Please come…you’ll love it! My school district competes every year….we are only one of a few platinum level districts in the state! It is a great experience for students! Maybe we’ll see you there….come by Magoffin County High School’s table if you come!

My final thoughts are along the lines of Jeffrey’s email that Dr. Lowell sent out.

I like doing this kind of a class and other online classes will seem so different now that this approach has been given to me. 

Thanks to you Dr. Lowell and everyone in the class for a great semester!

Anyway, I ran across this from my Opening Bell about technology in the classroom.

Technology helps teachers gauge classroom comprehension.

The AP(5/8) reported that Providence Junior/Senior High School in Clarksville, Indiana “has installed a computerized system called SMART — or self-monitoring, analysis and reporting technology — in four classrooms.” The technology allows teachers to “ask questions of students, who then enter their answer into a handheld device similar to a small remote control. The teacher can see how many students got the right answer and determine whether more review on a subject is needed.” Further, “[t]he system gives immediate information about how each student is performing and can print out personalized study questions for each student.” Educators involved with the Clarksville school called SMART “an effective way to engage students,” as well as “a very quick way to gauge the understanding of everybody across the board without that fear of being made fun of.”

Sounds to me like an innovative approach.

http://successfulteaching.blogspot.com/2008/05/useful-information-in-and-out-of.html

Here are some interesting sites that I’ve found interesting this week. As a teacher, I feel we have to keep up to date concerning research in our field and current issues in the education system. I hope some of these inspire you, inform you, and even have you asking questions. Thank you for coming by and visiting!

Discus – a collection of library resources purchased by the South Carolina State Library for use by South Carolina citizens. If you don’t live in SC, your state may purchase similar resources for its residents. The website includes an FAQ page with information about accessing the databases provided by DISCUS. It also has a neat “Kids” page that my students have used.Kuder – “provides Internet-based tools and resources that help students and adults achieve their educational and career planning goals.”

Filamentality “is a fill-in-the-blank tool that guides you through picking a topic, searching the Internet, gathering good Internet links, and turning them into online learning activities. In the end, you’ll create a web-based activity you can share with others even if you don’t know anything about HTML or serving web pages.”

Make Worksheets – free sample worksheets available.

The Center for Innovation in Engineering and Science Education “sponsors and designs interdisciplinary projects that teachers throughout the world can use to enhance their curriculum through compelling use of the Internet. We focus on projects that utilize real time data available from the Internet, and collaborative projects that utilize the Internet’s potential to reach peers and experts around the world. Below is a catalog of projects that are currently being or have been sponsored by CIESE . Each project has a brief description and links to the National Science Standards and NCTM math standards it supports.”

This shows exactly how to export.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpvD7kWglR4

Now maybe he has some points in the Calculating Against Calculators chapter.  I will give him that.  I do agree that everyone should know their multiplication tables—without using a calculator.

Now for the next chapter, the Educating by Email one, I am so not in agreement with.  I have taken 25 online classes, and I really work hard at them.  I’m okay without the socialization.  I get that in my daily life, and will get it when I teach.  One point I would like to make is that he didn’t bring up the price of gas, and for me taking distance education classes is an option I will go with when I can because of the cost to travel to campus.

News Advisory 08-035 – April 28, 2008

            (FRANKFORT, Ky.) – The Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) State Championship will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, May 6-7, at the Lexington Convention Center and Rupp Arena. The championship event is open to the public from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. on May 6.

More than 4,300 adults and students are expected at the event , with 94 school districts and 310 schools represented. This event provides P-12 students from across the state with opportunities to present their projects to people outside their classrooms. Some of the best STLP projects in the state will be on display for parents and the public to view. The items range from community service projects to entrepreneurial activities. In addition to projects, students will bring digital music, video, writing and art products. The students will be competing in many areas of technology during live demonstrations, presentations and panels. An awards program is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, in Rupp Arena.The event is a unique because students take on major roles during the two-day event. Students will serve as STLP Engineers and Buddies, produce the awards program and serve as cyber-reporters. Universities, school districts and community and national organizations provide judges and learning experiences for the students during the event.            Also, during the competition, a new STLP alumni Web site will be unveiled. The site’s purpose is to celebrate the achievements of former STLP students as they leave school and move on to higher education and careers. A team of STLP students from South Floyd High School in Floyd County designed the site and will receive a special STLP Project Award for their work.            The site — http://www.stlpalumni.org — is set to go live on May 6. Henry Hunt of the Kentucky Dataseam Initiative provided guidance to the South Floyd team in implementing the site. Dataseam operates one of the largest managed computing grids in the world. By harnessing the untapped computing power sitting throughout Kentucky’s K-12 schools and businesses, the Dataseam computing grid allows researchers to access much needed computing capabilities to forward research and commercialization of ideas.            STLP is a project-based learning program that empowers students in all grade levels to use technology to learn and achieve. It was established in 1994 by the STLP State Advisory Council, which is composed of teachers, students and community leaders. The program is open to all students in all grade levels in every school in Kentucky. -30-

