Google Teacher Academy Action Plan: Part 2

Google Docs.

Within the past two weeks, I’ve held two workshops for the teachers in my school introducing Google Docs.  I broke Google Docs. into two one-hour workshops.  The first hour concentrated on creating, editing and sharing a document (similar to a word processing document).  The second workshop focused on using the presentation, spreadsheet and form tools. 

Abracadabra!

I began the first workshop by explaining the capabilities of Google Docs.  I was thrilled to see the look on the teachers’ faces when idea of web-based files registered.  “You mean I don’t have to worry about a flash drive or emailing documents to myself?”  The stage was set for a great workshop… I felt like a magician at a child’s birthday party, only I was sharing all of the secrets. 

After we created our own documents, I shared a document I had prepared earlier with the group.  As each person edited it, I heard pleased exclamations when they saw other teachers’ work appear on their own screen.  I asked them to add their thoughts to a table concerning how students could benefit from a tool like this.  We were all in the same room and it just seemed easier to talk about it.  ( F2F is still my favorite small group discussion vehicle.)  Thoughts were exchanged, especially the idea of peer editing and collaborating for in-school and at-home assignments.

 

One issue that did arise is the fact that without Google Apps. for Education Edition, our students would need to register for a Google Account with an email address.  Our district has not issued email addresses to our students yet, and the administration has reservations about endorsing sites that could lead students inadvertently to tools that allow them to create an online identity.   I assured the teachers that we discuss the issue at every district technology meeting and we are actively pursuing a solution that satisfies all parties.

Coincidentally, our February district technology meeting was held this afternoon.  We discussed many topics, including Google Docs.  I asked to have it added to the agenda, primarily to brainstorm the ideas I’ve picked up from my Twitter friends concerning dummy email solutions to Web2.0 tools. 

And then the REAL magic happened…

Our curriculum director felt that adequate safety features would be in place with dummy email accounts and it deserved to be a pilot program!  I tried not to jump out of my seat to volunteer, but I think my graciously supportive colleagues knew I had been thinking about this for months.  So tomorrow, pending my principal’s approval, I’ll meet with a fifth grade teacher to discuss the possibilities.  I’ve decided to create a Google Site to track our progress and post the lesson plans.

Stay tuned!

500 Pound Gorilla in the Room

As my more recent posts suggest, my district’s technology team has been having some productive conversations about using online collaboration tools with students and staff.  I”m excited by the positive reactions from our administrators and IT specialists.  However, they have a few concerns….

When is it alright to talk about this?

Photo by: Mike Harbison

 

I”ve been to a few workshops recently where presenters or attendees have either scoffed at or brushed off teachers who raise their hands to say:  “My district won’t let us do that.”  At times, it seems like when a teacher voices that concern, they are treated as if they are unwilling to change.  We’re learning about great tools and how to use them effectively with our students, but we’re ignoring the 500 pound gorilla in the room:  many districts are NOT allowing students to collaborate online…in fact, most tools are blocked for students and teachers alike!!

 I completely support the most common response to those hand-raising teachers; we need to be creative innovators to win over our administrators. ..be agents of change….don’t just believe in it, do it!  (A moving post by Joyce Valenza will fire you up!  Thank you to Media Specialist Amy King for sharing.)

Last week, I attended RTEC(Rutgers Technology in Education Conference) presented by Rutgers University.  Peter Oyler from Apple Inc. spoke about what 21st century learning environments look like.  It was a very good presentation, which ended with an opportunity to reflect on our role as educators to determine if we were truly giving our students the best opportunities to learn and how technology could enhance that learning.  I wondered how many teachers in the audience were thinking what I was thinking, “Yes, I want to do this, but my district….”

