Mr Bass Online

I made this VoiceThread how-to to help teachers in my buildings get started using VoiceThread.com.  Feel free to use as you see fit.

Using VoiceThread (pdf)

21st Century Education, Education, Technology, Tools

Web 2.0 has been a buzzword for the last few years and none of the tools that I’m about to tell you about are necessarily new, however, sometimes it’s good to create a list for teacher use. While there are 10 tools here, I don’t mean to make this a top 10 list. Think of it more like a cross section of some of the tools that are out there. So, here, in no particular order are 10 Web 2.0 tools to engage students and make your life easier.

1. Wallwisher – Basically, this is like an online bulletin board that doesn’t require a login for students or teachers to leave a comment, message, image, music or links.

Possible uses:

• Use it as a parking lot for collaborative groups or professional development
• Post assignments
• Student reflection of an activity or daily learning
• Question forum
• Parent sign up as field trip chaperones, sign up to bring things to a party, etc.
• Interest inventory or assessment of prior knowledge

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2. Etherpad – Etherpad was a startup company that was purchased by Google last year. Google decided that they would release the code used to create Etherpad as an open source project for anyone to use. So, Etherpad.com is no longer in existence. But, there are a number of people who have taken the open source project and created their own, free Etherpad sites for public use. Two that are readily available are ietherpad.com and typewith.me. Basically, etherpad is a free online collaborative writing space which requires no login for students and is immediately updated on everyone’s screens. Just send or post the link to your webpage and anyone will be able to join and etherpad gives all users their own text color.

Possible uses:

• Brainstorming
• Schedules
• Group writing
• Group reflections
• Peer editing

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3. Weblist.me – Weblist is a bookmarking portal where a user can create smart lists from URLs, photos, music, videos, documents and files that can then be shared. The smart list is then displayed in thumbnail view for browsing, sharing, and organization.

Possible uses:

• Resource portal for assignment or lectures
• Presentation url list
• Bookmarks
• Organizing research
• Sharing images and video

Sample Smart list

• Copyright Friendly Image Search
• Math Sites for K-2

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4. Delicious – A social bookmarking site that allows you to tag and keep bookmarks like you would in a browser, but allows access on any computer with an internet connection. Each time the user bookmarks a site there is the option to categorize the site using tags that you generate that can then be sorted and searched. Each tag and bookmark list also creates an RSS feed for subscriptions.

Possible uses:

• Resource list
• Research
• Annotations
• Sharing sites with classmates

Delicious Examples:

• All My Bookmarks
• My bookmarks tagged “Google”

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5. Skype - Skype is a great instant messaging/VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) allowing you to use your computer as a phone of sorts. Using Skype you can make voice and video calls to another computer as well as communicate with any of your Skype contacts through text as an instant messaging client. When making a voice call, you can even share your screen with whomever you’ve called to show them a document or how to do something on the computer. The Instructional Technology department uses it every single day to communicate across the district.

Possible uses:

• Virtual office hours
• Remote assistance
• Video conferencing with experts
• Homework help
• Video conferencing with students who are absent (long term illness)

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6. Mailcatch – Mailcatch is a service that provides disposable email addresses so students that don’t have email addresses can sign up for services like Google Docs or Voicethread. So many services require valid email address in order to create an account and then they send a link to that email account to verify that whoever is trying to sign up for their service is actually a person and not a automated computer. I have not been comfortable having students create email addresses without their parents’ permission, yet I still want them to have access to the tools we are using. Enter mailcatch. Students can sign up with a mailcatch.com email address, but they can’t actually send email from it, they can only receive email, click the verification link and then they can sign in to the web service with an account, but no email. To see an example of how this might work, I’ve created a video that walks you through the steps to sign up for Voicethread.

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7. Glogster – Glogster is a tool that allows users to create virtual, multi-media posters that can include text, images, and video. Teachers can create glogs for their students to use and students can make glogs as class projects. Here are some examples categorized by content area.

Possible uses:

• Webquest
• Projects
• Anything that you’d normally create a print poster could be made into a glog

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8. Google Squared – Google has given educators a ton of tools for use in the classroom, but their main purpose is still a search engine. Google can find information for us in seconds, but so many times that information is spread across so many different sites that deciphering it becomes the real challenge. Google Squared is an attempt to make those search results a little more usable. When doing a search in Google Squared, the search term pulls what it sees as the relevant information and puts it into a grid with categories to organize the information. Here is an example of one I did on film makers. If you visit the site, you’ll see that the search has pulled the name, picture, description, date of birth, etc. into a grid allowing students to compare the film makers in a meaningful way without have to visit site after site. They can then use their critical thinking skills to decide what information is important and what is not. They can even change the categories, share their “squares” or export them to a separate spreadsheet program. It uses Google’s searching techniques, but organizes the information differently.

