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Off to TCEA

Monday, February 4th, 2008

Well, we spent time today reconstructing our blog after an attack by a Russian spamer. It’s back up and hopefully a bit more protected now.

Tomorrow I’m off to Austin, Texas for Texas Computer Education Association (TCEA) conference. I have meetings set up and have some sessions marked off to attend. There has been some talk of a Twitter Meet-up (a tweet-up?) at the Hilton lobby bar at 5PM on Wednesday. I’m not sure how to find anyone since all I know of most Twitter-friends is a teeny tiny picture that shows up next to their names!

I suppose I’ll have to use twitter. It’s good that an online tool can help you find out where the people you only know online will be in the real world. (If you’ve missed out on the Twitter obsession, here are 5 Ways to Use Twitter for Good.)

Posts from TCEA 2007
Student Technology Support - Session Podcasts and Handouts
Podcast of a session I did at TCEA 2007 about how to start a student tech support team

But this is what I really believe…
Post about a conversation with a teacher at TCEA 2007 conflicted about her own beliefs about project-based learning and what she was actually doing in her classroom.

TCEA - Austin, Texas
My wrap-up of TCEA 2007. I met Wes Fryer exactly one year ago there, and he was blogging up a storm and creating podcasts. What a year it’s been since.

This year, you can find me on twitter. See you there!

Sylvia

 

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Posted in Generation YES, conferences, podcasts | 3 Comments »

Meet a real Bee Movie Maker

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

Bee Movie StillTired of being deluged by advertising about cartoon bees? Have your students meet a real bee movie maker and neurobiologist Brian Smith. Something for everyone here - from bee vomit to bee dancing, just the thing for middle school! (Article | Podcast)

Arizona State University sponsors a terrific website called “Ask a Biologist.” Since 1997, the site has answered questions from K-12 students and teachers about biology. Now it is podcasting! These range from interviews with an expert on tiger beetles, nanotechnology, and of course, bee movies.

Arizona schools! You have a special opportunity for a student to be choosen as a co-host for the Ask-A-Biologist podcast show. More details here.

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Treasure trove for constructivist classroom projects

Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007

Dr. Alice Christie from Arizona State University has a wonderful site packed with great resources and reading for constructivist educators looking for project-based learning resources. We know Dr. Christie well from her research on student collaboration and GenY, student voice, and many other student-centered papers, presentations, and resources.

The educational technology resource page lists subjects like geocaching, webquests, podcasting, multimedia, and more. Not only are there great examples and ideas, but links to many school websites showing these ideas in action.

For example, one subject that many of our TechYES teachers ask about is spreadsheets, and how to find interesting data for students to use. Dr. Christie’s site has data sources, example spreadsheets, lessons, ideas, articles, and more.

Finally, teachers and grant-writers looking for research to support student-centered, project-based programs like GenYES should definitely look at Dr. Christie’s research and publication page.

E6 Learning Model - Maximizing Constructivist Learning

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Posted in GenYES, Generation YES, constructivism, podcasts, student voice | 1 Comment »

Rose Hill JHS Visits Generation YES

Wednesday, May 16th, 2007

Monday May 14th the Generation YES Olympia staff had the opportunity to meet a long time GenYES school, Rose Hill JHS located in Redmond, WA. The day was filled with topics on Web 2.0, Generation YES business structure and student voice. Students had the opportunity to take pictures, videotape and learn about web design from our web master Kevin Dibble.

After a demonstration on VideoCue Pro for Podcasting, the students, teachers and myself went to Red Robin for lunch and conversation. The rest of afternoon was spent at Capital High School, another long time Generation YES school. Scott LeDuc, creator of GenTECH, paired Rose Hill JHS students with his high school GenTECH students. Students were asked to blog on the GenTECH Blog Roll about “ How can students use Web 2.0 tools such as Podcasting, Blogging, YouTube, ect. in an education environment?” The students then had a discussion on the topic and shared projects both schools were working on in GenYES and GenTECH programs.

