JOTT helps Multitaskers!

Have you ever been driving when you suddenly had a brainstorm or an important thought? Instead of digging for a napkin or scrap paper, now you can JOTT. Let me explain. A few weeks ago so friends starting chatting about "JOTT." Further exploration let me to this website.

I signed up for a free account. Verified my email. Verified my cell phone. In about 5 minutes I was set. I call JOTT from my cell, speak my message, and JOTT transcribes it to text and emails it to me. I could also set up other email addresses and have JOTT send messages to others.

Now, if only JOTT could just read my mind and take out the trash! ;-)

PETE & C 2008

I just spent four days immersed in conversations and presentations pertaining to educational technology integration. I learned as much from talking to my personal learning network as I did from the sessions I attended.



*Had the opportunity to meet with the other coaches in my region to set up a regional sharing day for our teachers.

*Participated in a Skype backchannel which helped to cement what I was learning while collaborating and sharing with others.

*Participated in live blogging during a Keynote presentation.

*Connected fact to face with many other Keystone Technology Integrators (whom I met this summer at the Summit). The way the Summit works... former Keystones come back and work with the new Keystones. So I not only got to visit with other 2007 Keystones, but former Keystones who have greatly impacted my life.

*Attended workshops and sessions to enhance my understanding of technology integration.

*Presented to others "Web2.0 Tools Go Elementary"

For more information on the sessions at PETE&C, check out this wiki started by CFF Coach Michelle Krill. Throughout the conference, and after, many of us collaborated by adding content to it.

http://reportingback.wikispaces.com

What technology will my child see in his lifetime?

A conversation with my father sparked this post. Today Dad was introduced to the Nintendo wii bowling game. For those unfamiliar with the system, a player straps a remote to her/his wrist and then becomes an active player in virtual sports. The remote serves as a tennis racket, a golf club, a bat... or with some add ons, boxing gloves, steering wheels.... the list goes on! A sensor bar on or below the tv "reads" the player's movements. So, using the remote, my dad was bowling in our living room.



Do you remember this??? The old Atari that allowed us to play games like Pitfall and Pong.

And this???













With each new entertainment or computer system that came into our home I can remember thinking...."this is so cool! It can't get better than this!" and with each advancing system the images became clearer and more vibrant, more engaging, more user friendly, more entertaining! I wonder what is coming next. In the 80s I would never have been able to wrap my head around the concept of a virtual environment, like Second Life, or the virtual gaming of the Nintendo wii! What technology will my child see in his lifetime?

From records, 8 tracks, cassettes, and CDs to mp3s and ipods.... what is next?

I can't even imagine, but I can't wait to find out! What do you think??

BTW, images are from wikipedia.

Juggling 21st Century Skills and PSSAs

Teachers face many challenges. The world is a rapidly changing place (understatement) and we sometimes find ourselves scrambling to keep the pace. I've been devouring books lately, audio and print, and have been really intrigued by the comparisons between 20th and 21st century skills. The above diagram outlines the skills I am referring to and is linked to its source which gives more detailed information.

NCLB has brought about state level standards and testing which require attention as well! As I sit in trainings about these skills, some wonder how teachers are to incorporate these 21st century skills in light of the testing. I do not see these as separate. Let me explain, using third grade as my example.

For me the standards set the curriculum but not HOW I teach. Therefor I can create lessons which encourage cooperation, collaboration, higher level thinking, and technology as I address the standards. Last quarter my students were to learning about ecosystems in Science. Rather than just read the book, complete the worksheets and activities, and recite the information back on a test..... we used a wiki.

On this webpage (Wiki) I placed links to sites dealing with the various ecosystems we were studying so each ecosystem had about 4 sites. This way my students were using the internet as a research tool. In small teams students had to explore the sites in order to be able to report back plant and animal life, as well as climate of their ecosystem. All notes were kept in an inspiration template. Each group created a poster of their ecosystem and "taught" us about their ecosystem. This was a mini jigsaw activity.

I was exploring with voicethread at the time and did not have parent permissions for students to participate, so I created a voicethread as a study guide for them. The next time I do this activity I will still have students create posters, but we will scan them. The scanned images would be used to make a class voicethread.

Ah, yes, PSSAs.... the test I used was written in multiple choice format so that students learn how to take that type of test. Grades, yes... I used students' work on the project and the test for determining a grade.

I know we get overwhelmed, but there are ways to address the curriculum by using 21st century skills. I feel that is important because these are the skills that our students will need in the world. If you made it this far, thanks! Here is a spot where a group of us are talking about teaching these skills.

CFF Hearings

As I was sitting down to catch up on some email last night, I saw on Twitter that PCN was showing senate hearings on the CFF project. As I tuned in I really was at a loss. I had some many thoughts swirling around in my brain. I really wanted to discuss what I was watching. I put a message out on twitter that I was also watching the hearings and was looking to chat about it. One of my mentors from Keystones (and a CFF coach very in tune with educational technology issues) opened a skype chat. She and I were typing furiously, sharing ideas and opinions when another Keystone joined the conversation!
Yes, I know I am a geek, but more than that, I am a connected geek! Everything that I just described happened within ten minutes or so. Three PA educators were having a discussion about the state of educational technology and technology integration issues in PA.
How often have we watched shows or read books and can't wait to get involved in the lunchroom discussion, wondering what others thought of that episode of Lost? By using technology these types of chats, or backchannels, can happen in a timely fashion.
As for the content of the hearings, I am going to be looking for a blog entry on that from The Connected Classroom.

CFF Training on the APPLE Side

This training consisted of how - tos, technology integration in action, and theory behind 21st century skills. We also practiced coaching! We were given a piece of paper (the only paper we used during the entire two day..everything else was digital) and asked to make a paper airplane. We flew our planes. My plane took a nose dive! We paired up with someone whose plane went really far and then the "expert" helped us improve our planes. The expert was not allowed to touch our planes. Through guided practice, verbal and visual directions, my plane flew across the room the second time. Needless to say, the time "flew."

CFF Training on the PC Side

Day 1: For the next two days I will be exploring technology integration tools using the Levovo laptop that all of our PC teachers will using with the Classrooms for the Future grant. During these sessions we will be exploring ways to integrate 21st century skills. Right now we are learning about blogs and everyone is learning to create one. I have some nice, easy "how to" directions for anyone interested! I will keep you "posted." Pun intended.

Day 2: Today we completed two interactive activities. The first was a google earth activity where we had to plan a trip and complete an estimate of cost for the trip. My group spent most of our time trying to embed a picture with the placeholder. The other major project was completing a timeline using Learning Essentials (templates that go with Microsoft Office). Our timeline dealt with events of the Civil War and looking at ways communication occurred in 1863 vs. communication paths today. One of my network friends was attending this same training in Pittsburgh. Get this, he skyped in a Civil War expert to help his group! Cheating, I think not. Using available resources creatively... YES! Bravo, MB!