Course Number: EPC 512 Course Title: 21st Century Teaching and Learning with Technology Class #: 14604 Dates: October 3, 31; November 14; December 5, 12, 2009 Times: 8:30-4:30 Location: USM Portland Campus Faculty: Alice Barr, Yarmouth School Department Credit: Three (3) Inservice Graduate Credits Registration Form:Click Here (pdf) or call (207) 780-5055
In our technology-driven, globally diverse world, students are consuming and producing many forms of electronic media. How do we develop teaching strategies for the 21st Century classroom given changing ideas about literacy? This course is designed for K-12 educators looking to integrate an array of current digital technology skills with core academic subjects. The state of Maine has joined the National Partnership for 21st Century Skills (see http://www.21stcenturyskills.org) and advocates the infusion of these skills into K-12 learning.
We need a few more in this class to make it a go. Please join us!
Course Number: EPC 500
Course Title: The Read/Write Web in the Classroom
Class #: 2420
Dates: July 13 – 17, 2009
Times: 8:30am – 4:30pm
Location: University of Southern Maine, Gorham Campus
Faculty: Alice Barr, Yarmouth School Department
Explore the use of Web 2.0 online tools that support student learning, collaboration, and communication extending beyond classroom walls. Educators will become familiar with what it means to be literate in the 21st century classroom. Weblogs, wikis, rss, online photo galleries, social bookmarking, podcasts, internet safety and various online tools will be explored. Registrants may bring their own laptop or use computers provided in the USM lab.
Audio and video content can be accessed online, created by individuals or groups and used for collaborative conversations. The first step of the course is acquiring and organizing existing content available from online. Next is learning to use podcasting tools to create content. Participants can then expand from podcasting to screencasting and vodcasting to make use of the distributed, collaborative potential of these tools.
I am honored to be on the list of 100 Edu Tweeters. Thank you to Kelly Sonora and the folks at Online Degree World for including me in their work. Along with some other interesting people to follow, there are some institutions and groups that you can follow. I chose to follow some that post information on current research and reading. What a great way to get work out to people to evaluate and analyze. I continue to marvel at how much current, professional, relevant information I have access to using Twitter.
It was a good idea to have the back channel because there were long series of ads on the radio show, so it was great to bat around ideas with other folks! A few years ago I was on a local radio show about why students should have access to technology. While I can understand the need for structure, it was agonizing waiting during the ads. I wonder what the local listeners thought about this show. (I wondered the same thing when I was on and never heard a thing!) There were some good phone in questions, but one has to wonder what people think about these supposedly radical ways of teaching! Great job Darren. It was also great to meet and connect with new folks to my PLN in the chat room.
Then is was on to two sessions: Classroom 2.0 End of the Year show and an impromptu discussion about literacy and 21st century skills. This was an interesting mix because while I wasn’t 100% focused on both chats, Classroom 2.0 involved practice while the Literacy discussion was theory. Classroom 2.0 had tons of tools and suggestions for teachers. There were over 100 people in the chat room and zillions of links flying by. Peggy George, Steve Hargadon and Kim Caise did a great job moderating. I think this is a fantastic way for teachers to get support when trying to figure out what tools will work in their classroom.
The literacy discussion group was really trying to determine if the what we need to teach students is a new kind of literacy or skills. These “skills” have been coined “21st Century Skills” and they seem to be a new set of strategies designed to cope with changes, mainly driven by technology and its impact on the student. The problem, as I see it, is that teachers have no experience with these skills and therefore don’t know how to implement them in their work with students. One part of the discussion that was fascinating to see was those folks who say school worked for them and those that it didn’t work for and how they were able to cope. Today, we are probably much more cognisant that this phenomenon is happening in the classroom.
Jan 3: I joined an online conversation at the Global Collaborative Ning. This was hosted by Lucy Gray and involved educators from all over the world taking part in the Session. It was really fun to hear where everyone was from and what they were doing with students in their classsrooms. I look forward to more discussion here.
Jan 7: I joined an Elluminate Dinner Club session for Google Certified Teachers hosted byCindy Lane
Jan 8: was our Weekly SEEDlings Show with Jeff and dan from the Wicked Decent Podcast
All of these sessions are mainly about connecting and learning with others. I just can’t understand why some people don’t see the advantage to this kind of learning! And all this in 1 week! Can’t wait to see what the next 51 weeks of 2009 bring!
I went to the MLTI spring conference this weekend. Sessions mainly were designed around how people were using their laptops in they creative arts area. Melissa Noack and I presented the Collaborative History Project that Melissa does with her photo students. We also shared strategies for student engagement using the book The Art and Science of Teaching by Robert Marzano.
I went to an excellent session on Social Art presented by middle school teachers in a one to one environment. They recreated the project 100 people: A World Portrait. Students interviewed people from all walks of life within a 25 mile radius and then wrote and podcasted the stories. It culminated in a beautiful book. The teachers do alot of cross curriculum projects and clearly had accomplished a great deal with their students.
I caught the tale end of Sarah Sutter’s Digital Camera workshop. She has some great ideas for how to use the camera in the classroom. Hope to see her at ACTEM
Just returned from The Coalition of Essential Schools Fall Forum. Two English teachers and I accompanied 2 students. We gave a presentation on “Collaborative Learning Within and Beyond the Classroom with Blogs and Wikis”
I am honored to be on the list of 
