooks or iTouches?”  To that question, I would respond netbook with one caveat.  If your instructional plan focuses on using technology for creative exploits inside of the classroom where students are going to demonstrate learning through creating digtial artifacts, such as a movie, podcast, presentation, wiki page, or blog post then you and your students will be much happier with a netbook.  However, if your instructional plan takes a novel approach and inverts the whole notion of schoolwork and homework where students use technology for learning at home through watching videos, listening to audio, or reading text while using class time for hands-on independent practice assignments then you will love a classroom full of iTouches.

Overall, I think the ideal situation would  include a classroom set of a laptops, along with a set of iTouches for students to take home.  Students could use the iTouches to watch lectures and screencasts, listen to audio lectures, and read e-books all at home.  Meanwhile, during class time they could use laptops to demonstrate the knowledge they learned through creative digital projects that also provide them the opportunity to build 21st Century Skills.  Chances are if you teach middle or high school that set of iTouches already exists and is sitting currently as “backpack contraband” in your student’s bookbags.  As you plan for next year take a moment and think about how you could could commandeer these tools as student learning devices.  Think about using video lectures, screencasts, podcasts, or showing your students how to download classic novels (for free) onto their iTouches.  These devices are sitting in their pockets and are just waiting to be used.

Joe

Photo: iPod Touch by Stefan Neagu on Flickr

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. My Very Own XO
2. Interactive Whiteboard for Only $99
3. Two Updates

• How hard will it be to live without a full size keyboard?
• Can an iPod Touch be a realistic alternative to a netbook?
• What applications are must haves?
• Would it be realistic to leverage personal, student-owned, iPod Touches as learning devices in the classroom?
• …and I’m sure a few others that will pop up along the way.

I plan to keep my laptop closed and tucked away for any traditional in-school type activities, such as reading, writing, and accessing web 2.0 tools.  Should some significant video or photo editing event come my way or if I need to reboot my iPod Touch I’ll get the computer out.  Since Tweetdeck is already installed on the iPod Touch you can follow my experience on Twitter.

Have a great weekend!

Joe

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. My Very Own XO
2. Interactive Whiteboard for Only $99
3. Two Updates

So, assuming your students are anything like mine you might be wondering, “How can I leverage these devices for good?”  Well, I attended three different sessions on the instructional uses of cell phones and iPhones/iTouches and each one presented a wealth of information.  Below are my 5 Best Cell Phone Take Aways from NECC09 in no particular order.  Post a comment to share any others you have discovered and I’d love some help with #5!

1. LG National Texting Championship: Hall Davidson showed a clip from the LG National Texting Championship.  I know many of you are probably asking, “A texting championship? Why would Joe share this.”  Well, during Hall’s presentation while we all collectively laughed together at the mere thought of this competencies Hall asked, “Do you think these tools have power? Shouldn’t we find ways for using these in the classroom? Look, they’re even begging to use them blindfolded?”  I would certainly say YES!..and this video from the Wall Street Journal about the championship is just a great reminder of the potential power these tools possess.
2. iEAR – Educational App Review:  When I first heard of this site I was amazed that I hadn’t thought to search for it before.  iEAR.org contains a wealth of information an iPhone and iTouch applications for use in the classroom.  The applications on this site are reviewed for their instructional appropriateness.  iEAR also has a NING community and is looking for teachers who are interested in reviewing educational applications for the iPhone and iTouch.
3. K-12 Cell Phone Projects Wiki: Unfortunately, I was not able to see Liz Kolb in person, but her fantastic wiki, a collection of ideas for using cellphones in the classroom, was shared by Hall Davidson.  If you’re interested in paper learning (aka books) take a look at Liz’s Cell Phones in the Classroom book. I hope her publisher, ISTE, actually gets the book in a Kindle form soon!
4. Learning in Hand – iPod Touch: Tony Vincent’s website, Learning in Hand, is a great collection of ideas and resources for using handhelds in the classroom.  His page on the iPod Touch has a creat collection of ideas and resources for using these tools with students.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend Tony’s Wednesday afternoon session (those pesky airports and their long security lines), but the online notes from his NECC09 session are a worth a look – I really liked Lifestrips and Flipbook.
5. PASCO Spark App for the iPhone & iTouch: Once a science teacher, always a science teacher, so I pretty much died and went to Heaven when I first heard about PASCO’s newly announced application for iPhones and iTouches.  In other words, when this software arrives students will be able to use their iPhones and iTouches with PASCO probeware to conduct scientific investigations.  Naturally, this was the first booth I sought out in the exhibit hall.  Since PASCO is based not too far from the district office, I was naturally begging the sales reps to let me pilot the software once its released.  If anyone out there has a connection I’d appreciate the shout out! 

Photo: iPhone by William Hook on Flickr

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. A Week at NECC09
2. Wiffiti Review
3. Cell Phones & Qipit

Take a moment to check out:

1. Self Directed Modules – An Introduction to the Library of Congress
2. Professional Development Plan Builder

I’ve been watching the videos in “An Introduction to the Library of Congress” and so far I’m pretty impressed.

Joe

Photo: Library of Congress Reading Room by Queen of Subtle on Flickr

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. 5 Best Library of Congress Links
2. Teachers’ Domain
3. NASA’s Virtual Lab

I’ve always been a little leary of sending students and teachers new to using technology to their website.  I signed up for the LOC session hoping I would pick up some tips and tricks.  While I did acquire a few pieces of information I did not know, my fear that the LOC website is a challenging mess was confirmed.  The Library of Congress desperately needs to consult with Google to make their resources and website more navigable.  As a matter of fact, more than once the presenter lost me navigating through the LOC website and the only way I could find the correct page was by Googling for it!  I’m still convinced the Library of Congress website contains a phenomenal collection of resources for teachers and students to utilize in a variety of projects including VoiceThread, Comic Life, and any student presentation.  For that reason, the Library of Congress website is worth the headache to navigate.  I would start by checking out one of the links below.

