Homework Help

Hi everyone,

I'm reaching out to you because I need some assistance with 2 projects I am working on for my Master's program.

1. Calling all tech coordinators: If you are a tech coordinator in a school or school district, I'd love to get your feedback. I need to compose a wiki entry of about 2000 words on a particular sub-topic relating to computer networks at schools. I'm leaning towards one of these topics.

• Desktop Choices - How do you decide if you are going to deploy PC's or Mac's? Have you considered thin client alternatives? Do you use virtual machines? When and Why laptop carts? Etc....
• Support - Who provides it? How do you manage it? Do you get students involved? Etc...
• Social Networking - Is it encouraged or discouraged? Where and when is it appropriate? Are the community and/or parents involved?
• Vendors - How do you choose who to go with? How do you get your best pricing?

I'm also open to other options. Feel free to check out the table of contents for topic choices. Which would you most want to read about? Also, would you be open to reviewing my write-up when it's complete?

2. Calling all Educational Technology Specialists: If you are a computer teacher or are integrating technology into your own or other teacher's classrooms, I'd love to interview you. I need to create a 10 minute video posting on a specific topic. The topic I am targeting is the use of Social Networking in the Classroom. Questions I'd like to pose are:

• Blogs - Are you maintaining one for student usage? Do your students maintain their own blog? What are you using them for?
• Wikis - Do you have a class wiki? What do you post on it? Do your students contribute?
• Twitter - How do you utilize twitter in the classroom? Have you introduced your class to YouthTwitter?
• Skype - Have you used skype to enhance a lesson? In what way?
• Other - Are you doing podcasting with students? What other social networking tools are you using? Would like to use?

I hope to "film" at least 30-40 minutes of footage for the 10 minute video. I'm thinking we can use webcams to accomplish the video regardless of your location. Alternatively, we can use Skype to record audio and I can supplement with Powerpoint slides. Please let me know if you are open to being "interviewed". Thanks very much!!

Educational Technology Program

I just got accepted into a Master's program in Educational Technology at Pace University! My first acceptance!!! Now, just waiting on Columbia Teachers College. I'm so excited! At least I know I have at least one option. I applied for Fall but would love to start taking at least one class this summer.

Does anyone have any advice on how to decide between programs? I thought about requesting to sit in on a class to help decide. Was anyone successful in doing this when you got your acceptances?
Also, I would love to shadow any local ETS's to get a feel for what you are already doing. Please let me know if you live/work near NYC or Long Island.

So happy. Great start to the weekend. Going to see Young Frankenstein on Broadway tomorrow. Sunday I'm dedicating to research.

Drinking through a firehose

That's how I feel. There is so much information out there in the blogosphere, twitterverse and plain old regular web about what people are doing in the educational technology space that it's hard to keep up. One link brings you to ten more plus podcasts and workshops. It's fantastic but it's also completely overwhelming. So, here are some ways I am managing to keep up and some plans that I have to assess where my career should go. I hope that these items will help you too!

• Del.icio.us is a life saver! I've heard of this before but could never understand why I would need to have my bookmarks online or shared. Now, I know. The beauty for me is in a) categorizing bookmarks by topic and b) adding comments to remember why I wanted to bookmark it in the first place. Not only do I have my home PC with both Firefox and IE, I also have my work laptop and my work SunRay and now I can keep all my bookmarks consolidated and in order! YAY!
• Multiple blogs. This blog is my first step in organizing my thoughts on various topics. I plan to create other blogs around other interests like Web 2.0 in the Enterprise and Online Safety. This will help me to keep all the thoughts and ideas swirling around in my head in one place. It also gives me the chance to experiment with lots of new technologies.
  
• Create a web site. I have a ton of ideas for my website but before I could even begin I needed an old-fashioned offline spreadsheet to create categories of information that I would include on my website. This also includes how I will incorporate my blogs and other related technologies.
• Research, research, research. What this means to me is that I have a "contact list" of people that I want to talk to. I'm doing informal interviews with people of all different backgrounds and experiences to make sure that I know where I want to go, what career options I have and what my interests & passions lead me to be successful at. Oh, the other big thing - get your current boss's support. My manager is awesome. He totally supports career development and makes exploration so much easier!
• Be a shadow. Sit in on classes before making a decision to attend a certain school or program. Follow someone for a day who is already in the role you aspire to. Talk to your audience and make sure you understand their needs.
  

Just a few ideas to help you learn how to drink through the Educational Technology straw. :-)