Director+of+Technology

= = Technology Integration Coordinator at Poly The 21st Century Director of Technology Poly Technology Are You a 21st Century Web 2.0 Educator? 21st Century Educator The Flat Classroom: Global Education Global Education Technology Tools Goal 1. Teacher Training Goal 2. Technology Integration into Curriculum Goal 3. Audit: Monitoring and Evaluating the Outcomes of Using Technology Goal 4. Upgrading Infrastructure Goal 5. E-Learning Goal 6. Establishing and Maintaining Web Presence of Poly Students and Teachers Goal 7. Establishing and Supporting Collaborative Projects Goal 8. Textbook-Free Digital School Technology Integration Projects Science Math English

= = =Educational Background=

I have a Doctor of Education degree from Teachers College, Columbia University.

=Working Experience=

I am a professor at The Kyoto College of Graduate Studies for Informatics, Japan, delivering distance learning courses on the WebCT platform and summer on-campus courses in e-Learning Theory [] []



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In 2006, I have been selected as a Technet Power to Learn Grant Award winner [|http://www.teachnet.org/powertolearn/bentz.htm]. This grant supports student use of the Internet as an integral tool to curriculum delivery.

in 2004-2006, I was a computer teacher at Long Island School for the Gifted [|http://www.lisg.org/.] The school website was designed by my 9th grade student in 2006.

In 2002-2003, I was a web designer at [|Milbank Memorial Library], Teachers College, Columbia University. I designed, updated and maintained the library’s website, created Access database for the Special Collections, and trained the library staff.

In 2003-2004, I was assisting faculty and students on the Blackboard e-learning platform at the [|Distance Learning Project], Teachers College, Columbia University; Gita Steiner-Khamsi's course [|Qualitative Research Methods: Evaluation of International Education Programs (mixed instructional design including distance learning) - Teachers College, Columbia University]

In 2003, I was invited to provide a workshop teaching the Blackboard at the [|Open Society Institute and Soros Foundation] in Budapest, Hungary.

In 1996, I was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Stuttgart, Germany.

In 1993-1994, I was a Visiting Scholar at [|Educational Psychology Department], Purdue University. =Technology Integration Coordinator at Poly=

I’ve created several technology integration sites, a spreadsheet and a blog: Technology Integration wiki -- [] Technology Integration on Wikispaces -- http://polyprep.wikispaces.com/ A Whole New Mind -- Poly Faculty Stories and Creative Work -- [] Technology Spotlight -- [] Women in Technology -- [] MS Computers -- [] Blog -- [] Spreadsheet -- []

=**Technology Newsletter**= Web 2.0 RSS Podcasting Wiki Blog iPhoto iMovie

=**Technology Integration Survey**= In May 2008, I conducted the Technology Integration Survey. 49 teachers participated in this survey -- 7 Lower School, 25 Middle School, and 17 Upper School teachers. The survey results are published at []

=Help Desk=

=**MS Computer Club – The Mouse Squad**=

This year, I am an advisor of the Mouse Squad club. This is a MS computer club that trains students to troubleshoot computers and support teachers in using audio-visual equipment during the Chapel. Students learn digital video and audio, graphic design, web design, digital photography, and computer game programming. The club invites different faculty members and guests to introduce students to various aspects of technology. Students have several field trips and visit one of the computer businesses. The club meets at Mac Lab from 4:00PM till 5:30PM. The Mouse Squad club has a wiki site: []

=**MS Film Festival**=

2008 MS Film Festival projects are posted on the following websites: [] [] []

=The 21st Century Director of Technology=

Web 2.0 or 21st century school, educator, learner, specialist, and librarian Virtual classroom Global classroom Flat classroom



=**Vision**=

Instructional technologies support students to become critical and compassionate thinkers, lifelong learners, responsible citizens and informed participants in local and international affairs. New technologies help to engage students in discussion and in active learning, and promote the idea of global citizenship (The International Baccalaureate Organization in Geneva, Switzerland).

