Matt+Burns+Notes+Page

=Matt Burns Notes Page= toc

MassCUE Technology Leadership Symposium
Thursday, March 17, 2011

Keynote and Round Table Discussions
Dr. David Rose

This guy almost lost me at the start. He started reading his PowerPoint slides and I was hungry. I was drawn back in when he started showing diagrams of brains and highlighting various regions of the cortex associated with certain brain functions and activities. (I laughed to myself thinking about how many other people in the room probably started to zone out when Dr. Rose started talking about axons, and here I am zoning //in.//) I'm definitely going to share the Ball and Shadow demo with my classes.

Dr. Rose's explaination of UDL was interesting. It sparked some thoughts about why I can't seem to reach certain students at certain times or why some activities work in some classes but not others. I'm also thinking about how the Science Department is in the process of Cirriculum Mapping and I'm putting together my 2nd Year Teacher Portfolio. What are the ways that I can integrate UDLs into the Current 9th grade cirriculum and my future classes? What would it look like and how will I know it's being implemented effectively?

The Round table discussion didn't work for me. I had a hard time following the conversation, especially when audience members posed questions or added comments. I couldn't hear what they were saying. They had such delicious breakfast fruits and breads. Why didn't they have a hand held microphone for Audience members to participate?

Session 1: Wayland RISES! EdTech Leadership & Blended PD
Leisha's WebPage
 * Leisha Simon** - Wayland Public Schools, Director of Technology and Accountability

EdTechTeach
 * Tom Daccord** - Co-Director, EdTech Teacher, Inc.


 * R**ich **I**nstruction for **S**tudent **E**ngagement & **S**uccess

__4 necessary puzzle pieces:__ Network, Hardware (1:1), Leadersip & Teachers

EdTech: PD Provider T21 Program, Two 6-module courses for Web 2.0 and something else... 2 years? One module a month/year

Incentive: 20 PDPs, 1 salary credit (If teachers integrated into their class, presented Student Assessments to Colleagues)

Face to Face Schedule: Blended Online Learning: Teacher Leaders:

__Leisha's Input__
Focus on One School (opposed to both Middle and High Schools) Teacher Leaders needed more training Proponent for 3 year program, one for each School Level (Elementary Teacher Leaders: Summer commitment

__Tom's Input__
Teacher Leaders don't need to be Tech Savy, so much as Open Minded volunteers How do you assess change?

It's Learning: Online Component Portal
Teacher Professional Development (Students wanted to use it, so it got unveiled too soon?)

__Tom's Demo on It's Learning__ Videos (like Jing) for training/tutorial EdTech Teacher creates these tutorials (5-10 minutes) Lessons broken down into Steps (1-4) Intro, GoogleDocs, Online Collaboration 1 & 2 Teacher Leaders were in charge of Discussion Boards after trainings.... Contact between Instructor(s) and Teacher Leaders of each department to cater Lessons to Department/Teacher needs

__My Reflection__
//It's Learning// seems like a souped up version of edline. The presenters didn't spend time diving into all the different features, but I ran into Justin Reich after that session and spoke with him about it briefly. He gave me his card and said there was a possibility we could get a Free Demo. I talked with him about the limitations of edline like the lack of discussion boards or student interactivity, limited email capabilities (can't add attatchments) among other features.

Session 2: Free stuff from Microsoft
Alfred Tompson (not present by in charge of National K-12 ?) alfredth@microsoft.com
 * Rich Langford**: richlang@microsoft.com
 * Edwin Guarin**: edwin.guarin@microsoft.com [Twitter: @eduangclist]

__Free Tools__
Mouse Mischief sounds like CPS PhotoSynth (haha, like photosynth-esis) SkyDrive is the same as GoogleDocs (but microsoft compatiable)... live.edu wipes out all the Ads that are associated with other email/googledoc providers. Free scientific calculator download Microsoft DreamSpark: Lists a ton of free web based tools (Express and Professional Versions) Windows Phone (free for students & teachers to register and create their own phone apps) Small Basic (teach students basic programming) Kodu (creates games) DigiGirlz (people in the room had attended and seemed to enjoy it)? Modules for Faculty Connection? create.msdn.com > Download free tools (gives you the full installation package) C Sharp (Micrsoft version of Java) to write code for phone apps

IT Certification Programs ($1600/school) Covers whole school Curriculum to prepare students for IT Certification by Graduation

Microsoft BizSpark BizsSpark Free buisiness start-up Support, Software, etc. (after 3 years, $99/year) Email Requests to: skills@microsoft.com

__My Reflection__
I felt very uncomfortable in the session. It seemed like Microsoft Employees were peppered into the crowd trying to encourage the "shock and awe" of the tools Edwin was sharing with us. I also felt out of place with my iPhone and MacBook... I did find some potentially helpful things that I am passing on to other at the high school. I immediately thought of John Maguire when Edwin presented BizSpark. I also thought of the 3D Gaming club and Wayne McCarthy/Kevin Keany with some of the other Tools offered on the DreamSpark website.

I also thought it was interesting that Microsoft now has "SkyDrive" which is basically the same thing as GoogleDocs, 100% compatible with Microsoft Office, and FREE

Session 3: Creating Your Hybrid Classroom
rwillis@globalclassroom.us HybridClassroom MPBreflections
 * Dr. Russel Willis**: Vice-President, Global Classroom


 * H**igher order thinking
 * E**ngaged Learning
 * A**uthentic
 * T**echnology Use

The Evolution of Hybrid/Blended Instruction: Integrating Online and Classroom teaching

Effective Tools:
Forums Journals "Learning Sandbox" activities "Just-In-Time" resources and activities

Assessment: Portfolio Approach ? I'm hoping Kendall was paying attention during this part of the session because I was typing below...

__My Reflection__
One of the things I got out of this sessions was the discussion forum concept. Often times I post "Discussion Questions" on edline for Homework, however, the students write their answers out and hand them in the next day. What I realized is that I should create a Discussion Forum for the students to post their answers online so they can read each others responses. I can then post more questions on-top of those threads to create a record of "classroom" discussions. I'm not sure if students would find that helpful and actually //read// each others' work, but it would be interesting to see if we could extract important concepts from our class discuccsions that students could use as study guides/project ideas/etc.

I feel like I currently incorporate a "hybrid" or "blended" style in my instruction. I frequently need to instruct my students how to use and navigate our edline class webpages. A lot of what I'm hearing in these sessions and in conversations with representatives from other districts is people talking with the pretense that students have access to computers both at home and in the classroom. These programs and projects seem to work great in districts with smaller classes and more/better resources and it's highlighted in the questions people pose to the presenters. "How did all of your teachers/students complete this program/ goal/ initiative/ etc.?" And the answers are always, "Well, every teacher has a laptop" or "the students are able to log on and complete x, y, or z at home." In my experience incorporating edline into my instruction, students don't have access. Students (and parents) don't know how to trouble shoot issues like, updating their internet browser or downloading Adobe Acrobat Reader. It's difficult to create lesson plans that are dependent on students completing something techy at home first. Sometimes I struggle with concentrating too much incorporating certain technologies into my instruction and then teaching students how to access it. I'm supposed to be focusing on Science Standards too.