BEGIN:

Here are my top 10 2008 K12 Online Conference podcasts for busy principals and superintendents (in no particular order). These are the K12 Online presentations that I think are most likely to interest, educate, and entertain administrators as well as make them think!

1. There’s something going on here you need to know about… (Dennis Richards)
2. Current leadership models are inadequate for disruptive innovations (Scott McLeod)
3. The voices of School 2.0: School reform as described by the words and images of the people of the Science Leadership Academy (Chris Lehmann)
4. I like Delicious things: An introduction to tagging and folksonomies (Chris Betcher)
5. Telling the new story: Leverage points for inspiring change orientation (David Warlick)
6. Oh the possibilities (Lisa Parisi)
7. Games in education (Sylvia Martinez)
8. Facilitating technology integration: A synthesis of the research (Jon Becker)
9. “What did you do in school yesterday, today, and three years ago?” (H Songhai)
10. Parental engagement in the 21st century: Leveraging Web 2.0 tools to engage parents in non-traditional ways (Lorna Constantini & Matt Montagne)

Load these onto an iPod, hand it to a busy school administrator, and say, “Here are some presentations that I think you’ll enjoy while you’re exercising or driving around. After you’ve listened to a few, let me know what you think!”

Image Source: 7 out of 10 SAISD Blogging Course participants responding

“I have found that this course has made sharing information with my students and their families,” shared a recent participant about their experience in the brand new Virtual Learner Series: SAISD Blogging course, available 100% online. That participant went on to say, “Online professional learning/development for work-related purposes is a great experience. It allows for you to learn at your own pace and still offers support for those who need support. I enjoy trying to solve each task set forth independently and only seek assistance when needed.” As the course facilitator, I was thrilled to read those words!

This May, 2009, I launched a new element of the Virtual Learner Series. The SAISD Blogging online course–6 hours in length, earning participants both GT and CPE hours in one fell swoop–is described in this way:

This introductory course on using blogs in the classroom! You’ll have an opportunity to explore how many educators around the world are using blogs, podcasting, as well as various forms of copyright, to transform how they approach teaching, learning and leading in their specific situation. You will also be expected to join the global learning conversation!

To give you a flavor of the conversations ongoing in these courses between SAISD participants, consider the following:

INDEPENDENCE

• I especially love the independence and flexibility offered by online courses.
• I like that I can earn GT hours on my own time.
• I love this as a mechanism for earning GT hours.
• I would like to have more of these opportunities.
• Online courses make it easy to obtain professional development in different areas of need.
• This makes it easier to work courses into my schedule.

MESSAGE TO OTHER SAISD EDUCATORS ABOUT ONLINE LEARNING

• Give it a try. You’ll learn at your own pace and at a time you can pick. It’s great!
• I would highly recommend this course to others. I think it is a great way [blogging] to have information sent out to the community.
• This online learning experience kept my interest and provided me with learning that I know will benefit me as an educator and, thus, will positively impact student learning.  I especially enjoyed being able to login at my convenience and from multiple portals (home and work).  The content was challenging and interesting and I found that the activities/projects were relevant and, thus, met my needs as an adult learner.
• Try it. You will be surprised.

MAKING THE MOUNTAIN COME TO YOU

However, it wasn’t all perfect. This was my first time facilitating in the SAISD Blogging course, a course I created and launched rather hastily. I expected to encounter a few obstacles in a perfect launch. One I anticipated but thought I could handle included extensive travelling which limited my time to respond and participate in discussions. However, I was pleased to see that one participant wrote, “The course facilitation was awesome. I didn’t have any problems getting any assistance during the entire course” while another wrote, “Yes, the help was tremendous.”

And yet, I could definitely see the truth of this statement, “Yes and no.  I was disappointed that the latest info we had was that the course would end at midnight on Friday, yet it stayed up till Saturday.  I sent out 3 questions on the support forum asking for the final part but I’ve never heard anything until now.”

One of the challenges of online communication in a forum is that you have GO TO THE FORUM to find out what’s been posted. In my previous course–Intro to Online Learning–I required emailed copies of the forums. This can sometimes result in overwhelming amount of email to course participants…even with this modification, almost half of respondents shared (check survey results right) that there was a lot of email. So, when someone posted something, I saw it immediately. In this course, I decided to see if just having posts shared on the forum would work…apparently, NOT FOR ME. It’s a valuable lesson I take forward into future online facilitated courses.

Some obstacles I couldn’t foresee were seismic. They included 1) Network Outage over a 4 day period and 2) Blog server going offline. Fortunately, both occurred concurrently, not consecutively or the course would have been “dead.” These two obstacles resulted in comments like the following:

• Have all technical issues resolved.
• I think I would have made it a 2 week course, just in case the internet goes down.
• The main complaints were technical which were out of the organizational range.

Fortunately, these were resolved in a timely manner. Some of the feedback about the SAISD BLogging course that surprised participants included the following:

• I am surprised at how much information can be gained by the online course.
• I didn’t expect to learn about podcast and google reader RSS.  I really expected only blogging information.
• All the technology applications were fairly easy.
• How easy blogging and podcasts are.
• I was surprised by how easy it was to podcast - and not expensive at all.  Thanks for sharing this learning.  I also enjoyed the archive of assorted podcasts - in a multitude of subject areas - nice!
• This is for the VLS Blog course. I was really surprised at how easy it is to get a blog going. I really enjoy everything I learned.
• How useful it was and the many ideas I got from it. I really had no idea how blogging worked or how it might be used in a classroom. Now I do.

Finally, participants were asked to create blogs to use in SAISD. Here are some of those along with feedback (when available) from other course participants about their respective blog:

• Julissa Santellanes SAISD Blog -
  Feedback: Great blog. I loved reading about your classes and all your students. Yes, I’m sure it will be hard to see them leave, but they will come back for carnivals , Back to School Nights and to see their favorite teacher. If they have little bnrothers and sisters you can ask them about your former students. That’s how I keep track of my students in highschool, and sometimes after school I’ll hear a voice say, “Hi, Ms.” and I’ll turn to see a tall, young man or woman and try to remember what they looked like in the 6,7 or 8th grade.”
• Lisa Sparks’ SAISD Blog
• Deborah Guardia’s SAISD Blog
  Feedback: Debbie, nice work on the blog! That you’re using it to disseminate swine flu information is also helpful for parents!
• Sandra Segner’s SAISD Blog
  Feedback: Great Job Sandra!! I just listened to your podcast and I will attempt mine shortly.  Nice job.
• Jennie Zaldivar’s SAISD Blog

FUTURE OFFERINGS OF THIS COURSE
If you’re interested in registering for future SAISD Blog courses, I encourage you to visit ePath! There will be multiple sessions of this course being offered this summer!

It’s Like Having a Teacher In Your Pocket
Rhonda Stonecipher, San Marcos CISD (picture center above)
Presentation at the 05/15/2009 San Antonio Regional Technology Directors Meeting
Hosted by Alamo Heights ISD’s Jennifer Faulkner

(Image Caption: Right Click image left to view full-size)

• Scanned Copy of the Handout (this is great! Kudos to Rhonda and San Marcos CISD)
• Podcasting handout

1. Podcasting in the Bilingual/ESL Classroom: Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Portable Computing: Started with $7500. A lot of the kids are from different countries (India, Japan, Russia, Mexico and others). We’re about 40 kids effective when we first started it.
2. Accelerate Learning - The reason for this is that we want to accelerate learning. Kids new to the country didn’t have computers and lacked opportunities to practice English. Go from ordinary to extraordinary. The iPod enables them to Create, Distribute and Accessible.
3. iPods Can be used for Learning in the Bilingual/ESL Classroom…iPod is a great access device for learning. Podcasting and iPods simplifies content distribution. We also let kids take them home (check them out from the library). We’ve had very few problems with kids altering what we put on the iPods. Now we use it with Special Ed Students. We can share this with teachers (including newcomer teachers)…and helped bridge the gap between teachers and newcomer teachers, and they talk and collaborate more…same with special ed teachers.
4. Why Use iPods: Differentiate instruction for students, scaffolding for new learning, Portable anywhere/anytime learning, Review and Reinforcement, creativity and imagination, collaboration and student centered.
5. News for Coverage: Newcomer Academy by WOAI.com. Only 1 in 3 schools in the country. This is supplemental. Starting the 5th year with iPods.
6. Learn by Listening: iPods is not just for music. Kids can learn everything that there is in school. Students read 20 minutes (oral reading) every night using their iPods+microphone. This creates an ongoing sample of work…teachers can help students appreciate their progress towards losing their accent, which students’ desire.
7. Recognition: U.S. Dept of Education, KEYE of Austin (Fred Cantu), WOAI of San Antonio, Texas Lone Star Magazine Cover Story, San Marcos Daily Record, Radio Interviews, TexasISD.com

   (Image Caption: Thanks to Joel Adkins, Kerrville ISD for contributing this photo of Rhonda’s preso!)

8. Reach All Learners: reaches visual learners with videos/photos/powerpoints with voice overs doing vocabulary, lyrics=transcripts/lecture notes, artwork=illustrations/speaker photos, videos=visualization/documentaries/demonstrations. Mentions SIOP (Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners)…these techniques can be taken and made to work on the iPod. Students are able to write scripts, match pictures with words, and retell what they learn. All iPods are engraved with San Marcos CISD and all local pawnshops know about it. Only 2 iPods stolen in 4 years.

   Since all the classes are the same, it’s really easy…we name all the iPods the same thing (1500 iPods) and just add content to the playlist. You can plug in 3-4 iPods at the same time…if they have the same name, they all get the same thing. Teachers will sync them during a changing period (20 at a time). It’s all in the setup…put the work in the beginning, it pays off later.

   At high school, it’s a little different. Sync only the list of kids in that class…will probably purchase pre-paid VISA cards. I recommend going with the iPod Nanos…

   Audience Contribution:No way to create a playlist for the movies. Mention of Cosmopod app (download FLV and more to your iPod). Don’t provide students calculators.

9. Keys to Success: Board support, administrative support, parent involvement, professional development (requires on the job training, not just a one shot workshop), technical support, and Apple Support.
10. Curriculum Resources: Easily shared resources…UnitedStreaming Video, Teacher Powerpoint Lectures, Educational Podcasts, Audio books, Audio of Vocabulary & Spelling, Music, Student Created Projects, Parent News, and Student Videos.
    
    Grammar Girl, all the Disney stuff is really good.
11. Results:
    - 50% showed improvement by 1 letter grade from fall to spring (all subjects);
    - 98% showed improvement since inception of iPod project;
    - 63% progressed 1 level TELPAS;
    - 100% show improvement in science

    DeafEd teachers need time to produce materials for their deaf education students.

12. Expansion: PreK Bilingual, High School ESL, SSI grade levels, Gifted and Talented, and Special Education.
13. Lessons Learned:
    -Better able to meet state expectations
    -NCLB
    - Improved performance
    -Confident Students
    Do you know enough about me to teach me? by Stephen G. Peters

    Kids listen to media technology and TV and their peers. If you have students create material for iPods, they’re more likely to listen to their peers than they are their teacher.

    Students created podcasts with Garageband (shared some examples).

Please be aware that the ITLS web server was down and is now back up (as of 8:38 AM). In case you encounter future outages, please be aware that there are backup links online at http://intouch.saisd.net that you can route teachers/staff to.

There, you will find an alternate way to login to GATS. As soon as the server is restarted (the request was called in at 7:50 AM), all should be back to normal. Updates on the situation are shared online at http://intouch.saisd.net/itblog

Thank you,
Miguel Guhlin
Director, Instructional Technology Services
mguhlin@saisd.net
210-527-1400

Key Area 1: Teaching & Learning - DEVELOPING TECH (12 points out of 21 minimum needed to achieve Target Tech Level). This means that in SAISD, the following might be true:

Where We Are - Developing Tech
Instruction is teacher-directed and students regularly use technology on an individual basis to access electronic information and develop communication and presentation projects. There is minimal use of technology in foundation TEKS. Most Technology Applications TEKS are met K-8; high school campuses teach at least 2 Technology Applications courses (in SAISD, we know this isn’t true).

Where We Need To Be - Target Tech
The teacher serves as facilitator, mentor, and co-learner. Students have on-demand access to all appropriate technologies to complete activities that have been seamlessly integrated into all core content areas. All Technology Applications TEKS are met K-8; high school campuses offer all Technology Applications courses and teach at least 4 courses.

Key Area 2: Educator Preparation and Development - DEVELOPING TECH (11 points out of 21 min needed).

This means that in SAISD, the following might be true:

Where We Are - Developing Tech
Use of technology is for administrative tasks and classroom management. There is use of online resources. 40% of educators meet SBEC standards. Administrators expect teachers to use technology. 6-24% of technology budget allocated for professional development.

Where We Need To Be - Target Tech
There are regular technology-supported learner-centered projects. There is vertical alignment of Technology Applications TEKS and anytime, anywhere use of online resources. Administrators ensure integration of appropriate technology. 100% of educators meet SBEC standards. 30% or more of budget allocated for professional development.

Key Area 3: Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support - DEVELOPING TECH (13 out of 21 min needed).

This means that in SAISD, the following might be true:

Where We Are - Developing Tech
Campus plan aligned with Long-Range Plan for Technology. Teachers and administrators have vision for technology. One technical support staff to 750 computers. There is a full-time district technology director. The Technology Allotment and local funding is used for purchases.

Where We Need To Be - Target Tech
Campus plan focused on student success, supported by board and administration. There is one technical support to 350 computers. Campus instructional support staff. Technology allotment, e-Rate, state and federal competitive grants and local funding are available.

Key Area 4: Infrastructure for Technology - DEVELOPING TECH (14 out of 21 min needed).

This means that in SAISD, the following might be true:

Where We Are - Developing Tech
There are 5-9 students per computer. There is direct connectivity to the Internet in 50% of classrooms and library. Most rooms are connected to WAN/LAN. One educator per computer, shared use of other resources.

Where We Need To Be - Target Tech
There is on-demand access for every student, direct connectivity available in all rooms and web-based resources in multiple rooms. All rooms are connected to WAN. They are fully equipped with appropriate technology.

Overall, the District is classified as DEVELOPING TECH.

Special thanks to Diana Benner (Instructional Technology) for summarizing the results in an Excel spreadsheet for sharing.

The two Assessments include one for ALL 8th graders and one for all campus administrators (e.g., principals and assistant principals).

Completion status (05/14/2009) for the 3 assessments SAISD is completing include:

1) NCLB Administrator Assessment: 90%

2) 8th Grader Technology Literacy Assessment

3) LOTI Assessment Completion Rate: 37.5 %

Based on those results, here is what the graph would look like for SAISD…note that Instructional Technology Services is seeking a completion rate of at least 72%.

With a median score of Level 2, one question that comes to mind is, What is the greatest obstacle teachers report as facing?

Note that student computer use falls mostly into ONCE A MONTH or ONCE A WEEK.

As a result of the graph below, it is safe to assert that based on the data collected thus far, 45% and more of SAISD staff would NOT meet the ISTE’s National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for Teachers, nor would students meet the ISTE NETS for Students. Furthermore, it could be asserted that higher-order thinking, engaged learning, authentic learning activities and technology use (HEAT) is NOT present in most lessons.

Deadline for completion is coming up soon!

For more information, view the link below:

INSTRUCTIONS ON COMPLETION OF THE ASSESSMENTS IS AVAILABLE ONLINE

All SAISD blogs are now back online after needed maintenance!  I apologize for the inconvenience this may have caused you. Thank you for your patience and your continued support of SAISD’s GET A BLOG! Initiative.

Access the 8^th grade Technology Literacy Assessment at: http://saisdtechassessment.howtomaster.com/

Note:

Testing Period: April 6th - May 15th 2009.

Who Completes the Post-Technology Applications On-line Assessment?

8th graders who are currently enrolled in any SAISD campus.  Accounts with usernames and passwords have been created for these students.  Any student unable to log in with their Student ID number and their username and the password of “saisd” (without the quotes) will not have to complete the assessment.  If they can not log in, assign them another task.

Taking the Assessment 

Step 1: Turn Computers on,
Log in with School Student log in
Enter, click OK

Step 2:  Open Internet Explorer
Type in the following URL http://saisdtechassessment.howtomaster.com/

Step 3:  Log in using your Student ID# and the password is saisd
Click “Continue”

Step 4:  Click on My Courses (found on the left hand side of the menu)
Click on Library SimpleAssessment (center of page)
Click on Student Technology Proficiency (NETS-S 1998) for Windows
Click on Post-Assessment: Student Technology Proficiency (NETS-S 1998) for Windows test (bottom of menu)

Step 5:  Click on Start Test 

Thank you for your assistance in accomplishing this assessment.

Hi! I’d like to invite you to participate in a new, 100% online learning opportunity.

This online learning opportunity is part of SAISD’s Instructional Technology & Learning Services new series entitled the Virtual Learner Series.

Currently, there are two courses in the Virtual Learner Series, including the following:

1. Introduction to Online Learning – This course helps you ascertain whether you are ready for online professional learning. First time online learners often struggle with time management, technical issues, and the shock of learning online. The IOL course tries to ease you into this and help build confidence. This course is a pre-requisite for ALL online learning courses offered in SAISD by Instructional Technology Services and is highly recommended.
CPE Hours: 6; GT Hours: 6

2. Blogging in SAISD – This is an introductory course on using blogs in the classroom! You’ll have an opportunity to explore how many educators around the world are using blogs, podcasting, as well as various forms of copyright, to transform how they approach teaching, learning and leading in their specific situation. You will create your own blog and learn how to add content to it. You will also be expected to join the global learning conversation by building your own academic learning network! Participants need to be prepared to work at least 1 hour, if not more, per day on this course during the 5 day session.
CPE Hours: 6; GT Hours: 6

Since the Blogging in SAISD course is our latest addition to the Virtual Learner Series, here is a little more information on this course:

The course is divided into several parts, including the following:

1. Engaged Learners - In this part, you’ll see how other global educators are using blogs, as well as get set up with your own SAISD blog. You’ll learn to customize it, and create your first blog entry.
2. Build Your Professional Learning Network - In this part, you’ll see how other global educators are using technology to connect, create, communicate and collaborate online. You will also begin to build your own PLN.
3. Exploring Copyright in Online Publications - In this part, you’ll explore new ways of copyrighting content with the intent to share it for educational purposes with others. You will also find a wealth of content created by Internet users intended for a variety of uses. You will also learn how to embed these in your blog.
4. Podcasting Made Simple - In this part, you will learn how podcasts can impact teaching, learning and leading. You will learn how to create your own podcasts using web-based tools like Gabcast.com and how to “embed” that content on your blog.
5. Final Reflection and Action Plan Submission - In this part, you will reflect on learning online, as well as submit your instructional action plan for using blogs and podcasts in the K-12 learning, teaching and leading environment.

Both of these two courses appear in ePath; just search on “VLS” without quotes. The Blogging in SAISD course is due to start in May, although more sessions will be offered this summer.

Thank you for reviewing this online professional learning opportunity! I hope to encounter you online!

Note: You too can subscribe to all SAISD blogs! View this video, create your Google Reader account, and import the SAISDblogs.opml file (link below) into Google Reader.

Here are some of what is happening out there in the SAISD edublogosphere, boasting over 225 blog entries written about teachers and/or students in the San Antonio ISD:

1) All About Me
Many teachers (mostly from Harris Academy) are starting out with All About Me pages as their first blog entry. Some examples:

• Brian Murphy, Harris Academy
• Rosanne Volpert, Harris Academy

2) General Blog Entries
Some of the blog entries that are finding their way out include teachers sharing what they are doing. Here’s one regarding Nature Club at Bonham Academy:

At our first nature club meeting for 2008/2009, we sat in the shade of the playground pecan tree and introduced ourselves and shared what we each love about nature. We made plans for our club including field trips and activities aimed at ecology and nature. We talked about the great number of snout-nosed butterflies that have been fluttering around San Antonio. They have been seen in such great numbers because of the previous drought that killed many of their natural predators, and the rains which watered the Hackberry trees where they lay their eggs and feast. They only have a life-span of 2 weeks, so please try to let them enjoy their short lives! Some students have been seen trying to kill them for no reason. Our next meeting is scheduled for October 14, and we will have visiting animals. All students in 3-7th grades are welcome to join. Younger students can come with their parents.

Others are choosing to engage students, asking them to interpret a particular reading…

T he First Bill of Right states that all Americans are guaranteed “FREEDOM OF SPEECH”. We are allowed to say what we want, but when you are in school this is not true. Please read the article below and post a comment either arguing against or in support of this.

“Students do not, the Court tells us in Tinker vs. Des Moines, “shed their constitutional rights when they enter the schoolhouse door.” But it is also the case that school administrators have a far greater ability to restrict the speech of their students than the government has to restrict the speech of the general public. Student speech cases require a balancing of the legitimate educational objectives and need for school discipline of administrators against the First Amendment values served by extending speech rights of students.

In Tinker, perhaps the best known of the Court’s student speech cases, the Court found that the First Amendment protected the right of high school students to wear black armbands in a public high school, as a form of protest against the Viet Nam War. The Court ruled that this symbolic speech–”closely akin to pure speech”–could only be prohibited by school administrators if they could show that it would cause a substantial disruption of the school’s educational mission.”

Others are discussing what is being covered in class:

• Erosion Pictures
• Technology Election Results

3) Sharing Student Work - Other teachers are sharing student work online, such as these wonderful examples:

• Rachel Woodward’s Third Graders share audio of their performance, as well as images
  
• Richard Brooks (Harris Academy) shares beautiful student art work online.

As we approach school year’s end, I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your hard work over the last year and highlight some final duties that must be taken care of prior to the end of the school year. This email serves as a summary of items shared during the final Campus Technology Representative (CTR) meeting of the 2008-2009 school year.

In this update, we share the following (items in red are action items and time-sensitive):

1. TEA-Mandated Campus Administrator Assessments
2. LOTI Assessment for All Professional Instructional Staff
3. Student Technology Literacy Assessment for Students Who Were 8th Graders during 2008-2009 School Year
4. Online Professional Learning Offerings
5. ENGAGE! Newsletter - Celebrating Technology Use in SAISD Schools
6. Reminder about Student Email Accounts
7. SchoolFlix Self-Paced Learning for ALL

1 - ACTION ITEM - TEA-Mandated Campus Administrator Assessments
The Administrator Self-Assessment will measure the administrator’s level of practice for TEA identified standards. Campus administrators may be defined as campus principals and assistant principals. A weekly memo regarding the assessment will be posted on Monday of next week.The process is as follows; note that this assessment will not be available until April 27.

