• About Miguel
  • Article Roundup
  • My Favorite Apps
  • Published Writing

Around the Corner

~ …give that you may live, for to withhold is to perish. (Adapted from Kahlil Gibran)

Around the Corner

Monthly Archives: June 2011

Texas CTO Conference 2011

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by mguhlin in Conferences, Education, Texas, texascto

≈ Leave a comment

http://www.siliconchisel.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/cto.jpg

Steve Young (Judson ISD, San Antonio, Tx) was kind enough to share a link to the resources from the Texas CTO Conference which took place recently. Kudos to all presenters for sharing their focus on cloud computing in light of big cuts. I regret I was not able to attend (our offices are moving and personal commitments that kept me at home).

Below are some of the highlights worth taking a look at, stripping out the agenda and other stuff:
1) Education Technology in Transition: An Update from the Texas Legislative Session
Anita Givens, Associate Commissioner of Standards and Programs, Texas Education Agency
Educators know that these times are fraught with across-the-board cuts that bring uncertainty to planning and implementing technology initiatives.  Ms. Givens will provide a state technology leader’s view of the legislative session and special session.

2) Going Google – Coppell ISD and Spring ISD

3) “To the Cloud”:  Moving an Organization to the Microsoft Cloud –Plano ISD and Judson ISD (PDFs)


4)  Bring Your Own Laptop (BYOL) Programs – Goose Creek ISD and Lewisville ISD (PDF)

5) Apps in a Vendor-Neutral Cloud: Smart Cloud Computing – Austin ISD (PDF)


http://goo.gl/t5WhX
Get Blog Updates via Email!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

PingIt! pingthis();
Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Encrypting for Dropbox

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, Privacy

≈ 1 Comment

Update 01/3/2012: I now recommend the free, open source AESCrypt in lieu of AxCrypt as a simple, easy to use cross-platform encryption tool. Find out more here.

I wrote about Encrypting Your Dropbox files before, but found this LifeHacker article touting the greatness of BoxCrypt. Of course, I immediately looked for something like what is shown in the screenshot below:

I’ve highlighted the FREE option. If you click the Download Now button, you get the Windows version.
Installing the Mac or Ubuntulinux versions requires a bit of work. I’m sure it’s not impossible, but at this point, TrueCrypt.org remains my favorite cross-platform, free open source solution and recommendation.

Update 01/3/2012: I now recommend the free, open source AESCrypt in lieu of AxCrypt as a simple, easy to use cross-platform encryption tool. Find out more here.


http://goo.gl/t5WhX
Get Blog Updates via Email!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

PingIt! pingthis();
Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Google+ for Your Mobile Device

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by mguhlin in GooglePlus, MobileDevices

≈ Leave a comment

I was just wondering how I was going to access Google+ on my Android (or you on your iPhone) and then saw the link….

http://www.google.com/mobile/+/
You can get it to send you the link to your phone and you are set. See you on the move!

Update: Darn, it’s not working on my Motorola Cliq running Android 1.5. Sigh. No upgrades for me until next year (that’s the sound of teardrops on my keyboard).


http://goo.gl/t5WhX
Get Blog Updates via Email!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

PingIt! pingthis();
Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Google+ Circles and More

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by mguhlin in GooglePlus

≈ 6 Comments

Ok, it’s early and I’m writing this in response to a detailed TechCrunch blog entry, Walking Around in Circles. Several points are made:

  • The old “I don’t want my boss or my mom seeing my drunken pictures” thing is the oft-cited rationale for why we need groups. But Twitter and now Facebook have slowly been changing that mentality in the public psyche. Increasingly, everything we do online is becoming public. You can say you hate it all you want, but it’s becoming more accepted each day. And this will only continue.

  • This is the company that wants to organize all of the world’s data. In order to do that, don’t they need all of that data to be public? Doesn’t it seem like they should be pushing the fully public Twitter mentality more than private group sharing? It sure does.
My initial response to the blog entry was posted on Google+ but I thought I’d throw it here as well. 

The author of that blog entry makes some good points but just because people haven’t had easy access–which Circles provides–to a feature that protects their privacy, doesn’t mean they won’t embrace it when they see it. Also, one of the neat features is that Google+ enables you to email people NOT in your Circles…I spammed 111 people yesterday with a link to Chris Lehmann‘s ISTE Keynote in one Stream or Spark or whatever this is and it was WAY easier than doing so via Gmail. Could this mean vendors/spammers will find it a convenient tool to use?

As to the specific bullets I quote earlier in this blog entry, I like the idea of more finely grained controls to disseminate information and share stuff with others. It’s all about “nuance” that Google+ is trying for rather than the blunt bludgeon that is Facebook and Twitter and other networks.

As to the second bullet, consider that Google is a part of EVERY conversation, whether it’s public or not. Let’s not be naive. Ah well, short reflections in the early morning hours. I like Google+ and only time will tell if the rest of the world will.


http://goo.gl/t5WhX
Get Blog Updates via Email!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

PingIt! pingthis();
Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Embarking on the Journey – #Google+

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by mguhlin in GooglePlus

≈ 1 Comment

Over the last 48 hours, there’s been a lot of hype about Google Plus, what it can do, etc. But what grabs me about the advertising is “nuance.” So, I found myself asking colleagues for a Google + invitation earlier tonight (30 minutes ago), and now, thanks to one person’s generosity, I am about to accept that invitation (a portion is shown above in the screenshot). And, Google Certified Teachers are sharing changes they’d like to see….

Before I take a look, I thought I’d reflect on my hopes for Google Plus:
  1. Facebook changes its privacy settings when it serves them, not me. I hope Google+ will give me more control so I can funnel content to the right audiences.
  2. RSS feeds and integration of content so I don’t have to mess with Ping.fm, Plurk, etc.
  3. It would be nice to more easily differentiate delivery of my posts so that not everyone is bugged by my posts (e.g. some family/friends say, “Miguel, why are you always on task?”)
  4. Image gallery integration and control
  5. A replacement for Skype, and all that now that Microsoft took them over
  6. All things.
See? That wasn’t so hard. Ok, here I go….
About to Join
After I click the JOIN button, this pops up:

And, that’s it!

I really like the Circles idea…this is what drew me to Google+ and I hope will allow me to drop Facebook. I immediately started going through my addressbook (it pulls your contacts in for you) and sorting them…gee, what do you do with “cross-over” folks? Mix ’em up!

What’s neat is that it pulled my Picasa images in without problem….
Here’s what someone else’s profile looks like….
First impression? Love it. I’ll be opening this up instead of my gmail first thing from now on.

Oh, how to invite folks…going to try this next:


http://goo.gl/t5WhX
Get Blog Updates via Email!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

PingIt! pingthis();
Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

Inspiring 5 Conversations Blog Posts

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by mguhlin in Education, Library2.0

≈ Leave a comment

To be honest, I had no idea that 5 Conversations I don’t want to have anymore would inspire such interest. I’ve been tracking visitors from all walks of life, educators from other countries than the United States, and I’m grateful for the feedback.

Even more exciting is that 5 Conversations has inspired another blog post (it’s all about conversations, right?) by Lib-Girl. Check out the first paragraph and then read the rest on her blog:

The other day I ran across this post about educational conversations that have run their course. That is to say, ed-chat (not to be confused with #edchat) topics of discussion that have been discussed to death. We’ve all heard of educational “sacred cows,” well… these are their “dead horse” companions. Naturally, this got me thinking about a similar list of library related conversations that I am tired of having. 

Read the rest over At the Adventures of Library Girl!
What 5 Conversations do you want to stop having?


http://goo.gl/t5WhX
Get Blog Updates via Email!

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

PingIt! pingthis();
Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

MyNotes – LMS Transformation

30 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by mguhlin in CourseManagementSystem, Education, LearningManagementSystem, OnlineLearning

≈ Leave a comment


I love how this opinion, especially the title, was written!! Kudos to Gary Brown.

My Notes

LMS, Tear Down This Wall! — Campus Technology

    • LMS, Tear Down This Wall! For the LMS to remain relevant in higher education, it must move beyond the classroom and integrate seamlessly with the learning opportunities presented by the web. By Gary Brown06/29/11
      • The LMS will change the nature of instruction and assessment in the same way a granite wall changes the flow of a river. Over the last 25 years or so, we have watched as the wall dammed the flow of learning and contained it.
        • As pointed out in Glenda Morgan’s watershed study, “Faculty Use of Course Management Systems,
          • the primary benefits of the LMS were in the area of classroom management.
            • The LMS brought the convenience of online grade books, resource distribution, and a drop box for student submissions–the utilities of academic hygiene.
              • Instead of the LMS, they used wikis, blogs, and emerging Web 2.0 resources.
                • The future of the LMS can be summarized in four points.
                  • relevance to the kinds of initiative-based and authentic learning that it will be used to support.
                    • seamlessly integrated into the World Wide Web
                      • learning is fundamentally and irrepressibly social in nature
                        • Educators must evolve
                          • agents responsible for educational strategy, activity, and assessment design.
                            • mediators for learners
                              This message was sent to you by mguhlin via Diigo


                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                              Enter your email address:

                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                              PingIt! pingthis();
                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                              Bombs Away Technology – Training…Not Part of the Plan

                              29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, Leadership

                              ≈ Leave a comment

                              Adapted from Source at:
                              http://www.impactlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/bombsaway.jpg
                              Have you found a decrease in training on technology the new status quo in your organization?

                              I was conversing with a colleague today and he shared that at a recent gathering of K-12 Chief Technology Officers, the topic of training educators on new technology came up. There seemed to a prevailing tendency reported among the CTOs to roll out new technologies without setting up formalized training for the end users. My take on this new trend was that it was not out of necessity that formalized training was not part of the equation, but rather part of a new “process” for introducing new technologies to educators. (Read More)

                              Earlier this evening, I found myself meditating on the recent wave of cuts to Educational Technology staff across the State of Texas. As “training” and professional learning facilitation opportunities switch from one size fits all workshops (e.g. Intro to the Internet) to meeting the niche needs of high-end users (e.g. Analyzing Social Media as a Tool for Mathematical Thinking), comments like the ones above become more critical to examine.

                              Workshop Description: Analyzing Social Media as a Tool for Mathematical Thinking – Wondering how social media can impact your life? This hands-on workshop will provide insights and guidance in engaging students in the use of social media connections employing WolframAlpha.com and bridging differential calculus and physics concepts. Participants will construct models of particle physics that represent their social media engagement, measuring the slope of the tangent for their reputation.  Earn CPE and graduate hours. Note: This is a fake class Miguel made up for fun.

                              In the excerpt below, Jose Vega remarks on the blog entry from EdTechSandyK:

                              In my opinion, trainers not only find the related value to the job, but also find ways to facilitate the use of the technologies. It’s not simply learning the mechanics of using technologies.

                              How to training and mechanics of using technology may be considered as almost unnecessary at a time when you can hop online, access Youtube-hosted video tutorials…oh, wait. That’s right. You work in a school district that blocks YouTube.com. 
                              Hmm…let’s try that again.
                              Ok, using your free Clear, your tethered Android or iPhone, or PCcard from AT&T, Verizon or Sprint, hop online and access YouTube.com to learn how to do something. Or, read one of the popular blogs available that addresses the HOW TO of using a particular tool. Most cloud computing tools aren’t difficult and you can pick them up with some dedication of time.

                              Having observed the same issue–just throw the technology out there and let’s see if it works–in various places, I’m not surprised that it is a trend among CTOs. The problem is a growing one and coming to be reflected in budget considerations, such as that represented by this excerpt from a goodbye letter a technology director in Texas shared on a statewide email list:

                              Unfortunately the district leadership felt Educational Technology was not a priority and we fell to the budget axe. The attitude seems to be that technology integration will just happen without a dedicated team leading focused on the professional development side.  (Source: Email shared on 06/29/2011 with TCEA TEC-SIG List)

                              The problem in the excerpt above reflects the growing possibility that edtech is a wasted investment…after all, not all teachers are using technology effectively. If technology people can learn how to use a technology, why can’t everyone else? Or, technology has gotten so easy, anyone can learn it.

                              Again, the value of what it means to be an educator is called into question. We all employ pencils but you might use it to work out differential calculus while I’m adding up my grocery bill.

                              Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/
                              thumb/0/0f/Tangent_to_a_curve.svg/200px-Tangent_to_a_curve.svg.png
                              But then, it seems obvious that the most techie folks, who long ago learned how to teach themselves new technologies, would advocate this perspective. Worse, learning in isolation, a dialogue between technology and the learner can be problematic.
                              You see, one of the keys to learning in these times IS taking advantage of connections to learn how to collaborate using the new technology tools available to us. While some CTOs may see learning how to use productivity tools like MS Office, navigate the Windows desktop, etc. as easy to achieve, in fact, a requirement of being an employee, much less a teacher, it’s not so easy for educational uses.
                              I wouldn’t be surprised if CTOs perceived technology as it is now–a box that runs certain programs that should be common knowledge–as an appliance we should all know how to use. The problem is, that’s not what technology is now or what it is rapidly changing into.
                              That undoubtedly throws a wrench in the works for technology directors and those who support infrastructure. What technology is now is an ever-evolving dialogue, involving collaboration and multi-modal communications. Instead of simple boxes and wires that can be easily planned for like a train on railroad track map, each person becomes an uncontrollable, sometimes untraceable resource for someone else on the network…and my network may include people beyond the scope of a CTO’s planning.
                              The trend towards dumping technologies on teachers and expecting them to learn to use it without formalized training isn’t the real problem. The real problem is coming to grips with the simple fact that the technologies CTOs are dumping on people are no longer the right technologies to share. And, if leadership is supporting CTOs in this, that they have forgotten the processes teachers go through to blend technologies–no matter how simple or complex–into teaching and learning for their students.

                              Some tips (not in any particular order) to avoid the “bombs away” technology approach:
                              1. Meet with stakeholders–classroom teachers–before investing in interactive whiteboards or any other technology and get their support.
                              2. Revise curriculum and require professional learning for C&I staff.
                              3. Encourage district staff to model the use of new technologies and give them feedback on that modeling so they can grow.
                              4. Build online support communities–some may prefer professional learning communities–that facilitate dialogue about the messy mayhem, not just the shining successes. 
                              5. “Touch base” regularly to connect with users and address problems as early as possible during implementation.
                              6. Respond to problems quickly, less than 24 hours, so that people know what that you are as committed as they are (if not more so).
                              7. Take advantage of models such as the Concerns-Based Adoption Model (the Levels of Teaching Innovation (LOTI) is based on this) to have vocabulary that helps you discuss change.
                              What would you add or subtract (my level of math) to the list of tips above?

                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                              Enter your email address:

                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                              PingIt! pingthis();
                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                              MyNotes – Protecting Confidential Student Records = #FAIL

                              29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, MyNotes, Privacy, TechTips

                              ≈ 1 Comment

                              Update 01/3/2012: I now recommend the free, open source AESCrypt in lieu of AxCrypt/NCrypt as a simple, easy to use cross-platform encryption tool. Find out more here.

                              Image Source: http://gadgetsteria.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/confidential.jpg


                              Contracting with an outside entity, even if it’s a state entity? Important questions to ask include the following:

                              1. How will you safeguard our confidential data?
                              2. If the data is to be put on portable computers or devices, are you encrypting it?
                              3. Who exactly will have access to confidential data?
                              It’s funny how many embarrassments could be eliminated if schools and those they contract with would take steps. Some quick reminders:
                              • Encrypting School Confidential Data
                              • TrueCrypt encryption for Windows, Mac, and Linux computers
                              • Ncrypt encryption tool for Windows and Linux computers


                              MyNotes – 

                              West superintendent critical of state’s  failure to protect student records

                              Excerpt from  Matt Brennan For The Beacon-News June 20, 2011 9:50PM

                              • West Aurora School Superintendent James Rydland was highly critical of the state this week over the recent stolen identities and records of about 10,000 students and staff from 42 northern Illinois school districts. Among those districts were West Aurora and Kaneland.
                              • Two weeks ago, two laptop computers belonging to the Harrisburg Project, a subcontractor of the Illinois State Board of Education, were stolen from a vehicle in Palatine. About 1,800 special education students, and several staff from the West Aurora district had their Social Security numbers and student identifications on those laptops.

                              • The state subcontractor should not have been traveling with this information in an unsecure format, Rydland complained this week. 
                              • The staff data stored on the computers included name, demographics, Social Security number, teacher certification number and work assignment. 
                              • The student data included resident school district, birth date, name, student identification number, Social Security number, student’s identified disability, bilingual special education and other information.



                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                              Enter your email address:

                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                              PingIt! pingthis();
                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                              Creating Music Online

                              29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                              Posted by mguhlin in AudioTools, Podcasting, TechTips

                              ≈ Leave a comment

                              Richard Byrne (Free Technology for Teachers) has a great entry up entitled 7 Tools Students Can Use to Create Music Online about creating music using online tools. He writes…

                              …when creating multimedia digital stories the best way to avoid any kind of copyright issues is to have students create their own sounds and images to include in their projects. Here are some tools that students can use to create their own sounds online.

