Are you interested in finding a way to share your students' podcasts or listen to audio books via the web? Looking for more efficient research methods, or wishing you could annotate the web with your own sticky notes? If so, then Assistant Professor Jessica K. Parker has a few recommendations for you in this, our first of the semester Ed Tech Tips Blog post.  Give these tools a try:  

1. Fantashow by Wondershare. Customize your own slideshow from your photos or video, add some text and special effects, and then share on YouTube, Facebook, Moodle, or even DVD. This resource is fast, (relatively) easy, and free (up to a certain point).

2. SoundCloud: Share your sounds (e.g., music, interviews, language, appropriate noises, etc.) on SoundCloud and have access to the largest community of artists, bands, news organizations, podcasters, etc. This site lets you share your podcasts or your students' podcasts, follow your favorite organizations or news agencies, listen to audio books, and find wonderful historical gems. You can search by theme: books, learning, comedy, news, arts, or business. Try adding a SoundCloud audio link or ask students to create a SoundCloud creation to spice up your online modules.
 
3. Diigo: This web-based research tool will transform the way your search and gather information. Diigo allows you make annotations, highlights, and sticky notes for the web. (You can make these annotations private or give access to specific people/groups/classes). This is referred to as social bookmarking: as you read on the web, instead of just bookmarking with your browser's bookmarking tool, you can highlight portions of webpages that are of particular interest to you.

You can also attach sticky notes to specific parts of the pages and then categorize your notes based on theme--this is called tagging. Then your Diigo highlights and sticky notes will remain on the pages; whenever you return to the original webpage your highlights and sticky notes will be there. There is also an educator account too! You can use Diigo on any web browser and even on an iPad.
 
Keep following our blog for upcoming EdTech tips!
Or follow the #EdTech hashtag on our Twitter feed to get more great Educational Technology news and information.

Article by Jessica K. Parker, Assistant Professor

What's one of the best things about living in the digital era? With access to the Internet, we can all be authors! This wasn't always the case. I grew up a consumer and I watched TV and listened to the radio. The only things I created were mixed tapes and video recordings of athletic events. Today, youth grow up as both consumers and producers. Why not capitalize on this by having students create media texts! Here are three powerful tools that students can use to author their own content and demonstrate understanding.

Storybird: Storybird is an online collaborative storytelling tool that gives users the ability to read, create, and share books online using original art and their own writing ideas. Students can make visual stories with artwork from illustrators and animators around the world! Storybird can inspire anyone to turn images into narratives. Want to learn more? Here is a digital handout on Storybird designed by School of Education Master's students, Kristina Beltz and Carol Wise.

Capzles: Curate your own multimedia presentation with images, audio, and video with Capzles! Dr. Carlos Ayala is using Capzles to have his students discuss important historical events in education.

Jing: Use Jing to take free screenshots or make screencasts. Have credential students annotate aspects of student work or images of their classroom walls. Have math students talk through their process of solving a problem by recording their own computer screen. Give directions for homework by annotating the document using Jing. You will need to download the software, and Jing saves all your work to your computer. I attached my own example of an annotated Yoda!

Congratulations to School of Education Assistant Professor Megan Taylor for recently being accepted as a 2013 STaR Fellow! The Service, Teaching and Research (STaR) Project is an induction program for recent doctoral graduates in mathematics education. The program, funded by the National Science Foundation, is a 12-month experience that networks early career mathematics educators (in the first or second year of their first academic appointment). The Program focuses on three themes: research, teaching and service as well as leadership development To be eligible for this program you must have your doctorate in mathematics education and be in your first or second year of tenure track at an institution of higher education in the U.S. As a STaR Fellow, Megan will have the opportunity to attend a week-long Park City Mathematics Institute this summer, get extra support as she continues her research agenda and collaborate with a strong cohort of other mathematics faculty to strengthen her teaching practice.

