The Educators' Royal Treatment

STEM Professional Development Academy Now Open

By Sandy Fash

The Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education, Oak Ridge Associated Universities, and the College Board are kicking off a new nationwide initiative, The Siemens STEM Academy.  The Academy is designed to advance science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education in the United States by engaging educators across the country through hands-on and multimedia professional development opportunities.

The national Siemens STEM Academy encompasses the following four elements:

- Siemens Teachers as Researchers (STARs)

A two-week residential professional development and research immersion program for select middle and high school teachers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the country's largest multi-purpose national research laboratory, located in Oak Ridge, Tenn.  Teachers will have the unique opportunity to engage with top scientists and researchers on short-term research projects related to current topics of national interest.  Through authentic research, professional scientific collaboration and educational enhancements, the program offers valuable insights, resources and scientific contacts that educators can bring back to the classroom.  Applications are now being accepted through March 1.

- Siemens STEM Academy Institute

A week-long STEM immersion program that will enable 50 select teachers to gather and engage with today's critical science thinkers and other peers across the nation and visit leading institutions to see real-world applications of STEM subject matters.  In addition, the Institute also will include monthly professional development opportunities, support and additional tools and resources designed to further inspire student achievement in STEM education.

- STEM Academy Online Portal

A national portal and online community designed to foster STEM achievement by providing educators with a dedicated resource to collaborate, exchange and connect about all things related to STEM education.

- Brains of Science Connect Webinar Series

A monthly Webinar series that gives educators the chance to interact with today's eminent scientists, personalities and thought-leaders, and extend that experience to their students through customized, standards-based content.

For more information about The Siemens STEM Academy, check out www.siemensstemacademy.com. 

Playing With Pixetell: Giving Students Feedback

By Isabelle Jones who blogs at My Languages

 

Thanks to Ken Royal from the Educators' Royal Treatment who offered me the opportunity to trial it, I have been playing with Pixetell.

What is Pixetell?
It is presented as an “on-demand software that enables you to quickly add voice, screen recordings and video to email and other electronic documents”. The twist is that Pixetell supports visual communication but also allows collaboration through sharing the multimedia messages-called pixetells-and allowing discussions to take place around it.

Although the product focuses more on business, it has undeniable potential for Education and both Ken Royal and Adora Svitak have already blogged about it and suggested ways it could be used in Education.

My vision of how it could be used relies on the need for teachers to develop a more structured approach to verbal feedback to students. So, I decided to test it out giving feedback to a first year student-11 years old-on a PowerPoint she had produced to learn basic animal words in Spanish. After trying out different microphones, it seems that a headset produced the best result.

What struck me the most is how uncomfortable I felt at first giving feedback that way. We always respond to the other person’s body language and always look out for paralinguistic responses when we are giving feedback. In many respects, feedback given that way is fairer but I suspect some training would be needed in order to ensure that it still feels personal. Saying the student’s name, using different turns of phrases for praising and offering positive and constructive criticism are all essential.

Used at the end of a short project, Pixetell would be a way to ensure that due praise is given to all the students that have put in the effort. I also feel that the impact on the student self-image as a learner would also be stronger than a well done note on paper. In addition, the students who feel that they are “too cool to be praised” could still get their pat on the back in private.

For the specific purpose of teaching languages, the benefit of including audio in teacher feedback is obvious. Students then have a model that they can use and replicate if needed. It is not an impersonal sound file that they have to listen to in its entirety before they reach the bit that applies to them, but it supports a personalised answer to their own work. Very powerful!

If used for feedback, Pixetell would work great with private student/teacher platforms like Edmodo for responses to individual projects, but used tactfully, example of students’ work could also be presented on a class wiki/ VLE page with oral comments included. Examples of coursework at different grades from real or imaginary students could also be included for discussion.

Have a look at my example here.

You do not need Pixetell or to download any other software in order to access a pixetell.
The standard version allows for 5 minutes worth of recording but there is no limit on the more expensive pro version. There are other tools like Jing or Camtasia who offer some of the features of Pixetell, so a very useful comparison chart help the potential user assessing whether this is the right tool for them. I have also found the tutorial page very helpful.

 

Now waiting for an Education version...

Pixetell, Have You Met Education?

by Ken Royal

I know that Pixetell is geared to a business model, but one look at it, and it shouts education. I've been playing around with this easy to use video, audio, documents, drag and drop collaboration solution all morning. It uses regular e-mail to send a URL to your video, audio, or typed communication. The link opens in any browser. It completely takes away the challenge of piecing together two or more tools to do the same thing.

They're working on a Mac version now, and it should be out soon, but I was able to run it using Parallels, so any other Virtual Machine should do the trick, too. My Mac is older, so I haven't tried bootcamp. On a PC it worked like a charm – actually tried it on a netbook–very cool. I did video and audio without mic or headsets (screen grab image above), but using them will only make the sound quality crystal rather than good.