The day was great and I had so much fun with this school, Thanks Rose Hill JHS!

Check out some of Rose Hill JHS GenYES projects:

https://schools.lwsd.org/RHJH/genyes/index.htm
img_0399.jpg

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RSS in plain English - Ideas for student-made help videos

Friday, April 27th, 2007

Here’s a great video about RSS (Real Simple Syndication). RSS is the heart of how blogs work, and how you can easily get great content to come to you instead of searching the Internet for it.

If YouTube is blocked at your school - you can find the video here at the CommonCraft website.

Sure, you can show this video to students (or teachers) to explain how RSS works. But this is a terrific example of a video students can make themselves. Student-made help videos can be a vital resource to teach both students and teachers about how to use the technology your school already has.

You could set up a podcast (vodcast) library, put them on school or district portals, or burn them to DVDs and hand them out to teachers.

Things to point out about this video:

1. It’s short. There is a reason movie trailers are 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 minutes long. If someone can tell the story of Star Wars in 2.5 minutes, your students can explain a concept in the same amount of time. Challenge students to edit, then edit again.

2. It’s low tech. This looks like sheets of paper taped to a whiteboard.

3. Audio is separate from video. Sometimes the audio part of making a video is the hardest part. This type of video can shot, edited, and completed with a voice-over.

4. It’s about your technology. A student-made help video will show exactly how YOUR technology works at YOUR school, not a generic example.

Finally, teaching is learning. Want students to learn more about blogging, podcasting, using the active whiteboard or other technologies? Making a video help guide will help them learn more as they figure out how to explain it to someone else.

GenYES teachers can find additional resources about student-made help guides (both video and printed) in the GenYES Curriculum Guide (Unit 10.)

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Posted in Generation YES, blogs, podcasts, student project samples, web 2.0 | 1 Comment »

Podcasting In Your Classroom

Tuesday, April 17th, 2007

Putting audio and video on the web is not a new concept. Though using this technology in the classroom is. Many teachers do not have the time to seek out what podcast could improve a lesson or concept. However Podcasting has emerged from just uploading audio and video clips to your hard drive to this much easier cataloging and searching community. Applications such as itunes, Yahoo! Podcast and Odeo make searching pretty darn easy. Not only is it easy to search for educational podcast but also itunes allows you to subscribe to podcasts so the newest version automatically downloads to your itunes podcast playlist. It’s like getting that monthly magazine subscription, but it is free and won’t get lost in the mail!

Invite other schools, experts and new experiences into your classroom with a podcast lesson. Subscribe to these Podcasts to give your students a new experience.

Willow Web- Willowdale Elementary School in Omaha, Nebraska

https://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/radio

Mr.Coley.com- Tovashal Elementary School in Murrieta, CA

https://www.murrieta.k12.ca.us/tovashal/bcoley/coleycast/index.htm

OurCity Podcast- Student produced podcasts from all over the country

https://www.learninginhand.com/OurCity/index.html

Special thanks to Tony Vincent for telling me about all of these great resources! Great job at NCCE Tony!

PS Check out our podcasting handout with ideas for GenYES projects, tech tips, and more.

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Posted in conferences, cool links, fun/free stuff, podcasts | 1 Comment »

Nick News at Longfellow Middle School

Friday, April 13th, 2007

Longfellow Middle SchoolNick News with Linda Ellerbee is visiting Longfellow Middle School in Hill City, Kansas next week, April 16 & 17. Longfellow Middle is a long-time GenYES school, and the teacher, Scott Parker, is terrific!

Starting today, Theresa R, an eighth grader at Longfellow, will be our special blog contributor with updates and behind the scenes photos of the videotaping as it happens.

The plans so far are to focus on 4 ongoing GenYES projects:

Project 1 - Multimedia-enabled websites for learning
Blair’s project is showing elementary teachers how to use iWeb. This includes building a website, podcasts, movies, and digital storytelling. All of these teachers are part of the Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant. Nick News will tape one of their regularly scheduled training sessions.