= Poly Technology: Software and Hardware=



3. Professional Mailing lists

Blackboard
The Blackboard provides:
 * Virtual classroom and chat**, **threaded discussion forums**, **online assessments (exam, quiz, and survey)** with a synchronized **Grade Center**, digital DropBox, collaborative group tools, file exchange tools, and equation (MathML) tools.

Blackboard vs. Moodle
[|My Moddle sit]e

SMART Board
1. Control computer applications directly from the screen 2 Write notes in digital ink 4. Share with students**
 * 3. Digitize your work

Atlas


Rubicon understands the importance of curriculum development and has designed Atlas to facilitate the **sharing of ideas** and i**nstructional best practices**.

Drupal site my.Polyprep.org
[|My drupal site]
 * Content should be relevant and useful for teachers
 * This site should be divided into different subject areas: math, science, english, foreign languages, technology integration, etc.

Are You a 21st Century Web 2.0 Educator?
[|Students in classroom at Holton Arms School] ca. 1920-1950 http://memory.loc.gov

In the Web 2.0 educators' classrooms, students do not "spend much of the day as their great-grandparents once did: sitting in rows, listening to teachers lecture, scribbling notes by hand, reading from textbooks that are out of date by the time they are printed." [|How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century]

The Web 2.0 educators incorporate into their teaching the Web 2.0 tools: dynamic websites, blogs, video blogs, podcasts, photo and video sharing, feed readers, wikis, social networks, online word processors, spreadsheets, and presentations.

The Web 2.0 teachers:
 * have RSS feed readers
 * subscribe to news and blogs in their fields
 * have their own blogs, wikis, and websites
 * share their best practices with others via podcasts, photo or video sharing
 * effectively supervise their students through RSS
 * use wikis and online word processors, spreadsheets, and presentations to collaborate with their colleagues and students
 * adding new technologies to their curriculum.

iGoogle
= =

Professional Blog - [|virtualeducators.blogspot.com]
= =

= 21st Century Educator=



=The Flat Classroom: Global Education=



With our diverse community, it is important to teach a global-education program at Poly. One of the best examples of this is a partnership called the Flat Classroom Project that started by connecting an international school in Bangladesh, with an American school in Georgia, and has since expanded into a seven-school collaborative. The project, based on Thomas L. Friedman's book, The World Is Flat, calls on American high school students to partner with students around the world and conduct a series of activities that deal with globalization. Classroom wikis, student podcasts, and Google Earth's many functions are all fairly established ways for students and teachers to share information and work together across many time zones.

=Global Education Technology Tools=



Computers should be used as a catalyst and support for group projects and teamwork, allowing students to access global resources and engage in joint projects with their own classmates and those from other schools around the world.

Classroom wikis, student podcasts, and [|Google Earth]'s many functions are all fairly established ways for students and teachers to share information and work together across many time zones.

[|Ning] -- a free, private social-networking page with audio and text and video-uploading abilities -- that allows students to introduce themselves and exchange information. The ning provides a channel for interactions among students that were once done via email or MySpace, allowing teachers and other students to better experience what everyone else is doing.

[|KCG Ning]

[|Stop Cyberbullying]

To schedule planning and presentation time, a free Web program called [|AirSet] can synchronize existing calendar systems (such as Microsoft Outlook's) and work between time zones.

For video, some insiders like [|FlashMeeting], a free service that has been described as a videoconferencing version of YouTube and that low-bandwidth schools can use to communicate online.

Another free tool is [|Ustream.tv], which offers live video streaming anyone can watch online and chat about simultaneously. Now free, [|ePals], an online global learning community for K–12 teachers and students that enables educators to find one another and protect children from unfiltered content, is already in use in many school districts around the country.

= = =The Technology Department Goals=

=Goal 1. Teacher Training = “The success or failure of technology is more dependent on human and contextual factors than on hardware or software” (Valdez et al., 2000)

Poly teachers should receive sufficient computer training. The extent to which teachers are given time and access to computer training determines whether or not technology has positive impact on student achievements. Students of teachers with more than ten hours of training significantly outperformed students whose teachers had five or fewer hours of training. Teachers should plenty of training and time. The learning curve is steeper for teachers than it is for the children.

