Connect 2.0

Readers,

Thought you might be interested in the direction ISB is taking with its technology and 21st century literacy professional development for 2008. We have tried out a few models and constantly tweaking and evolving our approach to try and differentiate instruction to meet all of our teachers needs. Here is what was sent to our staff that beginning of this semester.

Update – We have also decided to Ustream the Wired Wednesday to anyone who is interested. Come join us every Wednesday at 2:15 Bangkok time here: http://ustream.tv/channel/isb-edu-stream

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ES Staff,

In response to the results from our recent technology survey we have revised our PD strategy for the year. In an attempt to encourage whole-school sharing and collaboration we have combined the three divisions into two weekly sessions. It is our hope that by bringing staff together discussions around technology, 21st century literacy and the K ­ 12 philosophy will spread. Below are the new weekly in-service opportunities available to you.While our weekly workshops are a great way to spark and fuel ideas about how to use some of the great tools we have at ISB, the research on professional development is clear. Teachers and students learn best when technology is used in context to help attain the learning outcomes of the classroom. It is for this reason that we will be making more of an effort to embed ourselves in your team/grade/subject level meetings to co-plan with those teachers who wish to explore, promote and bring 21st century learning opportunities to their students

.Mondays: Personal Tech Support
Where: Main Library classroom
When: 2:15 ­to 3:00 pm

Need help with a technical problem? Want to spiff up a lesson? Need help finding online resources to support your unit? Want to know what Web 2.0 means and how it can impact your teaching? Want to collaborate with a global audience? Looking for some SMART Board tips? Just want to know how to podcast? Crop a photo? Download a video clip from YouTube? You have a tech question; we have an answer (we hope).

Justin, Dennis and Kim will station themselves in the Main Library classroom every Monday for any sort of tech question or help. We can work individually or present something to a group.

PD tailor made for you. You can’t beat this kind of personal, differentiated attention.

Wednesdays: Wired Wednesdays
Where: Main Library classroom
When: 2:15 to­ 3:00 pm

Are you interested in talking about technology, the future and how both will impact education? Wired Wednesdays are about that conversation. Come to these sessions to be immersed in progressive and current thinking about how teaching and learning is being redefined in a rapidly changing world and ISB’s plan to keep up. These sessions will have a strong audio/video component so whether you want to get deep or just want to be edu-tained, these sessions are for you.

Hope to see you there!

Justin, Dennis and Kim

Mr. Dudash took writing to the next level this week by having his students podcast their work and set it to music. The students in the class were asked to select one piece of recent writing that they were proud for use in their podcast. Next they selected a piece of accompanying music that best fit with their story or theme. Each student then took an evening to practice reading aloud with emphasis and style. The next day they recorded their story into Garage Band, a podcasting program that put all of the components together. I think you will agree, Grade 5 has some GREAT writers!!

Check out all the action here: http://dudash.edublogs.org/

We encourage you to listen so some of the podcasts and leave a comment about the ones you liked. The students would really appreciate your opinion.

What is a podcast?

A podcast is a digital media file, which is distributed over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on portable media players and personal computers. The term, like “radio“, can refer either to the content itself or to the method by which it is syndicated; the latter is also termed podcasting. The host or author of a podcast is often called a podcaster.

Cross post from http://www.medagogy.edublogs.org

Big movements start with small steps……………..

A simple conversation with Scott last week started like most conversations at ISB, passing each other in the hall. Scott just attended the LEARNING 2.0 and is eager to explore many of the ideas and tool he picked up there.

“Hey Justin! I’m looking to get a little deeper with peace day this year, got any ideas?”

Scott is always looking for meaningful ways to get his students engaged in the writing process and reflect on a deeper level. He has been using his classroom blog as a tool in process but up until now it did not really have an audience other than parents. It was time to change that. Together we came up with some questions for the post that we felt would stretch students to think about peace and what it means to them. You can see the post here.

Time was a factor here as Peace Day was the next day. As we know the read/write web is a powerful tool that can quickly and easily bring people from all over the world together to share and collaborate. The only barrier is knowing that each other exists. I decided to reach out to all my contacts and get the ball rolling. I put out call to teachers and coordinators to have their students stop by and share their perspective along with the country they came from. I also helped Scott embed a cluster map on his site so we could track where the hits were coming from. If you don’t have one on your site get one today! The goal of this little post was to get a few different perspectives from other students to create and opportunity for further conversation about peace.

The results…………..112 posts!!!!!

Mark Picketts at Carol Morgan School , Dominican Republic answered the call and got several of his teachers to involve their classes

Mark Dilworth at International School Manila, answered the call and also got his teachers involved.

Kim Cofino at International School Bangkok , answered the call and reached out to her global community to bring in some great comments from the U.S

Carolyn Foote - Librarian, Texas , answered the call and wrote a fantastic post about Scott’s experiment and featured some of her favorite student comments!

Maryland answered the call. Thank you!

Philadelphia answered the call. Thank you!

The list goes on…………….

One conversation…….led to one email………….led to 112 posts………..which led to a global audience and a conversation about peace!

That is what these tools are for. That is why they MUST be BLENDED into everything we do. Because the time invested reap rewards that keep on giving.

All it took was a teacher willing to ask “How can I go deeper?”

If you are reading this and interested in involving your class please drop by Scott’s Learning Blog and have your students post. We would love to read their thoughts!

One small step at a time.

 The elementary school is buzzing with energy and ideas since more than 10 of its teachers flew to Shanghai for the Learning 2.0 conference.  Teachers and students across the ES are tapping into the potential that some of the new tools (blogs, wikkis, podcasts) to enhance their own teaching and learning.  A term that was used quite often over the course of the weeks was that of blended learning, and it is definitely one that we will be exploring further this year.

Blended Learning is the combination of multiple approaches to learning. Blended learning can be accomplished through the use of ‘blended’ virtual and physical resources. A typical example of this would be a combination of technology-based materials and face-to-face sessions used together to deliver instruction. In the strictest sense, blended learning is anytime any instructor combines two methods of delivery of instruction. However, the deeper meaning lies in engaging the students of the current generation. Thus a better example would be using active learning techniques in the physical classroom and a social web presence online. Blended learning is a term that represents a shift in instructional strategy.  Shift is happening and the ES is right there with it!

http://connect2.edublogs.org