1. Go to http://itls.saisd.net and click on the STaR Chart Assessment graphic to begin the assessment. A tutorial is available online at http://intouch.saisd.net/itblog/?p=138
2. Complete the Self-Assessment  prior to May 15th.
3. Campus principals failing to complete the assessment by May 15th will be contacted to ensure 100% completion reporting status.

TEA mandates 100% completion of this assessment. Deadline for Completion is May 15, 2009.

2- ACTION ITEM - LOTI Assessment for All Professional Instructional Staff
Due to the District’s Long Range Plan for Technology, the SAISD is obligated to assess teachers, campus instructional coordinators, and content area resource teachers using the LOTI Assessment. The Levels of Technology Implementation (LOTI) Survey–which is 100% online and takes about 15-20 minutes to complete–is a consistent set of measures that accurately reflect the progressive nature of teaching with technology.

Teachers will be expected to login with their Outlook email account name (e.g. if your email is “mguhlin@saisd.net” then your LOTI login is “mguhlin” and birth month/day (e.g. 1022 if you were born October 22).

To access the LOTI, please go to http://itls.saisd.net and click on the LOTI icon. So as to ensure smooth implementation, you are urged to put the following suggestions into practice:

• The administration window for the needs assessment is April 21-May 30, 2009. The needs assessment is available online at http://itls.saisd.net
• Identify the target audience of the assessment:
• Who has to complete the assessment? Teachers, Campus Instructional Coordinators and Library Media Specialists will need to complete the LOTI Assessment.
• Who does not have to complete the assessment? Counselors, nurses, paraeducators need not complete the LOTI Assessment.
• Administer the needs assessment during Faculty Meeting time. It is a 15-20 minute survey.  Since this needs assessment only takes 15-20 minutes to complete, and requires a computer per teacher, consider using computer stations in your computer lab(s) and library. The needs assessment can also be taken from any computer—on or off campus—with high-speed Internet access.
• Encourage those uncomfortable with using technology to pair up with staff who are more comfortable. While each will take the assessment individually, they can also lend a helping hand.
• It is important to note that this needs assessment may not be used for PDAS appraisal purposes. Only aggregated results will be available to principals, although teachers will be able to see their individual assessment totals.
• Rely on campus technology representatives to facilitate all professional instructional staff to take the online assessment. Also be aware that you can rely on the Office of Instructional Technology Services’ staff. You can reach the Office of Instructional Technology Services by calling 527-1400 or via email at “mguhlin@saisd.net”

Deadline for Completion is May 30, 2009.

3- ACTION ITEM - Student Technology Literacy Assessment (Only Relevant for Campuses with 8th grade students)
Prior to  May 15, 2009, you are expected to conduct an online technology literacy assessment of all eighth graders at your campus. Instructions will be provided in this memo for you to follow. If your campus has not already begun planning to assess ALL 8th grade students at your campus, please contact the Office of Instructional Technology Services at 210-527-1400 or via email at tmills@saisd.net for instructions. Information is also available in an April, 2009 Weekly Memo and online at
http://intouch.saisd.net/itblog/?p=57

4 - Online Professional Learning Opportunities
SAISD’s Instructional Technology Services has prepared several online courses; these will become available for registration on June 1, 2009. Online courses can be taken from anywhere you have access to an Internet-accessible computer; those courses include the following:

• GATS - Grading Made Easy (6 hrs CPE). Be sure to check out the Video Tutorials for Teachers and Administrators (and don’t be afraid to suggest topics!)
• iDataPortal (6 hrs CPE)
• Parent/Employee Notification System (PENS) (4 hrs CPE)
• Get a Blog! (6 hrs CPE/GT)
• Introduction to Online Literature Circles(6 hrs CPE/GT)

5 - ENGAGE! eNewsletter
You are encouraged to read about some of the great ways technology is being used in SAISD by students and educators!

The ENGAGE! newsletter can be found online at

http://intouch.saisd.net/itblog/?page_id=70

6 - STUDENT EMAIL ACCOUNTS
Please remember that you can get student email accounts quickly with advance notice. Student email accounts are created in advance of the school year, so for schools where students need email accounts, consider using a district email account (iMail) rather than sending students off to Hotmail or other free web-based email account. It is a violation of District policy–as well as terms of service for web-based email providers–to direct students in K-8 to be untruthful when obtaining a Hotmail or Yahoo mail account. It is strongly recommended your students use District iMail accounts. Contact the Office of Instructional Technology for more information.

7 - SCHOOLFLIX SELF-PACED LEARNING FOR ALL
SchoolFlix provides basic a self-paced learning system for San Antonio School District employees, students, and parents who want to improve their skills in the following applications:

• Microsoft Excel-a spreadsheet application Microsoft Outlook-a email and scheduling application.
• Microsoft Word-a word processing application.

Find out more at http://itls.saisd.net/schoolflix

THANK YOU!
Thank you for your support in keeping the conversation and dialogue going. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at mguhlin@saisd.net or phone at 210-527-1400.

Wishing you well,

Miguel Guhlin
Director, Instructional Technology Services
Email: mguhlin@saisd.net
Web: http://itls.saisd.net
Phone: 210-527-1400

********************************************************
Ask not what computers can do with students,
but rather, what students can do with computers.
********************************************************

Proust, Marcel

For the second  consecutive year  Technology Integration Facilitator Sue Harris has partnered with Highland Hills Elementary School CIC Diana Rumfield and the fourth grade teachers at HHES in offering an innovative Writers Camp for fourth grade students . The format of the camp is simple. Fourth grade students take a Benchmark with a writers prompt, teachers score their writing, any student who receives a 3 or 4 on their benchmark are separated into a Writers Camp with PhotoStory; there (5 days, 1 hour a day) Ms. Harris teaches students about illustrating and story boarding  high, next students narrate their illustrations in PhotoStory and view and peer score their projects. Meanwhile students in the classrooms are rotated to another teacher in the fourth grade in hopes of gathering new insight into writing strategies and teacher feedback. A week passes and another Benchmark writing is scored. Improved students motivated by the technology innovation their peers engaged in previously are now enrolled in the PhotoStory Writers Camp. This program has enlightened many student writers changing students from a rigid learning perspective into open-minded writers, highly motivated to not only perform the writing assignment, but also to collaborate with their peers.The Writers camp encourages non-linguistic representation, (Marzano’s 9) planning,(storyboarding)and the use of student narration ,this component compels students to compare their writing (voice) skills to others and improve, based on peer review. Take a look at HHES student work below.

amri

mytia

ashlynn

You can now find video tutorials for GATS online! The tutorials cover a variety of topics and are geared–initially–for teachers, administrators and campus contacts.

Diana Benner (Technology Integration Facilitator) has been working non-stop to put together an online course for GATS–that new teachers can participate in starting in June, 2009–as well as picked out hot topics for the video tutorials.

Access the LoTi Lounge at: http://www.lotilounge.com/

Step Two:

Enter your previously registered User ID (your Outlook email account name, such as “mguhlin” if your email is “mguhlin@saisd.net”) and Password (birth month/date such as “1001″ if your birthmonth/day was October 1.  If your birth month has a leading zero, your password could be ‘114′ or ‘0114′ for January 14.) in the fields provided then click ‘Submit’ to enter the LoTi Lounge.

If you are a registered user but do not remember your LOGIN information, click on the ‘Need help signing in?’ link. Entering your email address will prompt the LoTi system to email you a copy of your User ID and Password.

Step Three:

Once inside the LoTi Lounge, click on the Take the LoTi Digital-Age Survey ‘Start’ arrow to access the LoTi Digital-Age Survey.

ABOUT THE SURVEY

Using the DETAILS for the 21st Century Questionnaire for professional development planning is part of an ongoing nationwide effort to sharpen educator skillsets as defined by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. Individual information will remain anonymous, while the aggregate information will provide various comparisons for your school, school district, regional service agency, and/or state. Please fill out as much of the information as possible.

The DETAILS for the 21st Century Questionnaire takes about 20-25 minutes to complete. The purpose of this questionnaire is to determine your current professional development priorities related to technology and instruction based on your current position (i.e., pre-service teacher, inservice teacher, building administrator, instructional specialist, media specialist, higher education faculty).

Completing the questionnaire will enable your educational institution to make better choices regarding staff development and future technology purchases. The questionnaire statements were developed from typical responses of educators who ranged from non-users to sophisticated users of technology in the classroom. Questionnaire statements will represent different uses of technology that you currently experience or support, in varying degrees of intensity, and should be recorded appropriately on the scale. Please respond to the statements in terms of your present uses or support of technology in the classroom.

Some of the questions you’ll encounter in the LOTI Digital-Age Survey:

1. Which category best describes your primary subject/specialty?
2. Which category best describes your primary grade level?
3. Do you feel like technology is relevant to your instructional setting?
4. What do you perceive as your greatest obstacle to further using technology in your instructional setting?

1. I am skilled in merging the classroom technology resources with relevant and challenging, student-directed learning experiences that address the content standards.
2. My students frequently discover innovative ways to use our school’s advanced learning technologies to make a real difference in their lives, in their school, and in their community.
3. My students collaborate with me in setting both group and individual academic goals that provide opportunities for them to direct their own learning aligned to the content standards.
4. My students participate in online collaborative projects (not including email exchanges) with other students, government agencies, or business professionals to solve their self-selected problems or issues.
5. Having students apply what they have learned in my classroom to the world they live in is a cornerstone to my approach to instruction and assessment.
6. I have an immediate need for some outside help with designing student-centered performance assessments using the available technology that involve students applying what they have learned to make a difference in their school/community.
7. Curriculum demands, scheduling, and/or budget constraints at our school have prevented me from using any of the available technology resources during the instructional day.
8. My students have immediate access to all forms of the most advanced and complete technology infrastructure available that they use to pursue problem-solving opportunities surrounding issues of personal and/or social importance.
9. I am comfortable training others in using basic software applications, browsing/searching the Internet, and using specialized technologies unique to my grade level or content area.
10. I am proficient with basic software applications such as word processing tools, internet browsers, spreadsheet programs, and multimedia presentations.
11. I frequently assign web-based projects to my students as a means of emphasizing specific complex thinking skill strategies aligned to the content standards.
12. I regularly use different technology resources for personal or professional communication and planning.
13. My students frequently use the classroom technology resources for research purposes that require them to investigate an issue/problem, think creatively, take a position, make decisions, and/ or seek out a solution.
14. My students use the Internet for (1) collaboration with others, (2) publishing, (3) communication, and (4) research to solve issues and problems of personal interest that address specific content standards.
15. I have an immediate need for professional development opportunities that place greater emphasis on using my classroom technology resources with challenging and differentiated learning experiences rather than using specific software applications to support my current lesson plans.
16. Computers and related technology resources in my classroom are not used during the instructional day, nor are there any plans to include them at this time.
17. I consistently provide alternative assessment opportunities that encourage students to “showcase” their understanding of the content standards in nontraditional ways.
18. Constant technical problems prevent me and/or my students from using the classroom technology resources during the instructional day.
19. My current instructional program is effective without the use of technology; therefore, I have no current plans to change it to include any technology resources.
20. My students identify important school/community issues or problems, then use multiple technology resources as well as human resources beyond the school building (e.g., partnerships with business professionals, community groups) to solve them.
21. Though I may use technology for teacher preparation, I am not comfortable using my classroom technology resources as part of my instructional day.
22. Students’ use of information and inquiry skills to solve problems of personal relevance guides the types of instructional materials used in and out of my classroom.
23. Students in my classroom design either web-based or multimedia presentations to showcase their research (e.g., information gathering) on topics that I assign in class.
24. My students create their own web pages or multimedia presentations to showcase what they have learned in class rather than preparing traditional reports.
25. Students’ questions and previous experiences heavily influence the content that I teach as well as how I design learning activities for my students.
26. It is easy for me to identify and implement software applications, peripherals, and web-based resources that support student’s complex thinking skills and promote self-directed problem solving.
27. Students taking meaningful action at school or in the community relating to the content standards learned in class is an essential part of my approach to using the classroom technology resources.
28. My immediate professional development need is to learn how my students can use our classroom technology resources to achieve specific outcomes aligned to the content standards.
29. Due to time constraints and/or lack of experience, I prefer using instructional units recommended by my colleagues that emphasize complex thinking skills, student technology use, content standards, and student relevancy to the real world.
30. Given my current curriculum demands and class size, it is much easier and more practical for my students to learn about and use computers and related technology resources outside of my classroom (e.g., computer lab, resource center).
31. I use our technology resources daily to access the Internet, send email, and/or plan classroom activities.
32. I can solve most technical problems with our classroom’s technology resources during the instructional day without calling for technical assistance.
33. I can locate and implement instructional units that emphasize students using the classroom technology resources to solve “real-world” problems or issues, but I don’t usually create them myself.
34. Problem-based learning is common in my classroom because it allows students to use the classroom technology resources as a tool for higher-order thinking and personal inquiry.
35. Locating quality software programs, websites, or CD’s to supplement my curriculum and reinforce specific content standards is a priority of mine at this time.
36. I need access to more resources and/or training to begin using the available technology resources as part of my instructional day.
37. I frequently engage students in learning activities that require them to analyze information, think creatively, make predictions, and/or draw conclusions using the classroom technology resources.

When you are done taking the LOTI, you will see an image like the one below:

	LoTi
	PCU
	CIP

21st Century Skills Alignment
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Literacy.

Cc:     Campus Instructional Coordinators (CICs), Library Media Specialists, and Campus Technology Representatives (CTRs)

From: Miguel Guhlin, Director, Instructional Technology Services

Re:     Technology-Related Assessments

Date:  04/20/2009

Administrators and instructional staff play a pivotal role in determining how well technology is used in our schools. Acknowledging that role,  No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires campus administrators to achieve acceptable performance on standards-based performance profiles of technology user skills as defined by the state. On April 14, 2009, achievement of this performance was mandated by the Texas Education Agency and deadline for completion is May 15, 2009.Reporting deadlines for NCLB also necessitate updating of LOTI information.

Two educator assessments are to be implemented, including 1) The NCLB Administrator Assessment for campus principals and 2) The Levels of Technology Implementation for classroom teachers. These electronic, paperless needs assessments provide critical data related to long range technology planning for SAISD, as well as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) funding. Results of the two assessments will be shared with teachers, and aggregated at both the campus and district level through meetings with principals and campus instructional coordinators.

ASSESSMENT #1 - NCLB ADMINISTRATOR ASSESSMENT FOR CAMPUS PRINCIPALS
Timeline for Completion is April 27- May 15, 2009.

The Administrator Self-Assessment will measure the administrator’s level of practice for each standard based on their selection as to the level that best describes their practice. Campus administrators may be defined as campus principals and assistant principals. Individual administrator assessment data will be held confidential.

The process is as follows; note that this assessment will not be available until April 27.

1. Go to http://itls.saisd.net and click on the STaR Chart Assessment graphic to begin the assessment. A tutorial will be available online at http://intouch.saisd.net/itblog/?p=138
2. Complete the Self-Assessment  prior to May 15th.
3. Campus principals failing to complete the assessment by May 15th will be contacted to ensure 100% completion reporting status.

TEA mandates 100% completion of this assessment.

ASSESSMENT #2 - LOTI ASSESSMENT FOR CAMPUS TEACHERS, CICS, LIBRARIANS
Timeline for Completion is April 21 - May 30, 2009.

The Levels of Technology Implementation (LOTI) Survey is a consistent set of measures that accurately reflect the progressive nature of teaching with technology. The LOTI survey has been employed nationally and internationally to assess tens of thousands of classroom teachers’ level of technology implementation. Completing the questionnaire will enable your school to make better choices regarding staff development and future technology purchases. It will also enable the District to respond to the questions “What impact is technology having on student academic achievement? How has technology funding for professional development changed teaching practices?”

Teachers will be expected to login with their Outlook email account name (e.g. if your email is “mguhlin@saisd.net” then your LOTI login is “mguhlin” and birth month/day (e.g. 1022 if you were born October 22).

So as to ensure smooth implementation, you are urged to put the following suggestions into practice:

• The administration window for the needs assessment is April 21-May 30, 2009. The needs assessment is available online at http://itls.saisd.net
• Identify the target audience of the assessment:
• Who has to complete the assessment? Teachers, Campus Instructional Coordinators and Library Media Specialists will need to complete the LOTI Assessment.
• Who does not have to complete the assessment? Counselors, nurses, paraeducators need not complete the LOTI Assessment.
• Administer the needs assessment during Faculty Meeting time. It is a 15-20 minute survey.  Since this needs assessment only takes 15-20 minutes to complete, and requires a computer per teacher, consider using computer stations in your computer lab(s) and library. The needs assessment can also be taken from any computer—on or off campus—with high-speed Internet access.
• Encourage those uncomfortable with using technology to pair up with staff who are more comfortable. While each will take the assessment individually, they can also lend a helping hand.
• It is important to note that this needs assessment may not be used for PDAS appraisal purposes. Only aggregated results will be available to principals, although teachers will be able to see their individual assessment totals.
• Rely on campus technology representatives to facilitate all professional instructional staff to take the online assessment. Also be aware that you can rely on the Office of Instructional Technology Services’ staff. You can reach the Office of Instructional Technology Services by calling 527-1400 or via email at “mguhlin@saisd.net”

Deadline for Completion is May 30, 2009.
Should you have any questions, please contact Miguel Guhlin in the Office of Instructional Technology Services at 527-1400.

To complete the Administrator Self-Assessment, follow the instructions below:

1. Access the STaR Chart website at http://starchart.esc12.net/

2. Click Login, which is located above NCLB Login & Overview Info

3. Enter your unique campus number, 015907### (### refers to your campus number) as your username and enter your password. If you have forgotten your password, enter your username (campus number) under Forgot Password and your password will be emailed to you. Click Login.

4. After entering your Login information, click on the NCLB tab.

5. Then click on Section 3 and the self-assessment will appear.

6. There are only six questions. Select the choice that best describes your practice for each question.

7. Click Submit when you are done.

The following is a note that is being sent to all Campus Technology Representatives (CTRs):

Dear Campus Technology Representative(s):

Please be aware that there will be an ONLINE meeting of the Campus Technology Representatives on April 21, 2009. You can find the Meeting Agenda Online at the Campus Technology Center. This will be the final meeting of the year.

Due to requirements announced by the Texas Education Agency (TEA) last week, several assessments have to be conducted that affect campus teachers, principals, and students who are exiting 8th grade at the end of 2008-2009 school year.

An agenda appears online. I also invite you to suggest topics for the meeting online.

Thank you for your time in reviewing the content,

Miguel Guhlin
Director, Instructional Technology Services
210-527-1400
mguhlin@saisd.net

Sample letter drafted by Diana Benner and Miguel Guhlin and currently under review for sending to principals:

To: Campus Principals

Re: Required NCLB Administrator Technology Literacy Assessment

ACTION REQUIRED
TIME-SENSITIVE

DRAFT

Administrators play a pivotal role in determining how well technology is used in our schools. Acknowledging that role,  No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) requires campus administrators to achieve acceptable performance on standards-based performance profiles of technology user skills as defined by the state. On April 14, 2009, achievement of this performance was mandated by the Texas Education Agency and deadline for completion is May 15, 2009.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Beginning last year, additional data at the district level was requested for the 2007-2008 school year for districts receiving NCLB Title II, Part D funds. Districts receiving Title II Part D funding are required to report this additional data annually. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is now charged with collecting data regarding district  achievement of these expectations.

ASSESSMENT PROCESS
The Administrator Self-Assessment will measure the administrator’s level of practice for each standard based on their selection as to the level that best describes their practice. Campus administrators may be defined as campus principals and assistant principals. Individual administrator assessment data will be held confidential.

The process is as follows:

1. Go to http://itls.saisd.net and click on the STaR Chart Assessment graphic to find step-by-step instructions for completing the Campus Administrator Technology Literacy Self-Assessment.
2. Complete the Self-Assessment and set a deadline for the other campus administrators on your campus to complete the Self-Assessment (Reminder: Must be prior to May 15th).
3. Campus principals failing to complete the assessment by May 15th will be contacted to ensure 100% completion reporting status.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Miguel Guhlin in the Office of Instructional Technology Services at 527-1400 or via email (preferred) at mguhlin@saisd.net.

To help administrators with this, the Office of Instructional Technology Services has developed tutorial documents, not dis-similar from those below:

Instructions for Administrators:

http://intouch.saisd.net/itblog/?p=138

This exciting technology rich enrichment camp provides students with opportunities to develop stories. These stories are based on authentic research data building of a student selected “under the sea animal,” their compilation of information gathered on a Behind the Scenes visit to Sea World gathering real time data: photos, video, and interviews.

Idea generation has been, and continues to be, a focal point in the creation of their own t-shirt design. The final camp event consists of an “Under the Sea” project student presentation session of digital stories .Each student will create and present their three minute digital story with digital media and audio tracks.

Here are some of the projects developed during the Digital Media Camp:

A Crab’s Life by Bianca			What a Humpback Whales life is like by Myra			The Lost Dolphin Found by Brittney
The Little Dolphin by Lydia			The Dangerous Octopus by Adrian			What do Dolphins do by Giovanna
What a Seals life is like by Sophia			Finding a Home by Venus			Learning New Things by Ileana
The Life of a Killer Whale by Nathaniel			The Barracuda by Orlando			The Shark by Sabina
A Long Day by Robert			A Tour with a Bull Shark by Gabriel			Fun Facts about Seahorses by Connie
Fun Facts about Eels			A Strange Creature by Devin			Shark Attack by Isaiah
Shocker’s first day in the Sea by JD			The Life of Shamu by Brittnie			A Snake-Like Fish by Alfredo
T-Shirt Designs by Students

View the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) correlations -

• Reading/English Language Arts
• Technology Applications

One student t-shirt design…

Attending TechFiesta 2009 at ESC-20 in San Antonio, Tx, I had the opportunity to sit in on SAISD’s Instructional Technology Services’ Sue Harris’ presentation on Online Literature Circles. Sue made some great points and those are included in my notes below (below the survey). If you would like to partner with SAISD on online literature circles or, if you are an SAISD teacher, please contact the Office of Instructional Technology Services at 210-527-1400 or via email at “shodgesharris1@saisd.net”

But one of the fascinating uses of Online Literature Circles is with a dual language class taking place at Bonham Elementary School. Monica Sanchez, 4th grade bilingual teacher. What I found interesting was the survey Ms. Sanchez asked the students to complete…below are the results:

My notes from Sue’s presentation appear below:

Online Literature Circles

• Presenter: Sue Harris (shodgesharris1@saisd.net)
• Podcast will be posted.