This year, the Technology Department offered only 3 workshops emphasizing basic hands-on skills: using scanner, computer projector and Blackboard. Only few teachers attended these workshops with a limited time frame for practice. Technology training at Poly should be aligned with research and best practices. The Technology Department should provide ongoing mini-workshops, brown bag workshop s and online seminars emphasizing particular needs of teachers in a given moment. The Technology Department should facilitate collaboration among colleagues by creating teacher tech support groups -- tech savvy teachers helping their colleagues.

Personal Proficiency || Level 2 Technology Integrator Proficiency || Level 3 21st Century Educator Proficiency || • Internet skills to navigate the World Wide Web and search effectively • Word processing skills to complete written tasks • Use a desktop publishing application • Use a spreadsheet and file management application (Blackboard) • Electronic presentation skills to create and give electronic presentations • E-Mail management skills to open, compose, and archive messages, send attachments and create e-mail folder • Digital Cameras and digital image editing skills to transfer, edit, and print out images • Digital Video Skills • Podcasting skills • Understanding Social Networking • Wikis • Blogs • Computer Network Knowledge to understand how the school network works and access online folders • Blackboard Teaching Skills to create online courses, quizzes, and exams, view students work, create discussions, and evaluate projects • Videoconferencing skills to use a video conferencing classroom and understand the basics of teaching with Video Conferencing • Computer-Related Storage Devices (CDs, DVDs, USB drives, and external hard drives) • Scanner Knowledge to scan document and save them on the hard drive • Multimedia and Website copyright issues • Computer Security || • Use technology to present information in the classroom • Develop Internet-based research lessons requiring students use technology to locate, evaluate, and collect information from a variety of sources, to use technology tools to process data and report results, and to evaluate and select new information resources and technological innovations based on the appropriateness for specific tasks • Develop technology-embedded student assignments in which students use basic applications to research, synthesize, and present information • Understand technological issues involving safety practices, ethics, and equitable access • Develop minimum of one curriculum related technology project with students per year • Develop **local** collaborative projects • **Participant** at a technology conference || • Use a variety of technology tools • Demonstrate and teach instructional technology proficiency • Be acknowledged by peers as a model technology educator • Lead in the development of technology plans • Support the integration of technology into the curriculum. • Share the best practices with others via podcasts, photo or video sharing • Effectively supervise their students through RSS • Use wikis and online word processors, spreadsheets, and presentations to collaborate with their colleagues and students • Add new technologies to the curriculum. • Develop numerous curriculum related projects with students • Develop a **global** project • **Presenter** at a technology conference ||
 * Level 1
 * • Use basic computer troubleshooting skills

=Goal 2. Technology Integration into Curriculum =

Research suggests that technology-enhanced learning improves student achievement of learning goals ranging from the basics to higher-order thinking. The fundamental goal of the technology plan is to integration of technology into the full spectrum of the curriculum and to provide all students with a wide-range of technical skills. When trying to integrate technology into the classroom, there are several key points to keep in mind when selecting software: • Does the technology help the teacher organize and manage information about their students? • Does the software save its information so it can be used by other products? • Does the software match the educational environment? • Does the software encourage and support collaborative learning? • Does the software emphasize the main concepts and/or cross disciplines? • Does the software provide meaningful feedback to students? Is it more than just a digital “Good Job?” • Does the software include an assessment component? • Does the technology support higher levels of learning?

I've developed a seven step program to assist teachers in development of a technology integration lesson plan.

