Miguel Guhlin (right-click to save hi-res version)

Transforming teaching, learning and leadership through the strategic application of technology has been Miguel Guhlin’s motto. As a veteran educator comfortable with modelling the use of technology at the classroom, campus, and district level, he has a simple goal. That goal is to use powerful technologies to transform practice and enable learners to communicate and collaborate with each other.

As Director of Instructional Technology for a large urban district in Texas, Past President of the state-wide Technology Education Coordinators group in one of the largest United States technology educator organizations, he continues to model the use of emerging technologies in schools. You can read his published writing, engage him in conversation via his blogs at Around the Corner-MGuhlin.net, Technology and Learning’s Blog, and LeaderTalk.

Make contact via email at
mguhlin@gmail.com

Thank you,
Miguel Guhlin

Credentials

• View Curriculum Vitae
• View Resume

Disclosure & Encryption Key

• Full Disclosure
• PGP/GPG Public Key

Contact Information

• Email: mguhlin@gmail.com
• Use “mguhlin” without quotes for the following services:
  • Twitter
  • Skype
  • Delicious
  • Flickr

The new address is:

http://mguhlin.net/index.php?n=Cv.Resume

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) Funding

• Request for Applications
• Information is constantly changing based on new reporting requirements.

Target Tech in Texas (T3)

• American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)
• Total Funds Available: approx $28 million
• Estimated grant awards: 40–100 grants
• Minimum: $250K
• Maximum: $1 million
• Encourage collaboration
• Grant Opportunities Web site - http://burleson.tea.state.tx.us/GrantOpportunities/forms/GrantProgramSearch.aspx
• ARRA authorizes the spending of billions of dollars in the nation’s schools.
• Distributing a portion of its discretionary funds through the T3 Collab Grant. Target Tech refers to the highest level of progress in which schools should be working toward as described on the Texas Campus and Teacher School Tech and Readiness (STaR) Chart. The funds made available will provide more up to date
• Purpose: Stimulate the use of educational tech by providing schools with necessary funding to move toward 21st century classrooms in Texas.
• In a 21st Century classroom, students have access to appropriate tech and digital resources for tech-integrated curriculum activities on the campus, in the district, at home, or at key locations in the community. Teachers seamlessly integrate tech in a student-centered learning environement where tech is used to solve real world problems in collab with business, industry and higher ed. Teachers and students apply tech across all subject areas to provide learning opps that are not possible without the tech. Teachers create and integrate web-based lessons that include TEKS-based content, resources, learning activities, and interactive communications that support learning objectives through the curriculum.
• TEA encourages LEAs to submit an app as a collaborative and will provide priority points to collab applicants. Three or more high-need LEAs included in the collab will receive additional priority points.
• Collaboration encourages relationshiops so that LEAs are not working in isolation but searching out and identifying common needs, goals, and resolutions to create broader participation within the community to help move LEAs toward 21st Century Classrooms.

Eligibility Requirements

• High need LEA is an LEA that:
  • is among the LEAs with at least 2500 or 22% of children from families with incomes below the poverty line as identified by the 2007 U.S. Census data; AND
  • Serves one or more schools identified for improvement or corrective actions under Title I or has a substantial need for assistance in acquiring and using technology according to the STaR Chart.
    • Substantial need for assistance would be shown having levels of progress are not currently meeting Target Tech level. The lower level of progress in the Focus areas within the 4 key areas, the more substantial the need is for improvement in reaching the Target Tech level.
• If Applying as a collaborative, at least one member of the Collaborative must be a high-need. Each high-need LEA may be included in only ONE application submitted as a collaborative.
• At least one of the following:
  • An LEA that can demonstrate that teachers in its schools are effectively integrating tech and proven teaching practices into instructions
  • Collaborative must also include other educational entities such as ESC, libraries and other LEAs. Only an LEA or ESC may apply for T3 Collab grant funding as fiscal agent if applying….

Use of ARRA Funds

• Spend funds quickly to save and create jobs
• Improve student achievement through school improvement and reform
• Ensure transparency, reporting and accountability
• Invest one-time funds to minimize the funding cliff. These funds should be invested in ways that do not result in unsustainable continuing commitments after the funding expires.

