ACTEM MaineEd Conference October 2011

One of the opportunities I look forward to each year is the MaineEd ACTEM conference each fall. This year I chose not to present, but attended sessions on Global Learning with Lucy Gray, iPads in first grade and the implementation of iPads in the Auburn Kindergartens. My focus was on attending sessions with the many teachers from Yarmouth who attended. In a conversation with Tara Maker from Apple I became interested in attending the three day workshop that Apple was coordinating with Auburn on the literacy research being launched in Auburn. I was able to register for the conference and to gain a spot for a representative from the new Yarmouth Education Foundation. I also learned from Peter Robinson (Auburn) and Lars (Apple Engineer) about some of the particulars of setting up iPads for classroom use.

ISTE 2011

ISTE 2011 was held in Philadelphia from June 25-29. Alice and I traveled on the chartered ACTEM bus with 40 Maine technology educators. At the conference we were able to talk with many colleagues who we usually only connect to online. The conversations and collegial connections are certainly a highlight of attending this conference. The initial keynote was by Dr. John Medina who has published Brain Rules. Videos of all the keynotes are available here. While I didn't find Medina's message new (students need to learn basics and then build on them in a logical order, etc.), I think his rules make sense and contain ideas that we should be attending to in schools. I was reminded that there is very little that is known about the way the brain works and that teachers are often the experts about how to approach individual students.

One of my goals for attending the conference was to explore more uses for iPads, for teachers as well as students. I took my new iPad instead of my laptop and was able to use it for most everything I would have done on a laptop with a lot less weight to carry around. The best uses of an iPad at this point in time seem to be to use the apps for Pages, Keynote, etc. to place instructional materials on the iPad for students to use and of course the access to the Internet. There are a few apps that are designed for particular adaptive uses, but many of those being marketed are a return to skill & drill on a new machine.

I was please to hear about the upcoming mobile apps for Voicethread and I think using it on a mobile device for field trips would be a great addition to use of that site. I talked to a number of teachers who are using iPod touches in the classroom and I think that we would make use of those if we had access to them. They are smaller and more manageable than an iPad and there are apps for story creation, drawing and math practice that would be appealing to students. I'm not sure how that will fit in with our budgets at Rowe and YES.

I learned about "infographics"(e.g. http://www.coolinfographics.com/) from a session cotaught by Diane Laufenberg, social studies teacher at Science Learning Academy in Philadephia. I hope to follow up on the ideas of this session with student assignments at YHS next year. Like many other tools I have been exploring, infographics are a creative way for students to describe their learning in a subject area.

Yarmouth Summer Tech Course for Teachers

Once again we (Alice Barr & Mike Arsenault and me) are offering a course designed to bring teachers the most recent innovations related to using technology for learning and teaching. The course site is online and is a hybrid of classroom time and online learning on their own. The course is being attended by teams of teachers working on planning for units and ways to use our 1:1 laptops in grades 7-12 and 1:3 in grades 2-6. K-1 teachers are exploring grade level information sites, class blogs and the use of new document cameras in the classroom. The course continues into the Fall and will wrap up on October 22nd with a day long session of sharing projects.

Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Course - Plans for the Future

One of the high points of this class was attending the online "pitch" session with many members of the class last week. Seeing and hearing the ideas of educators who are making a commitment to increased global collaboration by students was energizing and even somewhat emotional. I look forward to using these ideas and resources and well as those that will be presented later in the summer with classes next year. 

My presentation is posted at:

FlatClassroom Project: Egypt after revolution

View more presentations from Yarmouth Schools

Parent Survey Feedback April 2011

Last year I included parents and students in a survey on media usage modified from Common Sense Media. This year I returned to some of the questions I used in a survey in 2009 as I wanted to be able to see if there were similarities or differences.

The responses to Question 1 were heartening as to parental perception of student attitudes about using technology:

Comments indicated that students look forward to the day that they have access to the Computer Lab with their class and that they carry information home from school. There was also positive feedback about classrooms that have up-to-date web pages with photos and descriptions of learning activities.

As I look at the responses to the second question from two years ago and this year, the responses are very similar with slight increases in access via. email and for teacher web pages.

As part of the Google transition we asked all Yarmouth parents for feedback on our web pages and we will be using those responses as we revise the school websites.

"Disruptive Learning" - iPad visits the Lab

I have been bringing my new iPad to school to get feedback and reactions. Today a class of 4th graders were enjoying some "choice" time with the emphasis on creativity. Primarily they selected Scratch, Lego Digital Designer, Tux Paint (symmetry & string designs), and GarageBand. In the midst of the low key buzz of exploration I brought out my iPad. The interest was huge and I got to hear who had an iPad at home, who was saving up for one, who had an iPhone, etc. I was curious about apps they use and I heard, "I like Carnivores, but you wouldn't have that," "Oh, download Sheep!", "Search for Juicy Fruit and Candy Box"! As I looked up the apps they wanted it became clear very quickly that they were heading me into "Entertainment" and "Arcade Games" and not anything "Educational". A student found the Uno app and immediately started a game. Several wanted to join in and my questions in my own mind started: Is this better in any way than using the cards? Would it be easier to take out an iPad or a deck of cards? How does the collaboration change around an iPad vs. a set of cards? and so on...

There was a lot of hubbub in the room and we certainly "disrupted" the calm of the lab by gathering around the iPad and chattering. I need to do more of this as we explore the potential for iPads. Beyond the high level of interest from students we need to focus on "a purpose with a plan" that is the expectation in our school.

Flat Classroom Certified Teacher Course

Our reading for the course this week revisits the ideas of "push" and "pull" technologies. For my purposes there are so many resources that I could pick up and read that I prefer to use some form of "pull" to select certain items and have them come directly to my desktop. Several years ago I set up a Bloglines account and had feeds coming in from educators, technology colleagues, newspaper columnists and others. I rarely took the time to check the results and kept looking for ways to select the ones I would really read and learn from. Then came Google Reader and I could organize and winnow a bit. I still have both accounts, but my latest attempt at seeing many headlines and blog posts at a glance is m renovated iGoogle with my Google Reader gadget coming into it. I have set my iGoogle as the start page for my favorite browser and I am making a commitment to set aside pieces of time each week to scan and read.

My reality is that I most often use Twitter at a glance during my work day and I rely on the people I follow to send and resend links so that I don't miss too many posts. Some of the people I follow are in my Gmail Buzz and I value having their posts stay there in case I miss them in Twitter. My original reason for establishing a Personal Learning Network was that I am the only one in my district who does what I do. While I'm fortunate to have two colleagues who are also Instructional Integrators, I am the only one who is at the elementary level. I have an amazing colleague in Southern Maine in Bob Sprankle and he and I have sometimes collaborated on presentations at the annual fall MainED conference. There are other people I connect with who are geographically available for occasional face-to-face contacts, but much of my professional collaboration is online in some form.

Diigo for sharing bookmarks, reading and communities of learners is a "pull" tool that I can't imagine not having. The possibilities of tags for organizing, making lists & slideshows and sharing with groups make it essential to me. While I have taught Diigo in courses I teach, I have been trying to find a chance to introduce it to all of the faculty at school. I hope to be able to do that in May of this year.

This week I expect the arrival of my new iPad2 and I look forward to that as a new tool for viewing, reading, and occasionally responding to my learning network.

http://www.geek.com/articles/apple/three-versions-of-the-ipad-2-are-expected-in-2011-20101228/

Yarmouth Goes Google

On March 18th the K12 Technology Team planned and carried out a professional development day at YHS for all faculty and staff. The process of moving from Google Docs and FirstClass Mail to all Google Apps is accelerating as we plan to be using all Google Apps as of April 25th (after April Vacation). Google Education provides numerous tutorials and transition aids to all districts moving to Google Education Domains. Using those materials, and others from colleagues and Google Certified Teachers, we put together a Conference style day that is posted at this site: http://ytechday.yarmouthschools.org.


The reaction has been very positive as to the differentiation that was offered for learners at different points in the transition. We offered 20+ sessions in strands that ranged from Novice to Experienced. We were fortunate to have colleagues from neighboring schools and districts as well as our own faculty offer sessions and twelve YHS students spent all or half of the day assisting presenters and offering help to faculty members. Photos uploaded during the day are posted online.


These were some comments on the Exit slips:

I was a little nervous about the Google inservice day at first, but you all did such a great job explaining everything. It was so nice to have time to work on what we learned that day when we had others there to answer any questions we may have. 

I really enjoyed working with others...we helped and supported each other in a safe environment.  

This was phenomenal. I really didn't realize how much these tools can do. Now I know more about what I don't know. This day helps me to continue with my own learning.   

A very professional day with all of the amenities that one would expect from a conference that we paid lots of money to attend. 

I thought the day was very well planned. I enjoyed learning new things and working with colleagues I don't normally get an opportunity to work with. 

I love the variety of sessions and all the extra help. Lots of energy around this transition! 

A wonderful learning experience!

I appreciated that I could leave a session anytime that I felt that it wasn't what I needed.  

I really enjoyed working with others...we helped and supported each other in a safe environment.  

After much apprehension, I am so excited about creating a website.

 I love the way you always include students - they are such an amazing resource and it's wonderful for them to see us learning, learning, learning.   

We will continue to offer informal and formal learning opportunities for faculty and staff as we move through the coming months. Over 30 Yarmouth faculty will participate in the “Teaching & Learning with Google Tools” course posted at https://sites.google.com/a/yarmouthschools.org/spring-2011-tech/.