Tapped In Newsletter: October 2004
...On the Tapis
October 2004
Issue 83
In This Issue
[1] Member Perspective: Frances Long
[2] Vision: Transforming Teacher PD Online
[3] Tapped In Technology Tip
[4] News Nuggets
[5] Tips and Comments From the Experts
[6] About ...On the Tapis
Quote of the Month - "All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth." - Aristotle (Surfnetkids.com)
[1] Member Perspective: Frances Long
Frances lives and works online guiding others into the joys and struggles of an online environment. She is based in Vancouver, BC, Canada and works with http://knowplace.ca. Knowplace through its private/public partnership with Capilano College, North Vancouver, BC, Canada offers courses to assist people to transfer their skills to the online environment. Our Knowmates include but are not limited to: K-12 teachers, employment and career coaches, education consultants, University professors and college teachers. Frances has been involved with building online communities since 1995.
Frances' Perspective
At the beginning of each month, new people join the Knowplace community. During the first week, we teach people how to communicate through instant message clients, and post messages in a learning community. During the second week, Helen Kershaw and I discuss the Tapped In community and encourage folks to join us in a virtual tour of Tapped In. Together, we join in the Tips and Tricks tour led on Tuesdays and Saturdays by a helpdesk volunteer from Tapped In.
As the helpdesk volunteer is leading people through Tapped In, we are in the background using an instant message client, to communicate with our folks:
- Help them enter into the system,
- Find that tool that they missed,
- Guide them from one room to another, and
- Teach them private chat techniques
When our folks are fine, we assist other tour members who are new to the Tapped In community to find their way during the Tips and Tricks tour. We jump in whenever we can to guide others during the tour.
Read all of Frances' Perspective online.
[2] Vision: Transforming Teacher PD Online - by BJ Berquist
Since 1997 Tapped In has helped educators turn their dreams and visions into reality. By the time you read this article, the international membership of the Tapped In interface that was introduced in the spring of 2002 will have passed 20,000! I thought this membership milestone might be a good time to revisit the original vision of the Tapped In creators and see what sparked this energetic involvement of so many educators to proactively take responsibility for their own professional development. The following is from the About Tapped In page linked from the Tapped In homepage at http://tappedin.org. If you haven't visited this inspiring resource lately, take a couple minutes to scroll down the page, meet the creators, renew your vision and raise a glass to the next 20,000 members!
Research has shown that student achievement is directly linked to teacher quality. State and national teaching standards provide a framework for teachers' professional growth that requires teachers to engage in ongoing professional development throughout their careers. The increasing demand for continuous professional development means that providers must expand face-to-face programs to include online activities and content that engage teachers anytime, anywhere. The growing recognition that no single organization can satisfy teachers' ongoing professional development needs requires that educators and providers form communities to share strategies, resources, and support. Tapped In was developed to support this vision.
[3] Tapped In Technology Tip
HELP!
The Tapped In helpdesk volunteers are always willing to answer questions from guests and members. Even though the helpdesk isn't staffed 24/7, you can still find answers to most of your questions by logging in to the Tapped In interface and clicking on the Help tab at the top of your screen. The Help tab has links to information about the people who volunteer for Helpdesk, FAQ, how to Navigate in Tapped In, methods of Communication and Tools that make Tapped In an interactive community. As with all the features in Tapped In, watch for new additions that are always on the way!
[4] News Nuggets
Tapped In member Kevan Nitzberg has been chosen to participate in a panel discussion on the topic "Technology: The Art Of Here. Now" on Tuesday, November 16, at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Join a panel of experts as they discuss how the electronic media can and is being used to support, create, and advance artists and the arts. Panelists include Tammy Hauser, Interim Director of Springboard for the Arts; Mary Madden, research specialist with the Pew Internet & American Life Project; Jesse Hemminger and Kevan Nitzberg, artists and educators using digital technology in their art and in the classroom; and Kathleen Kvern, Project Director of http://mnartists.org.
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Tapped In member Kim Foley's Hurricane Field Trip site was listed as a classroom resource in the September issue of NEON. "It's been an especially lively hurricane season for those of us in the southeast and it extends through November. With that in mind, here's a virtual field trip focusing on hurricanes. This tour of Web sites includes an animated illustration of a developing hurricane, tips to prepare for a hurricane, and a hurricane timeline. http://www.field-trips.org/sci/hurricane/index.htm"
NEON is an e-newsletter provided by SEIR*TEC, Regional Technology in Education Consortium at SouthEast Initiatives, through the Instructional Resource Center (ITRC) at the University of Central Florida.
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Tapped In member Sergei Grid announces the 6th International BelNATE-IATEFL Conference "Teaching English as a World Language in the Information Age," November 3-5, 2004. The conference is designed to provide an opportunity for a discussion of ideas that will help those who are involved in ELT and Area Studies. It will address the changes that have taken place in ELT in recent years under the influence of information technologies and transformations in related fields. We hope that the conference will help initiate and advance a fruitful discussion about the ways to improve ELT in Belarus using the teaching strategies developed by some of our colleagues.
http://www.ir.bsu.by/kel//Teachers/onlineworkshop.htm
http://www.ir.bsu.by/kel/Teachers/belnate.htm
http://www.ir.bsu.by/kel/Teachers/conference04.htm
BelNATE Conference Blog
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Tapped In member Kevan Nitzberg's article, "Visual Literacy: Renaissance of the 21st Century" is up on art-themagazine.com. See
http://www.art-themagazine.com/pages/insite20.htm.
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Tapped In member Buthaina Al Othman has posted a webpage of Tapped In member Michael Coghlan's multi venue workshop at the 9th CLESOL September conference in New Zealand. See
http://alothman-b.tripod.com/wia_michaelc_wshop_09242004.htm
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The inaugural issue of Innovate, a peer-reviewed bimonthly e-journal featuring cutting-edge research and practice in using information technology to enhance education is now available at http://www.innovateonline.info. Tapped In member Chris Dede starts the journey with expert commentary on the ever-expanding field of learning technology tools. Multi-user virtual environments and ubiquitous computing promise to do away with limits on how and where students learn; Dede translates this vision into concrete terms.
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Tapped In members Donna Baumbach, Glen Bull, and Diane McGrath have articles in the October 2004 issue of Learning & Leading with Technology.
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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.
[5] Tips and Comments from the Experts
Thanks to Tapped In member Joan Gozdziewski for posting to the Tapped In Grapevine Feedback message board. Joan is an elementary teacher at the Tapped In tenant Milwaukee Public Schools. Joan uses Tapped In to participate in projects with her school and to discuss questions presented in the MPS cadre she is part of.
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If you have a comment or experience to share with the Tapped In community, please submit the information to BJ Berquist at bjb@tappedin.org.
[6] About ...On the Tapis
Past issues of ...On the Tapis newsletters are available online.
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