TEA 4 Target Investment

• 4 goals

Collab Benefits

• Cost per student served decreases as the number of students served increases
• Support: high need LEA receives more direct access to the experience, expertise, and resources of its collab partners, who can provide the high-need LEA in critical areas like PD and training, technical support….

Program Description

• Assess their individual campus tech needs for students, teachers, librarians, and administrators. This needs assessment is done through an examination of 4 key areas.
• If applying as an individual high-need LEA, assess their campus tech needs and select the focus areas that will help them make substantial progress in meeting the target tech level.
• If applying collab…
  • Select multiple focus areas when determining their programs so that all schools in the app will receive benefit
  • Goals defined in long range plan for tech 2006–2020.
    • Grades K-8 Tech Apps TEKS, Curriculum Connections, Implementation and Mastery
    • Grades 9–12 Content Area Connections and Transformed Teaching Practices
    • Grades 9–12 Tech Apps

Teaching and Learning

• Curriculum Redesign Plan to ensure that all districts are working toward 21st Century classroom technology goals
• The plan must include ways to transform the curriculum and instruction to use technology

FAQs

• http://www.tea.state.tx.us/technology/arra

May, 2009

• T3 TETN Notes
• TEC-SIG 2009 in Austin, Tx
• LOTI Classroom 2009 in San Antonio, Tx

April, 2009

• TechFiesta 2009 Conference in San Antonio, Tx
• Texas Distance Learning Association (TxDLA09)

February, 2009

• Vision 2020 (02/2009) TETN Notes
• TCEA 2009 State Conference

January, 2009

• TASA 2009 Midwinters Conference
  • Monday, January 27, 2009
    • Online On-Time - Making New Media Work
    • Dan Pink
    • Disaster Planning and Recovery
    • Reinventing Learning
  • Tuesday, January 28, 2009
    • 1 to 1 Computing
    • Your Regional Educational Laboratory
    • Protecting Your e-Rate Program Discounts
    • Commissioner of Education, Robert Scott’s presentation

November, 2008

• TechForum 2008

September 18, 2008 - October, 2008

• LOTI Connection
• TEC-SIG 10/03/2008
• NCLB Tech Reporting - Suggestions on how to meet the NCLB Tech Reporting guidelines, organized by section.

Older Stuff (Pre 09/18/2008)

1. NECC 2008
2. Whitney ISD
3. NCLB Tech Report - Administrators - TETN Broadcast
4. Texas Virtual School Network NOtes
5. NECC 2008 Notes
6. Thinkfinity Workshop
7. Texas CTO 2008 Meeting
8. TEA Presentation at TEC-SIG Spring 2008 - Notes and Audio of Presentation
9. Tony Stead - 10/26/2007
10. Permian Tech Conference 11/2007
11. Regional Tech Directors Meeting (11/16/2007)

1.  Special Thanks

2.  Agenda - Spring 2009 Meeting Agenda

2.1  Day 1 - May 7, 2009

• 7:30–8:30 Registration/Breakfast
• 8:30–8:40 Welcome - Karla Burkholder
• 8:40 - 9:00 TCEA Update: Lori Gracey
• 9:00 - 11:15 Keynote: Will Richardson
• 11:15 - 11:30 Learning.com
• 11:30 - 1:00 Lunch sponsored by Learning.com
• 1:00 - 3:30 An Afternoon with Will Richardson
• 3:30 - 4:00 Absolute Software
• 4:00–4:15 Closing Remarks
• 6:00 - 8:00 Dinner sponsored by Absolute Software at Hills Cafe

2.2  Day 2 - May 8, 2009

• 7:30 - 8:30 Breakfast Sponsored by Atomic Learning
• 8:30 - 8:45 Welcome/Voting Results - Karla Burkholder
• 8:45 - 9:00 Atomic Learning
• 9:00 - 11:00 TEA Update - Karen Kahan/Anita Givens
• 11:00 - 11:30 Intel Teach Jane Nauman
• 11:30 - 11:45 TCEA Advocacy Jennifer Bergland

3.  Joan Gore

• TCEA is going through a database conversion so if you encounter problems, contact TCEA Office.
• Starting June 1st, Lori Gracey will be the new Executive Directors

4.  Karla Burkholder

• Recognize TCEA Board Members
  • Jeff Hightower
  • David Jacobson
  • Pam Evans
  • Scott Floyd
  • Jennifer Gardener
• Recognize sponsors
  • Learning.com - Lunch
  • Absolute Software - Dinner
  • Atomic Learning - Breakfast
• Introducing Will Richardson - 22 year public school educator, 8 year blogger, advisory council

5.  Will Richardson

• View uStream at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tecsig-tv
• This is an example of what the world looks like…it’s an anywhere/anytime, you can sit in on PD from anywhere…it’s a world where the connections we need to make.
• Challenges new technologies present for individual learners, technology, parents…keep track of the things you want to talk about.

