Milton Ramirez Member since April 14, 2008

Much buzz has been receiving the uses of the iPod Touch in the classroom lately. However, Skype is too, a free and easy way for teachers to open up their classroom and their students to a world way beyond their campus. With Skype, students can learn from other students, connect with other cultures, and expand their knowledge in amazing ways. Teachers and parents can also benefit from Skype in the classroom(vid). Follow the link below to learn how you can take advantage of the power of Skype in your classroom, particularly the two section under: Promoting Education and Skype Ideas for Teachers and Parents Photo: Skype with Iceland. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter. For other concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

Much buzz has been receiving the uses of the iPod Touch in the classroom lately. However, Skype is too, a free and easy way for teachers to open up their classroom and their students to a world way beyond their campus. With Skype, students can learn from other students, connect with other cultures, and expand their knowledge in amazing ways. Teachers and parents can also benefit from Skype in the classroom(vid). Follow the link below to learn how you can take advantage of the power of Skype in your classroom, particularly the two section under: Promoting Education and Skype Ideas for Teachers and Parents Photo: Skype with Iceland. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter. For other concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

We woke early today and started browsing the most recent tweets. We came across to an interesting report, licensed under Creative Commons: The Future of Learning Institutions in a Digital Age by Cathy N. Davidson and David Theo Goldberg with the assistance of Zoë Marie Jones. The discovering of this study was possible thanks to Jasom Flom. Thanks to funding from the MacArthur Foundation, both report's authors, "investigate the internet’s transformation of shared and interactive learning. They suggest the following 10 principles as 'fundamental to the future of learning institutions' as Flom writes in his post. These are the 10 Principles for the Future of Learning: 1. Self Learning. 2. Horizontal Structures. 3. From Presumed Authority to Collective Credibility. 4. A De-Centered Pedagogy. 5. Networked Learning. 6. Open Source Education. 7. Learning as Connectivity and Interactivity. 8. Lifelong Learning. 9. Learning Institutions as Mobilizing Networks. 10. Flexible Scalability and Simulation. We think these principles would be the Decalogue of all teachers. Special attention has to be put on #s 3, 6 and 9. Is it a coincidence that we've selected all multiple of three? If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. Follow me on Twitter. For other concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

The Journal: "Technology is core and essential to the strategies we are using to reform education." That was the message from both Jim Shelton, assistant deputy secretary for innovation and improvement at the United States Department of Education, and Aneesh Chopra, chief technology officer in the White House. Sitting comfortably in overstuffed chairs on stage at a packed meeting of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA), these two top Obama administration representatives spoke and responded to questions for 45 minutes about the importance of technology in education. Chopra said that technology in education is less about hardware and software and more about what we teach, the method in which we teach it, and professional development and support for educators. He emphasized the importance of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) and the need for greater access to digital content. Whenever he gets a chance, Chopra has his iPod plugged in his ears tapping lectures from MIT, Stanford, and other sources. It is about having a constant "learning environment," he said. Read the rest of the article by Geoffrey H. Fletcher If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

NECC ‘09: Blogging Best PracticesDecisions about your blog: Is it transportable? Where are you going to host it? What’s the policy (your policy) on comments? What’s my school’s policy on sharing? What topics will I cover? Is it under Creative Commons? Should I have a group blog? what colors, designs and templates should I use?tags: blogging, schoolsGreat iTouch Apps for Primary Students Yesterday here at NECC I learned about three fantastic applications for younger / primary age students from an Australian teacher who has 8 iPod Touches in her classroom currentlytags: iPod TouchTaste of Tech - Your Daily Dose of Digital DelicaciesOn the bloggers’ cafe and how amazed was John Schinker to keep running into EdTech celebrities tags: necc09NECC09 (Day 3) - New NETS, New Resources | Technology TimesIn this session, ISTE gave some folks an opportunity to showcase their products that had earned the ISTE Seal of Alignment.tags: necc09, technologyWriting in the 21st Century @ NECC09Kathleen Blake Yancey wrote this great piece about writing in the 21st century, so I was not going to miss this session! How is literacy different now?tags: necc09, writingCan public schools fundamentally reinvent themselves?You can't have innovation in instruction without innovation of assessment (to which David Jakes pointed out that the curriculum then needed to change too)- Until we see a model that described an educated person in a variety of ways we are going to continue to have problemstags: schoolsTransferring Students Hinders AchievementStudent transfers are students who are transferred from one class and teacher to another class and teacher within a school year. Interrupting a students schedule and flow with one teacher causes the student to lose focus on the material.tags: schoolEdubloggercon 2009 Notes and ReflectionsI learned and shared and questioned and pondered. It was a wonderful day. I have a hard time believing that the actual NECC conference (for which I am paying

On Sunday, I did enjoyed listening Malcolm Gladwell’s keynote. Other interesting streaming I was watching was Copyright Confusion by Renee Hobbs. Unfortunately, today I wasn't able to follow interesting conversations particularly about the uses of iPhone/iPod in the classroom as to what was the percentage of this gadgets to present in a classroom to work effectively with students; or Scott Floyd's talk about Wordpress favorite plug-ins. In exchange, I am going to refer some of the blogs that are posting and giving updates about the NECC09: Copy Paste by Peter Pappas. In his post he explains about a new tool called StreamGraph that he is using to visualize the latest 1000 tweets which contain the search word 'NECC' Digital Education by Katie Ash & Kathleen Kennedy Manzo. Today Katie reports on the state of policy and practice related to education technology addressed by Don Knezek, ISTE's CEO. Andrew B. Watt's Blog The Connecticut history teacher has permanent updates. The most recent post reflects about a the kids’ virtual world Quest Atlantis, a conference call from Australia. Reflexions by Susan van Gelder. She goes over Steve Dembo's session. Susan do accept that she is not using Bloglines anymore but summarize what she grab in this session about social web tools. TechChicks by Helen (techchick) & Anna( digimom). These two young Texans are live blogging the NECC09. At session From Information Literacy to Information Leadership. they were lucky enough to talk to Will Richardson just before he took off back home. Teachers R Learning by Peej. She fills in what we missed on Gladwell's keynote. Makes a wrap up, noting among other things: "Failure isn't failure. It's learning." EdTechTalk. See and hear edtechtalk "celebrities". Also watch video and script of Lisa Parisi (Cruise) with EdTechTalkers at the NECC Bloggers Cafe. Design for Learning by Dean Groom. Voice his frustrations as many other participants felt today, retorting: "How on earth d

As a preamble to what is coming, yesterday started the EdubloggerCon. This unique experience has been organized by Steve Hargadon. The EduBlogger Conference is the 3rd time has been organized for free, and Dr Leigh Zeitz thinks there were 200 attendees. Today is the 2nd. day of NECC09 and there will be many formal and informal discussions at the National Educational Computing Conference in Washington about how to turn K-12 schools into more digitally friendly learning environments in tough budget times. I was following the event through Twitter. It was a great day. However, I still have an unanswered question. Kathy Schrock was in a session discussing her Wikipedia bias and I still don't know why she thinks so. Dr. Z. was at k12onlineconference.org and does a wrap up of what he saw yesterday. Por example, Jeff Uteckt leading discussion, Is blogging really dead? If you are 'lucky' enough to have the time and money to attend NECC, do you have any responsibility because of that privilege? Scott Meech wants to know, what is your responsibility? At his smeech.net he also list some of his responsibilities that may help improve NECC: 1. Bring back as much specific knowledge for how classroom teachers can embrace technology in their classroom with specific curricular examples as possible. 2. Expand my 'Personal Learning Network' by embracing as many professional relationships as possible. 3. Explore new strategies for approaching resistant educators and solidify my 'Elevator Speech' and 'Board of Education Messages'. 4. Form foundations of collaboration for our district staff and myself. 5. Take my own advice and seek out a minimum of 10 attendees that I can 'read' as complete newbies and start a conversation with them. 6. Seek out conversations with those that can help me hone my communication and persuasive skills so I can become a 'Prophet in my own Backyard'. 7. Balance attending presentations from those I already know and embrace conversati

Much has been written about headlines and how that way we present it has a deep impact on the attention visitors and readers pay to such an article. And this is one of those cases, deliberately I chose the headline, paraphrasing the popular The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey, a business self-help book. But what makes teachers highly effective? We should start with two basic premises: Teachers are facilitators and not entertainers even though occasionally have to play that role. The second point to have in mind is that learners are not anymore the passive subject who only listens, new technologies put students in charge of the information they access, they are able to save, reformat and share it. TESConnect has a list of 7 Secrets Behind Great Teaching. They explain how along Crelos, a business psychologists, they went to analyse the "personalities, motivations and behaviour of 15 award-winning teachers to uncover the seven habits that make them successful in the classroom." Secrets effective teachers put into practice: 1. They build confidence Many students suffer from low self-esteem, basing their aspirations on celebrities (Michael Jackson just to mention one)and feeling disappointed when their lives don’t match up, so teachers have to build confidence in abundance. 2. They’re not afraid to make difficult decisions Although this is something required of senior management, it is a personality trait rather than a behaviour that can be learnt. It seems natural that 57 per cent of participants have a strong or extremely strong preference for authority, meaning that they are comfortable making difficult or unpopular decisions. 3. They develop others In school, this behavior may be displayed when teachers give up their time to help other colleagues acquire new skills or oversee training days. It is one of the involving behaviors and as well as developing your kids, it’s about developing your own and others’ capabilities by p

There are two paragraphs that really grabbed our attention on this post. As Barnett Berry puts it, lets get real about teacher experience and its effects on student achievement: For your delight, this the most significant defense of experienced teachers I ever read (stressed section is ours): Policy pundits and journalists have few qualms about calling for any seasoned teaching veteran to be put out to pasture. They aren't really interested in whether the teacher is effective, ineffective or "we don't know." These pontificators, single-minded as donkeys, tend to rely on research showing that teacher experience beyond three years does not matter much for standardized test scores. However, their interpretation of the teacher-experience data sets is rather limited, perhaps reflecting more about their ideology than any substantive understanding about teaching and learning in complex school environments. We should pay attention to 'separated' experience. It's also important we consider the "teacher gropus:" As we consider and design research, we need to pay attention not only to an individual teacher’s aggregate years of experience but how groups of teachers have used their combined knowledge over time to change the working culture of their team (or department or grade level), share teaching expertise among themselves and with others, and connect more closely with their students and their families. I've learned that in America, experience is one of the most valuable assets a person can own, but it seems that when we talk about teaching that same over valued experience does not weight in! If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

2¢ Worth A common feature of some of the most successful Web 2.0 applications is their simplicity, and nothing has demonstrated this more than blogging. Blogger.com, a free blogging platform from Pyra Labs, was launched on August 23, 1999.1 Suddenly, anyone with access to a computer and the Internet, and the slightest typing skills, could publish to the world — for free. Type the title of your article into a textbox, type your article, click [Publish], and your words are available to a global readership. The simplicity is its power and its impact has been profound. Many people at NECC will be blogging. 129 people have already registered with the NECC web site as conference bloggers. Many more will be blogging more casually, simply as a way of recording their experience and notes about what they are learning, for their own record or to share with colleagues at home. Read complete article at David Warlick's Blog and do not forget to check out the 5 Tips to a successful NECC. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

You might notice that lately I am not writing much on Education & Tech. For those concerned allow me to tell you that our time is quite short by now, this is one of the reason you are to read only quotes or reproduction of good content. Hopefully, I will be back with original content once I sort it out all personal stuff I am into. I barely have time to read our subscriptions. However, following Google reader suggestions I've landed on Adventures in Educational Blogging . Susan Sedro, a tech coordinator for an international school in Singapore points out something we think educators should give it a second thought: Currently, in the primary and intermediate schools, teachers were required to have a web page. In years gone by, this took a ridiculous amount of their time considering its minimal impact on student learning. A few teachers really excelled and it because a hub for the classroom. For most, it was a true burden; something that weighed them down. Sedro says it's just about time to go from web pages to web 2.0! It surely is when still some professionals struggle to learn how to design a web page using Microsoft Front Page. No that the application i bad but we do have other platforms to set up a blog quickly. It may be a reason why some teachers still think weblogs are used by people who has no other thing to do. Wrong. Blogs are web sites that have a great impact on student learning. Of course, they need to learn first how to use it productively and how to create and share knowledge. Wisely, my principal is not mandating that teachers have any web presence. Teachers are very busy and for some, none of those tools fit their teaching style and needs. I suspect others will end up using many different web tools with a blog for communication, a wiki for student projects, and other tools, such as Voicethreads pulled in where appropriate. This conclusion, is in the best interest for teachers. Abandon old tools and get prepared to the jump onto the web 2.0. No ma

We are so close to the NECC 2009, Washington DC, June 28 -July 1, 2009. There is a topic for the Oxford debate at NECC 2009 under the theme Bricks and Mortar Schools are Detrimental to the Future of Education. They are receipting questions for this debate. You can also summit yours, after proper registration. Click here to join in. The following are the top 7 questions so far: 1. How would losing the physical meeting place affect those coming from unstable home environments? 2. What will the end brick and mortar schools mean for the socialization of students? 3. How might a shift to online education affect the current and future workforce of teachers? 4. Is pounding down the ‘brick and mortar’ the only way to change instruction or pedagogical practices? 5. Why not expand school services and school day, incorporating education into the fabric of life? 6. How are you going to motivate those students than don't do anything on their own? 7. Is face to face interaction completely dead? The order eventually may change because we are still one week away from the National Education Computing Conference 2009. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

CEP (Center on Education Policy) has released an analysis to answer: Is the Emphasis on “Proficiency”Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students? (pdf doc). The study shows good news for the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) policy. Sean Cavanagh of Education Week is among the few who picked the study and states the following: The 50-state analysis found that test scores for both "advanced" and "basic" students rose in nearly three-quarters of assessments studied across states and grade levels, a level of progress only slightly lower than that of students reaching proficiency. The study sought to examine a story line put forward in recent years—namely, that schools are not focusing on the highest- or lowest-scoring students, but rather on middle achievers, said Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, which produced the report. While the progress of high and low achievers could be stagnating in individual instances or schools, the study indicates that on average, those students are advancing... On the other hand, Andrew Rotherham asks: 'Is it too cynical to think it would be bigger news if it went the other way?' Rotherham wrote an entry at eduwonk.com to comment why so few had taken on the news today. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

CEP (Center on Education Policy) has released an analysis to answer: Is the Emphasis on “Proficiency”Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students? (pdf doc). The study shows good news for the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) policy. Sean Cavanagh of Education Week is among the few who picked the study and states the following: The 50-state analysis found that test scores for both "advanced" and "basic" students rose in nearly three-quarters of assessments studied across states and grade levels, a level of progress only slightly lower than that of students reaching proficiency. The study sought to examine a story line put forward in recent years—namely, that schools are not focusing on the highest- or lowest-scoring students, but rather on middle achievers, said Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, which produced the report. While the progress of high and low achievers could be stagnating in individual instances or schools, the study indicates that on average, those students are advancing... On the other hand, Andrew Rotherham asks: 'Is it too cynical to think it would be bigger news if it went the other way?' Rotherham wrote an entry at eduwonk.com to comment why so few had taken on the news today. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

CEP (Center on Education Policy) has released an analysis to answer: Is the Emphasis on “Proficiency”Shortchanging Higher- and Lower-Achieving Students? (pdf doc). The study shows good news for the NCLB (No Child Left Behind) policy. Sean Cavanagh of Education Week is among the few who picked the study and states the following: The 50-state analysis found that test scores for both "advanced" and "basic" students rose in nearly three-quarters of assessments studied across states and grade levels, a level of progress only slightly lower than that of students reaching proficiency. The study sought to examine a story line put forward in recent years—namely, that schools are not focusing on the highest- or lowest-scoring students, but rather on middle achievers, said Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, which produced the report. While the progress of high and low achievers could be stagnating in individual instances or schools, the study indicates that on average, those students are advancing... On the other hand, Andrew Rotherham asks: 'Is it too cynical to think it would be bigger news if it went the other way?' Rotherham wrote an entry at eduwonk.com to comment why so few had taken on the news today. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

Interesting how Hon. George Miller and The House Education and Labor Committee will be holding a hearing tomorrow, Tuesday, June 16 to examine how technology and innovative education tools are transforming and improving education in America. Full Committee Hearing at 10:00 AM, June 16, 2009 2175 Rayburn H.O.B Washington, DC Witnesses include school district technology officers, industry leaders, and a middle-school science teacher. For more information, or to view streaming video of the hearing, visit the Education & Labor committee website. If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

It has been said that Secretary Duncan was successful with implementation of merit pay in Chicago. However, I would like to ask the Secretary what it should be done with those students who simply don't want to be at school. Teachers and parents both know, the story of rebel teens who prefer to do another stuff that go to school and in the worse case scenario, youngsters who are not able to self-control or even be disciplined by parents themselves. Will this group of students hurt teachers merit pay? Absolutely. During this week the AP ran a story about the controversial practice of linking raises or teacher's bonuses to student achievement. Of course, with the simple experience related on top, it is normal that Duncan's proposal be opposed by many teachers' union members. We do agree that test scores alone should not decide a teacher's salary, but other parameters as research and publication of books, should be also considered, to mention just two. States and school districts will compete later this year for a piece of a $5 billion fund to reward those that adopt innovations the Obama administration supports. Applications will be available in July, and money should be awarded starting early next year. In several districts around the country including Chicago, where Duncan ran the public schools, merit pay systems have been created with support from teachers' unions. Duncan aims to gain the support of teachers saying "he wants it done with teachers, not to teachers." Is this the rigor he is asking for? If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

It is too late to tweak NCLB. Seven years after it was signed into law, it is clear that the program deserves to be buried. Diane Ravitch of Education Week wrote a great piece about the No Child Left Behind policy, and how in the long run no even time 'can repair this poorly designed law': In long-term trends, the achievement gap between white and minority students has hardly budged over the past decade. Although average scores are up for 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds in reading and mathematics between 2004 and 2008, the rate of improvement is actually smaller than it was in the previous period measured, from 1999 to 2004. It is time to ask whether NCLB should be renewed. I argue that it should not. What will President Barack Obama and his administration do with the law? If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

It is too late to tweak NCLB. Seven years after it was signed into law, it is clear that the program deserves to be buried. Diane Ravitch of Education Week wrote a great piece about the No Child Left Behind policy, and how in the long run no even time 'can repair this poorly designed law': In long-term trends, the achievement gap between white and minority students has hardly budged over the past decade. Although average scores are up for 9-year-olds and 13-year-olds in reading and mathematics between 2004 and 2008, the rate of improvement is actually smaller than it was in the previous period measured, from 1999 to 2004. It is time to ask whether NCLB should be renewed. I argue that it should not. What will President Barack Obama and his administration do with the law? If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.

The USA Today commented on two books related to the digital age of Gen Y (ages 16-29). The first book is The Dumbest Generation: How the Digital Age Stupefies Young Americans and Jeopardizes Our Future by Mark Bauerlein. Bauerlein an English professor at Emory University in Atlanta, claims in his book that young generation have acquired skills not being useful in the marketplace, and that they've lost track of human ways to relate to unknown people. The author recommends to parents to: "Talk with your kids. Kids can't do this by themselves." In the other hand is Gary Small, director of the Center of Aging at the University of California- L.A. and co-author of iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind. And this is the posture we take part in. Small asserts clearly that, "teens are just as smart as they ever were." Multitasking for example, creates a barrier between the old and new generations. The Gen Y may be good with technology but weak in face-to-face communication but still they interact with no prejudices. This young generation, familiar with MySpace and Facebook, is just as smart as any adult but in different ways. Small concludes: "In some ways (technology) is hindering, in some ways it's advancing" education, and adds, "It teaches our brain a different way of processing things." If you want to receive my future posts regularly for FREE, please subscribe in a reader or by e-mail. If you have concerns, Contact Me at anytime.