CFF Communities

On investing in change during tough economic times

rickbeach — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 17:52:01 GMT

Another interesting topic came up about the challenge of investing in change during tough economic times.

One line of thought is that we need to prepare now for the better times ahead.
Another line of thought is that we need to change now even during these tough economic times.

Businesses often face difficult times, certainly during recessions, but also during periods of discontinuities in their marketplace, their product line, or even their customer base. They must respond or risk going out of business. Protecting the investment in R&D may be difficult with other funding priorities, but those ideas and new products become the basis for accelerating the organization when economic times become easier.

My belief is that education must respond to your current budget challenges with vision and innovation -- or risk going out of business, too.

School districts have lots of resources, several billion dollars and thousands of dedicate people. Maybe you don't have the resources you want or need to continue to do things the way they were. But you still have lots of resources at your disposal.

My analogy of change in Xerox was the competitive response to Japanese copier companies. It happened during a period of recessions in the early 1980s. Xerox transformed the company with a vision of quality, serving customer needs with products that worked really well. The vision imagined new ways of working, doing smarter work rather than more work, and doing them with different resources. Two key collaborators with the product engineering groups were the labor unions who assembled the products and the technician groups who serviced the products. Xerox management clearly understood that change was needed in the way those two groups did their work. What was unconventional was the vision of Leadership Through Quality spread company-wide and empowered these groups to innovate their own work. Who better understood the breakdowns? Who better understood the work steps that could be done more efficiently? It was these people themselves. Xerox received two Malcolm Baldrige Awards, once as a manufacturer in 1989 and again as a technology service provider in 1997.

Education leaders have a similar challenge. You are producing products with known defects. Rather than fixing them after production, better to change the way we produce them with higher quality.

How would you adapt this analogy to your situation?

What can you do now that will accelerate innovation in your site or district?

Which stakeholders can you enroll in the vision of higher quality production?

Cheers
Rick

Avoiding the T-word -- the Xerox quality analogy

rickbeach — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:50:17 GMT

One thought that arose during the discussios was avoiding the T-word, technology.

We admit that we don't have compelling evidence that technology has produced the results that many expected. Of course, it's not just the technology that makes change successful. So, it's important to realize that using that word may mislead people who hear it to understand what is being attempted.

I told the story of my work experience in Xerox while they turned around their copier business in the 1980's. Xerox was getting its clock cleaned by Japanese competitors -- they could sell a copier for less than it cost Xerox to manufacture one! So, in our case, the C-word, competitiveness, was the word that didn't work. It mislead people to think that we needed to run faster, without realizing we needed to work smarter. What Xerox did was to focus on quality -- satisfying customer needs with a product that really worked well. This word choice, and the Leadership Through Quality programs that supported it, helped align all the stakeholders, especially the unions, the business leaders, the sales folks, everyone, even the researchers in my lab at Xerox PARC.

Your challenge is to think of a word and vision that shifts the conversation. Perhaps it is innovation.

Cheers
Rick

Districts participating in the San Diego Leadersip Summit

rickbeach — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:18:54 GMT

Bonsall Union School District

Burbank Unified School District

Cajon Valley Union School District

Coronado School District

Dehesa Elementary School District

Encinitas Union School District

Fallbrook Union Elementary School District

Fallbrook Union High School District

Julian Elementary School District

La Mesa-Spring Valley School District

Lakeside Union School District

Lemon Grove Elementary School District

National School District

Oceanside Unified School District

Poway Unified School District

San Marcos Unified School District

Santee School District

Valley Center-Pauma Unified School District

Apple

Classroom Of The Future Foundation

University of San Diego

Key people supporting the San Diego Leadersip Summit

rickbeach — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:07:57 GMT

Here's a list of some of the key people who organized and presented the San Diego Leadership Summit

Mike Crader, Superintendent and Chief Executive Officer of TRECA

Rich Thome, Educational Leader in Residence, School of Leadership and Education Sciences, University of San Diego

Liz Johnson, School of Leadership and Education Sciences, University of San Diego

