Going Home Already?

So, here I am sitting in the airport in San Antonio. It's a bittersweet feeling, leaving a city and conference as great as NECC 2008 was. As soon as I got to the airport, I felt the need for coffee. Great, they only have Starbucks (not a Starbucks fan). Oh, wait, there's a Dunkin' Donuts here, too! Awesome. I get a French vanilla coffee and chocolate glazed donut, then notice the sign that says "Grand Opening July 8, 2008." I guess that'll be the celebration. Not sure how many people will come to the airport to celebrate, especially since they'll have to get a plane ticket!

I can't believe how many ideas I got from this conference, with the biggest ideas being for using cell phones in my classes. I cannot wait to see how this experiment will work, and I hope it will encourage others to see the possibilities this technology gives teachers. There are so many teachers that I know that are complaining they want cell phones and iPods banned. Why? Is it so bad that kids listen to music while working on a worksheet? I listen to music while I'm working all the time. And if you're worried about kids cheating by texting answers on their cells, then maybe you're not testing for the right things. No offense, but if I'm only writing a date or identifying a participle (not that I remember what they are) or writing down a memorized formula, am I really being assessed on what I know, or trivial facts I can remember?

True, there are benefits to training ourselves to remember some of these things, and it really does make many higher-order thinking problems easier to deal with. But if I need to know the date of a certain event, can't I just look it up? Shouldn't I be learning how to find the information that I need when I need it and how to analyze it to create something new or solve some problem?

Now, does this mean that we should let kids use textbooks and all resources for tests and quizzes? By all means, no. But it it something to think about when designing assessments and how you're going to deliver content.

In my district, there will be three of us teaching our Advanced Algebra courses. The original plan was to have us all collaborate to create materials to use for this year so we're all delivering roughly the same content. However, I didn't really join in on it, as I don't think I buy into it. I know I won't be teaching the class the same in April as I will be in September. And I won't be teaching it the same as I did two and three years ago. I know what I need to cover. I know what the kids need to learn. But I don't know what new methods and technologies I will be using, so it's time to try new things (again).

Over the next two months, I will be visiting the NECC page to see all of the podcasts and videos that were made available. It's like the never ending conference, and it's great! Between reading what other conference-goers have experienced and communicating with them through twitter, Plurk, email, Skype, etc., I have just enlarged my PLN to a point where the learning will not end.

Reflections on NECC 2008

Don't worry, the conference hasn't ended yet. There's still the closing Keynote. But I felt I needed to sit down before then and gather a few thoughts, even though they're not mind-boggling.

First, I want to go with some new things I have learned, and I'll do them in a list format.

1. Pennsylvania is so far ahead of many other states thanks to Classrooms for the Future. I have talked with technology integrators from other states that don't know about so many collaboration tools or Web 2.0 apps that can be useful in education. I am so glad that we have our network of coaches and mentors (with teachers joining in now, as well) to share, collaborate, educate, discover, and everything else with.
2. Even though PA is ahead of the curve, I have found that there are many things that many of us still don't know and haven't seen. I saw in a session today a way to create a slider in Excel to instantly change values, which can be used in comparing graphs instantly. Now I just have to review the process and learn how to do it myself.
3. Apple has taken away some of their accessibility. They did not have a display on the floor. They were only running sessions. I've heard reasons as to why they have done this, but I don't know if they're true or not, so I won't list them. However, it would have been nice to have been able to stop by and just talk with some reps from Apple. I didn't need to see any equipment in order to communicate with them. I was able to talk with so many other vendors and create some contacts. I stopped by Apangea today, and the one vendor remembered me from last year! These are the connections we need to make.
4. I don't like having to sit down at a session at a booth to hear about your product. I don't need to see you play on an interactive whiteboard for 20 minutes when I would much prefer to ask the questions I want to ask about whatever it is I'm seeing and getting what I want to see. Next time, if a vendor says, "Why don't you sit down and watch our presentation? It'll only be 5 minutes," I don't know what I'll do. I much prefer the vendors who are more personal and willing to give me what I want.
5. The next big thing in education will be cell phones. There are already many great tools that can be used to integrate into education, and as more and more teachers begin to integrate this technology, we will see even more robust solutions showing up. I wonder which wireless company will be the first to push their phones as educational devices? Will they create sites and content for education?

