New Richmond Schools Technology Department Blog

One District’s Experience With iPads

2012-02-06T15:35:00.000-05:00

The sign in the hallway tells Renville County West fifth-grade students what they’ll need in class: social studies book, pencil, folder, iPad.

In another classroom, Quick Response codes on the bulletin board can be used to download assignments directly onto an iPad.

They are visual reminders of how much things have changed this year for students and staff at RCW, which has provided Apple iPads for all students in grades 4-12. Nearby MACCRAY Schools has provided iPads for students in grades 7-12.

There have been bumps in the road—the devices need better cases, because they break too easily, and there have been occasional issues with kids downloading unauthorized software.

But the positives have outweighed the negatives, school officials said recently. While this is still a transition year, they say they can see ways the iPads will help the district contain costs in the future.

As they need new textbooks, for example, they expect to use digital versions where possible.

Their experience also has stirred interest around the state. RCW representatives were mobbed at a January school board convention, where people had to be turned away from their presentation.

“We’re getting calls now, and we’re more than happy to share,” said Superintendent Lance Bagstad. “We’ve made mistakes, and we’ve done things right.”

School Board member David Hamre said the board has been pleased with the progress seen this year.

“They are above and beyond what we ever dreamed of,” he said, “and it’s only the beginning.”

Schools largely have preferred iPads over other tablets because battery life is longer and because Apple has a wider selection of applications designed for education.

One concern with implementing a new technology is a dip in enthusiasm after the initial effort, Bagstad said, but he hasn’t seen that.

“The kids are engaged, and the staff is engaged,” he said.

Dale Negen, the district’s technology director, said it’s important to stay flexible with the technology, too. “The way technology is right now, who knows what will be next,” he said. “The iPad is only two years old.”

Students who violate school policies by harassing others or downloading inappropriate content face what’s called cleaning and blocking. Everything is wiped from their iPads except things required for schoolwork.

After about three weeks, they are given full access to the system again. Negen said he’s seen one student be reinstated and blocked again in the same day, but most are careful not to lose their privileges a second time.

The iPads allow a classroom to run more efficiently, said Gina Hagen, elementary dean of students. They can tell teachers which students understand a concept and which need more individualized instruction, she said.

The district has loaded a number of homework tools on the iPads, too. Some of them are helpful for parents, who can “assist without having to know or recall everything,” she said.

In a sixth-grade classroom, students used their iPads to go over spelling words and read. Daniella Ridl of Danube likes having the iPad in class. “It’s easier to do our spelling tests,” she said.

Tony Froland of Sacred Heart said he likes school better when he’s using an iPad.

Teacher Aimee Mooney said she makes videos that students can watch while they are doing their homework. She teaches math to grades 7 and 8 and also works in technology integration.

Some students use their iPads to make videos during class, too, she said. It’s helpful for students and for parents “who don’t want to take seventh or eighth grade math over again.”

When she told her students recently that they would need to bring pencil and paper to take upcoming state standardized tests, “they all just groaned,” she said.

Mooney spends part of her day working with other teachers who are trying out new apps. “The teachers are doing great,” she said.

“It’s been fun to see them blossom,” Negen said, and none of the teachers seem to be avoiding the iPads. “I don’t think the kids would let them.”

“The kids are definitely teaching us a lot, too,” Mooney said. “I get about an app a day from students saying, ‘Check this out.’”

Mooney said she does everything in her class without paper. It lets her spend less time at a copier and more time on her lessons, she said. “I don’t know if I could go back,” she added.

The district developed its wireless network as an in-house project, with assistance from Bennett Office in Willmar, Negen said. The Minnesota River Valley Education District has worked with the district on the project, too.

“The running joke last summer was that we ran 5,000 feet of wire so we could have wireless,” Negen said.

Breaking was a problem at first, and some teachers said they wouldn’t have sent them home with younger students right away, in hindsight.

“Apple didn’t make them for mass distribution,” Negen said, and schools have learned pretty quickly that the screens and cases break pretty easily. The district is in the process of purchasing new cases that encase the tablet in a rubber-edged case with a screen protector.

The district self-insured the iPads, with a $50 payment for those who wanted to take the tablets home. There’s a $150 family cap, and a payment plan available.

An iPad is replaced after an accidental break, but students and families have to replace them after that.

Source: http://www.eschoolnews.com/2012/02/06/one-districts-experience-with-ipads/

Apple Scores With Digital Textbooks

2012-02-03T09:02:00.000-05:00

The sizzling rate at which e-books are growing suggests that digital textbooks almost certainly will be the norm when your kids' kids are in school. What we don't know is how quickly a transition to a mostly all-digital textbook education system might happen, how it could affect the way students learn, and which companies will be leading the charge.

Two weeks ago, Apple declared its intention to be at the head of the class, with the unveiling of the iBooks 2 for iPad app and the iBooks textbooks that are the first to exploit the app.

I've spent time diving into some of these textbooks on the original iPad and the iPad 2. Initial works in algebra, biology and chemistry come from major educational publishers McGraw-Hill and Pearson. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and DK are also early publishing partners (the latter produces books on dinosaurs, insects and mammals).

Though I encountered some unfortunate crashes and bugs — Apple has a software fix coming soon — multitouch digital textbooks, when working smoothly, are engaging in ways that were simply not possible with the textbooks I grew up with. Digital versions promise instant search and easy navigation. They're rich in interactive animations, pictures and videos. It's better to see an animated tour of the genome in E.O. Wilson's Life on Earth than just to read about it. The various books let you consult study cards, create bookmarks, drag your finger to highlight passages and add notes. And textbook authors can update material to keep it current.

The other obvious A-plus benefit, true of any e-book but especially comforting to a student schlepping from class to class, is that you can lug the digital equivalents of heavy print textbooks without breaking your back.

Still, Apple and other companies hoping to make a big play in the digital textbook space face arduous tests. There aren't many available textbooks for iBooks 2 yet, in part because Apple, as usual, kept things close to the vest prior to launch.

And no matter how compelling a digital textbook might be, it is only useful to a student if the teacher or school decides that this is indeed the textbook to use with their class.

To encourage development, Apple launched iBooks Author, a free authoring tool for the Mac that encourages anyone to produce their own iBook textbooks, cookbooks, how-tos and other works. Apple says more than 600,000 copies of the tool have been downloaded since launch. Authors can distribute the books for free. But if they put the iBook textbook up for sale, they must do so through Apple's iBookstore. (Authors can use the content in other digital and print formats, Apple says.) So the supply of digital textbooks should look a lot better by next school year.

Another question mark is the iPad. Not every parent or school district is likely to buy iPads, which start at $499 each, for every student, even if educational discounts lower the cost a bit.

The first textbook titles concentrate on high school curricula and are priced at $14.99 or less, well below most of their print counterparts. The first two chapters of Wilson's book are free.

Apple has designs on the rest of the K-12 market, too, but hasn't said much about the prospects for iBooks on college campuses, though you can bet it will become an area of emphasis. But given how much college textbooks cost — well into three digits in many cases — it's hard to imagine Apple matching $14.99 pricing for them.

Apple has competition, too. Already, a couple of start-ups, Kno and Inkling, produce slick digital textbooks for the iPad. And I'd expect Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble to respond in some way.

