WordProcessing Survery

I'm collecting data for my thesis. Please fill out my quick survey on Word Processing features and software!

Click Here to take survey

Thanks,

Kim

Who coined the phrase Web 2.0

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I'm working on my Master's Thesis. Since it involves Web 2.0 technologies, I thought I'd include a section on the history of Web 2.0.

I've found differing options on the origin of Web 2.0. In the book "Blogs, Wikis, MySpace, and more: Everthing you want to know about using web 2.0 but are afraid to ask". by Terry Burrows, I found the following:

"The concept of Web 2.0 came from an Internet media businessman names Tim O'Reily. He and his colleagues coined the phrase in 2003, and it became public at the first Web 2.0 conference a year later."

In "How to do Everything with Your Web 2.0 Blog" by Todd Stauffer, it says:

"The term "Web 2.0" was coined by Dale Dougherty in a brainstorming session with book publisher Tim O'Reilly at a conference in late 2005, and while it wasn't perfectly well-defined at the time, it was meant to suggest the next generation of Web applications that were turning the Web froma sort of static experience into a more acitve -- maybe "useful -- one. "

So when was the term coined? 2003? 2005? I guess it is time to google....

Cloud Computing for K-12 Schools

I’m working to change the way school do their work. In the 12 years that I’ve been a technology director, we’ve followed the same model for documents:

1. A software program is loaded on the computer
2. The student types their work into the program
3. A file is created and the work is stored on a local storage device (hard drive, floppy disk, flash drive)

There are several problems with this system.

Where’s my file? If the student is working on a different computer than yesterday, they don’t have access to that work. Students lose floppy disks, flash drives and then their work is gone.

What format is my file in? If the student works in MS Works at home and brings the document in to school, he can’t open it. At school we have standardized on Microsoft Word. We are also running word version 2003, so if a student is working on a higher version at home, there is a need for a “compatibility patch” to be installed on the computer at school.

Unfair access is common. If a student has a computer at home, they can bring their work home on a CD, flash drive or floppy disk. If a student doesn’t have a computer, they don’t have that option. Bringing work to a public library doesn’t guarantee that the software necessary to open the file is available.

The new model that we are trying to implement is called “cloud computing”. In theory work goes into the “clouds”.

Here is the new model using Google Docs:

• An academic account is set up at Google.com. Each educational institution can apply for a few account with 500 user accounts

No advertisements

7,000 MB of storage for each Student

• Accounts are set up for each student and teacher.
• Computers need Internet access but no other software need to be installed.
• Students log into their Google account and work is typed into their account. The documents, spreadsheets and presentations are saved in their Internet account.

Advantages to this system:

Cost – No software licenses need to be purchased.

Accessibility – Student can access their work from any computer with an internet connection

Compatibility – Since no software is required, the problems creating a document with one program and typing to open it with another is eliminated. Google documents can be saved as files in the following formats:

• HTML
• PDF
• DOC (MS OFFICE)
• TXT (plain Text)
• RFT (rich text)
• Open office

Sharing and collaborating

By putting the documents online, the student can share or publish them. This opens up group projects, collaboration and peer review. The students can publish their work for anyone on the Internet to see.

Here is a video on the sharing aspects of Google Docs.

We are working to implement the change at my school district. I will continue to post as the project moves forward. I'd love to hear your comments on using Google Docs in education.

First Report from the Campus of Excellence

I´ve been on the Canary Islands since Sunday attending the Campus of Excellence. It is a well-named event. Yesterday I learned particle physics from Dr. Jerome Friedman. He has won a Nobel prize in Physics. Far from being too brainy for me, he made the subject clear and understandable. It was like learning how to read music from a rock star!


Here I am with Dr. Friedman.

Today I had breakfast with a NASA Astronaut. Michael López-Alegría joined us at our table and then later gave us a talk about living in the Space Station. Incredible.

I´ll post more later.. This afternoon I´m exploring the $100 laptop!

Port Jefferson on a Spring Day

My class walked around Port Jefferson and took some photographs. We explored Picasa and I posted this collage to my blog in about 5 minutes. Lots of fun.

If you haven't downloaded Picasa from the Google website, you should. Google is creating many free tools for educators to use.

Final Project for EST 582

For this semester's class - System Approach to Human-Machine Systems, we studied how machines are engineered and how ergonomics and marketing play major roles. I enjoyed the class much more than I though I would. Here is my final project:



I compiled my research using Google Documents, so here is a link to that.

http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dgzd86sp_12dchk32hf

My master's thesis concerns Web 2.0 technology in K-12 Schools. I decided to use some of those tools (Youtube, Blogs, Shared Online documents) to present this project.

Video showing Highlights of Last Year's Campus of Excellence

I found this video on Youtube that shows last year's Campus of Excellence



As the time before the conference grows shorter, I'm getting excited to go.

What to do with a Wiki.

In each of my classes we've discussed Wikis. The professors for my college classes love them. One went so far as to set up a classroom Wiki and had each of us set up an account at wikispaces. We didn't use any of it. I thought only worthwhile Wiki was Wikipedia.

So I was please to stumble upon this Wiki. Rock, Write, and listen is a wonderful educational Wiki space that was used for a Rock and Roll class. I'm impressed. I'm planning on incorporating some ideas from this great Wiki for my school.

Thank you, Dr-Haiken! Great Job.

The Campus of Excellence

WOO HOO!! I've been selected by Stony Brook University to participate in the 2008 El Campus de Excelencia, organized by the University of Las Palmas. The University is located on the Canary Islands! We'll be going for a week in June.

The purpose of the Conference is to provide a meeting point for young people to present their innovative and feasible projects to the world's leaders in scientific, cultural, political, economic and business knowledge.

Focus will be placed on promoting the exchange of knowledge in the following areas: Health and Welfare, Eco-innovation, Education and Technology, Economy and Cooperation for Development, and Entrepreneurs and Business.

The events covers a broad spectrum: from Plenary Panels and Simultaneous Forums to Press Symposiums, University Seminars and Poster Sessions.

Thanks to the Campus of Excellence, we will have the amazing opportunity of sharing face-to-face meetings with the most prodigious thinkers today, including a large delegation of Nobel Laureates.

<http://www.campusdeexcelencia.org> Is the link to the site. I have to get going on my project. I'm focusing on Web 2.0 technologies in K-12 Education. I'll keep you posted.

Digital Dinosaur

ComputerWorld had an article this week on how the IBM AS/400 is not dead. Click here for the article.

I was pleased to see it. The System 38 (what the AS/400 grew out of) was one of the first computers that I worked on. I remember setting up PCs to emulate as terminals, my first networking task. It's nice to know that there is a place for older technology to fit in.

Like me!

Asset Conference Presentation

Yesterday was the Asset Technology Conference on Long Island. I presented a 45 minute demonstration on Video Screen Capture and On-line Video.


It went well. I had a packed room with people sitting on the floor. No one got up and left! The computer and projector worked. The internet streamed in well. I'm pretty happy about it.

Here is the link to the conference Vault where you can find more information about my presentation.

Using the Districts' website to aid Parent Communications.

Background

Greenport School District is mandated by the No Child Left Behind Act to involve parents in the education process. This law includes fostering parent involvement and Parent access to Student Information. The parent Communication mandates are in Title I, III, IX, X, FERPA, and PPRA of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.


Theory

If my District adds a content management system to our website, we can meet the mandates of NCLB. By putting an organized menu-system on the website, the information can be organized into a coherent resource for parents. Currently, the Website is a mish-mash of information that has been put online by teachers, staff, and administrators. Information is not updated in a timely fashion. Currently average monthly website counters show 200 website visits per month.


Hypothesis

We will increase parents’ access to information we organize and update the district’s website.

Analysis and Prediction

We will place a content management system on the website. Parents will be informed by student take-home handouts about that information is also online. After two months of usage, the new website will increase readers to our website. The website counters will increase.

Evaluating Classroom Management Software

We evaluated Syncroneyes software for use in our school district. Although the program has many bells and whistles, it is just too expensive for our district.

Here is the slide show of our presentation:

| View | Upload your own

Enjoy! Kim

Engaging 21sth Century Learners

This video was made for college students, but it applies to all learners. It shows "NetGen" behaviors:

Today’s students are overloaded with information, over scheduled and disconnected from traditional classroom teaching. As we see in the video, NetGen behaviors include:

• Using personal digital devices during class
• Working on something else instead of focusing on the lecture
• Not doing the reading assignments
• Communicating non-verbally

To reach students you have to use their own weapons against them. If they want to collaborate; design a collaborative document using Google or Zoho documents. If they want to communicate non-verbally; set up a bulletin board.

My attempt to engage students was with a seventh grade typing class. Every 8^th period, the students filed into a room to type practice exercises from a book into Microsoft Word. Although they are all in the same room, there is no interaction and the teacher stressed “no talking”.

I put the class “online” by creating a virtual classroom. At http://ny.globalclassroom.us/ I created the class and uploaded the student accounts. Now the students do their typing into blogs. They interact with each other by seeing each other's work. The teacher posts the typing assignments and the students then do the work. My intention is to allow the typing class to be a non-scheduled class. Students log into the classroom and do their typing assignment when they have a free period. It will no longer be necessary to schedule everyone into the same room at the same time.

In the First Chapter of “Educating the Net Generation”, Bob Pletka writes about how students are bored with current teaching methods. They have a need for a sense of community, teamwork and collaboration. Creating virtual classrooms helps because students are doing the work “on their time”, not being forced into a classroom for 45 minutes.

The associated press report today that there were nearly 4.3 million births in 2006. This is the highest number since 1961 (near the end of the baby boom). As these babies become students, how will the school accommodate them? By adding classrooms in trailers as they did in the 1970s or by adding virtual classrooms?

Another thing that students do today is to question authority. Back in the day, when a teacher told us something, we took it at face value and didn’t question the information. Now students are using the Internet to find the answers for themselves.

Now more than ever we have to realize that students are not an empty bucket that we need to fill. Time recently did an article on this subject. You can read more here:

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html

As educators, we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Kim

A New Year - A New Semester

It is a new semester and I've started with my first class. It seems interesting and I hope to learn more than I did in the last class. The first assignment is a "getting to know you" essay, so I thought I'd share it here:

------------------------

EST 571 January 8, 2008

Written Perspective 1 Kim Bunchuck

Understanding and Use of Educational Technology

The IBM Personal Computers and I started in technology the same year, 1981. I was in college trying to decide what I wanted to do when I grew up when I stumbled into a BASIC programming class. I was hooked! I took as many computer electives as an English Literature major could and graduated college in 1982 with a minor in computer programming. While in college, I was employed to write programs in FORTRAN to collect and report surveys results.

I’ve worked in IT ever since. In 1985, I started teaching evening classes at Strayer College (now University) in Washington DC. My students learned Harvard Total Project Manager, WordPerfect, and Lotus 1-2-3. By day I was Assistant Director of the technology department for the Wilderness Society. We used an IBM System 38 to perform all the fundraising for the large organization.

A move to Long Island in 1989 brought me to Suffolk Community College to teach Adult Education classes, something I have done now for 17 years. Currently I serve as the Technology Director of Greenport School District, a position that I’ve held since 1997. It is a small district, so I get to do it all, from printer jams to network implementation. I am not classroom faculty, so my teaching is limited to staff development. I do teach one night a week at Suffolk Community College.

My hobby through all this time has been quilting. In a mid-life crisis decision, I started a quilt related business in 1999. I registered SunbonnetSue.com and started an e-commerce web business that sells fabric and patterns. I have changed the website over the years, first programming it with CGI scripts, but now managing my inventory and customer databases with SQL and PHP pages.

Even though I have been involved in education for most of my career, I never went back to college to get a Master’s Degree. I’m doing that now. I hope to complete my Degree at the end of 2008 with a thesis focusing on incorporating e-commerce into a college curriculum. I’d like to leave the K-12 environment and work at the college level for the last 20 years of my career.

In the 27 years that I’ve worked in IT, I think I’ve forgotten more information than I currently use. I remember teaching “Introduction to Personal Computers” classes where we worked from a DOS prompt. My favorite application has always been spreadsheets. I current work in EXCEL, but I’ve worked in Symphony, VisiCalc, Lotus (1-2-3 & Symphony). I also have done quite a bit a Database Administration. I used to teach dBASE II, III and IV. Currently I work in Access and SQL using mySQL and phpMyAdmin. I am a big supporter of open source software. I’ve downloaded and implemented all open source programs to run my website. Currently I’m using Gallery and OSCommerce. I have been searching for open source software to put on the Greenport Web Server that I manage. I have a copy of XOOPS downloaded (website management), but I haven’t implemented it yet. I would also like to deploy Moodle on the Greenport Server.

As for my online life, I have training videos posted on Teachertube and Youtube. I have two blogs, one for my quilting life and this one.

The joy of working in IT is that there is always more to learn. I look forward to doing that in this class.