CEMaT Ed Tech Connection

Last week the Library of Congress announced on its blog that it has joined the Web 2.0 shift with a pilot project that resulted in uploading to the photo-sharing site Flickr more than 3,000 photos from two collections of its vast holdings (over “14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials”). The historic images, in both black and white and color, are from the 1910s, 1930s, and 1940s and include a huge variety of subjects from agriculture to World War II to sports.

 
Delano, J. Going to town on Saturday afternoon, Greene Co., Ga.  Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C. 1941.

What does this mean to the average person? LoC sees this project as leading to increased access to their informative collections. “No copyright restrictions are known to exist.” This is good news for education, but users still need to cite sources when downloading or linking to the photos. Folks with Flickr accounts can help tag the images with meaningful words or phrases. They can also leave comments about the images or add notes, opening the door to knowledge sharing or questions and answers. Many images already contain many comments, tags and notes.  People can also subscribe to a feed that automatically announces when LoC posts new photos.

Library of Congress Blog:  http://www.loc.gov/blog/?p=233

Looking for a challenge?  Looking to further your knowledge over the holidays?  Want to learn more about Language Acquisition, New Media Literacies, Chinese, or Cognitive Processes?  Check out the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s OpenCourseWare (OCW) web site where you can access course materials like lecture notes, demonstration videos, and problem sets from over 1800 of the university’s courses, all for FREE.  According to MIT, over 1 million learners visit each month from all around the world.  21% of site traffic comes from East Asia/ Pacific (6 million visits since 2004);  19% of the visitors are from Europe / Central Asia (5.3 million visits since 2004); the bulk of the others hits come from North America (39%, 11 million since 2004).  

MIT’s OCW has mainly 3 types of learner-visitors:
Self-learners = 49%
Students = 32%
Educators = 16% 

One student wrote, “I’ve graduated from high school, but I’ve been accessing the OCW since I was in the first year. In a developing country, it’s quite difficult to access good course materials. Thank you very much, OCW has given a lot of advantages in my education process.”
– Grace, Indonesia 

Global access to this kind of learning material supports the idea of the Internet as a flattener of the world.  Valid, relevant, high quality content is ubiquitous.  

Important Notes from MIT:
- OCW does not grant degrees or certificates.
- OCW does not provide access to MIT faculty.
- Materials may not reflect entire content of the course.

The Michigan Moodle Users Group, in collaboration with Washtenaw ISD, Ottawa ISD and REMC 3 and 9, will be holding a full day conference on using Moodle in today’s learning environments.   The conference is scheduled to take place on February 20, 2008 at the Washtenaw Area ISD.  Please see the attached flyer for additional information. 

This conference will be a mix of hands-on lab experience lead by a highly trained presenter as well as traditional lecture presentations by educators using Moodle with their students.  This powerful learning management tool provides educators with the means to expand their learning day beyond the 8-3 school day.  Participants will also earn credit towards the Michigan Online Learning requirement at the same time.

Register Now: http://tinyurl.com/38dczn

Conference sessions are still under development, but some examples include: Introduction to Moodle, Teaching In The Online Community, Managing Your Course, and Designing Course Elements. Wireless access will be available and learners of all skill levels are welcome to attend.  Please see the attached flyer for additional information.

If you are able to bring a wireless laptop, it is strongly encouraged.

This showcase is an opportunity for Michigan educators to see products available on the REMC Bid and online courses from the REMC/GenNET Online Program. There is no charge to attend the showcase. The event is hosted by the REMC State Acquisitions Project and the REMC/GenNET Online Project, in partnership with REMC 14 and the Genesee ISD. Promotional giveaways will be provided.

Please register for this FREE event at the link below:
http://www.geneseeisd.org/remc/default.html

Questions? Contact Lori Banaszak: 810-591-4463 or lbanaszak at geneseeisd dot org

Announcement from Sony Creative Software, the National Crime Prevention Council, and the Ad Council:

Cyberbullying is a growing problem among children and teenagers on the Internet. The anonymity and ease of communication the Internet provides can create a vehicle for bullying, harassment, and defamation, harmful actions that can make the Internet a hostile and dangerous place. Cyberbullying is a problem that must be addressed and solved.

Help end cyberbullying by creating a Public Service Announcement on the issue. Sony Creative Software is seeking entries from independent producers and academic institutions. The top submissions will be eligible for national broadcast, and their producers or sponsoring organizations will receive a complete multimedia editing suite for their facility or school (prize package valued up to $20,000).

Entries will be judged by: Barry Sonnenfeld, director/producer (Men in Black, Addams Family, and others); Steve Oedekerk, producer/writer (Bruce Almighty, Barnyard, and others); Justin W. Patchin, Ph.D., noted authority on social networking and cyberbullying; and members of the Ad Council’s campaign review committee.

