4-24-08

=EASTCONN Tech Council Meeting Minutes from April 24, 2008=

Communicate, Collaborate, Compose and Create - Kathy Schrock
The EASTCONN Tech Council hosted special guest, Kathy Schrock, Administrator for Technology for the [|Nauset Public Schools] on Cape Cod. Kathy reminded us that if we are going to be part of the open Internet we have to understand the plusses and the minuses and we have to teach our students about them, too. She believes that the best Internet filter is a vigilant teacher. Her district is giving students applications on flash drives if they don't have access at home. They always wash the flash drives through a clean machine to make sure there are no viruses. It's all about kids and education; it's not about locking them out and preventing them from learning.

Producers needed HTML coding skills and programming
 * Web 1.0 - the Read Web**

Web 2.0 is synchronous and interactive. Below are some examples of a variety of Web 2.0 tools.
 * Web 2.0 - The Read Write Web**
 * //Free Communication Tools://**
 * //Chat Creator//** - Create synchronous chats on the fly
 * //Twitter//** - Twitter is a cross between RSS and IM. Twirl is a nice client-based software that is like Twitter but easier to use. Educational people use this for educational purposes.
 * //Skype//** - Voice Over IP program that is very handy. You can call other computers for free and other telephones for pay. It has a chat client.
 * //WisiQ//** - This is a free Web-based application that allows participants to share files on a white board.


 * //Free Collaboration Tools://**
 * //Wikis//** - In Hawaiin wiki wiki means "quick". Wikis are easy to create and view and can be set up to allow anyone to add, edit and remove. Kathy thinks that Wikis are the best piece of software available on the Web. They are great for collaborative lesson plans/units. Some examples of some Wikis are:
 * Wikispaces - This is one of the most popular.
 * Jottit - This is a quick and easy Wiki.
 * Wikipedia - Kathy hates Wikipedia because she doesn't agree with Will Richardson and Alan November that the cream will rise to the top. However it's interesting to be able to see the revisions on any Wikipedia page. If your students use Wikipedia, make sure that they cite the revision so that you can. In Kathy's district, they can use it as a "source consulted" but not as a "source cited".
 * //Gliffy//** - Gliffy is an online collaboration and publishing tool.
 * //Bubbl.us//** - This is an online brainstorm and online concept-mapping software. If you don't have Inspiration, this is a great free alternative.
 * //Google Docs//** - This gives people access to word processing, spreadsheets and a presentation package. There's an RSS feed and a URL provided for each document. Kathy uses this so that she doesn't have to be the Webmaster for everyone's page. She has turned the Superintendent's page into a Google doc and linked from the district's Web site. She put instructions for the Superintendent's secretary into the Google doc and she updates it every month, overwriting the previous month's page. One of her schools also does a school newsletter in this way. You can invite people to collaborate or view your documents on Google Docs. Revisions are color coded by the people.
 * //Google Calendar//** - Kathy thinks that Google Calendar is a sweet application. Her district uses it to create collaborative calendars.
 * //Voo2do//** - This is an online application for keeping track of tasks and projects.
 * //Skrbl//** - This is an online interactive whiteboard. You can save the final document as an HTML document.

Social networking has a bad reputation. Kathy blocks My Space and Facebook simply because she figures that if she left them open students would do nothing else all day.
 * Social Networking**
 * //Ning.com//** - This is a free social networking site that you can join and then become members of other people's ite.

Kathy considers composition tools that allow users to easily see your content and give you feedback but not revise your content. //**Blogger**// - Kathy hosts Blogger through their local server which allows her to get rid of the Next Blog button. She goes to Blogger to edit but stores the files on the Nauset Public Schools server.
 * Composition Tools**
 * //del.icio.us//** - This is an online bookmarking tool. You can also click on other people's bookmark lists which provides you with the research that others have done. It leads you to a collaborative treasure trove of other people's data. VBookmark is a freeware program that you can download and use to create a quick hotlist.
 * //Zoho Creator//** - This is an online database creation tool which allows you to create public and private databases. It includes a read-only URL for users and lets you embed forms on a Web page. It also allows you to import and export CSV files.

