Driving Questions

Google Sketchup in school

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:22:48 -0500

In this interview with go-getter teacher Greg Berens from Hope High School in Hope Kansas, we discuss the ways he is using Google Sketchup with learners.

Dan Gross Interview (Audio Only)

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:51:36 -0500

Daniel Gross is a man with an amazing amount of experience in digital learning. From his early classroom computing to robust school/museum partnerships, he has a lot to share about enhancing learning with new tools.
Sites Shared:
Badgernet
MPM.edu
cilc.org
Dan’s Plurk Page
TWICE

Dan Gross Interview

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 13:52:08 -0500

Ed Fish Interview

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 14:06:11 -0500

In this carpool, Ed Fish joins me to talk about the birth of the ePals Conference. He goes on to discuss the value of these connections between classroom around the world. He shares the philosophy behind the ePals mission and what he sees happening as a result. The discussion is about anytime, anywhere learning and sharing and the need for “Shining Light Examples” to inspire others to try new and exciting things in the the classroom. Ed makes me think hard about the need for us to focus on the entire continuum of resources so we can include learners everywhere. They are currently focused on partnering with educators to build a database of collaborative, engaging projects we can all share.

Passion for student reading and so much more!

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 13:55:05 -0500

In this carpool with Nina Zolt, the Co-Founder and Chief Program Architect of ePals, Inc. we discuss the need for passion about books to engage learners. She is the Founder of in2books and shares an amazing passion for helping kids develop personal libraries. She discusses the value of building relationships around books. She also shares the possibilities of connecting kids to the larger world in authentic and meaningful ways. This woman is amazing!

Candace Pauchnick interview

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:55:10 -0500

Candace is passionate about connecting to other instructors and letting her kids connect to other learners through ePals. Through her collaboration with other instructors around the world, she has grown and changed as an educator. Candace gives so much credit to others but she truly embodies the spirit of the explorer educator. Candace uses these connections to help kids see a larger world view and to forge relationships with students from around the globe. I think Candace is one of those teachers that focuses on the heart, both her own and that of her students.

Interview with Barnabas Sang and Dan Nijiri

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:55:09 -0500

Barnabas Sang is the head of ICT in the Minister of Education in Kenya and he is studying carefully the possible tools that Kenya can invest in to best meet the needs of their kids. Barnabas and his colleagues are looking at technology in ways that some would not recognize as cutting edge but if you listen for any length of time, I believe you will agree that their circumstances have them looking at very new ways to connect classrooms. At the end he shares his vision of the future of Kenyan schools.

Barbara Feaster interview

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:55:07 -0500

Barbara Feaster, who is the Director of Instructional Technology for North Brooklyn N.Y. Barbara shares her reasons for attending conferences and staying current as a leader in Tech Ed. iLearn represents a range of professional development services that her teachers can take advantage of. She has a large pallet to paint on with technology in education and she will be implementing an Online Learning grant in the coming year. She looks forward to working with the core curriculum team in New York City. Barbara welcome collaboration from all over the world.

Contact Barbara

The power of global thinking

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:55:06 -0500

In this carpools with Adina Popa, a technology resource teacher from Loudoun County Public Schools in Virginia, we discuss ways that teachers integrate ePals in classrooms and digital literacy as well as global understanding. We also discuss the intrinsic motivation that comes along for the ride when we allow them to connect. She brings great enthusiasm to the idea of empowering kids with global connections.

Tim DisCipio interview

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:55:00 -0500

In this carpool with ePals Co-founder Tim DiScipio we discuss the beginnings of ePals and the passion to connect learners and the motivations that occur as a result. Tim is brilliant and sees the future of digital education in a very compelling, positive way. He shares his views on the value of student to student connections and the need to have a way to exercise a more centralized solution to connectivity.

Why use technology?

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 13:54:57 -0500

In this carpool I talk with Ian O’Byrne and Greg McVerry from the New Literacies Research Lab from the University of Connecticut, as well as Dr. Kari Stubbs from ePals. We talk about online reading means compared to offline reading and the affect we can have on learners’ motivation and engagement. We discussed the impact of inquiry learning that students find motivating.

ePals Successes

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 13:55:03 -0500

At the conclusion of the first annual ePals conference, Tim DiScipio, Rita Oates and Kari Stubbs share some things they are pleased about as well as some future goals they are focused on.

Tim Holt from NECC

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 18:27:59 -0500

Tim Holt is so much fun to talk to and he might be my long lost brother. He has a unique voice and sense of humor in the tech advocacy arena. We discuss the relationship between educational vendors and education and reflect on the whole vendor floor phenomenon. His podcast Intended Consequences and his blog are fun places to learn in an entertaining way.

Lisa from NECC Vendor floor

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 17:56:35 -0500

Lisa Greathouse is a developer at Infosource and is passionate about building training that meets teachers where they live. They are giving away a free student assessment for schools attending NECC. She was excited to meet people in the flesh that she’d met on Twitter.

Drew Polly from NECC

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 17:46:28 -0500

Drew Polly from the University of NC at Charlotte has some definite notions about the directions educations should be moving. He had a positive response to EduBloggerCon and shares the difference between teaching the tool and talking about doing the right things to empower learning.

Paul Wood from NECC

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 17:38:05 -0500

What is your IT vision? Paul Wood from Bishop Dunn in Dallas Texas is a guy who I met in the blogger’s cafe at NECC. He and his team are doing some amazing things with iPods and more.

Clif Mims from NECC

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 17:27:57 -0500

Clif Mims from the University of Memphis is an energetic advocate of moving away from the prepackaged model of staff development. His blog: http://clifmims.com is a place to share ideas about professional development and web 2.0 His twitter handle is clifmims.

Steve Hargadon from NECC

Fri, 4 Jul 2008 15:12:53 -0500

In this episode, Steve Hargadon and I talk about this year’s EduBloggerCon and the blogger’s cafe and some of the reactions and learning that came about as a result of some changes.

Getting beyond the full frontal lecture

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 19:28:25 -0500

Ian Jukes is an amazingly passionate advocate for moving schools into the future in ways that make sense. His blog The Committed Sardine is a source of inspiration and thinking to many in tech ed and in education in general. He shares many ideas and tools at http://edorigami.wikispaces.com and in this episode of Driving Questions
Ian speaks about moving from information literacy to information fluency and offers some great direction for moving in this direction. Ian has some wonderful and sticky things to say about what we should be thinking and doing as we prepare kids for the future.

Books cited:
net.savvy Building Information Literacy in the Classroom
Windows on the Future
The Director in the Classroom
Teaching the Digital Generation: No More Cookie Cutter Schools
Getting Technology Right: Technology Planning for Student Success
A Whole New Mind
Don’t Bother Me Mom I’m Learning
Resources cited:
Alberta Virtual School Society
The Digital Diet
Zits Cartoon Strip
Understanding Digital Kids
Teachertube
ANANOVA
People cited:
Nikos Theodosakis
Daniel Pink
David Thornburg
Marc Prensky

Daring to do what’s right

Thu, 5 Jun 2008 17:39:07 -0500

In this carpool with Ginger Lewman, the high powered teacher from Turning Point Learning center, a PBL charter school with it’s eyes on 21st century skills for all learners. We review the creation process for this school and a process she has developed for turning education into actual learning.