The Google Teacher Academy @ The Googleplex

This week is national teacher appreciation week and today is national teacher day! If you're a teacher, I hope your students are celebrating with you - and whoever you are, I hope you're celebrating the teachers in your life.

Google, CUE, and WestEd are celebrating by announcing a special Google Teacher Academy (GTA) to be hosted at the Googleplex, Google's headquarters in Mountain View, CA. I'm thrilled to be involved with this project - and to share it with you here on the ITM. As with previous GTA events, tech savvy educators and professional developers in the area can apply to participate in the special full-day workshop. For the first time ever, the application process is also open to anyone, including educators out of the area, out of the state, or even out of the country (with the understanding that Google doesn't cover travel or lodging). In other words, ITM readers who feel they meet the criteria for application are invited to apply!

Below is the official announcement and invitation to apply:

Google Teacher Academy - at the Googleplex
Mountain View, CA
June 25, 2008

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Applications Due: May 28, 2008
http://www.google.com/educators/gta.html
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Since today is National Teacher Day, we thought it appropriate to announce that Google's FREE training program for K-12 educators is back at the Google headquarters! Outstanding educators from across the country (and beyond!) are encouraged to apply for the Google Teacher Academy taking place on Wed, June 25, 2008.

The GTA is an intensive, one-day event (8:30am-7:30pm) where participants get hands-on experience with Google's free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, collaborate with exceptional educators, and immerse themselves in an innovative corporate environment. Upon completion, GTA participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K-12 educators in their local region.

50 outstanding educators from across the country will be selected to attend the GTA based on their passion for teaching, their experience as leaders, and their use of technology in K-12 settings. Each applicant is REQUIRED to produce and submit an original one-minute video, and applications for the event in Mountain View are due on May 28, 2008. Please use Google Video or YouTube to post these original videos. Participants must provide their own travel, and if necessary, their own lodging. Though we will give preference to K-12 educators within a 90-minute local commute of an Academy event, anyone may apply.

Learn more about the program and the application at http://www.google.com/educators/gta.html

The GTAs have been a wonderful experience for everyone involved, with 97% of all attendees rating the GTA as "outstanding."

Here are a few quotes from GTA participants:

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"The academy was everything I hoped for and more! I can't wait to plan out ways to use the tools we learned about, to share my experiences with my colleagues and to re-connect with the other academy participants!"

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"The focus on innovation in education, and not just about the tools, was right on target."

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"I appreciate the opportunity to be connected to a group of educators that are passionate about preparing students for the 21st century. I feel inspired and able to meet the challenges that lie ahead!"

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"Until now, I had never attended a conference where I was so engaged and loving every minute of it."

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"This was easily the most important professional development experience I have ever had as an educator. World-class tools demonstrated by world-class people at a world-class facility. THANK YOU!"

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"I love [the Google Certified Teacher community] for the ideas and inspiration that comes flowing to and from it...folks share professional development strategies (technology or otherwise) that have worked. It's nice to have a variety of ways to assist others and having that variety also provides spice for those of us responsible for doing the providing."

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Feel free to send any questions to "gteachers@gmail.com", and please spread the word to anyone who may be interested in joining us.

We're looking forward to another great event!

- The GTA Team

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Google Teacher Academy
June 25, 2008
Mountain View, CA

Applications Due: May 28, 2008
http://www.google.com/educators/gta.html
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The application deadline is just three weeks away, so don't wait to start putting together your video and your application. I hope to see some of you in Mountain View!

UPDATE: This announcement made the Official Google Blog, where Google also announced a new Geo Education site and a new getting started document for teachers using Google Docs. Check it out!

Your Digital Dozen?

• The Daring Dozen 2008: Our Heroes
  

  tags: globaleducation, educators, innovators

Just a quick post today (I'm using the bookmarking service Diigo to bookmark and annotate this link simultaneously) to point out Edutopia's 2008 edition of its annual Daring Dozen list. It reminds me of a friend, currently reading Rafe Esquith's Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire, who recently announced to me that this particular book makes her want to be a better person. This list sparks the same inspiration in me; it makes me want to be an innovative thinker and activist. I particularly like the interviews at the bottom of each profile in which the dozen discuss their own sources of inspiration, uses of technology and advice for others.

If you could make your own Daring Dozen list, who would make your cut? Who are others out there leading the way?

Cross-posted at High Techpectations

Global Education Collaborative Advisory Board Meeting

Global Education Collaborative Meeting Details

I spent my Saturday night chatting with friends, new and old, from around the US and the world. It's so easy to to develop the ties to make these conversations possible now, and I wonder how many people realize this. We can't continue to live in our own little bubbles, and I think that's why I'm so interested in the promotion of global awareness. As I wrote earlier this week in a response on the Global Education ning, it's not about "competing in a global economy" for me... it's about experiencing all that the world has to offer. I want kids and other adults to realize that there is so much out there to discover and explore.

Inspired by the success of Steve Hargadon's Classroom 2.0 group, I've organized the aforementioned ning and the project is about a year old. We're up to about 520 members, and activity is growing steadily. I convened members last night,first using Timebridge to schedule the meeting, and then using Flashmeeting as our communication tool. You can replay the meeting using the above link. There's also a transcript of the accompanying chat. Aside from a few people having flash issues and not being able to show their video feed, the meeting went really well. 25 people from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Singapore participated!

I set a tentative agenda ahead of time which helped us stay on track. The first item discussed was how to develop a wider audience, specifically reaching out to teachers in Africa and South America, continents which are woefully underrepresented in the Global Education Collaborative. Alternative partnerships and publicity seeking measures probably will be pursued by members of our advisory group. We also discussed a survey, which I finished after the meeting, and you are welcome to take it here (Google Docs and Spreadsheets now supports survey creation). Our third agenda item focused on building community within our ning, and we mostly likely will be offering some monthly activities for adults so that we can get to know each other better. Collaborations seem to grow out of building relationships, so we want to give our members more opportunities to do so.

The ning design was also discussed and we decided that simplifying the design might help people find content. We decided also that a project template would be helpful, and that members need to post which country they are from as project partners are often seeking schools in specific areas of the world. Other design add-ons discussed included possibly adding Web 2.0 features such as a Meebo chat room and a Twitter feed for the GEC. I also think we need to build in some sort of mechanism for long range planning. For instance, U.S teachers can start promoting and planning now for next school year's projects. Last minute projects don't seem to work for teachers who already have pretty specific plans for meeting standards and the like.