                              Then goes on to share some wonderful tools. One of the ones he misses–although someone is quick to point it out in the comments–is one of my favorites, Aviary.com’s Myna Audio Editor. This is the same tool I shared with participants of Podcast Pizzazz at the Texas Library Association’s Conference earlier this year.
                              I liked Myna Audio Editor so much I whipped up a quick tutorial that appears at the end of my podcasting handout. Please feel free to use it, remix it as you see fit.


                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                              Enter your email address:

                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                              PingIt! pingthis();
                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                              Fun STEM Camp

                              29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, STEM

                              ≈ Leave a comment

                              Drop by and leave them some comments!
                              www.stemcamp.blogspot.com

                              Earlier this month, I received the following email with a request to share it. Funny enough, I also had a request today from a colleague to share STEM resources. What a perfect storm! So, below the email from Mr. Crouch about the web site above, you will also find PearlTrees.com–a new social bookmarking tool that’s graphical and supports collaboration–design I put together for fun this morning.

                              My name is Brandon Crouch and I am currently a teacher in Fentress County, Tennessee.  Fentress is a very small community in the eastern area of the state. The school system services students that are socio-econmically disadvantaged and schools have rates of sixty to eighty percent free and reduced lunch.  This summer, the teachers and staff of some of the schools have created a free S.T.E.M. camp for any student in 5th-8th grade wishing to attend.  The kids have learned a great deal and have been very excited for the opportunity. I wanted to send this e-mail sharing our blog link in the hopes that you may be able to extend it to your network and let teachers and other interested colleagues see how important and fun S.T.E.M. learning can truly be! Plus, the kids love comments.  
                              Thanks for all that you do.
                              www.stemcamp.blogspot.com

                              You can find lots of great activities on the STEM Camp’s web site, and it’s all worth checking out!


                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                              Enter your email address:

                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                              PingIt! pingthis();
                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                              MyNotes – Students "Demand" More Online Education

                              29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, OnlineLearning

                              ≈ Leave a comment

                              One of the most challenging statistics for education is the one highlighted below…if only 26% of teachers surveyed expressed interest in online teaching, what happens to the remainder with the big push towards online teaching?

                              Another question: It seems unlikely that school districts will be able to maintain their own elearning platforms in the face of the amount of money pouring into this area…consider K12, Inc.’s efforts in wrapping up elearning at the state level. If the focus shifts from having online courses available to providing “vetted” or “high quality”–two terms that often don’t reflect the work of public schools in the eye of legislators–will taxpayers be the ones paying for their children to attend at “private” online schools housed in today’s public school system classrooms?

                              MyNotes

                              Students Speak Up With More Demand for Online Ed. – Digital Education – Education Week

                                • Students Speak Up With More Demand for Online Ed. By Ian Quillen on June 28, 2011
                                  • , the “Learning in the 21st Century: 2011 Trends Update” reports that two in five students believe online classes are an essential component to education, and that administrators’ concerns about funding online courses are (slowly) fading, while concerns about evaluating quality of online courses is rising.
                                    • only about 26 percent teachers surveyed expressed interest in diving into online teaching if they hadn’t already done so.
                                      • while high school students saw benefits in online learning for practical reasons, like conforming to schedules and earning early college credits, middle school students saw intellectual benefits like gaining extra help for difficult subjects and feeling more comfortable and more motivated.
                                        • district-level administrators were found to be more supportive of online learning than on-campus principals
                                          • “The district-level superintendents or administrators are much more visionary thinking [about] what the long-term implications are. … Principals are more narrowly focused on living right now today and dealing with today’s issues.”
                                            • The trends update follows two recent releases Speak Up during the spring, one that updated tendencies in technology use among teachers and other education personnel that came out in May, and one summarizing student and parent technology use that was released in late March.


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Unplugging the Automatons – Hooking Your Students

                                            29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education

                                            ≈ Leave a comment

                                            Source: http://www.happilyeverafterinvesting.com/wp-content/
                                            uploads/2009/05/automatons.png

                                            Passion and engagement…each of these is evident in the TEDTalks represented below. Contrast that with the ways some choose to engage students. One approach seeks to harness creativity, problem-solving, innovation and partnership, while the latter focuses on fear-mongering, test-taking and keeping the peace. But wait, let’s not get caught up solely in two choices. 

                                            There’s a continuum, shifting from chagrin, complaint and complacency to creativity, collaboration and communication. Where does your schools’ efforts fall along that range of engagement? Do students feel safe and supported for taking learning risks, or like robots?
                                            Join me in enhancing STEM resources via Pearltree.com – http://pear.ly/ULBT

                                            View the complete list of selected TEDTalks via SocialChildren.net:

                                            Charles Leadbeater: Education innovation in the slumsLeadbeater explains that the vast majority of population growth in the next three decades will occur in poor, crowded cities, and that we need to reach kids in these situations if we are going to educate the majority of the world’s young. In this video, many examples of innovative approaches to teaching in these circumstances are offered. Leadebeater notes that, “you have to engage people before you can teach them” (sounds familiar, doesn’t it!). In these challenging environments, a “pull” approach is necessary in order to succeed (versus the forced “push” approach used in richer nations). Education only works if it is motivating and inspiring in these situations, and the approaches being used offer many new ideas that can be leveraged in schools everywhere to improve the educational process. 

                                            Sugata Mitra: The child-driven educationThis video discusses “The Hole In The Wall” experiment that Mitra started in New Delhi in 1999. Children deprived of learning opportunities available in other parts of the world nevertheless figured out the computer at their disposal and started using it to learn and to teach each other. These results repeated themselves as the experiment was conducted in various other locales. Kids can and will teach kids. How can we take advantage of this to improve on education across the world? 

                                            Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computersMath as it’s taught in classrooms rarely echoes math as it used in the real word. Wolfram (the driving force behind the Wolfram-Alpha “knowledge engine”) suggests that we consider changing the math teaching model, to teach kids to conceptualize problems and use computerized tools to apply solutions, as opposed to the present model of spending inordinate amounts of time teaching how to perform calculations “by hand”. He methodically addresses many misperceived ideas behind today’s approach to math education. 

                                            Ken Robinson: Changing education paradigmsThis delightfully illustrated video entertains while educating. The video does a wonderful job of explaining how today’s factory-like education model is outmoded and how it needs to evolve into a more personalized model if we are going to take it to a new level. 



                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Blogger Relations Comes Knockin’

                                            29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in PressRelease, PublicRelations2.0

                                            ≈ Leave a comment

                                            One of the challenges of “Public Relations” these days is connecting with the pesky bloggers that swarms like gnats in the blogosphere. While it’s wise of them to come courting, I wonder if they send out form letters to bloggers.

                                            So…in that spirit, how many of you received this letter?

                                            Hi Miguel,
                                            I wanted to get in touch with you because my team and I are create infographics that I’d love to share with you.  One in particular came to mind while I was looking through your work on Around the Corner.  It’s called ‘Crafting the Perfect Modern Resume’ and highlights the many awesome modern customization options available for resumes today, with some notes on their best uses, and effectiveness. It will also look into how important social presence is, compared with relevant experience, education and all the other contributing factors when being considered for a position and will include stats on social networking and college admissions.   


                                            If you’d like, I’d love to share that with you once it is published.  We’re constantly looking to expand our audience and would be absolutely flattered to see a piece of ours featured in your work.  Also, we’re not looking for any monetary payment – they’re completely free to share 🙂 Our goal is to get the content we create noticed and I believe the best way to do that is to work hand-in-hand with influential writers, like yourself, who know what their audiences like.
                                            Thanks a bunch!
                                            Britt
                                            — Brittany Klontz, Blogger Relations SpecialistVoltier CreativeC: 561.329.3746F: 866.542.7561Web: VoltierCreative.comTwitter: @Britt_Klontz


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            One Word at a Time

                                            29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Citizen-Journalism, SocialMedia, Writing

                                            ≈ Leave a comment

                                            Source: http://user.cloudfront.goodinc.com/community/etling/mp-words-full-res.jpg

                                            As a wannabe journalist, I find myself following the plight of journalists and that field with a close eye. After all, what writer who dabbles in non-fiction doesn’t imagine that, “That there for the grace of an Editor, go I?”

                                            “The work” is just that — work — and as part of the work, you have to get off Facebook and go outside and speak to real live people. You have to read, widely and voraciously. You have to be curious about those who live in skins other than your own. You have to learn what makes a good story and how to tell a good story well. (Read More)

                                            Mindy McAdams, blogging at Teaching Online Journalism, nails it, doesn’t she? If you want to get a great reputation, you have to do stuff. . .and you have to not be selfish. It’s great advice for living, not to mention journalists. Mindy focuses her blog entry on the value of the work we’re about and that leads to our brand.

                                            If you’re not familiar with the idea of a brand, consider the perspective that your brand is your reputation…what some call your digital footprint.

                                            If you don’t brand yourself, you can rest assured that others are branding you. And letting others brand you can be risky business. Instead, we should have control, as much as we can, in determining our reputation, our image, and the intangibles, the ephemerals, and the perceptions and ideas that other people have about us. (Source: Garr Reynolds as cited here)

                                            Garr’s point is well-taken, but Mindy’s hits home. If you want to create a brand, you have to first get the work done. The work, whether it’s a 7000 blog entries before anyone notices, a million words or so, still boil down to getting it done…one word at a time.

                                            When asked, “How do you write?” I invariably answer, “one word at a time.”
                                            Source: Stephen King


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            You Keep What You Give Away

                                            29 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, SocialMedia

                                            ≈ Leave a comment

                                            Source: http://static.blog.sharethis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/istock_share%20propogation.jpg

                                            “Miguel,” began a close friend telling me bad news, “I heard that Jan passed away earlier this year.” The news shocked me.  So many years ago, when I walked into Jan’s and Linda’s third grade classrooms in Mt. Pleasant, Tx, they welcomed me with a smile and offered to share their lesson plan and resources. The acts of kindness from these gentle, but tough East Texas ladies–my wife, not even year old daughter and I had just arrived in Mt. Pleasant, Tx as bilingual educators, which were in high demand due to workers at the chicken plant–helped make the transition from big city to small town easier. Social media these days is about sharing, isn’t it?

                                            Today, after two years of tweeting, I get it. While I still enjoy using Twitter at conferences, it has also empowered me in my daily life.  I continue to connect Twitter users around the world who share my interests. To date, I follow about 300 users. Do I know these people? A few of them, but most of them I have never met nor had a conversation with. Yet still they contribute to my collective, continually evolving understanding of the world of teaching, learning, art, and social media (my interests).

                                            Source: Teaching Lifelong Learning Skills with Twitter

                                            Those acts of sharing, repeated countless times by other grade level team members, enabled us to build a bond, a relationship that I treasure to this day. As I began to work with adult learners in Mt. Pleasant ISD, I decided to extend those acts of sharing by making my workshop materials, handouts and tutorials available online. For many years afterwards,  I made my copies of original documents available to the world via the Texas Education Network (TENET). The experience changed my career, and my life. 
                                            My first wiki–Share More! at http://www.edsupport.cc/mguhlin/share/index.php–served as an extension of this idea.
                                            Source: http://static.blog.sharethis.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/Share.jpg
                                            http://blog.sharethis.com/2009/12/16/the-value-of-sharing-social-engagement/
                                            In a strange set of circumstances a few years ago, my backups of my original documents were wiped out. This was a time before inexpensive USB drives and cloud storage. Yet, because I had given away I hoped to keep for as long as possible, I was able to regain it by asking people to “share back” what I had given away to them. It is a profound lesson, that you keep only what you give away.
                                            Yet, sharing isn’t necessarily for everyone, is it? A week ago or so, a teacher friend of my wife (also a teacher) dropped by and remarked, “Miguel shares too much online in Facebook.” In one school district, “We charge for units and lessons people want to use that our teachers have developed.” I suppose there’s a balance to be found.  Still, born in 1968, I find the following an apt description of my approach to sharing:

                                            Tech experts generally believe that today’s tech-savvy young people – the ‘digital natives’ who are known for enthusiastically embracing social networking – will retain their willingness to share personal information online even as they get older and take on more responsibilities. Experts surveyed say that the advantages Millennials see in personal disclosure will outweigh their concerns about their privacy.
                                            Learn more about the Millennial generation athttp://pewresearch.org/millennials/

                                            New tools will soon become available to broaden our reach, such as the newly announced…

                                            “We believe online sharing is broken. And even awkward,” Gundotra says. “We think connecting with other people is a basic human need. We do it all the time in real life, but our online tools are rigid. They force us into buckets — or into being completely public,” he continues. “Real life sharing is nuanced and rich. It has been hard to get that into software…. (Source: TechCrunch)

                                            As we move wholeheartedly into sharing online, I pray that we’ll remember people like Jan and Linda, people who, in nuanced ways, took time to share their experiences and what they had to offer with a teacher new to their school…and extend that online.
                                            When I went back to my East Texas school, to share where life’s path had taken me and revisit my memories, I walked into a beautifully remodeled school. The portable building I’d taught my third grade bilingual students was gone, replaced by a new building. Still, a tinge of sadness as I realized my fellow grade level teachers were retired or, as I had just found out, passed away.
                                            As I stepped into the office, walking back to speak to the principal, I noticed a slim and stately woman sitting in the assistant principal’s office. When she looked up, we both stared in amazement, although her’s was a bit puzzled, then she bounded out of her chair and gave me a hug. It was Jan…it turned out she hadn’t died, but rather, her mother-in-law had passed away and there had been some confusion.
                                            As we chatted about life’s twists and turns, I couldn’t help but feel profoundly grateful for what this teacher had taught me about sharing, and how what you give away always comes back to you.


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Circle the Wagons

                                            28 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, Transparency

                                            ≈ 2 Comments

                                            Source: http://www.stochasticgeometry.ie/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/snakeoil.jpg?w=257

                                            Watch Westerns much? I did as a child, and I grew up reading Zane Grey, Max Brand and, of course, Louis L’Amour. One of my favorite memories includes Clint Eastwood in the Outlaw Josey Wales…Wales, choosing violence and revenge after the murder of his family, finds himself in the company of a “snake oil salesman,” that is, a seller of quack medicine, not the original Chinese remedy for arthritis made from snake parts. Wales, chary of the quack medicine, spits some chaw on the white jacket and encourages the snake oil salesman to use his formula on it.

                                            “This will fix what ails you,” say snake oil salesmen.  Bud Hunt references snake oil salesman in a blog post, reminding us that the big conferences (you name them…I have only been to one or two that don’t do this) are often about suspending our disbelief, giving in to the fear of what ails us–and, isn’t there always something? Bud takes a kindler, gentler approach to vendors, thank goodness, than Josey Wales:

                                            If I run into you and ask you a question or two, know that I’m not asking to discredit you or make you uncomfortable, I’m asking because I owe it to myself and my employer and the students and staff I’m responsible for to make sure that I’m doing my due diligence. #There’s plenty of snake oil here at ISTE.  And plenty of good stuff. I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t aware of the potential and the good

                                            Wait, I’m having fun imagining Bud as Josey Wales…got the image in mind? Maybe someone skilled in graphic design can work something up for us?

                                            I still remember the day I truly awoke to this fact (snake oil at conferences rather than Bud as Josey). It was after I drank the free software kool-aid, a different type of “oil…” you might say, something more like “cod liver oil.” No medicine is perfect, of course. I’m not a purist.
                                            Cod liver oil, foul-tasting, has a variety of benefits…but some complain of its fishy taste, slightly nauseating. That was when I realized that the only thing stopping schools from reclaiming a lot of their funding–spent on expensive software that only a few used to its full potential–was the “silicon snake oil” a la Larry Cuban. We were being sold a magical solution, and we continue to embrace it.
                                            Isn’t it time we had a dose of cod liver oil, of reality in schools? Note that it isn’t one’s intent to say our schools use of outside solutions is wrong or be negative. But go to your school district web site and ask yourself when you see the list of service providers, can you really continue paying for all this and get the work of education done?
                                            The problem isn’t high-paid staff, but rather, highly paid vendors who siphon precious funding away from the work we are about as educators.
                                            So, what ills would “cod liver oil” cure–a euphemism for hard-baked truth–for schools?
                                            • Adopting new technologies simply because they are popular and cool. This could be any one of your technologies, whether it be iPads, iPods, Android, whatever. The problem isn’t the technology, it’s the attitude of “We’ve gotta have it NOW” because it’s going to CHANGE EVERYTHING. The truth is, technology CAN change how we teach, learn and lead…but it can’t do anything if we bring it in just to show off.
                                            • Drill-n-practice, tutorial programs that get mandated from the top down in response to a grant or special funding source. Ask yourself, how many districts have simply adopted a technology solution because it was expected as a result of getting grants funds when that solution was NOT aligned to district goals?
                                            • Spending money on expensive software because “We want our kids and teachers to have the best!” even though there’s no professional learning or curriculum in place to build people’s capacity to use these tools. As one colleague put it, we never quite seem to get all the pieces in place…we have the software but not the hardware. We have the hardware and software but not the institutional support.
                                            Update: Special thanks to Doug Killian, Superintendent of a Texas school District (Hutto ISD) for echoing the ideas expressed above and I agree wholeheartedly: “It has got to fit with an aligned instructional intent… and we must have PD thats aligned as well!!!”

