Coaching for Technology Integration

This is the time in the semester when I get really excited! Preservice teachers in literacy practicum
have been in the classroom since the beginning of the school year. They have been teaching literacy courses as well as literacy across the curriculum, using their iPad to access lesson plans and online reading curriculum. They have received formal feedback on their teaching and are confidently managing the class. Additionally they have been creating technology projects to use in their practicum classroom. Now they are preparing to make their students the creators in demonstrating their learning using technology.

At the same time their cooperating teachers are beginning to listen to technology ideas as I share them with their preservice teachers. When cooperating teachers have a question about technology they go to their preservice teacher, and sometimes I'm lucky enough to be in the room to help out. One question this week was about how to search for images within Google Docs. Since the Research tool has been replaced by Explore, teachers have to change their visuals that demonstrate how students can add images to their research projects. A preservice teacher found that Explore let's you search the web, images, and your Google Documents to add information to your paper. She created a screencast using Screencastify to show students how to add images to their presentations. I was so impressed with the level of this screencast and others created this semester.

Additionally, we just had Tech EDGE 18 The Future is Now: Innovative Approaches to 21st Century Learning. A couple cooperating teachers and other inservice teachers led sectionals demonstrating creative ways they are integrating technology in the classroom. Student teachers, and some of these literacy practicum students, attended the conference along with some classroom teachers. When processing what they learned and wanted to use in their classrooms these beginning teachers discussed ways they could incorporate Genius Hour, Makerspaces, Google Classroom, interactive student responses, international collaboration, green screen videos, Google Draw, and much more. How exciting to send new teachers into the field with innovative ideas of what education can be along with competence in making it a reality. I am convinced there has never been a more exciting time to be a teacher, and am proud to coach amazing preservice teachers and their cooperating teachers. Now to prepare for more preservice teachers to observe classroom teachers using 1:1 devices with students at Tech EDGE Aurora on Wednesday! Let the innovation continue!

Innovative Schools with Personalized Learning

This week I have visited schools that inspire me! They extend the bounds of what school can be to meet the individual needs of its students. The first is Mill Neck Schools for the Deaf and Special Needs Preschool. I was inspired by this sign outside one classroom empowering all children to be scientists, authors, explorers, creators, thinkers, leaders! Another bulletin board noted that these students have as their Super Power... Signing! One graduate of the School for the Deaf just graduated from Harvard Law School, realizing the school's vision in her own life through their individualized educational program to help her realize her God-given potential.

I enjoyed seeing the way technology enables the teacher to present multimedia on a specially designed Smart Device where the teacher can sign on the other half of the board as information is shown. Now students can look at one board to see content and watch the teacher sign to teach at the same time. Amazing!

Next I visited Long Island Lutheran Middle and High School, a progressive school preparing students to serve and lead globally in 21st century careers. LuHigh offers an Academy Model to allow students to pursue their interests and passions within a college preparatory curriculum. Beginning as a junior students may focus their learning in areas including STEM, Leadership & Communications, Allied Health Services, Social Science, and Arts & Humanities. This allows students to explore interests before applying to college to build knowledge and learn if this is a field they would like to pursue. 100% of students go on to college!

When I visited a class was working in a Makerspace to design a prosthetic hand for a child in another state who was born with only two fingers. This robotics course uses project-based learning to inspire students to create to meet real world needs. Student designers are building two models that will allow another student to grasp a lacrosse stick to better compete in a sport he loves. They are collaborating with the child to find out with what other activity he would like the second device to assist. After designing they will create the prosthetic using one of the five 3D printers in this space. These students are learning the STEM areas of critical thinking to make a difference in someone's life, and their own.

Personalized learning does motivate students to pursue their interests as they develop their God-given gifts. It is exciting to see actual schools achieving standards while helping students go far beyond to achieve their own goals and prepare for college and career. Hats off to these Lutheran schools of excellence!

Tech EDGE 17: Innovation in Teacher Education

Can it really be August already and nearly time for school to begin? Indeed it is, and along with the beginning of a new year comes the Tech EDGE conference for teacher educators, classroom teachers, administrators, and media specialists. This will be our seventeenth Tech EDGE conference planned to meet our mission, "To create a generation of teachers who are effective and confident using new technologies to prepare the students of Nebraska to participate and lead in tomorrow's global society." For more than seven years Guy Trainin and I have been working with university instructors, classroom teachers, and preservice teachers to impact technology integration in the classroom. Throughout this time dozens of classroom teachers have grown in their use of technology in the classroom, then come to present at Tech EDGE so more teachers and preservice teachers can learn how to effectively integrate technology across the curriculum. Because of the partnerships of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Concordia University Nebraska, and multiple schools throughout the state, Tech EDGE received the AACTE 2016 Best Practice Award for Innovative Use of Technology in Teacher Education.

