NECC 2008 in San Antonio.Today, teams from Littleton, Heritage, Arapahoe High Schools, and members of the Instructional Technology team met up in the heat and humidity (heat index 108) of San Antonio, Texas, to take in the 2008 National Education Computing Conference. Their mission: to transform first their classrooms, then their schools, into models of 21st Century learning. We’ll keep a running blog to exchange ideas and thoughts, and give the folks back home a sense of what’s going on at the world’s largest educational technology conference. One of the key issues at this conference will be the unveiling of the ISTE (International Society of Technology in Education) standards for teachers. As soon as I can get my hands on them, (it seems like they’re under pretty tight wraps) I’ll post them. These standards are supposed to compliment last years’ NETS (National Education Technology Standards) 2.0, which, in a nutshell, shifted ISTE’s focus from learning about the tool to learning with the tool. Anticipation...

Read More »

As adults, we are most comfortable with the use of textbooks in schools, as they have always been the anchor of the curriculum. But, one could argue that information is changing and expanding too quickly, and printed materials soon become outdated. Should future textbook adoptions be online services rather than printed books?

Read More »

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR THOSE SEEKING LPS CREDIT: Be sure to sign up for CDE credit at the booth next to registration and complete the 1000 word assignment on time. Once you have received the certificate from CDE, present it to the HR department at LPS for LPS credit. Mike

Hi all---

Well, it looks like we’re back online! Life without the internet—it somewhat reminds me of 1996! I have a general overview on TIE 2008 that I’d like to share: content matters! At the risk of making a huge generalization, the presenters I have seen and heard about have all done a wonderful job at not only detailing the bells and whistles of all the cool programs and tools, but also stressing how it fits into curriculum and enriches it. I believe that our keynote speaker did an excellent job at starting that thread. If you recall, he emphasized the story line first, then the effects and transitions. Good advice. After all, the digital medium is only a vehicle to carry students’ voices, thoughts and stories. The media is not itself the message. Your thoughts?

In some conversations I've had, people have expressed to me a worry about publicly posting comments and ideas. Is this a barrier to blogging and other web 2.0 strategies?

Read More »

We have had a remarkable year at LPS! This year saw the deployment of a district-wide wireless network, the completion of the fiber optic backbone, and the piloting of two student access technologies, the N-computing thin client computers and the eeePc laptops. In the classroom, we had more students producing digital artifacts, writing to more blogs, and teleconferencing with peers from across the world than ever before. All in all, the LPS staff is to be recognized as leaders in the integration of technology across the state, and indeed, across the country. Having said that, what are we going to do next to prepare our students for the 21st Century? How can we best serve our students who have never known life without the Internet? Please share some of your ideas on what you hope to take from the TIE conference, and how that will help you in your work with our students.

Comments (0)

Instructional TechnologyTIE 2008

Our national guide in China uses the english name of Gavin. On our drive to the airport today, we shared with him our thoughts of his work as our guide. Those thoughts are captured here:

Read More »

We did a little off-line blogging in the airport today. This blog post includes the voices of our students as we prepare to come back home...

Read More »

A quick reflection as we prepare to leave this land of beauty...

Read More »