David Lee EdTech

In this session I was unable to find out the presenter’s name, but I do know she was associated with PCaRD, a teaching model that provides guidelines for teachers to integrate games into student-center pedagogies. These games can be used for instruction, student learning, and assessment.  The PCaRD model consists of four steps: Play, Curricular Activity, Discussion, and Reflection. These steps require inquiry, communication, expression, and construction from the students who experience the game-based learning model.  The presenter listed the different role a teacher must take for the PCaRD learning model: To create naturalistic game-playing environment To observe students’ game play To develop cases based on students game play experience , big questions of the subject-area to bridge students pedagogical and school knowledge To develop prompts & prompts & questions that allow students to articulate the social, affective, cognitive and motivational nature to facilitate a lar...

Out of all the student projects, I thought Ottawa Hills High School’s School of Business, Leadership & Entrepreneurship  had a project that was unique and had a significant value to the students who performed the task. According to the school’s website , the tenth through twelfth grade students who attend the school work on their leadership, communication, marketing, and business managing skills in an authentic learning environment. The school appointed two teams to design and market a water product. Students also created advertisements, slogans, and commercials that tried to influence their potential audiences. During the whole project development students were taught entrepreneurial skills, problem-solving and decision-making. This project gave the students to opportunity to be creative, and see what goes on in a business setting.  I hope to duplicate this project with my 5th graders next year. I hope to have guest speakers teach (via Google Hangouts) my students on th...

I finished the Even More Google Geekiness: ISTE 2012 session with  Chris Fitzgerald Walsh 30 minutes. He mentioned how videos can be uploaded into and played with Google Drive. I just tried it and it is amazing! He was right, you have a personal and private YouTube channel for yourself. You can even share the video to others! Click here to see how I did it.   

This session featured Chris Fitzgerald Walsh presenting some new Google features that could be used in education. I have to admit that I went to at least four sessions that I thought were incredibly useless. These sessions presented technology tools and information that have been used by teachers for quite a while now (many people walked out in the middle of these sessions). So it was refreshing to attend a session where the vast majority of the audience learned a couple of new things.  There was a lot of information he provided, but luckily he created and shared a Google document that contains all of it. Here is a list of topics you touched on: Document Management  Downloading documents as ZIP files Research Tool in Documents Translate documents into different languages Create nonlinear question/answer assessments with Forms  Google Drive Video (private YouTube video collection) Shorten your Google URL with  http://goo.gl/   Google Docs Template Gallery Google Sites customization, e...

I got a sneak peak of Microsoft’s new Windows 8 at the Microsoft Experience Center. The center provided phones, tablets, and desktop computers that had the operating system, which is believed to be released at the end of the year. The video preview I watched before made the OS look very complicated, but after using it is quite intuitive.  You have the option to switch from the desktop to the famous tile interface . Simply move your cursor to the bottom left corner to go the tile interface, and move your cursor to the top left to select the desktop. If you move the cursor to the left, you can transition to different applications.  What I did not like about the Windows 8 Preview was the Microsoft App Store. The selection of apps for education were few. Even for popular categories, such as entertainment, games, and social media, were insignificant as well. However, I was told by a representative that more apps will be announced during the release of Windows 8. I think the tablet ver...

Here is a picture of the Google booth in the exhibit hall that provided visitors short tutorials on how Google Apps and Chromebooks can be used to help teachers effectively deliver instruction, organize student work, and have students use them to express their knowledge and skills.  The Google booth also were giving out free  A Google a Day books.  A Google a Day is a search-engine trivia game where Google asks questions that you need to answer through Google Search, which will lead you to the ultimate answer. According to the book, this 50 minute activity helps develop student online research skills.  The picture about shows a question on the right with a hint if the students are having trouble with the question. The next page provides an answer, and background information that could lead to classroom discussion. If you are interested in lesson plans or live-training videos on online searching, please visit  g.co/searchedu .  For Korea International School teachers, a Google booth r...

Ben Smith and Jared Mader created the  EdTechInnovators website to provide teachers a resource for integrating technology effectively into classrooms. This session did not mention many apps, but presented two models that can be used to implement apps into activities and curriculum.  This  Designing Creative Activities graphic organizer guides teachers in developing activities that integrate technology tools that promotes creativity of their learners. Teachers can first present directions for the activity through multiple canvases. Then teachers can provide one or numerous tools that students can use to create their products. The EdTechInnovators believe that the instruction of the creative process needs to be indefinite, allowing learners to be more innovate and imaginative. I think this concept would be great for middle and high school students, but I have found that elementary students need more structure when they utilize technology tools in my computer lab.  The Integrating Techn...

In this session, Alice Christie listed numerous apps that can be used by elementary students; surprisingly majority of them are currently in our Korea International School (KIS) elementary iPads. Instead of listing all of these apps (there were over a 50), I will be mentioning Christie’s new app that provides an organized database of educational apps, Apps4iSchool.  Click here  for KIS’s elementary iPad app list. Alice Christie, iSchool Initiative , and Mobicip collaborated together to develop Apps4iSchool. This app organizes educational apps and can allows them to be searched by platform, subject, price, grade level, and genre. This app will be available in the iTunes store in a few weeks. The interface was very simple and the searching process can be very specific.  I will definitely be downloading this app in the weeks to come.  

