Malinda McCormick, Director at KLRN in San Antonio and Second Lifer (Joies Despres), shares the following:

Tuesday, July 15, 6 PM SLT (that's 8:00PM San Antonio time)
ISTE Speaker Series Event: The TILT Initiative at SAISD - Highlighting the ISTE Certified Capstone Courses from PBS TeacherLine
Location: ISTE Island Auditorium

http://slurl.com/secondlife/ISTE%20Island/204/46/23

Hummingbird Looming (RL: Miguel Guhlin, Director of Instructional Technology at San Antonio Independent School District [SAISD]) will speak on this innovative delivery of PD for certifiying educators in his district in Integrating Technology. SAISD is an urban district in San Antonio with an 95% economically disadvantaged population - keeping students in school and engaged and setting a goal of going to college is the mission of this district.

The team at the Dept of Instructional Technology at SAISD leads this incredible program for ed tech PD. Join us to learn how you can use these courses and encourage your teachers to engage in online professional development. This will be a voice presentation, please be sure you have a working voice setup prior to the event!

You can find resources, a podcast of the event (afterwards) and more images online at the SAISD TILT web site.

Be sure to drop by and view the following Student Multimedia Productions created at the Under the Sea Camp held in June, 2008 with students at Bonham Academy and Highland Hills Campus.

 
(Note: Only a few of the productions are shown above...visit the Lead site to see more!)

Students also came up with T-Shirt designs based on their experiences at Sea World:

A teacher manual and student manual can be found online....

TO:
Principals
Assistant Principals
Administrative Assistants
Campus Instructional Coordinators (CICs)

Subject:
NECC 2008 Attendance Opportunity

ACTION REQUIRED

TIME SENSITIVE

Recognizing that campus administrators play a pivotal role in determining how well technology is used in our schools, the District is funding attendance at the NECC 2008 Conference taking place June 29-July 2 in San Antonio, Texas for 80 principals, assistant principals, administrative assistants and/or campus instructional coordinators. Enabling administrators to attend NECC 2008 enables the District to define what administrators need to know and be able to do in order to discharge their responsibility as leaders in the effective use of technology in our schools.

"Integrating technology throughout a school system is, in itself, significant systemic reform. We have a wealth of evidence attesting to the importance of leadership in implementing and sustaining systemic reform in schools. It is critical, therefore, that we attend seriously to leadership for technology in schools."
— Don Knezek, ISTE CEO

GIVE BACK
Before applying to attend NECC 2008, please be aware that there is an expectation of "give back." Participants at NECC 2008 will be expected to deliver 2, two-hour presentations about what they learned at NECC 2008 and submit a short form sharing how they are going to implement that learning at their campus for the 2008-2009 school year. Give back completion must be recorded by December, 2008. More information will be shared prior to NECC 2008.

HOW TO REGISTER

To register campus leaders for the NECC 2008 Conference, the Office of Instructional Technology Services will take the following steps: 1. There are 80 slots available on a first-come, first-served for NECC 2008 registration. Participants are expected to apply via the Office of Instructional Technology Services and submit critical information needed by no later than 8:00 AM, Tuesday, June 3, 2008. Please indicate your commitment to attend NECC 2008 online at [link removed]

2. The Office of Instructional Technology Services will notify all potential NECC 2008 participants by Wednesday, June 4th to notify you of whether you were among the first 80 to apply for registration.

3) The Office of Instructional Technology Services will take the approved list of participants and register them for NECC 2008.

4) A confirmation email will be sent to those officially registered for the NECC 2008 Conference.

QUESTIONS?
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the Office of Instructional Technology and Learning Services (ITLS) at either [removed] or via email at "mguhlin@[removed]". Thank you for taking the time to review this information and consider this opportunity for enhancing your technology literacy by attendance at the NECC 2008 Conference.

Be sure to tune in tonight to watch this conversation airing at 8:00 PM on KLRN/PBS channel. If you miss the show, you can catch it online on Monday!