The administrators in my district have concerns, and honestly with the number of lawsuits against schools growing, I understand why.  Here are some of their concerns:

• If a child is the victim of cyber-bullying while not in school, but while using a district approved online tool, can the school be held liable?
• If our students use collaboration tools in school in a safe “walled garden” manner, yet chooses to use the tool in a completely public manner at home and that child’s safety is compromised, can the school be held liable?
• Online predators**:  what is the (real) chance of an online predator contacting our students with these tools?   What is the (real) chance of an online predator finding information about a student (name, photo) and using that information to harm/kidnap a student, if we allow students to use these tools?
• Can an AUP and staff/student/parent education concerning online safety and digital citizenship completely protect the district from lawsuits?

**I’m waiting to hear back from Dr. Tim Tyson, who gave a great iSafety presentation at RTEC.  I”m hoping he can share his resources which brought some very interesting facts about online predators to light.  I’ll post about the details when I hear back from him.

I do not have a background in educational law.  I’ve done a few searches for recent lawsuits in this area, but so far haven’t found much at all.   However, I’m assuming that my district isn’t the only district dragging their feet because of potential legal issues.

I will continue to strive to be an agent of change.  I will continue to research, collaborate and learn about this wonderful world in which my students should be participating.   However, until the concerns listed above are addressed, it’s likely we won’t budge.   For me, now is a good time to talk about these issues.

My questions:  Does your district have these concerns?  If not, what legally supports your programming?   Even if you don’t agree with the concerns, are they valid?   What can be done to make my administration feel comfortable about using online collaboration tools with students and staff?

Thanks for reading!

“Ain’t Nothin’ Gonna Break My Stride”

After a somewhat disheartening end of the school year and an uneventful summer, I feel the blogger-bug biting again.  I apologize to those of you (all 3 of you) who follow this blog, for the 3 month lapse since my last entry.  However, I now feel refreshed..humming, “Nobody’s gonna slow me down…oh no, I’ve got to keep on movin’!”

Here are few things I’ve been working on:

Google Teacher Academy NYC 2008:

It’s all over my inbox and my PLN, Google is accepting applications for a November training session.  Fifty teachers are accepted, so I’m doing my best to answer the questions with as much thought and creativity as possible.  Still working on my video…will post when I’m happy with it.

Student Blog:

Well, it’s more of a completely impenetrable fortress/discussion board.  I convinced our curriculum director to allow the technology teachers in our district to create and administer a WordPress blog for our gifted/talented program.  Our fifth graders are taking part in the Stock Market Game and they’re using the blog to reflect on their progress and share tips/strategies.  I’d love to post a link, but for this pilot program we agreed to keep all of the posts “in house”.  It’s a great first step, in my opinion.

Elementary Tech. Teachers Ning:

Thanks to my good friend Maureen, I was invited to join a fantastic Ning for Elementary Technology Teachers, created by Nedra.  So far, it looks great and I can’t wait to browse for ideas and share some of my own!

Wikispaces for Teachers

Our teachers had created web pages on www.think.coma few years ago.  We thought it would take off like a runaway train, but unfortunately, only about half of our teachers created and updated pages there.  We were dismayed to find out over this past summer, think.com paired up with ThinkQuest and changed its format.  We are no longer able to link from our school website directly to the pages the teachers created on think.com.  Only members of think.com are able to see the web pages that have been designed.  I definitely see the purpose of that move, but we were given no warning of the change.  If we were to stay with think.com, we’d have to encourage every parent in the district to become a member in order to see the teacher web pages.  Do-able, but not probable.  Our solution:  switch to wikispaces.  I trained a few teachers today after school and hope to offer another training later in the school year.  Currently, our teachers will use wikispaces as a one-way communication tool.  However, I hope to encourage our administration to allow teacher to start parent discussion boards on their pages.