GenYES Student: Blair N.
Partner Teacher: Anita Kerbaugh
Additional Teachers: Crystal Plante, Diana Parker, Linda Heskett, and Mike Young (principal)

Project 2 - Head Start teacher and parent website

Bryce and Eric are in the process of developing a web site for Head Start and are showing the Head Start teachers how to use eZedia, a multimedia and website editor. Bryce and Eric also happen to be presenting their work to the HeadStart parents on “Parents Night,” the evening of April 17th. It was already scheduled.

GenYES Students: Bryce C. and Eric P.
Partner Teacher: Kay Mitchell
Additional Teachers: Renee Jackson and Deb Born

Project 3 - American Colonization Society website
With the close ties and historical connection between Liberia and the United States, Erin and Tayler are developing an in-depth web site on the American Colonization Society. The American Colonization Society is part of the Kansas state standards for Social Studies so this will be used by the 8th grade history classes. Erin and Tayler have also learned the importance of developing a website to be used by both American and Liberian students.

GenYES Students: Erin D. and Tayler M.
Partner Teacher: Scott Parker

Project 4 - Liberian Sports Athletes

Nathan and Tyler are working on a website for both Longfellow Middle School students and Liberian students. They are doing research on Liberian athletes (including those living in the USA), and in the process will be showing our physical education/math teacher, Greg Hamel, how to make a website using eZedia.

Students: Nathan H. and Tyler B.
Partner Teacher: Greg Hamel

These last two projects will be used by Longellow Middle School and the soon to open Liberian Renaissance School (LRS), part of the Liberian Renaissance Education Complex (LREC). Dr. Dennis Harper, the Founder and CEO of GenYES, and a fomer Liberian teacher, is the LREC Board Chair. Coincidentally, Dr. Harper is currently in Liberia for the groundbreaking ceremony for the LRS.

We are excited about this and can’t wait to hear what happens. Welcome, Theresa R!

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Free sound effects for multimedia projects or podcasts

Wednesday, April 4th, 2007

From Wesley Freyer’s Moving at the Speed of Creativity…

The best list I’ve seen lately is Hall Davidson’s, which he has shared as a Word document and linked from his Kit Building page.

Another resource to know about is Acid Planet’s free 8 packs of loops. They share a new 8 pack to download for free every week. I have these and other resources listed on my Free Audio Resources page.

Remind students that audio, music, and even short sound effects are intellectual property just like pictures. More information on copyright and citing sources can be found in the resources and activities in the GenYES and TechYES teacher guides.

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Podcasting

Monday, March 5th, 2007

Seems like everyone is talking about podcasting! It’s not surprising, since podcasting is such a versatile tool for the classroom. If you haven’t heard, podcasting is a way to put audio recordings on the Internet so that listeners can easily find and “subscribe” to them. It’s sort of like radio, sort of like a magazine, and lots of fun!

Sure, you can learn a lot by listening to podcasts, but we think the real learning experience is to create your own. Similar to movie making, it involves scriptwriting, planning, collaboration, editing and publishing- but can be done with very basic equipment, is easy to learn, and takes very little time or money.

We’ve put together a short PDF handout for students and teachers about how to get started podcasting. It’s got some quick how-tos, great links and ideas for student projects.

Sylvia

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Posted in GenYES, TechYES, podcasts, student tech support | 2 Comments »

Book Reports Meet Podcasting

Wednesday, February 21st, 2007

Book reports at Larned Middle School have reached a whole new level. Students in Ms. Karen Grossman’s’ TechYES class learn more then how to articulate and summarize the content of the book. These sixth, seventh and eighth grade students add the new dimensions of voice, music and visuals to their narrative summaries.

City of the Icemark

Rainbow

Socks

D is for…

Larned Middle School - Larned, Kansas

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