March 2009
March 31, 2009
My rant of the day.
Asking my staff to create video which I will place on my blog and on the website has created a swell of grumbling. I view this request as no different than asking a staff member to present to visiting grade eights in a high school. Our grade eights are on the world wide web. A lack of a visual presence on the world wide web by the staff is a lack of willingness to meet the students where they are. A conference presenter the other day said if you want to teach, meet the students where they are. Expecting them to meet us, smacks of the residential school program which was a mistake made in our past, we need to learn from our mistakes. They are called digital natives for a reason. We need to go to them to be respected and successful in educating them. To teach online you need to have an online presence, you need to attempt to understand the strengths and weakness of the net to effectively embrace it as a teaching tool and not just a delivery system When we take students out of their environment and force them into our environment (schools) and try to make them like us using the techniques of an industrial age, we are missing the point. Many schools of today do not teach the reality of the world, we (because I am an educator) need to change our schools to reflect reality. A cyber school has a mandate by its nature to push this agenda forward. If teachers are satisfied with recreating their face to face courses in a digital format then we will never meet the student where they currently live.
An online presence for a teacher is something that needs to be developed carefully, your personal life is yours, your professional life is and should be online. You are teaching in that venue. Just as you are expected to enter into a school and show the students your professional teacher image. Online teachers need to show their online professional image and yes they do need to have an internet presence to have credibility with the natives. Another lesson we learnt in the past. We do not want to change them we want to join them and educate them so they can be safe in the environment in which they live. The ostrich syndrome which many school are so skill at does not prepare them for the world. Sticking our heads in the sand will not remove the problems our students will face online and so the autonomy created within the four walls of a school need to be broken down to make them more worldly.
Many teachers in schools, digital or face to face have always had a problem because of the curriculum and the course content. If you think back to your school days the main things we remember is not that the content it is the other life skills we remember. We are now in a world where we will never be able to teach all the content, maybe the medium that we use to teach is the content. Through the content we need to teach our students to navigate in the shark infested waters of the net and the world in which they live. This is part of our jobs as online educators, we cannot be satisfied with the teaching just content.
Chapel Resource May 15 2002
The Virtual Chapel Resource
The World Wide Web continues to gain popularity as an instructional medium for high school students. Recognizing this, Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School offers cyber courses taught by teachers in our Catholic high schools. Cyber Classes create an environment which will motive and inspire students to become knowledge builders . Through the use of technology and the Internet, the student will inquire, encourage, discourse, collaborate and engage in active learning with their peers and their instructors. The Internet enables education to occur in places where it normally does not. It extends resources where there are few, expands the learning day, and opens the learning place. The Saskatoon Catholic Cyber School has experienced how the Internet connects people, communities, resources, adds graphics, sound, video, and interaction to give teachers and students multiple paths for understanding.
The proposal is to create a virtual chapel resource. This will be a gateway to resources for students and teachers. Using the presentation tools we have developed we would like to develop a chapel for students within the cyber courses as well as the students in the face to face classes.
Rationale for Chapel
• The Cyber Christian Ethics courses have created a large amount of resources that would be useful to all students in SCCS and would also be of benefit for students in regular classes.
• Sharing of Daily Readings
• Sharing of Daily Psalm
• Sharing of Daily Responsorial Psalm
• Sharing of Daily Gospel
• Sharing of the Daily Motivation message
• Repository of Christian acceptable web sites.
• Access to Clergy
• Access to STM college
• Access to information about becoming a Priest or Nun
• Christian Frequently Asked Question Area
• Sharing of Christian articles
• Discussion where students can share dedications
• Discussion where students can share intentions
• Discussion where students can share prayers.
• Sharing of web site evaluation criteria.
• Sharing of relevant web sites
Cost of building a chapel
• resource person and technician (could be the same person )
• .25 teacher wages for a year.
Ideas to Inspire
'Ideas to Inspire' is a collection of collaborative presentations, which offer a large number of ideas for engaging lesson activities. They are the result of the collaboration of teachers from all around the world.
Quote of the day
Over the next few decades the private sector will eclipse the public sector and become the major institution responsible for learning.
Jim Botkin and Stan Davis, The Monster Under the Bed
A vision of K-12 students today
Series: Cyber School PPTs
Series: Cyber School PPTs « Virtual High School Meanderings
Again thanks to Michael Barbour for this repost of TADO blog entries.
Series: SCCS Historical Documents
Series: SCCS Historical Documents « Virtual High School Meanderings
Again thanks to Michael Barbour for this organization of my blog entries.
Ethernet defined.
Server upgrade
March 30, 2009
The Perfect Fit?
The present model in which we function has served us well for many generations and has served society. However, it has become apparent that the model is not doing as well as it once did. As a class, we began to discuss the model and examine it as being a model. We broke it down into different aspects of the model framework: patterns, people, perception and environment. As we went through these different aspects, we began to look at what things we could change to improve the model. I then assigned this to students, who were free to work together to discuss and then come up with their own model of learning.
The Perfect Fit? « Educational Discourse
Angela Maiers Educational Services: SCAMPER Your Way to Success
I will be sharing with University students one of my favorite strategies called SCAMPERing.
SCAMPER was created by Bob Earle and popularized by Michael Michalko in his excellent book, Thinkertoys. to strengthen a learners ability to question, imagine,and adapt. See why it is one of my favorites?
Angela Maiers Educational Services: SCAMPER Your Way to Success
Microsoft Dreamspark
Microsoft offers software free downloads to high school students.
Are you an elearner
Easy Game Creators - Faculty Development - Confluence
A nice set of game creators
Easy Game Creators - Faculty Development - Confluence
Serious Game Creators - Faculty Development - Confluence
active_learning's games Bookmarks on Delicious
Thanks to Bonnycastle on twitter for the links.
How Attention Works
First of all, getting and keeping an audience's attention is probably the most important thing that a presenter must be able to do. There are other things that are important, but if the audience members are daydreaming or not listening, they just aren't going to hear you. In addition, bored audiences are noisier, and are more distracting to the presenter since they tend to talk amongst themselves, shuffle paper, get up and leave.
How Attention Works - A Guide For Public Speakers & Presenters
Darren's Got Cyber Style
I believe this collection comes from a face-to-face professional development session that Darren (from over at TADO) had with administrators from the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School Division.
Darren's Got Cyber Style « Virtual High School Meanderings
TADO: Learning Styles « Virtual High School Meanderings
Some Thoughts On Hybrid Learning « Virtual High School Meanderings
The plot thickens...
A story built 140 characters at a time. If you are a twitter users...log on and add your line...add a hashmark "#tothesky" and I will add your line as I get it.
To the sky
It all started in a galaxy far far away, on the third planet from the sun. It was a beautiful blue planet, inviting like the arms of a parent after being away for too long. The beauty, was, however, deceiving. On that planet live a race of beings surrounded by 37 rings of galactic particles like the rings of an atom. It's been said that each ring is portal to a dark side of the galaxy. This beautiful strange race of beings called the 1st portal the Avani Galaxy ring and carried a small, woven brown sack filled with soil out of respect for its powers. They are the descendants of the Belnar clan and are a threatened race. Chancellor Drod is concerned of the forthcoming prophecy. The rings energy is insidiously strong, yet eerily magical. Whether the prophecy intimated apocalypse or utopia was a matter of controversy among the priests. Drod assumed the worst. Legend says that one of the rings can save them, but which one? Caution: the wrong one is doom. Clues are hidden in the others. There have been many throughout the generations who have made claims to hold the key to the rings, but none dared tempt fate knowing that the true holders of the keys often did so unknowingly. Those claiming powers searched for the Palivati, the unaware keepers of the key awaiting destiny. So when Lakmi, the beekeeper's daughter felt the bees' energy failing, she knew someone was searching, and they were approaching. Lakmi was not afraid, the key
Authors
dcannell... TJWinger... delanotho... APfleegor... grammasheri ... delanotho... tee62... coelacanthro... delanotho... bhs_sanderson... grammasheri... grammasheri... AdtGrg...
The Edublogger's Student Competition! | The Edublogger
But the most important aspects of this challenge are
to have fun,
improve your blogging and
make friends.
