Portfolio and WebQuest sample

Per the request of several of you, links to a sample portfolio and a sample WebQuest are posted below. In the portfolio sample, I removed all of the contents to avoid sharing personal information. I left the first slide (the business card) compeleted to help remind you of the requirements. If you still have questions, please let me know.

Portfolio Sample

WebQuest Sample

Confessional questions

I will be explaining the confessional assignment a little further in class on Monday, November 5. In general, you are asked to create an audio recording, no more than 3-5 minutes, of you responding to questions regarding technology use in education. You may respond/reflect on some, all or none of the questions listed below. I would like for you to think about historical perspectives on technology (i.e. where have your experiences both as a student and teacher led you in your thinking about technology in education), and how those perspectives may have changed. You can respond based on activities/experiences in this course, through your work in the school or just in general. Please do not feel you have to be course-specific (meaning, this assignment can/should extend beyond the scope of this course). Also, if there is something else you feel strongly about sharing but does not correspond to the question prompts below, feel free to share regardless.

•What do you remember as your initial reaction to technology use in the classroom?

•What activities throughout the course may have changed your reaction?

•What is your current reaction to educational possibilities through technology?

•How has your level of comfort toward incorporating technology in your lessons changed?

•What types of activities would help increase your confidence and probability of incorporating technology in future lessons?

Confessional and Audacity

For one of your final activities, you will need to create an audio recording of you responding to some questions and general reflections. If you don't have a method for recording and saving audio files, you can use a free program called Audacity to create an MP3 file of your voice/narration and MANY schools are using the program to create podcasts, record narration for digital stories, student projects, etc. It is a great program to become familiar with.

You will also need a way to actually record your voice, such as a microphone. If you don't have a microphone, you can just plug a set of headphones into the microphone jack on your computer; the earbuds act as a microphone. You lose some quality, but it will serve the purpose.

If you need to download Audacity, go to:

Windows: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows
Macintosh: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac

Also, in order to create the Mp3 file, you will need the LAME Mp3 encoder that accompanies Audacity. Follow the instructions on the download page:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/help/faq?s=install&item=lame-mp3

I will be providing additional instructions to use the program shortly. In the meantime, feel free to play around with the program. Your confessional will be due the same day as your final project (November 17).

Instructional Video Lesson

Your assignment for the week well be to create a lesson plan centered on an instructional video you found on United Streaming. To complete this assignment, you will need the following items:

1. Locate a "short" video clip to use as part of a lesson (no less than 30 seconds, no longer than 5 minutes)
2. Develop an objective for the lesson
3. Describe an activity to introduce the lesson
4. Create a script to include:
- introduction to the video (what do you want the students to gain?)
- pause/stop points at several points throughout the clip
- questions, discussion points and activities to provide focus throughout the video
5. Describe an activity to culminate the lesson (what will you do to use or measure the information from the video?)

For this assignment, you will need to create a complete script for step 4. The introductory and culminating activties need only be a brief description.

For additional tips, see Video Utilization Stategies on the WBRA website:
http://www.wbra.org/html/edserv/ntti/nttipdf/Video_Utilization.pdf

United Streaming Tips

For more information on using United Streaming, access the Professional Development section when you log in.

* Log in to United Streaming (trcuser; user)
* Click the Professional Development link (on the right side of the screen)
* Go into the Trainer's Toolkit (the QuickStart guide should help, check out the UserGuide and PowerPoint presentations also)

If you come across any problems or have any questions about how to do something, please don't hesitate to let me know!!

TTI Lesson Resources

The Teacher Training Institute (TTI) through Blue Ridge Public Television (WBRA) helps teachers throughout the state with designing and developing technology-rich lesson plans for their classrooms. All of the lessons created through TTI have a video component as well as a web component. In addition many of them creatively incorporate other forms of technology and software. The TTI Master Teachers work year-round to create lesson plans that follow the general TTI model of effectively using video in the classroom. All of these lessons are available through the WBRA website for anyone to copy, alter and implement. These are "tried-and-true" lessons as most of the TTI Master Teachers are classroom teachers who have tested their lessons with actual students. For this assignment, access the TTI Lessons and browse through them to get a general sense of the model and how they are designed. Choose one lesson to read more thoroughly and post a reaction to include the following items:

- State the title of the lesson
- State three things you liked about the lesson
- State one thing you didn't like
- Briefly describe how you might adapt this lesson for your class or needs

If you have any questions, please let me know!

Copyright and Fair Use Guidelines

It is important to know and understand the guidelines for using multimedia products in your classroom. Our local PBS station, WBRA, has developed a synthesis of these guidelines to help guide teachers in using video, audio, etc. in their classrooms. For this assignment, access the Copyright Confusion Made Clear website and read carefully through all of the guidelines.

When you are finished, click on the link below to access questions related to the website. Complete the questions based on what you read through the WBRA website; you may access the website as often as you need.

Click here for access to the questions

If you have any questions or problems, please let me know. This assignment is due on Friday, October, 26.

Change in schedule/activities

I have made a few minor changes to the schedule and course activities. In the modified chart, the grey areas are topics we have already covered so you can easily see what remains. I have cancelled class on the 22nd – hopefully to give us all a few extra hours to meet some deadlines (I will be preparing to depart for a conference in California). Also notice the change in due dates; next week you will have a 2-part assignment, but I have given you almost 2 weeks to complete it.

