Around the Corner - MGuhlin.net

VideoCast - Turning Up the HEAT in 21st Century Classrooms Part 2

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:32:33 -0500

Click the image above to watch a video of Melissa Ramos (mramos@fisd.us), Director of Technology for Floresville ISD, share her thoughts regarding how to Turn Up the HEAT with LOTI. Special thanks to Larry Stegall and Tonya Mills for their video recording and editing! Love the flames!

LOTI = Levels of Teaching Innovation.

HEAT is an acronym for...

HIGHER-ORDER THINKING

* Students taking notes only; no questions asked

* Student learning/questioning at knowledge level

* Student learning/questioning at comprehension level

* Student learning/questioning at application level

* Student learning/questioning at analysis level

* Student learning/questioning at synthesis/evaluation

ENGAGED LEARNING

* Students report what they have learned only.

* Students report what they have learned only; collaborate with others.

* Students given options to solve a problem

* Students given options to solve a problem; collaborate with others

* Students help define the task, the process, and the solution

* Students help define the task, the process, and the solution; collaborations extends beyond the classroom.

AUTHENTICITY

* The learning experience is missing or too vague to determine relevance.

* The learning experience represents a group of connected activities, but provides no real world application.

* The learning experience provides limited real world relevance, but does not apply the learning to a real world situation.

* The learning experience provides real world relevance and opportunity for students to apply their learning to a real world situation.

* The learning experience is directly relevant to students and involves creating a product that has a purpose beyond the classroom that directly impacts the students.

TECHNOLOGY USE

* No technology use is evident.

* Technology use is unrelated to the task.

* Technology use appears to be an add-on and is not needed for task-completion.

* Technology use is somewhat connected to task completion involving one or more applications

* Technology use is directly connected to task completion involving one or more applications.

* Technology use is directly connected and needed for task completion and students determine which application(s) would best address their needs.

VideoCast - Turning Up the HEAT in 21st Century Classrooms Part 1

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:29:17 -0500

Click the image above to start watching Dr. Chris Moersch share about how to TURN UP THE H.E.A.T. with Levels of Technology Implementation. Kudos to Larry Stegall and Tonya Mills for their video recording and editing work!

HEAT is an acronym for...

HIGHER-ORDER THINKING

* Students taking notes only; no questions asked

* Student learning/questioning at knowledge level

* Student learning/questioning at comprehension level

* Student learning/questioning at application level

* Student learning/questioning at analysis level

* Student learning/questioning at synthesis/evaluation

ENGAGED LEARNING

* Students report what they have learned only.

* Students report what they have learned only; collaborate with others.

* Students given options to solve a problem

* Students given options to solve a problem; collaborate with others

* Students help define the task, the process, and the solution

* Students help define the task, the process, and the solution; collaborations extends beyond the classroom.

AUTHENTICITY

* The learning experience is missing or too vague to determine relevance.

* The learning experience represents a group of connected activities, but provides no real world application.

* The learning experience provides limited real world relevance, but does not apply the learning to a real world situation.

* The learning experience provides real world relevance and opportunity for students to apply their learning to a real world situation.

* The learning experience is directly relevant to students and involves creating a product that has a purpose beyond the classroom that directly impacts the students.

TECHNOLOGY USE

* No technology use is evident.

* Technology use is unrelated to the task.

* Technology use appears to be an add-on and is not needed for task-completion.

* Technology use is somewhat connected to task completion involving one or more applications

* Technology use is directly connected to task completion involving one or more applications.

* Technology use is directly connected and needed for task completion and students determine which application(s) would best address their needs.

Don't Mix Politics In

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 21:29:12 -0500

Clay Burell is chastising bloggers--if you're not on his approved list, consider yourself rebuked--if they're not writing about politics. When the world is coming down around us, why aren't we writing about it?

I'll tell you why, Clay. We are more interested in the meltdown we're a part of NOW, that is immediately relevant, than the slow boil the frog issue of the economy. Just today, I received this email from a Republican, extended family member:

I saw this program when it was aired a week or so ago and I urge you to watch it when it repeats again tomorrow night, Sunday, 12 Oct.. It’s an enlightenment about a man who may be our next president.

HELLO EVERYONE: IMPORTANT INFORMATION!!

SEAN HANNITY, OF HANNITY & COLMES ~ FOX NEWS, IS GOING TO AIR A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTARY ABOUT BARACK

OBAMA, SUNDAY NIGHT AT 9:00 PM. HE STATED ON THE AIR THIS EVENING THAT NO ONE IN THE NEWS MEDIA WAS WILLING TO DO THIS. HANNITY IS GOING BACK TO OBAMA'S EARLIER DAYS, SHOWING EVEN THEN HIS TIES TO RADICAL PROFESSORS, FRIENDS, SPIRITUAL ADVISERS, Etc., HE STATED THIS EVENING THAT HE WILL SHOW IN DETAIL HIS TIES TO REV. WRIGHT FOR 20+ YRS (which we

