Technology Adventures

Disrupting College webinar today 11 am MT #educause #yam

2011-06-28T08:16:00.001-07:00

Reminder to Tune In
As a reminder, you're invited to join your colleagues and Next Generation Learning Challenges today for "Disrupting College: How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability to Postsecondary Education," a free web seminar as part of the NGLC "Summer Learning Series."

Topic: Disrupting College: How Disruptive Innovation Can Deliver Quality and Affordability to Postsecondary Education
Speaker: Louis Soares, Director, Postsecondary Education Program, Center for American Progress
Date: Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Time: 1:00 p.m. ET (12:00 p.m. CT, 11:00 a.m. MT, 10:00 a.m. PT)

In today's web seminar, Soares will share key insights and observations from a recent report co-authored by Clayton Christensen, Michael Horn, and Louis Caldera that examines higher education through a lens of disruptive innovation. Rather than offering answers, Soares will challenge participants to consider new strategies for an educational system focused on success.
How to Join
The web seminar will be hosted inside the NGLC Adobe Connect webconferencing room. To join, simply enter the URL and select "Enter as a Guest," type in your name and affiliation (e.g., John Doe, American High School), and click "Enter Room."

Once inside the room, audio will be provided through your computer speakers and presentation slides will advance on your screen. You can interact with fellow attendees and presenters using the chat feature inside the room.

Today's web seminar is free and open to all, but virtual seats are limited. Attendance is first come, first served. Each session will be recorded and archived for later viewing.
Technical Requirements
Whether you've participated in an NGLC online event before or you're joining us for the first time, please run the Adobe Acrobat Connect Connection Test before the event. View the Adobe Connect technical requirements.

Note: If you experience difficulties during the web seminar, you can listen to the audio via a toll-free conference call line at: 1-877-944-2300, access code 99290#.
More Information
For more information, including a complete listing of upcoming web seminars, visit the NGLC Upcoming Events page.

Read more at educause.informz.net

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/jLIY3O

Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Remake Teacher Training Programs via @politicsk12

2011-06-22T14:33:00.001-07:00

Should teacher training programs be accountable for student success?

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/loOIOG

master microsharing, tame the FB monster

2011-04-22T10:12:00.001-07:00

In my spare time I get the chance to work with the amazing community at Sloan Consortium. Hope you can join us the Facebook Intensive!

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/f6siE0

cxn btwn instructional method & success

2011-04-01T13:59:00.001-07:00

Are whole-class modes of instruction linked with increased problems of achievement motivation and disengagement for low-achieving students? Recent report from Teacher's College Record.

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/efHmra

blended instruction webinar 4pm MT today

2011-03-17T13:34:00.001-07:00

..with the 'boldest' educators in New Mexico!!

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/hS438S

About my amazing Aunt Barb

2011-03-07T07:12:00.001-08:00

"She dedicated her life to making those in it happy. She had a laugh that made everyone around her laugh along with her. Barb wasn't afraid to laugh at herself."

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/btejv

have you had your neolibral arts today?

2010-10-28T08:30:00.001-07:00

Clipped from www.wired.com

7 Essential Skills You Didn't Learn in College

Statistical Literacy Making sense of today’s data-driven world.
2. Post-State Diplomacy Power and politics, sans government.
3. Remix Culture Samples, mashups, and mixes.
4. Applied Cognition The neuroscience you need.
5. Writing for New Forms Self-expression in 140 characters.
6. Waste Studies Understanding end-to-end economics.
7. Domestic Tech How to use the world as your lab.

It’s the 21st century. Knowing how to read a novel, craft an essay, and derive the slope of a tangent isn’t enough anymore. You need to know how to swim through the data deluge, optimize your prose for Twitter, and expose statistics that lie. In the following pages, you’ll find our updated core curriculum, which fills in the gaps of your 20th-century education with the tools you need now. Call it the neoliberal arts: higher learning for highly evolved humans.

It’s the 21st century. Knowing how to read a novel, craft an essay, and derive the slope of a tangent isn’t enough anymore. You need to know how to swim through the data deluge, optimize your prose for Twitter, and expose statistics that lie. In the following pages, you’ll find our updated core curriculum, which fills in the gaps of your 20th-century education with the tools you need now. Call it the neoliberal arts: higher learning for highly evolved humans.Read more at www.wired.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/e4y4

2010-10-26T18:17:00.001-07:00

@squirrellearns So I attempted your very clever #jbotl collaborative whiteboarding strategy with Google Drawings tonight in our Adobe Connect classroom. Students in labs had trouble with browsers allowing the sidebar chat and drawing tools. Sent 4 teams off to their own boards.. we ended up with a nice list of 'challenges to synchronous collaboration' I learned to scale back number of boards (made sharing more complicated) and plan around browser issues. Students were engaged by the experiment. Will definitely try again ~ kudos for your inspiration! http://amplify.com/u/e1cl

Hope you can join @desertjul and I Friday to talk about @Yammer and PLCs :) #nmedtech

2010-09-28T11:04:00.001-07:00

See this Amp at http://bit.ly/bIr4qu

Yay! RETA/NMSU included @edutopia resources for developing online teaching practice! #yam

2010-09-03T10:56:00.001-07:00

Our very own @retazens were found by @tektrekker in GLEF's @edutopia! Just in time to promote RETA short courses for online teaching! :) http://reta.nmsu.edu/

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/9o39

Lifehacker tips for establishing and maintaining your online identity

2010-09-03T09:05:00.001-07:00

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/9nxd

Duke uses Ustream + Facebook to 'build community and allow distant family & friends to partake in ed milestones'

2010-08-25T11:55:00.001-07:00

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/97lj

from @tomkrieglstein's Increased Engagement Through Bizarre College Club on 'the long tail of student interests'

2010-08-25T08:06:00.001-07:00

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/97a5

Google Sites and Amplify fill important toolkit functions for online UNIV 150

2010-08-24T11:50:00.001-07:00

When I started planning to teach 150 online, I immediately started thinking about my teaching toolkit. It was a very easy decision to use Google Apps for our collaboration suite (and IM tool) but I struggled for a while to determine what my aggregators would be. Needs included wiki and blog which could be shared in the easiest way possible (not requiring another account) RSS out and awesome clipping abilities. And so I'm using Google Sites and Amplify. So far, so good. :)

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/95iu

New college students face new credit rules, tips from Tulsa World for talking to your kids about credit

2010-08-24T11:12:00.001-07:00

Read more from this Tulsa World article at http://www.tulsaworld.com

See this Amp at http://amplify.com/u/95gk

2010-08-20T15:05:00.001-07:00

Massive privacy settings overhaul leads to amazing discoveries and a feeling of personal/professional grokdom. http://amplify.com/u/8xyv

Ultimate Times Square 4

2010-08-05T07:45:00.001-07:00

Ultimate Times Square 4
Originally uploaded by Tony Shi, NY-NJ

Just feeling the Flickr love this morning.

Excitement about #nmste10

2010-04-21T19:55:00.000-07:00

Just came home from the Tech Happy Hour of the #nmste10 virtual conference.

Great stuff!

Course Hero update

2009-11-18T23:03:00.000-08:00

Regarding my last post - I wanted to report that after I filed my copyright infringement request on Nov. 11 to Course Hero (using the instructions provided on their site) they took down my paper.

Yay!

I have communicated this to people at my institution who are working on the work of others affected. :)

Now, go find something you have online that you haven't licensed through Creative Commons and go license it!

Please have some judgment about what student work you place online. Now my paper is a Course Hero product!

2009-11-08T22:18:00.001-08:00

How I found out my paper was for sale

I'm pretty fond of sharing. I love how the interwebs allow those of us in education to share what we learn and the connections we make. I'm fond of sharing this photo by Dave Duarte when I want to remind people of how great it can be to share.

Photo licensed through Creative Commons by Dave Duarte

I especially feel like sharing on Thursdays - always a little busy - it's a day of standing kind of catch all meetings here in my space; I find that I end up touching base with everyone you work with and every little thing you're doing on some level.

It was definitely one of the busiest days of my week last week. I knew it would be so I woke up early to get started on an online event for educators planned for that night. Sometimes when I wake up early I am more leisurely with my attention because I feel I have more time to do so....

Made the mistake of checking my Google Alerts. I have tracked what I think most people would consider to be a lot of alerts and I have them filtered out of my inbox. I really only check them periodically.

One led me to this page. EDLT 571 - Holly Bemis-Schurtz (yes, they actually title the page with my name).

Wow, I thought. How did my action research paper from grad school back in 2005 end up on this website? It's showing up on this website. It's called Course Hero. According to their home page, this is where:

Students and Educators publish their educational content to a student readership of millions.
Students immediately retrieve the most relevant document results for any academic inquiry.

