Greetings Educators,

I am pleased to be writing this issue’s column from Dubai where MSU has opened a new campus in Dubai International Academic City. Dubai has clearly become a cosmopolitan international center for commerce, education, and tourism and is also the construction capital of the world with over 25% of all the world’s cranes (in 2006 the number was over 30,000).

The new MSU Dubai campus is on a good day about a 20 minute drive from the center of the city. For a better idea of where it’s located in relation to the city of Dubai just use Google Earth and Fly To Dubai International Academic City.

As I travel throughout this region I’ve learned that Dubai is a bit warm, particularly during the summer months. Although the official weather report on Weather.com said today’s high was 38° C, while I was stuck in a traffic jam today in Sharjah it was 52° C (125° F) with roughly 50% humidity.

Now back to the topics of education and technology. I’m often accused of being a bit longwinded so I’ll do my best to focus here. From my notes taken during a meeting held at the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai (http://www.khda.gov.ae/En/Home/Default.aspx) there are approximately 182,000 students in Dubai with 149,000 in private education and 33,000 in public education. The number of schools, however, is approximately 82 public and 140 private.

The MSU Educational Technology Certificate Program and Master of Arts are on the ground floor with MSU in Dubai and we expect our first certificate classes to begin in October. As in Michigan an important element of our program (and one key to our success) is outreach. As most readers know we offer our classes in local schools where teachers learn in their own environment, with their peers, using equipment they have readily available in their classrooms. In Dubai it’s no different than in Michigan; teachers are pressed for time and change is often difficult. But again, as in Michigan, teachers are highly motivated when learning how to use and teach with technology in their classrooms. The challenge is to infuse technology into their practice of teaching and classrooms so that it’s seamless and invisible, integrated but not imposed.

Over the past two weeks I’ve met with key stakeholders in the Dubai education market; private school network owners, school superintendents, teachers, administrators in the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, and leaders in the Ministry of Education. The one element they all have in common is a strong interest in transforming schools and curricula to meet the demands of the 21^st century. Classrooms I’ve visited have been amazing and technology integration is clearly present. The challenge is now to infuse the technology rather than just use the technology.

Lastly, I want to introduce Myra Khattab who is our newest colleague and Outreach Coordinator for the Certificate program in Dubai. I met Myra on my last trip to Dubai. She is a graduate of our Ed Tech Masters program in Plymouth, England and agreed to lend us a hand with a professional development workshop we were offering teachers. It must have been karma as Myra’s background as a teacher, an MSU graduate, and her skills in educational technology were just what we needed to assure our program success in Dubai. Myra is also fluent in three languages with Arabic being her first language, French second, and English third. She’s a talented, energetic, and motivated individual and I invite you to read more about her in the Instructor Spotlight later in the newsletter.

For our new readers in Dubai and the U.A.E., we look forward to working with you and learning from you. Welcome & Ahlan wa Sahlan !!

Best Regards,

Joe Codde
Professor and Director
Educational Technology Certificate Program

As Outreach Coordinator of the Educational Technology Certificate program I generally spend my days setting up new site locations throughout the State of Michigan, promoting our program to teachers throughout the world, attending conferences and developing promotional materials, updating the curriculum in our face to face and online classes, writing the articles for this quarterly newsletter, maintaining our program website and working on projects that take me to places like Dubai, UAE and Algeria.

As if all of that wasn’t enough, this summer provided me with a new opportunity to teach for our program in Plymouth, England.  This program is offered in an accelerated format allowing participants to take 3 courses, 9 graduate credits each summer as well as one online course during the second year in the program.  They complete the Master’s in Educational Technology within three years.  During the summer program most participants live on the campus of the University of Plymouth, which creates a close-knit and supportive atmosphere throughout the program. In addition, program participants come from all over the world making the interactions even more enriching.

Prior to leaving I didn’t know what to expect.  Spending 4 weeks in another country sounded exciting but it  was also a little intimidating for me to be gone that long.  After the first week I soon learned that although 4 weeks is a large chunk of time, it was going to fly by before I knew it.   The discussions of technology use in education, sharing new ideas, making new friends, and exploring a new country gave me the best learning experience I have ever had.

The students in my Certificate classes amazed me with their dedication, persistence and insatiable desire to learn new things.  Several students came in with only a very basic level of technology skills and they impressed me with their tenacity to keep up with the hectic schedule that an accelerated program demands.

