ECISD Network Upgrades Scheduled (08/31/2012)

Thank you for your attention to this update.

Please be aware that the Technology Department will be performing technical maintenance after 4:30pm today (08/31/2012). This may result in intermittent loss of Internet access for the school district.

Additionally, please be aware that additional upgrades that will enable increased function--Virtual Private Network (VPN) for Special Education and others--will take place on Wednesday, 09/05/2012 after 4:30pm. Again, intermittent Internet access will occur.

I hope this will not inconvenience you or your staff. If there is any concern, please let me know.


With appreciation,
Miguel Guhlin
210-649-2343
miguel.guhlin@ecisd.net

Internet Outage 08/30/2012; 9:05am - RESTORED

Update 08/31/2012: Resolution reflected below.

Please be aware that at approximately 9:05 AM on Thursday, August 30, 2012, the District suffered an Internet outage affecting more than one site location (probably district-wide). The outage ended approximately at 9:20 AM. The cause of the outage is believed to be "outside" the District infrastructure.

The Technology Department is currently investigating the reason of the outage with its Internet Service Provider (ISP).

Thank you for your patience as the Tech Dept investigates the cause. This blog entry will be updated to reflect what is discovered about the reason(s) for the outage.

UPDATE: The following message was received from the ECISD Internet Service Provider:

We investigated your circuit connectivity and were not able to find any loss of physical connectivity, we did however recieve an alarm in our system that a Google circuit was down...While we were investigating, the issue resolved. We have reached out to Google to notify them of the issue.

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Innovation and Mini-Grant Application Time 08/2012

Image Source: http://interactioneducation.com/index_files/20101025ipad9164-460x260.jpg

This blog entry shares 3 things:

1. Announcement about the LeRoy Smith Teacher Mini-Grant Program
2. Sources for Innovative Ideas
3. Technology Department Support

#1 - Mini-Grant Program Announcement

The following was shared with me and I thought it worth posting here:

MINI-GRANT APPLICATION TIME

It's time to apply to the LeRoy Smith Teacher Mini-Grant Program for monies to purchase innovative items that will assist you in your classroom as you strive to increase student achievement and engagement. 

Attached you will find a letter and the application.  All applications are due by September 14 at 4:00 pm.

If you have any questions or need further information, please contact Debbie Walker at the Central Office (210) 648-7861.

Click to enlarge

Wait, Wait, Is there a Print Version?
Get the PDF version | MS Word version for printing purposes.

#2 - Sources for Innovative Ideas
Some ideas for innovative items that could really have an impact on teaching and learning include the Apple iPad! If this is something that you are willing to get involved in, consider some of these sample proposals written by other educators....wouldn't it be neat to include proposals from ECISD teachers for next year's round?

• iPad Adventures in Lower School - This is a proposal for kindergartner use of iPads, very detailed.
• Fifth Grade iPad Grant Proposal - From the proposal..."We would like to create a digital classroom in fifth grade, in the hope of reducing and eventually eliminating paper use, increasing student technical literacy, developing student independence, increasing skills in group work, and extending their learning beyond the classroom. In order to do this, we would like to purchase a classroom set of iPads and supporting Apps."
• High School Social Studies Proposal -A lot of flash but few details.
• Professional Learning iPads - This may lie outside the bounds of the mini-grant, but may provide some creative ideas.

There are MANY other ideas and resources online. You can find  those online via curated content on Evernote.

#3 - Technology Department Support
Once you've completed your application, you'll need to know how to go about finding out the costs for equipment. To facilitate this for campuses, we've put resources online for you at:

Use the following information to review hardware/software recommendations.

Mobile Devices (e.g. iPods and iPads)

• Apple iPod Touch and/or iPad
• iOS SyncStation Recommendation*

**NOTE** Please be aware that iPod Touch and iPad purchases must include an iOS SyncStation. Be sure to include that in your mini-grant budget.

