Instructional Technology & Learning Services | San Antonio ISD

Aug/10

15

Project SHARE (Epsilen) Weekly Memo

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in CTR Updates, eNews

The Texas Education Agency has launched a new initiative, Project SHARE, that will impact every professional staff member in the District. Since Project SHARE is swiftly becoming a part of the ecology of education in Texas, please take a moment to review the information below and share it with your staff.

BACKGROUND

Project Share is an online collaborative and ePortfolio system coordinated by TEA with implementation being managed by each regional education service center. In addition to the training that will take place in face-to-face settings, professional development offered at the Education Service Center, Region will involve making online resources through Epsilen, the state’s digital platform for Project Share. You can find an official announcement online from the Texas Education Agency online at http://bit.ly/bpGatV

The San Antonio ISD has established a presence on Project SHARE web site at http://bit.ly/saisdps. You can find updates, timeline for implementation and further information about the program there.

WHAT TEACHERS CAN DO WITH PROJECT SHARE NOW

Project SHARE boasts a variety of features, including the following:

  • Web page creation tools, photo sharing, and allows for up to 5GB of space per user with uploads of only 50MB per item uploaded at a time.
  • The ability to create course content for their students and link to resources provided by Smithsonian, the NY Times, NASA, and PBS.

Note that the District already has in-house solutions (e.g. Moodle, wiki) that address teacher instructional needs more comprehensively than Project SHARE.

ACTION ITEMS

Please share the following expectations with your staff regarding the use of Project SHARE:

  1. Use of Project SHARE should be in accordance with the District’s Acceptable Use Policy
  2. Encourage all instructional staff members to login and complete the Project Share online introductory course entitled, “Texas Tour.”

QUESTIONS?

Please contact the Office of Instructional Technology Services or Miguel Guhlin via email at mguhlin@saisd.net or at 527-1400, if you have any questions.

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Aug/10

13

CTR Update 08/13/2010

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in CTR Updates

Critical Links for 2010-2011 School Year

Please find the schedule for the 2010-2011 school year below:

Meeting Date Time Location
1st Meeting Friday, September 10, 2010 2:00 to 4:30 pm Burnet Learning Ctr, Cafeteria
2nd Meeting Friday, November 5, 2010 2:00 to 4:30 pm Burnet Learning Ctr, Cafeteria
3rd Meeting Friday, January 7, 2011 2:00 to 4:30 pm Burnet Learning Ctr, Cafeteria
4th Meeting Friday, April 1, 2011 2:00 to 4:30 pm Burnet Learning Ctr, Cafeteria
5th Meeting Friday, May 13, 2011 2:00 to 4:30 pm Burnet Learning Ctr, Cafeteria

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Aug/10

13

CRUISE Participant Feedback

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in eNews

The following is feedback from participants in the CRUISE initiative (find out more online):

CRUISE – Spring 2010 Campuses!

Sarah King ES

Jessica Becerra-Kindergarten Teacher

I really enjoyed learning something new!  As someone who is not comfortable with new technology more assistance with step by step instructions as to how to set up the Wiki would have been helpful.  The tutorials sent through email where not helpful at all.  I was unable to attend afternoon meetings because of grad school and felt lost and frustrated.  I will definitely keep up with the technology I have learned and hope there will be more training for lower grade programs I can use in my classroom.

Thank you for everything!!

Ana Marie G. Lopez – Kindergarten Teacher

I really enjoyed the challenge (most of the time) of creating my wiki page and creating a technology lesson plan.  I think this is a very resourceful tool for the parents/students.  I do however feel the more time should be spent on showing us how to create these pages for the wiki and how to use some of these web tools.  I spend hours, playing and figuring things out.  It was frustrating at times but at the end the final product, was well worth it.

Brenda R. Jalomo –

The CRUISE was a good experience.  Though I didn’t complete the course, I feel my experience on the CRUISE will allow me to support my teachers’ technology needs.  I feel more confident about what can be accomplished with technology – how we can enrich our teaching.

For the next CRUISE participants I would recommend more group sessions when introducing new technology at various times.  Sometimes it’s hard to leave campus right away and other days it’s hard to wait until 4:30.  Overall though I did enjoy being part of the CRUISE.

No Name

I sometimes felt frustrated but venturing out into new territory is very good for me and will make me a stronger teacher.  I went to one of the optional meetings and it was very helpful.  I probably only learned about half of what you wanted to teach me but I would sign up for a follow-up course if it was offered.

No Name

I had an awesome experience with the CRUISE program.  I am really excited to go back and see/use the different programs out there.  I would like to see more tutorials out there for the 2.0 online resources (ex. Movie Maker, Kidpixs).  Other than that, I am really glad that I entered and stuck through with this CRUISE.

Sarah Ten Cate – 2nd Grade

I truly enjoyed this class and learned a lot.  I still need much more instruction.  I found it difficult to fit in all the assignments while teaching full time, but it was possible and it was nice to be able to email that I needed a little more time.

I am a beginner and felt that I needed more tutorials on many items that were mentioned.  It would be nice to have had mini lessons/tutorials on how to use podcasts, blogs, digital storytelling and other methods/tools to use with the students (more web tools!).  I am now motivated to learn more on my own.

No Name

-       Tutorials of the Web 2.0 tools to be used

-       Offer course @ beginning of year so as not to interfere with TAKS testing or tutoring

-       Offer more technology courses through the summer

-       Put up a website with helpful sites to use:

ie: mixstory, voki, the ones introduced in online course.

I truly enjoyed this experience and look forward to sharing and teaching my students with more technology.

5/21/10 Workshop

No Name – 5/21/10

What we did well:

Wiki online training was awesome!  Opened campus to a learning tool that could do wonders for our students, students at all levels.

What needs improving:

Worked well.  Nothing needs to be changed.

General suggestions/comments:

Training to find more on-line resources.

Teacher toolbox of resourceful links for

-       Videos

-       Interactive assignments

-       Strategies for students

No Name – 5/21/10

What we did well:

SO much!  Thanks for being accessible to us.  I wouldn’t have had such a positive experience without the PEOPLE.

What needs improving:

-       More support for newbies.

General suggestions/comments:

-       Wiki should be earlier in curriculum

-       Move videos showing teachers USING the tech

-       Maybe go to campuses

No Name – 5/21/10

What we did well:

Great feedback and tech support.

What needs improving:

All three CRUISES should interact I would like to see a collaborative learning project with the other campuses.

General suggestions/comments:

CRUISE for IPOD touch, video camera.

No Name – 5/21/10

What we did well:

-       Expectations clearly defined and communicated online, via email and paper/pencil.

No Name – 5/21/10

What we did well:

-       Offering help during optional meetings.

-       Good talking points were given to help jump start the discussions.

What needs improving:

Timing.  Perhaps this would be better to do over the summer – many teachers are swamped especially during and leading up to TAKS.  Maybe a few more examples of what our Wiki should have looked like.

No Name – Connell – 5/21/10

What we did well:

The implementation of the Wiki is awesome.  I really felt most of the benefit of this class was the Wiki.

What needs improving:

I’m not sure that I found the online class very helpful.  Amy Gordon was fine as the instructor but I guess I would have benefitted more from application of the technology.

5/24/10 Workshop

No Name – 5/24/10

What we did well:

v  Explained in detail what the expectations were for each assignment

v  Provided opportunities for one-on-one assistance if needed

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Aug/10

12

5 Steps to Digitizing Your Writing Workshop

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in Teaching and Learning

Creative Commons Copyright ShareAlike-NonCommercial-Attribution 2010 Miguel Guhlin

“If you can write what people will read by choice,” shares Vicki Spandel, author of Six Traits Writing, “the world is your’s” (Source: http://bit.ly/bRwHIs). Over 70 million bloggers experience the truth of this statement daily. If their writing fails to engage, no one reads their work. Yet other bloggers experience that the world is their’s every time they publish a piece online.  As human beings writing about our passions, many of us have a deep desire to be heard and recognized…in the past, the experience required the rigamarole of having an editor read your work. Now, like everything else, the Internet enables us to skip the intermediaries and go straight to the audience. Of course, if what you write doesn’t sparkle in the eye of your readers, you will lack for readers.