Megan Taylor is the newest faculty member in the Curriculum Studies and Secondary Education department and the Single Subject Credential Program here at Sonoma State. Her research focuses on secondary mathematics and teacher education. Megan has taught 6th-12th grade for twelve years and believes that in order to improve public mathematics education in the U.S., improvements on teacher education are necessary. Her recent work investigates how mathematics teachers use textbooks and explores ways they can be do it more effectively to improve classroom learning.

The teachers at Mary Collins School in Petaluma are dedicated to teaching as a profession, one which mentors new teachers and fosters professional growth for experienced ones through collaboration, research and study. Each semester the Multiple Subject Credential Program places teacher candidates at Mary Collins to gain valuable clinical experience from their staff of expert mentor teachers and the guidance from School of Education faculty supervisors and gain direct experience working with children in the elementary classroom.

In step with this belief that a continual learning process is key for professional growth, Mary Collins teachers host an annual Symposium on topics related to curriculum, teaching and learning. The Symposium is not just for their own staff but is open to educators in the North Bay community. Motivated by the belief that parents are key partners in student learning, they include a parent night in the Symposium schedule so parents can listen to presentations by the guest speakers and discuss these topics too.

This year will mark the 11th time they have hosted the Annual Mary Collins Symposium, which will take place on Saturday, January 26, 2013 and features presenters Dr. Vivian Vasquez and Dr. Patrick Callahan.

Dr. Callahan will focus on the changed expectations for mathematics instruction with the Common Core Standards, specifically two of the mathematical practices: "Constructing Viable Arguments and Critiquing the Reasoning of Others" and "Reason Abstractly and Concretely" and Dr. Vasquez will focus on critical literacy across the curriculum--specifically: critical literacy and technology-- and place based pedagogy.

Registration is $25 to attend the event, which includes lunch.  Registration is online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/308125

This a wonderful opportunity to network with teachers and educators from all across Sonoma County.

Imagine a classroom where middle school students learn geospatial awareness by taking a virtual tour of the moon, or a lesson where special education kids improve their vocabulary with Garage Band.  These are just a couple examples of projects that will be featured at the Teacher Technology Showcase this Thursday at Sonoma State University.  At the Showcase, twenty four pre-service and recently credentialed teachers will demonstrate lessons that they have created to help build student engagement and support student learning. 

School of Education Assistant Professor Jessica Parker designed the event, which provides beginning teachers the chance to share creative ideas for ways they plan to use new media tools in classroom experiences. Dr. Parker, who teaches educational technology at SSU, notes that the focus of the event is not just on the technological tools the teachers are employing, but also on the content objectives as well; how are they creating a better learning environment for students through technology integration.   At the showcase, presenters will have the opportunity to converse with experienced teachers and administrators from local schools, graduate students and faculty about the lessons they designed. 

Presentations will include examples of lessons built for mobile devices, the use of web based collaboration tools, video screencasts for flipped classrooms, wikis and more. The presenters come from a range of teaching environments and student age groups, from early education, elementary, secondary, educational leadership and special education, and they will provide examples of for kindergarten through senior year of high school and beyond.

This is the second year that the SSU School of Education is hosting the Showcase, which this year has support from Google, KQED and Edutopia. The event will take place on Thursday, November 29, 5:00-7:00 PM in the Student Union Multipurpose Room and is free and open to the community.  (Please note that parking on campus is $2.50).

Can't make it to the event?  Follow us on Twitter for highlights:  @educationSSU #ssuedtech.

As part of Sonoma State University's ongoing effort to improve student learning for all, the School of Education is launching its first Tech Infusion Challenge. The Tech Infusion Challenge is a project sponsored by the CSU Digital Learning Ambassadors Program and the Google Education Division.

School of Education students and a faculty partner are invited to design a lesson in mathematics, science or language arts that infuses technology in teaching based on a lesson the student observed at Sonoma State. The best lesson selected and re-designed will be awarded $600.

• Consider a lesson that you observed at SSU and how it might be improved.
• Invite a faculty member to be a partner in redesigning the lesson.
• Prepare an alternative lesson that infuses technology to help convey subject content and skills. Work collaboratively.
• Four workshops will be offered throughout the semester to assist with your technology planning and implementation.
• Submit your lesson (e.g., *video link, webpage, presentation) with any additional instructional materials that would be used by students (*video no longer than 10 minutes).
• Each submission will be reviewed by a panel of faculty.
• First Prize $600
• Second Prize $400.

Partner teams must REGISTER by SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Only the first 12 qualifying teams will be selected to participate. All team members will receive digital prizes for participating.

Registration and challenge guidelines can be found online at:
http://sonoma.edu/dlc/challenge.html

Submissions are due by Monday, November 26, 2012. Winners will be announced Friday, December 7, 2012. For more information contact Dr. Sandy Ayala, 707-664-2972 or ayalas@sonoma.edu

written by MaryAnn Nickel, Professor

Fifteen graduate students and 56 kids had an exciting two weeks of adventuring with reading and writing at the Summer Academy held on the Roseland Elementary School campus. The Academy ran from July 9th through July 20th. Guest readers shared their favorite books to close each day. Children worked in a small groups with two or three graduate teachers selecting books to read from a wonderful collection of rich multicultural children's literature and authoring an original story or non-fiction piece to be published in the Sonoma State University's Academy 2012's annual Academy Magazine. At the SSU Author's Tea in the fall, students and their families will come to campus to receive their copy of the magazine. For many it is their first time on a college campus.

The Academy is a supervised practicum for Reading certificate and Specialist candidates. Using a Reading and Writing Workshop format, candidates work with students from 2nd to 9th grades under the supervision of and in collaboration with faculty and Specialist candidates. An emphasis is placed on assessing the strengths of readers and writers from all levels and ages with an obligation to inform the students of what they can do well. Informal assessments and planned instruction utilizes learners' strengths in order to address their needs. Candidates participate in professional conferences and write reports in which they summarize and critique assessment findings. Opportunities are available for candidates to work with beginning readers, struggling readers at different levels, English language learners, and successful readers and writers.

Academy Philosophy

Language is learned through its functional use. As our students engage in purposeful literacy experiences they learn language, learn about language, and learn through language (M.A.K. Halliday). Literacy is a dynamic and multidimensional human process that enables individuals to express, communicate, and reflect on their experiences and their potential next steps. Reading and writing involve constructive strategies of communicating, composing, and meaning making.  Language and literacy vary according to regional, historical, social, cultural, political, and economic influences; these and other factors must be interrogated and taken into account when making instructional decisions. Teachers who understand the linguistic, cognitive, socio-cultural, and developmental dimensions of literacy in authentic contexts can better address students' next places to learn and roadblocks in language arts, reading and writing. The course focuses on assessing, planning, teaching and collaborating with fellow graduate candidates to best meet the needs of readers and writers at all levels of skill and ability. The end goal is deep preparation of graduate students who will return to their classrooms and schools and become more successful literacy professionals and educators.

Jennie Snyder, Superintendent of Piner Olivet Union School District has been awarded a Circle of Excellence Award by the School of Education's Educational Leadership faculty. Jennie has served the district as Superintendent for two years. She is an alumna of the CANDEL Ed.D program, a joint doctoral program that Sonoma State offers in collaboration with UC Davis. Dr. Paul Porter, Co-Director of CANDEL describes Jennie as an outstanding educator and thoughtful leader who, since becoming Superintendent has "already begun to change and shape the culture of the district, stressing collaboration, team work, and highest standards."

At a recent visit to her office I had the opportunity to speak with Superintendent Snyder about her work and her experience in the CANDEL program. As a doctoral candidate, she appreciated the time and space for reflection, and the collaboration with a cohort of fellow students with a diverse set of experiences and backgrounds. In her role at Piner-Olivet she sees tremendous challenges ahead, yet is inspired by the opportunity to collaborate with teachers and administrators in an effort to find creative solutions for her schools and community. In the end she believes that each student in her district is entitled to an education that sparks their natural curiosity, builds on their capacity to learn, inspires their imagination and provides opportunities for them to express their ideas to their fullest. Jennie Snyder is receiving the Circle of Excellence Award because she is an accomplished scholar and gifted administrator. She is the kind of child-centered, collaborative, reflective and thoughtful leader that can make those goals come to fruition.

The SSU Educational Leadership Program will host a series of Information Meetings in May for educators interested in earning Administrative Services Credentials, Preliminary and Clear Credentials and Master's Degree in Educational Leadership.

• Sonoma Valley Unified School District
  El Verano Elementary School Library
  18606 Riverside Drive - Sonoma CA, 95476
  Wednesday, May 2, 4:30 p.m.
• Napa Valley Unified School District
  Napa Valley Adult Education, Room #15
  Monday, May 14, 2012, 4:30 p.m.
• Solano County Office of Education
  Wednesday May 16th 4:00 pm

The meetings will provide Information on how SSU's Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and/or Preliminary or Clear Administrative Services Credential Programs will prepares candidates for a position of leadership in K-12 educational settings. Public, private and charter educators welcome. Prospective candidates will receive information on the following topics:

The ASC Preliminary and Clear Credentials and Master's Program

Information about the Administrative Intern Credential

Requirements for admission and how and when to apply

Now accepting applications for Fall, 2012 admission.
Application Deadline: May 30, 2012

For more information visit the Educational Leadership Programs webpage, or contact Dr. Rod Buchignani at buchignr@sonoma.edu or Dr. Viki Montera at montera@sonoma.edu

On April 25, 2012 the School of Education made a public presentation to 2011's Elliott Scholars: Christina Towner, Linsey Gannon, and Chris Berg. The presentation was part of the annual School of Education Recognition and Awards Ceremony. Recipients were selected for their scholarship and success in the classroom.


The F. George Elliott Scholarship Fund is an endowment of over $250,000 to the Sonoma State University School of Education. The endowment each year awards two scholarships for graduate study at Sonoma State University; one for an outstanding student teacher, and the other for a Santa Rosa City School District middle school, junior high, or high school teacher. Recipients of these scholarships will be known as Elliott Scholars.


Christina Towner is a student who came to the Special Education Credential Program at Sonoma State University in the Fall 2009 term, and she completed her Education Specialist Credential from Sonoma State in 2011. She is an outstanding student, praised for maintaining her strong academic record at Sonoma State while also holding a full-time teaching position as a Special Education Intern. Currently, Christina teaches a Special Day Class comprised of students who have mild to moderate disabilities at Altamira Middle School in Sonoma, CA. According to her University Support Provider, Barbara (Bobbie) Russell, Christina has created an exemplary positive learning environment for all of her students. As an Intern, Christina quickly adopted many of the core practices necessary to become an effective special educator. With recommendations from faculty, her dedication, preparation and passion make Christina Towner the perfect recipient of the Elliott Exemplary Student Teaching Scholarship this year.


Professor George Elliott taught Education at Sonoma State University from 1968-1992.  He worked for many years supervising student teachers in middle schools and junior and senior high schools in the Santa Rosa City School District. He was dedicated to quality teacher education, and worked closely with many master teachers and school administrators in Santa Rosa schools to achieve that end. This scholarship is his legacy to the middle level, junior high, and senior high teachers of the Santa Rosa City School District.


The Elliott Fellowship for Professional Renewal is an award open to all Santa Rosa City School District middle school, junior high, and senior high teachers who have completed from three to nine years teaching in the Santa Rosa City School District. It provides the recipient a two-semester scholarship in the amount of part- or full-time enrollment fees plus an additional twenty percent toward fees for books and supplies. For the award year 2011, two recipients were chosen to receive the Elliott Fellowship for Professional Renewal. The first award goes to Chris Berg, a physics teacher at Montgomery High School. And the second recipient for The Elliott Fellowship for Professional Renewal is Linsey Gannon, Assistant Principal at Lawrence Cook Middle School. Linsey is also now enrolled in the Master's Degree program of Educational Leadership at the Sonoma State University School of Education.