IDEAS applications have helped teachers integrate technology into their classrooms for the last five years.
All of our programs have been created at the suggestion of teachers, and are constantly modified according to teacher requests for new features and capabilities. The acronym I.D.E.A.S. stands for Instructional Development of Educational Applications Service and that is just what we do. We create applications for students and teachers to use in instructional settings.
Toolbox Pro, our latest and greatest product, is the culmination of all of our efforts combining the tools that teachers have asked for into a single integrated interface. With Toolbox Pro you can create a class website, create online quizzes, tests, and activities, upload files and documents you want your students to access, communicate with parents and other teachers, and even post podcasts. Visit http://www.toolboxpro.org
For more information about IDEAS or about any of our programs, email us at IDEAS@gstboces.org.
Many school districts around New York State are scrambling to come up with assessment data to meet the reporting requirements of State and Federal legislation regarding Student Literacy as it relates to technology.
How do you assess Technology Literacy?
Some of the many questions the administrators of these districts are seeking to answer are "What is meant by ‘Technology Literacy’?", "How do we measure it?", "What percentage of my students are technologically literate?", "What percentage of my teachers and other staff are technologically literate?", "Are there products out there that will test my students’ and teachers’ abilities?", and "What will it cost me?".
The GST BOCES IDEAS team, at the request of GST component school districts, has taken a stab at trying to answer some of these questions by developing a prototype of an online Technology Literacy Assessment. The assessment uses Adobe Authorware software to create an interactive assessment that tracks student responses to some basic technology skills such as performing simple word processing, web browsing, spreadsheet, and presentation software tasks.
Creating the Assessment
The IDEAS team worked with representatives of the SIP, Model Schools, and Instructional Technology committees to develop a short list of skills and tasks that could be interactively assessed in a browser-based environment using Authorware. The 46 selected tasks are aligned to both the NYS Technology Standards and the ISTE NETS (National Educational Technology Standards). The development approach was to create an assessment that simulated a real working computer so that students would have to actually perform the tasks rather than just answering multiple-choice or short answer questions about the tasks.
Piloting the Assessment
Students in the Odessa-Montour School District under the supervision of Technology Coordinator, Myron Rumsey, and Technology Integration Specialist, Roni Lewis, helped IDEAS pilot the assessment. As part of this process, several different groups of students went through the assessment while being closely monitored by Rumsey and Lewis. In the interval between each group, any minor problems or glitches were promptly reported to the IDEAS team, who fixed the issues, and quickly posted a newly compiled version of the assessment for the next group to test.
Online courses have hit the big time! Virtually every college and university offers online courses, and many high schools have followed suit. Some schools are turning to vendors like Blackboard and Angel Learning to purchase their learning management systems, and still others are using open source solution like Moodle or Sakai.
But where do these schools get their content? Until now they have either purchased the content from a vendor, or spent a lot of time developing their own. Two sources of free content for online courses that I would like to share with you are the National Repository of Online Content (NROC) and Hippocampus.
The National Repository of Online Courses (NROC) is a growing library of high-quality online courses for students and faculty in higher education, high school and Advanced Placement courses. NROC courses cover topics based on generally accepted national curricula. They can be customized within a course management systems. NROC courses are assessed according to a rubric of best practices for online course development, and NROC works with developers to constantly improve their courses. Demo versions of many of the courses are available for viewing.
Hippocampus is a free, public website for High School and Lower-division College Students that offers NROC content indexed to popular textbooks. It reaches a target audience of 15-21 year-old students. HippoCampus was designed as part of Open Education Resources (OER), a worldwide effort to improve access to quality education for everyone. Many of the courses include high-impact, interactive content and require the Flash Player and Quicktime Player to be installed on the student’s computer.
Another site with free course content is MIT’s Open Courseware site. OCW hosts 1800 courses on topics that range from Aeronautics and Astronautics to Writing and Humanistic Studies. Many courses contain audio and video content and some courses have been translated into diverse languages like Spanish, Chinese, Thai, and Portuguese. OCW includes a special page for teachers with links to resources of special interest to high school students.
Jill Eagen, a librarian at Broadway Middle School in Elmira, has involved her students in the world of podcasting creating a new way of doing booktalks. The students at Broadway read a book and then create a short speech about the book to encourage other students to read that book. The speeches are then digitally recorded using a microphone attached to the computer and uploaded to a web site to be distributed.
The podcast booktalks cover titles by some of the best authors for young people including Rapunzel by Wendy Mass, Inkheart by Cornelia Funke, At Her Majesty’s Request by Walter Dean Myers, Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney, Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelsen, and The Graduation of Jake Moon by Barbara Park to name just a few.
Here’s what the kids had to say:
Kelsey W. - "Podcast is iPod and Broadcast"
Caleb J. - " I like doing something different other than Math and English"
Matt Z. - "I like to help kids to find a great book"
Zachary J. - "I like the Music in the background!"
Students aren’t the only ones to get in on the fun as Jill has also invited teachers and some other adults to create podcasts and to add them to the student casts. You can view Jill’s podcast page and listen to the casts at http://www.toolboxpro.org/podcasts/detail.cfm?S=1&P=10200 .
Some other ideas for Educational podcasts are:
A teacher uses her cell phone to create a podcast with daily homework assignments and other classroom information. Parents download the podcasts to stay up-to-date on their children’s school activities.
The district technology staff podcasts quick tech support tips for teachers to access as they need them.
Kids create a podcast about the Civil War to show what they’ve learned and share it with other classrooms.
A school board podcasts their meetings and special events as a way to increase community involvement in the school system.
A teacher records her class for students to download as a podcast. These podcasts are used by students who are absent as well as by those who need extra reinforcement or want to review.
A class takes a virtual field trip to NASA via a soundseeing tour podcast. The virtual field trip is broadcast in several formats, some designed for English language learners and others for GATE students. (Source for these suggestions: http://www.k12handhelds.com/podcasting.php)
A new feature in Toolbox Pro makes it easy for Jill to upload and publish her Podcasts. She simply uploads the audio files just like any other resource in Toolbox Pro and then chooses to publish them as a podcast. The Toolbox Pro program automatically creates the web pages so that users can listen to the podcast live in their browsers, or can subscribe to the podcasts "feed" in a program like iTunes. (There are many "feed readers" that allow you to automatically download new podcasts and organize your podcast files for listening to at a later time)
Podcasts are short audio files that are recorded using school computers and then delivered via the Internet. Their name is a combination of portable music players like Apple’s "iPod" and "broadcasting". Podcasts can be listened to live online or can be downloaded to computers or handheld devices to listen to later.
Tuesday was a big day for students in the GST region. As adults were going to the polls and casting their votes in the Democratic or Republican primaries, students from 10 local school districts were participating in an online Mock Primary Election created especially for them.
The final vote count (represented by the image here) shows that 1412 students voted in the Democratic primary with over 65 percent choosing Barack Obama as the winner, and that 702 students voted in the Republican primary with John McCain the clear winner with over 50 percent of the votes. The complete results can be viewed on at http://ideas.gstboces.org/mockelection/2008/primary/results.cfm. Follow the links on this page to view from individual school districts, school buildings, and classes, and to view the comments from the exit poll questions.
Our local newspaper, The Star-Gazette, wrote two news stories about the mock election. You can view screen captures of both articles from their web site by clicking the thumbnails.
Teachers at the Horseheads Middle School asked the GST BOCES IDEAS team to create an online program that would allow their students to vote via the computers in their school, and then view and analyze the results of the voting. Each student was given a voter ID that would let them sign on to the secure web site. After they signed on the students could then choose to vote as a Republican or a Democrat and they were shown a slate of candidates based on the party they choose. Students then clicked on the candidate that they wanted to vote for and after voting were asked an exit poll question about which issues were most important to them when choosing their candidate.
Participating School Districts and Schools:
Alfred-Almond Central Schools/Elementary School
Bath Central Schools/Lyon Elementary, Haverling Middle and Haveling High Schools
Corning-Painted Post Area Schools/Gregg, Smith, and Lindley-Presho Elementary Schools
Elmira City School District/Broadway and Fassett Elementary Schools, Davis Middle School and Elmira Free Academy
Elmira Heights School District/Edison High School
Hammondsport Central Schools/Curtiss Elementary and Junior/Senior High School
Hornell City School District/Hornell Senior High School
Horseheads Central Schools/Gardner Road and Ridge Road Elementary Schools, Intermediate and Middle Schools
Spencer-Van Etten Central Schools/Middle School and High School
Watkins Glen Central Schools/Watkins Glen High School
Some comments from Teachers about the Mock Primary:
"This was a really cool thing. My students enjoyed it… we went back after voting and looked at the comparative results on the screen … I projected them by way of a lap top and LCD. We will look at them and compare to actual results on Wednesday. Thanks for your (and those on the BOCES team) efforts!" - a teacher from Elmira City Schools
"It was a great experience. I just wish more classes had participated." - a teacher from Corning-Painted Post Area Schools
"Thanks. That was a great learning experience for the kids." - a teacher from Bath Central Schools
"Just wanted to let you know how wonderful I think this experience was for my kids… I think they got a lot out of it and I would do it again!!! It also fit in very nicely with what we were discussing in class… Thanks so much to all of you that created this site and made it available to us… " - a teacher from Horseheads Central Schools
Each year, the IDEAS team posts an online greeting and happy holidays card for all of its customers. We have recently hidden the link to Happy Holidays pages which was at the top of the home page.
Along with the Holidays greetings, the IDEAS team has also posted a link to a free online tool that teachers and student can use. In 2004, the "freebie" was an online timer for classroom activities. In 2005, it was an online converter tool that could convert lengths into all kinds of different units. In 2006, the tool was an online tangram creator allowing students to experiment with, manipulate, and create their own tangrams.
Last December (2007), the tool was an online vocabulary tool called WordBuilder. If you haven’t had a chance to use any of these tools - go ahead and experiment with them. Remember that teachers whose districts subscribe to our IDEAS can request additional tools - so if you have a great "idea" for an online tool that will benefits your student’s learning, send it to ideas@gstboces.org.
Don’t worry the Happy Holidays link will be back next year.
Who is IDEAS? IDEAS (Instructional Development of Educational Applications Service) is designed to enhance K-12 classroom instruction though the development and application of custom-designed software and integrated lessons.IDEAS includes instructional and curriculum design, completed in conjunction with classroom teachers and/or curriculum teams. This design is based on identified student and program needs and linked to the New York State Learning Standards.IDEAS also provides coordination of regional resources and ongoing technical support. All IDEAS application are web-based and accessible via the Internet.
Why did BOCES create Mapster? Our local school districts investigated current curricular mapping products and found either that they were very expensive or were not flexible enough for their needs. The districts then came to our development team to design an online curricular mapping program based on the Heidi Hayes Jacobs model of curricular mapping. Mapster has now grown to be used in many districsts across New York State. It continues to evolve based on district needs and changes in NYS curriculum.
What is Toolbox PRO? Toolbox PRO combines several easy-to-use software tools to give teachers the power to integrate technology directly into their instruction motivating student achievement. Teachers can create, a classroom website, media rich assessments with narration, curricular mapping, virtual office hours, podcasting, and much more. Mapster is one tool that is integrated into Toolbox PRO! The program evolves based on teacher feedback and ideas for new tools that can be benefited by all.
Why was Toolbox PRO created? The GST regional districts looked at other LMS software but again, the price was very expensive and was not very flexible for new tools to be implemented. They came to IDEAS to develop a custom online K-12 software solution.Toolbox PRO continues to grow across New York State.
What is the cost? All NYS districts can purchase Mapster and Toolbox PRO through their local BOCES or directly with GST BOCES. Those districts can receive state aid on their purchase.Outside NYS districts can purchase our programs via purchase order or can be billed by GST BOCES.
Toolbox PRO: $30.00 per Teacher Account for 1 year, unlimited student access. Mapster: 1-50 - $1,000 per year; 50-100 teachers - $2,000; 101-150 teachers - $3,000 More than 151+ Contact Us
Teachers from GST component districts can have their students participate in an online primary election
The IDEAS team has developed an Online Mock Primary Election program for Super Duper Tuesday, February 5th. It is easy-to-use and is a great springboard for classroom discussion about the candidates, the election process, and the upcoming presidential election in November.
It is totally FREE and easy to sign up for! Simply visit http://ideas.gstboces.org/mockelection/register.cfm and fill out the form. The IDEAS team will email you enough Voter IDs and passwords for your class (or classes). On February 5th, your students just return to the web site and sign in. They can then choose to participate in either the Democratic or Republic primary, and can choose the candidate of their choice. At the end of the process they can view a page with the results of the primaries displayed graphically. They can "drill-down" through the results to view the data broken down by individual school districts, school buildings, and classes.
This Mock Primary is a great learning experience for students of all ages. Look for IDEAS Mock Presidential Election in November!
Those of you that are using our applications - we thank you and hope it will make you more successful teacher.
Our most comprehensive program is Toolbox Pro which combines all of the best features of other applications rolled into one integrated program. Toolbox Pro was designed with great input and insight from teachers using it in their classes. We take great pride in saying that all of the features are "Teacher-suggested, and Teacher-tested". At http://www.toolboxpro.org you can find out all about this great program.
For those that may be new to our other applications include Teacher Toolbox, QuizMaker/Taker, ReadToMe, MapSter, and much more. Check out our web site at http://ideas.gstboces.org for more information.
The IDEAS Team at GST BOCES - Andy Gillette, David Bates and Steve Manning
We have set the dates for our next five Toolbox Pro User group meetings.
Tuesday, January 8th from 3:30 - 4:30 PM ET
Tuesday, February 12th from 3:30 - 4:30 PM ET
Tuesday, March 11th from 3:30 - 4:30 PM ET
Tuesday, April 8th from 3:30 - 4:30 PM ET
Tuesday, May 13th from 3:30 - 4:30 PM ET
If you haven’t attended one of our User Group meetings before you are in for a lot of fun. These meetings are conducted online via our Adobe Acrobat Connect server so you don’t need to leave the comfort of your classroom or your home to attend. You simply visit our URL and login and you are set.
Each meeting we usually pick a topic or a capability of the Toolbox Pro program to focus on. Using the Connect program we can present live, real-time walk-throughs of the software, give live demonstrations of techniques that you can use, and visually answer any questions that you have.
As a participant you can chat with us via text, voice, or video, ask questions, suggest new topics, and share ideas and experiences that you have had using TBP with your classes. You can even become a co-presenter and share your computer screen with all of the other participants.
If your schedule keeps you from attending the user group meeting in real time, you can view an archived recording of the meeting in your browser.
All in all the User Group Meeting is a place where everyone who attends gets something out of the meeting. We hope to see you at one of the meetings.
For more information, visit the Toolbox Pro website and click on the User Group link in the menu.
These four websites have a lot of resources for teachers. They are worth taking a few minutes to explore. You are almost definitely guaranteed to find some interesting materials and sites that you can use.
The Teacher’s List - this is the web site for a teacher listserv that emails out interesting sites each day. One example site is Language Online, a really neat interactive site for foreign languages.
