TECHNOS

May 17, 2012

Technos e-Zine

August 2006—Vol. 3, No. 8

Welcome to the technos.net e-newsletter, published by AIT’s Technos Press. You’ll find valuable information here about AIT products and services and other noteworthy news from the world of education. Please let us know what you think, or what you’d like to see here, by emailing us at: editor@ait.net. Thank you!

Featured Interview

Marta Bechtol, Director, School Services and Instructional Programs Development, Wisconsin Educational Communications Board

Into the Book is a multimedia teaching resource—nine classroom and nine professional development videos—designed to enhance reading comprehension for K–3 students, as well as their ability to think and learn across the curriculum. Nine Into the Book student episodes will feature a classroom where a group of ordinary students use powerful learning strategies to enter the world of the story. These 15-minute programs will show student viewers how to use these strategies when reading fiction, nonfiction, or everyday text. They’ll also model real-life applications of the strategies. In the professional development videos, we go Behind the Lesson as teachers demonstrate how they are using these strategies effectively with their students. Programs will combine actual classroom footage with dialogue and personal reflection on instructional practices. An interactive Web site and comprehensive print materials round out the curriculum package. This project was developed by the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board, with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction and a team of experienced educators. It is produced by Wisconsin Public Television and the Agency for Instructional Technology. Into the Book will be released in September 2006. Technos “spoke” with Ms. Bechtol via email in July.

T: Would you describe the Into the Book and Behind the Lesson series?

M.B.: Into the Book is an instructional series for emerging readers intended to help them attain high levels of comprehension from their first contact with text. The driving idea is that “reading” is more than the ability to speak the written word; it is the process of seeing, connecting to, interpreting, evaluating, and learning from the words that are read. The 9-part student series focuses on eight individual strategies that have been identified as key to reading comprehension, and includes an episode about using the strategies in combination. (Successful readers rarely use the strategies independently once learned.)

Behind the Lesson features nine teachers using the strategies with students in the early elementary grades. Through their lessons, student discussions and personal reflection, these talented educators prove that young children are capable of deep understanding and evaluative thought with regard to their reading of fiction, non-fiction and everyday text.

Where did the idea, the impetus, for Into the Book come from?

The team of educators that developed the State of Wisconsin’s Reading Comprehension Test (WRCT) for third grade analyzed the data in the years following test administration and found that there were significant deficiencies statewide in the areas where strategic thinking was required. They began looking for tools that could be put in the hands of Wisconsin teachers to enable them to better prepare their students for this (and other) assessments. They found that both the commercial and nonprofit educational markets were lacking in resources that specifically addressed explicit strategy instruction for K–3 students. Headed by Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction Reading Consultant Dr. Jacqueline Karbon, the team approached ECB about working together to create a multimedia tool that could be used by both teachers and students to support the learning of effective, scientifically-researched reading strategies.

Why is a series on reading comprehension important right now?

Research has shown, and laws like No Child Left Behind have acknowledged, that successful reading is not achieved by simply knowing and using letters, sounds and vocabulary. The process of reading is not complete without understanding. In fact, proficient readers use a number of specific strategies to attain comprehension of the text. Unfortunately, there is a scarcity of researched-based materials that help young children understand and use these strategies and aid teachers in teaching them.

The need for comprehension instruction is widely documented, and research has identified comprehension strategies that can be explicitly taught (Allington, 2001; Buehl, 2001; National Reading Panel, 2000; Pressley, 2001). Several recent books attest to the fact that these strategies can be effectively used with young children (Harvey, 2000; Keene, 1997; Miller, 2002). Instructional materials, including video and multimedia products, have been developed for upper elementary, middle school and high school audiences (such as “Thinking Reader,” from Tom Snyder Productions, and “Reading Strategies in Action,” from Kentucky Educational Television). This project addresses the need for quality instructional materials for teachers of younger children.

ECB’s formerly developed reading comprehension series, Storylords, was produced in the late 1980s. It is high time for an updated program based on the most current research geared toward today’s kids.

Read the entire interview.

Featured Article

Information Literacy and Student Debate: Hot Button Issues for Student Discussion, Part I—Organizing the Discussion

By Dennis Adams, Ph.D.

As a general rule, everyone has to realize that there is too much data on the Web and not enough quality information. Choices are one thing, good choices quite another.

In this age of Google, computers and the Internet accelerate all kinds of positive and negative possibilities. As far as the schools are concerned, students now must learn to swim in a sea of online information. And staying afloat has a lot to do with how effectively information literacy has strands embedded in courses across the curriculum. Of course, the term “literacy” covers everything from reading and writing to competence in science and mathematics (“numeracy”). Here, the focus is on today’s plugged-in world and using discussion to learn about information technology-related dilemmas.

