Alabama Education Technology Conference (AETC) Fantastic!

I attended AETC this year and learned so much. The opening session featured internationally known presenter Alan November in addition to remarks from Governor Riley and Dr. Morton, our State Superintendent. Alan November said he didn't know of any other states other than Alabama that had the major political forces in alignment on distance learning! He commented that we had the alignment of leadership and vision from the top down. The governor, the state superintendent, and the head of the Alabama's Office of Technology Initiatives all have the necessary vision to move Alabama forward. It was exciting to hear the Governor talking about the ACCESS distance learning initiative. Alabama is able to offer courses in rural areas that just were not available before. You can read more about the ACCESS program here: http://www.governorpress.alabama.gov/pr/pr-2006-06-28-01-access-photo.asp

I thoroughly enjoyed Alan November's session on Global Learning. He said we must give kids a Global Voice. As teachers, we can't continue to give same types of assignments. We must give innovative, creative and motivating assignments that could not be done without the technology. Technology is not a $2000 pencil. We need to use it to do things that we couldn't do before. Alan gives excellent examples in his presentation and on his site. It isn't even difficult to do. He suggested you give kids job assignments to learn podcasting, blogging, editing, etc. Then you have them teach others and soon you are in business globally communicating and honing the communication skills that will be needed to survive in our global economy. You can find more at Alan's site here: http://www.novemberlearning.com/ or visit his global learning links: here http://www.novemberlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=159&action=cat&lcl=2&parentID=32.

Next, I enjoyed three sessions by Bernajean Porter involving Digital Storytelling. Powerful stuff! She says a lot of the same things I keep saying. The projects need to be real world, and the technology is essential and TRANSFORMING, where kids are producers of useful information not just consumers. This came from Grappling Technology and Learning Spectrum. You can find it here: http://www.bjpconsulting.com/files/MAPPSpectrum.pdf The bottom line of all of this is that it's not about the tech, it’s about the learning. The technology when used properly can accelerate the learning and allow us to give kids a global voice! You can see examples, and find resources for evaluating projects here: http://www.digitales.us/

Podcasting, blogging, RSS Feeds. If you don't know these terms or what they could mean for your students, it's time to show those lifelong learning qualities and dive in. The water is just right!

One final note... I found out that Bernajean Porter, one of the featured presenters I mentioned above, received her masters in instructional technology at Lesley University and was an adjunct professor there, too. I am currently a member of the Lesley cohort for the masters in technology program. It is an excellent face to face program that meets locally in Hoover once a month. If you are interested, please e-mail me at cmckinley@hoover.k12.al.us. Lesley also offers cohorts in Literacy and Integrated Teaching Through the Arts. Tweet

Neighborhood Housing Youth Recognition Luncheon

Today I was honored to be the speaker at the Neighborhood Housing Services of Birmingham Community Service Youth Recognition Luncheon. The luncheon was to honor those who had just completed a year of service and learning and to recognize those who will participate in the program next year. It was great to see the community and corporate sponsors offering quality education programs for the young people and their families while also making sure the students are involved in giving back to the community. I hope to visit again when school starts to work with a technology and learning program for the students and parents. You can visit the Neighbor Works America site at http://www.nw.org/network/home.asp or find out more about Neighborhood Works Week here: http://www.nw.org/network/neighborworksprogs/nww/default.asp Tweet

Squeak, Alice and UAB Computer and Information Sciences

This past Monday, I visited the Computer Science Department at UAB. I was impressed with the programs they have that reach out to the community, especially to high school students in the local area. They offer computer science camps and competitions in the summer and programs throughout the year are available for elementary and up to show students what computer science is really all about. Dr. Jeff Gray told me that most people, parents included, seem to think that computer science is about using word processing or other office-type products. He wants to get more schools in Alabama to offer the kinds of computer classes that will introduce students to programming and other skills that will help them to be more successful. There are only a handful of schools offering these AP level courses for students in our high schools. Hopefully, we will be able to offer more in the future. If you've read The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman, you know that technological skills, problem solving skills and communication skills are all going to be critical for survival in our world. Programming allows students to develop the skills they will need. There are programming languages like Squeak and Alice that introduce younger students to the exciting world of computer science. We need to get the word out and get more schools and students involved. Contact the UAB Computer Information and Sciences department or read more about these programs at the links below.

Alice: http://www.alice.org/
The focus of the Alice project is now to provide the best possible first exposure to programming for students ranging from middle schoolers to college students.

Squeakland: http://www.squeakland.org/
Squeak is a media authoring tool used to design and create projects. It involves a lot of different skills which include sequencing-like programming commands. On the site you will find many educational uses. There is a great html page showing an excellent introductory project for 9, 10, and 11 year olds. Reading through this project will help you understand what Squeak is all about. Squeak is open source software, created by a body of individuals. You can read more about the significant contributors on the Squeak site. A new book by BJ Allen-Conn and Kim Rose was published in 2003. It is called "Powerful Ideas in the Classroom - Using Squeak to Enhance Math and Science Learning". It tells of exciting projects created in Squeak with 5th and 6th Graders and would be a useful guide for parents and teachers. Tweet