It's over!

Another phase of my educational life is now over since I finished my last Rank 1 courses this week. The year went by quite fast and I am proud of my accomplishment. Now on to bigger and better things! I have decided to pursue my Ed.D. with Northcentral University. I'll be starting that program in January of 2011. I'm excited about the future!

Earnest - Week Eight

My last blog entry for this class is now upon me. I have truly enjoyed all the assignments and have found so many beneficial sites that I have saved for future reference. As I have begun my duties as our District Technology Resource Teacher, I feel confident that I will utilize the textbook and all that I've learned as I help our teachers integrate technology more fully in their classrooms. How many classes have you taken that you have continued to use the text? I bet not many!

There are so many online tools that we have discovered that will be useful to me, such as real-world applications of Word(r), Excel(r) and PowerPoint(r) as well as using digital images and WebQuests(r). Our district is focused on teaching digital citizenship to all our staff and students, so the tools that I now have at my disposable will be invaluable to me as we move forward with this emphasis. I also found multiple resources for lesson plans that I believe I can use. But perhaps my most favorite discovery throughout the class was the knowledge I gained about the Microsoft Mouse Mischief way to use wireless mice with a projection system and PowerPoint(r) so that a classroom or school doesn't have to spend an extraordinary amount of funds to purchase a "clicker" system. I hope I can find a resource to purchase a classroom set of wireless mice to try this out for real!

As far as security and protection of our district network, I was not surprised to hear of my classmates' issues with viruses. I've been fortunate that our district has been pretty much Mac-based through the years, although we have purchased more Windows-based machines for this year. We were concerned about the security of our network and making sure that we complied with the Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) so that we could continue to apply for and receive e-rate funding. With that in mind, we went to a new Internet security provider, Lightspeed. We've hit a few bumps so far getting it implemented and fine-tuning it for our district, but I think it will be an asset to our district in protecting our students and our staff. I am proud of our tech team (even though we only number 4 with the addition of 4 technology resource teachers for a total of 8). I feel confident that we are doing everything we can to serve and protect our district. (Does that sound like I'm married to a police officer? Oh, . . . yes, I am . . . at least a part-time one for our city.)

I have enjoyed adding to this blog each week and hope any of you out there reading it have gotten something out of it. It will be a great tool that I can share with my teachers. If I was a parent of a school-aged child, I would love seeing an end-of-week entry by the teachers to let me know about the previous week and how it went and then a little bit of what is coming the next week. I think that would be a welcome addition to our communication avenues.

As they say in text speak . . . C U! Over and out.

Earnest - Week Seven

Well, the next to the last week of classes has arrived. My husband just remarked to me that I seemingly have done more work this semester than most, and even though that is true, I have learned so much in this educational technology course and in the inclusive classroom course that I feel it has totally been worth all my time and attention.

This week our focus was on software that we have used, or have seen used, in classrooms. I selected Read & Write GOLD and iMovie, the former being one that I had seen in use and been to a short introductory training about and the latter being one I had actually used with my multi-media class when I was actively teaching at a high school. As our assignment for the blog was to select one piece of software to talk about, I will use iMovie since I did use it in my classroom.

iMovie is a program specifically for Mac-based computers and it is a very appropriate program to use in multi-media classes. In order to get the maximum effect from iMovie, a student has to learn to use a digital camera, a camcorder, about copyrights and permission to use music, etc. Once those basic objectives are mastered, then the student can move to producing a final product utilizing all of those skills within iMovie. Of course, with any multi-media or graphic design style class, the focus is always on the end product, just as it is in the real world. With iMovie, the setup process is the most difficult since the program takes a long time to render once everything is loaded and set the way the student wants. Since the program is fairly user-friendly, it does not take students long to figure out how to load the images and the music and all that, but it does take patience while the program renders the final product. Depending on how many images and everything is loaded into the program, students may find themselves with some time on their hands and a computer that is tied up with processing. So, if I was to do this all over again, I would certainly have other projects that did not require all the computers that students could complete while the program was working on their final product. Ideally I believe I would ask for the class to be scheduled as the last class of the day so if iMovie needed more time to finish its tasks, then it could keep on working after school was out for the day!

