K12 Online Conference 2009

K12 Online Conference 2009
Participate in a great Technology Learning Experience!

K12 Online 2009 is a FREE conference open to ANYONE interested in integrating emerging technologies into classroom practice. A primary goal of the conference is to help educators make sense of and meet the needs of a continually changing learning landscape.

http://k12onlineconference.org/
http://wiki.k12onlineconference.org/
http://wiki.k12onlineconference.org/home/for-participants/2009-schedule

Flip "over" Video

Flip Video
http://www.theflip.com/en-us/

Flip Video is the world's simplest camcorder. It lets you capture the everyday moments that happen anywhere, everywhere and share with anyone. Shooting video is as easy as taking a picture. There are NO chargers, NO cables, just a USB connection!

Resources to Learn How to Use the Flip Video

How to Use a Flip Camera
http://www.allaroundyou.net/page/how-to-use-a-flip-camera

Flip Video Basics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_rZKOK8DwU&fmt=22

Making a Video on a Flip Camcorder
http://www.mindbites.com/lesson/495-making-a-video-on-a-flip-camcorder

Shooting Tips
http://www.flipvideospotlight.com/resources/shooting.aspx

Editing Guidelines
http://www.flipvideospotlight.com/resources/production.aspx

The Flip Camera for PC and Mac (Movie Maker and iMovie, too)
http://it.seattleschools.org/blog/category/tools-and-applications/video/

Educational Uses for the Flip Video

Capture student successes
Create writing prompts
Document fieldtrips
Demonstrate student progress
Develop storytelling skills
Interview community members
Record science experiments
Reflect on student presentations
Review new concepts
Share classroom event

Forty-Two Interesting Ways to use your Pocket Video Camera
http://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_6tv55j7g9

Creating a Public Service Anouncement (PSA) from Granite District
http://theflip.wikispaces.com/PSAs

Video Sharing
http://www.flipvideospotlight.com/resources/distribution.aspx

Storytelling
http://www.flipvideospotlight.com/resources/storytelling.aspx

Digital Wish Lesson Plans
http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/view_lesson_plans

Purchasing Information

You can pruchase from CDW-G at $168.00

Flip Ultra™ 120-minute Camcorder 2 for 1!
http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/product?id=4310

Flip Video Spotlight Mission and Network / Matching Purchase Program
http://www.flipvideospotlight.com/about/default.aspx

Flip Video MinoHD Mobile Lab
http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/product?id=2127MHD

Ultimate Pocket Camcorder Comparison
http://gizmodo.com/5401862/ultimate-pocket-camcorder-comparison

GIS Day (Geographic Information Systems)

On Wed, November 18th, several Jordan District teachers took the opportunity to go to GIS Day.

Participants learned what GIS is and how it is used in our daily lives. Here is a great video for your students that explains GIS.

GIS professionals from various municipalities taught sessions on aerial mapping, using elementary-level GIS software, and how teachers with no GIS mapping experience can work with a GIS mentor to implement GIS in their classroom.

So what is GIS? A Geographic Information System (GIS) can save, search, retrieve and analyze geographic data. GIS is currently being used academically and in many professional fields including environmental science and transportation. Everyday GIS use can be seen in the hand-held Global Positioning Systems (GPS) carried by hikers and fishermen and in navigation systems that many cars have today.

Here are some GIS resources that we learned about at GIS Day:
Videos:

• Layers of Our World
• GIS Day
• GoogleEarth Tours

GEOSPATIAL DATA SOURCES

1-Online map viewers

• Google Maps
• MS Live
• US Dept of Agriculture, Aerial Photography Field Office:
• MDOQ Viewer

2-Sources of data for download

• Data Gateway (USA data)
• AGRC (Utah data)
• USGS Seamless (USA & world data)
• GIS User

3-Free GIS Software (Data viewers)

• APFO links & instructions
• GIS User links to software and data sources

4- Fun Stuff with Geography
Earth As Art

********************
Important note:
***GIS Class ****
What will you get from the class?
Learn GIS software from scratch. Learn step-by-step instructions with screen shots on how to use GIS software. Get data for lessons on earthquakes, tornadoes, volcanoes, analyzing population, mapping habitats, Magellan's voyage across the Atlantic and Pacific, and much much more.

Minimal Requirements: Intermediate computer skills. No knowledge of GIS software required.

