21st Century Learning #78: Elizabeth Helfant on the MICDS Tablet Project

Elizabeth Helfant [9]shared her amazing story of the MICDS [8] first year tablet program roll out.  This is an great discussion of the right way to implement laptop learning in a school.  They started with teachers and curriculum designers asking for more technology because the curriculum had evolved to need the support.  If you've wondered about 1 to 1, this is must listen audio!

John Schinker will be our guest on Thursday, October 2, at 2:00pm EST (18:00 GMT) to discuss 21st Century Skills.

<Click here for Chat Transcript>
[10]

2008-09-25 14:01:38 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: Good afternoon Peggy
2008-09-25 14:03:08 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: Hi Vinnie-great to see you. I was feeling lonely here :-)
2008-09-25 14:04:40 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: Good afternoon Alec
2008-09-25 14:05:10 [Message] courosa -> -EdTechTalk: hey vinnie
2008-09-25 14:05:33 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: Hi Alec
2008-09-25 14:05:42 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Hi Folks.
2008-09-25 14:05:42 [Message] courosa -> -EdTechTalk: hey peggy
2008-09-25 14:06:05 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: Crowd is growing :-)
2008-09-25 14:06:27 [Message] ehelfant -> -EdTechTalk: hi alec
2008-09-25 14:06:38 [Message] courosa -> -EdTechTalk: hey elizabeth, great to hear your voice
2008-09-25 14:06:43 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: hi all
2008-09-25 14:06:52 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: Good afternoon dendari, I am not sure we have met
2008-09-25 14:06:52 [Message] ehelfant -> -EdTechTalk: that southern twang!
2008-09-25 14:07:19 [Message] courosa -> -EdTechTalk: love it
2008-09-25 14:07:33 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: Good afternoon Jen.
2008-09-25 14:07:42 [Message] JenW -> -EdTechTalk: almost that, Vinnie!!!  :)
2008-09-25 14:07:57 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: oh, I forgot, timezones!
2008-09-25 14:08:09 [Message] JenW -> -EdTechTalk: lol, no worries, I am always on Chicago Time   :)
2008-09-25 14:08:09 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: I used the room reservation system to book a room to broadcast from and someone is in there!
2008-09-25 14:08:19 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: Hi Jen-same for me in Phoenix AZ-11:00am
2008-09-25 14:08:53 [Message] JenW -> -EdTechTalk: wow, episode 78 -- CONGRATS
2008-09-25 14:08:55 [Message] JenW -> -EdTechTalk: Hey Peggy
2008-09-25 14:09:16 [Message] JenW -> -EdTechTalk: Elizabeth will be on WOW2 on Tuesday -- busy lady
2008-09-25 14:09:30 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Nice -- Great minds think alike.
2008-09-25 14:09:35 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: audio is great for me
2008-09-25 14:09:36 [Message] JenW -> -EdTechTalk: yep --
2008-09-25 14:09:40 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Great.
2008-09-25 14:09:48 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: no way!
2008-09-25 14:09:55 [Message] JenW -> -EdTechTalk: yes,
2008-09-25 14:11:38 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: tablets, so many people doing that!
2008-09-25 14:12:20 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: what have you done to prepare your teachers for 1:1?
2008-09-25 14:12:27 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: http://dyknow.com [11]
2008-09-25 14:12:37 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: Thanks Vinnie, I was looking for that link!
2008-09-25 14:13:00 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: :bows respectfully
2008-09-25 14:13:32 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: do they use the dyknow in conjunction with SMART boards?
2008-09-25 14:13:33 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: iFolder.
2008-09-25 14:13:50 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Web Assist for testing.
2008-09-25 14:15:03 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: outside voices are helpful for teachers. Especially hearing other educators
2008-09-25 14:15:03 [Message] courosa -> -EdTechTalk: was glad to support your (in)sanity :-)
2008-09-25 14:15:32 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: did they have laptops before tablets, or is this all new?
2008-09-25 14:15:41 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: this was all new
2008-09-25 14:15:48 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: wow
2008-09-25 14:15:56 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: hey Matt
2008-09-25 14:16:06 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: hey y'all
2008-09-25 14:16:09 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: hey matt. Heard you evoked yesterday by Scott Meech
2008-09-25 14:16:13 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: what time did u start
2008-09-25 14:16:46 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: wonderful process! so your curriculum is being revised to reflect the technology integration?
2008-09-25 14:16:46 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: hey vinnie...I tried to get scott meech up at USM for the Oct 13 day
2008-09-25 14:17:22 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: incredible support form an incredible lineup of experts!
2008-09-25 14:17:30 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: from
2008-09-25 14:17:42 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Collaboration, communication.  Wikis, sharing what you are learning.  Faculty using the tools to plan.  Being network conscious.  All faculty having delicious account.  9th and 10th grades sharing resources.
2008-09-25 14:17:44 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: how many of you will be going 1:1 in the next year or two??
2008-09-25 14:17:48 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: ack, lost audio, anyone else?
2008-09-25 14:18:01 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Lots of nings. 
2008-09-25 14:18:06 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: link to Elizabeth's blog?