Finally, many GEC members are interested in building a model global awareness curriculum. I'm not sure what that will look like, but as Emily Kornblut of TakingITGlobal pointed out, there are lots of exisiting curricular pieces out there that could be brought into play for this part of our project. She specifically pointed to Oxfam's resources. Personally, I'd like to develop something simple for teachers to refer to, possibly a global awareness version of this technology integration matrix. I'd love to see a continuum of example global education projects, ranging from the simple to the more complex, so that teachers could select projects to replicate depending on their level of confidence with content and technology. This curriculum model is in its earliest stages, so we shall see what direction it takes, but GEC members agreed that a wiki might be a great planning tool for this. We will establish one in the near future.

Stay tuned for more news from us...We're planning on informally getting together at the National Educational Computing Conference in San Antonio, Texas, this June. If you have any questions about our work, or about the tools involved in planning a global meeting such as this, please let me know. Also, we'd love for readers to join the ning and help us out as we continue to grow and thrive in this brave new world!

The meeting replay and note can be found here. This entry is cross-posted at the Infinite Thinking Machine, High Techpectations, and the Global Education Collaborative.

Shopping for A Wiki Tool?

When educators ask me what tool I would recommend as an entry point to using Web 2.0 in education, I usually suggest “wikis” as a quick way to get started. WikiWiki is the Hawaiian term for “quick” and you can’t get much quicker than a wiki when trying to publish content to the world wide web.

For the web publishing consumer who desires “flexible design elements” with the ability to create a stunning and unique “look and feel” for their web content, a wiki is NOT the right tool. But if you are looking for easy and quick when publishing content to the web, you can’t get much more “wikiwiki” or “quick” than a wiki.
(Photo Credit)

In his book, Raw Materials for the Mind: A Teacher's Guide to Digital Literacy, David Warlick, suggest that we "Avoid training teachers to use sophisticated web editing software. Teachers are not web masters... they are communicators. Help them to communicate" (p. 280). Wikis not only help teachers and students to communicate, but to collaborate.

ITM blogger, Mark Wagner’s post about wikis and CUE article, "Why Wiki?" provide a great introduction to the world of wikis, as does his K-12 online conference session “Wiki While You Work”. Commoncraft’s reputation for short-easy to understand videos, offers another ‘quick’ introduction to help beginners understand wiki’s.

But even within the “quick and easy” world of wikis, more and more new features are being offered to cater to the needs of various type of consumers – including the educator. The features are so many that sites such as

http://www.wikimatrix.org/ have emerged to help you compare the features of over 100 wiki tools. Although such a matrix, can certainly help you understand the scope of features available with different tools, I believe that James Suroweiki and Malcolm Gladwell would agree that the best way to find out the ‘best wiki tool” for educators, is to ask other educators. I invite Infinite Thinking Readers to share their wiki experience in two areas. (1) What wiki features best meet the needs of educators and which wiki tools contain those features and (2) What are some examples of “wikis” used in exemplary ways in education.

I’ll start the conversation by highlighting two features that I feel are key to helping teachers get started with using wikis in their classrooms: 1) the cost of ‘free’ 2) simplicity.

If advertisements in exchange for “free” are keeping you away, check out sites like Wikispaces PBwiki, and WetPaint which offer educators “ad-free” wikis. Since 2006, the folks at wikispaces have been offering their Plus Plan (which usually sells for $50 a year) free to K-12 educators. This plan removes usage limits and advertisements for your educational wikis. It even allows you to set the wiki to private mode (where only “space members” can view and edit pages). To enroll in this program you must certify that your wiki space will be used for k12 education by signing up at http://www.wikispaces.com/site/for/teachers

I usually recommend Wikispaces for teachers just starting out using wiki’s because it is one of the simplest sites to manage. It may have less ‘features’ than other wiki tools, but sometimes LESS is MORE, when you are looking for a simple easy way to get started. Beginning teachers don’t miss “extra” seldom used features and welcome the simplicity. The one feature that I did miss is the ability to change font color – until last week. Thank you, to Adam Frey, and the folks at Wikispaces for adding this feature.
http://blog.wikispaces.com/2008/03/bringing-color-to-your-wiki.html.

Despite its simple, easy to use, interface, Wikispaces has included extra features that many educators will might find very useful as their use of wikis increases. Check out the “discussion” , “history”, and the “notify” me tab. The discussion tab allows users to communicate about a page without having to actually edit the page For example, a student can post new poetry on their page, and others can offer “comments” in the discussion area. The history tab allows you to ‘revert’ back to previous version of your wiki page, which is comforting in case of “accidentally” or “intentional” undesired changes. It also has a “compare” feature which makes for a great formative assessment tool for teachers looking to measure change over time in a student product. Finally the “notify me” tab is a great way for an educator to keep track of when someone makes changes to your wiki. This can be done with email notification or through an RSS feed. This will save an educator time, by giving him/her updates when their students or colleagues update their pages.

Even though the simplicity of wiki’s make them a very accessible tool to use in the classroom, the real key to using this collaboration tool lies in how these tools are used. Check out collections such as http://educationalwikis.wikispaces.com/ or educators.pbwiki.com/Best%20practices%20and%20examples to learn more ways to use wikis in education and to see hundreds of examples of education related wikis.

Other wiki tools I plan to cover in upcoming post because of their responsiveness to the needs of education are PBwiki, WetPaint and SeedWiki. Won't you help me, by sharing your favorite features of these wiki tools: What features you look for in a wiki tool and how has thus feature increases your effectiveness as a educator?

A Call To Action!

Cross-posted in High Techpectations

I normally am very into TED (Technology Entertainment and Design), an annual invite-only conference that takes places in Monterey, California. I was so busy a few weeks ago when the conference took place that I vaguely noticed that Dave Eggers was one recipient of the TED prize this year. Previous winners include Bono and Bill Clinton, and basically they are honored by having a world-improving wish granted. It's idealism at its highest. Check out Dave's TEDTalk below; besides the prize winners, various presenters do 20 minute presos on their life's work throughout the conference. I would love to be a fly on the wall there!