Even fairly sophisticated students tend to judge the credibility of Web sites more on the basis of appearance than on the reliability of the person or group that put it up. Some of the same students also fail to remember that anyone anywhere can publish anything they want on the Web. Books, newspapers, and articles are different. Most traditional publications have been screened and filtered at least twice; the publisher and the librarian (or bookstore distributor) have decided that there is something in a book that is worth reading. The difference between newspapers/books and Web sites/blogs is but one example of an issue that is worthy of student discussion.

Generating Student Discussion

To be fully literate today requires some understanding of the dilemmas and the controversial issues surrounding information technology. Issues that can spark student debate are all around us. They might involve social norms, personal conscience, marketing, privacy, authority, civil liberties, truth, life, sex, punishment, property, truth, etc. If a teacher can get two or three such factors clustered around a particular issue, a good small-group or whole-class discussion is relatively easy. You build on what students already know about a topic. But it sometimes helps if individuals, pairs, or small groups of students start by doing a little research or homework on the subject that they are going to debate.

After some initial thought or investigation, students can form small groups that develop a good argument on one or both sides of a controversial issue. Based on their initial positions, students marshal their best arguments. Each small group or partnership can then explain (to everyone) a few of the points that they have developed. After the whole class considers opposing arguments, the teacher can move on to the next group’s point of view. The idea is not to get anyone to change sides; rather, it is to help students gain a better understanding of IT by discussing both sides of hot button issues. Like good literature, technology presents all kinds of potential dilemmas for student debate.

Read the entire article.

What’s New at AIT?

democracy it is! debuts in September 2006

Wisconsin Educational Communications Board announces the first edition of democracy it is!, a social studies series for grades 1–6. AIT will distribute this series when it becomes available in Fall 2006.

This first edition of democracy it is! features four 15-minute episodes that introduce three friends who discover the importance of rules, rights, responsibilities, and choices of citizens in our society. Real-life examples of student activism and participation in communities across the nation bring democratic principles to life. These programs demonstrate how young people can make a difference in their own communities. Everyone has a voice in a democracy.

Rules of a Citizen—Haley, Lily, and Trent see the importance of rules in everyday life. Three real-life situations show kids using rules in order to make a difference in their own communities across the nation.
Rights of a Citizen—Haley and Lily are pushed around by a bully and Trent fails to help his friends. After discussing their disappointment with Trent, the three friends witness the bully being bullied. In the end, they learn that everyone has the right to feel safe. Real-life situations show young people protecting their personal rights.
Responsibilities of Citizen—Trent, Lily, and Haley stumble on the perfect park area for their hideout, except it’s littered with trash. The trio decides that it’s everyone’s responsibility to keep the park clean because everyone uses it. Stories about real young people focus on taking responsibility for yourself and the world around you.
Choices and Changes—Our three young friends discover their favorite hideout has been trashed—again. They have a choice: they can let the problem keep happening and go play somewhere else, or they can try to make a change. Haley, Trent, and Lily model the process of making a choice for change as they research the problem and prepare a proposal to their city council. Elements of this story are emphasized by three real-life examples of young people making choices and changes for their schools, communities, and state.

Four additional programs are planned for middle-high school. For more information on the democracy it is! project, please send e-mail to eDemocracy@ecb.state.wi.us. You may also visit the project Web site, www.ecb.org/democracy/index.htm.

Video Clips from AIT programs now available

Another new feature has been added to AIT’s Web site—video clips with program descriptions from a selection of our series.

Arts
- Art Workshops
- Portraits of Artists
Health
- The Etiquette Man
- Looking from the Inside/Out
Language Arts
- Club Write Kids
- Into the Book/Behind the Lesson
- Joel’s Library Jam
- Letter TV
- Letter TV II: Consonant Combinations
- Letter TV III: Reading Rules
Mathematics
- Math @ Work
- Math Can Take You Places
Science
- 108 Stitches: The Physics in Baseball
- Cracking the Code: The Continuing Saga of Genetics
- Inventing Flight
- It’s a Gas! Math and Science of the Blimp
- Naturimages
- Science Desk
Social Studies
- Antarctica: 90 degrees South
- Creating Our Economy
- The “E” in Me—The Entrepreneur in You®
- Road Trip to Kenya
- Tracks: Impressions of America
- The Voyageur Experience in Global Geography

Lessons ALIVE!

Lessons ALIVE!—Free Online Lesson Plans Feature AIT’s Programs

AIT’s Lessons ALIVE! feature provides free lesson plans corresponding to AIT’s products. We give teachers ideas for going beyond our videos’ teacher guides and for developing lesson plans that combine media from different series or select segments from programs. The lesson plans highlighted in Lessons ALIVE! promote contemporary ideas about structured learning environments and model best practices in teaching. During the month of August, receive a 10% discount on the AIT resources used in this month's Lessons ALIVE! lesson plans.

