Bookmarks from Diigo Inquiry Based Science

One of our goals with Strategic Planning was designing opportunities for inquiry based science so I was sure to pass along Wendy Smith's plan for k-5 environmental science. The plan her team developed at NECC is a GREAT example of use of 21st Century Skills....read more about it

NECC 08 - Planning for Systemic Change - Part 1 | MST PORTAL - Promoting Open, Reflective Teaching & Learning

• Goal #1: Our most important initiative is to shift instructional practices in our school to become constructivist in nature using inquiry-based methods. Both problem and project-based experiences will be the foundation for long-term student-driven investigations centered on living environment concepts. All teachers and students should be involved in real issues that require creativity and innovation, communication and collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving to generate possible solutions and share findings and learning experiences with stakeholders.

• #2: Our second initiative is to increase the use of technology to facilitate learning for both teachers and students. We believe that technology (goal #2) must serve pedagogy (goal #1). We believe the infusion of technology must enable teachers and students to research, create, communicate, and collaborate. This initiative will create the transformative process we are seeking in technology infusion for our teachers and students.
  
  GREAT DEMO OF EXAMPLE OF 21stC SKILLS
  

  Technorati Tags: science, environment, inquiry

Let the Streaming Begin

It's no secret, I am a HUGE fan of coveritlive. I have used to archive conferences and lead really powerful discussions with students. It also seemed to be a big hit at NECC this year.

Well this just in...

Coveritlive users can now integrate LIVE video from Qik, Mogulus and uStream directly into their CoveritLive live blogs. Just like the existing YouTube integration where a video feed can be sent out to the readers to view during a session without the need to send readers to another site or blog, when you integrate this service, the live video appears in the top corner of your CovertiLive Viewer Window. If readers want a larger view, they simply click the video and a larger sized window appears that can then be moved out of the way so they can continue to enjoy both the live blog AND the live video without ever leaving the site where the live blog is embedded. The Support Center in their advanced features area has a short flash movie to demonstrate how to use it...but think about the implications.

What about in a classroom...could you use camtwist or manycam to cast a lesson out to a student who is home ill, and allow them to join in the collaborative notetaking process simply by going to a teacher's wikispace? Couldn't the teacher then archive those ustream recordings and embed with the coveritlive notes

What about at a conference. I often wish when I was at a conference that I could "pipe out" the audio so the virtual participant knows what they are participating in...not necessarily the presenter, but allow someone to be a "fly on the wall". This way they are not only looking at what notes are being taken at the conference, but actually enables them to participate virutally. David Jakes asked a lot of questions about this in his post Chatcasting: A Summary, This whole idea does raise some interesting questions...or ideas.

What do you think about this...is it ok to "broadcast" a conference session, audio..with a slide perhaps to engage the folks who are not there? Where do issues of privacy come into play? In 3 years, 5 years, 10 years....is any of this going to matter?

Technorati Tags: coveritlive, ustream, privacy, ethics, liveblogging

NECC 2008: From My Perspective

I have been reading a lot of the summaries of NECC 2008 and because I went immediately unplugged for 5 days after the conference, I haven't had a chance to put in my 2 cents yet....I am still thinking about a lot of things. This was only my second NECC. In Atlanta, I missed the whole "making connections"...I missed the "Blogger's Cafe" and attended a lot of really great sessions that I found out afterwards were "live blogged", recorded in a sense so it was possible to revisit from different points of view. This year, when planning what sessions I wanted to see, I made a conscious effort to avoid things that I knew were being podcast, or ustreamed or that I could go back and revisit at another time....I feel like once again I was missing something. In The Strength of Weak Ties: ChatCasting: A Summary, David Jakes does an amazing job of summarizing the chatcasting process and asking some of the tough questions about its role in future conferences. He especially hit the nail on the head when he asked about the presenter Is having 10 people typing distracting? I had to get over several people blogging my sessions live, I can only imagine ten typing furiously. Wouldn't you want to see what they were saying? I struggle with this even when I am notetaking on the web....doesn't the presenter have the right to see what I am posting (positive or negative) and defend their presentation

I think that because there was no organized process for distributing the "any time / anywhere" content, it was difficult to find after the fact...I am working on a post for myself that contains links to all of the events I want to revisit. I often use microblogging to find out about events when I am offsite, but when right there...it became overwhelming to me. I think a moderator is important and I think all parties need to be "on the same page"

I have seen this be a POWERFUL force in the classroom. I have learned a TON from following "offsite". I will be posting later today my plan for "decompressing NECC", but thanks David for your post and questions. It will be interesting to see how this evolves over time...I feel like my pendulum has swung too far to one side....time for me, personally to find out where my balance lies.

Technorati Tags: necc08, necc2008, jakes, chatcast, backchannel

And the Walls Came Down

Once again the wireless network was less than cooperative here at NECC. I apologize to any of you who came to participate and couldn't find our session. It was SO fun to meet face to face with folks that I have been planning with since September. There were probably about 40 folks in the room and 37 at last count in the ustream.


This is a link to our session notes about how tools go viral

as well as the recording

Technorati Tags: necc2008, n08s367, open_pd

Thanks for taking the time to go viral with us! Please feel free to share your thoughts about the tools we shared and what going "viral" means to you...

Nurturing Understanding of a Shrinking Planet: Technology and Global Awareness

Technorati Tags: n08s305, necc2008, globallearning, coughlin, metri,

Transforming Learning: A Local and Global Perspective

Technorati Tags: n08s300, necc2008, globallearning, julielindsay, camilagagliolo