all know) HOW HE WAS PARTICIPATING WITH THIS MAN, AND NOT FOR THE REASONS HE STATES! HE HAS UNCOVERED MORE OF OBAMA'S RADICAL LEADERS AND WE WILL SEE THINGS THAT NO ONE IN THE MEDIA IS WILLING TO PUT OUT THERE. THIS WILL BE A NIGHT THAT YOU WILL KNOW MORE ABOUT OBAMA THAN EVER BEFORE. HANNITY IS VERY PASSIONATE ABOUT THIS PROGRAM AND ASKED THAT EVERYONE PLEASE, PLEASE WATCH~~ SUNDAY NIGHT, 9 PM. HANNITY IS DETERMINED THIS INFORMATION BE PUT OUT THERE BECAUSE AS AMERICAN'S, WE STILL DO NOT KNOW ABOUT OBAMA!! WAKE UP AMERICA !! THIS IS SERIOUS,EVERYONE. I KNOW MOST OF YOU WATCH FOX NEWS, AND YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE VOTING FOR, BUT IF YOU CAN, PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. THIS IS CRITICAL FOR OUR COUNTRY. MY PRAYER IS THAT WE, ALONG WITH SEAN HANNITY, WILL REACH

SOMEONE/ANYONE BEFORE NOV. 4th. WE MUST NOT GIVE UP!!!!!!!!! GOD BLESS!!

I looked online at Fox TV to verify this. It is true. The web site is http://www.foxnews.com/hannitysamerica/index.html

Can I really hope that a blog post will change this person's perspective? No. Should I document my disappointment with family and colleagues when they continue to hold fast to McCain/Palin, the "barracuda" attacks that fly in the face of Christian morality? No. I've already decided how I'm going to vote.

If I had to ask a question, Clay, it would be, how come the candidates haven't given us more specific answers on the Economy and what solutions they would implement. I'd like more specific answers than just "change."

But at this point, I have to vote for one or the other. I know that I don't want the one that has subverted his principles and values in the hope of winning the election. I do want a candidate that's going to give me specific answers, or guide us all in a substantive discussion about coming up with those answers, but...let's wait.

Audiocast - On the Road with Teen Author

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 19:05:37 -0500

I've been putting off posting this recording on the web, but I thought I'd share this interview with a teen author, my daughter. She shares a few insights into her fiction composition process, where she gets ideas for her stories, and more. Have a listen! And, if so inclined, buy her book!

Listen to Teen Author Podcast

Get your exclusive copy of this author's book, Alone in the Middle.

Invest in the future of America! Buy your copy--print or download--now!

or, get a t-shirt!

buy unique gifts at Zazzle

Audiocast: Maria Nate's Top 3

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:58:47 -0500

Source: Maria Nate, Pleasanton ISD Technology Director

I'm delighted to hear stories of what people are doing in their school districts, and a few weeks ago, I had a chance to chat with Maria Nate. I try to start the conversation with a simple question, "What are the top 3 things?" Here's just a quick podcast on what is going on. Listening to Maria's voice, cut off abruptly due to the call to lunch, helps ground me in the day to day work of supporting technology in schools.

Listen to Podcast

Audiocast - Interviewing a Moodle Pioneer

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:52:52 -0500

Source: Susan Dryer, Moodle "Pioneer"

A few weeks ago, I had the chance to chat with a Moodle "pioneer" in Lackland ISD, San Antonio, Tx. It seems like just a few short years ago, I chatted with her about launching a Moodle site in her district. . .it was a free lunch, which I'm partial to <smile>. I promptly forgot about Susan and her Moodle efforts, and it was a joy to see her again and listen to her story.

I characterize Susan Dryer (email her at dryer.s@lacklandisd.net or susan@dryerit.com) as a Moodle pioneer because she was the first Moodle advocate in her district. Learning to work in collaboration to solve a problem, and learn how to communicate that to a broader audience. She describes how she started and how Moodle use has grown in her district.

Common questions from teachers include:

When am I going to have time?
Will I have the support?
Will you help me?

Susan makes the point that it's so easy to get caught up with the bells-n-whistles, but that "It's not the resources, the activities for students to teachers and student to student interaction that you went to get familiar with." She also shares how neat it is for parents to go into a Moodle course with their child and pull down the resources.

Susan also shares her advice for leaders considering Moodle, including:

There are Speedboats, tugboats, and driftwood type people in every group. Her advice? Nurture the speedboats.

Listen to Podcast

Moodle Book Module

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:27:38 -0500

This next week, I'll have the opportunity to work with various educational leaders. To prepare for that conference presentation, I thought I'd do the usual wiki, twitterstream, blog tagging, etc. However, since I was also experimenting with some aspects of Moodle at work, I decided to apply what I'd learned and create a professional learning Moodle course. The result is the Moodle with several courses you see above.

Since I was playing around--learning--I decided to figure out how to setup the Book Module in Moodle. Oh my gosh, what a nifty module! I'm so grateful for learning about the Book module because it's powerful way to combine a variety of materials/tutorials/media into "book" format, a format we're all familiar with.

One of the annoying things about composing web pages in Moodle is that you end up with a list of resources that gets to be eye-boggling to visitors. Eventually, your resources becomes a never-ending list and you end up shuttling them around the topic page. Enter the book module.

In the screenshot above, you can see several open books entitled "Crafting Engaging Podcasts for Your Community", "How to Blog," and "How to Do Surveys and Forms Online."

Definitely worth exploring the book as an easy way to organize content.