Computers and Peripherals

• Desktop/Laptop/Netbook Computers (Mac or Windows OS)
• Technology Peripherals (e.g. printers, digital audio recorders, digital still cameras, digital video cameras, cables)
• Common Software

Need Help or Clarification?
Please note that should you need help, you can reach the Technology Department at 210-649-2343 or via email. Here are some folks to make contact with:

iOS Devices (iPod Touch and iPads): 

• Marguerite Lowak - marguerite.lowak@ecisd.net
• Mary Ray - mary.ray@ecisd.net
• Jill Sievers - jill.sievers@ecisd.net

Adding Video to @Edmodo - 4 Simple Approaches

Recently, a high school teacher sent me the following question via Edmodo:

Hey Miguel :) Can you tell me where to look to share a Youtube clip with my Lang &GovEco edmodo students? I found one I'd like to post for the first week. Thanks for all you are doing to help us utilize technology more effectively.

 At first, I thought the response might be pretty easy but then realized there were several ways to get this done. This blog entry illustrates 4 of those approaches on how to add video to Edmodo.

Pick the one that works best for your workflow. A caveat: In many school districts--including East Central ISD--Approaches 1-3 will probably only work for faculty and staff, not students. Using Edmodo to link or embed content does NOT bypass school district content filtering. However, cloud storage solutions (e.g. YouTube, Dropbox, Box.net) may be appropriate for faculty and staff professional learning situations.

Approach #4 will work with students, especially if using the ECISD GoogleApps for Education.

Approach #1 - Drop the Video into YouTube
This solution involves you uploading the video to YouTube, or similar video hosting provider (e.g. Vimeo, SchoolTube, etc) and is fairly straightforward. Then, all you have to do is copy the embed code and paste it into the LINK box in an Edmodo assignment or quiz.

Here's how:

a) Get the Video Embed Code from YouTube (click the Share button under the video):

b) Paste the embed code into the LINK button on Edmodo:

Approach #2 - Drop the Video into Box.net
One of the new, similar to Dropbox cloud storage providers is Box.net. One of the neat features that Box.net features--that Dropbox--does not have is embed code for videos. If you have a video that's under 100 megabytes in size (Box.net's file size limit for any file is 100 megs for their FREE), you can upload it and get the embed code for that video. Then, you paste that embed code into the LINK box in an Edmodo assignment or quiz.

This does not constitute an endorsement

I like Box.net because I have 50 gigs of free space that they were giving away some time ago. You get about 5gigs of free space to start with now, which is considerable.

Here's what getting a video into Edmodo via Box.net would look like:

a) Get the Video Embed Code from YouTube (click the Share button under the video):

b) Paste the embed code into the LINK button on Edmodo:

Approach #3 - Drop the Video into Dropbox.com
Are you a Dropbox fan? Certainly, quite a few people--including educators--prefer Dropbox. Videos hosted on Dropbox have a public link that you can share. The process is pretty easy given the embed code approaches featured earlier in this blog entry.

a) Right-click the file hosted on Dropbox and then select COPY PUBLIC LINK:

b) Paste the embed code into the LINK button on Edmodo:

Approach #4 - GoogleDocs/Drive Hosted Video
If you're like me, you probably have a chunk of videos in your GoogleDocs. It's so easy to add them to Edmodo directly from GoogleDocs/GoogleDrive/GoogleApps for Education (sheesh, all the names for the same thing can be confusing!).

Here's how:

a) Go to the Edmodo Library (link at the top of the page) and you'll see this when you click on GoogleDocs:

b) Click on CONNECT with GoogleDocs button. You will see a screen like the one below...if you have only one account, you won't see two like I do. Click on the account you want to connect to Edmodo.

c) Select the video you've uploaded most recently to GoogleDocs/Drive and it will be linked in your Library:

d) In your new assignment/quiz, select Library and then click the link:

and then select the video from GoogleDocs and click ATTACH:

Here's what the posting in Edmodo looks like:

 e) After that, the video will appear when you (or your students) click on Open in GoogleDocs as follows:

CONCLUSION
So, there you have it--4 simple approaches to linking to videos. Is there a solution that you have used successfully?

Friday Campus Visit - Salado, PLCs and #Edmodo

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to visit two campuses. The first was Salado, where I'd been invited to watch Brad Grant introduce his fellow teachers to Edmodo.com. The second was Legacy MS, where two teachers were being inducted into Cohort 1 of the EC3 iPad Initiative.

