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=CUE 2008 Participants:=

Feel free to use this space to record your experiences at this year's conference in Palm Springs.
Once again, a thought provoking and invigorating conference. If you are new to CUE your head is probably spinning. More and more this conference is for //all// teachers who want to learn how technology is changing our world, and how education is struggling to catch up.

Thursday brought more activity than usual with lots of pop-up sessions, etc. Sonny Magana had a session titled Global 21st Cenury Learning Environments. His words about 21st century learners using an 18th century learning model resonated. [|Here is a primer from the American Association of School Librarians.]

[|Gaggle] //Not google//- once again Gaggle has added more features including blogs- safe blogs that your school district won't block if you are lucky. Gaggle is filtered email for school use. I have been using Gaggle for a couple of years now and have found it to be very for students who don't have email acounts. There are times I want students to sign up for a service on the Internet, but an email address is required.

I had a long **workshop** titled: Construction Paper for the 21st Century: Google and Other Free tools Coordinator ed tech Orange County department of Education
 * Robert Craven**

He first introduced the need for using such tools by talking about: Digital natives, immigrants. [|Digital tools for digital students at Apple] 21st century learning skills life and career skills

Students spend 72 hours per week engaged in media and 10% of their mp3 time on //educational content//- Chances are that this is not content supplied by teachers. Unfortunately, they don't use these tools nearly as much at school.
 * Notable:**

[|iTunes U] is a good resource for educational podcasts

Objective Engage 21st century learners by using a variety of free online content and apps

Tool for screen capture: http://www.jingproject.com/ video screen capture 5 minutes max
 * snapz pro**
 * jing**

online word processing with levels: co-author, reviewer, reader. Co-authors have full editing priveledges reviewers can make comments but not delete. (can hide or show comments) Readers can only view Buzzword can do text wrapping (around inserted pictures) and has a spell check.
 * buzzword**

Like keynote but it's online- has some slick transitions, effects, and sharing ability. You can import powerpoint shows too. but takes days for your account to be confirmed!
 * Slide rocket**

http://www.google.com/educators/index.html
 * google for educators**

[|http://docs.google.com] like wikis, has revisions and one can revert to older versions
 * google docs**

Note: google can provide a domain for school email accounts

easily clip/copy from web pages http://www.google.com/notebook/?hl=en
 * google notebook**

showing a map of locations from Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants It had story content and pictures from the movi This can be found at :Google Lit Trips http://www.googlelittrips.org/ Note: Google Earth Pro is available free for educators
 * Google Earth**

good images for education http://www.calisphere.universityofcalifornia.edu/
 * Calisphere**


 * wikis at wikispaces.com (OF COURSE!)**

Online video editing tools
 * Jumpcut and Motionbox**

The open source pavilion.
All day there are sessions here that show free and open source software. I caught two programs that function like Photoshop and Illustrator (raster and vector graphics). Both programs are very powerful and are free! http://www.inkscape.org/ http://www.gimp.org/
 * Inkscape** is a vector graphics application.
 * Gimp** is a raster graphics editor used to process digital graphics and photographs.

What a great tool for group communication. It’s a video conferencing system that specializes in educational use. You can show live video if the groups are small. It was demonstrated using a cell phone modem to connect to the internet. (Yes, it worked!) There is a “whiteboard area” that can be used by all participants to make a collaborative drawing, show a slide show, video, etc. Applications can also be shared. Suppose one participant opens MS Word, the others can type and use all of the functions of the program, as if it were their computer. There is an area of the screen that lists those logged in, and an area to message.
 * Elluminate**

It can be used for large groups too. The rep mentioned that they did one conference with over a thousand participants. CUE has just worked out a contract that will make Elluminate available for CUE leaders and affiliates. It will be interesting to see how we will be able to use this great tool.

People have been asking me about the **interactive white boards** lately so I did some research. It looks like all of the interactive boards have similar features. A couple of the reps themselves mentioned that they have converged as far as the available tools etc. The difference between them lies in the how they physically work, the content available, and the ease of the software.

Interwrite Newer on the scene. Has a nice digital/white board pen combination

Promethian Now much like the smart boards, except they work with a special pen, and not touch. They have a lot of curriculum developed for educators.

Smart Works with touch, instead of a special pen Has easy to use features.

Mimeo Here’s a different approach. A “bar” (about two feet long and three inches wide) is placed in the corner of an existing whiteboard. (Other surfaces may be used, a wall for example.) Ultrasonic waves detect the special pen and it acts just like other interactive boards. White board pens can be used along with the device if desired. The software is similar to other boards too. The price is much less than a typical interactive board, and it is much easier to transport.

K12 High Speed Network Offering a great variety of free network tools and services. Especially vital are the **videoconferencing** tools. http://www.k12hsn.org/

They also feature **network diagnostics**. They lend equipment to analyze a ntework and work iwth you on how to use it.

[|Edzone] A suite of Web 2.0 tools to build trusted community. Making things like social networking safe and accessible, Edzone features a federated search that wil search the blogs, wikis, messages, moodle, etc. all at once

Peter gave and excellent primer on working memory, formerly know as short term memory. Educators need to be reminded how quickly one will forget information presented if not given the chance to work with it or build a context. Peter aptly demonstrated why many of the things we see in PowerPoint are counter productive to learning. Things like too many graphics, reading the slides, and too much text all compete for attention with the main concept. He also gave many simple tips about how to improve slide shows and increase the focus of attention on the appropriate target.
 * Peter Desberg**


 * Tech4Learning**- http://www.tech4learning.com/ -develops software especially for education. This group has a good vision for the future of education and creates award winning products. They will be presenting at the BCCUE May 6th Event.

Here’s a nice tool for teachers who want something with more power than PowerPoint. This software can be used to create interactive movies and slideshows. It is easy for students to use and is sort of in-between Flash and PowerPoint. It produces quicktime movies and … Formerly ---Mediaworks has been around since th e90s and has just undergone modernization.
 * Mediaworks**

No CUE conference is complete without seeing David Thornburg. He is one of the big thinkers in educational technology and his talks always have something new and fun. The talk that I saw was titled "Forget about the Future, It's the Present that Worries Me", (A focus on STEM- science, technology, engineering, and math.) He was really talking about how education should kindle creativity by giving kids an opportunity to create, build and be inspired. He mentioned a lot of resources, here are some: The hubble telescope images. The world's new cheapest car, a **Tata**. ($2,500) Rube Goldberg machines and a Japanese TV show that features them.
 * David Thornburg - [|tcpd.org]**
 * Celestia**, and open source astronomy program.
 * Howtoons, CMAP, Make Magazine, Scratch**
 * Math Trax** - NASA developed math software that plays a sound for the graphs it creates.


 * Closing Session** was ushered in with a very talented student choir, but I didn't catch the name. Quite a treat.

author - The Power of Losing Control Organizational Transformation
 * Joe Caruso**

Her are some things I got from his talk: There ore things we need to let go of in education. In times of change, look at what won't change: The Student teacher connection and the power of new technologies and the Internet

Students find meaning through teachers

You can Influence, but not control

Using stories to make connections and give meaning Students connect to themselves

Anecdote - The difference between truth and myth – if it’s not yours, it’s a myth.