Cheryl Lee, Apple Computer

Brian Bristol, Apple Computer

Ritz Sherman, Apple Computer

Bruce Braciszewski, Executive Director, Classroom of the Future Foundation

Rick Beach, Innovation Wizard, Classroom of the Future Foundation

Topics from day 1 of San Diego Leadership Summit

rickbeach — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:00:27 GMT

Mike Crader welcomed about 40 leaders from local school districts to the San Diego Leadership Summit. The first day stimulated extensive discussion of several key topics:

Preparing Teachers for Innovation

Identifying Lighthouses and Barriers: Each of us brainstormed items that represent lighthouse concepts that lead the way and barrier concepts that hold us back from innovation. Then those items were posted on the wall and participants were tasked with grouping the concepts into three groups. The report out was to select one word, a single word, to describe each of the three groups of lighthouse or barrier concepts.

Lighthouse:

students, assessment
teachers, progras
resources, communications

Barriers:

resources
knowledge, policy
beliefs, change

Identifying Pockets of R&D (Research and Development)

Mike introduced the idea of forming R&D teams with 10% of your staff who embrace innovation and change, realizing that 70% will follow, and 20% are reluctant to change. Small groups discussed the R&D concept as it might apply to their districts.

Prepaing the Learning Enterprise for Innovation

Developing a shared vision of change can be stimulated by exposing people to the "shift happens" series of videos. Here's the latest, Did You Know 4.0:

Cheers
Rick

Student Centered Learning

Bruce Braciszewski — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:58:09 GMT

Several of the 2010 Innovation in Education award recipients programs are excellent examples of student centered learning in digital environemnts. We'll post decriptions of these innovations periodically over he next couple of week.

Teacher Innovation Group - Assignment

Bruce Braciszewski — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 23:23:41 GMT

At the October 30th session at the JRRTC the teachers reviewed the Priority Requirements of the T.I.M.E. (Teacher Innovations Maximizing Education) study and discused applications that fit into each of the component areas, Including:

Curriculum Development
Classroom Management
Professional Development
Home to School
Infrastucture and Support

The teachers also agreed to post some of the applications that they have used and found effective in enhancing learning for their students. Please take a moment and post one or two applications for each of the areas above where appropriate.

Thanks for your cooperation with this request.

Bruce

Etextbooks & dedicated ebook reading devices vs. 1-to-1 computing

Steve Grant — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:49:54 GMT

[Note: This post is also cross-posted under Time2Innovate Discussion]

Could textbooks be the ultimate driver that gets a computer into the hands of every student in, say, secondary public schools? Today (April 2009) a good dedicated ebook reading device (ERD) like the Kindle2 is about $350--but it's monochrome (greyscale): no color. For the same price we can now get a "netbook"--a bona fide computer with color screen and almost enough battery life to make it through a full school day--for the same price. Could a district can spend roughly what it does on textbooks in one year to instead provide each student with a netbook, then arrange with textbook publishers to provide downloadable digital copies of the textbooks at sufficiently low cost thereafter to make it financially feasible?

Recently a Library Tech. at a San Diego Unified (SDUSD) middle school posted a query to the SDUSD library staff listserv. She said she's been asked (essentially) why we're not using digital instead of bound-paper textbooks? Wouldn't that be cheaper and save trees? Her actual words:

____________________________
"What is the cost comparison from actually doing Textbooks on line compared to actually having Textbooks on hand since you would think that it would be better financially since if we were to go paperless that we would be saving paper and trees?
"Why would Textbook on line be more expensive?? Does this make any sense and does anyone have an answer for me or do I need to call each publisher and ask why?? Or is there a site I can go to for the answer. I need concrete evidence."
_________________________

