Educational Technology Ray Schroeder, editor, OTEL - University of Illinois at Springfield |
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Saturday, December 06, 2003
Creating Poetry Videos - Melinda Storey, techLearning
Poetry may be the least understood of any creative writing classes. Most students do not like poetry. In fact, some of my students turned their noses up at the mere mention of poetry. But this unit uses technology to really hook students BIG TIME! Creating video poetry motivates students to read poetry so they can "find the perfect one" to use for their video. Mixing poetic lyrics with visual interpretations and background music addresses visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles. Another pleasant outcome is that video poetry actively engages the students in decision-making, planning, problem solving, and critical thinking. This dynamic way of teaching poetry seduces reluctant learners into actually liking poetry. Imagine that!
Study: School web access falls short of kids' expectations - Dennis Pierce, eSchool News
A new survey to be released today shows that students with home internet access are becoming increasingly disappointed with their online experience at school. As today's youth continue to embrace the internet, their rising expectations for school connectivity have resulted in a near-doubling of dissatisfaction in school internet access among nine- to 17-year olds since 2000, the survey's authors say. "Children, Families, and the Internet 2003," produced by market research firm Grunwald Associates, used a combination of online and telephone surveys to poll thousands of American children ages 6 to 17 and parents of children ages 2 to 17 about their internet habits, attitudes, and interests. When students go online from school, researchers found, many are disappointed in the experience. Friday, December 05, 2003
Schools could thrive in completely wireless county - eSchool News staff and wire service reports
Students with laptop computers would be able to surf the web and do homework while riding the bus home from school, and education leaders would be able to deploy mobile computers in their schools without investing in costly wireless access points, if a Georgia county's plans to go all wireless come to fruition. Computer chip maker Intel Corp. is talking with officials in middle Georgia's Houston County about debuting a new wireless internet technology in 2004. The service, called 802.16 or WiMax, could make Houston County the first completely wireless county in the nation, company officials say.
A Shift from Paper to Pixels: Database Technology Helps Union City - Anthony N. Dragona, techLearning
.... In order to effect positive change in an urban district with a transient student population, we set up school management teams with a diverse representation of faculty, parent and staff. Along with the empowerment of the school management team came the responsibility for central administration to provide the tools to get the job done. Using data base technology to manage the flow of data from input to reports, principals and administrators now get hands-on control of many functions, and the district's budget is completed on time in a state-approved format. As an added bonus, the same database technology that assures fiscal congruency of the school budget process is also used to improve everything from scheduling field trips to conducting in-class teacher evaluations to tracking the results of professional development within Union City schools. Thursday, December 04, 2003
Online ACE: Teen makes up work, earns diploma outside classroom - HEIDI PRICE, Observer-Reporter
....ACE allows former students, high school dropouts and currently enrolled "credit-shy" students to make up missed work through customized programs that are completed on the Internet. The program is held for two hours each day after school to accommodate work schedules. To earn credit for a missed course, students must complete 60 hours of online work and also attain a 60 percent or better on each lesson. Kyrstal completed her lessons in record time, never missing a day, said Linda Wade, a Washington teacher who, with Barbara Bryker, oversees the program. There currently are four "credit-shy" students enrolled in the program: one failed to graduate last year, two should have graduated with the Class of 2002 and a current student, in danger of not graduating.
EACS will go to trimester schedule in fall - Charlie Roduta, The News-Sentinel
Starting next fall, high school students at East Allen County Schools will be on a trimester schedule, Superintendent Jeff Abbott said Tuesday.... A uniform schedule also would be essential for the district's distance-learning project, which school officials have been researching and planning for 14 years. This fall, students in career planning classes at New Haven and Leo high schools have been the district's guinea pigs for the long-awaited project. Through video teleconferencing, they have been able to share teachers and interact with one another without leaving the building. The technology will offer students more courses to choose from, as well as save the district money in hiring additional teachers at other schools. The project also allows students to take dual-credit courses with Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne, which has the video-conferencing technology. Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Feds reject Florida's $7.4 million eRate appeal - eSchool News staff and wire service reports
Florida's request for more than $7 million to help fund its educational computer system has been rejected by federal eRate authorities for a second time. Because state funding runs out at the end of January, the state is going to have to scramble to find the money to keep the network running, the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group reported Nov. 26. The state has vowed to keep the program running. If state lawmakers can't find other ways to pay for the network, Florida's school systems may be forced to shoulder some of the cost themselves, according to news reports.
