PESD Technology

There's a Video in There Somewhere...

2011-01-20T07:44:00.001-07:00

Scenes of Faith North

2011-01-19T16:34:00.000-07:00

Voisse Test

2010-09-28T14:59:00.000-07:00

No Gold Star for Good L.A. Teachers

2010-08-30T07:44:00.002-07:00

Another good article in the L.A. Times series on how to identify effective teachers.

My Thoughts on the Value-Added Flap in L.A. Schools

2010-08-19T07:48:00.001-07:00

I've been following the debate over the L.A. Times story about using value-added analysis to measure teachers' effectiveness in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Here are my thoughts, based on my previous experience as a reporter, teacher, and technology trainer (but not as a statistician):

1. I've read several posts about how the reporters "humiliated" the teachers who were identified as having poor value-added results. I understand there are many factors that may undermine the validity of value-added analysis. But the reporters didn't fabricate the students' test scores. They compared scores from one year to the next, then went to the teachers -- public employees doing a job the public is paying them to do --showed them the data, then asked for their side of the story. That doesn't strike me as an example of humiliation.

2. I understand the objections to the Times' plan to publicly release the entire database, with teachers identified by name. Important context will be missing, and many teachers won't get a chance to tell their side of the story. But there is a paternalistic undercurrent to the objections -- that the public can't be trusted to understand that the value-added data is just one piece of a big puzzle.

3. I don't know the best method to evaluate teacher effectiveness. But I know the current method allows bad teachers to have 30-year careers failing to teach thousands of students.

Dogs: An Usual Guide to School Reform

2010-08-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Great article from the Washington Post.

Are You My Teacher?

2010-08-12T16:32:00.001-07:00

Tweeted by Nancy Rubin.

11 Techy Things for Teachers to Try

2010-08-10T07:23:00.001-07:00

Richard Byrne suggests 11 techy things for teachers to try this year.

Energy Education in PESD #1

2010-08-05T07:49:00.002-07:00

Check out this great MSN Video: Elephants Go For a Dip

2010-07-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

Check out this great MSN Video: Elephants Go For a Dip

Online Video Editing with Jaycut

2010-07-20T15:10:00.007-07:00

Jaycut is an online video editor. Your published videos are stored online.

Password Safety

2010-07-19T08:15:00.002-07:00

Common Craft video on how to create secure passwords.

25 Ed Tech Leaders to Follow, by Lisa Thurman

2010-07-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

25 Ed Tech Leaders to Follow

View more presentations from Lisa Thumann from the CMSCE, Rutgers University.

Xtimeline

2010-07-11T15:22:00.000-07:00

Xtimeline lets you create timelines with text, photos, and videos.

"Friend Bars" at Apple Stores (it's a joke)

2010-07-09T07:36:00.000-07:00

New Apple Friend Bar Gives Customers Someone To Talk At About Mac Products

A Summer Rant

2010-07-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

A summer rant from Will Richardson about parents and their expectations of schools.

Teaching Technology?

2010-07-07T07:48:00.001-07:00

School is Boring!

2010-07-04T14:26:00.002-07:00

A survey by Indiana University shows that most high school students think school is boring.

Myna

2010-06-27T15:57:00.007-07:00

Myna is an online audio editor that is part of the Aviary suite of Web 2.0 tools.

Hip-hop.egg on Aviary.

TKM Screencast

2010-06-16T20:48:00.000-07:00

TKM Character Screencast

2010-06-16T20:29:00.003-07:00

Click on this link to watch the screencast:

TKM Characters

Fotobabble

2010-06-13T10:28:00.002-07:00

Augmented Reality, Explained by Common Craft

2010-06-11T07:27:00.001-07:00

Are Interactive Whiteboards Effective?

2010-06-11T05:08:00.002-07:00

This article from the Washington Post is critical of IAWs.

Don't Terminate California Teachers!

2010-06-10T10:37:00.000-07:00

Hot for Teachers w/ Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green from Megan Fox

The Importance of Letting Your Students Create

2010-06-08T07:53:00.000-07:00

Here's a thought-provoking post from Wes Fryer.

Daniel Pink on Motivation

2010-06-06T17:13:00.002-07:00

Fotobabble

2010-06-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

Fotobabble allows you to upload a photo and record an audio track. Thanks to Richard Byrne for this tip.