The 21st Century Classroom
The Conversation is one of the best ways of conveying information and telling stories. Join Dr. Don Knezek, CEO of the International Society for Technology in Education and Dr. Robert Durón, Superintendent of the San Antonio Independent School District, as they discuss 21st century skills for educators and how one local school district is utilizing the PBS TeacherLine Capstone Courses for integrating technology in the classroom.

Find out more--including links mentioned in the talk--online.

"We need a PR site," I said, "you know, some place where people can see what we're doing. When someone asks, 'What are you doing?' we just point them in that direction instead of having to tell 'em." The need arose earlier this year when contacts were made from the NECC 2008 organizers; they wanted some place to go see what SAISD was doing. What better way to accomplish that than to have SAISD educators share what they're doing in video?

At least, that was the idea. Not having any Public Relations (PR) experience--unless you count reading The ClueTrain Manifesto, which I'm not sure counts--I decided that it would be great to just put up video interviews with teachers and have them share what they are doing. Thanks to the excellent work of SAISD educators who had stories to tell, as well as to the Instructional Technology team--Larry Stegall doing great work in video processing and Tonya Mills on web site design--we now have a web site to point folks that highlights our best.

View the videos online at http://itls.saisd.net/lead

You'll need Flash loaded in your browser. If you don't have Flash, check with the SAISD Helpdesk at 281-9090 or via email at "helpdesk@saisd.net"

Take a moment to check out these videos regarding education. You won't regret it.

THE professional learning event of the year is about to take place in October. It beats out any face to face conference ever organized, or at least, that's MY opinion. <smile>

Here's the official flyer for the K-12 Online Conference, and the official press release is shared below. I especially like the Slideshare presentation, and teasers for this year's sessions! If you missed this before, I encourage you to take advantage of it now!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach

Phone: 757-450-3784

Fax: 757-301-7436

E-Mail: snbeach@cox.net

Press Release No. 001

K12 Online 2007 – Playing with Boundaries

Worldwide Online Conference for K-12 Educators

Breaking free of traditional conferences, the upcoming K-12 Online Conference: Playing with Boundaries (October 15-19th & October 22-26th) provides educators with an engaging, ongoing learning experience without time constraints. The K12 Online Conference is a unique professional development opportunity for teachers to engage with ideas and technologies that are having a real impact on 21st century classrooms.

The entire conference will be delivered as downloadable digital media via the Internet with over 40 sessions presented in four strands: Classroom 2.0, New Tools, Professional Learning Networks, and Obstacles to Opportunities. The conference launches with a keynote address on October 8th from respected blogger and author David Warlick and concludes with a global 24 hour live event, As Night Falls.

For more information, please visit http://www.k12onlineconference.org

The K-12 Online Conference kicked off this week and the keynote is online! I'm excited about it because it's going to do the following for me:

1. Allow me to see what classroom teachers are doing with the Read/Write Web

2. Share implementation ideas about using technology with children or adults that I just haven't had time to consider, much less put into practice

3. Stimulate conversation and Generate a dialogue in the edublogosphere that will undoubtedly yield, I hope, as many ideas as are shared.

4. Give me access to presentations I can use again and again when introducing folks to using the Read/Write Web in my school district.

Did you know that SAISD teachers, if they participate, can earn CPE hours? Find out more at http://k12onlinecredit.wikispaces.com/

More about the keynote:

For decades, education has been an easy institution to define. It consisted of a set of accepted literacy skills, a definable body of knowledge, and the pedagogies for teaching those skills to willing students who were arranged in straight rows. Today, for the first time in decades (in generations of teachers), we are facing the challenge of changing our notions about teaching and learning to adapt to a rapidly changing world. We are struggling to rethink what it is to be educated, to reinvent the classroom, and redefine what it is to be a teacher and a student. There is much that has changed, and for much of it, we have responded to by attempting to ignore, filter, or to block it out. This presentation, by 30+ year educator, author, and technologist, David Warlick, will explore some of these changes and challenges and arrange them as a set of converging conditions that might just help us to redefine and retool the 21st century classroom.

