Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Join CTAP at a New Year Event

New Director Joins CTAP
Corey Gin joined SCCOE as the new director for CTAP, effective December 1. For the past seven years, he served as the Senior Instructional Developer for eCampus at San Jose State University. In this role, he was the lead instructional designer/content developer for eCampus. His responsibilities included implementing policy and processes as well as directing curriculum design for distributed education. He has a wealth of knowledge and expertise in web-based teaching and learning, classroom-based training, technology integration, mediated instruction and instructional design. Prior to the San Jose State position, he was an elementary teacher in the Berryessa School District.

Leadership Institute January 27-29 ~ Register Today!
The Leadership Foundation Institute offers three days of training for your District's key technology professionals. Participants explore curricular tools, web communication tools, content management systems - all while they analyze their own leadership styles and build an action plan for redelivering content to your teachers and administrators. This will be the fifth cohort group to attend the LFI, and we will meet in Hollister this year. (Previous cohorts have met at Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey County Offices of Education.)

Who would benefit from this support in your District? We seek individuals who have a basic degree of technology skill, who are ready to incorporate technology into their professional development sessions, who have a strong focus on curriculum and instruction, and who have access to redeliver content to your teachers and administrators. LFI participants will be eligible for follow-up seminar days, as well as coaching for their individual needs.

Participants commit to attending a one-hour orientation, the three-day Institute , writing an action plan for delivering integrated technology professional develop to staff, and having a follow-up coaching consultation with a regional CTAP coordinator. Participants receive a $500 honorarium. Contact Diana Paradise or Paula Hundley for more information. Enroll here.



Interactive Whiteboard Demo Day Feb 13 - Register Today!

You've heard the interactive whiteboard buzz, and now you wonder if your District should be investing in this technology. Need more information?

Join us for an Interactive Whiteboard Demo Day on Friday, February 13, 8:30am-12:30pm. Four top vendors will be here to demonstrate their products and take your questions. It's an old-fashioned "shoot out" between SmartTechnology, Promethean, Mimio, and eInstruction (formerly Interwrite). Come yourself or bring/send a small team. Click HERE to register for this event. Space is limited.


Technology Conferences Reminders
MacWorld
San Francisco, CA
January 5-9
In addition to the usual hands-on labs and extensive vendor floor, Computer Using Educators (CUE) teams up with MacWorld to offer a strand just for K-12. "Educate" runs two days, Jan 7-9 from 11:00am-4:00pm. Topics include best practices for podcasting, multimedia, 21st Century literacy skills and more. Total cost for the two days is $175. Also on Friday Jan 9, CUE hosts a K-12 Symposium day with a great line-up of speakers: Alan November, Rushton Hurley, Ted Lai, Carol Anne McGuire, Jerome Burg, and Leslie Fisher. Symposium price is only $99. Note: Both rates are early bird specials until December 1. Click here for more information and to register.

Silicon Valley CUE Technology Conference
Harker School, 500 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA
Saturday, February 28, 8 am - 3 pm
Join local colleagues at this annual CUE event which features concurrent sessions, hands-on workshops, exhibitors, and vendors. Early registration runs until February 14 and costs $30 for SV CUE members and $35 for non-members. Fees go up $10 after Feb 14.
Click here for more information and to register.


Annual CUE Conference
Palm Springs, CA
March 5-7
Computer-Using Educators, Inc. is a professional organization of educators that supports the use of technology in education. For almost 30 years, technology-using educators have been meeting at the CUE Conferences to advance student achievement at all levels of education and to address the use of Education Technology in instruction, administration, curriculum and management. This year's keynote speakers are Dr. Robert Marzano and Peter H. Reynolds. Click for more information and to register.

TechToolkit
For Teachers: Google Earth 4.3 with Ancient Rome 3D Layer
Fly through Ancient Rome - its streets and buildings. Click on the video below for a 2 minute preview. Pretty cool.



In launching this new "layer" in Earth, Google is sponsoring the Ancient Room 3D Curriculum Competition. The challenge is to rebuild your content with the new technology. The top 6 entries win: Macbook, LCD projector, digital camera, 3D navigation mouse, and a $500 gift card. Click here to read more and get started.
Entries are due February 9, 2009.

For High School Students & Counselors:
Zinch.com ~ I am more than a test score
www.zinch.com
Zinch has opened the door of online interaction to college admissions. Through Zinch, high school students worldwide can now communicate and engage with admissions offices through a format that defines their generation: the web. Over 600 colleges and universities currently use Zinch to get to know prospective students. For their part, students create profiles and show just how much more they are than test scores!



__________________________

You receive this monthly newsletter because you're identified in your District as an instructional technology leader and/or enthusiast. To unsubscribe, send email to Paula_Hundley@sccoe.org.