Joe

• Browse by Topic – This area is fairly new and can be found by looking for the link under “Library Highlights.”  When you click on Browse by Topic you’re taken to a list of topics.  Choose one and you will find a collection of resources ranging from historical images, to maps and publications.  You may also find audio or video files.
• Resources for Teachers – On the left side of the main page you will see a “Teachers” link under “Resources for.” This will take you to a page where you can choose Primary Resources Sets, Themed Resources, Lesson Plans, and Collection Connections.  The last group, Collection Connections, takes you to a listing of many of the Library of Congress collections.  When you click on one of the collections you will be taken to an over view of the collection along with ideas and guidelines for using these in your classroom.
• American Memory Project – The American Memory Project is part of the Library of Congress website that attempts to focus collections around particular topics or themes.  An handy tool on this page is the “Today in History” link.  By clicking on this link not only will you find out what happened on today’s date in history, but you will also have links to primary resources.
• Digital Collections – Right at the top of the main Library of Congress page you should see a link to Digital Collections.  This will take you to a page categorizing many of the digital collections held by the Library of Congress.  While there are multiple links of interest on this page, “Prints and Photographs” is worth a click.  This particular group has about 75% of their collection digitized (compared with 8%-10% for the library overall).  Now, this section isn’t the most beautiful online place (think of a circa 1998 website), but you can find resources fairly easily.  One helpful hint shared by the presenter is that you have to often use terminology for when the resource you are looking for was created.  In other words you might have to use search terms we no longer publicly speak aloud.  Once again, the Library of Congress needs Google’s help, but this hopefully will help your searches.
• State Memories Project - The Library of Congress has worked with similar state and local level libraries who are cataloging information that is more specific to a local area.  By clicking on the State Memories Project like you will be taken to an alphabetical listing of states.  Navigate to your state of interest and you will be taken to a listing of libraries for that particular state.  For example, by clicking on California I was taken to a listing for the California Digital Library , the home of Calisphere, where I found an interesting collection of primary resources on the environmental impact of gold mining during the Gold Rush era.

Photo: Library of Congress Plaque by Kimberlyfaye on Flickr

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. National Archives – Digital Vaults
2. Vocabucasting – Session 1
3. Wikify Education – Session 6

1. Library of Congress
2. iPods & iPhones in the Classroom (multiple sessions)
3. Here Comes Learning with Will Richardson & Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
4. VoiceThread in the Classroom
5. Flat Classroom Project
6. Google Earth & Web 2.0 Tools
7. Students as Contributor: Digital Learning Farm with Alan November

While all of these sessions were great and I’ll be posting on each one in the next few days, the highlight of NECC09 was the networking and informal learning though conversations with colleagues from all over the country.  These conversations occurred in two places – the Blogger’s Cafe, where so many of my friends constantly hung out and often sought refuge from sessions that weren’t as great as advertised and through backchannel discussions on Twitter.  As I reflect on NECC09, I wonder if the whole notion of a conference in dramatically changing.  These events used to be focused on formal direct instruction sessions and maybe a handful of hands on labs.  However, one thing I noticed at NECC is that many of us were skipping sessions in order to sit down for informal learning and discussion in the Blogger’s Cafe.  More than once I heard someone say, “I should be going to a session, but the conversation I’m having here will likely be more worthwhile.” Granted many of these people are our EdTecherati, the active members of the edtech community who regularly blog, tweet, and hangout in Elluminate sessions.  Sitting through a one hour session on how to use Smartphones to send Excel files (yes this did occur) or walking though poster sessions (why we still have posters at a technology conference is beyond me) might not meet the needs of these individuals and perhaps we’ve just created our own strand.  Regardless, its something we should think of for future conferences.  How do we meet the needs of these educators?

The backchannel discussions on Twitter were also quite fascinating.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with backchannel discussions, here’s a brief description.  Basically while someone was presenting, many of us in the audience used Twitter to share our observations, thoughts, and reflections with the hashtag #necc09.  By using this code anyone, whether physically at NECC or not, could easily find our tweets and participate in session discussions through a piece of software like Tweetdeck.  The backchannel conversations built upon the information that was being shared by the presenter and often provided a different view into the content being taught.  One of the more interesting backchannel discussions occurred during the Oxford style debate on Tuesday that started with the statement “Bricks and mortar schools are detrimental to the future of education.”  The debaters included Brad Jupp, Cheryl Lemke, Michael Horn, and Gary Stager, along with two high school students.  If you haven’t watched the debate, sit down with some popcorn and check it out (you have to fast forward through the first 20 minutes or so of NECC/ISTE blah-blah, but then it gets good.  The backchannel conversations pretty much exploded during  Gary Stager’s remarks, which isn’t too surprising if you’ve ever seen him present and I thought for sure we’d crash the network, but amazingly we didn’t.

So where am I going with all of this?  Well, to summarize NECC09 was a great experience where I had multiple opportunities to learn and grow, but the majority of this did not occur during formal learning experiences.  It occurred through face-to-face conversations, and backchannel Twitter discussions during presentations.  In many ways, I guess I’m not too different than my students.  The very nature of education overall, not just K-12, is changing…and its changing because people are carving a new, customized path with technology and social media.  During Will Richardson’s session he mentioned that a little while back he had the opportunity to ask Clay Shirkey what people will say when they look back on on this period of time and Shirkey’s response was that people we will be amazed at how little they understood about what was happening.

Joe

Another great article from: JoeWoodOnline.com

Related posts:

1. iPhones Take Over NECC09!
2. KPBS Uses Google Maps & Twitter.
3. Twittories