Presentation

Video
http://k12online.wm.edu/davidw.mp4

Audio
http://k12online.wm.edu/davidw.mp3

Supporting Links

2¢ Worth Blog Post: ‚ÄúExtending K12 Online Conference‚Äù

http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/2007/10/06/extending-k12-online-conference/

Image: Design by Tonya Mills, San Antonio ISD's Instructional Technology Services

After attending El Paso ISD's Administrators' Technology Leadership Seminar as keynote speaker, I felt guilty that I hadn't brought school leaders together for a leadership seminar. So, I decided that my district should throw its own fandango for school leaders. The goal of this is leadership seminar is to help school leaders maximize the use of technology in their own work. For example, a workshop on digital storytelling would include components of Dan Pinks A Whole New Mind's "business narrative" or learning how to tell stories about their work community that engage using, as George Lucas writes, the language of images and sound, not just text.

Last week, Instructional Technology began preparations for hosting such an event. Everything in what you see below is DRAFT and pending scheduling, but I would love to get your feedback on what topics we SHOULD be discussing.

Scott McLeod (Dangerously Irrelevant) has definitely started us off with his recent post (after the agenda below was developed) on Leadership Day. Scott writes:

Many of our school leaders (principals, superintendents, central office administrators) need help when it comes to digital technologies. A lot of help, to be honest. As I’ve noted again and again on this blog, most school administrators don’t know

* what it means to prepare students for the 21st century;

* how to recognize, evaluate, and facilitate effective technology usage by students and teachers;

* what appropriate technology support structures (budget, staffing, infrastructure) look like or how to implement them;

* how to utilize modern technologies to facilitate communication with internal and external stakeholders;

* the ways in which learning technologies can improve student learning outcomes;

* how to utilize technology systems to make their organizations more efficient and effective;

* and so on…

Administrators’ lack of knowledge is not entirely their fault. Most of them didn’t grow up with these technologies. Many are not using digital tools on a regular basis. Few have received training from their employers or their university preparation programs on how to use, think about, or be a leader regarding digital technologies.
Source: Dangerously Irrelevant

Below are the topics we've tentatively scheduled. How would change/improve on these? And, would it be worthwhile to have guest speakers "Skyped in?"

• All sessions will be audio-recorded and made available online as podcasts.
• The keynote and spotlight sessions will have online forum where you can continue the discussion and planning. Simply go to SAISD Connections at http://itls.saisd.net

Source: ISTE NET Refresh Powerpoint

Are you a classroom, core-content teacher in grades 4-10? If yes, then you are eligible to participate in the Technology Integration Lead Teacher (TILT) Initiative. The purpose of TILT is to support classroom, core-content teachers as they develop technology applications skills. To facilitate this, the eighteen teachers accepted to the program will participate in ISTE-based NETS Certification program. NETS is described as:

The primary goal of the ISTE NETS Project is to enable stakeholders in PreK-12 education to develop national standards for educational uses of technology that facilitate school improvement in the United States. The NETS Project will work to define standards for students, integrating curriculum technology, technology support, and standards for student assessment and evaluation of technology use.

The NETS are changing to reflect a changing world...watch this classroom video to get an idea of how much. The TILT Initiative is intended to help teachers refine their classroom practice to reflect that changing world. To that end, TILT teachers will receive the following incentives:

• $1300 Dell Computer Laptop*
• $1400 wireless digital projector*
• ISTE National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) Certification (Note: graduate credit is available at participant's expense)
• Necessary software (e.g. Photostory, Moviemaker, Skype)
• Workshop Projects' Stipends (pending funding availability)

Expectations for Participants:

1. Letter of Commitment

2. Complete a Pre- and Post-TILT Assessment Survey

3. Complete all PBS TeacherLine classes with the intent of earning an ISTE NETS Certificate^. More information regarding expectations will be forthcoming.

4. Provide two campus staff references (e.g. one being your campus administrator) expressing support for your participation in the program.

5. Maintain a learning web log that includes projects, lessons, photos and reflect on practice and engages others in dialogue about what you are learning and teaching for two years after online courses end.

6. Help add links to your created content to the TILT web site (workshop outlines, lesson plans, resources, etc.).

7. Provide 1 staff development session for your campus per 9 weeks; Instructional Technology will provide a project stipend as funds permits.

8. Publish copies of your workshop outlines, student lesson plans, and workshop feedback forms for sessions you facilitate via ePath.

^Note' that professional learning sessions may count towards graduate credit hours. Participants will have to pay for this credit on their own.

Whether you're a classroom teacher or administrator, it's clear that there is a LOT of information to keep track of. Depending on TV news and radio (even NPR) is like trying to catch a swarm of locusts with a fly swatter...it's the wrong tool for the job, and just not big enough. The Web has exploded. There is just no way to keep up by visiting one web page at a time.

Here in San Antonio ISD, we have several choices to keeping up:

You can use a variety of tools to subscribe to RSS feeds, which bring the content of the Web to you. Below is a short list of some of the services. The first list is of web-based RSS feedreaders that you can access anytime, anywhere. The second list is of computer programs you can install on your computer.

WEB-BASED RSS FEEDREADERS

1) Google Reader: If you have a free, Google account, you can use the Google Reader to easily subscribe to content.

2) Netvibes: Another way to subscribe to RSS feeds included in blogs and podcasts.

Unfortunately, some web-based services may have content that is not K-12 education appropriate. For that reason, you may also want to consider using one of the following programs that you download and install on your computer. Again, you are encouraged to carefully consider what you are loading on your computer.

COMPUTER-INSTALLED RSS FEEDREADERS

* Windows Computer? Try Curio Studio’s Great News RSS Aggregator

* Macintosh Computer? Try Vienna

* Linux Computer? Try LifeRea (install with sudo apt-get install liferea)

Happy Holidays from the Instructional Technology Services group!

View our holiday greeting card for you!

Update: A fascinating conversation resulted from this eCard. Those of you considering sending out eCards, or holiday cards, may want to consider the conversation.

Join us for an online book study on Daniel Pink's book, A Whole New Mind. We'll be discussing the implications of Pink's work in K-12 education, especially here in San Antonio ISD. Sign up by sending an email to "mguhlin@saisd.net". More information will be sent to you by January 31, 2006.

Thomas Friedman's book, The World is Flat, (view the MIT Video that summarizes the book) shook the rafters and scared many folks. It scared them because it called attention to 10 world flatteners. As discussed in Wikipedia, the electronic encyclopedia:

Friedman believes the world is flat in the sense that the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries are leveling. Friedman recounts many examples in which companies in India and China are becoming part of large global complex supply chains that extend across oceans, providing everything from service representatives and X-ray interpretation to component manufacturing. He also describes how these changes are made possible through intersecting technologies, particularly the Internet.
Find out more about the 10 world flatteners online

What are the implications of these flatteners on education? While one could be depressed that our curriculum is out of date, preparing students for yesterday rather than tomorrow where students will compete in a global economy, Dan Pink offers specific suggestions.

Pink's book is A Whole New Mind. A quick summary:

Pink references three prevailing trends pointing towards the future of business and the economy: Abundance (consumers have too many choices, nothing is scarce), Asia (everything that can be outsourced, is) and Automation (computerization, robots, processes). This brings up three crucial questions for the success of any business:

1. Can a computer do it faster?
2. Is what I'm offering in demand in an age of abundance?

When these questions are present, creativity becomes the competitive difference that can differentiate commodities. Pink outlines six essential senses:
1. Design - Moving beyond function to enage the sense.
2. Story - Narrative added to products and services - not just argument.
3. Symphony - Adding invention and big picture thinking (not just detail focus).
4. Empathy - Going beyond logic and engaging emotion and intuition.
5. Play - Bringing humor and light-heartedness to business and products.
6. Meaning - Immaterial feelings and values of products.

Instructional Technology Services will be moving in 2007 to its new location--the Johnson Center (formerly the "old" Alamo Achievement Center). We're pretty excited about the move for several reasons, among them one that SAISD workshop participants will definitely appreciate--MORE PARKING SPACE. In addition to the move, Instructional Technology Services will be establishing two computer labs at the location to facilitate training. Of course, we also hope to take advantage of other space at the Johnson Center to training purposes.

More details will be forthcoming as they become available. For now, we're excited about the move, our first in over 5 years!

This is a new blog for the Instructional Technology Services group. You can still find the old one online at http://lms.saisd.net/blog/