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking professional development, inter-school, parent/teacher communication, as well as project collaboration locally. I think it would be wonderful for parallel international studies, and communication across time zones. You can password protect, as well as lock or open the discussion feature.

My recommendation, is for the company to create an Education section at their site, and let teachers get this for a minimal fee. In other words, have a teacher or education price for this. If you can do e-mail, you can do this. Just so easy! The download and set up was under a minute as well. Looking forward to some educator feedback on this.

Take a look for yourself, and try it for free at http://www.pixetell.com/, and be sure to check the video there.

Why Doesn't the System Adapt to the Student?

by Deron Durflinger, Principal, Van Meter Schools, Iowa

Why Doesn't the System Adapt to the Student, Instead of the Student Adapting to the System?

Recently I read a great blog post from Doug Johnson,who wrote in response to a post from Scott McLeod on his Dangerously Irrelevant Blog. As much fun as speculating what education might or ought to look like in 2050 (I'll only be 98 years old, after all), I'd suggest energies are better spent in realizing the potential of the technologies and opportunities we have available to us - TODAY.

These would be my questions for Will ...

• Why don't we now have an IEP for every child (and every teacher), with tech facilitating this today?
• Why doesn't every child have a laptop or netbook with 24/7 access to tutorials, information, and productivity tools for all learners with genuinely differentiated approaches and resource for each student TODAY?
• Why is not every teacher taking advantage of challenging/engaging game environments and MUVEs TODAY?
• Why is every teacher not taking advantage of a nearly unlimited number of resources to allow the creation of relevant assignments based on personal interests for every child TODAY?
• Why do teachers and students not have 24/7 access to information professionals (librarians) TODAY?
• Why do there only seem to be a few teachers in every school that make creativity, problem-solving and global interactions a priority TODAY?

Why are these things not the norm, but the exception TODAY? It would take no extra funds, no revolution, no scientific breakthroughs, no visioning. Just work.(And I'll bet these things are not universal even in the districts of the administrative geniuses Scott describes.)

Doug talks about changes that need to happen in education TODAY. I couldn't agree more with the questions Doug is asking.

• With the resources that we have available today through technology, all students and teachers could and should have a plan based on their needs that will help them improve and learn at the highest level.
• Laptops for every student, in every school would truly empower students to learn 24/7 about their PASSIONS in a way that will allow them to THINK, LEAD & SERVE in this global, digital community we all live in.
• Kids have grown up on video games and love to dream and live in this virtual world, and yet most teachers have no idea the amount of learning that could take place in their classes if they harnessed the power of gaming in their classrooms.
• Kids have access to so many tools that would allow them to create and develop products to demonstrate their learning on a level, no textbook, notepad and pencil could ever do.
• Students should not only have access to their school librarians, but to all of their teachers 24/7 so they can learn when and how they learn.

We need students that can create, students that are globally connected, and students that are problem-solvers because they will be the leaders of our world in the not to distant future. All students should have opportunities to develop these skills on a daily basis.

As Doug described in his post. All of the questions he asked about schools today could happen easily for free, but he forgot one important question. Why do we expect every kid to adjust to the system instead of the system adjusting to the kid?

We live in such a diverse, connected world, begging for people that are:

• Adaptable
• Creative
• Innovative
• Risk Takers
• Collaborative
• Problem-Solvers

But our current educational system wants all students to develop the same skills, at the same rate, taught in the same manner, to each individual. ALL educators know that this system is not conducive to true learning. We know all people are different. We know all kids develop differently. We know every student has different strengths & different weaknesses and different likes & different dislikes. We know that all students learn differently. We know that for a student to be passionate about learning and to become a life-long learner, we have to help students find what works best for them, which may or may not be what works best for everyone else, especially the adults.

The current educational system needs to change. We have known it for years because so many efforts to reform education have been attempted. The problem with reforming the model we currently have is it somehow morphs back into what it always was. The system will always become what it always was because the focus has always been on what is best for the adults, and not on what is best for the students.

For the system to change in a way in which meaningful learning is the norm instead of the exception, we will need an entirely NEW system. The factory model needs to be replaced with an educational system that is more similar to the world in which we live in. It needs to be:

• Adaptable
• Creative
• Innovative
• Willing to take Risks
• Collaborative
• Full of Problem-Solvers

The system needs to be what we expect from the kids. We are trying to create this type of system at Van Meter. We are excited about the direction we are going, but we are only one small school in Iowa. For these needed changes to take place throughout the U.S, we are going to need educational leaders who are willing to BE what they expect our students to become.

