Dean+Tomita

=Dean Tomita=


 * Saturday, June 23, 2007:**

Today was our first day attending NECC pre-conference sessions at the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC). Both sessions I attended today focused on assessment and evaluation and will be helpful as we get ready to implement our 1:1 and other technology initiatives at KS. During my morning session, **Using Wikis for Classroom-based Assessment and Interactive Student ePortfolios**, we learned about a wonderful site called wikispaces.com where anyone can create an account which can be used for student ePortfolios and/or student or faculty assessment. Following is a link to wikispaces ([|http://wikispaces.com)] where you can create your very own FREE wiki. You are currently viewing this site which is running on wikispaces. According to the presenter, wikispaces allots 1 GB of free storage for each wikispaces site created - that's quite a bit of storage, and better yet it's FREE.

Here's a link to the presentation and resources that were shared this morning. http://electronicportfolios.org/web20.html

After a quick bite at the GWCC, I attended my afternoon session, **Program Evaluation Tools and Strategies for Instructional Technology****,** which, as you might guess, focused on program evaluation. The presenter, Jeff Sun, shared strategies for developing effective program evaluations. We learned about the 3 phase evaluation process, logic maps and data collection. Especially useful was our small group work, where we had a chance to put into practice what we learned.

Here's a link to the presentation and resources that were shared this afternoon. http://www.sun-associates.com/necc2007/

After our sessions we took the Marta (train) to Underground Atlanta, which I must admit was a very interesting cultural experience. After our "cultural" excursion, we met up with our KS ohana and went to dinner at Pittypat's Porch. Dinner was delicious and it was fun to meet up with everyone. Well, that's all for now. Most of us have sessions again tomorrow, so it's time to sign off and get some rest.


 * Sunday, June 24, 2007**

Today, I attended one session on creating "knock-your-socks-off" presentations. One thing I learned is that there's a whole lot of "lousy" presentations being done all the time. I'll highlight some of the things that were covered today. You can also visit the presenter, Ian Jukes, website for more detailed information. His website address is [|http://ianjukes.com.]

Okay, here are some of the basic things he covered: Before you even open PowerPoint or Keynote....you need to PLAN, PLAN, PLAN
 * Start with the end in mind
 * Research, research, research
 * Create an outline
 * Choose a delivery structure
 * Create a first draft
 * Tell a story
 * Organize the flow
 * Repetition
 * End memorably

Now that you've planned your presentation out well, here are some tips on creating your presentation:
 * No more that two to three fonts different fonts for the entire presentation
 * No more than 3 to 4 major points during a presentation
 * Text on the screen should highlight what you're talking about
 * You shouldn't read off your slides - people can do this on their own and you're simply wasting their time
 * Remember, the presentation should highlight your main points and not be a text book
 * Repetition (did I say that already?

There's a lot more that he covered, and I'd be happy to do a training for you if you're interested. It's about 1 AM, so that's all for now.

One last thing before I sign off...here are some cool websites that educators are using today. I'm sure many of you are already aware of them, but I thought I'd share them anyway.

http://protopage.com - Your very own little personal portal. Some are using this site to create student electronic portfolios http://wikispaces.com - A free wiki used to create this site. This site is also being used by educators for student portfolios. http://www.iearn.com - An excerpt from their website: Started in 1988, **iEARN** is the world's largest non-profit global network that enables teachers and young people to use the Internet and other new technologies to collaborate on projects that both enhance learning and make a difference in the world.


 * Monday, June 25, 2007:**

Much of today was spent browsing through the exhibit hall and talking with the countless number of vendors offering every type of education solution you could imagine. There were online professional development, network security, scanning, video editing, and storage solutions just to name a few. With over 14,000 educators converging on the exhibition floor, stuffing their bags with all the free pens, rulers, t-shirts and demo CDs they could get their hands on, you can imagine what it was like.

In addition to visiting the exhibit hall, I was able to attend a few concurrent sessions. The sessions I chose all focused on creating “schools of the future.” Following are some of the highlights gleaned from the sessions.
 * The term //innovation// is synonymous with “schools of the future”.
 * Students today are different. They don’t know what a world without technology is like. Marc Prensky refers to them as “digital natives” and, as you might guess, we’re referred to as “digital immigrants”. As one person in the audience pointed out today, we speak with an accent – they don’t.
 * We are falling behind many other countries in terms of innovative schools and approaches to education.
 * The world is getting flatter. Our students will be competing with a worldwide workforce.
 * Students are brought up in a world that looks like this…
 * They are expected to learn in an environment that looks like this…
 * We need to prepare for students to work in jobs that don’t exist today.
 * Schools of the future include laptops for all students.
 * Technology is a tool that students feel are necessary to succeed in today’s world.

Bottom line…technology is not the solution. It's a tool, that when used effectively, can enhance learning and help to prepare our students to be competitive in a world that is getting flatter.

Okay, enough for now. More to come tomorrow.


 * Tuesday, June 26, 2007:**

Last day at NECC for Darrin and me. We head home tomorrow morning. It's been such a great conference and, as always, I have gained so much. I was able to attend two breakout sessions today, one by Timothy Magner from the USDOE and the other by ISTE, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and SETDA. Timothy's presentation was on School 2.0. During his presentation he shared statistics on students, comparing and contrasting how students today are different from students who grew up just a few years back. One thing that stood out is the urgency for change in US educational practices. We are rapidly falling behind many other countries, and if we remain status quo, our students will not be prepared to compete with a global workforce. Don Knezek, shared their white paper on the role of tehcnology in strengthening 21st century skills and education. I will share more about the framework they created when I get back. I do need to mention that it's just step one and ISTE, the Partnership for 21st Century Skills, and SETDA is asking for educators to help define in more detail 21st century skills in education.

See you all soon.