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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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 – 2^nd 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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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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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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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:

• US Dept of Ed Study: Both Blended and Online Learning Better than Face to Face
• Study Indicates Benefits Of Online Learning – City and Town Info
• U.S. Department of Education Study Finds that Good Teaching can be Enhanced with New Technology
• Study: Virtual schools can help cut costs
• Online Learning: Texas approves funding for virtual schooling – Stephanie Flemmons, Plano Courier Star

• Virtual Schools (txcto09)
• Texas Legislative Update – TxCTO09
• TxCTO09 – Virtual Schooling in Texas (Podcast)
• County education board christens Pasco eSchool

Videos:

Visit the eCampus Video Gallery

Find out more at the SAISD eCampus web site!

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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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Check out this excerpt from the Lanier High School Campus newsletter:

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Like every professional instructional support staff member, I have earned my certificate of completion for the SAISD Cybersafety web-based training course. The course is offered through the District’s learning management system, ePath, that enables participants to start, pause, and complete the WBT course online from a computer with Internet access (e.g. home, work, library). The online course takes about 20 minutes to complete.

This course is the first of several that are being shared that can be delivered online via the Web. Others include FERPA (live in ePath) and Securing Confidential Data (in production).

A copy of the weekly memo sent to campus principals is shared below:

As a result of a federal mandate, school districts have to certify their staff and students have had learned about CyberSafety and Digital Citizenship. Part of the San Antonio ISD District Technology Plan calls for technology-based professional learning opportunities for administrators, teachers, librarians, and professional instructional support staff at campus and district levels. One of these professional learning opportunities–mandated by the federal government in its requirements for public school districts to receive eRate funding–is to learn more about CyberSafety and Digital Citizenship.

Both cybersafety and digital citizenship are important performance indicators in the state mandated technology applications TEKS (TA:TEKS), No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) National Education Technology Standards for Students, Teachers, and Administrators. To meet the eRate requirements necessary, the Office of Instructional Technology & Learning Services (ITLS) has launched a CyberSafety web site that incorporates rich lessons, video tutorials for both teachers and students.

The mission of the CyberSafety initiative in SAISD is to promote cyber-awareness and education for all San Antonio ISD students. To achieve that goal this school year, as mandated by eRate funding requirements, the following schedule has been put in place:

Please review expectations expectations for dates (table removed from this blog entry).

WHO IS THE TARGET AUDIENCE?
Please discuss this information and the options available with your campus and/or district professional staff under your supervision. At the campus level, this includes any and/or all of the following staff: Principal, Assistant Principals, Vice Principals, Campus Instructional Coordinators, Classroom Teachers (including Physical Education, Special Education), Counselors, Teacher-Librarians/Media Specialists.

At the District level, this includes Curriculum & Instruction Senior Coordinators and their teacher specialist teams, as well as Instructional Technology & Learning Services (ITLS) professional staff.

IS THE EPATH CYBERSAFETY COURSE NOW AVAILABLE?
Yes, the ePath CyberSafety Course is now available and can be completed at any time, from home and/or work. For campus-based staff, here are some suggestions to smooth completion of the 20-minute online course; you are urged to put the following suggestions into practice:

• Avoid waiting until the deadline to have staff complete the ePath CyberSafety Course with included assessment. As principal, you are able to review your campus staff’s professional learning transcript in ePath. A video reminder on how to do that will be available online at the CyberSafety Web Site.
  
• The administration window for the needs assessment is November 2, 2009 through March 5th, 2010. The needs assessment is available online via ePath.
• Administer the assessment during Faculty Meeting time. It is a 20 minute assessment that should be completed by each professional instructional staff member individually.
• Since this needs assessment only takes 20 minutes to complete, and requires a computer per teacher, consider using computer stations in your computer lab(s) and library. The needs assessment can also be taken from any computer—on or off campus—with high-speed Internet access.
• Encourage those uncomfortable with using technology to pair up with staff who are more comfortable. While each will take the assessment individually, they can also lend a helping hand.
• If a teacher fails to successfully complete the assessment, they may retake the course.
  
• It is important to note that this needs assessment may not be used for PDAS appraisal purposes.
• Rely on campus technology representatives to facilitate all professional instructional staff to take the online assessment.

Should you have any questions, please contact Miguel Guhlin in the Office of Instructional Technology Services at 527-1400.

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Friday, September 25th marks the beginning of the Be Cyber Safe! website which will be used among teachers throughout  San Antonio ISD to promote appropriate online behavior and cyber safety. The curriculum was created with written consent from CyberSmart!, who is recognized as using standards-based lessons aligned with national and state technology and information literacy standards. Through the use of  the CyberSmart! curriculum we will prepare students to safely use the Internet for communication, creativity, collaboration, critical thinking, and problem solving.

The Be Cyber Safe! website has both a vision and a mission statement which includes educating all San Antonio ISD students on the importance of being responsible digital citizens. The site includes: curriculum links, expectations, standards, parent tips, online safety tips as well as other teacher resources.

Teachers who have already used lessons from the site considered the lessons, “easy to use without or with the Internet” – Ms. Angel Clark, first grade teacher. While teachers felt at ease with the organization and flow of the site, students loved the lessons they were being taught stating, “We have to be safe and it taught us how.”  We are looking forward to the district-wide use of the Be Cyber Safe! website.

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