Although I certainly don't have all the hard numbers she's looking for, I did have some ideas about some of the factors affecting districtwide adoption of etextbooks, including the issue of providing students with "dedicated ebook reading devices (ERDs)" vs. the newly-available and relatively inexpensive "netbooks". After writing my reply, I thought I'd post some of it here, too, in case it may inform other discussions in other places. (I also have a thought about what the impact might be on school libraries if/when a district such as San Diego Unified--which relies on school library staff to process and circulate to students and teachers all textbooks and related teacher materials--converts wholesale from "dead-tree" to digital textbooks and provides netbooks to all students to assure universal access; for this see my P.S. at the end.) Here's what I wrote:
_____________________________
I'm not sure what you mean by "textbooks on line." Do you mean providing etextbooks--purchasing digital copies students read at a computer--as opposed to "dead-tree edition" (bound paper) copies? And by online, do you mean the computer has to have a live Internet connection to view the book, or do you mean the digital copy can be downloaded to the computer, then subsequently viewed even when an Internet connection is not available? The two scenarios are actually quite different and it matters which of them one is considering. The download scenario is preferable from a district standpoint: as long as the student has Internet access at school and can download his/her textbooks there, then the district doesn't have to assure (provide) Internet access at home to comply with Williams. However, when download is possible publishers tend to get nervous about piracy, although recent technology advances have made this somewhat less of a concern.

Then there's the issue of assuring each student has ready, individual access to a computer (or other mobile ebook reading/viewing device, "ERD" for short) both at home and at school (á la Williams). That's one of the biggest hurdles in switching to digital vs. paper textbooks: providing every student with an ERD (except perhaps those willing to sign a waiver saying they already own one). Amazon's Kindle (now Kindle2) has my vote as the best mobile ERD right now, but it's $360 and is not a computer, nor does it support color (a deal-killer for etextbooks in my opinion). Now that "netbooks" (ultracompact laptop computers) are available for about that price--with a color screen and about 5-1/2 hrs. battery life--we're fast approaching the point where "1-to-1 computing" (lending each student a mobile computer) begins to seem feasable, and the educational bang for your buck is hugely higher than just providing him/her with an ERD. In September 2005 (after initial textbook checkout and the dust had settled), I did a rough-and-dirty estimate of how much it cost to provide the average La Jolla High student with a set of just the basic textbooks for each of his/her courses per year (not including the 10-20 supplementary texts required for English: $318 (no doubt more now).*

One thing to keep in mind is that even in digital format textbooks will never be free. One person in the book publishing business I spoke to (not a sales rep.) told me about 85% of the cost of producing a textbook is not the paper, printing, binding, shipping, etc. but the cost of "intellectual property" (money paid to authors and other copyright holders) and layout/design, editorial, and other "brain work" required to assemble and format it all. Those costs aren't going to disappear. Don't assume that we can just stop buying physical textbooks and use the savings to buy each student an ERD or netbook; we will still have to pay for each copy of the e- versions of the textbooks... possibly 85% of what we're paying now (though in time that cost should go down--possibly a lot).

Of course, the publishers have a ton invested in the current paper-based system and have considerable vested interest in things staying the way they are now. They make quite a healthy profit under the status quo and probably aren't keen on investing in new IT infrastructure--especially in this economy--to gear up for all-digital distribution... even if all of a district's students have wireless-connected ERDs or computers. I think that's one of the reasons the textbook publishers are only offering digital versions if the district pays for the dead tree editions. When the (print edition) cash cow keeps on providing the cash, it's relatively cheap to also copy the book onto a CD you paste into the back of the physical textbook, and since you're not going to have potentially tens (hundreds?) of thousands of students simultaneously accessing the text online, it's also not very expensive to also (or instead) throw it up on a relatively low-bandwidth Web server.

