Show Hosts: Meg Wilson (@iPodsibiities) and Kelly Dumont (@KDumont)

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- macreach@edreach.us

So, what do we know? Last week Apple announced the next iteration of OS X which will be called Mountain Lion. The most common question I have answered about this in the last week is what other cat names are left. I am having a hard time coming up with anything besides Calico or Tabby. Anyway, back to Mountain Lion. For me the most notable change in this new OS is the dropping of Mac from the title of the OS. This can mean a lot of things, to me, it means the merging or the movement towards one OS is that much closer. I am probably wrong , but that is what this change signals to me.

So that is the takeaway from Mountain Lion, what is added? Basically what is being added is OS X versions of iOS apps to sync better with iCloud. Those apps include, Notes, Messages, Reminders, Sharesheets, Twitter integration and the big one, AIRPLAY.

Airplay on the Mac will be huge. A huge trend in the iOS world, as you can read about here at EdReach, is the use of the Apple TV and a HDMI-VGA converter (if needed) to mirror the iPad screen through a classroom projector. We have many instances of this running in our district right now. With Airplay on the Mac the same will be possible from a MacBook or iMac. The thing is, you won’t have to have a VGA cable and the appropriate dongle to display the contents of your computer. You will be able to mirror your content through the Apple TV to your projector. This could save the cost of running a VGA cable from the projector to a port on the wall. Of course this is somewhat network dependent, the better your wireless infrastructure, the better it will work.

The other apps are great too, don’t get me wrong. They will sync via iCloud with the same apps on your iOS devices. I look forward to these changes as well, but AIRPLAY is the selling point for me. Mountain Lion will be available sometime this Summer, I would plan on August, but possibly sooner.

So that’s what was announced; what about upcoming announcements? Signs, and by signs I mean internet rumors, are pointing to an iPad 3 announcement coming the first week of March, possibly the 7th. I am not going to indulge in guessing what the new iPad will bring as far as improvements, but it will be better, faster, stronger. Maybe is should be the $6,000,000 iPad. Other rumors point to the fact that supplies of the current Apple TV seem to be constrained. This could mean that there is a new Apple TV (and no not the TV, TV) coming with the iPad 3 or soon after. It could also mean that schools are buying them up faster than Apple can make them right now. If there is a new Apple TV coming, I have no idea what the improvements might be. Given the size reduction between the 1st and 2nd generation it may be the size of a matchbook though.

What else will be coming? I don’t know, but would certainly expect a new phone sometime this year. I would also expect updates to current computer hardware. So there will be things going on throughout the year.

Oh yeah… one more thing. A couple of weeks ago, we talked about the demise of the white MacBook for even the education channel. We wondered what Apple would consider the replacement for this machine to be. We have the answer now and it is the MacBook Air. Great machine, not sure how great for education. Certainly lightweight, good battery life, but storage for video, photos, etc. not so much. I know Apple will say that is what iCloud is for, but that isn’t enough for schools. Here’s hoping Apple has something else up their sleeve’s for education.

There will certainly be things coming that I haven’t mentioned, and maybe some that I have will not come to fruition, but this is the beginning of the Apple announcement season and that makes it one of my favorite times of the year.

This week on the EduNationCast: We discuss the state of web access in the country,  have a roundtable discussion on the popularity of education, and share our favorite videos and tools of the week.

Videos of the week:

James shares ”What’s Your Story?” 

Jim shares a “Montage Study” created by one of his students!

Adam shares ”Be Infectious”

Dan shares early presidential recordings.

Tune in to the live broadcast on Mondays 6:30 Pacific on Google+!

This Week’s Contributors: James Sanders, Adam Bellow, Jim Sill and Dan Rezac. 

The complete show notes can be found on the EdReach Wiki.

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- edunationcast@edreach.us

This week on the aRTs Roundtable we have a guest, Barb Freedman. She currently teaches music technology classes at Greenwich High School in Greenwich, Connecticut. Her tag line “Teach music first, the technology will follow” has been an inspiration to her students and other educators. When she is not teaching, she has developed profesional growth classes online, in addition to a book coming out this summer concerning composition using technology. You will be surprised how she got hired and developed the program at Greenwich High School where 35% of her students go into music after graduation.

Show Host: Carol Broos

Show contributors:   Barbara Freedman, Trisha Fuglestad, Brenda Muench, and Jennifer Kolze

Show wiki: edreach.us wiki

Leave us some feedback!

Contact us with any questions or comments- artsroundtable@edreach.us

This week on LiTTech: Emily and Addie are joined by special guest Buffy Hamilton for a rousing discussion on participatory culture and how libraries can help foster such an environment. Together they discuss ways to work with other teachers to create a place where students really begin to love learning.

Show Host: Emily Thompson

Show contributors: Adrienne Matteson, Buffy Hamilton

Leave us some feedback!

Contact us with any questions or comments- littech@edreach.us

Tonight we discuss Google Docs and it’s use in the classroom. We spend some time talking about the different versions (personal vs. apps for education), ways to collaborate, and some of the privacy settings.

Show Host: Anne Truger (@atruger)

This week on iDig Video:   Preview of this new series focusing on video in the classroom. Segments include: “hot topic of the week” – with a discussion of the update to Final Cut X. Also – the potential impact of SOPA and PIPA on use of video in the classroom; and, using mashable trailers to show how movie scenes can be altered in incredibly creative ways.

Show Host: Jonathan Furst, Jim Crawford

Give us some feedback! Email iDigVideo@edreach.us to send us a note. Or leave a comment below. 

Jaime Casip, Google Education Senior Evangelist, spoke for a large portion of our second day together and explained the reason Google is venturing into the world of operating systems and hardware. His response was not at all what I expected and was quite visionary. So much so, I thought it was worth sharing: the development of Chrome OS and the Chromebook is an effort to make computer hardware obsolete.

“The device,” said Jaime, “should be completely transparent.” You shouldn’t need to think about whether you are using an Mac or a PC or a smartphone or a tablet. The experience should be simple and seamless. Without software to purchase or update, hardware configurations to worry about, or limitations based on support of flash, silverlight, etc, you can focus on doing what you came to do.

Someone using a Chromebook can have the exact same experience using the Chrome web browser on their PC or Mac. Ultimately, if Google gets the widespread adoption of HTML5 that it hopes for, we can also have the same experience on our iPad or Android phone.

I thought that Google was taking on Apple and Microsoft for a piece of the huge cash cow known as hardware and operating systems. Not at all! Google is trying to get computers into everyone’s hands. Google is betting that everything will move to the web and wants to make sure that everyone can get there quickly and reliably. Google won’t lock you into their hardware (unlike Apple) or charge you an arm and a leg for their software (unlike Microsoft). If you don’t want to purchase a Chromebook, fine, you can do everything a Chromebook can by using the Chrome web browser. The point isn’t the hardware or the software, it’s speedy, reliable access to the web.

As an educator, I applaud Google’s efforts. Hardware is expensive and difficult to maintain. Making the decision to choose Macs or PC’s essentially locks a school into a set of abilities and limitations. If the web is your platform, however, many of these issues disappear.

EdGamer is 40! For the special occasion we dig up some articles about our favorite things…Star Wars, Civilization and and iPads. Zack tells us some exciting news he received about his classroom before we delve into the possibilities of the Kinect(ed) classroom. We also take a look at one of the best commercials either of us have seen in a long time for a game that we are both pumped about. Finally, Zack fills us in on the next step for the Civilization series, including some interesting new added features. Don’t miss out, listen in!

Show Host: Zack Gilbert

Show contributor: Gerry James

Contact us with any questions or comments- edgamer@edreach.us

This week on the Google Educast: Black bar is back for good (bye bye drop-down); new G+ page for Google Docs; Chromebooks available Down Under! Subcategories in the Chrome Webstore. Chrome extension: World Time Buddy; new Chromebook videos; Chromebooks vs. iPads? Is it Apples and . . . Horses? Chromebook Ninja Tips. Beware the old look of Gmail — it’s a trap! New tips for copying and pasting in web apps. Google Sites for student projects: potential pitfall with using a template. AND MORE!

Show Hosts: Diane Main, Kim Zimmer, Chris Betcher, John Sowash, and Sean Williams

Send us your thoughts! 

Leave us an email at googleeducast@Edreach.us

Mobile Reach #24 – LIVE From edCampChicago!  In this very special edition of Mobile Reach, we put the normal show format on hold and turn the show over to the “Mobile App Share Out” session that took place at this past week’s edCampChicago event.  Educators went around the room and shared out apps they are using in the classroom or for personal or productivity needs.  Give a listen and check out the SHOW NOTES links if you want to see the full list of apps that were shared out…

Show Host: Chad Kafka (@chadkafka)

Co-Hosts: Judi Epcke (@jepcke), Tammy Lind (@TamL17)

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- mobilereach@edreach.us

This week on the aRTs Roundtable we discuss the various ways to scheduling the arts (art and music) within the school setting. This is the time that administration is looking at staffing and being involved with the process will enhance your program.

Show Host: Carol Broos

Show contributors:   Trisha Fuglestad, Brenda Muench, and Jennifer Kolze

Show wiki: edreach.us wiki

Leave us some feedback!

Contact us with any questions or comments- artsroundtable@edreach.us

This week on LiTTech: Did you know that school and public libraries probably don’t have the same Internet we all know and love? This week Emily and Addie are joined by public librarian Maria Kramer to go over the ins and outs of Internet filters and what they mean for libraries that get federal funding.

Show Host: Emily Thompson

Show contributors: Adrienne Matteson, Maria Kramer

Leave us some feedback!

Contact us with any questions or comments- littech@edreach.us

Burnham 1909 Chicago Plan

Make no little plans. They have no magic to stir men’s blood and probably themselves will not be realized. Make big plans; aim high in hope and work, remembering that a noble, logical diagram once recorded will never die, but long after we are gone will be a living thing, asserting itself with ever-growing insistency. Remember that our sons and grandsons are going to do things that would stagger us. Let your watchword be order and your beacon beauty. Think big.

Daniel Burnham, Architect of Chicago (1846-1912)

One of the biggest hurdles working in a rural community is access. With all the tremendous tools and resources a school can provide for a connected world, what are you to do when once a student leaves the building and their access is limited? We focus so much on transforming our learning spaces, melting walls, promoting ideas of asynchronous learning, and yet because of geography or economics, once some of our students leave our walls, their opportunities for connected education are limited.

Consider the following. In a rural community, sometimes the only option of access to the Internet is via a satellite in space. HughesNet is a provider of satellite Internet service. I explored HughesNet as an option and have discussed experiences with their customers. For about $100 a month, a HughesNet customer gets a 2Mb download speeds with a daily cap of 450MB of data (considering that an HD movie on Netflix will run around 2GB, you cannot even watch half of a movie). Compare that you can get 20Mb download speeds from Comcast around Chicago for about $60. And for some in a rural community there is not even a satellite option because of the position of trees or hills. Some may say that you can get a mobile cellular hotspot, but again, there are caps on how much data you can download. In a 1:1 environment with just one student at home, how soon is that allotment of download data used up? What if there are multiple students at home? And in rural communities, there is not the option to go to the library or a Starbucks. Too often many of my colleagues forget access is not ubiquitous.

So what is a progressive, forward thinking and rural school district to do in order to ensure access for their students? Well, what if the school district became the Internet service provider for the community? If you live in a larger metropolis, you may have heard of a WiMAX Internet provider called Clear. WiMAX works similar to cell and WiFi technology.  In northwest Illinois, a fiber network is currently being installed by Northern Illinois University through a grant with the federal government. There is the potential opportunity for a school district to erect a WiMAX network, which at a single tower has a range of about 30 miles, tap into this new fiber network and distribute Internet access to all residents at speeds not thought of in a rural area. WiMAX home installations are relatively easy because the equipment works wirelessly to the tower. There are no copper wires to run in a house to install WiMAX. Simply plug it in and find the strongest signal. Imagine at time of registration, parents receive, with all other materials, a WiMAX modem?

Of course, there are legal considerations. There is funding to work out. There is the big question of how, or if, this service can receive Erate funding and if it needs to be filtered. But I want to at least put the idea out there. If you look at the image above, Daniel Burnham designed a plan for Chicago back in 1909 that is still be used today whenever construction takes place. But not all portions of the Burnham Plan will ever be realized. The same planning can and should be taking place in our schools to stay relevant and not fall into the mentality that the old way of educating students is simply called the way.

Is it absurd for a school district to become an Internet service provider? Well, is it absurd for a school district to provide breakfast and lunch to kids? Is it absurd for a school district to provide social and psychological services? Is it absurd for a school district to provide a laptop to every child?

The question is not is it absurd for a school district to become an Internet service provider. The question more appropriately is why would a school district not want to redefine the learning space to all corners of its territory?

Image source

Check out EdGamer 39 for another witty episode of Zack and Gerry running through your favorite gaming and education topics. This week we decipher the cryptic (or just incredibly cool) inner circle of gaming and learning that stretches from MIT to Wisconsin to Arizona. We also track down some of Bill Gates’ money and find out how it is being used to support gaming and education. Finally, we give a brief preview of the conference season coming up. You cannot afford to miss this week’s EdGamer!

Show Host: Zack Gilbert

Show contributor: Gerry James

Contact us with any questions or comments- edgamer@edreach.us

Show Hosts: Fred Delventhal, Diane Main, Kim Zimmer, Chris Betcher, and Corin Richards.

Send us your thoughts! 

Leave us an email at googleeducast@Edreach.us

After our chat with Carl Harvey, I really started to think about it. Even more so after it came up in #libchat last night. But how do we get started? Here’s what I’ve been doing to be a leader at my school, let me know if you agree or not.

1. Find your allies. I feel pretty lucky in that everyone at my job seems to genuinely want me here, but there’s always at least one person who thinks you’re awesome. Figure out who they are.
2. Listen. Before you upset the boat, you have to know how it works.
3. Start researching your plans. Every office has a devil’s advocate, and you can make them into an ally by having all of your ducks in a row. Find as much information to support your position as possible so you can answer every question thrown your way. Being extra prepared scores points
4. Make changes. After accomplishing 1, 2, and 3, then you can start to speak up. Believe it or not, your new colleagues probably want to hear your ideas. That’s why they hired you, after all.  Your fresh eyes can only make it a better place.
5. Follow through. If you say you’re going to do something, do it. On time.
6. Be nice. Say “Thank you.” And “Good Morning.”
7. Use the “Pain in the Butt” Scale. I spent almost seven years in Asia teaching English. Many of my colleagues were, shall we say . . . less than dedicated to the profession. It’s the nature of the beast. Those were the people who got especially angry when they didn’t get their way. I almost always got my way. Anytime my manager asked me to do something I rated it from 1 (no problem at all) to 10 (seriously messing with life). Anything that was a 7 or less, I would just do. I was the person who always said “Yes.” Therefore, whenever I said “No” it was accepted at face value.

So those are my guidelines. I’m sure I’ll look back in a year or ten years and laugh at my naivety, but you never know. They’ve worked so far.

PS #libchat happens every Wednesday at 8pm EST.

Emily Thompson is the host of EdReach’s show LiTTech, a show for the innovative librarian. LiTTech highlights the innovative news, gadgets, and resources for the literary educator. You can follow her on Twitter @librarianofdoom

Mobile Reach #23 – The MacBook Sad Horse.   This week, the team shares some examples they’ve seen or been working on that exemplifies “mobile learning in the classroom.”  We discuss the recent news that the white MacBooks are now officially going away for the education market.  We also share some apps we’ve been using recently in our respective roles in education.  Come hop on that sad horse with us and ride around a little…

Show Host: Chad Kafka (@chadkafka)

Co-Hosts: Judi Epcke (@jepcke), Tammy Lind (@TamL17)

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- mobilereach@edreach.us

Show Hosts: Meg Wilson (@iPodsibiities) and Kelly Dumont (@KDumont)

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- macreach@edreach.us

photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons - user - kpwerker

Google Docs continues to be my number one tool for communicating and collaborating with any number of people involved in my students’ education.  As a special education teacher I am constantly in contact with parents, related service providers, and other professionals like doctors and private therapists.  Google Docs allows me quite a few opportunities to easily keep all parties informed and in the loop.

Documents – probably the simplest way for sharing documents with my team members.  The most common is sending out agendas to weekly meetings, and any participant can add an item to the agenda.  During the meeting that same agenda becomes our notes and we can all go back and review at our leisure.

Forms – an easy way to track student goals is by creating simple Google Forms that send the data to a spreadsheet.  I’ve found it particularly effective for recording data on behavior.  Also, Google Forms work great on mobile devices which makes it very easy to track student behavior in close proximity to the student. I’ve even gone so far as to create a shortcut on the home screen of various mobile devices so the forms are easy to find!

Spreadsheets – for years I wrote out (longhand) daily notes to parents in notebooks.  There were 3 main problems with this procedure. First, it took a long time (upwards of 30 minutes a day), time I felt could be spent with students. Second, the notebooks took a beating; paper only lasts so long in a backpack.  Last, but certainly not least, I have terrible handwriting.  I can’t imagine how parents actually read what I wrote.

To that end I’ve started using Google Docs spreadsheets to share daily progress about students.  I created a simple template that covers the basic areas we do each day.  I have invited all persons involved with the child to collaborate on the document and now everyone can add notes, comments, and share ideas all in one place.  Parents have a place to include notes from home, information about medication changes or doctor visits — even notes from outside therapists!  The best part is it is an entire year’s worth of educational progress, behavior notes, therapy notes and parent updates all stored in one convenient place.  I have students whose parents now have 3 years worth of data they can refer to at a moment’s notice.

If you are interested in learning how to set up a document like this for yourself check out my wiki – Google Spreadsheet Communication Log.  I’ve included a link to the template, and some screenshots to walk you through the process of setting one up.

Patrick

This week on the aRTs Roundtable we discuss the new arts standards committee that was created through the p21.org organization. The National Coalition for Core Arts Standards (NCCAS) has started the discussion of national arts curriculum and standards.

Show Host: Carol Broos

Show contributors:   Trisha Fuglestad, Brenda Muench, and Jennifer Kolze

Contact us with any questions or comments- artsroundtable@edreach.us

This week on LiTTech: What is the difference between a librarian who is a leader and your regular run of the mill librarian? This week Addie and Emily talk with Carl Harvey to figure out how to be one of those librarians that make their schools into innovative learning places. (Hint: Working with the other teachers is key!)

Show Host: Emily Thompson

Show contributors: Adrienne Matteson, Carl Harvey

Leave us some feedback!

Contact us with any questions or comments- littech@edreach.us

This week on The EduNationCast: We discuss the merits of remote learning and whether or not physical classrooms are undermining student creativity and collaboration.

Videos of the week:

James shares “The Spangler Effect”

Diane shares the “History Teachers” YouTube channel

Jim shares the Super Bowl ads

Adam shares “Hapi Berth Dey” 

Tune in to the live broadcast on Mondays 6:30 Pacific on Google+!

This Week’s Contributors: James Sanders, Adam Bellow, Diane Main, Jim Sill and Dan Rezac. 

The complete show notes can be found on the EdReach Wiki.

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- edunationcast@edreach.us

Show Hosts:  Sean Williams, Rachel Wente-Chaney, and Aaron Slutsky

Send us your thoughts! 

Leave us an email at googleeducast@Edreach.us

This week we talk to Don Goble and the majority of the conversation surrounds recent #EduWin tweets that celebrate the successful impact of social networking in education from an event in St. Louis to student twitter accounts.

Show Host: Scott Meech and Michael Walker

Show contributors: Don Goble

Give us some feedback! Email eduwin@edreach.us to send us a note. Or leave a comment below. 

Peer into a classroom… what do you see? Are devices transforming the way students learn and teachers teach? Is technology allowing for greater exploration of content, facilitating collaborative opportunities, streamlining communication efforts?

It could be. But just because it’s there, doesn’t mean it’s being used in a way that promotes innovation and deeper learning.

But why- why does it have to be all or nothing? Why, when an announcement is made regarding iBooks2 and iPads and student authoring opportunities, for example, do our minds immediately assume all books on paper will be tossed out the windows and set ablaze? Consider iPads and Digital Textbooks Do Not Belong in Classrooms Yet. I find Matt Burns’s statement to be rather audacious, since his experiences in education include only his own K-12 schooling and his study at the University of Michigan. How can Matt Burns possibly be in the position to make that kind of determination? Well, his statement derives from what he wants for his children. Fair enough. Control mentality. But what is Matt Burns going to do when his children’s teachers and principals decide that iPads (or other devices) are worthy tools in the classroom? What if his children find benefit in their use?

More importantly – how are those educators going to make that decision?

I think most of us have an awareness of the politics surrounding the iBooks2 announcement. This is where school leadership becomes the most integral factor in the adoption and implementation of new technologies in the classroom. We simply can’t accept that new = better. We have to work collaboratively with technology specialists, teachers, students, and parents to plan for how new technologies will best benefit learning. It can’t be all or nothing. It can’t be “an interactive whiteboard in every classroom because that’s what the trend is and that’s what I say is going to happen.” -Ms. Tech Director  It can’t be “all of our kindergarteners are getting iPads because I am pretty sure they could do something cool with those, but we’re not going to train teachers how to design learning opportunities or give them freedom to download apps or embrace meaningful pedagogy.” -Superintendent Looking for a High Profile Press Release

We need to seek to engage.

I often consult the work of Jane Hart, Founder of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies (C4LPT), who consults with businesses and educational organizations on the “acquisition, implementation and use of new technologies.” Her emphasis on social learning and what today’s learners need could help school leaders who are considering how to adopt new technologies in their schools. Inspired by Deb Lavoy’s Social business doesn’t mean what you think it does (Sept. 2011), Hart’s interpretation of social learning is that organizations need to shift from command & control to empower & engage. Her slide set linked below is worthy perusing to gain some perspective on this idea.

An educator who has been influencing my thinking lately is Jerrid Kruse. His work with Tom Buckmiller entitled Future School Administrators’ Perceptions of Gain and Loss Concerning Technology Adoption cautions school leaders to make informed decisions about technology adoption, considering that every choice to introduce new technologies into the learning environment will have its trade-offs. “School administrators ought to embody this paradox – supporting technological advance within their school while raising issues concerning what might be lost by adopting new technologies.” (Buckmiller & Kruse, 2011)

Don’t control and command the direction the learning in your organization will take. Seek to empower and engage the learners within.

Image Credit: flyzipper on Flickr

…And you’ll LOVE the App of the Week!

Show Hosts: Meg Wilson (@iPodsibiities) and Kelly Dumont (@KDumont)

Co-Host: Sean Junkins (@sjunkins)

Contact us with any questions or comments- macreach@edreach.us

In the second episode of EdAdmin join host Chris Atkinson and special guests Lyn Hilt, Dwight Carter, and Patrick Larkin discuss the latest news, legal headlines, and legislation effecting educational leadership.  In this episode the panel reflects on EduCon.

Show Host: Chris Atkinson

Show Contributors: Lyn Hilt, Dwight Carter, Patrick Larkin,

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- edadmin@edreach.us

This week on the aRTs Roundtable we discuss the importance of the arts in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. (STEM)  How to innovate with sciences with the arts. (STEAM)

Show Host: Carol Broos

Show contributors:   Trisha Fuglestad and Brenda Muench

The complete show notes are now on the EdReach Wiki

Call us on our comment line!

If you’d like to leave some feedback you can call us on our very own EdReach Comment line: That’s: (443) 93REACH.

This week on The EduNationCast: We weigh in on President Obama’s plan to require every student in the U.S. to attend high school until they graduate or turn 18 and the gang shares some of their favorite educational videos and tools of the week.

Tune in to the live broadcast on Mondays 6:30 Pacific on Google+!

This Week’s Contributors: James Sanders, Adam Bellow, Diane Main and Dan Rezac. 

With special guest, YouTube Star Teacher Enrique Legaspi!

The complete show notes can be found on the EdReach Wiki.

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- edunationcast@edreach.us

This week on LiTTech: How do school librarians and media specialists know what they’re supposed to be teaching? Professional standards, of course! This week Emily and Addie start a series on the various standards the American Library Association and its satellites set for its members. Using the American Association of School Librarians as a jumping off point, they look at some of the strengths and weaknesses of what we’re charged to do.

Show Host: Emily Thompson

Show contributors: Adrienne Matteson

Leave us some feedback!

Contact us with any questions or comments- littech@edreach.us

For the past couple of weeks we have been batting around and started posting (1,2,3) on the topic of education’s “BIG QUESTIONS” here at the EdReach offices. As our – occasionally heated – yet always invigorating conversations have flowed back and forth a couple themes began to emerge in my mind about why education has such BIG QUESTIONS in the first place. No theme was more prevalent that PASSION. We as teachers, administrators, parents, and even students are passionate about:

• Learning of our students
• The continued development of the craft of educating for our faculty and staff
• The learning the self-advocation of our children

Another theme that ranks right up there is BLAME. 

• The Failure of American Public Education
• Parents Blamed MostOften for Failing Education System
• Are Teachers to Blame for our Failing Education System
• Blame the Department of Education for Failures

Too often we associate blame with change… figure out who is to blame, and the “system” will be better because we can then discipline, remediate, release, get rid of, cut out, etc. etc. the responsible parties and all will be well. Additionally, with blame, “ideas” or “ideals” are also often the target.

• Teaching to the “test” is the issue…
• The flaws in No Child Left Behind is the issue…
• The problems in how the Rate to the Top is the issue…
• Students not taking Responsibility is the issue…
• Technology – video games, social networking, multi-tasking, “screen-time”, etc.) is the issue…

The other theme that resonated was BUT.

Many… many… of the arguments, structure of thought, counter-points, revolve around the idea that the first half of the statement is valid, BUT I don’t care about that THIS is the real issue…

• I could do so many things differently, BUT my district standards (administration, time, State or Federal standards, etc.) won’t let me…
• Bringing technology into my curriculum would be amazing, BUT our district blocks everything, we don’t have the funding, students would not use it appropriately…
• My child is so bright he/she can do anything, BUT our school districts stink…
• All that tech-stuff looks really cool, BUT technology hates me, I’m too old to start that stuff, why?! next year it will just be something new pushed at us…

Do these themes resonate with you for some reason? Do you find the conversations in your school flowing through these themes as well?

Why? It has to serve a purpose…

My personal thought is because it is easy to focus on limitations or what we personally feel is wrong and project that for comfort, camaraderie, included?, maybe not as an outcast… It’s hard to build consensus, envision the future, and implement sweeping change or a paradigm shift.

Educators are the most empowering individuals, advocates, sponsors, supporters of our students. If that is the case, why cannot we not take on this empowerment personally? We teach our pupils to work through barriers, be creative and go around or over hurdles, we teach them to envision a different future… Why do educators look back to the past, focus on problems and not solutions, look at change as something others need to start or to teach them how to do, provide a “roadmap” if you will… Why do educators allow OTHERS to set the vision of the future of education? Why do educators allow OTHERS to set the standards for their students? Why do educators allow others to set the standards for educators?

Look within your school, within yourself: Is education failing your students? Is education failing your children?

Teaching seniors in high school, each year I asked my students and parents: “Did you get out of your education what you wanted to?” Any idea what their typical answer was?

How would you answer that question?

Henry David Thoreau

“There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root, . . .” – Henry David Thoreau

I recently had the immense pleasure of having been recommended and listened to a presentation given by Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig. The presentation was titled “How Money Corrupts Congress and a Plan to Stop It.” In listening to the presentation, Lessig provided reference to the above quote of author, activist and philosopher Henry David Thoreau from his book Walden. In Lessig’s presentation, he uses this quote to provide a clear example of typical congressional reforms. Normally, we look at ways to keep our representatives honest to our wants and needs. Unfortunately, what is touted as reform efforts fall far short of their intended purpose – that is the hacking at branches. Very simply, Lessig makes the argument that in order to achieve the reforms in Congress, we have to strike at the root – the money flowing from special interest groups.

Whether or not you agree with the case made by Lessig, much of the order of argument Lessig makes can carry over into education as well. Recently, I was asked if the iMessage service could be disabled on student iPads. There was a rash of students sending mass messages over iMessage, and I was asked what to do about it. I reminded those asking the question that the technology acceptable use policy and school district disciplinary policy would guide what actions, if any, needed to take place.

What my colleagues failed to recognize was that even if I was to take an entire step back by attempting to disable the iMessage service on student iPads, this does not strike at the root of the problem. The next time there was any technology related incident, the reaction would be to hack off another limb. As I walk through the hallways, the root is glaring me in the face in that teachers have not appropriately changed their pedagogy to properly account for this new technology.

I still see rigid rows of desks. I see sage on the stage lecture. I see idle time where students are not working in groups on collaborative, creative and constructive projects. That is the root of the problem, right there. If students are properly engaged in a lesson, then the electronic note passing should be a more remote event. What I need to do, and my greatest failure as a leader in my school district, is promote professional development that helps teachers better realize our vision for education. Nowhere is technology even mentioned as a root when you look at what the vision is and what the teachers are doing to achieve that vision. But technology certainly is a branch.

At the upcoming Illinois Computing Educators Conference in the beginning of March, there appears to be many sessions that discuss ways to hack at branches, but only a few to strike at roots. This is not an attack on my colleagues, but a call for my colleagues to up the ante on the focus of the precious time they have been allotted to present their topics. Do not simply peddle a myriad of confusing and sometimes short-lived Web 2.0 applications, or another odd use for an interactive whiteboard. Clearly point out how these tools are addressing the bigger picture. Provide a substantive argument for how you are working to go to the root of the issues plaguing your school or district and how technology is affecting those issues.

There are several spotlight speakers who I have a great deal of respect and who have demonstrated, through conversations I have had with them and through arguments they have made, that they are capable of singling out and striking right at the root of issues in education that technology can address. I truly look forward to the time not in the breakout sessions, but away from the conference rooms where a free flow of ideas will result in some profound strike-at-the-root-a-ha moments. Those are the moments where a face to face social network clearly trumps a virtual personal learning network.

There has been too much hacking made recently on topics in education that truly are branches. Let us focus our time and efforts to engage each other on how we are striking the roots.

InstaGrok is a developing answer-engine that is specifically designed for the education market. The mission of  InstaGrok is to teach 21st Century research and curation skills in a safe, age appropriate environment. InstaGrok is commercial free and organizes search results according to themes and concepts. In a way, InstaGrok is similar to Wolfram|Alpha as it provides answers and information rather than a list of links. Using the search box, type in any term or idea that you are interested in learning about. The results returned are divided into five categories:

• Overview
• Websites
• Videos
• Q&A
• Quizzes

InstaGrok's version of the "Wonder Wheel"

“WonderWheel”
Anyone who enjoyed using the Google WonderWheel (RIP) will appreciate the concept map feature of InstaGrok. Much more sophisticated that its predecessor, this concept map includes the ability to click on related terms or the ability to see the relationship between two words by clicking on their connecting lines.

That thing was the change in how content can be provided to and through iTunesU. The change in this process is the earth shaking thing to me. When iTunes U was first opened up to K-12 only state agencies could sign up. If a district or school wanted to publish through iTunesU they had to go through the state as LEA (Local Education Agency). Now with only 13 or so states participating, that left a lot of educators with no chance to publish on iTunesU.

That all changed last week with the announcements and this is the filler for many of the holes I saw. Now any district can set up their own iTunesU site to publish content and courses. It can serve as a learning management system (LMS) for districts.

I am very excited about this as we have been struggling to get content onto iTunesU for 3 years. This will make it much simpler to do, and give us more opportunities for serving content to and from our schools, making it available to a worldwide audience through iTunesU.

Here are links to the pertinent information. Get your district and school going on iTunesU.

The All New iTunesU

http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/

iTunesU Support

http://www.apple.com/support/itunes-u/

Level up everybody, EdGamer 38 is here! In this weeks episode we discuss Edmodo, Zack’s new XP point system and his unhealthy obsession with Excel. Later we take a trip to the greatest kingdom ever created called “Gerrytopia” and briefly discuss some new uses for the Khan Academy. Check it out!

Show Host: Zack Gilbert

Show contributor: Gerry James

Contact us with any questions or comments- edgamer@edreach.us

Diane, Fred and Sean get familiar with the Google+ Live Hangout On Air, as they share the week’s tips and tricks related to the Google EDU universe. New privacy policy and terms of service, Public Alerts in Maps, and Google Earth 6.2 released. A discussion of Google Currents on the iPad and Google+ for teens age 13 and up. Threaded comments in Blogger, Street View’s Pegman, and Tammy Worcester’s cool spreadsheet templates for generating QR codes. Using QR codes with young kids and Google EDU gets a makeover. Our first On-Air Hangout in Google+ thanks to Harold Carey, Jr.!

Show Hosts:  Diane Main,  Sean Williams, Fred Delventhal

Send us your thoughts! 

Leave us an email at googleeducast@Edreach.us

Mobile Reach #22 – Integration vs. Redefinition.   This week, the team adds a guest host in the form of Jennifer Magiera who teaches for the Chicago Public Schools.  Magiera is fortunate enough to have iPads in her classroom so we interview her on how she has redefined learning in her classroom with these devices.  And as always, we also share out some useful apps.

Show Host: Chad Kafka (@chadkafka)

Co-Hosts: Judi Epcke (@jepcke), Tammy Lind (@TamL17), Jennifer Magiera (@msmagiera)

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- mobilereach@edreach.us

The 20th Century Classroom is dead.

You see, I know this to be true because I had the funeral for the 20th Century Classroom in like 2006. I was there- in person. It was a poignant ceremony; you should have been there with the rest of my sixth grade science students. She helped us out in the beginning of that industrial age, but she just had to be laid to rest, chalk board and all.

To mark the occasion, we took our antiquated science books and kept them on the shelf the entire year, using only online sources. We took the brand new laptop cart that was gathering dust in the hallway (because no one knew how to use them), and I put all of my lessons online on a Blogger Blog. We did our homework online, and even though I was at a poor school on the South Side, my kids came into the lab before school and after school and did their homework there.

They turned in their homework to me using a classroom management system. I would get emails from them when they were completed.  We took our tests online with a very simple online test creation tool. I could export the data into Excel and grade them easily. I started to create all of my lessons using an online version of Power Point called zoho.com. Every day, I didn’t just teach- I faciliated.  We used an interactive white board that I got through a grant.

This was 6 years ago.

Six. Years. Ago.

In a poor school on the South Side of Chicago.

Now granted, we all move at different paces. I started teaching later in life, so I had the luxury of never getting locked into any old systems. And, hey, I love using technology- so that didn’t hurt.

However, one thing about being a teacher in the 21st Century that I totally understood: the job never ended at 3pm. The time it took me to self-teach my SMART board skills and set up my online classrooms was enormous. I spent my first 2 years of teaching going to bed at midnight every night and waking up at 5:30am. That’s just the way it was. I loved it and still do. It’s 11:30pm right now.

My naivete about the profession quickly caught up to me in those first couple of years. I learned a harsh fact: this was not the schedule a lot of teachers kept. In fact, many of them went home at 3pm and actually spent time with their families and watched sports and stuff. I realize we all get into the profession at different times and for different reasons. Every teacher, even bad ones, have dreams of “making a difference” in students’ lives. I got into education because I hoped to be a catalyst for changing an antiquated system.

It’s Not the Technology. It’s the Time.
We are now in 2012, and the 21st Century is totally upon us. The 20th Century, to be honest, is not even in the rear view mirror anymore. Blogging, flipped classrooms, iPads, mobile learning- these topics dominate the airwaves of education news and technology blogs.  With the announcement of the iBooks textbook initiative by Apple, we are entering a true era of Minority Report-style media consumption.

Seeing that we are actually entering an era that was foretold to us by a movie (for once), let’s try to understand something about all of these new tools:  these things cannot be learned within the fair hours of 7am- 3pm anymore.  Nor should any teacher ever expect to.  Teaching in the 21st Century is, without a doubt, a 24/7 job. The days of punching out are gone. The tools of the trade need to be the tools of life, in order to stay relevant for our students.

When I first started integrating technology with other teachers, I used to think that some teachers were afraid of the technology. But I realize that that’s not where the fear lies.  I was totally wrong about that. The fear of going into the 21st Century is that the safe walls of the classroom are leaving. Teachers are afraid to open the door to communication, because once they open that door- there is no turning back. You either become a 21st Century educator- or you’re irrelevant. Make a choice.

No longer can teachers hide in their rooms. Teacher blogging and student email allow for students to contact them any time of the day and all hours of the night. Skype, iPad apps, texting, Edmodo.com, Google+, Twitter- these tools are being woven into teaching by innovative teachers all over, and are being made part of the 21st Century teachers’ practice. You can rest assured that teachers who master these tools and platforms- are integrating these tools into their lives, not just their classrooms.

Taking the time to master these tools is not something that can be done in a 30 minute prep session before school. Mastering the education tools of this century takes a commitment to breaking down the proverbial walls of what a teacher used to be. Mastering these new teacher processes takes letting go of the idea that your day will end when you leave the brick and mortar.

I understand that’s a hard pill to swallow. We’re on a moving train, and sooner or later we all have to decide whether we’re all going to the end of the line, or if we’re going to get off at the next stop.

Do you want to learn about iPads? Get an iPad.

Do you want to learn about the Flipped Classroom? Go to Khan Academy and the Flipped Class Ning and start connecting with teachers who do this.

Want to blog with your students? Start a blog already. Start writing, and see what happens. (You may even find out that you’re good at it!)

Want to try Twitter with educators? Start a Twitter account and go here. Follow as many of those educators as you can.

I wish I could say that any one of these things didn’t take a lot of time to master, or that you’ll see more of your children or spouse if you start investigating these because, honestly, you won’t.  But mastering these tools is what being part of a 21st Century educator is all about, and being a part of that change is thrilling and entirely fulfilling. I invite anyone to jump in.

So- have you really not said goodbye to the 20th Century yet? What are you waiting for? It’s getting too late to play catch-up.

Image Credit: Top: Yahoo.com, Minority Report: 20th Century Fox 

Universal Access is a goal for all students in school.  While the majority of students have no problem using a trackpad or mouse, there is a small segment of students who may require additional help in becoming independent in computer use.  We are fortunate to have quite a few options, most of them readily available on any operating system to help those students.

Current Accessibility Options:

Both Windows and Mac operating systems have a ton of features available to help everyone access the computer.  Some of the more common ones:

• cursor size or speed (faster for those with limited movement)
• display adjustment – larger font size, contrast, black on white or grayscale, and screen magnification
• Sticky Keys – when turned on it will hold keys so you can do keyboard commands, for example with Sticky Keys on I can easily press (without holding) ctrl-alt-del and it will execute that command.
• Filter Keys – will ignore brief or repeated keystrokes for individuals who may have motor difficulties
• Text-To-Speech – will read items on screen, selected text or menu items to help a visually impaired student access the computer.
• On-Screen Keyboard – for students who can use a trackpad/mouse but have difficulty with a keyboard, they may prefer to use an On-Screen keyboard.

There are so many more options for users, please take a look at the guides below for the operating system you are using:

• Windows 7
• Windows XP
• Mac OS X

Other Accessibility Options:

While these options are sufficient for the majority of users, there are still some students who need further modifications to be successful.  Many of these are inexpensive.

Touch Screens:

While touch screen monitors are available as add-ons or built into the monitor, when I think of touch screens these days my mind immediately goes to mobile devices, like iPod Touches, iPads and Android Tablets.  At this time there are any number of apps that allow the user to control the mouse on a computer using your device.  The extreme sensitivity of these mobile devices make it perfect for some users.

Mobile Mouse (Lite or Pro) is one such app.  After installing a small helper program on your computer of choice – Mobile Mouse Server - you are ready to go.  Taking a step further and installing an app like Splashtop ($4.99) or Air Display ($9.99), and their corresponding server program – Splashtop or Air Display and now you are mirroring your computer display on your iPad.  The touch screen allows students to interact with the computer and you can project it so all students can see what is happening!

Alternative Input Options:

Other students may require even more modifications to access the computer.  Here’s a great blog post (from our recent EdCeptional guest) Jeannette Van Houten about turning a PS3 controller into a mouse for a student with limited arm movement.  Or how about checking out the Orbitouch Keyless Keyboard, which requires no wrist or arm movement to use this unique device.

If you have a webcam you could try a head mouse.  By using a small reflective dot on your forehead or facial feature, the camera tracks your movement and moves the cursor across the screen.  You “click” on an item by dwelling on it for a preset amount of time.  You can get a free head mouse here at Camera Mouse (Windows only).  You can even look at Eye Gaze for some students, but there a quite a few physical implications like fatigue.

While this is by no means an exhaustive list of ways to access the computer, I hope it offers a few ideas for helping those students who need a little extra help.

Patrick

This week on LiTTech: 2011 was a particularly bad year for school libraries. This week, Addie and Emily give some suggestions on how to make sure your school, community, and fellow teachers know what you really do all day (hint: it’s not reading books!). After all, no one can know all the awesome things you’re up to if you don’t tell them!

Show Host: Emily Thompson

Show contributors: Adrienne Matteson

Leave us some feedback!

Contact us with any questions or comments- littech@edreach.us

The title of this post might seem a bit trite or obvious, but some recent #EduWin tweets caused me to reflect on how critical relationships are in education and how important it is to spend time developing them. Positive relationships are made, they don’t just happen.

There are different types of relationships in these #EduWin posts, but they all demonstrate respect and trust between students and teachers.

As a child, I would never have thought to contact my teacher like this student did; especially not after I had moved on from the class. Teachers were to be revered. They were adults and we were just kids. Clearly @MusicTechie developed such a warm relationship with this student that he thought to contact her to help his friend.

Got an email from an 8th gr about copyright and wants me to talk to one of his friends, he thinks ANYTHING on the net is useable. #EduWin

January 23, 2012 4:33 pm via Tweetbot for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@musictechie

Carol Broos

This #EduWin really speaks to the notion that as educators we may never really know the impact we have on students. And to the idea that students can grow and change, even beyond our classroom influence.

Just had a great grown-up conversation with a student who literally hated me (and much worse) three years ago when I taught him. #eduwin

January 18, 2012 5:47 pm via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@pronovost

Robert Pronovost

The trust mentioned in this tweet goes both ways. The ability for these teachers to become students and be taught by their students is not something that all teachers would be comfortable experiencing. This culture of learning is definitely something to be admired.

Today's #eduwin students are now teaching the willing teachers how to set up websites with Google Sites, even with some advanced features 2

January 18, 2012 4:24 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@k_shelton

Ken Shelton

Finally, in this tweet, the relationship extends to parents — a beautiful comment from a father to a son. There is faith that comments will be encouraging and that parents value the fine arts experience for their children.

Rt @Tiedemania: A beautiful comment from father to son about his artwork on @artsonia #artsed http://t.co/5px9izU6 -so sweet #eduwin

January 19, 2012 8:54 am via Twitter for iPadReplyRetweetFavorite

@fuglefun

fuglefun

And speaking of relationships, a BIG Thank You to friend of EdReach and executive director of Next Vista for Learning, Rushton Hurley (@rushtonh), for mentioning #EduWin in his recent conference appearances.

Spread the word about the best things happening in education….What is your #EduWin? Post daily at: whatisyoureduwin.com. Not sure what to say? Some ideas for an #EduWin post can be found here.

Tonight we were joined by Jeannette Van Houten a Assistive Technology/Curriculum consultant from New Jersey and a blogger at My Point of View…. We talked about all the myriad ways to access the computer, both built in features and those that are extra. Even how an iDevice can be used to access and interact with a computer.

Show Host: Patrick Black (@teachntech00)

This week’s episode of EdGamer is POPPIN’! Sorry…that was terrible…but the show this week is great! Tune in to EdGamer 37 for an in-depth review/preview of BrainPop and game creator GameSalad. We also give a shoutout to our new friend (and hopefully future guest) Pete and his endeavors with the Games and Learning Dream Tank on G+. Finally we weigh in the topic everyone is talking about: the new Apple textbooks and the impact they may have on gaming and learning. Don’t miss this packed episode!

Show Host: Zack Gilbert

Show contributor: Gerry James

Contact us with any questions or comments- edgamer@edreach.us

Kim, Fred and Sean get up close and personal in Google Hangouts and slow bandwidth is [almost] not an issue. Hear about resources for helping students understand SOPA and PIPA and new incentives for why students should get their Doodle on.  Get in the know with Google’s “Good To Know” campaign, boundaries get shady in Google Maps, Google Plus tips and learn how to make a Table of Contents in Google Docs.

Show Hosts:   Kim Zimmer, Sean Williams, Fred Delventhal

Send us your thoughts! 

Leave us an email at googleeducast@Edreach.us

Mobile Reach #21 – The Big Apple. Announcement.  This week, the team dissects the January 19th Apple Education announcement and discusses initial thoughts on all that was shared.  We talk about the update to iBooks, the new iTunesU app, and the new iBooks Author Mac app.  We also share some true mobile learning examples and a few apps we’ve been playing with.  Come give a listen…

Show Host: Chad Kafka (@chadkafka)

Co-Hosts: Judi Epcke (@jepcke), Tammy Lind (@TamL17)

Leave us some feedback! 

Contact us with any questions or comments- mobilereach@edreach.us

Show Host: Michael Walker and Scott Meech

Show contributors: Tim Berndt

This week’s highlighted EduWins:

LOVE IT when students teach ME new things (scaling) in Autodesk Inventor. #edinaPLTW #eduwin http://t.co/4hjFPQnA

January 18, 2012 9:04 am via Twitter for iPhoneReplyRetweetFavorite

@TimBerndt

Tim Berndt

This is my #eduwin working with an amazing 1st grade teacher who understands the power of blogging w/ young students http://t.co/YgCZFumD

January 18, 2012 9:33 am via webReplyRetweetFavorite

@egreene07

Elizabeth Greene

Today's #eduwin students are now teaching the willing teachers how to set up websites with Google Sites, even with some advanced features 2

January 18, 2012 4:24 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@k_shelton

Ken Shelton

Sounds like an #eduwin for this high school student http://t.co/vsrZTpni

January 16, 2012 6:51 am via Mobile WebReplyRetweetFavorite

@dendari

Brendan Murphy

Give us some feedback! Email eduwin@edreach.us to send us a note. Or leave a comment below.