EduTech's East Central Region Blog

8th grade Class learns about Homesteading via Second Life

Charity Nix — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:57:27 +0000

The Maddock, North Dakota 8th Grade class participated in the Second Life
Homesteading project through the NDSL and the North Dakota Historical
Society. Each student was put into a ‘family group’ consisting of 2-4
members. The students first had to visit the town and choose one of the
parcels of land that was available throughout the state of North Dakota
and buy the necessary provisions that they needed for homesteading. They
then had to load their wagons, head out to their land, plow, plant and
harvest their crops. At the end of the two week project, they found out
how much money they had earned and if they had ‘proved-up’ their
homesteads.

The students had to work together in order to buy any land or goods.
There were discussions about which type of home they were willing to live in,
what crops would grow best in the area they had chosen and how much they
were willing to spend for each item.

The kids had a very positive experience and learned a
great deal not only about the Homesteading process itself, but also how to
make group decisions and some great bargaining skills!

Thank you to Ms. Risovi and her class for taking part in this experience, and also to the NDSL and NDHS for making
this experience possible.

7th Annual Megaconference Jr. Set

Charity Nix — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 22:31:52 +0000

The Seventh Annual Megaconference Jr is set for Thursday February 25, 2010
from 7:00 AM- 7:00 PM EST (UTC-5)

This global multipoint videoconference event spans a twelve hour timeline in
order to allow participation by K12 students around the world.

Your class can participate in two ways: by registering to be an interactive
participating site for the theme and time slot of your choice; or by viewing
the event via the live web stream.

Up to ten interactive sites will be able to participate in each theme-based
segment. Slots are assigned on a first come/first served basis. Register
early!

Interactive registration begins January 8, 2010. Register online at
www.megaconferencejr.org

Each VJ team and their group will work collaboratively to determine the type
of presentation, storyboard the activity and develop a “product” that
demonstrates the significance of their particular topic.

Megaconference Jr. is a project designed to give students in elementary
through secondary schools around the world the opportunity to communicate,
collaborate and contribute to each other’s learning in real time, using
advanced multi-point video conferencing technology. VJ teams and their
interactive partners will develop and share activities focused on both
academic and cultural issues. The teams will collaborate with geographically
diverse peers on authentic learning activities, thus building international
cultural awareness. Participants viewing the days’ events will be able to
address questions to the presenters through a special Megaconference Jr.
social networking site.

Megaconference Jr. addresses local and national curriculum standards in
multiple subject areas. It also helps students and teachers develop the
capacity to effectively utilize high-speed networks, videoconferencing and
other emerging technologies to enhance learning experiences.

For questions and more information on Megaconference Jr 2010, please contact
your EduTech Regional Information Specialist or Kari Sauer at
kari.sauer@sendit.nodak.edu or call 1-800-804-8550

My New Voki

Charity Nix — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:24:07 +0000

I just created this Voki at FETC 2010. Really fun!

www.voki.com

Collaborative Events for Classrooms

Charity Nix — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:57:29 +0000

Please encourage your teachers to register no later than Friday, January 8th for one or both of the following collaborative events. (For more information regarding these events click on the designated links.)

Read Across North Dakota (RAND) 2010 January 27-28, 2010. Students celebrate literacy and reading with other classrooms across the state. See http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/video/events/rand to register or for more information.

Read Around the Planet (RAP) 2010 February 22 – March 5. RAP is an international event that provides an opportunity for teachers and students around the globe to cross traditional boundaries in celebrating literacy and reading. See http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/video/events/rap/ to register or for more information.

Other Upcoming Collaborative Video Events You May be Interested in:

North Dakota Content Provider sessions for K12 classrooms January thru May, 2010. Topics and dates are available at, http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/video/events/content_providers/.

Megaconference Jr 2010 February 25, 2010. Participants in this year’s event will notice format changes in duration and programming. See http://www.megaconferencejr.org/ to register or for more information.

National Park Service Interactive Programming videoconference sessions on the topics below will be available soon at, http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/video/events/collaborative_events/.

Brown v Board National Historic in Topeka, KS http://www.nps.gov/brvb/index.htm
Knife River Indian Villages National Historic in Stanton, ND http://www.nps.gov/knri/index.htm>
Homestead National Monument in Beatrice, NE http://www.nps.gov/home/index.htm>
Minute Man Missile National Historic Site in Phillip, SD http://www.nps.gov/mimi/index.htm>

(NPS events are recommended for grades 4-12 and there is no cost to participate.)

CoSI Total Knee Replacement

Charity Nix — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:53:54 +0000

Today I was in Fessenden, ND to experience a total knee replacement surgery over video. Students were able to interact with a surgical team in Ohio as they did the surgery. Some questions that were asked were, “What is the recovery time from this surgery? How long with the reconstructed knee last?”. The surgeon stated that people that run for fun and to stay fit normally wont need this type of surgery, however, people that are overweight have a much greater chance of needing this type of surgery.

If this is an experience that you would like to take advantage of, please get your name on a list for the next opportunity by contacting your EduTech representative or Kari Sauer.

I will be posting pictures from this surgery at a later time.

For those students and teachers that were able to experience this event, I encourage you to comment on your thoughts and experience of this surgery.

ActivInspire Upgrade Information

Charity Nix — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:14:43 +0000

The following is information that we at EduTech have received from Connecting Point in Bismarck:
Right now any school that has a Promethean board can upgrade free of charge
to ActivInspire. Promethean has stated that the upgrade will be free of
charge until September 30, 2010 but at this point is not saying what will
happen at that point. Connecting Point in Bismarck is suggesting that all schools upgrade. The
software is much, much better and easier to use. They stated that at least
50-60% of the schools have already made the upgrade. Also Connecting Point started
installing it on teacher machines on all new installs starting in August.

ActivInspire video

EduTech’s New Training Options

Charity Nix — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:16:23 +0000

In order to better serve our schools in the State of ND, EduTech has devised some additional training options in addition to our 4 hour trainings. These new options are located on our EduTech website under the Training area. We are working to accommodate the needs of each individual school. We hope that these options will assist with this. If you are looking for professional development for your staff members, please contact your Regional ITS.

Maddock teacher uses blog in 5th Grade Language Arts

Charity Nix — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:00:37 +0000

Linda Hovland will be using an Edublog with her 5th grade students when going through Novels, and also with creative writing processes.Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Poll Everywhere

Charity Nix — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 17:52:11 +0000

http://www.polleverywhere.com/free_text_polls/LTY4OTY3NzY2Mg/web

PowerSchool Users Group Information

Charity Nix — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 15:21:36 +0000

Please view the following PDF for more information of the upcoming PowerSchool Users Group meetings.

PowerSchool Users Group Meeting PDF