Specifically in the summer we focus on university instructors. We have found that in order for preservice teachers to effectively use technology in their own teaching they need to experience effective teaching and learning with technology in their classes, as well as observe it in field experiences. We assist university instructors in a variety of student-centered learning including running backchannels to involve students, creating screencasts to share content, collaborating using Google Drive, providing ongoing feedback using online formative assessments, and incorporating democratic principles into classrooms.

We invite and hope to welcome all teacher educators from across the state to join us on August 17. We begin by exploring current best practices in education at all levels. At the university we need to know what technologies schools are using and their expectations for new teachers. Colleagues will discuss current topics in round table format, each sharing what they are finding helpful as we learn together. Participants bring their own devices and learn new tools to begin using this semester. Finally we will explore leading edge practices in higher education, focusing on how we can continue to collaborate among teacher education programs.

Checkout our weekly video podcast about mobile learning in K-12 classrooms on iTunes U and on YouTube. We invite you to join us, and share your ideas for keeping teacher education relevant in 21st century classrooms. All the best in the new year!

Learning Spaces that Inspire Students

This summer I had the opportunity to teach a graduate course on technology integration in an
experimental classroom and a collaborative classroom. I have been thinking much about effective design of learning spaces for a while now and using these two designs helped me evaluate how rooms could be arranged to foster collaboration and sharing. The teachers in the course stated that they wished they had this type of learning space in their classrooms so students could sit in a variety of groupings to work on projects, all the while able to see information projected on screens. To meet standards more and more we ask students to collaborate as they ask questions, research, and report learning. Having a space facilitates working together, sometimes sharing devices, can make this process more natural for students.

So what components should be considered when designing a learning space? I propose the following: 1. Movable furniture.  The experimental classroom had movable chairs with rollers to allow students to work in a variety of groupings by simply sliding the chair. The chairs came in a variety of styles from overstuffed, to hard plastic, all with cup holders and side writing tables to slide up when needed. The collaborative classroom provided chairs, tables, whiteboards, and projection screens all on wheels so groupings can be created as needed for each learning activity.
2. Large HD TV screens with Apple TVs on each wall. No matter if students turn their chair to the side to work with a partner, or turn it completely around to work in a small group, every student can see the screen at all times because there is a screen on all four walls. Groups creating projects can project their work on the nearest screen using the Apple TV so everyone in the group can see and contribute to the work as it progresses.
3. Internet access for student devices. Every student brought multiple devices into the class each day. It was important that the room had adequate wireless Internet capability to  provide fast access for all devices. Students used laptops for setting up accounts and writing longer pieces, tablets for taking pictures and making videos, and phones to connect with each other.
4. Writable walls. All walls become writing surfaces. As groups form around the room, students can write ideas on the wall spontaneously during brainstorming, then analyze and organize ideas on their devices to present.

On May 20, 2016 Education Technology presented Introducing the 'Classroom of the Future'. They propose that we should build classrooms to include space for student programming, interactive screen walls, interactive desks connected to the cloud, solar windows to reduce carbon footprint and save money, and open space for students to interact with holograms in virtual reality.

As school begins, how will you arrange your classroom? Consider what learning activities you will involve students in, then create a space to make that happen. Build the thought behind "making" into your learning space to empower students to build and create innovative designs to solve problems. Those first days back in the classroom can be exciting this year! Please share a picture of your learning space that inspires students!

Using Technology to Relate to Youth

I just returned from New Orleans where I attended the National Youth Gathering. 25,000 high school sophomores, juniors, and seniors came together from across the country to learn and grow together. The organizers of this exciting conference knew how to connect with teenagers using a variety of social media sites, apps, screens, websites, and other technologies. Beginning with the opening night program in the Super Dome as captured by colleague Donna Lucas students participated in the music and shared personal responses to the message using Poll Everywhere. They were further challenged to take a survey using their mobile devices, receive a reply that they could take the following day to a booth to receive a button. Universities were thus able to connect with interested youth without having to input handwritten information into an online database, and students could visit and have questions answered when they visited the booth.

When I asked a student the following day if he knew any people in his high school who don't have an iPhone he quickly responded, "No." Everyone he knows has a cell phone that connects to the Internet. Then I asked at what age students get phones and he replied 5th or 6th grade, but his brother got a phone in 4th grade so his mother could connect with him. She just put some restraints on the phone to keep her child safe.

