Pacing+Your+Project

= = = Pacing your Project =

This may be the first online experience you have had. This project is covering eight (count'em, 8 weeks) to development your page(s). With holiday time approaching, you may find that you only devote 30 mins a week to add information. The key to this project is the "Team Collaboration" component -- you all are from different buildings for the most part and as I said earlier, what I keep reading and hearing is that the Corporate world wants students to be able to:
 * 1) **Work in Teams**
 * 2) **Communicate and Collaborate across Distances; and**
 * 3) **Manage their time to complete projects**

This project was developed to utilize the Unlocking Keys as a general focus to build this site. It will be become a resource for the entire district and other educational environments stumble upon this site looking for good resources. Have Fun, Learn and Share with your Peers!

=
Personal Experience: I logged into the wiki and it looked different!!!! The navigation was on the left side, my menus appeared differently and it kind of wigged me out! I had just logged into Moodle and experienced the same type of changes. As we travel the web and visit our "favorite" sites think about how you adjust (or generalize) knowledge to address upgrades, enhancements and other obstacles in a site that changed without wigging out? =====

Final week and to prepare for your group presentation you will have some time during our meeting. Introductions of new members and we'll have them join a grade/subject level appropriate group - and then group presentations will begin. Also to conclude the project please reflect on the following items:
 * 1) == What was the "best" thing about the project? ==
 * 2) == What was the "biggest" challenge? ==
 * 3) == What would improve the project? ==
 * 4) == How much time did you spend weekly? ==

[[file:IT11_Acad_wikirubric.pdf]]
==== During the rest of the meeting we'll visit about ways you as a Cadre member and teacher leader can provide support to other teachers in your building is a collaborative, online project a possibility and ways to share and get all district teachers to contribute to the Keys Project. See you Tuesday, Jan. 17 at SEC 4:30pm! ====

Jan. 4-11
===Welcome back!!! I hope you all had a great holiday break filled with lots of fun and family time. We are coming down to the last 2 weeks before the cadre meeting Jan. 17. New members have been selected -- I'll send a welcome email with a membership list attached -- and most of the groups have completed or are nearing completion of your wiki page(s). Dr. Orozco sent out an email about the top 100 sites of 2011, click the link to review 100 Top Sites and it just keeps coming. It may have some new and "old" sites that you may be interested in. Be aware some are free and some are subscription based.===

Let me know if you are needing assistance with your wiki site and I'll wrap up our project next Wed.

Dec. 15 - 21
Wow, the last week of school before Winter Break -- using one of my favorite Web 2.0 tools to create this word cloud from Twas the Night Before Christmas poem (check out the website to find more Christmas Poems, Carols, songs and jokes), do you know what tool I used?

Dec. 8 - 14
I hope things are going well with the development of your page(s). I've glanced at several but since I haven't had any questions directed at me, I am sure you are all doing great things with your exploration of Web 2.0 tools.

Now to the assessment part -- It is not always easy to assess a project of this type (creativity, self and group direction and not to mention, online collaboration). An easy way to assist a teacher with "assessing" is using a rubric. Attached is a rubric that I found from Kathy Schrock's assessment page on her website and although I didn't necessarily like the "points distribution" (I prefer a table view with columns and rows defining to project expectations), I did like the categories and some of the ideas addressed.

Kathy Schrock's assessment page has many, many more rubrics available for all types of Web 2.0 projects and I found many of them very helpful. Of course there is Rubistar and other rubric designer programs but you sometimes have to search through "not so great quality" to find really great ones or create one yourself (which can be a time factor).

Anyway, although this project assessment is in the areas listed above -- I am more interested to see how online collaboration worked for you!

Nov. 30 - Dec. 7

I have been remiss in checking in over the Holidays! I hope you had an enjoyable and a thankful Thanksgiving. Here's an idea to explore with your group.
===Something not so new, but may be new to you is the use of QR Codes. You see them everywhere -- magazines, websites, newspapers, flyers, brochures, etc. These quick response code(s) allow you to access information provided by the creator -- saving time and directing you to the correct spot. Check it out! ===



"A QR code is a two-dimensional code designed to be read by an electronic scanner. You can think of it as a descendant of one-dimensional bar codes such as the Universal Product Code (UPC). But because it contains information in two dimensions (horizontal and vertical) rather than just one, it can carry much more information than a standard bar code of similar size." -- pbSMART™ Codes (http://www.pb.com/qr-codes/lc-marketing-best-practices-article-10.html)
 * What is a QR (Quick Response) Code?**

If you are interested in exploring use of the QR Code try a QR Code generator to create one and read this to see how they can be used in a classroom (instructional) setting. Using your iPod Touch camera (or smartphone camera) you can scan the code (you'll need an app for that) and it will provide a resource or location of information.

Nov. 16 --- Please join this page as it will be your notification of add ins and new items. Anyone is welcome to contribute and you will receive an email from this page telling you that new information has been added. Think of this as a posted bulletin board in your teachers' workroom.

Nov. 16 - Nov. 28 Think about your project outline and what you want to explore and contribute!
 * Timeline Suggestions:**