Do you have students who struggle with the written word? Would you prefer to listen rather than read?…maybe while you’re mowing the grass or shoveling the snow?

In Muskegon County, educators and parents can take advantage of a special licensing agreement for Universal Reader. This software can be installed on every computer in the county – school and home – to help individuals who have reading difficulties. For more information about this project in Muskegon, contact the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District.

There are also free online tools to help convert text to audio. One that recently came to my attention is called Read the Words. After creating your free account, you submit what you want read using these options:

• Upload MS Word
• Upload Adobe PDF
• Upload HTML File
• Write Text Content
• Cut & Paste Text
• Website Address
• RSS Feed

You then pick the voice (out of 15 voices) that you want to have read your text, including Spanish or French. Finally, you listen to the audio of the text you entered. In addition to listening to your converted audio online, you can also:

• Download mp3 to your iPod
• Post Your Reading in Website or Blog
• Turn Your Reading into a Podcast

The conversion takes place quickly and the ability to save after conversion provides many options for the user.

This is a fantastic opportunity to help your teachers become more skilled at using educational technology and it’s FREE! Last year we had two teams from our area in the program. They are currently in their second year. I’d like to see even more of our districts represented this year.

The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) has received a grant from the Michigan Department of Education to train 90 teams at the school building level. In the MI-Champions program, teams of 3-5 educators attend the annual MACUL conference (one of the largest in the Midwest) in 2009 and 2010, receive two days of training in the summer of 2009, receive onsite coaching expertise, and a wealth of resources. MACUL conference registration, as well as lodging and substitute teacher stipends are provided each MI-Champion participant.

Some of the feedback from MI-Champion participants, as reported in the evaluation study from Eastern Michigan University:

Conference Feedback:
“The conference provided me new ideas about how to use technology in the classroom.”

“I had never used some of the technologies that we were exposed to at this conference (netcasts, blogs, etc.) and I feel more confident in using them both for my own enjoyment and to assist students in learning content. It was definitely a worthwhile experience for me.”

Summer Two Day Workshop Feedback:
” I enjoyed the wide variety of resources that I was provided with today. It was amazing how much I have learned in 2 short days.”

Overall Program Feedback:
“This is the best thing I have ever been a part of!”

“Thank you for treating us like professionals (lunch, stipend, paying for the MACUL conference, etc.). Being so “appreciated” makes us want to work even harder to make learning accessible to all children!”

For more information and to apply for the MI-Champions program for your school team, link to www.macul.org. Application deadline is November 10.

Blogs are a great tool for educators. If you are thinking about creating a blog or are one of the hundreds of educators in Muskegon County who have just set up a blog and aren’t sure how to use it – the next free webinar on October 22 is for you.

Janni Black, an educator with 18 years experience in curriculum and classroom teaching, has spent the last decade incorporating technology into all content areas of the classroom. A strong advocate for the importance of digital literacy, she shares her enthusiasm for technology with other educators by leading hands-on presentations, serving on leadership technology committees and penning her blog,Transitioning to Web 2.0. Janni’s writing has even won her the distinction “Geek of the Week” by Women of the Web.

See the previous post on this blog for more info, including how to register.

Muskegon Area ISD has subscribed to a Season Pass for Technology in Practice, ISTE’s continuing Webinar Series. This series features thirty highly engaging Webinars over the course of 2008-2009. Each Webinar will feature a Web 2.0 tool or innovative technology of wide appeal to educators. Each session will be at least 60 minutes in length, with 45 minutes of presenter content. The balance of the session will feature interactive elements such as audience Q&A and polls, and previews of upcoming ISTE Webinar events.

Except where noted, all ISTE webinars take place at 4:00 PM at MAISD. Except where noted, all ISTE webinars take place at 4:00 PM at MAISD. Registration is FREE. You may sign up for any or all of the webinars in the series. For information on how to register, click on the Professional Development link on the ISD web site
(http://www.muskegonisd.org).

Click on this link iste-webinars.pdf to see the listing of all of the webinars in the series.

While many adults have grown tired of the political advertising and campaign news in general, the concept of a presidential election is a new happening for many elementary children. Scholastic, a widely-respected provider of online educational resources, has developed a web site that teaches elementary children basic principles of a presidential election. On its Election 2008 site, Scholastic provides opportunities for students to vote for a candidate, meet the candidates, and hear the latest campaign news. Six large buttons on the main page invite students to learn about the electoral college, the process of campaigning, the candidates and their views on issues, the political parties (including third parties), tips from the pros, and the government works. Finally, there are numerous games and quizzes for the adventurous.

On occasion, you may want to obtain feedback from students, parents or even the community about your classroom or district program. There is a free online survey resource available from Zoomerang that suffices for a simple project. There is a limit of no more than 100 responses and you cannot add more than 30 questions. The survey results will be available for 10 days once the survey closes. However, in most educational situations, this is adequate.

There are some ‘templates’ you can use (although most appear to be business-oriented). You can also create a survey from scratch, and it is not that difficult. Once you have started a survey, you can pick a question type (such as multiple choice, drop-down menu, open-ended response, rating scale, or even yes/no). You can also utilize some formatting tools such as bold, font type and size, inserting images, and even spell check.

A nice resource for the classroom.

Vicki Davis has created a free online workshop, Seven Steps to a Flat Classroom, that is being offered through Atomic Learning for a limited time. What’s a Flat Classroom? According to Davis, creator of the award-winning Flat Classroom Project, it is “the expansion of your classroom to include global communities and different forms of communication like blogs and wikis.”

