Our school district is piloting Google Apps in Education. It's a natural fit to use Google with the Netbooks. "Working in the cloud" is a term that I am hearing everywhere- TV commercials, educational journals, blogs and so on. The Netbooks are the perfect machine for cloud computing. Jolicloud makes it easier. There are numerous apps offered through Jolicloud that may be added to the Netbooks. Management could be an issue, but with Ubuntu you are able to sync an App change. Make that change on one machine and when the others log in the next time, they just need to run their sync for the App to show. The icons make locating items an easy task.
With any pilot program, your main job is to find out what works and what doesn't. Often times human error can ruin an otherwise great idea. I created a Google document to share with the class with a list of instructions. By following the directions, students would review the basics of word processing. Thing is, I forgot to share the document properly. Now that I have, I will be eager to read student responses.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
Getting Acquainted with Netbooks
We are an Apple School. There have only been about 6 PC's in the school in my 11 year experience as Tech Specialist here. BUT...an opportunity presented itself and we now have 26 Dell Inspiron mini Netbooks. They are assigned to AW's class and offer a one to one computer initiative. They were introduced last week and the excitement was contagious!
Preliminary set up and organization are key. Our district subscribes to Atomic Learning and I used the tutorials in the Netbook workshop to help me out. It can be difficult helping others with a technology that you've never 'touched'. Atomic Learning had nice pdf handouts available and they were used to send home information to the students and parents.
My first decision to make: keep the machine with Windows or try a Linux OS.
After 4 days using Windows, I knew we needed to look seriously at an alternative. The Netbook took about 3 minutes to boot up, numerous updates would run and seemed to be needed daily. We had the concern for viruses, which had never been an issue for us before. Also, this class is participating in a Google Apps for Education pilot program in the district. Since we'd be "working in the cloud", I felt Linux would be the way to go. My friend and colleague AD helped me out. He chose Ubuntu with Jolicloud. The system was loaded on several SD cards and installation on 26 machines took a little over 2 hours.
We used a Bretford laptop cart and used additional power strips to accommodate the power plugs. The odd shaped Netbook plugs prevent the use of a traditional power strip.
I gave the classroom teacher address labels and had the kids create a name tag. I thought perhaps their own name tag would create a sense of pride and encourage care of the machines. After tagging, the Netbooks were ready to roll out.
Preliminary set up and organization are key. Our district subscribes to Atomic Learning and I used the tutorials in the Netbook workshop to help me out. It can be difficult helping others with a technology that you've never 'touched'. Atomic Learning had nice pdf handouts available and they were used to send home information to the students and parents.
My first decision to make: keep the machine with Windows or try a Linux OS.
After 4 days using Windows, I knew we needed to look seriously at an alternative. The Netbook took about 3 minutes to boot up, numerous updates would run and seemed to be needed daily. We had the concern for viruses, which had never been an issue for us before. Also, this class is participating in a Google Apps for Education pilot program in the district. Since we'd be "working in the cloud", I felt Linux would be the way to go. My friend and colleague AD helped me out. He chose Ubuntu with Jolicloud. The system was loaded on several SD cards and installation on 26 machines took a little over 2 hours.
We used a Bretford laptop cart and used additional power strips to accommodate the power plugs. The odd shaped Netbook plugs prevent the use of a traditional power strip.
I gave the classroom teacher address labels and had the kids create a name tag. I thought perhaps their own name tag would create a sense of pride and encourage care of the machines. After tagging, the Netbooks were ready to roll out.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Into the Book
There are so many wonderful educational resources available and I found one I’d like to share. It is called Into the Book (http://reading.ecb.org) and was developed by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, Department of Public Instruction and a team of educators.
Kids can get into the book! After entering their first name, they will be assigned a key. There are eight strategies that they can explore; Visualizing, Summarizing, Synthesizing, Making Connections, Prior Knowledge, Inferring, Evaluating, Questioning, as well as using strategies together. Instructional videos are provided and then interactive practice.
Teachers can check out the learning objectives for each strategy, take a look at the student/teacher videos, lessons, teaching tips, suggested books and additional links.
There are so many wonderful suggestions, updated information, pdf downloads, teaching tips and so on.
Into the Book is a multimedia treasure house that will help improve students’ reading comprehension. I know you will find it useful.
Kids can get into the book! After entering their first name, they will be assigned a key. There are eight strategies that they can explore; Visualizing, Summarizing, Synthesizing, Making Connections, Prior Knowledge, Inferring, Evaluating, Questioning, as well as using strategies together. Instructional videos are provided and then interactive practice.
Teachers can check out the learning objectives for each strategy, take a look at the student/teacher videos, lessons, teaching tips, suggested books and additional links.
There are so many wonderful suggestions, updated information, pdf downloads, teaching tips and so on.
Into the Book is a multimedia treasure house that will help improve students’ reading comprehension. I know you will find it useful.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Friday, May 14, 2010
Monday, May 10, 2010
Kid Web Browsers
Here's information on two kid safe browsers. Zoodles (http://www.zoodles.com) is advertised as a "playground full of fun, age-appropriate games". There is ad blocking and violence filtering.
Another I looked at is KidZui (http://www.kidzui.com/). Both offer a desktop icon for ease of access.
Another I looked at is KidZui (http://www.kidzui.com/). Both offer a desktop icon for ease of access.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Where have all the teachers gone?
All the SB6 talk has taken a toll on my outlook for work. That isn't good, it will be so difficult to stay focused on tasks at hand and not look into the future. I fear the country is failing the citizens of tomorrow, and the problem is in our backyards. A dedicated educator takes care of the whole child...not just how well they read, or how high they can score on a test. They care if they are unhappy or having trouble with family and friends. They care if the child is moving to yet another foster home, the fifth in one year.They care if the child has enough food to eat over the weekend. They care if the child goes home to an empty house and no one else will be there for hours. A dedicated educator provides shoes, clothing, counseling, empathy, and love and manages to instruct and motivate and instill in their young charges a desire to learn. What will happen to all the dedicated educators?
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
iWeb FAQ
iWeb FAQ - Adding movies and Flash content to iWeb Love it when colleagues share! Thanks Brandon!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Technology Tools and other Stuff
https://sites.google.com/site/mdejrogers/
I recently moved resources from one of my wikis to Google sites. Please take a look and let me know if you find anything useful.
I recently moved resources from one of my wikis to Google sites. Please take a look and let me know if you find anything useful.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Cool Web Resources
I'll be hosting a training on Cool Web Resources March 3, 2010 at the Pasco County Department of Instructional Media office. I've prepared an introduction presentation on Google Docs and have created a Moodle course as well. I experimented with being able to embed a Google presentation into a web page...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Reflecting on FETC
I spend part of my day 'in the cloud' and other times I am just in a fog!
I did see the new projectors with DLP capability. Bringing 3D to the classroom enhances the learning experience. After dodging asteroids myself, I could picture our kids' interest level would be super high.
Inspiration 9 had a January release. They added the presentation conversion feature and mind maps. With just a click, you are able to convert your visual diagrams into slides for a presentation, an Inspiration viewer (free download) means you can view on any machine, not have to have the app itself.
Applications aren't going away, but they will be used as tools for use in the cloud. When working with Google, for example, you can upload Powerpoint presentations, so folks can still create with programs they are comfortable with. Google Wave increases the collaboration efforts made not only in education, but business too. Google will continue to unveil more. 20% of their employees day is spent on personal work pursuits. Lots of great stuff coming.
The freedom to not being tied to one computer is so nice. I saw more in the line of mobile users and am hoping that supports the need for mobility with our computers in the classroom. AKA eliminate stationary labs. With budget issues haunting us for some time to come, why not let kids bring their own 'tools' to school. We need to be ready, get policy in place, do the background work, and not be in a position of 'catch up'.
With Web2.0 and working in the cloud, we need to examine bandwidth needs for the future. I am so glad we switched our network provider. Things go so much smoother now than they did with the "tower people" aka Trillion. Lots of conversation at FETC from folks concerned that their bandwidth would not meet their needs.
The role of the tech in Pasco is changing. Get ready. We all need to be learning, not only the tools, but how to use them in the classroom.
Word for the future: Integration Specialists! We know the hardware/software and we educate others on appropriate use. I liked when Richard, a Pasco Colleague, said, "you will be standing by the side of the road and eventually forced to move out of the way."
I did see the new projectors with DLP capability. Bringing 3D to the classroom enhances the learning experience. After dodging asteroids myself, I could picture our kids' interest level would be super high.
Inspiration 9 had a January release. They added the presentation conversion feature and mind maps. With just a click, you are able to convert your visual diagrams into slides for a presentation, an Inspiration viewer (free download) means you can view on any machine, not have to have the app itself.
Applications aren't going away, but they will be used as tools for use in the cloud. When working with Google, for example, you can upload Powerpoint presentations, so folks can still create with programs they are comfortable with. Google Wave increases the collaboration efforts made not only in education, but business too. Google will continue to unveil more. 20% of their employees day is spent on personal work pursuits. Lots of great stuff coming.
The freedom to not being tied to one computer is so nice. I saw more in the line of mobile users and am hoping that supports the need for mobility with our computers in the classroom. AKA eliminate stationary labs. With budget issues haunting us for some time to come, why not let kids bring their own 'tools' to school. We need to be ready, get policy in place, do the background work, and not be in a position of 'catch up'.