Expecting students to write in our classrooms for hit-or-miss praise is criminal. Their nimble fingers can text an entire piece of writing via their mobile device to a relevant audience online at the same time they publish to a worldwide network. For them, the pay is in the joy of publication, in the act of making their work known, and of partaking of the work of others.
Gretchen Bernabei, speaking to a teacher audience participating at a 2010 Summer Writing Academy, shares the following observation:

If students leave the writing workshop feeling famous, then I have done my job right. Sharing your writing, being enlarged by others’ writing is what makes you feel famous.
Source: Gretchen Bernabei, 2010 Summer Writing Academy, San Antonio ISD, San Antonio, Texas
As a writing workshop facilitator, you have a multitude of online spaces where students can publish their writing for the world to see. Those include school district or teacher-managed blogs, wikis, Moodle-based virtual classrooms, external web sites such as Kidpub.com and many others.  Check Sidebar 1: Student Publishing Online for a partial listing.
In 2008, my daughter, Rosalie, published her writing online via Kidpub.com.  Only 14 years old at the time, she had access to a multitude of publishing choices. She did not publish in print until 2010 via Lulu.com, one of many web sites that allow you to publish your own book. She became famous in her small circle of friends and family, having shared her work online and, later, in print. At no time did she share her work with a teacher, and had published 18 chapters of her writing (a total of 50 pages) online before her parents found out. Another pair of children–home-schooled in a log cabin in Tennessee using an old laptop computer with MS Paint and Moviemaker–converted the first 3 chapters into videos shared on YouTube.com. The parents of the children had no idea their children had done this until after the first two videos had been created.
While publishing student writing online fundamentally hooks students as writers, as teachers, we can take advantage of available tools to make our jobs easier. Just as our students have new digital tools, so do we as their teachers.
This article is about 5 steps you can take, as a writing teacher, to digitize your writing workshop. There are many more, though, so “stay tuned” for future articles!
  1. Embrace open web tools
  2. Focus on the Facilitator
  3. Create an Online Writing Space
  4. Facilitate Online Conversations about Student Writing
  5. Offer feedback in audio or video, rather than written, format

Please recall that digital citizenship–including cybersafety–principles must be kept in mind. Also be sure to adhere to your school district’s responsible/acceptable use policy.

#1 – EMBRACE OPEN WEB TOOLS
“My son has dysgraphia and dyslexia,” pointed out a teacher in a summer writing academy, “His school never met his needs, putting him on skill-n-drill software.” In contrast, another mother and teacher shared, “My child learned to use a computer in third grade and has used it since then…he’s fifteen years old now.” The red-haired teacher pauses for a moment. “He’s now out of Special Education and in Gifted Talented Program.


“Computer software now allows young children to write and illustrate their own stories before their fine motor skills are developed enough to allow them to do so by hand” (Source: National School Boards Association, http://bit.ly/9Cwbz9). Student writers can publish their work, not only in print, but in a variety of media. Text, audio, and images combine when students use blogs, wikis, podcasts and digital storytelling. Students may find it easier to collaborate on a piece of writing when using collaborative word processors. Neither teachers or students can afford to ignore freely available technologies. These digital tools on the “open web” allow you to create a variety of media, much of which begin with text. Some of my favorites include the ones listed online at http://bit.ly/digitizethismedia.
Within this context of writers with its focus on the recursive, writing process, a wide variety of technology tools are available. Note that writing can find expression in a variety of media formats, as well as be developed singly or in collaboration with others. Take advantage of over 20 digital tools for students (Sidebar #2 – Digital Tools for Students). Learning to use open web tools–like social bookmarking site Diigo.com which allows students to annotate web sites, make notes and keeps it all in one location–eliminate the “Oh, I left my writing journal at home/work and now I’m stuck.” You can easily transition from notes and highlights kept in Diigo.com social bookmarking tool to a written piece that appropriately cites content. Check Sidebar #3 for Electronic Citation Resources.
#2 – FOCUS ON THE FACILITATOR
Our job as writing workshop facilitators can be pretty harrowing. Even a paper-centric writing workshop involves juggling colored sheets to create books, setting up writing centers, helping students deal with the daily struggle of journals and journal responses, and, crafting mini-lessons that engage and endure. The focus is always on student writing. As workshop facilitator, you can work to find the answer to the question, “How can technologies we now have make the HOW of writing workshop easier for the teacher?”
One possibility is to reflect on the teacher’s role in the writing workshop, and the technology available to organize the writing workshop. The work Diana Benner and I focused on centered around writing workshop components, including the following: 1) The Mini-Lesson; 2) The Status of the Class; 3) Write/Confer; and 4) Group Share. There are many more components and activities, but these present a starting point. Consider taking just one of these–such as the mini-lesson–and building an online writing space that allows you to share and archive your mini-lessons. Here are some simple ways you can use available free technology online:
  1. Create a Self-Editing checklist that is actually a GoogleForm or the Questionnaire Module in Moodle so you can quickly see class progress in graphs. Students complete this information via a web-based form that allows you to quantitatively track progress in class.
  2. Create a bank of online mini-lessons that students can watch and listen to again and again in an archive. Build that in your GoogleSites Wiki or Moodle.
  3. Facilitate sharing using recording tools in a discussion forum or Sites wiki. When doing the Group Share during a Writing Workshop, you can either play the students’ presentation of the audio (which they recorded when they were ready) or record the feedback students get so that it can be added to the written piece/recording shared. That way, students can come back and reflect on the advice provided by their peers.
While some of the ideas above are elaborated in this article, consider how technology, rather than complicating your life, can make it easier for you and your students over the long run of a writing workshop, eliminating the constant paper chase.
#3 – CREATE AN ONLINE WRITING SPACE
Often, writing folders serve as the central repository in a classroom in the throes of a writing workshop. As a writing workshop facilitator, my efforts involved storage of students’ writing folders in crates and/or file cabinet, depending on what was available. All writing resided on pieces of paper. Specific areas of writing workshop can be moved online. If your students are publishing online–whether via a blog, wiki, collaborative word processor, Moodle forum–then an online space to bring all the artifacts together is critical. A staple of the mini-lesson includes the mini-lesson.


