Washtenaw ISD is providing leadership in several areas related to instructional technology and online learning. This is a joint effort by the Instructional Services and Technology Departments at WISD.
Teachers Build Educational Web Sites With Moodle
Moodle is a free, open source, online 'learning management system'. This tool lets teachers build class sites and interact with students. Using Moodle to put your curriculum online or have online discussions with students qualifies as an 'online learning experience' to meet the Michigan Merit Curriculum requirement. Effective with the graduation class of 2011, students are required to have an online experience of 20 hours before they graduate.
The word Moodle was originally an acronym for Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment. Anyone who uses Moodle is a Moodler.
Why should educators use Moodle?
With this technology, learning can be customized to meet the needs of each student allowing learning to occur "any time, any place, any pace." Using Moodle to begin to deliver some of their instruction online, teachers can provide a range of learning opportunities that meet the needs of students who are gifted, homebound, home-schooled, disabled, detained, at risk of dropping out or have already dropped out. This can promote the personalization of learning for middle and high school students by creating student-centered learning experiences focused on promoting success and achievement for everyone.
The WISD now has a MOODLE server at: http://moodle.wash.k12.mi.us.
Using the WISD as its central access location, we are providing a Moodle server system for districts in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties. Each district can configure their portion of the Moodle server independent of other districts, utilizing their own administrators, users, themes and course offerings.
Moodle Curriculum Administrator Meetings
Local Moodle Curriculum Administrators meet regularly to collaborate and share resources, discuss policies for district Moodle use, provide hands-on demonstrations for course elements, support and troubleshoot problems along with sharing their many successes. They have also been instrumental in providing Moodle training here at the WISD for local teachers.
Each district's Moodle Curriculum Administrator (teacher, media specialist or administrator, etc) has taken the responsibility for:
- creating a plan for launching Moodle in their district
- providing training and support for teachers
- student policies/issues such as user agreements and email, how to get an account, management
- course requests from teachers
- uploading students or creating a system for doing so
Here are some websites for additional information:
MOODLE Instructional Information:
http://moodle.org
MOODLE Technical Information:
http://moodle.com
MOODLE manuals and other documentation:
http://docs.moodle.org/
Using Moodle book by Jason Cole, second edition
The second edition of Using Moodle is freely available online to enjoy, share and modify under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 License.
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Using_Moodle_book
Moodle Demonstration Site:
This site is for you to explore some of the features in Moodle 2.0, the most recent stable release. The database and files are erased and restored to a clean state every hour on the hour.
http://demo.moodle.net
Moodle Video Tutorials:
http://www.moodletutorials.org
MI Learning on iTunes U:
http://macul.org/milearning
FREE Moodle courses
MoodleCommons.org
Find free Moodle courses here such as: Moodle Training, Cybersafety, Internet Safety, Digital Photography, Science, etc.
http://moodlecommons.org
21 Things for the 21st Century Educator
This is an online Moodle course periodically offered by the WISD that meets National Technology Standards for Teachers (NETS-T). During this course, educators that want to develop and expand their technology skills will learn how to use a variety of FREE Web 2.0 programs for teaching and learning while creating projects to improve their own efficiency and impact their classroom delivery. Areas include: Digital Storytelling, Blogging, Research, Assessment, Video Resources, Collaboration Tools and much more!
SBCEUs and Graduate Credits are available upon completion of the 66 course hours.
The companion teaching site is at: http://www.21things4teachers.net.
21 Things for the 21st Century Student
This site was created by a grant from the REMC Association of Michigan for the creation of an educational resource for educational technology for students. Members of the REMC Instructional Technology Specialists in Michigan along with teachers from the state, have created this site to provide project-based activities which are aligned to the National Educational Technology Standards for Students (NETS-S), and the Michigan Educational Technology Standards for students (METS) as well as the Framework for 21st Century Learning identified by the Partnership For 21st Century Skills.