Grant to provide learning boost - Cheryl Tatum, Gallatin New Examiner
When classes resume after the first of the year, Gallatin middle and high school students will have some extra help in preparing them for success on the Gateway Algebra test, skills they must master in order to graduate. A $50,000 federal workforce grant will purchase special computer software to help students master those skills needed to pass the mandatory test.... The grant provides funding for new computers and the purchase of the PLATO software program from the Minnesota-based PLATO Learning, a provider of computer-based and e-learning instruction, assessment, and accountability solutions. Not designed specifically to improve test scores, Ellis Hollerman, principal of Shafer Middle School in Gallatin said he believes the program will have that result. The computer program will help reinforce what students are getting in class, Hollerman said, adding the hope is with practice needed skills will be mastered. Tuesday, December 02, 2003
Of Math and Myths: Professional Development and Change among High School Teachers - Mary Burns, techLearning
Every culture has its myths collections of enshrined beliefs, borne of experience, almost sanctified by repetition, that like the mythology of the Greeks, Romans and Celts, seeks to provide order to chaos or rational explanations to seemingly non-rational outcomes. The professional culture to which I belong that of teacher educator also contains its own myths. Many of these myths center on high school teachers and can be encapsulated as follows:
Technology unites diverse classrooms - Maureen Feighan, The Detroit News
Imagine visiting an art museum in Cleveland, honing Spanish skills with teens from Spain and discussing the war in Iraq with a former congressman. Now imagine your child's school offering the same activities without kids having to leave the building. It's called distance-learning, and across Metro Detroit more and more districts are latching on to technology such as fiber optics and high-speed phone lines to hold videoconferences that directly link kids with events, speakers or activities that can be thousands of miles away. "(Distance-learning) really does take down the walls of the classroom and takes the world to kids," said Ron Sniderman, executive director for instructional media and technology services at the Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency, which has a distance-learning auditorium at its offices in Wayne that seats 100 people. Monday, December 01, 2003
Students have a say in national ed-tech plan - Dennis Pierce, eSchool News
More than 210,000 students from 1,535 schools in all 50 states and the District of Columbia responded to a recent call by the nonprofit group NetDay to share their ideas about how technology should be used in schools. The results will help shape the nation's third National Educational Technology Plan now in development, federal officials say. During an initiative called Speak Up Day, NetDay and its partners solicited student feedback on technology through an online survey. Although the event was supposed to last one day--Oct. 29--organizers extended participation through Nov. 5 in light of the tremendous response.
Visual Storytellers - Lea Anne Bantsari, techLearning
Analyzing the elements of a good story, learning the language of film, tuning in to the movement of human face and body-these are just a few of the skills West Linn High School students practice when they combine art and digital video to create film and animation masterpieces. Under the direction of teachers Karen Mitchell and Lynn Pass, these students are achieving proficiency in the 21st century skill of visual storytelling. The common goal of broadening the scope of fine arts and integrating digital tools drove Mitchell and Pass to craft hands-on TV and Film, and Clay and Animation classes that caught fire with students and have been steadily growing for the past five years. Sunday, November 30, 2003
http://ericir.syr.edu/cgi-bin/printlessons.cgi/Virtual/Lessons/Science/Biology/BIO0205.html
In this AskERIC lesson plan for grades 5-9, students compare the structure and function of cell organelles to that of a working city -- a handy analogy for learning the basics of cell biology. The activities outlined in the lesson plan, which takes three to four 55-minute sessions to complete, combine art and science for an interdisciplinary learning experience. Vocabulary words, useful links, and downloadable worksheets are included along with lesson procedures. From The NSDL Scout Report for the Life Sciences, Copyright Internet Scout Project 1994-2003. http://scout.wisc.edu/
Ben's Guide to Government for Kids
Hello kids! Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Benjamin Franklin. I will be your guide throughout this site. You probably know me best as a Founding Father and from my "shocking" kite experiment. I have been chosen to represent GPO Access since I was involved in setting up the first public library in America and my work during the early days of government printing has led some people to give me the honorary title of "first public printer" of the United States.... An useful resources for social studies classes explaining Educational Technology News Blog Archives OTEL - Ray's Home Page - Notebook - UIS Online - U of I Online - UIS Home Fair Use |
