ETaP – Where did it originate?

The Evolution of Thought and Practice (ETap), sometimes used by Apple to describe the stages of technology adoption in educational institutions has always resonated with me.  Giving some process or structure to the journey that most teachers take when engaging in educational technology is helpful in order to identify yourself and skill.  I have, however, often wondered where this model originated.  I first learned about it from Kathleen Ferenz and Apple education employees.  Recently I found an article in Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education where a number of different adoption models were compared.  The article, “A Five-Stage Model of Computer Technology Integration Into Teacher Education Curriculum” by Cheri Toledo at Illinois State University attributes the ETaP stages to Marsha Gladhart and states that she “developed a Levels of Adoptio n model by adapting the Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) study by Dwyer, Ringstaff, and Sandholtz (1992).”

 

The next step… contacting Marsha Gladhart and finding out how she came about creating these ETaP stages.

In the mean time, I found it very helpful and interesting to compare the other models listed in Cheri Toledo’s work.  A graphic:

 

 

Youtube Teacher’s Channel

I have been watching the Youtube Teacher’s Channel since it launched recently and am thrilled at the content and resources available to teachers.  Whether or not you are in support of students viewing content on Youtube, every teacher can use this new channel as a resource for their own discovery process.

Edudemic has a nice post about it here.

One Transformed Classroom – iPads!

 

A friend of mine recently posted this video of a classroom of 29 students that use 15 Apple iPads.  This is a very interesting examples what can be done when you mix devices and a very talented teacher.  The video is featured on a ning for ipad educators, http://ipadeducators.ning.com/

How would you like your education? Laptop, Tablet, Device or Combo?

If your school is well resourced and embraces newest practices in teaching and learning, you likely already have implemented a 1:1 laptop program.  Others, however, may be in the process of deciding how to support student learning through technology and what tools are most appropriate.  While it seems that most are currently in agreement that a laptop is still the primary device needed, others are beginning to question if tablets or other devices will soon replace the laptop.  When will a single no longer be sufficient to support student learning in the 21st Century?  My students currently often use their iPod Touch and handphones (many already have smartphones) in the class.  Some are also bringing a Apple iPad or Galaxy Tab with them to class.  Sometimes these tablets are used as complimentary devices along with their laptop and other times (less so) theSo, the questions really should be posed to students, “How would you like your education?”

1:1   One laptop for each student

1:1t   One tablet for each student

1:1d   One device for each student (usually referring to something like an iPod touch)

1:1+   One laptop for each student plus other devices

Tech Teams – Students Changing the School Culture

Two weeks ago our high school student tech team met for the first time this school year. I was surprised that so many students wanted to participate. The group will keep the same president as last year, but will be adding either 2 or 3 additional leadership positions. We will be building on the reasonable momentum that was started last year and there is a lot of potential to utilize technology positively to change our school community.

Last week four students from middle school met to begin planning for the launch of our 2010-2011 middle school student tech team (SWATms). I spent about 20 minutes vision casting to them and then listened to their ideas for the team. This week we will hold our first full meeting and I am expecting around 12 to 15 students.

Our student written mission is to lead and serve a modern GSIS community by integrating technology into our learning and environment inside and outside of the classroom, connecting to each other and the world.

Throughout the short time that the high school SWAT team (Students Working to Advance Technology) has been operating, I can already see its influence on the school culture. I am looking forward to seeing that continue and thrive this year.

Facebook Groups … Improved?

One of my professional goals for this school year is to become aware of who my students are “virtually” and to build a relationship of trust with them online.  The online social media space that I am focusing on is Facebook.  I have created a separate Facebook account and am “friending” students.  Thus far it has been a positive, enlightening experience.

This week I started Facebook Groups to use with students.  I created a group for our high school student tech team and a group for our middle school tech team.  And then today came the “new” Facebook Groups!  So I re-made my student tech team Facebook groups using the new feature.

A couple of the features that I really like about the new Facebook Groups features are:

• Group Chat  – s simple, easy-to-use chat feature for the group.  I am not sure exactly why, but it reminds me of Google Wave.
• Docs – you can  now create a simple document that anyone in the group can edit
• Email address – your Facebook Group can have an email address and members can post to the group wall by sending an email to the address even when they are not on Facebook

Students are already starting to post to the groups…

Can Technology Make Us Better Listeners?

I am trying to improve my listening skills.  Earlier this year I noticed that during school leadership team meetings (and other meetings), I could hardly wait to get my point across to someone that I would speak over them.  Sometimes it would seem that they had completed their sentence and I would begin, but they hadn’t truly finished what they needed to say.  Anyways, I’ve been working on this and have discovered that it is related to respect.

People listen to the people they respect.  Listening is an indicator of the respect one holds for another person.  Ask students who they ask for advice to find out who they respect.  Show me someone who is well respected and they will likely be someone who is listened to often.

As I was considering this yesterday, I thought of some questions:

- As teachers, do we really listen to our students?  Students are people, too.  Is their mutual respect in the student/teacher relationship?
- Many people believe that technology (computers specifically) causes us to disengage and not interact with others… however, how can/does technology help us become better listeners?

Six Negative Listening Habits:

1. Rebuttal Maker – Listening long enough to formulate a rebuttal
2. Advice Giver – Jumping too quickly to give unsolicited advice
3. Interrupter – More anxious to speak his words than to listen
4. Logical Listener – Rarely asking about feelings/emotions
5. Happy Hooker – Using speaker’s words to shift to own message
6. Faker – Pretends to listen

(Adele B. Lynn / Emotional Intelligence Workbook via Bruna Martinuzzi / Ghandi’s Neurons: Practice of Empathy)

Things I learned at my first Barcamp

A little more than a week ago I attended my first Barcamp.  Prior to the event I was filled with anticipation because I had heard from others how much they learned from and enjoyed the “unconference” venue.  Additionally, the rules of the event require those in attendance to be participants (not just spectators), usually by giving a presentation.  While I am used to giving presentations, I was anxious to present in an environment where I had no context of the type or topic of presentations.  Looking back now, I can say that my experience at BarcampSeou4 was very positive.

A few things that I learned about Barcamps:

1. The Right People – The people who show up to a particular barcamp ARE the right people.  There really are no “wrong” people at a barcamp.  BarcampSeoul4 was the first international barcamp in Korea.  The people in attendance had very different backgrounds.  Some were from Korea, but many countries were represented.  Some were from a business background, other were from K-12 education and others from higher education.  It was exhilarating to interact and share with people from very diverse backgrounds.
2. No Expectations - One of the most powerful parts of a barcamp is that you do not arrive with specific expectations because you have no idea of the topics that will be presented until you arrive and set the schedule for the day.
3. Bring an Inquiring Mind – When you put people from various backgrounds into a room and they begin to present on topics that they are passionate about, you can’t help but have rich discussion.  Be prepared to ask questions, connect the experiences and ideas of other people with your own experiences, and to learn.

A few things that I took away from BarcampSeoul4:

1. As an educator in a K-12 school, I often think about preparing students for university.  However, I rarely interact with university educators.  At BarcampSeoul4 a large portion of those in attendance were university professors.  Listening to their presentations and interacting with them made me think about how much K-12 schools need to spend time on university campuses and research current trends in higher education.
2. Virtualization is here to stay.  The physical world is something we are familiar with and comfortable with… however, the cross-over between the physical and the virtual worlds and the ways the virtual world will be governed are very interesting topics.  As much as many educators would like to protect students from the virtual world, it is here to stay and students must be able to navigate it successfully.  This presentation was particularly interesting to me:
3. Don’t prepare for your presentation at the last minute…  my presentation was put together early on the morning of the Barcamp.  I wish that argument and presentation would have been much more cohesive, but it wasn’t.  On the other hand, I am tremendously glad that I did present.  The discussion was interesting and I’ve had a number of follow-up conversations with faculty at my school since the barcamp.  Here is my presentation:

BarcampSeoul4 – Anticipation

A month or two ago I was alerted to BarcampSeoul4 by Brian Lockwood (@Brianlockwood).  Although familiar with the BarCamp concept, I’ve never participated in one.  Tomorrow that will change.  I am looking forward to participating in my very first barcamp tomorrow  in Seoul.  It is being sponsored by Daum Communications and hosted in their building in Hannam-dong.

Daum Communications Building, Seoul - Event location of BarcampSeoul4

A barcamp is an “un-conference conference” that is mostly organized on the day of the event.  All participants are expected to present.  All presentations are listed at the beginning of the day and participants vote on which presentations they would like to attend.  The agenda for the day is created on the spot.  Each presentation is generally 20 minutes, including questions.

While I haven’t had much time to put together a presentation, I am considering a discussion entitled, “Death to the Libraries”.  Questions surround concepts of future libraries, digitization of literature worldwide, and how e-readers will change the landscape of libraries.

The BarcampSeoul4 website is here.

I expect to report some very interesting things that I will learn from this experience.  Stay tuned.

Screaming Hooray for Screenr

Demonstrating something for an audience is a powerful thing.  Part of the value is in the “demonstration” and part of the value is in the “audience”.  One of the main reasons I am screaming cheers for Screenr (www.screenr.com) is that it combines these two elements from one incredibly simple tool.

Using screenr.com you can capture (screencast) actions/sound on your computer and easily publish or share (via short url, twitter, youtube) them for an audience.  One of the reasons it is simple is because there is no software to download, it is a web-based recorder.

Creating “how-to” videos has never been simpler!  Students can also use Screenr.com to create a screencast to demonstrate learning.

Recently I created a series of 7 short videos for our faculty on “How to Use Rubicon Atlas” at our school…  I easily published them from Screenr.com to my Youtube channel.  Then, I embedded all 7 videos into a Google Presentation…  Click the image to view:

What ways could Screenr.com be used in the classroom?