What Makes a Genuine Literature Circle?

• Self selected reading materials
• Small temporary groups
• Different books
• Regular predictable schedule
• Discussion topics come from students
• Open, natural conversation
• Task roles
• Teacher as facilitator

Reading Strategy

• Engagement-build connections, set purpose, and motivate
• Exploration - read, observe, question
• Explanation- react, discuss, answer questions, conclude, write
• Elaboration- reflect, look for connections, reflect
• Evaluation - summarize

WHy is this Online Collab Project?

• Research proven to help students become lifelong readers
• Students are engaged in the reading task through this digital communication tool
• Students authentically apply strategy into a setting
• Builds on student’s prior knowledge of internet communication world
• Reluctant writers take more risks and are engaged in the writing process.
  • Students that are shy and reticient write when they are online.

Reading Survey

• What is your favorite book? What made it your favorite?
• How do you choose books to read?
• Who are some of your favorite authors? Why
• What topics or subjects interest you?
• What are the titles of some books you want to read?

How To Start

• Teacher Responsibilities
  • Conduct a reading survey
  • Select books for students to preview
  • Create mixed ability groups
    • Experiment with all boys and girls
    • Change group membership after each book. This is important because

Teacher Pre-Circle Check List

• Class divided into small groups of 5 per group
• Books for each group
• Chunks for reading meetings set
• Model with a whole class book.

Roles

• Discussion director - develops a list of questions for group discussion
• Super summarizer

Marzano’s 9

• 7 of the nine, except for generating and testing hypotheses and cues, questions, and advance organizers are addressed.

Rubrics

• Self
• Peer - rate each other

Book Talks

• Using Journal in Moodle
  • Students post online book talks to persuade other group membes to choose their book for lit circle
  • Students vote on book selection
  • Students draw for 1st task role, then choose order of other roles.

Examples

• At Brackenridge HS, students read “The Road”
  • Students felt anonymous until they had a chance to give their own opinion. The OLC enabled them to accomplish this by allowing them to voice their opinions.
  • Water for Elephants is the book they are currently working on at Brack HS-Flood.
• Dual Language Class - Monica Sanchez at Bonham
  • Students are self-motivated and they go about their business of OLC
  • Reading Tale of Despereaux
  • Students are posting
  • Most teachers are not concerned about spelling
  • Students are encouraged to edit each others work. Students are instructed to encourage other students in their editing/revision suggestions.
  • Non-linguistic representation: They like posting as an artful artist. Students draw their pictures and have to post them.
  • Students are understanding connections between themselves and the task roles. **Students are sharing with themselves.
  • Studnts are using survey (questionnaire)
    • I like lit circles
  • I like diff lit roles

Yesterday, Dr. Tim Tyson–keynote speaker at TechFiesta–shared a story about a group of students working to prepare work for a global audience. When asked if they were ready to share their video online, the group of middle-schoolers replied, “Our work isn’t ready for a global debut yet.” Then they proceeded to come into school during the summer to get that work ready.

I’m pleased to share that the presentation Tonya and I prepared to share with our peer districts at TechFiesta 2009 was shared with a global audience yesterday, and today, is a featured presentation on Slideshare’s Education page. Slideshare is an online service (no charge) that will allow you to share presentations online with other educators, as well as “embed” them into your web page. This makes it a great service for sharing Powerpoint/Keynote presentations with others via the Web.

Considering how many presentations end up on Slideshare, how many people visit, that means a global audience thought our presentation on what we’re doing in SAISD is worthy of a global debut.

April 14, 2009

TO THE ADMINISTRATOR ADDRESSED:

SUBJECT: Technology Reporting Requirements for No Child Left Behind, Title II, Part D
Additional No Child Left Behind (NCLB), Title II, Part D technology reporting requirements will be required to report for the 2008-2009 school year if your district is receiving Title II, Part D funds (formula and/or competitive).  The Texas Education Agency (TEA) has been required to report on the progress of districts receiving these funds since January 2002.  Title II, Part D reporting requirements for NCLB have been documented as a part of the Texas Campus STaR Chart.  The reporting requirements have been an essential part of the process for documenting progress to support continued technology funding.

The NCLB reporting system is incorporated into the STaR Chart system.  The district level component of the system will open again on April 13, 2009 and close on June 30, 2009 for the 2008-2009 school year reporting.  All NCLB data must be entered by the time the system closes on June 30th so that the data can be aggregated and forwarded to the United States Department of Education.  The Texas Campus and Teacher STaR Chart components are separate from this new district level report.

The additional reporting requirements consist of three sections and are outlined below.  The first two sections will be completed by the district contact identified as the district’s Texas STaR Chart lead person and the third section will be completed by the campus administrators.  The district contact will need to review the requirements below and collect the data before entering and then submitting sections 1 and 2.  Administrators will be responsible for filling out and submitting section 3 of the requirements.

New Reporting Requirements:

Section 1 - Unduplicated number of computers available to students for instruction by Internet access type:

• No Connectivity
• Dial Up
• High Speed (wireless or wired)

Section 2 - Unduplicated number of 8th graders evaluated for technology literacy under the district’s methodology as defined by the state at the end of the 8th grade for the 2008-2009 school year.

The Texas Education Agency does not have the statutory authority to develop or administer a state-wide assessment test. Districts will need to assess their 8th grade students using a local level assessment test.

Section 3 - Unduplicated number of school personnel achieving acceptable performance on standards-based performance profiles of technology user skills as defined by the state (Title II, Part D of ESEA as required by the Results Act) by staff categories, including teachers, librarians/library media specialists and campus administrators.  The teacher and librarian/library media specialist data will be aggregated from the Teaching & Learning and Educator Preparation & Development sections of the Teacher STaR Chart.  The campus administrator data will be collected through the NCLB reporting system and will be based upon the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Technology Standards for School Administrators.  Campus administrators may be defined as campus principals, assistant principals, and/or other campus leaders.

This letter is to provide information about these new reporting requirements.  Additional information, instructions, and contact information are provided on the STaR Chart website at www.tea.state.tx.us/starchart.  Any questions about the NCLB reporting can be forwarded via email to the NCLB technology mailbox at nclbtech@tea.state.tx.us.

Sincerely,

Anita Givens
Associate Commissioner
Standards and Programs

After several days of observing the new teacher at work, the experienced teacher asked, “You have excellent handwriting, but why don’t you ever use your computer?” This question marked the beginning of several meaningful encounters between the two teachers.

How does technology transform teaching, learning, and leadership? Let’s examine the case of the new and energetic teacher.

Teaching. Technology became a “process” for the new teacher once she changed her established way of doing things. She taught her students technology skills through hands-on, project-based activities, and her change in teaching style made a dramatic impact, not only on her student’s attitudes toward the class, but  also on her student’s learning and classroom performance.

Learning. Because someone took the time to help the new teacher become comfortable with technology, she soon became excited by the possibilities of learning.  She began to attend regularly scheduled technology staff development sessions to learn how to use new technologies and tie them into both her new and existing lessons. The two teachers continued to share new ideas and learn from one other.

Leadership. The new teacher became a technology leader on her campus. As a leader, she modeled the use of technology in many ways, including using technology as a media tool to deliver information. Furthermore, she used technology as an instructional system to gather and research data on the effective use of technology, so this data could be used for future technology planning with administrators.

The new teacher will be forever grateful to her mentor, friend, and colleague. How do I know this? Because I was that new and energetic teacher…that teacher who was afraid to turn on the computer. This is how technology can transform your teaching, learning, and leadership.

BACKGROUND ON INTOUCH INITIATIVE
This is a wonderful tool for school personnel who want to explore how to lead in an increasingly connected and data-centric world. The iPod Touch is a device well-suited for use in schools and this wiki is meant to be expanded upon and developed.

It is designed to support district and campus leaders concerned with leveraging Apple’s iPod Touch to achieve the following broad goals:

1. Enable administrators to learn how to best use the iPod Touch in K-12 education settings.
2. Facilitate sharing of “wise practices” in regards to the iPod Touch for administrator and leader support.
3. Enable administrators to easily access campus/district data at point of need, including student information as well as podcasts and critical memos.
4. Collect and disseminate data from appraisal and administrator walkthroughs.

To get a slideshow, click on VIEW WITH PICLENS below:

[View with PicLens]

12►

Note: The following are my notes from the TxDLA 2009 Conference. Kudos to the presenters, especially Lisa, John, and Jeannette. A podcast will be available once I get some time to process it. Internet was, for the main part, unavailable at TxDLA and at my hotel (their server crashed), which was a bit of an impediment to getting content posted.

Facilitators

• Tx Department of Family and Protective Services
• John Morales
• Lisa Abate - twitter: lisaspeaking
• Jeannette O.
• Work together in PPD…do training for case workers in the agency.

Current Conversations

• Blurring and blending vs online/face 2 face
• Learning community
• Reasons

Using Moodle for LMS

Starting PD Model, teachers in groups of 5–7 and want to use Moodle for that

What is the Face of Today’s Learning Community

Digital Natives - Cognitively, there is a difference in the brain. TEDTalks video - Brain connection changes, kids growing up on ubiquitous connection.

What is a Learning Community

• A learning community is a group of people who share common values and beliefs, are actively engaged in learning together from each other. In training one of our goals is to provide the space to foster this community. (Wikipedia)
• With Moodle, we’re able to shape that.

Social Learning

• Why is supporting social learning opportunities important?
• People learn through observing others’ behavior
• If people observe positive, desired outcomes in the observed behavior, they are more likely to model, imitate, and adopt the behavior themselves.
• Fostering Learning community →Social Learning
• http://polleverywhere.com
• How is your organization addressing social learning?
• o Classroom discussion
• o Online blogs
• o Interactive online training
• o Wikis
• o Other

Costs for Moodle

* Open Source
* Supporting that could cost
* In our organization, while software and updates are open source, we pay for someone to provide (full time employee salary). If you’re not going to outsource it, then there is going to be a cost.
* Moodle administrator
* 11,000 employees
* Equipment running on:
o 2 Windows 2003 servers
o Separate database server
o Transitioning to a 3 server combination with load balancing
o “Work within the constraints we have.”

Why a Learning Community

* Early stages of why is that’s the way it is.
* Examination of our audience (case workers). Our audience need more of a personal touch, knowing other people. They like to be around people. The legislature said we have to do blended learning.
* It kind of naturally developed as a constructivist, social learning environment…it turned out to be the best fit for our audience.

Virtual Learning Environment

* A VLE is designed to support teaching and learning an educational setting
* A VLE is a virtual classroom that allows teachers and students to communicate with each other online.
* Most are moving from traditional to virtual learning.
* Social Learning
o VLE
o Classroom
o OJT
* To train staff, we use Adobe Captivate to create content for others.
* Do you have a VLE at your organization?
o Yes
o No
o Not sure

What can a learning community look like in a face to face class setting?

* Seminars, workshops, actual classroom training
* Discussion panels
* Small groups
* Role-plays

Using Moodle to Provide or enhance a learning community

* Moodle provides a common collab learning environment and has enabled creation of several intersecting communities of developers, educators, and students
* Moodle is both an online system and a way of working. It’s a platform to facilitate collaboration of any kind, in an institutions of learning and it’s a way of working that requires both collaboration and learning from all who actively join in.
* People participating in forums at Moodle.org are composed of learners, trainers, teachers, community contributors.

