Technology for Teachers

Cross Posted at www.LeaderTalk.org

I’ve been running an idea around in my head over that past couple of weeks and I’m sure it’ll continue to make more sense in my own mind but here goes.  I’d like to take my time today to talk about the expectations we hold for ourselves and our staff members.  My post title alludes to technical expectations for non-technical staff, but this can also include holding highly technical expectations when it does not suit the purpose.

First off I’d like to start by pointing you to the "Essential Conditions" that the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) lists throughout their site for implementing technology standards.  You’ll see support and skilled personnel listed throughout.  Skilled in the use of technology specifically stated as being "appropriate for their job responsibilities".

I think somewhere along the way some of us with a passion for technology in education have lost site of this simple fact, in order to maximize the time we have we need to use the most efficient and productive methods to accomplish the task at hand.

I see it in the region I work and live in right now.  In our zeal to get students and teachers podcasting and creating webpages we’ve completely missed the boat.  If a secretary, teacher, or principal needs/want to put information online why do we continue to entertain the notion that they need to be trained on how to create and maintain their own website or that we need to hold an in-service on how to use GarageBand, FrontPage, Dreamweaver, etc.?  In all too many instances our higher than need be expectations stop those with the first hand knowledge and information from sharing it with the school community.

If we truly want to make the most of the time we have and maximize the productivity of our staff we need to look at each person individually.  We need to evaluate each person’s individual skill level, their individual purpose, and identify a tool that more specifically targets their needs, abilities, and tasks.

As techie as I come, for the most part if I’m podcasting I’d rather put my work out on a site like GabCast where I’m, for lack of a better explanation, leaving a voice mail and letting the site create the podcast and corresponding MP3 files.  The same holds true with websites, I’m to the point where FrontPage/DreamWeaver/Nvu/etc. are all four letter words to me.  If you’re wondering I use Joomla as a web-based CMS.  Long gone are the days of having to drive into the district just to update the website.

From an administrative standpoint my purpose is to share news, announcements, successes, etc. with my school community.  My purpose is not to learn how to create radio worthy podcasts or Fortune 500 level websites.

The next time you hold a training for your staff members, regardless of the topic.  Please step back and reflect on your audience.  Is this approach the most effective way to maximize their time and abilities to the fullest potential or is this a methodology in which we are familiar and comfortable with.  It’s the same thing we ask and hold up as exemplary teaching, individualized expectations that reflect a knowledge of what the individual needs to move forward in their own growth continuum.

Thank you again for your time.

Sincerely,

Sean Martinson

I Twit.

I didn’t use the best phone but here’s a podcast example…. dial a 1800 number, follow the prompts, leave a message, and here you go:

Gabcast! Educational Podcasts #3 – Technical Expectations for Non-Technical Staff

This is the audio podcast version of a posting I wrote for www.LeaderTalk.org

or download the MP3 here…

This posting is cross posted at www.leadertalk.org.

This, my second posting on Leader Talk finds me reeling from the Easter weekend.  Now that the candy hangover has begun to subside I find myself reflecting on the many technology related discussions and experiences we had on Sunday.

This weekend I introduced my father to my portable jukebox, aka my video iPod.  Currently it’s at 65% capacity with 2,284 songs, 339 videos (including a couple full length movies), 2,313 photos, my calendar, my contact list, 366 podcast episodes, and Sudoku to boot!  With the help of my iPod I’ve traveled the world for professional development opportunities.  No, you don’t need an iPod to listen to podcasts… but it sure makes it easier!

Not to spend too much time talking about my family and my weekend BUT…. one last thing before I get to what I’d promised I’d write about.  I was quite the “gamer” in my day, not quite the Pong player my father was but many a system passed in which I spent countless hours playing, just me and the machine.  It was amazing to watch a video game system be embraced by my family, young and old, as they jumped, shouted, and basically burned off the Easter calories while “playing” our Nintendo Wii.  I’m again amazed at how technology has changed over time.  To watch those that would have previously criticized someone for “wasting their time with silly video games” completely lose themselves as they boxed their spouse or raced cows with their cousins is something to stop and take in.

One last thought on my not so connected introduction… for those that haven’t looked into video games for a while you might just be amazed at the levels of collaboration and communication going on in a media which has long been looked at as a waste of time.

What does any of this have to do with my posting for today?  I’m not really sure other than I’m fascinated with the rapid change of technology.  Maybe putting voice to the thought that teachers must first integrate technology into their own lives before the can be asked to find an educational use for the tool.