HP Covers New Education Technology Bases

by Ken Royal

I recently sat down with HP's Brian Becker, director of Education, in New York City, to talk about their new, three-pronged approach for interactive classroom solutions. It seems they have all the bases covered and may have an HP home run in the making. Partnered with Microsoft and Win7, this could be big for getting many more students at computers and giving a new definition to seat work.

Here are the 3 parts—MultiSeat, TeachNow, and SchoolCloud—that make up the complete HP package—as I understand them:

MultiSeat: This is really a thin client solution. Using one sufficiently prepared desktop, a school can connect and operate 10 computers as thin client users. This is a USB, plug and play solution, so you don’t have to be a tech guru to set it up. There’s no need to open a computer to install anything.

TeachNow: This is a server-based application for thin clients that just gives teachers and students what they need without software clutter and application power drain. It’s recommended for 30 users making it perfect for classrooms and computer labs. Teachers get lesson planning areas with plenty of teaching tools, and students get a view of their content and computer desktop. This OS streaming technology is mouse-click easy and safe.

SchoolCloud: This is HP’s entry into private cloud solutions. The idea is that a teacher or student desktop can be anywhere, and access anywhere. The best part of this is that all computing devices can be used. Certainly makes netbooks more valuable in 1:1 solutions. Companies providing these new options will make it possible for more students and teachers to gain computing access—at school and home.
This is the part that that is the most exciting, because companies providing these solutions have a handle on the future. Once the idea is understood, education Clouds, will be the center of our education conversations.

I believe SchoolCloud starts with 200 seats, includes professional development, and useful administration reports on technology usage. It’s nice to know that what the district is paying for is being used, and beyond that, the information backs administrators asking for more technology.

http://www.hp.com/go/virtualEDU

Director’s Note: There are other solutions out there that do each of these things, but HP has put them together for a complete solution.

All Schools Should Skype

by Eric Sheninger
Principal, New Milford High School (NMHS), located in Bergen County, NJ

Last fall I was at a workshop and was intrigued to learn how schools were using Skype in the classroom. Needless to say I was sold immediately on the educational possibilities. Upon returning to school made it a mission to pass on this information thinking that all of my teachers would be as enthusiastic about it as I was. I had never used the program, but all I heard was how easy it was to Skype. I soon developed this vision of walking around my building and seeing multiple classrooms using Skype to engage our students like never before. So I sent out a very detailed email to my entire staff explaining how easy it was to set up Skype and ways in which it could be used during instruction. With these step by step instructions I was sure that it would only take days before teachers began to use this Web 2.0 technology as a free video conference tool.

Weeks and months went by and I heard nothing about Skype. If this wasn’t bad enough, I then did some investigating and found that none of my teachers had used it at all. So where did I go wrong?  Some pondering led me back to knowledge acquired during my administrative training. If I wanted my staff to buy into using a type of technology, no matter how simple it is to use, I had to model how to use it for educational purposes. Now I had a plan! So over the summer I learned how to Skype and trained a few of my staff members. Using Delicious I collected links on how Skype was being used for education. My passion and excitement became contagious after engaging in a few discussions with staff members.  Finally, my vision of teachers using Skype in the classroom was about to become a reality.

At this point, I cannot take any credit for what I am about to write about. One of the teachers that I had Skype discussions with was Colleen Tambuscio. Colleen teaches a Holocaust course at NMHS and takes 10-12 students on a Holocaust Study tour every year to Europe. The following is some background information on the program taken from the NJ School Report Card Narrative:

New Milford High School offers students a comprehensive Holocaust/Genocide education program. This program is run by Colleen Tambuscio, the 2005-2006 Bergen County Teacher of the year. The course includes an instructional component both within the classroom setting and beyond. Activities include the following:

• an elective course entitled The Holocaust and Human Behavior
• a two day educational seminar to The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) in Washington, DC
• a day-long symposium with Holocaust survivors
• a funded overseas experiential learning opportunity to study the Holocaust at sites in Germany, the Czech Republic and Poland.

The goal of the program is to provide students with educational experiences that help foster an understanding of the value of all human life and that challenge students to examine their personal attitudes and behaviors while grappling with the historical complexity of the Holocaust era.

Colleen was already familiar with Skype as she had used it for personal reasons, but was now excited to utilize it in the classroom. Let me tell you, she had some fantastic ideas.

On Monday September 14th, Colleen “Skyped in” a guest speaker, Shalmi Barmore, from Israel for her Holocaust class. The topic of the lesson for the day was to define the term "genocide" and analyze this definition as it related to the term "Holocaust". Mr. Barmore was able to give historical insight into the creation and use of the term "genocide" and the history behind labeling the genocide that took place during WWII as "The Holocaust". Mr. Barmore shared scholarly information on the use of these terms from his years of experience in education at Yad Vashem - Israel's Holocaust memorial.  Students were able to interact directly with Mr. Barmore in real time through a vibrant discussion. Colleen also plans to Skype to her Holocaust classes from Europe this spring when on the Study Tour!