Moreover, except for the odd torn page, you never have to worry about technical issues with old-fashioned textbooks. The Wilson book, among others I tested on the original iPad, froze. Performance on the iPad 2 was a bit poky at times, too. That Apple is producing a fix is good: A student who fails to do his assignments would be hard-pressed to say, "The iPad ate my homework."

Apple has certainly provided authors and publishers with tools that can provide compelling high-tech textbooks. But it's up to those authors and publishers to deliver the goods. As Wilson writes in Life on Earth, "Although we believe in the power of visual storytelling, we are careful to keep special-effects glamour in its place. Our animations are crafted to achieve high-quality instruction, not box office."

The bottom line

Apple's iBooks 2 and iBooks 2 textbooks

Pro. Multitouch books engaging, easy to search and keep current and feature videos, animations, diagrams. First high school books inexpensive.

Con. Very few titles. Buggy software. Requires iPad, but not every student can afford.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/columnist/edwardbaig/story/2012-02-01/apple-ipad-ibooks/52923518/1

How Technology is Changing Education

2012-02-01T10:12:00.001-05:00

Of late we have seen so much potential emerging from the world of technology as relates specifically to education. From the perspective of Why Science, an education technology company, not only the pace of these breakthroughs, but also the scope of many of them has been extremely encouraging and we suspect that given the recent announcement by Apple regarding their push towards the classroom this will be a big year it terms of the merging of technology and the classroom.

Below are a few recent articles that we thought were noteworthy not only based on their achievements but also because when you think about these stories in the context of how we have educated our students, ALL of these stories would have been impossible to write even five years ago!

1. Capitalizing student engagement with mobile devices

Students spend a lot of time outside of school using high tech forms of communication. Why not capture these skills to improve student learning? Technology Director Anthony A. Luscre of Mogadore Local Schools challenges educators to use students’ mobile devices to provide technology-rich, highly engaging, and fun learning experiences that reflect real-world skills. T.H.E. (1/20)

2. iPad in classroom provide 20 percent jump in math scores, study says

Students in an iPad tablet computer pilot program in a Riverside, Calif., middle school achieved math test scores that were 20% higher than the scores of those using traditional textbooks. The yearlong program, sponsored by publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, used the Fuse program, the first algebra curriculum designed exclusively for the iPad. CNET(01/20)

3. How technology enhanced flipped instruction helps principal improve student outcomes at his school

Flipped instruction can offer solutions for improving education at impoverished schools, says Greg Green, principal of a financially struggling high school in Michigan. At Green’s school, a flipped model has been in place for 18 months and led to a rise in attendance and decreases in failure rates and discipline cases, he writes. CNN (01/18)

4. The promise of Education Apps

How are apps going to change the way we deliver educational content? The collection of iPhone and iPad educational applications aimed at young children is growing rapidly, now making up more than 75% of all educational apps available on iTunes, according to a new study by the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at the Sesame Workshop. In addition, almost 60% of children’s apps target toddlers and preschoolers, while 14% of apps were designed to be used in the classroom, the study found. The analysis presented in this study highlights industry best practices and future opportunities for developers, educators and researchers by closely examining the content of 200+ children’s apps within the education apps category of Apple’s App Store.

Source: http://www.whyscience.com/2012/01/how-technology-is-changing-education/

The Flipped Classroom: (INFOGRAPHIC)

2012-01-26T17:51:00.003-05:00

Growing Tech Students: A New High School Model

2012-01-24T12:04:00.001-05:00

IBM’s job listings website today shows more than 1,600 job vacancies in the United States. But despite the nation’s high unemployment rate, IBM executives say they have a hard time filling those positions because few candidates have the backgrounds in math and science to qualify.

IBM hopes to change that by fostering future employees among high school students.

The company’s plan centers around a partnership with the New York City Department of Education and the City University of New York (CUNY). The result is Pathways in Technology Early College High School in Brooklyn– “P-Tech” for short.

“It’s a unique model,” said Rashid Ferrod Davis, the school’s principal, “A 9-through-14 model, an actual six-year school.”

P-Tech goes two years beyond the 12th grade and every high school graduate will, in theory, also receive an associate’s degree from a nearby technical college. The school focuses on giving students a strong foundation in math and the sciences so they’ll be qualified for jobs in the tech industry when they graduate.

“The goal is to say that a high school diploma is not enough,” said Davis. “In order to be competitive, students definitely need to leave with job-readiness skills so that way they can really have a shot at middle- and high-income lifestyles.”

P-Tech sits between Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, two primarily African-American neighborhoods in Brooklyn. It’s an open-admission school, so Davis cannot pick and choose who fills the classrooms. The NYC Department of Education assigns students to high schools like P-Tech based upon a list of the students’ top choices.

As a result, many members of the first freshmen class at P-Tech entered the school lagging behind their counterparts across New York. “The majority of our students are coming in below grade level” in math and reading, Davis said.

The faculty at P-Tech hopes to turn that around by showing students how things they are being taught in the classroom directly apply to the work going on at IBM.

IBM employees helped create the curriculum, and they play a daily and active role in the school. Each student is matched with a mentor from IBM and they meet twice a week online.

The school day is several hours longer than a typical public high school’s. The trade-off for staying two years past the traditional four-year high school model is a free associate’s degree in applied science and the promise of being first in line for job openings at IBM.

That’s what attracted freshman Alec Miller to P-Tech. He travels more than an hour across Brooklyn to get there each morning.

“This is a great opportunity, the two free years of college … it’s worth it,” Miller said. After one semester he has already seen improvement in his schoolwork.

“From middle school until now I went up 3 points in my grade point average because they actually inspired me to learn more.”

Much of that learning is done on the laptop that each student has at his or her desk. When they’re done with in-classroom learning, they spend some of their time working at their own pace through online course work.

A few miles away, in downtown Brooklyn, Bonne August is looking forward to meeting the students from the school. She’s provost at City Tech, part of the City University of New York. P-Tech’s students will earn an associate’s degree at the college.

“What they need is very strong math skills, ideally up to calculus in high school, and they need physics,” said August, “not necessarily the most popular subject in New York City high schools.”

August said she believes education will open up a whole host of new opportunities to the high schoolers. “Technology is enormously diverse and will only become more diverse. So the range of specific areas that these students can go into is incredible.”

This isn’t the first time IBM has taken steps to foster students in math and science, and Stanley Litow, IBM’s vice president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs, said he believes other tech companies will follow their lead.

“We’ve been designing this for all kids, not just a few kids, designing it in a way that it doesn’t cost more than the existing system,” said Litow. Schools such as P-Tech open a pathway into the middle class for inner-city kids.

“Just look at the numbers. An average high school graduate is going to earn $15 an hour. An average community college graduate with the skills is going to earn 40-50% more than that,” said Litow.

Over the next 10 years, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 14 million jobs will be created for students who have associate’s degree skills. Davis, P-Tech’s principal, expressed confidence that these students will be filling some of those positions.

“It’s challenging, but it’s also thrilling,”Davis said. “It’s the idea of how do we make sure that we are working with all constituencies - the community, parents, junior high schools, high schools, college, industry, teachers - everyone that says public education is important.”

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently announced that the city will create three more early college high schools in the six-year P-Tech mold. And IBM is taking the model to Chicago, where plans are in the works to open five similar schools.