I don't think I'm going to blog during today's Keynote. I'll probably go back and reflect on it afterward at some point, as well, as sit down and go through the stacks of paperwork that have been handed to me throughout these past few days. I hope I'll have time to view other blogs on sessions I wasn't able to attend, as well as read the reactions of others from the ones I did attend. As for now, though, it's time to file into the closing Keynote. NECC 2008, we hardly knew ye. Hope to see everyone in DC for NECC 2009!

Cell Phones as Learning Tools

Now here is one of the sessions I have been looking forward to. One of my main goals for this year is to integrate cell phones into my instruction, and here is the first session to do so. We start out with a poll on wiffiti. We answered a question on the percentage of schools that are providing 21st Century instruction (I guessed 29%).

The presenter for this session is Liz Kolb. Visit the wiki for the session here, and her blog and book. All of the activities we are seeing today can be done with any cell phone, so a smart phone is not needed (although there are more ideas for these smart phones).

Liz gives us four reasons to integrate cell phones in learning.

1. The number of students that have cell phones: 76%. We sent a text to polleverywhere to see how polling live can be used.

2. How do students use their cell phones? Communication, texting, and music are big!

3. How do students like to learn? They like to collaborate, they want to get things at anytime or any place, have structured activities, and have relevance to their world. How do you do this? How about ChaCha? Use 1.800.2CHACHA or text CHACHA [242 242] for an almost immediate answer.

There are also mobile blogs that are available out there. News organizations are depending on instant info from normal citizens, and many sites (CNN.com, etc.) are offering places for iReporting. We are going to become mobile citizen journalists for NECC 2008. We're looking at go@blogger.com. This is some amazing stuff. I'm going to be posting photos to my blog like crazy now!

Next is gabcast. You can podcast directly to a blog. This session is so amazing. Why are they limiting Liz to only one hour and only one session? I can't wait to get her book! If you are ever at a conference (or anywhere else) and get a chance to see Liz speak, do yourself a favor and do so! This is giving me so many great things that I can do with my students (and teachers).

We move onto Flickr and their mobile version. Then on to blip.tv. And finally Jott. There's just too much! I wish I could share more, but I was playing. Hopefully we can get Liz to come to our CFF Boot Camp this fall, and THIS is exactly what we need!

If you want more info on a session like this, please check out the links in the beginning of this post. I wish this session had a lot more time.

What's the Buzz about Technology in Afterschool?

This session is being recorded as a podcast, so you can listen as soon as it's uploaded. The presenters are Marilyn Heath and Kathy Dick. There are also resources listed on this page, such as a link to the PowerPoint file. The National Partnership for Quality Afterschool Learning has many resources available. I am taking notes during the session, and posting at the end.

For a quality afterschool program, things that are needed are "safe, academically and socially enriching program." It's not just baby-sitting. There are many students who go home and have nobody there to supervise them until their parents go home. By having an afterschool program, opportunities for technology, the arts, and other activities are made available where they may not have been available before.

These programs do not have to be run in the school, as community groups can run these as well. There are many states who are taking part in investing in these programs, often as part of NCLB. Could this be something that could be tied into CFF, as Marilyn mentioned that many states are including this in their 21st Century initiatives.

As you look into an afterschool program, the idea is to make the instruction somewhat different from classroom instruction. How do you get the kids to benefit from a program like this when the classroom instruction model isn't working for them? This must be different as the students haven't been responding to the classroom model.

Each program offered different things, such as Lego robotics, geocaching, creating music and video, online homework support, and tutorials. There was even a program where students wer taught how to build a computer that they were able to keep in the end! What a concept! A great way to teach new skills, and also a way to help students get their own computer.

One thing that is being talked about quite a bit by Marliyn is that she is talking about looking for more creativity in the afterschool programs, which I agree with. This is a great chance to give these extra opportunities to expand on learning and skills obtained during the school day. This brings up another thought: is there creativity in the regular classroom? There is such a push for hitting the standards during the regular school day, that many teachers have said they don't have the time to be creative because they have to get through the content. We have to do well on the test, right? This is something I have seen a lot when talking with teachers. They will say, "How can I do these projects and be creative when I have to cover the content?" Why can't you do both? Creativity and covering standards are not mutually exclusive ideas. They should go hand-in-hand. Why is it that we have to expand on the school day in order to bring in creativity? Maybe these ideas could be expanded into the regular school day.

Kathy took over and started covering the toolkit and curriculum resources. As she started, she mentioned a way to get audiences (teachers or students) more attentive is to pass out Atomic Fireballs. I'm trying to check out the links they are at in the presentation, and I'm not quite able to access the same pages they are at.