But it wasn’t just all work and studying.  Students and instructors alike found time to relax and take in a bit of the English culture.  I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Jean-Pierre, our on-site manager for student life.  He arranged several activities, dinners, and other social events throughout the four weeks.  As he said several times throughout the program, he is dedicated to providing “royal service with a French touch”.

The combination of the variety of backgrounds and experiences of the participants, the amount of knowledge in the area of educational technology being shared, as well as the social and cultural opportunities made this an incredible learning experience.  I feel especially lucky to have been provided this wonderful opportunity and to have made some great connections with teachers from all around the world.

If you would like to learn more about this program you can visit our website at http://edutech.msu.edu/overseas.html.

– Carrie Albin, Outreach Coordinator and Editor

Registration for the 25th Annual College of Education Technology Conference is now open. It will be held on Saturday, September 27th, 2008. Mark your calendars for a day filled with sessions with practioners using technology in their classrooms and hands-on workshops to learn new technology skills to take back to your own classroom.

The price for the morning is $7 for students, interns and alumni and $21 for all others. The afternoon workshops are $9 for students, interns and alumni and $25 for all others.

Our keynote address, titled “Geek Your Teaching” will be given by Marilyn Western, the 2008 MACUL Technology Teacher of the Year. Marilyn works at McGuire Elementary School in Mt. Pleasant Public Schools and has her own website Technology Tips for Classroom Teachers at www.edzone.net/~mwestern.

For more information, please visit the Technology Conference website.

http://ott.educ.msu.edu/ctt/techconf/default.asp

Center for Teaching and Technology
133 Erickson Hall
Phone 517-432-4329
ctt@cimsu.org

Technology Interns in Education
133 Erickson Hall
517-355-TIES(8437)
ties@msu.edu

This summer I had the opportunity to spend 4 weeks in Plymouth, England teaching the first three courses of the Educational Technology program.  You can read more about the Plymouth, England program under the Certificate News category.  As part of my experience teaching this summer I had the opportunity to meet 15 incredible educators that are teaching in schools all across the world.  This interaction provided me with so many great new ideas and technologies that are available for teachers to use.  One of those ideas, Cameras Interactive, was presented to the class in one of our Sharing Tech Tips, News and How To’s session by Jon Bennett.

According to the website,

“Cameras Interactive aims to help novice photographers grasp the main concepts of SLR photography.

The Flash-based Virtual Camera gives users hands-on experience operating a Single Lens Reflex (SLR) camera. Four tutorials explain focusing, aperture, shutter speed and exposure.”

When you go to www.camerasinteractive.com you will click on the Virtual Camera link. This will pop up a new window that has a camera lens and shutter speed dial.  You can walk through each of the four tutorials and test out what you have learned through the demos.  At the end of the four tutorials you can try out all of the skills you have learned on sample photos.  You will learn about focus, aperture, shutter speed, and exposure.

This is a great tool to teach students (as well as yourself) how to take great photos.  Best of all you don’t need a camera for every student.  They can try out taking photos virtually instead.

-Carrie Albin, Outreach Coordinator and Editor

Legislators to View, Participate In Technology

Exhibits at AT&T/MACUL Student Technology Showcase November 12

***

Event is ‘visual report card’ on success of technology in education

WHO: Students from elementary, middle and high schools throughout Michigan…

WHAT: will gather to participate in the eighth annual AT&T/MACUL Student Technology Showcase and demonstrate to Michigan state legislators the wide variety of school projects showing how technology is helping them learn…

WHERE: in the north, south and west wings of the first floor, State Capitol Building, in Lansing…

WHEN: on Wednesday, November 12, 2008.

Three showcase sessions with totally different schools at each session are scheduled as follows:

• First Session- 9:30 to 11:00 a.m.
  Opening ceremony will begin at 9:15 a.m. in the rotunda, first floor.  Set up will begin at 8:30 a.m.

• Second Session – 11:30 to 1 p.m.
  Set up will begin at 11:00 a.m.

• Third Session – 1:30 to 3 p.m.

Set up will begin at 1:00 p.m.

The annual event was designed to keep legislators apprised of how technology is being used by schools to enhance the education process and help youths successfully transition from the classroom to a career.

Student demonstrations will feature a wide variety of projects.  Examples of displays from previous years can be found at www.macul.org.