5.1  Web sites

• http://willrichardson.wikispaces.com

5.2  Random Notes

• In 2007, Laura do one good deed a day to honor her grandfather’s life.
  • 25 days to make a difference
• The importance of building global networks around the things you are passionate about…huge challenge…we can learn anything/anytime/anywhere if we have access. Classrooms are not irrelevant—yet. We have to rethink what we do, look at this world in a different way to understand what our new role is in kids’ lives. That change is coming whether we like it or not.
• “We’ll need more people who believe in the same things that you do to donate less.” Read More
• Ian Tomlinson’s assault by riot police
• Surf the Channel
• Era of Remix -
  • Mother of All Funk Chords - a compilation of videos that had nothing to do with one another.
  • Can’t live in a world where we criminalize most of what our children do.
• ClueTrain Manifesto
• Alvin Toeffler:
  • “In our book Revolutionary Wealth, we play a game. We say, imagine that you’re a policeman, and you’ve got a radar gun, and you’re measuring the speed of cars going by. Each car represents an American institution. The first one car is going by at 100 miles per hour. It’s called business. Businesses have to change at 100 miles per hour because if they don’t, they die. Competition just puts them out of the game. So they’re traveling very, very fast.
  • Then comes another car. And it’s going 10 miles per hour. That’s the public education system. Schools are supposed to be preparing kids for the business world of tomorrow, to take jobs, to make our economy functional. The schools are changing, if anything, at 10 miles per hour. So, how do you match an economy that requires 100 miles per hour with an institution like public education? A system that changes, if at all, at 10 miles per hour?”
• New Study Shows Time Spent Online Important for Teen Development
• The iPhone Could be the Ultimate Study Machine
• Porn Filters no barrier for net users
  • (personal note from Miguel: This is great stuff!)
• This applies to every person, every educator…
  • Wanted: School Chief Learning Officer
• Fan Fiction -
• Convergence Culture
• Emily Goose - Reputation Management
• MIT Courseware
• RIP A Remix Manifesto
• CK-12 Flexbooks - in use in Virginia?
• NCTE Framework for 21st Century Curriculum and Assessment - Literacy has always been a collection of cultural and communicative practices shared among members of particular groups. As society and technology change, so does literacy. Because technology has increased the intensity and complexity of literate environments, the twenty-first century demands that a literate person possess a wide range of abilities and competencies, many literacies. These literacies—from reading online newspapers to participating in virtual classrooms—are multiple, dynamic, and malleable. As in the past, they are inextricably linked with particular histories, life possibilities, and social trajectories of individuals and groups.
• 2009 Horizon Report - Key Trends

5.3  Follow-up discussions

• This is going too fast for me to type. Thank goodness for the recording available via uStream!
• Tiered filtering…why not have over-rides for teachers?

6.  Day 2

6.1  TEA Preso

• John Lopez shares that Anita Givens can’t make it to the meeting, a whole bunch of dates for Midcycle Timeline.
• Technology Allotment
  • HB 4586:
• Title 2, Part D
  • Texas will receive $56Million
  • Formula and Competitive
  • Funding expected in July 2009
  • Technical Assistance
• Must have school personnel that is tech literate
• 8th grade students who are tech literate
• Must collect accurate data (question: will the TEA fund an 8th grade assessment?)
• Texas Register Notice Released April 24
• Target Tech in Texas (T3)
• 21st Century Classroom
• Grant expect to be available in october
• Eligibility Requirements
• Encourage collaboratives
• One high need LEA must be included within each application
• Move toward Target Tech
• TETN on May 14th
• Application will be out in the next week or two
• June - Application due
• July - Review of Applications
• August - Award
• September - Negotiations to be conducted
• October - Start date
• Funding flows in July
• Allowable expenditures
  • Integrating technology
  • Professional development
  • Hardware and software
• ESC Technical Assistance
• Baseline amount to every ESC
• Districts that receive Title 2D
• Additional funds to ESCs to support collaborative T3 grants
• Additional funds based on number of T3 students served

