Monday, July 6, 2009

NECC 2009

I was fortunate to get to go the National Educational Computing Convention in Washington DC just a few weeks ago. This was my first trip to Washington DC but not to the convention. I am always amazed at how much can be learned during these conventions. My focus this year was to get as much information as I could about using iPods and cell phones in the classroom. Below are my notes from the convention. If you read this blog and have any questions about them, feel free to contact me or leave a reply.

Opening keynote - Malcolm Gladwell - Sunday, June 28, 2009
SpeakUp report
Twitter stream - #NECC2009MH
Behind learning there has to be effort
Compensation is more important than capitalization (trying harder is a more important learning skill than doing good)
We need to have respect for difficulty
There are different learning strategies that are not always linear
Conceptual genius - people who have a bold revolutionary video
Experimental genius - An innovator who finds their way through trial and error
Feedback lies at the core of effective learning

Tammy's tech tips - Monday, June 29, 2009
http://www.tammyworcester.com
Todays meet
Jamstudio.com - c am f c
Vozme - voice recorder on the web
Ge smartgrid augmented reality
Fur.ly - multiple urls in one
Image mosaic generator
Imagination cubed - online drawing program
Jing/ Skitch
http://kickyoutube.com
Random name picker - http://claastools.net
Tag galaxy
Showcase for firefox
Add a keyword in firefox - cmd click - anywhere there is a search window

The missing link - preparing teachers to use smartphones in the classroom - Monday, June 29. 2009
Curriculum and instruction
Put it in their hands - letter recognition - teaching shapes
Standards and assessments - digital video - multiple representation - use photos - surveys using survey monkey -teacher created tools (checklist, self-assessments)
Learning environments
Celebrating success
Behavior management
Parent communication
Professional development - parent conferences, communication, grants, awards

Cell phones in the classroom - Monday, June 29, 2009
Tammy Worcester
http://handouts.tammyworcester.com
Goog 411
Google SMS - text 466453
Google Maps - can send to your phone or gps
Email posting to your blog - think of a project specific blog that students can post to - be sure to have your students post their name
Cell phone photos to flickr
Pictobrowser - embed a slideshow into ppt from flickr or your blog
Gabcast and gcast - no longer free
Drop.io - sharing site for all types of files - can call and leave a voice message to a drop
Geograffiti.com
Polleverywhere.com
Built in tools - calc, calendar, stopwatch
Rocketron - can listen to news on your phone
Mosquito ring tones
Send txt messages from computer to phone
Podlinez - can listen to news on your phone
Text memos to your cell phones
Slydial - sends a message right to voicemail on a persons cell phone

Things you didn't know you could do with video - Monday, june 29, 2009
Hall Davidson
Discoveryedspeakrsbureau.com - click on handouts
Play videos across slides
Kids are media natives
Create your own backdrops in Photobooth - video or still
Use Bluetooth camera to connect to computer wireless via bluetooth - $149
Enter their world - ex. Crayon world
You can email a photostory or moviemaker
Create a chroma key in photobooth
You can create video bullets in ppt
Create citations in QuickTime pro
Youngscientistchallenge.com
http://search.Creativecommons.org
http://Kitzu.org
Place videos inside goggle earth

Bricks and mortar schools are detrimental to the future of Ed - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Michael Horn (against)
Does everyone learn in the same way? No
Bricks and mortar schools cannot meed the needs of students
They limit socialization to the local communities
Learning happens everywhere
Brad Jupp (for)
The teaching machine - schools are necessary and stand as a commitment to cause
Buildings can become great schools
Schools are the vessels of our wishes of democracy
Schools are where we gather our children to learn
We cannot leave the house of learning behind
Dr Gary Stager (against)
Problem lies with management
Depriving kids of rich educational experiences is the problem
What makes schools viable?
Schools vs online learning
Is technology used to teach the same old way?
Cheryl Lemke (for)
What bricks and mortar could really be
Let us get our kids reconnected with our local community as well as our online community
Where are our kids going to get access when they don't have that at home?
We need to re-define our schools
We do need online learning as well as face to face
We need socialization because of social capital
Marshall Thompson (rebuttal - against - student)
Why do I need to learn in a school?
Education cannot be limited
Students don't want to learn for 8 hours
Erik Bakke (for - rebuttal)
Schools create a strong connection
Students need to learn in a group environment and need to learn as a team

iPod touch/iPhone application support group - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Leslie Fisher (http://lesliefisher.com)
Kensington charger for iPod
Solio - uses solar power to charge your iPod
Mophie juice pack - piggy back battery
Slider by Incase - iPod case
Showcase by contour - iPod case
Speck QuickDraw - iPod case
Take a screen shot - home button and power button (iPhone only)
Hold down .com for other domains
Jewelers loop - hold down and wait in notes or any other app that uses the keyboard
Check out presentation on Leslie's site
How to use the top 40 iPhone features and also 100+ hidden features
http://appshopper.com - for up to date apps for your iPod or iPhone
Saisuke - calendar app - links to google - shows calendar view like google
Note pad - group notes into categories and you can email notes
Evernote - an extension of the online version
Twitterfon - Twitter app
RTM - remember the milk
Duck you undo - keeps track of mis-spellings and lets you choose whether or not to accept you mis-spelled words
Spotlight search - is now on the front screen if you have the new 3.0 software
Loopt - uses gps location services - hooks into FB and twitter
Around me - stores near you - uses location services
iFinder - uses gps to find your location
TomTom - turn by turn navigation for iPhone - will be available soon
Shazam - identifies name/artist of song
Skipit - turns your screen into a forward button
Beehive - multiple-supported txt messaging service
Tripit - builds a travel itenarary
iTV - lists programming
USA Today headlines
Weather channel
Yelp - get user reviews for food, supermarkets, etc
Ocarina - flute app
Trombone app is out as well
Star walk
Iridium flares
Roller coaster physics
Motion gps
Crazy machines
Google - bells and whistles - keep scrolloind down on settings
Links on the site for more

iPod touch Go - Enhancing student learning using iPod touches - A model lesson - a model K-5 classroom - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Allows for univeral design
Received a grant from AT&T to purchase 70 iPods for their school
MotivatIon level was amazing
Disabled Internet access on the iPods
Simulating a short lesson on adding fractions
Use logs to keep track of apps they used - a fun meeter
Watch a video on your iPod - use these as lessons - students can learn at their own pace - pause, stop, and replay
Use help cards - students can hold them up or raise their hands
Fraction math - work until you have completed 15 problems correctly, then record your data and go to the next game
Kids % Fun - work until you have completed 20 problems correctly, then record your data and go to the next game
Once you have finished, you can practice any game until instructed
Some of the applications don't allow data to be transferred so data is recorded on paper - the appa do keep track of high scores though
Kids math fun is a good app as well and is used with their students
Syncing iPods - you can purchase products that will sync multiple iPods at the same time - they have a product that will sync 15 iPods at a time - also charges the iPods using a/c power (Tribam) - also allows you to change settings on individual iPods
Currently, they do not allow students to take them home - they want to try it next year - want to get parents involved
Each student was given headphones at the beginning of the year. At the end of the year, they are disposed of and they start with fresh sets the next year
Only have to buy the app once, as long as it is for that account - use the same account for all the iPods and only buy one app from the app store - need to check into copyright issues for this - they seem to think it is OK to use this procedure
Might be reasonable to have an account per classroom
Turned on parental controls
Locked the Internet with a password
Reduced the volume to 50%
These settings can only be done one at a time on the iPod

Constructionism, duct tape, and preparing children for their future - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
David Thornburg
The changing landscape of education
Constructionism is taking what you know and making it external
Constructivism is keeping what you know inside (your head)
Let's create educational environments where kids do not forget what they learn
Theory of flow - if your skill exceeds your challenge you will be bored. If your challenge exceeds your skill you will feel anxiety. If they are in alignment then you are in the flow. You will be engaged in the task. Your comfort level is manageable and you will not forget your learning.
You must have clear goals, you must have a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (focus), distorted sense of time, a sense of personal control, activity is intrinsically rewarding
Build things from scratch - hands on activities in teacher workshops
Recycled materials allows people to be creative
http://instructables.com - it's where you go to show people what you have built
Let's turn libraries into blogs
Let's turn lectures into web videos
Let's turn cafeterias into chat rooms
What keeps education from changing? It isn't the cost of tech
"Think of a laptop as a vaccine. You don't vaccinate some of the children, you vaccinate them all" - Nicholas Negroponte
Connections - a website that lets you create your own textbooks
In the future, you'll be able to print your own textbook using the "Exspresso book machine"
Internet archives
Free resources from the US dept of education
Freedom toaster - burns software to a DVD from a kiosk
www.tcse-k12.org

Literacy Isn't enough: 21st-century fluency for the digital age - Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Ian Jukes
Kids are nuerologically different
TTWADI - That's the way we've always done it
It is not about kids learning, it is about getting them to learn
There has to be a balance between traditional teaching and the future of schools
We need to move to an additional set of 21st century skills
5 skill sets - Obsolete skills (irrelevant), traditional skills (hand writing), traditional literacy skills, traditional skills (critical thinking), new skills (unique to the 21st century)
Technological fluency - being directly engaged - the primary focus is the task, not the tool
Media fluency - looking critically at content (web pages, wikis, blogs, etc)
Information fluency - must be able to ask good questions, acquire materials, analyze/authenticate raw material, apply that knowledge, and finally asess both the product and process. Not a linear process, bit cyclical
Teachers need to become facilitators of learning
http://www.committedsardine.com

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