Via Twitter last night, a friend pointed out one outcome of Eggers' wish: Once Upon A School. This web site is a repository for people's ideas for getting involved in public schools. I love this idea and think the structure of the initiative itself and the examples lend themselves to a brilliant simplicity. It makes me think that all will be well in this world when I see people leading efforts to make real change happen. It's not easy to pull off something like this on a large scale, so kudos to Eggers and company doing so. I'm very excited to see what comes out of this, and around midnight last night I immediately emailed info to friends and colleagues! I was so jazzed I couldn't sleep!

If you haven't read Eggers' first book, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, you must. He has a great style to his writing, and what struck me about the book was his descriptions of the town where we both grew up. Although we went to the same high school (he may have entered after I graduated), I did not know him, although his sister was in my Latin class. I thought I was the only person that felt a certain way about our conservative town, and it was a relief to read his articulate words that echoed my thoughts. I must re-read that book! Anyway, I'm very happy for Eggers and glad that he's enjoying so much success in such a meaningful way.

Here are a few other things to check out related to his TED Prize work:

TED Prize >> Dave Eggers
Dave Eggers' Wish Blog
Dave Eggers' Wish Discussion
826 Valencia National Seminar - learn more about the writing tutoring center started by Eggers

So what are YOU going to do to change the world? Pass this info on at least!

Promoting Digital Equity with Web 2.0 and Open Source

Open Source and Web 2.0 - a two prong approach to digital equity!

Last January, I made a resolution to continue my focus on digital equity. As a person who sees opportunity everywhere I turn, I also try to pay attention to those who don't have access to the the same opportunity.

Although providing access to cool digital tools “at school” is one step to bridging the digital divide; teaching students how to access digital tools when they are OUTSIDE of school is yet another digital equity strategy. One way to do this is to teach them to use Web 2.0 tools that they will be able to access on a public computers and let them know which libraries, community centers, or other organizations provide high speed Internet access to them outside of school. To learn more about using Web 2.0 tools, check out past Infinite Thinking post, or Web 2.0 directories. Consider joining Wendy Drexler and Anna Baralt's TechWeb2 project and contribute to Web 2.0 evaluations by teachers for classroom use.


Web 2.0 not only brings us access to a wealth of learning materials including audio, images, video and other interactive media (often for free) through services like I-Tunes, Flicker, YouTube, and Voice Thread, it also brings us access to tools for increasing productivity, encouraging collaboration, and expressing creativity by offering Software as Service over the Web. Instead of having to choose which piece of software they can afford to purchase with their limited financial resources--

• productivity software for word processing, spreadsheets, or presentations OR
  
• an image manipulation program OR
  
• visual organizer,
  
  students and teachers can now access a variety of tools over the Web (often for free) . Using Google Docs or Zoho as a productivity suite, Flauntr or Picnik as an image editor, Mindomo or Gliffy as a graphic organizer increases access to a rich variety of free digital tools. Using these tools in schools contributes to digital equity by introducing students to tools that they can also access from home or from a public computer. Photo Credit

But let's face it --some of our students live in areas where high speed Internet is not available; others live in households where it is cost prohibitive.

Another way to promote digital equity is to introduce students to free or open source software they can install on their home computer (even if they don't have high speed Internet). While it may be possible for a students to gain access to a donated or low cost computer for their home; the cost of commercial software or high speed Internet is often still out of reach. By including free and open source software in your school's digital toolbox, you promote digital equity in two ways. Not only can you burn a copy of the software on a CD for students to take home, but you also provide them with the skills to use that software when they get home. One day last year, I occurred to me that offering a student "free software" to take home, while we only used commercial products at school, sent a message that the software I gave them was substandard and might contribute to their own feeling of worth. When I started modeling use of opensource software by building assignments around it, I added value to the 'free disk" I sent home. The students felt it was worthy to be used and they KNEW how to use it.

Download the Free Software for Schools catalog at National Center for Open Source in Education or check out sites like http://www.opensourcewindows.org/ for Windows specific versions of open source software.

	Commercial Product	Web based	Open Source or Free
Benefits to Promoting Digital Equity	Lots of other folks have it, so more support is available from other users and company Compatible file types to more people.	Uually Free . Students can access the tool anywhere they can access a computer (libraries, teen centers, home) No software to install	Usually FREE You can download a free copy or someone can give you a free copy of the software if you don't have Internet
Challenges to Digital Equity	Might be cost prohibitive. File type might not be compatible and require others to purchase same software.	Might not have high speed Intenet Access Might require a logon or have age restrictions. Might be filtered in public spaces; Might have advertisements. Sometimes free version does not contain all features.	You have to “install it” on your computer and this might feel intimidating. Some files might not be compatible or might require advanced learning to understand file compatibility.

I'm not advocating that we stop using commercial products such as Microsoft Office, Inspiration, or Photoshop when they are the right tool for the job. But I'm advocating that we include a diverse set of tools in our student's digital toolbox (both the tools and the know how to use these tools). Not only does this approach expand their toolset and access to digital tools outside of school, but it also takes away the stigma of feeling that a free tool is less worthy (therefore they are less worthy). It also has the added benefit of providing the much needed 21st century skill of “transferring” the understanding of a concept from one medium to another! Knowing which icon to click to double space is not as valuable a skill as knowing how to use HELP to accomplish a tasks.

Lately, I have found myself noticing situations where we stand behind a word phrase like “equity and excellence for all” as long as we don't have to give up anything. I was guilty of it, too; even after I had installed Open Office on my compuer, I found myself using Microsoft Office because it's always been on my computer; I knew it better; and it came with clipart and templates. It wasn't until I made a vow to click on Open Office first that I discovered solutions like the 20,000 image “WPCLIPART Library available for Open Office or became proficient at changing my SAVE as Preference to always save in compatible file format.

How do we start an awareness of these tools or a commitment to promoting digital equity in our schools? St. Albans City School has given this job to its junior high students. “Student Ambassadors for Free Software” work towards promoting digital equity by coming up with strategies to promote free software solution to the community; to their peers; and to their teachers. Activities range from training sessions; demonstrations at community events, testing and reviewing free software, creating and distributing free software CD's, and even helping teachers modify their lessons to use free software. The student team has also turned donated computers from industry into learning stations by adding free software or changing the operating system to Edubuntu where appropriate. They have started to create a Digital ToolBox Charts that can promote digital equity. Perhaps you can add your own recommendations.

