November+2009

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C-Forum
November 6, 2009 Host: Provo District Location: **Grandview Technology Integration Center** 1591 North Jordan Ave. (It is on Grandview Hill, where the elementary school used to be). Please park on the south side of the smaller building and enter the south doors of that same building.

- Kim Broadbent


 * **Provo Promethean Project -** Kim Broadbent and Bryce Porter
 * Once people got their Promethean boards they began using whiteboards less and less. At this time, many regular whiteboards in the district are no longer used.
 * **Why Promethean Interactive Whiteboards?**
 * Durability - they are smooth like regular whiteboards with a durable hard surface
 * Multiple layers in the software
 * Easy to repair with tech support in Georgia
 * Interaction with the pen only, not with fingers
 * **Training**
 * Promethean Planet Lessons and Resources - online source that provides an easy way to get started
 * eSchool News Article - research
 * Initial overview training at the district level
 * On-site monthly training with implementation-related homework (e.g. downloading and using resources, sharing flipcharts)
 * As often as possible, multiple teachers in the same grade level receiving boards to support one another with implementation and creation of flipcharts
 * **Additional products**
 * Activtablets and Activslates - interaction without being anchored to the board
 * Activotes (one vote) and Activexpressions (multiple answers, text, numbers, can be self-paced or set time limits) - individual student interaction
 * Activwands - interact with the board from a distance
 * **Teacher testimonies**
 * Regular ed. teacher shared how after 29 years of teaching he finally feels like a professional and has been rejuvenated since he received his Promethean board a month ago.
 * Special ed. teacher explained how much more involved and motivated her students are by interacting with the board.
 * Gifted/talented teacher told how the board helps students visually understand concepts like percentages and square numbers.


 * **Thinkfinity Highlights**
 * Xpeditions - Sallie Warnecke
 * Social Studies and Map activities
 * Activities
 * Crack the Code
 * The First Thanksgiving
 * Xpedition Hall
 * Search by subject, grade, resource type, and search content partners
 * Scavenger hunts are fun
 * Interactive activities
 * Assessments are included
 * Correlated to the national core and updated regularly by a national panel
 * ** Smithsonian's History Explorer - Colleen Bliss **
 * Star-Spangled Banner activity
 * Search by grade level, resource type or historical era, and search content partners

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 * **Library Technology Teacher Stories** - Pat Lambrose
 * Focus on digital storytelling
 * Books and Bytes Newsleter can also be accessed via the Salt Lake City School District homepage
 * Librarians are important to schools and need our support as much as possible.

> http://cforum.wikispaces.com/ (Thank you Bonnie for all the work you did creating it!) Editing A Page > Images and Files > List and Upload Files.
 * **CForum WIKI** - Margo Shirley
 * Information can be accessed on the left side of the screen. Find information in multiple ways:
 * Meetings - click the meeting you want to get information from
 * Districts Share - click the district you would like to get information from
 * Contacts - links to individuals and what they have shared
 * Anyone can request to join the wiki. Go to the upper right hand corner and click Join. Complete the information and you will be notified once you have been approved.
 * To get help with wiki, go to the upper right hand corner and click Help.
 * To know when updates are made go to Manage Wiki, select Notifications. You can enter your email address and receive notifications to updates of a particular page, all pages, whatever you like.
 * To upload files go to Help (upper right hand corner) select

