Tapped In Newsletter: February 2008
...On the Tapis
February 2008
Issue 123
In This Issue
[1] Member Perspective: Karen Campbell
[2] News Nuggets
[3] Tips and Comments from the Experts
[4] Group Focus of the Month: Learning From Lyrics
[5] Tapped In Technology Tip
[6] Comenius Course on Web 2.0 and Modern Language Teaching
[7] About ...On the Tapis
Quote of the Month - "We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers." - Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Civil rights leader
[1] Member Perspective: Karen Campbell
Karen Campbell is the instructional technology supervisor for Harrisonburg City Public Schools in Virginia. A member since 2003, she uses TI to support professional development for the teachers in her division.
Karen's Perspective
I've been working with teachers to help them use technology effectively for the past 10 years. It is exciting to consider how technology has changed during that time and to wonder what may be coming in the next 10 years. For the past five years I have been involved with Tapped In both as a participant and as a facilitator, and I find it an engaging and effective way for educators to share ideas and resources.
Through an "Enhancing Education Through Technology" grant, teachers in our area have the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of the National Educational Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS*T) by building an electronic portfolio. To support teachers in this endeavor, I offer a graduate-level course that focuses on the effective integration of technology to enhance instruction. Tapped In is a great resource to compliment our face-to-face meetings.
Read the rest of Karen's Perspective.
[2] News Nuggets
TI member Kathy Schrock talked about TI as one of the synchronous collaboration tools during her FETC keynote on 1/24/08.
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TI member Michael Hutchison, a social studies teacher in southwestern Indiana and leader of the TI Social Studies Forum, is the newly elected President of the Indiana Computer Educators.
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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.
[3] Tips and Comments from the Experts
TI member Kay Abernathy reports that she hasn't used TI recently, but is now teaching in an Education Leadership graduate program at Lamar University and is preparing to "meet" her students virtually in TI.
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TI member Stephen York enthused during the Blogstreams Salon that, "Tapped In has changed my teaching in just two weeks, it's amazing...and older students are overcoming technological fears...it's incredible!"
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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 or post to How You Use TI.
[4] Group Focus of the Month: Learning From Lyrics
In the Teaching Tolerance Newsletter on 1/15/08 there was an article compiled by Jeff Sapp about a lyric-based learning program designed by John Chase that helps students analyze songs.
It's a far more effective approach to teach students how to be critical thinkers and listeners, thus empowering them to make informed choices as consumers of music.
The critical thinking approach can be applied to any genre of music and helps students to differentiate between songs and identify those lyrics that contain meaningful social and political commentary.
At the same time, students learn to recognize the destructive power of songs containing excessive profanity and gratuitous lyrics that demean and degrade others and only serve to perpetuate harmful societal prejudices and stereotypes.
The TI team proudly announces that John Chase, Edmeston Central School, Edmeston, N.Y., is none other than our very own TI member Johnathan Chase who leads the monthly Learning From Lyrics discussions!
[5] Group Focus of the Month: TI Anniversary Scrapbook
Conference Season and Sustaining Learning
As much as TI community members probably wish they could attend all the wonderful professional development conferences that will be taking place around the world the coming year, we know that this is not a realistic option. Each member does have the option of collaboration however! If you are fortunate enough to attend a conference and have some favorite workshops or keynote speeches that you experienced, please share them with your TI colleagues by scheduling a calendar event (email bjb@tappedin.org) or posting to an existing special interest group discussion board or creating a special interest group with a focus on the topic that piqued your interest. Turn your one-time experience into sustained learning through collaboration, and support the goal of TI to provide its community with best practices for educators.
[6] Comenius Course on Web 2.0 and Modern Language Teaching
In conjunction with the Utrecht University SummerSchool, the Faculties of Education of Heidelberg and Utrecht Universities of Applied Sciences offer a 7-day, international course exploring Web 2.0 applications such as Wiki and Weblogging, real-time communication and the LanguageQuest format for integrating the web into classroom teaching. The course location in the brand-new building of the Faculty of Education in Utrecht allows for demonstration of good practices of and personal training in the use of Interactive WhiteBoards. Intended participants are practicing (student) language teachers, teacher trainers and materials developers. Persons eligible for EU Comenius Grants can apply at their National Agency for compensation of costs for travel, accommodation and course fees. More information available here.
[7] About ...On the Tapis
Past issues of ...On the Tapis newsletters are available online.
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