How Do I Do That - April 2011

We will have two sessions of the Burlington Public Schools How Do I Do That technology series in April.

On April 12, we will feature the new iPad 2. We will discuss new features and ways to use iPads in a 1:1 classroom environment. Burlington High School teachers are encouraged to attend with questions and to receive some help in preparation for the 1:1 initiative next year.

On April 26, we will feature Twitter and Skype. New users can learn about these tools and set up accounts. Twitter is a great resource for collaboration and personal professional development. Skype has many features that are perfect for education. Both tools enable students and teachers to communicate with the world, learn from others, share and connect to authentic audiences everywhere.

Please contact me with any questions:

villano@burlington.mec.edu

First Look

As most of you know by know, the Burlington School District is looking to implement a 1:1 solution next year for high school students. we have been looking at many devices including Laptops, Minis, tablets, and iPads. Cisco announced earlier this year that they would be introducing a tablet to the market, nicknamed Cius. Though the Cius has not officially been released to the public yet, the nice guys over at Cisco knew that we would be interested in seeing their product in person. The Specs are as follows: Intel 1.6Ghz Atom processor, 1Gb ram, Android 2.2 OS (Honeycomb 3.0 when available), SD card slot, wifi only only or 4g models, mini Hdmi output, front and rear facing cameras, and a 7 inch screen. We only got to play with this device fr a little while, but we are planning to demo a handful of these devices for at least a week very soon. These devices combined with Cisco's device management center, would allow us as a district to "manage" the applications, content, and access allowed to these devices but also provide us with internal resources such as video conferencing, silent calls, and data that the district could provide. Very promising device, but we'll know more when we really get our hands on it.

How Do I Do That - March 2011

I am excited to announce the topics for three March sessions of the Educational Technology staff workshop series – How Do I Do That. When I started to develop the How Do I Do That program I hoped that we would be able to feature sessions just like the ones coming in March. The three sessions are great examples of teachers teaching teachers. We have teachers leading sessions about topics that they are both experts on in the classroom and passionate about in their own lives outside of the classroom.

On March 8, I will lead a session featuring three of the best free apps available right now for students and teachers. These three apps form a foundation for web based productivity. The apps are all available on any device and provide powerful collaborative opportunities. These three apps are also great tools for our 1:1 iPad initiative at Burlington High School.

Evernote is a outstanding productivity app that can be accessed by almost any web enabled device. Evernote provides students and teachers with note taking, web bookmarking, and archiving of data from nearly any source.

Dropbox is web based app that provides 2GB of free cloud data storage that can be accessed on web enabled devices. Dropbox is a simple and fast app for saving and sharing. Dropbox provides a cloud data folder similar to BPS network folders and U Drives.

Diigo is a powerful web based app that allows users to bookmark websites, collect and highlight information, and share and collaborate with others. Diigo can be used on Macs an PCs and now features a great iPad web highlighter.

On March 15, Andy Dexter will lead a great session on digital photography and Adobe Photoshop. Along with being a permanent substitute at MSMS, Mr. Dexter is oil painter, graphic designer, and illustrator. Mr. Dexter will provide his expertise on the powerful Photoshop application and answer questions about digital photography.

Click here to view Mr. Dexter’s art blog.

On March 22, we will feature a great session on blogging and social networking led by MSMS music teacher Jeff Bolduc. Mr. Bolduc has created several outstanding websites and blogs for both his classroom and personal music business. Mr. Bolduc will provide an introduction to blogging and using social networking for educators.

Click here to view Mr. Bolduc’s music blog.