InfoSource Learning recently announced that all school districts, state departments and educational organizations can receive the SimpleAssessment for Student Technology Proficiency free of charge for all students.
What started as a promotion at this year's National Educational Computer Conference (NECC) has blossomed into a nation-wide campaign to raise awareness of students' technology proficiency. This campaign also stems from the goal to assess 25 million students during the 2008-2009 school year as a means of celebrating the Company's 25th anniversary.
In addition, as many districts struggle with budget cuts, it is becoming increasingly harder for many states and schools to properly assess their students. "It is extremely important for all schools to measure and improve their students' use of technology," commented Michael Werner, a veteran technology consultant and CEO of InfoSource Learning. "In fact, we believe it is so important that we want to make our assessment available to all states and school districts free of charge - for all of their students."
The SimpleAssessment, which originally retailed for $10 per student, was created to meet the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act which stipulates that all students must be technologically literate by the time the student finishes the eighth grade. School districts across the country have been struggling to find an efficient way to assess the technology literacy of their students. The SimpleAssessment takes the hassle out of assessment and is mapped to the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS) for Students.
To receive the assessment free of charge, contact Fletcher Rosenbaum at 800-393-4636 ext. 204 or sign up on the SimpleAssessment website. To ensure that your school's testing site is set up in time to begin assessment in the fall, please sign up as soon as possible.
Congratulations to National Education Computing Conference (NECC) presenters and attendees
Did you present a session or attend NECC in San Antonio this year? If you presented a session, please send e-mail to emints-info@emints.org and let us know so that we can recognize you. If you attended an especially interesting session, share your thoughts or online resources that you found.
Lori Mathys, fourth grade eMINTS teacher from Rockwood, MO, presented a Model Classroom session at NECC with Monica Beglau. The Model Classroom format was new at NECC 2007 and features attendees taking the part of "students" while the teacher (Lori) teaches and the commentator (Monica) tells what is happening to the audience sitting on risers around classroom. More than 100 participants attended the eMINTS Model Classroom session including Janice Edgar, eMINTS/METS teacher from Montgomery Co, MO who was also a "student" in the classroom. See the WebQuest on which Lori based her session ....
Other eMINTS-affiliated presenters spotted in the program included Cindy Matzat, certified eMINTS Specialist from Branson, MO, presented a session on Web 2.0 Tools and her son, Corey, participated in a Student Showcase on Web 2.0. Kerry Welch, eMINTS teacher from Republic, MO, presented a session on Inspiration/Kidspiration. Diana Dell, certified eMINTS Specialist and eMINTS teacher from the St. Louis area presented a session on online learning tools. Janice Friesen, former eMINTS specialist now with the Eanes District in Texas, presented a session on digital literacy in the elementary classroom.
Welcome new eMINTS staff members
We are pleased to welcome two new staff members to the eMINTS National Center. Carla Chaffin from the Wright City School District, joins us as an eMINTS instructional specialist serving the south central portion of the state. Debbie Perkins from the Marshall School District, joins us as an eIS serving the west side of Missouri. Cara Wylie, current eMINTS staff member was promoted to Area Instructional Specialist recently as well. Cara will supervise eMINTS staff members, deliver the PD4ETS program and assist in administering eMINTS programs on the east side of Missouri.
Congratulations Dan Tripp
Dan is the runner up to the SMART Technologies video commercial contest. He is an eMINTS/METS teacher in the Ritenour School District who teaches 6th grade science at Hoech Middle School.
Dan's video will be shared at the NECC conference in San Antonio, and SMART Technologies will use it for advertising. Dan named the eMINTS program in the bio he wrote for his project.
Congratulations to Cindy Lane, first Missouri educator selected for Google Teacher Academy
Congratulations to Cindy Lane, certified eMINTS instructional specialist from the Lindbergh School District in Missouri. Cindy will join 49 other innovative educators selected from around the world (thousands of applications were received) to get hands-on experience with Google's free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues, and immerse themselves in an innovative corporate environment. Upon completion, Academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K-12 educators in their local regions.