Source: http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/23/growing-tech-students-a-new-high-school-model/

Schools Turn To Cell Phones For Lessons

2012-01-24T12:01:00.000-05:00

Teachers are constantly pressured to find innovative ways to incorporation the technology that children use at home into the classroom. Education technology experts say that because children live in a digital world today, it only makes sense to have schools adapt to using more digital tools in technology as well. With a majority of middle school and high school students using a mobile phone of some sort, schools are beginning to include them in a wide variety of ways.

The Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT) movement is a great way for schools strapped for cash, to bring in new technological advances, without having to spend a fortune. People usually do not realize the number of tools that cell phones can bring into the classroom. They can be a great way for students to respond to quizzes or polling questions, record lectures or discussions for studying, video tape school projects or discussion groups and use the phone's calculator for math problems.

For students who have smart phones, they can use a number of educational apps such as Google Earth, and apps that help students find definitions, translations, currency conversions, measurements. Smart phones also allow students to search the web, use fact time applications and in some cases, even read digital e-books. All of these tools can be added to the classroom, with little, to no cost to the schools.

"I firmly believe that to prepare kids for their future, we need to start speaking the language of kids," says Matt Cook, a math and science teacher in the Keller Independent School District, near Fort Worth, Texas. "They're using this stuff anyway—let's teach them how to use it productively."

A number of teachers who are already using cell phones in the classroom have come up with some of their own ideas on how to integrate them into their lessons. For instance, Teacher Carla Dolman found they worked perfectly for her "lit circles" projects in all of her classes.

The project includes having students separate into smaller groups to discuss different characteristics of the specific book they are reading during that time. Before allowing cell phones, Dolman had to monitor each of the groups simultaneously, which proved to be a very challenging task. But students who had video taping capabilities on their phones could record their discussions then Bluetooth it to Dolman's phone, and she could watch each individual discussion, without missing a second of anyone’s discussion. This led to a more accurate grade for each of the students and less stress on Dolman to try to remember what everyone had said.

Another example is English teacher Angie Pidgeon and her experiment with Twitter. Her students used the social media site to respond and ask a number of questions after watching an interview television talk show host Oprah Winfrey did in Auschwitz with Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel. The students were currently reading Wiesel's popular book "Night," in which Wiesel discusses his traumatic experiences that he endured with his father at the Nazi German concentration camps at Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Students will be able to see their peers' responses and questions on a screen set up in the classroom.

"They were all very excited," she said.

Some parents have had their concerns with the use of cell phones in the classroom, especially because not every student has a cell phone, but teachers say that the students without a cell phone just partner up with one who does, which is usually welcomed idea among the kids. Schools who still limit, or even ban the use of cell phones during the school day due to distractions are also concerned with the technology entering the classroom; however, teachers who are allowing students to use their phones say that they are much more involved and are actually interested in the lesson. Teachers also say that by allowing students to use their cell phones for educational purposes, the number of distractions or misuses of the phones has also gone down.

Escanaba High School has used mobile phones in a completely different manner. For the last two years, the school has used a mass text messaging system to text all of the students and their parents on various updates could use it for emergencies such as a lockdown or a fire. For instance, instead of contacting radio and TV stations to tell families that the schools are closed for a snow day, which costs nearly $500 for a one time use, Principal Doug Leisenring will just send everyone a text message right from his computer or cell phone. The improved system is extremely efficient, completely free for the students and their parents, and only costs the district $40 a month.

"A lot of kids want to get to their phone and let their parents know what's happening. It'd be kind of nice if, at the time we go into a lockdown, we could let the parents know why we're doing it," Leisenring said.

With more and more schools allowing cell phones to be used within the classroom, it looks like we could be seeing a shift in the way schools use technology. Not only is using cell phones cost-effective, but they also open up a number of unique resources that would not be available otherwise. Our children are a digital generation, so why not embrace that and help them become technology savvy?

Source: http://www.360-edu.com/commentary/cell-phones-lessons.htm

Can Technology Help Save Education in the US?

2012-01-21T09:19:00.001-05:00

iPads in Classroom Provide 20 Percent Jump in Math Scores

2012-01-21T09:03:00.000-05:00

After a yearlong pilot program in California initiated by publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, the math scores of students using iPads jumped 20 percent compared with classrooms that used traditional paper textbooks.

Algebra I was instituted at Amelia Earhart Middle School in the Riverside Unified School District as the world's first iPad-driven algebra curriculum. According to the HMH official press release, 78 percent of students in the pilot program scored "proficient" or "advanced" on the California Standards Test for spring 2011.

Compared with the 59 percent of students that had the same rating using traditional textbooks, the iPad program seems to have been quite successful. HMH also notes that students in the pilot program were "more motivated, attentive, and engaged than traditionally educated peers."

"By engineering a comprehensive platform that combines the best learning material with technology that embraces students' strengths and addresses their weaknesses, we've gone far beyond the capabilities of an e-book to turn a one-way math lesson into an engaging, interactive, supportive learning experience."

Since Apple's announcement of iBooks 2 and iBooks Author, the education world has been buzzing. The two sides essentially boil down to:

-Technology in the classroom is a distraction and should be used sparingly (if at all) for learning.

-Technology in the classroom is essential to helping children learn, especially given the shift in available jobs from manufacturing to technology-related professions.

The HMH Fuse program certainly gives the latter argument a big boost. One of the most important characteristics of the iPad, one that I have noticed with my own nephews, is how personal the device is to kids. They can touch it and that makes sense to them. Books have a cold presence to them. A "you can get, but you cannot give" sentiment that can be off-putting to young people.

By providing children with the best tools, you empower them to think independently about bigger problems. They become solution-oriented by nature. They can use their energy to wonder and create instead of mindlessly memorizing inane theorems, dates, and other information that is easily accessible using technology.

It's the old saying, better to teach a man to fish. In my humblest of opinions, it's better to teach a child to learn than to cram memorized facts in their head to pass a test. iPads (and the curriculum available on them) have a unique ability to connect us with information in a way that feels natural, intuitive, and should be used as much as possible in classrooms.

Of course, there are many sides and philosophies regarding the education of children, and using technology is just a small piece of the greater puzzle. From education reform to creating more incentive for teachers to be great, the challenges are big. A program like HMH Fuse succeeding is a step in the right direction.

Source: CNET.com

Apple Reinvents Textbooks for the iPad

2012-01-19T10:49:00.001-05:00

Moments ago at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City, Apple’s VP of marketing Phil Schiller announced what has been rumored for weeks — Apple is setting its sights on the educational textbook industry. Noting the challenges students face in school, Apple is playing up the company’s strengths in delivering some of the best tools to help publishers deliver great content, made specifically for the iPad.

Textbooks for iPad, which became available by way of a new textbook category in iBooks 2, provide students with a modern, interactive replacement for conventional printed textbooks. They support multitouch gestures and also feature dictionary look-up integration and annotation. Students can highlight text, take notes and even create virtual note cards to reference later while studying.

Initially, high school-level textbooks will be made available in the iBookstore and they will each be priced at $14.99 or less. The first round of publishers with textbooks available for the iPad include Pearson, McGraw Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

To create interactive textbooks and other digital books for the iPad, Apple has also introduced iBooks Author. The Mac application provides robust tools that let anyone build and publish interactive digital books for Apple’s iBooks store. It has the same look and feel as Apple’s iWork apps, and includes features like gallery support, 3D animation, video and interactive image support and more. Users can even insert custom Javascript or HTML5 code into eBooks using iBooks Author.

iBooks 2 is available immediately as a free download in Apple’s iOS App Store, and iBooks Author is available in the Mac App Store for free as well.