With Web2.0 and working in the cloud, we need to examine bandwidth needs for the future. I am so glad we switched our network provider. Things go so much smoother now than they did with the "tower people" aka Trillion. Lots of conversation at FETC from folks concerned that their bandwidth would not meet their needs.
The role of the tech in Pasco is changing. Get ready. We all need to be learning, not only the tools, but how to use them in the classroom.
Word for the future: Integration Specialists! We know the hardware/software and we educate others on appropriate use. I liked when Richard, a Pasco Colleague, said, "you will be standing by the side of the road and eventually forced to move out of the way."
Monday, January 18, 2010
Google Teacher Academy Reflection
I was fortunate to be included with those attending the Google Teacher Academy in Boulder, CO August 5, 2009. It was the first time there were 51 participants and not the typical 50. Could I have been that fifty-first person? Fortunate indeed!
The networking opportunities with so many top notch educators and tech specialists was humbling. But we all realized there's 'oodles of Google' to learn! I'd only touched the surface with Gmail, docs, and spreadsheets.
This fast paced training was an unforgettable experience. One that remains with you and causes you to continue to seek out and learn more. Sharing Google with others is a mission in itself, but one easy to do.
Since August, I've searched for ways to integrate Google into my school work day as well as my own everyday life. I encouraged the principal of my school to use Google Calendar for parents this year. It is accessible from our web site. We've used Google Forms to gather data from our staff members on a variety of topics. We will continue to use both.
There are tasks still to accomplish, like creating a Moodle Course on Google tools. Reading the discussion topics from fellow GTA's is a part time job in itself! But it is all worthwhile and although all I meet don't necessarily share my level of enthusiasm I am making progress in the increased use of Google during the school day.
The networking opportunities with so many top notch educators and tech specialists was humbling. But we all realized there's 'oodles of Google' to learn! I'd only touched the surface with Gmail, docs, and spreadsheets.
This fast paced training was an unforgettable experience. One that remains with you and causes you to continue to seek out and learn more. Sharing Google with others is a mission in itself, but one easy to do.
Since August, I've searched for ways to integrate Google into my school work day as well as my own everyday life. I encouraged the principal of my school to use Google Calendar for parents this year. It is accessible from our web site. We've used Google Forms to gather data from our staff members on a variety of topics. We will continue to use both.
There are tasks still to accomplish, like creating a Moodle Course on Google tools. Reading the discussion topics from fellow GTA's is a part time job in itself! But it is all worthwhile and although all I meet don't necessarily share my level of enthusiasm I am making progress in the increased use of Google during the school day.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Gale Delivers
Gale Cengage Learning company provides numerous online resources. There is a wonderful 17 Volume Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia that is an interactive comprehensive animal reference. It is media rich with photos, videos, and real time news which is updated regularly. Take a look and preview a video: http://www.gale.com/wildthings.
Gale has teamed up with the Florida Electronic Library to provide online resources that meet the research needs of the state. If you get the chance surf by and see all that is available to you.
Gale has teamed up with the Florida Electronic Library to provide online resources that meet the research needs of the state. If you get the chance surf by and see all that is available to you.
Inspiration 9
I just met with Mona Westhaver, President and Co-Founder of Inspiration Software,Inc. Their product line includes Inspiration, Kidspiration, and InspireData. Inspiration 9 was released January 5, 2010 and FETC 2010 is a perfect venue to show the added features.
Inspiration is clearly a leader in visual thinking and learning. With Inspiration 9 there has been a reorganization of symbols and visual tools that will aid students in making curriculum connections. There is increased capability for organizing, outlining, and writing. The NEW Presentation Manager and Mind Map view are additions to an already superb product.
Students will be able to transfer their work from diagram, outline, and/or mind map views into presentations. With a few clicks, drags and drops, students will be able to move their brainstorming to the presentation level, thereby achieving and demonstrating their knowledge within one program. Inspiration presenter applet is available as a free download in order to view the presentations even if Inspiration is not installed on that particular machine.
Students are able to export their document or presentation directly to the PDF format, making it very easy to share their work with others.
Inspiration is clearly a leader in visual thinking and learning. With Inspiration 9 there has been a reorganization of symbols and visual tools that will aid students in making curriculum connections. There is increased capability for organizing, outlining, and writing. The NEW Presentation Manager and Mind Map view are additions to an already superb product.
Students will be able to transfer their work from diagram, outline, and/or mind map views into presentations. With a few clicks, drags and drops, students will be able to move their brainstorming to the presentation level, thereby achieving and demonstrating their knowledge within one program. Inspiration presenter applet is available as a free download in order to view the presentations even if Inspiration is not installed on that particular machine.
