Author Archive

Behind the Blog: EduBlogger Series | Bob Sprankle

“Bit by Bit”

Bob Sprankle holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Plymouth State College and a Masters of Education from the University of Southern Maine. After receiving his Masters, he continued his studies taking additional technology education courses at the University of Southern Maine. Bob teaching experience covers 3/4 Multi-Age teaching as well as his experience as the Technology Learning Leader and Technology Integrator. As Lead Technology Learning Leader, he has developed an implemented Technology Integration training for Southern Maine teachers through Spreading Educator to Educator Developements (SEED). From these effirtsto work with Apple for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative Project. Additional developed training at state, national, and international conferences, includes Building Learning Communities Conference, K12 Online Conference, York Maine School Department Summer Institute Keynote, National Institute of Aerospace/Nortel LeaniT, and Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference. He is the writer and contributor to a few publications including TechLearning Professional Blog and has been interviewed for his use of podcasting in the classroom.

He is currently holds the position of Technology Integrator for grades K-4 in Wells, Maine.

His website can be found here: http://www.bobsprankle.com

How did you get involved with technology?

I’ve always been a bit of a geek. (I…

The TSETC Site is LIVE!

We are happy to announce that the Tri-State Educational Technology Conference (TSETC) site is now live!

Visit the website at http://www.tsetc.org

The TSETC is the technology and learning conference devoted to educators in the tri-state area.

This year’s conference is all about change – and the tools and programs that will enable this change. Our goal is to provide meaningful, exciting learning opportunities that focus on actively engaging all learners and inspiring educators to pursue innovative practices.

Registration is now open!

Although TSETC is free, you must register for the event. Space is limited. So make sure to check your calendars and register before it’s too late.

Call for Presenters is open!

Deadline: September 10, 2010

Share your education technology experience at the Tri-State Educational Technology Conference by presenting on October 2, 2010. Sessions are not intended to promote products and should instead focus on lessons learned with emerging technologies. Presenters are expected to keep sessions as vendor neutral as possible.

We are currently accepting presentation proposals for TSETC 2010. If you are interested, please read the following guidelines and fill out the appropriate Presentation Proposal Form. You will be…

Tri-State Educational Technology Conference (TSETC)

We are proud to announce that we will be hosting the inaugural Tri-State Educational Technology Conference (website coming soon) this October at New Milford High School in New Milford, New Jersey.

Date:
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Time:
9am-4pm
Location:
New Milford High School
New Milford, New Jersey (10 minutes West of the George Washington Bridge)

How did TSETC come to be?

You can never stop learning. With today’s use of the Internet and social media it makes it even easier to learn and connect with one another. Our system is devoted to improving communication and collaboration inside and outside of the classroom. We not only make it happen through our learning management system, but feel that it is extremely important to create this relationship with educators. Being huge advocates of enhancing the digital learning space, we wanted to hear from those educators that are EdTech role models. I started a series dedicated to those wonderful EduBloggers with our “Behind the Blog: EduBlogger Series“. I had the opportunity to chat with a bunch of these tech savvy educators, and in the process was able to learn what realistically was going on in the school systems.…

Behind the Blog: EduBlogger Series | Maggie Hos-McGrane

“Tech Transformation”

Maggie Hos-McGrane is a 28 year teaching veteran and currently teaches Information Technology (IT) at an international school in Switzerland. Having taught in England, Holland, and Thailand, she has worn many hats in the classroom teaching a variety of subjects including geography, social studies, English, health education, and information technology.

Her blog can be found here: http://transformingtechnology.blogspot.com/

Why did you start blogging?

When I knew I was leaving Thailand to move to Switzerland I started a personal blog to write about our experiences for my family. Once I moved I then started my professional blog, Tech Transformation. Since I was moving to a new country I didn’t know many people and thought this would be a good way to share my ideas and thoughts. Everything I write about is connected to student learning. Most international schools where I have taught don’t follow a national curriculum and have a philosophy that completely different from local schools. Writing in my blog allows me to write about the International Baccalaureate and to share these experiences and ideas with others who may not be familiar with these systems.

How do you integrate technology into

ReCap #Web20Chat 7/28/10

We had another successful chat yesterday, the topic at hand:

How do we adapt our curriculum to the technologies that kids are already using?

The topic generated some great responses, and all related to integrating digital media and technology into the classroom. What makes this the place to be? Once the clock strikes six (6pm EST/ 3pm PST), the hashtag #Web20Chat becomes an open forum to comfortably learn, add your own opinions, and discover.

Some of the themes targeted during the hour long chat:

  • Filters and blocks severely limiting accessibility to existing tools and platforms, making it difficult for teachers to integrate technology within their curriculum
  • Administrators are (or seem to be) focused on the risks of incorporating these technology tools, while teachers are fighting to get them available in their classrooms
  • Online Responsibility, along side personal responsibility on the web. Teaching students to properly conduct and protect themselves online
  • Do not be afraid to ask your students what type of tools they are using outside of class. Drop the ego and just ask.
  • When incorporating tools into a lesson, try to find the purpose. Do not use a tool for the sake of using a

ReCap #Web20Chat 7/21/10

For those of you who may not know, the first Twitter chat devoted to learning about Web 2.0 tools took place this past Wednesday, July 21.

This week’s topic was: How to help educators feel comfortable deciding on Web 2.o Tools.

It was a great success with over 35 people contributing to the conversation with over 300 total tweets. What originally was a 30 minute chat will now be a full hour thanks to the the great educators who joined us to start it off. It is clear that there is a want and need and hope to provide an open meeting and discussion place for learning about Web 2.0 tools.

Going with the idea the learning does not end in the classroom (the classroom being our #web20chat) you are welcomed to join in the conversation on the webpage. The official #Web20Chat webpage, Web 2.0 Learning, is now live and ready for interaction. We will be using the blog at Web 2.0 Learning to:

  • Matter Monday : Topics for the next chat will be posted. The discussion is chosen by you so make sure to vote before Wednesday.
  • Theme Tuesday

#Web20chat

As a semi-newbie to #Edchat , a Twitter hashtag that is used as a collaborative tool for educators to debate and evaluate solutions to various problems, many of the discussions I have engaged with has led me wanting more. The education topics brought up during #edchat are relevant and important, but it is clear there is an absence of discussion focused on technology integration in education. For many, incorporating these web 2.0 tools in class can be scary, but it does not have to be.

So we have created: #web20chat

What is #web20chat ?

A comfortable setting for educators to come together to discuss their issues and concerns, share their advice, and give input about using web 2.0 tools in our modern day classrooms. The goal behind #web20chat is to encourage a productive dialogue between educators in hopes to answer those mysterious questions we may have about these new tools, as well as bring new ideas on how to make better use of these tools in our schools. We welcome everyone!

When is #web20chat ?

Our motto: Wednesday’s are for Web 2.0

Join us every Wednesday at 6PM EST via Twitter

How to join #web20chat ?

Follow #web20chat using the Twitter browser…

Behind the Blog: EduBlogger Series | Steven Anderson

“Blogging About the Web 2.0 Connected Classroom”

Steven holds a Bachelors of Science in Middle Grade Mathematics and Science Education from Western Carolina University and a Master of Arts in Education in Instructional Technology from East Carolina University. His teaching career began in 2004 at the Gateway Prep. Academy teaching 7th and 8th grade students who were more than 2 years off of grade level in hopes they could return to their regular school to be successful. Anderson then moved to Clemmons Middle School teaching science for 5 years and then left to serve as the District Instructional Technologist for Stokes County Schools. In January 2010, he returned to Clemmons Middle School as the Instructional Technologist, working with teachers and students on technology integration. Steven has been a presenter at several area technology conferences and meetings as well as served as a panelist at the #140 Conference in Los Angeles. He is also responsible in helping create #edchat, a weekly education discussion on Twitter that boosts over 500 weekly participants.

He currently holds the position as Instructional Technologist at Clemmons Middle School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

His blog can be found here: http://web20classroom.blogspot.com

Why

Behind the Blog: EduBlogger Series | Linda Perlstein

“The Educated Reporter”

Linda Perlstein is currently the public editor for the Education Writers Association helping journalists improve coverage of schools and children. She is a former staff writer for the Washington Post and the author of two books, Tested: One American School Struggles to Make the Grade and Not Much Just Chillin’:The Hidden Lives of Middle Schoolers.

Her blog can be found here: http://www.educatedreporter.com

Why did you start blogging?

As the public editor for the Education Writers Association, I coach reporters who are writing about education. To stay connected with all of our members I wrote a newsletter, but found that many of the things I wanted to share would be valued by a broader audience. So I started my blog, “The Educated Reporter”, back in September. One issue with a blog geared mostly to journalists is that blogs rely on comments. Most of my readers are journalists and reporters and by nature are very reluctant to comment publicly. Instead of comments on the blog, many of them send me private emails and comments through Facebook. So in a…

So good, you can eat it right up!

Getting a little creative at the office…

What other ways can you show your love for Schoology?