                                            In the old days, I had two quotes that remain true today:

                                            Ask not what computers can do with students, but rather, what students can do with computers.

                                            and

                                            Hardware without software is just junk, but software without teaching is just noise.

                                            Both quotes could easily be updated for the present. A teammate once pointed out to me amidst the embrace of blogs, wikis, and Moodles (oh my!), What is the instructional purpose? of using these tools. It is a question that we need to revisit. Even though great technologies can change how we approach teaching, learning and leading, we can’t forget that the great “technology” are the human beings.
                                            Sometimes, in our rush over the shiny stuff–or as Bud puts it, “in the middle of the craziness”–it’s easy to forget that. Drink some of that cod liver oil now, and banish the craziness…yes, it may be too much to expect from any one thing, but surely, together we can hold true to the ONE stakeholder we are in education for.
                                            Ok, let’s take a moment to stand in a circle, hold hands, and remember why we are really here.
                                            Source: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_gwOT6axO5Tg/
                                            TNxZmIp_35I/AAAAAAAAASo/6mw0wSoh5nw/s1600/CircleTheWagons.jpg
                                            In the old days, circling the wagons was meant as a form of defense against attack. But, we often forget that circling the wagons was a way to recoup after a long day of travel and dust, a way of getting the campfires going, meals prepared, and critical sharing that takes place when people remember the important things that go beyond the minute to minute survival needs.

                                            Note: This blog entry could use a lot more work but time’s up. Thanks for joining me as I play with ideas.


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Special Thanks for Kind Words

                                            28 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, Leadership, Texas

                                            ≈ 1 Comment

                                            Thanks to Joshua Smith (TexasISD.com) for these kind words….

                                            TexasISD.com appreciates the extremely timely and current post about real issues. Every ISD administrator should read Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org daily. Miguel does a wonderful job bridging the gap between the tech dept. and the admin office. School administrators need to understand these issues in order be good stewards of their tech dollars as well as the risk management and legal issues where tech is involved.
                                            ThanksJoshua SmithTexasISD.com


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Invisible Professionals – Replacing Librarians with iPads?

                                            25 Saturday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, iPads, Library2.0

                                            ≈ 1 Comment

                                            Adapted from http://psd.fanextra.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/invisible3.jpg

                                            Students need to read, but would you replace your campus librarian with an iPad? “The bad news,” shares Matt Montagne, “is that schools are buying iPads in huge numbers against a backdrop of substantial budget cuts.”


                                            Judy Freeman Curtis says, “iPads do not speak and teach. Librarians teach many skills and today they are know by another name and all should know that too…”


                                            Apparently, knowing this is a challenge. Maybe we need to visit our libraries a bit more?

                                            . . . as in districts across the country, many school officials said they had little choice but to eliminate librarians, having already reduced administrative staff, frozen wages, shed extracurricular activities and trimmed spending on supplies. Technological advances are also changing some officials’ view of librarians: as more classrooms are equipped with laptops, tablets or e-readers, Mr. Polakow-Suransky noted, students can often do research from their desks that previously might have required a library visit.“It’s the way of the future,” he said. (Read More)

                                            Being hyperconnected is the way of the future, as Tim Stahmer points out over at Assorted Stuff. If you’re hyperconnected, maybe you don’t need a librarian? Still…can we afford to keep pumping technology–like iPads–into schools and pushing out librarians and others? I’m disappointed at our desire to replace people with things. Carolyn Foote highlights this in her blog entry:

                                            In the current budget cutting climate in Texas, many librarians have been laid off or reassigned (see my previous post: Mapping Librarian Cuts map).   We’ll have to address the day to day realities of coping with that, but we also need to think forward to what we want to happen once the funding crisis lessens.
                                            In the library advocacy world, we often talk about making ourselves “indispensible” by working harder, publicizing our efforts, etc.  

                                            Source: Carolyn Foote, What Librarians Can Learn from Apple 

                                            One lesson librarians need to learn from Apple…be ruthless. 

                                            Ask a leader what kind of technology to put in a library, the answer isn’t a more open, less expensive eReader like the Aluratek Libre (inexpensive) or Nook. Instead, it’s the most expensive device that can be purchased…an iPad. Why? There are plenty of other less expensive technologies that can be used.

                                            We have to learn to do more with less. Let’s get more focused about strategic use of technologies where they make sense…it’s like school leaders are grabbing the fire hose and hanging on for dear life. Maybe, the one person they need to help guide them is the school librarian.

                                            Gary Hartzell, professor of education at the University of Nebraska, refers to library media specialists as “invisible” professionals…He argues that in many school districts, library media specialists should be participants in the decisions affecting technology, curriculum, and resources at the school and district level. He also points to the widespread trend of cutting library budgets and, in some cases, library media positions to ease school financial problems. (Read More)

                                            Consider the guiding principles of the article cited immediately above:
                                            1. School libraries have no boundaries. The “library” is not a place; rather, library is everywhere. This means that school library media specialists should not be cloistered within the walls of the library and within the constraints of scheduled library time
                                            2.  Library and information professionals should be flexible. 
                                            3. Ensure that students are effective users of ideas and information.
                                            4.  Students need to master the information literacy skills they will use in everyday life. The idea that information is everywhere is a basic premise of information literacy
                                            Of course, a telling point is that those guiding principles come from an article written November, 2000. If one needed any proof that school districts could care less about the research and the why they do things, then this certainly might reinforce that concept. The challenge isn’t getting people to understand the research, but rather finding out WHY the school agenda in place avoids the research in the first place.

                                            It’s tempting to say, “Until librarians figure out how to deal with this….” but the truth is, librarians already lost the battle. What I want to know is, now that public policy and education “leaders” have decided libraries are a waste of resources, what, if anything, will be done to re-train these invisible professionals?


                                            Hang on…let me google that on my iPad….

                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Texas ISD Features Around the Corner

                                            24 Friday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Blogging, Education, Politics, Texas

                                            ≈ 1 Comment

                                            Special thanks to TexasISD.com for featuring Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org blog entries online at their site!

                                            To stay up to date on Texas school district issues, visit TexasISD.com!

                                            A bit of navel gazing….
                                            And, blogger stats:
                                            Of course, these stats are nothing compared to the the flow of conversation out on the web. But as it’s nice to know others are reading!


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            #iPad Explorations and Blog Tips @ComputerExplore #edchat

                                            24 Friday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, iPads, SAnews, Texas

                                            ≈ 2 Comments

                                            http://techchef4u.wordpress.com/

                                            By happy coincidence, I cleaned out my inbox (I achieve inbox zero once a month and then get buried by countless emails, even with filters running!) and ran across an email from Lisa Johnson, a new blogger–that I’ll hope you’ll visit–in San Antonio, Texas sharing her new iPad focused blog! One of my favorite categories on her blog is the Hot Apps for Higher Order Thinking Skills (HOTS), and is definitely worth checking out! I also liked her iPad lessons.

                                            Here’s the original email from Lisa Johnson (Twitter: @ComputerExplore):

                                             I am an Instructional Technology Specialist with NEISD  and have been building a blog devoted to educational uses and resources for the iPad: techchef4u.wordpress.com as well as building a social presence with LinkedIn and Twitter. My Technology Director…had mentioned that you would be a good resource for these goals. I would love to get your feedback on my site and some tips for continuing to build a social presence. Thanks so much for any information or guidance that you can provide.

                                            Of course, I immediately wrote her back and promised to feature her blog in an entry then lost the email as a few hundred more hit my inbox. Here’s the email I sent her on tips for her blog:

                                            Thanks for sharing, Lisa! Your blog looks great! Before I direct visitors, a few suggestions:

                                            • Have you thought about adding a Hit counter like Statcounter.com (free) to your blog so you can track visitors? 
                                            • In that vein, you might also add a ClusterMap which tracks visitors from around the globe –
                                              http://clustrmaps.com/counter/maps.php?url=http://www.mguhlin.net
                                            • Use Feedburner.google.com that will give you some nice reporting in terms of who is subscribing to your blog. WIth the standard RSS feed on your blog, you won’t get that. Just follow the directions at Feedburner.google.com to get started then embed the code in a widget/sidebar on your blog.
                                            These are detailed in this blog post for bloggers:
                                            3 tips – http://www.mguhlin.org/2010/10/3-tips-for-newbie-bloggers.html

                                            Making these adjustments will allow you to measure how many visitors you’re getting daily, monthly, etc. and provide the valuable feedback you’ll want as a blogger.

                                            Some other blogging tips and about blogging from my past writing:
                                            • http://www.mguhlin.org/2008/11/capturing-images-for-blog-posts.html
                                            • http://www.mguhlin.org/2010/07/protecting-sanctity-of-edublogging.html
                                            • http://www.mguhlin.org/2010/06/citizen-journalism-howl-baby-howl.html
                                            • http://www.mguhlin.org/2008/12/selecting-right-blogging-service.html
                                            • http://www.mguhlin.org/2008/11/blogging-tips.html
                                            You can read Lisa Johnson’s blog on iPads and more at http://techchef4u.wordpress.com/


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Zork – A Writer’s Paradise

                                            24 Friday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, Writing

                                            ≈ 1 Comment

                                            http://pics.mobygames.com/images/covers/large/965804850-00.jpg
                                            Watch The Big Bang Theory reference to Zork…
                                            http://youtu.be/_4fnvLNDiKY

                                            As a teen, I had the chance to play Zork on my Apple //e computer. To be honest, I found the game quite difficult but the mystery and allure remained with me. As much as I like the video-rich games available now, including awesome action like the ninja rabbit game, Lugaru 2: Overgrowth (which I pre-ordered 2 years ago or so), Zork continues to hold my interest.

                                            Josh Caldwell–guest blogger at Dr. Scott McLeod’s Dangerously Irrelevant–-shares the following:

                                            Using the (ridiculously easy) Inform engine, McCall and Martin are empowering their students to write interactive fiction (and non-fiction) while introducing text-based gaming to a whole new generation. Using Inform’s incredibly intuitive syntax, students can demonstrate historical knowledge by building realistic (yet entirely textual) worlds, or work through the epic format with an interactive narrative.

                                            http://inform7.com/

                                            I’m going to explore this and I’m grateful to Josh and Scott for sharing it!!


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Is Safe Use a Worthy Goal?

                                            23 Thursday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, Leadership, Transformation

                                            ≈ Leave a comment

                                            People also need to practice playing by themselves. I read recently how kids are losing their imaginations because the toys are too detailed. There isn’t room to create their “own” idea of what that car or fort or whatever looks like or what it will do. We become too literal. We need to be able to fill in the blanks with our own creations. Build our confidence so we’re not afraid to play out loud with others. To not practice self-censorship. 

                                            Source: Nicole Jordan’s Mom at Hands-On Play Crucial to Problem Solving

                                            Does focusing on safety result in self-censorship in schools today?

                                             “The research reveals that educators increasingly rely on Web 2.0 technologies, resulting in positive teacher and student outcomes. To foster effective use across all classrooms and ensure equitable learning opportunities, districts need to provide safe Web 2.0 access, enhanced teacher professional development, and robust support systems.”

                                            Sylvia Martinez (GenYesBlog) shares the quote above based on the results of this vendor-funded (e.g. LightSpeed, NetTrekker, Atomic Learning) study. The question that comes to my mind when reading this study is centered around one word–SAFE.

                                            Should districts provide safe Web 2.0 access, enhanced teacher professional development and robust support systems? If the word “safe” is taken out, what is the effect? If left in, what is the impact?
                                            If I am a company like NetTrekker, focused on providing “safe” resources to school districts, it’s critical that the word “safe” appear in the recommendation, right? That’s not a critique of the quality of service NetTrekker provides, only a reflection on our ability to be critical as we read the results of the study.
                                            If we leave the word safe in, we see school districts slamming the door to Web 2.0 resources and providing the training that perpetuates the status quo. It is fear-mongering because the focus is on isolating our children through the use of tools we enjoy complete control over. It also means that our children learn our system rather than the tools they need to be competitive. In a strange irony, schools that lack the funding to filter enjoy greater access to that which they will need to help children be successful collaborators and communicators.
                                            Schools that cast-aside the word safe in front of “Web 2.0 access” throw open the doors to innovation and learning that is rife with meaning and rich content. While undoubtedly people will encounter inappropriateness, robust support systems can deal with it.
                                            What lessons do we learn from Finding Nemo?

                                            Image References
                                            Is it safe? http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcT9UfbbEhmtnnB67AgojlZSHG6YBzqo4s4lo9WnyfqQC5IwIBg0&t=1


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Personal Use is UnEthical – #iPads in Schools @vanhoose74

                                            23 Thursday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, Leadership, Transparency

                                            ≈ Leave a comment

                                            Source: http://www83.homepage.villanova.edu/richard.jacobs/
                                            MPA%208300/theories/legal-ethical.gif
                                            An Apple representative tweeted at me after reading Manifesting Our Fears in iPad Use:

                                            wow, we need to talk… cynicism continues to reign, eh?


                                            For Apple folks reading this, wake up and read the next paragraph carefully. You know this is out there but you don’t have solid, comprehensive solutions yet. Until you do, folks can make remarks like the following and the rest of the world has to listen:

                                            “More challenging is making the change on the iPad in a way that a savvy user cannot change,” Mayorga said. “That is still an unresolved issue. To this point, the Apple devices do not play nice in corporate networks where security restrictions need to be enforced.”

                                            When will Apple devices like the iPad play nice on the school network?

                                            I immediately re-read my post. Was cynicism–an attitude of scornful or jaded negativity–present in that blog entry? It certainly is possible. As a technologist, I feel an obligation to not simply embrace a technology because millions of dollars have been spent marketing that technology to the masses. As slick a product as the iPad is, as educators and technologists, we should at least ask ourselves 3 questions:
                                            1. Can this consumer device be made to be effective in schools? A tough question because you have to consider the rich variety of cultural approaches schools take to technology. In some places, technology must support the status quo, while in others, it supports a culture of change. Bringing in a device and hoping it will change the culture is foolhardy.
                                            2. Can teachers make effective use of this device to achieve instructional objectives? As nice as the iPad is–and there’s plenty of evidence that the iPad CAN be used to support instructional objectives, if not the ones schools or state departments believe teachers should be indoctrinating–we have to ask what is the purpose or plan developed ahead of purchase and deployment. Looking at a blog entry of a few districts are doing and saying, Yes, this is what we want to do, too fails to take into account the complex differences in stakeholder roles, motivations, culture. If it’s about making change, the process isn’t a mystery as the tale shows, right?
                                            3. Can the District’s Technology Department adequately support a technology that makes it touching each device one by one? The back-end question here is, what happens when this technology takes off and every staff member and student wants one? If you have 8000 staff members, each using the iPad in a different way, how do you handle the various uses and implementations? For example, the maintenance, transportation departments may have different ways of using the iPad than the Special Education folks who require special software such as Proloquo2go that has a hefty price tag (no, it’s not your $1.99 app…more like $190). And, of course, as great as it is to have 10 great digital storytelling apps, is that the ONLY thing students and teachers need to be doing?

                                            Image Source: Question, http://www.homemorals.com/images/What-Is-Ethical-Dilemmas.jpg

                                            Yesterday, Doug Johnson (Blue Skunk Blog) responded to my blog post about cozying up to school owned iPad–Manifesting Our Fears in iPad Use–with the following comment:

                                            I am not convinced that personal use of school owned equipment is ethical – by teachers, tech directors or superintendents – unless there is some benefit to students because of it. 

                                            And, of course, I’m inclined to agree. But Doug hedges a bit, doesn’t he? (smile) There’s a way out of that absolute argument…and Ewan McIntosh makes this point:

                                            You cannot get the most out of an iPad without letting the student own it, and harness their personal accounts, tastes and media for some creative learning. Putting it in a lab…takes away from the iPad’s principle boon: it helps us move further away from the office metaphor of learning and into new, personalised, anytime anywhere learning metaphors.

                                            Source: Ewan Mcintosh via GeekDad 

                                            If you’re letting a student “own it,” then certainly, the same goes for a classroom teacher, no? 


                                            Curious about the opinions of other educators, I decided to ask the question via my social networks to see what wisdom might come back to me. 

                                            Is personal use of school-owned mobile devices (ipads, netbooks) ethical? (e.g. running netflix on a school-owned iPad after hours)

                                            Here are some of the points made (click this link to Plurk conversation thread for who said what):

                                            Against:
                                            1. I don’t. I’m to paranoid that they’ll dig into it…like they can with email.
                                            2. Our policy does not allow it. Further, our policy requires using only your district email acct. to be registered with Apple to use on device…In our district, a person cannot authorize a mobile device with an account created by an external email address- thus, a paper trail.
                                            3. our district does not allow personal use for the school owned devices. You cannot download anything without preapproval.
                                            4. I don’t believe it is ethical. It is provided for district use not personal use.

