The Educational Mac

Apple's Big Splash at NECC

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 21:33:34 -0500

I am ready to go to the Apple reception this evening. Part of the festivities will be Apple's big splash at NECC. That splash is iTunesU-K12. iTunesU-K12 should debut within the next few hours with content from between 7 and 9 states. Utah is one of the states that will be debuting on iTunesU-K12. I have been working with the Utah group that has been putting together the states efforts on this project.

I believe this project will be somewhat of a game changer. Here K12 ed will have a central gathering place for resources, be they audio, video, text-based, etc. Now I can hear the catcalls and boos coming already. "Here's Apple trying to take control of our content!" I don't believe that this is what it is about at all. Look at what iTunesU has provided for Higher Ed. There are many prestigious universities sharing their content. It is not under Apple's control, they are merely providing the vehicle. Such is the case with iTunesU-K12 as well.

Go to the iTunes store, click on iTunes U, then look for the K12 listing in the bottom left column.

I personally can't wait to see the resources gathered there.

Social Networking in PD

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 13:09:12 -0500

Get the Audio Here!

Recording from the Social Networking in PD session at EdubloggerCon08, held on Saturday, June 28th, 2008 in San Antonio, TX.

The Educational Mac Podcast #45-June 25, 2008

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 09:09:25 -0600

Get the show here!Yes, an honest to goodness podcast, can you believe it.Leopard musings from some of my friends.I was on the couch with Robert, Thom, and Matt.What I am doing at NECC, including Edubloggercon and NECC UnpluggedPodcasting, is it dead? I hope not.See You in a Few! Live from San Antonio!

Catch the Fever: Viral Professional Deveopment–Add your voice!

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 06:46:07 -0600

Viral Professional Development is emerging in education as a viable method of increasing teacher engagement and learning. Using tools such as Twitter, rss readers, blogs, educational networks, and wikis, educators are collaborating on a grassroots level. This year at NECC, a panel discussion of educators on July 2nd at 1:30 pm CDT will be discussing and live Ustreaming a session to discuss viral professional development.How did this panel discussion originate?On Monday, September 17, 2007, Google launched the Google Presentation web application to their suite of services. News of this new service spread quickly through the blogosphere and Twitter and soon more than fifty different people made over 500 edits in a twenty-four hour period to one Google presentation. Since introduced, this presentation has been used by hundreds of people to begin conversations centered on free online tools used to weave a web of connections between people around the world.As a result of this transformational experience, educators begin discussing the importance of sharing the changing nature of professional development and documentation of best practices in VIRAL professional development. The proposal was written in Google docs and since acceptance, an expanded group of educators around the world has used a wiki, elluminate, and a variety of tools to bring a collaborative, immersive viral PD experience to NECC and to people around the world.

Presenters
Vicki Davis, moderator Darren Draper
Kelly Dumont
Kristin Hokanson
Robin Ellis
Ryan Bretag
Beth Ritter-Guth
Carolyn Foote

Backchannel Presenters/ Moderators
John Maklary
Stephanie Sandifer

How can you participate?

At 1:30pm CDT on July 2, we will be participating in a NECC panel discussion that centers on the power of the network. During our presentation we hope to demonstrate to all those attending our session in person (and virtually), just how powerful global collaboration can be. Hence, we are asking for your participation in our presentation as well.

1) Join our Ustream

We will be streaming the presentation live on the Open PD Ustream channel at 1:30 pm CDT on July 2nd. You may watch here and participate in the conversation (and even ask the panelists questions).

2) Leave a comment on our voicethread

One way that you can participate now is by adding your voice to the VoiceThread below. Please take a few minutes and add your thoughts about the different tools depicted through images in the thread. We would truly like as many voices possible, offering a wide range of thought on the usefulness of the common tools we all use in our collaborations.How do you use these tools? How are they important to your professional development? Please add your voice.Insert embed code for the voice thread from this page - http://thewallscamedown.wikispaces.com/Join_In

3) Join the conversation on the NECC Educational networking site

We've created a discussion thread to converse on this panel discussion at the NECC educational networking site.

Follow our most recent announcements.

All announcements and events pertaining to this session will be announced at the Walls Came Down wiki.

Time for a Change

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:56:59 -0600

The fact that I have not posted anything here in a long time is telling. But I am going to try out a few new looks over the next couple of days. Don't be surprised if I actually post a podcast or something here soon. I really like these themes, by the same group that does the Revolution themes which I love, but am not quite ready to shell out for. Anyway, the comments database seemed to fix itself as randomly as it broke itself. Hopefully it stays fixed.

Macworld Presentations

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:23:15 -0700

Macworld/IDG has a site called Macworld Encore which has several sessions from the 2008 Macworld. I am not sure I like the format, which is, they basically recorded the audio from sessions while capturing the Keynote or PowerPoint slides. But there is some good information in some of these sessions. Give them a look.

See You in a Few!

Help for the Next Show

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 00:16:51 -0700

Take a Listen

I would like help from my network (that's anyone who reads this) for the next podcast. Rather than give yet another review of Leopard, I would like to know what your most favorite and least favorite features are in Leopard. If you would like to participate in the show I would love it if you would send me an .mp3 or other audio file with your most and lease favorites along with your name and blog, wiki, podcast or anything else you would like to plug. Send them to kdumont@mac.com. I would like to get the show out by next Wednesday so if you could have them to me by Tuesday I would appreciate it.

