K12online08 Audio Channel

I describe the use of online role-play in a 12th grade high school composition class using a class blog and a Ning forum. In a role-play, students adopt fictional roles associated with competing positions associated with influencing a final decision on an issue. Students were highly engaged in a Ning role-play on the issue of student Internet access in their school because they were assuming different voices, writing to multiple audiences versus just the teacher, and developing arguments to make proposals for actual changes in the school’s Internet policies.

This presentation will look at some very practical ways that students can use cell phones, MP3 players, digital cameras and a number of free Web based tools to document, organize and archive just about every important aspect of their high school career.

Discussion of outcomes for children, teachers and families at two early childhood centres that are engaged in action research focussed on introducing I.C.T. (Information and Communication Technologies) into teaching and learning programmes (and a brief description of the ECE ICT PL programme, and some features of early childhood education in New Zealand).

This presentation describes projects designed for students, ages 8 to 12, to use emerging technologies for engaging, thinking, learning, collaborating, creating, and innovating. It has its foundations in social constructivism whereby students drive their own learning experiences through educational networking using emerging technologies. An additional goal is using free, open-source, or minimal cost tools, so the project can be replicated.

In the winter of 2008, Patrick Lewis’s university class of pre-service teachers were blogging mentors for Kathy Cassidy’s grade one students. This presentation talks about that collaboration and the results of the research that was conducted about the effect this mentorship had on the students’ writing.

109 K12 teachers and eMentors at Pinellas County Schools, Florida developed six 6 week cross-age cross-curriculum projects for their EETT grant in 2006-2007. This presentation describes the professional development and resources necessary for successful projects. Learn how teachers collaborated with teachers from other grade levels and designed standards-based real-world activities that engaged all students in the learning process. Examples, strategies, and evidence will be shared.

Through this Quicktime video presentation attendees will learn how free video and audio-conferencing software can easily be utilized to both access and share learning opportunities with students globally. In addition attendees will acquire the knowledge and resources necessary to use this valuable educational tool.

This presentation examines how to get started using educational technology through metaphorical analysis of William Stafford’s poem, Traveling Through The Dark. Through this analysis we will look at the obstacles teacher’s face, the process of implementing technology into the classroom, and the role that others can play in the process.

It is a daunting and exciting time to teach English - especially as we consider the “shifts” in how we define literacy, and the toolset for our work as readers and writers continually expands. This session investigates one teacher’s work in studying her practice and students’ learning when she worked to bridge new literacies into “traditional” classroom practice.

The presentation unravels a recent open graduate course offering titled “Open, Connected, Social” that was offered at the University of Regina, Winter 2008. The presentation describes the theories influencing the course, types of open practice, reflections and outcomes, and goes on to the describe the emergence of “open teaching”.

Teachers of our youngest students are often left behind when trying to implement new technologies into their curriculum. They may receive the “hand-me-down” equipment and issues related to teaching the youngest classrooms are not addressed through in-service. This presentation demonstrates 3 web 2.0 tools that are ideal for transforming learning to students in the early grades: Voicethread, Dipity and Blogging. The presentation consists of a screencast with a supporting wiki for links, examples and extended resources. Authentic student projects will be used in the demonstration and information given on implementation strategies for the teacher.

There is a very small but growing body of empirical research on facilitating technology integration in schools. This presentation brings together that research in the form of a critical synthesis. Dr. Jonathan D. Becker, a professor of educational leadership at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), will discuss the major themes that have emerged from the research and place them within the context of his own research with technology integration specialists in the state of West Virginia. The major goals for this presentation are to make the research accessible and to provide educational technology practitioners relevant research-based data to inform their practice.

PrimaryAccess is a free online digital documentary maker designed for social studies instruction. This presentation will provide a quick introduction to PrimaryAccess and then describe some of the research on its use in classrooms, focusing on students’ learning outcomes. The presentation concludes with recommendations for teaching with PrimaryAccess.

Using simple examples from a number of tag-driven websites, this presentation looks at how tagging and the subsequent creation of folksonomies are changing the way we think about information. Starting with obvious tagging systems used on sites like Flickr and Delicious, it examines how tagging enables information to be classified, sorted and managed in ways that make it more accessible, easier to manage and more self-aware. It also explores how tags can be aggregated across large collections of information to provide a snapshot into the overall zeitgeist of collective thinking.

The number of technology resources available to us can be overwhelming and whenever I’m asked “Where to begin?” I usually suggest setting up a Google Account. With a single login and password, users have access to dozens of free services. This presentation walks through the process of setting up an account and then using a handful of the more popular applications that Google offers. The progression runs from email to a personalized homepage, blog reader and writer, online word processor, spreadsheet and presentation suite, calendar, photo storage, and finally a web page creator to pull it all together. Also, because Google is constantly adding and improving features, users who already have accounts might just pick up on some new tips they hadn’t known about.

This presentation will describe ways that you can support literacy using free tools found on the internet. Types of technology supports for literacy will be discussed as well as the some of the free tools that are available on the Internet today. The last part of the session will deal with what Universal Design for Learning calls for and how the types of tools discussed can assist educators in achieving Universal Design for Learning in your classroom.

Join Alice, Bob and Cheryl, as we kick off the Getting Started strand with our keynote: How do you Become Part of this Read/Write Web Revolution? Be a pioneer and become part of the journey learning about 21st Century Skills. Team up with us and the other strand conveners for this exciting excursion.

We are in the throes of a financial crisis unparalleled on our lifetimes, and at the same time in front running 21st century schools around the world learning is seeing a transformation that seemed unthinkable in the dark days of 20th century factory schools. As we move to a new tomorrow built on mutuality, collegiality, communication, community and ingenuity can we learn anything from the colossally expensive financial collapse of Wall Street, the City of London and many of the world’s financial centres. In three sections, and in a conversational, intimate style, Stephen examines the certainties that stare us in the face from past learning projects that clearly mapped a new world of 21st century learning; he reflects on the impact on technology on the world around us, including the financial world, and ponders on what this means for education, for learning, and for the necessary pace of change as we experience the death of education and the dawn of learning.