                                            For:
                                            1.  I not only don’t have a problem with it, I encourage our teachers to do it – provided I haven’t locked it down for security reasons. Why? Because the more of that person’s time they spend using that device, the better they get with it & can do great things with it in the clssrm…Moreover tech has a “life” of 3-5y whether its used or not. WHY not fully utilize a device in that time frame, rather than recycle hardly…used machines that cost a lot, but never produced much.
                                            2. I agree with this.. if I want to be totally useful to my students, I also need to be aware of what works well with the device
                                            3. use it fully so you learn what can be done and how to
                                            4. Amen!! When we stop making people paranoid, they’ll be able to relax and actually *learn* how to use the technology!
                                            5. You know the saying, “Emotionally locked; learning is blocked.” Goes for adults, too. We, in education, continue to hold ourselves back.
                                            6. Kevin H said it best, “Innovation in education dies from domestic abuse.” That MUST change.
                                            7. this is just fine. A teacher needs to treat it as their “own” to see what it can do.

                                            Indifferent:
                                            1. I don’t have a personal problem with it, but it’d probably be best to have a policy that stated whether or not it was allowable.
                                            2. I get caught up with the same situation as I am using school iPad but want to purchase some apps.
                                            As an illustration of how difficult a question this is, consider this response from one person with the caveat of appropriateness:

                                            Yes and No…yes if apropriate content…no if not. (Lacey Gosch via Facebook)

                                            I liked the twist one Twitter response put on my original question, the person posing their own version:

                                            Is the non-use of school-owned technology ethical? Is the spending of school money for impractical technology ethical?

                                            That’s a great question, isn’t it? Is spending school money for impractical technology, ethical?  If we define ethical as being in accordance with the accepted definitions of right and/or wrong, determining what is ethical is dependent on so many variables as to make the discussion worthless…except for a blog post.

                                            You know, questions like this make one appreciate that graduate business ethics course. For now, a quick Google search reveals 3 steps to solve an ethical dilemma. For fun, let’s go through these. First, let’s consider the trade-offs of this ethical dilemma and what it means (disclaimer: That’s a 20 page blog entry I’m not qualified to write so feel free to add on):

                                            Ethical decisions are often trade-offs between: 1) Utility – the value delivered to the stakeholders in your organization; 2) Rights – entitlement to something; and 3) Justice – equitable sharing of pain and pleasure 

                                            (Read Source – 3 Steps to Solve an Ethical Dilemma)

                                            Here goes…

                                            #1 – Utility
                                            If you’re not aware of the value of an iPad these days, how useful it is in just about any situation, then you’ve been living under a rock. Would everyone agree that an iPad is really as useful as the phenomenal apps that it has available? Since everyone acknowledges that iTunes has all the great apps, unrivaled by even the Android Marketplace, for iPads and more being developed every day, it’s difficult to imagine that an iPad could not be made useful in one way or another.

                                            Of course, there are things it’s missing but the essential question might be, does the iPad deliver enough value to the organization, to the people in that organization and it’s customers (students) that we should ignore price, proprietary systems (not “free” in the FOSS sense), etc.? Will using the iPad for personal use allow me to improve it’s value to enhance education? If I start using it to access Netflix movies and play games but end up plotting the parabola of Angry Birds for a class lesson, does this make it OK for me to install?

                                            #2 – Rights
                                            I’m not sure I understand entitlement. But I get the idea that entitlement is what we think we’re owed. If I’m a technology director, then I think I’m owed the opportunity to offer a deciding opinion on whether we adopt a technology for use in a school system. If I’m a teacher, I’m owed the opportunity to use the tools I think will best get the job done, especially if other educators agree with me. Is that entitlement working for you? 

                                            So, do I have the right to use an iPad the way I want–within professional guidelines, that is no porn or inappropriate stuff–so long as there is an educational payoff? Hmm…should we take the chance? Can you expect the right to privacy on an iPad?

                                            If you use your work Blackberry or work laptop for all your personal email and phone calls and so forth, your employer can search through your messages, cancel your service, intercept email coming to your email address, and more. That may not matter to you much today but what about if you leave your job, get stuck with a crazy boss or even see your employer go out of business? How are you even backing up personal stuff like digital photos you might be keeping on a work laptop? You could lose access to much of your entire digital history. It’s not a good way to live. (Read More and Playboy on iPad)

                                            Of course, my understanding of the word “entitlement” is imperfect. Maybe I’m not grasping the exact meaning intended. Do I have a right, as an educator, to use a device like I owned it so I can learn to better use it in the classroom? As some point out, the answer is NO. It’s not ethical to use a school purchased device for personal use.

                                            #3 – Justice
                                            You know, this whole idea of equitable sharing of pleasure and pain is important. We like to think that the benefits of granting teachers and students access to iPads is worth the pain it will cause the technology department and the District (if a breach of privacy or inappropriate use case arises) during implementation. 

                                            In every case I’ve heard of, there have been some creative solutions to bypass the lack of management tools (not that there aren’t some but that none does everything needed). Still, I haven’t read of one tech director in a large implementation who said, “Yes, this has been painless.” The perspective is still one reflected in a quote: “Apple devices do not play nice in corporate networks where security restrictions need to be enforced.”

                                            Should schools invest in these devices if they cannot be managed effectively? That’s a trade-off, isn’t it?

                                            Just because we like using a consumer device like the iPad doesn’t mean we redefine education so that it can be used, does it?

                                            Ah well, maybe if we applied the problem-solving approach for ethical dilemmas we would end up somewhere.

                                            Ethical leaders, then, are those women and men who possess an abiding interest in forging a shared purpose and set of values among contending factions of followers in practice episodes, not making them subservient and acquiescent functionaries…When an organizational leader’s decision causes harm—and it is quite likely that any decision made in an ethical dilemma will cause some degree of harm—it is entirely natural that the leader will wonder if one is at fault, even if to outsiders it is patently obvious that the organizational leader bears no ethical responsibility for that harm. (Read source)

                                            In light of such interesting approaches, it’s important to clarify purpose and values. What should our purpose in education be, and what values do we hold?

                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Born Again Reader – The Story Passion

                                            23 Thursday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, eReader

                                            ≈ 1 Comment

                                            Source: http://etherealwellness.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/
                                            turning-water-into-wine.jpg

                                            Yesterday, I shared how I spent some time flying back from Nashville, TN this past weekend next to a man who was passionate about his Amazon Kindle. He couldn’t stop talking about how great it was, so wonderful every one of his family members had a Kindle he’d purchased for them. When pondering the 2 gig limit on his Kindle, compared to my 4 gig capacity for content, he darkened for a moment before responding, “When I need a book to read, I just go to the Amazon web site and get it. And, I can share the books with my family!” (you can also use services like Lendle, eBook Fling to lend books to others)

                                            Perhaps what was most impressive about the eReader he clutched in his ham-like fist wasn’t how thin and light the device was. Nor that it had a beautiful “skin” or cover on it. What was impressive was how this device had turned this 55 year old man into a raging advocate for his Kindle. I honestly felt I was sitting next to a born-again [pick your religion]. In fact, you could have labelled this guy a born again reader.

                                            David Warlick (2cents blog) shares in this entry that Rumors of ‘It’s’ Demises are Greatly Exaggerated. He says:

                                            One issue that frequently comes up is their almost exclusive exposure our learners, in their native info experiences, have to short and independently focused media messages and the highly abbreviated messages that they share with each other. The concern is that millennials are not prepared and are disinclined to tough out longer stories or thoroughly explore deep and complex issues… I’m not an addictive personality, but I am addicted to stories. I love and crave long, deep, rich, wet, stories. I hate when they end. I particularly like series.

                                            Do I think books are dead? Yes, absolutely print books are dead. But, I hope that for every book reader who dies, a born again eReader will escape the eschatological cave and embrace the resurrection of stories available in digital format.
                                            One recent born again is my daughter. Her room is an oasis of orismology, where intellectual refreshment pools on bookshelves, spilling over onto the floor in stacks of paperbacks, research tomes whose true value is as keys to hooked on one’s shoulder, granting access to knowledge in the future. She promised to remain faithful to the print books, but when presented with her own Aluratek Libre eReader, her faithfulness to the form of the ideas, the stories she treasures, and the tomes of theory was transfigured.

                                            More importantly–if such a thing is possible for an avid reader–is the opportunities being able to publish content in digital formats that are easily accessible and marketable (consider the story of John Locke, the author who published a million copies of his book via Amazon).

                                            E-books currently make up around 11 percent of the total book market. The percentage of print book consumers who say they download e-books more than doubled between October 2010 and January 2011—from 5 percent to almost 13 percent. (Source: Paid Content via MindDump)

                                            Have you given yourself the opportunity to be transformed by new media, old stories like aged wine in a fresh wineskin?

                                            Wait, wait…putting new wine into old wineskins is problematic, isn’t it? Wouldn’t the converse be true? Well, not necessarily. Digital formats DO offer a lot of flexibility as my daughter, the person at the top of this blog entry and I have discovered. But there ARE problems. These are elaborated on quite well by Richard Stallman on ebooks:

                                            In an age where business dominates our governments and writes our laws, every technological advance offers business an opportunity to impose new restrictions on the public. Technologies that could have empowered us are used to chain us instead…Ebooks need not attack our freedom, but they will if companies get to decide. It’s up to us to stop them. The fight has already started.

                                            Wow, pretty powerful perspective. Technologies that could have empowered us, instead, chain us. While we often trade certain freedoms for convenience, it’s important to reflect on what Stallman is saying. If ebooks are always locked down for us, print books become the last bastion of freedom, don’t they?

                                            When you imagine resurrection, you imagine freedom from the “mortal coil.” When you think of dropping books for ebooks, the mortal coil is best defined as the impossibility of carrying 1000 pages of books around with you, as well as tons of other content. Of course, there are ways to slip the chains off, to unlock content…but should those options be taken?


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            Manifesting Our Fears in iPad Use

                                            23 Thursday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, iPads

                                            ≈ 3 Comments

                                            Horror Hunter Scary Game for iPad

                                            Is your iPad horror app free? You know, safe for educational use only? Not featuring any personally owned apps?

                                            By our nature, we…often say we are doing something for one reason, when deep inside we know the real reason is one that may not be acceptable to our institution. (Read the Source)

                                            Earlier this week, I packed up the iPad2 that had sat unused on my desk and prepared to send it back to the person who’d issued it to me. I figured I could learn enough about iPads by watching my team play with their’s…I had no interest in playing with a device that 1) Required iTunes to work well; 2) I doubted would easily be managed in a command-n-control network environment, which fits most schools that get iPads foisted upon them by happy consumer-educators; and 3) I couldn’t make it “my own.”

                                            You cannot get the most out of an iPad without letting the student own it, and harness their personal accounts, tastes and media for some creative learning. Putting it in a lab…takes away from the iPad’s principle boon: it helps us move further away from the office metaphor of learning and into new, personalised, anytime anywhere learning metaphors.

                                            Source: Ewan Mcintosh via GeekDad 

                                            With a Nook, a Chrome CR-48 notebook, an Android phone, I figured I had enough to carry around. I like simple, single use tools…As a passenger wielding a Kindle on my plane trip from Nashville, TN said to me, “If I wanted to do something besides read, I’d get an iPad. I just want to read!” His point was well-taken…get the device that does the job and not one thing more. Simplicity?

                                            As a free software advocate, I don’t buy into the “It’s the iTunes way or the highway.” Give me the highway.

                                            As I set up the iPad 2 today, an experiment in how far I could take a consumer device down the no cost route, I first setup my account to only use “free” apps. 

                                            Follow instructions online…and Bryan P Doyle’s advice below:Before you make the iTunes account, go into the App store.  Find a free app.  Click through like you would if you were to ‘buy’ (and download) the free app.  At that point it will prompt you for your iTunes account info, or all you to create a new one.  If you choose to create a new one, when you get to the payment section the ‘none’ radio button will be available. Then you can download all the free stuff that you want without buying anything.

                                            Simply, with my work account, I didn’t want to buy ANY of my own apps (really,why spend the money on apps on there?) on the machine. As I did this, I realized that this was part of my reluctance in using the iPad2…the device always belongs to Apple, and you have to play in their sandbox. But, worse, the device belongs to work…why would I want to make such a device my own? 


                                            Update: Doug Johnson points out it may not be ethical to make school devices “one’s own.” Then, why would I want to do anything but the bare minimum with them? Far better to have a permissive policy that encourages people to acquire their own devices and bring them to school, work, etc.


                                            The iPad was designed to be made into your own. Why should I subvert it’s design?

                                            Doug Johnson references this problem in his blog entry:

                                            While we can set up a variety of profiles for different “classes” of users – administrators, elementary teachers, librarians, special education teachers, etc. – with its own set of software, users will NOT be able to download any personal software, music or other media to these devices from personal accounts.
                                            What this means is that if an educator hopes to play a game of Angry Birds or listen to a little Metallica during prep time, it ain’t gonna happen. Unless the curriculum director tells us that Angry Birds or “Ride the Lightening” is approved instructional support material. Granted, a good deal of personal use of iPads can be made via a web browser. It will be interesting to see if Netflix, Pandora or Kindle apps – that can access personal media – can be justified for educational use.

                                            I asked a colleague, “What do you use on the iPad?” She immediately suggested Netflix. While I could see watching Netflix movies on an iPad, let’s remember that it’s a district-owned device. It SHOULD be used to facilitate instruction, impact education…not as a personal device. Yet, I know teachers–because they are so underpaid–often use school-issued equipment as their own. A colleague pointed out to me when I issued him a laptop, external CD reader/writer (this was over 10 years ago), “It’s Christmas! I’m going to give my slow desktop to my kids and this will be what I use!” I couldn’t blame him for doing that…I understood exactly where he was coming from. Can’t we all?

                                            But as new devices that allow school districts to lock them down, to restrict their use ONLY for educational use, we put people in the situation of trying to circumvent the “protections” put in place. Some places have sought to avoid this by helping employees buy their own equipment at discount prices…yet, these purchase programs that pretend to have lower prices for district employees are often shams. Simply, you get the same “low” price going through the vendor’s web site.

                                            The truth is inescapable–change is here. 

                                            We are working at an architectural inflection point. The signals are all around us – cloud, big data, mobility, smart computing, etc. While each of these appears to be only modestly connected, I think together they signify a major shift in how business gets done and the architecture that supports it. If true, this means the tried and true ‘Business-Data-Applications-Technology’ model architected and delivered by central IT  will not serve us much longer…The operating model realized from the new architecture will first diminish then extinguish centralized IT.

                                            Source: http://blogs.cio.com/brian_hopkins/16215/what_happens_when

                                            We continue stopping people from making technology their own, and they are pushed to ignore the school technology because it restricts them…and for no good reason. Worse, they know something is up. They know that they must labor under false restrictions that serve the needs of the technoliterati.

                                            In some districts, there’s a double-standard, isn’t there? For example, does your superintendent get to load whatever software they want on their laptop computer, get to purchase whatever computer they want, even though they seldom use the horsepower on that machine like a classroom teacher trying to edit a video for an AVID program presentation to the media?

                                            But as technology prices drop, schools can’t stop people from showing up with their own equipment, their own network connections (e.g. Clear, Spring/AT&T/Verizon PC cards/USB dongles), and a simple expectation–free-range learning and technology use unencumbered by centralized IT.

                                            System users may not connect non-District purchased technology equipment to the Electronic Communications System.  Personal laptops are permitted for use by all staff and students.  These personal laptops should only be connected to the District’s public wireless network called DISTRICT WiFi. 

                                            All users with personal wireless devices being used for instruction or other District business must use the District provided wireless network which is filtered according to the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) requirements.    

                                            Personal wireless laptops are never to be plugged into the wired network.  They are only authorized for wireless connectivity on DISTRICT WiFi. 

                                            District mobile devices are never to be connected to non-District  wireless services providers while on District property (e.g., MiFi, wireless cards, data cards, etc.)

                                            As for the iPad2, I will explore it and use it, but will not “make it my own.” Why waste my time? That would be like me taking ownership of a public restroom–although if we all did, wouldn’t we have sparkling restrooms?–or assuming responsibility for something I’m not responsible for. If we truly want technology to be an appliance, then let’s continue to put educators and students in the situation of providing them access to equipment they can’t make their own.

                                            Of course, this is an old debate. The only change is the technology we argue about. In the end, I’d rather pay for my own technology than get the school district’s with all the strings attached…especially when I know there is a double-standard.

                                            After all, we’re only human. The fears and rules we put in place to prevent those fears from manifesting are often a worse consequence than what we might experience.