Michigan Principal: Flipped Classrooms Give Every Student a Chance to Succeed

2012-01-18T12:00:00.002-05:00

Video Link: http://schoolsofthought.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/18/my-view-flipped-classrooms-give-every-student-a-chance-to-succeed/

I’m a principal at Clintondale High, a financially challenged school near Detroit. I’m in charge of doing my best to make sure that Clintondale students get the best education possible when they walk through our doors.

There are constant hurdles to making this happen. We are a school of choice, so not all students come in with the same skill levels in reading, math, science or other subjects. Almost 75% of our students receive free or reduced-price lunch because of today’s economic climate, and a large part of our student population commutes from Detroit, which often times takes an hour or longer, especially if the bus is late.

Every year, our failure rates have been through the roof. The students weren’t paying attention, they weren’t doing their homework, they were being disruptive, or they weren’t coming to school at all. Sadly, these issues are not that uncommon, particularly in this economic climate, where the percentage of students who fall into the poverty category is increasing by the day.

It’s no surprise that these issues are happening in our schools. Everyone from politicians to parents admit that our educational system isn’t working, and we’re all screaming for change. But no one gives advice on what changes are needed to improve education. The time has come to realize that the problem isn’t simply lack of effort or money, but the misalignment of our school structure.

To watch this happen every day, where it is your responsibility to try to provide the very best you can for the students, is beyond frustrating. It’s heartbreaking.

Our staff agreed that our failure rates were not good. But how do you go about addressing these issues with no money, no additional resources and no clear solution from the experts who already know the system is broken?

How do you get your staff on board with change you want to implement, but no one else has ever tried it on a mass scale? How do you get your students excited about learning when they’ve never shown much interest before?

You flip it. Here’s how it works:

At Clintondale High School, our education model wasn’t working, and the people suffering most were students. We recognized that a change was needed and applied for a grant from TechSmith, a local company that makes screen and lecture recording software. They provided us with some technology licenses and helped us create a flipped class structure, which we first implemented in the ninth grade and eventually put into action for the entire school.

Our flipped school model is quite simple. Teachers record their lectures using screen-capture software (we use Camtasia) and post these lecture videos to a variety of outlets, including our school website, and YouTube. Students watch these videos outside of class on their smartphone, in the school computer lab (which now has extended hours), at home or even in my office if they need to. Now, when students come to class, they’ve already learned about the material and can spend class time working on math problems, writing about the Civil War or working on a science project, with the help of their teacher whenever they need it. This model allows students to seek one-on-one help from their teacher when they have a question, and learn material in an environment that is conducive to their education. To change the learning environment even further, we’ve used Google Groups to enable students to easily communicate outside of class, participate in large discussions related to their schoolwork and learn from each other.

In addition to flipping the classroom, we wanted to give our students the opportunity to learn about each subject or topic from someone who is a recognized expert in each area. So we decided to team with other schools across the country and world. Now, some of our calculus students are able to watch video lectures from a math teacher in a private school in Virginia, and our students learning about the Holocaust can watch videos made by a teacher in Israel who just brought her class to Auschwitz. This type of learning network will enable us to close the gap of inequality that schools are subjected to because of their financial standing, and provide all students, no matter what district they’re from, with information from the best teacher or expert in any field.

At Clintondale High School, we have been using this education model for the past 18 months. During this time, our attendance rate has increased, our discipline rate decreased, and, most importantly, our failure rate - the number of students failing each class - has gone down significantly. When we first implemented this model in the ninth grade, our student failure rate dropped by 33% in one year.

In English, the failure rate went from 52% to 19%; in math, 44% to 13%; in science, 41% to 19%; and in social studies, 28% to 9%. In September of 2011, the entire school began using the flipped instruction model, and already the impact is significant. During the first semester of the year, the overall failure rate at the school dropped to 10%. We’ve also seen notable improvement on statewide test scores, proving that students’ understanding of the material is better under this model.

Our schools have long been structured so that students attend class to receive information, and then go home to practice and process this information. When many students go home after school, they don’t have the resources necessary to understand, and sometimes don’t complete their homework. Many families are not able to provide the expertise and technology needed to help with their children’s homework, so when we send kids home at the end of each day, we’re putting them into environments that are not capable of supporting their learning needs.

By reversing our instructional procedures so that students do their homework at school, we can appropriately align our learning support and resources for all of our students, and eliminate the inequality that currently plagues our schools. When students do homework at school, they can receive a meal and access to technology (during a declining economy), and an overwhelming amount of support and expertise. When students do their homework at school, we can ensure that they will be able to learn in a supportive environment that’s conducive to their education and well-being. For the first time in history, we can provide a level playing field for students in all neighborhoods, no matter what their financial situation is.

Ohio Goes Google Conference - May 10th

2012-01-17T11:11:00.003-05:00

Calling All Teachers and Administrators!

Make plans today to attend this state conference on Google Apps for Education on May 10th!

Here's Your Chance to Get All of Your Google Questions Answered!

Participants will be able to choose from 10 sessions every hour. New this year will be hands-on computer labs. Special session strands for technical implementation, administration streamlining, and classroom integration will be offered during each time slot. Google is flying-in their Apps for Education team to present sessions and answer your questions. Technology coordinators who have gone totally Google, Ohio teachers who have integrated Google in their classrooms and certified Google Apps for Education trainers will be presenting the other sessions. A complete list of the sessions and keynote speakers will be available in March.

The event will be held at the Columbus Convention Center located in downtown Columbus, Ohio. The keynote address will begin at 9:00AM and the day will conclude with a door prize drawing at 3:30PM. Participants are encouraged to bring mobile technology, laptops, or netbooks with them and follow along with the presenters.

The cost to attend is only $150 per person. Teams of four or more are eligible for a 10% discount. You can register online or with a printed registration form. Registration will be available in mid-February.

A continental breakfast, a lunch and a one-year Professional Educator membership in ITIP Ohio are also included in the registration cost.

If you have questions about attending the conference, please email Matthew Prichard at (prichard_m@nrschools.org).

Receiving More Spam? Here's Why:

2012-01-12T08:55:00.002-05:00

You may have noticed that you've been receiving more Spam (Junk Email) the past week or so.

So have I.

Long story short, Google removed a Junk Mail filter that always caught these messages before they were even delivered to our Email accounts. They didn't tell me why they removed it, but they did this to all Google Apps districts.

So the only thing to do is clear out your Spam folder more often, and any junk messages being delivered to your Inbox should be reported as Spam also.

I've included some information below that will assist you with reporting Junk Mail as Spam and clearing out your Spam folder.

Matthew Prichard

--------------

How do I mark a message as Spam in my Inbox?

In Gmail, click on the 'Report Spam', or 'Spam' button located on the top-left area of your screen.

How do I delete all Junk Mail Messages from my Spam folder?

In Gmail, click on your Spam folder located on the left side of your screen. Once inside the folder click on the link located at the top of the screen 'Delete all spam messages now' to clear out the entire folder of Junk Mail.

How long do messages remain in my Spam folder?

Messages remain in the Spam folder for 30 days. After that, Gmail permanently deletes them without any action necessary from you.

How do I prevent messages from specific senders from being tagged as spam?

