Tapped In Newsletter: October 2003
...On the Tapis
October 2003
Issue 71
In This Issue
[1] Member Perspective: Margaret Doty
[2] Tips and Comments From the Experts
[3] Tapped In Technology Tip
[4] News Nuggets
[5] About ...On the Tapis
Quote of the Month - "The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you, and you don't know how or why." - Albert Einstein
[1] Member Perspective: Margaret Doty
Margaret is a Business English trainer in-company in Germany for companies such as Merck KGaA. She has been a member of the new version of Tapped In since December 2002, and is an active member of the Webheads, both through their group and through their meetings online in Tapped In.
Maggi's Perspective
Originally I joined Tapped In along with Vance Stevens and Michael Coghlin looking for a place our Webheads group could meet to chat and improve their English, but since we were volunteers it had to be free.
Tapped In fit the bill nicely and Webheads has since grown and expanded far beyond it origins. Now I also lead a group on Saturday in addition to filling in as a volunteer for the helpdesk. I enjoy meeting so many different people in the field of education as well as students. It may be a virtual community but it is a cozy cyber home. Unlike some chat programs students mention they feel welcome and able to put their English to good use and make new friends.
Read all of Maggi's Perspective on our member perspectives page.
[2] Tips and Comments From the Experts
This month's column Tips and Comments from the Real Experts: the Members of Tapped In, features members' reflections on and use of Tapped In.
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Teresa Coffman, a PhD candidate at Capella University, is conducting a dissertation research project focused on the extent K-12 teachers transfer lessons learned in an online professional development community, such as Tapped In, to effectively integrate technology into their traditional classrooms. Presently, a pretest is available in the "Featured Items" section of Teresa's virtual Tapped In office (TeresaC). Comments and suggestions are being requested from members of Tapped In to assist in ensuring the quality of the survey instrument and that the questions are clear and understandable. The survey and interview questions ask the respondents to assess their involvement in the online community and to identify if they learned technology skills and gathered technology lessons in the community that they then transferred to their classroom setting. Once the pretest is completed in mid-October, participants will be asked to complete the Web-based survey as well as interview questions. Both the Web-based survey and interview questions will take about 15 minutes to complete. Teresa hopes that you will participate in this research, whether in the pretest or the actual study and she is more than happy to share the results. It is important to note that confidentiality will be upheld. If you have any questions, please email TeresaCoffman@earthlink.net or visit Teresa's TI virtual office and post a question on the discussion board.
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WriteTalk offers Tapped In educators the opportunity to discuss their professional writing with their peers. Our daily work lives and ongoing professional development both involve a variety of writing such as lesson plans, annual evaluations, statements of teaching philosophy (for job applications or e-portfolios, for instance), grant proposals, and presentations at conferences or workshops. Some of this writing can seem like drudgery, tied to deadlines we might at times dread. Moreover, we tend to view such writing as non-creative, and we often don't think of soliciting peer reviews for our drafts.
Tapped In provides a rich environment for developing and refining professional writing. If you have a piece of writing you'd like reviewed (the writing can be at any stage - invention, drafting, revising), please contact Sandra Shattuck (SandraS). WriteTalk files and links are located in the AAMU Writing Project group room, which anyone can access. There is a collective blog at http://wordweaver.typepad.com/writetalk, and you can post ideas and comments there. Contact Sandra if you wish to be a blog co-author.
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Amazing Portal - you and your staff deserve tremendous credit for design and delivery of quality PD resources and opportunities for communication and collaboration.
I am thrilled to be able to learn and explore and then market this wonderful portal to my asst. super as part of our [professional development] offerings next year. If I could get even 10 teachers to "login and learn" it would be a success! I will practice this year, get the feel of After School Online and try to pilot this in the fall. We could set up a Forum for Tapped In with the course. I love the idea of the [recorded transcript]. Ed Reform in MA requires that every teacher document PD courses/workshops, etc. for re-certification. The [recorded transcript] is a perfect way to document content/time on a specific topic. Neat innovation.
You obviously see the future for a global community of learners and you've taken the risk to make it happen! I wish you the best of luck with this endeavor. NCLB embraces this vision, but unfortunately the legislation doesn't ensure "no teacher left behind..." Tapped In could change this! - Christine Ronan
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Conversation with BJ and Pam Berger after introducing Pam to Sandra Shattuck:
PamB: BJ I just love TI...I have been working on an article on blogging and reading a few books on it and trying to figure it all out and presto...
PamB: I come into TI and you introduce me to a Blogger!
BjB: that was cool collaboration with Sandy. I thought you two would have a lot in common.
PamB: absolutely! Thank you sooo much.
BjB: Sandy is a real dynamo...just like you
PamB: I'm going to use that an as example in my presentation at AASL
PamB: how great networking is in TI
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Conversation between Phil Benz and Judi Fusco, Tapped In Community Director:
PhilB: The best way to get an idea what Tapped In is all about is to look at the event calendar, adjust it for your time zone, and find one or two conferences you'd like to attend.
PhilB: What I often get is people logging in who think Tapped In is a typical resource site, and don't realize just how rich the real-time chat and scheduled conference features can be.
PhilB: Anyway, just thought I'd share my view - always helps to talk things out. On balance I think the new interface is miles better.
JudiF: we really appreciate your suggestions.
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Although the new interface is "miles better", parting with the old interface was a bittersweet experience for many members. Michael Hutchison summed up what many of us felt as we said goodbye to an old friend: "Went to the old office, fed the pets one more time, lit a fire in the fireplace, and drank a glass of champagne to say goodbye to our old TI interface."
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If you have a comment or experience to share with the Tapped In community, please submit the information to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org.
[3] Tapped In Technology Tip
Creating a Group Room
Groups are a way to meet with others who share a special interest and would like to meet in a private place where the members of the group can store documents and links. Each group room has a threaded discussion board so the group members can communicate between chat sessions. To create a group (Tapped In members may create two group rooms), click on the Tapped In tab at the top of the screen and then click on Groups. You will get step-by-step text prompts to help you determine settings. If you want others to find your group and join it easily, make the group public. You can limit participation by moderating the group. If you create a moderated group, you will have to approve all requests for membership; if you create a private group, you will have to invite all members to join the group.
[4] News Nuggets
Tapped In members Pam Berger and Karen Lemmons will present Teaching, Learning and Collaborating in a Virtual Environment at the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Conference in Kansas City on October 25. Pam and Karen will be doing a live demonstration in Tapped In from 9:45-11:15am CDT and would appreciate Tapped In member participation so please log in and say hi!
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Tapped In member Linda Ullah announces that The Krause Center for Innovation at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills California wants to help educators from around the world connect and plan powerful global projects together. They are very excited about the outstanding Global Project Based Learning Online course available to educators. The instructor, Dr. Ted Kahn, has been a leader in the field as well as Linda's personal mentor when her students did a project with students in Sao Paulo, Brazil. If you know of educators who are interested in connecting with other educators to develop projects that connect their curriculum and their students with classrooms in other places, please let them know about this course. The final project for this course will be the project that they plan with Ted's expert help and guidance. If you are planning to attend the Co-nect Connecting Kids PBL Conference next week in Atlanta, CA please plan to attend the session Lori Nock, one of Ted's former Global PBL students, and Linda will be presenting on Global Project Based Learning on Thursday afternoon. For more information contact Linda at ullahlinda@foothill.edu.
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Global Learn Day VII: The annual non-stop 24-hour event, with stops in 24 time zones, will take place Sunday, November 16. It will also serve to "kickoff" International Education Week. Along with other presenters, GLD VII will showcase the ten Founding Members of Friendship Through Education. The theme will be Friendship Through Education.
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Tapped In member Steve Feld, of Leonardo Fluid Access, has created a WebQuest to deal with the issue of Music Piracy. Use it as a springboard for classroom discussions about a timely topic. Steve has also created a PowerPoint lesson for Special Education Social Studies classes about Freedom of Speech. Let Steve know what you think!
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Tapped In members Sara Kajder and Glen Bull have an article "Scaffolding for Struggling Students, Reading and Writing with Blogs" in the October issue of Learning & Leading with Technology.
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Tapped In member Cynthia Curry has an article "Universal Design: Accessibility for All Learners, Tools for learning open up opportunities for all students" in the October issue of Educational Leadership.
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Do you have a News Nugget about yourself or another member of the Tapped In Community? Send your News Nugget to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org.
[6] About ...On the Tapis
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