Application	Commercial Product	Web based	Open Source or Free
Productivity suite	Microsoft Office	Google Docs Zoho	Open Office plus free Clip Art
Learn to Keyboard	Type to Learn	Learn2type.com and more	Type Faster
Editing Digital Images	Photoshop Elements	Flauntr or Picnik	Gimp, Picassa, Paint.Net
Graphic Organizer	Inspiration	Mindomo or Gliffy	Free Mind CMAP

What would it take to create a culture that promotes digital equity at your school? Perhaps providing a diverse toolbox for learning with technology that includes commercial products, web based tools and open source software where everyone has access to digital tools (whether be at school, home or a public computer).

As we move forward in the digital age, let's not lose sight of those that might be getting left behind. The memory of what “lack of access” to a resource feels like fades quickly once you join the ranks of those with full access.

Ready, Set, Doodle for Google!

Google announced today an exciting competition for U.S students in grades K-12. Kids from across the country have the opportunity to use their noodles by pondering a significant question, "What if...?, and turning their bright ideas into a graphic, commonly known to Google aficionados as a Google Doodle. These doodles are part of a whimsical company tradition of commemorating significant dates and holidays, and are created by Google employee Dennis Hwang. Google Doodles appear on Google's home page every now and then; when you click on an active Google Doodle, you are sent to a search page containing related information. Sometimes Google Doodles appear over several days, telling a serial story, as in this Holiday 2007 example.

Google is all about innovation and creative thinking. They are inviting kids to dream big by using the question, "What if....? " as the basis for their designs. Students are strongly encouraged to interpret this question as widely as possible in order to produce clever and creative doodles. For inspiration, teachers can find templates and examine sample lesson plans aligned to national standards here, and are urged to adapt this guiding question to suit their curricular needs. Guidance for this project can also be found within the Google for Educators discussion group .

The general public will vote on the final set of Google doodles. The winning design will appear on Google's home page on May 22, 2008, for the entire day. Trips to the Googleplex, laptops, and t-shirts are among the prizes to be offered to the cleveriest of the clever, with a $10,000 college scholarship to the national winner and a $25,000 tech grant going to the national winner's school.

Take a look at these videos for further inspiration and join the fun. The deadline for submissions is April 12, 2008, so there's not a moment to lose!

EduCon Conversations were NOT about Technology

Friday morning I found myself standing in a starkly naked room filled with empty desk and chairs that replicated those that the Founding Fathers of the United States Government sat in as they deliberated the future of their new nation. Two centuries ago, a brilliant group of passionate men came together to craft a document that would lay the foundation for a vision that would shape the future of their country. These men were so committed to crafting a document that reflected the best of their deep thinking and strong convictions that they gave up on the tasks of ‘tweaking’ the Articles of Confederations and created a brand new document – The U.S. Constitution .

As I listened to the Independence Hall guide, I thought back to the recent conversation responding to Will Richardson’s Some New Year's Dreaming post, debating whether whether a change in education could come about by evolution, or whether revolution was the only hope for transforming our schools.

These thoughts were the perfect launching point for what was to be 2 and ½ days of conversation amongst some of the most passionate, caring, and thoughtful educators I’ve had the privilege of meeting. Two days of conversations about the possibilities for education when the right combination of passion and pedagogy are supported by transformative tools left participants of EduCon 2.0 emotional and inspired as they returned home to continue the work of transforming our 21st century schools.

Emotions, reflection, call to action, manifesto’s, and yes… more conversation continue far beyond the weekend, and extend way beyond the walls of the Science Leadership Academy, where Chris Lehman (visionary Principal and leader extradonaire) and his learning network hosted this fabulous Un-Conference. If every participant finds themselves able to channel the emotion, energy, and inspiration from Educon 2.0 to "just win more than three" colleagues as Kevin Jarret's Educon reflection suggest … than the weekend was truly an agent of change.

But the change agents, were not just those who attended, it was also each of you who participated in the conversation remotely through U-Stream modeling the power of transformative tools in learning. As many of us stated over and over again this weekend – it was not about the technology. The transformative part was not that we were using U-Streams to record or wikis to post our notes. The transformative part was that the sessions were set up as CONVERSATIONS not presentations. And these conversations would not have been the same without the hundreds of remote participants contributing through the backchannel chat; nor would they have been the same without the collaborative features of wikis to dynamically share knowledge throughout the weekend and beyond; nor would they have been the same had they not been extension of many prior conversations happening throughout the edublogosphere.

For those of you who missed the event – it’s not too late to participate. The hundreds of pictures already on Flickr will provide visual cues to the energy level that was present. My favorite was the photos of the MAC Lab noticeably void of computers adjacent to the photos displaying the white Apple branded laptops visible throughout the school, in the hands the students whose job it was to care for and use the tools in the service of learning. But more symbolic to me than the laptops in those photos were the white lab coats worn by the students at SLA – the uniform of inquiry.

While some of these bright and inquiring minds brought the voices of students in the conversations, others offered a wonderful service to the community unable to attend by operating video cameras that made the conversations available through U-Stream. Each of the wiki pages that accompanied the 6 strands of “conversations”, not only contain notes, digital handouts, and links, but also contain an archived U-Stream video when possible. And for those who prefer their conversatoins in a 3-D space, check out the space Konrad Glogowski created for Virtual EduCon in Second Life. The richness doesn’t stop there; hundreds of blog posts tagged EduCon provide insights, reflections, and opportunities for the conversations to continue. So whether you were in Philadelphia this weekend, or elsewhere, transformative technologies coupled with thoughtful, pedagogically sound format for a “conference “ -- or “unconference” has provided you with an entry point into the conversation. May you join the conversation! Thank you to all who contributed to Educon and the learning that is extending from it.

Photo Credits: http://www.flickr.com/photos/teachandlearn/

Fostering the Spirit of Innovation

I’ve been “green” with envy as some of my colleagues who ordered an XO laptop unpack their little GREEN machines. Mine has not arrived yet. But as I listen to their first impression comments , I’m reminded of the VISION of the OLPC (one laptop per child) project and that the nature of children to explore, express, and learn were key in the design of this tool that would find itself in the hands of children all over the world. I hear questions like:

"Why doesn’t it come with a spreadsheet?”
“Where’s the productivity suite?”
“Would this be a tool I could use in my classroom with my students?”

Suddenly I realize that we are thinking like teachers. This tool was not designed for us. According to the OLPC website, the XO laptop was intended to give children

“…tools for writing, composing, simulating, expressing, constructing, designing, modeling, imagining, creating, critiquing, debugging, and collaborating."