Today I want to talk about teacher time, technology integration, and what we as educational leaders can do to help teachers implement technology at the classroom level.  Please refer to my previous post for background information on technology integration.

So, How does teacher time affect technology integration?  In order to successfully integrate technology into the classroom, a school district must provide teachers with the time to learn and use new and existing technology.  In a review of studies on technology insertion, Cradler & Cradler (1995) found that staff development, training, and follow-up assistance are prerequisites for effective and sustained applications of technology and telecommunications. The authors report that effective technology integration requires that:

• Technical assistance is available when needed.
• Time for teachers to plan, learn about, and implement technology applications.
• Long-term staff development, rather than one-time workshops, is needed to support integration of technology into instruction.
• Teachers must have access to technology while planning.

Supportive workshops conducted over extended time periods throughout the school year enable teachers to acquire new technology skills and to learn how students can use technology to meet curriculum content objectives (Honey & McMillan, 1996).

A 2000 study by the Web-Based Education Commission, The Power of the Internet for Learning, demonstrates this point when 82% of teachers questioned cited lack of time to learn and plan how to use the computer in their teaching as their greatest barrier to using technology in the classroom.

There are many real-world obstacles to the time component of teacher use and training in regards to technology applications.  Trainings of any kind compete with current, ongoing, and new district initiatives.  Each competes for the time, effort, and attention of teachers.  Each also competes with the time and funding allocation of the district.

Time is a prerequisite for effective and sustained integration of technology.  However, districts struggle finding time to train teachers in new pedagological and technological approaches.

Teachers are being asked to do more throughout their day with no additional time built in to their schedules.  Teachers must have time specifically designated for the study, training, and practice that quality technology integration demands. Districts who fail to allocate time for teachers to study and practice technology integration will similarly fail at technology integration.

A professional learning community approach should be implemented; integrating technology into the ongoing learning which the learning community is taking place in. Learning communities extend the boundaries of education by recognizing that everyone is a learner and a teacher (Senge, 1990).  Technology can then be integrated throughout the weekly and monthly, large and small group sessions to study issues pertinent to the individual district while integrating technology throughout.  In professional learning communities, teachers build the community by working together towards a common goal.  This may be a unique approach to technology training but innovation requires the efforts of the whole community in creating a vision where the school is to go.

Technology should take its rightful place alongside other district initiatives.  To be fully integrated technology needs to be looked at as a part of the collective school community and should integrate with other topics, not compete for valuable training time.  Finally, districts should also look to utilize emerging staff development options such as web-based, on-demand training tools.

Thank you for lending me some of your valuable time.  Next month I’ll blog about how teacher knowledge affects technology integration.

Sincerely,
Sean Martinson

I am not, nor have I ever been, an employee of Apple or Nintendo, but I do shamelessly promote their tools and have no ethical qualms about signing a promotional deal.  My agent stands by 24/7. 

Cradler, J., & Cradler, R. (1995). Prior studies for technology insertion. San Francisco, CA: Far West Laboratory.

Honey, M., & McMillan, K. (1996). Case studies of K-12 educators’ use of the Internet: Exploring the relationship between metaphor and practice. Center for Children & Technology CCT Reports Issue No. 5. Retrieved April 9, 2007 from http://tinyurl.com/yqb3fs.

Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline. New York: Doubleday.

Web-Based Education Commission. (2000). The power of the internet for learning: Final report of the web and education commission.

Listen to the Cobwebs Podcast Podcast (My first try with GarageBand on my new Mac. Bear with me…)

Dusting off the cobwebs here… nice to put together a podcast/netcast while on the road….. Let me know what you think, is the background noise a hassle?

• TechTeacher Podcast
• Micromemo from XtremeMac
• Map Testing: www.nwea.org
• Dynamic Reporting Suite
• Contact Sean: sean@seanmartinson.org
• Professional Learning Communities

Quick background music is from a local group “After Eternity”. Found them on garageband.com and looks like they are students from the Deer River Mn area.
[tags]mac, education, technology, technology integration, seanmartinson, sean martinson, technology4teachers, school[/tags]

A note to iTunes users and those following the podcast. I’ll be taking a “sabbatical” from the podcast as I finish my Masters degree and start my administrative work this summer. Thanks for your patience!