also, I ran across this post by Taly Weiss with some interesting information about MySpace and Facebook, where Taly gives reference to some other research links regarding SNS, as well as some insight into Dana Boyd’s observations regarding the history of the two SNS, and  hooks us up to Dana’s  essay, Viewing American class divisions through Facebook and MySpace.  I haven’t read her essay yet, as I am saving that for my research day.

Weiss indicates pewinternet, and iprospect as other research sites, and gives a short version for Danah Boyds’ observations: 

1. Historical perspective: 2003-2007

• When MySpace launched in 2003, it was primarily used by 20/30-somethings The bands began populating the site by early 2004 and throughout 2004, the average age slowly declined. It wasn’t until late 2004 that teens really started appearing en masse on MySpace and 2005 was the year that MySpace became the “in thing” for teens.
• Facebook launched in 2004 as a Harvard-only site. It slowly expanded to welcome people with .edu accounts from a variety of different universities. In mid-2005, Facebook opened its doors to high school students, but it wasn’t that easy to get an account because you needed to be invited. As a result, those who were in college tended to invite those high school students that they liked. Facebook was strongly framed as the “cool” thing that college students did. So, if you want to go to college (and particularly a top college), you wanted to get on Facebook badly. Even before high school networks were possible, the moment seniors were accepted to a college, they started hounding the college sysadmins for their .edu account. The message was clear: college was about Facebook.

This blog was written I July of 2007, so things have changed some since, but I think it is a good resource if your doing your ethnography of either SNS.

….I’m done blogging today

http://remonzer.wordpress.com/2008/04/23/cr20-resources-wiki/

Upcoming Workshops, Tentative Schedule

• We are looking for venue/location sponsors for each workshop. See click through to information about physical requirements, and contact Steve Hargadon if you think you can help.
• We are also looking for local coordinators to help organize for each city. Here is a list of the coordinator responsibilities. Contact Steve Hargadon if you would like to help.

Requests and initial sign-ups for Classroom 2.0 LIVE workshop in your area can be made here. If an organizing page has already been started for a specific workshop, there will be a link below.

• May 8 & 9, 2008: Phoenix, AZ Local Organizer: Cherie Stafford and/or Peggy George
• June 20, 2008: Houston, TX Local Organizer: Stephanie Sandifer
• June 28, 2008: San Antonio, TX (in conjunction with EduBloggerCon NECC) Local Organizer: Steve Hargadon
• July 14, 2008: **Boston, MA** (around BLC?) Local Organizer: Liz Davis
• July 17 & 18?: Chicago, IL Local Organizer: Lucy Gray
• July, 2008: New York Local Organizer:
• August 15 & 16: Salt Lake City, UT. Local Organizers: Rachel Murphyand Darren Draper
• September 19 & 20, 2008: Philadelphia and Harrisburg, PA Local Organizer: Cheryl Capozzoli
• Louisiana (Fall, pending Steve schedule) Local Organizer:
• Atlanta (pending Steve schedule) Local Organizer:

Also, if you think you have everything for your ethnography, Remonzer’s post-here –made me think of things to do that I haven’t done yet.

http://lisab.uniblogs.org/2008/04/27/high-tech-heretic-the-hidden-price-of-computers/

 Lisa points out what Stoll says and gives her opinion.

“For the dirty little secret of educational technology is that computers waste teachers’ time, both in and out of the classroom.”

Wow!  What a statement.  This jumped out at me as I was reading.  I am wondering what analysis has been done to back this statement up.  I know there are times when I feel like I have wasted some time using computers in class, but I think overall, computers have added to class, not taken away.  I guess this is the statement of a heretic. 

I don’t think that computers waste time either.  I mean I may spend too much time sometimes on one, but nothing to me is a waste–if I am learning.  When I first started reading this book, I thought that Stoll had some valid points, but the more I read, the more it seems to me that he just goes on and on about why he can’t stand computers involved in education.  I am not finished with the book yet, and only starting the chapter A Question for Balance, so I don;t know yet if there is going to be a balance in this next chapter or not.