Knowing that each of these high schoolers would come with a mobile device and many social media connections, this conference engaged students throughout. Huge TV screens projected speakers and musicians so all could see clearly, the Offline App connected students to the performed music so each device lit up in a rainbow of colors and light, all 25,000 students could respond individually to questions posed to the whole group using Poll Everywhere and responses were displayed on a huge screen in the venue in real time, Twitter quotes were displayed by presenters as sources to support their ideas, and participants tweeted using the conference hashtag along with daily topics so they could share pictures and ideas beyond their individual groups. Technology connected these students beyond the mass gatherings into their many hotels, interest centers, recreation activities, and mission work throughout New Orleans. Learning about the violence in Baton Rouge through newsfeeds, these amazing students donated 200 units of blood which were sent immediately to assist with the police shooting that happened simultaneously with the conference.

And these students will continue to connect beyond today as they left the conference to go back to their homes across the country, because they are connected with shared experiences. Via social media these students will continue to make a difference in the world as they collaborate virtually, and hopefully reconnect in college and beyond.

What can we in education learn from this experience? I share three thoughts.
1. We can make use of the devices that students already carry to school for learning, getting us to 1:1 more quickly.
2. We can use social media in positive ways to connect students and share ideas with the world.
3. We can empower students to impact society positively by following news events and reacting to help.

What Do You Know about Teaching Gen-Z?

Yesterday I read an article in the Washington Post that really made me think about the students in our schools today. The article is called "Who Are These Kids? Inside the race to decipher today's teens who will transform society as we know it."  The author, Caitlin Gibson, defines the current generation as Gen-Z or iGen and notes that these kids were born between 1998 and today. The oldest of these students are age 18 to 20 and will be voting in their first presidential election this fall. Of course they would be called the iGeneration because they grew up in the "Screen Age" using iPads, iPhones, and other mobile devices.

Please allow me to share some results of this ongoing research to learn more about our youngest generation. By interviewing Gen-Z students researchers found that these kids spend an average of 2 to 5 hours per day in front of screens, with some reporting 9 hours per day accessing media. Some reported getting their first phone in the 5th grade and loving apps. A 10 year old stated that she received 219 text messages in a single day. Gen-Z students describe their school day as using Chromebooks or computers in each class, and if the power goes out they just sit there. Learning for these students is engaging online. What does this expectation say to teachers and teacher education programs about how we need to teach to reach these students?

Gen-Z kids really did learn to use tablets often before they could talk, and their parents frequently shared baby photos on social media as soon as these children were born. Gen-Z kids report communicating today almost entirely through screens using images and video, often self-created, along with words. Multimedia is the language in which they communicate. They are more open on social media than Millennials, and also more realistic when it comes to costs because they lived through the recession.

The article does a nice job of following technology use through the existing generations today: The Greatest Generation listened to the radio, the Boomers watched TV, GenX used computers, Millennials use the Internet, and Gen-Z are mobile screen users and creators. This research is being conducted to inform all areas of society where these newest workers are beginning to graduate high school this year and fill positions. Will Gen-Z expect college online? Will they prefer to work from home? How and what will they purchase? All of these expectation from the Gen-Z kids who are used to constant attention from social media connections will determine the direction society moves. Anyone watching the presidential primary process can see how candidates are attuned to capturing the attention and support of these newest voters.

So how do schools and universities need to prepare these students to be productive citizens and lifelong learners? I suggest that we build upon their strengths and interests utilizing technology as a vehicle for learning. We make students creators and encourage them to share their learning with the world. We help them connect with a variety of people to solve real-world problems and act on their suggestions. We teach remembering that it's all about our students and preparing them for the society and world in which they will need to live and contribute. Provide students choice in technology tools and projects used to learn and demonstrate learning, and be willing to learn from these true digital natives. All the best as you empower Gen-Z to positively impact the world.

Five Things You Can Do This Summer to Integrate Technology in Meaningful Ways This Fall

It's summer! School is out! Teachers have just told their students to keep reading over the summer so they don't lose all the progress they made this year. And practice your math facts so you come back in the fall ready to move on to even more challenging math concepts. Have fun but remember to take time to practice your skills too.

And teachers this is my challenge to you as well, keep playing with technology over the summer so you come back in the fall ready to integrate technology in meaningful ways. Here are five things you can do this summer to be ready to help your students use technology to learn this fall.

1. Visit TechEDGE01 on YouTube to explore some tech tools for Mobile Learning in the Classroom. Select from over 250 short videos arranged by grade level and topic to learn some new tools and how you might integrate them into your teaching this fall. Some topics you will enjoy visiting yourself this summer before taking your students there this fall: summer reading apps, history apps, geography games, poetry apps, and online museums.

2. Subscribe to the FreeTech4Teachers blog by Richard Byrne for updates on what's new in technology. His short blog posts present a new tool and tips on how to use it. One idea I just got from his blog that I will try in the coming days is wideo.co to create videos with interactive embed buttons to take viewers to websites and other locations for more information.

3. Create a blog to organize your teaching content for fall. Take that paper newsletter and turn it into a blog post for parents. Include links to websites and apps you want to recommend. I suggest Blogger.com for an easy blog to create and post. When your students create multimedia projects you can easily link them here to share.

4. Enrich one fall unit with technology. Review the TPACK model and add technology knowledge to your content and pedagogy. What technology could take students' learning to the next level? How could technology help students learn the most current content? (Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org)

5. Play with tools! Have fun! Explore! The wonder of mobile technology is that it works outside too! Take your device to the beach with you. Take pictures, video, then turn it into a multimedia presentation with the touch of a button. Two of my favorite tools to do this are Puppet EDU and Haiku Deck. Now that you know the procedure you can have students create one when they return about all the exciting things they did over the summer!

One Ream of Paper

I recently talked to a teacher who said their school now provides one ream of paper per teacher each quarter. Wikipedia defines a ream as 500 sheets of writing paper. If the average class size is 25 students, then one ream would allow a teacher to copy 20 one-page assignments each quarter. Currently I see about 4 reams of copied math worksheets arrive each Monday in many classes. But I see this changing as classrooms get 1:1 devices, use Google Classroom, and adopt online textbooks.

Since the first of the year the schools I supervise are now 1:1 Chromebooks for grades three through five. At the beginning of the semester when given the choice by teachers to get a hard-covered reading text or access the online version, I observed most students using the traditional paper text. It was familiar, and although these anthologies are heavy, students know how to find information in them quickly. As the semester progressed more teachers began posting assignments in Google Classroom. Now students have their Chromebooks on their desks with one tab open to Google Classroom. Teachers post a beginning question for students to post their prediction about what will happen in the story. Then they read the predictions of others in their class and respond to them. This whole building background process takes less than five minutes, every student has the chance to answer the question, they collaborate with others online, they are prepared for the lesson, AND they learn how to use an online management system!

By the end of the semester things had changed. Chromebooks were out on desks, one tab was open to Google Classroom, AND another tab was open to the curriculum website. Rather than handing out paper graphic organizers or questions, students access and complete these tools online. Students are using the curriculum website for more than practice activities; 90% of students now given the choice to read from the paper text or digital text select the online version.

Things are changing as traditional paper hits the digital world. And this allows the types of activities students do to change as well. Rather than completing graphic organizers, they can now create their own. Instead of answering worksheet questions students can create multimedia presentations that demonstrate comprehension. Every student can respond through Google Forms where data is collected and used by the teacher to inform instruction. And students can collaborate on projects with accountability as each person's online contribution is stamped with date and time.

So what's next? Perhaps one ream of paper per semester? Many of the teachers I work with are going paperless. We need continued research and instruction on new literacies to help students effectively read and compose online. Donald Leu and colleagues at the New Literacies Research Lab at the University of Connecticut are collecting informative data about how students read and research online and what assessment of online reading comprehension may look like. Articles on new literacies are appearing regularly in literacy journals. I suggest reading Leu's Preparing Students for the 21st Century: How can teachers incorporate new literacies into elementary classrooms. And teachers are learning daily how to best empower students with support in online environments. I am very interested to know what you are finding helpful in your classes.

The One-Hour STEAM Challenge!

This is part 2 sharing my visit to Amazing Grace and Renton Prep Christian Schools in Seattle. These progressive project-based learning schools daily offer students opportunities for critical thinking, problem solving, experimentation, revision, and producing. Today we explore the One-Hour STEAM Challenge, a project where students are challenged to create a boat that floats in one hour using supplied items.

After explaining the project, the teacher promptly set the timer for one hour and projected it on their large TV screen to keep everyone on task. Brainstorming collaboratively, students designed their project by inking with a design pen on their Surface device to plan their engineering feat. Students then selected building supplies from a range of materials: Peeps marshmallow candy, straws, plastic bottles, straws, duct tape, making tape, plastic tape, paper bags, and more. Listening to students discuss their process, they explained why they decided to use each item in their boat.

After a five minute warning to complete the project, students went to get water to fill the plastic tub where the newly-created boats will be tested to see if they float. One at a time students put their boat on the water as the teacher used a hand-held hair dryer to provide the wind that would move these devices. Will it float? The anticipation rises.