Listen to the Podcast

Sean M.
[tags]technology, technology4teachers, seanmartinson, sean martinson, education[/tags]

This post will discuss three synchronous learning tools. Let us start with a quick definition of synchronous. Entering the following phrase define:synchronous into a Google search produces a page of definitions for synchronous. The following definition is the first from the list:

Synchronous: A type of two-way communication with virtually no time delay, allowing participants to respond in real time.

There you go, in a nutshell that’s what a synchronous communication tool does, it allows you to communicate in a seamless manner. This environment may include text, audio, or video, and in some cases a mixture of more than one.

Tools such as Skype, Horizon-Wimba, and Tapped In have varying amounts of potential based on the users’, and communities’, level of technological literacy. Each of these tools offers conferencing/chat capabilities. Each has their own unique look and feel but there are many similarities. Each of these tools allows users to communicate from around the globe. Let me say that again with a little different touch, users are able to communicate from around the world. Like the word play, world/globe? The point is that these are global communication tools.

Horizon-Wimba is an environment that combines text and audio with a few other advanced conferencing functions. One of the most powerful tools I’ve been able to witness from Wimba is a screen capturing capability. For example, say you were participating in a discussion on a given topic, at any given point the facilitator is able to turn on a screen capture tool to a particular user who can in turn capture a portion of their screen to share with the group. This offers astounding possibilities; one quick thought is having one group member run a presentation for the entire group to watch. The draw back for me is the cost of Horizon-Wimba. It’s not free. Although the following tools Skype and TappeIn don’t offer some of the advanced features they make up for these “deficiencies” in terms of their respective costs, they’re free!

Skype is what most would consider an instant messenging tool. Personally I hate to think of it in that respect as most educators familiar with IM tools include a few choice four letter words when describing what they see students using IM tools for. You could literally keep me going for hours on those types of arguments, let’s leave it with this quick quote, “The arguments of a technology’s potential abuses as an argument against the tool are not sound arguments.”

To me Skype is the perfect tool for online collaboration. Skype allows you to chat with other participants through text, audio, and video. I have a cable modem connection at home so I am on the end of the spectrum where I see no delay in audio/video. Skype also offers file sharing capability. Not that you can’t just e-mail a document to the other person, but Skype has an option to attach and send information during the actual conference. The other day I was able to participate in an audio conference with two other people from Minnesota and a third who was in Mongolia. Did I mention that there was no cost, or hidden costs to this service? Skype leverages the power of existing tools. In my case that’s an internet connection, webcam, and a computer.

My Skype user name is SeanMartinson (no space), feel free to contact me at any time and add me to your list! TappedIn is similar to the other tools listed above.

TappedIn is a community portal to topic specific textual chats. Setting up an account to TappedIn is easy and upon entering the site you are met by a chat section with an assistant to walk you through and show you around. The area that TappedIn excels at is the community and scheduling that it offers. TappedIn is for educators and runs a monthly calendar of topics allowing users to pencil in dates ahead of time where they will be able to chat (text) with other like minded users about a given topic.

Being comfortable with the typing modes available in Wimba, Skype, and Tappedin I’ve found uses for each of them. As I cross the digital divide I am becoming more and more comfortable with the audio and video chatting capabilities. I don’t think it’s the same for our students, but for myself and others, we need to learn a whole new mode of communication. It’s amusing to watch those not comfortable (again, myself included) as we stumble through and navigate the audio/video all while trying not to interrupt each other. It brings me back to the days of CB radios while talking in turns. It’s hard to get used to an environment where we are able to talk in the same face to face atmosphere minus the body language that communicates the intent and directs the flow of the conversation.

Each tool has its obstacles and hurdles to becoming fully integrated into educational settings. The biggest is imagination. Many have asked what you would use these tools for, my answer is “What do you want it to do?”. Each tool can be used to fit the user’s needs. It’s up to their imagination.

So how do and why do you use these tools in education. Although I believe there are many uses for each of these communication tools in education. It again goes back to your goals and objectives for the tools. I give little time to Horizon-Wimba, not because I don’t feel that it’s a powerful tool, but because I can’t and many districts can’t afford to use it. TappedIn is an excellent tool for technologically inclined educators to meet, network, and discuss topics of importance. Skype, in my mind, has huge implications for education. Again, there are a multitude of uses, but the biggest that I see is utilizing Skype as a border crasher.

