Paddy Chayefsky
Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research

Videoconferencing - Todays LIVE TV!

or How Reality TV supports literacy and education!

I just changed the blog name from Maricopa_ITv to Maricopa ITv (Interactive Television) & EdTech - it just seemed a cleaner and more descriptive title. Gina Pinch and I cover a wide range and variety if Technology Integration issues of which ITv is one component. It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to isolate the ITv work I am involved with from all the other work we touch upon - classroom integration, staff development, technology standards, curriculum... the way we structure MUSD Tech Integration, it is all inter-related!

Moving on ....How peculiar that after all these years of working with ITv, I suddenly made this connection... on consideration of my family contribution to television, ITv is one form of the 21st century equivalent... Perhaps our work introducing teachers, students and administrators to the possibilities of ITv in education, is my small contribution to our family TV legacy! I don't believe they give Emmy's or Oscar's for 'Read Across Arizona', but maybe that's something we can work on! :)

The Chayefsky's have a family history in live TV! While my father was an aspiring playwright until his death in 1988, and my mother continues to work as an actor, my uncle was part of television during the golden age of the 1950's, later moving to mainstream film, but his early roots were in live television. Perhaps a little of that legacy continues in modern live television - in teh form of ITv.

About Uncle Paddy: http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/C/htmlC/chayefskypa/chayefskypa.htm

The Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television

http://www.wga.org/awards/awardssub.aspx?id=1524

Live television is NOT reality TV as today's youth might surmise. Perhaps the path that 1950's live television forged leads to what we are using today - videoconferencing - to bring together community, knowledge AND most importantly --- INTERACTION to any place, from anyplace!

Promote Dialogue!

Merry Christmas

Happy Chanukah

Well, the students are off on break, we teachers head out to the respite of family and friends today! The Technology Department has been occupied for a few weeks now, setting up technology at the new Middle School, Maricopa Wells. It took alot of prep, planning and coordination on the part of Gina Pinch, Director of Technology.

Videoconferencing has been quiet this month, as teachers and students prepared for the end of quarter, holidays and break! Over the next month teachers will be registering for 'Read Around the Planet' which takes place in early March!

I have been busy completing the final Tech Literacy Assessments, we are looking anxiously ahead toward the results. It is hoped that these results will help the district to develop and implement a technology education program, at the elementary level, that supports the NCLB 8th grade technology proficiency requirement.

In January I will be presenting Pinal County and MUSD Videoconferencing at AzTEA's annual winter conference 'Teaching and Technology', held in Tucson on Saturday, January 27, 2007. My presentation partner will again be Ms Nicole Steele of Florence USD. Nicole and I are Trainer/Coaches for the Pinal County ITv Consortium and recently represented that group at AZHSRI Conference, held in Carefree, AZ 12-7-06.

Watch my AzTEA Blog for announcements of upcoming AzTEA Tech Integration trainings in January, one will be held in the evening for teachers and one will be held during the day for Tech Integration Staff and their administrators! I am scrambling to get the Eastside Chapter Website updated as well, with Eastside AzTEA happenings from this weeks monthly planning meeting. http://www.aztea.org/East/index.html

Be patient waiting for the AzTEA updates, I am sharing the holidays with my family and friends. That is the weekends #1 priority!!!

Happy Holidays!!!

AZHSRI Presentation

Carefree, AZ 12-7-06

Nicole Steele and I were fortunate to be asked to present the Pinal County ITv Consortium at the AZHSRI Conference in Carefree, today. We were warmly introduced by John Stollar, ADE Director of Gifted/Advanced Placement.

This conference is presented by the ADE and addresses ‘Adolescent Literacy for Middle & High School Renewal’. Learn more here: http://www.ade.state.az.us/asd/AZHSRI/

We were greeted by an enthusiastic audience who, just like ITv participants, were fully engaged in this discussion. We shared video and pictures and anecdotes from a myriad of conferences and conference types (Professional Development, classroom to classroom, provider content, AP classes with distance partners). We helped schools from around the state see the potential of this medium and perhaps some ways that their districts could begin the dialogue that leads towards ITv access and implementation.

We have posted our presentation on the website link below:
http://www.musd20.org/Amy/1_Site_files/page0006.htm Under ‘Other AZ Conferences’ select the link ‘Presenters’

The incredibly dynamic portion of this presentation was helping our participants to see that this level of technology integration can be applied to positively influence language, proficiency and literacy.

Thanks to Cathy Poplin (ADE Ed Tech Director) and Jill Dingman (NCLB Grant Director) for inviting us to present.

Last April I presented at AzTEA's WOW (Way Out West Conference held at ASU West) with Jack Wallbrecht (our CTE Director) and this January will again present with Nicole Steele, at AzTEA's Tucson Conference.

I find there is no feeling quite so rewarding as introducing someone to new ideas and possibilities and watching them come to understand the true value of what you are sharing with them!