Let's pause for a second. I just said I like sharing, right? I'm sure I didn't publish it there. I also never visited the site for purposes of 'academic inquiry.' As an educator familiar with inquiry based learning methods, I actually don't see how the site is inquiry based.... but that's not the point.

Let me tell you more about this paper.

You're probably thinking, "Well, that poor judgment to put your work online." You should have protected it. Here's the thing. The only place I shared that file digitally was with my faculty member of the course in our course management system (at the time, WebCT).

So how did it get online to begin with?

I specifically remember the instructor asking me if she could share it with other students as an example - the course is intense, it made a lot of sense, and I was happy to share it with her. I also remember her assurances that she would only share it with fellow students. The best of intentions, right?

The fact that my professor explained she would allow only students to see it was reassuring because this is a particular type of research (action research) was about my classroom (at the time I was working as a middle school technology teacher) and involves student participation scores and discussion of my district's professional development practices. I was actually pretty proud of it, to tell you the truth. It was no magical evidence of me as an amazing teacher - it was just my first true research project and I learned a tremendous amount from it. I had presented the research at the school level and would end up presenting it at the Center for Teaching Excellence Action Research conference in 2006.

I had written the report for my EDLT 571 course which involved conducting action research and writing a complete study - I had taken all of the recommended confidentiality and validity measures which would make it appropriate to share at all. Results from action research are not meant to generalize out to a wider population and there was nothing particularly proving about my report except that it was true in my teaching situation and it had taught me a lot about my practice.

Emphasizing the fact that the 'best of intentions' were applied (how often is that true of what we do in education?). As far as I can tell it was online because the faculty member hosted it from her webpage on the university web server. There was an existing Google result from our university's webserver - as late as Friday, I could pull up a cache of the page. The instructor had a basic website and she had it linked to her page.

I never made a decision to share my paper. I did not give permission for it to be shared outside of the course participants which means it should have been behind a password.

So here's where we are so far.

I did not give permission for the report to be shared with the public.
The research involves the scores of students in a K12 classroom. I am a novice researcher. I feel it is inappropriate given my experience level and the nature of the research to post it.
Course Hero sells a subscription to the site to gain access to my paper.

For money?

Yes. The site offers a 'free' login with Facebook opportunity. I'm not sure how much access you get for 'free.' I know that the actual price of a membership is about $6 a month.

What I did next

I shared what I found on Course Hero with my Twitter and Friendfeed followers.

One quickly reported he also found his own work on the site. I received some helpful suggestions about licensing my report through Creative Commons.

My day on Thursday ended up being every bit as busy as I expected. I would check periodically and notice that I was still getting responses from my network - but despite my direct request (see screenshot below) no one from Course Hero contacted me, even though they do have a Twitter account (@CourseHeroes).

Because I was so busy on Thursday it gave me lots of time to think - I was able to locate classmates' papers from that same class (EDLT 571 on Course Hero). I found other faculty members' course materials from our university. It became clear to me that this was going to be more complicated than just the issue of my paper alone. It also gave folks in my network a chance to share with me some of the conversations they had heard about or seen that related to Course Hero.

The people I'm connected to are not the only ones talking about Course Hero. One of the items shared with me was a discussion on a higher ed listserv mentioning that it appears Course Hero has 'harvested' materials from edu sites for inclusion in their content. I don't know how you determine this, but a couple of the Twitter responses I received alluded to this as well.

Some of the discussion about course hero reflects the possibility that this kind of posting could reflect poorly on me. Could it be misunderstood that I could have sold my paper to Course Hero for a profit? Could it reflect on me negatively as someone who would contribute to a 'pay to plagiarize' system? Fortunately, I'm aware of the papers existance on the site and I can take action. What about those who do not realize their work is there. As a Google result, how does this affect their resume? These are a few of the questions that have gone through my mind since finding out.

The company paints a very different picture of how materials get there. If you believe the explanation offered in this Inside Higher Ed article on Course Hero by the company themselves, all content is shared by users. I find it hard to believe this particular faculty member would have shared her course resources to a site that would charge her students for them.

At this point in time I am investigating all of my legal options.

First, I found my original Word document of the report and I have licensed it with creative commons.

Lecture Notes, Active Participation, and Student Understanding in a Sixth Grade Technology Classroom by Holly R. Bemis-Schurtz is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://hollyrae.pbworks.com/lecture-notes.

I am working on connecting with the faculty members whose work I have found on the site. I have also spent quite a bit of time reviewing the Copyright Notice on the Course Hero website. It's clear I need to proceed carefully with respect to my options, but my intention is absolutely to file a claim of copyright infringement.

What you can do to protect your work and that of your students

Photo shared by Spinster on Flicker/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

What I would like to do is help folks integrate a share-friendly culture without jeopardizing their work and that of their students. For me, it's not so much about plagiarism (although that is an issue), but more about responsible use of student work.

If you (as a faculty member or instructor) ask someone to share something, you have an obligation to recommend a process that can protect your students work from something like this. It's becoming more common that students publish work outside of a course management system, as they might in an electronic portfolio, blog or wiki.

Whether it is a research paper, thesis, dissertation, photo, presentation or really anything created that will be shared online as part of a scholarly activity, the very best thing that can happen is for the originator to self select and register an appropriate Creative Commons license for the work.

So where can you start?

Upgrade your background knowledge on Creative Commons with these helpful articles.

7 Things You Should Know About Creative Commons from Educause
Why You Should License Your Work Through Creative Commons from Plagiarism Today

Here's a Slideshare from Jessica Coates that breaks down the different types of licenses available to you:

Creative Commons For Educators

View more presentations from Jessicacoates.

If you do want to share your curriculum, notes and or other educational materials - consider the repercussions of sharing them in an unlicensed way. One way around this is to consider contributing them to the Open Educational Resources (OER) Commons, where conditions of use can clearly be set and your materials are hosted at a location that will continue to be open and free.

Image from Recyclethis on Flickr // CC License

Recommendations

I can now see where a course which requires any kind of publishing should integrate the licensing and attribution of works into their curriculum. An awareness of what the Creative Commons licensing marks can hope to signal students who know it to remember, "Hey, look - this work is licensed, and it's easy to know if I can share it and under what conditions. I can even attribute it easily."

Here's a few steps I would recommend for creating a share-friendly culture in your classroom or teaching experience. These would be appropriate for when your students are finding media or publishing their own.

Orient your students to Creative Commons

How can you find media (images, music, etc) there?
What does each license mean?
How can I attribute something I find on Creative Commons?
(actually very easy, newer licenses even have an embed code)

Support your students in licensing their own work through Creative Commons

Don't ask for a copy to share with your other students - instead request the student decide on an appropriate license, post and share the link with you.
Show the students how to create a license and embed the metadata in their digital work.

This is definitely not a comprehensive list, but they are a few specific things I may not have advocated so strongly for in the past and I will from now on.

And of course... don't forget how I found this paper.

Utilize your Google Alerts

Both you and your students need to maintain an awareness of your online persona. This is a rather complex task, but a simple step toward it is understanding and utilizing Google Alerts.

These are incredibly easy to set up and can be used in multiple ways.

Think broadly. Some of my Google Alerts include:

my name and about 3 variations of it
my email accounts
my institution
URLs I am watching
somewhat obscure topics I am following

After this I will add

titles of works you have published
mentions of your social media presences (your Twitter name) etc.

Lessons learned

So many uses of technology in education are well intentioned and unfortunately put students online persona in jeopardy or risk. Please learn from my experience and talk about this topic with the educators and faculty that you work with. I look forward to tweeting an enthusiastic update that the interwebs have helped me set this all straight.

As an addendum, here are some of the posts or resources I have aggregated in the process of researching this.

Friendfeed Aggregation of my conversation about #coursehero

@hollyrae's wave of reflection

2009-10-14T15:28:00.001-07:00

Digging deeper into my PLN #plnlab (tangientially #cck09 & #eci831)

2009-09-28T14:18:00.000-07:00

So I've been involved exploration of personal learning strategies with my fellow RETA colleagues. You can learn more about this at http://plnlab.pbworks.com

How #plnlab got started

This experiment started with our own RETA Instructor Professional Development Workshop on Personal Learning Networks. Bethany (@tektrekker) and I started to look for ways to help our group of New Mexico's technology PD specialists integrate educator resources within their PLNs.

At that time, we had our trusting friends create a concept map of their personal learning network.

This was mine.

At the time, I was really seeking to identify elements of my PLN. I created the map by looking at how I had grouped and categorized information within my PLN tools. Looking back through the lens of network attributes (thank you CCK09) I now know that I was able to identify some of the small (and smaller) worlds that I follow, seek and contribute to. Blue and green represented categories that had manifested within Google Reader, Feedly, and Friendfeed.

It was also important at that point in time for me to share the types of features I felt I needed access to in order to execute personal learning. In the pink and black along the bottom you can see that stating particular tools and features was a way for me to document my approach; the strategies at work seemed critical.

