Group items tagged

Two landmark decisions this summer have greatly expanded the free speech rights of students in cyberspace. Unfortunately, educators who are the victims of vicious personal attacks posted on the web by spiteful students may have little legal recourse. Both cases arose in Pennsylvania and were decided by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals on June 13, this year.

Although the first paragraph can be a little grating for ITs/Tech. Coordinators to read, I think it is a perception we must address. Here is my response to one IT whose view of teachers was low. Joe, I can hear the frustration in your reply. I can appreciate some of it. However, I think that the first paragraph,  I think, reflects a perception that we as IT's/Tech. Directors/Coordinators need to address honestly, but respectfully. So when I read the first paragraphs, I asked myself, "How is this true for me?" I think we need to honestly assess that in our practice.  Next, the points that follow were written to be more general in scope to give each reader a chance to explore how they might fit for them in their unique situations. Patronizing? I think they are points of practice we can all reflect on. That's the purpose I see in the blog post. In regards to filtering, we all live with it. It's coming to terms with how much filtering is necessary and how to manage the filter. I get frustrated not having the ability to filter content the way I would like. I didn't hear the author say things like "Get over it," but instead "Consider....". I think a helpful approach for IT's, teachers, and admin. is to form a partnership/relationship that allows each to better understand the needs/challenges each faces to provide the best for students. That's the goal. As a tech. coordinator, I proactively work at that. I taught for eight years, but also was instrumental in helping press into tech. integration and perhaps that has helped me to be more balanced than some in my approach to IT and embrace change. I think also we have to expect failures along the way as we feel our way through new approaches, methods, and devices. Right now, I think most IT's are a bit intimated by the level of change and diversity of needs we have to address. I know I am! Let's become more a part of the dialogue and abstain from labeling and finger-pointing. We're in this together. 

Katie Ritter, Tech. Coordinator developed a helpful tech. integration flow chart that will help with the CCSS - "I hope it helps you think backwards (or rather the "right" way) to think about selecting a technology tool to use in your class."

"21 Digital Tools to Build Vocabulary" - vocabulary literacy researcher/writer Kimberly Tyson shares some excellent tools for building vocabulary, which she sees as one of the most important activities teachers should get right. She shares the important role vocabulary plays in the CCSS. See some of her other blog posts.

Syncdocs lets you "Go Google" by migrating all your files to Google's cloud. Simply select a folder on your PC, like "My Documents", and Syncdocs copies it online and across all your computers, automatically. This folder is then kept in sync. Syncdocs integrates right into your desktop opening your files in Google Docs.

Gives you the Outlook preview pane, but lets you toggle it on and off, which is nice. Click the "Gear" icon (top right of you Gmail window, then Labs, then enable "Preview Pane" - save changes.

Snaplr is a simple way to capture and annotate your desktop's activity. Its Free to download. After taking your screenshot, you can highlight a specific screenshot area further with a set of drawing tools. Copy your screenshot to the clipboard and paste it to an email or save it as a png attachment instead.  Works great in Gmail and Outlook. I like using this in Windows as Google Chrome doesn't have the best screen capture extensions right now that can annotate as easily as this tool.

SimpleShare is a Mac and Windows based app for sharing files, screenshots and screencasts across the box.net cloud storage system. We've shown you a simple hack for direct right-click in Windows uploading before, but this new free app makes the process even simpler. Best of all it's available for both Windows and Mac, and it's a joy to use.

Interesting article that addresses free speech and it's limitations in a school environment. How will we respond?

Will Richardson explores this idea: "By pairing personalized learning and technology, a teacher can help students learn what they need to learn through the topics that interest them most." How does "personal learning" fit into the structures we have in school learning environments? 

Helpful chart to compare/contrast each tool