Calling all veteran eMINTS and eMINTS4All teachers in all states
If you have already completed the attendance requirements (attending 80% of sessions over 2 years) for the eMINTS Comprehensive or eMINTS4All program and were trained by an eMINTS staff member or certified eMINTS instructional specialist who graduated from the PD4ETS program, you may be eligible to submit an electronic portfolio for evaluation toward becoming a certified eMINTS teacher.
Watch for details over the next several months. In the meantime, dust off your classroom website and make sure it is up to date. Look through your WebQuests (original only please) and choose your best - make sure all the links work. Think about all of the inquiry-based lesson plans you have taught and select your favorite. If the lesson plan is not already in the eMINTS Constructivist Lesson Plan format, check out the downloadable Word version and put your lesson plan into that format.
Spend some time this summer preparing your portfolio items for submission in the 2008-2009 school year. There will be a one-time offer for a no-cost portfolio evaluation. Details are being developed now.
Over the summer months, eMINTS staff will be removing their old "cluster" websites in favor of newer Moodle spaces where teachers in professional development can learn about session dates and other information important for those who are in professional development programs. Since many classroom websites are linked from the current "cluster" websites, the eMINTS National Center wants to provide a place for those website links that is more accessible to everyone in all of our states (and countries).
If you are interested in having your classroom website linked from the eMINTS National Center site, simply submit your classroom website link for posting. eMINTS teachers from all over the U.S. (and soon from Australia) are invited to participate. Watch the eMINTS website for announcements of newly organized listings of classroom websites by grade level and subject area.
Information for teachers who wish to submit links to their classroom websites so they can be linked from eMINTS National Center website -- and instructions for submitting a short online form -- are available from the main menu link to Resources ....
eThemes published biweekly through summer
The eThemes service will publish new and updated eThemes on a biweekly basis through the summer beginning in June. Submit your requests for new eThemes as usual and receive them within the usual timeframe.
Congratulations to Missouri Title II.D competitive grant and METS (Mathematics, Engineering, Technology and Science) school grant program awardees
DESE has announced the FY09 awardees for both the Title II.D and METS School Grant programs. Competition for both programs was strong.
Several teachers have inquired about the availability of Moodle space for use with their classrooms. Moodle is an application that must be hosted on a server and administered by someone with background knowledge in Moodle. Several resources are available for teachers who are interested in obtaining a free Moodle space to experiment with the program for possible use with students or to set up actual Moodle spaces to use with their students.
Missouri teachers only
Contact the Missouri Virtual School sponsored by Missouri State University. For more information, send e-mail to Jim Tice, K-12 Liaison.
SqoolTools - for any teacher in U.S. and Australia
SqoolTools is a virtual learning environment, built on Moodle open source software, that allows K-12 teachers to create interactive websites to either support classroom instruction or to deliver instruction completely online. Teachers are invited to create a free account and request a free classroom. Once your classroom has been approved, you will gain access to support materials including user manuals, videos and discussion forums.
Missouri State Teachers Association (MSTA) article authors needed
Become a published author. Share your experiences and suggestions with other Missouri educators through the regular 'technology' column with focus on educational strategies and technologies for Missouri educators in K-12 classrooms. You will receive support from eMINTS Communications specialist as you write and refine your article. If interested, send e -mail to emints-info@emints.org with your name, district, grade/subject taught and article you are interested in writing. Articles should be 800-1,000 words in length. MSTA membership is required for author and required for any teacher named or quoted in article (unaffiliated is OK).
Topics and deadlines
Mashups
Deadline March 15, 2009
What are they? Where do you find existing mashups; how can you use them in the classroom? How can you create your own, without programming - information from different sources mashed together into a whole new web application?
RSS feeds from eMINTS
Now you can use an RSS reader to receive notifications of eMINTS news and updates. Simply download an RSS reader (aggregator), then click the orange RSS icon on this page and subscribe to the eMINTS news feed.
Subscribe to eMINTS podcasts by clicking on the RSS icon for Pigs DO Fly, the eMINTS podcast feed.
Send any awards, honors, special achievements that your school, eMINTS classrooms, teachers or students receive this year to emints-into@emints.org so we can celebrate by announcing your accomplishments to the eMINTS discussion list. Be sure to include as much information as possible so that the special announcement can be complete and correct.
