Coordinator’s Office #12 Webcasting Procedures

Listen as I review my webcasting procedure and go through It’s Elementary Show #2 Prep http://itselementary.edublogs.org.  I went through the specifications for streaming such as settings on my computer, using of audio repeater, starting program to broadcast on simple cast  on edtechtalk. I  also go through July 23rd agenda on our webcast planning wiki.  Have a listen Coordinator’s Office #12.mp3

Webcaster in the Making

I’ve been really busy the last few weeks. It all started about six months ago. I really enjoy listening to educator podcasts like Speed of Creativity and Bit by Bit among others. I was happy, then came along live interactive webcasts. I was hooked! I started participating in weekly shows at edtechtalk. At first it was just as a listener to a live show. I then stated going into the chat. One day I discovered Skype, I could voice my opinion on a live show. There was no turning back then. I have been recording my own podcasts. I did a few last year in my office position and this year as a teacher. Podcasts are great as a professional reflection tool for teachers. I will continue to produce these on my blog. I even have tried a few with students. But having a one man show really isn’t fun. I got the itch to try webcasting and what can I say, I had to scratch. One Sunday I asked a teacher in the chatroom if she would be interested in being a cohost on a webcast. At first we were both hesitant but she entertained the idea. In the same week another regular at edtechtalk asked me if I was interested in starting my own show. Just like that the It’s Elementary Webcast team was formed. We started to plan our webcast. We asked for feedback from the edtechtalk community. About 4 weeks later we produced our first show. The first show on blogs in the classroom was cool, especially after all the editing We even got a new member, our first guest became part of the team. Now we are about to do our second show on Webquests on Monday July 23rd at 23:00 GMT (4:00 pacific and 7:00 eastern). We also signed up for the webcast academy. Wow! the things that happen when you follow the yellow brick road.

Effective School Technology Leadership

So how are you spending your 4th of July? I am here enjoying some time off. Looking forward to a barbecue and fireworks this evening at my daughter’s middle school. I am also responding to Calling All Bloggers! by Dr. Scott Mcleod from Dangerously Irrelevant. I have been an educator for the last 12 years. I had the opportunity to step out of the classroom for four years. I just came back this past school year. I was able to work closely with the leadership of my school and directly with the principal. As I reflect on my experience, I consider myself fortunate. I worked with a principal that was able to listen to new and innovative ideas and help in making them happen. This process is not something that happened overnight. It was a professional relationship built on trust. We (leadership of the school and teachers) were there for the same reasons. Our mission (not just the cliche) was to provide the best education possible for our students. Sometimes adult conflicts came up around the implementation of programs or the decisions involved in moving a school forward. Once the dust cleared we were able to ground ourselves on the same basic premise about taking it back to student learning. In regards to technology in schools. I tend to agree that it isn’t about the tools. It is more about the effective use of whatever tools are available to us. We can spin our wheels complaining about what we don’t have or wish we had. At one point I was able to “convince” our school to provide the hardware. We bought over 100 computers to be distributed to 30 classrooms. We bought other “cool” toys also. I quickly learned that the desired effect or use of technology wasn’t going to happen by osmosis. It wasn’t until the tech committee and the leadership team agreed on an implementation plan. This implementation plan was to be long term and focused on professional development not only for teachers but also for the administrators. We spent a week on retreat planning for the initial steps of this program. This was only the beginning. It was not all success. The challenges still persisted as we went back to our school. We spent a lot of energy and time resolving basic issues regarding the check out of hardware. We started to “embed” the use of tech tools into our leadership meetings. We supported the use of web 2.0 tools through workshops for teachers and parents. What effect did this have on our students? That kind of data isn’t easy to quantify. I have now moved on to a different school. Our principal was also transferred. I feel that the effect has been that I took these skills to my classroom. I also know that my principal took this vision on the use of technology to her new school. It really does go back to our kids. Whoever they may be now or in the future.

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Coordinator’s Office #11 NECC 2007

It has a very busy week and I’m on vacation! NECC 2007 was great. Here are my reflections on the conference. I also talk about what I take back to my classroom. I also share my plans for the rest of the summer with It’s Elementary Webcast and blogging at Room 36. Have a listen; Coordinator’s Office #11.mp3

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NECC 2007 Reflections

It came and now it’s gone. So what do we take back from these few days? Even as a virtual attendee, going to NECC meant following the conference Web 2.0 style. I just don’t get any jet lag. So, what did I take back (to my RSS for reading, back to my classroom for practical application)? There are two levels in learning for me. I need to consume this new knowledge as a learner first. How does it add to my knowledge base? I can respond directly to the author or I can blog about it. Both add to my understanding. I then need to find a way to apply it in my teaching. If I am able to do both of my 10 percent, I’ve met my goal. I added a new category in my bloglines, (thanks to the uniform tagging system) NECC Bloggers; over 35 new bloggers and I added a few more bloggers to my superstar folder and educational technology that I had read but not added. My task this summer is to read these blogs and add my reflections. I really like what Bob Sprankle did last year with K12online. It seems that the unconference was just as important or some cases more than the conference sessions. The conference started with Edublogger Con. The Bloggers Cafe was a big hit. Twitter redefined “what are you doing?” It was interesting how others brought in skype chat. And of course, there were the pictures. I bet in the days to come others will publish podcasts and the like. I think NECC 2007 will reshape what a conference should be.

