You can’t always get what you want…

to quote the Rolling Stones, but sometimes, you get what you need. That’s coming true these past few weeks for me. In a lot of projects, I’ve been on what I thought was the right track, only to find out it wasn’t, and it’s steered me in a better direction. I am currently trying to develop a project where two (or more) classes of deaf students can videoconference through their SMART Boards. Sounds simple, right? I thought so too, but I am finding it more complicated that I originally thought. I could go the total videoconference route and use a Polycom system or something like that, but my idea was to make this an system that any class, deaf or hearing, flush with money or not so flush could do. Also, since my project is based around deaf students, I’ve been trying to find a program that is pretty speedy with the frames per second – ASL doesn’t work if it’s all choppy. I’m currently evaluating Skype and iChat as possible solutions, but security is of concern as well; I want to be sure the students are only conversing with other students and we are not opening up our school to anyone who would compromise their online security. So, that’s my project in a nutshell. Any suggestions, please feel free to share.

May I Be Excused?

I know that’s not going to cut it, but that’s the way I have been feeling these past few days. I am in my very last jam-packed semester of grad school and it’s slowly driving me mad. Not the content, or my professors (well, there might be 1…) but it’s just the sheer volume of work + life. Anyone who is thinking of putting off grad school to have a family, take Nike’s advice and just do it – do it now! I try to tell myself that all the hard work makes me appreciate what I am doing more, but in reality, it’s causing me to become a raving lunatic most days. So, be like the ants, work while the sun shines and enjoy your family and your career when all of that is behind you. There -DONE.

On a tech not, I’ve been trying to come up with a teacher training tool that can be used at the school I am consulting for even when I am not around. So, I’ve come up with creating video/screen casts to accomplish the task. I KNOW what I want to do, HOW I want it to look and sounds, but I’ve (here comes the embarrassing admission of the day) I’ve never made one! Not a podcast, nothing more than a goofy 15 second clip with my digital camera. So – suggestions?

I am also looking for a captioning tool so that deaf teachers will still be able to use the training modules. Thanks!

TODAY’S LESSON: Don’t put off ’till tomorrow what you could do today – or should have done yesterday.

Welcome All

Feeling Tech-ish was my idea at a clever pun, but what I think is clever might be construed by others as downright goofy. But, here we are anyway. What’s in a name – didn’t Shakespeare say that?

My new blog here is a window into my journey to becoming an Ed-Tech teacher. I’ve taken the long way and seen a lot of great things. Currently, I am in my last semester of grad school and working part time as a technology consultant. In my role as a T.C., I am getting a good feel for what will be asked of me post-grad. My main project this month is comparing web management systems, specifically eChalk and FirstClass. SchoolCenter is the current provider for my school and they are um, not pleased with them. Yeah, that’s how I’ll phrase it. I am not a big fan of SchoolCenter myself, because I feel there interface is slow and requires too many steps. I shouldn’t have to click “Done” and “OK” to exit a step! That’s one click too many! So, I’m on the hunt for something better. If you have any suggestions or strong feelings about the subject, email me.

I’m also trying to decide what areas of Ed Tech intrigue me the most. I figure I should have a specialty, or at least a focus instead of trying to absorb everything that comes my way I tend to gravitate to SMARTBoard related projects (SMARTBoards & Student Engagement, developing lessons, and now videoconferencing), so that is one area – now to identify the other. This is sort of like self-analysis; what am I really all about?

Stay tuned…