by Greg Rodriguez

GATS Upgrade

The District Gradebook and Attendance Tracking System (GATS) is scheduled to be upgraded next school year. The new version will address some critical feature requests that enhance the performance of GATS.

Some of the new features of the GATS include the following:

• Option to display or hide inactive students (students who have been removed from the schedule, but who have not been completely removed from the gradebook)
• Custom fields for student data
• New “assignment list” page
• New editing functionality – all grade cells open, global “update” and “cancel”
• Student names are visible even when scrolling to the right
• Advanced grade entry by student or by assignment
• Up to two retakes
• “Do Not Drop”, late assignment, and Override grade checkboxes
• Special Education Modification Codes checkboxes
• Ability to toggle between cycles without logging out
• Switch Schools feature for teacher teaching at multiple campuses
• Option to associate state standards/objectives with assignments
• Assignment Multiplier
• Ability to verify and lock one class at a time
• Ability to view, confirm, and modify grades before verifying

A GATS Orientation is being offered during the month of May for a core group of five from each campus (2 administrators and 3 teachers). The content for the orientation includes an overview of new features, revisiting administrative procedures, suggestions on gradebook setup and the various resources available for the coming school year.

Campuses are encouraged to plan to use a half-day of the August professional development days to introduce the changes in GATS to all teachers. The new GATS features will be presented by the core group of five that attended the May orientation.

Instructional Technology Services will be providing GATS v4 workshops during the summer as well as after school hours during the months of August and September for new teachers and/or teachers requesting additional professional learning. If you are still not very comfortable using the electronic gradebook, then you may want to take advantage of the training offered this summer. You are encouraged to check ePath (http://itls.saisd.net/epath) for dates and times.

Professional Learning Now Easier than Ever

The first step to modernizing staff development by taking advantage of technology has been accomplished by implementing the District’s learning management system known as ePath. Instructional Technology is looking to augment this system by proposing several budget enhancements that will add new tools.

Online content is a very effective way to reach staff members that have difficulty attending classes at specified times. While ePath is available for delivering this type of staff development, producing quality content is a time consuming and resource intensive prospect. Instructional Technology has submitted budget enhancement to purchase SCORM compliant classes from InfoSource. (SCORM is simply a standard that allows training packages from different companies to work together.) By placing the content provided by InfoSource into ePath we would provide SAISD staff with 24/7 access to quality professional development online. InfoSource offers extensive libraries on integration, Technology TEKS, and Digital Literacy. Some sample titles include: “Understanding Search Engines and Search Strategies,” Explore Technology In Relation To Learning To Learning Theories,” “Computing Fundamentals,” Access,” “Examine Legal Issues with the Internet.”

Another enhancement request for staff development is the Get Connected for Professional Development Initiative. This will provide live, online, interactive staff development which will enable staff to instantly communicate and collaborate through easy-to-use online meetings and classes. Acrobat Connect will allow staff to use their computers to attend online classes. Attendees simply logon and can share and receive voice and video with the rest of the attendees and the instructor. The instructor also has the ability to control and therefore demonstrate applications on the attendees’ computers.

Several enhancements to the ePath system itself are also scheduled for the coming year. Below is a partial list:

• Purchase enough licenses for every full-time employee.
• Implement a sophisticated stipend tracking system that includes specific report printing.
• Clarify the presenter, facilitator, and contact roles in the classes.
• Provide new search tools for the Class Catalog.
• Enhance the Calendar feature in the Class Catalog

Refresher and new user classes for developers and supervisors will be scheduled in August and September. Please take advantage of these great new tools.

Combining great online classes, face-to-face meetings, and the new features in the existing ePath learning management system, we will provide SAISD with a state of the art staff development system for the 2007 – 2008 school-year.

The Online Literature Circle Initiative is an innovative model for students to engage in critical thinking and reflection as they read, discuss, and respond to books via collaboration in an online global community. Students reshape and add onto their understanding as they construct meaning with peers in other parts of the world. Students gain deeper understanding of what they read through structured discussion and extended written and artistic response. Students will participate in a book interest survey in both a SAISD classroom and a New Zealand classroom.