                                            Perhaps, my perspective will change. After all, when you stare into the abyss…it stares back.
                                            ;->


                                            http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                            Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                            Enter your email address:

                                            Delivered by FeedBurner

                                            PingIt! pingthis();
                                            Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                            Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                            Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                            MyNotes – 8 Big Ideas of the Constructionist Learning Lab

                                            23 Thursday Jun 2011

                                            Posted by mguhlin in Education, Research

                                            ≈ Leave a comment

                                            Thanks to Sylvia Martinez and her husband, Dr. Gary Stager, for sharing these again:

                                            My Notes:



                                            8 Big Ideas of the Constructionist Learning Lab « Generation YES Blog

                                              • 8 Big Ideas of the Constructionist Learning Lab
                                                • Gary shares, “Shortly after the start of  the three-year project, Papert outlined the Eight Big Ideas Behind the Constructionist Learning Laboratory (PDF).
                                                  • Eight Big Ideas Behind the Constructionist Learning Lab By Dr. Seymour Papert
                                                    •  learning by doing.
                                                      • We learn best of all when we use what we learn to make something we really want.
                                                        • technology as building material. If you can use technology to make things you can make a lot more interesting things.
                                                          • We learn best and we work best if we enjoy what we are doing.
                                                            • The best fun is hard fun.
                                                              •  learning to learn.
                                                                • Nobody can teach you everything you need to know. You have to take charge of your own learning.
                                                                  • taking time
                                                                    • To do anything important you have to learn to manage time for yourself.
                                                                      • you can’t get it right without getting it wrong. Nothing important works the first time. The only way to get it right is to look carefully at what happened when it went wrong. To succeed you need the freedom to goof on the way.
                                                                        • do unto ourselves what we do unto our students
                                                                          • Every difficulty we run into is an opportunity to learn. The best lesson we can give our students is to let them see us struggle to learn.
                                                                            • the most important purpose is using them NOW to learn about everything else.


                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                              5 Dangerous Tips for Engaging Interviewers

                                                                              22 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in JobPosting, Leadership, Transformation

                                                                              ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                              http://www.furnitureinfashion.net/images/roxy-red-chair-2401471.jpg

                                                                              When was the last time you were interviewed? When was the last time you did the interviewing? If you’re in my role as an administrator, interviewing people, encouraging them to engage and elaborate can be a life-altering moment. I’d say “career-altering” but that’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?

                                                                              Life-altering. When you’re sitting in the chair waiting to answer any question put to you, are you thinking about how to engage the people who are asking you the questions? When I’m in “The Chair” my goal is to be as open and transparent about my approach. I want no pretense or pretend answers in my responses. If the interviewer doesn’t know what I’m thinking, that could set us both up for failure later.
                                                                              And, as an interviewer, I don’t want a cagey response that hedges its bets. Put yourself out there, elaborate as much as you can within the bounds of the question.  Here are some tips for a “better interview.”
                                                                              Still, with all this in mind since a few of my colleagues have lost their jobs and found them again, going to interviews, I wonder, what advice would have been good for them to have as they went job hunting?
                                                                              Here are some tips, perhaps dangerous, from my conversations with them, and I’ve added questions that one could ask of interview panels:
                                                                              1. Don’t burn your bridges with past employers; how will you connect with my past employers so that you can hear what great things they have to say about the work I can do for you? This piece of advice came in handy as one person I know sought new employment in the area she wanted, was clearly prepared for. The clincher in being hired wasn’t her qualifications, although that didn’t hurt. Nor was it the excellent letters of recommendation from everyone who knew her, or a great web eportfolio. Rather, it was a phone call from one prospective boss to a past one–what do you think of this candidate? That call was the clincher.
                                                                              2. Find how the questions the interviewer asks tap into your job-related passion; what does one of you do that reflects your passion? It’s so easy to listen to an interviewer ask a question that appears unrelated to what you are passionate about. Your response, professional, courteous and on-target is missing something…what? Passion. For example, if you ask me about how writing and technology come together, I’m going to be passionate. I could go on for hours about how well they fit together, etc. It matters to me personally because I’m a writer who uses technology on a daily basis to share his writing with others and invites collaboration.
                                                                              3. Share how you enjoy your work; how are people in this organization enthralled with their work? In the same vein as tapping into your passion when responding to a question, demonstrating how you enjoy your work captures the attention of others. When I discuss Moodle, I have to admit how enthralled I am by the problems it presents, whether it’s server-based or online course design. When I share about my use of social media, I have to discuss the challenges of adopting communication technologies that democratize expression for all individuals and groups beyond the control of an organization (like public schools). 
                                                                              4. Own your mistakes and point out what you learned and how you made it better; are people in your organization able to “fail forward?” We all make mistakes. I still remember the time when I convinced an employer to pay $3000 for software and training to create web-based databases, then realized mid-way through the training this solution wasn’t going to work for us. After some reflection (a few hours), I owned my mistake, sought forgiveness then sought another solution. We later implemented another solution I found that was in use for years and cost a fraction of the failed solution’s cost. I learned so much from how my boss handled that mistake, and how I made it better. 
                                                                              5. Discuss how you handle project management; how do you, as an organization, handle projects? I’ve adapted this from a suggestion shared via Plurk. You know, it’s so easy to talk about doing stuff but shepherding new project ideas through a “process” often involves discussing it with various stakeholders. Some projects are stillborn because even though everyone thinks they are great, one person–the boss–does not. Or, some ideas are great, including the boss, but the process for planning, managing, implementing the project are not in place. 
                                                                              As I review the 5 tips above, I suppose I’m not that confident that asking these questions in an interview would be the best thing to do. After all, there is such a thing as being TOO direct at a first meeting. Yet, one thing I’ve learned from doing interviews is that, it’s not until we can get past the “fluff” and social niceties that we can both connect authentically about what we all really want to know about–are you going to be a good fit for this team?
                                                                              What do you think?

                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                              Being Bold

                                                                              22 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, Leadership, Transformation

                                                                              ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                              Source: http://www.diethealthandfitness.com/images/swimming.jpg

                                                                              Over the last few days, I’ve been doing some self-reflection as I swim up and down the pool. It’s a great time for reflection because, well, the mechanical actions of swimming are pretty much automatic…and it leaves my brain to wander. Often, I focus on being present in the pool. That means feeling the water swirling around me, taking deep breaths every few strokes, feeling the sun on my face, my arms and back, and focusing on what’s ahead and nothing else. It is incredibly relaxing. 

                                                                              Yet, amidst the “moment” of swimming, thoughts creep in no matter how tightly I try to keep them out. And one of the thoughts that crept in was a question–are we bold enough as educators to bring about the changes we desire?
                                                                              What changes one educator desires may be different than another’s. As an administrator, the changes I want to see usually involve leveraging technology to achieve instructional objectives. In fact, NOT using technology in that way frustrates my understanding of WHY we have technology in schools in the first place. To help me better understand how to “be bolder,” I thought I’d see what others were doing.
                                                                              The article excerpt below reminds me of a saying my father would repeat to me often: He who hesitates is lost. For me, that means, both in the water and out, that when you stop moving forward, when you slow your speed down, you lose control of what you want to achieve. You hesitate, you stop, and you lose your way. You step outside the flow of events.

                                                                              Too often, a man sleepwalks his way through life hesitating and second-guessing everything he says or does. The result is mediocrity and indecision at its best. Don’t get me wrong, you should think twice about your actions and expressions, but remember that you must act boldly to achieve the pinnacle of success. (Source: Being Bold)

                                                                              In chatting with Wes Fryer last week when he came down to San Antonio for a short visit, I was tempted to tease him about “Moving at the Speed of Mediocrity.” Simply, conventional wisdom holds that, unless you’re fully committed to moving at the speed of creativity–what Wes calls his blog–you are almost always a day late and a dollar short. I often laugh at my own blog because I see it moving at the speed of mediocrity…good enough to have readers, a well of reflection, but not great enough to be a source of income, or as a gauge of success as usually defined. 

                                                                              But when is that mediocrity OK? When is NOT being bold OK? I have to push back against my cultural background…is a drive for excellence and creativity/innovation OK not to have? If you’re NOT going to swim full-speed in the swimmer’s lane, should you get out of the way for others who might?
                                                                              I like this quote from the Being Bold article:

                                                                              When you are facing a decision to act, think of it as a way to prove your worth. The first thing you must do is decide whether you want to take action or not. 

                                                                              The first thing is to decide whether you want to take action or not. How true. As a swimmer, a writer,  you have to plunge in, commit yourself fully to getting stuff done. You can’t just dip a toe in, write a half page and stop there. You go whole hog, so to speak. The problem is, what are you getting yourself into exactly?
                                                                              So, back to the question of education. How committed am I as an educator get things done in my organization? Am I prepared to plunge in, making the decision to act or do I want to sit by and see how things develop?
                                                                              You know, that’s a decision you make in every meeting you’re in, every interaction with people that you have. Are you “all in?” 
                                                                              Well?
                                                                              Source: http://camping-checklist.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/camping-checklist.jpg

                                                                              …what makes a thought leader: freedom from worry about criticism, energy to put your plans in motion, and the intellectual curiosity to think about how the status quo could be better and to come up with innovative new ideas.Yes, all of these things do describe thought leaders – plus the ability to effectively communicate your ideas and plans.
                                                                              Source: On Being Bold

                                                                              Make that into a checklist…
                                                                              • Freedom from worry about criticism
                                                                              • Energy to put plans in motion
                                                                              • Intellectual curiosity to think about how the status quo could be improved
                                                                              • Come up with innovative ideas
                                                                              • Effectively communicate those ideas and plans for change
                                                                              Hmm….
                                                                              Images
                                                                              Sleepwalker. http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/sleepwalking-man.jpg


                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                              Engaging Parents – The Achievable Dream (Not Impossible)

                                                                              22 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, Parents

                                                                              ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                              Graphic organizer shared at the meeting

                                                                              Earlier today, I had the opportunity to participate in a meeting that brought leaders from all around the school district to focus on one topic — Parent Engagement. At the meeting several questions (shown above) were asked that are worth reflecting on. As I took notes on the meeting, participated in the small group conversations, I recalled what a critical role technology can play in facilitating conversations with people who are connected via the Internet, whether by a computer/netbook/iPad or their mobile phone or iPod.

                                                                              For fun, let’s pretend we are all part of a “small” group. Edit this GoogleDoc to share your perspectives. I’ve embedded the document below so you can see it develop and included my own thoughts as well.
                                                                              Make your own modifications to the document that appears below…and after that, I’ve added an excerpt from one approach I recommend.
                                                                              Make your own modifications to the document that appears above.

                                                                              Source: http://www.world-wide-art.com/art/va/printjpgs/d/wdisney/sb/maelstrom.jpg

                                                                              Ask any principal, district administrator what it is that they want the most, and one of the responses is bound to include increased parental involvement. As a teacher, one of my most common complaints was, “Parents just do not seem to care about what is happening at school.” As I grew wiser, I realized it wasn’t that they failed to care–sometimes, when one is a young educator, it is easy to get fixated on assigning “F”–but that they were no more engaged than their children by schools. Imagine that parents, like their children who masquerade as our students during the day, have to be authentically engaged.
                                                                              A national report recently highlighted this lack of engagement in schools:

                                                                              Parents wish to be more engaged by schools, but need better tools and information
                                                                              Parents across America share high hopes for their children’s academic success and many know their involvement is vital. But parents with students in low-performing high schools say their schools don’t give them the tools and information they need to be more effective in helping their students succeed, according to a national report released today.
                                                                              Read More

                                                                              While it is easy to assign blame–or fixate on the failure of one or the other–the truth is we need to R.E.A.C.H. out more. REACH is not about a type of toothbrush, but rather, a way of using free, open source software to engage parents, of providing them with the tools and information they need to be more effective in helping their students succeed.
                                                                              I suggest that R.E.A.C.H. is one way to help schools engage parents, as well as students, in achieving success. For me, R.E.A.C.H. might represent the following:

                                                                              1. R – Reflect
                                                                              2. E – Engage with
                                                                              3. A – Authenticity,
                                                                              4. C – Collaboration, and
                                                                              5. H – Heart.

                                                                              As a parenting coordinator in a school district in East Texas–it supplemented my income as a third grade teacher–I was thrilled to participate in Cara y Corazon, a family strengthening program for parents. It was wonderful engaging with parents who showed up to the meetings, but a part of me always wondered, what about those who didn’t show?

                                                                              As an educational technologist, I like the idea of using technology to R.E.A.C.H. out to parents and facilitate conversations.
                                                                              WHAT IS IT THAT PARENTS NEED TO HELP STUDENTS SUCCEED?
                                                                              “How can I find out about my child’s grades?” is a common question that parents ask, but it is only the beginning of the conversation, if there is a conversation at all. When I walked into my 4th grader’s classroom to meet with the teacher, I had already done more than many parents i my experience as a teacher. One of the first questions I asked is, “What will it take for my son to be successful in class?” As a transfer from another school, my son was unaware of the culture, the way things are done, and even concepts taught in previous grades that were part of the culture of the school. Simply, my son was not acculturated to the new learning environment he was in…what tips could be shared, how could I ask questions–and get answers–about that new learning environment?

                                                                              CREATING OPPORTUNITIES
                                                                              How can any child’s school create opportunities where parents can play an active role in their children’s academic success? R.E.A.C.H. is about using free, open source software to create opportunities. It’s powerful because the technologies involved ARE free, although there is certainly a cost for the infrastructure components (such as an inexpensive server, Internet bandwidth) but many districts already have the power to create REACH opportunities.

                                                                              Here are a few ways that I see school districts able to R.E.A.C.H. out with free, open source software:

                                                                              REFLECT
                                                                              Ask an administrator what they wish they could do, and they might share something along these lines, which may remind you of Bruce Wilkinson’s work.

                                                                              Please let me expand my opportunities to authentically engage parents and my impact in such a way that parents understand how to help their children, my students, be and do more in life.

                                                                              Often, principals–like the teachers they lead–are caught up in the daily maelstrom of the mundane. Yet, setting aside 30 minutes to blog and share ideas can make a difference. Free, open source software–such as b2Evolution, WordPress–can be setup on a server to facilitate blogging by campus leaders and teachers, enabling them to engage parents with student stories, audio and video. There is nothing sweeter than hearing your child’s voice as they sharing a story about learning. This kind of activity empowers reflection when the leader shares a story then asks a few questions of parents:

                                                                              • Would you like to be involved in your child’s education? Here’s how to participate in future student activities.
                                                                              • Would you leave a comment about your child’s project online?Here’s how you can do it from home, from the local library, or during open lab hours.

                                                                              Engage with AuthenticityIn the previously cited report, it was shared that one teenager drops out of school every 26 seconds and 7,000 each school day. While it’s easy to equate technology use at home by a parent with engagement, it’s the type of engagement that matters. When I click through long lists of assignments, events, calendars, teacher introduction of herself on the school web site, I am not engaged. Instead, I am being showered with information that I neither want or need. In fact, all the information gets in the way of what I truly want–to be engaged by what my children are doing.

                                                                              Many school districts are now using “parent portals” to facilitate access to grades, enable you to pay your child’s cafeteria bill online, but this is a low-level engagement that doesn’t get at the power of story. Teachers can be wonderful storytellers, and sharing stories about what is happening, creating a narrative where my child feels comfortable moving forward is critical. When I go to school to talk to a teacher, I am looking for this narrative of what children are learning, and how my child is involved–or not–in the action. You have to feel sorry for the teacher, though. How can they ever tell the story of every child?

                                                                              Perhaps the question needs to be, how can teachers get out of the way andenable children to show their own stories?

                                                                              Educators can engage with authenticity when they take advantage of tools like blogs to share children’s stories, but also, use discussion boards like phpBB and course management systems like Moodle to facilitate children sharing their own stories, their own learning. Whether it be online literature circles, podcasting, online class discussions, learning has become more and more transparent. We must set aside our fear of sharing children’s work online–thereby reaching that parent audience that can seldom make it to the school bulletin board where their child’s work is displayed for all to see, flaws and all–and embrace the boldness of transparent learning.

                                                                              Engaging with authenticity means allowing parents to see what is happening in the classroom, using any variety of tools to achieve that, whether it be a blog, a Moodle, or whatever tool happens to be handy.

                                                                              COLLABORATION
                                                                              Often, collaboration between parent and teacher occurs only after something has gone wrong. With transparent learning opportunities–which create opportunities for parents to learn what they need to know to help their child be successful at school–teachers can allow more insights into what goes on in the classroom. This goes beyond just using the technology for a mere listing of what students will learn, but an open invitation to parents to participate, perhaps by creating and offering engaging questions for parents to offer ideas and suggestions.

                                                                              Moodle can help with basic functions such as classroom management, or more complex tasks such as complete eLearning or “blended instruction”–eLearning that extends into on-site classroom instruction. As of last fall, the report says, Moodle claimed to have more than 14 million users, with more than 35,000 sites in 195 countries. In the appendix, the report describes how Moodle is being implemented in five schools and school districts across the country.
                                                                              Source: eSchoolnews

                                                                              What parents sometimes fear is that they will ask questions they SHOULD know the answers to; and teachers, having to answer questions that everyone should already know. However, without the dialogue that comes with open communications available through transparent learning, it’s impossible to ever move beyond our idealization of parent-teacher communication to conversation and collaboration. Collaboration also involves MORE than sharing ideas just for the sake of sharing them to satisfy the masses of parents.