In this blog entry, I'll focus on my Salado visit but the picture collage below is of the EC3 teachers and the bottom right picture in the collage shows the Legacy MS EC3 teachers.

This collage was made with an app that's free only on 08/24/2012, TurboCollage

At Salado, I attended two of the multiple sessions being offered that afternoon. The first session was a presentation by Brad Grant on East Central ISD's Edmodo. If you're not familiar with Edmodo, think of it as a virtual classroom space that you and your students can use to share what you're learning with each other. It comes with a gradebook, and allows for parent access. Here's what my home page on Edmodo looks like:

Brad Grant (pictured below) did a wonderful job presenting to a classroom of his colleagues:

After a short overview, Brad led the teachers in the use of Edmodo, enabling them to login to a campus group for Edmodo. Many saw it as a replacement for Facebook, as well as other social media tools (e.g. Foursquare). Brad was kind enough to write this follow-up comment via Edmodo:

Thanks! It was a lot of fun. I owe it all to Marguerite's excellent teaching. The teachers at each session were VERY enthusiastic. I am going to do some follow up sessions with them as soon as possible. We will discuss making literature groups and some Salado teacher groups too. I am even going to try to talk my principal into doing our book studies on Edmodo. Mr. Steen won the shirt and Mrs. Kolinda won the laptop. She was so excited. (big grin)

It's funny that Brad suggested doing book studies via Edmodo...I made the same suggestion to his principal upon walking into her book study session! Brad was also kind enough to write:

Mr. Grant - Thanks for coming by! It was an honor to have you help the teachers in the Lab. They were very impressed that the head of tech would do that. :)

In truth, the honor was all mine to have the opportunity to see such committed educators at work learning!

That said, the second workshop I attended--facilitated by principal Teresa Triana--involved an invitation to participate in a book study...the teachers had several book choices, but I must confess I only took a picture of my 3 favorite titles...Mike Schmoker's book immediately called out to me, as did the middle title:

The Collaborative Teacher, which focuses on professional learning communities, certainly seemed appropriate for educators looking at Edmodo.com as a way to facilitate online learning. Here's a brief overview of that book:

The Collaborative Teacher: Working Together as a Professional Learning Community seeks to change education from inside the classroom. Using insights from a variety of experts who have implemented and sustained collaborative cultures of continuous improvement in schools around the nation, this anthology offers best practices, expert insight and testimonials, and supporting research to show the benefits of collaboration in creating a school that reaches all students.

The time of exclusive top-down leadership is over; only teachers can transform education from inside the classroom. The Collaborative Teacher defines best practices of collaborative teacher leadership in a professional learning community. Specific techniques, supporting research, expert insight, and real classroom stories from experienced practitioners combine to illustrate how to work together for student learning, create a guaranteed and viable curriculum, and use data to reach all students.

I'll be investing in this book myself (although Teresa was kind enough to offer me a copy, I didn't feel comfortable since they had been purchased for Salado staff) to read, and, if time allows, participate in the book study.

Creating a No Drama Online Learning Space - Edmodo

Wondering how to engage students with social media, but nervous about using Facebook or Twitter? Create a "no drama" online learning space using the ECISD approved Edmodo, a virtual learning space that improves on Facebook to create a friendly online paperless classroom.

Get started at http://bit.ly/ecisdedmodo

5 Steps to Getting Started

Here are 5 steps to help you get started. You might want to watch this online webinar on Edmodo before jumping in...it will give you the "big picture" about how Edmodo can make teaching and learning easier.

1. Sign up

If you don’t already have an Edmodo account, visit Edmodo.com and sign up. Registration is free and takes less than a minute! If you're a new teacher to ECISD, be sure to join the ECISD New Teachers group. 

After you are logged into Edmodo, click on the links below to request membership:

• Campus Technology Coordinators (CTCs)
• New Teachers
• ECISD iOS Device Management - If you have an iPod or iPad in your classroom, you'll want to join this group!

If you don't see a group you wish was there, be sure to create your own and invite other educators!

2. Adjust your settings and notifications

Once you’ve created your account, visit your settings panel. Here you can add your profile picture, indicate your school and adjust your privacy settings. You can also choose the types of notifications you’d like to receive (i.e. if you want to be notified of new group members, new messages, etc.) and how you would like to receive them (text or email).

3. Create your groups

Now that your account is set up, the next step is to create your groups. Decide on how you want to label and organize your groups (i.e. by period, subject area, etc.), then click the “create” link (located on the left-hand panel) and complete the details of your group. After your group has been created, a 6-digit code will be displayed on the right-hand side of the page. This is the code you will give your students to enable them to join the group.

4. Organize your library 

As you’re preparing your lesson plans for the new school year, upload any resources you plan to share with your students to your Edmodo Library. Examples of resources you might want to upload include helpful links, videos, rubrics, worksheets, etc. Storing this content in your library will make it easy to share with your Edmodo groups when the time comes.

5. Invite your students

Once school begins, you’re ready to invite your students. If your students have used Edmodo in the past, they do not need to set up a new Edmodo account. They can simply use their existing username and password. If your students are new to Edmodo, provide them with the 6-digit group code and have them sign up for a student account.

Adapted from Back to School with Edmodo

EC3 Cohort 1 - Exploring #SAMR Model

Earlier today, teachers participating in the EC3 Cohort 1 Project explored Dr. Puentedura's SAMR Model. Here's what SAMR looks like:

In case you're not familiar with these concepts, it's essentially a lens through which to analyze and reflect on the types of technology-enhanced learning activities that may occur in class. Since the EC3 teachers are using iPads, the goal is to ensure that the majority of technology-use is focused at the Modification and Redefinition level, rather than simply at Substitution and Augmentation.

The danger any new technology initiative faces is that technology will continue to be used in the same old way we've used older technologies. If we use the SAMR Model, many teachers will start at the substitution level...here's my remix on that:

As Mr. Patterson put it (and this is a paraphrase, not a direct quote): "Activities at the substitution and augmentation level aren't good enough; we want to be in the top tier." So, how do we get beyond what's easy (e.g. Substitution and Augmentation) and move to what's focused more on collaboration, communication, creativity, critical thinking and problem-solving (e.g. Modification, Redefinition) that extends learning beyond the classroom?

In a simple way, I see it boiling down to this question:

Redefining knowledge work involves extending communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking beyond the classroom walls and invites new experiences that fuel engagement.

SOME EXAMPLES:Book report example in SAMR:

VIDEO CHAT

The following video was recorded at the EC3 Pre-Launch and features two teachers from the ECISD, Deborah and Krista, sharing their response to the slide immediately above (Reflect, Remix, Connect):

View iPad Friendly Video

RTI - Reinventing Technology with Instruction

(Pictured above: High School Assistant Principals exploring Digital Citizenship)

Earlier today, I had the opportunity to share my thoughts about the topic of Reinventing Technology with Instruction (RTI) (note that the link will get you to ALL the materials shared, including the Digital Citizenship Webquest, slideshow, etc.). I'm grateful to the ECISD District Leadership Team (DLT) for being such great participants during my presentation as well as the Digital Citizenship . We managed to capture some videos of action statements that each group participating in the Webquest developed...those will be shared in a future blog entry!

Image Source: District Leadership Team members exploring Digital Citizenship Webquest. I love this picture because it highlights how all of us can take advantage of ALL technologies to achieve instructional objectives.

The acronym "RTI" has come to mean something else in education, primarily, Response to Intervention. As wonderful a term this is, I thought it might be fun to flip the way we usually approach teaching, learning and technology in schools. Instead of focusing on "integrating technology into instruction"--which veteran technologists acknowledge has been a profound failure--the term "redefining technology with instruction" forces us to rethink how we use technology in terms of instruction. Perhaps, the difference is simply semantic, but oh so much fun to consider.

One of the neat aspects of the session was the backchannel conversation, which was facilitated via TodaysMeet web site. Some of the comments included the following (I've bolded my favorites):

Very nice story about how working together and tapping into each others strengths can lead to new ideas and greater opportunities for success.