The federal law states that staff e-mail has to be archived. Gaggle archives their e-mails for $7/account for the year. Kathy has recently given students in grades 6-12 Gmail accounts so they can have access to e-mail. Cyberbullying is covered under the Bullying law. Parents and children sign an Acceptable Use Policy just for the e-mail in grades 6, 7 & 8. All students sign the AUP in grades 9-12. Only one parent has refused to sign. The State of Massachusetts gives every student an online space.
 * Federal Law on e-Mail**

Kathy has helped her district design templates for curriculum units aligned with the Massachusetts technology standards. They have put content in as an exemplar. Every unit must use technology as part of the assessment. They are putting the templates up on Google Docs so that teachers can access them and then save them in their own Google Docs accounts and edit them for their grade level and content area.
 * Curriculum Development**

Kathy's district has a Sonic Wall filtering system that is updated once a month. It's a device that sits between the Internet. Teachers can unlock the filter at their desktop for 20 minutes or when they close their Web browser. This allows them to unlock the filter for short periods of time It costs around $400/per box and $300/year for the Internet filtering subscription. Wherever there's a pipe to the Internet you need one. The best Internet monitor is a vigilant teacher.
 * Filtering**


 * Vocabulary Alert!**
 * RSS: Really Simple Syndication** - RSS provides content or summaries to subscribers through an aggregator.
 * Aggregator** - This is the software that allows you to set up your RSS subscriptions. Kathy suggest that everyone should use an aggregator for their name so they can see what students are posting about them. Kathy asked everyone to post a text-based feed on their blogs. Kathy also recommended that everyone should make their blog subjects meaningful.
 * //Tumblr//** - This is an online information posting and commenting site.
 * //Pageflakes//** - This is another aggregator.
 * //Bloglines//** - This is the one that Kathy uses.
 * //iGoogle//** - This is an aggregator that everyone can access with their Google Docs account though Kathy has shut this off for the students in her district.


 * Creation Tools**
 * //Slideshare//** - This is an online slide-sharing site that allows you to upload or open PPT and Open Office shows. There are hundreds if not teachers, plain vanilla without fancy transitions.
 * //Glogster//** - This is a site to "poster yourself". The interface is very, very simple. They are working on an education version.
 * //Flip Video//** - This is a $149 video camera that plugs into the USB port. It records for one hour (2.5 gigs). It uses regular batteries that last for about 6 hours. It records in AVI format but they don't work well with Macs. Kathy has bought a classroom set so that the students can use these to easily record when working on projects. If you use roaming profiles, you have to treat it like a flash drive.
 * //Voice Thread//** - Upload a presentation or image and provide voice-over. You can use "doodling" while talking and users can comment.
 * //Scrapblog//** - You can create a free online scrapbook.
 * //Gabcast//** - This is a podcasting and audioblasting software. You can call into Gabcast on your regular or cell phone and record people talking and then turn it into a podcast. It has an RSS feed for your channel.

//Flickr//** - This is the most popular photo sharing site. As of last week you can post video to Flickr. If you do a search on bulletin boards on Flickr, there are hundreds of photos of teachers' bulletin boards.
 * Photo & Video Sharing Sites
 * //Google Video//** - Kathy doesn't block You Tube or Google Video. By blocking You Tube and Google Video you are missing out on great videos including public service announcements. There are tons of tutorials on lesson plans in Google Video.
 * //LetterPop//** - In case you have to create a newsletter, this is a great site.
 * //Zamzar//** - This is an online file conversion tool. You have to create an account but it's free. Then you can put in the file type and the conversion type and Zamzar converts it and e-mails the converted file to you.


 * Review of Common Elements of Web 2.0**
 * Usually entirely Web-based
 * Re-using info services
 * Users are an essential part

This is the Read/Write/Execute Web. Second Life is an example of Web 3.0. You have a client that runs on your computer. You have an avatar and an inventory that is stored on their server. You can do one-to-one, one-to-many or many-to-many. Kathy uses it for professional development. She got a state grant to purchase an island on Second Life. It cost $1700 to buy the island on Second Life and $150/month for server usage. She doesn't use Second Life for social networking - she doesn't have time to go to socials in real life so she's not going to go to socials in a virtual environment. The world is blank when you begin and you have to build from scratch. Second Life allows you to interact with the environment to give you the virtual feeling of being in a glacier that's melting, flying on a weather balloon, etc. You can walk around in virtual paintings. A lot of the things in Second Life are scripted to the Web, e.g., Sony BMG will send you to their Web site. Kathy has a PD project called Lighthouse Learning Island. They are also working with an action researcher in New Zealand who is working on her doctoral dissertation. They have created PD sessions for their project but they have left them open to the rest of the Second Life world so they had teachers from all over the country attend their PD. There's a teen grid for kids aged 13-17 and an adult grid. No one younger than 13 can participate in Second Life.
 * What's Next - Web 3.0?**

How will schools adapt to allow use of these tools? How do we infuse these items into teaching and learning? How do we keep our students safe? How do we ensure that intellectual property guidelines are followed?
 * Things to Thinks About**