Video from Handheld Learning 2009

My talk, "Create It in Your Hand, Share it with the World," from Handheld Learning 2009 is online in video form! This is the presentation where I talk about the importance of creating and sharing, focusing on iPod touch and three types of products: comics, animations, and audio podcasts.

For links and a transcript of the presentation, read my previous blog post. For more video from Handheld Learning 2009, go to Handheld Learning's channel on Blip.tv or subscribe via iTunes.

Upcoming on Ustream: Podcast Picks

Please join me on Wednesday, September 30th for Podcast Picks! This free online workshop is in partnership with SIGML and will be similar to Picks from the App Store recorded live in April. Here's the description:

So many podcasts, so little time! With tens of thousands of podcasts and millions of episodes it can be hard to find the very best ones for teaching and learning. Tony Vincent shares some of his favorite podcasts on Wednesday, September 30th at 3PM Pacific/6PM Eastern on Ustream.tv. Tony will present his podcast picks for teachers and students for part of the hour. The other part of the hour is reserved for participants to share their own picks and to ask questions. You can participate by calling in your picks via Skype. This is also a great time to promote your own educational podcast or your class’ podcast. View the live workshop and join the chat room at ustream.tv/channel/tony-vincent.

Before the beginning of the workshop, sign up for a free Ustream account so that you can pick out a username for the chat. To create a new account, simply click Sign Up, which is located in the top-left of each Ustream.tv page.

Participants are encouraged to have microphones and Skype ready so they can talk about their own podcast picks and so they can ask questions. While the workshop will be recorded and archived, I really hope you can join us live.

Professional Development: Teachers & Students Learn Together

As you know, I'm in the business of helping students learn. Most times that means training teachers in workshops. While I think workshops are valuable and necessary, I'd like to tell you about how nearly a dozen teachers in Fort Smith, Arkansas learned about integrating handhelds into their classrooms.

Tilles Elementary School was the lucky recipient of a grant to purchase Palm TX handhelds for each of their fourth, fifth, and sixth graders. I had worked with students and teachers in Fort Smith's school district before and they were kind enough to invite me back. George Lieux, Fort Smith Public Schools' Technology Academy Specialist and I worked on a plan to train teachers and students. Instead of teachers getting a subs and spending a day in a room with me, we did something different. Teachers and students learned at the same time! The first day involved other handheld-using instructors and seven 35-minute rotation sessions. Each class rotated to each instructor with their teacher to learn about care, operation, software, and rationale for their brand new Palm TX handhelds. My rotation period was all about MathAce. Others were about using keyboards, Graffiti, Memos, and beaming. All of this was preceded by an opening assembly I gave to all students to psyche them up about handheld computing (as if they needed to be any more excited).

George developed a schedule with 7 rotation sessions to orient teachers and students to the Palm TX.

The second and third days in the school expanded upon the first day's orientation with real curriculum-based activities. I did 45 minute lessons for math and language arts in each of the grades (10 different lessons in all). Teachers had subs and were able to join all of the classes I conducted. So, instead of me talking, demonstrating, or simulating lessons with teachers in a workshop, they saw it in action with Tilles' students. During their hour-long debriefing, teachers said they really liked this approach. Not only did they learn the technology, they saw it clearly integrated and they picked up essential classroom management techniques. Moreover, it was fulfilling for me. My strength is teaching kids and I enjoyed every second of it.

I did short write-ups of the ten lessons I conducted at Tilles. Additionally, you can read about the project in the short article Education Students Assist in Tilles Schools Project published in the UA Fort Smith News.

Currently I'm in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands working with two schools to integrate handheld computers. I'm taking the same approach as in Fort Smith: teaching students directly. It's great because I get to coach teachers, empower students, and continue to put into practice all that stuff I say about education and technology. And, it's so much fun!