New+Literacies+Conference+Notes

= New Literacies Conference: = NERD Center, Cambridge MA. June 21-25, 2010

Five Shrewsbury teachers attended this conference, which spurred the creation of this Wiki. Below are some of our running notes from the week - feel free to read through them and comment on the various ideas and observations!

**Running Notes / Ideas - NewLit**

**The Big Picture:**

**Ideas / Notes**
 * Many systems here have a technology leader - someone who's job it is to facilitate the use of various online tools and hardware among staff. In our district, we have Raj handling the hardware and tech issues behind the scenes, but we need people to spearhead its use in the building. Otherwise, what happens is we get PD on various tools (like the Google Docs thing that Jeremy and I ran) but then it just fades into the background. Would it be possible to create some sort of stipended position? Jeremy and I would gladly take lead on this - we could run some PD sessions after school or during one of our prep blocks, introducing people to a specific tool, application, or tweak, and then be available for support and follow up during set times (say 1 prep per week - on a floating basis - to go in and help a teacher design or implement a tool, or refine its use - or run a mini session for a team at one of their meetings).... and support sessions at the end of the day if needed. We could also set up a webpage on our 8 Gold site listing the available tools, with descriptions and links for download. We would also be available for help - set up (I know, we've tried this before...) a board or Blog, where folks can post questions about tech. Maybe by setting it up this way, we'd draw in more users looking for specific help.
 * We need to transition some of the online literacy to a whole school - curriculum elements for grade 7 and grade 8. As Chris and I discussed, can become focus for my phase 4 - work with Nancy Bedard to design and implement some curriculum items specific to each grade's needs.
 * One impediment - as noted below - is the laptops. They are old, and slow. Is there any interest in having the district to encourage more personal laptops among students? Can Shrewsbury as a district look to align itself with a computer company, and get a discount for students to purchase one? As Jess points out, the way a number of schools handle musical instruments is a sort of lease to own - is that a possibility, with some sort of support for families of limited economic means? Personal ownership would take care of a number of issues (and raise some others, I know).
 * I would like to explore the option of letting students bring in their own laptops on certain days when we know we will need them. Students know our laptops are very slow, and it's becoming more of a burden to rely on them. If students were encouraged to bring in their own, I'd say about half of them might bring it in. (Jeremy)

> > ===**Seven Pieces of the TPACK Pie**=== See TPACK overview for full info from presentation
 * We've been discussing (in ELA mtgs) how to get kids to read more - the underlying issue is this literacy has been seen as an ELA issue but reading is vital across curriculum. Can't fall into same trap with new literacies - needs to be across curriculum and foundational in order to be effective. Inquiry based, research driven learning should be in all subject areas and seamless.
 * Barrier - poor quality / dependability of outdated laptops (7 years old?) - unreliable on a daily basis. Can we widen sources
 * MLK search - false page - start of year / wakeup for research skills. Demo coupled with plagiarism lesson...
 * update plagiarism lesson to MND / Persimmon Research Asst - sample docs from this year.
 * Cool intro: 1) Search for height of Mt. Fuji. 2) Find a different height of Mt. Fuji. 3) Determine which height you believe is correct and explain why.
 * Streamline UPT research piece for focus on evaluation / basic doc skills - VERY limited topic and search tool.
 * incorporate think aloud? Rotating roles allow for 1:5 student ratio - dedicate one group work day per week / section cycle to working strictly with the research role kids - day 1 of each section.
 * begin w/ whole class inst - 1-2 day kickoff for unit.
 * Need dev user guide - search docs at UConn etc. for usable base
 * Replace one role with Glogster poster - with content guidelines???
 * assume character perspective at point in time - Najmah or Nusrat
 * Location based (Pashawar, etc)
 * What if the entire group produces a Glogster poster, with elements from each required role?
 * Phase 3 of tech - pairing of UTPT with school / contact in Afghanistan / Pakistan? Use [|Epals]
 * Create webpage of commonalities / differences between cultures, bridging cultures via texts in G7 social studies / ELA or G8 units
 * Via epals - link up with 3-4 teachers around world, then have classes send weekly summaries of what's going on in classes. Composing the emails & then receiving, compiling, and sharing them are part of the OL skillset. Creates familiarity with discussions across cultures. Can be limited in scope - weekly, daily, etc. as needed. Use to bridge into sister school setup?
 * Can district give teachers access to Apple Remote site - so we can project a student's find / design for entire class to see real time?
 * With reps here from multiple subjects, can anchor the online literacy into each core content area.
 * Potential to design tool-based enrichment classes - glogster, research tools, etc.
 * Inquiry Topics - will pair w/ 1 other institute member for design & implementation
 * Initial competency - discerning sites / plagiarism vs fair use
 * UTPT - research topic based in UTPT - initial to build skills and ID strengths / weaknesses
 * UTPT / SF unit - Glogster role - initial at UTPT refinement w/ SF unit - literary analysis and discussion postings
 * Here is a [|GREAT site] for 21st century skills - tutorials for doing net research, etc - check it out!
 * **TPACK**: The ability to flexibly draw from and integrate knowledge of Technology, Pedagogy, and Content into your curriculum and instructional practices (Mishra & Koehler, 2006)
 * **Content [C]**: subject matter to be learned
 * **Technology [T]**: foundational and new technologies
 * **Pedagogy [P]**: purpose, values & methods used to teach and evaluate learning
 * **PCK:** What pedagogical strategies make concepts difficult or easy to learn?
 * **TCK:** How is the content represented and transformed by the application of technology?
 * **TPK:** What pedagogical strategies enable you to get the most out of existing technologies for teaching & evaluating learning?
 * **TPACK**: Understanding the relationship between elements -- “a change in any one factor has to be ‘compensated’ by changes in the other two”

**New Literacies - Online Comprehension Session** > – What is the broader context of these claims? – How do these claims compare to information found elsewhere?  -- How do I feel about these ideas?
 * Where do traditional and the online literacies intersect?
 * Use the skills kids bring - many struggling readers are actually stronger at the online literacy, designed for efficiency as opposed to the in depth, long chapter reads - sprint, not marathon. Take struggling readers and ID their strengths in online literacy, and have them as student leaders.
 * One Click - Quick game for kids - discerning good sites. If you only had 1 click, which site would you go to and why for (question of inquiry)
 * When asking about online content - research, etc. Frame the evaluation as follows: • **Negotiating and Appreciating Multiple Perspectives** – What are the important ideas? (or claims) – How does the author shape these claims? -- claims - not facts - until verified elsewhere!
 * See "reading Across Multiple Perspectives" ppt.
 * Perspective site -- controversial issues, from multiple perspectives: [|Procon >]
 * Perhaps better suited for HS given complexity of topics.
 * Webspiration as tool for discussion - build web/diagram for inquiry with linked texts... redesign for unit website? Similarly, could be used - or a Wiki - to have an interactive instruction sheet for essay / research topic, etc - with embedded links for information about set topics. See conference Wiki for example. (see [|DD Online Reading Talk] power point for info noted in here)
 * Using handout for the information challenge (download from conf wiki page) -- context and purpose - clarify meaning for kids. We debated what context meant on internment site (pbs documentary). Need to teach where to go to find authorship and background behind a site. "Who created this site? Why did they create it? What tells you that this site is / is not a good source? Is that person an expert on this topic?" Something along these lines would be very useful for the MLK site.
 * Could do across teams collaboration - discussions / wikis between teams and between grades... See DD Online Reading Talk ppt for some great cross-class / cross-school tools
 * epal has lots of collaborative ideas... for science, check out global warming / climate change - Jeremy
 * **Foreign language classes** - partner with school in native tongue - build cultural connections while strengthening language skills
 * Similarly, for **social studies** grade 7 - connect directly with cultures being studied: see slide in PD for example (teacher in Kenya)
 * In2Books for **ELA** discussions across cultures / schools, based in books.
 * Check out Wayland Student Press Network for online school mag (unofficial, with unpaid advisor).
 * Design / Product Work:**
 * For NFN, redesign from simple search of infotrac to develop a guiding question for inquiry, conduct search, evaluate source (1) and report.
 * Part of product will be to document process by which site was selected -- why they chose the one they chose (accompanying handout for tracking process, along with think aloud)
 * Focus on author's purpose, and perspective - context

**Day 2 Keynote** __Instructional Challenges:__
 * Resources - backchannel [|chat room for discussion]Dr. Sara Kajder -- always has chat area / **discussion board** for students. Need to find better ways to get 8 Gold students involved on discussion board - perhaps open to another team as well? With discussion threads specific to team(s) when needed, but overlap - for subject support - across teams. Allows for a more broad-based support between teachers and students... Could have some pitfalls - increases likelihood of comparison / contrast across teams, between teachers - could be uncomfortable, but is this a bad thing?
 * [|ipadio] - allows people to upload phone interviews - use cell phone to interview / report, then it can be uploaded to google map etc - passworded when necessary - good for living histories, surveys, etc...
 * Create a facebook / Ning for a a character in the novel - could be **another role in the literature circles..**. character profile via online social network. Replace the scrapbook entry with this.--I love this idea (ABW)
 * There is an app that tracks the social sites a person visits - good for awareness - have students install and use it for x period, so they can see a visual representation of how they spend their online time.
 * [|"Help with bowdrill set"] on Youtube - kid posted video of himself trying to start fire w/ bowdrill, to get help - for someone to point out what he was doing wrong. No personal ID - has kept himself safe online - and attracted over 9k responses. Kid is 3 grades below level in conventional reading, but is literate online. How to capture this energy... self directed inquiry.
 * Voice stream - audio portfolio possibility? Might be cumbersome, but the possibility of a short powerpoint of key learnings / products, which a student narrates, is intriguing.
 * [|Evernote] -- **free online tool for storing annotations etc.** Another option, for Diigo or Zotero? Worth trying out... Students with Kindle / IPad can annotate text online, and save those notes in evernote, organized and searchable.
 * Online / Digital Creations - __New Literacies Practices Toolkit__:
 * Authentic audience
 * Multimodal composing
 * Consumption and attention literacies
 * interest driven participation
 * Clickable footprint - putting knowledge to work through digital artifacts
 * Book Talks - replaced conventional persuasive oral report with design of a promotional movie trailer to convince the viewer to read the book. Needless to say, educators need to adapt what they assess and how, but such flexibility in our frameworks should be possible. __We could have New Literacies standards that are threaded through the core course areas,__ or create a flexible framework in which assessments in a class can feed into another class - so, designing a web product in ELA can be communicated to a computer class, as an assessment tool created in partnership with the tech teacher. As long as the rubric / assessment category is designed by the teacher whose subject reports out, the tool itself should be usable in other subject areas.
 * **Co-Constructed Criteria:**
 * How do students bring together mode and content with purpose and audience? (content)
 * Purposeful design, structure, coherence (technology)
 * Rich reflection (even down to word level in script) - set goals and outcomes.
 * __//Since schools won't allow posting to Youtube etc., need an in-house server for district, where students can post, share, and critique one another's creations . This would give them an audience - which modern kids crave and are comfortable with - while controlling the population that is viewing it.//__
 * [|The Alice Project]: Students created an online annotated __Alice in Wonderland__ - started as a minor online expression of student ideas based on reading the text, expanded into a forum used by students across a wide geographic area. Worth exploring.
 * [|Website] for keynote speaker with related texts and notes.

**Digging Deeper Session II: New Literacies & Social Networking** **Jing & Skitch**
 * Overview page for session - background and info.
 * Online Identity - critical to get students to really grasp that they have an online ID - perhaps through googling themselves, or a site like spokeo...
 * Session objective - realize and shape one's online identity - controlling digital footprint.
 * Some good articles about online identity and its impacts are posted on the issues page of the Wiki
 * Blip.fm: online radio site, where anyone can DJ / post play lists -- possible use as tool to create a "sound track" for a character / text / issue?
 * 64% of teens 12-17 have created online content.
 * Resources for online identity management, support or kids / students, etc.
 * We need to add a cyber safety / identity resource page to 8Gold.org, if not the school page itself.
 * Check out part III - classroom w/o borders section of overview page - sites for reaching out to classrooms and educators globally
 * Jing: screen capture tool - video or shots, and can annotate captured content. Useful for creating how-to's online. Works with screencast, w/ 2Gb of free storage. Captures audio & video - internal mic for narration. Gives embed codes, as well as quick email from screencast.
 * Tutorials for how to use these tools can be found here.
 * Can do a couple tutorials for the webpage, google doc registration, discussion board sign-up...
 * A tool / interactive assessment for kids to critically evaluate websites is [|here]. This was created using Jing / screencast.
 * [|Facilitator's webpage] - note the hoax sites built by 7th grade students...
 * A site for creating a cute avatar -- create, then screen capture to use...[|meez.com]

**Mass One**
 * VHD on MassOne site - storage space, can set up discussion board (locked to only registered viewers) and space for electronic deposit of assgts.
 * Can create surveys - but does not compile results; exports as csv.
 * teacher domain has lessons / units... although search of site didn't reveal a whole lot I can use.
 * Meez + Jing = cute avatars for 8Gold.com & discussion board. Oh boy.

**a couple key ideas for the fall:**
 * thought for in the fall - set up some team times - modified schedule at the start of the year - to run how-to seminars for 8 Gold kids - setting up google docs, the discussion board, and some key tools. .. to be decided by team. Also focus on Internet safety, how to assess websites, online identity... basics of use and research. A couple time slots per week? If we could reserve the 2 computer labs, we could cover 50% of team at once. Perhaps pair students at each computer, so we can hit all kids in the course of a period - need to look at logistics. Eventually, this should be handled via media center, with seminars for each team, and a staggered approach - basics of online use for grade 7, and some more specific research info for grade 8?
 * Another thought from the ride in - use blog or Wiki instead of learning journal - have kids post entries regarding their work in classes... each kid will need their own page, which only they and the teachers can access. Perhaps a Glogster poster of their work?
 * Need to invite world language teachers who have 8 Gold students onto discussion board.

**Keynote: Day 3 "Global Competencies as a New Literacy"** >>> --Al Ramirez, 2009 >>> [China 2005] >>> High school curriculum reform >>> Among the problems targeted by the reforms: >>> • Overemphasis on knowledge transmission >>> • Too many required and uniform courses, which limited students’ individual development >>> • Too much overlapping content, resulting in excessive coursework burden on students >>> • Overemphasis on the value of individual discipline, resulting in too little interdisciplinary and >>> social integration >>> Remedies: >>> • Credit system >>> • More electives, fewer required courses >>> • Local subjects/school based curriculum >>> • Integrated studies >>> • New subjects (art, environment, technology, etc)
 * Link for [|keynote] speaker - Yong Zhao
 * Onion News Network - Could be very useful for showing the need to question sources and meaning - [|study showing kids don't want healthcare] - could be very useful for seeing context and meaning - grab kids at start of lesson analyzing online sites
 * [|Slide presentation] from his discussion - arguments against "Race to the Top" and totally data-driven ed reform.
 * By focusing on math / ELA standards, other subjects go by the wayside.
 * moving towards nationalized education -
 * Our children won’t read better because Congress serves as the national school board. Nor will they learn more mathematics with the president as the national superintendent of schools. We risk making things worse across the country by giving up more policy control for education to the federal government. By centralizing our system of education, we put the whole nation at risk, should Beltway bureaucrats and policy pundits guess wrong about curriculum, instruction, and the range of policy decisions associated with public education.
 * Crisis of faith in public education - seen through the "accountability" piece - that teachers are able but unwilling to make big changes. (Although there is a thread of this, certainly in Oak, and in all schools - settle into a comfort zone and resist change. Union is a good example of this on occasion...)
 * Domestic Achievement Gap - misguided in focusing only on schools... (again, relevant point - but the ed system is the only part of the child's life that can be dissected and regulated, so blame is focused in that direction, rather than the more ambiguous facets of home etc)
 * See above presentation - nice chronology of 'fear of other' - 1958 vs USSR, 1983 vs Japan, etc - tracking how - again and again - the US kids are falling behind other nations, whichever nation is the current feared 'other.'
 * Check out [|his blog] for a number of interesting posts about ed reform - *and check out the tag cloud - pretty cool! Useful on 8Gold.org?
 * US dominates in royalties / patents - export of knowledge / ideas, while China dominates in making toys - mass production via loose environmental regulations and cheap labor.
 * Chinese ed reform (taken from slide show):
 * In December 2002, the Chinese Ministry of Education issued a policy designed to reform assessment and evaluation in elementary and secondary schools. This document, entitled Ministry of Education’s Notice Regarding Furthering the Reform of Evaluation and Assessment Systems in Elementary and Secondary Schools, calls for alternative assessments that go beyond simply testing academic knowledge. It specifically forbids ranking school districts, schools, or individual students based on test results or making test results public.
 * See additional slides for ways that the nations we are using as "other" threats are moving away from the reforms the US is now doing - in an effort to get to where the US IS - creative thinking, autonomy, self-driven human resources - which is where the US has excelled.
 * Could be worth reading [|his book] for a full exploration of American education in the age of globalization - may order one.
 * Critical traits: Diversity of talents, creativity, entrepreneurship, passion.
 * Another potential read: [|The Rise of the Creative Class]
 * Education needs to fuel this - adaptability and creativity; thoughtful risk taking
 * Need to value multiple measures of success, individual talents, individual differences... (he sees school talent shows as important - showcase individual strengths that aren't assessed in standardized tests / core curriculum...
 * A standardized approach to education - regimentalized tests in only core areas deemed critical - flies against this.
 * key question — why would the world’s employers pay us more than they have to pay the Indians to do their work?
 * If we are focused on a global competition in education, based on standardized testing... we can't compete - we need to offer something different.
 * Ebay example - vs garage sale - at garage sale, neighbors may have same junk as you, so it doesn't sell - but ebay takes your junk and makes it global - so it becomes unique.
 * Need more people who can bridge cultural and linguistic barriers for global economy
 * “Foremost amongst these “global competencies” are the abilities to communicate effectively across linguistic and cultural boundaries, to see and understand the world from a perspective other than one’s own, and to understand and appreciate the diversity of societies and cultures. Students need to appreciate the interdependence of nations in a global economy and to know how to adapt their work to a variety of cultures” (University of Wisconsin-Global Competence Task Force, 2008, p.3).

**Digging Deeper: New Literacies & Video/Multimedia in the Classroom** **Zotero** **Glogster**
 * See Wiki page for background
 * Use of flip camera to create short video presentations. Kids can also use their cell phones to record video.
 * Group activity - assigned roles:
 * Facilitator - Guide the group to complete the process and collaboratively answer the question within the designated time frame.
 * Time Keeper - Keep the group on schedule.
 * Provocateur - Help provoke the group to think deeply about what they are learning.
 * Scriptwriter - Take the lead in creating the group's constructed response.
 * Videographer - Take the lead in directing/recording the group's 45 second video response.
 * Issue - for a compressed (20 minutes) assignment, having each group focus on an in-depth issue (US intervention somewhere) didn't make a whole lot of sense - for a long-term project, this could work.
 * See wiki page for links to articles & tools...
 * Animoto - 30 second video creation tool... stored onsite. IF you pay $30 per year, downloadable and expandable.
 * Could be used to recreate mini segments from a book, a video review, etc.
 * Key feature - can create groups - class based, or smaller (small research topic groups) and give them access to parts of your Zotero library, and they can access one another's documents. Can comment and post notes to one another in the group as well.
 * In Medieval unit, could create research role-based groups so all researching X topic, across different classes or teams, could share data sources and help one another out.
 * Links with Word so material can be imported, and does citations with a click on toolbar -- in text and bibliographic. Can change to different styes (APA, MLA) at touch of button.
 * Use google docs to make a scaffolded form - the students can research and then enter information and analysis into the form, with citations, as a scaffolded assessment.
 * Side note - you can buy 80 gig of space for 20 bucks.
 * Download word add-on after startup.
 * See Wiki page for this tool.
 * Make sure to use glogster's edu site - gives you control over content.
 * See [|handout] - __designed to bring back to districts,__ and used with teachers as an intro
 * Teacher can create up to 200 student accounts, automatically linked to you, per registration. Each student is given own login, which teacher can change.
 * May be a good idea to have a lead teacher on team handle the acct - that way, each student has one login for all their glogs, and each teacher on team can share the login access.
 * See this Wiki for access to a ton of different tools - a busy Glog, but may be worth digging through.
 * Very intuitive -- should be fairly easy to get students going with minimal support - introduce it, logins, and basic overview should be enough. Perhaps add tech help section onto discussion board ...

**Voicethread** > >
 * [|Voicethreads] can be made public or private
 *  You can upload pictures from your computer or online photos from Flickr, FB, etc.
 * Three kinds of comments: audio (computer microphone or cell phone), video (webcam), or text
 * Upgrading to an educator account will increase the number of Voicethreads from 3 to 50
 *  We can either pay for an educator account ($60/mo?) or we can create numerous “identities” for students to use. Not sure though if we get 80+ identities, and only one identity can post a response at a time.

**Animoto** > > >  **Keynote 4: "Reaching Diverse Students: Reading and Learning with Digital Tools and Media "**
 * [|Animoto] makes "slideshow movies" using text, pictures, and video clips.
 * You can get a free educator account which allows you to make longer movies.
 * Use this to replace slideshow on 8 Gold homepage?
 *  Could also be used for vocabulary
 * [|CAST UDL Book builder] - can create supported text for various level readers.
 * [|Image Detective] - for social studies - images from various time periods, with hotspots built in that give clues, and additional information
 * Focused instructional design for creating NING and avatar, and then explain it -- limits aimless wandering...
 * central regional school district -

I just had another great idea for using Google Docs too. Imagine if every kid actually had their own laptop. When they take notes, they could do it on Google Docs and "share" a document with their friends or table group. They could have a running set of notes they could all utilize and help each other with.

Interesting thought -- collective notes? A group-build? Yeah, kind of like what we're doing now. Good point. It has potential -- as different people will note different things, and catch points others will miss... and it would give the teacher a depository of notes from the class, as a way to check for understanding and help students who may have been out or missed something.

ANother idea...have students do something to make visual vocabulary. I was thinking of having them make quick little videos though this may be hard in Science. Then, I thought about ME creating something visual for them and I was thinking of using Animoto. I could have text slides which each vocab word (atom, molecule, etc) followed by an image slide. Hmmm....

Check out this site: it's a [|great acronym] for evaluating websites, and catchy!

**Teacher Leader Forum:** **DOE Spokesperson** **Microsoft Spokesperson**s **Walkabout Notes:** **Wrap Up** = **Other Useful Tools / Sites** =
 * [|pollster.com] (students can use cellphones as "Clickers"?)
 * Moodle - Joe had discussed this, as had Bob C - is this moving in the district?
 * Apple sponsors [|challenge-based learning] for high schools (not sure about MS) -- worth a look? Hopkinton had Apple come in for a 2 day session.
 * MA part of 26 state consortium to develop a new test - testing beyond the MCAS, into more critical thinking areas. Will then be "field tested" over 4 years - supplement to MCAS (please no. I'd like to teach something in May)... why does everything need another standardized test???
 * **Microsoft Institute:** 3 day seminar here August 11-13. Focusing on school reform - issues of scale (replication across school or district), people (hiring and PD), and technology - some of Microsoft's free offerings for the classroom
 * Overview of NERD and its roles
 * see the [|partners in learning network]
 * MS Office add-on: "[|learning essentials]"
 * Math add ons
 * [|Worldwide telescope] - for 7th grade social studies?
 * [|dreamspark] - downloadable tools for educators
 * followup sessions will probably be in Waltham.
 * Jing can be used to create frame-by-frame transformation video, such as adding Qs/analysis to a screen shot
 * For enrichment, create list of web 2 tools - pairs are assigned a tool, have to explore / learn it and then create a presentation to teach it to the other kids.
 * Final product is a 45 minute training session the students run
 * need to have students registered prior to lesson to streamline
 * group must create some online instruction tool / handout / wiki as reference.
 * Revamp teen issue pages into Glogsters on website - more interactive and eye catching.
 * Directions for 3-2-1 action plan are on Thursday's Wiki
 * See [|NLI Ning] for discussion boards, more cool tools, etc.
 * See main page for grad credit forms.
 * Create text cloud of words from ELA class eval this year - post on ELA page? 8 Gold main page?


 * [|Cool text] - nice freebie site for fonts.
 * Alphabetic list of potential tools
 * [|Dropbox] - Jeremy's find -- very cool 2 gig storage, accessible for any computer, free.
 * [|Evernote] - online note system - along the lines of Diigo / Zotero, but less research -focused.
 * [|Google Moderator] - Interesting collaboration tool - could be worth exploring
 * [|Vimeo] - video sharing software
 * [|You tube grabber] - lets you download a video from Youtube to use in the classroom...
 * [|You Send It] - service for sending large files - up to 100 mb file is free.
 * Tagxedo - Like Wordle, only you can turn your text into images
 * Storyjumper - create your own online children's book
 * Timetoast - create interactive timelines for any topic
 * Wix - A Flash-based alternative to Wikispaces - very pretty...


 * Melissa's very spare notes.**
 * Literacy is the ability to take in information, and to communicate. There are other skills that support more effective and efficient literacy, but ultimately its receptive and expressive language. You need to be able to locate evaluate, synthesize and communicate
 * "New literacy” refers to the constantly changing and growing digital information that can consist of words, audio, and visual data--moving and still pictures, sound support for receiving and communicating information efficiently. The skills needed for comprehending New Literacy include locating, evaluating, synthesizing, communicating.


 * Glog


 * Twitter--#NLI10@newlit


 * Group 2 Social networking and web identity—Important for students and teachers to understand the web identity that they have. Google yourself—google a student. Think about the reader. Is what is presented something you would want a co-worker or interviewer to think about you? Is someone posting false information? Be aware of the impression that you are making with your web identity.


 * Ning will be going to a fee, however they are offering a free educator membership that has to be closed to a specific number of followers. Offering will occur in about 2 weeks.


 * Twitter-Benefits and drawbacks to 140 word message. The pace detracts from particpant’s ability to reflect before posting.


 * Facebook—Concept of proprietorship and who owns your information.


 * Global classroom links (refer to listed links


 * Publizen—public citizen

In part of the notes above, you mentioned pairing with another school somewhere else in the world to share cultural experiences, etc. Would it be possible to connect with another teacher/teachers and share feedback about student work, curriculum, resources, instructional challenges, etc? Would be very interesting to see/hear what another educator thinks about our students' writing...
 * Teenangels—Teens teaching cybersafety
 * ClaimID
 * InternetArchive
 * UsernameAvailability
 * Anne's question-idea**
 * Anne's question-idea**

Yes - that would be possible - we can certainly look into it... across cultural barriers, some of that may be fairly difficult... more localized may be better for looking at specifics of student work.

__**Action Items:**__
 * __//REVIEW THESE NOTES AND TRANSLATE KEY POINTS INTO ACTION ITEMS//__
 * 8Gold.org - design work - create tool page, with descriptors and links.
 * secondary pages with how-tos (search youtube, or create using Jing as needed)
 * update ELA links & pages - need to upload new ppts to google docs, look at embedding feedback area into site
 * new flash / video for main page - via animoto?
 * Meez - each teacher needs animated avatar, and short bio for "about us" page
 * Blog site? Online learning journal?
 * Communicate with World Languages about involvement on discussion board, and explore involving a 2nd team
 * Poll & email to former 8 Gold - about hike dates, and tool usage (get some students to test run some and evaluate?)
 * Schedule work -
 * preliminary design & assess potential lunch shift for impact on time-in-learning
 * Check w/ team about building in training time for netiquette, research basics, and tool registrations / training over first few weeks of school.
 * Enrichment:
 * Design Web 2.0 tools class and materials
 * Item design
 * streamline Prezi and lessons to echo CRAAP outline - common language for website assessment
 * design handouts & short manual based on above.
 * Building-Wide
 * Phase 4 - Design curriculum for 7 & 8 with Nancy Bedard
 * Follow up about potential to lead on tech training & support for teachers

**__Jeremy's Ideas:__**

Some other things I would like to consider... Information & Ideas - For Student/Teacher Page (7/22)
 * Set up a wiki for the Science department to "house" all of our materials. We could make it private so only us teachers and admin have access. We could use this, rather than the black hole we call the server, to put up all of our tests, objectives, resources, ideas, etc.
 * I have long been interested in blogs/wikis and how to get students to use them. This week has inspired me to look into this more. I established a reflective blog of my own where I will be writing about things that work and don't work for me while I take on technology, inquiry, best practices, etc. in a standards-based classroom.
 * It is my goal to gets students blogging at some point in the next year or two. This may act as their "learning journal" where they reflect on their goals or may evolve into an e-portfolio for science.


 * EXCELLENT info and handouts located at [|Free Tech for Teachers]
 * Google Search tool - Google Web - include in early sessions for kids.
 * Making Videos on the Web - his PDF has a clear how-to for Animoto - done using Jing.
 * Memoov - short, animated videos in which kids can use their own voices. Could b e very useful in foreign language classes.
 * Sites to check out - School tube, teacher tube, next vista. Next Vista wants videos of community service work - document our work with Project Give?
 * From 12 essential tools pdf:
 * drop.io - check it out for communication home... and to students. audio, video, text. Might we want to replace our newsletter with a blog?
 * snagfilms --- streaming access to documentaries (National Geographic, etc) - great for previewing & showing, and saving $$$]
 * dotsub.com -- gives subtitles to films / shorts -- explore for use in FL and ESL classes.

May 6 Follow Up Session  *Focus is on new literacies - literacy - not the technology (then why has everything focused on the cool tools? I agree this SHOULD be the focus) *DOE came yesterday to Oak to look at Assistments and see about creating something for wider use. **Roadblocks / problems:** * Difficulties uploading media - workaround for in-school barriers was to have kids do it from home *Network in school gets bogged down by the amount of wireless tech now in the building (smartphones, etc.) *Once kids get a taste of the project-based approach, they don't want to go back... *We have a number of students with their own laptops, because kids were so frustrated with the school's technology... *What should be the rules around using smartphones and accessing the web etc. that way? *Use of smartphones for basic tools - the IPhone app that emulates the TI83, camera, book, stopwatch functions... etc. - makes sense to harness these. *There will be bandwidth allocation issues with all the materials - this is where using an intranet system for calendars, etc - rather than google docs, which has people reaching out to the web and taking bandwidth. Videos etc are a big hog on bandwidth. *Putting limits on bandwidth allocations per student account makes sense, and eliminating open access. **Big AHAs:** *Globally, our system is adjusting the acceptable use policy to include online publishing of student work (w/o names attached) etc. But what do you do with kids who aren't given permission for access from home? They get an alternative paper assignment - this usually results in people changing their minds and then signing the form. * **Advice for next year:** *Comprehensive list of cool tools, on the Ning. *Underlying ethos of institute needs to stay the same - people evolving with the technology... a re-envisioning of the pedagogy on a consistent basis *Inclusion of apps / use of smartphones etc. *More time on the New Literacies, less on the cool tools. Focus more on online literacy and safety, how to evaluate websites for class use, etc. *Focus beyond the class level - ways to support / streamline communication between teachers and staff... *Focus on basics - that can help teachers with one another, shortcuts on keyboards, etc. Clarify expectations between leaders and those in the seminars - lack of clarity in expectations. Make the communication clearer - why have 2 different portals (Ning and Wiki) *Can we have some indicators for ease-of-use on tools *Less conversation on why to use tech - people here are already good with that.