                                                                              Mr. Rezac, a teacher, sees a trend in the use of Read/Write Web (e.g. blogs, discussion boards and more) technology use in education. Although you are encouraged to read his entire blog entry, this quote captures some of the main points for me:

                                                                              Collaboration involves working together toward a common goal…how do you get students who live in other states, countries and continents to actually work together to create something together? 
                                                                              …
                                                                              The process of creating the project is really what is important and where the learning takes place. By making the collaboration happen after the process is over, really loses the value of the experience. The collaboration is in the process, it is the process, not in the end product. . .With open source software gaining popularity, companies sharing trade secrets, and social networking [is] gaining huge popularity. But the question is, are we still trying to serve ourselves, or are we trying to serve or students and our community?Read More about Drop Box Collaboration

                                                                              As a parent, when I visit a classroom web site and see lists of content, or introductions by teachers, I’m struck by this idea that what we’re using technology for isn’t about collaboration. As Mr. Rezac points out, parents have to be involved in the process of educating their own children for this to be “collaboration.” I can hear the howls of anguish from teachers already–are parents REALLY ready to be a part of the collaboration that is possible? If teachers build it, will parents come? Well, maybe we need to change that question a bit to reflect Mr. Rezac’s point–if we build it, aren’t we already collaborating?

                                                                              How can we help educate parents so that they can be the kinds of parents every principal and teacher dreams of having? Since we are so limited during the work day, as are parents, providing access to transparent learning opportunities that educate parents, facilitate dialogue that invites parents to learn the culture of a school and collaboratively add their distinctiveness.

                                                                              HEART
                                                                              The final letter of the REACH strategy is heart. Although tenderness, love, and concern are what I usually associate with “heart,” I am moved more by small actions over time can have a tremendous impact. Consider these facts about the human heart:

                                                                              The average heart beats about 75 times per minute, which is about five liters of blood per minute. Although this isn’t much, it enables the heart to complete a tremendous amount of work in a person’s lifetime. The human heart beats about 40 million times a year, which adds up to more than 2.5 billion times in a 70-year lifetime. This results in approximately 2 to 3 billion joules of work in a lifetime, which is a huge amount.
                                                                              Source: HyperTextbook – Power of a Human Heart

                                                                              Our hearts do a little work each day, work that is essential to life and have a tremendous impact over a lifetime, enabling us to reflect on what we do, reach out and engage others, collaborate and more. Free software amplifies the power of the human heart to accomplish these actions, at home, work, school and on the go.

                                                                              Here is a short list of some of that software that amplifies what we can do in schools to reach out to parents:

                                                                              • Read/Write Web Tools: Online discussions and sharing that make learning transparent, that enable us to archive student learning to create multimedia portfolios:
                                                                                1-Blogging Platforms like b2evolution and wordpress.
                                                                                2-Electronic discussion areas like phpBB and Moodle course management system
                                                                                3-Image galleries that facilitate community sharing of students images and work like Gallery2
                                                                              • Information Management Tools: Information management and productivity tools that enhance our ability to amplify our work as individuals at no additional cost:
                                                                                1-Office Suites like OpenOffice that enable parents, students and teachers home access to word processing, spreadsheets, presentation, and database software.
                                                                                2-Graphic organizers that enable students and parents to visually organize concepts; those organizers include tools likeCmap Tools (no cost), Visually Understanding Environment (VUE), and others available online.
                                                                                3-Image/Video/audio viewing, editing and conversion including VLC Media Player, Audacity sound editor, THE GIMP for graphics and more.


                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                              Crowdsourcing CyberBullying Admin Procedure

                                                                              21 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in CyberBullying, DigitalCitizenship, Education

                                                                              ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                              Source: http://www.glogster.com/media/14/37/57/78/37577804.jpg
                                                                              During the old TIFTECH Training years ago–which I was a certified trainer–I found discussions about policy and leadership the richest sources of ideas and conversations. Looking back, I often wish now that I’d been a blogger back then (when blogging was non-existent as far as I knew) simply to mine the rich topics that arose.
                                                                              I remember one conversation in particular. It took place in a faceless library in a school outside memory about the role administrators play in crafting administrative procedure and influencing school policy. I was not yet the mighty blowhard expert you see before you today, instead, a humble learner gathering crumbs from the tables of my betters. In that conversation, superintendents debated about how to best craft administrative procedures that would govern actions in schools.
                                                                              My own experiences in this now have laid to rest any illusions I had about this process of negotiation and capitulation (laugh). But now, we have the ability to have a broader conversation and discussion about administrative procedures, especially those that deal with a hot topic such as cyberbullying.
                                                                              Check out this administrative procedure and tell me what you think in the comments.


                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                              MyNotes – Texas Sexting Not Porn for 48 hours

                                                                              21 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in CyberBullying, DigitalCitizenship, Education, Texas

                                                                              ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                              The graphs below highlight the need for paying attention to sexting. The main challenge for some young sexters is that they are branded for life as “pornographers.”  This ruins their lives because they then have to explain lots of stuff when applying for college, jobs, etc.
                                                                              The most important part of the information shared includes the following:

                                                                              “Now we have a law that’s up-to-date and that’s not going to brand a kid as a sex offender into perpetuity for making a dumb mistake.” The new law will grant exemption from punishment for those who receive a sext and either report or destroy it within 48 hours…

                                                                              Thank goodness!



                                                                              My Notes: 

                                                                              Perry Signs, Abbott Lauds Sexting Bill — Sexting | The Texas Tribune

                                                                                  • Perry Signs, Abbott Lauds Sexting Bill

                                                                                       

                                                                                    • by Beth Brown
                                                                                  • Prosecutors will be able to punish kids who send explicit photos to each other without resorting to putting them on the sex offender registry, under a bill Attorney GeneralGreg Abbott lauded in a press release today.
                                                                                    • SB 407, authored by State Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, is meant to prevent and hold minors responsible for transmitting sexually explicit messages by establishing educational programs for violators.
                                                                                      • “Sexting” between minors has historically been categorized as pornography, which means violators face felony convictions and possible registration for life in the Texas Sex Offender Registration program.
                                                                                        • The new law will grant exemption from punishment for those who receive a sext and either report or destroy it within 48 hours.
                                                                                          • Abbott said the bill allows prosecutors to “pursue less draconian criminal charges against minors.”
                                                                                            • A 2008 study from the Cyberbullying Research Center estimated that 19 percent of teens had sent a sexually-suggestive electronic picture or video of themselves to someone, and 31 percent had received a nude or semi-nude picture from someone else.
                                                                                              • Effective September 1, individuals found sexting could be charged with a misdemeanor and required to enroll in an educational program about sexting’s criminal, emotional and psychological damages, including cyberbullying.



                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              Encrypting Your Dropbox

                                                                                              21 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in CloudComputing, TechTips

                                                                                              ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                                              Source: http://www.google-store.com/images/GO30006.jpg



                                                                                              Did you get the news flash? Dropbox.com isn’t secure. Wait, wait, before you sue me, check out this blog entry, Dropbox Let’s Anyone Log in as anyone: 

                                                                                              Customers of cloud-based file storing-and-sharing company Dropbox should check on the data they’ve entrusted to the service, following the company’s admission that it messed up its access controls for several hours.

                                                                                              As alert Twitterer Andy Durdin points out, you can readily see if someone else has changed your Dropbox files. But you can’t see if someone else has been snooping through your data.

                                                                                              Dropbox suggests on its blog that less than 1% of accounts were accessed during the unprotected period, and that it will contact those users in case the access was unauthorised.

                                                                                              If your account was accessed, be sure to ask Dropbox for a detailed log of what happened so you can find out what got stolen as well as what got changed. Unauthorised access and unauthorised modification are both bad for your digital well-being.

                                                                                              Of course, if you’ve been using Dropbox to store your top secret excel spreadsheet with all your passwords, you may be sweating it now. In truth, though, if you’re using KeepassX or TrueCrypt or GPG/PGP to encrypt your top secret info, you have nothing to fear except the loss of that data.

                                                                                              Some tips I put into practice with my dropbox account:
                                                                                              1. Encrypt “private” content shared via Dropbox. This is especially true with stuff I want to share with other people but wouldn’t necessarily want to share with the world. I use a variety of tools to get that job done, such as the following (listed from easiest to more complex): KeepassX for usernames/passwords, TrueCrypt.org, NCrypt, GPG, as well as combinations of those.
                                                                                              2. Use Dropbox for items you want to share with others, so it wouldn’t matter if others did access it.
                                                                                              3. Make frequent backups of content on Dropbox OUTSIDE of the Dropbox folder on your computer(s). 
                                                                                              There are a lot of other things you can do, but this is a list of what *I* do on a regular basis. Sort of like that old umbrella you keep stowed beneath your seat, waiting for a rainy day on the occasion you get caught without notice, I like to think of Dropbox as one of those throwaway resources…so what if you lose it?

                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              Institutionalizing Ignorance – Enlightening with Laughter

                                                                                              21 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Leadership, Transparency

                                                                                              ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                                              A colleague recently pointed out the following video to me, laughing at the incompetence of organizations that institutionalize ignorance in their leaders. (If YouTube is blocked, you can also watch the video here at the Kayak web site).

                                                                                              When looking at the incompetence that enshrines itself in the boss’ office, it’s easy to be critical and mean, isn’t it? As a “boss” myself, I certainly have had to learn to be empathetic/sympathetic of how my decisions, even when properly discussed with others, impact others. There’s a temptation when being a leader, a manager, to not learn the details of a job. I’m guilty of it myself. Do I really need to know that, or can I focus better on facilitating the work for others who can do it much better than I ever could?

                                                                                              Obviously, there is a balance that must be struck, isn’t there?

                                                                                              The best response I’ve seen to this kind of incompetence lies not in the contemptuous snort, but the laugh. Yes, laughing at incompetence or a simple smile. Faced with insurmountable culture trends, what can one do but choose to smile or laugh in the face of danger? Faced with one’s own embrace of ignorance, best to laugh and encourage laughter than to be the raging recipient of snickers and snorts.

                                                                                              “If you laugh on a regular basis, your body actually becomes inhospitable to negativity.”

                                                                                              Source: Quoteflections 

                                                                                              If one imagines negativity and ignorance as bugs to be kept out, how can one make oneself inhospitable to negativity? Or, put another way, how can we make ourselves hospitable to those qualities and behaviors that make us better people?

                                                                                              As Angela Maiers, author of Classroom Habitudes, points out, there’s something to re-discovering the lessons children have to teach us…among them, laughter.

                                                                                              There’s something about being around young children; beyond their energy, freshness, and laughter. Children are wise without knowing it. Fearless learners and compassionate leaders; children live in a world where everything matters and everyone has value.

                                                                                              The loss of childhood, I suggest, equates to the ebbing of laughter. In its place, a seriousness of what we’re about, how important something is, and, then, without laughter, the death of play. Yet, play and laughter go together.

                                                                                              Laughter is the best and cheapest medicine for reducing stress and there is not the least bit of bitterness involved. In fact, research has shown that laughter not only decreases stress, it can also “help relieve pain, bring greater happiness, and even increase immunity.” (Source: MakeUseOf.com)

                                                                                              I still remember my reaction as a college student, walking into the parking lot and realizing my friend’s car had been stolen–I laughed. We had both been so sure that the car would be there, ready to whisk us away to do the work we were about, that when the bottom fell out from underneath us, I could do nothing but laugh. After a few moments, my friend starting laughing, too. Of course, his first reaction was shock and anger, but upon seeing me laugh at the situation we found ourselves, he couldn’t help but join in.

                                                                                              Now, reflecting on that experience, I realize that my reaction would not be the same. What changed? Surely, a greater awareness of the cost, empathy/sympathy for the loss of an expensive conveyance, but…why shouldn’t we laugh or smile in the face of adversity?

                                                                                              And, certainly, institutionalized ignorance as reflected in the Kayak Bright Man commercial stimulates laughter. Most poignant, of course, is the idea that the higher one ascends in an organization, the less they know. If only we could learn to laugh at the loss of ignorance, we might find a way ahead to learn wisdom.

                                                                                              What do you think?


                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              5 Conversations I Don’t Want To Have Anymore

                                                                                              21 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, Transparency

                                                                                              ≈ 3 Comments

                                                                                              Source: http://conversationsinsocialmedia.files.wordpress.com/2010/07/conversation.jpg

                                                                                              Meditating on the crazy stuff people do from day to day in the service of schools, I realized that a fun article to write might be something along the lines of, 5 Conversations I don’t want to have anymore. It’s an idea that I immediately plurked/tweeted/fbook’d and received only a few responses, all definitely worth sharing.

                                                                                              Of course, here are some of the conversations I just don’t want to have anymore:

                                                                                              1. Education reform a la implementation of a new curriculum or professional development approach. As a beneficiary of my own incredibly diverse, rich professional learning network (PLN), I find that I need less of traditional professional development and more face to face conversations about what I’m learning. For me, PLN Talk isn’t about convincing others about the certainty of great ideas but finding people who are interested in implementing great PLN ideas in their work setting.
                                                                                              2. The merit of using Moodle, wikis, blogs in K-12 education. You know, after so long, it’s incredible that schools still resist the use of these powerful learning technologies. I’m tired of arguing whether they will work or not, or trying to convince people. Listen, if you don’t get it, you don’t get it…I’m moving on.

                                                                                                As cited in a Texas CTO report, “School districts are more focused on dealing with the problems of Web 2.0 than on challenges to leverage Web 2.0 for learning.” Enough already.

                                                                                              3. The value of empowering end users to use social media tools (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Plurk, RSS feeds) to connect with their community and stakeholders. One of my favorite presentations on this (of course, i did it for Texas Chief Technology officers Council) quotes Seth Godin. It goes like this:

                                                                                                “While you’ve been hiring Communications experts to create a smooth-talking, slick appearance for your K-12 school district, establishing policies about who gets to post what, and creating a chain of command to ensure that only appropriate and approved materials show up on your static district web site, your students, teachers, parents, community and Media outlets have been creating little interactive web sites for their own use, telling their version of your story.”
                                                                                                –Miguel Guhlin’s adaptation of Seth Godin’s work in Meatball Sundae (must-read!)

                                                                                                Wake up, School Leaders and Communication Experts! Let’s stop having that conversation because, to be blunt, if you don’t get it, you probably have something else motivating your learning.

                                                                                              4. School finance changes. I don’t know if anyone noticed, but I nuked my budget notes over the last legislative session. What a soul draining experience to review those…deleting them allowed me to shed rocks out of life’s rucksack. While I encourage journalists and citizen-journalists to keep pour disinfectant by shining spotlights on the actions of the few that damage the many, I find reflecting on the tough changes to be unproductive and depressing. Let’s figure out how to do more with less since that is a constant in the education universe.

                                                                                                And, finally, the last thing I want to not talk about anymore is…

                                                                                              5. …the idea of any one solution being the be all, end all for education. As a technophile, my focus is on learning in whatever form and sharing that. Too many blog entries are focused on a new technology (e.g. livebinders) as being the must teach tool to teachers. Instead, I want to focus on helping educators build professional learning networks that will help them become community collaborators and co-learners. Of course, WordFoto does catch one’s eye.

                                                                                              Since I shared this blog entry with others, here are some of the conversations fellow educators said they didn’t want to have anymore:

                                                                                              From PLURKers:

                                                                                              mweisburgh I don’t want to talk about standardized testing as a way to evaluate teachers anymore
                                                                                              classroom_tech I’d rather not have any more conversations about who is to blame for broken education systems. move forward, people! not backward!
                                                                                              shirky17 says Do I really have to do this assignment? How many points is it worth?
                                                                                              MrP_tchr says Why are all these free educational websites blocked at school?

                                                                                              From Twitterers:

                                                                                              What conversations do you want to start having?

                                                                                              Update: Wow, some folks have sparked to this meta-conversation. Thanks to Stephen Downes for sending folks thisaway:

                                                                                              http://www.downes.ca/post/55739 


                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              Impossible Mission? – Importing WordPress XML into Blogger

                                                                                              17 Friday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Blogspot, GoogleApps, TechTips

                                                                                              ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                                              Source: http://participaction.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/mission_impossible_4.jpg

                                                                                              For fun, I’m helping someone (@dcannell) import their WordPress blog into blogger but have encountered the ubiquitous error:
                                                                                              “Sorry, the import failed due to a server error. The error code is bX-i1hhru”

                                                                                              I’ve split the XML files into smaller pieces, modified them using the Google Data Liberation Tool, then attempted imports with file sizes ranging from 221K to 3.8 megs. No luck.

                                                                                              Does anyone have suggestions or should I just point the person to WordPress.com or something like that? They are a Catholic school trying to consolidate their work within Google tools. What’s frustrating is the WordPress import/export worked just peachy.