The Edublogger's Student Competition! | The Edublogger
365 Smart NoteBook Lessons Project
We at TADO came up with an interesting idea based on the 52 Teachers, 52 Lessons Project (http://www.teachforever.com/2009/01/52-teachers-52-lessons-project.html) From the "I want to Teach Forever Blog".
With the interest in Smart and Interactive White Boards in educational settings we thought that asking our colleagues to submit their favorite Smart Notebook Lesson Files so that we can showcase them on our blog. Ideally we would like to post a new lesson each day.
At TADO we are all about sharing and collaborating. You the educators, have the tried, tested and true lessons that you have used in your classrooms and we want to share your great ideas with our readers.
We will also be posting your lessons on our Smart Board resource site called " I Love Smart Boards" (http://blog.scs.sk.ca/ilovesmartboards) and in our Smart Board User Learning Community.
To submit your favorite Notebook lesson please email your file to : rstromberg@gscs.sk.ca
Bonus: If you submit a Notebook File you will gain access to our On-line Smart Board User Learning Community where you can connect to educators from around the world who work with Smart or Interactive White Boards.
Quote of the day
Employee education is not growing 100 percent faster than academia, but 100 times - or 10,000 percent - faster...
Jim Botkin and Stan Davis, The Monster Under the Bed
Create games for education
Classtools.net allows you to create free educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge!
ClassTools.net: Create interactive flash tools / games for education
Helpful Websites for Teachers
The Internet offers a wealth of helpful information for teachers. Sometimes however it is hard to find time to find the best websites. The following websites are full of useful information and help teachers share ideas and stay abreast of new educational trends and technology news.
New Help Line
Thanks to Kelli we now have a new help line at the cyber school
We will keep you posted on how well it works.
Software as a Service and Cloud Computing
Explained in plain english...I was trying to explain this to someone the other day and messed it all up...but this is good.
Software as a Service and Cloud Computing : SharePoint in Education
Disk full
Twitter experiment
It is 12:41 on sunday and I finally did it...
March 29, 2009
HugeURL
Because is bigger is better...
I put the TADO url into it and if came out as:
Now that is a url...try reading that to someone over the phone.
Access by Design Online
Good web design
Web Style Guide 3
Good web design..
Learn good web design by looking at bad web design
Learning from the worst...lol
Web Pages That Suck learn good web design by looking at bad web design Home Page
Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter
What's the point of Twitter? Why should educators get involved? What difference does using Twitter make?
Here are some answers that you might like to share.
Nine great reasons why teachers should use Twitter | Laura Walker
TADO PPT's
Quote of the day
"If you are not being educated in your job today, you may be out of a job tomorrow...
Jim Botkin and Stan Davis, The Monster Under the Bed
Bug feature
March 28, 2009
TADO PPT's
Changing Servers
Quote of the day
"X-Generations demand X-cellent training in an X-celerated speed."
Angel Rampy
Top 10 Tools for a Free Online Education
It's easy to forget these days that the internet started out as a place for academics and researchers to trade data and knowledge. Recapture the web's brain-expanding potential with these free resources for educating yourself online.
http://lifehacker.com/5188342/top-10-tools-for-a-free-online-education
Cursor
March 27, 2009
Quote of the day
YOU might be a school employee if you believe that unspeakable evils will befall you if anyone says, 'Boy, the kids sure are mellow today.'
To the Sky
A story built 140 characters at a time. If you are a twitter users...log on and add your line...add a hashmark "#tothesky"
Jelly Bean two
How to Start a Twitter Novel
Twitter Novels are one use of Twitter that many of us would never consider - but there's a growing number of Twitter Novelists exploring the medium. Today Brandon J. Mendelson, author of The Falcon Can Hear The Falconer (a Twitter Novel) gives some tips for writing Twitter Novels.
Online identity
Academic Earth
Thousands of video lectures from the world's top scholars.
Academic Earth - Video lectures from the world's top scholars
Are computer games a literary genre?
Sci-fi has a nobler literary tradition than you might think. Doris Lessing, Iain Banks trading as Iain M Banks and Toby Litt have all turned their hand to it, so you can see why Edinburgh Napier University has chosen to run a creative writing MA in science fiction. But a module in creative writing for computer games seems a step too far.
Blog: Are computer games a literary genre?
The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching
Love this article...
The Heart of a Teacher: Identity and Integrity in Teaching, by Parker J. Palmer
Quote of the day
"You can't teach people everything they need to know. The best you can do is position them where they can find what they need to know when they need to know it."
Seymour Papert
Women Menus
101 Undiscovered Freebies: The List
We scoured the Internet to come up with 101 innovative, entirely free downloads and services. Here's the whole collection.
101 Undiscovered Freebies: The List - PC World
March 26, 2009
Weblogg-ed » Kids Owning the Learning
It's hard to capture everything that's cool about the Wooranna Park Primary School in a blog post, but let me boil it down to this: the kids are driving the learning, from the design of the school and the curriculum to the decision making around school policy and more.
Weblogg-ed » Kids Owning the Learning
Images
Twitter Beta
Quote of the day
"If we don't focus on the experience dimension of learning, we run the risk of mistaking the publishing of information for learning and training"
Elliott Masie
Invention Playhouse
Now this is just plain old fun....love it.
Lemelson Center's Invention at Play: Invention Playhouse
Biology in Motion
Original, entertaining, interactive biology learning activities
Meeting agenda in March 21 2001
Meeting Agenda with Superintendents.
When do we split the classes?
How many students is a full classes?
Do we have a waiting list?
What is the deadline date for allowing students to take cyberschool?
Do we allow full time cyber students?
School Colours?
Sports teams?
When do we know about the next set of developers?
Do we have a priority list?
Do we allow people to audit the course?
Do we want to build partnerships with University...Siast...who will co-ordinate this process?
Do we want to communicate with SaskEd the courses we have and are planning to develop so they do not do the same ones?
Ownership of courses....contract?
Giving SaskEd the right to put these courses on a non-secure server?
Partnership between International Student program and cyberschool?
Teacher/Parent Interviews...necessary or not?
Last day to drop class?
How many courses should a developer do?
How many courses should a developer teach?
Do we limit the number of elementary students taking courses?
If so how?
Do we set the prerequisites based on SaskEd?
Do we need a counselor on-line?
Do we allow students to retake classes...do we charge them twice?
Do we have a double standard...in system out of system?
Do we have end dates?
Do we have start dates?
Grad for the student who finishes their high school at cyber school.
New area (upper...lower)?
Photocopy machine in the new area?
Secretary number of hours?
Money collection....letters sent to Dave
Exchange course area...is it valuable enough to pay for the registration spots?
The following types of students are taking classes at the cyberschool. How do we deal with each of them?
Registered In SCS
Elementary students
High School students
Homeschoolers
Not registered in SCS but registered elsewhere.
Elementary students
High School students
Homeschoolers
Upgraders
Not registered anywhere
Elementary students
High School students
Homeschoolers
Upgraders
Students registered at schools that are not Sasked schools
Native Reserves
Courses -- Open Yale Courses
Sounds like the MIT concept is catching on...
NSC Interactive Whiteboard Links
Here are some links that can be powerful whole-group instructional tools when used on an interactive whiteboard. These are grouped by subject area and subdivided by grade band.
These resources are provided FREE for all Georgia Educators and other educators worldwide by the Educational Technology Center housed at the National Science Center in Augusta, Georgia.
ETTC @ NSC Interactive Whiteboard Links
ELearning Development Questions
Educators and trainers just like you are being asked to create online education programs to cut training and operations costs. Before plunging into developing an elearning program answer these five questions. Use the comments area to ask other question about developing elearning.
ELearning Development Questions | EPS411 ELearning Design and Production
Six technologies soon to affect education
New report describes the emerging technologies that will shape K-12 education in the near future
Top News - Six technologies soon to affect education
A bit ansi
March 25, 2009
How Zoombini games help Children Learn
One of the best-known educational games among educational gaming professionals is The Logical Journey of the Zoombinis-an early entrant into the field of educational games, and an extremely thoughtful and challenging puzzle game for kids.
