The Clute Institute for Academic Research
2008 Teaching and Learning Conference
San Juan, Puerto Rico
March 17-20, 2008
The Clute Institute for Academic Research Conferences take place in the United States and in exotic foreign locations. Puerto Rico was the destination for this teaching and learning conference this year. In general, this conference was very loosely organized with no opening or closing plenary sessions. The panels were combined with the IABR Business Conference and I found this organization quite confusing because participants interested in teaching and learning were forced to listen to business presentations. There were generally five to six panelist for each session and presentations were always rushed and had to be truncated. This structuring was very distracting and counter productive. Presentations such as “Rubrics: The Key to Fairness in Performance Based Assessments” by Carol Shepherd from National University was very basic adding nothing new to the literature and repeating what is generally considered to be standard fare in education. “Critical Thinking Made Blooming Easy: Using Blooms Taxonomy to Encourage Critical Thinking” by Amy Macpherson and Jennifer Mansfield was also very basic and common knowledge to all formally educated teachers. Critical thinking is inherent in Bloom’s Taxonomy. These presenters, however, did focus on the higher levels of the taxonomy: analysis, synthesis and evaluation and applied it to literature in the classroom demonstrating how the children’s story “The Empty Pot” by Demi Ping could be used to develop higher levels of thinking. This portion of the presentation was interesting. Other sessions that I attended—“Post-Secondary Education’s Role in Creating Global citizens by Jade G. Winn,” “Peer Assessment: Students Helping Students Learn by Melissa Marty, Jolen M. Henning and John T. Willse were very weak, and in my opinion, unscholarly. In general, I would not recommend this conference for participants who are seriously interested in teaching and learning. The destinations, however, are marvelous.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Mix it up: Creative Combinations for Learning in North Carolina
The theme of the 2008 University of North Carolina Teaching & Learning with Technology Conference was “Mix It Up!: Creative combinations for Learning in North Carolina.” This conference is an annual event that focuses on technology use on the 16 constituent institutions in the UNC system. Featuring more than 120 presentations covering a multitude of topics: online quality, open source applications, learning objects and repositories and course redesign, The TLT Conference provided a forum for varied educational interests.
This year, I was both an attendee and a presenter at the conference. The title of my presentation was “The National Foreign Language Standards and the Fusion of the iPod in the Foreign Language Classroom.” My goal was to demonstrate how the iPod could be used in the foreign language classroom to address the learning styles and intelligences of the millennial generation and meet foreign language standards and competencies. I defined the millennial student and professor, illustrated the educational uses of the iPod, highlighted the “best practices” in the field of foreign languages and connected the uses of the iPod to the five “C’s” (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities) of foreign language education. The unsolicited feedback that I received at the end of the session from the audience was very favorable.
As an attendee, I found the following sessions to be worthwhile:
“Engaging Students with Social Software Applications: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More!” was presented by Zahra Safavia, Director of Product Management at Learning Objects. The speaker discussed the powerful innovative uses of blogs, wikis and podcasts within the teaching and learning environments. She noted how wikis are are being used collaboratively to “build research projects, annotate works of literature and create course knowledge bases. Blogs are being used to collaboratively author novels, facilitate online discussion groups and practice reflective journaling. Podcasts are being used to deliver supplemental course information and lectures.” Ms. Safavia defined the new social tools, outlined their historical development (wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian) and listed their individual characteristics. A very informative introduction to the new 2.0 web tools. I strongly recommend this presentation.
“A Collaborative eLearning Environment: Using Wimba to Build connections, Enhance Learning, and Improve Student Outcomes” was presented by Seana Downing, Regional Sales Manager of Wimba. Ms. Downing noted that the mission of Wimba is to help people teach people. She outlined the history of the company and explained how Wimba’s Collaboration Suite of products empowers educators to enhance learning interactions across subjects and disciplines to build connections and community. Explaining how people teach and learn differently, the speaker noted how Wimba improves outcomes, increases student retention and enhances access and learning. As an effective learning program, Wimba also “creates an online learning community, engages students through action, provides prompt feedback, facilitates student to student communication and addresses diverse learning styles.” The Wimba Voice and Classroom tools create an effective and stimulating educational environment. Winston-Salem State University currently uses Wimba and I can personally attest to the value of this wonderful educational tool. An educator interested in improving and enhancing teaching and learning should attend this session.