Beginning the 2007-2008 school year the SAISD and New Zealand classroom will engage in peer to peer written sharing of ideas and insights using 2 different novels. The Online Literature Circle Pilot will launch in August 2007. If your interested in this pilot, contact Sue Harris . For an overview of the project visit http://itls.saisd.net/scribe/

Collaboration brings voices to a Digital World!
by Miguel Guhlin

"Why don't you type up your writing assignment like you do your stories?" I asked my 13 year old daughter a few weeks ago. Her response shocked me. "I have to write it up at school by hand, so why use the computer?" she replied. My daughter publishes her stories and poems online via a wiki, but has given up trying to turn her assignments in via a blog or wiki...her teacher won't accept them.

A recent Pew Research study showed that twelve to seventeen year olds share what they think and do online, while one in five teens remix content from a variety of sources, synthesizing and making new creations. Yet, when these children get to school, they are forced to engage in irrelevant activities with no real audience, without the technology they have learned to use and without appropriate role models.

The study also found that 56 per cent of young people in America were using computers for "creative activities, writing and posting of the internet, mixing and constructing multimedia and developing their own content." Research and technology are driving profound changes in expectations for the use of technology in schools. These are embodied in the International Society for Technology in Education's (ISTE) National Education Technology Standards (NETS) for students AND teachers.

Schools are expected to overcome obstacles and help children develop skills required in a digital world to "produce and innovate" using technology. The revised standards are organized into six categories: creativity and innovation; communication and collaboration; research and information retrieval; critical thinking, problem solving, and decision making; digital citizenship; and technology operations and concepts.

Under communication and collaboration, you will find:

This is work that is done, not in isolation, but in collaboration with others outside of school. Click on the links above to see examples of each.

"These teens," shares Lee Raine, "were born into a digital world where they expect to be able to create, consume, remix, and share material with each other and lots of strangers." What should schools be doing? Should they ban the technologies children use at home in school, or model appropriate use in school? And, what does modeling mean for us as educators?

Online Learning Communities -
A valuable extension in the Classroom
by Miguel Guhlin

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. A great benefit of 'moodle' is for students who miss classes for one reason or another - there is no excuse to miss work or assessments since it's all online. Parents like it to as they know what is going on and I think feel their kids are safer using this than blogging.

"In second and third grade the teachers use Moodle for book discussions," shared an educator in another district. "In other grades, Moodle is an extension of the classroom, a place to put the resources and continue class discussions. Some departments have moodle courses to place commonly used resources for staff and continue staff meetings discussions. Our Special Ed department uses it as repository for all the forms they must use."

Not sure what Moodle is? Moodle is what is known as a course management system. It can facilitate sharing of online resources, materials such as Word documents, Excel, and conversations via online forums, or discussion areas. You can also administer quizzes to students over materials. Some use Moodle in primary grades, others at the high school level. A few teachers use Moodle for blended courses, mostly in English class. "They are," shares one teacher, "extending classroom discussions in some cases using forums, or actually posting assignments and having students respond through Moodle." Another teacher plans "to begin a project with a grade 8 class moving a bookstudy to Moodle."

"I use Moodle with my sixth graders all the time, for Spanish and Latin classes," shares a sixth grade teacher. If you're interested in using Moodle with your students, let the Office of Instructional Technology know. We're interesting in helping you Moodle!

Relevant TEKS for Grades 3-5
(equal examples available for 6-8 and 9-12 grades)

by Miguel Guhlin

Note: This is not all that's possible. I challenge you to share other ways that podcasting connects with our students.