Success Criteria for Learning Community

* Relevance -how relevant is online learning to students’ prof. practices
* Reflection - does online learnign stimulate students’ critical reflective thinking?
* Interactivity- to what extendt do students engage online in rich educative dialogue?
* Tutor support- how well do tutors enable students to participate in online learning?
* Peer support- do fellow students provide sensitive and encouraging support?
* Interpretation - do students and tutors make good sense of each other’s communications?
* Use blended learning environment
* Mapped out what is most critical to be taught in a classroom situation
* Online learning is going to be a lot of self-pacing
* Allow adult learners to be self-paced
* Online learning courses.
* Lots of on the job training…have them observe and document

Using Moodle Functionality to Foster Social Learning

* Blogs
* Forums

Additional Modules

• Face-to-face
• Podcast
• AudioRecorder
• Certificate

Optimizing Performance on PHP/MySQL

* search Moodle.org for “optimizing performance”
* Planning to install Jaspersoft (reporting gateway)
* no more than 200

Making it Work: Technology in the Classroom

Written by: Stephanie Correa, Technology Integration Facilitator

and

Dana Smith-Anderson, Life Strides Classroom Teacher

“We already knew that kids learned computer technology more easily than adults, it is as if children were waiting all these centuries for someone to invent their native language” as quoted by Jaron Lanier, educator. Throughout the years we as teachers have struggled to find ways to reach our children and little did we know they were waiting on the world to catch up with them.

At Herman Hirsch Elementary School, Life Strides teacher Dana Smith-Anderson has integrated technology into her classroom activities. “Technology has become a vital part in our classroom, even though it’s a little bit” she is quoted as saying when asked how technology has affected her students. Mrs. Smith-Anderson teaches a Life Strides Unit with children who have various special accommodations.

While her classroom runs in a different way to accommodate her students, she makes every effort to infuse both technology and curriculum to create an environment in which best suits her students’ needs. Mrs. Smith-Anderson uses various technological tools to help her students succeed. In the classroom, her students use Ablelink switches and the Power link to activate computer generated activities and music. Tech Talk is also used for voice out in various curriculum areas and Intellikeys help by modifying the traditional keyboard to allow for students to practice typing skills. She also uses various software programs like: Jumpstart Reading and Edmark. Besides those she also employs Microsoft PowerPoint presentations to emphasize content for activities in thematic units.

While Mrs. Smith-Anderson uses a variety of software, she also uses online resources provided by the district like: News 2 You, Tumble Books and Power Media Plus to ensure all her students are succeeding. Teaching students with special needs requires creative, hands-on learning activities to deepen their understanding of simple concepts and help their retention of past skills. Many of her classroom activities follow a daily routine in which technology is integrated in every aspect from learning how to make butter to learning about reading.

One example of a classroom activity is the calendar routine. All students participate in the lesson. For example, a student is using the Tech talk for voice out to say the correct day of the week. He is presented with the Tech talk and a Braille symbol for the correct day of the week. When the student touches the symbol, we are able to hear the day of the week that has been recorded.

“Using technology in the classroom can be as easy or difficult as you like. For me, I build my lesson using the content knowledge then I consider the technology that will best suit the activity and plan to use the technology as part of the lesson. Looking at the students’ abilities will help you make the right decisions on the type of technology that should be used in your classroom, and set your expectations high- students will reach them every time” as quoted by Mrs. Smith-Anderson. Visiting Mrs. Smith-Anderson’s class is an experience, but not in the way of how different her students are but because of the way that she teaches technology as an integral part of the daily classroom experience.

What tips would you like to share regarding facilitating online courses with Conference participants? Be sure to include your name and a link to your web site. Some preliminary responses appear at the end of this blog post.

Next week, Tonya Mills and I  have the opportunity to present at the Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA) annual conference. We’ll be presenting on the following topic:

Online facilitators take on many important roles and wear different managerial, technical, social, and pedagogical hats. This session will introduce you to these roles as well as to a cutting-edge initiative that San Antonio ISD has implemented with PBS TeacherLine to create a district-wide online professional development program.

Easy access to course management systems, as well as the TxVSN, has changed all that, making online learning environments THE place to be.

Learning should be social…and in today’s world being social means being connected while you learn. Do we help create these social connections or are we to worried about the time students might waste being social and being connected?
Source: The Thinking Stick Blog

Learning IS social…and online learning environments engage students in that way. But we have to be careful to avoid trying to engage students in online learning environments with face to face approaches. . .the effects of F2F engagement methods may be different than what we expect.

PBS TeacherLine will be featured prominently in this session, especially for all the work they’ve done in creating high quality, rigorous content to share. Without PBS TeacherLine, we’d probably still be wandering in the desert of online course facilitation. Even though our efforts are still beginning in SAISD, there are a wealth of online facilitation tips that can be shared.

Some tips for online facilitators that we’ll be sharing:

1. Address the logistics of the course in your course materials and make sure they are obvious and easily accessible rather than buried in a syllabus or other document. Logistics can include how often students should login and participate in the course, assessment rubrics, etc.
2. Personalize your online learning environment. You can accomplish this by including video testimonials from former students and course introductions by district facilitators.
3. Develop and share materials (e.g. brochures) to potential participants.
4. Set up forums that address the “social dimension” of introducing people and getting to know each other, as well as forums for dealing with technical aspects. If someone hasn’t logged in, don’t hesitate to pick up the phone and call them or send an email a day until they respond.
5. Remember to scaffold and support learning conversations rather than dominate them. Part of your scaffolding and support is providing regular feedback and interacting with participants online. This is especially important up front since your level of activity serves as a model for the level of interaction students will exhibit when you are present but not as active. This initial high interactivity sloping down to omni-presence enables participants to learn to rely on each other for answers, rather than you.
6. Don’t be afraid to summarize–also known as landscape–the ongoing conversations periodically, as well as remind everyone what expectations are at regular intervals (such as at the start point, mid-point, and end-points). This help everyone stay on focus.
7. Avoid long discussion posts, as well as posts that feature a lot of questions. Focus discussions around ONE central question that resembles an ill-structured problem.
8. Encourage people to discover each other’s strengths and what they each have to bring to the table. One of the most rewarding aspects of online learning conversations is that people discover each other online.

I invite you, even if you’re not going to be at the Conference, to participate via Twitter, blogging, and joining the online learning space (Enrollment key is “txdla” without quotes)Tonya and I have created for our presentation. I see the presentation at TxDLA as the beginning of a learning journey with participants, and I hope you’ll jump in and share what you’re learning about teaching, learning and leading online.

NOTE: If you are going to blog or use twitter, I encourage you to use the hashtag/tag of “txdla09learnme” or #txdla09learnme. This will allow us to aggregate your words and feedback. Thank you!

Image Source: http://www.myce101.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/intel-asus_eee_pc-show.jpg

When my daughter started working on an Asus Eee at a local store, she immediately exclaimed, “I can use this to write my stories from my room! Right? Wirelessly?” For her, it was freedom from the desktop computer in the office, a freedom to be able to write anywhere, as well as access Internet communication tools like Gmail, Twitter, and, of course, KidPub.com.

Though I found the Asus Eee to be a bit clunky compared to the other netbooks out there (e.g. Dell’s Mini or the Acer Aspire), I have to respect that it may work for students, not adults. The questions aren’t if students should have these inexpensive computers ($200-$300), but when will they have them and what will they accomplish with them?

“Only four freshmen showed up at the University of Virginia in 2007 without a computer of their own, and the school has decided that it’s no longer worth the expense of running campus computer labs.” More from Ars Technica.
Source: via Stephen Downes

When you consider that universities may be dumping computer labs in exchange for students bearing their own equipment, it makes sense to see K-12 schools equipping students with netbooks. One 5th grade student from the district mentioned below implementing Asus Eees is worried more about increased access to technology. That student writes, What happens in our classroom that we couldn’t have before is that we have our own computer instead of going to the computer lab.

In fact, Maria Cordova at Poe MS expressed, that is exactly what she wanted to do with a cadre of Kids’ Saturday Technology Institute (KSTI) students in the future, if only funding for the equipment could be found.

In other school districts, equipping students with netbook computers is already happening. One example is Littleton Public Schools in Colorado, where the Chief Information Officer Dan Maas poses some simple questions:

Across LPS, we have pilot projects of ASUS EeePCs in classrooms. We hope that you are enjoying the new computers and are learning more than ever before. Many people are asking about how your classroom has changed now that you have the EeePC laptops. Can you help us tell your story?

Here are some questions we have:

How does having a laptop computer help students write better?

What happens in your classroom now that you have laptops that could not happen before?

Now that you have had laptops in your classroom, how would you feel if you didn’t have them next year?

What do next year’s 5^th grade students coming to your classroom have to look forward to?

Below is a selection from the over 100 comments his questions generated…it is not meant to be exhaustive but to capture some of the flavor of the responses:

• These computers are a big part of my life as a fifth grader. They are life savers.Having a laptop helps me in writing because I’m not the most unorganized person, so I don’t have tons of papers to mix up and lose. I can type everything on my computer and not be worried about it getting lost. In my classroom, Ms. V doesn’t have to sit up at her computer and pull the website up on the projector screen. Before the computers, we were wasting time going up to the meeting area instead of doing our work. If I didn’t have a computer next year, I wouldn’t feel like it’s the end of the world. Although, I would feel sort of disappointed if we didn’t have computers next year.You wouldn’t understand how wonderful these laptops are unless you were a kid like me. These are wonderful objects of technology! Kids next year should really look forward to doing almost all of their work online. It’s so much easier for everyone because we don’t have to have the teacher show us the website and we don’t have to listen to them repeat everything three or four times.
• If we didn’t have laptops next year I would not like it that much. We do almost everything on our laptops. we wouldn’t be able to watch videos at our own pace, we wouldn’t be able to read our classmates responses on what we all think because we blog so many of our answers. If we didn’t have computers next year I wouldn’t be able to know what my classmates thought. The students that are coming into fifth grade next year have a lot of fun coming toward them. You type almost all of your writing assignments on the computers.
• Here is my story on how these laptops have made a difference in my 5th grade year. Having the computers for writing is much easier because we can make the fount bigger and all kinds of different things to help express ourselves in our writing. It helps us keep things where we want them and we practice everyday on our keybord, typewriting and it is really cool! We can finally work on our stories and other things without writing them on a piece of paper and that never used to happen before and we can comment on our classroom blogs, like we’re doing right now. It just makes life easier in the classroom.
• I used to not like writing but know I keep looking at the time and inside I am saying,”is it time for writing yet?”If you don’t believe me come visit us at East Elementary.You have to see it to believe it because your eyes will pop out.All those people who say that the eee’s haven’t helped us as a fifth grader we specifically want you to come see us.I don’t like to brag but these computers are awesome and so is my class and I. Do you know what a wiki is because I sure do.We used to save on our old school jump drives but my amazing wonderful teacher came up with a way to save online.
• When we first got our laptops I thought that they were for the teachers. But then my computer teacher Mrs.Kay started calling the students to get there laptop for the year.That change school for my class because we started using them almost every day for writing and blogging. But the thing it really changed was the technology.That’s my story and that’s why I want the people who don’t like the new mini laptops to come to 5th grade to see them and see my 5th grade class using them.

Read the rest of the comments online.

Watch the video below to see projects they are currently working on.