“The laptop takes learners beyond instruction. They are actively engaged in a process of learning through doing. …. “

“The laptop helps children build upon their active interest in the world around them to engage with powerful ideas”

The XO laptop was even designed to be taken apart and repaired by kids. No, This Does No Void the Warranty! ;-)

I’m not going to predict the impact of the OLPC, nor argue its merit. But this event certainly has me revisiting thoughts about the impact on society of not providing children with enough opportunity to “explore, express, and learn” . A re we continuing towards the “perfect storm” that Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson warns of if we ignore the “quiet crisis” of not growing the next generation of scientist and engineers?

While educators have become tuned into the fact that more and more kids are coming to school without book sense and are developing researched based programs to address this, a kindergarten teacher in Tennessee worries “about the number of kids coming into my classroom who don’t know how scissors work.” Educational consultant, Jim Moulton, ponders the impact of this and asserts that

“the mastery of scissors is even one of the early steps on the road to Advanced Placement physics or chemistry. I believe that the kinesthetic experience they provide around equilibrium, experience gained in struggling to master this simple tool so as to be able to cut construction paper smoothly, lays a foundation for future complex conceptual understandings.”

It was exactly this type of need that lead Gever Tuller to create the Tinkering School. Despite the provocative title of his Ted Talk “Five Dangerous Things You Should Let Your Kids Do”, the message is really about allowing kids the freedom to explore to make them stronger, smarter, and safer.

Children receiving the XO laptops have not lacked the opportunity to explore the principles of physics in their natural environments, but now have access to a new tool equipped to support their desire to learn, express, and explore. But what about places, where children currently have access to such tools? Do they have access to the opportunity to use these tools the way the XO laptops will be able to be used? Or will the access to these tools continue to be stifled by “teacher think” and “school restrictions” or “lawsuit fears” ?

Having spent many of my teaching years reconciling the need to report on a ‘checklist’ of foundational skills that every student must know about a subject area with my project based learning approach, I understand the struggle. Accountability that is based on reporting what we can measure, doesn’t leave much time for the type exploring, expressing and learning that grows innovators and scientists.

But as I watch the excitement in my “grown up” friends as they explore their little green machines, I have a renewed interest in finding ways to bring back learning by exploration to today’s students. And I’m not talking about waiting for the availability of the XO laptops in your country; I’m talking about reaching for tools that are currently available that will promote this type of learning.

• Let’s dig out our old version of Incredible Machine or look for new games like Crayon Physics that stimulate innovative thinking in our students.
  



• Let’s get rid of the obstacles that prevent tools like the many WEB 2.0 applications from being fully deployed in schools. Ning, Wikispaces, and Voice Threads are leading the way by adding features that make it possible to safely deploy these excting tools thus supporting this type of learning in schools.
  



• Let’s share the resouces we find with our fellow educators and support a network of educators who are committed to give this generation of “incredible thinking machines” -- our students—the resources, the permission, the encouragement, the guidance they need to use technology in the spirit of innovation.

I invite readers to share some of the games, tools, web 2.0 apps, etc. that they feel have this type of potential. I’d love to do a followup post filled with these resources.

Social Networking in Education

There's an interesting change afoot, and it relates to the use of social networking in education.

MySpace and Facebook are just two examples of social networking sites, but unfortunately, their early prominence has created a stigma around social networking that the technology itself doesn't deserve. The understandable concerns created by these early and popular networks have overshadowed some amazing changes that are taking place in educational environments when the tools of social networking are being used with students and teachers.

“Social Networks” are really just collections of Web 2.0 technologies combined in a way that help to build online communities. In December, Classroom 2.0, the social network I started for educators interested in Web 2.0 and collaborative technologies, won the 2007 EduBlog Award for “best use of a social network for educational purposes” and now has nearly 5,000 members. The twist here, of course, is that Classroom 2.0 is a network for teachers (yes, adults, those sometimes called "digital immigrants!) who are interested in the use of Web 2.0 in the classroom and who are using the site for personal professional development. The ability to have productive, engaging dialog with others in a community is a natural fit for all ages in education.

Because I do consulting work for the social networking company Ning (as part of which I run their http://education.ning.com site), I thought it would be interesting to try to find out the different ways in social networks are being used in education. So I started a single-purpose wiki for educators to link to and describe their social networking sites. I'm including a snapshot of the list as it is today, but it keeps growing and as it does so provides an interesting insight into the variety of ways that social networks are being put to productive educational uses. You'll have to forgive the length, but it helps to make the point. Personally, I think as the tools of online social networking and course management inevitably merge, we'll find more and more compelling educational uses for them.

Today's snapshot of "Social Networking in Education:"

Ning-based:

General:

• 12SCR - the greatest tutor group in GCUS, UK - A social networking area especially for 12SCR Tutor Group at GCUS, UK.
• Alabama Educator's Network- For teachers living in Alabama (Please join if you live in AL.)
• AsiaTeach.ning.com - Teaching and Education in Asia: Communities of Hope - Asian Educators discover and discuss common and unique challenges and experiences in Asian teaching contexts.
• Classroom 2.0 - Web 2.0 in the Classroom
• College 2.0 - Higher Education, Online Education and Web 2.0
• Comenius Programme Network A network for teachers accross Europe to seek support, share ideas and experiences to help ensure successful Projects
• Coming of Age - The Book on Web 2.0 in the Classroom
• eLatin eGreek eLearn - Helping Classics teachers (Latin and Greek) understand and incorporate technology into the classroom.
• EduBloggerWorld - International Edubloggers
• Fielfindr A portal to connect classrooms to the world: Global citizens can share talents and skills with students.
• Fireside Learning (ning) - "Conversations about learning. Sit by the fireside and share your thoughts."
• Gifted Education Ning space for parents and teachers started by Ginger Lewman to discuss gifted issues
• The Global Education Collaborative - Promoting Global Awareness
• International Collaboration - High school and university students worldwide collaborate and learn about each others' cultures and life styles
• International Classroom - Social network created for classes around the world. Space where pupils can share, talk about themselves ,show pictures and videos etc,and get to know each other's culture.
• ILTCE - Illinois Technology Conference for Educators - Learning Without Boundaries 2008
• ISEnet - Independent School Educators Network for k-12 educators & students
• Laptop Learning Community - Preparing Students with 21st Century Skills
• Learning 2.0 - Creating Collaborative Learning
• LITE - Leading Innovative Technology use in Education - Glenview School District 34
• MACUL Space - Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning. Educators Pre-K to 20.
• Michigan Classroom 2.0 Michigan Classroom 2.0 is for Educators interested in integrating technology into the classroom. A collaborative site where"beginners" and pro's can find a comfortable place to start being part of the digital dialog.
• Nanopaprika.eu - Network of NanoScience
• New Teacher Resources (A Supportive Community for New Middle School Teachers)
• Next Generation Teachers - Improving Teaching and Learning with New Technologies
• Online Projects 4 Teachers - Linking Teachers Together
• PBS Teachers - Using a private Ning network to Connect with our Teacher Advisory Group
• ProjectsByJen - PreK - 6th Grade Teacher Collaboration
• PSUCast PowerSchool users network.
• RBG Worldwide 1 Nation (ning) Afrikan Centered Cultural Development and Education
• School 2.0 - The Changing of Education
• Schoolwork Together - Space for teens from Israel and Dutch school to meet and discuss ideas for a common project
• SIGTE 2008 Book Discussion; Steering committee currently discussing book choices. Using NING as communication tool.
• Smallsteps - a class based network set up to support 14yr old design students with a design and make project centred around the topic of waste reduction.
• SPLICE - this is part of a JISC funded project run by CETIS at Bolton University to explore social networking for creative industries students, teachers and practitioners. SPLICE = social practices, learning and interoperability in connected environments.
• teachustech.ning.com - A network of teachers using technology
• We Are Teachers IMAGINE Network- Online Knowledge Marketplace
• WorkForce Educators - Distance Learning and Teaching
• World Englishes Project- Blended Learning Course about World Englishes in collaboration with Waseda University, Japan.
• WEBTAS (Web Teaching and Academic Support Learning Community)
• Web2learning (For Teachers interested in using Web 2.0 technology’ to enhance online teaching and learning activities)

Art:

• Art Snacks- Teaching Art
• Arteda.net Art Education in the Digital Age - lots of videos of Exhibits/Lectures/Artist from Boston and a Web 2.0 Hybrid Drawing class.
• Comic Art School Open community with resources for drawing and making comics.
• Drawing Faces - Course for drawing faces, portraits, cartoon heads and caricatures.
• Museums and Students - A network for museums and students to interact and learnAg
• UTA Film and Video Network - for art (film) students and faculty of the University of Texas, Arlington
• UTA Animation Network - for animation students and faculty of the University of Texas, Arlington

Classroom Networks:

• Across Generations Homework help, resources, projects from students, resources for students and parents.
• Big Dog Science - eighth grade science class network for student collaboration on chemistry projects
• CCM Music - a network to connect students and staff across music courses at City College Manchester, an FE and HE college in the UK. This is a closed network but a video tour is here.
• The Connected Classroom - Private network connecting 7 grade 4 classes in international and public schools around the world (looking for members in Japan, Australia and China).
• Creative Media Classroom - Private network for 11th-12th grade students taking Creative Media (an evolution from Creative Writing) as an elective at a college preparatory school.
• Dio Digital Learning Lab Classroom based interactive network at Diocesan School for Girls in New Zealand (Private)
• Flat Classroom Project - Planning, communication and collaboration Ning for the Flat Classroom Project
• The French Connection - Private network connecting 2 grade 6-7 classes in the US and France for communication, language practice.
• GCHS Theater Arts Online reflection space for GCHS theater arts students (closed)
• The Global Cooling Collective - Planning World Concerts, Creating World Change, Empowering Global Youths
• historycentral.net A networks for 7th grade history students in a small K-8
• Hurricane Maine - Network for my students but hope to open it up for collaboration
• IntroTV/Video - 9-12th grade TV/Video students use this as a place to upload their work (closed - due to copyright issues)
• Kerr Honors - 9th grade English Network for Reading Reflection (closed - could open up)
• Kingswear Network - a private UK primary (ages 5-11) classroom network but main page is public
• McCorrmick31 - 11th grade English Network for reflection on independent reading projects. (closed - could open up)
• Mr. Edge's English I Space at edgespace.ning.com
• newentenglishsixth - private Ning for 6th Form students of English Literature at Newent Community School, UK (closed)
• Odyssey of the Mind - A closed network for students at Odyssey Charter HS in Nevada. There are three teachers participating with about 30 students currently in the network.
• Readin' Writin' Techin' - Closed network run by four teachers in Southern NJ as part of a study group looking at ways Web 2.0 technologies can be used to generate interest in reading and enhance writing skills. Network has 14 members (four adults and ten students).
• Reading Revolution - This network is to promote student interest in reading books. The network is between a class in an inner city school in California and a class in rural Iowa. Students are encouraged to be social and talk about the books they are reading or want to read. Students make and post videos and podcast about their favorite books, authors and their communities.
• Second Grade - Private network for a 2nd grade class students and parents to share multimedia, to communicate and practice writing in an informal environment.
• TLGplace - Taking Learning Global, a place for students 15+ and their teachers to share inter-cultural experiences while learning.
• Truss2YPI - one of several private Gr. 10 class networks, "Learning about grassroots organizations in our community." see YPI
• WellesleyHigh - High School Faculty/Staff Network (closed)
• World Village - Private network connecting 3 grade 2 classes in Thailand and the US to learn about different cultures.
• Xtreme Learning - Private network connecting highly able students in 9 grade 5 classes in international and public schools around the world - focus on reading and literature.
• Learning Options Social Network - A private social network of students in a very small high school in northwestern Wisconsin, who are taking online classes through a variety of vendors for enrichment or credit recovery.

Conferences:

• CUE Community - Conference website for CUE.org and 2008 CUE Conference (with individual forum threads for every session and speaker pages).
• The Illinois Technology Conference for Educators- A social networking site for conference attendees, vendors and speakers. Educators following the conference from afar as also encouraged to join this ning. Stay tuned for handouts, pictures, and video of our 2008 event!
• Learning 2.008 Shanghai - Educational Technology Conference held in Shanghai in September for international teachers in the Asia region.
• MACUL Space - The Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning

Course Material:

• openlearn - Open University Course Material

English as a Foreign Language:

• EFL Classroom 2.0
• Inglês Verde e Amarelo - IVA is an established network of Brazilians learning English and English-speakers learning Portuguese of interested in Brazil.
• ListeningPlus A network for students who felt they wanted to keep in touch and practicing English after their online session at Casa Thomas Jefferson (Brasilia, Brazil) was over.
• Mexico English Teachers' Alliance :: META Web 2.0 - META is a social and educational network for English teachers that promotes learner-centered teaching methods and Web technologies in and out of EFL classrooms.