See You in a Few!

As if I don't have enough else to do...

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 23:36:35 -0700

I felt I wanted another forum a little different than The Educational Mac. So, I have created a new website modestly called The Tao of Kel. I will be ranting daily there this month as I try to participate in Nablopomo (National Blog Posting Month) Never will someone write so much to say so little. The feed for the blog is http://web.mac.com/kelly.dumont/Site/Blog/rss.xml

The Educational Mac Podcast #44–October 21, 2007

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 06:46:39 -0600

Click here to download the podcast!

Show Notes
Leopard Due October 26th @ 6:00 pm
Leopards 300 New Features
Leopard Guided Tour
JSD Elementary Film Festival Information

See You in a Few!

Impromptu Demo Breeds Ideas

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Fri, 19 Oct 2007 09:48:43 -0600

I have seen this happen a lot through Twitter the last couple of months, but I had a first hand experience with it yesterday. I was teaching the final session of a professional development for a small group of teachers at an elementary school in our district. The class was about them learning to use the tools available on their Mac laptops. Over the course of the 5 weeks (3 hours per session) we covered the OS, File Management, iLife, iWork, Comic Life, etc.

One of the tools they gravitated to the most was iChat. While most were initially excited about the opportunity to cheaply visit with distant friends and family, they soon discovered what a great tool it was for communication within their building. I wanted to leave them with a glimpse of other things that are happening and available now. I chose to show them UStream. I was afraid this might push them over the edge, but what actually happened was quite different.

Within about 10 seconds the first idea was blurted out, then another and another. Within 2 minutes they had about 10 ideas for using UStream in their classroom. None of them are new and original, but I was impressed that they came up with them. Here is what they came up with

1. Sharing presentations with parents who might not be able to attend in person.
2. Letting homebound students participate with class (shared Brian Crosby's work with them).
3. Showing and recording student behavior so adminstrator is aware (both positive and negative).
4. Allows parent's who can't normally come to the classroom to see what is going on in school.
5. Live science demonstrations showing or receiving from others.
6. Recording of teaching so students can review it later.
7. Recording student presentations so parents, grandparent's, etc. can view it later. (Password features helps)
8. Allowing guests, experts, etc. to come into the classroom from far away. (Platform neutrality the key for them here.)
9. Weekly newsletter (broadcast) for parents.
10. Nightly broadcast review of the day for students.

This list for me is not spectacular for the ideas themselves, but for who came up with them. This was a group of teachers who 6 weeks ago were afraid to do much more than write an email or browse a web page. I am going back out next month to help a few of them set up their own shows. It was pretty exciting.

The other exciting thing that came out of this class, was that by last night, I didn't have to show anyone anything. By that I mean if someone had a question about an issue with a program, or how to do this or that, I couldn't even answer. Others in the class took over and taught them how to do it. One of them even turned to me and said, "what do we need you for?" I felt proud and rejected all at the same time.

Podcast coming in a day or two.

See You in a Few!

The Power of Support

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 21:54:09 -0600

I sat at an event honoring young women from our congregation this evening. One young woman who has had some personal struggles of late got up to sing. The piano began, she began, but a couple of lines had to stop being overcome with emotion. She asked the pianist to start again and she tried to start again with the same results. At this point, two other young ladies got up and stood by their friend, lending their support. She tried to start again and still could not finish the song. The pianist just played the entire song. Throughout those few minutes the young ladies stood with their friend offering their continued support. It was a moving and powerful moment.

It made me think of some of my own struggles the past few weeks. Speaking professionally, at times I have felt like I couldn't continue with things I was doing. Yet everytime I got to a low point some kind of support would come through the edtech community, be it an answer to a question or the posting of a link to conversation, or other type of discussion. This support has helped bouy me up.

Now we have this great K12 online conference and I would like to thank not only the Seedlings, but all of those who are presenting during the conference. A huge thanks as well to the conveners of the conference. I can feel the stress in posts and tweets from these tireless workers. I want them to know that there efforts are appreciated.

k12online07

Announcing 2008 Jordan School District Elementary Film Festival

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:44:12 -0600

We are gearing up for our annual elementary film festival. The festival will be held on April 24, 2008. The reason I am posting this here is because we have added a new category this year, Foreign Films. By foreign we mean outside of our school district. We will accept entries from any elementary (K-6) school in Utah, the US, or Worldwide. The entries can align to any of our other categories (Animation, Documentary, Feature Film, Public Service Announcement, etc.)

Entries will need to be accompanied by entry forms which can be downloaded from the link below. Entrants also need to understand that the films will be posted online for screening. Make sure you have covered any privacy issues with your own policies and procedures.
We are so excited to try branching our film festival out slowly to other schools. If you are interested in entering films in our Foreign Film category, please contact me at kelly.dumont@jordan.k12.ut.us

The information page for the Film Festival can be found here –Jordan School District Elementary Film Festival–

Are You Ready, I Am!

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 10:56:42 -0600

As I have been involved at my dayjob lately, I have felt a real lack of forward progress. I keep trying to blame my feelings on the job itself or on coworkers lack of wanting to move forward. The more I think about it though I realize it is me, it is not the job, not anyone else but me. I feel a need for a recharge.

I have been looking forward to the K12 Online Conference, but as I woke up this morning and realized that David Warlick's opening keynote is less than 24 hours away, I got really excited. Jen Wagner tweeted yesterday that she would be up at 5:00 am tomorrow to view the keynote. I replied that I would watch it tomorrow, but not necessarily be getting up early to watch it. Thanks Jen for the challenge so to speak. As I woke up this morning I felt a lot of excitement about K12 Online. I am sure it is going to help recharge my batteries and I am really looking forward to it. Jen, I will be joining you and hopefully many others early tomorrow morning.

See You in a Few!

And now for something completely different, or not, but still cool…

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 12:13:21 -0600

Get the Audio Here
I just finished participating in a Skype and Google chat with Vicki Davis, Darren Draper, Karen Janowski, Kristin Hokanson, Robin Ellis, Jo McLeay, Sharon Peters, Ryan Bretag, and John Maklary. We are collaborating on an NECC proposal. Using Google Docs, Google Chat, and Skype we worked on refining the proposal. This is the audio recorded from that discussion. This is such an interesting way to collaborate and plan.

What Network for Me

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 13:14:15 -0600

I have had this tumbling around in my head for a couple of weeks now. Perhaps committing it to electrons will help me settle it down a little.
The thing that has been perplexing me is the abundance of social networks, particularly the education related ones. Perhaps this came to a head a little with the whole Quechup affair. It seems like there is something new popping up every week (yeah, I know that can be quite literally happening.) Each may have its own little take or hook on the whole Web 2.0, School 2.0, Life 2.0 thing.

I choose to believe that most are trying to do a good thing and provide a service to the educational community. I believe there is a potential for great power with each of these communities. There problem I am having is how to sort it all out personally, or where do they fit in to my PLN (Personal Learning Network). I need to make an admission here, as I get older I seem to be not able to multitask very well. Therefore the problem I am wrestling with is which network should I focus on. Right now I seem to be focused pretty much on my Twitter network. I really like the immediacy of Twitter. Last week I watched as Darren Draper put out a call for help for a solution for a class he is beginning next week. He put out the call over Twitter. Within about 45 minutes there were 6 of us participating in a test of sorts. It was a great collaborative effort. I see so much potential in that type of activity. Now I won't ignore other tools and networks, but I find myself having to be more and more selective. I am grateful for a network to be able to glean and share so much information.

One more thing. The 2007 K12 Online Conference is coming up quickly. If you have not heard about this conference or are not sure what it is about go to K12 Online Conference and find out.

The Educational Mac Podcast #43 A Vidcast September 5, 2007

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 07:14:08 -0600

Click Here for Vidcast
Click Here for Audio Only

A rather long winded vidcast. My experiences at the Apple Distinguished Educator's Institute this summer. My roommate was Tom Woodward of Bionic Teaching and the fabled Tech Ninja fame.

An introduction to Twitter.

Apple introduces new iMacs, iLife '08, and iWork '08. They also offer up new site licenses for iLife and iWork.

Guest Cast/Chat with Dan Schmit of Kidcast.

See You in a Few!

Why is it so hard...?

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Fri, 31 Aug 2007 22:00:31 -0600

Why is it so hard for me to get a podcast out? I have had the outline/script written for 2 weeks. I want to do it. Am I really that busy? I can't be that busy. Do I need more peace and quiet to do it? Yeah, good luck with that one. Well I will get one out by Tuesday morning. No more excuses...but what about that BBQ on Monday...?

See You in a Few!

No this time I really mean it!

8 Things

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 22:44:25 -0600

This has been around awhile, and I was actually tagged a couple of weeks ago, but am just getting to it.

This is another meme experiment:

1. We have to post these rules before we give you the facts.
2. Players start with eight random facts / habits about themselves.
3. People who are tagged need to write in their own blog about their eight things and include these rules in the post.
4. At the end of your post, you need to choose eight people to get tagged and list their names.
5. Don't forget to leave them a comment telling them they're tagged, and to read your blog.

---------------------------------------------

eight facts / habits about me:

1. My favourite food is lobster, but I don't have it very often.
2. My Great-Grandfather loaned J.C. Penney money to help start his first store. Instead of taking an interest in the venture he opted for his money back with a little interest.
3. My first computer was an Atari 800 XL.
4. The town where my parents lived when I was born no longer exists.
5. My first Mac was an emulator for the Atari ST.
6. I drive a car that looks like someone took a can opener to on the right side.
7. I am a comic book fan.
8. I worked at Computer City/CompUSA for 6 months while working on my Master's. Thought it would be a good way to earn tuition. Ha, Ha, Ha.

---------------------------------------------

Most everyone I read has already participated, but if you want go ahead and consider yourself tagged.

Homes on the Online Range

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 10:22:42 -0600

I must be feeling loquacious these days. Maybe my mind is coming out of a fog. For the first time in awhile thoughts seem to be actually coalescing in my brain. One thing that has struck me in particular late is thoughts of home. Having done some traveling this summer, I have been away from home more than usual. While away I have found myself thinking more about home than usual. Could be the old age creeping in. Anyway those thoughts of home always lead to peaceful, comfortable feelings. One thing that I have noticed about being home though is I seem to be shutting out more of the outside influences when I am home. This may be good or bad.

Along those same lines I have been thinking about online homes. I have places online that evoke the same feelings that being at home does. For me those homes include the Twitterverse, Google Reader, and the ADE forum pages. I also notice that when in these online home environment I tend again to shut out more of the outside influences. I am not sure this even makes sense, but let me give an example.

On Monday it was thought that a small to moderate earthquake struck in central Utah about 100 miles to the Southeast of my home. This "earthquake" caused a mine collapse trapping 6 miners. It is now being reported that actually the collapse caused the seismic readings not the other way around. Anyway, through my online homes I was aware that this had occurred except I didn't know it had happened here in Utah until about 6 hours later.

It makes me wonder if I have let myself get too comfortable in both my real world and online homes.

See You in a Few!

About the Guest Casts

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 22:12:01 -0600

I just have to say that I feel like a proud father. The 3 Guest casts that were posted today were the final projects for the Podcasting PD class I taught the last two days. These 13 fantastic teachers far exceeded my expectations for their projects. Congratulations to all of you.

To the listeners, if you feel so inclined, please leave comments on the Guest Casts, Thank You.

Guest Cast #3–The Four Square Mulitplication Method by The 4 Squares

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:38:36 -0600

Click here to listen to the podcast

Produced by teachers taking a Podcasting professional development class in Jordan School District.

Show Notes

This podcast is about multiplication using the four square method.

Guest Cast #2-Communication by The 5 T's

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:36:42 -0600

Click here to listen to the podcast
Produced by teachers taking a Podcasting professional development class in Jordan School District.
Show Notes
In our podcast, we discuss different kinds of communication and how they can be used in the classroom. Math, Science, and Storytelling as well as Humor, Reviews, and Group Activities are discussed. This podcast will help people see the importance of good communication and how it helps in culture and the community.

Guest Cast #1–Check it Out! by the Book Lovers

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 16:34:44 -0600

Click here to listen to the podcast
Produced by teachers taking a Podcasting professional development class in Jordan School District.
Show Notes
A discussion of three best-selling books by Stephanie Meyer: Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse, with excerpts and reviews for each book.

The Educational Mac Podcast #42 August 6, 2007

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:53:55 -0600

Click here to listen to the Podcast!
A short cast introducing some Guest Casts that will be coming through the feed in the next day or so.
See You in a Few!

ADE 2007 Summer Institute Part II

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 25 Jul 2007 23:41:48 -0700

3 days into the institute and still going strong. For an old fart like me that is pretty amazing. It is the energy of this fantastic group of educators that makes it possible though. Yesterday we finished our Class of 2007 orientation. I think I have my head a little more around what it means to be an ADE. I have for so long been what I hope is a passionate advocate for using technology in education in general and Macs in particular. But this really steps it up another level. Being able to meet with other passionate advocates and to feed off or their energy is incredible.

The level of leadership Apple shows in this regard is also incredible. We spent a couple of hours yesterday and a couple more today with Rebecca Stockley an amazing Improvisation Artist and teacher. What a bundle of energy, wit, and fun. We learned some great improv techniques and skills from Rebecca. We also had a brief presentation from Topher Klein from SMART Technologies that ended in a big surprise. Also throughout the day more great food.

Today we had the opportunity to attend 3 workshops of our choosing. Where else in one day can one sit in sessions led by Marco Torres, Ted Lai, and Carl Owens. This evening we had a glorious meal (sorry, those who did not get steak) and the both of the desserts were to die for. The evening was capped off by a presentations by Pulitzer Prize winning photographer Vincent Laforet. He has produced some of the most adventurous and also heart rendering images I have ever seen. To see his shot of the changing of the light at the top of the Empire State Building gave me vertigo while sitting down. On the other hand, his images of New Orleans in the days following Katrina brought tears to my eyes. It was an incredible presentation.

Tomorrow we start our 24 hour project period. I will be working with a group of 3 or 4 other ADEs and we will have 24 hours to complete a project based on a visit we will make tomorrow backstage so to speak at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. At this point I have no idea what we will do, but I am excited to work on it with this team from across the nation.

That has actually been the key of attending this event. As I mentioned earlier, I am amazed by the talent and passion of this group. It is so interesting to talk to these people and hear theirs stories and what they do. I got to know the tech director of a 3,700 student private school in Hawaii last night. Tonight I had the pleasure of dining with the Director of Integrated Technologies of a small school located in Martha's Vinyard. That visit makes me want to visit Boston more than ever. Hmmm...how can I get to Alan November's BLC Conference next year.

Well, off for a few hours of sleep tonight as I am thinking there won't be much tomorrow night.
See You in a Few!
ADE2007

ADE 2007 Summer Institute

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 23:18:04 -0700

I am currently in Monterey, CA for the 2007 Apple Distinguished Educator Summer Institute. We will be here through Saturday. This will be a great opportunity for me to learn from other passionate about the same things that I am. I am looking forward to working with the other ADE's over the course of the next several years. I have not met everyone in our class yet, but I will.
Today the new ADE's flew in to San Jose and were taken by bus to the Apple Campus in Cupertino. Yes, we visited the mothership, drank the Kool-Aid, and bought out the Retail Store on campus. It really was interesting to feel the energy on campus. The coolest thing I saw was the Executive Briefing Center, where Apple brings in groups to brief them on products, ideas, etc. We took a group photo in the quad, which I understand is a rare occurrence as photography is not allowed inside Infinite Loop.
We then boarded the buses for the drive to Monterey, or more accurately, California State University at Monterey Bay. It is an interesting campus to say the least. It is actually contained within an old military installation so you have a mixture of old military style buildings and more modern buildings. We are "dorming" it in a modern dorm building. It is kind of fun. I have the privilege of rooming with Tom Woodward.
This evening we had a delightful Mexican buffet (the shrimp fajitas were great) and introductory meeting. Tomorrow is a busy day with some introductory presentations and then a vendor fair in the afternoon through dinner. Tomorrow a group of alumni ADE's will also descend upon us which I am really looking forward to.
This is going to be a great week and it has just begun.
See You in a Few!
ADE2007