Technology Integration Projects

=Goal 3. Audit: Monitoring and Evaluating the Outcomes of Using Technology =

**What Does //Return On Investment - ROI// Mean?**
A performance measure used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or to compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of an investment is divided by the cost of the investment; the result is expressed as a percentage or a ratio.

http://www.investopedia.com/



=Goal 4. Upgrading Infrastructure =

Virtualization
Virtualization is a method of running multiple independent virtual operating systems on a single physical computer. It is a way of maximizing physical resources to maximize the investment in hardware. 6 Terabyte (1 Terabyte = 1,024 gigabytes) > > > > Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V > Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 R2 > Virtual Machine Manager 2008
 * Consolidates multiple, under-utilized physical servers on a single host, running Virtual Machines
 * Reduces workforce/space/kilowatt by leveraging virtualization for server consolidation and agility
 * Helps save money because less managing, less space and less kilowatt hours are needed

Blackbaud
> Consolidation of MS and US databases

Infosnap
=Goal 5. E-Learning = = = E=learning applications in higher education and industry are growing at a rapid pace. It is now possible to obtain a college degree without physically attending a traditional class. Likewise, numerous companies are using distance learning technologies to distribute training courses to employees on a worldwide basis.
 * Online solutions help schools dramatically cut costs and time associated with admissions, enrollment (registration), and summer programs.
 * Powerful reporting and communication tools enable administrators to review forms, communicate more effectively with families, maintain clean and consistent data, and print out copies of forms completed online.

Poly should start offering high school and summer enrichment or remedial e-learning courses on the Blackboard.

Electronic Mentoring
Electronic mentoring, also called e-mentoring, connects peers after school hours and allows them to communicate and help each other. Technology Department and library websites could have "Ask the Expert" feature similar to offered by public libraries "Homework Help" service.

iTunes U -- Mobile Learning
Teachers are using iLife and iWork applications on the Mac to create customized educational materials, such as language lessons that students can listen to on the bus or at home. And with the help of tools like Podcast Producer and Wiki Server — both of which come with Mac OS X Server — teachers produce and distribute all kinds of multimedia content on iTunes U or a class wiki. Once classroom presentations and lectures have been captured and published, students can download them from iTunes. = = =Goal 6. Establishing and Maintaining Web Presence of Poly Students and Teachers =

Web Presence is defined as an ability to convey messages in text, sound, and image over the Internet through means of communicating asynchronously (Stevens, 2005). Teachers maintain colorful, educational, and entertaining displays in hallways. In this digital age, teachers should be extending beyond the walls of the brick and mortar classroom and showcasing the best student work to the Poly community, parents, and the world. The wiki technology makes it easy to publish text, images, video, and audio. YouTube and TeacherTube help to channel successful projects to the whole world.

Poly TV News Channel
Poly students should have their own online channel to broadcast Poly news and events.

Online Publications
Puly journals and newspapers should be online -- Polygon, Poly Arts Journal, Polymorphous, and Tower Times.

Senior Plan
Students should work on their projects on wiki sites and collaborate with their mentors.

= = =Goal 7. Establishing and Supporting Collaborative Projects: Global Education =

Computer as a Collaboration Tool
Teachers should use more often communication and collaboration tool. For example, students could participate in creation of Polypedia website with all relevant to Poly and our community information; network-video-3D conferencing, bulletin boards, and newsgroups. Computer-mediated communication networks offer students and teachers access to a community where their expertise and experience can be shared and where they can be active participants in professional discourse about improving practice. Schools ideally should be linked with universities, museums, community groups. Students should be able to correspond with practitioners in fields that interest them. Poly archives should be digitized.

**Parents and Community Partners**
The Technology Department should provide parents and the community with opportunity to collaborate with teachers. Parents should have **access to ongoing progress** of their children. Now, at Poly technology is used to inform parents about ongoing events and is limited to a technology-developed newsletter (Poly Pulse) and multimedia presentations (photos). We are not using all capabilities of data-driven software to provide multi-tiered collaboration among educators, students, parents and community members.

Global Projects
[|iEARN] (International Education and Resource Network) has 200 projects going at any given time. Users, who pay $100 per teacher or $400 per school, have access to a community of 20,000 educators and an archive of collaborative projects going back nineteen years.

[|Global School Net]-- engage teachers and students in meaningful project learning exchanges with people around the world to develop literacy and communication skills, foster teamwork and collaboration, encourage workforce preparedness and create multicultural understanding.

