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Spring, 2009
Welcome to the online only version of ENGAGE!, an electronic newsletter from the Office of Instructional Technology Services.
Issue: Spring, 2009
If you have questions/suggestions for the new issue, please be sure to let me know by leaving a comment on this web page.
NEWSLETTER ORGANIZATION
You can find articles in this issue below. Articles in ENGAGE! are organized according to the Texas School Technology and Readiness (STaR) Chart: Teaching and Learning; Educator Preparation and Development; Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support; and Infrastructure for Technology.
A BIG SAISD WELCOME
Before we jump into the main articles in this issue, I’d like to welcome two new team members to the Office of Instructional Technology Services. While I was disappointed to see Sylvia Martinez (Coordinator), Greg Rodriguez (Facilitator) and Larry Stegall (Facilitator) leave, I’m delighted to have seen Tonya Mills take on the role of Coordinator, and add two new staff members–Stephanie Correa (formerly of Hirsch ES) and Diana Benner (Lockhardt ISD).
Watch this video for a brief introduction that they have recorded!
Teaching and Learning
- Partnering with Highlands ES Writers: The voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes (Marcel Proust). For the second consecutive year Technology Integration Facilitator Sue Harris has partnered with Highland Hills Elementary School CIC Diana Rumfield and the fourth grade teachers at HHES in offering an innovative Writers Camp for fourth grade students .
- Technology in the Classroom: Using technology in the classroom can be exciting not just for the student but also for the teacher. The article is co-authored by a LifeStrides teacher as she shares how technology has become an exciting part of her classroom.
- Online Learning Communities – Teaching Online: Ever encounter a tool that can make the mundane aspects of teaching easier? If so, you might be like the teachers quoted in this story. They are all referring to the free Moodle, software that when setup, provides teachers and students with the means to achieve an online learning community. Also be sure to read about this short presentation by Sue Harris on Online Literature Circles!
- Making a Difference with Technology: How does technology transform teaching, learning, and leadership? Examine a case of a new and energetic teacher.
- Digital Media Camps – For the last 2 years, Under the Sea Digital Media Camps have enabled SAISD students to develop digital literacy while learning about the sea.
- IT Partners with HHES’s Writers Camp -For the last 2 years Writers Camp at Highland Hills Elementary has seen 21 st Century results withthe help of Instructional Technology Services
Educator Preparation and Development
- Online Learning – In Your Future?: This school year, Instructional Technology and Learning Services (ITLS) launched several initiatives. Find out about them from participants!
- How To Articles: Read, or view, these short how-to focused articles:
Print to PDF For Free - New Educator Assessments – Read this short entry that discusses two new administrator and teacher technology assessments.
Leadership, Administration and Instructional Support
- Principal Blogging Initiative: An Area Executive Director recently contacted me and encouraged me to craft an email urging principals to create a blog by April 22, 2009–when a meeting with principals will take place.
- InTouch – iPod Touch Initiative: “We truly need,” a high school principal shared with me, “a mobile device that gives us quick access to information. What’s your recommendation?” That kind of question highlights the need for administrators who desire to use a mobile device to do more with less equipment. Please find a gallery of photos taken at the launch of the inTouch Initiative for Principals. More information on the inTouch Initiative appears online.
- Getting to Level 5 Technology Use: In their efforts to meet federal requirements for improved student performance, the nation’s teachers say effective use of classroom technology is essential to conduct important administrative tasks and reach a new generation of learners weaned on technology.
- Professional Learning Statistics: Sometimes, I’m asked that question no school administrator wants to be asked during an economic downturn–what is it you and your team do for SAISD? It’s a great question and one I love to answer. Essentially, our focus is on facilitating technology-enhanced learning opportunities–online and face to face or blended–for professionals that impact students.
- School Principals are KEY: Dr. Jeff Felix (Superintendent) shares his dissertation research findings in a study entitled, Edublogging: Instruction for the Digital Age Learner. The questions the study was focused on included the following: In what ways do teachers use blogs in the classroom?
Infrastructure for Technology
- Netbook Computers in Students Hands: When, Not IF: When my daughter started working on an Asus Eee, she immediately started using it to write more, as well as to check email. Though I found the Asus Eee to be a bit clunky compared to the other netbooks out there (e.g. Dell’s Mini or the Acer Aspire), I have to respect that it may [...]
