21st Century Edu.World

APS Department of Instructional Technology  is proud to be offering a NEW online course entitled “21st Century Teaching & Learning.” It is 15hrs/1credit. This is a must-have class for every teacher, but it is essential for those with netbooks, laptops, or in a lab. Enroll today! Follow the link below to get started.

http://doit.aurorak12.org/tech-classes

The following slides showcase some great examples of digital art created by Mr. McCauley’s digital art class at Frontier K8. Adobe Photoshop is the predominant tool used for creating these pieces. (All subjects in pictures have signed the district’s media release form.)

Aurora Public Schools Department of Instructional Technology is happy to announce our participation in this year’s International Society for Technology in Education conference being held right here in our own backyard.  Denver, Colorado is the site for this year’s conference and we hope that you will sign up to attend.   This is one of the top national conferences held in the United States and there are many opportunities to see first-hand how technology is successfully integrated into classrooms and learn about new ideas!

We will be sharing about APS Tech Camp that was held last 5th block and will be held this coming 5th block for AGATE teachers and students.  To learn more about the specifics and see our listing in the ISTE conference catalog, click here.

The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) has announced its “Top Ten in ‘10″ education technology priorities for the New Year. These priorities offer policy makers and educators a prospective framework for consideration as legislative and funding decisions are made.

View the full article here

An excerpt:

1. Establish technology in education as the backbone of school improvement. Education technology can serve as a primary driver of excellence in school leadership, student achievement, professional practice, and the culture of learning.
2. Leverage education technology as a gateway for college and career readiness. Teachers who effectively integrate technology demonstrate the relevance of 21st century education, and keep more students engaged to graduate.
3. Ensure technology expertise is infused throughout our schools and classrooms. We must substantially increase our support for the federal Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) Program.
4. Continuously upgrade educators’ classroom technology skills. To be “highly effective,” PK-12 teachers must be able to use the modern information tools, digital content, and assessment strategies that support student learning.
5. Invest in preservice education technology. By fully funding programs such as Preparing Teachers for Digital Age Learners (PTDAL), we can ensure that the U.S. produces the most tech-savvy educator workforce in the world.
6. Leverage technology to scale improvement. Education technology offers one of the best ways to ramp up school improvement, providing immediate productivity and decision-making tools as well as access to the latest instructional innovations.
7. Provide high speed broadband for all. We must provide high-speed bandwidth to our nation’s classrooms through the E-Rate program. Home access to high-speed broadband is critical so that students and parents have access to school assignments, grades, announcements and resources.
8. Boost student learning through data and assessment efforts. Real-time data, assessment tools, and richer accountability measures help educators tailor teaching strategies to meet students’ individual needs and bolster their opportunities to succeed in school and beyond.
9. Invest in ongoing research and development. Solid investment in education R&D, particularly if focused on innovation in teaching and learning, ensures that we remain a global leader in this strategic domain.
10. Promote global digital citizenship. Growing competition in a flat world means technology is a great equalizer. It breaks down artificial barriers to effective teaching and learning, and provides incredible opportunities for collaboration across borders.

Reading fluency in Aurora Public Schools is measured as the difference between how many words are read in one minute and how many times the reader makes a mistake.  It is soley measuring the accuracy of reading written word and is not a measure of comprehension.  An error can be considered stumbling over a word, for example stuttering, repeating, or sounding out (but not limited to just these three examples).

Old school: a student sits with a teacher and reads for a minute while the teacher marks down errors.  After the minute is up, the words are counted up and the fluency level is calculated.  Often, during these sessions, this is the only time the teacher can provide feedback to the student concerning their reading fluency.  Also, a drawback is that the teacher can only have the student read a few times a session in order to fill out a picture of the student’s reading fluency.  It is the opinion of the author that this is limiting and inadequate.

21st Century: a student reads an excerpt from any published medium in any subject at any time of the day from anywhere and records them self doing so.  As long as an internet connection is established, the audio file can be immediately emailed to the teacher for archiving and review at the teacher’s discretion. The student can listen back to their own reading and assess their mistakes on their own.  Once the student has the data, they can then access an online form in which they can instantly provide their teacher with this valuable information via the iPod touch.  The teacher, who may be in the same building, at home, or in a hotel half-way across the Earth, can see the data update in real time and see a graph generate creating an easy way to identify reading fluency trends.  The teacher can then provide the student with feedback via email and the student can receive this and access it through the iPod touch - from anywhere, at anytime.

Clearly, the 21st Century method allows for the student to take a larger role in their own reading fluency, and using these 21st century tools, the teacher can receive much more formative assessment data than in the old method of data gathering.  Also, the data is categorized based on time and subject and can provide important, specific information to better aid the teacher and provide a means to help the student grow in their reading fluency.

Please view the following video to see this process illustrated.  For more information about this breakthrough in 21st Century Reading Fluency Assessment, please contact:

Kevin M. Riebau - kmriebau@aps.k12.co.us
Instructional Technology Coach
Department of Instructional Technology
Aurora Public Schools, Colorado
Blog: Riebau.org

Click the video after it has begun to play to see it bigger and better!

WARNING! Your data may be skewed if you’re using Promethean’s ActivExpressions or Activotes. Get the right results by modifying a setting in ActivInspire - learn how by viewing this informative silent video. (Click the video once it’s playing to see it bigger and clearer if needs be)

Here’s a brief overview of what I got Mr. Durham’s class at Iowa Elementary started with. Among many possibilities for his classroom full of netbook users, I’m thinking that Dave can make a calendar and then share it with his class so that they know when deadlines, events, etc. are happening. With Google docs he can have his students share their written pieces, data gathering, and presentations with him and their classmates. But, Google docs is just the beginning… the students can make webpages, their own calendars, and they also have their own homepage they can customize.  Your students will need a valid email address to use this tool so they will have to get hooked up with epals.  If you’re interested, contact your coach or trainer to help you get started.

Click here to access Google’s website dedicated to this.

An issue that keeps coming up - enough to warrant the production of the following 1min video - is that of files not opening in our preferred program.  Many times this is due to upgrading software like Microsoft’s Word ‘03 to Word ‘07 and Promethean’s ActivStudio to ActivInspire.  For example, the issue is that when you click on a .doc file, it doesn’t automatically open in Word ‘07 (because .docx files do that initially).  The idea is that you want to customize what app your files open in - typically the upgraded software or your preferred program.  The following movie will show you how to make your files automatically do this all the time and the process can be applied to any kind of files and their associated prgrams (for instance all audio filetypes .mp3, .aiff, .wav with iTunes).  (Click the video once it has started to see it bigger and clearer if needs be)

In order for students to take advantage of all those great Web 2.0 tools online like Ning, Animoto, Glogster, and Google Docs, it is necessary for them to have an email address. In APS, we don’t want to have the kids to have unsecure email addresses, so we use a secure system called SchoolMail by ePals. This email allows for the teacher to control and monitor all email activity taking place amongst their students. More importantly, if set properly, students cannot receive any communications from outside of SchoolMail (like from spammers, predators, etc.) The easiest way for your Instructional Technology Coach or Trainer to give your students email addresses is if you export your student list from Infinite Campus into an Excel Spreadsheet. I have provided the directions for how to do this, and upon successful exporting, you can email your lists to your coach or trainer.

Export Student List

At many of our schools in many of our classrooms we’ll find them… those old computers that we can’t wait to be replaced.  I’ve been there, thinking about how my old, slow desktop will be replaced with something fast and new - and I couldn’t wait.  I couldn’t wait to ditch that sluggish machine and be happy to never be at its mercy again.  But then I was enlightened through the genius of others and saw a new potential in an otherwise hunk of recyclable parts.

Repurpose Recycled Computers
Naturally, the old will be replaced with the new, but you’ve been afforded an opportunity… you can keep those old computers!  How about giving them new life? Here’s some ways how:

1) Replace Big Brother with Free Brother - install a Linux operating system like Edubuntu for free!  We’ve found through testing that the OS works fast and crisp - and there’s even versions (Kubuntu) for slow computers to make them seem like a new kid on the block.

2) If you have a couple of computers in your classroom, consider using them for stations if you don’t already (especially primary teachers).  One great way to provide students with practice is to install Promethean’s ActivStudio software onto your stations so that students can work on their own interacting with flipcharts.  That’s right… you don’t have to have a board to be using ActivStudio! Also, kids can create their own flipcharts, too.

3) All those great resources you’ve been downloading from One Place can be compiled and packaged for your students to access in your classroom. Imagine having video clips, tutorials, websites, simulations, etc. all available at their fingertips when they need it and how they need it.

4) Use the computers as a publishing station for students to access a classroom blog or collaboration network in which they can post, share, collaborate, and reflect on their written work.  GoogleDocs is a great way for students to have work that is always accessible as long as they have an internet connection.  Their docs can be private or shared amongst their teacher and peers. For example, Language Arts can post written work, science students can post data on spreadsheets.

5) There are many other possibilities… use your imagination and be creative!

The point is people, don’t give up on those old machines!  If set up right, they can provide quite a few more learning opportunities for your students in many dynamic ways before they keel over.  The possibilities don’t have to be limited - consult an instructional coach or trainer and work with them to help you make the most of what you have - or are keeping, even when you do get that shiny fast new computer!

Sited Links:
Ubuntu
Kubuntu
Edubuntu
One Place
Google Docs
Promethean ActivStudio