Office 2007

2010-05-25T07:46:00.002-07:00

PESD #1 is moving up to Office 2007 next fall. Here is a tutorial created in Prezi by Noreen Strehlow

Office 2007 on Prezi

Sketchcast

2010-05-23T16:07:00.001-07:00

Use Sketchcast to create screencasts and embed them in a your blog or Web site.

Dan Meyer on Math Problem-Solving

2010-05-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Carol Engellman on NCLB

2010-05-13T07:45:00.002-07:00

video platform video management video solutions video player

Grabbabeast

2010-05-11T07:26:00.001-07:00

Grabbabeast allows you to create your own beast and share him (or her) with friends.

Keeping Accents Out of ELL Classrooms

2010-05-10T15:57:00.002-07:00

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Arizona Department of Education has told schools that teachers with heavy accents may not teach English learners.

Too Much Paper

2010-05-06T07:22:00.002-07:00

Wes Fryer points out that there is too much paper in education.

Heard Diversity 2010

2010-05-05T13:31:00.012-07:00

Kenilworth Anti-Bullying Video

2010-05-03T11:18:00.001-07:00

Ask a Biologist Podcast

2010-04-29T14:51:00.003-07:00

These students from Kenilworth were on the Ask-A-Biologist podcast at ASU.

Should We Try to Make Our Students Care About Test Scores?

2010-04-22T08:12:00.000-07:00

From the Living in Dialogue Blog

More from Chris Lehman

2010-04-21T08:22:00.000-07:00

Chris Lehman's speech in New York.

Chris Lehman Beats the Drum

2010-04-20T11:03:00.001-07:00

Thanks to Richard Byrne for this video.

School IT Departments are Overworked

2010-04-20T10:47:00.002-07:00

Read about how school IT departments are overworked.

Avoid Death By PowerPoint!

2010-04-11T17:34:00.001-07:00

Here's a good example of student PowerPoint that isn't a bunch a bullet points. It requires the student to talk to the audience and not just read text on the slides. Thanks to Russ Goerend.

Google Search Tricks

2010-03-31T08:33:00.001-07:00

Tony Vincent offers good tips for using Google Search.

Google Search Tricks on Prezi

Take Control of Your Email

2010-03-26T07:34:00.001-07:00

Tony Vincent at the Arizona K12 Center has some good tips for taking control of your email.

Chartle

2010-03-23T08:20:00.001-07:00

Chartle allows you to create interactive charts & graphs online.

Report problems to embedding@chartle.net

DL Summer Camp Intro

2010-03-10T14:14:00.000-07:00

DL Camp Intro on Prezi

Read Across America: Live from Herrera!

2010-03-02T11:04:00.002-07:00

Herrera school took part in a live Webcast for Read Across America! Below is a short segment from the day-long Webcast.

Emerson Students Help with Olympic Coverage

2010-02-25T15:18:00.003-07:00

Students in Sal Mancilla's 6th grade class at Emerson teamed up with a 12 News reporter who covered the Winter Olympics. They Skyped and emailed each other during the Games. Here are a few 12 News reports featuring the Edison kids.

The Figurative Language Show

2010-02-19T14:15:00.003-07:00

Created by Ms. Bernal's students at Magnet Traditional.

School Bus Wi-Fi

2010-02-12T07:28:00.001-07:00

Vail, AZ schools install Wi-fi on one of its buses and see big improvements in student behavior.

Steve Dembo's Top 10 Web 2.0 Tools

2010-01-30T13:38:00.002-07:00

SMARTBoard Foolishness

2010-01-26T14:15:00.000-07:00

Podbean

2010-01-22T10:23:00.002-07:00

Podbean is a podcasting host that I'm testing. I had been using Gcast, but they are not accepting new uploads as of Feb. 1. Podbean allows you to embed a player into your Web page (see below).

1 Cast

2010-01-22T09:03:00.002-07:00

1 Cast bills itself as "your digital newstand." It aggregates news video clips from various sources and allows you to search for specific topics. You can also embed clips in your blog. Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for this tip.

Turn Any Whiteboard into a SMARTBoard

2010-01-18T16:54:00.003-07:00

New projectors will provide interactive whiteboard capability without an IWB.

