Social Learning

One of the KATE sessions at the KySTE Conference was about the social change taking place in learning. It was really fun reviewing the possiblities of social learning with a group of teachers and administrators at KySTE. Several participants at the Conference reported that they use Facebook and Twitter to get news out about their schools. They report everything from school closings to recognition of academic success, student or faculty awards, scheduled events, etc. In fact, CNN and other news organizations reported yesterday that Facebook had more hits last week than Google. In addition, the report said that in a month more time is spent on Facebook than on Google by users, actually about three times as many hours. I turned the channel and saw Katie Couric reporting on teaching strategies in the Hope Christian Schools in a very poor inner-city area of Wisconsin. The students have posted a video entitled "Scholar Ladies (Get An A On It)" as a video response to Beyonce's "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It). They hope to get a million hits and I hope that you will help them do it. I plan to use my blog post for the next few weeks to continue the conversation on social networking. We've added several features to our KATE webpage to bring a greater feeling of community to it. Scroll to the bottom of the page and follow us on facebook, twitter, or through our RSS feeds which include this blog.

Kentucky Academy of Technology Education Pages Are Changing

H.E. Luccock said, "No one can whistle a symphony. It takes an orchestra to play it." The web pages created and posted by the Kentucky Academy of Technology Education have been our attempt to provide valuable resources that save educators time as they incorporate technology into their content. Our staff has been fortunate to have the support of so many teachers who have joined our band to locate and create resources to share with others. As Kentucky begins to adopt new standards and make changes that will once again make us think about how we need to move forward with technology, KATE thinks it is time to not only share the music from our band, but to join together as an orchestra of educators performing a symphony of teaching and learning each and every day. We are adding many new features to our webpage to make it a Personal Learning Network (PLN) for Kentucky educators. The pages will be evolving as new components are added. Suggestions for changes will not only be accepted, but other users will be able to vote and help prioritize the changes we will be making. We are using cutting edge technologies to develop our page and will be sharing those with you as well in the future. We will be showing up on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites. Please take the time to follow us and help us share the free resources with your PLNs.

Technology and Standards

Many blog and listserv discussions during the last several weeks have been about technology standards, technology proficiency, technology measurement/assessment, etc.

During the 90s, there was a great deal of focus on equity in Kentucky and the importance of providing technology tools in all of the classrooms of Kentucky. There were many of us who were so excited that Kentucky was putting technology tools in the classrooms. We were passionate about the power of technology in the hands of knowledgeable teachers to help all students learn in ways that provide the relevance and meaning that challenges them to high levels of understanding.

Since then there have been leaders in the Kentucky Department of Education and other organizations such as KySTE who have worked hard to develop and adopt benchmark standards to guide the progress of Kentucky students toward proficiency as required by the Kentucky Program of Studies and the federal No Child Left Behind Act. In fact, Kentucky technology leaders began reporting the numbers of proficient teachers and students in their districts during this school year.

It is obvious in every district that I visit what an important role technology is playing in today's learning environment and the tremendous key that it will be to the future of Kentucky. In the next few months and years, we must continue to call attention to the value of technology and the ways we use it in education. The Kentucky Department of Education has a page of important links to follow related to the implementation of Senate Bill 1. To achieve the revision of standards mandated in the bill, Kentucky joined the Common Core Standards State Initiative. This month Kentucky was the first to adopt core standards from this initiative in Mathematics and English/Language Arts. I have created a page where I will attempt to compile resources related to the Common Core Standards State Initiative and technology in Kentucky.

I was happy to see the emphasis that was placed on the new National Education Technology Plan that was introduced today and am quite hopeful that we can us the contents of this document as we strive to work together to ensure that we continue to draw attention to the need for technology and its importance to students in Kentucky and all of the states involved in the Common Core Standards State Initiative. Please share your ideas and suggestions.

Kentucky Student Technology Leaders

As a Kentuckian, the emphasis on technology use by students in Kentucky schools is a point of great pride to me. From the time that education reform brought an emphasis on equity in the early 90s, there has been a mandate that student to computer ratios be kept low. The multi-million dollar allocation for instructional device upgrades completed in 2008 was a tangible statement on the part of the Kentucky legislature that having up-to-date equipment is a priority in order for technology to be an integral part of the learning environment.

As technology leaders and researchers place more and more emphasis on "ubiquitous" or "one-to-one" computing, the role of the student as learner, teacher, and leader continues to be critical to successful implementations. The Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) is a powerful organization that has provided opportunities for many students to learn and lead within their classroom or school as well as at regional, state and national conferences in the fifteen years of its existence in Kentucky.

Kentucky STLP has six stated goals:

1. The STLP will develop activities which enhance the academic, social and emotional growth of the student.
2. The STLP will provide leadership opportunities for all students.
3. The STLP will participate in multi-age collaboration by forming innovative learning partnerships.
4. The STLP will form learning partnerships among students with different technology skills.
5. The STLP will develop activities which benefit communities.
6. The STLP will develop instructional activities which integrate technology and benefit the school and support KETS (Kentucky Education Technology System).

Schools may join and become state-recognized STLP schools by sending an email to Elaine Harrison Lane at elaine.harrison@education.ky.gov. Regional and state STLP Showcases give students the opportunity to display or "showcase" their school projects and to learn from other schools. The regional showcases are held in multiple locations across the state this fall:

• November 5, The Center for Rural Development Showcase, Somerset
• November 11, Murray State University Showcase, Curris Center
• November 12, University of Kentucky Showcase, Student Center Ballroom
• November 13, Western Kentucky University Showcase, Diddle Arena
• November 17, Eastern Kentucky Exposition Center (EXPO) Showcase, Pikeville
• November 19, Morehead State University Showcase, Adron Doran University Center
• November 20, Northern Kentucky University Showcase, Student Center
• November 24, University of Louisville Showcase, Student Activities Center

These showcases are wonderful opportunities for schools to gather ideas or to allow students to "show" their best projects to others.

Nix Picks For Teachers: Ten Top Web 2.0 Tools

The change from looking for information and resources on the web to modifying/creating is an opportunity for teachers to invigorate the learning environment. Today's Web 2.0 sites give power to learners and educators to customize, interact and participate. Students (and teachers) respond very positively to real, meaningful tasks. There are actually so many tools that it may be difficult for teachers to find a starting point. Here are ten tools (for teachers who are ready to make some changes in their learning environment) to try.

Random Word/Name Picker, http://classtools.net/education-games-php/fruit_machine/
Random name/word picker is a fun and easy way to randomly choose a student’s name to answer a question. It can also be used to create a fun game by using spelling words, important dates, keywords from a chapter, etc.

Wordle, http://www.wordle.net
Wordle is technically a “tag” cloud or a visual depiction of user-generated tags (words). The importance of a tag (word) is shown with font size or color. The website is free and does not require an account. Wordle.net creates the tag cloud from text (copied and pasted or typed) or urls.

Tinyurl, http://tinyurl.com
TinyURl is a website used for shortening long URL’s. Copy and paste any url onto the website for a shorter more accessible web address.

Wikipedia, http://www.wikipedia.org/
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative encyclopedia. The wiki contains approximately three million articles. Most of the articles on the controversial site can be edited by any registered user. The site is praised for its up-to-date information including links to additional resources and criticized for inclusion of unverified information.

Delicious , http://www.delicious.com
Delicious is an easy-to-use bookmarking website where members can organize existing bookmarks, and save more! It has user-friendly “bookmarking buttons” that can be added to the Internet toolbar to quickly add titles, descriptions, and tags. With Delicious, users can access all of their saved bookmarks as well as other members’ public bookmarks from any computer!

Flickr, http://www.flickr.com
Flickr is an online photo management tool that allows registered users to upload, organize and share photos. Flickr is partnered with Picnik to allow for fun and creative ideas to transform photos.

Animoto, http://animoto.com
Animoto is an easy way to turn pictures and uploaded or selected music into videos and post them online. After signing up, unlimited shorts (30-second videos) are free. A free video can include approximately 12-15 pictures. All-access passes which include downloads and longer videos can be purchased.

Twiddla, http://www.twiddla.com/
Twiddla is an interactive whiteboard website/meeting space available for free use with or without an account. Guests on Twiddla, have all the same options as a member, except that the project is public. Becoming a member is an easy one step process. The Twiddla whiteboard is a collaborative space where you and your guests (students) can insert text, upload photos, draw images, mark up websites, or start brainstorming on a blank canvas.

Poll Everywhere, http://www.polleverywhere.com/
Poll Everywhere is a website that functions as a student response system. It has free (30 responders) and advanced options. Teachers can create multiple choice or free text polls (surveys, questions). Responses can be submitted online or by text message, and totals are calculated in real-time online. Reports can be downloaded for use in PowerPoint presentations, etc.

YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/
YouTube is an interactive site where users can search millions of videos, and even upload their own! You don’t have to have an account with YouTube to view videos, but only members are allowed to upload videos. YouTube also gives the option of uploading a video, or immediately creating one directly from your webcam. Some content on YouTube may be inappropriate for students. TeacherTube (http://teachertube.com/) or SchoolTube (http://www.schooltube.com/) may be other options to consider.

Please share your favorites as well as ways you are using them by completing a quick survey or by posting your comments here.

Nix's Picks (25 Favorite Learning Tools)

On an almost daily basis, I read posts from education professionals as I am looking for resources that will help teachers to make learning not only challenging but "real." I want students to learn at high levels and to find what they are doing meaningful and even "fun." I scan Twitter posts and subscribe to feeds using Google Reader. I also like to just explore and use my intuition for evaluating what I like to use and what I think might be good tools for other educators.

Jane Hart of the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies and Vince Hill of Cleassroom 2.0 have both compiled favorite lists of learning professionals. I think it would be fun to create a list of resources that are Kentucky favorites and to compare these with other state, national and international lists. I have found that this list changes for me so we might try to do this annually. The tools I have like the most in the past may move to the top of my list or may drop entirely off my "favorite list." A year ago, I thought that I could not manage without Google Notebook. However, now I have completely replaced this tool with Delicious.

I'll be discussing my "favorite tools" with a little more detail in future blogs. I hope you will help identify more useful resources and share your comments about my list.

Nix Picks: Top 25
GOOGLE, All Things (Reader, Docs, Groups, Calendar, Searches, Maps, Sites, Earth, etc.)
Delicious, Shared Bookmarking
Flickr, Shared Images
YouTube, Shared Video
Twitter, Micro Blogging
Skype, Communication -Collaboration
Blogger, Blogging
Slideshare, Shared Presentations
Twiddla, Live Collaboration
Poll Everywhere, Web Polling
Zamzar, File Conversion
Tinyurl, Shortening URLs
Wordle, Word Mapping
Animoto, Video Creation
Wikipedia, Wiki
Facebook, Social Network
Dropio, File Drops and Create Audio
Voicethread, Shared Photo Stories with Narration/Comments
Ning, Social Network Creation
Youmail, Voicemail Online
iTunes, Digital Media Manager/Player
Bubbl.us, Concept Mapping
Thinking Tools for Teachers and Students
Gcast, Podcasting
ALTEC Tools, Instructional Tools for Teachers and Students

KATE on the Web

I recently realized that the Kentucky Academy of Technology Education (KATE) has had a web presence for over ten years. The original website was actually designed by a contractor to assist districts as they scheduled sessions on Kentucky’s Tele-Linking Network.

Several modifications incorporated additional resources collected or created to make integration of technology into teaching and learning easier for educators.

1. With the assistance of talented web designers and educators who laboriously sorted through thousands of resources, KATE Links was added. This collection of web sites is categorized by subject and grade level.
2. Teachers needed practical strategies that they could quickly adapt in their content areas so the In Your Classroom category was added to not only give quick connections to core content, but to also provide “techknow” ideas.
3. Three categories of links were added at the top of the page with materials on standards, curriculum, tutorials, professional development topics,etc.
4. Technology in Classrooms of Kentucky (TICK) was added in 2006 as a repository of learning objects including instructional units, lesson plans, activities and assessments that are tied to the Technology Program of Studies (adopted in 2006) as well as Kentucky Core Content, state and national technology standards. The repository has over 3,000 learning objects. TICK provides a single point of access for resources specifically applicable to educators. For example, a web search on a topic such as fractions returns over 11 million hits, while a TICK search will only return a list with applicable instructional materials.

Early in 2008, KATE introduced a new and improved version adding “Web 2.0” features to allow educators to not only acquire resources, but to also electronically share high-quality learning resources among all learning professionals. TICK has already been modified to provide alignments to revised technology standards and will be undergoing a major revision during the next year as changes to Kentucky’s Program of Studies are made. With Kentucky’s commitment to the national standards movement, the resources found in TICK will be aligned with the curriculum of many states.

We hope that you will share your comments about the KATE web resources (http://www.murraystate.edu/kate), including ways you are using them and suggestions that can be incorporated into the next version.