21 Things for the 21st Century Administrator
21 Things for Administrators (Principals/School Administrators) - Cohort 1 is a unique self-paced professional development opportunity for administrators desiring to update their educational technology skills to meet the National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A). Cohort 1 begins February 1, 2011 and all work is to be completed by May 15, 2011. This is a totally online and web-based resource at http://www.21things4administrators.net.
Beginning in September 2008, a volume purchase agreement was made with the Michigan Virtual High School for the delivery of online courses. The purpose of this agreement was to establish a mutually beneficial relationship for the sale, delivery, receipt and use of Michigan Virtual School online courses and services between Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) Consortium and its constituent districts. This strategic partnership was established to provide:
- A cost effective volume pricing opportunity to WISD schools
- Enhanced communication and potential partnerships between MVS and WISD and its constituent local school districts
- A mechanism for MVS to assist WISD in the identification of emerging e-learning needs
This agreement covered MVS Flex, semester paced and foreign language; student direct pricing, advanced placement and Mandarin Chinese.
Online Teaching and Learning Training
LearnPort
Developed in partnership with the Michigan Department of Education, Michigan LearnPort provides online professional development for members of the K-12 community with hundreds of relevant courses, many available for SB-CEUs. Nine courses target the challenging concepts of the Michigan Merit Curriculum. The courses and the SB-CEUs are free.
Some courses in Michigan LearnPort are fee-based. More than 100 six-week long, instructor facilitated courses cover a wide range of classroom topics as well as soft skills and personal enrichment topics. New courses are added on a regular basis.
The LearnPort course, Integrating Blended Instruction into your Classroom, is free and taken fully online. It contains three modules, forum participation and one final lesson plan. The course runs for four weeks and upon completion and approval of the instructor, teachers are eligible for a $150 stipend (only if funds are available).
- Go to http://mi.learnport.org
- You need to create an account to login if you don't already have one
- Click on 'courses' from left hand menu
- Click on 'catalog'
- Search on 'blended' to see courses on the list
netTrekker
Access is free through LearnPort.
Online Learning Requirement
The Michigan Department of Education defines online learning as "a structured learning activity that utilizes technology with intranet/internet-based tools and resources as the delivery method for instruction, research, assessment, and communication."
- Michigan is the first state to have an online learning requirement effective with the graduation class of 2011.
- Required to have an online experience of 20 hours sometime between 6 - 12th grade
- Using and incorporating the METS (Michigan Educational Technology Standards) into each of the student's required credits will ensure that this requirement is met.
In order to fulfill the Online Experience requirement by incorporating the 20 hours of online learning experiences, it should be noted that quality online learning experiences have common characteristics and meet Michigan Educational Technology standards. While each experience may not address every characteristic, it is assumed that upon completion of the minimum collective 20 hours of experiences, each of the following characteristics will have been represented: Collaborative experience between students, Life-long Learning Skills, Integrated, Sustainability, Online Ethics and Safety and Teacher Involvement.
Credit may be earned in:
- Online courses (MVU, REMC GenNet, cFWD, Moodle)
- Online learning experiences
- Blended Instruction (combining face to face teaching with online content using Moodle)
Resources
Online Experience Companion Document
Career Forward (cFWD)
Michigan Virtual High School is offering an online course that is free to all Michigan students called Career Forward. It is one option that satisfies the new Michigan Merit Curriculum requirement for an online learning experience.
For more information: http://www.mivhs.org/content.cfm?ID=693
A Moodle version is now available on the WISD Moodle server.
MyDreamExplorer (MDX)
MDX, a robust career exploration and planning website developed by MVU, allows students to get career education information and create Education Development Plans. It provides career information in new and different ways to prepare students for the global world of work. In addition to the CareerForward course, mydreamexplorer (MDX) is available at no cost to Michigan middle and high school students. This opportunity helps schools meet state EDP standards and is available to Michigan schools at no charge due to Michigan state school aid act funding.
Michigan Occupational Information System (MOIS)
http://www.mivhs.org/Default.aspx?tabid=245
http://www.mivhs.org/Careers/MOIS/tabid/385/Default.aspx
The MOIS CD is a comprehensive career development program that assists K-12 students and other users plan a career path that's just right for their interests—and future job markets.