School teams may register at www.macul.org

CONTACT: Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) www.macul.org

Web Sites Worth Visiting

Website	Description and Educational Applications
http://icue.com	iCue is a free collaborative learning environment which includes hundreds of current and historic videos from NBC News, fun games and activities, and discussion forums.(Submitted by Lawrence Bruce, Master’s student)
http://weebly.com	Weebly – Create a free website or blog in minutes by using a simple drag and drop interface. No ads. One of Time’s 50 best websites of the year. (Submitted by Megan, Master’s student)
http://wetpaint.com	Wetpaint lets you build a rich, online community around the whatever-it-is that you’re really into. Utilizing the best features of wikis, blogs, forums and social networks, Wetpaint mixes everything you need so you can create, collect, and organize content on your own social website.
http://thinkfinity.com	Thinkfinity is the cornerstone of Verizon Foundation’s literacy, education and technology initiatives. Our goal is to improve student achievement in traditional classroom settings and beyond by providing high-quality content and extensive professional development training. This free, comprehensive digital learning platform is built upon the merger of two acclaimed programs Verizon MarcoPolo and the Thinkfinity Literacy Network. (Submitted by Certificate student Linda Pike)
http://free-reading.net	FreeReading is an open-source instructional program that helps educators teach early literacy. FreeReading contains a 40-week scope and sequence that can supplement an early literacy core or basal program.

Our courses are taught by an outstanding team of MSU adjunct faculty, many of whom are:

• K-12 classroom teachers themselves who have experience using educational technology in the classroom
• Graduates from our certificate program
• Exceptionally skilled in educational technology
• Winners of awards such as technology Teacher of the Year from the Michigan Association of Computer-Related Technology Users in Learning (MACUL) and the national award of the International Society for Technology in Education

This quarter’s instructor spotlight is . . .

Myra Khattab, Outreach Coordinator for the MSU Educational Technology Certificate Program – Dubai

Myra Khattab began her career in 1993 as a Physics, Chemistry, and Integrated Science teacher at the Lebanese American School and College Elite in Beirut, Lebanon.  As a Tech-Integration Specialist at Cairo American College, she coached high school faculty and staff in infusing technology into their curriculum. She then worked at Dubai American Academy as an IT instructor teaching Filming, Web Design, XHTML, Digital Photography and Flash Animation.

As a member of several science and technology committees, she gained extensive leadership and administrative experience in developing curricula and professional development opportunities for teachers and administrators using an eclectic learning approach, sharing expertise through collaboration and innovating through pedagogical research and classroom best practices.

She obtained a B.S. in Chemistry from Lebanese American University, her Teaching Credential for Secondary Science Education from American University in Science & Technology and a Master’s degree in Educational Technology from Michigan State University.

In 2008, Myra has joined the MSU-Dubai team to coordinate the Educational Technology Certificate Program. She is currently working closely with her department, local authorities and principals providing support and vision to schools on transforming the teaching & learning process through the effective use of cutting edge technologies.

Question: When I am presenting information from a website to my students I often have to write down the web address of the page that I’m going to in Word so that I can enlarge it on my screen for the students to see.  If I just go to the webpage, the address is so small that students generally can’t see it.  Do you have any ideas on how to address this?

Answer: One of our instructors, Sue Wright, recently showed us a new tool that she uses in her classroom and in our Ed Tech classes.  It is called ZoomIt and it is free to download and use.  I had the opportunity to use the tool while teaching in Plymouth, England this summer and found it very useful.  It remedies the issue of not being able to see the web address by allowing the presenter to zoom in to that particular part of the page.

In addition, it allows you to draw on the page to highlight a particular area that you want your students to view.  The pen width and color is customizable and can be used with or without the Zoom feature.

Lastly, it includes a Break Timer that will blank out your screen.  So if you are doing a presentation and part way through you want the students to get into groups or take a break you can set the timer for the appropriate number of minutes and have that displayed on your screen.

After downloading the program, it is important to read the ZoomIt options screen to learn how to utilize the program.  It runs unobtrusively in the tray and activates with customizable hotkeys.  Once you set these hotkeys it is very easy to zoom in to any area on the screen.

The program is currently only available for Windows.  Both Mac and Windows operating systems have a built in function that you can use but this 3rd party application adds a bit more functionality and is easier to use.

You can learn more about the program as well as download it from the publisher’s website at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897434.aspx.  Please note that doing a search in Google for Zoom It may pull up applications/scripts that are different from this particular one, so read carefully before downloading.