6.2  ARRA Stimulus

• Get your info on Ed.gov
• Press releases on this site are also helpful
• Recovery.gov

6.3  81st Legislature

• HB 400 - Seliger
  • Establishment of an electronic course pilot in Amarillo
• HB 4557 - Haishtat
  • Relating to review and adoption of electronic textbooks

6.4  Screenshots of slides

6.5  Karen Kahan

• Legislative Reports
  • 2008 Comprehensive Annual Report on Texas Public Schools
  • An Evaluation of Districts’ Readiness for Online Testing - Send questions to Glenn.Kirchner@tea.state.tx.us
• Government Performance Results Act
• Texas Tech Reports
  • Educational Technology - get good data and share it with TEA and USDOE
• 
• Technology Applications
  • TEKS Revision
  • Connection with ISTE Standards
  • Graduation Credit
  • Certification
  • http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/edex/TEXconf.html

Setting the Stage for Continuous Improvement

• Dr. Chris Moersch
• Executive Director
• LOTI Connection, Inc.

LOTI - Levels of Teaching Innovation

• Shared his visit to Levaland ISD and how when he mentioned technology, people tuned out.
• Technology is not mentioned in the same breath as high stakes testing.
• Levels of Teaching Innovation
• Continuous Improvement - when we think of LOTI, we need to think of continuous improvement as a process whereby delivery output is constantly being evaluated and improved in light of their efficiency and effectiveness. (Wikipedia)

Setting the Stage…

• Teacher Input LOTI → HEAT
• LOTI represents innovative teaching. It represents teacher input.
• Is there a lesson template that teachers use?
• Teacher Preparation/Implementation
• LOTI Is all about what the teacher is using, delivery
• HEAT=Student output
• HEAT is what the students are doing. Whether you are implementing LOTI, UbD, Rigor and Relevance, Webb’s Dept of Knowledge…is there HEAT being generated? Often, those initiatives leave out the “T”.
• Technology is often seen as an after-thought in all these initiatives. It’s not that LOTI is required to generate HEAT, but is the initiative you’re using generating HEAT?
• 98% passing TAKS, but low level at commended. How do you improve those?

Discussing LOTI

• What is student-centered learning? When we talk about student-centered classroom, any learning experience can be divided into 3 pieces:
  • Content
  • Process
  • Product
• Students don’t have control over content, but they do have control over the product and process. Student centered learning is focused on giving students 2 out of 3 items.
• “I understand the HEAT as being student output, but I’m not seeing a diff between higher-order thinking and engaged learning or authenticity and engaged learning.”

HEAT Analysis

• Higher order thinking (Low/High) Criteria
  • Students report what they have learned only
  • Students report what they have learned only; collaborate with others
  • Students given options to solve a problem…
• Authenticity (Low/High)

Rigor/Relevance Framework

• Increasing HEAT means promoting Daggett’s Quadrant D
• 21st Century Learning Skills
• Marzano’s Strategies
• Grouped Marzano’s Strategies by how much heat they used
  • Low: Reinforcing efforts and providing recognition, homework and practice, setting objectives and providing feedback
  • Medium: summarizing and note-taking, nonlinguistic repes, cues, questions, adv org
• High: Cooperative learning, identifying similarities and differences.

Online Course Explorers

Managing Online Learning

• Like scenarios - gives you a framework for discussion.
• Everyone is going to have a role
  • The Navigator will investigate two online classes and discuss (1) how long he/she believes it would take to complete the course, (2) the ease-of-use of the navigation controls available within the course, and (3) any concerns he/she has about time and/or navigation issues.
  • The Objectivist will investigate two classes and discuss the degree of alignment between the objectives of the course and the activities embedded in the course. This individual should also critique how the individual tasks and/or culminating activity help or hinder student learning.
  • The Collaborativist will examine two classes and discuss how the responses between participants promotes connections between the participants and (1) their own learning, (2) different participants, (3) their students, and (4) their own pedagogical improvement.
  • The Technologist will examine two classes and discuss how the digital tools and/or resources complement the tasks embedded in the course. You should analyze (1) the types of tools teachers are asked to explore, (2) the success teachers would seem to have in using those tools, and (3) other tools you wish would receive greater attention.
• Pick most favorite role and least favorite role.