Technology expands your collaborative group. (Source: Denise at 14:11 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

@ Go Baylor - Technology is the "yellow brick road" and student achievement is the "Emerald City" (Source: Mary Ray at 14:12 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

what if we used our curriculum as the context to practice and improve the 4c's...those being the skills that matter most (Source: Roland at 14:13 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

We underestimate what our students can do. (Source: Denise at 14:18 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

Lali and I think as people we are creative and innovative. Technology is the natural outlet for this most basic need. (Source: Debbie at 14:19 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

I would love to learn more...I'm hungry for technology. I can see how technology can transform all levels of our school community...(Source: iris at 14:22 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

To use technology comes with the fear of how to teach technology - but the irony is that majority kids already know the technology and those (Source: Go Baylor at 14:22 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

I love that technology dept. is finding ways to remove barriers that kept teachers from using tech. in classrooms. (Source: Denise at 14:22 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

I like the idea the project is not "finished" in the eyes of students---literally the sky is the limit---or is it? (Source: Patty R at 14:23 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

How do teachers of young kids balance the need to teach HOW to edit without technology with the need to use technology for publishing stages (Source: Arnold at 14:36 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

@ Arnold - Good question. There needs to be a balance. Once suggestion is to teach the editing piece in the preplanning stages. Before they move into the publishing stage. (Source: Mary Ray at 14:40 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

Thank you for breaking the process down into a simple step by step method that can be applied to almost any type of learning (Source: Jim at 14:41 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web)

Look at us as administrators, we can't leave our technology alone and most of us aren't digital natives. Think about our students. (Source: Stephanie at 14:43 PM, 08 Aug 2012 via web

That final remark--thanks, Stephanie!--is just a wonderful insight. Human beings are incredibly social and anything that gets in the way of us connecting with each other is doomed to failure. Let's take advantage of our innate social nature to better learn together what we need to learn to be successful in schools, and ultimately, life.

 

WRITING AT A DISTANCE

In response to the writing question--which Mary Ray responds to above--I pointed out Digitizing the Writing Workshop. We all often compose, edit and there's no reason why these efforts can be done online. Consider how this process happens at a distance with businesses. Is on-site reading, editing, revising acknowledging a globally connected world, as described in books like Wikinomics that emphasize the idea that "Mass Collaboration changes everything?"

Another point to keep in mind is how we offer feedback to students. It is possible to go paperless and these points are shared in the Digitizing the Writing Workshop article.

While listening to the STAAR related presentation, I was struck by the advice to "Read/Think/Write/Be sure to..." Wow, what a neat way to introduce blogging into the school curriculum, shifting from augmentation (where we're using a word processor) to modification, and possibly, redefinition. In the Technology Department, we'll be offering some webinars that address writing and this approach.

 

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Embedding an Image in Your QR Code

Print handout (a thumbnail) with QR codes featuring embedded images.

In anticipation of Leadership this week, I've been working hard organizing materials for my sessions on Redefining Technology with Instruction and Digital Citizenship Webquest. One of the fun aspects--aside from having those conversations about critical subjects--involves creating QR codes that enable participants to access content quickly.

How can I put this TechHornet into a QR Code?

One of the questions going around in my mind was, How could I embed an image like the ECTECHHORNET (top of this blog entry) in the QR Code--shown below--itself?

If you're not familiar with QR Codes, you might want to watch this YouTube video on the subject; note that you will probably need to authenticate as an ECISD staff member to watch it.

To accomplish the goal of dropping an image into a QR code that looks like the finished product below, I merely followed these steps:

1. Generate the QR Code with this web site, RacoIndustries QR Code Generator. You can also use Kaywa's QR Code generator. At first, I thought only the former would work but experimentation revealed that you could use both QR code generators equally well.
   
   On the RacoIndustries site, I made sure to set these parameters:
• QR Code Version 6
• Error Correction Level: H 30% of codewords can be restored
2. I copied and pasted a small version of the image into the center of the QR Code using my favorite image management program (e.g. LibreOffice Draw); you can use any program to accomplish this, including PPT !
3. The finished product appears below.

When I was done, I was able to do a quick screen capture of the QR codes...here are the two with the icon embedded...give them a try with your favorite QR reader (I'm liking I-nigma QR Code reader that Mary Ray and Marguerite Lowak introduced me to!):

For more technical information, I relied on this blog entry for insight; Thanks!