> Some students do not use Pioneer Library because it's easier to do a Google search. What can we do to change that trend? > **Ultimate goal: We'd like for Pioneer to become the primary source of information for Utah students.**
 * **Pioneer Online Library Discussio****n** - Rick Gaisford
 * Convenience is one reason Google is used more - with the search in the top right corner of a browser window,
 * Can we make it easier to access the Pioneer information with less clicks?
 * Teachers need to believe this is a valuable resource.
 * The design of main page could be better. Can it be cuter?
 * Hover over the name of a product and a pop-up will appear telling what the product focus is?
 * Could it be set as the homepage on our school computers?
 * Students don't really understand databases.
 * The federated search is not obvious as we'd like it to be.
 * Training of teachers around the state would help.
 * The way search results are listed makes it difficult for kids. Results are confusing and frustrating to students. Often times the results appear to not have anything to do with the search. Could we reverse the order the results appear or find a way to make them prioritized?
 * Speed is a factor. Searches take a long time.
 * Thinkfinity results do not appear in federated search.
 * It takes more time.
 * Google search brings multiple types of resources while Pioneer brings back more documents.
 * Get resources online about how to search more effectively.
 * Try to reduce the number of clicks it takes to get to any resource.
 * It would be helpful to have results ranked or prioritized.

> Classes fill up quickly and many participants are being turned away. As a result, some changes need to be made.
 * **New Policies for UEN Professional Developmen**t - Mitchell Jorgensen
 * Participants must be Utah residents, have a my.uen account and provide a current email address.
 * Must register and confirm ahead of time or their seat will be given to someone on the waiting list.
 * Participants must attend the entire training.
 * Assignments must be submitted within 30 days after the class to receive credit.
 * UEN will mail out certificate of relicensing points for those who didn't complete assignments.


 * **One-To-One Computing Discussion** - Cory Little
 * If you have done some kind of implementation or are planning to, please contact Cory (cory.little@nebo.edu).
 * They are looking at providing the students with netbooks, alternatives to textbooks, and staff development on how to rethink teaching with netbooks.
 * Wireless access for students is also going to be an issue to be resolved.

> Utah Instructional Materials Home> Recommended Instructional Materials Systems (RIMS) Search
 * **Online Reviews of Instructional Materials** - Alan Griffin A recommendation for resources to be used in classrooms
 * Using the RIMS is an easy way to avoid controversy in texts.
 * Search by subject (including category, course and adoption actions), publisher and ISBN
 * Core correlations are made by matching page by page.
 * Even free resources should be reviewed before being used in schools.
 * What should be the standards for approving software, curricular and online resources?
 * Questions to ask when looking at electronic resources:
 * Is it available for/will it work on all operating systems/all types of computers?
 * If it's dynamic and continually changing, can it really be approved?
 * Are we interfering with constitutional rights?


 * **USOE Update** - Rick Gaisford
 * The state school board is not asking for any more money, which amounts to a 2% decrease. The goal is to hold education harmless.
 * Utah is sending in a Race To The Top application for $400 million - 1/2 would go directly to districts and 1/2 would go to the state.


 * **UEN Update** - Mitchell Jorgensen
 * "The Debaters", a program highlighting the cut-throat world of international school debating will be on Saturday, Nov. 14 @ 8:00 p.m. on UEN-TV. It's a news item on the UEN homepage and will also air Sun, Nov 15th @ 11:00 pm and Sat, Dec 12th @ 2:00 pm.
 * UEN is making a trip to Dixie State College on Tuesday, Nov. 17. They will be in the Gardner Center ballroom all day highlighting UEN Web Resources, eMedia/CollegeMedia, Pioneer Library - all three, Wimba and Blackboard and Video Conferencing. The K-12 community is invited to attend and UEN will be holding similar events at the other higher ed. institutions in the future.
 * UEN received hundreds of CDs from SESC that contain the SURWEB images. The plan is to add them to the eMedia collection - but it is going to take a lot of work uploading each image and adding the necessary metadata. At this point UEN isn't exactly sure how or when they are going to accomplish this time intensive task.


 * **UCET Update** - Pam Turley
 * Call for presenters for this year's conference - application deadline is December 15th.
 * The November newsletter is now online.
 * They are still working on a bus to travel to NECC in Denver this year.


 * **UTIPS Update** - Cal Hales
 * CUES is still having issues with connectivity.
 * It is not dependable.
 * Issues seem to be related to the item pool. Items created by their own teachers are not having issues.