Sad News - Mac Video Converter Quits

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 08:25:34 -0500

Converting videos on a Mac can be difficult. Just ask two colleagues who struggled with Flip for Mac codecs and installs but could never get the videos to convert on their Macbooks. Then, I introduced them to Visual Hub and its inexpensive predecessor, iSquint.

Both programs immediately became critical apps I would use when converting video on the Mac. iSquint allows you to convert FLV videos from YouTube, Edublogs.tv, Teachertube.com and other popular sites to MP4. It is drop-dead simple to use, and I included it in my tutorials for podcasting. VisualHub, iSquint's commercial version, enabled easy converting of video on a Mac. Forget struggling with codecs, Visual Hub set them up for you.

I still remember the time I walked into a meeting and was given a DVD to convert and put online. I had my Mac with me and I didn't know about FormatFactory on Windows. What could I use? Visual Hub, of course.

The stories continue, a powerful product that could get the job done. Now, that's over.

Instructions on how to backup your applications:

In order to preserve VisualHub (or AudialHub) if you need to switch computers, you need to back up two things:

1: The VisualHub (or AudialHub) app itself

2: The conversion engine

To back up the conversion engine, Copy the folder at: /Library/Application Support/Techspansion

...for good measure, you can also back up your Preferences file, containing your registration info in case you lose the original purchase e-mail. It's at:

/Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/com.techspansion.visualhub.plist

...or for AudialHub:

/Users/yourname/Library/Preferences/com.techspansion.audialhub.plist

Hammer vs Blog

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 23:46:15 -0500

Paul Alex Briseno has a funny cartoon that I had to capture and share. He created it using ToonDoo.com and you can read more about it on his site and see the Flash Animation. In the meantime, here are the two images...

How do we get from here...

to here?

What questions do we need to ask of our leaders?

Portrait of Instructional Technology

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:42:26 -0500

Source: http://imagecache2.allposters.com/images/pic/130/009_575-010~Norman-Rockwell-Triple-Self-Portrait-Posters.jpg
No endorsement of pipe-smoking suggested.

One of my favorite book titles, though I dislike the author's other works (James Joyce), is The Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man. Let's adjust that title to reflect our District, The Portrait of Instructional Technology Director as an Old Man.

Over at The TWAIN Blog, Joel shares a few items that every IT director needs to consider:

Inventory of all technology and software
Determination of acceptable standards for downtime, repair costs, etc.
Assessment of teacher competencies
Study of how computers are currently being used in the curriculum
Creation of specific goals for computer use in your district

How is this being accomplished in your school district? How are you doing it? I'll come back to this after the presidential debate tonight and add mine (if I'm still awake!).

Flame--On

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:23:33 -0500

Source: http://www.crystalinks.com/dragon.gif

Thanks to a new Google Alert I set up, I received a note about new research on Web 2.0 Tools and Learning, which the folks at the Digital Education blog found by citing Ewan McIntosh! I never ceased to be amazed at the power of linking to connect us and our ideas!

Web 2.0 tools encourage participation and engagement, especially for those students who are timid; help students continue classroom discussions outside of the classroom; let students who are so inclined continue researching anytime, anywhere; and instill a sense of ownership and pride in students for the work they publish online, which can lead to more attention to detail and a better quality of work.

The report also found that one of the biggest obstacles to using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom was the time it takes teachers to incorporate those new tools into lesson plans. Although many teachers were familiar with the tools and used them in their personal lives, they were apprehensive about how to monitor Internet use in the classroom and the time needed to figure out how those tools should be used to teach.

I honestly believe that the obstacles aren't our teachers, but the fears teachers must overcome to help our children learn...As Pete Reilly points out, It takes courage to learn alongside your students.

Well, how are each of us overcoming those obstacles? How are we finding the courage to learn? And, what happens when that courage to try new things is used against us?

Of potential new teachers on the market these days, I would guess that somewhere between 60 and 80 percent of new pre-service teachers have social networking sites just from informal surveys I did of my pre-service teachers at Indiana University. So, there is a wealth of information available there that potential employees have chosen to make public. Now, if you are a new teacher on the job market, I would just get rid of it for the time being.
Source: Potential Employers Part of Your Social Network, The Edjurist

What hypocrisy. Transparency is about being open about our mistakes and what they've taught us, allowing them to be visible but using our heightened perspective, enabling us to transform them. Again, I must quote one of my favorite tales that long-time readers of Around the Corner will remember:

From my position high on the dragon's back, I noticed that the dragon's body was covered with old wounds. WHenever the dragon breathed forth fire to light the path in front of us, I noticed that the wounds glowed golden-red in the dark. When I asked about them, the dragon replied, "Oh, my friend, I have been slain a thousand times, but I have always arisen again. These old wounds are the source of my power and my insight. Our greatest and worst enemies are not the monsters who roam the forest or even wicked witches or evil wizards. No, it is our scars, our wounds, and old injuries that we must fear. As we journey through life we have all been injured--hurt by parents, brothers or sister, schoolmates, strangers, lovers, teachers. Each wound has the power to talk to us, you know. They speak, however, with crooked voices because of the scars.

All of us have wounds--old ones and new ones--and whenever the monster appears, when hell breaks loose, we know that our old wounds are talking guiding us. It is these wounds that must be confronted (Hays, 1986).)