--Steve Grant

*For each of 20 students--5 randomly selected from each of the four grade levels--I totaled the cost of all textbooks out to him/her then divided by the number to books out. Then I averaged the totals for each grade level, then averaged those averages. By-grade-level breakdowns were:
9th... $284
10th... $359
11th... $320
12th... $308

P.S. If/when the district does convert from physical to digital textbooks, that hugely reduces the critical importance of classified library staff at the secondary level. Once the ERDs or netbooks are checked out to the students (conceivably not through the library), students download their textbooks themselves. If they have netbooks (as opposed to ERDs), they don't need to use the computers in the library any more. Since--for better or for worse--research is largely performed online now instead of using library books, the library's main functions now become 1) source of library books for pleasure reading (some schools have more students than others using it for this but my sense is that on average the percentage of the total student population regularly checking out library books for pleasure reading is low), and 2) convenient supervised student lounge for the few students not assigned a class that period or on extended medical P.E. excuses. It's also a convenient venue for adult meetings (staff, PTA, etc.), student testing, etc., but other adults can always open it up and will be present for those activities. Food for thought, eh?

Etextbooks & dedicated ebook reading devices vs. 1-to-1 computing

Steve Grant — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:33:48 GMT

Reflecting on Seeds

laurakspencer — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 00:26:48 GMT

Let's use this place to comment on changes we made based on Seeds, or thoughts we have about the entire Project-Based Learning pedagogy.

Teacher Innovation Fishbowl on March 24

rickbeach — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:13:53 GMT

During the March 24 TIME2Innovate meeting, a group of invited teachers participated in a fishbowl experience. They were teachers selected from schools visited by the board of the Classroom of the Future Foundation in December 2008 and January 2009. All of them were doing interesting things, many enhanced by technology, most with inspiring stories of how they changed their instructional practices.

Use this discussion thread to build on the conversations.

Cheers
Rick

Classrooms without desks

laurakspencer — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 21:44:08 GMT

There seemed to be a lot of interest in the classrooms without desks idea, and how it could translate to the middle school level. I wanted to address this briefly. We don't have any middle school classrooms in Santee without desks. However, we have seen some teachers make environment modifications that support student learning in similar ways to the ways Gillian and Robin discussed.

We have a middle school Algebra teacher who moved her tables in a configuration that freed up the front of the room. In the front, she put some carpet remnants. And just like kindergarten classrooms, she has carpet time with her students. When I asked her about it, she said the kids love this time, as it allows them to connect on a more intimate level before starting the day's activity. They discuss homework issues, expectations, etc. In addition, she bought some of those large exercise balls that people use for situps. These"alternative seating" solutions let the squirrely student wiggle while sitting. She also has a small couch in a corner for more "alternative seating" options.

When we were trained at UCLA, there was an emphasis on the classroom environment nurturing the student. To do this, the staff recommended bringing pieces of home in to the classroom. Lamps, couches, carpets, etc. As I'm sure you know, we are much more comfortable in our living room than in our office. The idea is that students will also learn better in an environment that is welcoming to them.

I offered people tours of classrooms in our meeting, not because I feel we have "the answer" but because I think we need to continue the spark that was lit on Tuesday. That offer stands for anyone who wants to come check out what we're doing. Just shoot me an email and let me know when you'd like to head over - lspencer@santee.k12.ca.us

And for those of you interested in checking out the UCLA Seeds experience, the 8 day session we attended was called the Critical Thinking Institute. The website is: http://www.labschool.ucla.edu/outreach/critical_thinking.php

Santee MOU

Bruce Braciszewski — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 22:57:04 GMT

Santee MOU in progress.

Digital Storytelling - the Santee experience

laurakspencer — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 01:08:12 GMT

Some of you asked for links for digital storytelling. Gillian is the pioneer in our district for digital storytelling. Her class website is: http://www.santeesd.net/14442095103641373/site/default.asp

Robin Larson, who presented about her classroom without desks, also has a great website with blogs: http://www.santeesd.net/14452098142634873/site/default.asp?14452098142634873Nav=|657|&NodeID=657

Cindi Crandall, who is our K-1 teacher, has some wonderful project examples posted as well: http://www.santeesd.net/14442081695942770/site/default.asp?14442081695942770Nav=|&NodeID=810

Blogging has becomoe a big hit this year at Pepper Drive, so you can scroll through any teacher website at their campus to see different examples of blogs, digital storytelling, etc.

More later,

Laura

Participants in the Dec 9 & 11 2008 Tour of Student Engagement Initiatives

rickbeach — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:26:41 GMT

Participants in the tour:

CFF

Tom Dillon, Chair
Bruce Braciszewski, Executive Director
Rick Beach, Innovation Wizard

Lemon Grove School District

Ernie Anastos, Superintendent
Larry Buchanan, Principal, San Altos Elementary School
Mary Kraus, Program Manager, Technology
Marcia Mattson, Principal, San Miguel Elementary School
Glenn Heath, Principal, Vista La Mesa Elementary School

Cajon Valley School District

Janice Cook, Superintendent
Lucille Mansfield, AVID Teacher and Technology Coach, Emerald Middle School
Rod Girvin, Principal, Emerald Middle School
Terrie Perez, Science Teacher, Emerald Middle School
Kirk xxx, Social Studies Teacher, Emerald Middle School
Amie Tillman-Harris, Teacher, Naranca Elementary School
Melissa Shanahan, Teacher/Title 1/Technology Coach, Naranca Elementary School
Amanda Lang, Principal, Naranca Elementary School

Santee School District

Lis Johnson, Superintendent
Cheryl Bowen, Principal, Prospect Avenue Elementary School
Debra Simpson, Principal, Pepper Drive Elementary School
Robin Larson, Teacher, Prospect Avenue Elementary School
Stephanie Southcott, Asst Principal, Prospect Avenue Elementary School
Cindi Crandall, Teacher, Pepper Drive Elementary School
Gillian Ryan, Teacher, Pepper Drive Elementary School
Katy Hammack, Technology Curriculum Resource Teacer
Beth Brozo, Teacher, Prospect Avenue Elementary School

(Apologies to others who may have been missed. Let me know and I'll add their names to the list for completeness.)

Welcome to a Discussion Thread about Enhancing Student Engagement

rickbeach — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 22:02:53 GMT

The Classroom of the Future Foundation welcomes you to a discussion about Enhancing Student Engagement.

This initiative continues to evolve and grow. The impetus came from early discussions with Superintendent Lis Johnson of the Santee School District where CFF was introduced to their work on project-based learning. There seemed to be some power in the notion of facilitating teacher collaboration among classroom teachers who were adapting their instructional practices after attending the UCLA SEEDS program. Perhaps something local could grow out of the Santee innovation.

Adding the experience and relationships that CFF had with two other geographically nearby districts in Lemon Grove and Cajon Valley, the scene was set for Superintendents Ernie Anastos and Janice Cook to consider ways to foster teacher collaboration. These districts had worked with CFF on expanding the use of classroom technology through their respective programs One-to-One Academy @ Home and School and the e-Connection program.

A key event took place in December 2008 when teachers, principals and district staff toured five schools in the three districts. Look for separate discussion threads for each of those district visits. We encourage you to add your reflections on those visits, what impressed you, what surprised you, and perhaps what you will take away to try on your own.

Cheers
Rick

Welcome aboard and some ways to keep informed

rickbeach — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:58:20 GMT

Welcome to this collaboration between the Classroom of the Future Foundation and the USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum. Use this link for more information on the education programs at the Midway museum.

The museum seeks to expand their classroom resources from the existing 4 classrooms to add perhaps 6 more classrooms. As well, the education programs at the museum are seeking to incorporate more modern technologies that will help their mission of educating San Diego school children in on-board lessons that address math, science and social studies standards.

We plan to use the CFF Communities discussion forum to document the collaboration as we progress towards more complete specifications and project plans.

The best way to keep informed is to "subscribe" to this discussion forum. This will cause the CFF Communities server to send you an email whenever new information is posted. Here's how. Click on the Forums link in the menu line above (the one with Home, Blogs, Forums, ...). Look for the Shortcuts panel on the right and click on Forum Subscriptions. You will get a list of discussion forums, so look for the Midway Classrooms of the Future forum and in the Subscribe column, turn the No to a Yes by clicking on the word.

We are all excited about using innovative instructional practices to model how educational technology can make a difference in getting students excited and helping them achieve their own success in learning.

Cheers
Rick

Introducing the collaborators

rickbeach — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:30:00 GMT

Before we get too far, it would be helpful for each of us to post a bit of an introduction to youself and you connection with this collaborative effort. To do so, click on the Reply button, change the subject from "Re: Introducing the collaborators" to "Introducing xxx"

Here is a list of the people collaborating in this effort:

Midway Education Program

Sara Hanscom, Education Program Director, USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum
Wayne Nuzzio, Midway Educator, USS Midway
John Rosas, Midway Educator, USS Midway
Jesus Gastelum, IT coordinator, USS Midway

CFF Teacher Innovators

Laura Spencer, Coordinator of Instructional Technology, Santee School District
Mary Kraus, Grade 8 History Teacher, Emerald Middle School, Cajon Valley School District
Angela Gigliotti, Resource Teacher, Juvenile Court and Community Schools, San Diego County Office of Education
Dave Massey, Education Director, San Diego Natural History Museum
Nancy Taylor, Science Coordinator, San Diego County Office of Education
Greg Ottinger, Technology Learning Coach, Cajon Valley School District

Classroom of the Future Foundation

Bruce Braciszewski, Executive Director, Classroom of the Future Foundation
Steve Clemons, Board member, Classroom of the Future Foundation and Chief Technology Office, San Diego County Office of Education
Rick Beach, Innovation Wizard, Classroom of the Future Foundation

And if I missed anyone, let me know and I'll update this list.

Cheers
Rick

Next meeting Tuesday, July 29 at 10:00 am aboard USS Midway

rickbeach — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:19:11 GMT

Mark your calendars: Tuesday, July 29 at 10:00 am to 12:00 noon aboard USS Midway

At our meeting today, July 23, we agreed to mock up some ideas on board the Midway. We are interested in how to position and use interactive whiteboards, student response devices or web tablets or laptop computers.

The plan is to bring some large poster boards representing interactive whiteboards and large flat-panel displays, some student devices, and see how we can fit all of the technology into the existing and planned Midway classrooms. We know there will be challenges in the existing classrooms because of the low ceilings and posts obstructing views. And we know that the new classroom areas may be easier because of their more open space. But with this mockup session, we'll explore how things might work.

Cheers
Rick

SDCOE job opportunity for Technology Integration Architect

rickbeach — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:30:25 GMT

Folks here might be interested in learning more about the Technology Integration Architect position now open at SDCOE. The on-line posting is available here, at least until the posting closes in late July.

For teachers, this position has the potential of providing substantial assistance to your efforts in using technology for instruction. The goal is to help districts be more effective with their investments. When this position get hired, we'll work to ensure that the new person gets introduced to the TIME2Innovate group in particular and CFF collaborators in general.

From the job description, here are some details:

San Diego County Office Of Education TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION ARCHITECT- Certificated
TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION ARCHITECT- Certificated (Coordinator Level) BASIC FUNCTION: Under the direction of the California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) Region 9, the Technology Integration Architect works closely with school/district technology staff, teachers and administrators to provide consulting and guidance in the selection of hardware and software for instruction and administrative functions; participate in the use of data driven decision-making; and have responsibility for technical specification development, project scoping, solution testing, client training, and project management. REPRESENTATIVE DUTIES: Enrich and support teaching and learning by collaborating and consulting with educators on technology selection, keeping a focus on educational goals, California teaching standards, funding realities and a desire for equity in access to technology across all districts. Participate in the development of technology support services including, defining hardware and software requirements and recommended standards for schools and districts recognizing the differences in instructional methods, culture, and funding. Consult with district staff to define technology hardware and software needs for the delivery of instruction and data driven decision making such as, student responders, laptop computers, Microsoft PowerPoint, Success Maker and United Streaming. Collaborate with teachers to support their use of technology in the delivery of curricula through a variety of instructional methods. Create resources for administrators and teachers that assist in the selection and use of technology that enhance teaching and learning such as Web sites, tutorials, interactive programs and databases; create, gather and organize educational technology strategies and resources for educators in an online repository for easy reference. Participate in creating a culture that embraces technology integration and 21st century skills. Consult on the technology budget for computer resources including, hardware, software, learning resources and training needs. Collaborate with the Learning Resources & Educational Technology (LRET) division to identify trends in software, curriculum, teaching strategies and other educational areas. Support school districts with technology integration in coordination with the K-12 Education Technology Voucher Program. Design, develop and present professional development programs focusing on the use of educational technology for teachers and administrators. Assess technology skill levels of students, teachers and staff. Model the integration of technology in all curriculum areas. Stay current with research and literature pertaining to education technology, curriculum, culture, and legislation. Collaborate with county, district, and site level Information/Technology departments to ensure technological compatibility and follow through regarding installation and maintenance of hardware, software and infrastructure. Negotiate with businesses and vendors to create partnerships with districts, schools, teachers, and students. Assist schools and districts with conveying technology plans to the community and other stakeholders to increase parent and community support. Perform other duties as assigned. QUALIFICATIONS: Minimum qualifications include: possession of a California Teaching and Administrative Services Credentials; and five years of classroom teaching experience. Required experience must include three years of using educational technology in a K-12 environment. Candidates must have knowledge of: Key learning theories and methods of differentiating instruction and their relation to technology integration; Apple and Microsoft environments; network technologies including wireless networks; methods for integrating technology into the curriculum; current and emerging technology; regional and state educational technology projects including, Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT), E-Rate, K-12 Voucher, Statewide Education Technology Services (SETs); the California curriculum frameworks and academic standards. Candidates must have the demonstrated ability to: advocate for technology; define clear goals and strategies for integrating technology into instruction; plan and manage multiple projects; work independently as well as a member of a team; establish effective working relationships with staff, school district personnel, students and the public. Candidates must have an understanding of the use of software in education in order to strengthen the acceptance and use of technology while helping to improve the skills of students, teachers and staff.
Top \| Print \| Close

NECC 2008

Bruce Braciszewski — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:02:43 GMT

I know several of the TIME2INNOVATE teachers attended the 2008 NECC conference in Texas last week and would invite them to post some of their insights and experiences from the ocngerence. I've recieved a few updates on the conference from a tech news service but I'm most interested in the views from the teachers that attended. If you did not attend here is the website to get additional information and details on the program.

http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2008/

Regards,

Bruce

SDCOE Shared Software

metzgerl — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:21:35 GMT

If SDCOE could provide shared software capabilities across multiple districts, what should those services be? How useful is the concept and what functions could best be filled by such an offering?

What is your school/District using to support grading, homework assignments, parent communication, attendance, test scores, student progress toward standards. What are the limitations of the current tools and what limitations would there be if using a tool hosted by SDCOE and provided across districts? Are there solutions you can think of that would be helpful for SDCOE to provide as a shared service?

Successful Blogging Article

Mary Kraus — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:15:05 GMT

As promised here's the link to the blogging article which specifically discusses the READING component of successful blogging.

http://techlearning.com/story/showArticle.php?articleID=196605183

Mary Kraus

KIDZUI- pre-screened websites and search/Safe Internet for Kids

atarquin — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 01:00:14 GMT

Checkout Kidzui- free safe online environment led by Encinitas resident, Adam Jacobs.

http://www.kidzui.com/joinus/kidzui?term=1885985

Over 600,000 websites, pictures, videos
Reviewed by parents and teachers
Only age-appropriate content is shown
Custom parental controls
Reporting of your kids' surfing habits
Full customer support

Here is a link to The Today Show Segment from this morning.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24962927#24962927 <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/24962927#24962927>

JCCS Technology WIKI

angelagig — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:26:39 GMT

Here is the link to our district technology WIKI, we use this for our trainings and as a resource for our teachers. There are pages that open on the left side. http://jccstech.wetpaint.com/