Breaking Away From Tradition
As the world of online education continues to evolve, brick-and-mortar schools are incorporating digital curricula and virtual teachers into their classrooms in surprising ways.
Education Week: March 26, 2009
Letter to cyber parents 2001
March 9, 2001
Dear Cyber School Parents.
We would like to congratulate you on allowing your child the opportunity to be part of the cyber school alternative. The Internet enables education to occur in places where it normally does not. It extends resources where there are few, expands the learning day, and opens the learning place. We experienced how the Internet connects people, communities, and resources to support learning. We witnessed how the Internet adds graphics, sound, video, and interaction to give teachers and students multiple paths for understanding. The cyber school developed by the Saskatoon Catholic School System has met with rave reviews. However, one of the reoccurring questions we get asked is:
"What is the role of the parent of a cyber school student?"
Some helpful suggestions are for parents to:
• be directly involved in the daily supervision of their student's time on task.
• assist their child with time management.
• establish an appropriate computer workstation that is semi-private.
• maintain communication with your child's teacher/teachers when resolving problems.
The next question that will come to your mind is:
"How do I, as a parent, do these things?"
Parents should be aware that there are on-line assists provided by SCCS to help. If you require assistance, please contact your child's teacher or Mr. Cannell at the address below.
• Parents should use the student's username and password to access student information on SCCS.
• All classes will post calendars which can be viewed by parents when discussing a student's schedule for the day/week.
• Students can add private items on this same calendar, which can be viewed only by that student.
• Parents and students can see current marks and completion status attained by the student in SCCS as well.
Parents are the primary educational facilitators for their children. Parent support is a significant factor in students being successful with this alternative type of education.
We are here to help!
Cost of Dropping out...
The failure to complete high school has enormous fiscal implications in terms of expenditures on social services and programs, education, employment, criminality, lower economic productivity, and health.
Research Shows Evolving Picture of E-Education
Online classes may be a relatively young instructional practice for K-12 schools, but experts already generally agree on one point: Research shows that virtual schooling can be as good as, or better than, classes taught in person in brick-and-mortar schools.
Education Week: Research Shows Evolving Picture of E-Education
Card Trick
Cyber Bookshelf
Quote of the day
"Moving from the one-room schoolhouse to the one-world schoolhouse is now a reality."
Cisco Systems
Super user abuse
March 24, 2009
Why Teens are Lousy at Chores
Finally researchers have come up with a reason other than pure laziness for why teenagers can't shower and brush their teeth or unload the dishwasher and wipe down the counter.
Blame it on "cognitive limitations." Their brains can't multitask as well as those of the taskmasters.
Why Teens are Lousy at Chores | LiveScience
Does e-learning have a future?
Donald Taylor's opinion piece on trainingzone prompted me to reflect that we are really just at the end of the beginning for e-learning - in its broadest sense - to transform the way we educate and train in the future.
Lars is Learning: Does e-learning have a future?
Social network sites 'monitored'
Social networking sites like Facebook could be monitored by the UK government under proposals to make them keep details of users' contacts.
BBC NEWS | UK | Social network sites 'monitored'
TADO Picture Showcase
Over the last couple of months we have been putting together a gallery of copyright free images that we can use in our courses. By asking people in facebook to join the Teaching and Developing Online Fan group and share their images we have built a great collection. Thanks to Raylene for all her work in adding images to the collection. If you are on facebook join the group and add your images.
We hit the 250 members mark which is so exciting...
We have 1,069 images
We have added 636 to the TADO Picture Gallery and continue to add we will catch up soon...
Take a sec and check out the gallery...
Feel free to comment and vote for your favourite images.
And last but not least keep adding those images...you have made a very cool collection so far...so keep them coming.
Yahooooo
Parents Push For Online Learning | The Virtual Education Blog
Maryland parents made a pitch to Annapolis lawmakers Tuesday to create a virtual classroom where children would go online for lessons.
Parents Push For Online Learning | The Virtual Education Blog
Weird
Quote of the day
"The biggest obstacle to innovation is thinking it can be done the old way."
Jim Wetherbe, Texas Tech, 1990.
Google invading privacy.
4.5 lessons from Twitter
You can tell that Twitter has added something important to the ecosystem by the volume of the snickering. If you dismiss it by asking "Why do I care what you had for breakfast?", there are only two choices. First, you're saying everyone on Twitter is an idiot. Second, you don't understand what you're talking about. As a Twitterer (dweinberger), I'm going to go with Option #2.
David Weinberger: 4.5 lessons from Twitter
Darren's TADO bookshelf
I have the following books in my office if anyone would like to borrow one stop by...
2009 Twitter and Facebook Demographics and Statistics Report
Aside from Facebook, Twitter is perhaps the most important and interesting social media platform on the web. The following information will give you a good look at Twitter and Facebook from a demographic perspective:
2009 Twitter Demographics and Statistics Report | iStrategyLabs
2009 Facebook Demographics and Statistics Report | iStrategyLabs
Computers work
March 23, 2009
Jelly Bean
Parents feel excluded by children
Many parents feel "excluded" by their children's reluctance to tell them anything about their time spent at school, suggests a survey.
BBC NEWS | Education | Parents feel excluded by children
Advantages and disadvantages of online classes
Distance education bridges that divide and helps those who otherwise could not gain the benefit of higher education the means to achieve their educational goals.
Students weigh advantages and disadvantages of online classes - Features
eLearning Learning
Community assembled resources to learn about elearning.
Digital natives coming to a school near you.
He is my nephew and an inspirational boy who I have the pleasure of seeing regularly on family visits. I have received parental consent to use images and footage of this 5 year old from my sister in-law, his mother, but do not think I needed to get a form filled out. Reading the tweet from Andy I remembered that two years ago I was surprised that at the age of 3 Noah was for the first time allowed to go on the computer. What was interesting is watching as he was willing to click and learn everything from scratch.
Quote of the day
"The best learning happens in real life with real problems and real people and not in classrooms."
Charles Handy
An anthropological introduction to YouTube
Create a Comic - Pixton™ - Create web comic strips online
Award-winning click-and-drag comic creator
Customize everything right on the page
Move characters into any pose
Create a Comic - Pixton™ - Create web comic strips online
God Complex
Historical stats... 2001
February 19, 2001
Statistics from the Registration Survey
Total number of responses...85
Are you presently in school?
Yes....75 No....10
How did you hear about the cyber school?
Television.................................0
Radio.......................................1
Newspaper..............................2
Internet....................................4
Presentation.............................7
Newsletter.............................18
School Notices......................29
Friend....................................32
Teacher.................................48
What level of computer user are you?
Below Average.....................1
Advanced.............................13
Above Average....................30
Average................................42
What kind of computer do you have at home?
Mac........................................0
Other......................................3
Windows.................................82
How many years have you been working on computers?
0-1.....................................3
1-3.....................................25
3-5.....................................19
5+.......................................39
How many hours do you spend on the internet per week?
0.........................................2
1-3.....................................21
3-5......................................22
5-10....................................27
10+......................................14
Can you type more than 25 words per minute?
Yes........................................49
No.........................................3
Maybe...................................33
What course other than the ones presently being offered would you like to see on-line.
History....................10
Christian Ethics.........6
English A30..............6
Computer Science....6
Biology.....................6
Math B30.................6
Math A30.................5
Math C30.................5
Chemistry.................5
Science 90................5
Math 10....................4
Info 20......................3
Law 30....................3
All others mentioned had only one vote.
Art of Innovation - Guy Kawasaki
Last week was at a conference where the Keynote speaker was Guy kawasaki. He had an excellent discussion on 10 truths on the art of innovation.
ZedProMarketing » Art of Innovation - Guy Kawasaki
March 22, 2009
Amazing Eye Macros (23 Pictures) | Village Of Joy
Wow this is some great images...
Amazing Eye Macros (23 Pictures) | Village Of Joy
Ideas to Inspire
'Ideas to Inspire' is a collection of collaborative presentations, which offer a large number of ideas for engaging lesson activities. They are the result of the collaboration of teachers from all around the world.
