A Piece of My Mind

Let’s face it. Your students love nature. They love computers. They love media. Why not have them create short documentaries about cheetahs, water lizards, polar bears, and more using real video footage, authentic sounds, and background music?

What? Your kids don’t know how to make videos? You don’t know where to get the media for the film? Well, let Nat Geo step in and save the day. Enter the Wildlife Filmmaker. Your kids do not need to be professionals, but they just might turn into them. Using drag and drop technology, National Geographic has done a wonderful job of simplifying the process for teachers (I say ‘teachers’ because the detail could kill us if we had to walk our younger students through the process in MovieMaker or iMovie).

The students will be given a code to write down when they are through to allow them to retrieve the video once they are completed. Now, retrieve means it will bring it back up and play it in the Nat Geo site. I did not see a way to download the video yet, but I am sure it will not be long. A teacher could very easily write the numbers down to create links on his/her web page for parents and students to view their creations.

So, if you are lucky enough to have an administrator order you to teach the things you wanted the students to learn but testing got in the way of, then try this out. The students can preview the animal clips and make a short video or two to try the site out. Then, once they are comfortable with it, they can do some research on the animal of choice and return to the site to make their own Animal Planet documentary short. The side benefit of this is that they will gain some great skills using the video timeline window on the site. It is very much like the software programs such as Windows MovieMaker, Apple’s iMovie, or the more advanced Apple Final Cut Studio we use in our high school.

Awesome tools for science and literacy (digital storytelling), so go give it a try! Let me know what you think about it.

Rolla Public Schools in Missouri has a neat little section of its website where it archives links to online activities by grade level and subject area. I thought I would share it here as both a resource for my staff but also a nice little archive for me as well. Thanks RPS!

Also check out what the Utah Education Network has posted on their grade level/subject area links:

K-2

3-6

7-12 

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If you have a young one at home, I know you watch PBS. I also know they are aware of who Daniel Cook is. Quite the bright young man, Daniel spends his time working with adults learning about their jobs and the things around them. His videos and strong personality kept my son engaged every time it came on the television (all I kept thinking was “Boy that kid would wear me out.”).

Now, Daniel has his own website. He has a Playroom and a Backyard area to for kids to explore, interact, and learn. You will also find episode guides. The guides share a short summary, learning objectives for the program, and contact information of the location that was visited for additional information.

Graphic credit: www.thisisdanielcook.com

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Interested in some online Guided Reading practice via games? Then you might find Roy the Zebra worth your time.

You will find digital stories that you can scroll through one virtual page at a time. Included with the stories, you will find pre and post questions and literacy worksheets for vocabulary practice. You will also find games that help with alphabetical order, double consonants, high frequency words, singular or plural words, rhyming words, and much more.

If your early readers need literacy practice then this might be the site for you. Give it a try and shoot me some feedback in the comments as to the pros and cons.

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Today was a pretty cool day. I got my first taste of installing an NComputing system. I put it in our elementary library to expand the number of stations available for students to use. The main computer it is running off of is a base model ($500 w/monitor) HP with 2GB RAM and XP Pro. All went pretty smoothly. We used Logictech keyboards and mice and 17″ Princeton LCD monitors for each station.  It would be nice if the directions would tell you that the serial number and product key for the NComputing software was really the one for the little station modules, but other then that things went well.

Then I got to play with another really cool tool. An iPod Touch. 32GB. WiFi. Google Maps. GMail integration. Movies. Podcasts. And more than I can list here. I truly only had a few minutes off and on during the day to mess with it, but I have to say it is one fine piece of electronics.

I figured since I was picking my son up from school today while my wife is away on a field trip with her students, this was a good chance to look cool(er) to my seven year old. I asked him if he wanted to check out the new tool. He said sure and took it from me. Since I was driving us home, I had to hope he could understand my directions since I could not physically show him. I told him where the power button was at and how to slide the Unlock switch over to get to the menu. I commenced to offering several other fine points about the new iPod. He was kind of quiet (actually, he had not said anything during my spiel). I figured the volume must have been up a little on the earbuds, so I spoke a little louder:

“You know, Son, if you want to turn the volume down just slide your finger across the bottom of the screen!”
“Thanks, Daddy. I know that.” (Me internally: What? I just figured that out!)

“Well, in case you want to move around in the video, slide your finger across the top of the screen. The timeline will show up and you can move the cursor.”
“Yes, Sir. I figured that out.” (Me internally: What? I played with that for a bit before I could do that.)

“If you get tired of the movie, you can always click the square on the bottom of the iPod to go back to the menu and then click, I mean touch, Music. Then you can scroll down to the artist or song you want.”
“Yes, Sir. I already did that, too. I’m listening to TobyMac now.” (Me internally: Hmm. New blog post?)

My son has only occasionally played with my video iPod, but the navigation is totally different. He does well on any computer we put him in front of, but the Touch is a different ballgame. Isn’t it? Maybe not for these kids.

So, in summary:
1. I figured out the NComputing system is pretty easy to install and seems to work well in our library setting.
2. The iPod Touch has some incredible features for educational use. I need to explore it more for that purpose.
3. Apple did a phenomenal job on the navigation in the Touch.
4. Never think I will be able to teach my son much about computer-based tools. I need to sign up for lessons from him, instead.

Now, where is that Blue Snowball USB mic that came in this morning. “Hey, Son. Can you show Daddy how to hook this thing up?”

It snowed a lot in east Texas today. Never happens. So our 5th grade science teacher took the initiative and taught the water cycle outside in the snow. The kids loved it. We knew the snow would not last all day, so he did a video podcast about it. Check it out here.

This is his first adventure into podcasting, so let him know what you think in the comment section here. We have big plans to do more science podcasts along the river in Beavers Bend State Park in Oklahoma in the near future. Stay tuned.

At TCEA in Austin last week, I had the opportunity to present with one of my co-workers. She is an awesome educator in general, but her love for her students is obvious in her curriculum. She works very hard to tie in all types of technology to engage the students and make her job more efficient. 

Our presentation, “Web 2.0 in the Elementary Special Education Classroom,” focused on a number of technologies and procedures she uses and the process with which we do it. We had a nice crowd of about thirty for 8:00 in the morning. Morning sessions are tough, as we all know.  Thank you for those who crawled out of bed for the early sessions. We enjoyed the discussion.

One item that was brought up was copyright. My co-worker shared her next goal was to have her students read their books and record them for classroom use. Her books on tape are wearing down, to say the least.  One guest in the audience called her on it saying it was breaking copyright policies. Our discussion with her did not seem to change her mind. She felt that since she was a librarian she was obligated to let us know we were breaking the law.  Another audience member attempted to clarify for her that no monetary damages were being had to the book publishers and that they would not have anything to sue for. Besides, who would sue little kids reading stories while learning?

So, I did what every Texas teacher should do.  After the session ended, I called ATPE and asked for legal services.  I requested a copyright attorney, and after a minute or so on hold, I had the lawyer answering all of my copyright questions:

Question: If we record our students reading library books in the classroom for current and future use, are we breaking copyright law?
Answer: Abosolutely not. It is an acceptable practice. Why would that break copyright law? (I thought I as asking the questions here.)

Question: If I post said recordings of those students reading those books onto the website for parents to download them as podcasts to hear their children, am I breaking copyright law?
Answer: Absolutely not. If you are not selling them or altering them and selling them, there is no breach of copyright law. Again, they are acceptable educational uses of content.

Thank you very much.  I feel vindicated in our actions. I have my attorney supporting my position and our legitimate use of print materials and technology in our instructional purposes. I just wish I had had the time to call the attorney during the session to alleviate any of the concerns our audience member might have had.  Her belief came from a session she had attended.  Hmmm. A lesson learned for me here is that for legal advice, trust the attorney who specializes in your field and would cover your rear in court.  I would also suggest you not say, “I read it on Scott’s blog and it must be true.” Call your own representative that SPECIALIZES in your area of concern. I hope that clears up any confusion that might have arisen in the session conversation. We felt like we were correct in our position, and our attorney supports that position. 

Isn’t it nice to have that education attorney to lean on for advice?  For those not familiar with Texas and the associations to support educators, ATPE is the largest in our state. Texas does not allow collective bargaining, so spending a lot of money to join a union really is useless.  My dues are $130 a year, and I receive all the free legal advice and assistance that I might need in a situation like this. One 800 phone call and I am on the phone with one of the in-house, education-focused attorneys.  It is a nice feeling to have for times such as these. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I served on the board of directors of ATPE for four years, but I have been a member since 1997. This has no bearing on the response from the attorney, but my praise for them is warranted from my experience and I did not want my previous leadership with them to be hidden when reading my opinion.)

With all of that being said, below is the Keynote presentation on SlideShare and the MP3 recording (I edited out the lengthy copyright discussion/debate to eliminate further confusion). If you have any comments or questions about the presentation, please feel free to leave a comment here or email me. I can pass all special ed specific questions on to my co-worker.

Thanks again for the great turnout.  We enjoyed the conversation.

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