Dates:
Thu, Feb 11th, 2010 for 4-6th grade teachers.
Fri, Feb 12th, 2010, Secondary Social Studies or Science teachers

Place: ASB, 7905 S. Redwood Rd in the computer lab.
How to sign up: Please contact Pam Su'a at 801-567-8320. She will pay for your sub.

2010 Film Festival and UCET Information

Have your students participate in the 2010 Film Festival! Communicate, Collaborate, Connect

•Friday, December 4, 2009 Intent to participate form due to Margo Shirley at the ASB

•Friday, April 23, 2010 Films are due by 12 noon to Margo Shirley at the JSD ASB
(Auxillary Services Building 7905 S. Redwood Rd, West Jordan, UT 84088)

•Thursday, May 6, 2010 JSD Elementary Film Festival Celebration at the ASB Auditorium from 6-8pm

More information can be found at:http://t4.jordan.k12.ut.us/t4/content/view/313/37/




Don't forget to sign up for UCET 2010!

Fri, Feb 26th and 1/2 day Sat, Feb 27th
Murrary High School

Great sessions,great food, put your name in the hat for the yearly drawing (you might win an iPodTouch!)

Don't miss out on the opportunity to attend some great sessions, win a prize, or be eligible to apply for a UCET grant! This year's theme is: A Clear Vision for Teaching in a Digital World. We hope to see you there!

More information can be found at: http://www.ucet.org/inUCETnew/conference/

Searching, Moving Beyond Google

Since I am new to the T4 team I would like to briefly introduce myself.  My name is Nancy; I am new to the district coming here from Osceola County Florida.  After years of classroom teaching I became a Media Specialist and now am bringing that technology training to the Jordan School District.  High School is my love, but I am happy to be here and willing to work with whomever needs help.  Research is a love of mine so you will see a definite “information literacy” bias in my postings.

With that in mind, when did “Google” become “Google-ing” and interchangeable with research, or looking something up.  It is wonderful and brings up a huge amount of information, but sometimes six million hits is more than I want and usually more than students can process.  I had a student once describe it to me "it's like shopping at Ross, a whole lot of 'stuff' and you may find something good. But when you find it you will be tired and have a headache".  With that in mind I will give you a couple of alternatives here and direct you to more.  Look them over, check it out. 

Quintura is a visual search engine. Good for visual learners or for narrowing a topic.  Good results with very little commercial sites. There are fewer results easier to sort and good images.

Clusty.com , organizes the top search results into topics or "clusters" for easier searching. Searches multiple engines.  Again, fewer but better results.

Search-cube is a visual search engine that presents web search results in a unique, three-dimensional cube interface. It shows image previews of up to ninety-six websites, videos and images.This is new and fun.

If you want to see more go to the web page on the T4 site… there are several other fun search engines. 

Smart Response, Notebook and Tagging

All of you should have at least one set of Smart Response clickers in your school. These are very useful tools to collect formative and summative test/quiz results in a quick and timely manner. The purpose of tests/quizzes is more than just a grade for the students, they should be used by the teacher to help shape and direct instruction. Teachers should ask themselves as often as possible, “How do I know if my students understand this topic?” and “What do I do for the students that don’t understand it?”

For years the main way of collecting test/quiz scores was to have the students answer the questions for the quiz/test on a scantron or just have the students write the answers on a piece of paper. If the teacher was ambitious they would break down the responses of all the students of all the classes and find out which questions were missed the most and who missed them. Then the teachers may have linked each of the questions to the topics that they were assessing to find out what topic or topics the students struggled the most with. As you know this process takes a lot of time and effort. I am here to tell you, THERE IS A BETTER WAY.

Smart Notebook calls the better way tagging. In a nutshell Tagging allows you to label the questions with the topic that they cover, the standard and objective or any other information that the teacher feels is relevant to their class. Then after the tag is applied you can run reports and see which topics the class struggled with and then reteach them as needed.

How to tag your test/quiz questions in a new notebook presentation:

1. Start by inserting a question into a notebook document
2. Choose the type of question
3. Type in the question
4. Add the appropriate tag
5. Then finish creating the question

How to tag your test/quiz questions in a notebook presentation that already exists:

1. Open the notebook document that needs to have the tags added
2. Click on the slide/page that contains the question
3. Click on the Smart Response icon
4. Click show answer key
5. Enter the tag information
6. Repeat the above steps for the rest of the questions