November 3, 2006

Location:
Nebo Learning Center
570 South Main
Springville, UT 84663

Welcome and Introductions - Jared Orton

Gadget of the Month

PowerSquid - Kelly Dumont shared remotely via a video.
MicroTrack 24/96 Professional 2 Channel mobile digital recorder - Brett Zabel

Podcast Highlight:
- Bit by Bit
  By a Teacher: For Teachers
- ProQuest Podcasts: SIRS, CultureGrams, Announcements - Training & Video Podcasts
- Kelly Dumont's - The Educational Mac: For Mac using educators and those who wish they were.
  http://www.theeducationalmac.com/rss.xml or http://feeds.feedburner.com/xmission/Agnp
- Tech Pod Zone - recommended by Robert Gordon

Blog Highlight:

Techlearning blog
* Monday: David Warlick
* Tuesday: Terry Freedman
* Wednesday: Miguel Guhlin
* Thursday: David Jakes
* Friday: Wesley Fryer
Kelly Dumont's Blog: The Educational Mac
Unfortunately it is blocked in the districts who use the Web Logs / Personal Pages category.
We had a conversation about how teachers would use blogs. They aren't interested in writing or reading a traditional blog - but rather as a way to communicate with students and parents. Theresa showed one elementary educator who posted a daily question that the students had to comment. Clint showed a high school teacher who uses a blog in his Literature class.

Over the Shoulder - Rick Gaisford

Dashboard and widgets - Small applications or feeds from Internet sites
Where to find widgets: Apple Widgets - if you don't have a Mac you can go to Yahoo! Widgets
Example widgets: Weather, CNN news, calendar, gas widget (to find the cheapest gas), Google News Cloud (cloud that deals you the forecast for the news), monitoring you computer (istat pro), text message, wikipedia, live camera, photos from around the world, Mac Man game (like Pac man), latest movie trailer, 3-2-1 counter, play piano, JiWire (displays Wireless Internet Access Locations), Old Time Radio Widget, Unit Converter, Easy envelope maker

The Big6 overview - Bonnie Anderson

First introduced in Utah in 1996
Mike Eisenberg and Bob Berkowitz - struggling with the problem of information overload in 1988
The Big 6 Rap - resources for younger students
Bonnie created a visual - Big 6 Guy to help her remember the steps
1. Define the Problem and Identify Information Needs
2. Information-Seeking Strategies: Wide Range of resources and select the best resources
3. Location and Access
4. Use of Information
5. Synthesis - organize the information and present the information
6. Evaluation - do a double evaluation - evaluate the product and evaluate the process

Excel Tips: Lynn Sorenson - Duchesne District

Lynn's Microsoft Excel handouts - we went over the Excel shortcuts
By default, the Return/Enter key moves the selection below the active cell (this can be changed in preferences).
By default, the Tab key moves the selection to the right of the active cell.
Holding the Option key down, and clicking on a row number inserts another row. (Mac)
Holding the Option key down, and clicking on a column letter adds another column. (Mac)
To delete a column/s, click on the column letter/s to select them, then press the Control and – keys.
To delete a row/s, click on the row number/s to select them, then press the Control and – keys.
Press the Option (Ctrl for PC) key, then click and drag on a sheet tab to make a duplicate of a worksheet.
Click on a sheet tab and drag it to move the worksheet to a different position in the workbook.
Click on a sheet tab and drag it to the desktop to create a new document with only that worksheet as the contents.
Click on a sheet tab and drag it to another workbook to copy it from one to the other.
To fill down an empty column next to one that has already been populated, double-click on the fill box (bottom-right corner of the cell).
Click on the box between the A and 1 to select all of the worksheet. (top-left corner of the worksheet)
Shift + Return moves selection up one cell.
Shift + Tab moves selection backwards one cell.
Highlight the complete spreadsheet (Command/Ctrl + A) and double-click on a column or row separator to resize all columns or rows at once.
Shift + click or click and drag to highlight adjacent cells.
Command/Ctrl + click to highlight nonadjacent cells.
Ctrl + Scroll wheel increases or decreases the view size.
Celia Powell shared some tips on Excel Formulas - she has handout on her MS Excel page. The conditional formatting tricks were also handy.
Sign up for the monthly Allen Wyatt's Excel Tips.
Data Analysis for Dummies by Stephen L. Nelson

UEN Updates: Karen

We reviewed the 2006 Utah Educators Guide. Teachers should have received it. If you need more guides, contact Karen.
You can download a pdf of the guide on the Utah ITV web page.
I shared a presentation that Laura Hunter made as a way to walk through the guide will your educators.
There is now an easy way to sign up for the UTED / NetNews mailing list. Go to the K-12 Educators page. Click on the graphic in the left column.
There are 25 new Work Place Essential Skills videos in eMedia.
Call for Submissions: All high schools, colleges and universities are invited to create interstitials (public service announcements or fillers) to be aired on UEN-TV. The interstitial needs to address a life skills topic. Please share this opportunity with your high schools and contact Laura Hunter and she will send you more information.

USOE Updates: Rick and Kathy

Kathy said something about $30 million dollars, but to be honest I was talking to someone else at the time and didn't catch it all. (Sorry Kathy - please send the info to the C-Forum mailing list.
Rick shared a draft of the Teachers and Technology Mini-Grant application from Qwest. We provided feedback
NetDay Speakup 2006 survey for students to share their thoughts about technology in their schools.
If you plan to go NECC - UCET has a block of hotel rooms. Contact Seth Sorensen.

UTIPS Updates: Julie Quinn
- Grant money is up - put in for ongoing funding. Money for training materials, item creation, and other materials.
- 30 Scantron Scanners were purchased for the various UTIPS servers. The scantron forms are being distributed.
- If you upgrade to eDesk2 then you will need to upgrade your scanner as well.
- Cody demonstrated the manage students feature.

Graphically Organizing the "Big6"

Big6™ Skill	Graphic Organizer
Task Definition 1.1 Define the problem 1.2 Identify information needed.	Chain of Events: Use to plan problem-solving process. Fishbone Mapping: Use to identify problem causes and interrelationships between them and the problem. Cycle: Use to show interactions between events.
Information-Seeking-Strategies 2.1 Determine all possible sources 2.2 Select the best source	Clustering: Use to generate ideas about possible sources of information.
Location and Access 3.1 Locate sources 3.2 Find information within sources	Compare and Contrast: Use to compare and contrast information sources. Spider Map: Use to explore a topic and identify main ideas and details.
Use of Information 4.1 Engage 4.2 Extract	Continuum: Use to develop time lines and rating scales or to show historical progression. Compare and Contrast: Use to compare and contrast information sources. Venn Diagram: Use to identify similarities and differences.
Synthesis 5.1 Organize information from multiple sources 5.2 Present the result	Problem and Solution: Use to identify a problem and consider multiple solutions and possible results. Storyboard: Use to map presentation or Web page.
Evaluation 6.1 Judge the result 6.2 Judge the process	Interaction Outline: Use to judge the problem-solving process and the interactions between team members.

Big6™ Skill

Graphic Organizer

Task Definition

1.1 Define the problem

1.2 Identify information needed.

Chain of Events: Use to plan problem-solving process.

Fishbone Mapping: Use to identify problem causes and interrelationships between them and the problem.

Cycle: Use to show interactions between events.

Information-Seeking-Strategies

2.1 Determine all possible sources

2.2 Select the best source

Clustering: Use to generate ideas about possible sources of information.

Location and Access

3.1 Locate sources

3.2 Find information within sources

Compare and Contrast: Use to compare and contrast information sources.

Spider Map: Use to explore a topic and identify main ideas and details.

Use of Information

4.1 Engage

4.2 Extract

Continuum: Use to develop time lines and rating scales or to show historical progression.

Compare and Contrast: Use to compare and contrast information sources.

Venn Diagram: Use to identify similarities and differences.

Synthesis

5.1 Organize information from multiple sources

5.2 Present the result

Problem and Solution: Use to identify a problem and consider multiple solutions and possible results.

Storyboard: Use to map presentation or Web page.

Evaluation

6.1 Judge the result

6.2 Judge the process

Interaction Outline: Use to judge the problem-solving process and the interactions between team members.

Theme: Task Definition - Karen and Kathy
Library Media Core

1.1 Define the information problem

What does this assignment require me to do?

What will my product/project look like if I do a really good job?

What problem needs to be solved?

Ask your teacher to explain if the assignment seems vague or confusing. Think about and decide on the appropriate technology needed to complete the task.
1.2 Identify information needed to complete the task (to solve the information problem)

What information do I need in order to do my task?

How much information do I need?

What type of information do I need? (e.g. facts, opinions, graphics, charts, maps)

K-2 students

What am I supposed to do?
What will the result look like if I do a really good job?
What do I need to make to show what I learned?
What do I need to find out about in order to do the job?

Coming up with Topic Ideas:

Pioneer Library:
SIRS Knowledge Source - Top 10 Pro vs. Con Leading Issues >> Select a topic >> Suggested Keywords
Visual Thesaurus - help with brainstorming

Asking Good Questions:

Defining Essential Questions:
- often involves a moral or ethical dilemma and/or address issues of bias or perspective.
- has no right or wrong answer
- probes for deeper meaning and sets the stage for further questioning
- centers around major issues, problems, concerns, interests, or themes that are relevant to your students' lives
- can cover several disciplines
Examples
- What is the best strategy for reducing the impact of acid rain in the United States?
- How does the use of voice enhance a story?

For ideas on creating and asking essential questions, go to Creating Essential Questions or Asking the Essential Question.
The Question Mark - Jamie Mackenzie's journal devoted to questions, questioning, sound intelligence, strategic reading and quality teaching.
Questioning Toolkit - Questioning strategies from Jamie Mackenzie (1997).
From Now On - another educational journal by Jamie Mackenzie. (You can subscribe to get his articles via email.)
Asking Better Questions - An article regarding the need for good questions and provides excellent examples.

Example projects:

Grades 3-6: Write a report about Portugal
Grades 7-12: Write a paper and make a product about a notable African American

Additional Resources:

A Taskonomy of WebQuest Tasks - This site does a great job of explaining the different types of tasks that can be explored. (Retelling, Compilation, Mystery, Journalistic, Design, Creative Product, Consensus Building, Persuasion, Self-Knowledge, Analytical, Judgment and Scientific)
Research Topic Triangle - instructions on how a broader topic can be focused by adding keywords to concentrate upon a specific research area. Check out the General to Specific triangle too.
KWHL Chart

Future meeting dates:

December 1, 2006 - Jordan School District
January 5, 2007 - Utah Education Network
February 2, 2007- Tooele School District
April 13 or 20, 2007 - Davis School District

For questions or comments contact us.