For my generation many can remember when Ronald Reagan said, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”. I believe Skype has the same potential. The potential to bring together groups from around the world, opening a direct line of communication where, in this case, students are able to meet those that they see vilified in the nightly news. What’s stopping a classroom from the Midwest from talking and meeting with students from the Middle East? Outside of time zones, languge, and differing periods in the day, there are no more excuse why we as educators can not expose and partner our classes directly with those that our news networks tell us to hate, or remind us that they hate us. The website Epals (www.epals.com) offers an online directory of classes looking for these types of partners.

Another obstacle to utilizing these approaches in the classroom is the actual training of teachers and technology staff development. The portion that was and is missing in many districts is the time portion. Many districts budget money to technology but neglect to factor in the teacher training component. Time and money are rarely budgeted for teachers to participate in training during school hours or at a rate of reimbursement outside of school hours. Staffs are already undertaking initiatives in and outside of school so for many asking them to do more on their own on top of that and what they already take home is just too much.

By integrating this approach into general curriculum we are able to ask teachers to utilize advanced technologies in subject and topic areas in which they are already comfortable. Not only does this show an immediate use which the user can identify with, it can put them more at ease when asked to use this format for a topic out of their comfort zone.

This topic is also being discussed at the EdTechWiki, you can add, edit, or browse comments at: www.edtechwiki.org
Sites Discussed:

• Skype
• http://www.skype.com/
• “Skype is a little program for making free calls over the internet to anyone else who also has Skype. It’s free and easy to download and use, and works with most computers.”
• Horizon Wimb
• http://www.horizonwimba.com/
• “Horizon Wimba develops web-based collaboration software designed for online education, language learning and live interactive communications.”
• TappedIn
• http://tappedin.org/tappedin/
• “Tapped In is a Web-based learning environment created by SRI International to transform teacher professional development (TPD) for professional development providers and educators. Tapped In enables providers to offer high-quality online professional development experiences and support to more teachers cost-effectively. Through Tapped In, educators can extend their professional growth beyond courses or workshops with the online tools, resources, colleagues, and support they need to implement effective, classroom-centered learning activities.”
• EdTechWiki
• http://www.edtechwiki.org
• “The purpose of this wiki is to serve as a sounding board for those that are currently utilizing technology in their classroom as well as those looking to integrate technology into their work.”

• Listen to the Podcast
• Download the PDF Handout

[tags]internet, teaching, learning, technology4teachers, seanmartinson, sean martinson, skype [/tags]

We can thank my short attention span that I have left a few websites in disgust. Knowing that there are literally billions of websites, if I find myself at a site that I am not immediately impressed with, I move on. As your read my top 5 list you might be surprised that “authority” is not among the top five. I started with a list of six, in order to narrow it down to five I chose to remove authority. I’ve found that if a site is offering information that I find useful and it is; objective, accurate, current, all information is relevant, and it is aesthetically pleasing I don’t mind who the author is. In other words I’ll take help from anyone no matter the title they hold.

With that little notice in mind here are my top five reasons that a site is ineffective.

1. Aesthetics- If the site is loaded with graphics and poor background and/or text I won’t even take the time to read the first word.
2. Objectivity- I don’t need someone selling me their point of view. My time is valuable, so I appreciate straight forward information without any fluff.
3. Accuracy- If the information is at all inaccurate it again is not worth my time.
4. Currency- With ever-changing research the information needs to be current.
5. Content Relevancy- I don’t mind spending money for information but it will need to be directly related to the topic and again straight forward.

• Listen to the Podcast
• Download the PDF Handout

[tags]internet, teaching, learning, education, technology, technology4teachers, seanmartinson, sean martinson[/tags]

Six criteria for a highly effective website, information from Cal State Fullerton, “Six Criteria for Evaluating Web Pages“.

Authority – There is a qualified author listed, their qualifications are listed, and their contact information is included.

• Objectivity
• All information presented is in an objective manner.
• Accuracy
• All information provided by the Web site is accurate.
• Currency
• All of the information on the site is up to date and there are no reference to sites which have moved.
• Content – Relevancy
• The site meets the purpose, the subject is adequately covered, all links complement the theme, other sources quoted are accurately cited, and all the information on the site is free.
• Aesthetics
• There is an appropriate balance between text and images, the site is visually appealing, and the site requires no special software to view the information.

As with any rule there are exceptions. I find each of the above criteria to be extremely helpful in rating websites. However not all areas are pertinent to every website. For instance, if I’m shopping amazon.com I don’t mind advertisements and the purpose is to sell items so you can’t knock the site for having fee based items listed. However I find it hard to bend the rule on accuracy, content, currency, and aesthetics. If a site is not accurate, has unrelated content, is out of date, or is not visually appealing it can not be considered a “highly effective” website.

In summary:

• Criteria applicable to all sites:
• Accuracy
• Content – Relevancy (all content should be related)
• Currency
• Aesthetics

• Criteria that may not be applicable to all sites:
• Objectivity
• Content – Relevancy (not all items need be free)
• Authority

• Listen to the Podcast
• Download the PDF Handout

[tags]internet, teaching, learning, education, technology, technology4teachers, seanmartinson, sean martinson[/tags]

One description that I found about Fantastico was simply to say that it’s fantastic. You can google it for a better look, but here’s what I think of it as: a single page where you shop for applications (open-source) you’d like to install, once you’ve found it you click on the name and walk through a step by step setup (usually 3) to install your program.

There have been other options that I’ve enjoyed through Bluehost, but none as much as Fantastico. Here’s a peek at the Fantastico screen:

“Use Fantastico to automatically install any of the scripts listed on the left. Installing any script will use one of your available MySQL databases. Removing any script will free up one of your used MySQL databases.

Click on any of the items on the left to get more details.”

You’ll see that the left hand column contains the names of categorized applications. Once a program name is clicked a small explanatory paragraph opens in the right hand panel. There is a short description, a link to the actual site that manages the program, a link to the support forum, and the “new installation” button. This is also where you would see previous WordPress installations.

So, here’s what makes Fantastico so fantastic. I’ll post screen shots and time how fast it takes to install a new WordPress blog.

After I’ve clicked new installation from the WordPress description I’ve got a few details to add before the site can be configured. Although each point of information can be changed at a later time, the directory is the only thing that I’d say don’t change as it’s not easy to do. Other than that you can change the title, description, user name, password, etc. from the WordPress admin page.

This is the second screen, it tells you that the database which will run the program has been created and where you are installing the blog.

The third and final screen tells you that the installation was successful and how and where to access the site and administrative login page. I’ve not posted a picture as it shows some of my server details. Stop your watches…... Under two minutes and I’ve got a new blog!

I’ll gladly write posts on how to install these applications through Fantastico. I’ll wait and look for comments to this post. Even if there’s just one I’ll put something together.

Here’s a list of applications that you can automatically install, with any examples that I currently run (they add more as time goes on and update versions as well, updates are as easy as the installation). To find more information about a given application you can google the title.

• Blogs
• b2evolution
• Nucleus
• pMachine Free
• WordPress
• www.technology4teachers.org
• www.seanmartinson.com/lsirvio
• www.seanmartinson.com/mgephart
• www.seanmartinson.com/news
• Content Management
• Drupal
• Geeklog
• Joomla
• www.seanmartinson.org
• Mambo Open Source
• PHP-Nuke
• phpWCMS
• phpWebSite
• Post-Nuke
• TYPO3
• Xoops
• Customer Relationship
• For those involved in Tech Support I highly recommend running one of these programs to identify, track, and produce stats for your districts tech support traffic.
• Crafty Syntax Live Help
• Help Center Live
• osTicket
• PHP Support Tickets
• Support Logic Helpdesk
• Support Services Manager
• Discussion Boards
• phpBB2
• www.seanmartinson.com/forum
• SMF
• E-Commerce
• CubeCart
• OS Commerce
• Zen Cart
• F.A.Q.
• FAQMasterFlex
• Guestbooks
• ViPER Guestbook
• Hosting Billing
• AccountLab Plus
• phpCOIN
• Image Galleries
• 4Images Gallery
• Coppermine Photo Gallery
• www.seanmartinson.com/gallery
• This gallery is of my daughter and I’ve password protected it. If you’d like to take a look at what the gallery is either google “Coppermine Photo Gallery” or I’ll give you the password to mine if you give me your name and where you work.
• Gallery
• Mailing Lists
• PHPlist
• Polls and Surveys
• Advanced Poll
• phpESP
• PHPSurveyor
• Project Management
• PHProjekt
• Site Builders
• Templates Express
• Wiki
• I used previously learned skills through the other installs to utilize another program: Mediawiki
• www.edtechwiki.org
• TikiWiki
• PhpWiki
• Other Scripts
• Dew-NewPHPLinks
• Moodle
• Lost my other version (my mistake) here’s the new start: www.edtechmoodle.org
• Open-Realty
• phpAdsNew
• phpFormGenerator
• WebCalendar
• Extras
• Language
• Side menu appearance
• Email notifications
• Installations overview

• Listen to the Podcast
• Download the PDF Handout

Just a few of the reasons why I recommend Bluehost.

