Desktop Publishing: a tool from the past?

I know there are many options available for the development of valuable and effective materials. However, as this applies to public education, I believe that there will still be a place for the older tools as well. Education tends to be less on the cutting edge of what's new and more towards what is affordable yet sufficient. I believe that these tools as we know it may undergo a face lift to become more user friendly, but the fundamentals of the software will remain the same....if only for our generation's use. I understand the desire to include the new and flashy, yet, studies show that this is not the most effective way to present information. And for this reason, educators, still charged with the task of presenting materials for educational purposes, will still need affordable tools to accomplish this task. And, I believe that we will see more need for these materials in several years to come. Companies that produce DTP will see the value in producing materials for larger corporations like public education districts and will begin to incorporate the components of newer tools into what is already available. They have to play the marketing game. And, unfortunately, many large contracts (government, public agencies, etc.) just don't have the funding to purchase the more expensive software.

Although free tools are available for use, there is still so much red tape in order to make these available for student use on a regular basis. Until school systems develop a strong acceptable use policy that will support the use of the internet and the tools available, they will continue to struggle with keeping up with current technology trends. However, some exposure to these tools will prepare our children for success when they begin training course for new jobs.

Having a conversation really works!

I was scheduled to present at HC summer institute yesterday. My presentation focused on utilizing iMovie to assist with behavior management programs in the schools. After I presented my idea, my plan was to have the participants actually spend some time creating an iMovie with me. Well, I found out the night before that computers were not available for me to use...so I would have to present without that component. Well, I really got nervous! How was I going to talk for 75 minutes and not bore the participants to death!!! Luckily, our previous week showed a great example of how to just have a conversation. So, that's what I did. I talked about how the idea came up, what we decided to do and I used my presentation as supplemental information to what I was saying. They didn't have to even really look at the screen. And, when they did, they were easily re-directed to my conversation. Needless to say, things went over great. I even had to stop myself for going OVER the time limit. What a wonderful lesson and great application of the concept to boot.

It works...and, I definitely plan to implement this concept in all future presentations.

Marketing the product: true technology integration

Marketing the product...what exactly does this mean. I've spent a lot of time thinking about what I'm learning about technology integration and how this really applies to the school system I work in. Unfortunately, I don't believe "the product", technology integration, is really being marketed well. I understand the struggle with budgeting concerns. However, when are the school systems going to really look at what the research is saying about the digital natives and how it is imperative to begin technology integration at all levels to ensure the success of our children? I also thought about how there are many school administrators who say they support the technology initiative and yet do very little to support it's integration into every classroom.

Perhaps, technology educators need to spend more time "marketing the product". We have to be the voice that local government members hear when they are proposing budget cuts that impact school technology programs. Perhaps we need to be the voice that administrators hear in the lunch rooms discussing all of the great ways we are integrating technology and how it truly impacts our students. And, what is needed to fully integrate technology programs. Perhaps we need to be the voice at the PTA meetings that presents a united effort (Parents, Teachers and Administrators) in providing the tools that our children need in order to be more successful in a technology infused society.

Perhaps we need to think of a new marketing plan that shares research, documentation and ideas of how we can effectively integrate technology into every classroom, before it's too late.

Coming Out of the Clouds

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I believe the task of sharing CLT with my staff will definitely bring some heads out of the clouds. I've witnessed really "tech savvy" staff with what they consider wonderful multimedia presentations that I would never have admitted that I created. Although these teachers are excellent teachers, I don't believe they are applying their prior knowledge about good teaching practices to materials that are created with technology. I too am guilty of doing this. I wanted to use technology so badly that I created busy and overwhelming materials that in retrospect weren't necessarily great teaching materials. And then, I took an online class at a university about creating powerful presentations without excess. This changed my entire perspective and I was reminded of these components when we discussed Cognitive Learning Theory this week. My approach to my staff? I'm thinking I would show them a presentation that was full of fluff. And then, ask them what the content was. I'm not sure how much they would get from it, but, I would hope to expand the discussion to what would they change about the presentation so that they could better understand the content. I would then introduce the components of CLT and ask the staff to establish some criteria for representations using the fundamentals of CLT. I believe this approach would be well received by my staff. I know there would need to be follow-up as teachers begin to apply what they learned in their classroom, however I believe it'd be a great start.

And, coming out of the clouds...well, let's just say it's all in efforts to view a bright new day.

Getting Started- blog post 1

Well, this is my first official post and it's been tiresome getting to this point. In selecting a tool, I was looking for a great beginner tool that I could learn the basics so that I have something to take back to school in the fall. With this in mind,I took some time this week to review the different options that were available on blogger. Blogger was recommended by a colleague as being a great place to start blogging. I enjoyed testing out the different functions, but got caught up in some of the settings that delayed my actual posting. But, I finally made it!

For the most part, I stuck with this tool because it is very beginner friendly. If I had stuck with the defaults on most options, I'm sure I would be blogging away by now. Although I now have to get the hang of this tagging thing. One of the most important features that I like on blogger is the ability to moderate all posts. Because this is such a taboo area in the school system, I had to tread very carefully in it's use. So I like the ability to review any information that is submitted prior to it's actual posting on the web. This will be a safety feature that I will need to enable for anything my students will use. I like the ease of being able to comment to posts and also the ability to link to my "future" website. I wasn't as happy with the graphics side of the site...but perhaps when I'm more html knowledgeable, I'll be able to change that around as well.

I haven't decided to 100% stick with this tool, but I'll need a little more time to investigate different tools as I become more familiar with the general idea of blogs and tags.

Any suggestions or feedback about the process are welcome.

Gannon-test

Hi guys...this is my first post. I'm trying to test this thing out.