Nortel LearniT Resources

Nortel LearniT is presenting at Algonquin College’s professional development conference on May 18th. We were asked to speak on engaging the millennial learner.
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We are presenting at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Education year end conference for newly certified teachers on April 26. This session will provide brand new teachers with a hands on tour of Nortel LearniT.org along which includes integration strategy ideas.
Read More about this impressive faculty

Next month, we are offering four presentations at ECOO - The Eductional Computing Organziation of Ontario. Presentation topics range from Digital Imaging to Digesting the Internet. We are also exhibitors at this event.
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All great warm ups to the big deal, NECC, in late June!
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Are you one of those teachers overwhelmed by the prospect of “integrating technology” into your classroom? Do you secretly laugh when you hear all of this talk about technology and how it is “so important”?

“Get real,” you say to yourself. You may teach in a school that allows your class access to the computer lab only once every three weeks – for 30 minutes at a time. You may have only one or even zero computers in your classroom. You may have little or no experience at “surfing on the net.” You are frustrated with all of the new adoptions and are skeptical at any suggestion of “learning something new.” Your “plate is full” and you wonder when the “pendulum of education” will swing back the other direction and allow you to do that which you do best . . . educate. You find yourself thinking: “The students already know how to work on the computer; they will learn it later or from somewhere else; I need to focus on reading, writing, and math.” Does this sound familiar? Read this full story from Tech Learning news online at: http://www.techlearning.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=159901636

Educational Web sites are also seeking to take maximum advantage of the speed, social-networking possibilities, and technological wizardry afforded by broadband. Consider that 40% of parents who sign up for broadband access do so with the intention of helping their kids with schoolwork, according to research firm Grunwald Associates in Bethesda, Md. Examining the move from dial-up to broadband, Grunwald found that 13% of parents and 23% of youngsters report that students earned better grades as a result of the broadband connection, according to Grunwald’s 2003 study of 2,300 students, ages 6 to 17. The study also showed that, with broadband, children end up spending 20% more time doing homework, despite all that online chatting.

Expect to see continuing major improvements in distance learning, too. Computer-networking gearmaker Nortel (NT ) is developing a system that will allow students to watch, say, an archeologist located at a dig site across the world in real time, says Walt Megura, the company’s general manager of broadband networking. They would be able to talk with the professor and fellow students as freely as they would have done in a real-life classroom. Read the full story at BusinessWeek online

Since 1923, the Association for Educational Communications & Technology has been a leader in promoting the use of technology to improve teaching and learning. Beginning in 1974, AECT sponsored the International Student Media Festival, celebrating outstanding classroom media projects. Students and teachers from kindergarten through college are honored in a three-day event that includes workshops, screenings of winning entries, and an awards ceremony. It has now grown to be one of the oldest and largest events of its kind.

Really cool event.
Read more here.

Kids Identities are Defined by Net

Experts call the Internet the socializing institution of modern society. So kids today have radically different approaches to using the tools of 21st century communication. They are imbedded in their conciousness as the way to share, react, and essentially, communicate. This recent Toronto Star article reports on this phenomena and what researchers are trying to learn.
http://www.thestar.com Search for ‘Wired, Like Totally’

Nortel LearniT is in the process of developing our Student Intern Program and could use your help. We want to design a program that provides students, grades 7-14, with hands-on experience in producing and distributing digital media. Some of the traits of our program will include: Working with other students to create group projects; Projects created must fit within one of the content areas we are establishing; Projects shall have an instructional/documentary objective tied to our core Discover iT curriculum; Projects should be both self - contained, and those that could constitute one program in a series of offerings.

One concept we are considering is to have each intern create their own ‘bio’ video as a means of introducing themselves to future interns working with Nortel LearniT and it’s Centers and Charters. A follow-up may be to have these interns create a brief testimonial video when they are nearing the completion of their internship. See the Fraser Institute http://www.fraserinstitute.ca/studentcentre/intern.asp?tnav=1&scnav=2 for an example of how one program accomplishes this.

If you have any ideas or suggestions to help us structure our program to be of a benefit to both the kids participating and our content offerings, please post your comments.

As more and more schools have begun using laptops as a means to provide students with the kind of anytime, anywhere learning that is needed to revolutionize education in the digital millennium, this online blog has emerged to help educators keep tabs on the latest laptop initiatives and see how teachers across the country are using the technology to transform learning.
 

Nortel LearniT Plans for It’s Newest Content 

I have been asked to look into OSPI - any one using this or have any related information to share?

about OSPI

Formed in January 2003, the Open Source Portfolio Initiative (OSPI) is a collaborative, open-source, software development project based on the University of Minnesota Enterprise System’s electronic portfolio software. The University of Minnesota (U of MN), University of Delaware, and the r-smart group, founded this collaborative to open the evolution of the U of MN ePortfolio to diverse input, rapid development, and widespread use.

Mission
Create and sustain leading production ePortfolio software.
Build a software platform to accelerate ePortfolio innovation for teaching and learning.
Influence and reflect best practices in portfolio thinking.
Influence the movement of open source in education.

I am new to the world of Podcasting.
Anyone have comments or information on podcasting and classroom / education applications?

Here are some reference links if you are new to this topic also.
What is Podcasting
Podcasting for education
Library Broadcasting

Two more recommended to me by high school teacher Rob McLeod:
http://www.podcastalley.com/
http://www.podcastcentral.com/

I look forward to your input and feedback.