…read all over?

Three Offerings from ISTE

ISTE has timed a good number of books for that magic time, Summer, when I can read ’til my heart’s content. I don’t have the the NET-T in my hot little hands yet, but anyone who’s interested has seem the megaphoned from NECC last week. No, the three I have in mind are Visual Arts: Units for All Levels by Mark Gura,  Database Magic by Sandra Dounce, and Tablet PCs: in K-12 Education edited by Mike van Mantgem.

Visual Arts: Units for All Levels

By Mark Gura (160 pages ISTE, 2007 ISBN 978-1-56484-242-8)

ISTE asserts that the audience is Grade K–12 teachers, preservice teachers, technology coordinators, school and district administrators, teacher educators.

This book is in the familiar format of curriculum series that ISTE publishes. It is synched with new NETS-S and with The National Standards for Art Education (Visual Arts). Typically it is divided into two sections. The first is Mark’s framework for the incorporation of technology in the visual arts classroom. It is very formal. I kept looking to get to know the author here. Well, I had to wait until Section 2. Seeding each subsection with a wonderful quotation and using illustrations carefully Mark provides twenty instructional units. Since I teach Lit on Film, and a suggested project in that course is the production of a claymation or stop-motion film,  I gravitated to Unit 17 “Transformation by Clay Animation”. It will provide so much for my students who choose this project, transforming he manner in which I look at the possibilities. All of the Units meet the standards set by this one, in my mind.

Database Magic

By Sandra Dounce (180 pages ISTE, 2007 ISBN 978-1-56484-245-9)

The author and the editors at ISTE are aiming for Grade 4–12 educators, curriculum specialists, teacher educators, professional development personnel, preservice teachers, school and district administrators.

A CD is included with A good many Microsoft Excel and Access files. If you are familiar with Neo-Office the Mac version of Open Office you will able to utilize the Access files if you are a Mac school.

The book is in the curriculm series structure and is synched with the new NET-S. Section 1 fills almost a third of the book. Though written in gentle terms, I believe it is recognized that the teachers are going to have rather steep learning curve with databases, especially true databases. Sandra uses the first five of six chapters in Section 1 exploring databases. The final chapter focuses on the database functions in Excel.

Section 2 has sixteen units iusing the Excel spreadsheets and the Access databases included on the accompanying CD.  The second section opens with some background and a look at the spreadsheets and databases included on the CD. Sandra has gone to great lengths to not only profile the units in detail but to create a number of worksheets for each lesson.

Understanding databases and being able to create and use them is a critical 21st century skill. The most popular apps on the WWW today could not exist without the creation and integration of databases – from vitual campus visits to Facebook.

Tablet PCs: in K-12 Education

Edited by Mike van Mantgem with Dave Berque, Edward Evans, Tracy Hammond, Kenrick Mack, Mark Payton, and David Sweeney (100 pages ISTE, 2007 ISBN 978-1-56484-241-1)

The audience for this book is the usual cast of characters: K–12 teachers, technology coordinators, library media specialists, instructional leaders, preservice education students, and faculty.

For those with no exposure to tablet PCs, this may seem like a niche concern. It is near and dear to my heart because one of the case studies presented is from Vermont Academy, well within biking distance in the village of Saxtons River Vermont.

The book, in a mere hundred pages, answers the the what, when, and how of the use of tablets. This includes technical facts and lesson plans.

If you are exploring being a 1:1 school or fortunate to have the funds to add a COW (Computers On Wheels), you might want to seriously consider tablets instead of ’simple’ laptops.

Mike Richards is the author of  Notes From Millie D , and a technology teacher/integrator in Arundel Maine. He is one of seven or eight techno-geek-education types in the USA who aren’t in San Antonio this week for NECC. I only know him through blogging, tweeting, and plurking, but his writing/offerings are outstanding. He dusted off the following list over a year ago. It has gotten legs again this week. In June 2007, Mike wrote:

Trying to some spring cleaning I ran across an article from The Journal (June 2005) titled 20 Technology Skills Every Educator Should Have. Here is a listing of the 20 skills:

1. Word Processing Skills
2. Spreadsheets Skills
3. Database Skills
4. Electronic Presentation Skills
5. Web Navigation Skills
6. Web Site Design Skills
7. E-Mail Management Skills
8. Digital Cameras
9. Computer Network Knowledge Applicable to your School System
10. File Management & Windows Explorer Skills
11. Downloading Software From the Web (Knowledge including eBooks)
12. Installing Computer Software onto a Computer System
13. WebCT or Blackboard Teaching Skills
14. Videoconferencing skills
15. Computer-Related Storage Devices (Knowledge: disks, CDs, USB drives, zip disks, DVDs, etc.)
16. Scanner Knowledge
17. Knowledge of PDAs
18. Deep Web Knowledge
19. Educational Copyright Knowledge
20. Computer Security Knowledge

At that point, Web 2.0 was just infancy. Making a May 2007 edition what things would you add to the list, but more importantly, what would you take off the list?

How would you alter the list in June 2008?

I have already formulated and distributed a ’skills survey’ to develop resources and expose weaknesses based on the, soon antiquated, NETS-T: One-liners on a chart with boxes to check indicating level of ability. With the new NETS-T in hand, perhaps I can formulate a survey that may be valid, appropriate for a year.

What do you think?

Errol Morris is an innovative documentary filmmaker from the United States. I have  had an ‘Errol Morris Festival’ in my Film Lit class. His newest release, in theaters right now is ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ about the scandalous policy and behavior in the Abu Ghraib Prison:

His ground-breaking “Thin Blue Line” is still causing waves 20 years after it was created. It was the firat documentary to use footage composed by the author to illustrate the crime. If yo have seen this film, you will recognize this image-

As I said, there is still controversy boiling up about this film. Morris has recently been blogging for the New York Times and the interactions have been exaulting and harrowing. Take the time too read the blog entries and comments, please:http://morris.blogs.nytimes.com/.

http://www.lynnreedy.com – “This site has been designed to provide technology resources to educators. Its focus is to assist teachers in the integration of technology across the curriculum.”

http://www.community.teqsmart.org/download.php – Tequipment’s Educator Resource Center

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-us/ – Smart Technologies’ Educators’ Resources and Classroom Solutions

http://exchange.smarttech.com/ – “We’re turning this passion into the SMART Exchange, a community of teachers, administrators and SMART experts sharing ideas, expertise and enthusiasm to create extraordinary moments in the classroom.”

http://education.smarttech.com/ste/en-US/Ed+Resource/Teachers+Hub/default.htm?WT.mc_id=EdHomeHUB

- “Puzzled about what to do next with your SMART education technology products? There’s no need to be. Our Teachers’ Hub will help you put everything together – one piece at a time.”

http://www.interactivewhiteboard.net.au – “Interactivewhiteboard.net.au aims to be the leading authority on interactive whiteboards and their use in education in Australia. This website is not about sales of products. Rather its aim is to encourage and support teachers and other educators who are committed to interactive learning environments in today’s 21st century classrooms.” Here is the lessons page – http://www.interactivewhiteboard.net.au/lesson.asp.

InteractiveWhiteboards in the Classroom. This page was created with support from a U.S. Department of Education PT3 grant (”Join Together”, P342A030098).

Silvia Tolisano is teacher in Florida. She was born in Germany, and raised in Argentina. Her blog, Langwitches, is liberally salted with a great many links for SMARTboard activities. If you follow the right column in her blog down to ‘Categories’, find SmartBoard, and click it, it will aggregate all of the post she has written about SMARTboards or cited links to them.

http://Talking SMARTboards & Much More – Sharing ideas to use the SMARTboard in a Special Ed classroom. Find her ‘Categories’ on the right and click ’smartboard’.

http://smartboardrevolution.ning.com/ – ” All smart board educators, unite! Let’s share ideas, tips, and lesson files to maximize learning for the children. They are our future. Let’s teach them well and let them…something or other. I can’t think of anything right now.”

Teachers Love SMART Boards – James Hollis is SMARTboard sales and support
person from Illinois, who I came across on Twitter. Jim corrects me below – “I appreciate that you listed my Teachers Love SMART Board blog and I just thought I would mention that I’m not associated with Smart Technologies in any way. I’m just a teacher and technology trainer trying to help teachers use SMART Boards more effectively.”

Three Books For Professional Development

A few weeks ago, when I wrote about the latest ISTE books to be published, one of my readers commented and followed up in an e-mail exchange about that post. This person was glad to see the reviews, however she had already picked three books to used in a Summer workshop for teachers. I thought you might choose one of her choices to add to your Summer professional development reading.

Published by Corwin Press in 2006, this book is beginning to show its age a bit already with regards to current implementations and manifestations. HOWEVER, Will Richarson’s wisdom, analysis, and understanding is not going to become outdated. If you are staying up with current developments and implementations you can apply Will’s pedagogy and practice. Get your principal, school boards, students, parents, and colleagues to read chapter nine – “What It all Means” and the epilogue, if they will sit still for it.

This another book published by Corwin Press in 2008. Alan November has been where it all happens a teacher. He is not a thinktanker or ivory tower theorista. That being said, He puts  ICT standards and practice under the microscope and in the spotlight – Critical thinking, research, source validation; finishing strategies and evaluations. You will skim it half-an-hour and read in depth in two hours.

This is the 2006 edition of this book from Penguin. Daniel Pink presents the thesis that this present age – the Age of Technology is not a left brain age as most of us would think as we founder amid a sea of hardware and software looking for a leftbrainer, fair to say, engineer type to teach us not only to swim, but to breathe under water. We don’t need an engineer we need a rightbrainer, a visionary to ease us into the next stage of human development.

ISTE 

What do you think of the books that are published by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE)? Bearing in mind that I am an unpublished author (I’m bearing it in mind, so you needn’t.), I will keep my snootiness to a minimum – those who can’t write publish reviews instead.

BOOKS

On the whole, and I have a shelf of them, I am pleased that I have bought the books. Some have pleased more than others. The newest book – English Language Arts Units for Grades 9–12 by Dr. Christopher Shamburg is actually, I trust, in the mail. But I have some thoughts about three of the most recent ones that I would like to share. 

Web 2.0: New Tools, New Schools  by Gwen Solomon and Lynne Schrum is a book that one would imagine would be great if it were serialized, because of the speed at which the WWW evolves. I have been planning a one semester intro to Web design and I am going to use the Appendices to expand the concept of a Web presence and associated tools for these high school students. The tenth chapter has twelve wonderful tutorials for educators. The first nine chapters discuss the tools of the moment and some really rich discussion about the Web and education. Chapter 6, ‘Leadership and New Tools’ is worth the price of the book, as far as I’m concerned. Many of us have had something to say about the tyranny of top down management. What we say probably differs by where we are in the Great Chain of Being. The authors espouse, quite convincingly, that school and district administrators are the difference-makers in the 21st century paradigm.

John Hendron’s book, RSS for Educators, caught me off guard. The title is so pedestrian that I sighed when I ordered it. It is, however, a wonderful book, written by a person with the soul of an artist. After a wonderful introduction, he breaks his considerations into three sections:

• School applications: blogs, wikis, podcasts, and VoIP and synchronous communication;
• Core software applications: Audacity, GarageBand, blogging, news aggregators;
• Classroom Apps: blogging, wikis, podcasts, newsfeeds, advnaced RSS.

He has two excellent appendices – resources and a glossary. 

Since Michigan made passing an online class a graduation requirements and statewide online schools are sprouting like mushrooms after a rainy week, public school administrators and teachers need to considering the importance and efficacy of partivipating in online education. Cathy Cavanaugh and Robert Blomeyer have edited What Works in K-12 Online Learning. Susan Patrick, President and CEO of NACOL writes the forward. The book has eleven chapters from educational philosophy to online phs ed. I am so pleased that ISTE brought this out in a timely manner.