I Need My Teacher to Learn 3.0

2010-01-18T06:01:00.002-07:00

Here's a good video, written and performed by Kevin Honeycutt and produced by Charlie Mahoney.

Excel Charts

2010-01-04T09:56:00.002-07:00

Students in the Kenilworth computer class created spreadsheets and charts.

Great Student-Produced Music Videos

2009-12-26T15:43:00.000-07:00

Good Student Videos

2009-12-01T07:48:00.002-07:00

Art Titzel, a middle-school social studies teacher in Pennsylvania, has posted some excellent student videos on his blog.

Odiogo: Text-to-Speech for Your Blog

2009-11-29T18:38:00.003-07:00

Odiogo is a text-to-speech tool that allows readers to listen to your blog posts. The speech tool is nearly human. You can also allow readers to subscribe to your blog via iTunes.

Sound Effects Web Site

2009-11-16T15:09:00.002-07:00

Click here to see a great site for downloading sound effects.

Tech Training vs. Tech Self-Learning

2009-11-16T10:52:00.003-07:00

This Dilbert cartoon is supposed to be funny, but here's a serious question: Should we expect teachers to learn technology (at least some technology) on their own?

Interactive Spelling Bee

2009-11-01T16:32:00.004-07:00

The Interactive Spelling Bee is a good way for students to practice both their spelling and keyboarding skills.

Picture Book Maker

2009-10-23T09:59:00.004-07:00

Picture Book Maker lets you create simple picture books online. Here is an example. Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo for this tip.

Web 2.0 Videos

2009-10-13T11:07:00.002-07:00

Discovery Learning has a good selection of videos explaining Web 2.0 tools. Here is the introductory video. Click here to link to the other videos.

Best Web 2.0 Apps

2009-10-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here is Larry Ferlazzo's List of Best Web 2.0 Apps.

PBS Talking Calculator

2009-10-11T11:06:00.002-07:00

PBS has an online talking calculator. Thanks to Kristen Swanson for this post.

Voki Example

2009-10-08T09:56:00.002-07:00

I'm going to show a class how to use Voki. Here's an example.

Get a Voki now!

Students "Reason Their Way In"

2009-09-27T19:02:00.003-07:00

I urge you to take a look at this blog post by David Warlick. The gist of it is: people who didn't grow up with computers (like many teachers) want to learn a process, then replicate it. People who grew up with computers (like our students) prefer to "reason their way in"; they don't need to have the process memorized.

32 Great Tech Integration Tips

2009-09-24T18:39:00.002-07:00

Thanks to Free Technology for Teachers for posting this slide show.

Why Social Networks Matter

2009-09-18T07:44:00.000-07:00

Smarter Work: Why Social Networks Matter

View more documents from Sacha Chua.

President Obama's Speech to Students

2009-09-07T08:45:00.020-07:00

Here is President's speech to students on Sept. 8, 2009. The top video is better quality. If the top video is not there, play the bottom video, although it may take longer to load.

ARKive

2009-08-31T07:53:00.002-07:00

ARKive is a great source of images and videos of animals. You can download the videos to your computer.

Livebinders

2009-08-23T11:16:00.001-07:00

Livebinders allows you to create tracks of Web pages, images, and pdf files that are easy to navigate. Here is one I made about Leonardo da Vinci.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Do Away with Boring Lectures and Boring PowerPoints

2009-08-17T07:49:00.004-07:00

How do you integrate technology in the classroom? Get rid of the computers! Thanks to Wes Fryer for this post.

The Incredible Shrinking Gigabyte

2009-08-07T15:01:00.004-07:00

Here's a great depiction of technology progress: on the left, one gigabyte in 1980. On the right, one gigabyte today. Thanks to Tony Vincent for this picture.

PESD Tech Training

2009-08-06T13:36:00.002-07:00

I created a Google site named PESD Tech Training as a resource for our teachers. It features screencasts and other tutorials for using technology in the classroom. I welcome training ideas

Download Videos from IDEAL

2009-08-02T17:59:00.004-07:00

A how-to on downloading Discovery Streaming videos from IDEAL.

7 Sins of New Teachers

2009-07-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the 7 "deadly sins" of new teachers.