English as a Second Language:

• CSWE 3 Werribee - An adult ESL network for my class of new refugees and immigrants to Melbourne, Australia (closed - may open up)

English Education (Pre- and In-Service):

• FSC-KU M.Ed. (TESL) - (private) a network for those taking the Framingham State College Masters in Ed. program (IEP - International Education Program)
• Montclair State English Education - Support Network for Montclair State University (New Jersey) English teacher certification students—including pre- and in-service students and novice teachers during their induction period.

French

• fauxamis.ning.com - False friends alias words that look the same but have a different meaning in French and in an other language.
• frenchteacher.ning.com French teacher (closed network)
• frenchteachers.ning.com French teachers (open network)
• grammaire.ning.com - French grammar.
• vocabulaire.ning.com - French vocabulary.

Language Learning:

• Talkabout Primary MFL- for those teaching (or considering teaching) foreign languages in Primary schools (ages 3-11)

Leadership:

• Education Leadership - A community for educators to discuss effective leadership, to share best practices, and work toward - lead - a culture of positive change in education.
• SMS 5 Year Program Collaboration - A collaboration network for all preservice teachers at Suncrest Middle School in Morgantown, WV. Members are in the 5 year teacher education program, host teachers and associated administrators.

Libraries:

• Library 2.0
• TeacherLibrarianNing - A community for teacher-librarians and other educators

Professional Development:

• Digital Citizenship resources for educators.
• DuBois and Beyond: Private local Network for PD
• E2T2 Tech Mentor Grant
• Literacy Coach Network - best practices in literacy coaching
• OnlineProjects4Teachers - Linking Teachers Together
• PassionateTeachers A group of those teachers/educators who are passionate about teaching-learning new strategies to make learning a joyful experience.
• Pixels, Please collaborate and share resources, ideas, lesson plans, etc. amongst educators about how to use Digital Images in the classroom.
• Professional Development 2.0 - Educators Learn the 2.0 Way
• Readin' Writin' Techin' - Closed network run by four teachers in Southern NJ as part of a study group looking at ways Web 2.0 technologies can be used to generate interest in reading and enhance writing skills. Network has 14 members (four adults and ten students).
• Teachers 2.0 - Teaching in the digital age.
• The Teacher Collaborative - A social network of teachers and educators attempting to integrate technology into current curriculum practices by developing global project ideas and classroom partnerships.
• teacher/tearner: minds of our own - A private network of independent interdependent teachers learning. The goal for this network in 2008 is to become an even more valuable professional learning network. We are also accepting membership by educators who are interested in using and sharing the use of Web 2.0.
• Teachers as Writers - This is a place where teachers who are writers or wannabe writers can share their enthusiasm for whatever it is they have put on paper or want to put on paper. It's about encouraging people to write and "carve their niches in the edifice of time."
• Tech Camp for Educators-With literacy as a focus, technology will be infused across the curriculum as a tool for teaching and learning. This is a hands-on, practical class. This is a face to ce week long tech camp taught by Meg Ormiston.
• University of Chicago Charter Schools
• Virginia Independent School Teachers
• Web 2.0 4 Teachers - This network is for teachers and administrators who have attended my workshops and conference presentations that highlight the use of Web 2.0 tools. It provides a place for them to engage during and after the sessions.
• Western New York Powerful Learning Practices: A social network where teachers and administrators from various school districts explore and learn Web 2.0 tools.
• Vidsnacks: Video training for teachers wishing to incorporate video into their lessons.

Regional:

• Computer-based study strategies - for Teachers and students affiliated with the University of Oregon
• Edureshet - Israeli educators and web20 in the classroom
• Greenbush Education Service Center
• Profesores ELE en Holanda - for Teachers of Spanish as a Foreign Language working in the Netherlands (in progress) | Profesores de Español como Lengua Extranjera (ELE) que trabajan en los Países Bajos.
• School Matters - Knoxville, TN Area Network

Second Life:

• Sloan-C SL-NET (Higher Ed)
• Second Life Educational Videos

Spanish as a Foreign Language:

• Profesores ELE en Holanda - for Teachers of Spanish as a Foreign Language working in the Netherlands (in progress) | Profesores de Español como Lengua Extranjera (ELE) que trabajan en los Países Bajos.

Student Organizations:

• EARCOS Global Issues Network - Earth’s Hope is the theme of the EARCOS Global Issues Network Conference to be held in Beijing April 4, 5 & 6 at Western Academy of Beijing. The Global Issues Network is based on the ideas in Jean Francois Rischard’s book “Twenty Global Problems, Twenty Years to Solve Them.” Rischard identifies 20 urgent global problems and encourages the formation of small groups around the world to help solve them

Technology:

• Blended Learning and Instruction - Engaging students and teachers in active learning by using technology and combining online with face-to-face instruction. Members will share various 2.0 tools and ways of integrating technology effectively.
• Online Instruction - Teachers need ongoing support and information to facilitate online classes. Online Instruction caters to instructors who wish to discuss ways of developing, implementing, and providing learners with the most effective means of online instruction.
• Teaching 'N Technology - A brand new network designed for teachers and technology specialists to share strategies, ideas, and tools regarding technology integration.
• Technology Integration - Gathering perspectives and best practices from teachers, administrators, students, parents, Board of Education members, support personnel, vendors and others regarding technology integration in education. Site also available by visiting TechnologyIntegration.org.
• Video production and multimedia - Video is the language of the 21st century. Learn how to do it here.

Vocational:

• Etools and Tips for Educators - Vocational e-learning and training
• Mobile Communication - The social implications of mobile communication ( this site is focused on the academic analysis of mobile communication in society)SkillsTech Australia - Stonemasonry students, employers and teachers
• Vocational e-Learning Mentors - Vocational e-learning and training

Non-Ning Based:

General:

• me.edu.au - A social network for educators with an interest in Australia
• YouFig - Custom Collaboration Communities for Academia

Facebook-based:

• e-Learning in developing and developed countries - for AcademiaThe challenge facing e-learning in developing countries is an on going process that requires everyone's attention. Global learning and cultural exchange via e-learning can unite and contribute to co-existence and world peace.

NCTI Technology Innovators Conference

Recently Lucy Gray and I were invited to the 2007 NCTI Technology Innovators Conference. The focus of this conference is building solutions to make technology and information more accessible, especially for young people with disabilities. Check out this slideshow of the conference highlights!

An important part of this conference is connecting researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and policy makers. It was inspiring to hear from innovators and social entrepreneurs like Jim Fruchterman from the nonprofit technology company, Benetech. Recently, Benetech was selected by the Office of Special Education Programs at the U.S. Department of Education to provide access for every student with a print disability in the United States via Bookshare.org. Lucy spoke on a panel with Jim and Chuck Hitchcock from CAST on NIMAS legislation, an significant law that guides the production and electronic distribution of digital versions of textbooks and other instructional materials so they can be more easily converted into accessible formats. Lucy's main question was: Why can't services like Bookshare be made available to allow all students access to digital textbooks?

In his recent ITM post Steve Hargadon encouraged the use of open source to create exciting collaborations and provide solutions. So, at the NCTI conference, it was exciting to meet developers who shared open source assistive technology initiatives that offer free tools. This included Steve Jacobs from the IDEAL Group. Steve shared about his colleague Charles Chen (a Google technologist) who developed Fire Vox.

Fire Vox is an open source, freely available talking browser extension for the Firefox web browser, essentially a screen reader designed especially for Firefox. In addition to the basic features, such as providing navigation assistance that are expected of screen readers, Fire Vox provides support for MathML and CSS speech module properties. Imagine how students would benefit to have dense text read aloud to them! Steve Jacobs and his colleagues (including Chen) have also repackaged Fire Vox so that it (and other open source applications) can run off of a standard, portable flash drive equipped with a fully-accessible talking menu. I spoke with Steve, and if you want to learn more about portable open source assistive technology, take a look at his NCTI presentation and/or contact him directly. (Talking about making applications accessible - check out the features of the new Google Toolbar (5) which supports applets used by assistive technologies like screen readers etc. and enables keyboard navigation and access. )

An underlying theme of the conference this year was ensuring that the “participatory culture” of social networking also includes young people with disabilities. For example, there was a session titled “Second Life for Students With Special Needs.” Topics during this session included how 3D environments such as Second Life can be made accessible for people with other disabilities such as low vision. Everett Harper, director of community initiatives at Linden Lab, also mentioned Brigadoon Island, an area in Second Life devoted to people with Asperger's syndrome (for more info on Second Life, check out a February 2007 ITM blog post, where I highlighted Amanda Baggs, an adult with autism who participates in Second Life.)

Conference face to face sharing was done via various theme events. One such event was the Innovations Marketplace which allowed innovators to share ideas with venture capitalists and grant makers gave presentations. At the Techology Expo an opportunity was provided for key leaders in assistive and learning technology to showcase their work. This year's Peer Awards for the Brightest Idea was given to SMART Brain Technology. Smart Brain Home System uses technology to improve the behaviors of individuals with autism, language disorders and attention deficits. The equipment is being tested through an NCTI grant with adolescents with ADD. The large picture posted here shows Domenic Greco of "Smart Brain Home System", with Julie Duffield of WestEd at the Technology Expo. Julie is pictured about to wear a visor with sensors attached to a Sony PlayStation. This device tracked her brain activity and gave neurofeedback on her attention levels while playing a racing game.

To keep important discussions like this going after the conference, the folks at NCTI have issued a brief titled “Using the Power of Social Media to Promote Assistive and Learning Technologies ” and invite all of us to give our input to this document. These issues and people at this conference provided much food for thought about diversity, access and innovation. View the NCTI conference sessions materials to learn more.

Also if you want to find out more information or resources related to this event please feel free to contact - Julie &/or Lucy.

Change “Music” to “Schools” and…

It’s no secret that the music industry has played hardball with users of filesharing networks. Leaders in the field worked hard to ignore the fact that those who swapped files via BitTorrent were also the greatest purchasers of music. Now it seems that Big Music may be crumbing just like the Berlin Wall. It seems Edgar Bronfman, head of Warner Music has signaled a change of heart:

“We used to fool ourselves,’ he said. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.”

Although I work with many creative and innovative teachers, capital E Education doesn’t seem to get that the last couple years has witnessed a transformation: schools are now islands of resource impoverishment whereas homes, Starbucks and McDonald’s - with their broadband WiFi access - can be a better place for the motivated learner to get on with what they love. A great quotation from Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi points toward a better response for Education than fighting to maintain a crumbling status quo:

The claim is that if educators invested a fraction of the energy on stimulating the students' enjoyment of learning that they now spend in trying to transmit information we could achieve much better results. Literacy, numeracy, or indeed any other subject matter will be mastered more readily and more thoroughly when the student becomes able to derive intrinsic rewards from learning. At present, however, lamentably few students would recognize the idea that learning can be enjoyable.

Thus, the abiding truth: although not everyone loves school, the joy of learning is universal. Now is a good time to lead with this strength.

Inspired and Engaged by Authentic Learning in 2007

With the countdown towards the end of 2007, comes a time of reflection for many. Some include those reflections in their annual holiday greeting cards; others are more private. Time Magazine reflects on the year in many ways including announcing its Person of the Year. This announcement started me reflecting on the folks that have influenced my life (personal and professional). One remarkable educator came to mind as someone who inspired me and many young minds during 2007—Nilah Cote (a fifth grade teacher at Sheldon Elementary School).

Nilah Cote could easily be counting down the days ‘til retirement… but instead she is counting the days until a new projector comes into her classroom. “I don’t have much time you know”.. she reminds her Tech Director that she is retiring in a few months. Nilah is frantically trying to squeeze in all the teaching and learning she can in her last days as a public school educator. With 38 years in the classroom, Nilah has not grown tired of looking for opportunities to engage kids in authentic learning.

Early this spring, Nilah asked me for help picking out tools she would need to podcast with her students. She had never tried podcasting, but had a vision of students interviewing community members about the impact of the 88 acres of forest that surrounds their school and community and believed that her students could become stewards of their forest.

The unit (Stewards of the Sheldon Community Forest) started with 45 seconds of silence, when long-time journalist, Nat Worman, explained to a group of fifth graders that ‘listening’ was the key to a good interview. Prepared with the tools and skills needed to conduct a good interview, the students traveled to different parts of the forest to learn from their community. “This is like an adventure..” they noticed and dubbed themselves the