Chapter 110 - English Language Arts:

(5) Listening/speaking/audiences. The student speaks clearly and appropriately to different audiences for different purposes and occasions. The student is expected to:
(A) adapt spoken language such as word choice, diction, and usage to the audience, purpose, and occasion (4-8);
(B) demonstrate effective communications skills that reflect such demands as interviewing, reporting, requesting, and providing information (4-8);
(C) present dramatic interpretations of experiences, stories, poems, or plays to communicate (4-8);
(D) use effective rate, volume, pitch, and tone for the audience and setting (4-8);
(E) give precise directions and instructions such as in games and tasks (4-5); and
(F) clarify and support spoken ideas with evidence, elaborations, and examples (4-8).

(15) Writing/purposes. The student writes for a variety of audiences and purposes, and in a variety of forms. The student is expected to:
(A) write to express, discover, record, develop, reflect on ideas, and to problem solve (4-8);
(B) write to influence such as to persuade, argue, and request (4-8);
(C) write to inform such as to explain, describe, report, and narrate (4-8);

Chapter 126 - Technology Applications:TEKS:

(5) Information acquisition. The student acquires electronic information in a variety of formats, with appropriate supervision. The student is expected to:
(A) acquire information including text, audio, video, and graphics;

(6) Information acquisition. The student evaluates the acquired electronic information. The student is expected to:
(A) apply critical analysis to resolve information conflicts and validate information;
(B) determine the success of strategies used to acquire electronic information; and
(C) determine the usefulness and appropriateness of digital information.

(7) Solving problems. The student uses appropriate computer-based productivity tools to create and modify solutions to problems. The student is expected to:
(A) use software programs with audio, video, and graphics to enhance learning experiences;
(B) use appropriate software to express ideas and solve problems including the use of word processing, graphics, databases, spreadsheets, simulations, and multimedia; and
(C) use a variety of data types including text, graphics, digital audio, and video.

(11) Communication. The student delivers the product electronically in a variety of media, with appropriate supervision. The student is expected to:
(A) publish information in a variety of media including, but not limited to, printed copy, monitor display, Internet documents, and video; and
(B) use presentation software to communicate with specific audiences.

Finally ... an affordable MP3 player!

Want to do fun things with audio, but don't want to spend money on an iPod and Belkin recorder? This post is for you! I was reading the following Apple newsletter article:

An Apple iPod can be used to create an engaging learning experience, with video and audio bringing classroom lessons to life. For instance, Carol Anne McGuire, an Apple Distinguished Educator (ADE), has been using her iPod to help teach students to read. During reading class, she attaches a simple voice recorder like the Belkin TuneTalk to her iPod, and passes it around to the students. They take turns reading a paragraph of the book they're studying. Carol Anne then uses GarageBand software to clean up the file and burns it to CDs so each student can take home their own copy and read along to the story. Carol Anne has found this to be an effective tool in improving her students' reading comprehension and fluency. For more information on Carol Anne McGuire's use of the iPod in the classroom, go to the Apple Learning Interchange (ALI) to see this and other creative lesson plans.
Source: Email

Now, this solution above costs $249 for the iPod and $69.99 for the Belkin TuneTalk, or a total of $318.99. What if for fun, I re-wrote the Apple news item above like this:

An Olympus WS-100 can be used to create an engaging learning experience, with audio bringing classroom lessons to life. For instance, Miguel Guhlin, an 5th grade bilingual/ESL teacher, has been using his Olympus WS-100 to help teach his students to read. During reading class, he passes out a the Olympus WS-100 to his students. They take turns reading a paragraph of the book they're reading for their online literature circle. Miguel then uses Audacity software to clan up the file, make it available via the class blog (as well as a CD students can take home). Students can log-in to the class blog or play the CD to read along to their story. Miguel has found this to be an effective tool in improving his students' reading comprehension and fluency. For more information on Miguel's use of inexpensive digital audio recorders in the classroom, go to the Ed-Tech Blog to see this and other creative lesson plans.

Cost for the revised solution? $65 for the Olympus WS-100 based on an education quote of 20 or $80 retail for one unit. You might even take a look at this short tutorial for using the Olympus WS-100 that Larry Stegall (Instructional Technology Services) put together.