Board ready? 2000
TADO PPT's
Quote of the day
"People love to learn but hate to be taught"
Michael Yacobian, internationally renowned trainer
Biblical computers
March 21, 2009
Cyber School Challenges 2000
TADO PPT's
Quote of the day
"Technological change is the only constant in our work today"
Unattrib
If computers could talk...
March 20, 2009
TADO PPT's
Quote of the day
"Learning is not compulsory ... neither is survival."
W Edwards Derning
48 of the Coolest, Stylish and Creative Lego Creations : Speckyboy Design Magazine
These Lego designs are not all the biggest, not all the most intricate and not all the famous...but they are really, really cool. You could almost call these designs art, they carry the style and character of each talented and creative designer.
48 of the Coolest, Stylish and Creative Lego Creations : Speckyboy Design Magazine
Cyber School 2000 Document 3
Ah Interesting
March 19, 2009
Cyber proposed budget 2001...
This is not what I got if I remember correctly but it is interesting to see the way the brain was working eight years ago,
January 22, 2001
Budget for Cyber School
1.) Software 500.00
2) Projector 4000.00
3) Webct Licence 1000.00
4) Secretary's machine 2000.00
5) Printer cartridges 5 X 125.00
6) Webct Certification 4000.00
7) Computer Paper 400.00
8) Office Supplies 500.00
9) Developer's Travel 3000.00
10) Developer's Conference registration 3000.00
11) Development of new Courses 85,000.00
12) Brochures and Advertising 1500.00
13) Business Cards 150.00
14) Letterhead and envelope 250.00
15) Telephone Long distance 200.00
Renovations...10,000 wiring and millwork 10000
Office supplies 11 teachers desks. 11 X 200 5000
Office chairs 3 300 X3 900.00
New developers machines 3 X 2000 6000.00
TADO PPT's
DocMazy
DocMazy is a search tool that takes a specific concern into account, namely looking up documents on the World Wide Web. The folks behind it explain that their aim was coming up with a solution that would enable anybody to find only the files that they are looking for, be them PDFs, Word documents or PowerPoint presentations, and do so in an instant manner. The idea is to dispense with the clutter and provide the user only with relevant results, and to let him browse through these in a hassle-free fashion.
Quote of the day
"A single conversation with a wise man is better than 10 years of study."
Chinese Proverb
What Web 3.0 Might Look Like
Paul Levinson, a professor of media studies at Fordham in NYC, talks here about what Web 3.0 might look like. (Start the video at 17:23.)
This clip comes from a YouTube channel called The Alcove, a program that features interviews with various influential thinkers. We're adding the channel to our post called Intelligent YouTube: 80 Smart Video Collections
http://www.oculture.com/2009/03/what_web_30_might_look_like.html
Seven Principles: Using Technology to Improve Learning
This video, a shorter and better version of an earlier post, can be used to guide a workshop for faculty on how to use technology to improve learning.
Seven Principles: Using Technology to Improve Learning « leelearning
Cyber School 2000 Document 2
Speed up your machine
Google's pictures of UK go live
Google has launched the UK version of its Street View service, which allows users to browse a selection of pictures taken along city streets.
Street scenes in 25 UK cities from Aberdeen to Southampton can be viewed using the service.
The Netherlands version of the service also launched on Thursday, bringing the number of countries covered to nine.
BBC NEWS | Technology | Google's pictures of UK go live
1% Chance at the Dream of Online Success
I'm guessing that less than 1/1000th of 1% of all websites provide enough income to enable their owner to rely solely on that income.
I'll go a step further... Even among very motivated people that focus a lot of time and energy on creating a successful website with the goal of reaching the online American dream - there's still less than a 1% chance of success for them too.
1% Chance at the Dream of Online Success
Slides On The Go! SlideShare Launches Mobile Site
My user name for slideshare is dcannell. Check out the powerpoints we have about the cyber school.
Slides On The Go! SlideShare Launches Mobile Site
Google or Big Brother?
Google is the go-to provider of many things online-search, email, maps, and more. But have you ever stopped to consider all of the information you're sharing with Google? Read on, and find out all of the dirt that Google has on you.
25 Surprising Things That Google Knows About You by e-Justice Blog
A Parent's guide to technology.
March 18, 2009
Interactive Teaching Programs (ITPs) Mathematics
The Primary Framework has been designed to support teachers and schools to deliver high quality learning and teaching for all children. It contains detailed guidance and materials to support literacy and mathematics in primary schools and settings.
Interactive Teaching Programs (ITPs)
Rhee Tackles Classroom Challenge - TIME
In 11th grade, Allante Rhodes spent 50 minutes a day in a Microsoft Word class at Anacostia Senior High School in Washington. He was determined to go to college, and he figured that knowing Word was a prerequisite. But on a good day, only six of the school's 14 computers worked. He never knew which ones until he sat down and searched for a flicker of life on the screen. "It was like Russian roulette," says Rhodes, a tall young man with an older man's steady gaze. If he picked the wrong computer, the teacher would give him a handout. He would spend the rest of the period learning to use Microsoft Word with a pencil and paper.
Rhee Tackles Classroom Challenge - TIME
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Methods of dealing with large numbers in courses
Here is a tip if you are having problems staying ahead of your cyber courses.
Justification for the CIF.
As the numbers in our courses get larger we have to start to put together techniques to make your life as an instructor easier. The 150 day calendar puts extra stress on our ability to follow students. This is going to be a suggestion to help with the tracking of students.
http://www.scs.sk.ca/cyber/cif/dealing.htm
TADO PPT's
Quote of the day
"It's what we think we know that keeps us from learning"
Claude Bernard
Editorial: Online learning can supplement classroom study
Technology is advancing so quickly these days that students can take a number of classes online. And while that works well for busy professionals who are continuing their education or looking for a career change, it's relatively new at the high school level -- or even younger. It's part of a developing idea that the way our children will learn in the future is changing.
Editorial: Online learning can supplement classroom study
Never mind the technology, where's the learning?
Pedagogy has moved a long way in 40 years despite the computer.
FACEBOOK COULD KILL GOOGLE -- Analyst (GOOG)
Ross Sandler of RBC has done what every good analyst should do, which is say something interesting. What Ross has said is that, at its current growth rate, Facebook will surpass Google in size by 2011-2012.
FACEBOOK COULD KILL GOOGLE -- Analyst (GOOG)
As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up
Last week, a juror in a big federal drug trial in Florida admitted to the judge that he had been doing research on the case on the Internet, directly violating the judge's instructions and centuries of legal rules. But when the judge questioned the rest of the jury, he got an even bigger shock. Eight other jurors had been doing the same thing. The federal judge, William J. Zloch, had no choice but to declare a mistrial.
As Jurors Turn to Web, Mistrials Are Popping Up - NYTimes.com
Cyber school 2000 document 1
Home is...
TADO PPT's
March 17, 2009
Report October 30 2000
October 30, 2000
Please excuse the grammar and spelling in this informal report.
Midterm Report
Well, let me tell you how much fun this has been, this has been the most exciting, frustrating fun education experience I have ever been involved with. This form of education is unbelievable both for the teacher and also the students. Certain things that we thought would happen did and other things have surprised us, we are so far into the unknown that every day is surprising us with new achievements and challenges.
We have registered more than one hundred students, with a drop out rate of about 12 percent. This is slightly higher than I thought but just reminds us that this type of schooling is not for everyone. Some of the Sask Ed. people were mentioning that the correspondence school that has a drop out rate of 50+ percent. I believe ours is so much lower because of the teacher being available and the efforts to make the students feel like they are part of a class. We are teaching the three classes and on October 15 stopped registering students for this semester. All students registered after this date have been moved to the second semester. This will allow us to do some catch up when it comes to updating and finalizing the look of the courses. We are still working an in-human number of hours, but the payoff has been the fact that the courses are becoming more and more interactive. Students are starting to settle into a routine and are spending time learning. The discussion board area is the most interesting tool in the information processing class while the chat room seems to be more of a fluff tool. More of a social tool than an educational one. The marking of the tests has gone smoothly and most of the other tools work very well.