We are caught up in an act of creation...while we hope that the end result will be neat and clean, sometimes, it's messy.

We must create for the sake of creating. We cannot fall in love with our ideas if we live in constant fear of judgement. When we create, we experience deeper meaning. We begin to do the thing because we must...because we are doing something we love, we can let go of the concerns that drive our egos.
Source: Quinn, Changing the World

Let's hope that our future employers ARE tuned into our social network...maybe, they'll learn what learning is about.

Permission Granted

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:48:05 -0500

Source: http://www.masternewmedia.org/images/turtle_conversation_id94655_size450.jpg

As a result of last Friday's drama at the TCEA TEC-SIG meeting--which, by the way, apparently didn't make the formal minutes-- regarding podcasting, I decided I needed to clarify my position, make amends where that was necessary, and make sure that I indeed had sought permission for podcasting. To be fully transparent about this, I did not want to offer my apologies or revisit the permission issue...I felt, though, that not doing so after last Friday's outburst would be wrong, public information or not. Simply, I wanted to ensure that from this point forward, we would know where we stood in regards to podcasting. I only came to this point of view after some reflection, some of it visible on this blog.

An old friend helped clarify the position. Yes, while I did have some real people offer their thoughts--including folks here via the comments on the blog--my old friend was Robert Quinn's Change the World. Some of what Quinn said--sorry, I don't have the book handy--reminded me of the power of conversation and that if you're not having one, then very little change will happen. It was clear that, though the drama on Friday wasn't about my recent actions, it did present the opportunity for conversation and change.

As I listened to Patrick Lencioni on the way home, he quoted Samuel Johnson, we should be less taught and more reminded. So, with the reminder of the power of conversation and that MY interpretation of events may not have reflected another's, I sent the following email to the person who could grant permission for being podcast.

Thank you for taking the time to read this email about moving forward in regards to sharing your message with Texas educators.

This past Friday, you shared your perspective on podcasting and your growing recognition that everything you say when addressing folks about Texas Ed-Tech issues is public information and reportable. I'd like to respond and request your permission. But, first...I'd like to offer my apology.

APOLOGY
I offer my sincerest apologies for recording your words previously and violating your understanding of courtesy and family. If I had known that my well-intentioned actions would cause you distress, I would have set aside my enthusiasm for meeting the needs of fellow educators and pursued other approaches. I honestly was caught up in the excitement of a new tool, but as I've become more seasoned, I've reconsidered my approach in regards to podcasting. I realize now that I should have asked you the first time whether you allowed for podcasting of your talk. Not doing so was insensitive on my part and I understand now that I should have done so, not letting my awe of you get in the way.

[A Quick Aside: For a shy person like myself (yes, really!), overcoming the awe of asking a presenter if I can podcast them is difficult. When I first began, I found it was very hard, even though I was perceived to be quite bold. Over time, I've come to appreciate that everyone is a regular person...blogging/podcasting have worn away that awe, but it was difficult...I share this because those new to podcasting may encounter it and find comfort/lesson in it].

HISTORY REVIEW
When I started attending TEC-SIG meetings a few years ago, it was obvious to me that 1) Your words were essential and should be shared with as wide an audience as possible; 2) No one was getting it done and the official minutes were insufficient because they weren't detailed enough, or just didn't exist. This was a time when minutes were few and far between, people struggled to find slide show presentations shared at TEC-SIG meetings because TEC-SIG officers did not post them, or posted them LONG after the meeting was over or both. In fact, TCEA was highly resistant to doing so because they were afraid of membership not attending, an unfounded fear.

When I became aware of new technologies (e.g. blogs,wikis, podcasts) I set out to use them to meet the needs of the TEC-SIG membership as a whole, to satisfy the same need that I so keenly experienced as a member--lack of access to critical information needed to do my job. You see, as an instructional technologist, I believe that we should leverage new technologies whenever possible to improve teaching, learning and leading, even when it means sacrificing older technologies that fail to provide service (e.g. TETN is one obvious one).

Since I was learning about podcasting and blogging, sometimes I asked for permission or conducted interviews, in others, I did not. In those that I did not, I did not perceive you as a family member but as a highly esteemed administrator of a tax-payer supported state education agency whose words about education technology in Texas were a matter for public record. Obviously, because of your feedback on Friday, I was mistaken.

REQUEST FOR PERMISSION
In the spirit of moving forward and ensuring Texas educators have access to content that they need to get their jobs done, I submit to you my request for blanket permission to record you and others under your supervision when you are presenting at various conferences and events (e.g. TEC-SIG, TCEA, GTC, whatever) without having to ask for permission each and every time. I also give you my word that my goal is to meet the fundamental need of Texas educators who have need to hear what you have to say, that I will do my best to present your words in a positive manner that reflects well on all of us.

I hope you'll grant that permission to audio/video record for podcast purposes, but if you'd rather not, then so be it. I'll stick with taking notes.

May I have your permission to audio/video record for podcast purposes from this date forward? No response will be interpreted as a NO. Knowing you have a busy schedule, I will hope for a response by Friday.

I was honestly surprised to receive a response within a few hours of sending this email. While I don't feel comfortable sharing the complete response because those familiar with the situation will know, I quote this excerpt because it is so excellently written and is to the benefit of us all.

We are grateful for all the newer technologies that allow for broader communication as we can't get to all the meetings and conferences we are invited to attend. When we do present, we recognize that we are often recorded, now with more variety of technologies than ever before.

Yes, you do have my permission to podcast and/or video record me when I present at various conferences and events.

As a result of this response, both the person who responded to my email and I know where we stand and my podcasting can continue without interruption.

Timelines from RSS

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:45:51 -0500

Source: Dipity.com

Creating timelines hasn't been one of my favorite activities, but I was intrigued by this product press release:

As a software developer, I am trying to get the word out about a new teaching tool that I’m convinced will really interest your readers. We’ve just launched a special “Student” edition of our popular timeline charting software, Timeline Maker Professional. With a student budget-friendly price of only $49.95 Timeline Maker Student still contains all the core functionality of the market leading Professional edition such as ease-of-use, instant charts, great graphics and outstanding customer support.

We are the only company that can offer both. And I think that makes ours the most complete timeline solution for the classroom on the market. For us, that’s a big deal.

Trial versions of both Timeline Maker Student and Timeline Maker Professional are available on our website at: www.timelinemaker.com/education and I would be only too pleased to send you an activation code for either should you wish to take it for an extended “test drive”.

Of course, even though the product above sure is powerful (Windows only, though) at a cost of $49.95, this started me thinking about "timeline maker web 20" kind of tools. I immediately stumbled on this blog entry highlighting Dipity.com. Dipity.com is able to pull in content via RSS feeds...

...and display it in different ways. I pulled in the PassionQuilt feed for the timeline

and in the flipbook

a simple list....

It can also pull in a map!

Truth Comes Out

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:45:43 -0500

Truth comes out, every time, no matter what anyone does. And, it comes up in the strangest places. Who would have thought that it would show up here and be so relevant to us in K-12?

“If you’re going to change the way you do things, you’re going to have to change the infrastructure to support that,” Stanton said.

As I read those words and reflect on the challenges K-12 organizations are facing, the truth about change is universal. Chris Lehmann makes the same point the journalists do in his presentation.

And, like others say:

The changes are continuing. “We don’t want to lock it down and say this is the exact structure and it’s not going to change,” Artley said.

A different way of wording this, "We want to lock it down and say this is the exact structure and it's not going to change." When do we say that? When we ignore pleas for help.

How can we handle it differently?

Texas Bloggers Speak Up

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:45:27 -0500

No, this isn't a call for greater transparency in Texas (read previous blog post). It's a request. I'm hoping to compile a list of all Texas edubloggers so that i can subscribe and find out what we're all writing about. I know there are more of you out there than I subscribe to, so...how about some help?

List any and all Texas Education related Blogs that you know of here:

http://mguhlin.wikispaces.com/texasedublogs

Thanks in advance!

Podcasting without Permission

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 20:27:20 -0500

This past Friday, I had the chance to listen to highly placed officials in certain state education agency chastise bloggers/podcasters and explain how it was only common courtesy to ask first before podcasting her words. This in the face of the simple fact that bloggers/podcasters had clearly helped get the very important message in those words out to a much wider audience.

The individuals representing the Agency asked that they not be podcast on anything they said. They need to reconsider that concept, especially when funding and lack of technical expertise to use Web 2.0 tools gets in their way!

Thomas Paine once wrote...

...the irresistable nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants is the liberty of appearing...It is error only, and not truth, that shrinks from inquiry.

When the protests was heard, several questions popped into my head:

Why wouldn't any state education agency--paid for by taxpayer dollars--want bloggers/podcasters to amplify the message they are sharing?
Why would any state education agency want to limit it's message to distribution by only a few sources, such as an antiquated video-conferencing network that charged school districts to listen to the message?
Isn't it understood that when speaking on behalf of a state education agency that you ARE on the record? Why put the pressure on bloggers/podcasters to have to ask for permission that is automatically required for public officials working in taxpayer-funded, state education agencies?
What is the financial relationship between a state education agency and the private video-conferencing network that releases that information? Is it permissible for the private network to trade on public information?

As I listened to the conversation between bloggers/podcasters and the state education agency representatives, I was struck by Clay Shirky's words:

In high-freedom environments, people use social tools for fun. In low-freedom environments they use them for political action.
Source: Clay Shirky Interview

I was struck by his words because there is no reason for objection on behalf of the state education agency. If public information IS public, must be disseminated for the good of students and educators who serve them, then instead of criticizing, the state education agency should be praising efforts to disseminate information. Instead, there was mention of copyrights as a way of restricting the flow of information that is PUBLIC.

If Texas is a low-freedom environment, then it makes sense that Read/Write Web technologies used to disseminate public information would be perceived as tools of the politically active. But there is no political action involved here, is there? The simple reality is that educators need access to public information and the bloggers/podcasters who share it are performing a public service.

As I was re-sorting the blogs I read this evening, trying for that optimal mix of invective and positivity that stimulates my Muse without sending it to the ground amidst an intimidating barrage of content, I stumbled across The Bamboo Project blog entry.

Last week I liveblogging several conference sessions at Brandon Hall. This is the first time I've done this and it added a depth and dimension to my workshop learning that I simply have not experienced before. Liveblogging forced me to listen more carefully to the presenters and the conversations that took place. I found myself paying even more attention to the temperature in the room--were people engaging with the presenters, did the presentations seem to resonate, what were their questions?

Taking notes online also made my notes more multi-dimensional. For every website a presenter mentioned, I was able to grab the link and supporting materials to fill out my notes immediately, something I wouldn't have been able to do if I took notes with my traditional paper and pen. Instead of having scribbled thoughts on a scrap of paper I'd likely never look at again, the posts I developed became rich with resources and links. Further, because I posted them on my blog, they were available not only to me, but to anyone who wanted them.

There's huge learning power in that. Sending one person to a conference can potentially educate your entire organization. The same thing can happen in meetings and as part of daily work. When people are actively engaging with and reflecting on their professional experiences, which blogging encourages us to do, that's where ongoing learning really takes place.

I think my frustration right now is that I've realized how firmly entrenched people are in a sort of passive, one-way view of the web.

Mayhap there is a lesson in my experience. Four years ago when I started blogging and podcasting organization (e.g. TCEA SIG) meetings, I was met with disdain and recrimination by some. But the vast majority recognized the value of what I was doing, not because *I* was doing it, but because the bottom line was simple--it benefited Texas schools, providing them access to information that the State education agency and TCEA were unwilling/unable to provide, sequestering that critical, must act on data for the price of admission.

Fellow Texans, when you encounter public information being hoarded--whether by state education agency, private organizations, or whomever--then podcast without permission. Shout it from the mountain-tops, and get the word out there...only error shrinks from inquiry and public scrutiny.

Oh, and it is possible for state education agencies to rely on other agencies to create podcasts and release information. Consider the podcasts by the Texas Comprehensive Center on behalf of TEA. They describe their goals as providing....

...the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the state system of support with access to resources designed to support their work in implementing NCLB requirements.

Why not use this as a model for information dissemination, and expertise to rely on, in lieu of services that are obsolete (e.g. state video-conferencing network)?

Adding GoogleReader Tag Feed to PageCast

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 19:38:23 -0500

(right-click image above to view at full size)

As I shared last week, I recently started seriously exploring PageFlakes.com's pagecast feature. What I do when a new blog is created, I subscribe to it using GoogleReader.

Then, I go to my Settings and click on Folders and Tags. This gives me a list of all my tags and I have the choice of making them public. Once the feeds are public, I view the page and copy the URL. This doesn't display an RSS feed button anywhere, but nevertheless, it works when I paste it as an RSS feed. In essence, I'm able to ADD my GoogleReader Tag as an RSS feed to my Pageflakes.com pagecast.

To post a GoogleReader folder series of feeds, copy the URL and paste it in the appropriate place in PageFlakes.com, as shown below:

Be warned that sometimes it doesn't work the first time. Try again until it does.

Breaking Out of IT Prison

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 17:14:19 -0500

Source: http://www.mewsreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/jailbreak.jpg

Dr. Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant) has this plea for help posted on his blog:

Help! My IT director's locked me down!
I am a technology-loving science educator. I need your help and here is the short version of my story. I have tried to be a front-end user of educational technology. However, I have lost the ability to effectively utilize technology due to the IT director’s philosophy of restricting all computers for all staff.

Last week the IT people took my MacBook and removed administrative privileges – something I have always had. This has coincided with the loss of our curriculum director, who always empowered educators that wanted to be progressive. I was hoping to spend a few minutes talking on the phone in more detail, at your convenience. Please reach out and help a fellow educator! I look forward to your response.

My response:

This isn't an uncommon situation in districts. Some possible workarounds:

1) Make a list of everything you can't do and why it's instructionally relevant that you accomplish it.

2) Contact your campus principal and explain this to him/her. If your relationship with that person is lousy, then you'll probably be better off just buying your own laptop and using it for your own purposes, just don't let students use it...and many districts are implementing policies that PREVENT personal laptops on school networks, invoking CIPA, even though it doesn't necessarily apply...or worse, writing it into the Acceptable Use Policy.

3) Share your list with everyone and ask them to sign a petition for greater rights/access.

4) Share that at least ONE person on the campus needs to have admin/install rights on campus computers to expedite the process, then volunteer to be that person. Keep track of what you do and make sure that your campus technology committee has a process in place for allowing new software installations.

5) Remember that schools today aren't about technology use, even when it impacts instruction, but rather, high-stakes test prep and tutoring. Why are you wasting instructional time using technology?

;->

To end, you're going to have to develop a relationship with the folks "in power" so that they appreciate you as an individual and are willing to either bend the rules for you or understand that you don't fit the rule as teachers go. Building that relationship takes time and you won't get there overnight...so, in the short run, you may be unable to accomplish what you want with the Macbook. Instead, ask yourself, "What CAN you accomplish?" and then do that as much as possible, celebrate it with as wide an audience (blog is useful here), and push the issue of restricted access when you get attention. Keep it positive, ok?

51 Free Apps

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:02:52 -0500

John Rice shared this awesome list of 51 essential programs for a freeware only PC. It's an awesome list because it mentions a few programs I'd never heard of (smile) and the only criticism is that you have to click your way through several screens to get to the download links...that aside, it's a nice list worth checking out. One point--he includes 4 easy download "packs" of all the software. Pretty nice!

Some of my favorites off that list that I didn't know about include the following:

Ant Movie Catalog - lets you manage movie libraries
Any Audio Converter - converts audio files and can extract audio from video
Combined Community Codec Pack - includes video codecs.
CodecInstaller - analyzes video/audio files, and then helps you install the codecs that you need.
Exact Audio Copy - lets you rip CD/DVD audio tracks.
FontNetInstaller - lets you search websites with fonts from within the program itself.
GOM Player - video player
PCInspector File Recovery
Starburn CD/DVD/HD-DVD/Blu-Ray disc burning
SuperAntiSpyware
Sweep RAM
TUGzip

You can download the files above from this site...and tons more there. BTW, be careful while installing some of the programs...some will offer the option to install Yahoo or Google toolbars. You can just decline those options and it installs without problems.

Discovering PageFlakes

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 00:43:37 -0500

Late last month, I had a chance to explore some neat Pagecasts that piqued my interest. More info on what a PageCast is:

What is Pageflakes, you may ask? It is a cool Web 2.0 tool that allows users to create personalized online desktops similar to that of iGoogle. Users can easily add widgets or “flakes” related to education, photos, social bookmarking sites, news, podcasts, fun games, and even comic strips!

Using Pageflakes is fairly easy: you create an account, and then you add content to pages you create by simply selecting content-based widgets you want on your page. You can add RSS feed widgets to your favorite resources that are not on the diverse menu available through Pageflakes, too. You also have many themes and color schemes as well as layout schemes to customize your page. To make your page viewable, you then choose the option to make your “page” a “pagecast”; once you take this step, your page is viewable to everyone else via a static link.
Source: Get It Together

I'd seen this example (The Unquiet Library) (as well as this one from Joyce Valenza and Lisa Spiro) and stowed it in the back of my mind. When we launched our district blog initiative yesterday, I wanted an easy to way to consolidate everything in one place. But I didn't know what tool to use...there are quite a few available, as you'll see from the tweets below. Then, someone said something that triggered those memories.

As a result, I remembered iGoogle and PageFlakes as possibilities--thanks to Joyce Valenza for her presentation I heard online via Bob Sprankle's site--and so decided to give it a try. But I wasn't sure...

As I considered Pageflakes again (3rd time), I put aside my feelings, not dis-similar from these:

There were some great suggestions via Twitter as to how to best approach this, including the following:

I even tried SuperGlu.com but didn't like the result...too plain.

In the end, PageFlakes won...see it here.

Encrypt Your Laptop

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:54:11 -0500

Lose a laptop, and your troubles could just be beginning! Why? Confidential data. Re-discovering Windows XP solution, I stumbled across GPG4Windows, which is an excellent, easy way to encrypt individual files, emails, and confidential information.

Gpg4win is a installer package for Windows (2000/XP/2003/Vista) with computer programs and handbooks for EMail and file encryption. Both relevant cryptography standards are supported, OpenPGP and S/MIME (the latter is in progress and currently works with GnuPG2 and Claws Mail). Gpg4win and the software included with Gpg4win are Free Software.

Now, some time ago, I also wrote about TrueCrypt...Free open-source disk encryption software for Windows Vista/XP, Mac OS X, and Linux. What I didn't share is that TrueCrypt can be used to encrypt your entire laptop, as shared below:

I have been running TrueCrypt (www.truecrypt.org) on my laptop for about a year now and have not had a single problem with it. Every time I turn on my computer, I have to type in an encryption key (aka password) before it will boot into Windows. This is the only inconvenience for the end user that I am aware of.

We are actually looking at deploying this for all of our laptops here at [regional service center name]. We will have to keep all of the Rescue CDs in case a password is forgotten, but that shouldn’t happen seeing as we will be documenting our passwords (within an encrypted file of course). We will probably turn all CDs into ISO files and just store them on a server.

Even if you don't encrypt your entire laptop's hard drive as described above, you should definitely consider creating an encrypted volume. Surely you can spare 4-5 gigs for encryption of confidential documents? And, it's pretty easy to backup the volumes to external hard drives and then open them on a different computer--provided you install TrueCrypt (it's available in a portable configuration) and remember your passcode.

If such security seems excessive to you, ask yourself a simple question--Are you sure you'd want other folks to see what's in those work-related (or even personal stuff like health) data files? To have unrestricted access to confidential data?

National Writing Project in San Antonio

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:24:41 -0500

Anyone else attending the National Writing Project in San Antonio in November, 2008? I've already registered for a few sessions (they're free!) and excited about the idea of being in the presence of so many writers.

One of the curious things is that the writing and technology sessions are already FULL. Amazing, right? Question I have is, how come not all the sessions have technology embedded in them? How can you write and collaborate well WITHOUT the technology?

Why is anyone still trying to teach writing without technology being a natural part of that?

Those questions aside, I'm thrilled at the prospect of being around so many writers. It's the equivalent of reading a book on writing well...it just gets me going with all the possible ideas.

That's a Girl Blog

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:19:30 -0500

"That was a girly throw!"

"You scream like a girl!"

"You [substitute verb] like a girl!"

Would you be offended if someone said to you, "You write like a girl? All touchy-feely and relationship focused?" Michele over at The Bamboo Project Blog asks this question:

Why do you think women and minorities don't tend to make the Top Blogger lists in our space? Should we be doing something about that? What do we need to do?

The truth is, I'd want to be judged, not by my gender or ethnicity, but my writing. If I write and sound like a girl, wow, what an opportunity (oh no, Seth Godin's influence lingers) that is for me to find a niche where being a guy but writing like a girl is welcomed (no suggestions, please!).

What I need to do is ask myself, "How can I appreciate other people's writing?" Well, that's too easy. I'm looking for writing that is authentic, has a genuine voice that I can hear in my head while I'm reading, no matter what that voice is saying...I want that voice, whether it's quiet and inviting or loud and brash, to help me see the reality the author is creating.

Unfortunately, I find most of the writing I read these days to be devoid of that voice...or that is to say, I want to read/hear NEW voices rather than the same ones, including myself. I find myself searching for that voice that speaks with quiet passion that says, "I'm sharing my story, my life as it is" in such a way that I want to sit down and read for a few more hours. Where has that writing gone?

I reminisce not just about the pennies from heaven, but to illustrate the point that writing begets writing. Every piece I’ve published in the past is in my writing today, which is why I want my students to begin publishing now.
Eduholic: Publish or Perish

i really enjoyed these two entries. The common thread? Voice.

Toilet Bowls and Opportunity

mguhlin@gmail.com (Miguel Guhlin - www.mguhlin.net) — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:48:07 -0500

Source: http://images-cdn01.associatedcontent.com/image/A3532/35326/300_35326.jpg

Sometimes, opportunities aren't flushed down the toilet...maybe, opportunities are what is left over AFTER you flush. That's crazy, isn't it?

Drudge or Dread the day away. It happens and time drags. Someone--sorry, missed you when I had to restart the browser as Firefox updated to 3.0.x--highlighted Seth Godin's recent entry about Get to vs have to. Seth writes:

How much of your day is spent doing things you have to do (as opposed to the things you get to do.) In my experience, as people become successful and happier (the subset that are both) I find that the percentage shifts. These folks end up spending more and more time on the get to tasks. You'd think that this happens because their success permits them to skip or delegate the have to tasks. And to some extent, this is true. But far more than that, these people redefine what they do all day. They view the tasks as opportunities instead of drudge work.

A simple redefinition transformed the quality of their day, and more important, the perception of their work.

I don't know about you, but redefining some of what life throws at you as opportunities instead of drudge work is well...baloney. Isn't it? Sure, it works some of the time, but at some point, all you are really doing is adjusting your own attitude, and there is an objective reality that you measure up against.

I'm always reminded of the story of the janitor whom everyone thought was wonderful, wise, and witty, self-fulfilled, but at the end of the day, he was still a janitor making a few dollars, someone who'd wasted their time in school and "failed" as we define success today--college graduate, uh, no. What external, objective reality did he use to assess his progress? When he's scraping the toilet, is that a rewarding job? What opportunity is there in scrubbing the toilet clean, only to watch pre-teen boys mess it up again? We'll come back to this question.

How is that choice one makes to choose how to assess one's worth by an external measuring stick any different than viewing tasks as opportunities instead of drudge? I'm not sure, and hey, that's why I'm writing this. To find out. I have to remind myself because I've been stuck in the how-to rut for a bit.

Wait! That's exactly what I've been doing...spending more time in the drudge tasks, but discovering that *I* enjoy them. I enjoy creating a manual, and especially today when it's so easy to publish to a worldwide audience of folks that guarantee it will be used FAR MORE than what it might be if i just passed it on to someone local. But creating those manuals just became a low-wage job...there are tons of folks creating how-to manuals.

Does that fact make my work less valuable to me? No...back to our janitor. I actually have met those wise old janitors, custodians, whatever the politically correct word is now. I like to think of them as wonderful people who have somehow transcended the stigma of being toilet bowl scrapers. Somehow, they have found a way to be happy doing what they're doing, taking pride in their work.

One gentleman, about to retire from being a custodian for however many years, proudly displayed his toilet bowl scraper. Honestly, I was inquiring about his technique..."How do you get the bowls so darn white?" He took some time out of his busy schedule--when custodians are proud of their work, there is an unending list of things to do...when they're not, well, you know--to show me.

That day, for about 10 minutes or so, garbed in a tie and long-sleeve shirt and dress pants, I learned a lot about scraping bowls. I'm not sure if he redefined his reality to see an opportunity to get ahead. Instead, he saw it as an opportunity to learn, even if he was engaged in drudge work that is considered "beneath educators" (well, not kindergarten teachers <evil grin>).

As I reflect on that older, bald-headed, Hispanic, wrinkled, tidily-dressed (for a custodian, whatever that means) man, I can't help but wonder if this person who took the time to learn how to clean toilet bowls so that they were pristine, who took the time to teach me how to clean toilet bowls, if he had been engaged many years ago...well...if he'd have been wearing the tie and the long-sleeve shirt.

And, whether I, without benefit of support, would have found myself as a custodian...and whether I would have had the courage to redefine my drudge work as opportunities for continuous learning and teaching. But wait...I still can do that sitting behind my desk.