“Promoting Collaborative Learning Environment in the Classroom using Mobile Tablet-PCs and Classroom Management Tools” was facilitated by Kuldeep Rawat from Elizabeth City State University. His focus was on using the Tablet PC and Classroom management Software to improve teaching and learning in the classroom. His new pedagogical approach “directly involves students in the learning process, increases their direct collaboration with one another in class, develops their note-taking abilities and promotes instantaneous sharing of data in real-time.” Active learning and technology integration are the direct outcomes of this new method. A very interesting and practical presentation. I strongly recommend this session.
The UNC-TLT conference is local but is growing yearly. For North Carolina educators it is a convenient conference to attend.
This year, I was both an attendee and a presenter at the conference. The title of my presentation was “The National Foreign Language Standards and the Fusion of the iPod in the Foreign Language Classroom.” My goal was to demonstrate how the iPod could be used in the foreign language classroom to address the learning styles and intelligences of the millennial generation and meet foreign language standards and competencies. I defined the millennial student and professor, illustrated the educational uses of the iPod, highlighted the “best practices” in the field of foreign languages and connected the uses of the iPod to the five “C’s” (Communication, Cultures, Connections, Comparisons and Communities) of foreign language education. The unsolicited feedback that I received at the end of the session from the audience was very favorable.
As an attendee, I found the following sessions to be worthwhile:
“Engaging Students with Social Software Applications: Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and More!” was presented by Zahra Safavia, Director of Product Management at Learning Objects. The speaker discussed the powerful innovative uses of blogs, wikis and podcasts within the teaching and learning environments. She noted how wikis are are being used collaboratively to “build research projects, annotate works of literature and create course knowledge bases. Blogs are being used to collaboratively author novels, facilitate online discussion groups and practice reflective journaling. Podcasts are being used to deliver supplemental course information and lectures.” Ms. Safavia defined the new social tools, outlined their historical development (wiki means “quick” in Hawaiian) and listed their individual characteristics. A very informative introduction to the new 2.0 web tools. I strongly recommend this presentation.
“A Collaborative eLearning Environment: Using Wimba to Build connections, Enhance Learning, and Improve Student Outcomes” was presented by Seana Downing, Regional Sales Manager of Wimba. Ms. Downing noted that the mission of Wimba is to help people teach people. She outlined the history of the company and explained how Wimba’s Collaboration Suite of products empowers educators to enhance learning interactions across subjects and disciplines to build connections and community. Explaining how people teach and learn differently, the speaker noted how Wimba improves outcomes, increases student retention and enhances access and learning. As an effective learning program, Wimba also “creates an online learning community, engages students through action, provides prompt feedback, facilitates student to student communication and addresses diverse learning styles.” The Wimba Voice and Classroom tools create an effective and stimulating educational environment. Winston-Salem State University currently uses Wimba and I can personally attest to the value of this wonderful educational tool. An educator interested in improving and enhancing teaching and learning should attend this session.
“Promoting Collaborative Learning Environment in the Classroom using Mobile Tablet-PCs and Classroom Management Tools” was facilitated by Kuldeep Rawat from Elizabeth City State University. His focus was on using the Tablet PC and Classroom management Software to improve teaching and learning in the classroom. His new pedagogical approach “directly involves students in the learning process, increases their direct collaboration with one another in class, develops their note-taking abilities and promotes instantaneous sharing of data in real-time.” Active learning and technology integration are the direct outcomes of this new method. A very interesting and practical presentation. I strongly recommend this session.
The UNC-TLT conference is local but is growing yearly. For North Carolina educators it is a convenient conference to attend.
Structuring courses to maximize deep learning
The Teaching Professor Conference
May 16-18, 2008
Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center
Kissimmee, Florida
The Teaching Professor Conference is a special opportunity for all those who care deeply about teaching and learning to network, to discuss and to attend sessions, workshops and exhibitions. It focuses on The Pedagogies of Engagement, Technology, Teaching Large Classes, Undergraduate Research, Faculty, Learning and the Scholarship of Teaching. If you are ready to be successful in academe and to educate, to engage and to inspire, this gathering is surely for you!
The following pre-workshops, sessions and panels were noteworthy at the Teaching Professor Conference:
“Structuring Courses to Maximize Deep Learning” facilitated by Dr. Barbara J. Mills from the University of Nevada (www.millis@unr.edu) was a special pre-conference workshop that I attended . She emphasized that faculty must “learn some key learning principles and some practical applications in the area of “How People Learn” and in “Deep Learning” in order to design better courses that foster inquiry and analysis , critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, teamwork and problem solving.” Dr. Mills also illustrated how Deep Learning Research and “best practices” converge in the classroom and utilized specific classroom techniques based in cooperative learning and writing across the curriculum. Participants were encouraged to gain insights through modeled practices in the classroom and to reflect on their own approaches to teaching and learning. Her primary goal was to make it easier for instructors to think about teaching through cooperative learning and course design. Citing L. Dee Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning in Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, this presenter underscored how research has shown that we learn best by teaching others and that Deep Learning connects with deep foundational knowledge. A solid workshop; however, the title could be modified to reflect a very strong emphasis on cooperative learning.