As I recall, my school-funded, classroom budget was $200 for the year. Which solution should I spend my money on if I'm worried about lack of funds?

By the way, if you're looking for some unorthodox uses of iPods/recording equipment, how about this list from Open Culture? Or this one from Gareth Davies?

Gareth makes an excellent point:

...realize that these nine things are not that difficult to do, nor in fact any different from what could have been done twenty years ago with a school cassette recorder or video camera. What makes the difference today is the method of distribution making these ideas much easier to accomplish and share.

Audience is a fantastic motivator. Are your students ready to engage the world? While you're considering that, turn up the volume on your computer and listen to this example from students at Point England School in New Zealand.

Find out more about Podcasting in SAISD and see more examples online.

Copyright 2007 San Antonio ISD. San Antonio Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, or disability in providing education services, activities, and programs, including vocational programs, in accordance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended; Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972; Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended.

Es norma del Districto Escolar Independiente de San Antonio de no discriminar por motivos de raza, religion, color, origen nacional, sexo o impedimento, en sus programas, servicios o actividades vocacionales, tal como lo require el Título VI de la Ley de Derechos Civiles de 1964, según enmienda; el Título IX de las Enmiendas en la Educación, de 1972, y la Sección 504 de la Ley de Rehabilitación de 1973, según enmienda.

Where :
Highland Hills Elementary
Barkley/Ruiz Elementary
Arnold Elementary

When :
June 18 th-22nd AM only

Who:
2nd and 3rd graders

Use TECHNOLOGY to:

• Explore your favorite” Under the Sea “creature
• Tell your creature’s digital story
• Tour Sea World behind the scenes
• Create your own t-shirt

This enrichment camp is offered to 2nd and 3rd graders on a first come first serve basis. Only SAISD students are eligible. Students must be enrolled in the summer KidQuest program also. There is no cost to your student for the Storytelling Technology Camp. Signed permission forms must be returned by May 22 nd.

“Under the Sea Storytelling ” camp will consist of four ½ day sessions 8:30-12: June 18,19,21,22. Wednesday, June 20th is the Sea World field trip, 8-3:30.Parents and siblings may not attend the Sea World behind the scenes educational tour. Instructional Technology Facilitators will be the instructors on each campus.

Jefferson Students Sing a Different Tune
by Larry Stegall

On February 27th, a group of student from Jefferson High School participated in the John Lennon Educational Bus Tour. The John Lennon Bus is a non-profit, mobile recording studio equipped with musical instruments as well as technological tools. Since 1998, the Bus has provided free hands-on programs to high schools, colleges, and music festivals. The Lennon Bus encourages students to play music, write songs, engineer recording sessions and produce music video projects using the latest equipment.

The Jefferson students, who call themselves "Yesterday¹s Notice" wrote and produced an original song in which real ghosts haunt Thomas Jefferson High School. According to the composition, a sports injury goes terribly wrong; and the hero then enters a nightmarish realm where he is spooked by an apparition that wanders the halls of his school.

Ashley, one of the members of Yesterday¹s Notice stated that the day was "A once in a lifetime opportunity, and I got to experience it! By far the coolest experience of my entire life!"

To view the video, click the image below to visit the Apple Student Gallery:

Content Management for Easy Web Publication

by Greg Rodriguez

Web sites are an integral part of an organization's operations. No longer relegated to the role of electronic billboards, sites are used to actively promote companies and products, deliver services and information, manage transactions, and facilitate communications. Changes must occur quickly - daily, hourly, or even minute-by-minute.

Schools must soon come to the realization that they, just as the businesses described above can no longer simply provide “electronic billboards.” Instead, schools must actively update the content of their websites to provide timely, accurate, service-oriented information to parents, teachers, and the community. Content management systems like Joomla address the needs of today’s information hungry citizens.