If messages from a sender outside your domain are being incorrectly tagged as spam, you can prevent this from happening by creating an email filter using the Never send it to Spam option:

In Gmail, click Settings > Filters > Create a new filter.
Enter the person's address in the From field, and then click Next Step.
Select Never send it to spam, and then click Create Filter.

Turning Foundation Seeks Ed Tech Grant Applications

2012-01-11T13:09:00.003-05:00

Samsung Mobile, BrainPOP, Turning Technologies, and the Turning Foundation have collaborated to offer educational technology grants totaling $36,000 for K-12 classrooms.

Ten teachers will be selected to receive technology grants worth $3,600, and the deadline to apply is Feb. 15 at 4:30 p.m. Applicants for the grant must be current K-12 teachers at accredited nonprofit schools in the United States.

Recipients of the grant will receive three technology tools to help boost both student and teacher achievement:

A Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, which runs on the Android 3.1 operation system, has a 1 GHz nVidia Tegra 2 dual-core mobile processor, and 16 GB internal memory. It has a 1280 x 800 WXGA TFT LCD high-definition 10.1-inch screen, and weighs 1.2 pounds. It includes a rear-facing 3-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash, and a front-facing 2-megapixel camera for photos and video chat. The tablet also supports Adobe Flash and has a nine-hour battery life. It supports Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity, 3G networks, and Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n;

A classroom access subscription to BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr. (for grades K-3). BrainPOP provides standards-aligned resources for reading, writing, health, arts, music, engineering, technology, English, social studies, math, and science. It includes activity pages, apps, games, movies, interactive quizzes, experiments, and timelines. BrainPOP is compatible with whiteboards, OS X, Windows, and projectors. BrainPOP also integrates with student response devices created by Turning Technologies; and

A 32-seat radio frequency ResponseCard NXT student response system from Turning Technologies, which includes self-paced polling software, keypads, a 1.1" x 3.7" x 0.4, 1-ounce USB-based response RF receiver (range is 200 feet), and a state-aligned question library. It supports answers in several formats, including multiple choice, numeric response, true/false, multiple response, fill-in-the-blank, and essay. Users answer questions with cell phone-style entry. Teachers can reveal test results to each individual student and monitor test results in real time.

Winners of the grant will be sent an e-mail notification on Feb. 24. Before teachers can receive their technology packages, they must first agree to a publicity release and requirements regarding implementation. Those assurances include that the technology will be used in a K-12 nonprofit school classroom, the principal gives the OK for implementation, and the teacher will provide a one-page summary at the conclusion of the 2012-2013 school year providing a description of how the technology was used.

To apply for the grant, teachers should visit turningtechnologies.com to fill out an application with questions about how the grant would be used, what outcomes they expect and how they will measure them, and the technology currently in their classroom. E-mail John Wilson, director of the Turning Foundation, at jwilson@turningtechnologies.com with any questions.

10 iPad Apps for Web Curation

2012-01-10T10:24:00.003-05:00

10 iPad Apps for Web Curation

Curation vs. Aggregation? Curation is such a necessity these days. The overwhelming wave of information we are exposed to is drowning us in facts and opinion. Not only do we need to be curating the information that we are consuming but we need to be insisting that our students have the skills and necessary tools in which to curate their own world. I have listed a number of capable curation apps that can help to do just that.

I tend to use more than one of these and in fact there are days that I would use three or four. Have a look at the ones that might feel right for you. I have a soft spot for Flipboard but only because it was the tool that first opened my eyes to the potential of the iPad in a classroom - I used it as a twitter fed "further reading" text for a senior art class. Enjoy!

Pearltrees: FREE
Pearltrees is a place to collect, organize, discover everything you like on the web. The unique visual interface lets you keep everything you like at hand so you can organize it your way. Collect web pages and turn them into pearls. Organize your pearls into pearltrees based on your interests. Share all of this and start to cultivate your interests with Pearltrees.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/pearltrees/id463462134?mt=8

Flipboard: FREE
Flipboard creates a personalized magazine out of everything being shared with you, from Instagram photos and Facebook updates to Tumblr posts and articles from your favorite publications. Connect Flipboard to all your social networks, and you'll have a single place to enjoy, browse, comment on and share all the news, photos and updates that matter to you.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/flipboard/id358801284?mt=8

Zite: FREE
Zite is a free personalized magazine for your iPad that automatically learns what you like and gets smarter every time you use it. Zite delivers all the great news, articles, blogs, and videos you want – and helps you discover new stuff that you'll love. Get a head start on finding amazing content tailored just for you by automatically syncing Zite with your Twitter and Google Reader accounts.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/zite-personalized-magazine/id419752338?mt=8

Scoop.it: FREE
Scoop.it lets you easily publish online magazines by curating content on your favorite topic. Curate on the go with the Scoop.it iDevice App. Select, edit and publish posts in the same engaging visual format as from the Web site. Review your suggestion list or add posts from Safari mobile then share on all your connected Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr... accounts.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/scoop.it/id487321972?mt=8

HitPad: FREE
Hitpad delivers bite-size information snippets about the most important and worth-knowing topics of the day, highlighting why they are important and may be of interest, so you become current in no time and with very little effort. As you use Hitpad, it learns your interests in order to deliver you the most important information snippets in the areas that you care about.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/hitpad-see-whats-up/id422564565?mt=8

Feedly: FREE
Feed your mind. Get the best content from your favorite websites delivered to your iPhone and iPad. Powered by Google Reader, Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Instapaper and Read it later. If you are an existing Google Reader user, you can think of feedly as a fast/visual overlay with lots for sharing options and seamless 2-way integration.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/feedly/id396069556?mt=8

Pulse: FREE
Pulse takes your favorite websites and transforms them into a colorful and interactive mosaic. Tap on an article to see a clean and elegant view of the news story. Save stories for reading later across all platforms or sync them with Instapaper, Read it Later and Evernote. Sharing a story via Facebook, Twitter and email is as easy as two taps. Apple Design Award Winner 2011!

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/pulse-news-for-ipad/id371088673?mt=8

Flud: FREE
Beautiful design, simple user interface, and integrated social settings make Flud a great place to read your news. Customize Flud to your personal tastes. Follow all your favorite blogs and news sites, save stories to read when you have time or offline, connect with friends and other Fluders who share your interests.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/flud/id382544677?mt=8

Google Currents: FREE - Not currently available in Australia
Google Currents uses Google search technology to build editions tracking the five most recent trending stories in categories such as world, entertainment, sports, science, and more. Each story is presented through a fresh edition of articles, videos, and pictures. Instantly, turn your Google Reader subscriptions, or any of your favorite blogs/feeds into a beautiful edition with a magazine feel.

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/google-currents/id459182288?mt=8

News360: FREE

News360 for iPad aggregates more than 7000 different news sources around the web to bring you news stories in a concise and useful stream. The semantic analysis technology behind News360 allows you to get background information and dossiers about all the companies, people and locations that make the news, and to personalize the news based on your specific interests.

http://itunes.apple.com/au/app/news360-for-ipad/id420397564?mt=8

Source: http://appsineducation.blogspot.com

Five Ways to Flip Your Classroom

2012-01-08T14:16:00.003-05:00

What is a “flipped classroom”?

It’s an “inverted” teaching structure in which instructional content is delivered outside class, and engagement with the content – skill development and practice, projects and the like – is done in class, under teacher guidance and in collaboration with peers.