“In the mini-lesson,” my mentor teacher explained to me, “someone–usually the teacher, but it can be a student or a guest speaker–introduces a new concept to writers. The mini-lesson, lasting 10-20 minutes, can also be focused on meeting the needs identified in students’ writing. The mini-lesson facilitator models the approach introduced, writing alongside the students.” Using a Moodle or wiki, you can create a reference point that can house your mini-lesson content, including audio and/or video recordings. Moodle allows you to group content around topics, or week of study.

Several solutions are available to the problem of creating an online writing space, such as:
    • Blogger.com
    • Edublogs.org
    • Moodle’s built-in blog and/or wiki components
Once you know where you are going to put your writing workshop content–where you can share anything, everything you and your students will need for writing workshop–decide what format you will put that information online in. Here are three types of tools–with specific suggestions–that you can use:
  1. Create Digital Content viewable by Students using Digital Storytelling Tools
    • MS Photostory (Windows only) – Enables teacher to create an enhanced podcast–pictures and sound–about the MiniLesson content.
    • ShowBeyond.com – Enables teachers to create an enhanced podcast about the MiniLesson content.
    • VoiceThread.com – Enables teachers to create an enhanced podcast about the MiniLesson content, but also allow students to contribute audio, text, or video content as comments. This enables many to many interactions.
  2. Create an electronic slideshow using Online Presentation Tools – Teachers can create presentations and make them easily accessible online, embedding the code of the presentation. This relieves students from the requirement of having MS Office installed on their computers.
    • GoogleDocs Presentation Tool – Enables teachers to create a slideshow that students can participate in chat, as well as contribute slides to.
    • ZohoShow.com – Enables easy uploading of your Powerpoint presentation.
  3. Share your MS Office/OpenOffice created documents as PDFs.
    • Scribd.com – Allows you to print up a long document as a PDF and place it online for easy viewing on-screen. No downloading (getting) of large Word documents. Instead, you simply paste “embed code” that allows you to directly include content on a web page you have created. Students simply view the content online.
  4. Add audio introductions to writing workshop mini-lessons:
    1. Audioboo.com – This allows you to use your mobile phone to record and share audio content. You call it in and the content appears magically online and accessible for students to access.
    2. Drop.io – This is another phenomenal, easy to use tool that you can use with your students to collect feedback on a piece of writing (audio or text) in one place. Setup is free.
#4 – FACILITATE ONLINE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE WRITING
“Eddie, if you write about parts of yourself, I bet your reader will have some of those parts, too. I guess that’s a small answer to the big question you asked.” In this excerpt from Louis Borden’s book, The Day Eddie met the Author, we read the tale of Eddie, a third grader. Eddie who, when his favorite author visits, finds that he is not able to ask his question of the author. Fortunately, the author sees him and reads the yellow paper where Eddie had written his question. You may intuit the question from the answer the author gave Eddie.


When I first started facilitating writing workshops, one of the best sources of insights for students came from the students themselves. Facilitating large group share provides students a place for them to find out what others think of their ideas. That said, students tend to focus on different aspects of a person’s writing. Each of us, while listening to a writer, may find that the writing connects with a part of us.
As wonderful as a writing workshop teacher may be, s/he cannot offer the feedback that ALL students may need. However, online discussion forums through Moodle, attached to wikis, or with blog postings and comments CAN facilitate student to student interaction independent of the teacher. While many fear these kinds of interactions, in online learning, these interactions make or break an online course…or a face to face one. Moodle allows teachers to create a rich, safe environment with ample “brain food” for learners.


Collaborative word processors can also serve as a way for students in groups to interact with ONE text online. Imagine having a piece that needs editing. Paste the text of that piece into a collaborative word processor, then engage in group “ratiocination.” Ratiocination, a term encountered in an article by Joyce Armstrong Carroll, involves using codes that symbolize specific modifications that can be made to a text. Students can learn to decode clues, as Carroll (Source: Acts of Teaching, http://amzn.to/9I0NAs) says, and “figure out words and meanings to solve the mystery of their written drafts.”


For example, some common clues include circling all “to be” verbs, making a wavy line under repeated words, etc. Some of this work–with adjustment from the paper to electronic codes for clues–can be done in a collaborative word processor.


In a classroom using a collaborative word processor, assign different groups of students different clues to code and then turning them loose on a writing assignment. The written piece undergoes a virtual transformation online in full view of the students. This modeling of the approach can then be repeated with students’ own writing with a peer.


Educator “Mr. Warner” shares that learning conversation about writing can also involve offline work that finds expression online. He writes:


“In just over twenty minutes, the Class had gathered nearly 80 different ideas / persuasive phrases for use in our future lessons. These documents were on display on our interactive whiteboard, so we could see what everyone in the class was doing as the lesson progressed. They are also stored online, allowing us to access them during our future lessons.”
(Source: Etherpad in the Classroom Blog, http://www.mrwarner.com/2009/03/etherpad-in-the-classroom, Available: April, 2010 now offline).


In addition to posting written texts and commenting, you can also add audio or video.


#5 – OFFER WRITING FEEDBACK IN A VARIETY OF MEDIA FORMATS

Shelly Blake-Pollock, the teacher and author of the TeachPaperless blog (http://teachpaperless.blogspot.com), encourages his students to publish online. Beyond that step, though, he offers feedback on their writing online as well via screencasts, or video recording of his computer screen. Screencasts, or “JingCrits,” that he creates are short, less than 5-minute video clips where he highlights student work on screen and offers feedback (View an example - http://bit.ly/bsgVQQ).

Blake-Pollock sends each student a link to their own feedback. The response, Shelly says, has been positive:

So far, the reaction to Jing comments has been overwhelmingly in favor. In fact, both students and parents have been pushing me to produce as many JingCrits as my time allows.
This kind of feedback can connect with auditory learners who may prefer to get their feedback in another format besides cryptic comments on a post-it attached to their piece of writing. The teacher reviews student writing online, offering specific feedback, recording the feedback as a video recording. The teacher reports taking only 5-8 minutes to record feedback that would normally take 20 or more minutes to write out as feedback.

JingCrits get their name from The Jing Project, a free screen-recording tool available at http://jingproject.com that enables you to post videos online. Using screen-recording tools to offer feedback–whether from teacher to student, student to teacher, student to student–can offer tremendous benefits to students. This kind of video/audio feedback contribute to the demise of one writing myth–”it takes longer to grade writing.” As Shelly’s JingCrit demonstrates, writing workshop facilitators can grade for discrete skills. The focus on the lead of a paper is helpful.
Writing Workshop facilitators may be familiar with the Carroll/Wilson Analystic Scale for Classroom Use. The scale enables teachers to assess quickly and effectively what they have taught their students. Developed collaboratively with students, the scale embodies intelligent writing assessment. Simply, you only get graded on what you were taught. Imagine having students and teacher develop a Carroll/Wilson Analytic Scale for Classroom Use–centered around what has recently been taught in class–then offering video feedback on a piece of writing using that scale. The video of the Analytic Scale, shared online with students, serves as a perpetual “model” of how to provide feedback.

Shelly has found a quick way to offer feedback his student writers need using screencasting. Some free web-based services that do not require you to install anything on your computer include ScreenToaster.com, ScreenCastle.com, and/or Screencast-o-matic.com. Online tutorials are available for each, but you should be able to get going fairly quickly with 15 minutes of exploration.

If video is not for you, you can also take advantage of digital audio tools. A variety of tools are useful in this category. From inexpensive digital audio recorders, a USB microphone connected to a computer running Audacity audio recording/editing program (free) to online free web-based recording sites like Vocaroo.com and Drop.io, you and your students can easily record audio.
    • Digital Audio Recorder – Teacher can record the mini-lesson and post it on class web site (e.g. blog, wiki). This is an ideal tool for field trips or “on the go” recordings where a mobile phone is not desirable.
    • Vocaroo.com – Students can record a reading of their written piece then email it to the teacher or to other students.
    • Drop.io – This web site allows easy recording of audio, whether by sending a locally recorded audio file on a computer, emailed from a mobile device, or “phoned in.”
    • AudioBoo.com – This web site allows phone recording of content and publishing online.

These are only some of the technology tools available. Be judicious in which tools you decide to infuse into the writing workshop.

CONCLUSION
Remember that the technologies you can use to digitize your writing workshop are easily adaptable to multiple uses. If you find you want to scaffold student writing–or your own teaching of writing–by using tools differently, then do so.  Learning to use new technologies to transform how we approach writing workshop, while a matter of choice for teachers, is a life-skills requirement for our children.

Make the right choice, share back and let me know what you’ve done.

SideBar 1 – Students Publishing Online

  1. Amphitheater List – http://bit.ly/IOq1F – features over 20 web sites where student work can be published online.
  2. Education World article on Encourage Student Writing – http://bit.ly/1IjwJx – Offers additional suggestions.

SideBar 2 – Digital Tools for Students

Stage of the Writing Process Technology Tools Available
Pre-Writing
  1. Storyboarding Documents
  2. Storyboarding Websites
  3. Concept Mapping
  4. Playing with Words
Writing
  1. Digital Storytelling Software
  2. Digital Storytelling Websites
  3. Digital Posters
  4. Comic Strips
  5. Podcasting
    1. AudioBoo
    2. Aviary.com/Tools
    3. Drop.io
Revision
  1. Word Processing
    • Microsoft Word
    • OpenOffice
  2. Collaborative Word Processing
Editing
  1. Word Processing
    • Microsoft Word
    • OpenOffice
  2. Collaborative Word Processing
    • Google Docs
    • iEtherpad.com
    • PrimaryPad.com
Publishing
  1. Digital Storytelling Software
  2. Digital Storytelling Websites

Sidebar #3 – Electronic Citation Resources

· Bibme: This resource creates citations and pulls reference content.
· EasyBib:  Bibliography and citation maker–featuring GoogleDocs integration–for books, newspapers, web sites and more.
· Son of Citation Maker:  David Warlick’s MLA, APA, Chicago, and Turabian citation guide.
· OttoBib:  Enter the ISBN number of a book and it will prepare the citation for you.

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Aug/10

12

ITLS Kicks Off 2010-2011 with a New Look!

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in eNews

Thanks to the hard work of Tonya Mills, our resident guru on web design, the Instructional Technology & Learning Services (ITLS) has a new web site!

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May/10

28

Feedback on Online Professional Learning

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in OnlineLearning

Last week, Stephanie Correa (Technology Integration Facilitator) finished facilitating an online class with 14 people registered. Below are a couple course reflections that I thought might be good to hear:

  • One thing that surprised me about participating in this DigiKids course was how much I feel like I gained from it. Not that I didn’t believe it’d be useful, but the wealth of information is so vast within this little course! I was very impressed with it’s structure, the resources, and the information in general. I can’t wait to take some of it back to the classroom with me!
  • I was surprised to see how much information and links were provided. I found several resources that I didn’t know i had access to as an educator.
  • The one thing that surprised me was how few people participated in the class.  I would have thought many more would have jumped at the opportunity.  I’ll spread the word!
  • Now I am interested in taking more online classes AND attending more professional development on incorporating technology in the classroom.
  • I love the fact that we can earn hours online.  We are so busy and sometimes it is difficult to give up a Saturday with our families so I appreciate that we are given the opportunity to collaborate and learn online.
  • The course was well organized, facilitator efficient and helpful, and the fact that GT/CPE hours can be earned online is just icing on the cake.
  • CPE and G/T hours are a necessity, and being able to meet those requirements at off-hour times is one way I see that SAISD is listening to teachers and meeting their needs for flexibility.
  • As educators, we are constantly learning.  Online learning is a great way to not only learn new things but also to experience how our students learn.
  • Technology is no longer the way of the future, it is the way of the present. As teachers, we need to embrace technology and not be afraid of it. If we are not willing to learn and use technology ourselves, chances are that we will not be willing to teach it. We will be doing a great disservice to the students who are expected to enter the work force as technologically savvy employees.

Want to sign up for an online course? Register via ePath at http://itls.saisd.net/epath

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May/10

25

SAISD K-12 Students – Online Learning Pilot via TxVSN

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in OnlineLearning, eNews

A driver’s license is something every teenager would love to have.  To qualify for the driver’s license test, Texas teens must complete both a driver’s education class and a student driving course, also known as a practica.  However, the cost of these components can be quite challenging, with each part averaging about $300 each.
Available this summer for Jefferson High School sophomores is a special, pilot program offered by SAISD’s Secondary Initiatives and eCampus. “Driver’s Ed at Jeff” is a combination of the class and practica, and it offers vouchers to qualified Jefferson High School students who did well during their freshmen year.  It also enables the students to earn a half credit towards graduation.  There are 40 vouchers available that reduce costs for individual, qualifying students to $250 total.  That is a significant reduction in cost for both the class and the student driving practica.
To qualify for a voucher, the Jefferson student must be a sophomore starting in August 2010; and have fewer than 9 absences for the freshmen year; and have averaged 75 or higher in freshmen math, science, history, and english classes.
Further, students must be ready to attend the class every day as the attendance requirements for Driver’s Ed are tightly state regulated.
Classes are from June 9th through July 23rd with the week of July 5th off for vacation.
Students will be scheduled into one of two sessions:  8:30 am – 10:30 am, or 10:30 am – 12:30 pm.  Once the student driving practica begins, those will be scheduled in the afternoons in shifts.
The student cost of $250 must be paid at the beginning and is not refundable.
Jefferson students who do not meet the voucher qualifications may still take the class at full cost and if seats are available.
READY? GET SET!
1.  Obtain a copy of your final report card from your counselor or school administrator.
2.  Obtain your parent/guardian’s permission and complete the student registration form.  [click here for the form]
3.  Get your funding ready in the form of a check or money order for $250. [link]
4. Read and agree to the student handbook.  [link]
5.  Take all  your completed forms to registration at [info here].
6.  Receive your confirmation and start your classes.

A driver’s license is something every teenager would love to have.  To qualify for the driver’s license test, Texas teens must complete both a driver’s education class and a student driving course, also known as a practica.  However, the cost of these components can be quite challenging, with each part averaging about $300 each.
Available this summer for Jefferson High School sophomores is a special, pilot program offered by SAISD’s Secondary Initiatives and eCampus. “Driver’s Ed at Jeff” is a combination of the class and practica, and it offers vouchers to qualified Jefferson High School students who did well during their freshmen year.  It also enables the students to earn a half credit towards graduation.  There are 40 vouchers available that reduce costs for individual, qualifying students to $250 total.  That is a significant reduction in cost for both the class and the student driving practica.

To qualify for a voucher, the Jefferson student must be a sophomore starting in August 2010; andhave fewer than 9 absences for the freshmen year; andhave averaged 75 or higher in freshmen math, science, history, and english classes.Further, students must be ready to attend the class every day as the attendance requirements for Driver’s Ed are tightly state regulated.

Classes are from June 9th through July 23rd with the week of July 5th off for vacation. Students will be scheduled into one of two sessions:  8:30 am – 10:30 am, or 10:30 am – 12:30 pm.  Once the student driving practica begins, those will be scheduled in the afternoons in shifts.The student cost of $250 must be paid at the beginning and is not refundable.

Jefferson students who do not meet the voucher qualifications may still take the class at full cost and if seats are available.

READY? GET SET!
1.  Obtain a copy of your final report card from your counselor or school administrator.
2.  Obtain your parent/guardian’s permission and complete the student registration form.  [click here for the form]
3.  Get your funding ready in the form of a check or money order for $250. [link]
4. Read and agree to the student handbook.  [link]
5.  Take all  your completed forms to registration at [info here].
6.  Receive your confirmation and start your classes.

Find out more at the SAISD eCampus web site!

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May/10

25

Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers

0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in VideoTutorials, tutorials

Wondering how to use Moodle? Check out these two excellent resources:

30 + Moodle Videos and Tutorials

The topics range from beginner to more advanced and most videos are under 5 minutes.  Note that many appear to pertain directly to a Moodle training course that is not available publicly.  But that doesn’t detract from the great ideas and processes outlined in the videos.  They include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • adding events and using the calendar
  • using assignments
  • creating pages and resources
  • displaying directories
  • using .zip files to upload multiple files
  • improving your course aesthetics
  • and so much more.

    • Another resource includes the following:

    Moodle Tool Guide for Teachers

    A poster-size guide to Moodle activities:

    View poster

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    May/10

    25

    Online Adult Learning Testimonials

    0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in OnlineLearning, eNews

    Wondering at the benefits of online learning? While you can always review the statistics below, it’s also worth checking out the video testimonials recorded by San Antonio ISD campus level staff.

    Online Learning Stats:

    Videos:

    Visit the eCampus Video Gallery

    Find out more at the SAISD eCampus web site!

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    May/10

    25

    CRUISE Campuses Graduate!

    0 Comments | Posted by jmguhlin in Classroom Technology, Podcasts, eNews

    This past week, 3 campuses graduated the CRUISE Program. The CRUISE program is described in this way:

    The CRUISE Program is a series of classroom technology integration studies that is being offered to campus groups, composed of professional teaching staff.

    Participants were expected to accomplish the following:

    • Complete a specified online course both for the content and to participate in a meaningful online learning environment
    • Attend CRUISE meetings schedules by the Office of Instructional Technology
    • Create and share a technology integration project/resource for use by the District and teachers

    Here are videos from CRUISE participants:

    CRUISE HIRSCH
    Name (click on the participant’s name to view
    their Project video)    		 Wiki Address
    Cleveland, Sheila http://saisd137scleveland.pbworks.com/
    Eisele, Danielle http://saisd137deisele.pbworks.com/
    Estrada, Hope http://saisd137hestrada1.pbworks.com/
    Fabela, Amy http://saisd137afabela1.pbworks.com/
    Gardner, Cynthia http://saisd137cgardner2.pbworks.com/
    George, Cathy http://saisd137cgeorge1.pbworks.com/
    Henry, Valerie, CIC N/A
    Jenkins, Christina http://saisd137cjenkins1.pbworks.com/
    Marciscano, Adriana http://saisd137amarciscano.pbworks.com/
    Ortiz, Venessa http://saisd137vortiz.pbworks.com/
    Parker, Mandisa http://saisd137mparker2.pbworks.com/
    Pytel, Yolanda http://saisd137ypytel.pbworks.com/
    Smith, Lucy http://saisd137lsmith2.pbworks.com/

    CRUISE SARAH KING
    Name (click on the participant’s name to view
    their Project video)    		 Wiki Address
    Becerra, Jessica http://saisd144jbecerra.pbworks.com/
    Conchola, April http://saisd144aconchola1.pbworks.com/
    Gonzalez, Frances http://saisd144fgonzalez2.pbworks.com/
    Hollis, Anne http://saisd144ahollis.pbworks.com/
    Jalomo, Brenda http://saisd144bjalomo.pbworks.com/
    Lopez, Anamarie http://saisd144alopez3.pbworks.com/
    Macias, Frank http://saisd144fmacias2.pbworks.com/
    Renteria, Lily http://saisd144lrenteria.pbworks.com/
    Ten Cate, Sarah http://saisd144stencate.pbworks.com/
    Vasquez, Syliva http://saisd144svasquez2.pbworks.com/

    CRUISE CONNELL
    Name (click on the participant’s name to view
    their Project video)    		 Wiki Address
    Alvarez, Inez http://saisd041ialvarez1.pbworks.com/
    Casanova, Roxanne http://saisd041rcasanova2.pbworks.com/
    Fears, Charles http://saisd041cfears1.pbworks.com/
    Glen, Andrea http://saisd041aglen.pbworks.com/
    Glover, Matthew http://saisd041mglover2.pbworks.com/
    Jackson, Devin http://saisd041djackson.pbworks.com/
    Lieberman, Evan http://saisd041elieberman.pbworks.com/
    Symons, Ashlie http://saisd041asymons1.pbworks.com/
    Williams, Nancy http://saisd041nwilliams2.pbworks.com/
    Williams, Carol http://saisd041cawilliams.pbworks.com/
    Zamora-Barraza, Rebecca http://saisd041rzamorabarraza1.pbworks.com/
    Zapata, Stephanie http://saisd041szapata.pbworks.com/

    Each CRUISE member received:

    • Paid enrollment in an online, professional learning course through LoTi and three “face to face” sessions with Instructional Technology & Learning Services staff.
    • A new Dell Latitude 2100 netbook for use in the classroom.
    • Fabulous new teaching strategies and understanding of our learners’ preferences and needs.

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