Community Knowledge Base
Technology Department should developing the knowledge base with the most common troubleshooting tutorials (we have already started developing it). Teachers and department should also develop knowledge base for their classes. The goal of using technology is to help students develop community knowledge bases and expertise instead of focusing only on individual student learning -- creating interactive websites in collaboration with peers trains students to think and work the way experts do.

=Goal 8 - **Textbook-Free Digital Poly **=

This project moves beyond technology integration to total technology immersion where the boundaries of traditional curricula are removed and students are immersed and engaged in learning that is rigorous and relevant to their world and priorities. Teachers can now bring in content from literally around the world that is current to the instructional moment and present it by methods that are consistent with the way today s students think with and process information. Creating a ubiquitous technology environment will provide students with the skills they will need to be more productive in a 21st century, real-world setting.

The Bolton Digital High School (9-12) has replaced textbooks in all subjects for its six-hundred students with the best available digital curriculum resources that are geared to meet the needs and interests of today s students. eSchool News: "More students getting laptops instead of textbooks Louisiana high school becomes latest to switch to an all-digital curriculum" [] = = =Miscellaneous Goals =

The Academic Departments' Technology Plan
The Director of Technology should assist academic departments in the development of their Technology Plans determining the technology hardware, electronic learning resources, networking and telecommunication infrastructure, physical plant modifications, and technical support needed by teachers, students, and administrators to support the classroom activities.

Computerized Exams
After graduating form Poly, students will be taking computerized tests at universities -- SAT, GRE... Technology Department should support academic departments in developing and offering computerized tests.

Popularize Computer Courses
Computer classes in high school have only several students. This year, I started popularizing computer courses in MS.

[|Web Design Student -- Matt Safian] AP Computer Science Students Video and Film Class Student

Planning Sheets
All planning sheets should be electronic documents, including a technology planning sheet.

**Summer Camp**
Change the structure and curriculum of the computer summer camp to make it more attractive and profitable.

= Technology Integration Projects=  =Science = = =

**Problem-Based STEM Program Development for Elementary, Middle, and High School Students**
Learn the process for developing a high-quality, hands-on, minds-on STEM Pathway that articulates workforce skills, science foundations, and applied mathematics from grades 4-12. [] Sample Programs include: Camp **BIOBASE** - serves a section of 7th graders with a 12-day biotechnology and forensics experience. Students use gel electrophoresis, PCR, spectrophotometer, digital cameras, QX digital microscopes, and a plotter printer. The high school program includes courses in **Biotechnology Foundations and Geospatial Technologies.** The STEM Pathway Initiative has established an unprecedented number of partnerships with business and industry, institutions of higher learning, and community organizations. Participants will walk away with a unique approach to a must-have initiative for every school division.
 * SPACEBASE** - Atlas - serves all 4th graders and focuses on developing spatial (mapping and modeling) skills. Students use a compass, GPS unit, plotter printer, and ArcVoyager, ArcExplorer, and Neighborhood MapMachine software applications.
 * ENVIROBASE** - Aquarius - serves all 5th graders and focuses on local watershed experiences using GLOBE protocols. Students use the GLOBE weather station, MovieMaker, digital cameras, QX digital microscopes, and compound microscopes.
 * AEROBASE** - Atlantis - serves all 6th graders and focuses on aerodynamics. Students use flight simulator software and scienctific calculators in addition to creating and launching a rocket.
 * ROBOBASE** - serves a segment of 8th graders with a 6-day robotics experience. Students use LEGO Mindstorm NXT robot kits and Robolab programming software. Students also use software to design a videogame.

**Promoting STEM Literacy Using NASA eClips**
Learn how you can engage and motivate your students to learn science and mathematics concepts through the use of video segments illustrating real world connections. []

**Inquiry Learning in an Online Environment about Earth Systems Science**
[] is designed to facilitate active student participation, foster problem solving, enhance self-assessment, and increase student ability to access and use information Investigate volcanoes, coral reefs, and melting ice sheets through a NSF-funded Web site where you can take and set up online courses.

**Support Kids' Science Process Skills with PBS' FETCH Web Site**
Boost kids' science process skills through **online games** that incorporate testing and revising, hands-on activities, and online professional development for educators. In order to play FETCH's online games, participants will need to set up a free account at pbskidsgo.org/fetch Level: 3-5 [].

