The Millenials: Transforming Education from the Inside Out

The 'Millennials' Usher in a New Era
cnet News: November 17, 2005

Another news posting highlights the phenomena that the generation born after 1980 have a 'digital native' sense of technology and it's place within their learning, communication, ntertainment and, of course, social life.

The author does a good job of not just explaining the phenomena, but really why everyone believes it has the potential to accomplish what we haven't been able to architect on our own.

Nortel Education

Nortel's work to support new and innovative approaches to technology powered learning are showcased in their new site.

Case studies, profiles and background on campus/school environments that are well-positioned to take advantage of Nortel LearniT are showcased.

Nortel LearniT Partners with Orlando Tech to Cover ISMF

Nortel LearniT is pleased to announce a programming partnership with the Media Production Program at Orlando Tech. The school, a part of the Orange County Public School System in Orlando, Florida, is dedicated to preparing students for 21st century careers.

Under the direction of Television Production Supervisor, Mr. Paul Read, students from the program will produce sessions from this years International Student Media Festival (ISMF). The sessions focus on developing core technology skills among students and teachers. The finished sessions will be distributed through the Nortel LearniT portal as a part of its Support iT repository.

The Awesome Library

Cathy came across this great resource of resources. This collection is maintained by an education professor who reviews all submissions and does the catalogging and categorizing.

This is a terrific tool that teachers, students and parents could use to find key teaching resources as well as supplemental instructional materials.

http://www.awesomelibrary.org/

Examples of Online Tutorials

The people from the company who manufactures the SmartBoard have done a great job in putting together very effective, brief, mediated tutorials on how to use their products, with an academic focus. http://www.smarttech.com/trainingcenter/tutorials.asp

I think that in addition to this approach, having students and teachers, create their own version of such 'mini-tutorials' via digital video, would further enhance other users experiences. It is our desire to foster such a creative, and useful approach to training others on how they are successfully using technology in engaging and effective ways.

8th Grade Social Studies

A recent inquiry from an 8th grade social studies teacher about what could Nortel LearniT offer them resulted in the following reply. I thought that I'd share that so others could see what may be helpful in getting started using Nortel LearniT.

Nortel LearniT has hundreds of free lesson plans, video tutorials and other teaching resources that are designed to integrate the use of technology into your subject based instruction. If you are new to our site, I would encourage you to take a minute to look at our Getting Started page and a short (just over 1-minute long) introduction video there. It will explain where to look for what resources would be of interest to you on our web site. http://www.nortellearnit.org/LearnitGet_Started.aspx

Once you've seen the basic structure and navigation tips for our site, please feel free to explore. One suggestion to help your exploration is to look at the left most panel drop down window and select a technology topic that interests. you. If you're not sure, start with Discovering the Internet; it may be basic information for you, but it will allow you to see the format for most of our video tutorials.

Next, do a search in the Lesson Plan center section of the site. Look for something that might be of interest to what you'll be covering in class a few weeks or month from now. I like the lesson plan on Political Cartoons and it features a hands-on project using digital imaging skills.

As you find resources in these two columns you will notice that the 3rd, right most side panel will present an assortment of related or supporting content. Here you will find items to print, evaluation tools and different types of videos, those produced by other students, that sowcase the projects that they have been involved with. Take a look at the "Kids in Action" video on Student Perspectives on Presenting with Technology. I think your 8th grade students will enjoy seeing what other kids did with Powerpoint projects in their classes.

After you have had a chance to explore our offering, I'd love to hear your opinion as to whether there is anything that you are able to use. We're always hungry to get feedback from teachers, and we're always looking for new ways to help educators have great experiences with the technology in their classrooms.

Digital Divide Network

I have been a fan of the work that the Benton Foundation has done for years and this is no exception. The Digital Divide Network is the Internet's largest community for educators, activists, policy makers and concerned citizens working to bridge the digital divide. At DDN, you can build your own online community, publish a blog, share documents and discussions with colleagues, and post news, events and articles. Membership is free and open to all. Check it out online at: www.digitaldividenetwork.org

Interactive Games for Education

It seems like there is a new report out every week about video games and learning. Some tout it's potential to positively impact learning, while others raise concerns about being 'too soft' an approach to teaching our kids. Last week I had the pleasure of learning about an exciting gaming project being co-developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Disney Online.