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Using Synchronous tools at NECC 2007

I’ll admit that there is something about being at a conference in real life. There is excitement in the air. On Tuesday I followed NECC on edtechtalk. During the day 21st Century Learning had Vinnie Vrotney as a live correspondent at the Bloggers Cafe. He was walking around looking for the SuperStar bloggers. It was great to hear first hand reactions to the conference. In the Evening Women of the Web 2.0 had a session live from NECC. There were over 100 people in the live session and at least 30 at edtechtalk chat room. There were educators sharing what they were taking away from NECC. What other tools are attendees using to broadcast to the world? Twitter seems to be were a lot of the action is going on. People are even using twitter to find each other on the conference floor. I see twitter as a quick and dirty blog post. The only difference is that your able to see others in your network in one place and respond to what’s going on. Others are also using Skype. They are bringing friends from the outside to listen to and participate in the conference. I’ve also noticed the importance of informal meet-ups. The unconference sessions are just as good or better than the regular sessions. There is a feeling that the conference needs to somehow deposit this knowledge base somewhere so that it can be accessed later. Having uniform tagging for blog posts, pictures and hopefully podcasts will not only benefit the virtual attendee, but make all this content available for consumption at our leisure.

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Monday Wrap-up NECC 2007

There is so much buzz and energy coming out of NECC! I have been following blog posts all day and I keep coming back to the Super Stars. It must be because I have them higher on my RSS reader. Sessions that caught my attention; Classroom and Libraries for the Net Generation. Looking at the characteristics of 21st Century Learners. As teachers we either board the Web 2.0 superhighway or we are left behind. Creative Podcasting for the Elementary Set. Some cool tips on podcasts in the elementary classroom. Reinventing Project Based Learning, How do we build a global community around common themes? It isn’t about my own the teacher and student anymore. Learning transcends the classroom walls. Sowing Seeds for a More Creative Society Reminds me of “Everything I know I learned in Kindergarten” Allowing for our students and ourselves to discover our creativity is the first step in learning. I’ve gone back to my bloglines for RSS. Both the technorati and bloglines search feeds have been working great for me. I am also subscribing to new blogs I am reading. There hasn’t been a lot from the rss feeds for podcasts out of the necc site. Even the general rss feed from necc site is pretty dead. I haven’t gone back to pageflake. Nevertheless I do see possibilities.

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NECC 2007 Following Live Blogging

Busy Monday Morning! Educators are live blogging. They are transcribing sessions live and posting to their blogs while in their sessions. I remember taking notes during lectures in college. Live blogging really takes this to the next stage. If anything you can go back and digest later. For the virtual attendee; it’s a primary source of what is happening at NECC 2007. So, what did I read? 2 Cent’s Worth Session on NETS. (technology standards). It really is about the learning. It’s that old saying “reading to learn” but in a 21st century context. Technology is only a tool for learning. Crucial Thought Conversations that go on between students. It reminds me of my role as a facilitator of learning and not the “Know it All” role I sometimes take as a teacher. Cool Cat Teacher
Talk by Dr. Robert MClaughlin. Change happens at all levels. Education leaders that are aware of challenges and opportunities in Web 2.0 can foster innovation in education at their local sites. Drapes Takes Blogging about Edubloggercon with audio. It is important to network in a more relaxed way. Sessions are usually input only for the attendees. It’s cool to do output every so often.

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NECC 2007 Virtual Attendee

Hi Folks,

I’ll be following NECC 2007 from my living room this year. I’m actually on free wifi in my condo complex. So, what does it mean to be a virtual attendee? I use web 2.0 tools to follow what is happening at NECC. Besides adding rss feeds from NECC 2007 website, I am also; subscribing to search feeds in Bloglines for blog posts using necc2007 tag and I created a Pageflakes. On the pageflakes added technorati search with necc2007 necc07 and necc in the search terms. I also subscribed to these searches on Bloglines. There are also session specific tags that were contributed by Steve Hargadon. I’ll be reading what other attendees are writing in their blogs. I will listen to recorded sessions posted at NECC 2007 site and I’ll be writing my on my virtual NECC 2007 experience. I’ll be tagging with necc2007. Finally, I’ll be following NECC 2007 twitter posts and twittering.

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Coordinator’s Office Podcast #10

Final podcast on series on Read Write Web Class. Busy Monday. In Class and Prep Session for It’s Elementary Webcast. Oh Well another twitter missed opportunity. Great Networking Session. I also reflect on integrating technology in Room 36.

Listen at Coordinator’s Office #10.mp3