A flipped class swaps explanation and lecture, which are usually given in the classroom, with homework activities like math problem sets or writing practice activities. Homework becomes classwork and vice versa.

Usually, teachers flipping their classrooms convey content using technology tools like videos, podcasts or PowerPoint presentations, which students explore on their own time.

Sometimes teachers create lectures and other resources themselves using resources like Teacher Tube, the Show Me app or a voice recording tool. Or they might provide a link to an available resource, like a video from Vi Hart, Khan Academy, the Teaching Channel or YouTube EDU. They can even supplement student curriculum with material from an online course.

Assuming that they can access the materials outside class, this approach enables students to work at their own pace and to review as needed, using media and devices that are constants for many of them.

And for teachers, flipping the classroom can be a way to cope with large class sizes, reach students who are at varying levels of understanding and skill and spend class time providing personal support. It’s been said that the flipped model shifts the teacher’s role in class from “sage on the stage” to “guide on the side.”

Instead of giving the same explanations over and over, a teacher can capture her explanation once on video or audio, and spend energy and time individualizing instruction. It can also save the teacher from having to cram overviews, explanations and homework review into a single class period. (And of course, the model has its downsides, and its detractors.)

There are many resources online available for teachers who want to explore this format, like the Flipped Class Network.

In a Science Times essay, “Death Knell for the Lecture: Technology as a Passport to Personalized Education,” Daphne Koller describes how Stanford University has used video content:

At Stanford, we recently placed three computer science courses online, using a similar format. Remarkably, in the first four weeks, 300,000 students registered for these courses, with millions of video views and hundreds of thousands of submitted assignments.

What can we learn from these successes? First, we see that video content is engaging to students — many of whom grew up on YouTube — and easy for instructors to produce.

Second, presenting content in short, bite-size chunks, rather than monolithic hourlong lectures, is better suited to students’ attention spans, and provides the flexibility to tailor instruction to individual students. Those with less preparation can dwell longer on background material without feeling uncomfortable about how they might be perceived by classmates or the instructor.

Conversely, students with an aptitude for the topic can move ahead rapidly, avoiding boredom and disengagement. In short, everyone has access to a personalized experience that resembles individual tutoring.

Watching passively is not enough. Engagement through exercises and assessments is a critical component of learning. These exercises are designed not just to evaluate the student’s learning, but also, more important, to enhance understanding by prompting recall and placing ideas in context.

Moreover, testing allows students to move ahead when they master a concept, rather than when they have spent a stipulated amount of time staring at the teacher who is explaining it.
Below are five ways to use The New York Times to “flip” your classroom.

1. ‘Flip’ a Learning Network Lesson

Idea: Our lessons generally begin with a warm-up activity followed by a related Times article and reading comprehension questions. You can easily flip it by assigning students to read the article ahead of time, so they can come to class ready to delve into the activity.

Example: Our lesson on Shakespearean authorship has students doing a warm-up activity in which they interpret Times article excerpts that contain Shakespearean references, read a Times Magazine article about the movie “Anonymous” and then prepare for and hold a round-table discussion about Shakespearean authorship. But instead, students could read the article at home and come to class ready for the discussion.

2. Use Times Videos and Podcasts

Idea: Teachers often record themselves lecturing for the videos or podcasts students will use outside class, but a Times video or podcast on the topic may be a great substitute or supplement to a teacher-created one, particularly when the topic is current events.

Example: To begin a unit on the Middle East, assign a video about the region for all students to watch at home – or assign different videos to different groups of students, and have them explain to each other what they learned from the videos when they come to class. As they watch, students can take notes and write questions they have, perhaps using one of our graphic organizers.

3. Explore Multimedia

Idea: Lecture and long-form text aren’t the only ways to deliver complex content. The Times multimedia collection contains interactive infographics – timelines, maps and more – that explain complicated ideas in accessible ways. Students can use one of these at home and then come to class to explore it further.

Example: Multimedia like “Hazards of Storing Spent Fuel,” which explains what happens in a nuclear reactor meltdown, can stand in for a mini-lecture. But multimedia can also be used to prompt thinking: Math students can be assigned to try the rock-paper-scissors game and then discuss probability or artificial intelligence in class, and physics students can watch “How Mariano Rivera Dominates Hitters” at home, then run simulations together or analyze batting statistics.

4. Do a Times Topics Scavenger Hunt

Idea: Students explore an assigned Times Topics page to familiarize themselves with subject matter before coming to class to do an activity or even take a quiz. The teacher can provide a “scavenger hunt” activity to guide students through the material on the page and ensure that they view and read specific bits of content. (Please note that there are several different formats for Times Topics, so be sure to preview the page related to your topic before assigning it.)

Example: If the topic is, say, China, teachers can provide prompts to make sure that students use the Times Topics page to skim recent articles, peruse background information about the country and explore selected reliable resources elsewhere on the Web.

5. ‘Flip’ the Teacher

Idea: As we suggest in our lesson on creating how-to scripts and demonstrations, students can incorporate Times content into explanatory videos on curricular topics, posting them on a class blog or on School Tube. After watching each other’s videos on their own time, they can practice the skills involved, or do a group project, when they come to class.

Example: Students creating presentations about how to use technology effectively and responsibly might draw on Times articles and blog posts like “12 Things You Didn’t Know Facebook Could Do” and “5 Ways to Fix a Slow PC.” In class, after watching their classmates’ videos, students can put selected suggestions into practice under the teacher’s guidance and reflect on the process. They can even put together a class presentation that provides highlights from each video.

-Source: nytimes.com

New Richmond High School Android App Available For Free Download

2012-01-05T13:53:00.001-05:00

The New Richmond High School App is now available for free from the Android Market for Android-based devices.

Access information for New Richmond High School, in New Richmond, Ohio. News, Sports, Calendars, Lunch Menu and Staff contacts. Get up to date news with the breaking news section.

https://market.android.com/details?id=air.com.cincyplanet.nrhs

New Richmond Teachers Get Technology Boost

2012-01-04T18:04:00.000-05:00

New Richmond schools' technology director Matt Prichard conducts a class in Google Docs during the technology in-service day

If students in the New Richmond Exempted Village School District got new electronic gadgets for Christmas, chances are their teacher can show them how it works.

New Richmond recently devoted an in-service day for teachers to technology issues ranging from use of smart phones and tablet computers, sharing documents over the Internet with Google Docs, to using the latest in database, social media and web authoring software.

“If you have not grown up in the age of technology, you are going to need some help,” said New Richmond Superintendent Adam Bird. “Technology changes so fast and if we don’t work hard we can fall behind the kids.”

The idea of devoting an in-service day to technology issues came from New Richmond Technology Director Matt Prichard, whose small IT staff was stretched to find time for one-on-one training of classroom teachers.

Monroe Elementary teacher Curtis Massey, left, assists Tim Clark in demonstrating SmartBoards

He didn’t have to wait very long for approval from Bird, who has prioritized professional development and keeping teachers ahead of the technology curve.

“I don’t know if we covered everything, but we were really excited that we could have a day where teachers could work on the same things.” said Bird.

“It was a tremendous opportunity,” said Prichard. “We are asking teachers to utilize more technology than ever and it’s only fair that we follow up and make sure they are properly trained. The feedback has been tremendous.”

John Frye, director of pupil and staff services for the New Richmond Exempted Village School District, conducts a professional development session for the district's intervention specialists, who were given breaks in their training sessions to attend technology training in fields of their choice.