Hot Shot Business is a free Internet simulation game for 9-12 year olds that teaches kids about running their own businesses. The game blends the fun of interactive gaming, with important, real-world lessons that teach kids entrepreneurial concepts.

In the same vein as the Oregon Trail, Roller Coaster Tycoon and other simulation games, Hot Shot Business aims to engage, but to pack some valuable experiences in those having fun.

Take a look at the site yourself and tell us what you think about this approach to teaching and learning.

Online Professional Development that Integrates Video

This NSF funded project does a good job of bringing together the elements that engage and allow for interaction that builds learning. Teachers' Domain is a project by the Public TV station in Boston, producer of many of the leading scientific programs on PBS (like NOVA) and was built to showcase how their TV programs could be restructured to have more value online.

What interests me most is the design of the 'courses' that support the teaching of specific subjects. It is through the subject pedagogy that technology is embedded, and hence, the literacy skills are integrated.

What Nortel LearniT could and should provide are short tutorials that work around 'templates' of the materials that we can collect and/or provide that allow other teachers to do the same thing, but with other rich media materials that they have available. Growing adoption of rich media repositories from Discovery Education (United Streaming), NASA and others, are ideally postured to work with this strategy. What needs to be built, are the 'roadmaps', such as the structure within Teachers' Domain, that allows teachers to build a true learning experience around their core subject resources.

Do you know of other examples of similar online training using rich media collections?

m-Learning Is An Emergent Application

The Guardian (of the UK) is reporting on several recent initiatives to harness the near ubiquitous nature of cell phones for education and learning. This piece points out that many mobility applications in education connect with students who have trouble connecting with more traditional forms of learning.

I wonder if these (and other) initiatives are focusing on 'equal to' instructional objectives or if they are broaching higher achievement goals?

Would there be interest among schools to integrate training on how to use m-Learning from Nortel LearniT?

New Study Documents Tech Integration Challenges

"Effective Access: Teachers' Use of Digital Resources in STEM Teaching" takes a specific look at how high school teachers use digital libraries in their classrooms. The Education Development Center (EDC) was one of the earliest recipients of the National Science Foundations' (NSF) National Digital Science Library grants (NDSL). While the report is not 'generalizable' to all HS Science teachers, it offers an affirmation of many de facto interpretations as to the obstacles to broader adoption and more effective use of technology infused into teaching.

What I found most intriguing in the report was the sense that there is a major disconnect between developers of digital resources and users. This issue is at the core of Nortel LearniT's strategy to instead focus on building the capacity of users (teachers and students) to create digital resources that THEY need to enhance their instruction, as opposed to promoting a centralized production model (the source of the current 'disconnect').

Does this make sense to you?

Friends We Meet Along the Way

One of the best things about attending NECC is meeting so many talented and fascinating people. We are always happy to hear from teachers and students we've met, and learn about the wonderful things that they have been doing with technology infused learning. We met Jennifer this year at NECC and she dropped us a nice note to follow up on our meeting. We learned that she works with Gifted kids in Pennsylvania and is a fan of ASCD's Understanding by Design. We also are impressed with her review of Todd Oppenheimers' book "The Flickering Mind".

As for you, please take a moment to drop us a note and share the great work that you've been doing! staff@NortelLearniT.org

More on Videogames and Education

Much has been written and discussed concerning the role, and potential, of video games in student learning. A recent article in Converge reports on the University of Wisconsin's conference on games and learning. In the piece, the author draws a linkage between the attributes of a well designed video game that is created for educational purposes, with those of a good teacher. He writes "They (teachers) know how to engage and motivate students to pay attention, and to keep focused for long and productive periods on specific learning activities". He goes on to suggest "Like good teachers, the video games generate social excitement and energy that spill into planned activities."

