Tapped In Newsletter: September 2006

...On the Tapis
September 2006
Issue 106

In This Issue

[1] Member Perspective: Maryann Angeroth
[2] Contribute to the Tapped In Library
[3] NASA Podcast Competition
[4] Tapped In Technology Tips
[5] News Nuggets
[6] About ...On the Tapis

Quote of the Month - "You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself." - Sam Levenson (1911 - 1980)

[1] Member Perspective: Maryann Angeroth

Maryann started out as a high school librarian in 1972 and has morphed into an instructional technology consultant working for one of Iowa's Area Education Agencies. Along the way, she worked with both secondary and elementary students. In 2001, Maryann became an instructional technology consultant. The new role wasn't much different. As a consultant she got to work with teachers and students as they used the technology tools to increase student achievement. She first started to use Tapped In in 2002. The first excursions suggested that this would be a fabulous resource for teachers in southwest Iowa.

Maryann's Perspective
I am convinced that the more we connect and collaborate via the Internet, the more we can learn from one another. My first attempt to connect my teachers via the Internet was to set up discussion boards with Yahoo Groups and then Quick Topic. Teachers used these resources as part of workshops and classes that I taught. The free versions are minimal in what they can do; basic discussion boards. I started to explore Tapped In to support my own professional development and have attended several of the online sessions on digital story telling and using technology to support the mathematics curriculum.

This last summer, I taught a one-credit class on "Using the Internet to extend the 21st century skills." Collaboration across time and space is definitely one of the skills mentioned by the partnership for 21st century skills at http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/. The teachers taking this class were exploring ways to bring the 21st century skills into their classroom. Most of the school districts that I serve do not allow students to have email accounts nor access Yahoo or Hotmail accounts. Without email accounts, it is impossible to collaborate via the Internet. Along came Tapped In with the possibility of connecting students in the K-12 Student Campus.

Read all of Maryann's Perspective.

[2] Contribute to the Tapped In Library

The July TAPis included a Tech Tip on using the new Tapped In Library, a community-wide resource that allows any Tapped In member to upload materials like papers, assessment instruments, web sites, lesson plans, etc. The Library tool organizes items differently than in the Tapped in group rooms and makes them available to everyone in Tapped In. Each item in the Library is meta-tagged to make it easier to find what you need when searching the library. When you add files or URLs to the Resource Library, you fill out a short form about it so that the item is "tagged" on several dimensions e.g., keyword, topic, description. You can search any or all of these dimensions or browse the library. As our library grows, the meta-tags will make it easier to narrow down your search.

To ensure that this Library contains only good quality resources, an oversight committee of Teachers Teaching Teachers, Classroom Teachers, Researchers, Librarians etc. is being formed. If you are interested in joining this committee watch your October calendar for a Library Oversight Committee ASO. All Tapped In members are welcome. If you have questions, send us a comment.

[3] NASA Podcast Competition

NASA is running its first Podcast Competition from Sept. 1 through October 10 for students ages 11-18. Students are challenged to create either an audio or video podcast reflecting their answer to the question "How will space exploration benefit your life in the future?" More details and the entry form for this competition can be found at the 21st Century Explorer Podcast Competition website.

[4] Tapped In Technology Tip

Pre-service Teachers Rule!
Welcome to the new members of Tapped In who have been introduced to the Tapped In community through Teacher Education classes. Although the first few times of using Tapped In can be a bit overwhelming, you'll find that there are many experienced educators in the community who are more than happy to welcome you, provide mentoring, and support the experience of facing your first classroom full of wide-eyed eager students... and what to do when those students aren't so wide-eyed and eager!

Visit the Tapped In Calendar of Events for real time text chat discussion topics in your discipline.

By clicking on the calendar event, you can read the complete description of that event. Join groups that collaborate on lesson plan creation, submit your own lesson plans to the Tapped In Library (see article above), or participate in groups that provide classroom resources (like the K-3 Resources group that meets twice a month). And take a tour (Tips and Tricks) of the Tapped In interface with one of the friendly Helpdesk volunteers to learn more ways in which Tapped In can alleviate those new educator jitters. We old-heads who have "been there, done that," are excited that you've joined the Tapped In community and look forward to meeting you!

[5] News Nuggets

TI member Maryann Durland has created a new group, Classroom Assessment, which will explore the tools that help us understand the connection between what we do as teachers and students and learning. We will look at examples and add from the group as we create our own questions and direction. We anticipate exploring things such as creating comprehensive lesson plans that guide classroom diagnosis, writing outstanding assessment items, creating rubrics, utilizing performance or authentic assessment, and how can technology help.
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An article on TI will appear in the October issue of Teacher magazine, which comes out Sept 29. The reporter is Laura Donnelly, Assistant Editor, Teacher Magazine.
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Linda Starr announced an Education World TI page.
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TI member Cheryl Oakes had an article, Becoming a Webhead, published at TechLearning.com. Cheryl has also been asked to join the TechLearning blog. Writers will be guest blogging a couple times a month with David Warlick, Terry Freedman, Miguel Ghulin, David Jakes and TI member Wes Fryer.
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Thanks to TI member Bridget Martin for bringing to our attention Tapped In member Jen Wagner's blog entry about her TI session.
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TI member Ton Koenraad presented a workshop at EUROCALL 2006, Integrating CALL into Study Programmes, 4-7 September, Granada, Spain http://www.eurocall2006.com/Programme.pdf
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TI member BJ Berquist had the good fortune of an online meeting with DK, MediaSnackers founder, and shared information about a blog for her students. DK posted information about the blog to the MediaSnackers' site. DK will be a guest speaker in TI on October 9.
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The September 2006 issue of Learning&Leading with Technology contains contributions by TI members Coleen S.L. Hutchison, Glen Bull, Tom Hammond, and Julie Lindsay.
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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.

[6] About ...On the Tapis

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