Notes/Reflection

Here are some notes from today:

7/23/13

In online education, the teachers are more like learning coaches. They sit side-by-side with their students to enable learning.

 There are significantly more opportunities to speak meaningfully by using technology.

 Look into Doodle – a calendar-sharing program.

Schoology?

 Use Google docs as a way to further the PLC discussions. Responses to book-group readings? Continuing conversation around specific interventions?

 Could our admin staff use GoogleGroups as an ongoing communication system?

Is it possible to make the comment/summary part of my discipline excel-file a hyperink to googledocs?

 Notability – a note-taking app

 Where can one find information on valuable apps for classroom use? I become aware of them, too often, because someone wants to make money. They may or may not be worthwhile, and I don’t have the time or money to buy and then evaluate them. Isn’t there an effort being made by someone, somewhere that can sort through these myriad programs.

For free                                              For benefit                                         For profit

We need to analyze software with a new lens: For benefit to kids.

WWW = whatever, whenever, where ever -provided you have world-wide web access

 There is power in video. We, as educators, need to make use of it.

I loved learning the iMovie Application!

I'm afraid I will lose many hours of otherwise-used time playing around with this in the future!

Reflection:

I looked over my list of ideas I made yesterday for my final project :-( I'm still not sure of my direction. 

It's very important that we develop a protocol for appropriate use of personal devices at school. But, I want to have some serious feedback from 4th through 8th grade teachers before I make any impactful decisions. It's more important to build capacity and have the staff come up with the ideas to solve the problems than to decide for myself what needs to be done and tell them to do it. So, I'll put that idea on hold.

I could develop a skill (or a number of skills), like we did today with iMovie, that would benefit my work. Google Groups for the admin team? Hyperlink from the discipline log to notes from meetings and records of contacts with parents/police/agencies? 

Finding meaningful repositories/reviews of "for benefit" apps that I might use and/or make available to staff members? It's so important that the purpose and use of these apps remaining focused on what truly benefits kids. As we talked about a couple of weeks ago; If it doesn't lead to our students becoming life-long learners, it isn't helpful.