Some boats leaned to one side or the other, as students problem-solved what the designing error could be. Others floated well initially, but as their materials got saturated they began to sink further into the water. Some boats were made with plastic bottles and the air inside provided the buoyancy this project required. Students also realized that using the right type of tape could make other materials hold up in water. Expert teacher questioning led students to evaluate their construction and devise a plan for revision where needed. "Why do you think this boat leans to the left? Will it float in the wind even if it is not symmetrical? What makes you think so? Can you make an adjustment in your design that might help your boat float longer?"

I challenge each teacher to find one time space where your students could engage in a one-hour STEAM challenge. Perhaps it provides a break during testing times, or ties into a science topic. Maybe the design phase is completed during computer time or independent stations, then the building takes place during math or science, with the final testing at the end of the day. Whether the hour is in one block or divided into several shorter timeframes, your students can create to solve problems and answer challenges. Let students document their process using video or pictures which they can turn into a multimedia presentation to explain the project to parents and "the world!" And have fun!

Project-Based Learning Schools in Action!

I just returned from an invigorating visit to Amazing Grace and Renton Prep Christian Schools in Seattle. These schools involve students from PreK-10 in asking questions and devising a plan to find a solution through a process of testing and revising. By adding STEAM content (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Math) to traditional topics in learner-centered ways, these schools are lifted up as "bright spots...with promise for the future" in Calfee & Wilson's (2016) ground-breaking book
Assessing the Common Core: What's Gone Wrong--And How To Get Back On Track, a book I highly recommend. In the coming weeks I will address various examples I encountered as students combined the rich content areas of STEAM with innovative project-based learning pedagogy. For more information and examples of STEAM projects click here: Edutopia.org.

I begin with the youngest students and their projects. Preschool students were studying fairy tales and integrating STEAM in ways I have never seen! As they read each fairy tale they analyzed what problem the character was encountering, then brainstormed ways to help. For example, the day I was there they read The Three Billy Goats Gruff. Their teacher masterfully asked questions to help them analyze the situation: Why do the three billy goats need to cross the bridge? Who lived under the bridge? Why does this cause a problem for the three billy goats gruff? How could all the billy goats get across the river safely without anyone getting hurt? After considering these and other questions, the students decided that they could build a boat to hold all three billy goats so they could cross the stream to go up the hillside to eat, without disturbing the evil troll. So they set out to do just that. Working with a partner they gathered the allowed materials including popsicle sticks, duct tape and masking tape to build a boat that could float holding three goat figures, the required criteria. As they built they talked about what shape the boat should be to float, and how strong it needed to be to hold three goat figures. They experimented with tape to make it waterproof and sturdy. Then they put their creation in the water, placed the three animal figures on top, and tested to see if it would float. Students found multiple ways to safely get the Three Billy Goats Gruff over the bridge without disturbing the evil troll. Project-based learning in action!

During their fairy tale unit these preschoolers also assisted Cinderella in getting home from the ball after her coach turned back into a pumpkin. They decided to create a wind-powered car! Not only did these students find a solution to help a character in need, they also explored an environmental issue of global concern in creating alternative power sources to fuel transportation. After reading Rapunzel students tried to build a tower strong enough to support the prince so he could reach Rapunzel. They developed towers of various heights using newspaper & tape, then placed the prince figure on top to check its strength; design and engineering in action!

Each instance of STEAM Project-Based Learning (PBL) contained similar expectations:
(1) Teacher and students explored a fairy tale together.
(2) Teacher led students in discussing the problem.
(3) Students hypothesized solutions.
(4) They were given limited supplies and limited time to find a solution.
(5) Students collaborated to create something to solve the problem.
(6) They tested their creations against the criteria, made adjustments if needed, and retested.
(7) They captured their process using technology.
(8) They proudly shared their creations and clearly explained what they made, why they made it, and what they learned.

Are you teaching a unit where STEAM PBL could be incorporated into student-centered learning? I challenge you to try and let me know what you do! We are creating the innovative problem-solvers our global society needs now and in the future.

Student Technology Projects that Demonstrate Learning!

This was a full week of interaction with amazing

teachers who shared projects their students created that inspired innovation and met standards. ISTE standard 1: "Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology." ISTE standard 2: "Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively..." using technology.
Between Tech EDGE 16, TEC21, 
EdCampOmaha, and my 880J UNL graduate course, I was privileged to collaborate with teacher leaders who are integrating technology in their classrooms in meaningful ways. Let me share just a few of them with you in hopes that they may stimulate ideas for you as you encourage your students to communicate their learning using multimedia.

One teacher has his students planning the perfect vacation! Students were allowed $4,500.00 to plan their dream vacation. The teacher created a template with links to guide students' research for best dates, flight, hotel, cab, restaurants, and activities. Students calculated the cost of each item for each day of the vacation. Then they used Google Tour Builder to create the vacation and view these locations at street level. This inquiry project required critical thinking on the part of students using technology to take them virtually to the locations of their dreams, going far beyond a hand-written paper.

Two kindergarten teachers from different schools connect their classes weekly via FaceTime to study vocabulary. They use the Mystery Skype format with one class asking yes/no questions to guess the vocabulary word. That class continues asking questions as long as they get "yes" answers to their questions. When they get a "no", it's the other class's turn to try to figure out what the "mystery word" is. This collaborative exercise helps young children see the possibilities of learning in 21st century schools that extend beyond the walls.

In TEC21 one week we experiment with virtual fieldtrips, YouTube 360 videos, and green screens, the next week teachers share examples of how they used these tools with their students! One teacher ordered a Google Cardboard and signed her class up for a virtual fieldtrip to Tokyo, a city they were studying in their social studies unit on rural and urban. The fieldtrip sent them a free Google Cardboard app so students could explore Tokyo before they joined the virtual fieldtrip via video conference with other classrooms from around the world. Another teacher had her students create green screen videos using TouchCast in a talk show format discussing the Revolution from historical character points of view.

At EdCampOmaha I attended an innovative session on student presentations hosted by Eileen Heller and Tony Vincent. Teachers shared student project ideas including: collaborative presentations at Sway.com, Thinglink.com for students to create and post an avatar to which they connect the video or other project they made to demonstrate learning, and Masquerade (MSQRD app) that allows students to put masks on their video image to record themselves describing what they learned. Tony live recorded all teachers sharing their projects using Periscope which lasts for 24 hours, another great idea for the classroom!

Seeing teachers excited attending their first EdCamp, watching them realize that they have great technology ideas to share with other teachers, and listening to the way they are empowering students to be 21st century learners excites me! Let me know about student technology projects you are working on with your class!

3 Screencasting Tools Every Teacher Should Know How to Use

This week the teachers in my graduate class experimented with screencasting and video tools. It was exciting to see the creative ways these teachers used tools for a variety of purposes. One teacher experimented with Screencast-O-Matic, a web-based tool that allows you to capture your screen, use webcam to capture you teaching, or do both by capturing you teaching in the lower right corner of the screen and your screen on the remainder of the video. This teacher quickly created a screencast to demonstrate to his students how to create a Google Earth Tour. He will post this screencast at his Google Classroom site so students can view to remember how to create their tours during the Favorite Vacation project in which they are involved. You may save these screencasts on your computer, at Screencast-O-Matic, or in YouTube. I made a Screencast-O-Matic sample for you to see how easy it is to use this tool on any computer. I like the feature of the yellow circle that highlights your cursor as you teach your lesson, making it very easy for learners to follow as you explain.

The second screencasting tool we used was the TouchCast Studio app. This app provides very professional backgrounds where you can annotate a webpage, video, pictures, map, or file from Dropbox or Google Drive. You can select a background that puts you in a news studio, talk show, at the Lincoln Memorial, or any place you can imagine as you use the green screen feature to insert a picture or video behind you. Students can use this app to create a sportscast, how-to video, or review
of information covered. Think of the exciting book reports or story retellings you could do using this app! TouchCast also allows you to record screen, webcam, or both. Select from over 30 visual Apps to easily bring up websites, Twitter feeds, maps, photos, movies, files, and more! And use the screen as a whiteboard so you can add content as you present. Check out this short TouchCast I made on the current presidential debate.

And now for my all time favorite screencasting tool, Educreations. This tool was originally created as an early childhood tool to allow even young children to make their thinking visible as they write or draw on the whiteboard and simulateously record their voice as they explain what their process. As schools purchase a variety of devices for teachers and students, Educreations is available to everyone in both app and web-based formats. I know teachers who use Educreations to flip their classroom, creating a short 4 minute video to teach a lesson students view the night before, then come to class to apply their learning in creative ways. So this versatile and easy to use tool allows teachers and students to screencast. Click here for a sample Educreations video I made: Flipped Classroom video about creating screencasts.

I encourage you to take a few minutes to try out these screencasting tools, and share your videos! Remember to keep it short for maximum viewer attention, and keep in mind your purpose is to teach, not win an Academy Award! Have fun.

What Teachers Can Learn from Steve Jobs

I just finished reading one of the most intriguing books I have ever read, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson. I loved the way Isaacson chronicled the creation and launching of multiple creative devices over three decades that transformed many industries:
The Apple II personal computer
The Macintosh home computer revolution with graphical user interfaces
Toy Story and other Pixar digital animation blockbusters
Apple stores with genius tables
The iPod to store music digitally
The iTunes Store which expanded and changed the way music was purchased
The App Store to enable creation rather than consumption
The iPad which started tablet computing and a format for digital news, books, and videos
iCloud to sync all devices seamlessly, and
The Apple company "which Jobs considered his greatest creation, a place where imagination was nurtured, applied, and executed in ways so creative that it became the most valuable company on earth" (Isaacson, 2011, p.566).

But mostly I loved learning about this innovative man. I loved his vision for creating products that "push the human race forward" (p.577). His passion for designing and producing that led him to work many hours week after week until it was perfect. His insistence that devices must be simple so people won't be afraid of them, yet perfectly designed so even parts not visible to consumers are beautiful. His ability to "Think Different" as he challenged us to listen to the ones who see things differently because, "while some may see them as crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do" (p.577).  Jobs modeled and valued creativity, just the thing we need to inspire in schools today.

So what can teachers integrating technology learn from Steve Jobs? I propose the following:

1. Keep it simple. Jobs went so far as to put a handle on a desktop computer so it would invite people to touch it and not be afraid of it, though no one would actually pick up a desktop computer. Teachers can themselves play with technology so they aren't afraid of it. They can encourage students to play with programs as well to design projects about which they are passionate.

2. Create. Jobs realized that the iPad 1 was more of a tool for consuming: books, videos, newspapers, etc. When he created the iPad 2 he intentionally made it a tool for creating: iMovie for videos, Garage Band for music, powerful camera for pictures, apps for your own ebooks. Our challenge today as teachers in 1:1 classrooms is to empower students to create using these devices, to use their creativity to learn and communicate with the world.

3. Don't be afraid of making a mistake. As Jobs was creating a computer for the 1990's in 1984, he was determining what would be best for people to use. Was he always right? Perhaps not. But he never looked at a decision as a failure, but rather an opportunity for the next product. For example, when creating the Macintosh he was convinced it should have a slot into which a disk would be inserted. His team said it should be a sliding door because soon companies would develop ways to burn music and it would use this existing format. Well indeed companies did use the sliding door format for burning discs, so Jobs said he needed to come up with a way to download music in a different manner, and iTunes was born.

4. Create learning spaces that motivate. When Jobs built Apple he intentionally looked for a design that put people in contact with each other so ideas could flow no matter where they went. He liked fluid meeting spaces where everyone could participate in sunlit areas. How can you improve your school learning space so students can collaborate and work on projects?

5. "The Journey is the Reward"(p.537). Integrating technology is fun! It makes each of us lifelong learners. None of us can know everything about each technology, we need to work together. So inspire students with your vision of what they can accomplish, provide devices and support so they can try, and empower them to create.

So here's to changing the world, one school and student at a time!

Why Many Teachers Don't Engage Professionally Online

Last night I had one of the most exciting things happen! After the blizzard went through Nebraska providing two snow days in our area, I sent an invitation to the teachers in my graduate class on technology integration to join #nebedchat last night. I was so excited to see five out of eight teachers join in the ed chat! While there was a glitch in viewing questions, each participant found ways to add to and learn from the discussion. I look forward to reflecting on the process when we meet tonight.

Last week in class they practiced answering questions using Twitter notations such as A1 and their response, and remembering to include the hashtag of the ed chat at the end. But attending an ed chat for the first time can be a little intimidating. With two required Ed Chats in the syllabus, I felt these teachers were ready to participate. However, a recent article I read made me question if this would indeed be the beginning of lifelong education for these teachers. A Core Education study coming out of New Zealand asked the question, "What keeps so many teachers from professionally engaging online?" While teachers may join a required ed chat, the majority of teachers in the study did not network at all outside of the scheduled research meetings. The researchers considered factors of time, lack of interest, and dislike for social media, but found none of them to be the key factor. In fact "all of the teachers used social media on a daily basis in their personal lives."  After further interviews teachers noted that the real factor that determined whether or not they joined an ed chat conversation was confidence in their own teaching. They wondered what they had to contribute to a wider audience. Findings of the study suggest that recognizing the gaps in one's teaching knowledge in certain areas motivates one to look for ways to fill in those gaps. Ed chats can be one way to accomplish this, building PLNs of experienced professionals. As one teacher in the study stated, "You have to know that the network is a supportive group." 