• Online learning has given me a new perspective in education. It allows me to access discussion forums, and opens up a new world of resource availability along with fellow  colleagues which enhance my ability to better teach the students in my classroom. In addition, it allows me to enhance our students’ minds with online strategies, activities, and resources.
• After reading the introduction, I realized that online learning gives those of us who work opportunities for continued education at our own time and pace.  I agree that some online learning actually takes more time that face-to-face coursework because you must not only complete the coursework itself, you must also give yourself time to reflect and respond to other’s thinking.
• I know that I am an independent learner, but I also know that I am one to respond positively through active conversation with others.  I felt that the only way to do that was in a traditional classroom; now I understand that I can have that active conversation through others’ comments and postings.  I now see online learning as a win-win situation.  I have flexibility, opportunity, and open dialog with others (even though we are not in the same room)!
• I am a verbal person but I have learned out to communicate with writings. I will challenge myself to continue to do this and continue to talk on the forums. The more I do it the more I will be able to communicate effectively. I feel like you stop learning then you need to stop teaching. I am a life long learner and will continue my education. As my husband and I begin to start a family I know that with time management I will need to use the online course.
• I think this is a great idea for professional development courses.  Everyone has different levels of experience, so it would make sense to let everyone work at their own pace.  I hate sitting through an afternoon filled with information I’ve heard at least 2-3 times.  I think online learning is the way to go.  It saves time and frustration on everyone’s part.
• before this course, i would have probably NEVER considered online courses.  now, i think this is the perfect way for me to further my education.  i always have felt a lot of pressure when it comes to time.  with the online course, i can work any spare minute i have.  this is perfect for professional development and other work-related purposes because i can complete tasks at my pace and when i have time to devote to the course (which is usually late at night or the weekends).  i feel that i have gotten so much out of this course.  i am really wondering why i have not done online learning before approve!
• Developing on line learning skills is a must as there is a greater and greater shift for that. I will be participating in an academy project through the NSDC that will involve a great deal of on-line learning.
• I can see that this course has taught me ways to navigate on line in a much easier fashion than I had been navigating.  I didn’t know about the correct netiqette for discussions over the internet.  Once I read about that it made sense.  I want to study more about Big6 and twitter.  I had never heard of these.  It’s always good to learn about things that can truly be implemented in the classroom right away and with our students becoming bored so easily, we need all the help we can get.
• I can’t say my view has changed my perspective as I’ve always wanted to do online versus traditional.  Online allows me to multi task without being accused of not paying attention, and allows me to take a break when I lose concentration.  I also have a tendency in class to get annoyed with fellow classmates who have to over analyze everything and this way allows them to analyze and me to only hear their final result.
• I have always held online learning as a powerful tool of education. It enables the student the flexability of time and resources.
• I have never taken an on-line course. I am not afraid to try new things and I am looking forward to the challenge.
• My perspective on the online professional learning/development has changed my mind about taking online course.   I use to like the traditional environment setting since reading the material I like reading the material off the computer.  I know what is expected of me to manage time and schedule assignments and life accordingly.  It can all be done with commitment. Taking the first part of the online course was a challenge because I did not know what to expect but now I am finished.  Also I know that taking this course will enhance by professional development which can be applied in the classroom.
• My initial perspective was that it was going to be easy and trivial and that I prefer a traditional class setting.  Once I got online and began chatting in the forums and hearing what other people were saying, I began to change my mind.  I stated that I am typically the shy one in the back of the class.  Although I still had a hard time expressing my self, I was able to open up more easily and talk about the different topics being posted. I think that is the case because I wasn’t being judged like some people do in a traditional classroom.  My opinion also changed when I thought about all that traffic I WOULDN’T be driving in.
• Not at all. I am currently completing my Master’s Degree online and have taken numerous course prior to that. Online courses work for me and my busy schedule.
• The course reinforced my feelings to online sessions.  I am a people person and I like to know someone in the class before sessions begin.  I am also a friendly person and will try to get to know the other people where I work and how in my job position I can provide the services needed quickly.  Many resources today for libraries are online so I must maintain computer skills and also equipment in the library for staff and students to utilize.  I think Schenck students will benefit when the staff is ability to pass on the knowledge and skills to our students.
• This course comes at a time when time is a real issue for me.  I tried an online professional development before, when time was not a major issue.  Therefore, this course comes at a perfect time.  It is allowing me to grow professionally in the area of technology, while accomodating my hectic schedule.
• This introductory course has greatly influenced how I feel about online learning.  Although I was very nervous at first it has clearly given me the self confindence to take on a course of this nature.  In addition this course has given me the opportunity to reflect on my own experiences and evaluate those skills I already had.  I encourage anyone who is skeptical about an online course to embrace it with open arms and reap the benefits it has to offer.
• I used to scoff at the idea of online learning.  For some reason, I saw it as less academically challenging, even disreputable.  Now that I understand what is involved with online learning, I see that it is just as challenging and rewarding as a traditional course.  If I had not taken Introduction to Online Learning, I know my opinion would still be the same.

Interested in the Introduction to Online Learning courses offered by the Office of Instructional Technology Services? Sign up via ePath!

In what ways do teachers use blogs in the classroom? The first two sub-questions for this study then disaggregated the main question into the two domains: (a) how do teachers use blogs to communicate general information to students, and (b) how do teachers use blogs to deliver specific instruction. The last sub-question then combined the two domains to discover how teachers perceive the use of blogs as an instructional practice has influenced communication and instruction in their classrooms.

A casual reading reveals:

• This study suggests that blogging offers interaction at whatever level of inclusion is most comfortable and can be used as such at most grade levels.
• the teachers provided examples of enhanced relationships with their students in all forms of the data collected. Most of their collaborative blogging activities showed genuine communication with their students. Many stated the simple act of reading and commenting on a student’s blog posting contributed to increased understanding of each other. Edubloggers seem to be positively affecting the feelings their students have toward learning by allowing the students the time to write and participate with others, even with students from different parts of the world in some cases.
• blogging appears to be a highly motivating instructional technique that can be performed at school or at home. Blogging by a student appears to further their learning and seems to cause the student to feel pleased about their academic environment
• most teachers indicated an increase in student to teacher collaboration.
• student learners who have been a part of a blogging classroom as engaged in four types of learning: (a) students increasing their understanding of topics, making sense of what they learn, and developing their own understanding of the subject matter, (b) students cultivating deeper thought processes; creating meaning and new ideas from the subject, (c) students exploring the subject beyond the immediate requirements, and (d) students connecting with previous experiences learned in or out of the classroom.
• Teachers seem to believe blogging changes students from a rigid learning perspective into open-minded writers, highly motivated to not only perform the writing assignment, but also to collaborate with their peers.
• blogging allows students to redefine their abilities as they see their work posted next to other students’ work. It also enables them to observe other students commenting on their work and then have an opportunity to reshape and refine their own work.
• The data in this study also suggest that feedback on assignments from the teacher as well as fellow students may be more immediate, which contributes to student motivation.
• In this study several benefits were identified that seemed to be motivating teachers to invest time in blogging: (a) higher levels of student motivation, (b) increased levels of writing, (c) increased insights into their students through the personal exchanges of comments on readings and writings, (d) greater interaction and collaboration among students in the classroom, (e) increased computer competence, especially for older students, and (f) a teacher’s own professional development.
• 60% of edubloggers with two years of experience with the practice posted new information to their blog daily.
• This school leader was viewed not only as encouraging the teacher to continue blogging, but also they encouraged teachers thinking of blogging to attempt the endeavor. This vote of confidence could be an indication that the principal views the practice of blogging as a potential method for increasing student achievement or improving communication.
• blogging as a form of archived reflective practice could benefit teachers by strengthening their collective instruction, professional shared demeanor, and perhaps even assisting with their personal life. The findings from this study suggest this is indeed happening for some of the teachers and deserves further study.

Read the Dissertation or the executive summary (where these findings above are taken from). One of the key findings for educational leaders is the one highlighted below:

This school leader was viewed not only as encouraging the teacher to continue blogging, but also they encouraged teachers thinking of blogging to attempt the endeavor. This vote of confidence could be an indication that the principal views the practice of blogging as a potential method for increasing student achievement or improving communication.

Again, it’s clear that the school principal is the key.

Hello, Mr. Guhlin, [we] are conducting research on district educational technology administrators expectations regarding the skills, knowledge, and abilities of those staff who support teacher use of technology in the classroom. We are inviting all local district administrators to participate.

We hope you will participate in this study. Participation involves a 30-minute interview and possible email follow-up for clarification or corroboration of data analysis.

While I am hoping to share the interview as a podcast, one of the questions that came up was how is my team organized. The image below presents one perspective on that organization:

Ever encounter a tool that can make the mundane aspects of teaching easier? If so, you might be like the teachers quoted in this story. They are all referring to the free Moodle, software that when setup, provides teachers and students with the means to achieve an online learning community. A great benefit of ‘moodle’ is for students who miss classes for one reason or another - there is no excuse to miss work or assessments since it’s all online. Parents like it to as they know what is going on and I think feel their kids are safer using this than blogging.

“In second and third grade the teachers use Moodle for book discussions,” shared an educator in another district. “In other grades, Moodle is an extension of the classroom, a place to put the resources and continue class discussions. Some departments have moodle courses to place commonly used resources for staff and continue staff meetings discussions. Our Special Ed department uses it as repository for all the forms they must use.”

Not sure what Moodle is? Moodle is what is known as a course management system. It can facilitate sharing of online resources, materials such as Word documents, Excel, and conversations via online forums, or discussion areas. You can also administer quizzes to students over materials. Some use Moodle in primary grades, others at the high school level. A few teachers use Moodle for blended courses, mostly in English class. “They are,” shares one teacher, “extending classroom discussions in some cases using forums, or actually posting assignments and having students respond through Moodle.” Another teacher plans “to begin a project with a grade 8 class moving a bookstudy to Moodle.”

“I use Moodle with my sixth graders all the time, for Spanish and Latin classes,” shares a sixth grade teacher. If you’re interested in using Moodle with your students, let the Office of Instructional Technology know. We’re interesting in helping you Moodle!

When I’m asked, what does that look like? While the results aren’t out for 2008-2009 yet, you can see them for previous years below. These are visual representations of professional learning–online, F2F or blended–by the Office of Instructional Technology Services.

2007–2008

• Spreadsheet of professional learning done for 2007–2008 school year.
• Visual Representation of professional learning done for this school year (view full-size image)

2006–2007

• Visual Representation of data:

2004–2006

This report includes numeric data and graphs for the 2004–2005, 2005–2006 school years. For your review, the graphs have been excerpted and appear below.

• Professional Learning Report

Graphic Representation for 2005–2006

Graphic Representation for 2004–2005

In their efforts to meet federal requirements for improved student performance, the nation’s teachers say effective use of classroom technology is essential to conduct important administrative tasks and reach a new generation of learners weaned on technology. And key to the effective use of classroom technology, educators report, is adequate professional development. Although teachers report they are using technology more frequently for both instructional and administrative tasks, they also worry that obstacles such as a lack of access, time, and money are keeping them from integrating technology effectively into the curriculum, the study found.
Source: eSchoolNews

This study provides critical information. How are lack of access, time and money preventing SAISD teachers from integrating technology effectively into the curriculum? If one analyzes the Level of Technology Implementation (LOTI) data gathered for the last 3 years, one will notice that there has been a definite decrease in Level 0—perceived lack of access to technology. Yet, is this enough?

Consider that the study also makes the following point:

The number of teachers using technology to teach writing skills went from 64 percent in 2005 to 71 percent in 2006, while the use of technology to teach scientific concepts also increased significantly, from 51 percent in 2005 to 60 percent this year.

The High School Comparison

LEVEL 0-1

Let’s compare this data with the use of technology in SAISD schools, say at the high school level. Consider these statistics for Level 0 or 1 at SAISD High Schools. At level 0 of the LOTI, technology is NOT used at all because it is perceived to not be present.

• In 2003-2004 School Year, 53% of teachers were at level 0 (36%) or level 1 (17%).
• In 2005-2006 School Year, 42% of teachers were at level 0 (18%) or level 1 (24%).

LEVEL 4

At level 4, which is the target technology level set by the Texas Education Agency, one can see the following:

• In 2003-2004 School Year, 16% of teachers were at Level 4.
• In 2005-2006 School Year, 20% of teachers were at Level 4.

There is definite decrease in teachers level 0-3, a diminishment of 14% (55% in 2005-2006 down from 69% in 2003-2004). This is noteworthy and a cause for some celebration. However, target for Level 4 is 100% district-wide.

One question is, “Can we expect 71% of teachers to use technology for writing when 42% are at level 0 and 1 of the LOTI?” Perhaps, a more important question is, “How can we facilitate 42% of our teachers moving to the target technology level 3 and 4 where technology is more likely to be used to support writing, math and science?”

HOW DO WE GET TO LEVEL 5?

To achieve Level 5 of the LOTI, several things have to be done:

1. Require professional development—a minimum of 16 hours—for all teachers that addresses 21st Century Skills.
2. Provide monetary incentives for teachers and administrators to develop technology competencies along a learning path (e.g. English/Language Arts, Science, Math).
3. Merge the focus of both departments (C&I and Technology) concentrating on student achievement.
4. Summative evaluations for building principals demonstrating their staff accomplishments at LOTI Level 3.
5. Provide Technology Department access to the CICs.
6. Provide professional development to CICs to become “instructional” mentors of technology.
7. Train principals.

• Bold items in this list are taken from recommendations made and agreed to by Associate Area Superintendents in collaboration with Dr. Chris Moersch, author of the Levels of Technology Implementation (LOTI) framework.

“We truly need,” a high school principal shared with me, “a mobile device that gives us quick access to information. What’s your recommendation?” That kind of question highlights the need for administrators who desire to use a mobile device to do more with less equipment. We have all met that excited, laptop-lugging administrator, who after a year of doing just that, finally switches back to paper. “I just got tired of carrying around that laptop.”

“When I get back to my office,” an administrator points out, “I have a stack of issues to deal with, hundreds of e-mails to read, and students outside my door waiting to come in.” That plethora of activities can create a major challenge for administrators who try to use every second of their time effectively.

“How can mobile devices maximize my time as an administrator?”

This week (April, 2009), SAISD principals discovered that they would be receiving an iPod Touch handheld. This is a dynamic resource for leaders who want to stay “in touch” with what’s going on at their campus. In particular, it is a wonderful resource for those who want to explore how to lead in an increasingly connected and data-centric world. The iPod Touch is a device well-suited for use in schools. The Office of Instructional Technology Services has been assigned the role of providing professional learning for principals on how to use the iPod Touch, and, as a result, constructed a support web site for district administrators.

The support site is online at http://itls.saisd.net/intouch

It is designed to support district and campus leaders concerned with leveraging Apple’s iPod Touch to achieve the following broad goals:

1. Enable administrators to learn how to best use the iPod Touch in K-12 education settings.
2. Facilitate sharing of “wise practices” in regards to the iPod Touch for administrator and leader support.
3. Enable administrators to easily access campus/district data at point of need, including student information as well as podcasts and critical memos.
4. Collect and disseminate data from appraisal and administrator walkthroughs.

INTRODUCTION
Get started within SAISD with our GET A BLOG! Initiative with an education-related blog. Write or podcast (audio/video) about what you are doing and how it is relevant to your work. Ask yourself a few questions to get started, such as “What are you most passionate about in your work?” and “What is the hardest thing you do in your work, and why is it challenging?” Finally, share your successes - and failures - by answering such questions as “What obstacle or problem have you encountered and how did you overcome it?”

Being open and transparent in your responses to those types of questions in your blog and sharing resources with your community will enable you instantly to share ideas about important matters relevant to your work.

BACKGROUND
Using blogs to connect with students and parents is a powerful motivator. Here are some helpful blogs to look at when considering whether to encourage blogging by your teachers in your school:

• 20 Uses for Our Classroom Blog - http://tinyurl.com/depfzc
• Blogging Stats - http://tinyurl.com/dmeyfw

And, as principals, here’s how one principal–Dr. Tim Tyson who will be speaking at ESC-20 this April 16 (Thursday) at the ESC-20 TechFiesta–shared about different parent related events:

• Find out more about Dr. Tim Tyson - http://tinyurl.com/avu9wz
• Open House Meeting - http://tinyurl.com/c5tdbr
• Why Blog As an Administrator? - http://tinyurl.com/cwzp82

HOW TO GET STARTED
To get started, make sure you take the following steps:

1. Review the Guidelines for Publishing on the Internet
2. Obtain signed parent permission form for your students if you will be sharing student work of any kind.
3. Complete this online form (http://tinyurl.com/de35yt) so that Instructional Technology Services can get your classroom web site set up.
4. Wait for an email confirming the creation of your classroom blog. With this email, you will also receive an electronic copy of the tutorial, Blogs Made Simple. You can print this tutorial out. You can also view these short video tutorials: http://tinyurl.com/cw3v9a

I look forward to receiving your request for a blog! It can be a powerful communication’s device, facilitating reciprocal, reflective dialogue with teachers, students, and the Community.

On the Value of Blogging

“Last week, I heard Stephen Krashen (author of Power of Reading) and Larry Cuban (author of Oversold and UnderUsed: Computers in the Classroom)speak at two different conferences,” I shared with a colleague.

“When did you go to TWO different conferences?” she asked in a shocked voice. “How can you afford to go to conferences and at the beginning of the year with all the budget cuts?”

“I didn’t physically go to the conference,” I replied. “I listened to a podcast, or audio recording, of their presentations. If that’s impressive, I also listened to Mike Huffman from Indiana Schools talk about his state-wide, 200,000 desktop computer deployment–all 200,000 computers are running free software on Linux (which replaces Windows). It’s mind-blowing to be able to listen to people that I never would have heard before!”

And, I had to add, “Later this month, there will be a K-12 Online Learning Conference for educators–and it will take place entirely online. Imagine doing an online conference for a District our size without having to bring everyone together in one place!”

Reflecting on Best Practices

Often, we’re expected to model best practices in training that we do, but have no idea what best practices look like outside of our experiences in the District. As a district administrator, I’m thrilled to observe classroom teachers working to publish student writing online through the use of blogs (View Example). However, both teachers and administrators can engage in reflection on the work they are about through the use of blogs.

In July of 2005, I embarked as a edu-blogger, or an educator that blogs about education topics. It has fostered wonderful dialogue, reflection on my own practices, and allowed me to construct a personal learning network that has brought me in contact with others across the Nation. Since information and events are moving so rapidly, the only way to stay up to date is to engage what is going on. A way to process this is to write in a blog.

Reflective Administrators

Administrators are beginning to blog, but here are three of five reasons Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant) shares:

1. Information sharing and progress monitoring:
   1. Sharing news and events - Blogs are ideal for principals to quickly post news items for their school communities. View Example.
   2. Progress monitoring - Community members often are interested in the progress of a school’s ongoing activities. View Example.
   3. Status Alerts - Another type of blog post might be a quick message to alert the community of a short-term problem, event cancellation, etc. View Example.
2. Marketing and public relations:
   1. Marketing - Because they’re electronic, blogs are both faster and less costly than paper communications.
   2. Public Relations - A blog is a great way to bypass local media and get “your own version of the story out there and to get feedback.”
   3. Community Building - Blogs can be an excellent tool for facilitating feelings of community within a school organization. View Example.
   4. Customer Relations - Principals who are actively and publicly interacting with school stakeholders, listening to their concerns, responding to those concerns and other questions, and generally being accessible (p. 56) are facilitating good customer relations and building goodwill within the school community.
3. Thought leadership and advocacy
   1. Thought Leadership - A blog can be a great place to put thoughts out there for the community to chew on. Is a school considering a new initiative or an important change? Does the school want feedback on a particular topic or issue? The principal could post some information and questions on the blog and solicit community participation. View Example.

Conclusion

We sometimes find ourselves inundated by a flood of new ideas, projects and activities. Reflecting on our reactions to these ideas, as well as how ideas impact teaching, learning and leadership in our specific concepts can enable us to take risks. Better informed with a deeper knowledge of what we’re about, reflective blogging can transform our experience as mice in a treadmill to knowing how to find new sources of cheese for the children and the organization we serve.

Interested in getting started? Contact Miguel at 527-1400 or via email at mguhlin@saisd.net

DATE: March 30, 2009

The Texas Education Agency presented the new reporting requirement of November, 2008 for the first time in Austin on Friday, May 9, 2008. Three expectations outlined by No Child Left Behind (NCLB) will be reported on in November, 2008. These three expectations include 1) Assessment of technology literacy for eighth graders; 2) Assessment of technology literacy for teachers, librarians and administrators; and 3) Assessment of the number of computers available to students for instruction by Internet access type.

Prior to  May 15, 2009, you are expected to conduct an online technology literacy assessment of all eighth graders at your campus. Instructions will be provided in this memo for you to follow.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Two years ago, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) indicated that by December 31, 2006, technology would be fully integrated into the curricula and instruction of schools. This meant that every student would be technology literate by the time the student finished the 8th grade.

A detailed list of what eighth graders are expected to be able to do is outlined in SAISD’s Technology Applications Benchmarks available online at http://snipurl.com/34777.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) is now charged with collecting data regarding district achievement of these expectations. San Antonio ISD is required to compile and submit this data. The 8th grade student technology literacy assessment will be completed this 2008–2009 school year.

TIMELINE
The timeline for the initiative is as follows:

Monday, April 1 -

* Campuses complete computer lab assessment and submit contact information form.
* Campuses develop their own assessment schedule and process for assessing ALL 8th grade students.

Monday, April 6 - Friday, May 15 - Campuses assess 8th graders

ASSESSMENT PROCESS
Every eighth grader must use a computer to complete this online assessment. As such, you will need to make all computers available on your campus so that students can complete the online assessment. The process is as follows:

Complete the contact information form for the TA:TEKS Assessment Team online at http://snipurl.com/tatekscontact

• You may want to review this information form prior to completing it to ensure you have all the data you need.
• Assess your campus’ computer lab to make sure it meets minimum specifications (e.g. Internet Explorer 6)
• Set aside time for all your 8th graders to cycle through the computer lab in 45–50 minute periods to complete the assessment.
• Issue username and password to each eighth grader completing the assessment.
• Report to Instructional Technology Services to notify of campus completion. Reporting instructions will be sent to the campus contact you designate.

Once you have submitted your TA:TEKS Assessment Team contact information, you will receive further instructions on how to proceed.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Miguel Guhlin (mguhlin@saisd.net) or Tonya Mills (tmills@saisd.net) at 527–1400.