The keynote speaker was David Pogue of the New York Times. He was great! He spoke all about the world of Web 2.0. He talked about websites like facebook, digg, flickr, craigslist, youtube, slashdot, tripplanner, prosper, and goloco. Did you know 75 new blogs are created every minute?! Try listening to some interesting and informative podcasts like "Thinkin' and Drivin'".
David Pogue was hilarious! At the end of his presentation he sang a couple songs about technology. (He changes the lyrics to well-known songs.) One of them was to the tune of "I Did it My Way", only his version was all about the iPhone.
About half way through his song, members of the audience who had iPhones pulled them out and held them up, swaying to the beat of the song. (You know, like lighters were used in the olden days. :) We all started cracking up. Then, with a thrill, I realized I HAVE AN iPHONE! I grabbed my new iPhone out of my bag, and joined the crowd! Mr. Pogue finally became aware of what was going on and had to stop playing to laugh at us too. Very funny. A video of his presentation will be available online soon. When it is, I will add a link to it. But, for now you can view the music video of his iPhone song on YouTube.
I attended a lot of other great classes and visited plenty of cool vendors at the conference too:
Integrate Filmmaking Into the Core Curriculum with Public Service Announcements
by Stacy Ringo, Jarrett Reich, & Ann Riding
Rossi and I attended the PSA class together. The presenters discussed the benefits of using PSAs in the classroom. PSAs teach life skills in a way that helps the messages really stick with the kids. They teach story-telling skills and encourage creativity.
Next we discussed the major components of PSAs. They can only be 30 seconds long, they should be effective in getting across the message, and they should be on-topic. Students are encouraged to use a variety of tools ussed by advertisers to get the attention of the audience, such as humor, music, catchy phrases, mystery, emotion, and guilt.
We divided into groups and created our own PSAs about the use of technology in education. My group's project emphasized how technology can be a motivator and can help students interact and get excited about learning. I was the camera operator, Rossi was an anti-technology teacher, and John was a bored student. We even got Joanna to join in as a member of the class.
I enjoyed the class, and I agree that PSAs can be useful, fun projects to use in the classroom. I already knew a lot about using the digital cameras and video editing software. I did find out, however, that I don't particularly like iMovie '08. There are some cool improvements, but there are also a lot of things it can't do that the previous version could, like extracting audio. I think I would much rather just get Final Cut. Unfortunately, I believe that means I also need to upgrade to the Leopard operating system, and I just don't know when that might happen.
You can view free public service announcements on adcouncil.org.
Educators may attend a workshop in the summer with more in-depth training on the creation and use of Public Service Announcements.
30 Minute Technologies for Learning
by Kelly Dumont and Brad Caldwell
In this session we learned about various Mac applications: iCal, ComicLife, and GarageBand.
I enjoyed this session very much. For one thing, I love Kelly DuMont. And Brad Caldwell is my new friend. He tried his best to get me an invitation to the dinner Apple was taking all the UCET people to, but in the end Ross didn't come through. ;) In addition to liking the presenters, I liked the review of applications I have been using. Kelly and Brad were able to show ways to use these applications that I had not been aware of, had forgotten about, or had not been taking full advantage of. For example, I had no idea that I could email other people an even on iCal and add it to their calendar too. I was particularly inspired to use podcasting in the classroom through the use of GarageBand. My students are learning to use GarageBand to compose songs right now, and I would love to expand our use of that program into other areas of the curriculum by creating podcasts.
Audacity Effectively
by John Bryner
In this presentation we learned the basics of Audacity. It is similar to Sound Studio that came with my Mac, but it has some cool features that Sound Studio does not. For example, it has the ability to export sound files in a variety of formats. However, the additional download the instructor told us to get to allow exporting does not want to work on my computer. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I'm going to have to investigate further.
Audacity is available for both Mac and PC, but I think it was designed by PC people. I think I would prefer to get something like Soundtrack Pro, or just use GarageBand which comes with the iLife package. Nevertheless, I was glad to learn about Audacity. It is a fairly easy-to-use application, and it's free!
NASA Digital Learning Network - Connect to the Stars!
by Greg Pitzer, NASA Digital Learning Network
This was a fun, hands-on presentation aimed at showing teachers what NASA's digital presentations are like. We participated in a mini-lesson from the presenter - who happened to be in California and was teaching us via his computer's webcam, and learned how to set up similar presentations for our school. I liked the variety of topics available for presentations and how willing NASA is to arrange schedules and offer tech support so schools can make presentations like this possible. I like the idea of having a presentation set up for a family science night at the school. That could be really cool. I have already spoken with my principal and my teammates about scheduling a presentation. NASA's site is very informative if you're interested in scheduling a presentation. And, once again, this is free!
In the presentation, the presenter mentioned that NASA offers opportunities in the summer for teachers to participate in research projects with NASA scientists. That would be a great experience. I looked on the UCET site, and it appears that there is just such a project this summer. I tried to arrange funding so I could attend, but unfortunately my district science specialist said she has no money to give me. I will have to try again next year. Click here to learn more about the program.
Over-the-Shoulder Sessions
Ross Rogers - GPS in the Classroom
I like Ross's ideas of using the GPS unit in conjunction with an ecology service learning project.
Kelly Dumont - Mac Freeware
Kelly had a lot of suggestions of great freeware for Mac computers. Here is a list of the applications he discussed, listed by category:
Programming - Scratch
Sound Recording - Audacity
Media Player - VLC Media Player
Astronomy - Stellarium
Paint Program for Younger Kids - TuxPaint
Image Editing - Seashore
Social Studies / Mapping - Google Earth
Time Management - Alarm Clock
Here are some sites that list more Freeware:
The FreeMac
Software for Starving Students
Free MacWare
"Don't forget the cool stuff that comes on your Mac":
Dictionary
Thesaurus
Photo Booth
QuickLook
Favorite Vendors
Apple-Sponsored Vendors & Brad Caldwell:
AquaMinds NoteTaker - I thought this was cool note-taking software for Macs.
MightyAuthors.com - Book publishing company with Brad Wilcox
Audio Enhancement - We already have this at our school, and it's great, but I want my microphones fixed!
General Communications - I want some sort of system like this in my classroom. Although, if Jordan District will simply get a projector and screen in each classroom, I can connect the sound through my Audio Enhancement System. But, we would also need our in-house system fixed and hooked up to the projectors. The point is, we should have technology like this! The new high schools and middle schools have it, and it is very cool. I think we're gradually building up to it.
Ellsworth Publishing - My school already has KBK for 4th through 6th grade. It is a great keyboarding program. I was able to get the big keyboard posters I wanted for my computer lab!
School Tip Line - An interesting idea. The idea has potential, but is it necessary? I wonder how well it works. This one made me curious at least.
TV Specialists - I have been to the TV Specialists store before and really like everyone who works there. They are helpful and informed. I only wish they would give me a big-screen plasma TV.
UCET Grant
Ross encouraged me to apply for the UCET Technology Grant mentioned at the conference. I applied to get the needed equipment to produce a school news broadcast. I produced a news broadcast with the students at my previous school, but have not done so at my current school mostly because there are no televisions in the classrooms, the in-house system apparently is not functional, and I don't have video equipment. So, I hope by applying for this grant, I will at least get closer to being able to produce our broadcast.
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