[tags]bluehost, fantastico, hosting, education, seanmartinson, sean martinson, technology4teachers, technology, school[/tags]

The other day I was in a Skype chat with a couple fellow educators when they asked me where I found the time to work on all of my different sites. I currently run a discussion forum, blog, wiki, website (CMS), a course management system, and more every day. They were asking how I learned how to and found the time. Honestly my skill does not lie in configuring all of these applications to a server. So simply put, Bluehost has features that allow me to do advanced work while focusing on the content and not the setup.

Much of this is going to sound like a sales pitch so I’ll tell you how you can avoid having that feeling. The links in this and subsequent postings about Bluehost will contain a tag showing that you went to the Bluehost site from mine (same with the Bluehost logo on the sidebar). If you plan on purchasing your own space and have liked my opinions and articles and would like me to earn a commission fee for my efforts follow the links from the postings when you sign up. If you don’t want to send me the credit or don’t want to feel like I’m trying to sell you something type in the Bluehost address on your own (bluehost.com) and set up an account that way. I promise the content in these posts will be worth your time but I don’t want you to lose the message thinking this is a sales pitch.

Most websites and blogs do this already without your knowledge. My purpose is to get you the information and maybe earn something for my efforts as well. The difference is I am trying to be up front with my intentions and what it is that you will find on my sites. Personally I’m bothered by those that hide this information and try to gain from their users’ internet habits. If they are up front in doing so I’ve got nothing against it. Another area where we could go into discussion, but that’s another post.

The plan is to discuss why I went with Bluehost then look specifically at how the host fits perfectly into the educational setting. One of the first stops will take a look at the Fantastico function and how you can set up advanced tools such as Wikis and Weblogs on your own and at your own domain name. Any Fantastico posts will be pertinent to any hosting company offering this service, I recommend using Bluehost for their reputation, features, and if you are planning on contacting me for help in setting up any programs. Although other hosts may be similar I can walk you through most of the setup and technical issues over the phone/e-mail/chat if your host is Bluehost.

Okay, enough of that. So why did I choose Bluehost. I was originally looking to start a blog and came across WordPress. After reading more about the WordPress blogging tool I found that one of the hosts they recommended was Bluehost. Now I knew that you could use sites to host your blog for you, but I wanted my own space so I could fully customize it to my needs. I also wanted to be in direct control of all my sites and information. (I had used Network Solutions in the past and was not happy with their features, control panel, and customer support.) The WordPress site said something about automated installation by Bluehost for their program. After reading that I jumped at the chance to sign-up at Bluehost. The price was also right ($6.95/month)! And that as they say was the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

I was happy that Bluehost could auto install WordPress as I didn’t feel I had the technical skills to set the application up on my own, I’ve since been able to teach myself how to do it on my own, but that’s another post.

So that’s why I started with Bluehost, but is that really a good enough reason to recommend them? Wait there’s more. As I’ve explored Bluehost, what’s really sold me is the feature called Fantastico, but also the amount of e-mail accounts, FTP accounts, and technical support that they offer. Other hosts provide similar functions, the only thing that I can say with certainty is that I’ve never had any downtime and the Bluehost technical support has helped me every time (with less that 5 minutes of wait time).

There have been quite a few options that I’ve enjoyed through the Bluehost besides Fantastico. Bluehost also allows me the option of setting up multiple FTP accounts. There are teachers in my district who have worked on their own websites and needed a space for them. Our districts current host only allowed for one user. So I could set the teacher up with a space but they would have root access to the entire site, not a good thing. The Bluehost FTP allows me to lock them into their own directory without fear of them accessing, or worse, overwriting other content.

A few more points of information before I close this post and we move on to Fantastico. The control panel for Bluehost has made maintaining a website (more of a hosting site) easy to do and helped to build my comfort with running and maintaining multiple sites of information. Most options are step by step, and anything that’s advanced I contact their 24 hour support first and they help me out.

There are other options that are great but haven’t really applied to my uses. You can find a list at the following site: “Tell Me More” (just a link to more info).

So what continues to sell me?

