ETSC Blogology
All Blog entries and comments are the professional judgment of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of any organization. Inappropriate comments posted may be removed by the blogger.
The innovation that will change the Internet forever....
Posted: May 2, 2009 by Forrest Fisher (ESD 105)
What if there was a site that would answer questions with real answers and the answers would include properly attributed sources? You could ask "How high is Mount Rainier" and it would tell you.
How could this change public education? I would hope significantly. The first versions of search engines provide information in an instant and yet too many classrooms are still focused on "fact-finding" assignments. Perhaps we should be considering something different..... perhaps assignments that require students to use facts while analyzing, synthesizing and creating products/presentations/proposals requiring high-order thinking skills? (Read More)
What is a cell phone?
Posted: Feb 7, 2009 by Brent Howard (ESD 101)
Image via Wikipedia
It’s so funny that we call these little devices that we all carry around in our pockets cell phones. I’d like to think that “cell phones” are much more than just wireless phones. After all, most of us who have cell phones can use them to check email, listen to music, (Read More)
Taking things a little more seriously
Posted: Jan 20, 2009 by Conn McQuinn (Puget Sound ESD)
I just have to get this out of my system. I know being a techie is actually really fun (the joy of nerdness is a little-known secret), but if we want other people to take our work seriously, we have to stop being so darn cute with how we name things. (Read More)
Presidential Inauguration 2009
Posted: Jan 19, 2009 by Brent Howard (ESD 101)
Watch it here or select one of the alternate links below.
(Video window takes a few seconds to load.)
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Web 2.0 To The Rescue!
Posted: Jan 8, 2009 by Brent Howard (ESD 101)
John and I have been collaboratively preparing for a presentation that we will be co-facilitating on January 8th in Seattle. As luck would have it, the weather couldn’t be worse and John will not be able to attend the presentation (in person).
Spokane was recently buried in snow but is now experiencing a huge warm up. (Read More)
Morphing Media
Posted: Jan 5, 2009 by Conn McQuinn (Puget Sound ESD)
My big Christmas gift this year was getting to go out and purchase myself a flat-panel television. I was able to get a pretty good deal in the post-holiday, depressed-economy sale, and by getting a last-year model to boot. (I may be a techie and love gadgets, but I’m also pretty cheap when it comes (Read More)
Where Next with Ed Tech Standards?
Posted: Dec 29, 2008 by Conn McQuinn (Puget Sound ESD)
OSPI has recently finished developing our new Washington state Educational Technology Standards, completing great year-long effort by their staff. (Congratulations, Georgia!) They now bookend the Tiers of Technology for providing guidance to districts and schools as they plan for and implement educational technology.
I know from my work with technology leaders from around our region that (Read More)
Virtual Meetings
Posted: Dec 22, 2008 by Conn McQuinn (Puget Sound ESD)
We’ve been really clobbered with snow the last week, and our offices have either been closed or run late several days. However, two meetings that were scheduled during this period went on as usual, despite the fact that the attendees couldn’t make it. We were using GotoMeeting, an online meeting and screen-sharing system from Citrix. (Read More)
What? Gmail to the rescue? Again?
Posted: Nov 20, 2008 by Brent Howard (ESD 101)
I use Goolge Chat once in a while and I’ve not been overly impressed. It gets the job done, but it seemed to be seriously lacking behind some of the other IM applications I’m familiar with. I think it is fair to say that Google no longer lags behind some of the other IM apps (Read More)
An E-Rate Proposal
Posted: Nov 3, 2008 by Forrest Fisher (ESD 105)
The E-Rate is a 2.5 billion pound pig drowning in paperwork, rules and oversight. It's time for real change!
In November, 1997 I was one of nine people selected to testify before the House Education Committee in Washington, DC on the Universal Service Fund program. Linda Roberts, Director of the Office of Educational Technology with President Clinton and representatives from national telecommunication companies also participated. It was a very interesting experience and I would like to do it again. On the same topic that is. The E-Rate program had yet to begin in 1997 and I basically shared my support for the program and the positive impact it would have on school districts. While I still see the need for the program and support it I now think a significant "retooling" is in order. (Read More)
ET and OT
Posted: Nov 3, 2008 by Forrest Fisher (ESD 105)
In the beginning Steve Jobs said "Let there be a computer that ordinary people would enjoy using" and he created the Macintosh then he said "It is good". Twenty-five years later the concept of personal computing has gone far beyond what Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve and others envisioned. The use of technology in school districts has also changed substantially over the years. Initially technology use was championed by trend setting teachers who could see the potential for this tool in the classroom. Often these teachers served as District Technology Coordinators, developed technology plans, wrote grants, wired classrooms, managed servers, installed software and were involved in all aspects of technology use. (Read More)