Schools Only
Download the K-12 school license (PDF) agreement for use by middle and high school students. (Note: This license agreement is for the purchase of the MOIS CD only. Your middle and high school students can use the myDreamExplorer.org website at no cost.)
Using Technology for Career Exploration -- Oakland ISD
http://new.oakland.k12.mi.us/tabid/668/Default.aspx
Meet requirements for technology, career, and online learning in a single course. Oakland Schools has created a project called Using Technology in Career Exploration. It is a curricular unit designed to address four requirements:
- The 6th-8th grade 2009 MIchigan Educational Technology Standards (METS)
- The 7th-8th grade Education Development Plan (EDP) requirements
- Educating minors about appropriate online behavior (Promoting Online Safety in Schools)
- Incorporating online learning experiences
Introductory materials and twelve modules comprise the Using Technology in Career Exploration curriculum with lesson plans, performance-based assessment tasks that align with the METS, rubrics, and electronic resources and materials to support the tasks. This has also been added to Moodle as an online course and is available. These lessons have been designed as cross-curricular units. Dissemination is funded through a grant awarded to Oakland Schools from the Michigan Department of Education.
View the Using Technology in Career Exploration online course in Moodle at: http://moodle.oakland.k12.mi.us/os/mod/resource/view.php?id=20894.
Supplemental Career Education Resources
Michigan eLibrary Careers
http://mel.org/SPT--BrowseResources.php?ParentId=425Learning about Careers
http://mel.org/SPT--BrowseResources.php?ParentId=765Exploring Career Preferences
http://mel.org/SPT--BrowseResources.php?ParentId=764Career One Stop
http://www.careeronestop.org/
CareerOneStop is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor.Career One Stop for Students
http://www.careeronestop.org/Audience/Students/Students.aspxExplore Careers at Career One Stop:
http://www.careeronestop.org/ExploreCareers/ExploreCareers.aspx
Michigan schools are required to assess and report the progress of their 8th grade students' achievement of technology literacy each June. Each district's appointed Level 5 MEGS staff member is required to certify the number of eighth grade students assessed and the number of students deemed technologically literate. The REMC Instructional Technology Specialists (RITS) group created a bank of assessment questions which are aligned to the Michigan Educational Technology Standards (METS). School districts have been given permission to use any part and/or edit the assessment items for their own use.
These test questions have been emailed to the technology directors of each REMC 16 district. The questions are also available in quiz format in Moodle on the WISD Moodle server.
Each local district needs to decide how they will determine student technology literacy since the Michigan Department of Education is not requiring a school district to administer any specific type of assessment test for technology literacy skills. They suggest that any of the following can be used to demonstrate technology literacy.
- Knowledge Based Assessments
- Performance Based Assessments
- Portfolio Based Assessments
You will find additional information and specific examples of each one of these types of assessments, at the REMC Toolkit webpages:
8th Grade Technology Integration
http://www.remctoolkit.org/8th+Grade+Technology+Integration
NCLB Technology Literacy Requirements
http://www.remctoolkit.org/NCLB+Technology+Literacy+Requirements
Educational Technology Planning
Here you will find the METS-- Michigan Educational Technology Standards for Grades K-2, Grades 3-5, Grades 6-8, and Grades 9-12 with checklists for each grade level. The 8th Grade Technology Literacy requirement should be embedded within the district or public school academy school improvement and technology plans. For assistance with technology planning, visit the METS website at http://techplan.org
Washtenaw Intermediate School District and Livingston Educational Service Agency have worked closely with the school districts in Washtenaw and Livingston Counties to collaboratively purchase digital online resources. The REMC $AVE Bid Project in 2010, added video streaming to the bid and set the pricing for the next three years for both Discovery Education and Learn 360. This statewide pricing is good until June 2013.
Follett Destiny Online Catalog
In response to requests from our local districts for the Follett Destiny Library Management System, we negotiated a reduced cost through a group purchase. We have now switched over to using this new system.
The instructional curriculum materials that are available here include the Assistive Technology Collection ('Start to Finish' books, software, academic aids, Visually Impaired and Hearing Impaired collections, etc.), the Test collection, and the SPEAK collection of speech materials.
Check the online catalog for complete listings by going to the Washtenaw ISD website at http://www.wash.k12.mi.us/. From the menu, select Services, Teaching & Learning Resources and follow the link to Online Catalog.
We have moved from a walk-in service to a virtual library system. The former media center space renovations have been completed to meet the growing demand for collaborative meeting space.
Michigan eLibrary
In addition, your teachers and students can access all Michigan e-Library (MeL) resources both at school and at home. MeL is the Michigan eLibrary, an anywhere, anytime library for Michigan residents. MeL contains magazine, newspaper and journal articles, books, and evaluated Web sites. MeL can be used by any citizen of the state at no charge 24 hours/day by going to www.mel.org . MeL includes specialized resources such as those in genealogy, health, business, test preparation, careers and education. MeL also contains many general resources that cover all subject areas and has resources specifically for children and older students. MeL also provides eBooks and online courses.
Michigan Online Resources for Educators (MORE)
Find lesson plans and curriculum aids searchable by subject or state standard:
http://more.mel.org
Through REMC 16, Washtenaw County has access to use the online content offered by GenNET managed by Genesee ISD. GenNET purchases content from a number of vendors with the goal of selecting the best content. The decision was made this year to focus on Michigan Virtual High School (MVHS) with the intention to review the GenNET content during the course of the year. A reduction in price is available for this online content when managed through REMC 16.
http://gennetonline.geneseeisd.org
MI Streamnet is a portal to both live and on-demand professional development and legislative videos for Michigan educators. MI Streamnet uses the internet and Apple's Quicktime technology to deliver these video events to the user's computer, free of charge.
MI Streamnet is a collaborative effort with the Michigan REMC Association, Apple, Inc. and MERIT which is designed to provide leadership in the integration of technologies into instruction and service directly to schools so that all Michigan educators and students have access to enriched and enhanced educational experiences. It directly supports the REMC Association in providing constituents with increased anywhere access to live video events and on-demand archived instructional video resources and professional development opportunities.
REMC 16 includes Washtenaw Intermediate School District (WISD) which is located in Ann Arbor, and Livingston ESA (LESA) which is located in Howell.
REMC 16 provides a venue for the county to stay current on the latest statewide initiatives in instructional technology and online learning. Participation in statewide opportunities is matched to the countywide instructional goals and the usage of statewide bids via the REMC $AVE Project is encouraged.
WISD and LESA both operate cooperative programs and deliver services that focus on teaching and learning for students. We secure educational resources and share them equitably. We work with schools, parents, agencies and the community to improve achievement for all students, providing services to assure that all children learn.
Services include an online catalog of instructional curriculum materials containing the assistive technology, test and speech collections; professional development resources and training such as the 21 Things for the 21st Century Educator; teacher workroom; and cooperative purchasing of digital video streaming services.
REMC Toolkit
The REMC Technology Integration Project (TIP) Toolkit is a resource for all school districts who wish to use technology effectively in the classroom. Contained within is information and resources for teachers, administrators, and tech coordinators. Use the REMC Toolkit as a guide as you continue to infuse technology into the curriculum.
Spotlight on:
- MI Online Learning Requirement
- Personnel Skilled in Technology Assessment
- Using YouTube Videos in Education
- Wikis in Education
REMC Association of Michigan
The Regional Educational Media Center Association of Michigan (REMCAM) is an organization committed to providing media and technology resources to Michigan's students and teachers. The website provides information on current initiatives and statewide projects.
These include the $AVE Bid Project, MI Streeamnet, 21Things4Students, Connected Educator Series, Michigan Learns Online Portal, and Streaming Video Project (RSVP).
Coming in Fall 2012: Blended Learning in the Classroom (www.remc.org/blendedlearning)
Website: http://www.remc.org
Downloads: