West Central Region

2008 Teaching & Technology Conference

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 10:41:24 -0600

Tuesday, I presented Creative Ways to Use Electronic Portfolios in the Classroom and What in the World? Google Earth, GPS and Geocaching in the Classroom for the 2008 TNT Conference here in Bismarck. I have attached my presentations as well as my resource links. Please let me know if you have questions. I'd especially like to know about your experiences with these technology tools.

Creative Ways to Use Electronic Portfolios in the Classroom

Electronic Portfolios Presentation.ppt

Electronic Portfolios R&R.doc

Google Earth, GPS and Geocaching in the Classroom

What in the World.ppt

What in the World R&R.doc

Real Connections: Delivery Models and Enriched Content with Distance Learning

Fri, 16 May 2008 10:12:27 -0600

K-12 teachers are invited to join us this summer in learning about "Real Connections: Delivery Models and Enriched Content with Distance Learning". This two-day workshop will be conducted by videoconference in locations across the state on August 11–12, 2008. Participants have the option to attend one or both days.

The workshop will be conducted by videoconference at the following locations:
*Cavalier High School
*Berg Elementary, Dickinson
*NDSU, Fargo
*Minot Extension Center

Registration is on a first come, first serve basis. Workshop cost for both days is $80 or $60 for a single day payable to EduTech. One graduate credit is available upon completion of the two-workshop. Graduate credit cost is $65 payable to North Dakota State University. Lunch is on your own. Participants are encouraged to bring their laptops.

To register, get more information or for special accommodations, contact Kari Sauer at 800.804.8550 or kari.sauer@sendit.nodak.edu. Register through EduTech's online dashboard http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/training/register/ by August 1. Topics and more is available at Real Connections: Delivery Models & Enriched Content with Distance Learning http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/pdf/video/edut_4829_flyer.pdf .

Podcasting Possibilities

Thu, 10 Apr 2008 10:43:14 -0600

A list of resources to utilize when you are just getting your feet wet with using podcasting in your classroom:

http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-11293_7-6246557-1.html?tag=bnav
Step by step podcasting directions and a wealth of links.

http://www.edublogs.org
A free hosted blog solution for any educator or researcher.

http://www.addysg.org.uk/ipodined/news.php
Discusses using iPods and Podcasting in education.

http://learninginhand.com/podcasting
Contains information about podcasting in education and links to podcasts and podcast directories.

http://www.epnweb.org
The Education Podcast Network brings together podcast sites for teachers.

http://esp.mit.edu/web/discoveresp/studentpodcasts.html
Educational Studies Program, MIT Middle and High School students from MIT produce podcasts as part of an Educational Studies Program.

http://www.power-team.org/kidcast/kidcast.htm
Elementary students using podcasts to develop reading fluency.

http://www.stager.org/podcasting.html
Gary S. Stager Podcasting resources for educators and students

http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/tips.html
Apple Education Essential tips for podcast lovers

http://www.liberty.k12.mo.us/~elanghorst/blog
Speaking of History Middle school students produce history podcasts

http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio
Radio WillowWeb Elementary students create podcasts. Tony Vincent is the first teacher to have student podcasts in iTunes.

http://www.smithsonian.org/podcasts/default.htm
A collection of podcasts from the Smithsonian

http://www1.gcs.k12.al.us/~podcast/
Gadsden City Schools "Podcast Central" contains elementary students podcasts.

http://school.discovery.com/schrockguide/evalpodcast.html
Kathy Schrock posted a guide to evaluating podcasts.

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help
Audacity documentation, tutorials, and a wiki are found on this page.

http://www.learninginhand.com/ipod/audio.html
Downloadable audio content like music and historic speeches and sounds.

Movie Making Music

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 11:03:24 -0600

Here is a list of sites with music that can be used in videos and podcasts. Be sure to check the license agreements for each site.

http://creativecommons.org/legalmusicforvideos
-many musicians choose to release their songs under Creative Commons licenses, which give you the legal right to do things like use their music in your videos.

Freeplay Music
-a good collection of royalty-free music

Soundzabound
-royalty free music for education grades K-12

MagnaTune
-another good collection of music

Download.com
-and another

Partners in Rhyme
-royalty free music and sound effects

Free piano music by William Cushman at Ghost Notes Blog
-royalty free impressionistic improvisational piano music by composer, William Cushman, that explores different feelings and situations.

NDATL Resources

Tue, 08 Apr 2008 06:15:34 -0600

Today, I will be presenting at the North Dakota Association of Technology Leaders Conference in Bismarck. My presentations are entitled, "What in the World? Google Earth, GPS and Geocaching in the Classroom" and "Creative Ways to Use Electronic Portfolios in the Classroom".

Here are the Resource and Reference Links to these presentations:

What in the World.doc

Electronic Portfolios.doc

SMART Board™ Podcasts & Lessons

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:32:24 -0600

Recently I taught a SMART Board™ workshop and found a great website that contains a weekly SMART Notebook™ lesson, a podcast and resource links. Here is the site address: http://pdtogo.com/smart/ The podcast can be delivered automatically to your iTunes or email address. Past lessons can be searched by category.

Also, on March 7, 2008, SMART Technologies began working with Scholastic to design lesson plans that provide teachers with digital resources to complement their SMART Board™ interactive whiteboards and Senteo™ interactive response systems. The microsite features SMART lesson activities for Notebook™ collaborative learning software, resources to help with lesson activity creation and links to customizable tools and templates. Math and science lesson activities are currently featured, and additional lesson activity subjects will be added regularly. http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/lessonplans.jsp

Student to Student – Thoughts on Emergency Preparedness from Two Midwestern Towns Struck by Tornadoes in 2007

Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:15:27 -0600

On Tuesday March 11 elementary and high school students from Northwood, ND will interact in a live videoconference with students in Greensburg Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri and Oklahoma when they discuss the impact of a major natural disaster on their small Midwestern towns. The purpose of the event is to bring students together to discuss their experiences and share similarities and differences in the recovery efforts in each town. Classes from participating states will communicate in real time through interactive videoconferencing available at their school. In addition, the live videoconference will be streamed live and also recorded for later viewing. Both will be available on the Internet by visiting the website http://www.more.net/services/videostreaming/events.html

Northwood students were invited to participate in this event because of the similarities in their experience with the tornado that hit their town in August to those of the students in Greensburg, Kansas whose town was also devastated by tornadoes in May of 2007. Both towns are similar in size and characteristics; both are located in rural areas in the Midwest. In addition to the interactive sessions between both elementary and high school classes, students and teachers will have the opportunity to learn about project-based curriculum resources on topics related to emergency preparedness and natural disasters.

Read Across North Dakota Event

Thu, 07 Feb 2008 14:34:51 -0600

Last week I had the opportunity of attending a Read Across North Dakota Event with Myhre Elementary School in Bismarck and DeMores School in Medora. The students had a wonderful time discussing their favorite books. They enjoyed the session so much that they're planning to meet together in person sometime this spring!

More on Web Page Design

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 13:08:04 -0600

According to Grantastic Designs, there are 5 basic rules of web design and layout.

Your web site should be easy to read
--High contrast with the text and background
--Text should not be too large or too small
--Good use of white space

Your web site should be easy to navigate
--Consider the audience
--Organize consistently

Your web site should be easy to find
--The URL should be easy to remember
--The URL should be as concise as possible

Your web page layout and design should be consistent throughout the site
--Each page has the same look and feel
--Text should be consistent

You web site should be quick to download
--Images should not be too large
--Animations should be kept to a minimum
--All linked documents should be in PDF format

To find out more information about Grantastic’s recommendations, go to http://www.grantasticdesigns.com/5rules.html

Wikipedia also has some good information regarding the terminology used in web design. Here’s a link to that page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_design

Designing and Organizing Webpage Navigation

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:43:13 -0600

With the inception of EduWeb, I have decided to devote a few posts to web design. Today I would like to talk about navigation design and organization. If you don’t know much about web design, I recommend “The Non-Designer’s Web Book” by Williams and Tollett. It’s easy to find answers to specific questions and it contains a lot of graphics. Here is a quote about navigation design from page 142, “If you can easily find your way around a site and find your way back to the home page at any time from any page, the navigation is well designed.” One of the really great things about EduWeb is that the navigation is built right in so that you don’t need to create it yourself!.

You will still need to decide on the way your site will be organized, however. To begin this process, make a list of the information to be included in your site. Next make an outline based on your list. Sketch a flowchart, use sticky notes or use a visualization software like Inspiration to graphically represent your outline. During this process of moving things around, you may decide to combine several smaller topics together or to split larger topics into smaller, separate ones.

You may choose to organize your website by grade level, by subject taught or by teacher. Whatever plan you use, try to be consistent. Ask others how they would organize their site. Go school website surfing and see how others have done it. One place to begin your search might be http://www.edutech.nodak.edu/schools/

Consider your audience! Most school websites are visited by parents, students and community members. Remember, the aim of great web organization is ease of use!

Changing the Background Color on Your Whiteboards

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:16:07 -0600

As I have been teaching ActivBoard and SMARTBoard workshops across the region, some of you have expressed a desire to change the background color of your interactive whiteboards to make them easier on the eyes.

To change the background color setting on your ActivBoard:
1. Click on the Main Menu button
2. Select Studio Settings (PC) or Preferences (Mac)
3. Select Flipchart
4. Check the box Replace white surface with the following color:
5. Click on the white box to the right and select a color from the color wheel
This will now be the default color every time you use your ActivBoard.

To change the background color on your SMARTBoard:
1. On the Main Menu, click Format
2. Select Background Color
3. Select a color
This will not change the default color. You will need to change this every time you create a new notebook.

I hope this helps. If you find other tips and tricks, please let me know and I’ll share them with others. Thanks!

Internet Safety Resources

Mon, 26 Nov 2007 13:16:39 -0600

Sometimes adults feel like they don't know quite as much as their children do about the Internet. These resources will help concerned parents, guardians, grandparents, teachers, or friends to better understand the opportunities and challenges children face online. It is more beneficial to help build children's confidence while working online so they are better equipped to respond to dangerous situations than to simply tell them to avoid "strangers" they may meet.

Online Resources:

http://www.isafe.org/
http://www.netsmartz.org/
http://www.safekids.com/
http://safeteens.com/
http://www.staysafeonline.info/index.html
http://onguardonline.gov/index.html
http://www.netlingo.com/index.cfm
http://www.cyberbullying.us/resources.php
http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/index2.html

Interactive Whiteboard Podcasts

Fri, 02 Nov 2007 09:53:04 -0600

Check out these podcasts on interactive whiteboards!

ActivBoard Tips http://www.prometheanplanet.com/us/server/show/nav.1252

ActivBoard Teacher Ideas http://feeds.feedburner.com/PrometheanPlanetTeacherFeature

SmartBoard Podcasts http://pdtogo.com/smart/?page_id=28

Using Interactive Whiteboards

Mon, 15 Oct 2007 15:24:42 -0600

Whiteboard Interactive Links

These links are not just for whiteboard use, but work well with them because of the interactive factors each contains.

1. EdHeads is a science site containing interactiveness with simple machines, virtual knee surgery, and weather. http://www.edheads.org

2. K-3 math sites http://www.juliethompson.com/SMART.html

3. The Futures Channel http://www.thefutureschannel.com/index.php Mathematics Integration

Read North Dakota Event

Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:16:12 -0600

On Monday, I attended two videoconference sessions with writers Larry Woiwode and Rick Watson hosted by EduTech and the partners of Read North Dakota. Over 300 students from Mandan, Bismarck, Fargo and LaMoure participated in the interactive events.

Watson began each session by performing his song Beyond the Bedroom Wall, which is based on Larry Woiwode’s novel of the same name.

Woiwode was raised in Mott, North Dakota and discussed his return from New York City in his memoir, What I Think I Did. Woiwode explained the importance of establishing a sense of place in every story. Students were encouraged to ask questions throughout the two one-hour sessions. Their understanding of Woiwode's book and writing in general was quite impressive! I left with an excitement to write myself!

I have attached pictures of both sessions at Mandan and Century High Schools.

To read and listen to more about Woiwode and Watson, see the followling link: http://www.readnd.org/webresources.aspx