Defining your contribution to our world

Cell Phones

• Plase turn your ringers off…
• Please keep them out…
• iPod Touch & iPhones in school
• Apple will have glucose checker built into Operating system

Screencast presentation available online

• Using iPod to make an audio-only podcast
• As a school principal there was never a meeting I didn’t have that didn’t get podcast.
• Broadcast live - http://ustream.tv/channel/iupgrade-tv
• Have questions? PollEverywhere.com
  • Use cell phone to text feedback
  • Send 99503 - messages to Dr. Tim Tyson
  • 29710 [question]

ScreenFlow

• drtimtyson.com/clients/fiesta20
  • Userid: fiesta20
  • Password: fiesta20

Think Different

• The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Jester…how extraordinary “Well it all depends on how you look at it I suppose.”
• important to address your perspective.

The Tyson Family

• We act like things never change
• My great grandmother was born just after the Civil War. How much has changed since then? It’s hard to get my head around that. My great grandma was proposed to while working in a field. Her suitor asked the father and he said, “Sure! That’s just one less mouth to feed.”

What happened

• Asia-Steel can be produced and shipped all the way from India to the US for a fraction of a cost….
• Schols are maniacally focused on preparing students for a work place that doesn’t even exsit today and most certainly will not exist when our students enter the work force.
• Left brain analytical thinking (NCLB)…is just as is important…just no longer sufficient.

The Nature of Work

• 33% of the US work force works as an independent consultant
• 24% of the labor force are the working poor (US DOL)
• To thrive in the economy, the right brain skills are essential
  • Brian in Kentucky
  • Dublin, Ireland
• But is quality of life only about earning potential?
• Many schools focus on Rules, rituals, routines, and right answers…
• The actions you choose to take,

Big Question for teachers:

• Who earns the learning? WHo is doing the thinking work in your classes?
• The way we work, play, communicate, build and maintain relationships, ravel, entertain ourselves, conduct business, find information, make decisions, perceive our whole life experience has been utterly transformed!
• But schools is pretty much the same.
• Our students believe that what goes on sinside the schools is increasingly irrelevant to their real lives.
• “Make Learning Irresistable”
• Grading kills learning.
• “It’s not ready for its global debut.”
• Our students want to go beyond preparing for next year. They want to be prepared to make a contribution today…that matters, that they value and respect, today.
• We need to stop simplifying children’s life experiences into discreet, disconnected, learning experiences that have the meaningfulness distilled right out of them.
• The way we’re using tech for grading, assessment, reporting in schools is appalling. It is the lowest use that can be imagined. If you’re just using it for a pointless purpose instead of doing it for a project that matters…you’re wasting it.
• Chidlren have the untapped cognitive capacity to make the world a better place.

Once in a Lifetime Opportunity

• Digital toolset is infinitely more powerful than the printing press.
• We are at living at a point in time when we can redefine professional practice in public education using digital technology.
• Maybe it’s just more than a once in a lifetime opportunity…this is your Destiny.

Online Literature Circles

• Presenter: Sue Harris (shodgesharris1@saisd.net)
• Podcast will be posted.

What Makes a Genuine Literature Circle?

• Self selected reading materials
• Small temporary groups
• Different books
• Regular predictable schedule
• Discussion topics come from students
• Open, natural conversation
• Task roles
• Teacher as facilitator

Reading Strategy

• Engagement-build connections, set purpose, and motivate
• Exploration - read, observe, question
• Explanation- react, discuss, answer questions, conclude, write
• Elaboration- reflect, look for connections, reflect
• Evaluation - summarize

WHy is this Online Collab Project?

• Research proven to help students become lifelong readers
• Students are engaged in the reading task through this digital communication tool
• Students authentically apply strategy into a setting
• Builds on student’s prior knowledge of internet communication world
• Reluctant writers take more risks and are engaged in the writing process.
  • Students that are shy and reticient write when they are online.

Reading Survey

• What is your favorite book? What made it your favorite?
• How do you choose books to read?
• Who are some of your favorite authors? Why
• What topics or subjects interest you?
• What are the titles of some books you want to read?