Dr. Barbara E. Walvoord (www.walvoord@nd.edu) delivered a plenary on “Saving Time in the Grading Process.” Realizing that college professors just have too much work to do and too many papers to grade, she advocated reducing major assignments to one or two and brainstorming about other ways of achieving your instructional objectives. The key for Dr. Walvoord is to demonstrate mastery.
She emphasized that instructors should utilize rubrics, clarify criteria, guidelines and course standards to students, ensure commensurate student effort, offer more guidance, find out what the student knows and manage grammar and punctuation issues. Additionally, the speaker stated that instructors must change their paradigms and utilize time and space more effectively in the classroom and not edit student work since research indicates that it has little impact on students. Teachers should also count informal assignments, claim student time, tape lectures outside of class and only do major work in class. Finally, Dr. Walvoord affirmed that “the most powerful source indicating student learning is “student work.” The aforementioned plenary session was informative, especially for new and overworked instructors.
“Documenting Effective Teaching in a Scholarly Manner: Why and How” was presented by Janice W. Denton (Janice.denton@uc.edu) and Lesta Cooper-Freytag (cooperlj@ucrwcu.rwc.uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati. These presenters concentrated on the importance of documenting college and university teaching as if it were traditional discipline-specific research and shared their model for this endeavor which is based on the work that originated at the American Association of Higher Education (AAHE). They noted that their model was divided into three parts: (1) strategy; (2) model; (3) product which include the following components:
• faculty peers
• three (3) prompts of faculty self-reflection
• faculty scholarly teaching committee
• written student learning outcomes
• syllabus as a learning tool
• Action Research in the classroom
• teaching artifacts
• formative feedback from peers
The presenters summarized their presentation by emphasizing that the model was very successful at their institution and that the most important aspects were the three prompts for faculty reflection, teaching artifacts and formative feedback from a peer. Great session! I strongly recommend it for individuals interested in creating portfolios.
Margo Bowman (man@wayne.edu) from Wayne State University and Debra L. Frame (debra.frame@uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati presented a discussion on “Going Beyond Expertise in Content: Encouraging Instructors to Become Expert Educators.” This session was profound in the simplicity of its premise “Expertise in a content area does not necessarily transfer to expertise as an educator.” The presenters explained information storage, illustrated how novices (students) differ from experts (teachers) and gave examples of effective learning experiences. They noted how differences between the novices and experts can greatly impact learning and that students should be taught in a manner that encourages the neural networks of knowledge. Hence, information about the brain and how it functions when it comes to memory ( the mind can only retain seven items at a time) is essential for effective teaching and learning. The audience was engage in several exercises that demonstrated how the brain functions. The facilitators ended their presentation with several teaching implications: (1) Teachers should provide multiple experiences that encourage the recognition of meaning and patterns; (2)Teachers should organize basic elements into a larger structure; (3) Teachers should focus on a global context and patterns; (4) Teachers should make connections for their students; (5) Teachers should chunk their information; (6) Teachers should engage in peer review. I highly recommend this session. It was outstanding.
The Teaching Professor Conference was a great experience. Instructors can continue to stay abreast of all the latest developments in teaching by subscribing to the Teaching Professor Newsletter.
May 16-18, 2008
Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center
Kissimmee, Florida
The Teaching Professor Conference is a special opportunity for all those who care deeply about teaching and learning to network, to discuss and to attend sessions, workshops and exhibitions. It focuses on The Pedagogies of Engagement, Technology, Teaching Large Classes, Undergraduate Research, Faculty, Learning and the Scholarship of Teaching. If you are ready to be successful in academe and to educate, to engage and to inspire, this gathering is surely for you!