PLN excitement took over...

And one day I did it. I told my team, "I know I'm about to open a can of worms here..." but why can't we do a webinar series about personal learning powertools? Like the amazingly cool creatives that they are, the RETA team said, "Yes!" Bethany took me up on the challenge and together we worked to create a plan for a personal learning investigation... in multiple formats. You can learn more about this at http://plnlab.pbworks.com

I was thrilled to share that and other artifacts as part of the first PLN webinar in August (archive is available here ~ http://nmsu.na3.acrobat.com/p28104310/ ). We had too much fun with a group of personal learning enthusiasts discussing aspects of personal learning (professional vs personal, specific vs serendipitous).

PLN Challenge 2 ~ Expanding my Network

Fast forward to September. I begin to see my network more through the lenses of value and relationships. I think about scale... it's not hard to see I follow lots of people on Twitter. Through my PLN lab conversations, I have learned that I have a much higher tolerance for noise than others.

For a while I considered limiting who I follow - ultimately this is very hard for me. Instead I decided to focus on depth. I wanted to go deeper into specific corners of my pln to find A ton of open educational resources open up for me. I decide to dive in.

Here are some of the results of my explorations...(all provided through Friendfeed widgets because that's my primary tool at the moment).

Synchronous sessions I watched or attended last week ~ my attempt to dive in deeper.

Memes I picked up along the way.

Here's my network now...this concept map really highlights the value I see in the various networks and some of the relationships between them.

Ultimately this challenge has led me to a much richer understanding of my network.

Join us in exploration of our PLNs. Lots more from me (and others) is available at our Friendfeed Connect Your PLN Lab Group.

Blogging Crisis

2009-09-01T21:14:00.000-07:00

I admit it! I'm a horrible blogger. I work in an immensely collegial and tech savvy workplace where I have great conversations about our technology practices, both personal and professional.

I realize, however, how much of a gap there is.

I've said lately how I 'cast a wide net.' I mean that I'm following so many conversations (K12, higher education, social media, personal learning, music, parenting, technology, etc). How am I supposed to document the behind the scenes reasoning, the collaborative discernment, and the wide array of influences that constitute the many projects I work on?

So for lack of a better solution (which is, yes, to take up the blogging quest with my colleagues) I will post my Friendfeed widget, so at least my latest post isn't a webinar I did in February. I did several since then.. Just never blogged about it.

Anyway.

Free webinar for educators: Microblogging in Education

2009-02-03T16:46:00.001-08:00

Free RETA Webinar
part of the
2008-2009 eLearning with Emerging Technologies Webinar Series
Thursday, February 5th, 2009 at 6:00pm MST

Keeping Connected with Edmodo, Twitter & Yammer
Microblogging in Education

presented by
yours truly (Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz) and Cynthia S. Medina

What is this Twitter everyone's talking about? How does this pertain to me as an educator? Microblogging is here to stay, but there's no doubt it can seem strange at first. This new form of communication uses status updates to broadcast and receive information across a learning network. A microblogging community can be everything from a source of breaking information to a virtual water cooler or an 'unconference' with people around the world. Whether you want to use a microblog as a personal learning environment for yourself, with your colleagues, or even with your students, we've got the tools for you. 'Follow' us to learn about these free microblogging tools: Twitter, Yammer and Edmodo.
http://webinars.nmsu.edu/detail.cfm?id=33

For complete information on this and all of our webinars visit us at http://webinars.nmsu.edu.

And don’t forget to find us on Facebook, .

This webinar is free. Your donation will help support RETA's K-12 Professional Development efforts such as webinars, technology integration workshops, 3-tier dossier workshops, and partnership programs. The RETA Webinar series and many online teaching and learning resources are provided free to educators and your donation sustains this effort. Thank you!

Follow @hollyrae on Twitter.

A Random PBWiki Strategy - Sharing vs. Securing

2009-01-20T16:22:00.000-08:00

In my work with wikis and the wonderful, wikitastic folks I work with, we have found a frequent need to have some areas of a wiki in development and some areas public. Let me first say that wikis are one of the most amazing tools you can use (for a long list of reasons I may someday blog about). Trust me, you'll love them. We love PBWiki.

In my experimentation (in several events using http://reta-otl.pbwiki.com) when I locked down a page for only administrative access, I would often have trouble making it readable to the whole user group again. Even if I would change the page settings, users would still have difficulty.

One strategy the most capable, Web 2.0 conscious persons I know, Tektrekker, taught me is to create an Administrative folder with custom security (so only the users you want will be able to access it). When pages are being drafted, they can easily be moved to the Admin folder, edited, and then moved back out for public consumption later.

So, to paraphrase...

When you PBWiki, let your folders do the security, then move your pages to open folders as you wish to make them available.

A break from social media...could that be good?

2009-01-11T17:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes.... when you step away

you're suddenly aware of how many people are
getting by
just fine

without all this....

When you return
(for a moment)
you are paralyzed.

Conversation is powerful.

You wonder about every word.

For me this feels

a breakthrough.

And now I'm happily
back
and have a somehow
deeper
appreciation.

My new year's resolution
out here
is to
remember
to
take a hiatus
once in a while.

From NMSU Hotline: NM online learning policies and practices ranks nationally

2008-11-24T09:22:00.000-08:00

Great news from VSS, but forgot to report here. NMSU Hotline for today reminded me:

New Mexico’s eLearning support system, IDEAL-NM (www.ideal-nm.org), has been ranked number six in the country for online learning policies and practices by The Center for Digital Education. IDEAL-NM provides eLearning services in partnership with K-12, higher education and state agencies.

Two programs administered through NMSU, NM Learning Network Program (www.nmln.org ) and RETA (reta.nmsu.edu), have been integral to the success of IDEAL-NM.

Let the web help you graph the economy

2008-11-06T22:19:00.000-08:00

Consider using various analytic tools to find out how people are accessing your site/blog/wiki/online course and see how it can inform your blogging journey.

Finding out through Lijit that my tiny post on the social graph was causing people to land on my blog when they googled 'graph of the economy.' This lead me to do some searching myself. Let me preface this by saying that I am by no means fluent in economics...

;-)

and I would urge you to evaluate the creditability of these resources if you are wanting to 'trust' the graphs that you see.

Here's an interactive graph about inflation as of late. Interesting! I know prices keep going up but it's cool to see some stats on it.

For a more qualitative look at perspectives on the economy, you can try Twist to graph trending topics in Twitter (here's one of 'economy', 'dow,' and 'stocks').

I do fancy visualizations of various things via the internet. In doing so I happened upon

and

both of which are interesting ways to look at graphs of the economy.

I hope this was helpful if you happen to be searching for those terms. May your journeys through the interwebs be prosperous.

VSS revs up the call to bridge the gaps!

2008-10-27T08:42:00.001-07:00

Susan Patrick begins the morning by highlighting international efforts to improve access to education around the world. The gist is that the US is falling behind because of the speed with which other countries are moving toward better access and systemwide professional development in elearning. Susan challenges us to keep focusing on providing a world class education to all kids. In one example, the state of Georgia, there are over 400 high schools and only 88 qualified physics teachers. How else can the US provide quality education to our students without implementing blended and virtual education? Follow @desertjul on Twitter this morning to see some of the related resources from this moment at NACOL's VSS!

Google Sites and Notebook Webinar Tonight, NMSU Families Webinar Tomorrow

2008-10-13T14:44:00.001-07:00

Find out more about these free webinars at http://webinars.nmsu.edu.

Fabulous Friday Following

2008-10-10T06:13:00.001-07:00

Just a few things for you to look out for on this Friday, October 10...I'll try to help you see the forest through the trees.

MoodleMoot New Zealand 2008 just ended, but you can stream some very fresh information reported on twitter nicely via hashtag #mmnz08 (ie: what's up with Moodle 2.0, what Martin Dougiamas recommends Moodle communities should invest in, issues involving students identity management, etc). It's worth a moment of your Friday time, especially if you are a Moodle administrator. If you get especially curious and want to go more indepth, follow my shared Moodle feeds here to see aggregated Moodle tweets from throughout Twitter alongside recent blog posts by attendees.

The Twitter 20 is an effort by Jay Baer to conduct real time, '20 question' interviews of 20 influential Twitter stars. It happens this morning, follow it live, if you dare ;-). I think this would be interesting for those of us who are looking at educational possibilities of microblogging or uses of twitter for learning. I love how the format is presented...

140 character questions (x20).
140 character answers.
In real-time.
On Twitter.

I'll be with Melody and Kerry as we try to persuade folks at the Community College Roundup to try out Everybody's Business. We look forward to expanding users across campuses to widen the institutional knowledge community.