I am Yllek Ducatillon

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:44:04 -0600

I have finally found where I wanted to be in Second Life. This is a new experience for this old dog. I found The Bloggers Cafe blog and now the Second Life version. I have been to the Cafe a couple of times, but was always alone there. Tonight when I jumped in, Ryan Bretag and others were there. Ryan is the creator of The Bloggers Cafe in Second Life. He was very welcoming and even got my picture up on the wall. I think I will be spending a lot of time there in the near future.

Will Richardson's Workshop-Empowering Practice: Leveraging the Read/Write Web for Professional Growth

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:59:34 -0400

Notes to Self in parenthesis (Doing this reminds me of how bad a note taker I was in college. Obviously not a very good live blogger either).

This is an introductory workshop for the tools of the read/write web. It is about how to use the tools for the educators own professional practice.

BTW-Working on a PC and yes it is killing me. Dang noisy keyboards.

These are hugely disruptive times because of these technologies.The important piece to this is learning to create your own learning environments, because this is what are students are going to need to learn to do.

A little discussion about blocking the tools, etc.

First working with Wikis. Using Wikispaces. The intelligence services of the US are using a wiki. Difference between wikis and blogs. Blogs about conversation, wikis about dumping information. Wikispaces not cooperating so we're switching to Google.

Looking at Google Reader. Describing RSS and how Google Reader Works.

Going over how to subscribe to feeds with Reader.
Spending a lot of time on features of Google Reader (Shared Items, Tags (which I haven't used, but great idea).

Now looking at Del.icio.us. (It too is being a little balky. I actually think it is the network here).

Now playing with PageFlakes. Haven't done so before, kind of like Google Reader on steroids.

(Will is doing a great job of handling all of the hiccups).

Going back to Wikispaces with the hope that it will behave now. It is working much better. (I have been a pretty strong proponent of PBWiki, but I am thinking that Wikispaces is easier to use. I need to do a wiki bake-off).

Now looking at blogs. Using LearnerBlogs or Edublogs. They too are being flakey. Will thinks these are due to actual problems at the sites.

Will wishes that things were working better so he could show his workflow. I wish so too.

Going through Wordpress features.

Addressing how to get these tools used effectively in schools. It's all about the personal networking and learning. As usual the conversation at the end makes the difference.

Great job Will!

n07s688 necc07, neccprep, necc2007

Lunch with Ron Clark

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:53:03 -0400

Our team was invited to a luncheon sponsored by Promethean. The lunch speaker was Ron Clark, author of The Essential 55. He really was inspiring. It was fun to see someone who is so energetic and passionate about working with kids. I tried to record it, but screwed up of course. Thanks to Jeff Anderson from Audio Enhancements for inviting us to attend.

necc07, neccprep, necc2007

Where is it Happening?

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 11:07:35 -0400

Be warned, this is a rant post. Somethings I have observed this morning. Why would you make it so it takes 7 minutes to get out of a session room. Hopefully that will not be so bad as people get more spread out. If you only have one major way to get out of an area keep it as clear as possible.

I spent my first little bit of time on the exhibit floor, went to see the new HyperStudio. It is supposed to be out later this summer. Again I may question its relevance in today's world, but I still want it. I think I just spent the most money per ounce for any soft drink I have ever had. It is worse than the airport.

By the way, if you want to know where it is happening here, stay close to the Blogger Cafe on Level 2.

Leslie Fisher-Gadget Queen

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 10:19:02 -0400

Leslie Fisher–Gadgets, Gadgets, Gadgets

Camera Slow?

When something goes wrong with your card

Television and Music

Pinnacle PCTV

$129.00 class="Normal_22"> 14pt;">Utility Software

SnapzPro title="http://www.adiumx.com" style="color: rgb(13, 0, 163); line-height: 14pt; opacity: 1; text-decoration: underline;">www.adiumx.com) 14pt;">Fonts–Fontreserve.com

If you have more than 215 fonts the system will only give you access to Times Roman Italics 14pt;">Clip Art

Art Explosion 750,000 ClipArt. com

www.istockphoto.com www.dreamstime.com

High end photos www.jupiterimages.com

www.gettyimages.com 14pt;">Digital Cameras

Canon Powershot TX1 7.1 MP

Image Stabilization HD Movies

ISO 1600 for low light $499

Sony DSC T100

8.1 MP, 5x Optical Zoom 11 Scene Modes

3 in. Monitor $399.00

It could be the card

Memory cards have speed rating Cheaper the card slower the picture taking

Buy professional level cards–about $10 extra per card Use a card reader to save on camera battery life

Use www.smugmug.com for uploading pictures

Free-$99.00 per year Image Rescue from Lexar HD Pro Stick USB to Cable or RCA

Mac and PC

www.pinnaclesys.com

Speakers

Soundsticks II–$199

www.harmanmultimedia.com

TivoTivo to Go is basically a web server
$299-$899

Slingbox

Hooks up to TV and Internet

Also allows you to watch live TV

$199

Home Theatre Nuts

Logitech Harmony 890 Remote

Universal Remote

Web Interface to set up remote

iPod

Mecca for iPod people

www.everythingipod.com

www.belkin.com

Old School Music

iTTUSB–USB Turntable $134.00

http://ion-audio.com

Phone Tidbits

iPhone–Is there anything else right now

Virtual Laser Keyboard–http://www.virtual-laser-keyboard.com

Verizon and Spring Aircard

Keyspan Presenter Remote $59.00 www.keyspan.com

Solar device charger–www.solio.com $99.00

Computer bags

Messenger Bag $125.00 www.timbuk2.com

Sling Bags www.sfbags.com

LoPro Double bag, computer bag/camera bag.

Motivational–www.despair.com

GPS–Magellan Maestro

n07s135

necc07, neccprep, necc2007

The Educational Mac Podcast #41 June 24, 2007

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 23:02:09 -0400

Day 2 for NECC–Get the Podcast Here

Workshop-Finding Successful Solutions for Technology Staff Development
Many great ideas for making SD more productive and more fun.

Brief interview with Janet Corder of j2Training

NECC Keynote–Andrew Zolli, founder of PopTech conference. Things we as educators need to work towards in the near future. It seems like this particular audience is getting a little tired of constantly looking into the future.

The Atlanta Drum Line was fantastic!

Opening Reception at Georgia Aquarium–Crowded as usual, food not scarce but hard to get to.

What I am doing tomorrow.
Leslie Fisher
Arnie Abrams
and more.

See You in a Few!

necc07, neccprep, necc2007

The Educational Mac Podcast #40–June 23, 2007

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:59:40 -0400

Get the Podcast Here

From Atlanta
EduBloggerCon 07

What a great start to NECC!

See You in a Few!

necc07, neccprep, necc2007

Not even conference time yet and great news

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 00:52:03 -0400

Well we made it to the ATL and managed dinner at the Hard of Hearing (err, Rock) Cafe.

Before the conference or even the EduBloggerCon starts I have seen the best news in a long time. Mackiev has purchased the rights to HyperStudio and will be producing the long awaited version 5. The best news though is that Roger Wagner himself is going to be working with Mackiev on the update. I hope they can make it relevant in today's Ed-Tech environment, but if anyone can I think this combo can. I can't wait to get to Mackiev's booth(#316) next week.

Well tomorrow starts off with EduBloggerCon and then a group of us are off to see the Braves and the Tigers. I will try to capture some audio from the Con tomorrow and share it in a podcast.

See You in a Few!

necc07, neccprep, necc2007

Off to NECC

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 21:17:59 -0600

Well the countdown is nearly over. I will be leaving with our district group in the morning for Atlanta. Yeah, I still haven't gotten a podcast out in over 2 months. It seems I went straight from kids housing problems, to new grandson, to baseball and softball and more baseball and softball. I am looking forward to a few days off from it actually.

I will be blogging and podcasting from NECC again this year with a new set of tools that will hopefully make it easier for me and better for you. So I really mean it this time when I say...

See You in a Few!

necc07, neccprep, necc2007

An Interesting Lesson

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 16:46:26 -0600

This post and comments on David Warlick's blog don't quite make my head hurt, but come close. I do believe the nature of information is changing, but more obviously the delivery of that information has changed as well.

I was teaching a Jr. Achievement lesson in my son's class today. It was basically about information and how delivery has changed. For part of the lesson the students were to copy the text of a paragraph much like a scribe previous to the invention of a press would. They were to copy it exactly as it appeared in their books and the passage was done in a pretty crazy font. I had them work on it for about 10 minutes and most only got the 1st line done and their hands were pretty cramped.

I want then to show how today we could make contact and get information directly and nearly instantaneously. I had fired up iChat earlier hoping someone in my buddy list from outside of Utah might be available for a video chat. There wasn't so next I Twittered a request and got a couple of responses, but no one was available at the time I needed or had the necessary equipment available. I was resigned to using someone in the district. However, as I fired up iChat while the students were scribing, David Warlick himself appeared as available and I imposed upon his time. I really appreciate the 10 minutes David spent with us.

It was pretty cool for the kids to go from feeling what a scribe might have went through to get one single copy of information ready to being able video chat. Keeping in mind that this was a video chat from Riverton, UT to a distinguish North Carolinian who happened to be in Toronto, Canada today. The funnest part for the kids was that they found out their teacher was also from North Carolina. So we had to North Carolinians talking to each other, one in Utah the other in Toronto.

David made a point during our chat that left an immpresson on the kids. He talked about how when he was their age, his world was his town basically. He knew few people outside of his world. They didn't even make long distance phone calls because of the cost. Yet today these kids talked to that same person via video conference without (directly) paying anything.

Thanks again David, it made for very interesting lesson!

See You in a Few!

david warlick

NECC Schedule...subject to slight modification!

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:13:01 -0600

Two posts in one day, don't anyone faint.

Beyond the planner information I am excited about the Edublogger Con on Saturday the 23rd.

Conference Planner for Kelly Dumont

Sunday, June 24
8:30-11:30am

SUA204 Finding Successful Solutions for Technology Staff Development [Workshop]
Location: GWCC B211

Monday, June 25
8:30-9:30am

Almost All New Return of the Gadgets! [Session]
Location: GWCC Murphy 1

8:30-9:30am

Personal Computing: New Solutions for the Classroom @ Web 2.0 [Session]
Location: GWCC B211

11:00am-12:00pm
AFI Screen Education Center: Digital Filmmaking in the Core Curriculum [Session]
Location: GWCC Murphy 4

12:30-1:30pm

Cool Tools: Incorporating Web 2.0 Tools in the Classroom [Session]
Location: GWCC B302

12:30-1:30pm

Making the Laptop Disappear: Moving to Seamless Integration [Session]
Location: GWCC B212

2:00-3:00pm
Digital Photography and Video Projects for Improving Learning [Session]
Location: GWCC B217

3:30-4:30pm
Innovating the 21st-Century Learning Environment [Session]
Location: GWCC Murphy 1

Tuesday, June 26
8:30-11:30am

TA414 Empowering Practice: Leveraging the Read/Write Web for Professional Growth [Workshop]
Location: OMNI International C

11:00am-12:00pm

iChat, iSight, therefore iFix: Integrating Sound, Video, Jabber for Support [Session]
Location: GWCC B208

12:30-1:30pm
New Tools, New Schools: Starting the Conversation about Web 2.0 [Session]
Location: GWCC B207

2:00-3:00pm
Podcasting for Professional Development: Innovative Strategies for Syndicated Success [Session]
Location: GWCC B208

3:30-4:30pm

Starting From Scratch: Building School 2.0 [Session]
Location: GWCC B201

3:30-4:30pm

Constructivist Teaching with Technology: Learning with Laptops [Session]
Location: GWCC B208

3:30-4:30pm

The REAL Work of 21st-Century Skills [Session]
Location: GWCC B217

Wednesday, June 27
10:30-11:30am
I Didn’t Know You Could Do That with an iPod! [Session]
Location: GWCC B208

1:30-2:30pm
Expanding Boundaries of Learning: Designing Rigorous and Globally Connected Assignments [Session]
Location: GWCC Murphy 1

2:45-4:00pm
Closing Keynote [Session]
Location: GWCC Murphy Ballroom

necc07, neccprep, necc2007

Darren Draper–TTIX Keynote

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Thu, 07 Jun 2007 16:19:05 -0600

Teaching in the Digital AgeIntroducing self, T4 Site, Podcasts, National University, Blog http://drapestakes.blogspot.com, family

Talks about the fact that he is preaching to the choir.

70 Million blogs- some of them have to be good - david sifri, Technorati

Tags ttix07, presenters name (firstlast)

Todays topic is change, not money, school change, student change, teacher change

40% of teachers in Utah are older than 50

Teachers are stuck in a rut

In helping teachers, we help students

Technology for teachers

PowerPoint?

Other things are out there.

Times have changed, we're not in the 90's

"We live in a world where the only thing constant is change!" Ian Jukes

Just 2 years ago life was different

2 years ago...

There were nine planets

Brad and Jen now Brad and Angelina

Tsunami

New Orleans pre Katrina

Virginia Tech just another school

Technology

No Windows Vista

No XBOX 360, PS3, Wii

Just beginning video podcasts

AJAX just beginning

No YouTube, TeacherTube

No Twitter

Back to Jukes quote.

The only question is how do we keep up.

Karl Fisch-We are currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist, using technologies that haven't been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet.

These are amazing times

Students have changed...

Two year-old daughter on computer clicking mouse–Who taught her?

The kids pick it up.

Photo of daughter showing grandpa how to use his iPod-Who is teaching whom?

Children today are growing up immersed in media.

83% Children 0-6 use a screen media in a typical day

65% Live in a home where the TV is on at least 1/2 the time

Kids are active consumers.

77% turn on the TV by themselves

67% ask for particular shows

62% use remote to change channels

4-6 year olds

70% have used a computer

27% use a computer in a typical day

56% without parents

Kids want to Create

They've created a new language

IM Speak

Abbreviations all parents should know http://www.netlingo.com

Books now being written in IM

Lauren myracle

Dying Language

IM Speak vs Latin

Kids don't care that the language is dying

No one can stop them from doing it. Not even teachers.

"These teens were born into a digital world where the expect to be able to create, consume, remix, and share Lee Raimi-PEW

65,000 uploads per day to YouTube, 2700 uploads per hour, 45 per minute

57% of online teens create content for the internet

Sharing-Creative Commons

Showing videos from YouTube

Guitar Canon–20.9 million views

Hey Clip–14.7 milion views

Fast Food Freestyle–6.6 million views

Toto Africa Machinima–14,000 views

Lot's of creativity–Can't we harness that in our schools

Remixes

Mashups

Sunday Bloody Sunday–President Bush

Is it goofy?

Is it Useful?

Generation D

Millenials

Digital Natives

iGeneration

Button-Pushing Generation

One Key Question

Are we Engaging Them?

More times than not we are not.

Our schools are changing (slowly)

One way we can adapt is to use the technology that our kids already love.

Keynote handout will be available at http://www.ttix.org

ttix07, darrendraper

A Long Time Ago in A Galaxy Far Away... (or not)!

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 15 May 2007 23:27:31 -0600

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted anything here. I missed an April podcast altogether and will miss May if I don't get going. Spring seems to be the busiest time for me overall.

Work tends to start slowing down (except for one project that I will talk about in a moment). However, the rest of my life seems to kick into high gear. I am coaching my twelve year-old son's baseball team (7-1 so far). I am trying to keep up with my 15 year-old daughter's softball team (8-2 or so heading into tournament season). I have received a new church assignment which is keeping me busy. Trying to spend time with grandkids. Moving Daughter, Son-in-Law, and Grandsons out and back into their home (a long story I need to tell here someday). Moving 20 year-old son back into our house after 8 months away. Painting (them not me), re-carpeting (which for me mainly means moving a lot of heavy stuff). After 5 months of a house in chaos, I would sure like to be able to get it back together and keep it that way for more than a day.

Okay, enough whining. As I mentioned, this time of year tends to slow down a bit at work. The exception to that being the Elementary Film Festival that I have organized for the past 4 years. This is a project that takes a lot of my time for about a month. Part of it is my fault, I haven't included my co-workers much in it and probably should more. It is just that this feels like my baby and you know how that is. Wow how un-Web (School) 2.0 that sounds. Anyway the festival was held last Thursday and we screened 26 films and honored 7 of them with our humble awards. You can view the winners here.

Tonight most of the winners joined me at The Apple Store, The Gateway for School Night at The Apple Store. The only problem was that the store wasn't expecting us. I had signed up for the event over two months ago. I never had a response though. So I talked to an assistant manager 3 weeks ago and she emailed me and told me that we were on the schedule and I should receive some information shortly. I never receive the information and had planned to visit the store yesterday or earlier today to make sure we were still on. Today I received the invitations that Apple sends out to give to parents, etc. Nice timing! Anyway, I assumed that since they did at least make up the invitations that we were planned on. Well, you know what happens when you assume. And sure enough when I arrived at the store they were in a panic. One of the kids arrived before I did and showed the managers the invitation I had made up for our award winners (since I had not received the official ones yet). So when I arrived they were scrambling madly. They were very apologetic and managed to pull it off for us in a nice way. The biggest problem was that they didn't have enough t-shirts for the kids. So they took names and will ship shirts to me for those who didn't get one tonight. For all of the panic it still ended up being a great event for the kids. I have to thank the crew at The Gateway for pulling it together for us. Here is a picture of the kids during the presentation of their films.

There are a lot of things I still have not mentioned that are going on or upcoming, but I will save those for the podcast.

See You in a Few!

Lots are "Paying Attention"

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 18:43:14 -0600

My co-worker Darren Draper wanted to create a motivational presentation for us to use in our district. A "Did You Know" type of presentation. He did a great job and it is called Pay Attention. It has been amazing to see the response to this presentation, not necessarily in our district but from the world. I am seeing the views on TeacherTube go up about 100 every hour now.

See You in a Few!

Please Welcome to The Educational Mac Family

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 20:29:37 -0600

This blog and podcast are a little over 2 years old. One of the first posts to the blog was about the birth of my 3rd grandchild, Kaden. Well, today I am announcing the birth of Kaden's little brother, Cole. Cole was born on Tuesday, March 20th at 12:39 pm. Mom, Baby, Dad and adoring big brother are all doing well.

See You in a Few!

The Educational Mac Podcast #39–March 19, 2007

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Mon, 19 Mar 2007 02:59:39 -0600

Get the Podcast Here

Show Notes

UCET WrapUp
Decompression
Never test new equipment on site or Kelly Sucks
Time spent with David Warlick
It was so great spending time with David. I even got to teach him something.

The same week, I get to hear Ian Jukes live for the first time. I cut a Take Five from one of his sessions.

My new best friend who doesn't even know who I am–Podcast Review of the month
Dan Schmit
Kidcast Podcast–iTunes Link
Dan's Books
Kidcast
GarageBand Mechanics

App of the Cast
Google SketchUp–Full day of training. The training was amazing. It is so nice to know what all of the controls can do. At least now I can create a house that actually looks like a house. Instructor Alex Oliver http://www.go-2-school.com SketchUp training is what they do. They have 2 training DVDs, but they also have a video podcast called The Sketchup Show. It is available directly at the site or via iTunes.

$60 million in new tech funding statewide in Utah, whatever will we do with it? Will we do the right things? What are the right things?

Why is life always so crazy?(or why can't Kelly get a podcast out on time.)

See You in a Few!

Seeing is Believing

kdumont@mac.com (Kelly Dumont) — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:51:36 -0600

Over the past couple of years I have probably read over 100 blog entries stating in one form or another that learning is conversation. This concept has never hit me as hard as it did today as I did some observation in a kindergarten classroom. I watched a teacher do a marvelous job of explaining to the cute little ones what there task was to be. The kids went back to their desks and started working on their task. However, they didn't seem into it.

Then the interesting stuff happened. The volume in the room began to grow, but it wasn't idle conversation. The kids were talking about what they were doing and as they talked they got more excited about the task. The volume never got overwhelming, but the energy that developed was really impressive.