Eugene McCarthy

From the Librarians' Internet Index, a website about Eugene McCarthy, who died early this month. From Minnesota Public Radio, it includes text, graphics, and audio of this great leader, probably best known for his anti-war stance in the late 60s when he challenged Lyndon Johnson for the Democratic nomination for President.

http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2005/06/15_olsond_genemccarthy/

CNN.com - Sending the future you e-mails

Just in time for the new year, you can email yourself in the future:

CNN.com - Sending the future you e-mails - Dec 18, 2005

Esquire wikis article on Wikipedia | Tech News on ZDNet

Wikipedia has been taking a lot of heat recently for accuracy. However, a group of scientists reviewed the articles in various areas and found them to be as good or better than print encyclopedias. This article discusses the collaborative, "self clearning" nature of wikis: Esquire wikis article on Wikipedia | Tech News on ZDNet

CNN.com - School districts go hi-tech to teach

From CNN, an overview of what schools are doing with emerging technologies including handhelds: CNN.com - School districts�go hi-tech to teach - Dec 12, 2005

Awards Luncheon at Conference

Enjoyed lunch and are now meeting the regional award winners:

Region I: Thomas DeWeerd
Region II: Mitzi Fehl
Region III: Dan Hopper
Region IV: Maribeth Luftglass
Region V: Harley Miles
Region VI: Jerry Canada
Region VII: Danny Dixon
Region VIII: Bobby Waddell

Each one of these people is a technology leader not just for the school division but also for the state.

The Department of Education award was given to Susan Williams, Educational Applications.

The Technology Leader for 2005 was Danny Dixon.

Finally, the VETAC leader award was given to Zahrl Schoeny from University of Virginia.

Congratulations to all the winners and thanks for your outstanding contributions to instructional technology in Virginia!

Snow, snow, snow - Let's Connect for ITRT

Karen, thanks for the update on today's luncheon. For those of us that do attend this great conference but live close by, the weather sent this attendee home early. Living in the Roanoke Valley has its rewards, but in this case it has its down side. We locals never get the opportunity to stay at the wonderful Hotel Roanoke.

The highlight of my Monday was attending "Let's Connect!" for ITRTs with Juliette Mersiowsky in Pocahontas A. Even though I have been a Technology Resource Team Member for Roanoke County Schools since 1998, this session provided the opportunity to connect with fellow ITRTs from other school districts.

Juliette divided the participants into 6 groups, where we were able to share the hurdles we are experiencing and also some of the success stories with each other. How reaffirming to know we are all in the same boat! I would definitely recommend this session to any and all first year ITRTs!

Enjoy the conference!!!

Daniel Arkin, Big Cheese and Grilled Cheese

The Virginia Society for Technology in Education is co-sponsoring the conference. Daniel Arkin is talking right now and listed three school division's technology directors. as "big cheeses." Then, he named their "grilled cheeses," the tech support people who help the big cheeses.

He imagined what would happen if the big cheeses and the grilled cheeses changed places for a conference presentation. Someone in the presentation asks a tough question and the grilled cheese thinks for awhile then says how easy that question is to answer and because of that he is going to pass it along to his colleague. Remember, now it's the big cheese on the spot.

What is the moral of the story? It take big cheese and heat to make grilled cheeses work. Or, without grilled cheese, big cheese is just a dairy product. Or, it takes many form of technology cheeses to solve the mystery of technology in education.

Tags: etlc2005, vste

Lunch at the Conference

Snow is falling but we are happily ensconsed in the Hotel Roanoke ballroom listening to the folks from the Department of Education, including Jo Lynne DeMary, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She is retiring, and we will miss her. She was introduced by Lan Neugent, the Assistant Superintendent for Technology and Human Resources. What a team...Virginia is the first state to mandate Instructional Technology Resource Teachers for each 1,000 students. And we've been recognized for all our work in online assessment. It is so exciting to be sitting here listening to her review all the other great things that have gone on over the past years and know that I have played a very small part.

For me, here's the most relevant quote: "Until the plan is worn from use, it is only a booklet. We need to make this plan a living, working plan."

Tags: etlc2005, education technology

Ed Tech Leadership Conference

The conference has begun, and it is snowing outside. The prediction is for 4 to 8 inches! Just finished attending my first session delivered by my former colleagues from Middlesex County. Mary Swihart and Mark Burnet discussed their use of Moodle for delivering online content. If you want to hear a minute about Moodle from Mary, check the podcast at http://vcolpodcast.blogspot.com. She is doing great things with this free content management system as part of her high school science courses. Be sure to check out her courses online. She allows guest access so you can view the courses.

Now, I'm listening to Nancy Welch from Mathews County talk about her position as Instructional Technology Resource Teacher. The iPod is recording so look for the podcast soon...just need to get back to my room to upload.

LibriVox

Wow! I discovered this at Tim Lauer's blog...volunteers recording chapters of books in the public domain. Download and listen or help out. I know what I'm going to be doing over Christmas vacation...

LibriVox

Falls of the Rhine

Falls of the Rhine
Originally uploaded by TheRichardsons.

This was quite a tourist attraction, located along the Swiss/German border. You can learn more by visiting the website. http://www.rhinefalls.com/