I realize these are all random weak-tie-style connections to Moodle, Twitter and Higher Ed Social Networking... maybe you'll find something here for you. If not, stay tuned. Next week I will be with some amazing colleagues at the New Mexico Technology in Education Conference and chatting up all sorts of things from Moodle to Adobe Connect to Professional Development Ecosystems to Web 2.0. And yes, there will mobile blogging and probably even a Twitter hashtag, #NMTIE08? any other suggestions?

Have an amazing-super-fabulous-glimmering Friday!

Give one XO to a child in a developing country, Get one for a child in your own life

2008-10-01T06:11:00.000-07:00

I have not once regretted following Julz lead and participating in the G1G1 of 07, and I've been delighted with my daughter's XO. This Sugar Linux machine has been designed for children to practice and develop/program their own technology adventures. Since our XO came in January, many people have asked how to get one of these machines...and now you can!

Amazon will handle the Give one, Get one program this year, still at the amazingly bargain price of $399. So check it out, and consider connecting a young person in your life with 'gen XO' kids around the world.

Moodle Webinars On Demand, Wikis in the Classroom Coming Up

2008-09-30T14:23:00.001-07:00

Thank you to the fabulous educators who came out the past two Mondays. We had some great conversations and excellent ideas shared on how teachers can use Moodle in their classrooms. To access the recordings for Show me the Moodle and Introduction to Moodle on demand, visit the NMSU Webinars site. Don't forget the collection of resources for each event, where you can see the chat log and access other cool stuff.

Hope you can join the superbly talented presenter and model RETAzen, Bethany Bovard, for

Webinar Event: Wikis in the Classroom I

Date: Monday, October 6, 2008

Time: 6:00-7:00 pm MST

Description:
Wikis are extremely useful tools for doing everything from helping you easily create web sites to providing your students with an engaging collaborative workspace. Yet, choosing the right wiki from among all those available can be quite challenging and time-consuming. In this webinar, you will explore a few different wikis and learn how to choose a wiki that's appropriate to your class needs.

TO ATTEND:
Please use the following link to attend the webinar:
http://nmsu.na3.acrobat.com/wikis1fa08

Plan to join us 15-20 minutes prior to the start time to configure your computer. To participate, speakers are required. A simple computer microphone and/or a headset is ideal for interaction. A webcam is optional.

If you have never used Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, please test your connection at: Adobe Acrobat Pro Support Center
https://admin.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

For complete information on this and all of our webinars visit us at:
http://webinars.nmsu.edu or contact us at webinars@nmsu.edu or call 575.646.6143.

Have a cup of coffee, invite a colleague and raise your eQ (eLearning
Quotient) with us!

Interested in Moodle? Show me the Moodle Webinar Monday

2008-09-26T12:53:00.000-07:00

There's no need to scream ...

See how easy it can be to create interactive learning environment using Moodle and hear what teachers are doing with it.

Please join me Monday for...

Webinar Event: Show Me the Moodle

Date & Time: Monday, Sept. 29,2008 6:00-7:00 pm MST

Presenter: Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz

Description:
Find out how teachers use Moodle in their classrooms and see how easy it is to create an online classroom environment. Participants will discuss ideas for integrating Moodle in the classroom and other learning situations.

To attend:
Please use the following link to attend the webinar:
http://nmsu.na3.acrobat.com/moodle2fa08. Plan to join us 15-20 minutes prior to the start time to configure your computer. To participate speakers are required. A simple computer microphone and/or headset is ideal for interaction. A webcam is optional. If you have never used Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, please test your connection at:
Adobe Acrobat Pro Support Center
https://admin.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

For complete information on this and all of our webinars visit us at: http://webinars.nmsu.edu. If you have questions or need tech assistance, please contact Cissy Lujan-Pincomb or Miley Grandjean at webinars@nmsu.edu

Have a cup of coffee, invite a colleague and raise your eQ (eLearning Quotient) with us!

RETA Webinar Team

Intro to Moodle Webinar this Monday

2008-09-19T15:33:00.000-07:00

What is Moodle and why would you want to use it? Who is using it in New Mexico? What does a a school district need to run Moodle?

Please join me for a revamped version of my Introduction to Moodle webinar. I'll be sharing the basics, as described below, and promoting the resources at our super cool OTL wiki (http://reta-otl.pbwiki.com) where you can learn about Moodle 'til your mouse is content.

RETA would like to invite you to our NEXT professional development
webinar in our eLearning with Emerging Technology Series.

Webinar Event: Introduction to Moodle

Presenter: Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz

Date & Time: Monday, Sept. 22,2008 6:00-7:00 pm MST

Description:

Moodle is an open source course management system used by educators around the world. Created by Martin Dougiamas to support social constructivism,Moodle provides flexibility and autonomy for districts and teachers while supporting a wide variety of interactive social learning tools. In this session you will learn more about what Moodle can do and find out what infrastructure is needed for districts, schools, and teachers need to access this powerful toolset. To attend: Please use the
following link to attend the webinar:
http://nmsu.na3.acrobat.com/moodle1fa08.

Plan to join us 15-20 minutes prior to the start time to configure your computer. To participate speakers are required. A simple computer microphone and/or headset is ideal for interaction. A webcam is optional. If you have never used Adobe Acrobat Connect Professional, please test your connection at: Adobe Acrobat Pro Support Center http://www.adobe.com/support/connect.

For complete information on this and all of our webinars visit us at:
http://webinars.nmsu.edu. If you have questions or need tech assistance,please contact Cissy Lujan-Pincomb or Miley Grandjean at webinars@nmsu.edu or call 575.646.6143

Have a cup of coffee, invite a colleague and raise your eQ (eLearning Quotient) with us!

RETA Webinar Team

RETA (Regional Educational Technology Assistance)
College of Extended Learning
New Mexico State University
http://reta.nmsu.edu

See you then!

Just a thought on Moodle v. Drupal

2008-08-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

Drupal, you're a rock star...but your reporting features just don't hold a candle.
v.
It's just data, but then again, it's the Data!

We should probably research some way of adapting Drupal to give us the data we need. Any ideas?

ICOT in the NECC

2008-06-30T15:27:00.000-07:00

Caught up in the net of NECC even though I'm nowhere near. Not that there's anything wrong with that (but we can all only run away from home so often ;-) )...a variety of my Google Reader feeds and Summize alerts (trackable through GReader) keep me in the loop on the news and notes at NECC 2008.

Amazing what you can observe when a whole bunch of people at the same session tweet at the same time...not to put to fine a point on it, and not to name names but when 'this session is boring' gets tweeted with a topic name all in the same span of time you kind of get the picture...crazy.

Haven't even glanced at the NECC Google Trends but I think we can safely assume there has been a spike as of late.

So the moment that prompted this post was actually the locating of ICOT (ISTE's Classroom Observation Tool). We need more open and/or free assessment resources like this one.

Catch the fire...

http://summize.com/search?q=necc
http://www.google.com/trends?q=necc%2C+moodle
http://twist.flaptor.com/trends?gram=necc&table=0

Scribd

2008-06-03T16:24:00.000-07:00

I have seen Scribd, but never paid attention. Hmmm, docs, ok. Was playing with FlashPaper and Kerry did some research on .pdf to Flash and came up with this...

Now I get it! It's like the Slideshare of pdfs, docs, etc. Woah, the cooliemust embed codes of existing or your own content...

Check it out. First time I posted this I posted a Moodle resource that was on the site. It was later removed...so I found this!

Handbook on Synchronous e-Learning - Upload a Document to Scribd

Gizmodo's headline: "Future-y"

2008-05-21T22:14:00.000-07:00

XO 2.0

Read Matt's post here.

Streaming News, Emotion, Thoughts & Conversations

2008-05-21T16:33:00.000-07:00

There's something happening which I can't describe because I don't really have the words or the schema to say it at this point.

I imagine it as this great nebulous cybernet of memes - I might venture to guess that RSS is the main technology which has allowed for us to have these amazing streams of information.

When my colleague Phillip shared the Maramushi Newsmap http://www.marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm

It reminded me of these stream of conversation/consciousness/emotion sites

http://www.wefeelfine.org/ (draws from blogs in general)

http://twistori.com/ (draws from twitter)

Finding twistori led me to Summize ..I do especially like the searches for popular terms like "is down" or "listening to" or one of the coolest "#haiku"

http://summize.com/

So what exactly is happening here? ;-) I could see some cool mashup of all of the above which is designed to meet the learning needs of students...and society in general.

The magic of the 'Turn Editing On' button will be revealed...

2008-05-12T08:46:00.001-07:00

... at this week's RETA Webinar.

Below are the event details and instructions for participating:

Event: Introduction to Moodle II
Presented by: Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz

Description: Now that you know what Moodle is, you’ll want to see it in action. In this demonstration, you will see how a basic Moodle course shell can be designed into a learning module. This will give you an overview of the Moodle design process. Participants will discuss ideas for integrating Moodle in the classroom and other learning situations.
When: Tuesday 13 May 2008, 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM MST

TO JOIN THE WEBINAR
Our webinars are one hour and will begin promptly at 4:30pm MT (5:30 CST; 6:30 EST; 3:30 PST).