<span class="wiki_link_ext">Teaching with Digital Video in the Science Classroom and Laboratory
Level: 6-12 []

**A Whole New World: Expanding Ecological Identities with SciVi Field Trips**
[|http://www.estuaries.gov] I came, I saw, I created and now I know. Explore how NOAA's SciVi (Science Virtual) Field Trips expand ecological identities through student-generated media resources. Level: 6-12 National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERRS) has attempted to bring the estuarine environments to the classroom with webcasts of live, interactive field trips to eleven estuaries on the east, west, and gulf coasts of the United States

<span class="wiki_link_ext">Eco-Friendly Architecture: Web 2.0 Tools and Online AP Environmental Science
Level: 6-12 Students in Virtual Virginia's 100% online Advanced Placement Environmental Science course will demonstrate and discuss a collaborative course project rooted in real world application of course material. The project they will discuss requires students to use web 2.0 tools such as as Wimba Voice Tools and the Desire 2 Learn learning management system to collaborate with their peers across Virginia in designing an environmentally friendly house. Through this project, students must apply issues that are central to their course curriculum, such as ecology & endangered species, air pollution, water pollution, land pollution, human population, energy sources, sustainability, conservation, and economics. Student will gather and analyze data from several high quality web resources. For example, students will use Google Earth to track the daily sun exposure pattern for the location they plan to build their eco-house if they plan to use solar panels. Tools such as Google Sketchup are used by the students to build and display their structure. Students collaborate with each other using the Desire 2 Learn instant message feature and discussions boards. []

Virtual Science Fair: Build Your Own--Step by Step
The culmination of the presentation lies in the development of a virtual science fair. In a virtual setting, students have the freedom to create interactive science fair projects, employing a wide variety of media to showcase their findings. The projects, presented within the class wiki, are judged by professional scientists, who provide a real-world connection for the students, giving feedback for further research and direction on careers in the sciences.
 * The social bookmarking tool, Diigo**, allows students to bookmark and share web resources. Additionally, students and teachers can communicate via highlighted text and on-site annotations. Students will begin their science fair research, archiving and organizing information for use in their projects. The teacher can provide ongoing, individualized feedback through the Diigo discussions. **Wetpaint, a free wiki tool**, provides teachers an avenue to foster and assess collaborative work in an innovative context. Each student will create his or her own wiki pages for drafting, revising, and publishing science fair components. Students will **collaborate within the wiki**, providing peer support through editing assistance and accountability groups.

Virtual Science: Online Labs and Visualizations in the Science Classroom
Level: 6-12 The purpose of this poster session is to showcase specific interactive online science activities to increase scientific literacy. Our students are digital learners, accustomed to moving images on TV, Xbox, DVD, computer and MP3 players. We have to meet them were they live. By using multimedia technology, teachers can address science standards in an innovative, engaging, and challenging manner. In this session, participants will sample online science simulations, labs, visualizations, games and case studies chosen by the presenter for their usefulness in teaching grades 6-12 science. [] Accessing the presenter’s virtual science wiki, participants will find links and brief summaries to labs and simulations in 5 branches of science: Life Science, Chemistry, Earth Science, Physics, and Environmental Science.

=<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255);">Math =

= =

**Teaching Math with Web 2.0**
The unique and compelling collaborative activities that incorporate significant software environments (Spreadsheets, Sketchpad and Web Applets) that will help a teacher to engage students in gaining a deeper understanding of powerful mathematical ideas. All activities were developed by the speaker as part of the professional development provided by Center for Innovation in Science and Engineering Education (CIESE) in Hoboken, NJ and are easily accessible from the Internet (//ihor Charischak).// 1. **The Average Traveler** What do you think the average travel distance is for all the participants who came to this session? Participants will enter their data using their laptops and the results will appear in real time on the presenter’s projection screen so that everyone will be able to find out who the average traveler is. There is a prize for the winner. [] 2. **Stock Market** The speaker developed this simulation ([]) for 6th grade students as “training wheels” in order to better understand the New Jersey Stock Market game before they take it on in the 7th grade or later. (See []). Speaker will also share a remarkable success story related to this activity. 3. **Shopping Spree** Shopping online offers many interesting opportunities for doing math. In this example you’re giving a party and have to go shopping for snacks. You’ve heard about online shopping services and want to give them a try. Because you have a limited amount of money, you want to get the best buys that you can, so you’re going to comparison shop and buy the items where you get the most for your money. In the process students use an online spreadsheet (http://docs.google.com) to do their analysis and share their results with others. ([]) 4. **The Noon Day Project: Measuring the Circumference of the Earth** This activity involves participants from around the world recreating the experiment that Eratosthenes tried 2200 years ago using shadow measurements to determine the circumference of the earth. Javasketchpad applets are used to explain the math. (See []) 5. T**he Great Green Globs Contest** Students build their algebra and graphing skills as they pursue a high score by hitting as many objects (globs) on a Cartesian coordinate system with the fewest number of linear or non-linear equations. A video clip of how this activity transformed one student’s attitude towards math will be shown. (See []/)

=<span class="wiki_link_ext">Learning with Games: Using Digital Media to Build Math Skills = Experience how the online game "Lure of Labyrinth" engages students in active learning to build pre-algebra knowledge within a 21st-century skills framework. good gameplay is defined as an experience that includes: fun (not necessarily easy fun), interesting choices, fair and appropriate rules of conduct, intricacy that encourages the use of strategy, creativity, and rewards. []

=<span class="wiki_link_ext">Spreadsheets: A Dynamic Path to Understanding Math = Level: 3-5 Empower your students with easy-to-implement spreadsheet investigations. Math comes alive as students explore patterns, run experiments, create interactive puzzles, analyze data, and make connections. Contains commercial content. [] =<span class="wiki_link_ext">Calculating Success through Collaborations: Wikis in High School Math = Get an overview of wiki use in the high school math classroom and see how others are using wikis for research and collaborative learning. [] Teachers utilizes wikis in a high school mathematics classroom to review for the state graduation exit exam.

=<span class="wiki_link_ext">Connecting Algebra and Geometry with the Tablet PC = Level: 9-12

=<span class="wiki_link_ext">Math, Graph, Fun: A Technology Approach to Analytic Geometry = Change the way your students see analytic geometry with the help of plotters. Level: 9-12 First a problem of software had to be solved, as this could generate a significant cost, which was a limitation for buildings with **Grapher** functions, and both geometric constructions **Geomac** for free use on the Mac platform, and both easy to use and natural according to the mathematical notation used by students in the course, which is an important difference with the plotters that require specialized knowledge of the student deeper into mathematics and are fit for young learners non-university. A year ago we began using a free cross-platform software called **GeoGebra**, which integrates the different software used in one only. GeoGebra with the experience of teachers and students was very easy to take.

=<span class="wiki_link_ext">Math-Kitecture: Using Architecture to Do Math (and Vice Versa) = Discover how students can become architects in their mathematics classrooms with activities such as "Floor Plan Your Classroom," "Geometry in Architecture," and "Dream Bedroom." Students can create floor plans of a room to scale by hand. Math topics for this activity include estimation, measurement, ratios, scale, and unit conversion. On the computer, participants will see how students can recreate their floor plans using computer-aided design (CAD) software. Computer topics for this activity include saving and manipulating files, using drawing and painting tools, and using text boxes. Both off and on the computer, participants will explore the connections between architecture and geometry. Math topics for this include shapes, tessellations, Fibonacci sequences, phi, Golden Rectangles, volume, estimation, and scale. []

<span class="wiki_link_ext">Math Vodcasts: Helping Students and Parents Learn Math--Anywhere, Anytime!
In this session we will explore the process, benefits and applications of using and creating math instructional vodcasts in the classroom. We will begin with the actual process of using an interactive whiteboard, slate or inexpensive drawing tablet to create math tutorial videos that can be uploaded as vodcasts through iTunes, or shared with students (and parents) through the teacher’s website. These videos are easy to make, and allow students the opportunity to review skills needed for math competency. Students can also load the vodcasts on their portable devices (PSP, Zune, iPods, etc) to view at anytime. []

