Tech4Teaching Blog

• Just fixed a bug in my blog spam detection (I hope)…
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• @plivings I can see this… Kids are empowered by the possession of the tool; for some teachers, overpowered Kids @ and advantage… #

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• Great discussion about webcams w/kids: More reasons for ongoing digital dialog http://tinyurl.com/679bva (on Wesley Fryer’s blog) #
• Geek’s Alphabet - How Web Savvy Parents Can Help Kids Learn The English Alphabet http://tinyurl.com/65kwrg via http://www.diigo.com/~brasst #

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• Checking out The Gong Project - The Web Voice Communication Tool http://tinyurl.com/57gbr8 via http://www.diigo.com/~brasst #
• Am I the only one excited about Star Trek | Official Movie Site | In Theaters May 2009 | Star Trek Movie http://tinyurl.com/66mtxb #

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I just read Wesley Fryer’s Webcam and PSP Porn: More reasons for ongoing digital dialog. It’s a must read for schools using or considering use of the new tablets with webcams.

Essentially, he discusses the recently re-aired episode of Oprah - “The Young Boy Lured into Becoming an Internet Porn Star” - about a boy who became entangled in the child pornography industry via a webcam on his home computer. When I saw this episode, I sympathized with the now young man in a nightmare situation, but I was frustrated by the attitude that we need to keep webcams and similar technology out of our homes and away from children.

Wesley’s blog is a must-read and a must-think.

My response: I was relieved to see I wasn’t the only person questioning the attitude of making the technology go away as the only solution to this situation!

This fall, my middle school will be distributing tablet pcs with webcams to students. At first I was hesitant about providing kids with the technology, but then I saw the potential for classroom use. When I spoke with teachers about the potential for misuse, we used the analogy of providing 1-1 laptops. Yes, the possibility of misuse exists, but the potential for providing opportunities for poverty learning outweighs this possibility. If we are serious about preparing kids with 21st Century Skills, we Can’t avoid collaborative technologies. We need to embrace them and discuss them openly with kids so they’re able to use them responsibly when time comes.

That said, our implementation coincides with a new required class - Wellnology (Wellness + Technology) - a combination of digital ethics, Internet Safety, and healthy use of technology. I’ll be teaming with our school counselor (rotating with her Wellness class) as appropriate and prepping with content-area teachers to continue the discussion beyond my classroom. We’ll also be stepping up our existing parent chats to reflect discussions with students. Hopefully, combining the efforts of so many people who care about our students will provide the support necessary when temptations to abuse arise.

I’m curious what others think and how webcams are or aren’t being implemented in schools and 1-1 programs.

For the past year or so, I’ve been doing some in depth exploration of OneNote 2007 as a teaching and learning tool.  Here are some ideas that might be viable in your practice:

Organization of lesson plans

Teacher portfolio
Many of us are involved in evaluation programs or graduate studies which require some sort of classroom evidence of our teaching practices.  OneNote would be a great tool to organize audio, video, lesson plans, work samples, professional readings/responses, etc.  You could create tabs for each standard and add pages of content to demonstrate how these standards are met.

Research organization
Students create notebooks (either independently or from a pre-created template downloaded or created by the teacher) to organize research/projects.
Each tab is a separate section/task with individual pages of notes and research.  Keep in mind that students can send notes directly to OneNote from webpages with a click of a button from any browser.  Notes retain a link to the online original and are made readily available for later use.  (A OneNote extension for Firefox can be easily added to similate capability added to IE when OneNote is installed.)

Group projects
Students share a notebook via a server and synchronize notes, each updating their chosen/assigned sections. Resources can easily be shared amongst group members and monitored by the teacher as appropriate.

Student portfolios
Student assignments, work samples, assessments, etc. are saved in a OneNote notebook for easy access and sharing and can follow the student from year to year.  Keep in mind that students can record audio/video directly to OneNote.  This could be extremely valuable in language classes where audio is a regular part of the assessment process.

Paperless classroom
Teachers create assignment templates and handouts which might otherwise be printed/copied for distribution; teachers can copy pages to a shared notebook and distribute via server, website, or email to students.  Remember that any document you can print can be inserted into OneNote.  In addition, Office 2003 or 2007 files can be embedded into a notebook page for direct editing.

Student notebooks
Students can have a single notebook for each class with detailed sections, much like having a single class binder with subsections.  This may be a good option for schools with 1-1 programs where some teachers may create template notebooks for classes and expect synchronized hand-in and other teachers may only expect students to use OneNote for notetaking.  Students can have a combined notebook with tabs for each of their classes.  Although not quite as flexible, students would have fewer notebooks to manage.

Faculty notebooks
Teaching teams can share notebooks with lesson plans and resources.  Shared notebooks can also be useful for faculty sharing of meeting notes, forms, and handbooks.

How do I use OneNote?
I have separate notebooks for reading/research, meetings (faculty, team & administrator), committee notes, student/parent meetings, and classroom organization. 

Microsoft recently published several notebook templates: