Tapped In Newsletter: July 2002

...ON THE TAPIS
July 2002
Issue 56

In This Issue

[1] Professional Development = Lifelong Learning
[2] Member Perspective: Jan Friesen
[3] Technology Tips
[4] TAPPED IN News Nugget
[5] About ...On the TAPIS

Quote of the Month - "Do not confine your children to your own learning, for they were born in another time." - Chinese Proverb

[1] Professional Development = Lifelong Learning

If, as the above proverb states, we are not to confine our children to our own learning, then it is an educator's responsibility to be a lifelong learner. Technology has provided us with the keys to unlock a vast wealth of opportunities available in meeting the goal of professional development. The intrinsic rewards of achievement and new learning are wonderful, but it's nice to have an occasional extrinsic reward to document the journey. The organizers of Summer Carnival 2002! are offering a Certificate of Participation as a way of recognizing a part of your personal journey. By signing in at a minimum of three Carnival events you will receive a colorful PowerPoint certificate (PDF is also available) that can be printed out and placed in your professional development portfolio. Take a look at the complete Summer Carnival 2002 schedule and browse the descriptions of all the fun sessions planned. The hard part will be deciding which events to attend! [see Technology Tips for more information about Summer Carnival Certificates]

[2] Member Perspective: Janice Friesen

Jan is an Instructional Support Specialist for the eMINTS program in Missouri. She helps a group of teachers in Missouri with integration of technology. Most of the teachers work in 3rd and 4th grade classes. She has been a member of TAPPED IN since 1999.

Jan's Perspective

I can't remember when I first stumbled into TAPPED IN. I'm sure it was sometime when I was working on my Masters in Educational Technology at the University of Missouri-Columbia. When I first visited it was too much for me. I had heard of MUVEs and MUDs, but I could not imagine spending the time it would take to learn to use one. I knew that feeling comfortable with TAPPED IN was important, so I forced myself to log in now and then and wander around. What helped me the most as I gradually became comfortable with TAPPED IN was that there was always a real person at the Reception Desk.

See all our member perspectives.

[3] Technology Tips

Web Page Projections
If you have participated in any of TAPPED IN's After School Online events, you are probably familiar with web page projections, which are one of TAPPED IN's most powerful features. When a web page (url) is projected, a new browser window, in addition to the TAPPED IN window, will pop open for everyone in the same virtual room. You will be able to look at the page, bookmark it, and close it. Be careful that you do not close the TAPPED IN window or you will be disconnected. Try to overlap screens so that you can see the text in the TAPPED IN window and not miss any of the dialogue!

Advanced Tech Tip of the Month: Certificate of Participation
To receive a TAPPED IN Summer Carnival 2002! Certificate of Participation for your professional development portfolio, you must fill out a participation form for each session attended. A minimum of 3 hours of participation is required. At the beginning of each session, a HelpDesk volunteer will project (see above) the Sign-In Form and give you the code for that session. Please fill the form out carefully and add any comments you have in the box provided. HelpDesk volunteers will tabulate the forms and create personalized certificates that will be available for downloading approximately one week after the Carnival. The certificate download site will be announced at the end of each Carnival event or you can contact BJ at bjb @ tappedin.org.

[6] TAPPED IN News Nugget

TAPPED IN member Bret Biornstad recently used his TAPPED IN "virtual office" for communication with his 4th grade students and their parents. During scheduled office hours students or their parents could meet Bret in his office to discuss homework issues, filling the expressed need of parents for getting help with homework while the child was working on it at home thereby increasing the child's comprehension, learning, confidence and motivation while lessening their frustration. Through this format, Bret felt students were more eager to ask questions that they may not have asked in class. TAPPED IN allowed Bret to provide live, real-time tutorials to support his students' learning. Bret plans to use this again next year from the very start of the year as an integral part of his communication plan. Parents, other teachers, the Shared Leadership team and administration were all very supportive of this excellent means of communication.
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TAPPED IN member Shun Ito presented a warmly received "Taking Gold Fish Out Into the Open Seas: Implementing Network Based Language Teaching in a Japanese College Classroom" at a Private University Information Technology Education Society on July 6. Shun will share his paper at the August 2 TAPPED IN Benkyoukai (see http://www.sabotenweb.com/bookmarks/about/25thbenkyoukai.html) hosted by Keiko Schneider.
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TAPPED IN member Quentin D'Souza has an article titled "The Pedagogy of WebQuests" in the April issue of Output Magazine (see http://www.ecoo.org/e/output/contents224.html.)
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Do you have a News Nugget about yourself or another member of the TAPPED IN Community? Send your News Nugget to BJ Berquist at bjb @ tappedin.org.

[7] About ...On the TAPIS

Postings of all ...ON THE TAPIS issues are available on the TAPPED IN website. Contact us if you have any questions about your subscription, password or user name, or if you have any news items that you want to share with the community for ...ON THE TAPIS.