Students are able to export their document or presentation directly to the PDF format, making it very easy to share their work with others.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
FETC Keynote Speaker
Ed Begley Jr. is indeed an accomplished actor, but he is also a dynamic individual and a person who truly lives and practices what he believes in. He started taking a great interest in the environment back in 1970. He is often seen on his bicycle, he purchases recycled paper, has a rain barrel, recycles and composts and practices what he 'preaches'. He is so entertaining to listen to, that one becomes absorbed in the message and comes away with a feeling that 'I can do that'.
Today, before leaving home, I stopped to drop off the newspapers and boxes at a school with the large GREEN dumpster. People do not realize how convenient it is. In Pasco County, only a small percentage of homes have 'blue bag' recycling. But we do our part and I am proud of the effort. Even more so after listening to Ed Begley, Jr.
Mr. Begley said that "Everybody can do something". It's okay to start small. Do what you can and after that try to do more.
As to technology, "it can be a friend". Use it wisely. It's okay to have a fondness for the printed page.
With regard to the climate change discussion, stick to good science. Go to reputable scientific sites for information. Be aware of your source.
Today, before leaving home, I stopped to drop off the newspapers and boxes at a school with the large GREEN dumpster. People do not realize how convenient it is. In Pasco County, only a small percentage of homes have 'blue bag' recycling. But we do our part and I am proud of the effort. Even more so after listening to Ed Begley, Jr.
Mr. Begley said that "Everybody can do something". It's okay to start small. Do what you can and after that try to do more.
As to technology, "it can be a friend". Use it wisely. It's okay to have a fondness for the printed page.
With regard to the climate change discussion, stick to good science. Go to reputable scientific sites for information. Be aware of your source.
Ready, Set, Go!
It's time for FETC 2010, 30 year anniversary, and all is set and ready for thousands of participants to filter through the Orange County Convention Center. We're at the West Concourse this year, with parking in the rear of the building.
Ready- Left home with the added travel concern of sinkholes. Armed with my map of the exhibit hall, email verifications of appointments, interviews, receptions, and my own eagerness.
Set- After parking and a hike to Level 1 Sections A and B, I checked in and located the FETC Press Room. Such a nice welcome from really fine folks. We have wireless connection, work areas, and refreshments available to us throughout FETC.
Go- I will be attending the opening session which is 3:30-5:00 PM. From there I'll head to the Exhibit Hall's Grand Opening. There are several companies I will be looking for this evening: Discovery Education, SMART, and Epson to name a few.
Ready- Left home with the added travel concern of sinkholes. Armed with my map of the exhibit hall, email verifications of appointments, interviews, receptions, and my own eagerness.
Set- After parking and a hike to Level 1 Sections A and B, I checked in and located the FETC Press Room. Such a nice welcome from really fine folks. We have wireless connection, work areas, and refreshments available to us throughout FETC.
Go- I will be attending the opening session which is 3:30-5:00 PM. From there I'll head to the Exhibit Hall's Grand Opening. There are several companies I will be looking for this evening: Discovery Education, SMART, and Epson to name a few.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Vendor Hall Exhibit
FETC Vendor Hall opening reception is set for Wednesday, January 13 from 5:00-7:00PM.
On Thursday, the Vendor Hall is open 9:00-5:30PM and on Friday, 9:00-2:30PM. Visiting vendors enables attendees to see products, demonstrations, and attend staff development.
On Thursday, the Vendor Hall is open 9:00-5:30PM and on Friday, 9:00-2:30PM. Visiting vendors enables attendees to see products, demonstrations, and attend staff development.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Gearing up!
FETC 2010 is just around the corner. I asked colleagues if they made a schedule to follow while at the conference. The majority of responses indicate the attempt is made, but so much can happen.
The exhibit hall is a big draw not only to see many of the hardware and software products out, but also for the opportunity in attending sessions dealing with the product. Many companies offer staff development in connection with a product purchase. Ask if it is included with the purchase and be sure to follow up and schedule sessions for your staff members.
I've been reading all that I can on the FETC web site . If I am informed, I hope to make wise choices for my time at the conference. I plan on being comfortable and doing a lot of walking. I'll be adding information daily and hope it will benefit those of you who 'pass' by.
The exhibit hall is a big draw not only to see many of the hardware and software products out, but also for the opportunity in attending sessions dealing with the product. Many companies offer staff development in connection with a product purchase. Ask if it is included with the purchase and be sure to follow up and schedule sessions for your staff members.
I've been reading all that I can on the FETC web site . If I am informed, I hope to make wise choices for my time at the conference. I plan on being comfortable and doing a lot of walking. I'll be adding information daily and hope it will benefit those of you who 'pass' by.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