This month we have two new entries: one for language arts and another for social studies.

A Penny for Your Thoughts: Cross-Curricular Journal Writing is a language arts non-departmentalized lesson for grades 4–7 based on AIT’s Club Write program 1, “Journal Writing,” and several other programs.
A journal is an incredibly versatile instructional tool. Many teachers use journals in one or two subject areas, primarily language arts and science. The purpose of this lesson is to encourage teachers to consider the benefits to be had in using journal writing in all subject areas. Using programs from AIT series across all curricula, beginning with the journal-based series Club Write, the lesson will demonstrate effective ways to encourage students to make journaling a lifelong endeavor.

Some of the other AIT programs used in this lesson are:
- Heroes Read, program 3, “One Fine Day: A Radio Play”
- Portraits of Artists, program 1, “Barney Saltzberg”
- Club Write, program 8, “Math Writing”
- Newscast from the Past, program 1, “July 14, 1148”
- Minds on Science, program 5, “Gravity: Can an Elevator Help Us Lose Weight in a Hurry?”
Decisions that Changed Our Lives: A Look at the African American Quest for Freedom and Rights is a social studies lesson for grades 5–8 using these AIT products:
- America Past, program 9, “The Abolitionists”
- Northward to Freedom
- Tracks: Impressions of America, program 8, "Divided and United"
- Cultural Horizons, program 10, “Beyond Borders”
- Human Rights: Youth Perspectives, program 3, “The Price of Silence—Students Speak Out at the Front Lines”
Historical events result from decisions made by individuals. If individual citizens and political leaders had made different choices in the past, our history would not be the same. Imagine how different our lives would have been if the American colonists had never declared their independence or if Abraham Lincoln hadn’t issued the Emancipation Proclamation. By analyzing how others have made difficult decisions in the past, students will gain a better understanding of why history happened the way it did and learn to make their own informed choices. In this lesson students will explore race relations and the struggle for equal rights. They will evaluate decisions people made during the struggle for African-American equal rights and develop decision-making skills.

Check out all of our Lessons ALIVE! lesson plans.

Let us know if you’ve created your own unique lesson plans by submitting them to the Technos e-Zine editor at: editor@ait.net. Selected entries will be published in future issues of the e-Zine.

Tech Notes

“Video on the Learner Desktop”

By George Wright, Service Architecture and Project Management, Benmorroch eLearning Ltd.

The following article is just one of George Wright’s “tissue papers” about technology and education published at the Benmorroch eLearning Ltd. Web site. Mr. Wright joined AIT’s Board of Directors in July 2005.

Where do you start?

Best to think first of the learning model—focus first on what the video says and where it can be used. It has been normal for educators to give attention to the physical components of the technologies involved—hardware is the easiest part—but sooner or later, “What is to be streamed?” and “What do you do with what is streamed?” are questions that have to be asked.

Digital video on the desktop invites use, not just viewing.

Attention must be devoted to what happens when digital video resources arrive in class or the resource center because video on the PC causes change in personal and group response. It shows first in verbal reference: where we would conventionally say “viewers” for TV or analog video, we find ourselves saying “users” for digital video. A behavioral change shows within the language, too. When video gets digitized, it turns viewers into users.

No educator can put TV-like images on a PC screen and expect that the more “passive” viewing we associate with watching TV will be acceptable. Trials, pilots, labs, play, and practice have proven clearly that digital video adds little value if it is supplied to the user only as surrogate TV. But…when the inherently interactive nature of digital video is grasped and user-enabling features applied, fresh pathways open to the insight that educators seek to foster in the student’s school experience.

What does the user experience as different, exactly?

Consider proximity of user and playback platform as the trigger. The viewing experience changes greatly when moving images are displayed up close on the desktop with controls at hand to intervene in playback. (Small screens on portable small devices are a different story.) Perception and kinesthetic response change, hands reach for available tools, the size of the image is less important, and image presentation varies or alters with content and interaction. Sound source and perspective, just as important as pictures, alters from general “broadcast” in the room to local and intimate when headphones are worn (as they should be where multiple computers are used in class). Most of what we have considered as TV changes—except for the storying and modeling that makes video imaging a compelling resource in the first place. With video now delivered with digital control to the desktop, everything conspires to slide the viewer into user mode.

Read the entire article.

etc. (News You Need)

According to a U.S. Census report released in May, nearly half of all children under five years of age in this country are from racial or ethnic minority groups. Are schools ready for the diversity of children who will walk through their doors in the near future? FPG Child Development Institute at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill conducts research into these matters and helps schools design effective programs for children in preK through grade three. For more information, go to: http://www.fpg.unc.edu/main/about.cfm.
Harvard Education Press has published Online Professional Development for Teachers: Emerging Models and Methods, edited by Chris Dede. The featured authors look closely at exemplary online programs, compare them carefully with one another, and draw helpful conclusions about them. Targeted to researchers, policymakers, administrators, and teachers alike. This book is available in both paperback ($29.95) and hardbound formats ($59.95).
The Centers for Disease Control has published a report, “A Report of the Surgeon General: Physical Activity and Health—Adolescents and Young Adults,” which is available in downloadable .pdf form. Some of the findings:
- Nearly half of American youths aged 12–21 years are not vigorously active on a regular basis.
- About 14 percent of young people report no recent physical activity.
- Inactivity is more common among females (14%) than males (7%), and among black females (21%) than white females (12%).
- Participation in all types of physical activity declines strikingly as age or grade in school increases.
- Only 19 percent of all high school students are physically active for 20 minutes or more, five days a week, in physical education classes.
- Daily enrollment in physical education classes dropped from 42 percent to 25 percent among high school students between 1991 and 1995.
Suggestions for community involvement in teen physical fitness are included.
The National Center for Culturally Responsive Educational Systems, NCCRESt, invites K–12 students to submit artworks in a variety of media to its 2007 art contest. The theme for artworks is “a school where everyone is included, valued, appreciated.” The grand prize is $300 and a trip for two to Washington, D.C., to participate in the NCCRESt National Forum on Disproportionality in Education, February 7–9, 2007. The submission deadline is October 31.
The Center on Education Policy has published a comprehensive report on American public education, “A Public Education Primer: Basic (and Sometimes Surprising) Facts about the U.S. Education System.” The report is meant to give an overall snapshot of the nation’s public schools, so it relies on national averages to answer these questions: 1) Where are the students? 2) Who are the students? 3) Who controls public education? 4) How are public schools funded? 5) How well are students achieving? 6) What is the public school teaching force like? And 7) What other services do public schools provide?
National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Using Music to Teach Mathematics Grants are available for the incorporation of music into the elementary school classroom to help young students learn mathematics. Maximum Award: $3,000. Eligibility: current NCTM members or those who teach in a school with a current K–8 NCTM school membership and currently teach mathematics or collaborate with teachers of mathematics in grades K–2. Deadline: November 3, 2006.

AIT Products & Services

Check out our online catalog for special, bestsellers, new products, and purchasing information. While there, you can also download a .pdf version of AIT’s 2006 product catalog. Here’s a sampling of just a few products that are available…

Art Workshops, conducted by Bakersfield Museum of Art instructor Brent Eviston, can be used with students in grades three through seven. It provides students with practical instruction in the dynamics of drawing animals, people, three-dimensional objects, and landscapes, while they learn about proportion, perspective, and color theory. The skills they learn during the process will stay with them for a lifetime.
One Fine Day, A Radio Play (Heroes Read). Sixteen minutes; language arts for grades 3–7. Author Elizabeth Van Steenwyck opens the program with a discussion of her interest in the radio-play format. She discusses the value of reading aloud and her memories of listening to radio plays as a child. The play is performed by sixth-grade students from Bakersfield, CA. One Fine Day recounts the events of a blustery morning, December 17, 1903, in Kitty Hawk, NC, with Orville and Wilbur Wright.
Northward to Freedom. One 10-minute program for grades 5–10 plus teacher’s guide. A docudrama highlighting New York branches of the Underground Railroad through moving narratives and re-enactments underscored by stirring slave spirituals. This program supports a document-based questioning (DBQ) approach to introduce historical concepts through primary source materials. Appropriate for U.S. History classes on pre-Civil War America and courses in African-American studies.
Antarctica: 90 degrees South. This series includes five 10-minute video programs for grades 5–9, an online teacher’s guide, and a Web site. Video clip preview available online. Titles include: “Welcome to Antarctica,” “Antarctica Under Construction,” “Winter? Summer? How Can You Tell?,” “I Thought Penguins Could Fly,” and “Do I Need a Passport?” VHS or DVD.
Civics at Work. Uses contextual learning that teaches much more than how government works and our roles as citizens — it demonstrates how intimately we are involved in the processes of our democracy. The functions and needs of governing are not mere abstract principles; in myriad ways, government is how we all interconnect. The relationship between government and individuals is not one of hierarchy — citizens shape and reflect our governrmental system. Five 15-minute programs for grades 10–12, teacher’s guide, corresponding Resources.

* Before you sign off here, be sure to check out the AIT Resources for Teachers & Students section of our main Web site. It provides linked resources for educators who use our products.

Read previous issues of the TECHNOS e-Zine.

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