Training sessions included use of Google Docs for Education (which allows users to share documents and calendars over the Internet), SmartBoards integration in the classroom, use of laptops including Mac Books, smartphones and tablet PCs, use of social media including YouTube and blogs, creating web pages, and introduction to Progress Book and data mapping.

Progress Book is an online program for teacher gradebooks, student information system, special education/gifted software, online learning, lesson plans and report cards which will replace Edline in the 2012-2013 school year.

Training sessions were conducted by Prichard and his staff –Julie Edmondson, Steve Wolf and Tanya Carter –vendor representatives, and trainers from SOITA, a nonprofit agency providing educators with a variety of opportunities for learning how to use technology in their classrooms.

New Richmond technology specialists Julie Edmondson, left, Steve Wolf and Tanya Carter, conducted training sessions along with question-and-answer sessions with district teachers on technology subjects

The in-service day also included sessions for elementary math teachers on implementing the district’s new math program and sessions for intervention specialists.

“We scheduled breaks in the math and intervention sessions to allow teachers to pick technology sessions they wanted to attend,” said John Frye, director of pupil and staff services.

“It was incredibly helpful,” said Nicole Parker, high school English teacher and president of the New Richmond Education Association. “It was nice that we could choose the training that was complementary to what we actually use in our classrooms.”

1-to-1 Computing: Turning Around School Technology

2011-12-08T15:15:00.001-05:00

Early in the last decade, Piedmont City School District, a small three-school district in Eastern Alabama between Birmingham and Atlanta, laid claim to the worst computer-to-student ratio in the state. Since then, the Piedmont district, where 65 percent of students qualify for reduced or free lunch, has successfully shaken off that title after embarking on a number of ambitious technology-driven projects, including a 1-to-1 take-home laptop initiative--called Mpower--a remote-learning partnership with Stanford University, and a wide-scale E-rate-funded project that will eventually bring high-speed Internet access to every student's home.

"About four years ago the last big employer in our city left, so our school system is the biggest thing going on in our community," explained Piedmont Superintendent Matt Akin. "Looking at the future, we felt like we needed to do something to give our community hope again."

THE Journal recently spoke with Akin for a two-part interview about his district's approach to technology. Here he shares how the Mpower program got started, his approach to student safety, and the one thing he would have done differently.

Stephen Noonoo: What would you say makes your 1-to-1 initiative different from other similar ones?
Superintendent Matt Akin: One is the high level of community involvement. We knew that to be successful we needed the whole community, not just parents and kids. We made it a point to involve our businesses in town, our city council, our senior citizens, churches, and just bring everyone in.

Noonoo: Why did you specifically choose laptops, and why MacBooks over tablets like iPads?

Akin: When we started, iPads were just out, and, instead of looking at something that is just content delivery, we felt that MacBooks gave students the opportunity to create things. I know iPads are expanding, and I'm not anti-iPad, but we just felt that, for students, having a laptop in their hands gave them more than just a digital textbook. Although you could do digital textbooks on the MacBooks, you also give student the opportunity to collaborate.

Noonoo: How did you manage funding for the 1-to-1 program?

Akin: Originally, we had a federal Enhancing Education Through Technology grant, so we started with just a pilot at the high school with a 2-to-1 initiative. We visited some other school systems--Morrisville, NC, was one of the main ones that kind of served as a mentor to us. That got it going as we started looking at the budget. The teachers that were involved said that if every kid had their own computer, we could do amazing things. And when your teachers have that attitude and philosophy, the superintendent and board members feel like they have an obligation to try to figure out how to do it.
When we looked at our overall budget and where we were spending money, we found that if we wanted to do this it was going to be about 4 percent of our budget per year. Four percent is not a lot of money when you're passionate about it and believe, like we did, in the opportunity, that it could change kids' lives.
It started with some federal seed money, but then it was really funded locally. Since it was put in place, we've gotten quite a bit of money through grants. Whether it's a foundation or state grant agencies, we are more likely to see grant money when they see that Piedmont has made an investment of $1 million in hardware. We have something invested in it and that's what's helping us expand our after-school and summer activities.

Noonoo: Your students take the laptops home with them. How do you handle safety issues and protect the assets?

Akin: As far as safety is concerned, we have kind of a quasi-governmental agency called the Alabama Supercomputer Authority. They receive E-rate funding, and they provide Internet access for all of our schools. There's a filter that's on the laptops. The Supercomputer helped us set up our filter so that no matter where the laptop goes, or who is providing Internet access, the filter is always there. If my son takes his laptop to California and gets Internet access in a hotel, it's still going to push them back through this filter.

We do a lot of training as far as teachers go. It's also working with kids on online safety, and with parents, too. Whether you're filtered or not, there are still things you need to be aware of, whether it's Facebook or chat rooms. As far as taking care of that, we're a little different in that, while a lot of school systems have AUPs (acceptable use policies), we have what's known as a Required Use Policy. Our students pay a $50 insurance fee. If they're low income and they can't afford the fee, we feel strongly that everyone should have something invested, so a student may pay $2 a month. We have face-to-face conversations with every parent or guardian. And as long as they're following that policy and something happens to that computer, then it's on us. We pay for the charges. If they're not following the policy--drinking a soft drink around the laptop and they spill it--we don't charge them for labor, but we do charge them for parts.

Noonoo: Have you had many issues with the laptops?

Akin: No, not too bad. You've got to understand, a lot of our kids go home to parents that are working at night. We've had a fair amount of broken screens--that seems to be the biggest thing. It's not a lot--less than 1 percent--but anytime you've got to replace a screen, it's a pain. At the end of the day, we knew what we were doing and what we were getting into. We knew there would be some computers that got broken. The risk is worth the reward.
One of the other things we did is partner with Jackson State University (MS). Some of their computer science students come down and man the help desk. A lot of that is just software issues. We also have our own employees, like instructional aids, that may have been in computer labs. We don't have computer labs anymore, so they might man the help desk a couple periods a day. It's really about reorganizing the whole school system.

Noonoo: What happens to the laptops when students graduate from high school?

Akin: We're in year two, so those senior computers rolled back down and became fourth-grade computers. We're on a four-year lease, so after three years, typically what you see is school systems would trade them in or renew a lease. We'd like to make them available to our seniors when they leave, but it's very pricey to do that.

Noonoo: Would you consider letting them buy them?

Akin: It would be hard for us to do that in years one and two. But one of the things we would like to do as we come to the end of our lease is to make them available to students that are leaving.

Noonoo: Eventually, the MacBooks will have to be replaced. Will you do that in installments?

Akin: We'll probably do a total refresh of grades 4 through 12. The question becomes, will we do that at the end of next year or the year after? Hopefully, it will be after next year. Then the question becomes, what will we do then? Will it be iPads or MacBook Airs? It will be interesting to see where things stand from a technology point of view in a couple of years.

Noonoo: What are your thoughts about the new iPad initiatives in other districts?

Akin: It's impressive from an education point of view. I've read excerpts of Steve Jobs's book, and I hope that the textbook industry gets revived--just like what has happened to the music industry.
If a digital textbook is going to turn around and cost us the same as a regular textbook, that's not going to change the world of education. But if it comes to where outside people are making textbooks and creating a lot of free stuff, or where you can buy a chapter for a dollar, like has happened to the music industry, I think you're going to see iPads or some other tablet all over the place. I think that reform of the textbook industry is important. I would really like to see that take place. I know that the textbook companies deserve to be paid for their product, but I think this is one way you could really change the world.