<span class="wiki_link_ext">MatrixMath: Using iPods, Zunes, and Cell Phones to Improve Mathematics Achievement
[]<span style="color: rgb(255,0,0);"> Many students in grades 7 through 12 are scoring poorly in mathematics on such assessments as state standards based tests, NAEP, and high school exit exams. Many of these students are in intervention classes, but they are not showing strong improvement, even with this help. These students are not dumb, but they are definitely turned off by traditional mathematics instruction. And in many cases, they also have issues outside school that hinder their ability to concentrate on academics. MatrixMath is an answer to this problem. The topics are ratio and proportion; linear equations; data, statistics, and probability; and geometry. It won’t help everyone, but it has been proven effective in California schools in Sacramento, Pomona, San Diego, Los Angeles and other cities. In Mississippi, teachers have implemented the program in the Delta and areas around Jackson. The key to MatrixMath’s success is use of innovative technology applications (digital movies and podcasts) along with creative, active, and interesting mathematics lessons provided in the MatrixMath instructional guides. The movies, collectively titled Numericon, are a sort of space age serial, in which the characters encounter dangerous situations as they navigate the universe. In order to evade or overcome the danger and proceed to the next episode, students must solve a math problem. Teachers use the lessons in the instructional guides to help students learn the math they need. And then the students create podcasts describing the mathematics they have learned and how the lessons can be applied in the real and the space world.

=<span style="color: rgb(0,0,255);">English =

**Transforming Instruction for English Language Learners with Web 2.0 Tools**
Educators of English language should transform their instructional practice through the use of Web 2.0 tools:
 * use podcasting sites to promote oral language development
 * use blogging, wiki and social networking websites to promote written language development
 * use ebook and audio book sites to promote reading skills
 * use web-based presentation sites to promote vocabulary development ( [|http://eduese.com/])

=
Use the VocAvatars to develop vocabulary skills with your English Language Learners. The “VocAvatars” are a computer representation of a person that speaks and provides directions to the students to assist with vocabulary development. In order to build language, it must reach permanent memory. Permanent memory is the repository for everything learned- all knowledge and skill Download for free at www.microsoft.com, and with the free trial of iClone, which you can download at [|http://www.reallusion.com/iclone/ic_trial.asp]at the Reallusion Download button.======

**Writing Through Art Analysis with the Smithsonian American Art Museum**
This is a joint project between the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and a 6th grade English class during the 2007/2008 school year. The object of the project was two-fold--first, to increase students' art analysis skills, and second, to enhance student writing and presentation skills using art, technology, and American studies curricula as the framework. Participants will view and hear final student writings and podcasts and learn the process which led to successful student products

My Voice! My World! Youth Digital Storytelling
Students in Chicago Public Schools used video, multimedia, digital art, animation, and audio tools to explore and comment on their world and environment today. []

Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum in Second Life: The New Frontier in Online Learning
Explore Smithsonian's comprehensive educational activities through the lens of Second Life []

School Librarians Get a Second Life: You Can Too!
Web 2.0 goes 3D! Get involved in the growing library community in Second Life. Learn about library-related events, groups, and in-world resources. []



**Chalk House: A 3D Game for Building Middle School Literacy**
[] This run-down mansion was once ancient home of wealthy pioneers, now known to locals as //Chalk House//. Players take on the role of a young reporter assigned to investigate the strange disappearance of the last living member of the Forrester family who was last seen entering this haunted place. The old house has a history waiting to be discovered. Explore and play the Chalk House 3D online learning module focused on 6th and 8th grade literacy.

**CAST Book Builder**
CAST: Center for Applied Special Technology [|www.cast.org] CAST Universal Design for Learning (UDL) Book Builder []
 * CAST Book Builder** is a free online authoring tool for educators and students that can be used to create, read, publish, and share customized digital books