IN THIS ISSUE:

• Nov. 17/18 - Colby Field Trip
• Nov. 28 - Mueller Technology Workshop 
• Dec. 4/5 - Technology Leadership Conference - Topeka
• Dec. 7 - Little River Field Trip
• Dec. 12 - North Technology Workshop 
• Dec. 14 - Apple Technology Breakfast

• M3 TO GO ON THE ROAD

• PARTNER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES ON THE INCREASE

• REIMBURSEMENT FOR CONFERENCE PARTICIPATION AVAILABLE

• WSU OFFERS A NEW GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY

• GET CONNECTED WITH CONNECTED UNIVERSITY

• SPRING 2002 TECHNOLOGY COURSES POSTED

Project M3 is organizing field trips to investigate how other schools are applying technology in their classrooms.  One motivating trip is planned for Little River, KS Dec. 7  The school district last year decided to provide laptops for its middle schoolers.  Karen Hull, the language arts and social studies teacher, with little beginning experience and using just the available software (Microsoft Office) has put together many  creative and engaging learning activities.  Project M3 would also like to use this field trip as a springboard to organize workshops with Karen and USD 444 superintendent Milt Dougherty at WSU.

If you can't make the field trip to see Little River in person Karen and Milt will be speaking at the Apple Technology Breakfast on Dec. 14 at the Hotel at Oldtown Conference Center in Wichita.  This is free and open to all of our faculty and partners.

We are also looking at a trip to Marysville, KS, where each of the school's special education students was given PDAs.  At first, the nine students used the devices to help them keep track of homework assignments, classroom schedules, locker combinations and the like.  The portable keyboard was also helpful for those who lacked good handwriting skills.  This year, however, the program was expanded into the inclusion English class.  Assignments, graded work and even the novel the class is reading are beamed to the PDAs and synced to the teacher's computer--the class is totally paperless.  PDAs are seen to be a cost-effective way to get technology  into every student's hands.  The trip likely will take place next semester, but no date set yet.

Read Marysville High School Success Story Published by Palm in Education.

Essdack is sponsoring a two-day field trip to Colby High School and Middle School to tour the open Creative Learning Systems computer lab and see constructivist classrooms and virtual learning. Participants will rendezvous in Colby late afternoon on Nov. 17 to explore the computer lab and stay over to tour the schools on Nov. 18.

If you are interested in taking part in any of these field trips, or want more information, contact Lynn Elder at lynn.elder@wichita.edu 978-6237.

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This fall, Project M3 delivered three laptop labs and mobile carts to Northeast Magnet High School, Mueller Elementary School and St. Patrick School and plans are underway to put them to use in the classrooms. 

At Northeast, M3 recently spent the day providing workshop training during planning and lunch periods.  The M3 student mentors taught basic Blackboard, educational Internet how-tos and Word tips and tricks to some of the Northeast faculty and staff.  This was the first use of the wireless laptop network, so the participants gained experience in using the hardware.

Mueller is planning on two day-long workshops in November organized around the teachers' planning periods.  The first will focus on using Word as a teaching tool, especially by incorporating graphics.  During the second workshop, we'll explore using the Internet in the classroom.  Once teachers have acquired basic skills, M3  mentors will work with the teaching teams to develop specific learning activities using the laptops in their classrooms.  Beth Adamson's combined fourth and fifth grade class, though,  is already busy using the laptop network.  The students are creating a virtual tour of their school by taking pictures on a digital camera, inserting them in a Word document and placing the tour on their Web page. 

There is exciting news at St. Patrick.  In addition to the laptop computers and cart, they have an upgraded computer lab. Jason Draper, a capable high school student who donates his expertise, has installed a brand new server and reconfigured the lab. Kansas Cable donated time and cabling. And Allen, Gibbs & Houlik is donating six Pentium class PCs.  The first of several workshops is scheduled this month.  Again, the topics will be using Word and the Internet.

M3 and North have begun planning a dual-credit English course to be offered on-line next fall.  North high faculty will design the course content and M3 staff will help provide the technology training to put it together.  Rob Compton is already using Blackboard for his gifted English class and is eager to expand the availability of on-line course offerings.  We are also planning a December 12 workshop at North.  Scott Baxter, David Dennis and his GenY students have been encouraged to do a "Networking 101" session.  Based on a recent poll of North's teachers, other popularly requested topics are PowerPoint, advanced Word, scanner/graphics/burning CDs and Web pages.

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M3 is reimbursing the registration for up to three teachers or administrators from each of the partner schools to attend the Kansas Technology Leadership Conference in Topeka Dec. 4 and 5. The conference is designed for administrative, teaching and student technology leaders.  Hands-on workshops and presentations are geared for all grade levels, content and IT subjects.  This is also a chance to make great contacts right here in the state. See http://ksweb.ksde.org/conference/ksdetechconf2001  for more information.

Although the conference pre-registration deadline is Nov. 21, M3's deadline for pre-registering is Nov. 16.  To be reimbursed the $125 fee, we'll provide a report-back form, which would be the beginning of a classroom activity or a sharing at an in-service.  M3 mentors and staff would also be delighted to work with conference participants to help develop those activities. If we get a high response, there is a good chance that M3 will expand this award to more conferences.

Email marsha.gladhart@wichita.edu with your participant list by Nov. 16 or your questions about the conference and reimbursement.

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The purpose of the certificate is to provide graduate level studies in computer technology for educators who wish to: 

1. Advance their knowledge of computers in education

2. integrate technology into classroom instruction

3. use technology for communication with students, parents, and community  

Students must take courses or workshops in two or more levels of technology proficiency to total 15 hours.  No more than 8 hours should be taken from any one level.  To read more and download a flyer go to: http://education.wichita.edu/technology/gcet.htm

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Connected University is an online professional development community providing educators with great online learning experiences and an opportunity to earn re-certification hours at the learners own "pace and place".  Another option to earn the Graduate Certificate in Educational Technology at WSU is to take advantage of Connected University's on-line course catalog to design a program.  You can earn WSU graduate credit hours without paying for a baby sitter or a textbook.  There are plenty of useful, meaningful classes to choose from, and CU makes it easy to check them out.  You can sign up for a free 30-day trial registration at http://cu.classroom.com/MyCU/MyCU.asp.

The annual registration for CU is $349; however, the M3 grant, through a partnership with Wichita Public Schools, has a limited number of memberships we can give to teachers at our partner schools.  If you are interested in taking CU classes, contact lynn.elder@wichita.edu.  To develop a Graduate Certificate program incorporating CU classes, contact marsha.gladhart@wichita.edu.

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COE is offering nine technology-centered courses during the spring session.  See http://education.wichita.edu/technology/classes.htm for more details.

 

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