How to get a message to the TechTeam!

If you are a staff member in the Wells Ogunquit Community School District you have a new way to get technology support from the comfort of your classroom, or the closest nearby computer.

Go to the WOCSD District Webpage.

On the far right  menu you will see a heading for District Staff Site, drop down to Technology Work Order and click.

You will come to a page the Customer Support/Help Desk options. Add your user name, that would be the same as your email user name. Mine is coakes.

Then your password, will be emailed to you. Then select Login.

After you log in, You will have a choice of support options Create New Case and the go button.

There are other choices where you can look at frequent questions and answers, or look at all open cases, search the database or log out.

Once you create a new case and click go, you will have a one line description to fill in. Then choose what category you think your job most represents. Then in the next box, describe your problem or question.

Examples, even though I plug my laptop in, I have no battery reserve.

Is there something I can use to create PDFs?

ANY THING! We will answer your question. After your work order is addressed, you will receive a questionnaire survey to fill out. Please fill these out and give us feedback, good, bad, or mediocre. If you need help, ask a peer. This is the only way we will be able to address your technology needs.

Once you have described your problem, then hit the submit button. You will get an automatic response from us. Then we will schedule the work in an email to you.

Thanks for using this new tool.

If you are in the high school, John Osterday will answer your work order.

If you are in the elementary school, Jamie Reynolds will answer your work order.

If you are at the junior high school, Jamie Cox will answer your work order.

Thanks,

Cheryl Oakes

technorati tags:workorder, techteam

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Blogs, how, why, where and when?

This is a great short movie about blogs and why you might use them in schools. The movie takes less than 5 minutes.

Check out the link.

http://weblogg-ed.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/WebLoggingSmall.mov

Can you think of a way to use this in your class?

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k12online conference! You can do it!

Have you thought about going to a conference about technology only to find that you really can't take the time to leave your classroom, you can't travel to Atlanta, Georgia, NYC or can't afford the money for the registration?

Well, the  k12online conference is all about open source software, the Web 2.0 tools, (web 2.0 means that you are using the interactive read/write web). You are not just sitting in an auditorium next to other people all scribbling notes and trying desperately to make the connections with the speaker, instead you are asynchronously joining a conference that has or is happening at the time you join. It is all about you choosing the time to listen, the article to listen to or read, and where you will join in this online conversation! How is this all possible?

By clicking on this link and joining in this online conference! There are many bloggers, podcasters, webcasters and technologists from around the planet who are ready to give back to their peers, who have volunteered to join this conference and who have designed some of the best and most updated and challenging information for YOU!

All you need to do is join and click on a link when you can, work on your own, work in small groups, blog and converse with others, it is about the conversation. If you need some professional hours, add this kind of event to your professional plan. If you need credits go to this link and sign up for some credits from Plymouth State College in NH in partnership with Shanghai University!  I am so totally doing this, I have always wanted credits from Shanghai!

Here is the keynote! 

You will need about 30 minutes to view the keynote, it is totally worth it!

Are you just a little interested? Can you find someone in your school who might do this with you? Can you find someone in  England who might do this with you? You will need SKYPEGizmo to converse with others, or and you will need some chutzpah! Chutzpah is free! This conference is free, find someone to join with you. I promise you will enjoy this, I promise you will be challenged, and I promise you will find the best professional development you have been to in years!

There are many links that will support this online conference. Enjoy! If you want to take part using just a few of these presentations that is fine. Just remember the conversations are the most important part, join a blog, leave a comment, it will be transformational!

http://landmark-project.com/k21online/

http://hitchhikr.com/index.php?conf_id=113

How popular is this topic? Well if you look at the ClustrMaps, only 2761 people visited this site yesterday and over 21, 215 people have visited since September 2006. I know I can find a couple people to relate to in this group, how about you?

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David Warlick's keynote ACTEM

If you were unable to attend ACTEM you can share in the conversation of David's kick off presentation by reading the highlights and soon a link will be posted here for the podcast .

Remember to go to handouts of David Warlick's workshop.

Remember to use Hitchikr.

David will also provide a session on the Ethics of the Information Highway.

Redefining Literacy for the 21st Century.

Workplace of the future

Information-2003 5 exabytes of new knowledge.

Of new information only .01%  is even printed each year.

Why are we teaching students to use paper?

We don't want our offices to stay behind, we want to take our connections with us.

conclusion first!

We should stop integrating technology, but integrating literacy!

Kids need to know how to teach themselves. Kids will spend their careers re tooling for new jobs.  You must be literate. You must have the skills to learn new tools.

Old literacy- reading-riting-rithmetic.

Literate, in 21st century

kids will read blogs, who published, who authored, investigate who wrote the piece.

URL backtracking, delete back to the first forward slash.

be a detective, look for clues.

go to bottom of the page and find webmaster.

We have to teach our students to research what they find.

We learned to read what teachers, librarians, adults gave us. No need to question authority.

Now our students can read anything anywhere anytime. But they must be literate and find the source.

Read text and find the truth of the text.

Now students must

find the information

decode it

critically evaluate it and

organize into a personal digital library.

Wikipedia library

Part 1 see what it says.

Part 2 go and prove that it is true.
Part of reading information is finding the evidence that what you are reading is true.

When the BBC announced PLuto not a planet at 13:34 GMT,

Wikipedia announced the change of Pluto as a planet at 13:35 GMT.

What about your encyclopedia, when will that change?

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