 

In a recent email this week, Colleen explained to me other ways that she plans to use Skype in the classroom. I have included these below:

 

“Last night I had dinner with a friend of mine from USHMM who is the expert on Latin America and the Holocaust. She was in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay for a month working with local schools and teachers. She worked with a teacher and students in Uruguay on a survivor project. Their local survivor stories were not documented anywhere. Through the registry at USHMM she set up an opportunity for the students to document their local survivor stories which were not in the database at the Museum. This is exactly what we will be doing this year in Trsice, videotaping and writing up the stories of local survivors in the Trsice/Olomouc region that have not been documented.

So as you can imagine, we will be documenting these for the registry at USHMM.  Prior to this initiative, she is going to set us up with the students in Uruguay so we can SKYPE and have a conversation about the process involved in this project. They don't speak English so I asked Lisette Morel this morning if she could interpret for us and she was thrilled to help out." 

LOTS OF POTENTIAL HERE!

 

“Today in Holocaust class first period and as a result of a discussion in my 8th period yesterday, we emailed the author of a book we are reading on the Armenian Genocide some questions about Armenian survivor understanding of the Holocaust.  What did they think after their ordeal about the Holocaust?  Why is there such Armenian discontent in their culture against the Jews?  Does this stem from their time in Turkey or is religious indifference? etc.  Lots of great questions.  I know the author because he has spoken at our CHE (Council of Holocaust Educators) conferences in the past.  He will respond to the kids.  Then, we asked him if he would SKYPE into our class next week so we can discuss these issues !!! I'll let you know.”

 
Simple, free technology such as Skype can add a whole new dimension to the learning process.  As educators we can now easily move beyond the walls of the classroom and provide authentic-learning experiences for our students that are relevant, meaningful, and engaging. With this being said, it is teachers like Colleen Tambuscio that make this happen in classrooms across the globe.  Bottom line is this: I am so glad that I learned to Skype!

3 Student Collaboration Solutions

I was asked my opinion of ePals, eChalk, and Saywire as collaboration tools and solutions for K12.
My thoughts are in this video:

Two NECC ePals Anouncements

The International Baccalaureate (IB) has selected ePal, to implement and manage a customized hosted learning community for IB students, educators, alumni, and other stakeholders. This collaboration between ePals and the IB will connect members of the worldwide IB community in 2,600 schools and more than 130 countries.

ePals has also formed a partnership with the Gabriel Piedrahita-Uribe Foundation, based in Cali, Colombia, to bring high quality learning resources and safe communication tools and collaborative experiences to Spanish-speaking educators and their students around the world.

Hear the news from Larry Roth, ePal's Education V. P of Marketing and Business Development. For more go to http://www.epals.com/.

Take Me to Your Planet--2.0!

Discovering a new Planet 2.0 with Promethean. Take this to your Leader!

Actually, I was invited to see the new Planet 2.0 by Promethean. Andy Ryff led the discussion. The launch will be sometime after NECC, so they can get it just right for educators. That makes sense, due to the fact that educators played an important part in making the contents of this new Planet brilliant. I was impressed with the new dashboard and decidedly easier interfaces on all landing pages. I grabbed some screenshots during the meeting.

My favorites were the Quick Search, curriculum, displaying free and premium resources (for purchase) in easy reach, and great bookmarking and breadcrumb trails, so you won't get resource-lost. The best of all is the Community Section, where educators can get together with Wikis, profiles, public and private grouping, and collect credits for purchases, too, which will be available in the months following the initial launch.

Note: Forced outside, due to a tree taking out my Internet...lawnmowers to the right of me, lawnmowers to the left of me, a helicopter squadron over me, and luckily, my neighbor's WiFi surrounding me--thank goodness for mute--onward the presentation!

Skull Challenge to Spark Student Distance Learning

Start a distance learning, collaborative Internet investigation with your students.

If you're looking for a way to start a distance learning connection for students, parallel study adventures with classes—in-district, state-wide, national, or international just might be the spark.

Here's one that I used with my Life Science students. Although, in my case, I actually had the skulls and bones, so the measuring was first hand for us, but most of the work was Internet research with classrooms around the world. It turned out that our out-of-district/international students added to the adventure by providing new skulls and bones to our project. Find a mutual Internet space for the project, get a distance teaching partner, and your students some distance student colleagues.

If you'd like to try the skull challenge, here's a few from my collection, as well as a great identification URL to help— http://www.d91.k12.id.us/skyline/teachers/robertsd/mammal1.htm, posted by former Idaho high school biology/zoology teacher, DeLoy Roberts.