Will my teachers continue to build their professional learning network online? I hope so! I have found the Teacher's Guide to Twitter by Edudemic to be filled with lots of great ideas to get started: creating not just consuming, connecting and networking, sharing your resources, and keeping at it. It takes time to build a network. It takes time to feel confident sharing your ideas. I have found Tweetdeck to be very helpful in organizing tweets to follow in an ed chat. To find the perfect ed chat, visit http://cybraryman.com/chats.html, and remember to check for your time zone as these chats go on all over the world at all times! You will never be without a professional to answer a question you may have.

So get involved in an ed chat, become a contributor, enlarge your PLN, and have fun!

"Computer Labs" of the Future: What Should We do in Computer Time?

This week I was asked a question by a principal that really inspired me. His school has been 1:1 iPads for three years. This principal noted that his school doesn’t have a lab (and likely never will), nor will they have computers. This being the case, he wanted to know what technology classes look like for schools that have implemented iPads? What are the general standards that they should be implementing in their teaching? While this school does have tech classes for their students, it’s more iPad applications – but no keyboarding or other computer literacy/programming. What an interesting question. This principal wants to be sure that his students are gaining the computer skills they will need to be productive citizens in the 21st Century. How would you reply?

This is how I responded. My philosophy is that we need to teach students today to go beyond keyboarding. They need to know how to effectively search for information online (asking questions, finding answers, How to evaluate websites), how to be safe online (digital citizenship: CommonSenseMedia.org), to evaluate information, synthesize information from multiple print and digital sources, and communicate learning using multimedia. These are the New Literacies (Preparing Students for the 21st Century) that we need to teach students today.

We focus on Creation vs Consumption so having students take information they learn on their iPads and learn how to present it using multimedia tools such as Puppet EDU, Haiku Deck, Google Slides and so many more great tools. I love how student technology use can look in schools as shown in this video Learning and Creating with iPads in Kindergarten​:

This meets the ISTE standards for students  focusing computer time on (1) creativity and innovation, (2) communication and collaboration, (3) research and information fluency, (4) critical thinking, problem solving and decision making, (5) digital citizenship, and (6) technology operations and concepts. The last area is the only one that talks about how to use the device, with an iPad how to take a screen shot, save an image, use the camera, etc. And this is only done so students can create using these functions and be prepared for the next device they will use.

Now that many classroom teachers teach computer themselves, perhaps we have more time to integrate technology into the content areas so students use devices to learn and communicate learning. How does your school teach computer?

Achieving Goals with the help of an Accountability Partner

What is your New Year's resolution? It's that time when people are setting goals for the new year. The top six resolutions include losing weight, getting organized, spending less, enjoying life, staying fit, and learning something exciting. Research shows us that 8% of people are successful in achieving their resolution, while 24% never succeed on their resolution every year. What makes some people successful while others fail? One factor that helps people achieve goals is being held accountable for their actions. We are encouraged to find an accountability partner to support us along this journey. This is a concept I would like to explore a bit with implications that reach beyond New Year's resolutions.

When we work with teachers on technology integration, those who come with another teacher from their school tend to arrive together, work together, and support each other. A recent article that was shared with me by Guy Trainin looked at The Role of an Accountability Partner in Goal Achievement. We all need "an accountability partner who will challenge, motivate, mentor, encourage, and inspire you to achieve maximum results." This article pointed out the top three benefits of working with an accountability partner:

(1) Accountability and Responsibility. Let's face it, life happens. Even the most determined person can lose direction and begin to make excuses, get busy, lose focus. An accountability partner can act as a sounding board to help us refocus on the goal and not get sidetracked by other things.

(2) Idea sharing, Creativity and Brainstorming. Especially when it comes to integrating technology, two heads are often better than one. Between two people you can troubleshoot to figure out new devices and tools. Two teachers can collaborate to plan lessons where technology is integrated in creative ways.

(3) Motivational Support. While we are motivated when we set the goal, remaining committed for the long haul can be difficult. When we share our successes and failures with someone they can provide positive encouragement at just the right time. A good Accountability Partner challenges us to help us achieve the goals we set while supporting us as we try.

I look forward to meeting with many new teachers and preservice teachers this semester who want to grow in their ability to integrate technology in meaningful ways. To support them, we will provide an Accountability Partner to travel the road with them; challenging, motivating, mentoring, encouraging, and inspiring each other to learn something exciting themselves that benefits their students. Best wishes to you too as you implement New Year's resolutions. Get and be an Accountability Partner, and let me know how it goes! All the best in 2016!