EdTechBytes

As a sixth grader, Daniel would sit in on the evening Web Publishing Fundamentals and Intermediate classes I taught for the school system. The educators taking the classes were tech savvy teachers, web curators, and technology specialists, and it would be accurate to say that he ended up helping me with those who were having difficulty with the CSS code and graphics, sitting next to the teachers and showing them which icons to click.

Daniel’s technology skills were definitely advanced for his grade level, but he was not alone. Each year there are always a couple of students who are too advanced for the Microsoft Office and entry level multimedia focus of our Middle School Technology Tools curriculum.

Fast forward three years later, Daniel’s latest project is using the Wii remote to create a ~$100 Interactive Whiteboard. With encouragement from some of his teachers, he has given presentations to various teachers and administrators in his school to suggest that there are cheaper alternatives to the expensive Interactive Whiteboards we use. As a result, he has learned alot of valuable real world “business” and “marketing” skills in addition to the technology skills required to create such a project. His presentation can be viewed here.

Where did Daniel learn to develop the research and technology skills required to replicate and customize the Wiimote Whiteboard?

YouTube and the Internet…. In other words, NOT in school.

Educators who advocate for more technology and projects that require higher level thinking and authentic experiences in schools often talk about the need to stay “relevant” in our student’s education.

I think the term “relevant” is confusing for many, because, what exactly does “not staying relevant” look like?

Perhaps it looks like when some students learn to be innovative somewhere else…

Of course, what is learned in school is important, but so are the missed opportunities….

How does a teacher get content (documents and multimedia files) to the iPod Touch for students to use in class? This may appear to be an easy question, but it proved to be quite challenging.

Some background info: We operate in a PC environment and all teachers use Blackboard. We can only use free applications, so for now, applications like ikonstrukt or other similar systems are off limits.

So how does a teacher get content to the iPod Touch(es)?

Solution 1: Synch all the iPods when content is needed; based on our experience, a less than optimal process considering we use 1 PC and about five USB hubs to sync with 30 cables. (Think: octopus….)

Solution 2: Use Blackboard. This requires students logging in through the Safari browser and navigating to their specific course. In addition, multimedia content in Blackboard will not play through the Safari browser. Typing a username and password in the Safari browser, then navigating through the small buttons is not a quick process.

Unfortunately, the Blackboard Learn app for iTouch has received terrible reviews (1 1/2 stars in the iTunes store) and has not been cleared by our technology department. So that’s out….

Solution 3: ???

After some research, our solution was to create an independent WordPress site. The benefits:

1) Students can access the content, especially multimedia file formats not readable in Blackboard using an iTouch directly with the Safari browser in any location with Internet access. The Quicktime player launches when it encounters a multimedia file. PDF files are also viewable.

2) Teachers can post content (text, multimedia files (video and podcasts), and PDF files) quickly and easily and make it readily available to students. No synching is needed to get video, podcasts, etc to students. (No instructional time lost.)

3) A shortcut to this website using “Add to Home Screen” can make this site quickly available to iPod users upon turning on a iPod. Unlike using Blackboard, no login is needed, making access quicker and more efficient.

The cons:

1) The need for a WordPress hosted website.

So, Mr. Jarosz, the 8th Grade English Teacher implementing the pilot, and I created the following WordPress site: http://english.mcbytes.com/ . Our goal was to be able to have all required content and products accessible through the iPod Touch… Overall, we are pleased with the result and the students can access the content very quickly.

To be continued…..

Welcome to EdTechBytes. After tinkering with my Web 1.0 teacher website on and off for about six years, I’ve finally decided to migrate to a WordPress format.

This is a continuation of my old teacher website (formerly at www.e-ledesma.com).  According to my visitor statistics, the two resources used most often were my National Board Assessment Center simulation and the functional mathematics website.  Those sites will now be accessible through the menu on the top of the page. I will be migrating many of the resources from that site to this website over the next few days so there may be some broken links until the process is complete.

Thanks for visiting.