edtech – Page 2 – Random Connections

Spartanburg County Instructional Technology Academy

August 7, 2009 Tom No Comments

EdTech

This week we held the kick-off sessions for the Spartanburg County Instructional Technology Academy (SCITA) at USC-Upstate. The three-day workshop was the start of a graduate course that is funded by an E2T2 grant that Spartanburg school districts 1, 2, 5, and 7 had applied for and received. In addition to the graduate course, participants would receive and be trained in emerging technology for their classrooms.

The first day began with an overview of the program and an introduction to the course by Dr. Jimmy Pryor, who will be the instructor. Danielle Stengle from CSI Outfitters then spoke to the group about using technology for special needs students.

Discovery Education MediaShare

July 31, 2009 Tom No Comments

EdTech

The citizens of South Carolina really have some wonderful online resources available to them. For ten years now the State Library has made available a wealth of research and reference materials through the DISCUS project. This is available in all schools, libraries, and colleges, and available at home if you obtain a free password from one of those sources. Then there’s KnowItAll.org and all of the other amazing resources from SCETV. One of the best of these is the Discovery Education video clips available from StreamlineSC. Like DISCUS, this is available free to all schools in the state through a special licensing arrangement with Discovery. At the SCETV conference this week I learned about a new feature that Discovery is promoting called MediaShare. This new service looks really cool, and looks like it will be another great resource for teachers.

As the name suggests, MediaShare allows users to share files of various types – PowerPoint slide shows, Smart and Promethean files, podcasts, and video clips. The idea is that these types of files often take up more space on servers than some districts allow, so Discovery has created this place to host the files. MediaShare is monitored for appropriateness of content, and districts can also set approval levels for files uploaded by their users.

SCETV Summer Workshops

July 30, 2009 Tom No Comments

EdTech

This week SCETV is holding its summer technology workshops. Normally I’m so busy building new schools and putting in computers that I can’t take part in the summer workshops. This summer, however, I decided I would try to make it. I figured that during summer there would be better participation than there might during the school year.

Last spring I did three sessions each day, which meant that I had no down time nor opportunity to visit any other sessions. This time I cut one of my presentations, so I would only be doing two workshops each day – Basic Google Earth and Creating Interactive Lessons with Google Earth. I had also been asked to conduct a geocaching activity one of the afternoons.

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Google Squared

June 5, 2009 Tom 2 Comments

EdTech, General Technology, Internet

Google has released two cool new products this week. First, there is a major update to the user interface for Street View. The transitions between scenes are much smoother, and it reminds me of Microsoft’s Photosynth technology. One gets the feeling of looking around corners, and actually being immersed in the environment. For a good example, take a look at Times Square in New York.

As cool as this is, I’m even more excited about the public release of Google Squared, a new search product that creates tables for search results. I had mourned the demise of Google Notebook, and haven’t really played around with Search Wiki, which is supposed to replace it. This new product is an excellent tool for research and comparison.

Skype Pals

May 2, 2009 Tom No Comments

EdTech

For the past several weeks Diane McAlister’s first grade class at Reidville Elementary School has been writing to a class in Washington State, where each student had a pen pal. The culminating activity was a Skype teleconference with the other class. I had the privilege of visiting the class this past week while the conference … Read More “Skype Pals” »

SCETV Technology Workshops

March 19, 2009 Tom No Comments

EdTech

For the past three days I’ve been in Columbia doing workshops SCETV. As I’ve done for the past three years, I’ve offered training at various levels in Google Earth. It was a busy three days, and I didn’t have much time to blog during that time. Still, it was a good experience. SCETV always puts … Read More “SCETV Technology Workshops” »

Grant Writing, Ganster Style

February 8, 2009 Tom 2 Comments

EdTech

Imagine , if you will, the classic heist movie. A collection of thugs pull off a bank robbery and escape with a large but finite amount of cash. One by one the thieves double-cross each other. According to South Carolina Math Standards for 3rd-5th Grade standard 1, C, the thugs realize that if with fewer … Read More “Grant Writing, Ganster Style” »

A Declaration of Independence

February 2, 2009 Tom No Comments

EdTech, Rants

Starting today, I’m doing something I should have done 10 years ago. I refuse to take sales calls of any type unless they fit one of these three criteria…

We have an active request for proposals for that specific product.
I have directly contacted your company with an inquiry about a specific product (and that doesn’t mean you happened to get my contact info from some conference or other indirect means.)
We have already established a client-vendor relationship for specific goods and/or services.

So unless your sales call happens to fit the above, don’t expect much of a response from me. I will still accept e-mails so that I have your contact information on hand, but I will not have an extended phone conversation with you, I will need attend a webinar, and I will not schedule a meeting with you.

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