This evening, Aaron Berthold and I presented to the Technology Steering Committee. Our focus was illustrating where netbooks fit in to education and how the netbooks are being used. Aaron spoke about from macroscopic perspective and I presented from the microscopic perspective of how teachers are using netbooks.

The presentation I created follows closely Robert Marzano meta-research for classroom strategies that have the greatest impact on student achievement. Presentation (ppt) The presentation contains links to many useful resources that are free.

This video below was created by Tom Fox and clearly demonstrates the benefits of using 1 to 1 computing with blogging to foster greater literacy among students. Watching the video, you’ll notice that several of the strategies that Marzano writes about are mentioned; summarizing & notetaking, reinforcing effort & providing recognition, and providing feedback.

The night before  Spring Break, we kicked off our 100 Mini’s Project. The participating teachers were presented with goals, expectations, presentations and more importantly the mini’s themeselves. We are using the Dell Mini 9 with the prestigious ubuntu (Linux) operating system.

I’m very excited about this project and can’t wait to actually see the mini’s in the hands of students. Here’s a glimse through videos published by Cari Roberts.

These students have access to a full range of applications that can be used to research, organize their ideas, collaborate and share. With the exception of Inspire, all of the applications below are also free and run on most operating systems (Linux, Mac, XP, Vista). So students that have family computers are able to utilize the same applications at home.

• ActivInspire (Activstudio 3)
• FireFox(Internet browser)
• GIMP (like Photoshop)
• Open Office
  • Word
  • Spreadsheets
  • Presentations
• XMind (graphic organizers)
• and much, much more!

New and future Promethean board users met this evening at Fulton Elementary to learn more about how to use the board. Teachers taught each other how to apply the tools provided by ActivStudio. Future sessions will focus on the resources available for building flipcharts and how to create custom flipcharts.

If you weren’t able to attend the class, but are interested in learning more about using ActivStudio, here are some great resources that will guide you through everything you need to know about ActivStudio ( and more).

1. Notes from the class.
2. Resources from this website.

As the Department of Instructional Technology works with principals on school improvement plans, we are noticing a definite trend in which direction teachers and administration want to move. Schools are putting projectors and visualizers into the hands of teachers and students. Visualizers (document imaging cameras) are a fantastic tool for teacher’s instruction. They align perfectly with strategies that work. Three instructional strategies that are demonstrated optimally using a visualizer are:

• Identifying similarities and differences
• Using nonlinguistic representations
• Using questions, cues, and advance organizers

The visualizers lend themselves to all of the strategies, especially in regards to student work. Teachers can simply lay student work on the visualizer and there it is projected on a large screen for the class to see. What a great way to illustrate to students exactly what proficient and outstanding work looks like.

Here’s an example of a School Improvement Plan for Education Technology - Information Literacy (SIP: ET-IL).

Here are some links to great Internet safety resources.

• iSafe
• Web Wise Kids

Here’s a message from Barb Wagers the resident expert on Internet Safety.

Netsmartz is another site used by many educators. Check it out if you’ve never been there.

www.netsmartz.org

NetSmartz has developed Internet safety presentations for use with children of all ages and adults. Educate parents and communities with slides detailing online risks, statistics, resources, and tips for keeping children safer online. Encourage tweens and teens to examine their online behavior and take steps to prevent victimization of themselves and others. Teach younger children what to watch out for on the Internet and how to avoid these risks.

http://www.netsmartz.org/Presentations

Safety Pledges in English and Spanish

http://www.netsmartz.org/resources/pledge.htm

Internet Crimes Against Children’s website is really good and full of information. You can see pictures of those arrested recently and in the past by clicking on the Arrest button. Also, if you click on the Safety Information button, you can select the grade level and parent info. and find some more good links.

www.coloradoicac.com