100204+Meeting

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**E-mail Invitation (2/3/2010):** Dearest Patrons of the Help for Abel Initiative - I want to express my profound respect for your charity and goodwill in agreeing to join and participate in the wiki I've created to aid in our collective technological pursuits. I won't belittle the fact that this agreement is having an equally profound impact on my grade in my individual pursuit of a Masters degree.

Blessings... blessings on you all.

...and even more blessings if we can all agree to "meet" virtually from Thursday, February 4th @ 3:20 pm to Friday, February 5th @ 3:20 pm. Wait! Don't gasp in horror yet! I just mean that I need us to agree to check up on and add to the meeting page on our wiki as often as possible in that 24 hour period. I would like to kick-off our efforts to do so with a brief (10 minute) meeting in the library at 3:20 pm on Thursday. At the meeting, I will share some of my thoughts on the how-to and value of maintaining the wiki, and you will have an opportunity to assist us in determining the best focus for our "meeting". In other words, you may just enjoy the "meeting" more by steering us in a direction that interests you.

On a very serious note, I hope each of you realize that none of this is just fluff for me. I am interested in your thoughts regarding technology integration on our campus, and I want to collaborate with you in making changes in this area successful. Please join me on these dates and times; thank you again. - Abel Cass

Paula B. I will be able to attend

=**Starting Points**= (top of page) Clear Springs experienced a drastic drop in its STaR Chart scores between the 07-08 and 08-09 school years. The following slideshow outlines areas in which Clear Springs needs to experience technology growth in order to better meet the state's expectations with regard to technology integration. media type="custom" key="5303743" Do you agree with the presentation that the most effective area for growth in which we should invest time and resources is Online Learning? If not, which of the other areas for growth do you think would be more beneficial? Which technology tools would you implement to assist us in improving in that area?

What are you working on to improve technology integration on our campus? How can this group assist you in making that effort successful?

Paula- Clear Springs High School is working on higher level thinking skills with our teachers and students. We need to engage both teachers and students with asking open content questions. This group can make an effort in helping by giving suggestions on giving examples of different types of higher level learning that is already taking place in the school.

JohnT- CCISD has implemented several tools that make online learning possible and fit naturally into curriculum. The obvious use of Blackboard, as clicky and visually unpleasing as it is, is a step in the right direction. Coming from another district I have really loved the automatic enrollment of my students into my online class or online extension to my class. CCISD or CSHS, I am not sure where the budgetary decisions are made, has also stepped in the positive direction of having so many mobile laptop carts available for classroom use. Having multiple carts allows teachers to bring technology into their space instead of moving the class out of their other resources. These are two things that are very accessible and I think this group could help show ways to use both of these more effectively within classrooms. Not with theoretical uses of the technology but with actual examples of usage.

Anne - I believe we need to reach students where they live, that is through the technologies that they embrace in their every day lives. Most of our students have cell phones so this could be a place to begin. We are working with senior English teachers on how to download e-books to portable devices such as cell phones and e-book readers and will be presenting information on e-books, Google Docs, and other web 2.0 technologies to some of the seniors next Thursday. I think this is a very exciting time to be in education, and as a librarians/information specialists, it is very important to keep up.

Kristine- Rather than implementing new tools, I would like to work with students and teachers on the different aspects of Blackboard. Realistic college preparation for students should include knowledge of how to use course management systems as many college courses include web enhancement or are completely online. Students should also be comfortable using different media such as wikis and blogs as they move into the realm of legitimacy.

=Agendas:= =Face-to-face time=

(Thursday, 2/4/10 @ 3:20-3:30 pm):
(top of page)

Attendees: Paula Brewton, Abel Cass, Kristine Gillum, JohnT Powell, Chad Vance
3:20 (Cass) Welcome and Thank you 3:21 (Cass) The Need for Collaboration and Working a Wiki 3:25 (Cass) Group Norms/Goal Setting for our First Meeting 3:29 (Cass) Volunteering for Roles 3:30 (Cass) Adjourn Face-to-face time/Initiate Wiki Meeting
 * Purpose - //We see the lack of a "Technology Committee" which reports to the CIIC. This could be a beginning.//
 * Objective (Starting Points) - //We do see online learning as an important area in which to begin.//
 * Activities (Starting Points) - //We need to generate a list of what is and is not working for Clear Springs with regard to online learning in order to develop a plan of action.//
 * Leonard (Facilitator) - //Abel//
 * Penny (Norms Enforcer) - //Anne//
 * Sheldon (Link Maker) - //Kristine//

=Wiki time=

(Thursday, 2/4/10 @ 3:30pm - Friday, 2/5/10 @ 3:30pm):
(top of page)

What components of online learning are currently **working** at Clear Springs High School? //(please support your claim)//
- __Attitudes:__ On average, our teachers are receptive to the idea of increasing online learning both for access to professional development, and for classroom use (even if they don't like their current options) - __Library Databases:__ Our online library databases get a great deal of use, but do require direct teaching by librarians and teachers as students will generally go straight to Google without guidance on the usefullness of these resources. (Anne) - __Distance Learning:__ This concept is growing in the CSHS community. The powerful distance education leaders are keeping us informed of new and innovating ideas.
 * -** __Connectivity:__ With regard to response time and coverage, our school building has the infrastructure to support increased internet connection in the classroom. We've seen a big improvement even over last year.
 * -** __Blackboard__: does provide a centralized secure starting point for online interactions.

====What components of online learning are currently **not working** at Clear Springs High School? //(please support your claim) -// __Blocked Resources__: Teachers are limited to resources that are not blocked by the district. We see a lot of stripes! One example of a great resource for online learning is Skype which is blocked. The district would prefer we use technology that has been purchased for that purpose, but it is not as easy to use and is not a resource that can be used by students. (Anne) Skype came up in a recent DTSC meeting, and technology administration stated that it posed a security risk to our network. They said they're researching alternatives, but I don't remember the name off-hand. I'll look back in my notes from the meeting. (Abel)====

What components of online learning are currently **not working** at Clear Springs High School? //(please support your claim)//
- __Blackboard:__ Though Blackboard provides secure access, its glitches often cause teachers to shy away from using it. - __Network Login Times:__ The ability of the network to log students into the system is a hindrance. Teachers do not want for students to have to wait up to 20 minutes for students to log into the computers.

Other people who possibly need to collaborate with us here:
Administration Dean of Instruction Specialilsts