Technology In Education Online

There were four sessions throughout the day. Here is a brief review of the sessions:

 Session 1 – Project Based Learning That Works - Great Ideas for You – Thematic Planning – The LEADS model (Literacy is Essential to Adolescent Development and Success ) is built around thematic, cross-curricular units.  The core reading materials, novels and expository/informational text are utilized to incorporate this cross-curricular approach.  The presenters gave an example of Project-based Learning by presenting YouTube videos showing this model in action.  Integrating curriculum through ideas – LA teacher, SS teacher, and Math teacher are thinking of ways to integrate these themes/ideas.  They pointed out that collaboration time is essential.   

Session 2 – Drop-in Time- Web 2.0 tools- They spoke of how they could be used in the classroom with students. The presenters demonstrated interesting sites:

For more information go to: http://dropintimewithweb20.wikispaces.com/

Session 3 – I presented “The Project-Based Web 2.0 Buffet! Eating It All Up! I spoke about the collaborative 6^th grade project. I’ll be posting my presentation on my website.

Session 4 – Developing and Supporting Teacher Leaders – The Academy of Teaching and Learning – http://southjerseyacademy.com/. It is run by teachers for teachers and started in 2000. 

All sessions are free. The only responsibility of the school districts are providing teachers with substitutes while attending.

There are 4 components -

1. governance committee – gets feedback from others to determine who are speakers, i.e. teacher leaders in the area then plan/organize
2. EIRC – take care of cost, meeting place, etc.
3. Quarterly meetings – meet on a specific topic – teachers drive the topics based on feedback
   1. Keynote in AM, breakout, lunch, return for big group activity, burning issues
4. Website – collaboration, professional growth

Once again a very enjoyable day at this annual conference. Thanks to all the folks at SRI – ETTC for putting this together!

OK, here is my frustration…I ‘ve been presenting at conferences on a regular basis for the past couple of years. I’ve setup my website and Moodle. Since setting up my Moodle I’ve had people register from all around the world.  I’ve set up discussion forums, encouraged people to participate, share their ideas, ask questions, etc. The results? Not much participation. So the question becomes (OK, this is where the pity party comes in): How much energy do I put into creating my website and Moodle if I’m having to guess what educators’ needs are? Or, what they would like to see on both sites. I know people are busy with their lives, but I think we need to encourage ourselves, as educators, as much as we encourage our students, to be active participants in our own learning.  If we remain passive receptors of information, how does this encourage learning?  So if there is anyone out there that has some suggestions, I’m listening!

OK, so I maybe a little late to the revolution but I’ve got the religion now! Open source is my new found call to arms!  The latest- Joomla!  A great open source resource used to create a website.  In looking at a collaborative approach to web development I looked at several options – Joomla!, Drupal, DotNetNuke, and Mambo.  I settled on Joomla! after setting up some test sites and running through the various options.

At a recent NJAET executive board meeting I demoed a mock site I set up using Joomla! and people were amazed out the power behind it and what it can do.  With the additional extensions that are available, and the ease that they install, I’m convinced that utilizing a CMS is the best solution.  My goal to find ways for educators to collaborate and not work in isolation.  The great thing about Joomla! is that no one needs to be the sole source of disseminating information.  You now have the option to assign a variety of roles to individuals. You can have users, authors, publishers, administrators, etc. all contributing to creating an active website. For those that like to be in charge it means giving up a little bit of the power to allow others to participate. So all of you control freaks out there take a deep breath and plunge right in. You’ll find it all works out for the better in the long run.

As time moves along I find myself moving away from the mega software publishers to open source solutions.  The great thing also is there is a whole new industry out there of people developing additions to these great open source software solutions.  Some of the additional extensions are commercial products. But I’m more open to spending a little to support these developers than continued to feed those hungry giants out there.  So if you’ve been contemplating a transformation of your website, take a look at one of these open source CMS programs.