The following pre-workshops, sessions and panels were noteworthy at the Teaching Professor Conference:
“Structuring Courses to Maximize Deep Learning” facilitated by Dr. Barbara J. Mills from the University of Nevada (www.millis@unr.edu) was a special pre-conference workshop that I attended . She emphasized that faculty must “learn some key learning principles and some practical applications in the area of “How People Learn” and in “Deep Learning” in order to design better courses that foster inquiry and analysis , critical and creative thinking, written and oral communication, teamwork and problem solving.” Dr. Mills also illustrated how Deep Learning Research and “best practices” converge in the classroom and utilized specific classroom techniques based in cooperative learning and writing across the curriculum. Participants were encouraged to gain insights through modeled practices in the classroom and to reflect on their own approaches to teaching and learning. Her primary goal was to make it easier for instructors to think about teaching through cooperative learning and course design. Citing L. Dee Fink’s Taxonomy of Significant Learning in Creating Significant Learning Experiences: An Integrated Approach to Designing College Courses, this presenter underscored how research has shown that we learn best by teaching others and that Deep Learning connects with deep foundational knowledge. A solid workshop; however, the title could be modified to reflect a very strong emphasis on cooperative learning.
Dr. Barbara E. Walvoord (www.walvoord@nd.edu) delivered a plenary on “Saving Time in the Grading Process.” Realizing that college professors just have too much work to do and too many papers to grade, she advocated reducing major assignments to one or two and brainstorming about other ways of achieving your instructional objectives. The key for Dr. Walvoord is to demonstrate mastery.
She emphasized that instructors should utilize rubrics, clarify criteria, guidelines and course standards to students, ensure commensurate student effort, offer more guidance, find out what the student knows and manage grammar and punctuation issues. Additionally, the speaker stated that instructors must change their paradigms and utilize time and space more effectively in the classroom and not edit student work since research indicates that it has little impact on students. Teachers should also count informal assignments, claim student time, tape lectures outside of class and only do major work in class. Finally, Dr. Walvoord affirmed that “the most powerful source indicating student learning is “student work.” The aforementioned plenary session was informative, especially for new and overworked instructors.
“Documenting Effective Teaching in a Scholarly Manner: Why and How” was presented by Janice W. Denton (Janice.denton@uc.edu) and Lesta Cooper-Freytag (cooperlj@ucrwcu.rwc.uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati. These presenters concentrated on the importance of documenting college and university teaching as if it were traditional discipline-specific research and shared their model for this endeavor which is based on the work that originated at the American Association of Higher Education (AAHE). They noted that their model was divided into three parts: (1) strategy; (2) model; (3) product which include the following components:
• faculty peers
• three (3) prompts of faculty self-reflection
• faculty scholarly teaching committee
• written student learning outcomes
• syllabus as a learning tool
• Action Research in the classroom
• teaching artifacts
• formative feedback from peers
The presenters summarized their presentation by emphasizing that the model was very successful at their institution and that the most important aspects were the three prompts for faculty reflection, teaching artifacts and formative feedback from a peer. Great session! I strongly recommend it for individuals interested in creating portfolios.
Margo Bowman (man@wayne.edu) from Wayne State University and Debra L. Frame (debra.frame@uc.edu) from the University of Cincinnati presented a discussion on “Going Beyond Expertise in Content: Encouraging Instructors to Become Expert Educators.” This session was profound in the simplicity of its premise “Expertise in a content area does not necessarily transfer to expertise as an educator.” The presenters explained information storage, illustrated how novices (students) differ from experts (teachers) and gave examples of effective learning experiences. They noted how differences between the novices and experts can greatly impact learning and that students should be taught in a manner that encourages the neural networks of knowledge. Hence, information about the brain and how it functions when it comes to memory ( the mind can only retain seven items at a time) is essential for effective teaching and learning. The audience was engage in several exercises that demonstrated how the brain functions. The facilitators ended their presentation with several teaching implications: (1) Teachers should provide multiple experiences that encourage the recognition of meaning and patterns; (2)Teachers should organize basic elements into a larger structure; (3) Teachers should focus on a global context and patterns; (4) Teachers should make connections for their students; (5) Teachers should chunk their information; (6) Teachers should engage in peer review. I highly recommend this session. It was outstanding.
The Teaching Professor Conference was a great experience. Instructors can continue to stay abreast of all the latest developments in teaching by subscribing to the Teaching Professor Newsletter.