2008-09-25 14:18:45 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: I found http://helcat.org/wordpress/ [9]
2008-09-25 14:19:01 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: are all of the web 2.0 tools unblocked in your school?
2008-09-25 14:19:10 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: and http://elgg.micds.org/ehelfant/weblog/ [12]
2008-09-25 14:19:23 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Strong leadership. 
2008-09-25 14:19:33 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Thanks, vances.
2008-09-25 14:20:00 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: thanks! did you use understanding by design to develop your integrated units?
2008-09-25 14:20:33 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Mentors -- teachers train the teachers.
2008-09-25 14:20:51 [Message] VinnieVrotny -> -EdTechTalk: Purdue University is having a Workshop on Impact of Pen Based Computing in October
2008-09-25 14:21:05 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: oh great point! how to sustain?
2008-09-25 14:22:16 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: a community of teacher leaders...that is great
2008-09-25 14:22:34 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: wondered where that name came from :-)
2008-09-25 14:22:47 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: UBD is such a powerful planning process!
2008-09-25 14:23:32 [Message] alex.ragone -> -EdTechTalk: Nice.  Makes me want to move to Missouri.
2008-09-25 14:24:06 [Message] ehelfant -> -EdTechTalk: http://wiki.micds.org/pub/Interdisciplinary_Units/Civilizations/Crops [13]
2008-09-25 14:24:29 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: that's very exciting-an entire week to become immersed in the integrated unit!!
2008-09-25 14:24:50 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: I'll bet the kids loved it!
2008-09-25 14:26:42 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: great accountability!
2008-09-25 14:27:45 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: this is bringing back a lot of memories for me from early teaching--integrated day philosophy all the time-wish I had web 2.0 tools then!
2008-09-25 14:29:21 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: thanks for unit link!
2008-09-25 14:30:08 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: thanks, Vinnie!
2008-09-25 14:30:18 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: did you say the class response system/survey was built into DyKnow?
2008-09-25 14:31:09 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: I'm so excited to learn about what you are doing Elizabeth!
2008-09-25 14:32:31 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: when I read about this some time ago I was really amazed, what an opportunity
2008-09-25 14:33:04 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: Did you do any specific training with teachers or students on questioning skills?
2008-09-25 14:33:56 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: No time in office? How do you keep up with Twitter? :-)
2008-09-25 14:34:07 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: question has come up where I work should we get tablets
2008-09-25 14:34:14 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: teachers say, what for?
2008-09-25 14:34:34 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: what can I say they can do that they can't do without?
2008-09-25 14:34:41 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: that's where Elizabeth's statement on getting the curriculum ready goes a long way
2008-09-25 14:34:49 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: carts can be so limiting if you really want to integrate tech full time
2008-09-25 14:34:55 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: and then individually we're not ready, but collectively, as a school, students, they're ready
2008-09-25 14:34:56 [Message] vances -> -EdTechTalk: that is, what can you do with a tablet that you cannot do without one?
2008-09-25 14:35:01 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: Liz...was there parental resistance to having to purchase another computing device??  I'm assuming many of these families already owned some type of portable computing device
2008-09-25 14:35:33 [Message] ehelfant -> -EdTechTalk: not much resistence..matt
2008-09-25 14:36:05 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: LOL
2008-09-25 14:36:08 [Message] ehelfant -> -EdTechTalk: and their electronic text were included to offset price
2008-09-25 14:36:49 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: excellent point-using the tools to do what they need to do!
2008-09-25 14:37:27 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: how do you scare teachers?
2008-09-25 14:37:27 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: hi ds, we just finished, and are in post-show
2008-09-25 14:37:28 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: wrapping up
2008-09-25 14:37:35 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: nice show y'all
2008-09-25 14:37:44 [Message] ds -> -EdTechTalk: hey gang, sorry I missed it
2008-09-25 14:37:47 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: what time will u b broadcasting??
2008-09-25 14:37:49 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: thanks all!
2008-09-25 14:38:04 [Message] ds -> -EdTechTalk: looking fwd to catching you next time
2008-09-25 14:38:07 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: we're going for the 2:00pm start time each week
2008-09-25 14:38:16 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: there is a chance will move to 2:!5pm. eastern standard time
2008-09-25 14:38:20 [Message] matt montagne -> -EdTechTalk: @arvind...sounds good and thans
2008-09-25 14:38:25 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: 2:15pm EST that is
2008-09-25 14:38:32 [Message] PeggyG -> -EdTechTalk: Hope to catch you next week. Very interesting!
2008-09-25 14:38:43 [Message] ds -> -EdTechTalk: coolio--please Tweet for those of use with ADD
2008-09-25 14:38:54 [Message] ds -> -EdTechTalk: those of us==me
2008-09-25 14:42:05 [Message] arvind -> -EdTechTalk: bye all