                                                                                              (Plurk discussion here)


                                                                                              Other Stuff I ran Into:

                                                                                              • How to Import Mac iWeb site to WordPress


                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              Rustling Laughter

                                                                                              15 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Transparency

                                                                                              ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                                              Cattle Rustling Reaches Record Levels

                                                                                              Presentation Zen blogger, Garr Reynolds, ends an engaging blog entry entitled Be like the Bamboo on the lessons we can learn from bamboo with these words:

                                                                                              It is said that bamboo has a strong association with laughter, perhaps because of the sound that the bamboo leaves make on a windy day. If you use your imagination I guess it does sound a bit like the forest laughing; it is a soothing sound. . .You do not need to be perfect. You need only to be resilient. This is the greatest lesson from the bamboo.

                                                                                              As I started to type a title for this blog entry, my mind blipped “Rustling laughter.” I started to erase it and then realized that the idea of resilience in the face of adversity, the playfulness with which we greet each day is powerful. I’m struck by the concept of bamboo on a windy day, rustling to make a sound like laughter…and the concept of “rustling,” like stealing cattle in Texas, laughter from day to day situations.


                                                                                              It’s a fun idea to play with…that from each day, we “rustle laughter,” an “illegal” activity at a time when humor is in short supply, and seriousness is all we are allowed to muster. Yet finding humor in the toughest situations is what makes us human.

                                                                                              The passion of spring has been replaced with despair, fear of job loss, and on the part of administrators, a slaphappy resignation to what could have been worse, a possible $9-billion loss. 

                                                                                              Source: San Antonio teachers, administrators watch the budget axe fall 

                                                                                              In the face of such dire news, the lessons Garr shares in Be like the Bamboo are life-lessons, lessons that take a lifetime to put into practice. How do we get there sooner?

                                                                                              There’s nothing like true play to promote social cohesion at work. When people play, they become attuned to each other. The more powerful players handicap themselves to keep the game going instead of dominating and controlling it. Groups pull together in pursuit of a common goal, which is why the “team” approach is often utilized in business. 

                                                                                              Source: Stuart Brown as cited in The Importance of Play in Business

                                                                                              Garr points out you don’t have to be perfect. Admitting that seems wrong somehow…not perfect? Aren’t we supposed to strive for perfection? But when the common goal involves being less than perfect, is that ok? It might be fun to our unique approaches to questing for perfection, each person pursuing it in their own way but “synergetically” helping the group achieve perfection. Hmm…too deep, or perhaps, too shallow, a thought for a hot evening. 
                                                                                              Have you rustled some laughter today?
                                                                                              Cattle in a Bamboo Grove – http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2612/4204333011_e72db546f4.jpg

                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              Giveaway – WinX DVD Ripper

                                                                                              15 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in GiveAway, WindowsOS

                                                                                              ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                                              Just recently, a few folks were chatting about DVD ripping software. Guess what! There’s a new giveaway. Digiarty Software and Around the Corner will be giving out 20 copies of the WinX DVD Ripper software:

                                                                                              WinX DVD Ripper Platinum is an all-in-one DVD ripper software capable of ripping both DVD disc and DVD ISO image to mainstream videos, such as rip DVD to AVI, DVD to MP4, H.264, MPEG, WMV, MOV, FLV, 3GP, etc. It can also help users faultlessly convert DVD (including encrypted DVD) to iPhone, iPad/iPad 2, iPod, iTouch, Apple TV, Zune, Mobile phone, Sony PSP, Zen, etc. This program brings you No.1 fast DVD ripping solution in the market thanks to the cutting-edge technology to support Multi-core CPU (maximally 8-core processor) and Hyper-threading.
                                                                                              Moreover, the latest version is built in 3 innovative DVD copy modes to meet users’ up-to-date DVD backup demands – clone DVD disc to ISO image; copy DVD title to multi-track MPEG2 file with all videos/audios/subtitles; backup main content of a DVD for playing on PC, PS3, Xbox, Media Center, etc. The latter two Copy modes cost you 5 minutes only!

                                                                                              If you’d like to participate, please visit the Around the Corner-Giveaway Facebook page . You’ll need to sign up (it’s free, no spam), and fill out the online submission form to be eligible! The drawing will be held through Sunday (Father’s Day in the United States), and winners announced shortly thereafter.
                                                                                              I’m really looking forward to playing around with the software this weekend! You can download the software online at http://www.winxdvd.com/dvd-ripper-platinum/ but you won’t get the Serial Number until you join the Around the Corner-Giveaway Facebook page and fill out the form.

                                                                                              Full Disclosure: In the interests of full disclosure, I get a free copy of this software; it’s about a $40 value.


                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              Building Online Courses with Open Web Tools

                                                                                              15 Wednesday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, MoodleConversations, MoodleMayhem, OnlineLearning, Wikis

                                                                                              ≈ Leave a comment

                                                                                              Source: http://jessicaw22.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/maze.jpg

                                                                                              Update: This conversation continues online via Google+.




                                                                                              A week or so ago, the deadline for workshop registrations for the Moodle Server Setup Using CentOS Linux came and went…aside from myself, no one else registered or expressed interest. Without that critical server training, I honestly feel like I can’t move forward using Moodle. Running Moodle on Windows with the load we have just doesn’t get it done.

                                                                                              Note: Off the bat, I’m going to rule out Moodle Partners for large installations. I won’t elaborate on why I don’t like them, let’s just say I’ve seen them nickle-n-dime for services you could easily do yourself if you hosted your own solution on Rackspace or Siteground.

                                                                                              PROBLEM
                                                                                              In some districts, server management is tightly controlled and, for a variety of factors (e.g. staff available to support servers, training available, trouble-shooting help being “less available”), technical support staff may be reluctant to embrace yet another server operating system that is not Microsoft Windows based. 

                                                                                              This reluctance can be incredibly frustrating, as I’ve seen firsthand in many school districts I’ve visited, to instructional designers. After all, the technology is there to support instruction. It’s an argument I’ve seen play out numerous times over my years as an educator. Let’s get one thing straight, though. If your technicians aren’t willing to learn what they need to support instruction, then get another technician and/or do what needs to be done so you can support instruction. That’s easy to say/write, but there are a variety of factors that make it less “black-n-white.” 

                                                                                              Still, I’ve seen it work successfully in districts I’ve visited…it simply takes a leader with positional authority to put their foot down and say, “Do it.” Yes, I’ve witnessed that process with my own eyes and always exclaim, What wouldn’t instructional designers give for that kind of support!

                                                                                              http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_175608095785362&ap=1

                                                                                              WHAT TOOLS TO USE?
                                                                                              That leadership aside, some choose to take advantage of different tools besides Moodle and course management systems. As a Moodle advocate (e.g. MoodleMayhem.org), I honestly think it’s a great solution for perpetuating our current understanding of how students and teachers should interact. Some don’t agree with that model, but others are forced to be realists and accept that this is the way things work. Their goal isn’t to change their school culture, simply to do what they’re told–facilitate online learning for K-12 and adult learners.

                                                                                              ‎”Now, you can’t swing a dead cat without hitting a CMS. They reflect the power relationships we reinforce: the instructor is in control and the learner is put in his or her place, managed. It’s not just a name. Students are like cruise ship tourists, trapped in the lame excursion itineraries of smarmy cruise directors. Sorry, you didn’t want the filtered interview, right? CMSs are like a planned gated community where not much surprising happens.” Source: Ten Questions for an IDT Guy: Future of Online Teaching

                                                                                              The quote above comes from this article–which Helen Teague was kind enough to share via the Moodle Mayhem Facebook Group–and immediately socked me between the eyes. You see, if Moodle isn’t available, learners and instructional designers have other options.

                                                                                              For learners, it’s clear that they should be building their personal/professional learning network (PLN). As I shared in this blog entry….

                                                                                              Learning is no longer just an event, something that happens at a workshop or conference. Instead, learning happens ALL the time. We are always learning.
                                                                                              But because there is SO MUCH content available, how do you pick and choose what professional learning you will engage in? Since we are often individuals learning at different stages on various path–hmm, differentiated learning for adults–it is important that we construct a Personal Learning Network (PLN).
                                                                                              A PLN is a way of building relationships with others who we do not work with but rather, who we learn with. To achieve that, we can use education forums, education blogs, podcasts, and more.

                                                                                              And, there are lots of ways to get that done. But it’s a maze of ever-changing tools, isn’t it? If I want to build my PLN, I might choose to pick which social networking tool I want to focus on…and whatever I choose (e.g. Plurk), I miss out on the conversation going on via another social network (e.g. Twitter or Facebook). While I can choose to manage content coming at me with an RSS aggregator (e.g. Google Reader), it can quickly become overwhelming. Do I set up a PLN just for what I’m learning at work or in school?

                                                                                              Learners aside (yeah, move over learners), what about teaching online? Back to the original problem folks face…if you can’t use a CMS like Moodle because you don’t have the server, technical support, institutional leadership, what do you use to facilitate online learning?

                                                                                              Well, some might say, you simply don’t do it. If you’re missing these 3 critical supports, why are you bothering to do online learning? You might as well just say, “I’m experimenting with online learning and it just isn’t worth it because the organization doesn’t value it enough.”
                                                                                              But what if you do value it but can’t get the technical issues taken care of, whatever the reason? What do you do instead? Then, maybe it’s easier to do what folks in this Facebook conversation did:

                                                                                              Wow, consider using a wiki to facilitate an online course. Sure, this isn’t new, but have you done it?
                                                                                              Jon Becker’s –  https://sites.google.com/site/edpolitics/home
                                                                                              Sherry Crofut shares some other examples of online teaching using wikis:
                                                                                              http://bringinghome-iste2010.wikispaces.com/

                                                                                              http://sdwows.wikispaces.com/
                                                                                              In reviewing these 3 courses, I really see them as rich examples of using wikis to facilitate online learning. While these approaches will work for adult learners online, when I think of everything one can do with a Moodle course with K-12 students in regards to assessments (e.g. quizzes, grades, etc.), I wonder if open web tool combinations–wikis + GoogleForms/Docs–will get the job done.
                                                                                              Perhaps, it’s time to just plunge in, abandoning CMS structure. What do you think?

                                                                                              http://goo.gl/t5WhX
                                                                                              Get Blog Updates via Email!

                                                                                              Enter your email address:

                                                                                              Delivered by FeedBurner

                                                                                              PingIt! pingthis();
                                                                                              Delicious Bookmark this on Delicious
                                                                                              Subscribe to Around the Corner-MGuhlin.org

                                                                                              Everything posted on Miguel Guhlin’s blogs/wikis are his personal opinion and do not necessarily represent the views of his employer(s) or its clients. Read Full Disclosure

                                                                                              Finding Jobs in Texas Tough Economy

                                                                                              14 Tuesday Jun 2011

                                                                                              Posted by mguhlin in Education, JobPosting, OldyButGoody, Texas

                                                                                              ≈ 1 Comment

                                                                                              Here’s my list of places to find Education-related jobs in Texas:

                                                                                              1. TASAnet.org’s Career Center – This is one of the best sites around to find out about new jobs. While it doesn’t have ALL jobs available, you will find more here than anywhere else.
                                                                                              2. Texas Education Agency’s (TEA) School District Jobs – This is a collaborative effort by the Texas Education Agency and the Texas WorkForce Commission. Definitely worth checking out. For example, I did a search based on a zip code in my city. Unfortunately, the result just has you going to individual district/charter school job sites. Not strictly providing a list of jobs, but if you’re are hoping to relocate to another city, it’s worth a look.
                                                                                              3. Education Service Center Job Pages – includes web sites from regional education service centers that offer district employment networks, enabling one application to work for all the districts they serve, or at least, sharing open positions at school districts. Some of these include the following: 
                                                                                                1. ASCD Job Ramp
                                                                                                2. ESC-1 Employment Opportunities
                                                                                                3. ESC-2 Coastal Bend Application Tracking System
                                                                                                4. ESC-6
                                                                                                5. ESC-7 Jobs
                                                                                                6. ESC-9
                                                                                                7. ESC-10 Teacher Job Network
                                                                                                8. ESC-11 DFW Area Application System
                                                                                                9. ESC-12 
                                                                                                10. ESC-13 
                                                                                                11. ESC-14 
                                                                                                12. ESC-16
                                                                                                13. ESC-17
                                                                                              4. TCEA Jobs – Find technology and education related jobs online.
                                                                                              5. SchoolSpring.com – You’ll find jobs on this listing.
                                                                                              6. Indeed.com Search Engine – Easy to use search engine that enables you to type in your city and type of job you want. For example, here’s a search for Educational Technology as well as different one for education.
                                                                                              7. Texas Cares Online 
                                                                                              8. Teachers.Net
                                                                                              9. Education America
                                                                                              10. Texas NonProfits Job Search
                                                                                              11. JobNab.com
                                                                                              ← Older posts

                                                                                              Subscribe

                                                                                              • Entries (RSS)
                                                                                              • Comments (RSS)

                                                                                              Archives

                                                                                              • May 2017
                                                                                              • April 2017
                                                                                              • March 2017
                                                                                              • February 2017
                                                                                              • January 2017
                                                                                              • December 2016
                                                                                              • November 2016
                                                                                              • October 2016
                                                                                              • September 2016
                                                                                              • August 2016
                                                                                              • July 2016
                                                                                              • June 2016
                                                                                              • May 2016
                                                                                              • April 2016
                                                                                              • March 2016
                                                                                              • February 2016
                                                                                              • January 2016
                                                                                              • December 2015
                                                                                              • November 2015
                                                                                              • October 2015
                                                                                              • September 2015
                                                                                              • August 2015
                                                                                              • July 2015
                                                                                              • June 2015
                                                                                              • May 2015
                                                                                              • April 2015
                                                                                              • March 2015
                                                                                              • February 2015
                                                                                              • January 2015
                                                                                              • December 2014
                                                                                              • November 2014
                                                                                              • October 2014
                                                                                              • September 2014
                                                                                              • August 2014
                                                                                              • July 2014
                                                                                              • June 2014
                                                                                              • May 2014
                                                                                              • April 2014
                                                                                              • March 2014
                                                                                              • February 2014
                                                                                              • January 2014
                                                                                              • December 2013
                                                                                              • November 2013
                                                                                              • October 2013
                                                                                              • September 2013
                                                                                              • August 2013
                                                                                              • July 2013
                                                                                              • June 2013
                                                                                              • May 2013
                                                                                              • April 2013
                                                                                              • March 2013
                                                                                              • February 2013
                                                                                              • January 2013
                                                                                              • December 2012
                                                                                              • November 2012
                                                                                              • October 2012
                                                                                              • September 2012
                                                                                              • August 2012
                                                                                              • July 2012
                                                                                              • June 2012
                                                                                              • May 2012
                                                                                              • April 2012
                                                                                              • March 2012
                                                                                              • February 2012
                                                                                              • January 2012
                                                                                              • December 2011
                                                                                              • November 2011
                                                                                              • October 2011
                                                                                              • September 2011
                                                                                              • August 2011
                                                                                              • July 2011
                                                                                              • June 2011
                                                                                              • May 2011
                                                                                              • April 2011
                                                                                              • March 2011
                                                                                              • February 2011
                                                                                              • January 2011
                                                                                              • December 2010
                                                                                              • November 2010
                                                                                              • October 2010
                                                                                              • September 2010
                                                                                              • August 2010
                                                                                              • July 2010
                                                                                              • June 2010
                                                                                              • May 2010
                                                                                              • April 2010
                                                                                              • March 2010
                                                                                              • February 2010
                                                                                              • January 2010
                                                                                              • December 2009
                                                                                              • November 2009
                                                                                              • October 2009
                                                                                              • September 2009
                                                                                              • August 2009
                                                                                              • July 2009
                                                                                              • June 2009
                                                                                              • May 2009
                                                                                              • April 2009
                                                                                              • March 2009
                                                                                              • February 2009
                                                                                              • January 2009
                                                                                              • December 2008
                                                                                              • November 2008
                                                                                              • October 2008
                                                                                              • September 2008
                                                                                              • August 2008
                                                                                              • July 2008
                                                                                              • June 2008
                                                                                              • May 2008
                                                                                              • April 2008
                                                                                              • January 2008
                                                                                              • November 2007
                                                                                              • October 2007
                                                                                              • September 2007
                                                                                              • July 2007
                                                                                              • May 2007
                                                                                              • April 2007
                                                                                              • March 2007
                                                                                              • January 2007
                                                                                              • August 2006
                                                                                              • July 2006
                                                                                              • May 2006
                                                                                              • April 2006
                                                                                              • February 2006
                                                                                              • January 2006
                                                                                              • December 2005
                                                                                              • January 2005