International Society for Technology in Education Conference
International Society for Technology in Education Conference (ISTE)
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
June 29, July 2, 2008
San Antonio, Texas
Fantastic! Fabulous! Spectacular! are the adjectives that come to mind when I think about the 29th Annual Educational Computing Conference (NECC) held in San Antonio, June 29 through July 2, 2008 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Presented by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) with the theme of “Convene, Connect, Transform” this affair was attended by over 12, 600 educators with 924 conference sessions, 115 workshops, 500 vendors and attendees from 57 nations. A total of 17, 600 educators and exhibit personnel were present. This conference is the premier membership association for any educator interested in improving teaching and learning through the effective use of technology. It is the home base of the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) and the National Educational Computing Conference. It represents more than 100,000 professionals globally. It is extremely well-organized and presents a comprehensive platform of activities on virtually every aspect of educational technology from PK-12, teacher education and college. It is a“must do” conference. From the riveting Opening Keynote of James Surowiecki who discussed his book The Wisdom of Crowds and how groups make better decisions than individuals or experts to the Closing Keynote of Idit Harel-Caperton whose address “The Transformational Power of Social Media Technology in Learning: Inspiring Stories from the Classroom and Beyond!” explored how social networks, wikis and blogs are changing the information, social, political and educational landscapes, ISTE provided truly engaging sessions (many required laptops) that were complemented by a completely wireless environment and a Blogger’s Cafe.
I visited poster sessions, spectacular exhibits and attended illuminating lectures and panels. Conference highlights include the following:
Innovative Project-Based Learning: Strategies from Kindergarten to College was presented by Christy Keeler, Ph.D (www.christy@keelers.com) and Heather B. Rampton, M.Ed (www.hbrampton@interact.ccsd.net from the University of Nevada Las
Vegas. This session introduced project-based learning strategies that incorporated audio, video, slideshows, blogs, digital photography, page layout software and the Internet across grade levels and curricula. She discussed the elements of project-based learning noting that they are artifact driven, content focused, technology infused, collaborative, multi-disciplinary, long term and student centered. Dr. Keeler emphasized that students in the 21st century require the skills developed by this learning method. This session was very engaging and educators left with numerous practical strategies that they could immediately employ in their classrooms. I highly recommend this session.
Best Practices using Camtasia was a stimulating brief presentation given by Mr. Ryan Eash from Camtasia. He demonstrated how this screen recording software could be utilized in the classroom and shared with a wide audience. He gave four examples of how Camtasia could be used to support best practices: (1) Recording classroom lectures for review sessions and posting to a website; (2) Creating Flash Animation Tutorials that can be viewed on an iPod; (3) Generating student-produced items with students teaching students [www.mathtrain.com]; (4) Interactive Paper Grading. This last method has great practical value and educational ramifications for instructors who want to use technology in their assessments. Mr. Eash recommended that for more educational best practices attendees could visit the Camtasia website (www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp ). A very good presentation.
Visual Literacy: Equipping Students for a Visual World was a “Spotlight” presentation hosted by ISTE’s flagship publication, Learning & Leading with Technology and hosted by Dr. Lynell Burmark of the Thomburg Center (lynell@educatebetter.org) . The presenter demonstrated how instructors could utilize the visual media for learning and earning. She noted that it was extremely important to select an image that conveys your message; it must tell the story. Stating that individuals want to believe what they see and that a picture is worth a thousand words, the speaker illustrated that images go to long term memory and that there are a million fibers connecting the eye to the brain. She also affirmed that individuals process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. To Dr. Burmark, “It is simply a matter of keyboard versus camera. With images, recall and retention rise 42%; the ability to transfer and apply increases 89%.” The speaker finally noted that the use of videos automatically meet this goal and this is why platforms like You Tube, Flickr, etc. are so effective. “The image always precedes the thought.” A truly provocative presentation.
Audio is Great! Video is Cool! iPods Can Do More was the theme of Learning in Hand’s Tony Vincent (www.learninginhand.@mac.com) . This presenter underscored the utility of the iPod as a motivating learning tool in the classroom. He demonstrated a plethora of uses that this MP3 player could be used for in the educational arena: voice recording, video capabililty, musical lyrics and songs, personal calendar, photo album, flash card generation, student tutorials, PowerPoints, portable hard drive, lesson planning, interactive storytelling, quizzing, podcasting, etc.) Mr. Vincent also supports a website (www.learninginhand.com) where educators may download his free ebook Podcasting for Teachers and Students. This site also contains a blog, articles, ebooks, discussion forums, lesson plans, and web links. An excellent presentation.
The aforementioned highlights are just a small portion of the many excellent panels sessions at the ISTE conference. Again, this conference is essential for any educator and all individuals interested in technology in the classroom.
Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center
June 29, July 2, 2008
San Antonio, Texas
Fantastic! Fabulous! Spectacular! are the adjectives that come to mind when I think about the 29th Annual Educational Computing Conference (NECC) held in San Antonio, June 29 through July 2, 2008 at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Presented by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) with the theme of “Convene, Connect, Transform” this affair was attended by over 12, 600 educators with 924 conference sessions, 115 workshops, 500 vendors and attendees from 57 nations. A total of 17, 600 educators and exhibit personnel were present. This conference is the premier membership association for any educator interested in improving teaching and learning through the effective use of technology. It is the home base of the National Education Technology Standards (NETS), the Center for Applied Research in Educational Technology (CARET) and the National Educational Computing Conference. It represents more than 100,000 professionals globally. It is extremely well-organized and presents a comprehensive platform of activities on virtually every aspect of educational technology from PK-12, teacher education and college. It is a“must do” conference. From the riveting Opening Keynote of James Surowiecki who discussed his book The Wisdom of Crowds and how groups make better decisions than individuals or experts to the Closing Keynote of Idit Harel-Caperton whose address “The Transformational Power of Social Media Technology in Learning: Inspiring Stories from the Classroom and Beyond!” explored how social networks, wikis and blogs are changing the information, social, political and educational landscapes, ISTE provided truly engaging sessions (many required laptops) that were complemented by a completely wireless environment and a Blogger’s Cafe.
I visited poster sessions, spectacular exhibits and attended illuminating lectures and panels. Conference highlights include the following:
Innovative Project-Based Learning: Strategies from Kindergarten to College was presented by Christy Keeler, Ph.D (www.christy@keelers.com) and Heather B. Rampton, M.Ed (www.hbrampton@interact.ccsd.net from the University of Nevada Las
Vegas. This session introduced project-based learning strategies that incorporated audio, video, slideshows, blogs, digital photography, page layout software and the Internet across grade levels and curricula. She discussed the elements of project-based learning noting that they are artifact driven, content focused, technology infused, collaborative, multi-disciplinary, long term and student centered. Dr. Keeler emphasized that students in the 21st century require the skills developed by this learning method. This session was very engaging and educators left with numerous practical strategies that they could immediately employ in their classrooms. I highly recommend this session.
Best Practices using Camtasia was a stimulating brief presentation given by Mr. Ryan Eash from Camtasia. He demonstrated how this screen recording software could be utilized in the classroom and shared with a wide audience. He gave four examples of how Camtasia could be used to support best practices: (1) Recording classroom lectures for review sessions and posting to a website; (2) Creating Flash Animation Tutorials that can be viewed on an iPod; (3) Generating student-produced items with students teaching students [www.mathtrain.com]; (4) Interactive Paper Grading. This last method has great practical value and educational ramifications for instructors who want to use technology in their assessments. Mr. Eash recommended that for more educational best practices attendees could visit the Camtasia website (www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp ). A very good presentation.
Visual Literacy: Equipping Students for a Visual World was a “Spotlight” presentation hosted by ISTE’s flagship publication, Learning & Leading with Technology and hosted by Dr. Lynell Burmark of the Thomburg Center (lynell@educatebetter.org) . The presenter demonstrated how instructors could utilize the visual media for learning and earning. She noted that it was extremely important to select an image that conveys your message; it must tell the story. Stating that individuals want to believe what they see and that a picture is worth a thousand words, the speaker illustrated that images go to long term memory and that there are a million fibers connecting the eye to the brain. She also affirmed that individuals process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. To Dr. Burmark, “It is simply a matter of keyboard versus camera. With images, recall and retention rise 42%; the ability to transfer and apply increases 89%.” The speaker finally noted that the use of videos automatically meet this goal and this is why platforms like You Tube, Flickr, etc. are so effective. “The image always precedes the thought.” A truly provocative presentation.
Audio is Great! Video is Cool! iPods Can Do More was the theme of Learning in Hand’s Tony Vincent (www.learninginhand.@mac.com) . This presenter underscored the utility of the iPod as a motivating learning tool in the classroom. He demonstrated a plethora of uses that this MP3 player could be used for in the educational arena: voice recording, video capabililty, musical lyrics and songs, personal calendar, photo album, flash card generation, student tutorials, PowerPoints, portable hard drive, lesson planning, interactive storytelling, quizzing, podcasting, etc.) Mr. Vincent also supports a website (www.learninginhand.com) where educators may download his free ebook Podcasting for Teachers and Students. This site also contains a blog, articles, ebooks, discussion forums, lesson plans, and web links. An excellent presentation.
The aforementioned highlights are just a small portion of the many excellent panels sessions at the ISTE conference. Again, this conference is essential for any educator and all individuals interested in technology in the classroom.
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