Alice Christie, PhD in Educational Technology, is a Google Certified Teacher, Arizona State University President’s Professor Emeritus, and has been teaching for over 40 years. Her  website  helped me immensly during my time in the credential program. Her website provided resources that helped me to practice integrating technology into my lessons to increase engagement and understanding.   Her sessions touched on two topics: Google Treks in education and iPad apps in elementary schools.  Google Treks is a concept of teaching and learning that uses Google Maps or Google Earth to take students to different locations around the world. Each location can consist of text, pictures, audio, and video to provide students with valuable information.  Christie first explained that she used Google Earth for Google Treks lessons, but she found out that the program takes up a lot of bandwidth (In a past ISTE, her Google Trek session accidentally brought down the server). So she recommends schools...

LEGO Education  provided a hands-on experience center that allowed its visitors to use a WeDo Robotics Construction Set . This box set will cost schools $129.95 each which is cheaper than the popular MINDSTORM box set that costs $1,457.95. LEGO Education boasts that their products can be an essential component to STEM education in any school. The utilization of these box sets require students to problem-solve, critical think, and collaborate to create different robots. These products are the center of student-led, hands-on learning activities that develop science, technology, programming, and mathematics knowledge of every student. LEGO Education robotics consists of the building sets, programming software, and curriculum.  Our objective during the hands-on session was to create a goalie robot. The software program provided step-by-step instructions in creating the robot. When the robot was created, we plugged in our robot into our computer through a USB cord. Our next step was to pro...

Day 2 of ISTE 2012 was much more eventful than the first.  I first started the day with the Teaching Your Students Game Design in One Week session presented by Alexander Repenning. Alexander Repenning has developed an educational program called AgentSheets that can be used to create Web-based simulation games. This program is very similar to Scratch and Alice , which teaches students programming through game design.  Prior to the session, we were instructed in an email to download a trial version of AgentSheets. There is a Mac OSX and Windows version of the program.  Alexander Repenning’s goal of creating AgentSheet was to help public schools effectively teach computational thinking. The approach in teaching computational thinking must start  by motivating students to take IT courses, especially in middle school. Many middle school students currently take mind-numbing keyboarding or PowerPoint courses. Instead, schools should be providing stimulating courses that provide STEM...

Finally arrived at sunny San Diego! The convention center is in Downtown San Diego, close to Gaslamp Quarter and PETCO Park. I wish ISTE conferences were always held here! For the first day, ISTE 2012 welcomed their attendees with their Conference Kick Off and Member Celebration, and opening keynote.  Before I attended the two presentations, I registered myself and received a bag that included a L&L Magazine, Sunday’s issue of ISTE Daily Leader , and resources from tiered conference sponsors and media partners (and a pen!).  The opening keynote consisted of mostly discussion among a panel of people in the educational technology field. The discussion was moderated by Sir Kim Robinson, the author of the best-selling book,  The Element . The panel consisted of Peggy Johnson, Marc Prensky, and Mayim Bialik. I didn’t really enjoy the opening keynote because the moderator and the panel constantly  plugged their newly published books or their companies they work for. For exampl...

ISTE 2012 Blog  The International Society for Technology in Education  (ISTE) is an association that advocates for the enhancement of PK-12 learning and teaching through the effective use of new technologies. This Sunday, June 24, the ISTE 2012 conference will kick off in San Diego Convention Center where hundreds of sessions and workshops will be provided, as well as over 500 EdTech related companies exhibiting their products.  I will be heading to San Diego for the conference this Sunday. Please follow my blog throughout the four-day conference, as I post entries about new products and services in the EdTech and new information I gain from the specialized sessions I attend. Here is my itinerary: June 24th:  Conference Kick-Off and Member Welcome Networking and Connection Activities Opening Keynote Panel Moderated by Sir Ken Robinson Happy Hour Reception June 25th: Exhibit Hall Session: Teach Your Students Game Design in One Week June 26th: Exhibit Hall Session: No Boundaries: Using...

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzAuTVyXPOo?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=500&h=375] ISTE 2012 Conference in San Diego Trailer! ( Source: http://www.youtube.com/ )

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpPK0aktC-Y?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=500&h=281] A Google a Day  is a trivia game that measures each players Google searching skills. Each day Google creates questions that should lead you to one answer. I can see how this daily trivia game could be a great addition to any online researching unit.  ( Source: http://www.youtube.com/ )

Why? Because everyone wants a personalized-looking web browsing and emailing experience. GMAIL Theme  1. Go to the Settings button and then click on Themes. 2. Click on the Change your background image link and upload your own picture from your computer.  GOOGLE SEARCH Theme 1. Go down towards the bottom of the web page and click on Change background image. 2. Choose an image from a public gallery or from your own Picasa Web photos. GOOGLE CHROME Theme 1. Go to your Chrome Apps page (New Tab) and click on Chrome Web Store , the first app.  2. Search for My Chrome Theme and add the app to Chrome. 3. Open the app and start making your custom theme in three easy steps: (1) Import your image, (2) Add some color to the browser, background, and tabs, and (3) Intall/Share.