Craig Barrett on Education

2009-07-22T10:17:00.001-07:00

Former Intel CEO Craig Barrett recently gave this speech about the quality (or lack thereof) of the American K-12 system.

Pima Camp Podcasts

2009-07-19T11:31:00.001-07:00

Here are samples of the podcasts campers created at the Pima Tech Camp last week in Tucson. Several are very creative.

Texting Teen Falls in Manhole

2009-07-13T22:06:00.001-07:00

Skating Babies

2009-07-11T15:28:00.004-07:00

No educational value here...I just love Evian Water's skating babies!

Virtual Presentations

2009-07-02T14:02:00.007-07:00

One of the nice features of this year's NECC (National Educational Computing Conference)was NECC Unplugged. It allowed people who couldn't attend physically (like me) to participate in workshops. They used Elluminate, which allows the presenter to share his desktop with anyone who logs into the session. There is also a chat feature so you can ask questions. The only distraction was that the presenter's desktop was constantly refreshing, and very slowly. Below is a snippet of a session on using Twitter in the classroom.

Fur.ly

2009-07-01T08:54:00.002-07:00

As I monitor NECC from afar I learned about Fur.ly. It lets you create a track of related Web sites. It's similar to Jog the Web, but simpler, and there's no registration.

Vocaroo

2009-07-01T07:41:00.002-07:00

Vocaroo is a delightfully simply tool for recording audio online. You can download the audio file or embed it in a Web site. The audio quality is not perfect, but it's acceptable. The download is a WAV file.

Audacity Screencasts

2009-06-30T15:19:00.005-07:00

I created a series of screencasts about how to use Audacity to create podcasts. They're for the AZ K12 Center Camp Plug & Play next week, but anyone could use them. Watch them here.

Camp Plug and Play Podcast

2009-06-26T15:14:00.001-07:00

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Create Online Quizzes

2009-06-23T15:35:00.002-07:00

My Studiyo allows you create online quizzes with images and video.

&amp;lt;a href="http://www.mystudiyo.com/act90710/mini/go/government_leaders"&amp;gt;government_leaders&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;

Panoramas

2009-06-19T13:03:00.003-07:00

360 Cities has panoramic photos from all over the world. You can embed them in your blog or Web site. Here is Old Town in Scottsdale.

Main St, Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona in USA

Camp Plug & Play/Flagstaff, Completed!

2009-06-13T19:23:00.001-07:00

The Arizona K12 Center finished its first Camp Plug-and-Play in Flagstaff. The reaction of campers seemed to be very positive. I helped with the screencasting strand, and our campers made some impressive screencasts. Here is one about holding fire in your hand.

Camp Plug & Play/Flagstaff

2009-06-10T15:20:00.003-07:00

I'm helping out at the AZ K12 Center's Camp Plug and Play in Flagstaff this week. I'm in the Screencasting strand. We're using Screenflow, an excellent screencasting tool (unfortunately it's Mac only). We're also looking at Jing and ScreenToaster. Here's a short video of our strand in session.

12 Essentials for Tech Integration

2009-06-02T07:19:00.001-07:00

Richard Byrne has published 12 Essentials for Technology Integration in the classroom. It's worth a look.

Bonnie and Clyde

2009-05-29T13:35:00.002-07:00

You can download original documents from the FBI's Web site about the hunt for notorious 1930s gangsters Bonnie and Clyde.

Bonnie & Clyde Bonnie & Clyde algona81 Original FBI document about the hunt for Bonnie & Clyde.

Publish at Scribd or explore others: Essays & Theses School Work Bonnie

MapTrot

2009-05-26T15:50:00.002-07:00

MapTrot allows you to create interactive maps from Google Maps. You need to create an account to save and publish maps.

Faith North Videos

2009-05-21T17:15:00.001-07:00

Ms. Owen and her students have created a blog to showcase their videos. Take a look, it's quite impressive.

Reading at Herrera

2009-05-07T15:32:00.006-07:00

I had great fun reading with Mr. Trout's students at Herrera. We recorded them with a Webcam.

Avoid the Swine Flu!

2009-05-01T17:47:00.002-07:00

Great student video by Prep students about how not to get the swine flu.

Frog Scrapblog

2009-04-24T13:39:00.001-07:00

The computer classes at Kenilworth made Scrapblogs about the life cycle of a frog. Here is one of the best.