These are some great resources, and they're aligned to ISTE standards, and it's helpful as the instructors may not be certified teachers. I am a bit tuned out of this session now, as it seems to be just covering the Afterschool Training Toolkit. It is nice that these lessons are broken down into fully-planned lessons, but I would like to see more of how to integrate technology in. This is more just a session on the Toolkit at this point that says there are lessons and resources out there.

A video on GPS in an afterschool program was then shown. The instructor talks about how he had to learn the technology from scratch, just like the students will, except they have him as a guide. The students are showing a lot of excitement, and it's great because it gives them a chance to apply what they have learned in geography and math classes. It also helps with extending knowledge, as the activity could be used as an activating strategy.

Watching this video has me wondering why this is an afterschool activity? There are so many possibilities for this to be used in regular instruction as well. The only difference is that there aren't standards and content to cover in an afterschool program, so there is more flexibility.

This session is getting my juices flowing. I have been thinking about starting an afterschool technology program, where I can help students discover more ways that they can use technology to enhance their lives and education. There are so many students that I see only using technology for socializing and entertainment. They don't always see how they can use these tools to create new ideas and concepts and to collaborate to extend their own knowledge.

Marilyn takes over again and offers some challenges: "How can you bring technology to afterschool? Who are decision makers that can help you accomplish this? What are your challenges? What are some solutions or options? Can the National Partnership help?" A booklet was then shared with us that contains information for helping with set up and how to include technology into the program.

In the end, the big idea I am getting from this session is that due to the flexibility available in an afterschool program, there are many opportunities for extending instruction in a fun way. Resources are available, and students are given the freedom to explore and make mistakes, all in the name of having fun learning.

NECC 2008: Keynote

I'm sitting in the lobby of Ballroom C with Chris Smith, as we were waiting for Laurie Vitale and Pat Galuska to make it in from the airport. Currently, James Surowiecki is speaking on groups and making decisions. There has been much research done on how groups tend to make better decisions than individuals, but there are characteristics that the group needs, such as a diverse group and a group that has independence.

Listening to James led Chris and I to talk about the Central PA CFF Collaboration Days. We were talking about how not only do groups do well at making decisions, but they also will almost always rise to the occasion to offer the best that the group can offer. You often see this with students, as well. They don't drop to the lowest denominator in the group. They will excel to their best, often leaving the stragglers behind.

This makes me wonder about our large edtech group. Not just in our IU's or our states or our country. But everyone who is represented here in this conference. We're the leaders. We're the facilitators. We're the ones doing the collaborating. Those that aren't with us are often left behind. Think about it. There have to be teachers in your district that have just said no to technology in their classrooms. Have you tried hard to change their mind, or are you focusing on those that want to change? I know that I have focused more on those that are willing. I don't give up on those that aren't fully willing, but I don't make myself go crazy trying to get them to change, either.

So how do we advance all of education? Force the change? That won't work. There are so many diverse opinions out there that it is hard to make a solitary change. We still need to give people the choice.

With the independence part, it is important to have a group of people who are willing to do something different. But with groups, there need to be those that are going to move beyond imitation and actually creating new knowledge and new thoughts.

Going back to the Collaboration Days, I feel that our group has done that. When we all starting our collaboration, we did it on our own. We were a small group within a much larger group of CFF coaches and mentors, but we felt independent enough to start out meeting as a coach group to support each other. We all had strengths and weaknesses, and we knew it. And knowing that allowed us to grow and learn from each other. And our collaboration days grew into full teacher collaboration days that have turned out to be spectacular professional development days that have led to collaboration between teachers and classrooms and, ultimately, getting our students to collaborate with not only students in the same school, but with students in other school districts across the state of Pennsylvania.

There are things to look out for, such as talkative people. These people don't just talk a lot, but they often tend to shape the direction of the group. "This would be great if talkative people were smarter." This is James again saying that a group has better wisdom than the individual. We all know who these talkative people are. They are in every group. They will get their name out there. They will add information and talk louder. Yet, often we notice that those that speak less have better information to share. Neither of these statements is always true, but they are helpful. So make sure to spread out where you get your information from. Have a wide network of people with varying levels of experience.

This has me thinking of my twitter and plurk networks (I am misterlamb on both). I communicate with people from all over the country, and many of them I haven't met. Yet I know some things about each of these people, from where they live to who their favorite sports teams are and what they teach. I also know some of their strengths and weaknesses, and that we have helped each other with ideas without even knowing it. And I think that is the strength of groups. Not that we necessarily decide to set out and help in one particular thing, but that we help each other out without often knowing it.