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9. Bubbl.us – Mind mapping software is not anything new, we’ve been using Inspiration in the district for years, but Bubbl.us is an online version that seems to work really well. What’s nice about this version is that it’s sharable and since it’s online, no software is required on your computer, everything is online. That means that when you (or your students) need to work on a project on different computers, there is no need to try to transfer via a flash drive or save it to server space, Bubbl.us stores it online. Just login and all your mind maps are right there. Below is an example of part of a mind map that I made as a part of a presentation that I did on writing in the 21st century. The audience gave me suggestions and we plugged them in as we went.

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10. Dropbox - Do you use more than one computer? I do. Actually, I use lots of them. Dropbox allows me to share my files across computers by syncing anything that I place in a specific folder to their webservers. The client can be installed on any number of computers and all files that are synced to the Dropbox servers are then synced across any computer (regardless of operating system) with the client installed. Additionally, all files can then be access from any computer with an internet connection as well as many mobile devices. You can also share your Dropbox folder with other people so if you’re collaborating on a project, sharing files is a snap. All files are backed up to the Dropbox service included as a part of the basic service.

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This is not an exhaustive list of Web 2.0 tools by any means but it does give you a starting point for some that are less well known. Good luck and enjoy your online journey.

This post was written in response to a request made at a technology meeting by teachers looking for some new tools to use with their students.

21st Century Education, Education, Google Tools, Online Apps, Technology, Tools Tools, web2.0

I’ve been thinking a lot about authentic audiences for the past few weeks and decided that it might help me to talk through some of my thoughts on the film festival that I run and the reasons that I think it’s so important.  If you listen, hopefully you’ll be able to learn from me and, in turn, I would like to learn from you.  Below you will find the two videos that I reference in the podcast as well as a link to the gallery of all films that were created for the film festival.  Leave me a comment or drop me an email with your thoughts about whatever comes up for you.  Thanks for stopping by.

Life of Bus One

Outsider Jeans

2010 Parkway Digital Film Festival Gallery

Authentic Audience – MP3 file

21st Century Education, Education, Film Festival, Reflections, Technology, authors audience, authenticity, podcast

Last Thursday we hosted our second film festival in the Parkway School District and, from the reaction we got from parents, teachers, students and administrators, it was a resounding success. If you’re interested in seeing some of the films, visit our gallery.

I’ve written about it before, and I’ve been trying to think about what I want to say about the work that students did for it.  The stories that we heard about the work that students did was amazing and I’m hoping to get some of those stories out, but, for now, until I decide what I really want to say about it, I’m going to refrain other than to say it was a good night. From watching my own kids walk down the red carpet, to the pride I felt knowing that we had over 1300 people in attendance as we honored the work of approximately 1000 kids, I just simply still don’t know what is the most important piece to chronicle.  So, as I think, I hope you enjoy some of the films.

Film Festival, Reflections, Technology, projects

At the end of January, I spent a week meeting with and learning from some fabulous people at the Midwest Education Technology Conference (METC) in St. Charles, MO.  In reflecting on the conference, I was thinking about some of the sessions I attended and I can’t help but wonder what conference goers want from a conference.  Is it to learn about the latest and greatest tools or is it more about strategies and concepts? As someone who presents at a variety of conferences and for a variety of groups, I spent some time watching people present and to a certain extent, analyzing their presentation styles looking for things that I might implement.

This year I’ve been thinking a lot about presentation styles and working with/leading groups.  I’ve read books like Presentation Zen and, while those have helped me think about techniques, it hasn’t really helped me think through my latest pondering, that being the responsibility of presenters to serve their audience. In one session, the speaker was describing the evils of filters and how filtering the web from students isn’t helping teach responsibility and ethics. Now let me be clear about this, I agree with this speaker. I’m not for filtering everything and I think that students miss out on a lot of information/experiences because of these filters.  However, I’m also a realist and understand that most districts are not about to completely open up the filter to the world. As a presenter, I feel as though I need another solution. What if YouTube is blocked in the district? Is suggesting breaking YouTube’s terms of service and downloading the video for use really the best idea? Sure it’s possible, but what are we then modeling? Certainly not ethical use. Is a school district likely to get sued? Probably not. Is that a good defense or justification? Definitely not.