Noonoo: Do you have any anchored computers left in your schools?

Akin: We don't have any computer labs. In K-3, we're doing laptops on carts, so it just seems it's really working to take the learning to the classroom instead of everybody going to a computer lab. I think if you can figure out a way to get laptops in every kid's hands at least every other day, you can really change the approach to teaching and learning.

Noonoo: What are some of the other cutting-edge things you're doing? What is your district's long-term vision?

Akin: Our high school is small, so last year our Spanish teacher got married and left, and we were looking for someone who could teach Spanish four periods a day. Well, those people aren't just walking around. At the high school we started doing true online foreign language classes, so every student at Piedmont has the opportunity of taking French, German, or Chinese, instead of just taking Spanish. And if they want to get ahead, they can take two years in one.
It's the same thing with computer science--you just don't see a lot of folks who are trained to teach computer science coming into high school. I have a background where I'm trained to teach AP computer science, but we just didn't have enough qualified teachers, so we're teaching it through Stanford University and iTunes U.

Noonoo: How does the partnership with Stanford University work?

Akin: We're using all their lectures. I contacted the professor at Stanford because I think the videos are probably three or four years old and said, "It sure would be nice if we could have your stuff." He sent us all his PowerPoints, his coding requirements, and solutions. Although it's a real informal partnership, it's neat for a school district in northeast Alabama to be working with a professor at Stanford to teach a computer science course.

Noonoo: Anything else that you have in the pipeline?

Akin: If you look at research, one of the worst things for at-risk kids is for them to go home in the summer and not have any learning take place. We're looking at a way, through our extended learning academy, to let at-risk kids keep their computers in the summer if they are enrolled in a remediation program. We'll give a benchmark test, so when they leave in the seventh grade, we will know where they stand. If they're not where they should be as a seventh grader, they can work with computer instruction aligned with coming into school part of the day during the summer, and they will keep their computers so they can keep learning.
On the other hand, whether they're at risk or not, we've got some things in place to offer some enrichment programs, too. We've talked about bumping foreign language down to fourth or fifth grade and letting them take a foreign language in the summer. It's not only extending learning 24/7, but truly 24/7 through the summer, which is really where I think we need to steer.

Noonoo: Have there been any missteps regarding your implementation of digital initiatives so far?

Akin: There's always room for improvement. I think it's one of those things where, if you asked our teachers, they would say, "You went too fast--slow down a little bit." We did some professional development going in, but we did a lot of just-in-time professional development where, when issues came up, we did training during planning periods through video instruction. Probably the more professional development opportunities you can offer your teachers the better.

Source: TheJournal.com

Teacher iPad App of the Day

2011-11-10T11:01:00.001-05:00

Splashtop Whiteboard

Splashtop Whiteboard allows teachers and students to turn their iPad into an interactive whiteboard. Once connected to their computer over Wifi, they can watch Flash media with fully synchronized video and audio, control favorite applications then annotate over lesson content all from an iPad. Now interact with students at their desk or from all four corners of the classroom!

HS Teacher Laura Prescott utilizing Splashtop Whiteboard

Brought to you by the developers of the award winning Splashtop Remote Desktop, Splashtop Whiteboard offers users of existing interactive whiteboards (IWBs) a way to extend their investment by accessing their tools from anywhere in the class. For users who do not use an IWB, now they can implement one at a fraction of the cost. Leave the school PC on and connect to it remotely from the comfort of your home. No more late nights being stuck at school preparing for tomorrows class!

Teachers can:

Be in Control – Have complete control over the applications on the classroom PC as if you were sitting right there. No need to stay at the front of class. Be free to roam around. Hand the iPad to a student and let their imagination do the rest!

Annotate over ANYTHING – Use gestures to draw, highlight, or write over any content. Take snapshots of the screen and save them to the gallery then email the snapshots to students, parents or colleagues. Use different colored and sized pens, highlighter, shapes, and text tools over existing content or background templates.

Experience lifelike play back – All video and audio are played in high definition on your iPad. Play Adobe Flash content, iTunes music, DVDs, CDs, etc. as they were meant to be enjoyed but without any painful sync sessions.

Beginning in August of 2012 - Progress Book

2011-11-04T13:24:00.000-04:00

New Richmond Schools will switch its current grade reporting and parent reporting system to Progress Book starting with the 2012-2013 school year.

Education Management for Parents & Students

Ongoing parent/student/teacher communication is essential to a successful educational process. ProgressBook’s Parent Access Web Site has tremendously improved this communication process, enabling both parents and teachers to hold students more accountable. This system provides parents and students with 24/7 access to classroom information and progress reports!

Parent and Student Benefits:
Easily view student averages, assignment details, homework, participation, teacher messages, attendance, teacher web pages, and more
Parents can view all of their children’s progress from a single login
Students can have separate login accounts from parents to monitor their own progress
Monthly planner helps organize students’ homework and extra-curricular activities
Easy access to contact information, allowing parents and teachers to readily communicate
Encourage students to be accountable for their educational responsibilities
Immediately identify and communicate with teachers about potential errors on assignment marks
Routinely monitor student attendance and tardiness

Web Spotlight: TeacherTube

2011-11-01T11:30:00.000-04:00

TeacherTube's goal is to provide an online community for sharing instructional videos. They are seeking to fill a need for a more educationally focused, safe venue for teachers, schools, and home learners.

It's a site to provide anytime, anywhere professional development with teachers teaching teachers. As well, it is a site where teachers can post videos designed for students to view in order to learn a concept or skill.

Feel free to click here to get started

Teacher iPad App Spotlight

2011-10-28T14:16:00.000-04:00

Mobile Mouse App for iPad/iPhone

Instantly transform your mobile device into motion based mouse, trackpad, and wireless remote for your computer! Sit back and surf the web, browse your photo library or control your music player from the comfort of your couch. Our app uses the built in accelerometer to translate your hand motions into mouse movements on your screen. It can also operate as a trackpad, allowing you to control your computer with a single finger. Suddenly your mobile device has become an essential part of any home theater PC and a presenter's best friend.

Using an innovative application notification system, the app will always know what applications are running at any time and show the appropriate keys for that program, providing you with a single screen for controlling ALL your media and web applications.

Technology Conference - Inservice Day

2011-10-25T11:54:00.000-04:00

When: Tuesday November 8th, 2011

Where: New Richmond High School

Time: 8:00AM - 3:10PM

This year we are proud to announce an entire day of Technology geared training for Teachers and Staff.

Please click on the image below to view the entire schedule for the day.

See you there!

Technology Conference Schedule

District Profile - Interactive Whiteboards

2011-10-11T14:24:00.000-04:00

District Profile - Interactive Whiteboards

Millions of students and teachers around the world use the Smart Board interactive whiteboard to help improve learning outcomes. Combining the simplicity of a whiteboard with the power of a computer, the SMART Board interactive whiteboard allows our Teachers to deliver dynamic lessons, write notes in digital ink, and save their work – all with the simple touch of a finger.

Here at New Richmond EVSD we invested in this valuable tool and have installed an Interactive Whiteboard in every K-12 classroom across the district for all teachers to use daily in their classroom with students.