The other piece to point out is in regards to our final class. Since I have cancelled class on the 22nd, I have eliminated the “optional” class on the 12th of November. We will meet on this day to get your portfolios/final project set up and make sure you understand the requirements and what to do. If however, you can show me beforehand you understand the assignment and have a pretty decent framework set up, you will not need to attend that final class. So, that decision is up to you – either way I will be in class on the 12th.

Modified Calendar

ITRT

Today in class Mike Grim gave you a brief glimpse into the roles and responsibilities of an ITRT. Taking into consideration the information he shared and experiences you may already have with ITRTs, post a response to this blog post to share your experiences and/or perspectives with others. Feel free to share your own thoughts or use the following prompts to help you.

• In the state of Virginia, every school is required to have an ITRT. What are your opinions of this requirement?
• How can the ITRT program benefit our schools?
• What is your impression of or how would you summarize the responsibilities of an ITRT
• How do you see an ITRT helping you individually?
• What kind of plans might you have for using an ITRT as a resource?
• Is there anything you think an ITRT should do that Mike did not mention?
• Are there any remaining questions you have about ITRTs?

Feel free to address some, all or none of the questions above. If there is something more specific you would like to address or share with the group in regards to ITRTs, please feel free. Be sure to post your response by Friday, October, 5. If you have any questions, please let me know!

Resources for SmartBoard and standards

Below are a couple of links to a few resources that you may find helpful.

Teaching Resources (includes SmartBoard resources)
http://www.citsie.vt.edu/portfolio/Index/Teaching.htm

Technology Standards Resources
http://www.citsie.vt.edu/portfolio/Index/TechStand.htm

Portals with SmartBoard resources
http://guest.portaportal.com/smartboardclass
http://guest.portaportal.com/sbolan68
http://guest.portaportal.com/moodysmartboard

Portaportal and Final Project Instructions

You can access documents with instructions for completing your Portaportal assignment and to review requirements for the final project using the following links:

Portaportal: http://filebox.vt.edu/users/licombs/RUEDME2007/Assignment2_Instructions.pdf

Final Project:
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/licombs/RUEDME2007/Portfolio_instructions.pdf

Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. Thanks!!

Class Extension Assignment

It was great to meet all of you today. I am looking forward to the semester and hope you will find it productive and meaningful.

As an extension for our class, I have one additional video for you to watch. You will find it very similar to the one we watched in class today with some additional information. It is only a few minutes long. The video is located on a website called Teacher Tube (http://www.teachertube.com/). While I have the direct link for the video, please feel free to look around the site - it contains all kinds of videos created by teachers with quite a wide range of topics.

Begin by viewing the video. You can view it directly from this blog or accessing from the website:

http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=40c570a322f1b0b65909



Similar to the video in class, this was created as a motivational tool for teachers to encourage them to pursue using technology in their instruction. Also, as I mentioned in class, please don't take offense to the intensity portrayed throughout...I don't want anyone to feel "attacked" if they don't agree with the entire message.

Once you have viewed the video post a simple yet reflective response to your position and/or opinions about what you took from the video. Consider ideas such as what you think about "digital learners" or about Bill Gates' comment about "richness", or other ideas that struck you. Feel free to be honest and answer freely based on your personal feelings and perspective. I hope you all feel comfortable to express yourselves without fear of scrutiny. I am very interested in as many perspectives as possible.

HOW TO POST A COMMENT:

• Click on "comment" at the bottom of this post.
• In the screen that appears, choose "anonymous" or login with your Google account (if you want and/or have one).
• Type your message in the text box at the top.
• When you are finished, click "Publish your comment".

Please make sure you put your name so I can give you credit for the assignment. If you have ANY problems, please just let me know via e-mail and I will do my best to help you out.

See you all next week!!

Change of location

I apologize for any inconvenience, but I was just informed we need to change the time and location of our class meetings. The new information is:

Day: Monday
Time: 4-6 p.m.
Location: Peters Hall, room C174 (on Radford campus)

I will attempt to become familiar with our classroom prior to our first class meeting. If you have any questions, please let me know. See you soon!

Welcome!

Hello all!

Welcome to the blogspot for the Middle School methods course in Technology. We will be using this as a tool throughout the course, so please keep the address handy to make weekly access easier. I am very excited about the semester as there are so many exciting things happening in the world of educational technology.

Our first class time is on Monday, September 10 beginning at 3:30 in the Dublin Middle School technology lab. At that time, I will give you more information about the course and our plans for the semester. Before we meet however, I would love to know more about you and what you have to offer. Please take a few minutes to access and complete the survey below. I will be using your confidential responses to help guide our activties for the semester.

https://survey.vt.edu/survey/entry.jsp?id=1188401137361

Also, your only course material requirement is to make sure you have some way to store and move files...my suggestion is a jump drive with at least 256mb of storage. If you don't already have one, they can be found at very low prices. I believe Radio Shack has a 256 mb for about $8 and a 1 GB for about $20. I would suggest getting the most amount of storage space you can afford as this will be a very handy, useful tool way beyond the limits of this course. Please come prepared with this item to the first class.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. I look forward to meeting you all! See you soon!

Liesl