Another Day in Paradise @ The IDEAL District

It is great to be back, staff is busy readying for students.  Registration continues.  New Teachers started yesterday and I got to spend 3 wonderful hours with them.  After so many years in educational technology, I am delighted to report that teachers are so tech savvy!  the old fear facor is virtually non-existant and I didn’t hear that awful phrase once yesterday: ‘I don’t need to know, my husband does!’ or any of the myriad variations on that comment.

I didn’t need to open the class walking around with the traditional trash can in effigy routine — having participants throw out their fears, biases, negative thoughts toward technology, the I can’ts…  I am expecting this will be a permanent change as much of modern society needs some sort of computer-based expertise.  Afterall, some coffee pot programs require more know-how than many computer issues.  If nothing else, (I think) the coffee-pot requires more stick-to-it-iveness!!! This is a change I have waited for for many years and I celebrate the hire practices that brought thiws wonderful group of folks to us!

Vista Grande High School is OPEN for business and it is a fantastic environment, roomy, friendly.  The energy among the staff is super-charged and contagious.  Vista Grande is also home to the beautiful new Casa Grande City Library that partners as the school library!

This week I am introducing all certified staff to IDEAL, that is the Department of Educations premiere educator professional development portal.   It is robust and valued information adn I can’t wait to begin covering the myriad of resources that are provided in this one location!  ADE’s IDEAL Portal is the catalyst for this year’s CGUHSD Districtwide ‘Theme’:  The IDEAL District.

(Special thanks to Rick Baker, ASU -  Nan Williams, Alhambra  (formerly ADE) and Krystal Nesbitt, ADE)

We have many innovations coming this year!  Including: teachers and administrators  experimenting using socail networks to communicate witht heir ‘audience’; classes collaborating via webcam; administrators communicating with staff via Google Groups; teachers continue using Google Apps to support digital collaboration within their classorooms; and as always, I look forward to my favorite thing – developing more web-based global collaborations and distance classroom connections.   More news to come!

See you in the virtual spaces! A

Micro Blogs, blogging at the speed of light

Micro Blogs, brief on-line posts.

It’s where you will find me, and if more needs to be said, tiny url’s will send you there.  I am on summer break but am looking forward to new things coming my way in July.

Watch for my updates at Twitter.

What’s on my mind for 09-10?

• Moodle on-line course management
• Google Docs and Groups
• Internet Safety Curriculum
• Drupal web pages
• Collaborations and Partnerships, in district and out
• Video and Podcasts
• IDEAL

and the beat goes on…..

Wishing you a safe and restful summer!!!  Day One is already moving @ the speed of light!!

A Word, by any other name…

What’s in a name?  I am still thinking about the ISTE School 2.0 workshop.  I love what the name suggests, an UPGRADE to learning – encompassing the how, the why, the where, the what!!!

But one of our School 2.0 groups had an interesting take on the inherent bias that can accompany words.  They suggested that the mere use of the word ’school’ leads us to conjure images of traditional schools, the environments of our upbringing and our personal life experiences and educational beliefs.

What do you think?

I find great merit in this observation.   As we talk about agile and flexible and adaptable learning environments; as we talk about anywhere, anytime, anyway computing; as we talk about wireless, mobile devices, eTextbooks, no textbooks; as we talk about “flat classrooms” and schools without walls; as we talk about the trends toward eLearning and global connections — it is valid that we strive to find new language that defines a new vision.  Edu.gov did a great job on the eToolKit that helps prompt the conversation, but I agree with Marc, Rick and Emily.  School 2.0 by another name, could make the message even clearer!

Getting From Here to There… School 2.0 The Upgrade

ISTE hosted the traveling School 2.0 workshop at SkySong (ASU) in Scottsdale , yesterday.  This robust 3-hour conversation was wrapped around what it means to move from School 1.0 to School 2.0.  Facilitators, Adam Garry and Tom Woodward, both of ISTE led a diverse group that included state and national leaders and champions of instructional technology, ISTE President-Elect Dr. Helen Padgett of ASU, technology specialists from central, eastern, southern and northern Arizona, trainers and school district leaders, Arizona Department of Education – Educational Technology Department, representatives of corporate interests, ASU Faculty and Staff, IDEAL, PBS, ASSET, and several AzTEA Chapter, Governing and Executive  Board Members.

The purpose of these traveling workshops is to give structure and voice to this complex topic:  Upgrading Schooling to Version School 2.o. As Adam and Garry craftily introduced ideas and then engaged us in small group discussions, several important ideas arose.  Each of us undoubtedly came away with different highlights that rang true or of great value to us.

Here is the essence of what I took away:

We are each of us wrestling with the same (or similar) issues and interests while drawing vastly different conclusions and priority and action lists.  In a good discussion about what makes a 21st Century Classroom, my group engaged in  a dialogue about professional development as opposed to equipment.  If computers and internet and broadband and wireless has not yet succeeded to SHIFT how learning is developed and delivered, can MORE equipment alone make a 21st Century environment?

There has been (for quite some time) a HUGE push in educational technology to remind/inform decision makers that gadgets without purpose and meaning are as valuable as that exercise bicycle that used to hold my clothes and has now been further downgraded to the back porch.

To develop an authentic 21st Century Classroom experience we will need what we praise, train and develop in the classroom.  Differentiation!

And WE must mean all of us – school boards, administrators, teachers, community members, students, corporate partners…  To develop sustainable change, to be agents of change, we must allow for “innovations to bubble up” allowing “new ideas to spread.. via peer networks”. (“Diffusion of Innovation, p. 395″)

If a district has infrastructure and hardware, what do they need?  If a district has a professional development plan and structure, but no hardware or an out-dated delivery system (architecture), what do THEY need?  If a district has infrastructure, hardware, professional development, but are in the a School 1.0 mind-set, what do they need?

As educators we celebrate diversity and champion differentiation – for the students, in the classroom.  When we talk about School 2.0, maybe we should differentiate based on need and capacity.  For the foreseeable future, School 2.0 will mean vastly different things to different groups and environments.

What does School 2.0 mean to you?

Should we begin to create conditions and structures, so that in some not-so-distant future, perhaps the playing field (or better yet, the learning field) will begin to level?

Maybe, just maybe, when educational environments have similar needs, we will begin moving toward School 3.0!

Find more at ISTE, School 2.0

US Dept of ED   Office of Educational Technology (OET)
Educational Technology Division
School 2.0 eToolKit
Transformation Toolkit

We did not formulate an answer, nor construct a definitive path.  What we did was open to ideas, share and be shared with, plant and water seeds.  It is a beginning.

At CGUHSD we are planting seeds based on our needs, interests, capacity and expertise:

• A core team of teachers, representing each of our 4 High Schools, is working to craft a teacher stakeholder vision of the Digital – 21st Century Classroom
• Administrators are meeting to discuss pathways to move toward a Digital-21st Century Vision
• Administrators and Board Members are discussing the merits of social networking as a communication tool with community members.

Aut viam inveniam aut faciam

- Hannibal

 

AzTEA Gala Luncheon, March 11, 2009 @ MEC09

Congratulations to all the Winners of the Qwest Foundation for Education Grants, the AzTEA Innovation Awards and the AzTEA Exemplary Web Site Awards.  Gala Program found at end of post.

AzTEA’s highest honors were awarded to State Superintendent, Tom Horne and Judith Romero.

State Superintendent of Education, Tom Horne, was presented with AzTEA’s ‘Friends of Technology ‘ Award by Dr. Chris Johnson (President-AzTEA) and Cathy Poplin (Deputy Associate Superintendent of School Improvement ).

Judith Romero of Learning.com and AzTEA Northern Chapter Chair was awarded AzTEA’s LEADERSHIP Award, by AzTEA’s FIRST member, Dr. Ruth Catalano.

The luckiest winners are the students who will be directly impacted through their creative and innovative 21st Century teachers!

Special Thanks to Judith Romero for these wonderful photos from the AzTEA Gala Luncheon, and to resident innovator, Dr. Peggy George, for her live stream and video recording of the afternoon festivities and the Gala Planning Committee:  Amy Chayefsky, Tammy Hernandez, Jane Nesdill, Ruth Catalano and Jann Wolfgramm . It’s a T.E.A.M. Effort (Terrific, Exceptional and Motivated)!

Slide.com slideshow posted using vodpod

View this document on Scribd

Gala Program posted using scribd

ad infinitum – Twitter & Teens (ala ‘Media Snackers’)

Where it begins, who can recall?  Where it is going?  I want to follow.  What does it mean?  We are still constructing meaning.   Social connections – continue and grow ad infinitum.

Here’s where this began..

Last spring AzTEA engaged Steve Hargadon to come to AZ and host one of his fabulous Unplugged Web 2.0 conferences (Note to self: create trackback) which led to NECC ( more face time with Steve and then making him my friend on FaceBook.

On a  sleepless night???  Low activity day???  A moment squeezed out from between busier moments???  I started looking at Steve’s friends to see who I could find and what I could discover.  Social media equivalent of digging for buried treasure.  And I cannot say why, but DK caught my attention.

Well, actually, I do recall the single thing that caught my attention.  What caught my eye is that DK is from Wales, and I don;t know anyone from Wales and my daughter is part Welsh – actually the Band Teacher from Maricopa USD is Welsh, but he is not FROM Wales (but it led to a deep discussion of family names.  Is Wilson a valid Welsh name???  I learned that ‘George’ is and learned some Welsh words).  Now in the spirit of full disclosure, the people I ‘know’ from Wales are the Prince of Wales – oops!  NOT Welsh and I don’t really know him and the English bloke who turned a hill into a mountain, and then there is that consonant rich language, lyrical and a delightful challenge for the American tongue to attempt!  And so there was DK, and I said (in FaceBook speak), ” DK, can we be friends?”  And in true social media speak, he said ’sure’!  And here we are.

So why today did I decide to drill down deeper?  Someone posted that ‘he would be fine’ and my social eye was drawn.  And I finally pondered a bit more.

And I found the following URL and I am fascinated:  http://mediasnackers.com/
(Tip:  Check out the ‘Featured Projects’)

I myself took a little while to discover the social media gems buried deep in Twitter and this assessment is spot-on!

As adult ed trainers/teachers/professional developers … what do we try to do?  Facilitate our learned in making connections and construct meaning for THEMSELVES.

As educators, we hope to help students (learners) to find and create their own meaning.  (Hmmm!  Note to self: Place track back here to my Twitter ‘got it’ moment!) and it is succinctly stated in this blog post, and particularly in a comment posted by ‘Chris’, somewhere in the world, earlier today:

“In my opinion, Twitter is all about “I want the world to know…”. Kids are usually looking for something more focused, meaning that for them it’s all about “I want my friends to know…”. So they choose a closed network rather than a more open network. Just my two cents…”

http://mediasnackers.com/2009/03/twitter-and-teens/

“I want the world to know” versus “I want my friends to know”

Do you agree with this assertion regarding youth in social networks, and if yes, how do we capture this “I want my friends to know” and apply it to our decisions on 21st century educational philosophy, learning, teaching and engagement?

News from Wales:  Life copying life..  http://tinyurl.com/MynyddGraigGoch

Expand your social networks, and engage in new discussions with new people with new ideas.  There’s treasure to be found in them thar hills, I mean mountains!

‘n ddedwydd darddu

Improving Schools for Digital-Age Learning

NETS Days is HERE!  NETS Day is HERE!

Improving Schools for Digital-Age Learning

Join AzTEA & ISTE

1:00 pm to 5:pm, Friday, February 20

Multiple sites participating statewide (from Tucson to Flagstaff)

Pinal County site:

Casa Grande Union High School District Office

1362 North Casa Grande Avenue

Casa Grande, AZ  85222

District Office – Board Room

Check-in between 12:30 and 1:00

Classroom Teachers are welcome to join after school lets out!

Who should attend:

This FREE, collaborative and interactive session has been designed for District Curriculum Coaches, Administrators, and Instructional Technology Support Personnel.

If you have already RSVP’d, no need to do so again.

If you have not registered, there is still room.

Email:  achayefsky@cguhsd.org or call (520) 876-1128

Walk-in’s WELCOME!

MAP: http://tinyurl.com/bclkqz

NETS Day Organizers:

(Scottsdale/Phoenix/Tucson): Dr. Christopher Johnson, Ph.D. – President AzTEA, U of A, 21st Century Education Consultant;  Dr. Helen Padgett – ASU, President-Elect ISTE, AzTEA Governing Board;  Ann Lumm – AzTEA Governing Board, Maricopa County Technology Integration Specialist, County ESA; Ferdi Serim – ISTE Board Member at Large (NM)

(Casa Grande): Amy Chayefsky, CGUHSD Technology Integration Coordinatoe, AzTEA Governing Board

RSVP to achayefsky@cguhsd.org by Friday, 2-12-09.  Late RSVP’s – call me at (520) 876-1128

Feel free to forward to other educators and local business leaders who might be interested.

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

Or is it?  I have been working on a post regarding ‘Education is National Security’, it’s a work in progress based on that phrase, borrowed from one of my bumper stickers!  But, in the interim, this is more pressing on my mind.  I got this URL from Curtis Robert Dutiel, posted on a social networking site.  http://tinyurl.com/celuw7

While it certainly feels like the sky is falling, and perhaps it has dropped a few thousand feet (like  a powerful earthquake that drastically alters and changes the landscape), maybe this is our opportunity to dig into those creativity pockets and those outside the box pockets we sometimes leave hidden, for just such a crisis.

Just as an earthquake can shift the course of a mighty river, destroying the dam and the poor town down below, it also restores the flood plains, the natural landscape and related flora and fauna.  If we are in the poor little town it is indeed NOT a good thing.  but if we sought higher ground, or if we were that long forgotten flood-plain, the natural flora or fauna, it would be a GOOD thing.  And as with an earthquake, while sometimes slow, there is recovery, nature prevails, communities come back (maybe just above the dam this time.)

So perhaps as we reel at the economic devastation swirling and mounting around us, impacting and possibly devastating our personal and professional environments, lets seek that pesky little silver lining.

• Is this your opportunity to talk with you districts ‘bandwidth police’ (you know who I mean) and gain access to more FREE web 2.0 resources?
• Is this the time to engage your district and staff in a discussion of viable FREE on-line professional development (eliminating driving to and from, asynchronous versus face-to-face) providing just a tiny bit of personal control over when participants … participate?
• Is this when we really encourage teachers in utilizing amazing web resources robustly, to more deeply engage students – edutainment is SO over!!!
• Is this when we introduce reluctant staff or administrators to the joys of on-line collaboration – versus face to face meetings for EVERYTHING? (Google Docs, Google Sites. Social bookmarking, videoconferencing, social networking with educators (think partnerships in facing challenges and developing strategies) – think webcams/Skype/iChat – if you don’t have ’serious’ ITv equipment – Social Networking).  If you have the ability to videoconference, creatively seek free or inexpensive partnerships.
• Is this when we finally move the technology deeper into the hands of the students, to improve student learning, because it holds the promise of creativity and innovation and the potential for learning transformation.
• Now that districts can barely afford gas for field trips or to attend meetings and conferences, overtime for drivers and admission fees … how about a virtual tour or a videoconference with content providers, peers or experts, to hold meetings across districts, county’s, states….!
• Participate in a growing number of web-based conferences and podcasts

Oh yes!  Seize this opportunity to introduce and engage others in a broad and active dialogue and implementation of Web 2.0, on-line collaboration and more!!!

This may be our 21st Century opening into this dialogue, but even more urgently, into action!

If there is NOT funding to be had, if the river of money (Hold the Phone!  Education never DID have a river of money, did we?)  has shifted to a distant plane, how will you cope?

We can and SHOULD parlay this problem into a challenge and shift it into an advantage for our students, teachers and administrators.

Anecdotes about Blogging

Do you have a story to tell about blogging with students, by students, with a peer group?  Please send it my way.  I seek anecdotal evidence (or not) of the learning and engagement that take place with student and/or adult learners using and commenting on blogs!

7 Degrees in Central Park

It was 7 degrees. When it was 17 degrees a few days later, I went out for my walk in Central Park. I was very well layered with clothing (silk underwear, wool shirt. cotton shirt, jacket, hat, gloves, Warm outer jacket etc). I was well fortified,warm and comfortable,although I felt like I could hardly move. But I managed to walk briskly had a great day, Saw a Hawk in a tree which was exciting and I felt fantastic.

Posted by Terry Chayefsky