LISD Ed Tech Connection

Many of us were not able to go to the ISTE Conference in Denver this month. Fortunately, some sessions have been recorded and are available for streaming on the ISTE Vision website.

 MDE and Michigan LearnPort Announce Stipend Opportunities For Online Professional Development

Michigan LearnPort® is the statewide professional development portal developed through a partnership between Michigan Virtual University® (MVU®) and the Michigan Department of Education (MDE).  To encourage teachers, administrators and other instructional personnel to experience the value and effective nature of online learning first-hand, Michigan Virtual University is offering $150 stipends for enrolling in and completing selected curriculum content courses and requirements through Michigan LearnPort.

Enrollment is now open and limited to the first 30 participants for each section. The goal is to meet the needs of ISDs and their constituent districts, professional organizations and individual educators through expanding the use of Michigan LearnPort.

The courses for which stipends will be provided are the following:

MMC Algebra 1 for Teachers
MMC Algebra 2 for Teachers
MMC Geometry for Teachers
MMC English Language Arts for Teachers
MMC Biology for Teachers
MMC Chemistry for Teachers
MMC Physics for Teachers
MMC World History and Geography for Teachers
MMC U.S. History and Geography for Teachers

These courses are instructor-led and provide teachers with resources and strategies to meet the needs of the diverse students required to meet the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Upon completion, participants will earn between 1 – 3.5 State Board Continuing Education Units (SB-CEU).

Eligibility for the stipend requires completion of the course and the submission of one lesson plan using one or more of the strategies or activities described in the course. This lesson plan must be accepted by the course instructor as part of the course completion requirements. This lesson plan may become a resource for Michigan teachers through Michigan LearnPort.

Teachers must apply for the stipend after completion of the course on the course form provided by the instructor or downloadable from the course community room. This stipend is paid from and governed by requirements of and provided through ESEA Title II, Part (A) funds. Payment will only be made for full course completion and submission of an accepted lesson plan. A course session will be offered beginning August 1, 2009. An individual may only take one course under the stipend program each session.

Interested educators who wish to enroll in one of the online courses should log into Michigan LearnPort®, http://www.learnport.org , and search for the keyword “MMC” in the Courses Catalog. Specific course content details are available in a syllabus embedded in each course, accessible by clicking on a course’s information icon in the Catalog. For more information about the Michigan LearnPort 2009 Online Stipend Program, please contacteelliott@mivu.org.

The video titled A Vision of K-12 Students Today by B. Nesbitt has been floating around the Internet for some time now. In case you have not seen it, it is embedded below. Any thoughts, reactions, comments?

NASA recently announced the release of audio clips, video clips, and still images for students who create their own podcasts:  http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/diypodcast/index.html
Media are sorted into 4 categories or topics:

• Lab Safety
• Newton’s Laws
• Spacesuits
• Sports (in space) Demo

All media can be previewed online. Audio clips are mp3 files. Videos are downloaded in a zipped folder containing mp4 video, Windows Media Video, and a transcript in MS Word.

News from MACUL:

A stipend of $1000.00 and a free registration to the 2010 MACUL Conference, March 10-12, 2010 will be awarded to 10 selected educators to produce high-quality enhanced or video podcasts in one subject area to be posted at MI Learning on iTunes U. Visit www.macul.org > MI Learning on iTunes U > MI Learning Information for application details. Application window: April 1 – May 26, 2009.

Read a related article about iTunes U on eSchoolNews

What videoconference opportunties did you find in the Berrien RESA Videoconference Program database? Were you pleased or disappointed? Did you find someone or some place you’d like to connect with in the future?

 If you could videoconference with any site, organization, or person for educational purposes, who or where would it be and why?

Many Michigan tech-using educators and students are gearing up for the annual MACUL conference this week. Some speaker handouts can be accessed online. On Thursday the Opening Keynote will be provided by Alan November, a thinker who is familiar to many educators in Lenawee County. A student RoboFest will be on Thurs. March 19 from 1:00 to 5:00. The conference Program Book (pdf) can be downloaded.

NetTrekker will be awarding two scholarships to the 2009 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) in Washington DC to two educators who submit projects designed in NetTrekker’s My Portfolio. Projects must include use of at least one NetTrekker resource, be aligned to standards, and focus on students using 21st century skills. The deadline to submit projects is April 15.

For more info browse to: http://crm.nettrekker.com/necc09/

Blogging is starting to get a foothold in some Lenawee County schools and classrooms. Check out some of the local blogs below; some feature interesting media posted by students, while others have information written by educators. To harness the power of interaction that blogs allow, consider leaving a comment on one or two of the blogs.

LISD TECH Center Principal’s Blog, Lenawee ISD

Mr. Musolf’s Mathematics Blog, Britton-Macon Area School

Mrs. Spohn – Third Grade, Onsted Elementary

Room 14 Third Graders, Adrian Michener Elementary

TMS News, Tecumseh Middle School

The list above is not exhaustive. Please send links or leave a comment pointing to other blogs from Lenawee schools.