In another session I attended, the presenter was “shocked” that sites like YouTube, Flickr and Twitter were blocked in schools. I was amazed. “How can you be shocked?”, I thought. “Are you ever in a school anymore?” More often than not, these kinds of sites are blocked for “safety reasons”. I’ve even heard of districts who’s filters are so locked down, the school website isn’t even accessible inside the district. Ridiculous.

However ridiculous, this is a reality. I hope it’s not a reality forever, but I also understand that many times, teachers have no control or say over what is blocked and unblocked. Rather than looking at them with incredulity when they ask what to do when a certain tool or site is blocked, I think it’s important to understand the plight of these teachers who desperately want to give their students access and try to help them by giving them alternatives or avenues to help them help those who make decisions to see the benefits of sites such as YouTube.

As I more time comes between me and the classroom, I’m going to try to keep my perspective and understand the limitations that teachers have based on the decisions of others.  I want to continue to work inside of schools and not just with teachers but with students as well. It’s important for those of us who are “spreading the word” to also live that life and get inside the classroom. Currently I’m working on three different presentations and will continue to keep revisit the responsibilities and understandings that I need to have about my audience so that I can answer those questions. I don’t believe that filtering online content is the way, but I also don’t want to rattle on about it with only one solution, to un-filter everything. I will be continuing to think about alternative solutions or approaches and welcome conversation about how to address the needs of classroom teachers.

21st Century Education, Education, Reflections, Technology, leadership, presentations

I know it’s been out for awhile, but over the last few months it seems that I’m inundated with references to Marzano and his Interactive Whiteboard research (sponsored by Promethean).  I have many misgivings about that research project but that’s an entirely different issue.  However, one of highlights that I found in that study is that student achievement can be enhanced through the use of an IWB when used effectively by a well trained teacher (not the exact wording, but what I took from it).

Today, I was perusing the March issue of eSchool News and found an article citing new research from Boston College suggesting that “1 to 1 laptop programs are only effective as the teachers who apply them”.  My response?  Obviously!!

I don’t know when it happened that we thought that laptops and IWB’s were going to magically educate all of our children, but it seems as though that’s the attitude by many.  I’m glad that there’s research out there to support this (I guess), but we have to realize that technology is still just a tool.  It’s kind of exciting and I, personally, love to play with the toys as much as the next person, but we must remember the most important piece of this puzzle, the teachers. Giving them a tool and walking away expecting them to use it will never be the answer. The first time I received a laptop from a school district was many years ago.  I remember going into a little room with boxes stacked everywhere and checking my laptop out. I was given a computer, a case and a cord and sent on my merry way.  There was no training, no instruction, nothing to show me how to use it effectively with my students.  I checked it out and was on my own. Luckily, I already knew my way around a computer and had been using them with students in my classroom for a number of years.  This was not the case for many of my colleagues who struggled, became frustrated and walked away from it only indulging in the frustration to take attendance.  While the district successfully checked out laptops, I considered the launch a failure because of a lack of support.

I have the privilege of spending every day supporting teachers in their endeavors.  We work through problems and find solutions. We collaborate and explore. Most importantly, they have someone who they know will support them.  I readily admit that I don’t have all the answers, but I also refuse to leave them alone to “figure it out”. There is a certain point at which professional responsibility kicks in, but for the most part, when new equipment comes in, I know that I need to make an appointment to walk through some things.

Marzano and Boston College say that teachers are the single most important factor in student achievement yet budget cuts, new initiatives and time constraints continue to impede on professional learning.  Maybe these studies will bring new light to teacher needs. But in the meantime, it’s important to remember that there is support out there by way of Nings, twitter and other online professional development groups.  Find a podcast in iTunes, read a blog, find an article that speaks to you and run with it. We don’t have time to wait for research studies to prove that teachers are important for student achievement, we know that. We don’t have time for federal, state and districts to see the need for professional learning, we need to act with a sense of urgency and take that learning upon ourselves and utilize these tools in spite of the obstacles, too much is at stake.

21st Century Education, Education, Professional Development, Technology, Tools, teaching 1 to 1 computing, marzano, research, whiteboard

Over winter break I took advantage of a little time off to upgrade one of my laptops and one of my desktops to Windows 7, Microsoft’s newest operating system.  Both of these computers were running Vista prior to their upgrade and I must say that I do like the new OS.  During the same time period, I installed Google’s Chromium OS onto a 4 gig flash drive and boot my eeepc from it.  Showing my true inner geek, I thought that it might be fun to have a 5 computers running 5 different operating systems all at the same time just to see what I thought of each one in a side by side comparison.

I booted up my eeepc with Chromium OS, started up my work XP laptop, brought out my laptop with Windows 7 installed, dug out a MacBook with OS X and set all of these up beside my desktop with Vista running.  Granted, my wife and kids looked at me like I was a little insane, but I wanted to see the differences.  What I found is that I simply don’t care.  Sure, I like having Windows 7 and the new features that accompany it, but I also like the tried and true nature of XP. OS X has some great features but, as I said, I had to dig out that computer so it’s not one that I use all the time.  Then there’s Chrome OS. As it’s in beta and really hasn’t been released, I’m sure there will be more coming in the future, but right now, I don’t see that as my primary operating system.

As I was looking at all these systems and computers, I started wondering about the operating systems that my kids will use in their futures.  Will they beg me for a Mac in the future or will they just want a computer and an internet connection?  I imagine it will be the later. Thinking about my computing habits, with the exception of some specialized software, almost all of my work is now done online. Sure, I still want to be able to launch Photoshop or do some higher end video editing, but I think that for the most part I could do 90% of what I want to using online tools. Maybe Google is onto something with their OS that’s really just a browser. Regardless, I think it’s time that schools start thinking about their computing needs differently. License fees for software and operating systems may heed way to inexpensive hardware allowing for a more integrated experience. Regardless, the idea that students or teachers NEED to have a Mac or a PC may be on its way out. Instead, they need a computing device and a broadband connection so that they can complete projects and access information at will. That may be a tablet, a phone or an ipod touch, who knows?

I’m running Windows 7 and I like it, but the more I (as an adult and an educator) don’t care about what’s running on my computer, the more I wonder how important it is to students. Mac or PC, I don’t care, just give me the web and I’m all set.

Reflections, Technology, Tools, testing chrome, operating system, OSX, vista, windows 7

I work with teachers.  I work with A LOT of teachers. The work we do together encompasses many things, but mostly, I help them integrate technology into their classrooms, their lessons, and probably most importantly, I help them figure out how to help their students learn through technological tools. This morning I lost my mind for a little while due to some frustrations that I’m having around examples that are being set for teachers. Allow me to explain.

In my district we have a web-based, website authoring tool that we has been developed by our technology department for the purpose of providing teachers with a tool to make classroom websites that are hosted on district servers.  It’s not perfect, it’s still a work in progress. Sure, there are lots of tools out there that do the same thing, but the district provides this as a free place to keep parents and students updated on assignments and the daily classroom events. Teachers can even embed video from another in-house video hosting service as well as include all the embeddable tools that litter the internet these days. Basically, it’s a pretty good system.

I recognize that this is not really the norm. Many districts don’t have these resources for teachers and I’m glad that I can provide instruction on the best use of these sites so they are not simply document repositories, but that they also include instructional components.  What bothers me is that so many times, technology people (and this is not unique to my district), because they have more technical skills, create sites and structures using tools that are not available to the teachers that they are supporting. I’ve been guilty of this in the past and will probably do it again in the future, but I’m working on making sure that, as someone who supports teachers, the tools that I demo and the sites that I create can be used by them. It’s great that I know how to program Flash and HTML, but because I support teachers, I need to use tools to support them that they can actually use. Everything I make, demo or talk about is potentially something that a teacher in my district will want to use as a tool in their classroom and with their kids. Just because I have the technical ability, doesn’t mean that I should be free to create things that are unreachable for my teachers. By doing that I’m setting an an undoable example. Those of us who work with teachers need to be mindful of what our role is in our schools and districts.

It’s fun and easy to say “look what I can do” with a piece of software. Yes, it’s fun to make pretty pictures, but when teachers ask me to help them create the kinds of opportunities for their students and their classrooms using tools that they’ve seen me use, I need to be ready to help them make their goals into a reality. I don’t want to have to tell them that a higher end tool isn’t available to them because “they’re just a teacher” and it isn’t in the budget for you.

All of us who are involved in instructional technology and supporting teachers either at the building or district levels need to be cognizant of the tools that we use. We do set and example that is in fact doable.

There, rant over.

Education, Professional Development, Reflections, Technology equality, Tools

I just spent a few days at the National Staff Development Council’s Annual Convention that was held in St. Louis this year. Overall the conference was really good. I got to hear Michael Fullan and Geoffrey Canada speak so I now have two more people who’s work I need to follow. However, there was one conversation had with another conference goer around the topic of student behavior online that I can’t seem to shake. Our conversation took place in a hallway and basically went like this…

Conference goer: What we need in my school is a better way to monitor student behavior online.

Me: What do you mean?

Conference goer: You know, when students are on the computers, I want to be sure that they stay on task. I don’t want them playing games or checking their email.

Me: How do you handle it now?

Conference goer: Basically, I kick them off the computer if they’re doing anything that what I’m asking them to do.

Me: And how’s that working for you.

Conference goer: It’s not.

Ok, so obviously, I don’t have the exact words, but I think you get the gist of it. This isn’t a new conversation, I’ve had it with many teachers and administrators in the past, but this time I’m still thinking (dwelling) on it.  So, I’d like to outline a few strategies.

1. If you really feel as though you must monitor your students every move online, get out of your chair, walk around the room and interact with students as they do their work.  Sitting at your computer checking email and surfing the web while your students work is not the answer.  Even though you can use software allowing you to “spy” on their screens, this doesn’t mean that the interaction that you have with your students should end.  Stand up and be “on task” yourself.  Your task is teaching.
2. Design lessons that are compelling enough that students will be engaged.  If they’re engaged in what they’re doing, they probably won’t feel the need to get “off task”.
3. Create opportunities for students to make connections.  If you see them as “off task” because they aren’t on the specific website that you started them on, consider that maybe the nature of the web has come into play and they’ve followed a link and are making new connections.
4. Finally, and I think this one is the most important one, instead of banning them from the use of technology, follow the code of conduct for your building.  If a student isn’t on task when they’re writing a paper, should their pencil be taken away?  No, instead, expectations are set and then there are consequences for not following through with those expectations.  Taking the tool away is not helping, it’s hindering.

This reminds me of a column I read in T.H.E. Journal entitled Don’t Filter Out Responsibility from June 2008 regarding filtering.  I think the premise is the same, as teachers we must be responsible for teaching our students how to be responsible themselves.

Education, Reflections, Technology, cyberethics

This morning I did a round table sessions at the NCTE Annual Convention on the use of various Google tools in the classroom. The session itself went very well and I had the opportunity to meet a number of teachers from around the country who are doing amazing things.  In this session I talked about a variety of Google tools, some common, some more obscure, but as I talked about each tool, I tried to give specific examples as to how it might be used in the classroom on a daily basis and, more importantly, ideas on how they could start using it immediately.  I made my best effort to give and overview of each of 8 tools in a 20 minute time period and, while I know I didn’t do any single tool the justice that I would have liked, I think I did bring an awareness of some possibilities of each tool.  As I now sit and reflect on the session, I think that was my overall goal.  There are thousands of how-to’s on all of these tools online and, truly, is a conference really the best place to show people what to click on?  I’ve seen too many conference presentations in which a presenter goes through a process of showing how to create a wiki or podcast. Luckily, at NCTE, Kylene Beers brought in Tech-to-go kiosks where people can learn about the specifics of a program or the process of a project. With the introduction of these kiosks, that really should limit the need for the how-to and give presenters far more freedom to explore possibilities and frame the content in theory and real world examples.  Now, whether I did that or not, I’m not completely sure, but I think that everyone walked away with something new, either a tool or an idea.  At least that’s my hope.

This brings me to why I present at conferences, blog and teach teachers about technology integration.  Basically, I remember being in a classroom. I remember what it was like to be so overwhelmed with grades, grading and discipline.  I remember the frustration I felt when I was told “No!” by my technology department. But I also remember coming to NCTE for the first time and feeling like my world opened up as a teacher.  I also remember trying something new with my students using technology and having it work.  I also remember how my students reacted when I told them I needed their help to try something new and how willing they were to give me feedback and help me change my practice.  All these things I remember have made me the educator that I am.  I try not to say “no” very often and I try to share my knowledge.  When I have the opportunity to present content to teachers, I want it to be worth their while, regardless of their technology proficiency, age or content area.  I want them to know the “why” as well as the “how.” And I want them to be successful so they will be willing to continue to grow in their journey. That’s why I do what I do.  It’s not groundbreaking or all that innovative, but I do believe that it’s real and that, in a small way, it helps.

21st Century Education, Education, Google Tools, NCTE, Reflections, Technology