Overall, I really enjoyed the multi-media class and I think that our final product of an end-of-year movie for the students and staff to enjoy was well worth the time and effort it took to learn the program and use it efficiently.

For more information about iMovie, go to http://www.apple.com/ilife/imovie/. For more information on Read & Write GOLD, go to http://www.synapseadaptive.com/texthelp/read&write_gold/read&write_gold_default.htm.

Seven weeks down - one to go! Rank I - I can see the end of the tunnel!

Earnest - Week Six

Here it is – already Week Six! This week’s assignment was very interesting and something that I had utilized within my classroom when I was teaching, but nothing I had ever accomplished on my own. As I reviewed several WebQuests, I realized that it would take some effort to put one together. However, our instructor suggested the use of QuestGarden® and the company offers a free 30-day trial account. Once I signed up for an account, I began the task of creating my own WebQuest. I had not been able to find any quests about music when I was researching them, so even though I am not a music teacher, I decided to focus on orchestras as the basis of my WebQuest. I was able to find the neatest Web sites about orchestras, including one site that was designed just for kids – the Dallas Symphony Orchestra kids Web site. With that as the basis of my quest, I found other sites that I could use and the QuestGarden process led me through the different steps in designing the actual pages that the students would go through as they worked on the final task. Quest Garden made it so easy and one thing I really liked was the checkpoints they provided along the way to make one think and focus on the purpose, the design, the links, the standards, etc. for the WebQuest. I watched a video with Bernie Dodge, the creator of WebQuests, and he mentioned that he felt many times teachers and others were designing WebQuests that could best be taught in another fashion. I thought QuestGarden did an excellent job of making me think about what I was doing and how my quest would actually “teach” the students and how easy it would be for another teacher, even across the United States or the world, to use what I had designed. I am very proud of my resulting quest and hope to share it with my elementary music teacher. I didn’t find the assignment particularly challenging with the exception of the time that it took to find the Web sites I wanted to use and the images I wanted to include. If I had more time, I would probably do a little better job working on the design of the WebQuest and making it more inviting and exciting – different fonts, colors, images (maybe even some that were animated), etc. But, the most wonderful thing is that I was able to accomplish something like this that is useable within a few hours spread over a few days. That’s something any busy teacher could do!

My first QuestGarden site can be found at http://questgarden.com/107/76/4/100805183950/.

Earnest - Week Five

I cannot believe we are already in Week Five! I have honestly learned so much about educational technology that I can utilize in my current position with my school district, so I’ve been pleased with what I have learned and re-visited in the educational technology realm.

As I was considering a subject for my online communications tool paper, I decided to go back to a tool I had used when I was actively teaching in the classroom at the high school level. I had personally purchased access to TeacherWeb® because it had many features that I wanted to use with my students, such as online quiz capability, a calendar, an announcements page, a way to include previewed Internet links as part of assignments, among other features. I fully utilized the Web site in my social studies classes, especially when I was in a classroom with its own computer lab setting. I was lucky enough to have a classroom of 30+ seats for the usual class setting, but I also had pods of four (4) computers each that I could utilize at any time during a class. That’s what made the TeacherWeb® site so helpful and gave my students computer and Internet skills at a time when that was not widely taught, at least in my district. I had great feedback from the students and from some of the parents who actually used the site’s calendar to keep up with the information from the school and my class that I included. It worked well, too, for any student who was absent but who had Internet access at home. They could quickly get online and see what we did that day and complete some, or all, of the assignments so they wouldn’t fall behind.

With all that said, if I ever was to return to the classroom, I would personally pay to utilize the TeacherWeb® site again. When I completed my research for this week’s assignment, I realized that the company has certainly kept up-to-date with today’s technology tools and they have added many features, like the digital storage lockers, that I would love to use with my students. This online communication tool is not that expensive, around $3.25 a month, so most teachers could afford to use it easily. With all the features, a teacher can utilize some or all of it and be happy with the result. Since the site is so user-friendly, there would not be much preparation with the students (or with their parents/guardians) to use the site. Since the teacher (user) controls the way the site is used, it is very safe and students would feel comfortable using it right away. If I used it successfully years ago, I would certainly be able to use it successfully again. If anyone reading this has never checked out TeacherWeb®, I would suggest that you do so right away. It’s a great place to start if you don’t have any Web site at all or have never used an online tool with your students consistently. Try it out soon!