The workshop consists of over 70 short video tutorials to help you understand what a flat classroom is and how you can connect yourself and your students, create “prolearners”, and communicate. There are also videos addressing online ethics and character, citizenship, safety, and choice.

Yesterday, I introduced three C’s to keep in mind when determining content for use in a blog. This is the second of the two-part series, focused on examples of continued instruction. The subtitle below provides the idea, and the following paragraph is an example of how you may write the post. Again, there is nothing ‘wrong’ about a personal approach and sharing your interest in the topic. 

Book or Article Review
“Lane White forwarded an article to me yesterday afternoon that provides a great definition and history of web logs, otherwise known as “blogs” (link to article). The author of the article, Andy Carvin, cites research that indicates 2/3 of Internet users have no clue on the definition of…”

 Weekend Challenge
“Remember to check out the weekend challenge. This is not a required assignment – it is designed for those who want to learn more about the topic, and ‘challenge’ themselves to dig a little deeper. I believe most of you will find this challenge a little tougher than usual, but I know you will give it your best shot.”

Extra  Credit Opportunities
”We have just completed a unit on matter. This has been a fun unit – especially when we conducted the experiment that helped us define the three states of matter. Most of you have done well with this unit, but for those of you who want one last chance to improve your grade, here is an extra credit opportunity for you…”  

Homework Assignments
Create a simple list of homework assignments for subject areas (elementary) or by hours (secondary). 

Daily Notes
“Today, we discussed the essential question of “What is the essence of life?” If you answered “chemistry”, you are correct. Specifically, we focused on the properties of matter. Click here for the notes from today’s class.”  

Podcasts
”Thanks to all of you who have emailed to tell me that you love the student podcasts we are producing. This week, our topic is simple machines. Kudos to our presenters – Ethan was our producer, Jamie and Andrew were our hosts, and our guests included Kevin, Caden and Alyssa. Podcast #7 – Simple Machines”  

Digital Stories
“We have immensely enjoyed reading this book. What makes it so real is that much of what is written happened in our backyard several years ago. We have completed a great deal of Internet research and found several pictures that tell the story of lumberjack camps. Therefore, our students are excited to present the digital story “Journey Back to Lumberjack Camp”.

Cool Web Site
“While preparing for an upcoming class, I found this excellent web site that I want to share with you. Check it out… www.(topic).com”  

Fast Facts (did you know…)
“We ran out of time today, but I wanted to share this interesting fact about…”  

Quick Poll (survey results)
“As you know, we took a survey in class today. Here are the results of that survey…”

Two years ago, when we first introduced blogs at Mona Shores, I challenged teachers to think of the three C’s when determining what content to use in the blog. In this two-part series, I want to share some examples of how you can use a blog to “communicate, continue instruction, and celebrate”. Today, the focus is on communication and celebration. The subtitle provides the idea, and the following paragraph is an example of how you may write the post. Keep in mind that one way a blog differs from a traditional web page in that you can be more personal and even persuasive.

Introducting A New Topic/Unit (Communication)
“Every year, I look forward to teaching the unit on the solar system. There is so much to discover, and something new this year is the debate on whether Pluto should be included as the ninth planet. We also use technology to complete a brief PowerPoint presentation as the major assignment for the unit. If you want a head start on learning about the solar system, check out these cool web sites…”  

Complimenting/Praising Student Work (Celebration)
“Our Super Student of the Week is Coedi. Congratulations, Coedi. He is quick to learn new things and is willing to give his best effort when working on math and reading assignments. Keep up the terrific effort, Coedi!”  

Newsletter (Communication)
“In this week’s newsletter, I share details about our upcoming study trip to Meijer Gardens and the Children’s Museum. Please note the departure and arrival times. Also, I review what we learned this week and give an overview of the topics for next week. Click on the link to read the newsletter.”

Exceptional Examples of Student Work (Celebration)
“I finished grading your projects from the last unit, and I’m very pleased with the overall effort. There were 2-3 assignments in particular that caught my eye, and I want to share those completed papers with you. Congratulations to the individuals who completed this great assignment. Tom Jen Kellie”

Photographs (Celebration)
“For those students in my class, this is not new news. I love using my document camera. So do several of my friends. Here are some pictures for you to see (then post some thumbnail pictures).”  

Now that the stress that comes with the first month of school is past, I have a little more time for reading and reflection on educational technology. One article I encountered this week, titled “text unto others…As You Would Have Them Text Unto You“, was very effective at summarizing the issue of digital citizenship. It appeared in the September 2008 edition of T.H.E. Journal magazine.Personally, I appreciated the angle taken by the author – that is, focus on the positive benefits instead of the lurking ‘evil’ that awaits users. Matt Villano points to the “Digizen.org” web site, where the authors summarize this fresh angle: “Digital citizenship isn’t just about recognizing and dealing with online hazards. It’s about building safe spaces and communities, [having students] understand how to manage personal information, and about being internet savvy – using your online presence to grow and shape your world in a safe, creative way, and inspiring others to do the same.”The author continues to take this ‘positive’ angle as he explores the role of the teacher (leading by example), the roles various industries have played in tackling piracy, and the tough question of who is responsible for teaching digital citizenship.  An added bonus to the article is a sidebar titled “9 Steps To Building A Good Digital Citizen” compiled by Mike Ribble.