How To Start

• Teacher Responsibilities
  • Conduct a reading survey
  • Select books for students to preview
  • Create mixed ability groups
    • Experiment with all boys and girls
    • Change group membership after each book. This is important because

Teacher Pre-Circle Check List

• Class divided into small groups of 5 per group
• Books for each group
• Chunks for reading meetings set
• Model with a whole class book.

Roles

• Discussion director - develops a list of questions for group discussion
• Super summarizer

Marzano’s 9

• 7 of the nine, except for generating and testing hypotheses and cues, questions, and advance organizers are addressed.

Rubrics

• Self
• Peer - rate each other

Book Talks

• Using Journal in Moodle
  • Students post online book talks to persuade other group membes to choose their book for lit circle
  • Students vote on book selection
  • Students draw for 1st task role, then choose order of other roles.

Examples

• At Brackenridge HS, students read “The Road”
  • Students felt anonymous until they had a chance to give their own opinion. The OLC enabled them to accomplish this by allowing them to voice their opinions.
  • Water for Elephants is the book they are currently working on at Brack HS-Flood.
• Dual Language Class - Monica Sanchez at Bonham
  • Students are self-motivated and they go about their business of OLC
  • Reading Tale of Despereaux
  • Students are posting
  • Most teachers are not concerned about spelling
  • Students are encouraged to edit each others work. Students are instructed to encourage other students in their editing/revision suggestions.
  • Non-linguistic representation: They like posting as an artful artist. Students draw their pictures and have to post them.
  • Students are understanding connections between themselves and the task roles. **Students are sharing with themselves.
  • Studnts are using survey (questionnaire)
    • I like lit circles
  • I like diff lit roles

7.  Passport to Safety

Award-winner….

• K-12 Cybersafety
• CyberPredators
• Inappropriate content

8.  New Generation of Learning - Diverse Students, Emerging Technologies…

• Broader than just the concepts folks throw out.
• Engage you and challenge you as leaders in education to take on core conversations
• Baby Boomers
  • TV Generation
  • Typewriters
  • Telephone
  • Memos
  • Family Focus
• Generation X
  • Video games
  • PC
  • Email
  • CDs
  • Individualist; “Me” Generation
• NetGen
  • Web
  • Cell phone
  • IM
  • MP3s
  • Online community; “We” Generation
• Community Colleges
  • Have all 3 generations in the same group together. How do you interact with them?
• What’s Up
  • Net Gens Online 12.2 hrs per week (28%>Genx, 50% Boomer
  • NetGen 50% more likely to send IMs than GenX, 2x as likely to read blogs, 3x as likely to use social networking sistes
  • 44% HouseHolds (HH) Broadband (up from 29%in 2004)
  • 75% HH Mobile Phones
    • Data to phone 45% NetGen, 27% GenY, 17% Boomers
  • 91% HH use a Search Engine once a week
• 40–70% penetration of broadband. Out of the 19 to 20 countries…we pay 10x as much for our broadband than other countries. This is because we view broadband as a luxury rather than a public utility.
• 60% of all the phones today are mobile phones. No more landlines.
• Top 4 sites - search portal sites
  • Distance Learning…20 years ago, if someone asked you a factual question, what did you have to do to get that info? Go to reference books, basement, library. Think about how different that is today. We’re on search engines 10–15 times a day…

8.1  What’s In Store

• Attract, serve, retain and engage
• Visioning
• Planning
• Fundraising
  • Capital funds
  • Operational funds
  • Maintenance plans
  • Sustainable Learning environment

9.  7 Core Conversations - Catalytic

• We’re in the position to lead this conversations.

1. Blurring and Blending
   • Face to face infrastructure:
     • Campus
     • Classrooms
     • Lecture Halls
     • Labs
     • Office Hours
     • Library
     • Open Space
   • Online Infrastructure
     • Portal
     • Learning Mgt Systems
     • Repositories
     • Phones
     • Blogs
     • ePortfolio
   • Blended
     • Lecture
     • Dialogic,
     • small group learning communities,
     • project-based learning,
     • self-directed learning,
     • collateral learning
   • Not about the model but about the instructional leaders/teachers.
2. Mobility Galore
   • Mobile infrastructure
   • Our students are going to go to McDonald’s to learn because we aren’t having the conversations we need to have at school (e.g. university students).
3. Gaming
   • SeriousGames.org
   • Age 33 is the avg age.
   • Who plays computer and video games? 69%
   • All social and contextual conversations
   • “You never could have convinced me that video games brought me closer to my grandsons.” -Grandfather
4. Social Networking
5. High-Impact Presentation/Engagement Technologies
6. Analystics, Diagnostics, and Evidence Based Education
7. The Human Touch

• Dr. Mark David Milliron
  • catalyticconversations.blogspot.com
• wwww.markmilliron.com

10.  Shifting into Virtual Gear: Online Student Orientation and Tutoring

10.1  Presenters

• Developed and implemented online student information and tutoring
• Online faculty facilitation

10.2  Central Texas College

• Accredited by SACS-COC
• Public open-admissions two-year college
• Central Campus located in Central Texas Next to Ft Hood (largest military installation in the free world)
• Five additional campuses serving students around the world. We have a campus in Korea, and all over to help establish programs.

10.3  Rethinking Orientation and Tutoring

• How do you serve online students?
  • Two web sites for CTC
  • Multiple campuses
  • Some information is for all face to face students
  • Some information is just for online students
• Most students new to college
• Many students new to online
• Average age of distant learner is 30
• Most students not near central campus
• Multiple “orientations” from multiple departments available

10.4  Eureka

• Students automatically enrolled in LMS for their classes
• Students learn LMS and CTC at same time
• LMS Provides multiple communication tools
• Already pay for LMS
• Teacher/Administrators already inside LMS
• How we can save money

10.5  Online Student Center

• Build this as an organization, not a course
• Two start dates a month
• As long as your logging into your course, visit the organization center
  • Has all the How-to’s
  • Wimba classroom
  • QuickTechTips relevant to information needed by students.
• Distant Learner Handbook
• Rate My Instructor
• Live Orientations
• Discussion Forums
• How-to’s on being online students
• Contact lists
• How-to’s on using LMS

10.6  Tutoring

• Two major subject students have trouble with…try online tutoring with those 2 major topics:
  • English
  • Math
• Have instructor familiar with Blackboard/Wimba
• Navigation was kept pretty much the same.
• Live Tutor for Math is being phased out due to funding.
• Copyright online
• Using a tablet computer, create math tutorials that model problem-solving.
• Survey or evaluation…course evaluation for online courses. . .what we’re doing right and what we need to improve.
• English tutor
  • Discussions
  • Links to WImba classrooms
• Email for tutor.
• Talk to the Tutor
• Retention is a big deal
• Students want more face to face

10.7  The Future

• Combine all into one retention program
• Coordinate diretly with Faculty Development
• Include all students—not just online students
• All 3 sections have discussion boards
  • within 24 hours, if another student hasn’t answered a question, then someone goes in and answers it.
• It’s OK for students to ask each other questions.

11.  Spring ISD

• Kienia Green-Brooks
• http://virtual.springisd.org
• Site visits
• Email: kgreen1@springisd.org
• 10 teachers
  • 2 counselors
  • 1 teacher remote
• Top 3 challenges
  • Dealing with district procedures.
    • Getting students enrolled. Registraiton. Our counselors are working.
    • Education kids, district level people.
    • Can’t look at it as a traditional school
    • Student courses: Algebra II, Spanish, Geoemetry, BCIS, World Geography, History, and Economics. Working on becoming a TxVSN. Started developing courses before TxVSN.
• Video - building the plane as you fly
• Education

12.  Using Moodle to Create and Foster a Learning Community

12.1  Facilitators

• Tx Department of Family and Protective Services
• John Morales
• Lisa Abate - twitter: lisaspeaking
• Jeannette O.
• Work together in PPD…do training for case workers in the agency.

12.2  Current Conversations

• Blurring and blending vs online/face 2 face
• Learning community
• Reasons
  • Using Moodle for LMS
  • Starting PD Model, teachers in groups of 5–7 and want to use Moodle for that

12.3  What is the Face of Today’s Learning Community

• Digital Natives - Cognitively, there is a difference in the brain. TEDTalks video - Brain connection changes, kids growing up on ubiquitous connection.

12.4  What is a Learning Community

• A learning community is a group of people who share common values and beliefs, are actively engaged in learning together from each other. In training one of our goals is to provide the space to foster this community. (Wikipedia)
• With Moodle, we’re able to shape that.

12.5  Social Learning

• Why is supporting social learning opportunities important?
  • People learn through observing others’ behavior
  • If people observe positive, desired outcomes in the observed behavior, they are more likely to model, imitate, and adopt the behavior themselves.
• Fostering Learning community →Social Learning
• http://polleverywhere.com
• How is your organization addressing social learning?
  • Classroom discussion
  • Online blogs
  • Interactive online training
  • Wikis
  • Other

12.6  Costs for Moodle

• Open Source
• Supporting that could cost
• In our organization, while software and updates are open source, we pay for someone to provide (full time employee salary). If you’re not going to outsource it, then there is going to be a cost.
• Moodle administrator
• 11,000 employees
• Equipment running on:
  • 2 Windows 2003 servers
  • Separate database server
  • Transitioning to a 3 server combination with load balancing
  • “Work within the constraints we have.”

12.7  Why a Learning Community

• Early stages of why is that’s the way it is.
• Examination of our audience (case workers). Our audience need more of a personal touch, knowing other people. They like to be around people. The legislature said we have to do blended learning.
• It kind of naturally developed as a constructivist, social learning environment…it turned out to be the best fit for our audience.

12.8  Virtual Learning Environment

• A VLE is designed to support teaching and learning an educational setting
• A VLE is a virtual classroom that allows teachers and students to communicate with each other online.
• Most are moving from traditional to virtual learning.
• Social Learning
  • VLE
  • Classroom
  • OJT
• To train staff, we use Adobe Captivate to create content for others.
• Do you have a VLE at your organization?
  • Yes
  • No
  • Not sure

12.9  What can a learning community look like in a face to face class setting?

• Seminars, workshops, actual classroom training
• Discussion panels
• Small groups
• Role-plays

12.10  Using Moodle to Provide or enhance a learning community

• Moodle provides a common collab learning environment and has enabled creation of several intersecting communities of developers, educators, and students
• Moodle is both an online system and a way of working. It’s a platform to facilitate collaboration of any kind, in an institutions of learning and it’s a way of working that requires both collaboration and learning from all who actively join in.
• People participating in forums at Moodle.org are composed of learners, trainers, teachers, community contributors.

12.11  Success Criteria for Learning Community

• Relevance -how relevant is online learning to students’ prof. practices
• Reflection - does online learnign stimulate students’ critical reflective thinking?
• Interactivity- to what extendt do students engage online in rich educative dialogue?
• Tutor support- how well do tutors enable students to participate in online learning?
• Peer support- do fellow students provide sensitive and encouraging support?
• Interpretation - do students and tutors make good sense of each other’s communications?
• Use blended learning environment
• Mapped out what is most critical to be taught in a classroom situation
• Online learning is going to be a lot of self-pacing
• Allow adult learners to be self-paced
• Online learning courses.
• Lots of on the job training…have them observe and document

12.12  Using Moodle Functionality to Foster Social Learning

• Blogs
• Forums

12.13  Additional Modules

• Face-to-face
• Podcast

AudioRecorder

• Certificate

12.14  Optimizing Performance on PHP/MySQL

• search Moodle.org for “optimizing performance”
• Planning to install Jaspersoft (reporting gateway)
• no more than 200

Joomla Tip - Installing in a Subdirectory

Where “main” is the subdirectory with Joomla in it. The site hasn’t gone live yet for the world, but when it does, it should be a simple matter of renaming the alternateindexfilename.php file to index.php).

Texas

1. Daily rate: $1200
2. Travel/Hotel Reimbursement:
   • $500 in advance or
   • Direct bill on hotel with mileage paid afterward or
   • Direct bill on hotel with airline ticket and airport pickup (preferred)
3. Includes…
   • One keynote and up to 2 workshops or
   • No keynote and 3 workshops
   • Moodle with Discussion forum, Web-based handouts and print duplication master in PDF

Out of State

1. Daily rate: $1700
2. Travel/Hotel Reimbursement: $500
3. Includes…
   • One keynote and up to 2 workshops or
   • No keynote and 3 workshops
   • Moodle with Discussion forum(s), Web-based handouts and print duplication master in PDF

Out of Country

1. Daily rate: $4000 or negotiable
2. Travel/Hotel/Meals Reimbursement: 100% coverage
3. Includes…
   • Speaking/Workshop options are negotiable
   • Moodle with Discussion forum(s), Web-based handouts and print duplication master in PDF