Thing 17.1 -- PLN

 

A great resource for Michigan teachers. The platform provides a space to keep track of professional development, store certification information and even build a learning plan to keep you on track for re-certification or personal learning goals. You can also build your learning community by joining a collaboration space or following a blog. 

However, Learnport, like many online resources, can be a bit daunting. There is SO much available it takes quite a bit of time to learn and explore. I’m afraid without proper support, either by administration or a home-grown cohort of teachers using the system together, it can easily become one of those things that just isn’t used to its potential. 

That said, based on my personal experience, the courses offerings are the simplest and most valuable part to start with Learnport. The offerings are incredibly, extensive, very up-to-date and often free options for continuing their learning. And since it’s all web-based, course access and completion is quite manageable. I personally recommend the Intro to Blended Learning course as a follow up to 21 Things. While 21 Things is good at introducing the tools, Intro to Blended takes it to the next level with considerations for effective integration in classroom instruction. 

 

I use Twitter almost exclusively as a PLN. I follow many professional organizations and other educators across the country. I think it’s important for educators to do this because, whether you think Twitter is valuable or not, the kids are doing it. As an educator it’s important to have shared cultural experiences with students. Knowing even a little bit about what Twitter is, how it works and how kids interact with it should be a priority for teachers.  You can participate in Twitter backchanneling as an alternative to live participation in conferences and networking events. Tuesday evenings from 6-7 check into #edchat to network with educators nationwide on all things ed tech. Through this process you can learn how to utilize backchanneling in your own courses and start slow with a tool such as Today’s Meet. 

Facebook has fast become the preferred method of communication for the younger generation. In fact, many colleges and universities no longer provide email addresses to students, but rather rely on staff creating and maintaining Facebook groups. The one big trick to Facebook is keeping the personal you separate from the professional you, which FB does not readily support. With ever-shifting privacy rules educators have to really stay on top of how they connect to students. But that’s no reason to eschew FB. And it’s a great way to instruct students on good Internet social behavior. Again, there are alternatives that give you an FB feel such as edmodo. (Free and run by the folks over at Twitter) 

Another wonderful, statewide resource for educators to get involved in all things ed tech. The annual MACUL conference routinely draws top-notch ed tech professionals from across the nation as do the various smaller MACUL conference throughout the year. MACUL recently dropped their membership fees, so anyone can become a member. The MACUL journal is a well developed, manageable resource (not too long, well focused on timely topics) But it does take a bit of cajoling to get actively involved in MACUL. Despite repeated attempts, I’ve not had much luck hooking up with any of the SIGs, which is frustrating. But for anyone looking for general information and resources applicable to ed tech within the parameters of Michigan, you can’t miss with MACUL. 

Although the focus of Sloan is toward higher ed, there are a few pioneer programs in k-12 that also work with them.  Bridging the gap between k-12 and higher ed is increasingly important. k-12 educators should have an understanding of what the expectations and experiences are for students once they leave. And higher ed needs to know where they’re coming from. Most colleges and universities offer most of their courses through some kind of LMS. Assignments, course communication and other traditional F2F interactions are done online. But students leave k-12 with little , if any, practical experience in managing academic learning, workload etc. in this way. Sloan Consortium provides many free resources, support and networking through membership. 

The skills I would bring to Sloan is the k-12 perspective. I would be able to not only partner with other k-12 programs looking to enhance their online programs, but also with higher ed to ensure that the necessary elements are included. I highly recommend Sloan Consortium to anyone looking to enhance online  / blended elements of learning in their class or district.

Thing 14.1 -- Productivity; File Conversion

Converting files helps students access them regardless of the software they may be using. Putting them in .pdf format ups the security on your files as users can’t readily make changes to .pdf files. I often post items to district-wide shared drives which literally 1000s of users access and it’s reassuring to know that I have a secure paper trail in the event a rogue copy gets loose!:) 

Word allows you to do this quite easily. Simply choose .pdf as your file type when saving a document. I tend to keep duplicate copies of items I share with others; one .doc & one .pdf. This may seem extraneous, but by keeping an editable version, I can quickly update a rubric, newsletter or other doc and always know that I have the final available. It’s kind of like having a template. Plus I always know that the pdf is the official—best version. 

File conversion tools such as zamzar and media converter give you many more options and not just for working with text documents. The ability to convert to various audio, video and image files means anything you create can easily be viewed by any user. Here are just a few examples: tiff, thumbnail, html, pdf, jpg. A quick trick like this is especially useful as you consider multi-platform delivery. Students (and parents) access materials from a variety of endpoints devices; computers, phones, tablets etc. The ability (or willingness) of each individual manufacturer and operating system to support various file types can be frustrating. File conversion gives you a way to speak the language of each user. 

I really like the thumbnail option. Sometimes titles just aren’t enough. If you have a variety of resources for a particular unit of study, displaying thumbnails helps your students select what they’re looking for without having to click back and forth.

Thing 12.2 -- Rubistar

link to complete rubric

I created this rubric using Rubistar.  Unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to test it out on a live audience. I intend to share it with colleagues district wide, as well as post on my Website which has been somewhat neglected as of late! 

At any rate, as with all the tools I've been learning and practicing via 21 Things, going through this process has helped me create a permanent resource for my students. 

 It's good to be 'forced' into the opportunity to create and share in this way. While this use of a rubric won't really give me any direct feedback, it will help me share valuable insight and process with them.

Thing 11.2 -- Zoom-It

Visual impairment is not something I think of right off the bat when I'm considering differentiating. But as I I reflect on it, visual impairment is probably the MOST common impairment we encounter, but rarely make conscientious accommodations for. 

I would not consider myself visually impaired, but I DO wear glasses and as the years pass by, I DO need to see print materials from varying distances depending on size and room lighting. I recently learned of an app for my smartphone / tablet that turns the camera into a magnifier. Wonderful!! Now I can easily read small print on coupons, medicine bottles, etc.


Here's an example of a zoomed screenshot with the Magnifier tool built into Vista. Notice it puts the zoom screen on top of my screen. 

Zoom It--provides the same type of support. I would post an example of zooming in on a Website with this tool, however... stop reading here if you aren't interested in my frustrations :)

Perfect example of when things go wrong with digital tools. Trying to download & use Zoom It has taken waaaay too much of my time over the course of about a week. At first, I thought I was just trying to go to quick, not really paying attention to something that I thought would be quick & simple. So, not having time to properly trouble-shoot I returned later. I kept having the same trouble, the ctrl + function keys just don't seem to operate, and neither does simply clicking on 'zoom' out of the pop-up menu on the icon in my system tray. 

So I finally took the time to read through everything--ctrl +F4 (not ctrl +F1, F2 or F3) as posted in the initial instructions. OK-- here we go. Ctrl +F4. Wow!!! quite a zoom. But first, my screen goes black and takes a bit to re-load. And then I can't navigate. I finally somehow get out of Firefox and see a super-blown up version of my computer homescreen. But navigating to and using Jing in this context is next to, no, IS impossible. 

Thing 6.2 -- Diverse Learning

Using Technology to Support Diverse Learners

Supporting students' literacy level seems to be a challenge throughout our district. Some simple tools to enhance digital text

• Appearance:  a serif type font, adjusted    spacing, and contrast. 
• Interactivity:  highlight, bold, underline, color-coding passages based on content, dictionary tools 
• Organization: re-order text, augment with guiding questions, give access to summaries as pre-reading activities 
• Text on iPod!:  Who knew? Split large text items into manageable notes to read on iPod. Kind of like chapters on a CD, the info stays linked.  
• Text to Speech: Free tools abound for converting text to sound files.

I like how these tools are listed in order from simplest to more complex. Any teacher can quickly and easily enhance digital text (and teach students to do the same) with the appearance tips. For those ready to move ahead, with technology, options for text-to-iPod and text-to-speech take it up just a tiny little notch.