Monday, November 3, 2008

Video, iPods, Interactive Boards:
The Future is Now

Day of Discovery Set for Nov 15
Discovery Streaming provides digital on-demand video in the form of full-length videos and short segments to support all aspects of the K-12 curriculum. Additionally, the service includes a library of over 20,000 images, as well as teacher support and lesson plans. Join your colleagues for this 'Day of Discovery' and tune in to all the online resources that Discovery Education offers. The day will include a keynote speaker and break-out sessions with hands-on experiences for you.

An excellent day for those educators whose schools have contracted for the 2008-09 year, this full-day introduction also provides a great opportunity for interested educators to learn more about Discovery Streaming.
Click here to register today - space is limited!

LFI Seminar Day Nov 17 - Registration Open

Leadership Foundation Institute members are invited to attend the first of three seminar days, tackling topics you requested. We're excited to spend the day focused on iPod and Web 2.0 tools and resources for the classroom. We'll have Apple rep Randy Phelps to guide us through best practices for iPods in the classroom, plus we’ll raffle off some pretty cool items (think iPods). Not to be missed! Also on tap: Google Tools, especially Docs, Sites, and Earth. Plus we’ll demo a few new Web 2.0 tools that your teachers will love!

Please join us:

Monday, November 17, 9:00am - 3:30pm

Hollister School District Office

2690 Cienega Road

Hollister, CA 95023

Click here to register.




Interactive Whiteboard Demo Day Coming in February
Conference vendor floors are full of them. Surrounding Districts may be purchasing them. You've heard the interactive whiteboard buzz, and now you wonder if your District should be investing in this relatively new technology. Need more information?

Join us for an Interactive Whiteboard Demo Day on Friday, February 13, 8:30am-12:30pm. Four top vendors will be here to demonstrate their products and take your questions. It's an old-fashioned "shoot out" between SmartTechnology, Promethean, Mimio, and eInstruction (formerly Interwrite). Come yourself or bring/send a small team. Please contact me if you would like to attend this informative session.


Wave of the Future: 1-to-1 Devices
Trends point to all students having a mobile learning device at some point in the not so distant future. Do you have a 1-to-1 initiative at a school in your District? Please email or call me (408-453-6589). I would like to talk to you about it and use your experiences to assist other schools traveling down this path. Whether it's laptops, iPods, PDAs or other - let's talk!

Congratulations to Evergreen & Santa Clara School
Districts
Competitive EETT Grants (Enhancing Education Through Technology) have been awarded to Evergreen Elementary District and Santa Clara Unified School District. Evergreen will focus on middle school math and language arts achievement, with laptop carts and support materials. Santa Clara will focus on 6th grade struggling math students using the individualized computer program ALEKS. Congrats to both Districts - these are not easy grants to win!

Technology Conferences Reminders

California Educational Technology Professionals Association (CETPA)
Sacramento, CA
November 18-21
The K-12 educational community is increasingly dependent on the creativity and dedication of IT professionals. This year’s conference will showcase examples, strategies and technologies that IT and Educational Technology organizations can utilize to help create vital and dynamic learning and working environments. Click here for more information and to register.

California League of Middle Schools Technology Conference
Monterey, CA
December 4-7
Join K-12 teachers, administrators and technology leaders to discover how you can access and use a wide variety of simple free or low-cost online tools to boost your own professional development; connect yourself and your students with peers, authors and experts; and engage your students in learning experiences that are interest-driven, socially supported, and highly responsive to individual learning styles and skills.
Click here for more information and to register.

MacWorld
San Francisco, CA
January 5-9
In addition to the usual hands-on labs and extensive vendor floor, Computer Using Educators (CUE) teams up with MacWorld to offer a strand just for K-12. "Educate" runs two days, Jan 7-9 from 11:00am-4:00pm. Topics include best practices for podcasting, multimedia, 21st Century literacy skills and more. Total cost for the two days is $175. Also on Friday Jan 9, CUE hosts a K-12 Symposium day with a great line-up of speakers: Alan November, Rushton Hurley, Ted Lai, Carol Anne McGuire, Jerome Burg, and Leslie Fisher. Symposium price is only $99. Note: Both rates are early bird specials until December 1. Click here for more information and to register.

Silicon Valley CUE Technology Conference
Harker School, 500 Saratoga Ave, San Jose, CA
Saturday, February 28, 8 am - 3 pm
Join local colleagues at this annual CUE event which features concurrent sessions, hands-on workshops, exhibitors, and vendors. Early registration runs until February 14 and costs $30 for SV CUE members and $35 for non-members. Fees go up $10 after Feb 14.
Click here for more information and to register.


TechToolkit
For Teachers: Meet the Author Series
The Orange County Department of Education sponsors a series of video conferences with authors whose books are nominated for the 2008-09 California Young Reader Medal. Students can interact with the authors and learn more about their books and approach to writing. For a complete list of authors and registration, click here.


Administrators: Speak Up Survey
Project Tomorrow (formerly the Net Day folks) sponsors the annual Speak Up Survey that gives students, parents, teachers and administrators the opportunity to share viewpoints on key educational and technology issues. The summary findings are shared with national and state policy makers. Participating schools and Districts can access their local data free-of-charge. The survey is open now and will run through December 19, 2008. Speak Up is a great opportunity to see what your stakeholders are thinking about where you should be leading. To activate your school or District, click here.
__________________________

You receive this monthly news blog because you're identified in your District as an instructional technology leader and/or enthusiast. To unsubscribe, send email to Paula_Hundley@sccoe.org.



Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Technology Leadership Matters

Admin Academy Takes Aim at Key Issues
Site and district administrators are invited to attend CTAP's Admin Academy to examine such issues as cyberbullying, Appropriate Use Policies, technology funding and more. The sessions run after school, 4:00-7:00 pm at the Santa Clara County Office of Education.

Oct 14 - Cyberbullying: If you missed the 2nd Annual CTAP V/Yahoo! CyberSummit, this session provides an excellent overview of what administrators need to know and do about cyberbullying.

Oct 22 - AUPs & Administra
tive Policy: Having the right policies and guidelines in place will help you head off issues and deal with problems when they occur. Update your AUP tonight!

Feb 26 - Technology Planning & Funding: By February, you'll be planning for next school year. Let's take an early look at your plans for 2009-2010 and how you might fund them.

Mar 5 - Staff Development, the Key to Change: The
newest equipment and fastest network won't impact student learning unless teachers are on board and learning themselves. Explore multiple models for developing leadership and capacity at your site / district.

Attend one seminar or the whole series. Come alone or bring a team. You'll leave with good information, a new perspective, and a great deal to think about and implement. Sign up now at: http://ctap5.k12oms.org.

2nd Annual CyberCitizenship Summit
The CTAP V-Yahoo! sponsored summit on October 3 was a great event. Good information, good dialogue, great keynote speaker (Chris Lehman), and a variety of non-profit organizations. Click here to see what you missed. Hope to see you at next year's event!

Leadership Foundation Institute Set for Jan 27-29, 2009

The LFI offers three days of training for your District's key technology professionals. Participants explore curricular tools, web communication tools, content management systems - all while they analyze their own leadership styles and build an action plan for redelivering content to your teachers and administrators. This will be the fifth cohort group to attend the LFI, and we will meet in Hollister this year. (Previous cohorts have met at Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Monterey County Offices of Education.)

Who would benefit from this support in your District? We seek individuals who have a basic degree of technology skill, who are ready to incorporate technology into their professional development sessions, who have a strong focus on curriculum and instruction, and who have access to redeliver content to your teachers and administrators. LFI participants will be eligible for follow-up seminar days, as well as coaching for their individual needs.

Participants commit to attending a one-hour orientation, the three-day Institute , writing an action plan for delivering integrated technology professional develop to staff, and having a follow-up coaching consultation with a regional CTAP coordinator. Participants receive a $500 honorarium. Contact Diana Paradise or Paula Hundley for more information.

LFI Seminar Series: Start Your Engines!
Leadership Foundation Institute members (Cohorts 1-4) are invited to attend three days of ongoing support, tackling topics you requested (via phone or online survey). Since the LFI is a regional group, locations are set throughout the region. Here are the dates, locations, and topics for this year's seminars. We hope you'll join us. Registration information coming your way soon!

Nov 17 - Hollister (San Benito County)
iPods in Education with Apple's Randy Phelps
Google Tools: Docs, Sites, Earth

Feb 25 - Salinas (Monterey County)
CyberSafety

Adobe Connect or Blackboard for Professional Development
A Few New Cool Web 2.0 Tools

May 22 - Santa Cruz (Santa Cruz County) - Capstone Event
Share projects, plans, experiences, and guide the LFI's next steps


Technology Conferences on the Horizon
Innovative Learning Conference
San Jose Convention Center
October 14-16
Computer Using Educators (CUE) and the Florida Education Technology Conference (FETC) team up to offer an interactive 3-day conference and exposition for the K-12 community here in San Jose at the convention center. Advance registration through October 12.
Click here to register.


California Educational Technology Professionals Association (CETPA)
Sacramento, CA
November 18-21
The K-12 educational community is increasingly dependent on the creativity and dedication of IT professionals. This year’s conference will showcase examples, strategies and technologies that IT and Educational Technology organizations can utilize to help create vital and dynamic learning and working environments.
Click here for more information and to register.


California League of Middle Schools Technology Conference
Monterey, CA
December 4-7
Join K-12 teachers, administrators and technology leaders to discover how you can access and use a wide variety of simple free or low-cost online tools to boost your own professional development; connect yourself and your students with peers, authors and experts; and engage your students in learning experiences that are interest-driven, socially supported, and highly responsive to individual learning styles and skills.
Click here for more information and to register.


TechToolkit
For Teachers: Google Election Tools
Google for Educators jumps into election politics with a Mock Election (sign up by Oct 30), plus a number of activities crafted with Google Tools. For example, '"Journey Maps" track the candidates lives from birth to the current race for the White House (in satellite view, of course). "YouTube YouChoo
se" has videos of the candidates speaking about key issues. "Letters to the Next President" encourages students aged 13-18 to write about their concerns and issues for a national audience. Whether it's tools to explain the electoral process or to track the candidates or to encourage student expression, Google has a tool for your teachers and students. Click here to explore.

System Requirements:
Current browser, Java enabled, and Flash 8 Player
Cost: Free to
educators. Otherwise, 30-second videos are free. Full length are $3 each or $30 a year unlimited.

Administrators: CatWizard

The School Services of California CatWizard Lookup Tool helps you find the most up-to-date information about available categorical funds that may be used to serve specific needs at schools and districts...such as Educational Technology. Check off the funding area of interest, the category of students (eg, GATE, ELL), the school level and then submit. The search returns a list of all the categorical funds that may apply to your given situation. Give it a try here: http://www.sscal.com/catwizard/lookup_form.cfm.
__________________________

To unsubscribe from this monthly news blog, send email to Paula_Hundley@sccoe.org.

Monday, September 15, 2008

CTAP 5 SCCOE News, Events & Workshops

CTAP 5 Santa Clara County Blog - EdTech News for You
Welcome to the first edition of the monthly CTAP Region 5 blog for Santa Clara County educators. Each month I will highlight upcoming workshops and events, news that may shape your technology planning, tools for you and your staff, and interesting articles or websites. Subscribe to this blog via the RSS feed (lower right) if you use tools like Bloglines or Reader to track your favorite blogs. Or look for an email from me each month. Topics, suggestions, and questions are welcome! Note: Workshops start soon so please advise your teachers, librarians, and administrators of these opportunities. Upcoming workshops listed at right.

2nd Annual CyberCitizenship Summit
October 3, 8:30 am-4:00 pm, Yahoo HQ
CTAP 5 teams up with Yahoo again this year to offer a second cybercitizenship summit. This year's focus will be cyberbullying - certainly a topic that is taking more than its fair share of school administrators' attention. Gather with your colleagues from around the Bay Area to explore the issues, trends, and resources. Keynote speaker Chris Lehmann joins a panel of experts to bring you an engaging day of conversation. Click the image at right for a flyer. Slots are going fast. First come, first served. Click here to register.


Innovative Learning Conference
San Jose Convention Center
October 14-16
Computer Using Educators (CUE) and the Florida Education Technology Conference (FETC) team up to offer an interactive 3-day conference and exposition for the K-12 community here in San Jose at the convention center. Devoted to advancing student achievement through innovative education strategies, ILC will offer “hands-on” workshops, concurrent sessions, meetings and exhibitions. Click here to register.

'Day of Discovery' with Discovery Education
November 15, 9 am-3 pm, Santa Clara COE

Discovery Streaming provides digital on-demand video in the form of full-length videos and short segments to support all aspects of the K-12 curriculum. Additionally, the service includes a library of over 20,000 images as well as teacher support and lesson plans. Join your colleagues for this 'Day of Discovery' and tune in to all the online resources that Discovery Education offers. The day will include a keynote speaker and break-out sessions with hands-on experiences for you. Click here to register. If your district already has a Discovery contract or if you want to learn more about the resource, this full-day introduction provides a great opportunity to explore and discover.

A Good Read
Edutopia Aug-Sep 2008: Disruptive Technology for the Classroom

Authors Clayton Christensen and Michael Horn write: "That schools have gotten so little back from their [technology] investment comes as no surprise. Schools have done what virtually every organization does when implementing an innovation. An organization's natural instinct is to cram the innovation into its existing operating model to sustain what it already does. This is perfectly predictable, perfectly logical -- and perfectly wrong." Read more....

TechToolkit: Animoto
http://www.animoto.com
If you haven't discovered Animoto.com, you're in for a treat. Whether you're capturing the spirit of a staff development day or introducing the Civil War unit, you'll find Animoto a great addition to your toolkit. Upload images and then upload your music (or choose music available at the site). Animoto takes it from there. This Web 2.0 application analyzes your images in relation to the music and creates a professional looking video. Choose from either a 30-second short Animoto or full length. Fabulous results. Here's a quick example.

System Requirements:
Current browser, Java enabled, and Flash 8 Player
Cost: Free to educators. For everyone else, 30-second videos are free. Full length are $3 each or $30 a year unlimited.