Content management systems provide schools with an easy efficient method to update web content on their websites. Intensive training on tools like Macromedia’s Dreamweaver and specialized knowledge of coding languages like HTML are no longer required to update content on a school’s website.

While content management systems like Joomla are flexible, fast, and efficient means of publishing content to the web, they still allow for traditional forms of publication. Joomla and other content management systems provide a frame or “wrapper” that students involved with web design and web development can use to highlight the content they develop.

The Office of Instructional Technology has provided campuses with a free, open-source alternative to content management. Over 70 SAISD campuses have participated in training and management of the new content management system. Participating campuses have an updated, sleek design to facilitate the communication of campus information to parents, teachers, and the community.

Click here to view the impressions content management systems have made on Deborah Guardia, Principal at Kelly Elementary and Roger Rodriguez, Director of Health and Physical Education.

Learn to Podcast
by Larry Stegall

On June 1st, Instructional Technology, in partnership with AT&T, will be providing two 3-hour workshops on Podcasting in the Classroom. A podcast is a digital media <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_media> file, or a series of such files, distributed over the Internet <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet> . Podcasts allow anyone to share their ideas on various topics.

Wesley Fryer, an educator, author, and digital educator, will teach the session. Mr. Fryer serves as the Director of Education Advocacy for AT&T in the state of Oklahoma.

During the three-hour session, participants will learn how to prepare a plan, organize, record, and edit a podcast.

To sign up for the workshop, visit ePath, http://itls.saisd.net/epath/. The morning session is Podcasting in the Classroom (976.1591) and the afternoon session is Podcasting in the Classroom (976.1591).

A Wireless Teaching Tool
at Your Fingertips

TILT (Technology Integration Lead Teacher) initiative participants will be some of the first teachers in SAISD to have the opportunity to use the Interwrite Tablet. Each will receive one as part of their model teaching equipment.

Just what is an Interwrite Tablet? This wireless pad is used with a computer, a projector, and the included software to give the teacher the ability to teach their interactive lessons from anywhere in the classroom. Basically, the teacher or student “writes” on the pad and the image is projected on the screen. The pad can be used up to 200 feet away from the computer so teachers and students can use the computer from their desks. It can be used with special presentation software that comes with the tablet and with standard applications already on the computer.

Many teachers are familiar to an interactive white board (e.g. SmartBoard.) Though similar in functionality, the tablet has some advantages to the white board solutions. Because the pad is about the size of a standard notebook, weighs less than two pounds, and is wireless, it very easy to move. Currently in most schools, the use of white boards is restricted to the room where they are installed in. The Interwrite Tablet should greatly increase accessibility. At about half the price of a electronic white board, cost is another plus.

As Instructional Technology receives data on their use by the TILT participants, we will share our findings about this exciting new tool.

Claude Ascolese
cascolese@saisd.net

Miguel Guhlin
mguhlin@saisd.net

Sue Harris
sharris@saisd.net

Sylvia Martinez
smartinez@saisd.net

Tonya Mills
tmills@saisd.net

Greg Rodríguez
grodriguez4@saisd.net

Josie Salas
jsalas2@saisd.net

Larry Stegall
lstegall@saisd.net

Help is Here
by Sue Harris

While the concept of Blogging has entered the mainstream, many teachers do not have specific implementation strategies. With numerous lesson types that use blogs, the bigger question becomes how does a teacher actually use a blog.

By clicking this link http://itls.saisd.net/sueharris/ you can have the answer to “what do we say, what do we do” . FORM an OPINION is a current events blog. Each of us , hopefully, read ,listen, or watch a news broadcast , So I invite teachers as well as students to comment about current events. I will post certain comments and opinions based on CNN Student News once weekly. Feel free to allow your students to comment on topics.

You can use CNN STUDENT NEWS in your classroom whole group in the morning or afternoon, or just one day a week.

CNN Student News
( www.cnn.com/EDUCATION )
has suggestions for extended use under the Watch and Learn section on the web page