Notes from Millie D

I was very surprised this morning when I sent my class to yahooligans to do some category searches to see that it is now kids dot yahoo dot com.  The focus has changed to be more entertainment based than academically based.  Why the change in content?  I am so disappointed.

I so want to vent about the latest goings on at school but I’m fighting the urge trying not to use the blog as a vent session.  So…

We are getting ready to start the budget season for the 07-08 school year despite the fact that we just concluded 1st quarter conferences.  I would love for people to chime in and give me their 2 cents.

• What are some of the technology related things people are thinking about making an impact in the classroom?
• We are hopefully starting a brand new lease cycle in the computer lab.  Is now the time we look at having a computer lab where students can choose their operating system based on the task (ie dual boot macs) or stick with the M$ solution or dare I say go out on a limb and go Linux?  Just for the record 1-to-1 is not an option.
• Should I be putting the money for software into professional development and go more open source/web based software solutions or maintain the status quo for another year?

I’m sure there are other things that I should have mentioned but my mind is mush.  Let me know what your thoughts are on these questions.

By the way, today was the first introduction to our 5th graders to Think.com and there was some genuine excitement that I can use.  Making a 2nd Impression is starting to get off the ground with a potential partnership with an old (relative not age-wise) colleague who is now at Thornton Academy Middle School.

A couple of things came across my inbox today that I thought I would pass along and discuss with anyone interested.

Wikipedia CD-In a joint project from Wikipedia and SOS Children provide 2011 articles and more than 8000 images that are centered around helping children become more aware of the world around them.  The target audience for the CD are children between 8-15.  The articles are handpicked from Wikipedia, tidied up, checked for plausibility and suitability, and put in a form for a CD.  The CD is platform and browser neutral (the power of Web 2.0).

The impact here is great for children and classrooms.  Imagine being able to give a child a starting  point (notice not a final destinition) in researching topics when the Internet may not be available for whatever reason.  From a tech integration point, what a powerful way of introducing the power of Wikipedia in the classroom.  The downside of the CD is that the information is dated but at least it is a starting point to the 800,000+ articles on the wiki.

2020 Vision-  Next year’s Kindgarten class will graduate in 2020 and Karl Fisch decided to take the bull by the horns and project technology and the classroom with a commencement address in May 2020.  An interesting concept and I applaud the effort. 

This got me thinking about a couple of things with that class.  One, there are going to be a lot of 20-20 parallels done that those students will grow frustrated with the label.  Two, it could be an interesting discussion point in getting some real meaningful change in the classroom.  This could be the hook for David Warlick in getting the new literacy going.

Today was a day that made me think which is always good.  Hopefully you had something good to ponder…

technorati tags:warlick, literacy, 21stcentury, wikipedia

Blogged with Flock

I’m going to take a leap of faith with 2nd graders with a blog dedicated to them.  Making a 2nd Impression is an attempt to give our school’s second graders a chance to showcase technology.  Is it original?  No.  Is it making something old new?  Yes.  I wanted to start with something small and see what happens.  I’m hoping this will spur on some new technology integration with some awesome teachers at MLD.

How do you know if you have a 21st century kid during the holidays?

1. They want to go through websites to generate their lists instead of going through catalogs.
2. They want to know what to know what is Santa’s email.
3. They don’t know what a first generation game console looks like.
4. Why are we still using snail mail to send out Christmas cards.
5. Can we set up a part of the DVR for the Xmas shows on ABC Family Channel?
6. They didn’t look at the newspaper for Black Friday sales but used a website called Black Friday Deals.
7. They’re able to call Santa’s hotline using Skype.
8. They have the widgit for the countdown on their desktop.
9. They want to preview the holiday card at your favorite photo sharing website.
10. They’ve set up a wish list at Amazon.com for Xmas, Hanukkah, and Kwanzaa!

I’m sure this list is going to grow but I’m curious what others might add.

This entry is going to be carried on both of my blogs…because I can.

Blogged with Flock

At this MAINEducation conference David Warlick showed an example of backtracking on a website to figure out the author or group providing the information.   He used MLK’s site with the dot org.  When you backtrack and investigate people find out that it goes back to a white supremisist group spewwing hate.  I’ve got the sense from the link below that people are using this example in their classroom (applaud the effort but not the results) because Google has ranked that page higher than sites that help the cause the man died for.

Tuttle SVC » Blog Archive » OK, Let’s Knock martinlutherkingdotorg Down a Few Pegs, Shall
We?

We shouldn’t be giving evil people credit.  Here is my chance to help the cause.

Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr.

If you are in a position to blog about this cause please do.  Stop the hate!

Blogged with Flock

I was referred to this new service called Jumpstart.  Jumpstart is a video editing online service that duplicates iMovie and Windows Movie Maker.  It has a neat looking interface for you to create or mash-up videos. This will be something fun to play with over Thanksgiving weekend.  I’m concerned about the upload time.

I would image this kind of service is in response to the YouTube-viral video rage right now.  I would image it would be easy to polish up work done on the video displays that have the built in webcam.  There could be some interesting possibilities in the classroom.

An interesting side note, when I went to register I found out that Jumpstart is under the Yahoo umbrella.  Yet another service being gobbled up by the Big Boys (Yahoo and Google).

technorati tags:movie, youtube, technology, video, web2.0

Blogged with Flock

I’ve made it a focus with my students in grades 3-5 to provide them with the knowledge to be as safe as they can be while using the Internet. My fifth graders have been working on a project to create a product that can be used with parents and children in educating them about online safety. In order to provide them an exemplar I made a PowerPoint and then I realized that I should make this resource available to as many people as possible. I used SlideShare to turn the ppt file into a flash file (like a YouTube video) so that I could embedded it into a website or blog in this case.

I hope that you enjoy it find it useful. Please provide any feedback you wish. If you would like a copy I would be willing to share as long as you provide me a copy if you improve the final product.

Blogged with Flock

Today I made an technology in-road with a staff member who is tech literate.  Our music teacher does some amazing things with her classes.  I’ve been partnering up with her to help out in the fall productions.  Last week we finished with a fourth grade mini-musical.  I made a DVD of the performances and showed it to her.  She was thrilled.  In the past she would just videotape performances for archiving.  Now she found a different way of utilizing the “information”.  She wants us to get a digital camcorder (I have a personal one that I used).  The PTA may be getting a request on behalf of technology.  It is about finding the hook for each person.

Blogged with Flock

Lately we’ve been fighting with our ISP about who should have the DHCP server running.  A lot of people have not been able to connect and their frustrations have been coming out sideways as other issues have popped-up throughout the last couple of years.  I’m convinced that IT Help Desk is more than the technology but about people skills. People’s level of comfort around technology for those who are resistent can be tipped if Help Desk can work with them as people not 1s and 0s.

Blogged with Flock