Next Hurdle:  Unblocking Sites for Teachers

I’ve been disappointed by the fact that our administration continues to prevent access to certain types of sites for teachers.  I understand strict filters are important when students are using computers.  However, if we really want to treat our teachers as professionals, we should give them greater access to useful tools.  Currently, in our district, all games, social networking sites, blogs, and wikis are blocked.  It is possible for a teacher to ask for a site to be unblocked for instructional purposes, but that process takes a few days at least and smothers “just in time” teaching.   Our IT director says that he’s uncomfortable unblocking the sites for teachers because of this and similar scenarios:  a teacher leaves a computer, forgetting to logoff.  A student begins using the computer under the teacher’s username and accesses the restricted sites and “causes trouble for him/herself or others”.  He feels it would unnecessarily put our students, or our district, in harm’s way.  Our response has always been:  we have a solid AUP that covers such things.  The student would clearly be breaking the contract and therefore have computing privileges revoked. 

So far, we’ve made little progress in changing the minds of our administrators on this topic.  Any suggestions?

Hey…You…Guuuuys (and Gals)!!! Part 2

TGI-PLN (Thank Goodness It’s Personal Learning Network)

Thank you to everyone who commented on Part 1 of this post, especially MariaD for bringing to my attention (in very professional, non-D’oh! way) that I had left out possibly the most important part of social networking… sharing and collaborating!  Haven’t I learned that “Reading’ and “Watching” aren’t enough for the 21st Century?  Sheesh…where was my head?

Summer Homework for Teachers and Administrators?  Yippeee!

In Part 1, I posted links that explained RSS feeders and how to get one.  Reading blogs is not enough.  Take full advantage of them… comment.  Leave comments for the author, or for other readers.  Many bloggers will respond to comments so feel free to pose a question or expand the discussion.  When you’re ready, start your own blog!  There are plenty of platforms to choose from.  I use wordpress.com, but find the one that’s right for you.  Edublog is specifically for teachers and students and is free.  Did you say blogs for students?  Why yes, I did.  Check out Scott McLeod’s wiki on K-12 blogs.  Read, learn, create and share. (not necessarily in that order)

Continually Create Your Personal Learning Network

The biggest mystery I faced when I started this journey was “How do I find the good stuff?”.  Why reinvent the wheel?  Why not start by investigating the same “stuff” that other educators and administrators are following?  Easy:  set up a Twitter account.  The Twitter.com FAQ’s states that, “Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers…”  Basically you pick members that you want to follow, based on common interests such as technology and education.  Following someone on Twitter allows you to see what they post.  Then the magic happens.  Professionals from all over the world are telling youwhat they are doing!!  Workshop announcements, new blog posts, interesting articles, webcasts, IT advice…all dispensed in 140 characters or less.  Watch, learn, and interact. (not necessarily in that order)

I Learned Everything in Kindergarten:  SHARE!

Share everything**. (This is something I need to start doing more often.)   Create an online identity.  Be transparent:  the person you are online is like the person you are in real life.  (thank you, Kevin Jarrett) Post photos (professional, personal, your choice) on Flickr.com.  Create a wiki so you and colleagues (inside your building and from across the world) can collaborate on projects.  Stop sending documents as “flat” email attachments.  Give them some depth by creating files in iGoogle Docs, so you can share them with others in order to collaborate!  Share videos (again, professional or personal) on YouTube or TeacherTube.  Just get out there and experience this world.  Help create this world.

Our Students Need  Us To Learn, Share and Collaborate

We can’t teach our students about these tools unless we use them ourselves.  If we don’t share this knowledge with our students, they’ll use these tools without us.  Lack of guidance could lead to cyber-bullying or simply inappropriate online behavior.  So as you actively participate and collaborate online, think of ways your students can do the same to expand their learning and acquire 21st Century skills.

Lastly, thank you to Vicki Davis for a recent post that acknowledges and supports new bloggers like:
Kristi, Matthew Needleman, and Michelle Baldwin.

**Please remember to keep safety in mind.  It is never a good idea to share personal information such as address or phone number and students should never share any personal information!  For an opposing view on sharing, read this post on Connecting the Dots, by new blogger Mike Curtin.

Homer Simpson Clipart from:  Fabiosbest’s Public Gallery