CDW-G and Discovery Education — the 2009 Wireless Lab Sweepstakes 2009 looks to be a very good year for winners of the seventh annual CDW-G and Discovery Education “Win a Wireless Lab” Sweepstakes. It offers K12 schools the chance to win a complete 21st Century Classroom. Each lab includes 20 laptop computers, a software grant from Discovery Education, interactive whiteboards, digital cameras, and professional development. “The Win a Wireless Lab Sweepstakes helps ensure students are using technology in a way that helps them learn and share with their peers, the skills that are crucial in the 21st Century workforce,” says Bob Kirby, senior director, K12 education for CDW-G.
"Discovery Education, together with CDW-G are proud to have positively changed how educators teach and students learn—impacting thousands of children across the country. The partnership between CDW-G and Discovery Education is about empowering teachers and students, through education technology, to improve academic achievement," says Mary Rollins, Discovery Education’s director of sponsorships.
Since 2003, Win a Wireless Lab has provided more than $850,000 to 18 communities across the country. Five new grand prizewinners and 20 runner-up schools will be added for 2009.
“We have the privilege of visiting the winning schools each year. We’re greeted with enthusiasm, not only from students, but from teachers who realize that one of the best ways to reach students is by using the very tools that are so ingrained in their daily lives. The Win a Wireless Lab prizes represent some ways to present the curricula that is critical to students’ future success. It is truly inspiring to watch this unfold each time we visit a winning school,” says Kirby.
The sweepstakes, which began on January 2, 2009, will accept entries until May 1, 2009. CDW-G and Discovery Education encourage public and private school teachers, administrators and school and district technology specialists to enter by filling out an online form at http://www.discoveryeducation.com/cdwg. For each prize drawing, winners will be randomly selected from all eligible entries received.
Here’s the prize-award breakdown:
Each of the five grand-prize winners will receive a 21st-century classroom valued at approximately $45,000, including: • Discovery Education digital media grant • 20 notebook or tablet computers from HP, Lenovo or Toshiba • 3 wireless access points from D-Link, Linksys or NETGEAR • 1 Bretford mobile cart • 1 interactive whiteboard from Promethean or PolyVision • 20 Student Response Devices from Promethean or PolyVision • 1 video projector from Epson or NEC Solutions • 1 document camera from AVerMedia • 1 laser printer from Epson or HP • 1 video camcorder from Sony
In addition to the five grand-prize winners, CDW-G and Discovery Education will award: • Ten first prizes of a video projector from Epson or NEC Solutions • Ten second prizes of a notebook computer from Acer or Sony • Five third prizes of a digital camcorder from Canon
Are We There Yet? Each year, I look to CES to see what wild things are being developed for the consumer market—and then try to translate some of it into an education fit. It’s a bit out there, but I like to play What If. It probably has something to do with all those Asimov, Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke reads. I wonder if that crew ever got together to discuss education technology? It’s too late for Asimov and Clarke to attend that meeting, although Gates and Jobs could probably fill in. It’s not too late for my What If list. I’m positive about all—but the last—and some are really close to being there.
What If…
All the walls in a classroom could be interactive…
Ok, well maybe not all the walls, but wouldn’t it be nice to have the same flexibility as the old chalkboards, where kids could work all the walls—interactively though—and do it without teacher help.
What if…
Students with limited keyboarding skills had a voice activated computing device with no keyboard or mouse requirement. And it was designed small enough to make it comfortably portable…and I’m not talking cell phone.
For many, keyboarding slows down the sharing of ideas. This has to be an out-of-the-box-perfect solution—no training and no tech help needed. Maybe there’s a “cone of silence” so learners don’t disturb their classmates, too. There would certainly be two-way conversations—and with group work all would talk with the computing device. If the device were part of everyday clothing, that would help—it’s nanotechnology time.
What if…
All students were equipped with mini, portable, pocket-projectors so they can present anywhere and at anytime. And make those 3D presentations, too—when necessary.
Ok, maybe a classroom set would do. (No backpacks in this dream scenario.) And if students put themselves into 3D historical reenactments there should be rules—the French Revolution could be a bit tricky.
What if…
There were easy to build Individual student-learning plans that assessed early and often, with learning the priority—as opposed to the test and practicing to it. Automate the data, and deliver it without the need of a translator for translation—instantly understood databases.
What if…
The Internet was safe. Get rid of all the negative influences, and make the word “hack” obsolete for technology and not for golf. Security professionals could rethink and retool for new technology contributions. You could have those negative characters spend all their energy in positive ways—if the Internet was safe.
For a guy who used to spend hours installing and setting up equipment and software, stringing wire, and figuring out ways to get tech to work—if only for just one class period—without it crashing—this next bit is difficult for me to admit. While those early-tech challenges were a kick, I now find myself looking for turn it onand it needs to work out-of-the-box solutions. Right now, I actually have what appears to be a useful piece of software to look at—and I’ve been avoiding it. Why? I made the mistake of reading the installation steps—and the only thing you didn’t have to do was stand on one foot and bark like a dog! I’m at the point where—if it doesn’t run out of the blocks—I ask if it’s worth the education time and effort to figure it out—with or without the directions. I think much of this has to do with age—and that hissing sound, I hear often these days, may be the rest of my patience escaping. But having said that, I know educators don’t have the time to figure out the road map and teach kids, too. While my days of figuring out how to get things to work were exciting for me, it certainly wasn’t what others wanted or needed to do. Maybe my oozing a little patience is not all a bad thing. In a classroom today, time closes in as in a Stephen King novel, so wanting it to work—whatever it is—right out of the carton is an education necessity.
VariQuest--Make your own awards. If you're looking for a way to take control of your school or district awards--VariQuest may have a solution for you. They sent me a sample of what their products can create,and I was impressed with the assortment as well as the professional quality. I'm thinking these would make those end of the year award assemblies sparkle, but throughout the year would be great additions to school office, student, student council and teacher awards. Just think of the special days that could be commemorated with just an additional and creative touch--from Marting Luther King Jr. day to career day. Besides being more fun to make your own awards, they can be created spur-of-the-moment--and I'm betting for a lot less. Check the site for a solution that works for your needs. http://www.variquest.com/
Linworth Webinars Back in a Big Way for 2009! Get ready for the Spring 2009 Linworth @ the Forefrontprofessional Webinar series. I asked Publisher Marlene Woo-Lun, Linworth Publishing—what she had planned for this year. In total, Linworth is offering 12 Webinars, with topics that include Redefining Literacy 2.0 and Web 2.0 Tools for Professional Development. These live, 60-minute Web-delivered staff development sessions offer speakers such as David Warlick, Michele Gorman, Carol Simpson, and Kathy Schrock. I watched my last Schrock presentation from the hallway outside a packed room. Get ready to walk away with more useful material than most educators can use in a year. The Spring 2009 series will run from February 10th through April 2nd. “District leaders and educators tell us that Linworth’s Webinar workshops have opened up a new era of professional development for them,” said Marlene Woo-Lun. “Some districts are plugging these sessions into their weekly or monthly staff development calendar. They have found that the online, live format connects attendees in a personal way with leading workshop leaders and other education professionals around the country. Previously, such an exchange was possible only in face-to-face situations.” There’s tiered-pricing if a district gets more than one participant to attend. So the site fee for 20 to 49 attendees is only $129. Check out more by visiting http://www.linworth.com/lmc/?page=new_hot_stuff.
Bill Tudor rides a Harley, and has a great individualized learning plan for students, classes and districts. Bill Tudor's Learning Plans On Demand (LPOD) takes a student or class from where they are to where they need to be--and in the shortest time possible, by using a step by step process. By creating a pretest that is able to backtrack to earlier grade requirements--that may have been missed, an administrator or teacher is able to see exactly what students need to know--put together all the lessons needed--and gage the prior knowledge needed. That's right, LPOD can give you a prior knowledge score on each lesson. That is often the missing, overlooked learning link. Facts can be learned out of sequence, but more complex learning requires knowing stepping stones. You'd need dozens of curriculum notebooks and lessons gathered from all over to even attempt doing this on your own. Having said that, it would take too much time and wouldn't be as good. Oh yes, I had shelves of those notebooks. With LPOD, Educators can quickly, with a few clicks, choose a game plan of lessons specifically designed for improvement and student understanding. The lessons can be printed for students, or e-mailed home in a blink. Great way to do individualized plans for every students--and just imagine the time saved in resource rooms, after school programs, or when assigning tasks to learning aides. The Reports are broken down to School and District headings. That will please district level administrators and local school principals. It's good to know what's being done, and have it in a report. And since parents are kept in the loop by e-mail, I can see this very helpful at a parent conference as well. Could be a great addition to student action plans needed at those IEP meetings, too.
Enrichments students and classes benefit, too.
I asked Tudor about enrichment students and classes, and he said LPOD works the same way -- but instead of remediation through past lessons, you just choose the lessons moving forward. So, individualized plans for students who need them as much--learning doesn't stop--because there's so much more to know.
Winning Video and Interview Responses I interviewed the three winners in the eInstruction Interactive Classroom Makeover Contest, and they answered my questions by video. Each teacher won over $25,000 in technology to transform his/her classroom into their dream classroom! The links (below) will share the three winning videos as well as the video interviews.
Grades K-5 winner:
Mrs. Brett Lanier at Chinquapin Elementary in Chinquapin, North Carolina, United States
School Improvement Network’s PD 360 Version 2.0 has over 200,000 users and 8,000 schools accessing its on-demand Learning Community resources for professional development and teaching strategies. This is an online community approach, where educators can communicate, collaborate, and share files and Web links. It is a 24/7 professional development resource that districts can utilize year-long and each day. The Learning Community allows teachers to share ideas, participate in forums, upload lesson plans and other files, and share Web links. Each subscribing district has a private community for its teachers, and an additional private community for each school. The public community allows all PD 360 users from across the United States and the world to communicate and collaborate best practices. If teachers are interested in an on-demand learning topic, they can use PD 360 to view video segments with real classroom examples from urban, suburban, rural, elementary and secondary schools. Additionally, they can communicate with other educators from around the country. It’s searchable and tracks your viewing history, too. Check out PD 360 for a way to get staff those continuing education units—conveniently—and on an individualized basis. www.pd360.com
TurningPoint's ResponseWare Web from Turning Technologies I talked with Brad Gant, TurningPoint's education division vice president about ResponseWare. It's web-based software that turns any computing device, cell phone or computer into a student response system. If you have laptops on mobile carts, or even a computer lab, the software opens up more possibilities for polling, texting, quizzing, testing and brainstorming. Bottom line: existing computers can function as class responders with this Web-base software.
You've Been Sentence! -- A Success Story I met Don McNeill, Inventor and Chairman of Designs for Brighter Minds at SIIA in NYC. He gave about a 60-second talk that was a much-needed positive note.
McNeill has turned a family dinner idea into a successful board game. That's right, a game of mad libs at a family night out, sparked what has become a extremely successful word-sentence forming game. The idea, according to McNeill was the easiest part. After finding that there was nothing out there like it, McNeill discovered that the rest was a lot more difficult. "After working on the game for about 5 weeks, I discovered it didn't work. And then I figured out the math--the geometry of language to make the game playable," says McNeill.
The key was the pentagon shape--the most important thing, 5 was the key for game words--for example--play, plays, played, playing, and player. Most words would fit the game, even those that could be configured a little over or a little under that number. Additionally McNeill read the dictionary--a lot--to find words that had seven definitions or more. "That allowed for an easy play method, where words could have multiple uses--noun, verb, adjective," says McNeill. "And then we attached a humor value--from 1 - 5 for each of the words." 5 different kinds of cards were developed to form "pack cards", which included conjunctions, famous people from history, and places. And no game would be complete without "Wild Cards" -- thanks goodness -- I'd be looking for those wild cards all the time!
For the prototype, McNeill's daughter designed the pentagon shapes on her computer, and he and his wife cut them out and wrote the words by hand on the edges of over 500 words for play testing--and it worked--the game was ready. The first game release was on 5/5/05. McNeill admits that the directions weren't perfect for that first release, but were modified, with the help of original players, and they took on a more of a "judge and jury" approach.
I asked McNeill how long it took from idea to perfected game. He said that the game will always be a work in progress because card packs are being added regularly. His add-on card decks for the game keep it fresh--the most recent is a Space Add-Ons deck. What in the game's future--McNeill says it's the online version.
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in The Royal Treatment are strictly those of the author and do not reflect the opinions or endorsement of Scholastic, Inc.
CDW-G and Discovery Education — the 2009 Wireless Lab Sweepstakes 
