Tapped In Newsletter: March 2003

...ON THE TAPIS
March 2003
Issue 64

In This Issue

[1] Do Something for the First Time
[2] Member Perspective: George Warriner
[3] NASA Educator Astronaut Program
[4] Technology Tips
[5] TAPPED IN News Nuggets
[6] About ...On the TAPIS

Quote of the Month - "When was the last time you did something for the first time?" - Airline ad

[1] Do Something for the First Time - by BJ Berquist

Although it's pure commercialism, the slogan from the airline ad reminds us, as educators, to take the opportunity to re-examine our daily routines and try something new. When was the last time you had a learning experience filled with excitement and wonder? Too often a new opportunity is looked at as just another burden... another time-consuming item to cram into our busy schedules. While it's not an airplane trip to an exotic country, one exciting and wonderful thing to do for the first time is sign up and log in to the new version of TAPPED IN (dubbed TI2). To help you take advantage of this opportunity and lessen the time it takes to learn about the new features in TI2, Fabulous Friday Tours have been scheduled. Log in to TI2 http://ti2.sri.com. You can view the descriptions for all the March TI2 events on the calendar. (Please note that if you are a member of the "old" TAPPED IN, you must sign up for a new membership. Your "old" TAPPED IN account will not work in TAPPED IN Version 2.)

[2] Member Perspective: George Warriner

George is the Coordinator of Instructional Technology for the Sheboygan Area School District in Sheboygan Wisconsin. He has worked in education as a 7-12 math teacher, K-5 math specialist, math resource teacher, technology resource teacher and baseball coach. George is currently a doctoral student at Pepperdine University in the Educational Technology program.

George's Perspective

I have been in my position in Sheboygan for about 5 years now. Things were going along pretty well, but I seemed to be losing the edge to my view of technology in education. We were just trying to get things working and make sure the teachers and students were supported with technology as well as possible. When my plan to enroll in the Pepperdine Ed.D. program was approved by the district, I had no idea how immediate and powerful the impact would be.

Now, I had taken on-line courses in the past but I found them to be lacking in urgency and personal relevance. My motivation for these courses quickly waned after the initial excitement. I was uncertain how a doctoral program could sustain my interest when about half of the coursework was conducted on-line. Enter TAPPED IN.

See all our member perspectives.

[3] NASA Educator Astronaut Program

NASA's Educator Astronaut Program web site is designed to inspire the next generation of explorers. It allows students, parents, friends and colleagues to nominate an educator for NASA's full-time Astronaut Corps, and allows educators to apply for the program. The site promotes proficiency in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and encourages visitors to work with NASA to shape the future in space and on Earth. If you have any questions or need additional information, please contact, Tammy Rowan, Educator Astronaut Program's Outreach Liaison at (202) 358-1308.

[4] Technology Tips

Sign up for Membership to TI2
Please register only once. If you forgot your TAPPED IN Version 2 username or password, contact us (don't re-register). If you have an account on the "old" TAPPED IN system, you must still register here (once) for a new account to use TAPPED IN Version 2. Information in bold is required. All information will be kept confidential and used for research purposes only.

Advanced Tech Tip: Getting an office in TI2
Log in to TAPPED IN Version 2 (TI2) with your new membership name and password and click on the ME tab at the top of your screen. You will see a link to get a new office. It's easy and fun! Check out the designs and color schemes you can use by clicking on "edit room".

[5] TAPPED IN News Nuggets

TAPPED IN members Keiko Schneider from Saboten Web Design, Yasuhiro Omoto from the University of California, Miyuki Fukai from Indiana University, and Mayumi Ishida from Dartmouth College are presenting at several conferences, including: the Southeastern Association of Teachers of Japanese, the Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education International Conference, the Association of Teachers of Japanese Professional Development SIG Seminar, the Central Association of Japanese, the National Council of Organizations of Less Commonly Taught Languages, and the International Association for Language Learning Technology.
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TAPPED IN members including Phil Benz, Elizabeth Hanson-Smith, Vance Stevens, Chris Jones, John Steele, Teresa Almeida d'Eca, Susanne Nyrop, Keiko Schneider, Rita Zeinstejer, Arif Altun, Christopher Johnson, Aiden Yeh, Dafne Gonzalez Chavez, Buthaina Othman, Arlyn Freed, and Michael Coghlan are concluding online sessions of the Electronic Village in preparation for the March TESOL Conference that will be held in Baltimore, MD.
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TAPPED IN member articles in the March issue of Learning & Leading with Technology include Diane Mcgrath's Designing to Learn - A Focus on Design in Project-Based Learning. In her column, Online Tools That Really Shine, Gail Lovely focuses on 'software' that is Internet-related. The Readers Reminisce column, 'Open the World,' was written by Bonnie Thurber.
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"Trust in Schools: A Core Resource for School Reform" in the March issue of Educational Leadership was co-authored by TAPPED IN member Barbara Schneider.
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TAPPED IN member Faridah Pawan's article "Reflective Teaching Online" will be published in Tech Trends (AECT) some time this spring. TAPPED IN is mentioned in the article as one of the places that have contributed to enabling Faridah and her students to reflect upon what they do.
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Do you have a News Nugget about yourself or another member of the TAPPED IN Community? Send your News Nugget to BJ Berquist at bjb @ tappedin.org.

[6] About ...On the TAPIS

Postings of all ...ON THE TAPIS issues are available on the TAPPED IN website. Contact us if you have any questions about your subscription, password or user name, or if you have any news items that you want to share with the community for ...ON THE TAPIS.