                                                                                              Categories

                                                                                              • #edcamp
                                                                                              • #edcampplano
                                                                                              • #txtia12
                                                                                              • 1to1
                                                                                              • 1Voice4TxEd
                                                                                              • 3DPrinting
                                                                                              • 5EModel
                                                                                              • 7zip
                                                                                              • Abydos
                                                                                              • ActivityStructures
                                                                                              • Advertising
                                                                                              • Advice
                                                                                              • AESCrypt
                                                                                              • AL DíA
                                                                                              • Amazon
                                                                                              • Android
                                                                                              • AntiMalware
                                                                                              • AntiX
                                                                                              • Apple
                                                                                              • ArdentISD
                                                                                              • ARG
                                                                                              • arguhlin
                                                                                              • Assessment
                                                                                              • AssetManagement
                                                                                              • ATPE
                                                                                              • Audiobooks
                                                                                              • AudioTools
                                                                                              • AugmentedReality
                                                                                              • Avatars
                                                                                              • AVID
                                                                                              • BackChannel
                                                                                              • Badges
                                                                                              • Barcodes
                                                                                              • Big6
                                                                                              • Bilingual
                                                                                              • BitTorrentSync
                                                                                              • Blackberry
                                                                                              • Blogging
                                                                                              • BlogNotes
                                                                                              • Blogspot
                                                                                              • Book
                                                                                              • BootCamp
                                                                                              • Brain
                                                                                              • Buzz
                                                                                              • BYOD
                                                                                              • BYOT
                                                                                              • Canvas
                                                                                              • CC
                                                                                              • CCGA
                                                                                              • cdl_mooced
                                                                                              • CentOS
                                                                                              • Centrallo
                                                                                              • Chrome
                                                                                              • Chromebook
                                                                                              • Chromebooks
                                                                                              • Chromecast
                                                                                              • Chuckle
                                                                                              • Citizen-Journalism
                                                                                              • Clear
                                                                                              • CloudComputing
                                                                                              • CloudHQ
                                                                                              • Coaching
                                                                                              • coding
                                                                                              • CommandLine
                                                                                              • CommentHoisting
                                                                                              • CommunityService
                                                                                              • Conferences
                                                                                              • ConspiracyTheories
                                                                                              • ContentCuration
                                                                                              • Copyright
                                                                                              • COSN
                                                                                              • CourseDesign
                                                                                              • CourseManagementSystem
                                                                                              • CreativeNonFiction
                                                                                              • Crucial
                                                                                              • Crunchbang
                                                                                              • CSCOPE
                                                                                              • CTOsRole
                                                                                              • Curriculum
                                                                                              • CustomerService
                                                                                              • CyberBullying
                                                                                              • Debian
                                                                                              • Delicious
                                                                                              • DesktopPublishing
                                                                                              • DeviceSmashing
                                                                                              • Differentiation
                                                                                              • Digital
                                                                                              • DigitalCitizenship
                                                                                              • DigitalEquity
                                                                                              • DigitalFootPrint
                                                                                              • DigitalLeadership
                                                                                              • DigitalMakeOvers
                                                                                              • DigitalNomad
                                                                                              • DigitalStorytelling
                                                                                              • DigitizingWW
                                                                                              • Diigo
                                                                                              • DisinterestedLeader
                                                                                              • Dokuwiki
                                                                                              • Donations
                                                                                              • DownloadalaMode
                                                                                              • Drones
                                                                                              • Dropbox
                                                                                              • ebook
                                                                                              • ebooks
                                                                                              • edcampsa
                                                                                              • Edmodo
                                                                                              • EdTech
                                                                                              • edtechcoach
                                                                                              • edtechpalooza2013
                                                                                              • Educaiton
                                                                                              • Education
                                                                                              • educationletters08
                                                                                              • elearning
                                                                                              • Elgg
                                                                                              • ELL
                                                                                              • Encryption
                                                                                              • eNewsletter
                                                                                              • epic-ed
                                                                                              • ePortfolios
                                                                                              • ePub
                                                                                              • eRate
                                                                                              • eReader
                                                                                              • ESC20
                                                                                              • EscapeVelocity
                                                                                              • Espanol
                                                                                              • etdrive
                                                                                              • Evangelio
                                                                                              • Event
                                                                                              • EverNote
                                                                                              • EvernotePost
                                                                                              • Excel
                                                                                              • experience
                                                                                              • Facebook
                                                                                              • fallblogchallenge2010
                                                                                              • Family
                                                                                              • Fantasy
                                                                                              • Fiction
                                                                                              • Filtering
                                                                                              • FinancialExigency
                                                                                              • Firefox
                                                                                              • Fitness
                                                                                              • Flickr
                                                                                              • Flipboard
                                                                                              • Flipgrid
                                                                                              • FlippedClassrooms
                                                                                              • flippedpd
                                                                                              • Followership
                                                                                              • Fonts
                                                                                              • Forms
                                                                                              • FreeSoftware
                                                                                              • FSArchiver
                                                                                              • FTP
                                                                                              • gamification
                                                                                              • Gaming
                                                                                              • Geocaching
                                                                                              • Geogebra
                                                                                              • GeoGuesser
                                                                                              • GeoTech
                                                                                              • GIS
                                                                                              • GiveAway
                                                                                              • globaled10
                                                                                              • GNU/Linux
                                                                                              • GoneFishing
                                                                                              • Google
                                                                                              • GoogleApps
                                                                                              • GoogleCR48
                                                                                              • GoogleDocs
                                                                                              • GoogleForms
                                                                                              • GoogleKeep
                                                                                              • GoogleNexus
                                                                                              • GooglePlus
                                                                                              • GoogleSheets
                                                                                              • GoogleSites
                                                                                              • GoogleSlides
                                                                                              • GoogleSuites
                                                                                              • Grant
                                                                                              • Graphs
                                                                                              • GreenScreen
                                                                                              • GrowthMindset
                                                                                              • gsmagic
                                                                                              • GTA
                                                                                              • GTAdmin
                                                                                              • GuestBlogger
                                                                                              • GuidedInquiry
                                                                                              • Hacking
                                                                                              • HaikuDeck
                                                                                              • Halloween
                                                                                              • Hangouts
                                                                                              • Hardware
                                                                                              • HardwareReviews
                                                                                              • Hashtags
                                                                                              • HCPSTEACH
                                                                                              • HDBackupRestore
                                                                                              • HeresiesofanOstrichLeader
                                                                                              • HigherEducation
                                                                                              • HomeInstead.com
                                                                                              • Hootsuite
                                                                                              • HotDeals
                                                                                              • HuffingtonPost
                                                                                              • Humor
                                                                                              • iBook
                                                                                              • iBYOT
                                                                                              • ImageEdit
                                                                                              • ImageSearch
                                                                                              • iNACOL
                                                                                              • InfoGraphics
                                                                                              • InformationLiteracy
                                                                                              • InMemoriam
                                                                                              • InstructionalDesign
                                                                                              • InteractiveWhiteboards
                                                                                              • Introvert
                                                                                              • iOS
                                                                                              • iot
                                                                                              • iPad
                                                                                              • iPadifyingWW
                                                                                              • iPads
                                                                                              • iPhone
                                                                                              • iphoneography
                                                                                              • iplza13
                                                                                              • iplza15
                                                                                              • iPod
                                                                                              • iPodTouch
                                                                                              • ISTE
                                                                                              • ISTE13
                                                                                              • iste17
                                                                                              • ISTE2010
                                                                                              • ISTE2013
                                                                                              • IWantList
                                                                                              • JeremyFluhmann
                                                                                              • JobPosting
                                                                                              • Joomla
                                                                                              • JoomlaTip
                                                                                              • K12Dynamics
                                                                                              • K12OnlineConference
                                                                                              • Kaplan
                                                                                              • key
                                                                                              • Kindle
                                                                                              • KindleFire
                                                                                              • Leadership
                                                                                              • LeadershipDay09
                                                                                              • LeadershipMoves
                                                                                              • LeaderTalk
                                                                                              • LearningManagementSystem
                                                                                              • LearningSpaces
                                                                                              • lenovom90z
                                                                                              • LeverageLeadership
                                                                                              • Library2.0
                                                                                              • liferoundhere09
                                                                                              • liveclass20
                                                                                              • LMS
                                                                                              • LOTI
                                                                                              • M86
                                                                                              • m90z
                                                                                              • Mac
                                                                                              • MacOS
                                                                                              • MagicFormula
                                                                                              • MalindaMcCormick
                                                                                              • MAMP
                                                                                              • ManjaroLinux
                                                                                              • MariaDB
                                                                                              • Marzano
                                                                                              • Math
                                                                                              • mee
                                                                                              • Meme
                                                                                              • Metacognition
                                                                                              • MGArticle
                                                                                              • MGBlog
                                                                                              • MGuhlin.net
                                                                                              • MGuhlin.org
                                                                                              • MGuhlinPresos
                                                                                              • Microsoft
                                                                                              • MicrosoftForms
                                                                                              • MicrosoftInnovativeEducator
                                                                                              • MIE
                                                                                              • Mimages
                                                                                              • Minecraft
                                                                                              • MobileDevices
                                                                                              • Moeller
                                                                                              • MoneySavers
                                                                                              • MOOC
                                                                                              • Moodle
                                                                                              • Moodle2
                                                                                              • Moodle2Tip
                                                                                              • Moodle2Tips
                                                                                              • MoodleConversation
                                                                                              • MoodleConversations
                                                                                              • MoodleMayhem
                                                                                              • MoodleTip
                                                                                              • Movie
                                                                                              • mpip2008
                                                                                              • MSClassroom
                                                                                              • MSOffice
                                                                                              • MultCloud
                                                                                              • MultiCloud
                                                                                              • my notes
                                                                                              • MyMoodleSolutions
                                                                                              • MyNotes
                                                                                              • MySQL
                                                                                              • NanciAtwell
                                                                                              • NASA
                                                                                              • native
                                                                                              • NECC09
                                                                                              • NESA
                                                                                              • Netbook
                                                                                              • NETS-A
                                                                                              • NeuralForest
                                                                                              • NewDigitalAge
                                                                                              • News
                                                                                              • NJEA09
                                                                                              • NJEATLP
                                                                                              • NonProfits
                                                                                              • Nook
                                                                                              • Notes
                                                                                              • NWP
                                                                                              • O'Reilly
                                                                                              • OCR
                                                                                              • OER
                                                                                              • OERCommons
                                                                                              • Office365
                                                                                              • OIT
                                                                                              • Old
                                                                                              • OldyButGoody
                                                                                              • OneDrive
                                                                                              • OneNote
                                                                                              • OnlineLearning
                                                                                              • onversations
                                                                                              • OpenContent
                                                                                              • OpenLiveWriter
                                                                                              • OwnCloud
                                                                                              • PacktPublishing
                                                                                              • Parents
                                                                                              • PassionQuilt08
                                                                                              • pba
                                                                                              • PBL
                                                                                              • PBS
                                                                                              • PBWorks
                                                                                              • PDFtool
                                                                                              • Pearson
                                                                                              • PeppermintICE
                                                                                              • PeppermintOS
                                                                                              • phet
                                                                                              • Photography
                                                                                              • PHP
                                                                                              • Picasa
                                                                                              • Ping
                                                                                              • Pingfm
                                                                                              • Piracy
                                                                                              • PLC
                                                                                              • PLN
                                                                                              • Plurk
                                                                                              • PlurkPowwow
                                                                                              • PmWiki
                                                                                              • Pocket
                                                                                              • Podcast
                                                                                              • Podcasting
                                                                                              • POGIL
                                                                                              • Politicis
                                                                                              • Politics
                                                                                              • Polls
                                                                                              • Postach.io
                                                                                              • Postachio
                                                                                              • PostachioEd
                                                                                              • Powerpoint
                                                                                              • PressRelease
                                                                                              • Privacy
                                                                                              • ProfessionalLearning
                                                                                              • ProjectManagement
                                                                                              • ProjectShare
                                                                                              • ProxyAvoidance
                                                                                              • PublicRelations2.0
                                                                                              • QRCodes
                                                                                              • Quotes
                                                                                              • Ransomware
                                                                                              • RaspberryPi
                                                                                              • Reading
                                                                                              • Reflection
                                                                                              • Religion
                                                                                              • Research
                                                                                              • Review
                                                                                              • Rewired
                                                                                              • Robotics
                                                                                              • RSSMagic
                                                                                              • SAACTE
                                                                                              • saacte13
                                                                                              • SAIC
                                                                                              • Sakai
                                                                                              • Sale
                                                                                              • SAMR
                                                                                              • SAnews
                                                                                              • Satire
                                                                                              • SaveNESA
                                                                                              • savmp
                                                                                              • Scholar
                                                                                              • SchoolCIO
                                                                                              • Science
                                                                                              • ScreenCasting
                                                                                              • SearchEngines
                                                                                              • SecondLife
                                                                                              • SECURITY
                                                                                              • Securly
                                                                                              • Seesaw
                                                                                              • SeniorLiving
                                                                                              • Sexting
                                                                                              • ShoutOut
                                                                                              • SimpleNote
                                                                                              • Simulation
                                                                                              • SketchUp
                                                                                              • Skitch
                                                                                              • Skype
                                                                                              • SkypeChat
                                                                                              • Slides
                                                                                              • Slideshare
                                                                                              • SocialBookmarking
                                                                                              • SocialJustice
                                                                                              • SocialMedia
                                                                                              • SOSCON09
                                                                                              • Spanish
                                                                                              • SpecialEducation
                                                                                              • SRS
                                                                                              • sso
                                                                                              • STEAM
                                                                                              • STEM
                                                                                              • Stoneware
                                                                                              • StoriesToRead
                                                                                              • StudentProjects
                                                                                              • StudentResponseSystem
                                                                                              • Subversion
                                                                                              • Survey
                                                                                              • sway
                                                                                              • SwineFlu
                                                                                              • TAILS
                                                                                              • TASAMidWintersConference
                                                                                              • TCEA
                                                                                                • TECSIG
                                                                                              • TCEA13
                                                                                              • tcea14
                                                                                              • tcea15
                                                                                              • tcea16
                                                                                              • TCEA17
                                                                                              • TCEA20
                                                                                              • TCEA2009
                                                                                              • TCEA2010
                                                                                              • TCEA2011
                                                                                              • TCEA2012
                                                                                              • TCEA2013
                                                                                              • tcea2015
                                                                                              • TCEAMIE
                                                                                              • tceamoot
                                                                                              • tcearadio
                                                                                              • TCEATots
                                                                                              • TeachableMoment
                                                                                              • TechApps
                                                                                              • TechEdge
                                                                                              • TechFiesta
                                                                                              • TechFiesta09
                                                                                              • TechFiesta13
                                                                                              • TechForum
                                                                                              • TechForumSW8
                                                                                              • TechForumSW9
                                                                                              • TechInsights
                                                                                              • TechnologyManagement
                                                                                              • TechNotes
                                                                                              • TechTips
                                                                                              • TECSIG
                                                                                              • tecsigcampaign
                                                                                              • TECSIGchat
                                                                                              • Telegram
                                                                                              • Texas
                                                                                              • Texas4TEE
                                                                                              • texascto
                                                                                              • texascto2009
                                                                                              • TexasEducationAgency
                                                                                              • TexasISD.com
                                                                                              • Text2Speech
                                                                                              • TexTAN
                                                                                              • tf13
                                                                                              • ThinClient
                                                                                              • Thinkfinity
                                                                                              • TIM
                                                                                              • tltechforum
                                                                                              • Tots16
                                                                                              • TourBuilder
                                                                                              • Transformation
                                                                                              • TransmediatedLearner
                                                                                              • Transparency
                                                                                              • Transparency in Conversation
                                                                                              • Travel
                                                                                              • Trends
                                                                                              • Tricare
                                                                                              • TrueCrypt
                                                                                              • Tweetmeet
                                                                                              • Twitter
                                                                                              • TwitterEduStream
                                                                                              • txcto09
                                                                                              • txcto15
                                                                                              • TxDLA
                                                                                              • txdla09
                                                                                              • txdla09learnme
                                                                                              • txdla10
                                                                                              • txedbudget
                                                                                              • TxVSN
                                                                                              • Typorama
                                                                                              • UbuntuLinux
                                                                                              • VeraCrypt
                                                                                              • Video
                                                                                              • VideoConversion
                                                                                              • VideoEditing
                                                                                              • VideoHosting
                                                                                              • VideoRecording
                                                                                              • Virtualization
                                                                                              • Voxer
                                                                                              • Voxflections
                                                                                              • VSS2009
                                                                                              • warlick
                                                                                              • Web2.0
                                                                                              • webdav
                                                                                              • Webinar
                                                                                              • WebM
                                                                                              • Webquest
                                                                                              • WeeklyWebinarSeries
                                                                                              • WhitePaper
                                                                                              • Wikipedia
                                                                                              • Wikis
                                                                                              • Windows
                                                                                              • windows mobile
                                                                                              • WindowsLiveWriter
                                                                                              • WindowsOS
                                                                                              • Wordpress
                                                                                              • WordpressMU
                                                                                              • Writing
                                                                                              • Wrting
                                                                                              • XAMPP
                                                                                              • Zombies

                                                                                              Meta

                                                                                              • Register
                                                                                              • Log in

                                                                                              Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

                                                                                              Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
                                                                                              To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy