Lisa's Posts - Classroom 2.02024-03-29T14:22:01ZLisahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/LisaGreathousehttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/1949951938?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://www.classroom20.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=29c9b17gwqm7i&xn_auth=noFree Tech Assesment anyone??tag:www.classroom20.com,2008-06-04:649749:BlogPost:1471872008-06-04T14:04:07.000ZLisahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/LisaGreathouse
Hello everyone! I've been trying to convince my boss to let me give away our new product, SimpleAssessment: Student Technology Proficiency, FREE to all districts at NECC. They think I'm crazy. I think it's a great idea.<br />
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I'm creating a report to prove to them why I think this idea is so amazing - mostly, they don't think districts would want to participate. I would love to include comments in my report about what actual tech coordinators/curriculum directors think about this!<br />
<br />
My proposal is…
Hello everyone! I've been trying to convince my boss to let me give away our new product, SimpleAssessment: Student Technology Proficiency, FREE to all districts at NECC. They think I'm crazy. I think it's a great idea.<br />
<br />
I'm creating a report to prove to them why I think this idea is so amazing - mostly, they don't think districts would want to participate. I would love to include comments in my report about what actual tech coordinators/curriculum directors think about this!<br />
<br />
My proposal is detailed below. Your comments are appreciated. Your support will hopefully help districts across the country assess the technology proficiency of all of their 8th graders - FREE.<br />
<br />
Nothing is finalized but this is my pitch and a little bit about the product:<br />
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Our product: tech assessment administered online within a Learning Management System (LMS)<br />
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Promotion: All districts at NECC (and if you are replying and aren't attending I'm sure I can work something out for you!) will receive the following for FREE:<br />
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- School branded LMS<br />
- Enough licenses for all of their 8th graders (Maximum 250)<br />
- SimpleAssessment based on NETS-S 1998 Edition for PC<br />
-SimpleAssessment based on NETS-S 1998 Edition for Mac<br />
-Basic reportingSimpleAssessment - Finally Done!tag:www.classroom20.com,2008-04-30:649749:BlogPost:1365602008-04-30T13:44:09.000ZLisahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/LisaGreathouse
PHEW! Finally was able to launch the new product today. Feels great - like the feeling I used to get after final exams and school was wrapping up for the year. Now I can breath...just for a minute though!<br />
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My company works with school districts across the country, and they kept asking us to make an easy assessment tool to prove that their students were technologically literate - because the NCLB Act requires this by the time students reach the 8th grade. I formed a committee of about 40…
PHEW! Finally was able to launch the new product today. Feels great - like the feeling I used to get after final exams and school was wrapping up for the year. Now I can breath...just for a minute though!<br />
<br />
My company works with school districts across the country, and they kept asking us to make an easy assessment tool to prove that their students were technologically literate - because the NCLB Act requires this by the time students reach the 8th grade. I formed a committee of about 40 teachers, tech coordinators/directors, and supers to help with the assessment.<br />
<br />
We started with a pool of questions mapped directly to the ISTE NETS S and narrowed it down to a 60 question assessment - 10 questions from each of the 6 standards. Each question was reviewed, and revised in some cases, by the committee.<br />
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The test is administered in an online system which allows schools to pull IMMEDIATE results. It comes with a pre and a post test so that can schools can track progress from the beginning until the end of the year.<br />
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It was a lot of fun working with everyone to get this assessment completed! Now, we're moving on to make an assessment mapped to the 2nd Edition of the NETS S. Thanks to everyone who was involved if you are reading this :)Online Photo Sharing for Bulletin Boardstag:www.classroom20.com,2008-02-11:649749:BlogPost:1085812008-02-11T21:57:15.000ZLisahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/LisaGreathouse
<p>As I have mentioned in previous posts, my father has been in education for 35 years (and about to retire!). When I talk to him about using technology in the classroom, he usually doesn't want to be bothered more than PowerPoint presentations. I always talk to him about the new widgets and things that are out...but I never make any ground. Finally, last night I got him to see use out of Online Photo Sharing. Now, at first I wanted him to use it to send his students on a field trip through…</p>
<p>As I have mentioned in previous posts, my father has been in education for 35 years (and about to retire!). When I talk to him about using technology in the classroom, he usually doesn't want to be bothered more than PowerPoint presentations. I always talk to him about the new widgets and things that are out...but I never make any ground. Finally, last night I got him to see use out of Online Photo Sharing. Now, at first I wanted him to use it to send his students on a field trip through outter space! This didn't fly with Mr. Traditional. We're talking about a man that never changes his bulletin boards! He has three and he rotates them every year for the last 35 years. BORING. I started teasing him about this...and an idea came to mind! Dad doesn't change his bulletin boards because he doesn't like to think of ideas and then go all over trying to find the right photos and material.</p>
<p/><p>Well, in the last 35 years, things have changed! Now he can go online to find ideas about science bulletin boards and also use Photo Sharing to print out pictures for his board. One site that gives bulletin board ideas is <a href="http://www.theteacherscorner.net/">The Teachers Corner</a>. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!? This is a great way to get my dad used to Online Photo Sharing so he gets over the initial fear of the new technology. Of course, I warned my dad about copyright laws, and explained what <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons">creative commons</a> were.</p>
<p/><p>Now he's on his way to using Web 2.0 tools in his classroom...but shhh don't tell him that. He just thinks he's printing pictures :-)</p>
<p/><p>What are some other ways to use Web 2.0 technologies to get teachers started down the road for those people who are a little afraid of new technologies?</p>
<p/>Teacher Tubetag:www.classroom20.com,2008-02-04:649749:BlogPost:1060112008-02-04T17:33:41.000ZLisahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/LisaGreathouse
<p>Last week I attended the MECA (Mississippi Educaitonal Computing Association) conference in Jackson. I had an amazing time and got to speak with a lot of educators about using technology in the classroom. To my alarm, no one I spoke to know about Teacher Tube! I explained that it was basically an equivalent to YouTube with educational material perfect for the classroom. Of course, many of the initial reactions were "Oh I'm sure thats blocked too" or from tech coordinators "Well, I know we…</p>
<p>Last week I attended the MECA (Mississippi Educaitonal Computing Association) conference in Jackson. I had an amazing time and got to speak with a lot of educators about using technology in the classroom. To my alarm, no one I spoke to know about Teacher Tube! I explained that it was basically an equivalent to YouTube with educational material perfect for the classroom. Of course, many of the initial reactions were "Oh I'm sure thats blocked too" or from tech coordinators "Well, I know we block YouTube." But once I spoke in detail about TeacherTube all the tech coordinators said they would probably be able to add it to the "safe list." So this got me thinking...Do most teachers NOT know about TeacherTube?</p>
<p>I think it's a great, FREE resource. Teachers can search for videos by subject (known as "Channels" on the site). There are Channels for science, writing, middle school, physical education etc. This makes it easy to find videos! I know as a student it is nice to break up a lecture with a video component.</p>
<p>Teacher Tube Groups also allow educators to collaborate with others with similar interests to bring their classrooms to life. In a world of digital learners, what's better than adding a streaming video to class presentations?</p>
<p>I'm curious to see who all out there uses Teacher Tube in their curriculum and any creative ideas on how you use it!</p>Why I love technology in education...tag:www.classroom20.com,2008-01-22:649749:BlogPost:1005352008-01-22T22:05:22.000ZLisahttps://www.classroom20.com/profile/LisaGreathouse
<p style="BACKGROUND: white"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>In high school, my teachers never cared about me – they didn’t care about any of us.</strong> They didn’t care how well I performed in class. They didn’t care if I was using the best available resources. They didn’t care what I was learning or if I was being challenged. They didn’t care about my success.…</font></font></span></p>
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<p style="BACKGROUND: white"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><strong>In high school, my teachers never cared about me – they didn’t care about any of us.</strong> They didn’t care how well I performed in class. They didn’t care if I was using the best available resources. They didn’t care what I was learning or if I was being challenged. They didn’t care about my success.</font></font></span></p>
<p style="BACKGROUND: white"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Of course, now I know this statement is not true. But it was my perception – and to a teenager, there is not much difference between perception and fact.</font></font></span></p>
<p style="BACKGROUND: white"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Then came college. Life was completely different. My professor’s <em>actually cared</em>. Maybe it was just the fact that I knew I could send them an email at two in the morning. Maybe it was because I could email them my assignments before the due date and they would make comments and send it back. Perhaps, it is because my college used an online Learning Management System where I could keep track of all my classes, assignments, and professors. Maybe it was because my professors “got me.”</font></font></span></p>
<p style="BACKGROUND: white"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">Yea, I think that’s it. They “got me”…they really did. They knew I was too busy (and lazy) to want to print my assignments and turn them in - so I submitted them electronically. They knew I couldn’t sit through a two hour lecture without some sort of multi-media component – so they incorporated YouTube videos. They knew my schedule was way too busy to meet with a group of five students to complete a project – so we collaborated online. They knew my mind worked too fast to be content looking up information in a library – that’s what the internet is for. They knew the difference between a podcast and a vodcast and actually made these parts of my assignments.</font></font></span></p>
<p style="BACKGROUND: white"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">They also knew that Wikipedia.org may not be the absolute best source for a term paper, but they used it in class, and often cited it! They knew history of the Renaissance would be Snooze Time 101 if we couldn’t open a browser and travel across the world to take a virtual tour of museums and artifacts.</font></font></span></p>
<p style="BACKGROUND: white"><span style="COLOR: black"><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">I was so excited. My professors cared. School <em>actually was</em> cool. I immediately jumped on the phone to tell my folks how awesome this whole college thing was. I got my dad on the phone (who teaches 7<sup>th</sup> grade earth science) and asked him if he started using any of this stuff in his classroom. He had no clue what I was talking about or why I was so excited. Five years later, he still has no clue. Imagine how excited his 7<sup>th</sup> grade students would be if he would just use Google Earth to explore the world? Or listen to podcasts of astronauts as they describe the majestic sites they see from outer space? Dad, if you’re reading this… you still have 5 months until you retire, please just try it once! For me! For your students!</font></font></span></p>