For more information, rules, and submission guidelines visit www.sonycreativesoftware.com/cyber

Tuesday, Dec. 4, 2007 8:30 AM to 3:30 PM at the LISD’s Wm. J. Ross Education Service Center

All Lenawee County educators are being encouraged to take advantage of this learning opportunity!! FREE for members of the LISD Professional Development Consortium! $25 for non-members of the LISD Professional Development Consortium.

This presentation will feature an overview of Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Sue Hardin will demonstrate how educators can capitalize on students’ techno-enthusiasm, interests and skills in the school setting within the framework of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to meet the diverse learning needs and preferences of all students.

UDL is defined by the Center for Applied Special Technologies (CAST) as “an educational approach to teaching, learning, and assessment, drawing on new brain research and new media technologies to respond to individual learner differences.”

UDL promotes effective teaching and removes barriers to access for ALL students. “For students with disabilities, technology can be a lifeline that allows them to communicate and participate in school-based education in ways that would have been impossible a few decades ago.” (Joachim-Colmen, 2003)

The day’s sessions will demonstrate simple, effective technologies to ensure that every student succeeds in the core curriculum. Other sessions to be presented include:

• Digital Reading: Building a Talking Library to Support ALL Readers – using digital text-to-speech software and leveled text websites to create your own supportive text
• Three P’s in a Pod (Portable, Powerful, Phlexible) – using iPod technology to differentiate instruction by delivering information in flexible, engaging formats that meet individual

Register online through LISD’s CourseWhere (Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided for workshop participants.)

About the presenter: Sue Hardin, Macomb ISD Assistive Technology Consultant, is known across the state as well as nationally for her work in the field of assistive technology, particularly her leadership in the Michigan Region IV Assistive Technology Consortium STELA Project – Strategies and Tools to Enhance Learning for All, and Macomb ISD’s “Begin With Me” writing project.

The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) is sponsoring a one-day conference to demonstrate to educators how Web 2.0 resources can be used in the curriculum to support student learning and achievement.

The Collaborative Tools for Learning Conference will be held at Macomb ISD on November 12 from 8:30am until 3:15pm.  Registration is $85 for MACUL members and $105 for non-members and includes a MACUL membership and access to the conference wikispace and web site.  A continental breakfast and lunch are included.

Presentations at the conference include: collaboration tools, Blackboard and Moodle, social networking sites, Google Docs, technology and language arts, collaborative learning tools in science and mathematics, classroom 2.0, collaborative tools for professional development, Netvibes and iGoogle, universal design for learning and Web 2.0, and much, much more.

To register or for more information, link to www.macul.org

The free K12 Online Conference started on Monday, Oct. 8th and is now in full swing. According to conference organizers, “This is a conference by educators for educators around the world interested in integrating emerging technologies into classroom practice. A goal of the conference is to help educators make sense of and meet the needs of a continually changing learning landscape.”

It is not too late to get things streaming. Some sessions are live. All sessions are archived. Check out the conference schedule here. First time attendees will find this section of the conference wiki helpful.

21st Century fundraising

Are you seeking funds in order to buy camcorders and tripods for that new, cross-curricular unit your grade level or subject area team recently developed? Consider writing a student-project proposal and posting it to the Donors Choose web site where the motto is, “Teachers ask. You choose. Students learn.” The site, somewhat like Kiva, creates a place and process that connects public school teachers who need resources to improve student learning with donors who want to give financial help. As of this writing, there are only 6 teachers from Michigan with proposals online at Donors Choose seeking to fund projects that ask for between $378 and $799.

Interested? There are 2 main criteria that submissions (proposals) at DonorsChoose.org must meet:

1. All requested resources must be used by students or directly provide a student experience.
2. The proposal cannot foster discrimination or proselytize a religious or political viewpoint.

According to the Donors Choose site, most successfully funded proposals are under $400. Proposals stay online for 8 months, and if a proposal does not get fully funded, the listing expires. For more information, see the Donors Choose Help page.

Please note: Lenawee ISD is not affiliated with DonorsChoose.org in any way. This blog posting is simply spreading the word about an opportunity.

Saturday, September 29, 2007 from 8:30 - 4:00 in Erickson Hall, Michigan State University
Price: Students, interns and MSUAA members: $7 morning and $5 afternoon; all others: $22 and $18

Here’s an opportunity to pick up some new skills and knowledge in a non-threatening setting for a very reasonable price.  Speakers include classroom teachers and university professors. “The 24th Annual Technology Conference offers presentations and hands-on workshops that put teachers in touch with the latest technological trends in K-12 classrooms. Sessions range from online professional development to online experiences with the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Workshops include topics such as virtual maps and digital photography. The conference is co-sponsored by the College of Education Alumni Association and the Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning”

For more info and registration: http://ott.educ.msu.edu/ctt/techconf/