Earnest - Week Four Blog

This week we focused on presentation software. I found an old PowerPoint® that I had prepared for a class several years ago and looking at it now, I am shocked. It looks so immature and definitely is at the novice level! Although, I must say, it did serve its purpose at the time.

Since I do not currently teach in a classroom, for this week’s lesson I developed a presentation for our new live@edu e-mail system. This is a system that will be utilized not only by staff but also by students so I felt it was an appropriate presentation to prepare, especially since I will be training different groups of people on this new system as part of my job this year. Here are my answers to the questions we were assigned this week:

What was the presentation about and to whom did you present it?
My presentation was about the new live@edu e-mail system. I have yet to present it to a full audience but did send it to my Director of Technology for review. She has two school-age daughters, so I suppose you could say I presented it to three people so far.

Of which item in your presentation are you the most proud?
I like the fact that I utilized the Notes portion of the software this time. I had never done that, but felt like by the time I actually presented this training to an audience, I would have forgotten the specific items I wanted to mention. So I decided to use the notes so they would trigger me as to what I had in mind when I created the presentation.

What might you do differently if you could create the presentation again?
I would take the time to add some creative elements, such as adding arrows that would appear to point out certain portions of the presentation. I have one slide where I emphasize the four different choices a user has for the Instant Messaging portion. Even though I have screenshots of the actual differences, it would be nice to add some kind of arrow or circle effect as I ask the audience the questions associated with those different choices.

How did your students respond to the presentation?
Since I have not utilized this as a full presentation as yet to staff or students, I can only report that my Director of Technology was pleased with what I had produced and it did make sense to her and her daughters. I try to make my presentations straightforward so that a person could actually go back and use the training presentation as a guide or refresher if needed. Overall, I was pleased with the limited response that I received and I’m looking forward to using it with staff and students in the future.

I appreciate the fact I could create something for this class that I can actually use in my current position with our school district. I will definitely be tweaking it over the next few weeks in order to be ready to use it when school starts in three weeks. It won’t be long now!

Earnest - Week Three Blog

This week we focused on word processing and desktop publishing. I had to define the two in my own words and I found that a little difficult since I believe they are getting more and more alike. However, in my mind, I still think of word processing as being more a home/small office program while desktop publishing is used in business and industry for professional purposes. I must state, though, that word processing, while easier perhaps to learn, does give you the ability to produce very professional-looking documents, so we should never discount its usefulness.

I reviewed some of the documents I've produced for our school district over the years and found that I use more graphics now and have a more professional look to my documents, such as using columns that are fully justified with a header piece. My daughter is a professional graphic artist working for a university, so I have learned a great deal from her about making even the simplest of documents look inviting to the reader. The thing we have to watch is not to place too many elements on the page so that it becomes cluttered and unreadable. I have seen some truly dysfunctional documents and web pages just because someone tried to be cute or fancy and in the process, put way too many elements on the page.

Another thing to remember when producing documents is that we should always target a 7th or 8th grade reading level (or even lower). Especially for families whose primary language may not be English, this is important. We don't ever want a parent/guardian or a student or a community member not to be able to have access to information just because they cannot read and understand what we are producing.

As far as what makes items visually appealing, I think the use of color is important. Again, though, remember that you may have some users who are colorblind, so be mindful of that as you design your product. I would not use more than 25% of the page for pictures, graphs, clipart, etc. I think more than that begins to distract from your message. I have learned in the past few months that using the font Century Gothic is best since it is a larger font than most (even in size 12) and it uses less ink to print. Use of a strong font is also important when producing documents - it needs to be easily readable. Some of the fancier fonts are nice, but they are just not conducive to readability.

I chose as my project to recreate a business card. I had designed a business card before just putting in a few elements and no graphics at all. It just wasn't very appealing and really did not give all of the contact information that should be available to my "customers". So I redesigned the card, utilizing a simple two-color idea with my name and e-mail address in a color that matched the tiger graphic that I selected. I think even with all the information on there, it is readable and the tiger catches your eye. This is something that I can use to give co-workers, parents/guardians, community members, or even colleagues across the state and those I meet at conferences and such. I think having a professional style business card, even one that is quickly made using word processing or desktop publishing, is a step in the right direction with what I've learned this week.

Earnest - Week Two Blog

Everything is going by so fast! There was so much material to read, research, and review on databases and spreadsheets. I have a history of using these two software pieces for a long time. I first encountered the use of an educational database when I began working for the Caldwell County school district in 1989, setting up their scheduling, grades and report cards, etc. through a program on an older model Mac computer. I also began teaching as an adjunct professor for the Hopkinsville Community College in the computer science department so I had to know about spreadsheets and databases in the Microsoft world so I could teach them to the students. Being no stranger to these two components of computer science, I tried to focus my attention on how they could best be used in the classrooms of K-12 educators. As I posted my idea on the discussion board and responded to other postings, I realized that a lot of teachers and pre-service teachers do not know a lot about how these tools can be used in a classroom and as a result, I learned a great deal as well.

I have used a large database in my position as the SIS Coordinator for my school district, namely Infinite Campus. I have to keep up-to-date the household information for our students, watch the scheduling, grading and attendance issues that might arise, help train new teachers and staff members on the product, etc. I also use spreadsheets quite often in my work and in my personal life, creating a "to do" list and keeping up with statistics as needed.

As I was looking for new ways to implement databases and spreadsheets in a classroom, I was surprised to find that there were lots of subject areas that were using them, not just math and science classes. For example, I found this site, http://learngen.org/resources/leobjects/lg0006ta.html, which instructs you how to make a crossword puzzle using Excel. This could be utilized in any class setting - social studies, reading, arts and humanities, etc. The possibilities are endless. Another one I found was at this link, http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow4/may99/ss-procedure.html. This web page contains instructions for making a simple graph with a spreadsheet that is suitable for 2nd graders (or maybe even younger). I was surprised that we really should be introducing these concepts to children as young as primary school.

Overall, reviewing and researching the use of databases and spreadsheets renewed my enthusiasm for these tools. We really should be utilizing them at a much younger age in our classrooms and giving our students the tools that they can build upon for the future. After all, if any of us have ordered from an online catalog or researched statistics online, we have utilized these technologies. They do have real-world applications.

Earnest - Week One Blog

The first week of lessons was really more of a review for me. I have been in the computer science field since 1977 and in education since 1989, so much of what the first assignments were focused on were things I already knew. However, it never hurts to be reminded of those skills and knowledge! Since I do not currently hold a teaching position in my school district, I am answering the required questions as applicable to my current job. Something that I learned that I immediately put to use is the information on learning styles and multiple-intelligences. As I teach teachers and other staff members, I have to remember that they are in the role of the student and that I must engage them and provide multiple ways of learning for them as they encounter new technologies in our district. As I plan for professional development in technology for our staff, I will try to keep in focus the different ways I can present information so that all the staff members will learn and feel comfortable. The challenges that I will have are much like any normal classroom of today. Some of the staff members will have great amounts of background knowledge that they'll bring to the table, while others will have none. If I can utilize those who have the basic knowledge in the role as coaches, then we should all learn more quickly. The other obstacle that usually faces us when planning technology professional development it time. Sometimes we are given bits of time within the initial PD sessions for the new school year and sometimes we are not. If the latter is the case, then I have to find other ways to provide training for our staff. Sometimes that means after-school sessions of one to two hours. Sometimes that means meeting during their planning periods during the school day. Sometimes that means developing an online method of communicating the material. Whatever is needed is what I have to do. I want the teachers and other staff members to feel comfortable with the technologies available to them and ultimately, I want them to use the technologies each and every time it is appropriate for them. The ultimate goal is to give them the tools and the skills they need to do their jobs effectively and efficiently. If I can do that, then my year will be a success!

Initial Post to Establish the Blog

Here is my initial blog post for the UC course I'm taking this term. We are using the text Teaching and Learning with Technology. I will be posting blog entries as required for the course.