Do you agree with the author and what are your thoughts concerning the trend to explore this nascent phenomena of harnessing the power of videogaming for the purposes of academic pursuits?

Teens Are Truly The Digital Natives

This recent report found that the number of teenagers using the Internet has grown 24 percent in the past four years and 87 percent of those between the ages of 12 and 17 are online. Compared to four years ago, teens' use of the Internet has intensified and broadened as they log on more often and do more things when they are online. Compared to four years ago, teens' use of the Internet has intensified and broadened as they log on more often and do more things when they are online.

Training on How To Use Technology Still #1 Need

After years of emphasizing the need to support the use of technology in the classroom, a recent study shows that it is still underutlized due to insufficient professional development. This article in the Courier Journal described how most of the $30 million spent on computer technology in Jefferson County public school classrooms in the past decade is not helping students learn. The leading cause behind this conclusion is no surprise in that investments in hardware and software are made with inadequate support for the teacher to find time to learn how to use these tools effectively.

One of the keys to solving this dilemma is to embed training in the experience of using the technology. Simply put: learn by doing. Couple this with the natural interest that kids have in using technology by channeling their interest towards learning objectives.

What do you think?

Technology Integration vs. Technology Tools

As the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) gets its 2005 show underway the question that has been bothering me is, what, if any difference is there between Technology Integration and Technology Tools?

I thought that I had a clear understanding before I was deluged with emails from vendors and presenters who are going to be at this show. Technology integration is where the emphasis is on the core instruction and there may be some use of technology to either illustrate key learning objectives or to demonstrate how they can be applied in varying situations.

But today, it seems everyone has claimed the label of being about 'Technology integration' and it has greatly expanded this definition. Technology tools such as eLearning applications, ed tech software and hardware all claim that they permit, support or even deliver integration within instruction.

So the term itself may not be as relevant as it was just a short time ago. At its root definition, technology integration once meant that it (technology) was to be carefully woven with a specific objective or task. Perhaps today's definition is simply being about the act of using or having technology included in the educational process.

I'm not saying that the broadening of the use of the term is necessarily a bad thing, I just think that the goal of de-emphasizing the role that technology plays is to focus on the end result of helping teachers to teach, and students to learn. So what does technology integration mean for education? I believe it should not be about imposing new ways to use technology in the classroom or creating additional tasks for teachers and students to have to accomplish using tech tools because they are available.

As you begin your summer, or as you head to NECC, or if you are hard at work in continuing your pursuit to provide and improve the educational system, I would love to hear your thoughts on what has happened and more importantly, how at this moment in time, we have the potential to truly transform education by inspiring learning.

NetDay: Chat Today from 3:45 - 4:30PM Eastern Time

I came across this and thought it sounded interesting. Have any of you taken part in any chats with NetDay in the past?

NetDay Student Voices Resource Center:
http://www.netday.org/SVRC/index.htm

Today at 3:45 (warm-up chat at 3:30):
Focus Chat with Susan Patrick, Director of the Office of Educational Technology

Topic:
In January, the Department of Education released a National Education Technology Plan. The national plan was written with student input and with students in mind. This is your chance to ask questions about the plan and share your ideas with the national director of the Office of Education Technology.

About NetDay SVRC:
NetDay Student Voices Resource Center is a comprehensive research and collaboration space that provides resources to engage and involve students in technology-related decision-making. Our aim is to connect student voices with teachers, community members, government representatives, businesses, and others involved with technology in K-12 schools.NetDay is a national, education technology nonprofit, whose mission is to connect every child to a brighter future. Our direct services, volunteer opportunities and original research help students, teachers, administrators, parents, and community members develop capacity for effective technology use in learning environments. We began as a school wiring initiative and have grown to support digital divide communities and educational organizations with computers, Internet connections, and people.

How to Overcome Technology Integration Barriers

Are you one of those teachers overwhelmed by the prospect of “integrating technology” into your classroom? Do you secretly laugh when you hear all of this talk about technology and how it is “so important”?

“Get real,” you say to yourself. You may teach in a school that allows your class access to the computer lab only once every three weeks – for 30 minutes at a time. You may have only one or even zero computers in your classroom. You may have little or no experience at “surfing on the net.” You are frustrated with all of the new adoptions and are skeptical at any suggestion of “learning something new.” Your “plate is full” and you wonder when the “pendulum of education” will swing back the other direction and allow you to do that which you do best . . . educate. You find yourself thinking: “The students already know how to work on the computer; they will learn it later or from somewhere else; I need to focus on reading, writing, and math.” Does this sound familiar? Read this full story from Tech Learning news online at: http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=159901636

Why Broadband?

Educational Web sites are also seeking to take maximum advantage of the speed, social-networking possibilities, and technological wizardry afforded by broadband. Consider that 40% of parents who sign up for broadband access do so with the intention of helping their kids with schoolwork, according to research firm Grunwald Associates in Bethesda, Md. Examining the move from dial-up to broadband, Grunwald found that 13% of parents and 23% of youngsters report that students earned better grades as a result of the broadband connection, according to Grunwald's 2003 study of 2,300 students, ages 6 to 17. The study also showed that, with broadband, children end up spending 20% more time doing homework, despite all that online chatting.

Expect to see continuing major improvements in distance learning, too. Computer-networking gearmaker Nortel (NT ) is developing a system that will allow students to watch, say, an archeologist located at a dig site across the world in real time, says Walt Megura, the company's general manager of broadband networking. They would be able to talk with the professor and fellow students as freely as they would have done in a real-life classroom. Read the full story at BusinessWeek online

Kids Identities are Defined by Net

Experts call the Internet the socializing institution of modern society. So kids today have radically different approaches to using the tools of 21st century communication. They are imbedded in their conciousness as the way to share, react, and essentially, communicate. This recent Toronto Star article reports on this phenomena and what researchers are trying to learn.
http://www.thestar.com Search for 'Wired, Like Totally'

Student Intern Program

Nortel LearniT is in the process of developing our Student Intern Program and could use your help. We want to design a program that provides students, grades 7-14, with hands-on experience in producing and distributing digital media. Some of the traits of our program will include: Working with other students to create group projects; Projects created must fit within one of the content areas we are establishing; Projects shall have an instructional/documentary objective tied to our core Discover iT curriculum; Projects should be both self - contained, and those that could constitute one program in a series of offerings.

One concept we are considering is to have each intern create their own 'bio' video as a means of introducing themselves to future interns working with Nortel LearniT and it's Centers and Charters. A follow-up may be to have these interns create a brief testimonial video when they are nearing the completion of their internship. See the Fraser Institute http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/studentcentre/intern.asp?tnav=1&scnav=2 for an example of how one program accomplishes this.

If you have any ideas or suggestions to help us structure our program to be of a benefit to both the kids participating and our content offerings, please post your comments.

As more and more schools have begun using laptops as a means to provide students with the kind of anytime, anywhere learning that is needed to revolutionize education in the digital millennium, this online blog has emerged to help educators keep tabs on the latest laptop initiatives and see how teachers across the country are using the technology to transform learning.
 

Nortel LearniT Plans for It's Newest Content 

We Need Your Help In Designing our Newest Unit

Nortel LearniT is embarking on the production of a new 'unit' to support educators and their students in their efforts to integrate the use of technology as an organic part of their teaching and learning. Like other units this new effort will include online resources that both lead and support individuals in their efforts to systematically involve the use of digitial literacy in their classrooms and in their studies.

Before we progress down this development path, we need your assistance in clarifying what our approach will entail. Among the many questions we must clearly answer are issues such as:

1.) What is the right 'curriculum' to use to reach our educator and student audiences?
2.) What is most needed by the teaching and learning community to support their integrative use of technology?
3.) How does this commitment and approach differ from other available online resources?
4.) What components will be most effective in delivering to our target audience the resources and approach to support the goal of technology infused learning?

This is the first of several posts designed to facilitate your feedback, suggestions and input. Please consider responding to this post, or create one of your own.

A Good Example of A Teacher's Experiment w/Blogs

Betsy Rogers, 20-year teaching veteran from Alabama, and the 2003 National Teacher of the Year, is now working at the "neediest school" in Jefferson County, Alabama, and keeping a blog of her experience there. In this week's entry, she finds herself asking: "Am I the right person to work at this school? Can I really help and have an impact? Do I have what it takes?"

One Teacher's Philosophy on Technology Integration

Johnny Hansell is a 3rd Grade teacher in a large urban school district. As he moves through his fourth year in the classroom, he has realized how valuable technology can be. Technology is NOT an activity unto itself, but as an itegral part of the core subjects that he must teach to a diverse group of learners. Read Johnny's essay in a recent article in Tech Learning. http://techlearning.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=60401514

Blogging Clicks With Colleges
Interactive Web Pages Changing Class Participation
First the Internet turned colleges upside down, extending classrooms and changing the way people learned. Next came Napster and other file-sharing tools, then Web logs. Now blogs are morphing into the next big thing on campus: wikis.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25305-2005Mar10.html

Having technology in classrooms doesn't mean that schools are revolutionizing teaching and learning, introducing project-based learning and making other departures from the traditional factory model for schools. Many teachers use computers simply to keep track of attendance and grades, and many students use the Internet mostly for drill and practice, word processing or to shop for a prom dress. Read this Carnegie Foundation Report that showcases where technology integration is working and how. http://www.carnegie.org/reporter/06/learning/

The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) is hosting a press conference to release a new national study of young people on their media use.

WHEN: Wednesday, March 9, 2005 at 9:30 -- 12:00 a.m. EST

WHAT: Panel discussion and release of Generation M: Media in the Lives of 8-18 Year-olds, a national survey of young people which measures use of TV and video, music, video games, computers, movies, and print. The study and forum explores the following questions:

* How much time do young people spend with media compared to other activities such
as hanging out with parents, physical activity, and pursuing hobbies?
* What rules, if any, do parents impose on their children regarding media use?
* Has the use of "new" media such the Internet and video games affected time spent
on "old" media such as TV, music, and reading?
* What kinds of media do young people prefer?
* What kind and how much media are in young people’s bedrooms?
* What is the home media environment like?

WHO: Drew Altman, President and CEO of Kaiser will discuss the implications of the findings and Vicky Rideout, who directed the study and is Vice President at Kaiser will present the detailed findings, followed by a discussion moderated by Jeff Greenfield, Senior Political Analyst at CNN with the following panelists: Michael Copps, Federal Communications Commission; Common, Grammy Award-winning Hip Hop Artist; Jordan Levin, former CEO, The WB Television Network; Donald Roberts, author It's Only Rock and Roll and professor at Stanford University; Juliet Schor, author, Born to Buy and professor at Boston College; Alain Tascan, Vice President and General Manager, Electronic Arts Montreal

WHERE: Barbara Jordan Conference Center, Kaiser Family Foundation Building, 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, D.C. (one block west of Metro Center)

RSVP: Tiffany Ford, (202) 347-5270 or tford@kff.org 

What Does Research Say About Technology Integration?

What does research say about using Technology effectively?

Research exists now that helps define where technology can most effectively impact student learning.

· Students should be motivated, engaged and learning actively
· Learning should be authentic
· Learning should be collaborative
· Students should be the explorers and producers of knowledge
· Instruction and learning should be integrated across curriculum
· Students should be proficient in digital age literacy skills
· Assessments should be performance based

Related technology indicators and frameworks.

2005 NECC Conference Registration Deadline

The early deadline for the June 27 - 30 National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) is rapidly approaching on MARCH 31, 2005.

Be sure to look online for more information at: http://www.iste.org/necc

Research on State of eLearning in K-12 Schools

The US Department of Education released a landmark study that provides the first-ever data on distance education in elementary and secondary Schools. This report was released on Wednesday, March 2, 2005.

CNN's news story about the findings of the report and examples of the research.

The Deptartments Press Release