The turn over to the new server was a major improvement in the ability for us to work on-line. It is so much faster and more exciting. This is something we must keep in mind, the faster we can make things for the developer the happier they will be. The newer machines and chairs make the work a little easier.
Ken and Tony are both discussing the concern about their home computer. The two of them are spending a lot of hours at school because they do not have an acceptable machine at home. Therefore we are supply high speed at home to people who do not have machines to use it. Maybe this is something that we have to address in the future. Where do we stop supplying the tools for developers and presenters? What is needed to make their lives easier?
We may want to look at putting together a team of technical people to support the developers. The release time that we have been given may not have been enough. The learning of the computers skills and programs is starting to drag on the developers and making it difficult for them to keep the hours down. The learning curve is not getting smaller, it just keeps expanding based on newer, faster and better technology that someone has to learn and then teach the new stuff to the developers. This cannot be done if they are still trying to complete course material.
The room we are working in is a little tight...developers are back to back but the brain trust in this room is very very scary. We could take over the world if we could just find the time.
Dave Elder is finding teaching and extracurricular is getting in the way of him developing. He is getting very good at using some of the newer technology. He is using the high speed at home extensively.
The new developers have all been matched up with one of the vets and they seem to be working very well as teams...not a bad thought for the future. Having all the developers in one room has been a good idea...it has allowed us to brain storm ideas and work through problems collectively.
Administration wise...the registration procedure is getting cleaner but it is still very hard to keep track of students. Students who have decided to drop or change schools tend to throw curves into the process. We are building a filing system and data bank to keep track of these students. All the planning is keeping in mind that it needs to work for schools outside our system as well. At first I thought that the secretary would be good to have and would allow us to support the developers. To date the secretary has been only working on administration. It may be necessary to increase her to a ½ time secretary to assist in keeping contact with the contacts at the schools. We might also need to get her a machine to work on in the pod area. We think it might be necessary to meet with the people in each building that are responsible for the cyber school to see if there is any way we can make the registration and reporting period better. It still seems to be clunky and students do fall through the cracks. Since this time, I have gone to each of the high schools and have some ideas on how to make this process better.
The students are starting to find that this method of education is very exciting and they are starting to sell the courses for us . . . they talk and they are our best form of advertisement . . . however they are still inside our system . . . when we go outside we need to have a coordinated concentrated method of advertising and it might cost us some money. I am planning for this day.
I have started the process of becoming certified in WEBct. This is going to be a long and expensive process but I agree that it is a necessary one. I will make this happen.
A final story before I sign off...
I called a student named Zoe thinking this was a girl...I dialed her home number to see why she had not been on line for a large number of days. I asked if I could speak to Zoe...if she was home. The mother was very silent for a period and then stated that Zoe was a guy...I proceeded to tell her that this was his teacher and that this might be one of the drawbacks of this education. But it certainly eliminates sexism in education.
A final thought...
I also got an e-mail...it stated...I thought this was going to be fun...it is not I quit. It is important that we let the students know this is still a course and they will be expected to do 120 hours of work...it is not a video game.
K-12 Online Learning And Open Access Literature
he literature related to online learning programs for K-12 students dates to the mid-1990s and builds upon a century of research and practice from K-12 distance education. While K-12 online learning programs have evolved and grown over the past decade, the amount of published research on virtual schooling practice and policy is limited. The current literature includes practitioner reports and experimental and quasi-experimental studies, both published and unpublished. This paper reviews open access literature in K-12 online learning and reports on a structured content analysis of the documents. Themes in the literature include steady growth and a focus on the benefits, challenges, and broad effectiveness of K-12 online learning. In addition, newly developed standards for K-12 online learning are emerging in descriptions of effective practices.
K-12 Online Learning And Open Access Literature « Virtual High School Meanderings
Quote of the day
!sgub evah t'nseod CP sihT ?sgub naem ayaddahW
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Life-like walking female robot
Japanese scientists have unveiled a female humanoid walking robot at Tsukuba City, north east of Tokyo.
The robot, named HRP-4C, has 30 motors in its body that allow it to walk and move its arms as well as eight motors on its face to create expressions like anger and surprise.
BBC NEWS | Science & Environment | Life-like walking female robot
Rob Hubbard's twitter about this made me laugh...
"And they look like us too...I've seen terminator - I know where this ends. I'm off to beat my toaster to death."
Elementary Virtual Assessment FOR Learning Fair
Teachers in the City of Salem School Division have created projects showing their use of assessment for learning to share with their colleagues in the division and throughout the world. This blog showcases projects submitted by elementary (grades K-5) teachers.
Elementary Virtual Assessment FOR Learning Fair
That hurts.
TADO PPT's
March 16, 2009
Online material replacing textbooks
If a tree doesn't fall in the forest, online technology could deserve some of the credit.
Officials at B.C.'s Sprott-Shaw Community College estimate their efforts to cut textbooks from a range of business classes have saved 26 trees since last September. Textbooks are now passe in 11 courses at seven of Sprott-Shaw's B.C. campuses, including those in Victoria, Duncan and Nanaimo.
Online material replacing textbooks for B.C. business students
A first attempt at a policy
In December 2000 we tried our hand at the first cyber school policy... I like the reference to a filing cabinet, so much for virtual...
Procedure for students who have changed School, Semesters, Course or drops.
1.) Write Name on List On Filing Cabinet.
2.)Get student to complete Application to Discontinue a Class Form.
Http://www.scs.sk.ca/cyber/drop.htm
3.) Print students marks. (place on filing cabinet)
4.) Print student tracking. (place on filing cabinet)
5.) Contact Home school. (See Cyber Contact list)
Use the right word...
At the Sunday morning church service, the minister asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express praise for answered prayers.
A lady stood and walked to the podium. She said, "I have a Praise. Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle accident and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was terrible and the doctors didn't know if they could help him." You could hear a muffled gasp from all the men in the congregation as they imagined the pain that poor Tom must have experienced.
"Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every movement caused him terrible pain.. We prayed as the doctors performed a very delicate operation, which lasted for over five hours, and it
turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place." Again, the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery that was performed on Tom.
"Now," she announced in a quavering voice, "thank the Lord, after six weeks, Tom is now out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely." All the men sighed with relief.
The minister rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say.
A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He said, "I'm Tom." The entire congregation held its breath. "I just want to tell my wife that the word is sternum."
Be Realistic
TADO PPT's
March 15, 2009
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old. ~ Franz Kafka
TADO PPT's
SCCS Personal Brain
This is a person brain of TADO... it is an overview vision of a teaching and developing online strategy.
http://www.scs.sk.ca/cyber/jan09brain/index.html
Comments welcome
Dimdim: Web conferencing that just works.
March 14, 2009
SchoolWAX | Don't Get Stuck!
Don't Get Stuck! SchoolWAX provides you with everything you need to be successful. This free website saves you time so you can focus on what really matters. Everything you need is in one place. Homework has never been easier!
SchoolWAX includes useful links to websites on every school subject, quick links to search engines for specific questions, and is a great resource for all grade levels. To get started click on your grade level and start accessing all the free resources SchoolWAX has to offer. Homework will never be the same again!
IT Survey Reveals Key Findings, Adds New Insights
SchoolDude.com and eSchool News have partnered for a second year, along with the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), to conduct a survey of more than 600 school district leaders and IT administrators. Key findings from this latest survey, conducted in November and December of 2008, are similar to the previous year, indicating that IT funding and staffing remain the top issues for IT professionals. A newly emerging challenge, however, is the rapidly expanding demand for school bandwidth, due to the rise in use of video applications such as video streaming, YouTube, and TeacherTube.
SchoolDude - Second Annual School IT Survey Reveals Key Findings, Adds New Insights
Some SCCS statistics. August 25 2000
August 25, 2000
The WWW Homepage.
Total page accesses...2178
Days in Operation...177.5
Hits per day...12
Netscape viewers...53%
MSIE...19%
Windows...95%
Macintosh...4%
Monday hits...16%
Tuesday hits...20%
Wednesday...21%
Thursday...16%
Friday...13%
Saturday...8%
Sunday...6%
Number of Registered students
Numbers
BJM Math 90...1 Info 10...5 Physics 30...4 English B30...7 Total...17
EDF..................0...................5.......................6........................5................17
ST JOE.............1...................7.......................3........................3................14
HC.....................1..................3.......................3........................1.................8
Others...............1..................3.......................0........................0.................4
ELEM.................8..................5.......................0........................0.................13
Total..................12.................29....................16.......................16...............73
Course Usage
English B30...6910 kb
Math 90...123245 kb
Physics 30...51637 kb
Info10...279264 kb
Landline phones a thing of the past?
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
Everyone has talent at twenty-five. The difficulty is to have it at fifty. ~ Edgar Degas
Neurotic
TADO PPT's
March 13, 2009
The 10-20-30 rule of powerpoint presenting
No more than 10 slides in a sixty minute presentation.
No more than 20 minutes of slide based information
No small than 30 font size
Thanks to Guy Kawasaki
The Semantic Web in Education
What happens when the read-write web gets smart enough to help us organize and evaluate the information it provides?
Facebook cheating scandal nothing new
Students are accused of cheating all the time. And yet, when you add Facebook to the mix, every newspaper in Canada publishes a story.
Such is the case for newly-minted celebrity Chris Avenir, who is facing expulsion from Ryerson for his role in a Facebook study group. The first-year engineering student is the subject of multiple articles in the Globe, the Post, CBC, the Star, community papers, and student papers from all over North America. For all his headlines, Avenir has attracted a crowd of supporters (fans) who claim sharing answers online is not cheating. They have a website where users can sign a petition and even purchase "Chris Didn't Cheat" hats and t-shirts.
http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/2008/03/18/facebook-cheating-scandal-nothing-new/
Guy Kawasaki Keynote
This is a link to the audio of Guy Kawasaki keynote at the Adeta Symposium 2009.
The best place
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence. ~ Robert G. Ingersoll
10 habits of geeks
Everyone has annoying habits, and a sizable part of every successful marriage is learning to live with those things each other does that annoy you. I think it's safe to say, too, that geeks have some habits that we think are awesome, but that non-geeks find a little...less awesome.
http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2009/03/10-annoying-hab.html
Suggested at the conference as a good read.
This blog was suggested by Karen Brown at the Symposium 2009.
ICT Illustrative Examples Database
To support the curriculum, a set of illustrative examples have been developed to further clarify the intent of the technology outcomes and to convey how students might demonstrate their competencies in a variety of contexts and across all grade levels.
http://education.alberta.ca/apps/ict/ie.asp
TADO PPT's
March 12, 2009
This was the SCCS secretary in 2000
SCCS Secretary
• Two hours a day in the afternoon.
• Working in the Pod.
• From 1p.m. until 3 p.m. because that is when we will have seven people in the room.
• At the moment the teachers have not built an extensive quiz base to eliminate the need for textbooks. The hold up is strictly transcribing all the questions they have developed over the years of teaching.
• Email schools throughout the province with promotional material
• Burning of CD for courses.
• Glossary bases for each of the courses need to be typed to build a science, computer, math, english and other subject area data bank that can be accessed by the students.
• Each school needs to be sent a list of their students.
• Develop a more streamline hard copy of the registration procedure for the schools.
• Hard copies of students records need to be filed.
• Midterm marks and final grades need to be printed and mailed.
• Schools need to be sent the results from their students.
• A data bank of students needs to be developed and maintained.
• Daily prayer needs to be collect from the different sources and placed online.
• Typing of text for the courses.
• Assisting in the development of a recording method to track teachers' behaviour online.
• Faxing and photocopying.
• Assist in the contacting of other school boards.
• Assist in the development of a tour to advertise this project.
• Assist in the development of a brochure for the hearing, and visually impaired.
• Transcribe audio files to text for impaired and to assist some files.
• Assist in the collection and organizing data collected from the students about their online behaviour.
• Assist in the contacting of guest speakers for the school.
• Assist in the searching of the web for web sites that pertain to online subject areas.
• Organization of software that is used for SCCS, make sure we have backups of all software.
• Assist in the building of icon data banks that will pertain to subject areas.
• Assist in the development of a manual that will be used to orient new developers.
• Develop a student handbook that will assist them in orientating.
• Help with updates on the SCCS web page, add research when found.
• Develop a procedure manual for the registration of students.
• Help develop a copyright policy.
• Help develop a contract for developers.
Tony Shares.
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
I doubt if one ever accepts a belief until one urgently needs it. ~ Christopher Isherwood
12 elearning predictions for 2009
Last year he laid out in January his Ten Predictions for eLearning 2008. In his post, 2008 2009 - written in December 2008, he looked at how well he did in those predictions, and his results were pretty good, not perfect. So, he tried it again this year ...
http://elearningtech.blogspot.com/2009/01/12-elearning-predictions-for-2009.html
25 Surprising Ways You Are Harming your Brain
What happens if I do 20 of the 25...sorry mister brain sorry.
http://www.onlinedegreeworld.com/blog/2009/25-surprising-ways-you-are-harming-your-brain/
TADO PPT's
March 11, 2009
Job offer for me in 2000
May 24, 2000
At this time, I have been presented two proposals for my position for next year. In a nutshell, two possibilities, I become assistant principal at Holy Cross (.75 admin, .25 cyber admin) or I remain project leader at SCCS (.75 admin .25 teacher).
So like most things in my life I weighed the positives and the negatives and decided to stay as the project leader for the cyber school. In time I did become the administrator for the cyber school but not right away.
The Assistant Principal Positives.
- Good for my career.
- Working with Dennis
- Understand Holy Cross after 6 months
- Wage
- Large Learning Curve.
- Understood by all
- Has the cyber school housed here.
- Back in main stream.
The Cyber school Positives
- A new unique initiative.
- Computers
- Working with the teachers involved.
- See course working.
- Finish project.
- Bring new leader up to speed.
- Flexible hours
- Develop vision.
- Large learning curve
- Understanding of whole system.
The Assistant Principal Negatives.
- In same building as Cyber school
- Unknown workload.
- Masters
- Computer
- Will not do justice to both.
- Mentally not possible to commit to both.
- Setting SCCS back a year.
- Selfish
The Cyber school Negatives
- Wage
- Unknown elements.
- Politics from downtown.
- Hours
- Lack of technology at home.
- Not understood by all.
The most logical and best thing for the system is for me to stay as project leader for one more year. The only reason I am not being given that position is because the administration gave me their word that the cyber school will not stay in the way of my career. I appreciate the fact they are men of their word but me leaving will hurt the project, and a year from now it will not. I will be taking a large pay cut by not taking the A.P. position. The difference is about 8 thousand dollars over the year. What kind of a person would I be if I took the A.P. position and let 6 months of work fall behind. At the same time they know that if I take the A.P. position I will be making sure the SCCS position is working fine, which will result in me spreading myself very thin or not doing justice to either position. The fact that I have been guaranteed a A.P. position in the 2001-2002 year is a positive development but who will that effect if there is no movement in that year.
Maybe the difference in salary can be made up somehow if I decide to stay with the Cyber School? Pay for my masters?
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
Wear your learning, like your watch, in a private pocket: and do not pull it out and strike it, merely to show that you have one. ~ Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield
TADO PPT's
SCCS Promo
March 10, 2009
Hybrid Uses
Making the Most of Virtual Classrooms
An interesting read...
Making the Most of Virtual Classrooms and Self-Paced
Presentations--Guidelines for Rapid E-Learning
Revised job description 2000
One month after the first attempt at a job description for the cyber school administrator we put together this more professional one.
Professional Staff, Duties and Responsibilities
Cyber School Administrator.
The duties of the administrator shall be carried out under the direction of the assigned principal.
• The chief responsibilities related to the Instructional Program are:
• Foster development of courses and programs compatible with the philosophy, goals and objectives of the cyber school.
• evaluate and adapt programs with a view to students needs in this environment.
• co-ordinate development of courses across subject departments and schools.
• organize and facilitate inservice programs for staff.
