Signal to Noise at BSD

Scott who is a TOSA came from BSD came to class today to talk about one of his projects Signal to Noise which is a multi-format short film contest, K-12, in his district.

It is amazing the support his district gives him and the opportunities that the students have. Having that outlet can really prepare students for skills necessary in college.

I wish I could see the tv studio at Conestoga M.S. Last year I was able to do a broadcasting club with my 5th and 6th graders, but we had to videotape it, edit it and burn it on dvds. Then we distributed it to teachers to show on their t.v.s.

Mt. Hood Community College also has a unit that will work with 6-12 grades on producing video. It is free, or at least it was. They come out to the schools.

Because of a conflict with after school meetings, I was not able to do the broadcasting club this year. I do a movie with the 4th graders, but maybe I should do something with the 5th and 6th graders at the end of the year in video production. Hmmmmm

Sugata Mitra

I am very excited to see this Ted talk. My husband was telling me about it. The language acquisition is exciting. I want to show it to my two friends who are a GLAD and SIOP trainers.

It makes me think about the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. I was always annoyed that their main funding goes to allow internet connection in rural areas, and now I can see what a benefit it is to those areas.

I think I might show this at our meeting to create our district technology plan.

New Tech Class!

I have started an Administration class at Lewis & Clark about school/district technology. It's very exciting, even though I can't believe I am taking an ADMINISTRATION class.

I don't know what I am going to do for a final project, but I probably need the most work in networking, which I don't think I am ready to tackle yet. Maybe I can do more work on the school website WITHOUT my husband's help, since that website requires coding.

I would like to learn about the decision process districts go through when deciding what technology is incorporated into schools and where those funds come from. I think that the CIO from Beaverton will be very interesting.

I think that when technology is applied correctly in schools, it can be a great motivator for kids. I work in a low-income school, and getting the kids jazzed about learning can be difficult. Technology is an easy tool to allow them to take control of their learning. I just wish we had the means to make it possible. Our school district supports libraries, which is the first step because those are the people most are responsible for teaching "21st Century Learning," but we are still acquiring the equipment to do that. But I have started to work on a large grant that would supply funding to our library media/technology programs in our school district. Portland Public Schools received the grant last year. It was nearly half a million dollars!

We'll see what happens!