Lauren:

Sorry I had to miss the events in Killington. I wanted to include your 
thoughts at lunch.

I am very interested in what you are doing with the Futures Academy. 
Sounds like you have a lot of good student involvement and interaction. 
More computers would certainly help. If I can help in any way let me 
know.

Thanks again for your thoughts.

Frank
On Oct 25, 2005, at 12:05 PM, Lauren Parren wrote:

> Oh this will be fun! I hope they serve a meal that doesn't require the 
> clunking of silverware because I won't want to miss a word.
>
> My earliest experience with the 'fests was with Bill Romond when we 
> were team teaching Human Impact on the Champlain Basin at Colchester 
> High.  That may have been 1980?  He'll know...Ever since then I remain 
> convinced that the only reason to use technology is to help students 
> push their thinking farther than we could do without it.  My tech team 
> at ANESU knows that before asking what kind of software or web site a 
> teacher wants to use, we NEED to know what the essential questions 
> are.  Our district has a focus this year on using multimedia in all 
> grades 2-9; however, I gave a talk on the opening day of school about 
> avoiding PowerPointlessness (I know,I hate that phrase, but it worked 
> well to make my "point.")  If the students aren't using multmedia to 
> answer good questions there is no point to using the software!
>
> As far as the future goes, I'm working in a wonderful class called 
> Futures Academy at Mt. Abe where I wrestle with the question daily (or 
> at least when I can come up for air.)  We believe students need to 
> work as team members using technology to solve problems.  Our kids are 
> expected to contribute to threaded discussions to help classmates 
> solve problems in their internshops, for example.  They create 
> standards-based electronic portfolios to document their work, then 
> present portfolios in roundtable where students help push new ideas 
> around.  We have them post essays and get critical feedback on-line 
> from classmates before submitting an improved draft.  They use email 
> to contact mentors, whether they live in Bristol or Alaska.  To do all 
> this we have a class set of laptops, but even with a 2:1 ratio, that 
> isn't enough.  I picture a world in which each high school student has 
> some sort of portable technology for communication, problem solving, 
> presentations, and personal acco!
>  untability.  They will spend less and less time in traditionally 
> structured buildings and classes.  Also, we will continue to learn 
> from universal design theories and products and have  a much broader 
> array of tools to help all students learn.
>
> That's an off-the-top- of- the- head response, but it will be great to 
> read what others are thinking and maybe I'll get jogged into adding 
> more...
>
> Lauren Kelley Parren
> Educational Technology Coordinator ANESU
> Portfolio Coordinator, Mt.Abraham Union High School
> Bristol, Vermont 05443
> 802-453-2333
> fax 802-453-4359
>
>
>>>> [log in to unmask] 10/25/05 11:30AM >>>
> Good Morning:
>
> Next week will be the 20th VermontFest activity. Jim Lengel a name from
> the past (several times a keynoter at the Fest), in the present and in
> the future (see
> www.powertolearn.com/articles/teaching_with_technology/index.shtml)
> will provide the keynote address on Thursday (Nov 3rd) morning.
> Vita-Leran has asked me, at lunch on Friday, to do a short retrospect
> on where we have come with IT in schools in the past 20 years and what
> we need to do for the next 20 years. An interesting short task!!
>
> I would like some assistance in the task.  Some data from the readers
> of these two lists would be very helpful. The following questions are
> meant a as starting points.
>
> What experiences from past AppleFest-VTFest events have changed your
> teaching?
>
> For folks that haven't gone to a Fest event -- How has your teaching
> changed as a result of using IT tools?
>
> How should we be using IT tools in the future to improve the learning
> for all students?
>
> In terms of IT tools and teaching and learning what does the future -
> tomorrow, a year from now, five years, 20 years! look like?
>
> Add your own question and thoughts.
>
>
> Thanks for your help with this task.
>
> Frank
>
>
> Frank J. Watson
> 175 Poker Hill Rd
> Underhill, VT 05489
> 802-899-3054
>
> "I'll see it when I believe it"
>
>
Frank J. Watson
175 Poker Hill Rd
Underhill, VT 05489
802-899-3054

"I'll see it when I believe it"