If you have previously registered for this event or you are having problems registering for the event, please use the following url as it will take you directly to the webinar session: http://nmsu.acrobat.com/r32422589/

Join the webinar 20-30 minutes prior to the start time to configure your computer. To participate speakers are required; a simple computer microphone and/or headset is ideal for complete interaction. A webcam is optional. If you have never used Acrobat Connect Professional, please test your connection at: http://admin.adobe.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

TECH ASSISTANCE
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact us at webinars@nmsu.edu or call us at 575.646.6143.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please visit us at http://webinars.nmsu.edu

Have a cup of coffee, invite a colleague and raise your eQ (eLearning Quotient) with us.

Thank you,
The RETA Webinar Team

Pitfalls of mobile blogging

2008-05-09T12:32:00.001-07:00

Phx Airport Terminal D Starbucks
Funny how you forget to mention things. Slide pictures from the Sloodle pres by Jeremy Kemp.. Supercool!

Somehow in the mobile blogging excitement & frenzy, grammer & structure get a little crazy.

Enjoying the symposium

2008-05-08T17:21:00.001-07:00

First I must tell you the salad for lunch was like a dream (so great you must see a picture)..as a matter of fact all of the foods has been great.

It has all been great. Carefree has been amazing, ,presentations are fabulous, Sloan C is just a first class organization.

It's nice to talk to people who have used Second Life in their teaching. Certainly, I've never been with so many Moodlers... I've learned so much.

Que Cooliemust.

Marginalia

2008-05-08T10:42:00.001-07:00

Open source discussion annotation for Moodle! Beautimus - we're watching a live demo as we speak...

Http://www.geof.net/code/annotation/

Sloan C International Symposium: Emerging Technology Applications for Online Learning

2008-05-07T17:33:00.001-07:00

I am so fortunate to be able to be here in Carefree, Arizona as part of the NMSU contingent. It is absolutely beautiful - what a great idea to bring the best of the virtual and real world (hikes in the desert with experts, complete sessions in Second LIfe, and a vast assortment of other hybrid sessions involving Moodle, Elluminate and even more).

Our keynote presenter is the director of eLearning at Adobe ! How cool since we use a lot of Adobe in eLearning (in particular Adobe Connect). Her presentationis Wayfinding in the Learning Metaverse.

Questions posed...
What are learning stakeholders doing with all of this stuff?
Does real learning take place in a mobile environment?
What happens...in the Metaverse?
When the physical world and the virtual world together definethe real world?
We need to pay attention to the mixing of learning, play and recruitment (as in the Army Game).
Staggaring statistic: percent of growth rate for online enrollment (9.7%) exceeds then overall higher education student population growth rate... (1.5%). Can we get an OMG people?
How do we move from fascination to sustainable innovation? Ellen Wagner introduces us to the notion of 'wayfinding'- the way you get around when you have no map, no plan to follow.
How to wayfind:
1) prepare yourself for the quest
2) chart your course so you don't get lost
--research
--reference models
--effective practices
--community
3) keep an eye on where you're going
4) leaven the extra baggage behind
5) 'be excellent to eachother'

Must add great announcment - Flash and Flash Video will be open through the Open Screen Project!!!

Opening @ Opera House

2008-05-07T16:34:00.001-07:00

2008-05-07T15:34:00.001-07:00

Miss Information

2008-05-02T09:32:00.000-07:00

For my own misunderstandings of the concept 'Object Oriented' I must apologize. I have, in attempts to explain Moodle's acronym, misrepresented the concept.

In my recent explorations of Ruby on Rails and Yahoo Pipes, I actually learned what Object Oriented means. I also learned some other cool things which were new to me like the difference between scripted and compiled programs. Anyway, the true meaning of an object oriented language is reflected here.

Which totally also makes sense, because I did know that this is how Moodle works...I just got confused with the end-user WYSIWYG experience. I learned also, of course, about some of the cool features of these programs and managed to pull together at least one decent pipe with the help of a tutorial.

And so I now attempt to clarify my role of 'Missinformation Provider' to 'Miss Information Provider.' Surely I'm not the first person to blog about their own mass distribution of misinformation.... LOL . This is officially my attempt at transparency and openness regarding my own misstatement in the true marketing 2.0 spirit. I promise to do more homework next time and make sure I keep you in the loop when I do realize my errors.

Introduction to Moodle - On Demand!

2008-04-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Catch the aforementioned RETA Webinar at your convenience here.

Catch the Moodle Fever

2008-04-29T13:17:00.000-07:00

You are invited...
Introduction to Moodle - RETA Webinar
Presented by Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz

Moodle is an open source course management system used by educators around the world. Created by Martin Dougiamas to support social constructivism, Moodle provides flexibility and autonomy for districts and teachers while supporting a wide variety of interactive social learning tools. In this introductory session you will learn more about what Moodle can do and find out how it can be implemented. You will even be able to hear from some teachers who have used it in both distance and blended education and see examples from their courses.

When: TODAY
Tuesday 29 April 2008, 04:30 PM - 05:30 PM MST

TO JOIN THE WEBINAR
Our webinars are one hour and will begin promptly at 4:30pm MT (5:30 CST;
6:30 EST; 3:30 PST).

If you have not registered for this event, please go to the following link
to register at least 24 hours prior to the event:
http://nmsu.acrobat.com/intromoodle1/event/registration.html

If you have previously registered for this event, attend by going to the
following link and enter the email address and password you used to
register: http://nmsu.acrobat.com/intromoodle1/event/login.html

Join the webinar 20-30 minutes prior to the start time to configure your
computer. To participate speakers are required; a simple computer microphone and/or headset is ideal for complete interaction. A webcam is
optional. If you have never used Acrobat Connect Professional, please test
your connection at:

http://admin.adobe.acrobat.com/common/help/en/support/meeting_test.htm

TECH ASSISTANCE
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact webinars@nmsu.edu or call us at 575.646.6143.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Please visit us at http://webinars.nmsu.edu

Have a cup of coffee, invite a colleague and raise your eQ (eLearning
Quotient) with us.

Thank you,
The RETA Webinar Team

LunchOMatic

2008-04-21T08:57:00.000-07:00

Pack another cool tool in your lunch tomorrow with the RETA Webinar on ScreencastOMatic Tuesday at 12 noon MST.

Worth the risk

2008-04-17T22:48:00.000-07:00

The last time I posted a Slideshare to this blog, it broke my template and all of my loverly little widgets went to the bottom of the page.

In my search on learning ecosystems, I came across this presentation. I felt I could give the template issue another shot, because I think the content has lots of implications for myself and the fine folks I work with.

| View | Upload your own

The secret life of wikis in the classroom...

2008-04-09T12:40:00.000-07:00

may just be revealed on Tuesday.

Getting to know the basic Moodle Activities: Choices and Journals

2008-04-02T16:07:00.000-07:00

Show me the Moodle - Choice and Journal Activities
Sunday, April 6 - 11 am-12 pm MST

Presented by Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz

Register at: http://moodlebots.pbwiki.com/register+here
Attend at: http://nmsu.acrobat.com/retashowmethemoodle/

Moodle Choice and Journal Activities are some of the easiest Moodle activities to implement. In this hour long webclass we will demonstrate how to implement these activities and discuss how we can use them in our online and blended classrooms.

This session is for Moodlers who have already had an introduction to Moodle Course Design. This session will be recorded for on demand viewing. Details will be shared after the session.

Attending these sessions

A simple computer microphone and/or chat headset is ideal for participation. A web cam is also nice, but not required.

Please plan to join the session at least 20 minutes prior to the start time to configure your computer.

Tech Assistance

Support will be available 30 minutes prior to the start of session for tech assistance.

Photoshop Express Opens Up

2008-03-31T12:22:00.000-07:00

'Free' Photoshop...

https://www.photoshop.com/express/landing.html

Thanks to ASCD Smart Brief for this valuable information.

Wikis in the K12 Classroom - Just how do you do this?

2008-03-31T10:21:00.000-07:00

Wikis are all the rage - with very good reason. Exactly how, however, do you do this, especially in the K12 classroom? What about guidelines, permissions, safety...?

Check out this post I made to Moodlebots Blog to find out how you can learn about wikis in the classroom today, tomorrow, and beyond.

http://moodlebots.blogspot.com/2008/03/using-wikis-with-your-students.html

Bon (Wiki) appetit!

PBWiki 2.0 yummies up New Mexico Moodles

2008-03-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

I have tried a beta test of PBWiki 2.0 while putting together the New Mexico Moodle Administrator's Wiki at http://minimoot.pbwiki.com/

The more developed permissions system allows me to invite users to create their own account rather than having to use a community password. There were five levels of user access, I believe.

