Education Summit @Google

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Google is co-sponsoring an education summit along with the Joan Ganz Cooney Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, and Commonsense Media. An interesting blend of business, technology, and education leaders will be discussing their work on Tuesday, October 27, and Wednesday, October 28, at Google's headquarters in Mountain View, California.

You, too, can participate. Get involved in the following ways:

1) Read blog posts of some of the attendees and presenters. Leave some comments!

2) Ask burning questions via a tool called Google Moderator.

3) Sign up to watch the web cast here and here.

4) Follow conference happenings on Twitter.


I've also compiled a Twitter list of people who will be in attendance at this event. Send me a direct message (d elemenous) if you will be there, and I'll add you as well !

"Educate the Fear Out of Them"

Thank you, Cheri Toledo, for this phrase.

In Google Wave, several educators have been discussing the fact that all the great tools and learning environments that we regularly explore are blocked in many districts.

This blog post by Ewan McIntosh also has me thinking:

http://edu.blogs.com/edublogs/2009/10/why-backward-socialnetworkbanning-education-authorities-are-wrong.html

I think we need a significant repository of schools where Web 2.0 technologies are welcomed and used in a safe and thoughtful manner. These stories would serve to educate districts out there who are grappling with implementation and safety issues.

I was part of a team that created such a space last summer as part of an Apple Distinguished Educator project last summer. This online network was created for the purpose cited above, but I also think that we need a simple directory of schools as well. So I am also creating a Google doc form for this purpose: http://tinyurl.com/web20inK12institutions

Please fill out this form or pass it on to someone who might want to share their information. All fields are optional. To see the results, visit http://tinyurl.com/web20inK12institutionsresults.

It's time to embrace innovation and networked learning, people!

Friday 5: School Design

This week, school design is on my mind. I'm heading to New York next Wednesday to serve on a panel at the American Architectural Foundation’s summit entitled Schoolhouse 3.0: Designing Educational Facilities for 21st Century Technologies and Curriculums. The goal of this panel (which also includes Frank Kelly of the SHW Group, Tom Carroll of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and Charles Fadel of Cisco Systems) is to set the stage for summit participants around the role of educational technology and school design. Infinite Thinking Machine founder and New Tech Network Director of Innovation and Design Chris Walsh will be keynoting this event. We'll be discussing the need for transformation in our schools, and future implications for school planning teams.

I anticipate that this will be an amazing learning experience; I appreciate good design and believe that it is a critical component to creating effective learning environments. I particularly think that schools serving at risk populations really need to focus on the impact of design on learning; good design is not something we should reserve for better resourced communities.

So, as I think about conversations that will take place next week, here are a few web sites that I will be consulting or referring to:

1. DesignShare

http://www.designshare.com/

2. Don't Just Rebuild Schools - Reinvent Them

http://www.fieldingnair.com/Press/Education_Week_Dont_Just_Rebuild_Schools_Reinvent_Them.pdf

A recent EdWeek article by DesignShare Managing Director Prakash Nair.

3. Design Matters

http://designmatters.art.uiuc.edu/

Not directly related to school design, this web site from the University of Illinois contains video lectures given by prominent people in the design field. Thanks for Doris Wells-Papanek for this link.

4. Schools Designed for Learning: The Denver School of Science and Technology

From the American Architectural Foundation's Great Schools by Design Initiative

http://www.archfoundation.org/aaf/gsbd/Video.Denver.Short.htm

This is an online exhibit from the group that is sponsoring the aforementioned summit.

5. Horizon Report 2009 K12 Edition

http://www.nmc.org/publications/2009-horizon-k12-report

I served on the advisory board for this report, and will be referencing it during our panel discussion. The report names future trends in educational technology; these trends will definitely impact future school design.

6. The Third Teacher

http://www.thethirdteacher.com/home/home-third-teacher

Via Christian Long

Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age

I want to bring your attention to an exciting event that's happening at Google at the end of October. Google, the MacArthur Foundation, Common Sense Media, and the Joan Ganz Cooney Foundation are convening an education summit, calling for participants "to create and act upon a breakthrough strategy for scaling-up effective models of teaching and learning for children."

While the summit is open to invited guests, there will be plenty of opportunities for public participation as the event will be webcasted. People can also leave comments in the community blog, engage with participants via Twitter, and pose questions using Google Moderator. For details on this, please visit the link posted below.

I'll be present at this event along with fellow Google Certified Teachers Cheryl Davis and Kathleen Ferenz. I'm excited to learn from the many illustrious speakers scheduled to present, particularly keynoter Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone. I'm anticipating great conversations among participants and will share tidbits as appropriate. And, I have to admit, I'm really thrilled to have the opportunity to visit the Googleplex in Mountain View.

I've written a guest post for the Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age blog on transforming teacher practices; look for it to be posted here in the next few weeks. The results of an informal survey given to those in my personal learning network will be made available then.

For further information, including the agenda and web cast info, please visit: http://www.google.com/events/digitalage/.

in reference to: Breakthrough Learning in a Digital Age (view on Google Sidewiki)

Friday 5: Back to School 2009

As a follow up to Lucie's great post, here's a quick list of links to support your back to school efforts. Share your best resources in the comments of this post!

US Census Press Releases

Check these amazing statistics!

U.S Fund for UNICEF - UNICEF USA - A back-to-school-tip

The purchase of a desk lamp at IKEA can help children around the world!

Scholastic's Back-to-School Planning Guide | Teaching Ideas to Start the Year

Lots of resources for all aspects of back-to-school time.

Mathwire.com | Back-to-School Activities

Very creative ideas for incorporating math into classroom activities. Make sure you check out the pictures of various morning math routines.

NEA - Top 20 Back-to-School Activities

Another great list of resources from the National Education Association.

NASA - Blast Back to School

NASA has a rich variety of projects, games and videos for classroom use.

Reading Rockets Back to School

Particularly good resources for parents.

Friday 5: Twitter 101

I must apologize for the gaps in Friday 5 production! I've had a very busy spring, mostly because I changed jobs about a month ago. I am still working at the University of Chicago, only I am working with a different unit, the Center for Elementary Mathematics and Science Education. This group is responsible for the development of Everyday Math if you are familiar with this elementary curriculum. I will be working on a variety of projects for CEMSE and I'm thrilled for this opportunity. For you, this will probably mean more Friday 5s on math and science topics! 

Anyway, this week's list is prompted by the media buzz surrounding the recent Iranian elections and the influence of Twitter upon the dissemination of information flowing from that region. If you have been living under a rock which many teachers in the US are at this time of year, check out this New York Times article.  

To put it simply, Twitter is a microblogging tool in which you post messages of 140 characters or less. Your "tweets" are only seen by those that "follow" you. Your followers usually are friends, family and/or people that have similar interests. You are prompted to answer a question, "What are you doing?" which is taken literally by many people. Hence, you may run into pretty mundane and pointless tweets from people like celebrity Ashton Kutcher (example: "I hate the after working out feeling like I'm gonna throw up feeling. I hate it, but I love it. lol"). Hopefully, you'll see Ashton as a cautionary tale and you'll learn to tweet stuff that your followers will find useful or at least interesting. 

When used well, Twitter can be the most powerful professional development tool in your education arsenal. I follow many people and organizations related to areas that interest me: education, technology, Apple, Google, global education etc. I use a tool called Tweetdeck to manage all of this, and with Tweetdeck, I can do searches of other tweets on topics that interest me. For instance, I have a search set up for Everyday Math, global education and citizen science right now. I have discovered a plethora of resources and other people to follow through searching. I also like to share what I find, and giving back to those you follow is an important part of Twitter culture.  

At any rate, Twitter is something that you are not going to really get unless you jump in and try it. Explore and stick with using this amazing tool and I think you'll see what all the recent buzz is about. To get started, make a Twitter account and check out the following resources:  

1. Twitter in Plain English - a great video that explains Twitter in a nutshell 

2. 7 Things You Should Know about Twitter -Educause publishes a series of excellent articles detailing new and emerging technologies.  

3. Tweetdeck -Use this third party app to manage Twitter. It's much better than using the Twitter web interface.  

4. TwitThis -Install this tool into your browser's toolbar so that you can share web sites on the fly as you surf.  

5. Hootsuite -This is a great tool for managing multiple Twitter accounts. Try this out once you've mastered Twitter basics.  

6. Twitter Freaks Group -If you get hooked on Twitter and want to learn more about other tools have been developed to harness its power, join my Twitter Freak group and browse the many resources that have been shared to this bookmarking group.

Expanding Your NECC 2009 Experience

View and edit NECC 2009 Washington, DC in a larger map. Please add your recommendations!

It's that time of year again... The International Society for Technology in Education will celebrate its 30th birthday in a few weeks by hosting the National Educational Computing Conference in Washington, D.C. For me, it's a particularly exciting time to be visiting our nation's capital in light of our new president and a renewed focus on improving education.

NECC 2009 promises to be professionally rejuvenating event for anyone interested in educational technology. It is a potentially overwhelming conference with nearly 13,000 attendees and approximately 500 vendors presenting their wares. For the record, educational technology has never been about the tools for me (although I do revel in the cool factor of many technologies), but about leveraging learning for kids. That said, I hope that educators from a wide variety of backgrounds and interests will attend for similar reasons. I would actually like to see the excitement about educational technology filter down more to those who aren't necessarily techie geeks like myself.

For the past few years, I've posted a blog entry highlighting a few tips and tricks for making the most of your NECC experience. Review my ideas for 2007 and for 2008; I still stand by that general advice. Pick an area of focus, spend time planning before you get to Washington with that theme in mind, and give yourself plenty of time to digest everything. Bring your laptop for taking notes and accessing additional content; I suspect more people will be using iPhones for this purpose, however. Finally, get connected with other educators through the plethora of events that are scheduled. For the second year, ISTE has an online community for conference conversation. Networking isn't just for job seekers or administrators anymore!

If you are not able to attend in person, you should be able to participate virtually as well. Some presenters may elect to post their materials online and to stream video feeds of their presentations. At Edubloggercon, an informal "unconference" to be held Saturday, June 27 as a precursor to NECC, many sessions will also be broadcast via tools such as Ustream. Finally, similar sessions called NECC Unplugged will be taking place in the Blogger's Café during the actual conference at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

In addition to all this, people will be blogging, posting pictures, and twittering away about conference happenings. You can find this stuff by searching various sources using tags (keyword labels) such as NECC, NECC2009, and NECC09. For instance, search Twitter using #NECC and you'll find a steady microblogging stream. I recommend searching Technorati for blog posts and Flickr for photos in a similar manner.

Finally, I like to make the most of any travel experience by doing a little research ahead of time. I usually do a cursory search in iTunes for content related to my destination that I can put on my iPod or iPhone. For instance, I purchased the audiobook of A Cricket in Times Square for my daughter when we traveled to New York City prior to NECC 2005. In 2006, I traveled to Europe with other Apple Distinguished Educators on a project and I brought along a Passport to Europe episode on Berlin and a No Reservations episode on Paris (this show isn't necessarily for kids, by the way). In addition to these items, there are tons of free podcasts available in iTunes if you do a search for your particular destination.

I've taken the liberty of putting together a few Washington DC related resources. I have not reviewed all of these; I just explored and plucked ones that look potentially interesting. If you have any additional recommendations, please add them to the comments. Enjoy and see you in DC. I'll be in the Google booth from time to time and presenting as part of Larry Anderson's Podcasting and Podcatching for the Absolute Beginner panel. Stop by and say hello!

Washington DC and NECC Resources

Lucy's NECC Calendar - Each year, I use the NECC conference planner to plot any sessions interesting to me. I'm focusing on math, science and interactive whiteboards this year.

Lucy's NECC '09 Map - Join this Google Map and add your info and recommendations.

NECC Ning - NECC's online community; attendees and virtual attendees are welcome to join.

GovFresh - one stop shopping for multimedia produced by the U.S. governent. Everything is aggregated in one place; web 2.0 at its finest!

Apps for your iPhone:

• iTransDC Metro - (99 cents)
• iMetroMap DC (99 cents)
  
• Dubbele.com (99 cents)
• Washington DC Public (free)
• Washington Post's Going Out Guide (free)
• Washington DC Travel Guide (99 cents)
• Washington DC - GPS Tour (99 cents)
  
• U.S Historical Documents (99 cents)
  
• iCongress (99 cents)
  
• politicoTrack ($9.99)
  
• Presidents Match Game (99 cents)
  
• USA Presidents (free)

Podcasts:

• Cityscapes - Washington DC
• Tourcaster - Washington DC City Guide
• Mobile Tours
• Cultural Tourism DC: Audio Journeys
• Hirschhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden Podcasts
• ARTSEDGE: The Kennedy Center's Jazz in DC
• The International Spy Museum SpyCast
• US Holocaust Memorial Museum iTunes U Page
• Smithsonian Podcasts
• LearnOutLoud's US Presidents Podcast
• The Washington Post Video Podcast
• Washington Week Video Podcast
• President Obama's Weekly Address

TV Shows and Movies:

• Smithsonian Channel ($1.99 per episode to purchase)
• Anthony Bourdrain's No Reservations - Washington DC ($1.99 per episode to purchase)
• All the President's Men ($9.99 to purchase, $2.99 to rent)
• Mr. Smith Goes to Washington ($14.99 to purchase only)

YouTube Channels:

• Smithsonian Channel
• United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
• Newseum
• Library of Congress
• C-SPAN
• The White House

Lucy and Lucie's Friday Five - Cellphones in Education

Earlier this school year, I decided to follow in the footsteps of fellow educator, Lucy Gray, by posting a weekly list of websites, called the Friday Five, within my school. Lucy started the Friday Five tradition on her website back in 2006. This list has turned out to be one the most successful professional development methods I've tried this year. It seems like in a world where we are overwhelmed by choice, "more" is not always better. Just ask Barry Schwartz, author of Paradox of Choice. In a world, where the cookie aisle at your store has 285 types of cookies and Google yields millions of results for most queries, educators are welcoming a "short" list of websites related to a theme.

Therefore, Lucy and I have decided to pool our efforts to bring this Friday Five feature to the readers of Infinite Thinking Machine. We hope you will enjoy a 'short' list of five or so websites around a topic or theme related to using technology to help you shape your students into Infinite Thinking Machines.



This week's list comes on the heel of the Horizon 2009 report's predictions, and includes links ranging from broad predictions of the role of cellphones in our future, ways to use them in education, and reminders of the need for increased discussions about safety around their use.
Photo Credit: Flickr Creative Commons: Deeknow

1. 2009 Horizon Report » One Year or Less: Mobile
   wp.nmc.org/horizon2009/chapters/mobiles/
   
   The whole Horizon Report is a MUST read for anyone interested in technology, change, new media, and education. Take note of the biggest prediction for ONE year or LESS: MOBILE
   An accompanying web site focusing these issues on education is1.
   http://horizon.nmc.org/k12/Main_Page
   
   
2. From Toy to Tool: Cell Phones in Learning
   www.cellphonesinlearning.com/
   (and related interviews or podcast with the author of this site)
   
   Cell Phones in Education - An Interview with Liz Korb - Interviews -
   cellphones.org/blog/interviews/cell-phones-in-education-an-interview-with-liz-korb
   
   Cell Phone Books - Reading Is Reading :: The Education Business Blog
   www.educationbusinessblog.com/2008/02/cell_phone_books_reading_is_re.html
   
   
   
3. Good Web Post from Wes Fryer with thoughtful insights and resources
   http://www.speedofcreativity.org/2008/01/30/opening-minds-about-cell-phones-for-learning/
   
   
   
4. Guidelines and Instructional Uses for Cellphones in Education
   
   http://teachdigital.pbwiki.com/cellphones
   Explore reasons some school districts are embracing the use of cell phones for learning both inside and outside the classroom and examine specific guidelines school districts are utilizing for student cell
   phones.
   
   
5. E-School News article about risky behaviors by students related to cell phone use
   http://www.eschoolnews.com/news/top-news/news-by-subject/safety-security/index.cfm?i=54064
   A good article in Eschool News about how schools are handling some of
   the more recent riskier behaviors related to cell phones.
   

I hope this collection of sites is useful to those of you currently discussing cellphone use in your school community. And Lucy and I look forward to bringing you next week's Friday Five. Feel free to offer your own related websites in the comments, or suggest some topics for future Friday Fives.

Horizon K12 Report

As part of their Emerging Technologies Initiative, the New Media Consortium annually publishes a document entitled the Horizon Report, which addresses new technologies and associated trends and challenges related to learning institutions. The production of this report is led by NMC staff with assistance from an advisory board. Recently, the NMC has branched into creating specialized reports such as this one addressing the implications of emerging technologies for education in Australia and New Zealand. Currently, work is underway on a K12 global edition of the Horizon Report.

Last week, I had the privilege and pleasure of attending the first advisory board meeting for this particular K12 venture in Dallas, Texas. Advisory board members hailed from around the world and work in various capacities for a variety of organizations. Some work for corporations and non-profits; others were employed by elementary, secondary, and higher education institutions. While much of the preliminary work for the K12 report is completed online through the use of a wiki, this face to face meeting facilitated a remarkable process for digging into the project. NMC documentation refers to this method as a modified Delphi process. (Incidentally, I was able to get a better grasp on the goals of the Horizon Report from this real time meeting, adding evidence to my personal belief that face to face interactions are not completely disappearing from the way we work).

In order to understand this qualitative research process, take a look at the 2009 Horizon Report recently released at ELI Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. This is the end result of a very defined process that is used and adapted as needed for all Horizon Reports including the current K12 one. Through the use of a wiki, advisory members were given materials to read and reflect upon. Participants were also asked to bookmark potentially relevant web sites using a common tag, and links to this del.icio.us social bookmarking feed are also posted to the wiki. All of this is done virtually, including addressing a research agenda established by NMC leaders Larry Johnson, Alan Levine and Rachel Smith. The questions on this agenda were as follows

• What would you list among the established technologies that learning-focused institutions should all be using broadly today to support or enhance teaching, learning, or creative expression?

• What technologies that have a solid user base in consumer, entertainment, or other industries should learning-focused institutions be actively looking for ways to apply?

• What are the key emerging technologies you see developing to the point that learning-focused institutions should begin to take notice during the next 3 to 5 years? What organizations or companies are the leaders in these technologies?

• What do you see as the key challenges related to teaching, learning, or creative expression that learning-focused institutions will face during the next 5 years?

• What trends do you expect to have a significant impact on the ways in which learning-focused institutions approach our core missions of teaching, research, and service?

Advisory board members not present in  Dallas contributed their expertise on the wiki and at our Dallas meeting, members attending added to this collection of knowledge. We vetted trends and challenges, and finally established the emerging technologies that we believe schools should adopt immediately, those that they should be looking to adopt in the two to three year range, and those that worth keeping in mind in terms of long range planning. This process was seamless and resulted a group consensus on these various topics. In general, I felt that we kept to our agenda for the day and produced tangible results by the end of meeting. 

Underlying our work was the amazing graphic facilitation by NMC Vice President Rachel Smith. Rachel has a background in art education and she gave further meaning to our discussions by translating information into a graphical format. A large sheet of paper served as a whiteboard for illustrating our introductions and Rachel also transcribed trends, challenges, and technologies already logged in the wiki on to other sheets. These images really engaged us, helped refine our thinking, and will serve as an archive to which we can look back and reflect. This technique served to bridge the virtual work in the wiki (and advisory board members not present) with the face to face meeting agenda.

Graphic facilitation is a field that previously has been unknown to me and I thought it was a very powerful way of gathering information, guiding the decision making process and for reinforcing learning for participants. Rachel mentioned that these facilitators are not just used for meeting work, but also in conjunction with keynote speakers. For more information on graphic facilitation, check out the Center for Graphic Facilitation and the International Forum for Visual Practitioners website.

The work for the K12 Horizon report will continue over the next few weeks with further refinements to the short list of new and emerging technologies. NMC CEO Larry Johnson, CTO Alan Levine and Vice President Rachel Smith will also be engaged with the research and writing of the final report scheduled for release at the annual Consortium for School Networking conference March 10 -12 in Austin, Texas. Also, I will be a guest on the Seedlings podcast to talk about the work of the advisory board sometime in March. It is my hope that this practical document will serve as a catalyst for K12 educational institutions to examine their own practices related to technology and to plan for the future. Now is the time to get ahead of new technologies; we must align ourselves with changes in the way the world works and communicates.

For more information on the New Media Consortium, visit them at http://www.nmc.orge. See also information on the Horizon Project and check out their YouTube channel, their photos in Flickr, and their twitter channel!

NCTI Technology Innovators Conference

Recently Lucy Gray and I were invited to the 2007 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference. The focus of this conference is building solutions to make technology and information more accessible, especially for young people with disabilities. Check out this slideshow of the conference highlights!

An important part of this conference is connecting researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and policy makers. It was inspiring to hear from innovators and social entrepreneurs like Jim Fruchterman from the nonprofit technology company, Benetech. Recently, Benetech was selected by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education to provide access for every student with a print disability in the United States via Bookshare.org. Lucy spoke on a panel with Jim and Chuck Hitchcock from CAST on NIMAS legislation, an significant law that guides the production and electronic distribution of digital versions of textbooks and other instructional materials so they can be more easily converted into accessible formats. Lucy's main question was: Why can't services like Bookshare be made available to allow all students access to digital textbooks?

In his recent ITM post Steve Hargadon encouraged the use of open source to create exciting collaborations and provide solutions. So, at the NCTI conference, it was exciting to meet developers who shared open source assistive technology initiatives that offer free tools. This included Steve Jacobs from the IDEAL Group. Steve shared about his colleague Charles Chen (a Google technologist) who developed Fire Vox.

Fire Vox is an open source, freely available talking browser extension for the Firefox web browser, essentially a screen reader designed especially for Firefox. In addition to the basic features, such as providing navigation assistance that are expected of screen readers, Fire Vox provides support for MathML and CSS speech module properties. Imagine how students would benefit to have dense text read aloud to them! Steve Jacobs and his colleagues (including Chen) have also repackaged Fire Vox so that it (and other open source applications) can run off of a standard, portable flash drive equipped with a fully-accessible talking menu. I spoke with Steve, and if you want to learn more about portable open source assistive technology, take a look at his NCTI presentation and/or contact him directly. (Talking about making applications accessible - check out the features of the new Google Toolbar (5) which supports applets used by assistive technologies like screen readers etc. and enables keyboard navigation and access. )

An underlying theme of the conference this year was ensuring that the “participatory culture” of social networking also includes young people with disabilities. For example, there was a session titled “Second Life for Students With Special Needs.” Topics during this session included how 3D environments such as Second Life can be made accessible for people with other disabilities such as low vision. Everett Harper, director of community initiatives at Linden Lab, also mentioned Brigadoon Island, an area in Second Life devoted to people with Asperger's syndrome (for more info on Second Life, check out a February 2007 ITM blog post, where I highlighted Amanda Baggs, an adult with autism who participates in Second Life.)

Conference face to face sharing was done via various theme events. One such event was the Innovations Marketplace which allowed innovators to share ideas with venture capitalists and grant makers gave presentations. At the Techology Expo an opportunity was provided for key leaders in assistive and learning technology to showcase their work. This year's Peer Awards for the Brightest Idea was given to SMART Brain Technology. Smart Brain Home System uses technology to improve the behaviors of individuals with autism, language disorders and attention deficits. The equipment is being tested through an NCTI grant with adolescents with ADD. The large picture posted here shows Domenic Greco of "Smart Brain Home System", with Julie Duffield of WestEd at the Technology Expo. Julie is pictured about to wear a visor with sensors attached to a Sony PlayStation. This device tracked her brain activity and gave neurofeedback on her attention levels while playing a racing game.

To keep important discussions like this going after the conference, the folks at NCTI have issued a brief titled “Using the Power of Social Media to Promote Assistive and Learning Technologies ” and invite all of us to give our input to this document. These issues and people at this conference provided much food for thought about diversity, access and innovation. View the NCTI conference sessions materials to learn more.

Also if you want to find out more information or resources related to this event please feel free to contact - Julie &/or Lucy.

Share and Tell #2: Custom Search Engine

Teachers often bemoan their students' Internet search strategies. Kids, especially younger ones, often surf to Google, type in general search terms, and end up with thousands, if not millions, of results. Many of these results probably are not very relevant and, kids experience difficulty sifting through pages of hits. Clearly, teachers need to teach kids methods of refining their searches. Additionally, there is a Google tool that might help kids become more efficient web searchers.

Custom Search Engine lets your create your own search engine based on preselected sites. This provides a more directed research focus for your students. I created my first engine last fall, and used it in with my classes that participated Google's Global Warming Student Speakout project. I've continued to add more sites geared toward my middle school computer science classes to this engine. The second search engine I created was comprised of sites I regularly explore for when compiling my Friday 5 resource lists. I've embedded this particular search engine in my blog so teachers can look for additional lessons and project ideas. Finally, inspired by the other Lucie who wanted to specifically search the Infinite Thinking Machine, I created a third search engine, using sites cited in the ITM, blogs of the contributors, and the ITM blog itself.

One important Custom Search Engine feature is that you can embed a self-created search engine in a blog or a web site; the html code is provided. You can also invite others to contribute to your search engine, and you can use the Google Marker to bookmark sites directly to your customized search tool. Google Co-op also facilitates collaboration as other people can be given permission to add to the list of sites, and you can add your Custom Search Engine to your iGoogle customized homepage as well.

I also recently discovered a more sophisticated use of Custom Search Engine. In this blog post, Wisconsin educator John Pederson describes how he translated the feeds from his newsreader and used them to roll a search engine based on items he reads daily. His search engine is directly available here. To see how others have used Google Co-op, check out Google's featured examples and the Custom Search Engine blog.

Homework Assignment #2

1) Create your own custom search engine and post the URL in the comments section of this blog post.

AND/OR

2) Join one of my search engines and add sites that you think are worthwhile. Just click on the Volunteer to Contribute link and I'll approve anyone interested in collaborating.

The Infinite Thinking Machine Search Engine
The Friday 5 Search Engine
Mrs. Gray's Research Sites for Kids

Share and Tell #1

Here at the ITM, we've all been writing a lot about Web 2.0 technologies, and I thought I'd share with you a few services I use to manage and improve my work life. This week, I am focusing on newsreaders.

Web 2.0 magic started for me in the spring 2005 when, as a newly minted Apple Distinguished Educator, another far more techno-savvy ADE shared with me an OPML file and directed me to the web-based newsreader, Bloglines. I created a Bloglines account, imported Mark's OPML file, and instantly, I could see all the web sites he read and tracked. I was hooked by this method of collecting web-based content in one convenient place.

Since that fateful file import, I've explored other newsreaders (also called news aggregators) and finally settled on a piece of Mac-only software called NetNewsWire. As you might be able to tell in this screenshot, I have my feed subscriptions organized in folders, and I can easily browse my personalized content. I don't read every subscription every day, but I do skim material regularly, using NetNewsWire's flagging feature to mark items that I want to explore further. NetNewsWire has many other useful features including smart lists (similar to smart playlists in iTunes) and special subscriptions of feeds from tags, search engines and bookmarking services. It’s also possible to share your feed subscriptions with NetNewsWire users others on the same network.

Now it’s your turn to try this out. Here’s your homework for this week:

1) First, get a newsreader. I suggest Google Reader or Bloglines, both web-based and free. I use Bloglines in addition to NetNewsWire because it has social capabilities; you can see other users' public feeds if they have made them available.

2) Download my OPML file of some of the blogs I read: lucysubs41307.opml

3) Import this file into your newsreader of choice, and browse these feeds. Warning: there are a lot of feeds contained in this file! Here is a tutorial for Bloglines, and check out this one and this one on Google Reader.

4) Find a few things that you’d like to subscribe to from this list or this list.

5) Extra Credit: If you are already an RSS aficionado, export an OPML file of your favorite feeds and pass them on to me at elemenous@gmail.com. I’m always looking for new reading material!

Think Summer!

Summer Professional Development - Google Docs & Spreadsheets



It's nearly 80 degrees here in Chicago, and it is also my first day back at school after a relaxing spring break. I am getting in the mood for summer! Traditionally, this is the time my plans for June, July, and August start to take shape, and I thought that perhaps others are thinking along similar lines. Here's a list of professional development opportunities that I've been compiling in Google Docs and Spreadsheets with the help of Laurie Bartels, a Google Certified Teacher from Rye, New York. Take a look and maybe you'll find something worth exploring this summer. Having time to retreat from every day life to reflect upon one's professional practices is so important and we teachers deserve quality professional development opportunities.

This list is not a ringing endorsement of any particular program; I simply went searching for anything under the sun that might appeal to colleagues. I do, however, attend NECC every summer, and I can vouch for the value of this tremendous educational technology event. Several years ago, I also attended the Teach the Teachers Collaborative at the Thacher School and found it to be a very rewarding and well-run program. The setting of Thacher School, the fellowship of other teachers, and the opportunity to develop Webquests in this immersion program were fabulous. It was disappointing when it ceased to exist for a few summers, and I'm glad to hear that it is up and running again under new leadership. Bernie Dodge, of course, is returning to teach at TTC, as well as fellow ITM blogger, Mark Wagner.

What do you do over the summer to recharge your batteries? Are there programs that you recommend? Submit suggestions in the comments section, or even better yet, email me (elemenous@gmail.com)and I'll add you as a collaborator to this Google Doc. I plan to add to this list indefinitely, so make sure you take a peek at it from time to time.

Technology, Education, and Dreams

Today in Monterey, California, a group of luminaries have gathered at an exclusive annual conference called TED and, contrary to its title, sessions are given by various experts in “any subject area offering something fresh and important”. I first became aware of the TED conference (short for Technology, Entertainment and Design) a few years ago via a posting in the blog of Steven Levitt, a TED presenter and author of Freakeconomics. The purpose of TED, according to its web site, is for participants to “gain an understanding of how your own work fits into the larger web of knowledge." The event is quite pricey, and the 2008 conference is already sold out. Apparently, it’s that powerful of a conference.

Lucky for us little people, TED has become accessible in other ways. There is an accompanying blog and fabulously designed web site. Many of the 18 minute sessions (known as TEDTalks) are now available for download from iTunes and are archived on the TED web site. Attendees are also sent a series of important books as part of the TED membership; see a sampling of titles here.

For RSS aficionados interested in tracking TED this year, I suggest visiting Google News, searching for TED or TED 2007, and then hitting the RSS link on the left-hand side of the page. You’ll get any news updates regarding TED (and probably anyone named Ted) delivered to your newsreader of choice. This also works when using Google Blog Search.

Last week, noted New York Times columnist and TED speaker David Pogue appeared as a workshop leader and keynote speaker at the Illinois Technology Conference for Educators, and he joined a group of fellow Apple Distinguished Educators for supper one evening. This is the first time I’ve encountered a TED attendee, and I couldn’t resist grilling David about his experiences at TED. Interestingly, he cited Al Gore’s speech as one of the most powerful and well-executed talks of the 2006 conference. David also mentioned the TEDPrize, an annual award given to innovative people in order to help turn their visions into reality. Ever the idealist, it is heartening to me that lofty endeavors are celebrated and rewarded.

The format of TED and the hype surrounding the conference fascinate me. Why is TED such a success? Is it the glamour of intellectual power wrapped in exclusivity that attracts movers and shakers to this yearly event? Is it the opportunity to be surrounded by like-minded people in a seemingly increasingly mediocre world? How does it feel to be surrounded by 999 other people who want to change the world and more importantly, probably feel empowered to do so? What sort of relationships are forged here that produce partnerships that do, in fact, change the world? Are TED attendees really able to put their ideas into motion, and if so, how do they accomplish this?

It has occurred to me that there doesn’t seem to be much representation in TED specifically from the field of education. Perhaps education is not an “it” field of study. The essential questions for me, as an educator interested in innovation, then are: If education does not fit into the Technology, Entertainment and Design schema, is there a similar event for people deeply involved in our field? If not, what would an similar education-oriented event look like? Is there great interest by others in radically rethinking educational practices? Is there a conference that showcases stellar examples of innovative practices related to the academic, physical, social, and emotional growth of children?

I will go out on a limb here to say that I believe American education is indeed stagnant, and it would be inspiring to have the not only the best, but the most innovative, minds in education and related fields exchange ideas. Like TED, I would like for those passionate about education to have the opportunity to view all the pieces of the puzzle at once, and to reflect on what their own work brings to the table of change. Thinking outside of the traditional education box is critical as we attempt to educate 21st century students.

I am getting off my soapbox for now, but again, I am curious as to what other educators think. If you were to assemble a dream team of conference presenters/discussion leaders with the express purpose of rethinking American education, who would you choose? Who inspires you? Who are the icons, geniuses, and mavericks in our field? What do you think needs to change in our field, if anything? Also, take a look at the TEDTalks in iTunes. Who’s your favorite TEDster and why? Jump in and join the conversation!

Choose Your Own Resolution

Choose Your Own Resolution

I can only speak for myself, but I believe in self-improvement. If my husband read that statement, he would probably remark that I’ve been watching too many TiVoed episodes of Oprah. However, I have observed that while some people are born brilliant and gifted educators, most teachers, myself included, have to really work at reaching our personal and professional best. I think we all owe it to ourselves and to our students to continually seek out new and better ways of educating.

So…it’s that time of year, and even if you don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions, how about pledging to kick things up a bit in your classroom at least? Here are my suggestions!

1) Provide a window into your classroom.

Parents want to know about their child’s experiences at school, not to necessarily harangue teachers, but to simply learn more about their children. You can do busy parents a huge favor by providing a few glimpses. Some ideas are:

• Take lots of pictures of your students engaged in class work and of their actual work. If you use a regular camera, have your photos put on a disk when you get the filmed developed.
• Compose a newsletter for parents and send it out via email. Trick this out a bit by sending it out via Google Groups or…
• Jot down a few notes about classroom activities and add a few pictures in a blog or a wiki.
• Schedule volunteer activities for parents using Google Calendar.
• Get fancy and make a brief video about classroom happenings just like Bre Pettis did in Room 132.

2) Organize your digital closets.

Just like you probably already organize your paper based resources and other materials, take some time on a regular basis to organize whatever you store on your computer. One of my colleagues borrows from the business world and uses a popular management system created by David Allen called Getting Things Done.

My own suggestions are:

• Make folders on your computer for handouts, forms, and correspondence. Consider creating a folder for each student for storing examples of work and photos taken in class. Take a few moments each week to sort digitized items into these folders.
• Start thinking about the end of the school year. If you get organized now, you can easily burn a CD of your students’ work in June for an end of the year surprise.
• Also, consider making a yearbook for your class. There are many services that do this now for a fee. A few services to checkout are Snapfish, Blurb, and Shutterfly. I like Apple’s service that works with iPhoto; two years ago I created a softcover photo booklet for my daughter’s kindergarten class at a reasonable cost.
• Start tagging files. This will make searching for documents and pictures much easier. I know teachers who name files with students’ initials, so that they can easily find documents when searching their computers. Also, Mac users can select a file and then go to the File menu to select Get Information. Under the Spotlight Comments field, you can label that file with keywords. Using Spotlight, the OS X search tool, you can pull up anything that is tagged with a keyword later on.
• Backup all of your files. Do this now without delay. I paid the price this year and lost many photos when my hard drive crashed unexpectedly. Documents and other items that don’t require a lot of space are stored on my .Mac account and in my file server account at school. I also have a huge new external hard drive for storing my photos and video. Call me paranoid, but my original DV tapes and back up CDs of photos are stored in a fireproof safe as well.

3) Go global and take your students along for the ride.

• Start exploring Google Earth.
• Join the Google Earth Community.
• Take your class on a virtual field trip at Tramline Virtual Field Trips.
• Join a collaborative project at Global SchoolNet Foundation or at iEARN. Check out this list from Eduscapes.
• Go on a tour yourself. See Mike Searson’s iStory tour blog for inspiration.
• Apply for an Earthwatch Fellowship or a Fulbright Teacher Exchange.

4) Find some online neighbors. Join a community.

Busy teachers can find support and fellowship online. Here are a few starting points:

• Education World’s Message Board Center
• Golden Apple Foundation’s Teacher Excellence Network
• Support Blogging wiki
• Tapped In

5) Subscribe to free professional development.

Here are a few of my favorite sources for finding listservs, web sites, and podcasts for improving professional practices:

• H-EDTECH Discussion Network – an educational technology listserv
• ISED-L – a listserv for private school educators, but may be of interest to public school educators as well
• Edutopia – Their site and blog are fabulous, and make sure to sign up for their free magazine.
• Free educational podcasts in the iTunes Store
• If you are really feeling adventurous, learn more about RSS feeds by browsing Will Richardson’s RSS: A Quick Start Guide for Educators.

6) Acknowledge another educator.

Share your story about a teacher (or learning experience) that made a difference in your life. Take a moment to reflect on your own experiences through this project I recently started using Google Earth.

As always, I am interested in YOUR thoughts and suggestions. Please take a moment to leave a comment! And I almost forgot... here's my resolution. Thanks to Charlene Chausis for referring me to this fun resource!

Photo Credit: Sally Mahoney Click here to see the photo in Flickr.

Best of 2006: Resources for Teachers

For the past few years, I have been publishing a weekly list of links for educators and this fall, I began using Google Groups to manage this listserv. Because I spend a fair amount of time each week perusing various web sites and resources for teachers, I thought I'd share a few of my favorites this week. There's quite a variety here!

1) U.S Geological Survey

This site contains a mindboggling amount of scientific data and there's a section especially geared towards educators. My favorite part contains RSS feeds and downloadable Google Earth files of recent earthquake activity around the globe.

2) Room 132 Video Blog

Last school year, Room 132 teacher Bre Pettis made some pretty amusing and informative videos on events in his classroom. Bre has moved on to bigger things now, educating adults at Make magazine. These videos convey a sense of fun and enthusiasm for learning and help me remember why I am teacher.

3) 100,000 Wikis in the Classroom

My favorite word as a teacher is FREE, and Wikispaces is generously donating 100,000 free wikis to educators. I plunged into the world of wikis this year with a sixth grade collaborative computer science research project, and I was pleased as punch with the results. I'm excited to learn more about wikis through other ITM bloggers and from Adam Frey of Wikispaces, who will be presenting at the Illinois Technology Conference for Educators in March. I serve on the conference committee for this annual event, and Adam has offered to create a wiki for the conference!

4) Google For Educators: Global Warming Student Speakout

Google For Educator's inaugural project (co-sponsored by Global SchoolNet) was another hit with my students. They mastered spreadsheets, both in Excel and in Google Spreadsheets and Docs, found relevant videos on Google Video, worked collaboratively in teams, and learned a bit about global warming in the process. I'm looking forward to other projects that Google may cook up for us in the future!

5) Apple Learning Interchange 2006 - Rethink. Global Awareness.

I've been fortunate to be a part of the Apple Distinguished Educator program for the past year or so, and my participation in this education community has changed my professional life in so many ways. Many ADEs, along with representatives from EF Educational Tours, traveled last summer to Berlin and Prague to create a global awareness curriculum. My view of the world has broadened and deepened because of this project, and I now understand how vital it is for teachers to bring the world to their students via technology, if not through actual experience.

The resulting project is housed in the Apple Learning Interchange which was redesigned in the past year. Now, any teacher can upload lessons and digital objects to share, rate and comment on projects of others, and subscribe to RSS feeds showing new additions to the collections. Additionally, any media in the ALI can be downloaded to your iTunes library.

Please feel free to point out any favorite web sites or projects of your own choosing by posting information in the comments section of this post. Stay tuned for my next ITM entry in which I suggest some ed tech resolutions for 2007!

I should add that I took the above picture in Berlin at an exhibition of Buddy Bears. Visit this web site to learn more about this international project. In July, 2006, the bears were on display in Bebelplatz, a square near Humboldt University.