• assume responsibility for student timetabling
• assist in teacher timetabling in schools
• assist in the preparation of the instructional budget
• supervise teachers, with emphasis on gaining insight into teacher and student needs in the instructional program and on adapting and improving teaching techniques for this method of delivery.
• The chief responsibilities related to the operation of the cyber school are:
• Student Services
• Student extra-curricular programs
• chaplain services
• reception of students
• information
• health, safety and security
• Attendance
• develop and maintain policy
• determine procedures
• maintain records
• Student Behaviour
• promote an atmosphere which will foster desirable student teacher relationships
• oversee supervision of students
• develop and maintain policy regarding rules and expectations with respect to conduct
• Record and report teacher absence
• Exercise general supervision of the facilities of the cyber school.
• Assist in the preparation of school budget
• Supervise teachers with emphasis on gaining insight into teacher and student needs in the instructional program and to improve teacher online teaching techniques.
Math Worksheet Generator
Math Worksheet Generator - Free - Practice Math with these Worksheets
Test Your Geography Knowledge
StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers
StarChild: A Learning Center for Young Astronomers
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
The quicker humanity advances, the more important it is to be the one who deals the first blow. ~ Ernst Kaltenbrunner
March 9, 2009
Hybrid Registration information
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
The wisest man is he who does not fancy that he is so at all. ~ Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux
SCCS Job Description 2000
Job Description for Project Leader 2000-2001
Darren Cannell
Teaching one section online in first semester and one online and one in a classroom, if time permits in the second semester. Information Processing 10 for all sections
The remainder of the time would be spent administering this project.
Administration Duties
1. Register the use of WEBCT
2. Monitoring the behavior of the students, teachers and adults online.
3. Co-ordinate the online guests within the School community and in the individual courses.
4. Co-ordinate daily prayer.
5. Co-ordinate announcements.
6. Answer e-mail from the school.
7. Co-ordinate the necessity for students to come in to write a test.
8. Assist in the need for onsite labs or field trips.
9. Maintain the Website.
10. Assist students, developers and others in the copyright problems that the school might encounter.
11. Develop a common set of rules for the school. (I.E. language in the chat rooms)
12. Develop an common introduction to webct courses
13. Publish a newsletter for the online students.
14. Develop backup plan in case of network problems
15. Develop a method of handling technological problems that students will encounter.
16. Review the webct platform at the regular intervals for patches and newer versions.
17. Attend meetings and conferences in search of a better platform.
18. Upgrade equipment and techniques to stay at the cutting edge of this type of education.
19. Co-ordinate the equipment differences that might be need for courses. (I.E. art class might need a scanner)
20. discipline of students
21. develop disclosure policy when working within chat rooms
22. mark submission for catholic students
23. evaluation of course content
24. extra curricular involvement (when does a student become a catholic school student or a public school student)
25. Counselors online?
26. Priest online?
27. Supervision of the Chat rooms in the school.
28. Use of courses in others classrooms
29. Co-ordinate registration of students.
30. Co-ordinate electronic registration of students within classes.
31. Distribution of passwords to students
32. Develop method of students entering the school via home page....sign in page...?
33. Registration of software need for each of the courses. I.E. Microsoft word for Information Processing 10 and Corel WP for Information Processing 20.
34. Register our site online with search engines around the world.
35. Co-ordinate students registration at different times of the year.
36. Develop an e-mail group within the schools to keep counselor, vice principal and principals informed of developments.
37. Talk to principals about the next round of teachers.
38. Assist in the technological abilities of the teachers.
39. Co-ordinate the master timetable of the school. (When teachers will be on-line. Making sure they are available to the students)
40. Assisting teachers in developing good online teaching techniques. (How best to help a student when he has this problem.....?)
41. Make sure the approach of courses is a global community approach.
42. Develop methods of using the internet to the fullest.
43. Assist developers in choosing the appropriate software for their courses.
44. Search for sites that might be of use to the different developers.
45. Review literature for possible online teaching research.
46. Work on searching for the best compression techniques to make our lessons bandwidth friendly.
47. Search for possible grants that can be applied to the school (I.E. Artsmart for a big screen for the board office)
48. Talk to parents who might have questions about the program.
49. Talk to parents who might have problems with course or instructors or procedures.
50. Setup teacher parent interviews schedule.
51. Do student home visits for teachers who might be having a problem with a student.
52. Design a tool to evaluate the project.
53. Administer the surveys to children
54. Administer the survey to parents
55. Administer the survey to teachers
56. Summarize the results and forward to the appropriate parties.
57. develop a long term plan
58. develop a long term time line
59. budget funds to make this possible.
Some time in the middle of all this I would like to coach or assistant coach a senior girls volleyball team.
Lent's most controversial sacrifice: Facebook
People who spend more time on the Internet may actually have more friends, according to an upcoming study co-written by Barry Wellman, a senior sociologist
at the University of Toronto specializing in the Internet. The findings indicate that social-networking sites are a potential antidote to loneliness. Dr. Wellman
says researchers often make the mistake of blending all technology use together and then assuming it has a common impact on everyone.
globeandmail.com: Lent's most controversial sacrifice: Facebook
TADO PPT's
March 8, 2009
Digital Divide
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
Youth is not a question of years: one is young or old from birth. ~ Natalie Clifford Barney
TADO PPT's
March 7, 2009
Hybrid Top Ten number 1
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
Knowledge is proud that he has learned so much;
Wisdom is humble that he knows no more.
~ William Cowper ~
TADO PPT's
March 6, 2009
Hybrid Top Ten number 2
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away.
~ Philip K. Dick
SCCS Meeting notes 2000
March 21, 2000
The first part of the meeting was personal information for myself about my situation and where it might progress to in the future. Dennis and I will be writing up a job description for the second year of my involvement in the project.
We confirmed that WebCT will be the platform that we will use for the first year of Cyber School
We agreed that the internal and external webpages seem to be working fine. The internal being just for the involved parties in the development. The external was for the general community and was receiving 15 hits per day. Talked briefly about the content on both and will email most of the reports from now on to the interested parties.
Showed some of the course material, his biggest concern is the staff of the cyber school. Dennis and myself will worry about the courses.
Sasktel meetings, brought him up to speed on the meetings that have happened between Sasktel and myself and reinforced the fact that we have the resources internal to do this alone with no partnerships. On a personal note have informed of the job offers and have confirmed the fact that I will be sticking with this project.
Brochure and Posters we talked about the process briefly and the distribution of both of these will be left up to Dennis and myself.
We discussed briefly the necessity for support people, secretaries, tech, administration to assist the developers in the development of their courses. It was stated that if this is needed Dennis needs to co-ordinate this and put in a budget to cover the cost.
Except for formal press releases....Dennis and myself will be co-ordinating the advertisement of this project.
We discussed my reports, I explained how I was not attempting to hurt anyone's feelings or to be overly negative. I will continue to write and email the reports. It is important that whom ever reads the reports knows that this is my method of thinking and the thoughts are ever changing.
We discussed the budget for the courses and it is Dennis who has to include the costs in his school budget, the finer points of how this will work will be discussed at a later meeting.
A proper press release will probably happen in September when there are some students involved.
We discussed the second round of teachers and it will be necessary to as a group decide what the next group of courses will be.
Internet technology tutorials
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butterscotch tutorials on the latest Internet technology
Slideshows : Science Channel
From deep space to the dark side of science, these are slideshows that you'll actually want to see.
Virtual Weather Station
Check out the saskatoon weather.
Virtual Weather Station Local Weather Conditions
TADO PPT's
March 5, 2009
Hybrid Top Ten number 3
Saskatchewan a jobs 'hot spot' in Canada
Home sweet Home.
Saskatchewan a jobs 'hot spot' in Canada - CNN.com
Do teenagers lack attention?
Cartoon of the day
Quote of the day
There are no days in life so memorable as those which vibrated to some stroke of the imagination. ~ F. Scott Fitzgerald
3 kinds of people
VizEdu » Blog Archive » 6 Ways To Make Web2.0 Work
Visual Animation of McKinseys report "6 Ways To Make Web2.0 Work" as understood by us.
VizEdu » Blog Archive » 6 Ways To Make Web2.0 Work
PEEP and the Big Wide World: Interactive Games
My son and I liked this show...these games seemed like fun.
PEEP and the Big Wide World: Interactive Games
Ten years ago...
Virtual School: Impressions ( January 2000 )
Wow! Where to start? Overwhelmed ! Exactly what is this all about ? Internet web pages? HTML? WebCT? What is Darren talking about? Dave Elder actually understands this guy when he is talking?
Major learning curve ahead ! Needless to say the first month of this project was one that not only had me excited in being involved in such a project but also one that at times had me feeling somewhat apprehensive. Apprehensive in the sense that I was out of my element and that my computer knowledge was limited in being able to accomplish the task that lies ahead. Even though we did not have a place we could call home and the hardware had not as yet arrived the use of the computer in the Science area and the four Macs ( "Boo!" as Darren would say or "Cool!" would be Dave's thoughts on those machines) in the art area served a very useful purpose. First of all I was able to see and sort of figure out what WebCT was all about and how such a program would help me in putting the Physics course on line. Although a great deal of time is still needed for me to become familiar enough with WebCT to be able to accomplish as to what I think needs to be done to deliver a good physics course on line, I at least now know what is possible. Probably the biggest benefit gained during this month from a technical and course design perspective was the ability to browse the internet and find physics related sites. Some of these sites provided me with certain insights into how certain concepts in physics could be presented. Also certain images, and simulations found at some of these sites I will be able to incorporate into my course design to allow for a better development of key concepts. Links to certain physics sites that I found during this time will also be a useful tool for students as they learn about certain topics. The conference we attended in Saskatoon put on by the SSTA was useful in that it provided me with the opportunity to gain an insight into what is happening out there with regards to virtual schooling, particularly in places like Alberta. Although we did not gain any specific knowledge regarding the courses we are designing we did become aware of some of the issues related to virtual schooling, many of which are still to be resolved, particularly here in Saskatchewan. It was made obvious to me that many people are very apprehensive about the delivery of course in a virtual school setting but were willing to allow for such a service. Policies and controls to be established later as SaskED and some of the other players want a hand in all of this but as to exactly what that should be nobody seems to know for sure. As for our project we were assured by our administration that "full steam ahead" and not to worry about all the other groups or people as they are playing "catch up". As mentioned above the learning curve for me has been and will continue to be a large one to be able to complete this task. However, I realized very quickly that the support provided would be sufficient. The release time is a must and a valuable resource to allow a person to learn and in turn focus on the task at hand. Secondly the technical and computer knowledge support provided by Darren and Dave including their patience has been without question the most valuable resource that a so-called "course designer" like myself appreciates. Knowing what I now know and what needs to be accomplished would be an impossible task without the support of release time and advice from a person with the technical expertise and the vision of Darren. The other thing that I have found very rewarding has been the comradery and team approach towards this project. Had this not been the case I would have found this task very onerous and rather difficult to complete, particularly if I had to go at this alone. Sharing one's ideas, many challenges and even the frustrations one experiences with others that are very supportive makes life much simpler. In closing it is important to note that for my the challenge is still there and though I am still somewhat apprehensive I am very excited as to what we are about to accomplish.
Report filed, February 26th, 2000 Tony Antonopoulos
TADO PPT's
March 4, 2009
Hybrid Top Ten Number 4
Discussion Paper 2000
Darren Cannell
Cyber School
February 23, 2000
Discussion Paper
This paper is an attempt to put in writing my vision and create some direction for this project. This is by no means a final copy and is a working ever changing thought in written form. This will assist all parties involved to consider the direction and possibilities of the project.
At the present time we have six or more visions of where this project is going. This is not a bad thing, this is a great indication of how dynamic and interesting this can be for all involved. I think that it is important for all interested parties to get together and try to develop a common vision. For the sanity of the people involved this is a necessary step. Trying to make a project for six different views has been an impossible task for myself. I have found it frustrating and just a little unnerving. I have found myself questioning what I am allowed to say and what I am not. This I think has come from numerous misconceptions on my part.
My first misconception was that as project leader my vision was the one that we were moving on. A one-sided unrealistic view but still a view that I had started with. Since that time I realize that I was not the only one with this perception. Most parties involved in this project have approached this with the same one-sidedness. This is the first of my misconceptions that I think we need to work on, it is an easy one to fix. We need to sit down and work out a short term and long term plan for the project as a team. The group that we have should be able to work towards this goal.
My second misconception was my role in this project, in my eagerness to help, I have found that I have overstepped my role due to my lack of understanding of this role. Due to this misconception I felt that I am not to take the initiative in the development of anything but the courses and the rest will be handled by others. This however is a prime example of why I think it is necessary for the team to sit down and develop a common plan and then work as a team towards this. In this planning I think we need to establish who is going to do what and then it will be easier to implement this project.
The third misconception that I was working with was that in the beginning this project was going to cost money, but it was going to be a money maker after it started. This was the most costly of all the misconceptions that I have had. We are at the present time working with the idea that we will be at a no cost stance when the project starts with students. This is a hard thing to do because of the eleventh class option, and the fact that for it to be cost free you will not have a project leader of some sort. This for me has being the cause of some stress. I realize that the project cannot just be one person but I feel that I have the best set of tools to assist in the start up of this project. I was under the impression that this was something that was felt by more people than myself.
The fourth misconception that I had was that I was to try to keep ahead of the planning of this project and assist the people involved to plan for the possible problems that we will be encountering. Since I have started, I have been confused as to whom I am to pass this information on to. I had not idea of the chain of command in this project, this stems directly from the structure established from the beginning. Certain aspects of the project belong to one superintendent others to another superintendent. This makes for a real mixing of messages for the planning process. The statement, just develop the courses and let us work on the rest of it, might be perceived as support, but is not realistic when trying to develop the courses. Some aspects of the development hinge directly on the decisions that are being made, so a more open line of communication is necessary.
A prime example of some of the frustration I am feeling can be best explained by the planning of the brochure. The following steps have been used to develop the brochure:
I spent four plus hours developing a brochure, passed it on to another to proof-read content and to return to myself. It was forwarded to another, recommendations were made and revised the content based on suggestions, it was then passed on to another and at that time I was informed that the style was not acceptable and it would be a complete re-write. This copy was then passed back to myself and suggested that I should think about adding pictures to it. I had spent four hours making the first design and I am now asked to start over again, this is a frustrating procedure because I do not understand my role. One person is telling me to develop a brochure so I did, revisions were expected but to have the whole design scraped and to start over was a waste of everyone's time as well as mine. A little pre planning would have made it easier and not a duplication of work. A registration form was placed on the back of the brochure and this is a duplication of the work we have been working on. We have developed a registration form as well. We need to try to co-ordinate some of the jobs so that we are not reinventing the wheel. I devised a method of informing the school of the project based upon what I thought was necessary, and then proceeded. This may not have been my place.
Some of the problems that we are encountering in the beginning are because of the newness and original nature of this project. However it is my belief that some of the stress and problems can be avoided by developing a definite chain of command and then assigning the jobs to the involved parties.
Cartoon of the day
March Resources
Looking for fresh ideas for the month of March? This site has theme-based crafts, online adventures, lesson plans and much more
Quote of the day
No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be ... ~ Isaac Asimov
TADO PPT's
March 3, 2009
Hybrid Top Ten Number 5
Quote of the day
Progress lies not in enhancing what is, but in advancing toward what will be.
~ Khalil Gibran
TADO PPT's
Eagles
SCCS IGNITE IT AWARD Voting Support
SCCS has put in a nomination for a MSDN Ignite IT Award (To recognize and reward the efforts of Canadian IT Professionals and Software Developers with two grand prizes including Crystal trophies, Software Kits valued at $1,000 and $5,000 prizes.) for Cyber Tracker. Please view our submission on the site below and click on the Vote now button on the left hand side. You will need a hotmail or MSN messenger account to vote. Please send this to anyone you know who might be interested in voting for us!
March 2, 2009
Hybrid Top Ten Number 5
Rhetorical
TADO PPT's
March 1, 2009
Hybrid Top Ten Number 6
Facts