Simple and delicious.

Blocks are the new Black

2008-03-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

Shopped around for the basics of Moodle course design? Ready for something new?

Accessorize your basic course with Moodle Blocks ~ http://moodlebots.blogspot.com/2008/03/show-me-moodle-blocks-5-pm-mst-today.html

Spring is a great time to spice up your (course) look! Join us today.

I think, therefore I Moodle...

2008-03-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

For the Moodlebots, OTLO, EDUC8, and Dexter E2T2 groups I work with...

This week’s RETA Webinar!

Blogs in the Classroom I by Cissy Lujan-Pincomb and Miley Grandjean
Tuesday, March 4, 2008 – 4:30 pm-5:30 pm
Register at: http://webinars.nmsu.edu/

You hear about blogs everyday from students or co-workers, but have you thought about using them in your classroom? In this webinar session you will be introduced to the refreshing world of blogging where you will begin generating ideas on how you might use blogs within your own classroom. In this first session we will introduce you to: what a blog is, what a blog can be used for, help you set up your own blogging account, and then send you on your way with resources, so that you will make an informed and enjoyable push into the “blogging world.”

This week’s Show me the Moodle Webclass!

Show me the Moodle Blocks by Holly Rae Bemis-Schurtz
Thursday, March 6, 2008 - 5 – 6 pm
Register at: http://moodlebots.pbwiki.com/register+here

How do you add RSS feeds to the sidebar of your course? What if you want an interactive calendar for students? These are only a couple of the Blocks available in Moodle. In this one hour session, we will demonstrate implementation of these popular blocks and show you how you can add Widgets to incorporate other dynamic content into your course.

This session is for Moodlers who have already had an introduction to Moodle Course Design.

This session will be recorded for on demand viewing. Details will be shared after the session.

Attending these sessions

A simple computer microphone and/or chat headset is ideal for participation. A web cam is also nice, but not required. Please plan to join the session at least 20 minutes prior to the start time to configure your computer.

Tech Assistance

Support will be available 30 minutes prior to the start of session for tech assistance.

More great eLearning webinars and webclass sessions coming up every week! For more information, see
http://moodlebots.pbwiki.com/Synchronous+Learning+Events

For more information on Moodle

Our ancillary resource for this session is the Moodle 1.8 Handbook at our site at http://reta.nmsu.edu/moodle. After attending, you should be able to practice the ‘hands on’ component in your own Moodle classroom (contact me if you would like a course environment for your use at RETAMoodle - http://reta.nmsu.edu/moodle).

Can’t make it?

Sessions will be recorded. A link for a session recording will be available. Contact me for more information.

My Mobile Home...Page

2008-02-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

So I read about Mofuse on Mashable and had to try it out. A bit of a bug in the Mowser plugin but the support crew fixed it almost immediately after receiving the email I sent. My goal was to make a marvelous Mobile Home Page for Moi. Tre cutiemust!

http://hollyrae.mofuse.mobi

Upcoming Show me the Moodle Sessions

2008-02-28T11:01:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone ~ Happy Leap Year to all from RETA Moodle!

I have some information I'd like for you to know. Feel free to share this with friends. In addition to the wonderful RETA Webinars coming up in the next couple of months, I have scheduled some 'Show me the Moodle' webclass sessions on specific topics. These topics are designed to help you with specific parts of Moodle course design. You will find more information at the Moodlebot Wiki - http://moodlebots.pbwiki.com/Synchronous+Learning+Events

Show me the Moodle - Blocks - March 6 - 5 pm MST [register here]

How do you add RSS feeds to the sidebar of your course? What if you want an interactive calendar for students? These are only a couple of the Blocks available in Moodle. In this one hour session, we will demonstrate implementation of these popular blocks and show you how you can add Widgets to incorporate other dynamic content into your course.

Show me the Moodle - Adding Resources - March 13 - 5 pm MST[register here]

Adding content to your course is a breeze with Moodle. Find out how to add websites, HTML, PowerPoints and other types of files in this one hour on Moodle Resources.

Show me the Moodle - Assignments - March 16 - 11 am MST[register here]

There are four main ways to use the Assignment activity in Moodle. In this one hour session we will demonstrate each of these and give examples of how they can be used in online teaching and blended instruction.

Show me the Moodle - Choice and Journal Activities - April 6 - 11 am MST [register here]

Moodle Choice and Journal Activities are some of the easiest Moodle activities to implement. In this hour long webclass we will demonstrate how to implement these activities and discuss how we can use them in our online and blended classrooms.

Moodle Administration Professional Learning Community [register here]

March 11 - 4:30 pm MST and April 8 - 4:30 pm MST

This is an open learning community of educators who are currently or planning to administer a Moodle site. Topics of discussion may include security, course management, user management, troubleshooting, etc. Participants in this group are invited to return on a monthy basis to share ideas and discuss how they can support Moodle in their schools and districts.

Moodle@Picacho: Transforming Teaching with Interactive Online Course Management Tools

2008-02-22T04:38:00.000-08:00

I dig action research. I was very lucky in my graduate experience to be invited to the Center for Teaching Excellence Action Research conference in Taos in 2006 to present my study on a strategy I used in my classroom.

During the 2006-2007 school year, I lead an action research study using CTE grant funding with a wonderful team of teachers at my site. We studied Moodle in our own professional learning and we used it with our students - collecting data and reflecting on our work along the way.

The result is the lengthy Action Research Report that I will post today. It's been in Google Docs for a long time now and it's time to put it on record. This report will be included in the CTE Action Research report which will come out in June at this year's conference.

The report is located here: http://docs.google.com/View?docid=dg2jjhbv_45dndxn5

As Moodle has changed, so has the relevance of the technical discussion of Moodle within the report. The highlights, however, reveal that customized professional development and access to a professional learning community supports teachers in their adoption and implementation of Moodle. By working together, educators mediate the challenges of implementing new tools with students. There is also some interesting data on the attitudes of the students who participated.

Almost a year out from the busy time when I wrote this final report, I view it more as a comprehensive snapshot of what we worked on and what we learned, rather than something which informs other educators from a research standpoint. Don't get me wrong~ It could very much be useful, but I am learning every day how the little things about technology change rapidly and the conversation is more about reflective practice than analysis of the tool.

I look forward to future writings on my work with educators and Moodle, now that I can see the study from different angles. I would enjoy engaging in a discussion about the report and the question of how it could inform what teachers are doing today with online tools.

Theme of the Day: Help people learn more in better ways!

2008-02-06T10:10:00.001-08:00

I received some excellent news updates today on the topic of differentiation and assistive technology. What it all boils down to is that the edtech leaders and evangelists among us have much to do with special education and assistive technnology, or rather all of us, in all of those fields, have work to do, together.

Then TechCrunch served up this story about Howcast. What a perfect opportunity to break down a task analysis in the spirit of Dr. Poel at NMSU.

Here's an example of the helpfulness and straight up 'how to ness' of Howcast. How do we get these clever ex-Googlers to work for the Force? Of course, by force I mean, the good side....aren't all of us ed-vangelists on that side?

Free books on Digital Media and Learning for download

2008-01-16T11:07:00.001-08:00

Here's the description from the website at http://www.mitpressjournals.org/loi/dmal?cookieSet=1

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning examines the effect of digital media tools on how people learn, network, communicate, and play, and how growing up with these tools may affect a person's sense of self, how they express themselves, and their ability to learn, exercise judgment, and think systematically.

The full text of each volume in the Series is provided for free and open access thanks to the generous support of the MacArthur Foundation. The full text of these chapters is openly available below. We ask that you complete a brief site registration process, or log in if you are already registered at MIT Press Journals. Registration is entirely optional, but we hope you will register because the information that we gather helps us learn more about open access publishing.

If you're experiencing access problems or have questions about e-access registration, please email journals-access@mit.edu.

Civic Life Online: Learning How Digital Media Can Engage Youth

Digital Media, Youth, and Credibility

The Ecology of Games: Connecting Youth, Games, and Learning

Digital Young, Innovation, and the Unexpected

Learning Race and Ethnicity: Youth and Digital Media

Youth, Identity, and Digital Media

Collaborative writing with Twitter

2007-12-13T22:43:00.000-08:00

I just learned about Twittories from @willrich45 of http://weblogg-ed.com/ and I'm really excited because this is the first time I've learned about a collaborative writing structure facilitated by Twitter. Please take some time and check it out in this example of a twittorie, The Darkness Inside...Too cool.

I must tell you, they say you learn something new everyday. With Twitter (especially on the @edtechtalk's friend list) it's more like you learn something new every second.

Dear Santa, can I please sync my Google Calendar with my Palm?

2007-12-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

Apparently, yes. Based on the demo version and the default settings, I now have some seriously air synced gCal. Thinking of upgrading....Claims to work with many phones and mobile devices...Ahhh, I love the holiday season. You should also know I really also love my Centro after retiring my nearly two year old Treo 650. I absolutely love the mobile content and speed I'm getting now, plus the Sprint Mobile Email, Streaming Radio, Mobile You Tube, SprintTV...all are working very well.

Give it a goo, I mean, go @ http://www.goosync.com

P.S. Already tried Companion Sync. No luck...kept wanting .Net passport and my machine resisted...

Just in Time Learning

2007-11-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Put something out there and be amazed. I had my own snackbyte moment today. A couple of weeks ago I posted the previously mentioned slideshow to Slideshare. Within a couple of days I received messages back from the site that the slideshow was added to a supercool effective practices of Web 2.0 teaching group. I also got word from a teacher who claimed to have had a moment with fellow teachers when they were talking about Moodle and the slideshow popped up in the group at the same moment.

I realize it's my own trade in attention economy, but I have to blog about this!

So did this teacher, who is called maggiev on Slideshare. Please read her post here.

The best part is the chat log included. You can read the whole thing at Maggie's blog post and the conversation begins about different tools, including Moodle...

Scroll to the bottom of the transcript for the 'just in time' moment.

The force is out there....and it's pretty strong.

Free, like Free Kittens!

2007-11-28T14:02:00.000-08:00

In my experiences with sharing the good news of Moodle, I find I am often trying to explain the concept of something being free of licensing fees, but still requiring a certain infrastructure and level of support to be successful. Today on WizIQ, I received a message from a fellow Moodler which let me to this slideshow by Sandeep. Promoting Moodle as 'Free (like Free Kittens)' really captured this idea. I share that slideshow with you now. What I like the most is the slide which shoes the different types of support you need. For my own slideshow attempt at the same topic, please see this on Slideshare.

2007-11-27T14:24:00.001-08:00

This is my 1st official utterance! -Syd staged this with her flashlight & a toy.

Holly Rae

Mobile post sent by hollyrae using Utterz. Replies.

Silent 'Film'

2007-11-16T21:27:00.000-08:00

I found this on Slideshare (which I really enjoy, btw) and it has no sound. I really don't know what Alan Levine would narrate...but there are some nice visual moments here as relates to Web x.0 and education. I also like it when slideshows are dominated by visuals rather than text. Anyhow, enough with the intro...

| View | Upload your own

P.S. Must pick up the CogDogBlog feed.

Social Networks create Distance Learning possibilities

2007-11-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

Professionals gather at conferences to network with experts, learn about state of the art practice, and share what they are learning. Wouldn't it be wonderful if the value of this professional networking could be extended online?

Of course. And it is.

Congratulations, NACOL, on your Western Conference social network on Ning. Delightfully designed by Glenn Moses.

Visit NACOL Western Conference

What a way to celebrate National Distance Learning Week - joining a social network of professionals interested in networking about online learning. In the words of pbwiki, YUM! that was easy. Ning is actually ad-free for education now (thanks, Julz for the info). Join a professional social network this week, or create your own!

To the beat of a 'distance' drum

2007-11-12T09:09:00.000-08:00

Online learning tools are used in many different ways. Educators often play their distance learning drums to a unique beat, playing up their strengths, improvising at times, but always listening for subtle changes in tempo and mood. When distance learning jams come together, the community can be a powerful source of inspiration - harmonious collaboration. This week, NMSU is celebrating National Distance Learning Week with a number of different distance learning events and RETAMoodle Open House. Please extend our invitation to all of the distance learning drummers you know.

Kickin' Curriki

2007-11-11T22:24:00.000-08:00

Julz has been promoting the idea of wikified curriculum for, gee, ever? "Why must we reinvent the wheel?" Well, someone finally put the words and ideas together and so voila:

Curriki (http://www.curriki.org/)

Browse and smile. Become a member...hey, while you're at it, apply for a grant ($500-$5,000) to create master content and make the world a better place!

A great widget for teachers, learners & just about everyone...

2007-11-11T21:34:00.000-08:00

There is always some amount of excitement that comes with finding a new cool little tool or widget. Of course, as soon as you think you've seen what's out there you come across a list like that at:

Learning Activities

And then you just find something new (to you) ...and the ideas flow... Check out Voice Thread...widgets for your blogs, MySpace, Facebook...How fun!

Go meditate @ church of the customer

2007-11-05T06:29:00.001-08:00

Jackie Huba rocks - check her out. She has brought the message of customer evangelism to the VSS conversation. The way that social media is changing marketing must inform educators or we risk making some major mistakes. My concern? When Jackie asked who knew the term social media, there were really only a small group of hands raised. No doubt people know the tools, but it is Julz & I who (as we co-mo-blog) have relected throughout our work on how there is no social network to connect all of these people who are supporting the vision of NACOL! Where is our online evangelist community?

Keynote with Susan Patrick

2007-11-05T05:26:00.000-08:00

The future is now - virtual schools are transforming education worldwide. It is our job now to get it done here.

NM eLearning Roundtable

2007-11-04T14:37:00.000-08:00

Our VSS experience begins with the New Mexico eLearning Roundtable.

Dr. Carmen Gonzales introduced us to a variety of advocates to eLearning from Kentucky, New Mexico, Hawaii and other areas.

Our introduction to NACOL was provided by Bruce Friend, who shared with us an overview of the national learning trends in online learning. His background with what became Florida Virtual School began in 1996! Bruce expressed that he is pleased to see the work in New Mexico and the parterships, sharing, and collaboration that develops through events like the Virtual School Symposium. He reminded us that we are going to have to take innovative leaps toward transformational development. If you were to paraphrase his final message, you might say "If all we are going to do is replicate what already exists, we shouldn't even waste our time." Transform the system!

John Watson explained to us an overview of data from all states about the spread and growth of online programs. Right now it seems that reporting is an area where all states and districts need improvement. Overall there is so much diversity in types of programs that it complexifies the overall reporting process. Along with this was a discussion of Colorado's experiences and lessons learned through the Trujillo Commission.

Dr. Kemi Jona brought to our meeting an up to date overview of science labs and online learning. WOW. As a person with a science content teaching background I can honestly say I am amazed by the possibilities. The rapid development of remote experimentation, science data networks, and internet connected science devices. The partnerships in place at Northwestetrn in Chicago involve global parterships. He pointed out the relationships within NM that support this type of science instruction development (LANL, NASA, SNL and the universities). My own reflections on this connect to the ability for teachers to connect their students to authentic, real world science with a collaborative and global focus. Students must be able to practice the processes of science. This speaks volumes about the need for professional development in online learning which is content specific.

Jennifer Carroll from Kentucky Virtual Schools offered an overview of the statewide learning network development and where the network is now. Kentucky has extended their network from K20 into lifelong learning and established important professional networks to allow for communities of eLearning practice. She highlighted the importance of a common ground CMS as a way share resources, training, and resources. It also supports the dual-credit options and blended course development.

Wow. Great start to the conference & the conversations that must continue!

Wake up, you're in Louisville!

2007-11-03T19:44:00.000-07:00

Killer hotel, amazing city, great food & incredible NM contingent! More live from NACOL 07 tomorrow.

Firing up my own little trail....

2007-10-23T12:26:00.000-07:00

To learn about how I problem solve with Moodle, please view this video and trailfire! ;-) This is my first use of Trailfire.com ~ Have fun.

http://trailfire.com/hollyrae/trailview/47431

2.0 ToDo list with Todoist

2007-10-17T16:40:00.001-07:00

I am a listmaking girl. Give me a task and it will appear on post its, digital lists, mental lists, iGoogle widgets, and in my Treo inside Palm ToDo. Yes, some day, it might actually get completed, but that's another story.

All I can say is, I have never, ever been so impressed as I am with Todoist. Found it on iGoogle homepage widgets and it integrates with my phone. In other words, I have it everywhere. It is so super smart and figures all kinds of things out for you. You must play. It's worth the 2.0 minutes it will take to set it up.

http://todoist.com/

Andele! Go!

Social Graph & Attention Economy

2007-10-12T04:14:00.001-07:00

It's all the rage now to look at the bigger picture of social media and how all of these 'tiny' pieces fit together to inform a semantic web of human relationships. The concept seems to have gained ground in the past month, suddenly I'm seeing it in a lot of blogging on web 2.0 and hearing colleagues (a la Julz) talk about it's connection to education.

Take a start by reading this article from Read/Write web...
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/social_graph_concepts_and_issues.php

Of course what really cracked my thinking open was this reference to the Attention Economy -
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/attention_economy_overview.php

I think it's definitely related to the 'Fakebook' phenomenon...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/06/opinion/06mathias.html?ex=1349409600&en=2da1c3f706197a55&ei=5124&partner=delicious&exprod=delicious

We want people to see our profiles...but we find it disconcerting to think that anyone knows which profiles we're actually looking at...Our attention, where we spend our time, what we read, what we look at...it's valuable marketing information and the basis of an economic force.

Another cool stream I got from this article is my newest fave feed...
http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/

Wow...now go play and check out these sites, they will really get you thinking!

Guns & Fun & Chuckwagon Dinner

2007-10-04T21:27:00.001-07:00

@ Flying J Ranch-!

Just the essentials

2007-10-04T12:31:00.001-07:00

What is in this pile of stuff? Only the essentials for tech divas at a tech conference....Laptops, projector, diet coke, h20, extension cords, gum, starbucks, handouts, prizes, Internet access, Treo 650, Blackberry Pearl, TIE schedule, lipgloss, and the RIGHT clothes (killer heels optional).

Womanning the table

2007-10-04T12:02:00.000-07:00

We strongly suggest you enter our drawing!!

We try to attend our webinar

2007-10-04T10:25:00.001-07:00

Julz and I are trying to attend our Social Networking in Higher Education webinar. It looks like it's just what we need to know for our Thrive project. This presentation with Catherine Serrin Niekro of U Michigan is going to be about using a vendor to create the network. It has been rescheduled to to issues with WebEx!!!

ITEA vs. ISTE Standards

2007-10-04T09:15:00.001-07:00

Our next speaker, Dr. William Dugger, is going to present about technology standards. Wow, I'm so excited about this because I actually did a policy analysis on standards in 2006. Now things have changed but the fact that there is confusion about techology standards is not a surprise to me.

He brings to our attention the ITEA Gallup poll where Americans tell us that technology is COMPUTERS and INTERNET. Now that is correct but reflects a very narrow view of what technology is. The definition I always used with my 6th graders was 'technology is the study of machines and tools' - it's simple but it lacks the emphasis on process. To quote our speaker, "Technology solves problems but it also creates problems." It is not just our innovations of our technology but the impact and the design of the technology that is truly lacking in many of our technology in education efforts.

There are so many types of technology literacy - and they are not equivalent with technological competency. I think too often teachers are focusing on competency and missing the literacy component.

Btw, I am now going to have to attach my paper and powerpoint on that but I can't do so through mobile blog (note to self).

ITEA standards actually focus instruction on how technologies are engineered and how they affect and impact society and the environment.

So Julz and I sidebar about how this is achieved. Students don't just work within the network, they play a role in the construction and administration of the network. Students don't just use a tool, they evaluate the usability of the tool and the impact of said tool on themselves and their envirionment. Where does this 'student as programmer' role originate? In my mind, it's from Seymour Papert. But these constructionist roots came log ago, and for the large part are still missing in our classrooms. Aside from innovations such as ThinkQuest and SuperComputing Challenge (which only a few kids actually do) the student as programmer role is missing - ESPECIALLY as accessed by low-socio-economic categorized students.

If students are programmers, does that mean they all have to know programming languages? Not necessarily. I would argue that Web 2.0 is the perfect launchpad for this student as designer and programmer role.

So as Julz and I talk about our Standards project (incorporating the best of online teaching and learning standards) we must now devise the Pedagogies of Web 2.0 standards....and you can bet your bottom dollar we will focus our attention on the true technology literacies - the abilities of students to design, evaluate, and improve technologies for self-development and improvement of society. Our kids need to be prepared to evaluate the safeness of technology as they are sure to live in a time where change is certain....if they're not able to decide for themselves what is healthy and safe, who will decide for them?

NM TIE Keynote

2007-10-04T08:39:00.001-07:00

Dr. Reed Dasnbrock - Cabinet Secretary of Higher Education discusses the changing scene of lifelong learning. He's actually in Singapore and presented via prerecorded video.

He spoke of the challenge of the need to do what we want to do with such rapid changes in technology. We are falling behind on an international scale when it comes to percetage of people with advanced degrees - NM is 47th in the US and the US is far behind other advanced countries ! Clearly the system is not working very well. He asked us to help us answer the question - what can we do?

We need to make the roadmap & test the effect - not just try for the sake of trying. How can we help NM citizens get the education they need to have jobs in the 21st century?

CoMoBlog w Julz

2007-10-03T16:17:00.000-07:00

We cooperatively blog our post pre-con walk @ NM TIE!

Will my phone work?

2007-07-07T05:23:00.001-07:00

Testing testing

***Attachments excluded by request.***

Action Research Conference Rocks

2007-06-15T19:33:00.000-07:00

Now that I'm back and not dependent on travel internet access, I can finally post some images from the conference. Unfortunately my verbosity peaked long ago. What I can tell you without working too hard is that there were some awesome presentations and we were lucky to raise a bit of excitement over Moodle. I'm happy to be back and home, but now the journey is my PDD, so I'm off to work again. Next conference, I promise I'll do a better job.

Projector vs. Projector

2007-06-08T05:29:00.000-07:00

Well our More about Moodle session went just fine. We could see the wheels turning in the heads of the attendees...as if they were thinking "hmmm now how can I get Moodle running in my school/district.."

We were trying to plant seeds. Wanted to do the live demo but tech problems struck again.

BTW, just remember when a you see the word "projector" some people think this:

and then some people think this:

One can never underestimate the power of semantics. ;-) We were lucky in that most people at this conference are using the first kind so that meant we didn't have to compete for the second kind. Just a minute and a laugh. We'll get back to you with more later.

Action Research - Design for Learning

2007-06-08T05:05:00.000-07:00

Happy to say I made it to Taos for the Center for Teaching Excellence Action Research Conference. The theme this year is "Design for Learning." Somethings wacky on my phone with my VersaMail (which is how I mobile blog) and I haven't quite got it fixed yet, so I have no pictures to show you. I'm actually on roaming right now so what you see comes directly off of my laptop. Would have made it sooner but it also took me a while to get my laptop wireless running (there's that whole laptop battery issue also, but that's ok).

Why is it we always have problems with technology when we need it the most?

Cest la vie!

No EXPLORATORY Left Behind

2006-11-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

The picture shows PE equipment designed to teach character education. The role of exploratory was addressed in this session by allowing each exploratory domain to break into a small group and share ideas using discussion questions. I met an innovative group of about 25 tech teachers and we all shared resources, lessons, & strategies. We will follow up by forming an email listserv! Went to session expecting to find info for my exploratory team but left deep in techno-innovation. Very good & interactive presentation!

Online predators

2006-11-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

Very eye opening presentation on all of the tricks predators use to lure middle school kids. Just something as simple as accepting a file can provide a predator a map to your home via savvy IP tracking tools. I learned how to look at profiles to learn a kids true age no matter the age they claim. This is information our kids & parents need!

School wide technology integration

2006-11-02T20:44:00.000-08:00

The pictures you see here are attempts to share with you the amazing work at Keith Valley Middle School at Horsham, Pennsylvania.

Three years ago they decided to change from technology as a pull out skills based class to technology support labs for each content area. The way this works is each of their 3 tech teachers works with one grade level and schedules the lab for the content areas throughout the year. The tech teachers work with the content area teachers to plan & coteach an in depth tech infused activity. Every student then does a project using technology for each of their classes during the year.

I could literally go on for an hour describing the benefits of this approach. This school is maximizing tech resources to affect all content areas. The content area teachers are able to approach the lessons without stress of tech problems and the tech teachers can maximize student and access in a way which supports content learning.

The examples of student work created in this program are what really get you thinking (links to come soon). Full rigor and higher level thinking are very explicit in their interactive timelines, virtual museums and podcasts. So very cool.
I have so much more to say about this but my Palm keyboard needs a driver update so i'm thumbing this....

Don't worry...I will surely bring this up again.

Home away from home

2006-11-02T20:16:00.000-08:00

Practice room at the Gibson guitar outlet provides a Cruces girl all she needs to cure the homesick Nashville blues. Thank you!

Frank Baker on Film

2006-11-02T12:04:00.000-08:00

Just came from the session on ML with creator of the ML Clearinghouse, Frank W. Baker. I really connected with his message of using film to advance our curriculum goals and engage students in 21st learners. He offered a thorough overview of film as a vehicle for media literacy with dozens of resources @ http://www.frankwbaker.com

Now I'm off to learn about a schoolwide tech integration project!

NMSA Registration!

2006-11-02T10:09:00.000-08:00

We are at the amazing Gaylord Convention Center. Huge...lots of people...about to start a session on media literacy. Can't wait!

The Future of Social Networking

2006-06-22T07:04:00.000-07:00

Fred Stutzman gives an overview of the next generation of online communities.

http://chimprawk.blogspot.com/2006/06/social-networking-five-sites-you-need.html

Me Publishing via Julz

2006-06-20T10:51:00.000-07:00

My friend and mentor, Julz, is an avid blogger and member of this blog. Here is an informative posting describing Me Publishing that Julz has on her blog....

http://julztechtalk.blogspot.com/2006/05/me-publishing.html