TCEA+OETC+Conf+Notes

TECA Conference (Feb. 6-10)


 * By following Twitter for the TECA Conference (#tcea12) from February 6-10**, I found 17 helpful links and/or resources that range from Common Core Standards and flipped classrooms to Titillating TED Talks and Web 2.0. Here are some of my discoveries:

1) I found a useful Slideshare: “Copyright Clarity: Using Copyrighted Materials for Digital Learning” by Renee Hobbs, Temple University Media Education, School of Communications & Theater,Philadelphia,PA.This focused on how the Fair Use Laws and how they support digital learning. This helped me update my knowledge of copyrighted materials as it relates to digital learning. ([])

2) I signed up to receive RSS feeds for the “Sardine” blog at the 21st Century Fluency Program website: []. The blog sounded interesting and had excellent articles/posts: “Committed sardines who think outside the can.” (The humor lightened my day as our state continues its somewhat depressing discussion of education funding.)

3) One of the links took me to the Digital Learning Day website held Feb. 1, 2012: []. I reviewed the list of Language Arts projects and also started to follow scottmcleod on Twitter and signed up for another RSS feed ([]), which focuses on English/language arts issues.

4) As is usual, I wandered off the Mcleod page to “Powerful Learning Practice //Professional development for 21st Century educators//,” which contained a section entitled “Voices From the Learning Revolution.” The featured post (Feb. 8, 2012) was “Knocked Out of My Orbit: Becoming a 21st Century Educator” by Susan Lucille Davis. She discussed how she has benefited from a PLN. I plan to check out another website //Book Drum// referred to in this post.Davis also included a description of “an exhilarating week of co-constructed learning,” where students worked in teams to find images in poems (power of imagery exercise). I have placed those poetry teaching ideas in my lesson plan folder for future consideration. []

5) I also starting following Tweets about flipped classrooms and read an interesting article (“How the Flipped Classroom is Radically Transforming Learning”) at //The Daily Riff// website. Johnathan Bergmann and Aaron Sams described their experiences at Woodland Park High School in Woodland Park, Colorado, beginning in 2004, and how the flipped classroom has transformed student learning. I recommend the article. []

OETC Conference (Feb. 13-15, eTechOhio Conference)


 * By following Twitter for the OETC Conference (#oetc12) from Feb. 13-15,** I again found many helpful links and/or resources similar to the TCEA Conference. Many of the participant comments were similar to the TCEA conference by a few led to some informative sites.

1) One of the presenters, Ron Rogers, provided a link for those not able to attend his session ([|Hot Technology Tools for All Learners presentation]). Many of the tools he noted are familiar to me, but I checked out [|Learn it in Five] and plan to return to it. That site contains instructional videos for learning various technology tools in five minutes. Another one was also new and an interesting way to study words [|Lexipedia]. Rogers also includes a summary of many great sites.

2) Following one comment, I accessed and read an article entitled "Seven misconceptions about how students learn" by Valerie Strauss.

3) One of the attendees commented on an archival tool for the conference ([|OETC Archive on Conference Twitter)] so I checked that out. (What a great way to archive comments and links!)

3) Because of the recent passage of SD House bill HB1234, I decided to see if there was anything being discussed or mentioned about teacher pay and specifically on merit pay. Anyone interested in the topic should check out the following about what Daniel Pink has to say on the subject. The Ted Talk (2009) by Daniel Pink discusses what motivates people doing creative jobs (teachers included): autonomy, mastery and purpose.

RT @DanielPink: Eight brief points about “merit pay” for teachers http://t.co/N1wkSs4u (via the Pink Blog)

RT @AmSocietyToday: Daniel Pink explains why merit pay for teachers is wrong: http://t.co/GG9gyO1O #EdChat #OhEdChat #EdReform (Link to 2009 Ted Talk).