• Fantastico
• Control Panel- EASY!
• 24 live “human” support
• Multiple FTP accounts
• Access anywhere with internet connection.
• I can run a complete site for a school district with e-mail, web directories, and web-based applications such as Wikis and Blogs.
• This host allows me to run multiple domain names from one account. Again, all from one site, one control panel, awesome.
• www.seanmartinson.org
• www.seanmartinson.com
• www.seanmartinson.net
• www.edtechwiki.org
• www.edtechwiki.net
• www.edtechwiki.com
• www.edtechmoodle.com
• www.edtechmoodle.org
• www.edtechmoodle.net
• www.warriorfastpitch.com
• www.technology4teachers.org
• A few other functions with a different address:
• A Coppermine Photo Gallery
• www.seanmartinson.com/gallery
• These are pictures of my daughter, the directory is password protected (another Bluehost feature). Contact me if you’d like to check it out, I’ll want to know who you are and what your purpose is. Otherwise search for Coppermine Photo Gallery and you can see what the program is.
• Discussion Forum
• www.seanmartinson.com/forum

Thanks for your attention and time! The next post will look closer at what Fantastico is and how I use it for educational purposes.

• Listen to the Podcast
• Download the PDF Handout

Just a few of the reasons why I recommend Bluehost.

[tags] bluehost, fantastico, hosting, education, seanmartinson, sean martinson, technology4teachers, technology, school[/tags]

Sites Discussed:

· Atomic Learning, “Atomic Learning provides software training using a unique, just-in-time approach. Our library of thousands of short tutorials on dozens of applications are focused on answering the common questions teachers, students and anyone else may have when learning software. We like to call them “atoms of learning” and they are easy to access whenever and where ever you need them. A subscription to Atomic Learning provides you access to all of the tutorials and other valuable educational resources.”

· Wimba, “Horizon Wimba develops web-based collaboration software designed for online education, language learning and live interactive communications.”

· Tapped In, “The online workplace of an international community of education professionals. K-12 teachers, librarians, administrators, and professional development staff, as well as university faculty, students, and researchers gather here to learn, collaborate, share, and support one another.”

Sites such as Atomic Learning, Wimba, and Tapped In have limited potential at this time in some districts. Some staff are not at a level of proficiency where they would find these tools as time well spent. I can see these, especially AtomicLearning, as springboards into online staff development. Although Atomic Learning is loaded with application helpers, there needs to be more discussion and video tutorial examples of integration strategies. More time on what it actually looks like and how teachers are using technology in their classrooms.

Wimba reminded me much of Tegrity (Found in Desire 2 Learn D2L), I should have preceded that with the fact that I’ve only been a viewer of each and not had the opportunity to create programs with them. These have very strong implications for staff development in general curriculum areas. By integrating this approach into general curriculum we are able to ask teachers to utilize advanced technologies in subject and topic areas in which they are already comfortable. Not only does this show an immediate use which the user can identify with, it can put them more at ease when asked to use this format for a topic out of their comfort zone.

I like how Atomic Learning, and Wimba’s desktop series, allow you to advance to particular sections without having to view the entire file. Being comfortable with typing I like the chat format available in Wimba and Tappedin. Tappedin has readily available tech support if you do get stuck. Once I was signed up and logged in it took me a minute to figure out where everything was (a different look) but with chat enabled I was able to ask instead of having to hunt.

Another obstacle to utilizing these approaches in terms of staff development is technology staff development. The portion that was and is missing in many districts is the time portion. Many districts budget money to technology but neglect to factor in the teacher training component. Time and money are rarely budgeted for teachers to participate in training during school hours or at a rate of reimbursement outside of school hours. Staff are already undertaking initiatives in and outside of school so for many asking them to do more on their own on top of that and what they already take home is just too much.

Having just left the classroom I have nothing but empathy for classroom teachers. One of the largest things that I have encountered as a hurdle to technology integration is the teacher portion. Money and time are not allotted to train staff. It is said that 30% of a technology budget should be used for hardware and software while 70% should be put towards teacher training.

Speaking in broad sweeping terms, many districts do not have tech-savvy teaching staffs. So to get back to the question of barriers to implementing these technologies into staff development: teacher time. Many districts have the hardware and infrastructure to more than support these options but there is and will continue to be little use until leadership places this as a priority with more than words and allows staff time to access this.

• Listen to the Podcast
• Download the PDF Handout

[tags]seanmartinson, sean martinson, atomic learning, atomiclearning, tappedin, wimba, tapped in, staff development, education[/tags]