<div dir="ltr"><div>Thanks, Calette, for the link to Portaportal! There are some links I like about it more than Delicious, which I've been using until now. Tech requirements aren't <strong>that</strong> high. :-)</div>
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<div>Wendy Quinones</div>
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<div>P.S. I've never used textbooks. Not sure I even know how!<br><br></div>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Wed, Sep 3, 2008 at 3:05 PM, Calette W Smith <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:CWSmith@gcsd.k12.sc.us">CWSmith@gcsd.k12.sc.us</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">** High Priority **<br><br>Yes I am eliminated them and saved our county a lot of money in doing so. Once the students realize that this method is actually the most up to date technology and that textbooks become obsolete as soon as they are printed; they are excited. This also allows students to access numerous sites and not be bored as they learn. I have a site through PORTAPORTAL and will give you access to it, students are only allowed to access these websites in my class. You can also start your own by going to <a href="http://www.portaportal.com/" target="_blank">www.portaportal.com</a> and sign up for an account. Need to have a Teckie background, yet it isn't too difficult.<br>
<br>Here's mine:<br><br><a href="http://guest.portaportal.com/cwsmith" target="_blank">http://guest.portaportal.com/cwsmith</a><br><br>Let me know if you find this helpful. I build it as needed!<br><br><br><br><br><br>
<br>Calette W. Smith<br>Adult Education<br>CareerTransition Specialist<br>Georgetown County<br>Howard Adult Ed., Learning Center<br>500 So. Kaminski Street<br>Georgetown, SC 29440<br>Telephone: 843-576-0219 Fax: 843-527-0236<br>
<a href="mailto:cwsmith@gcsd.k12.sc.us">cwsmith@gcsd.k12.sc.us</a><br><br>>>> <a href="mailto:mhefner@cccti.edu">mhefner@cccti.edu</a> 9/3/2008 12:01 PM >>><br>I think that your question speaks to additional issues as well. I'm<br>
interested in the transition from a model that presents information and<br>assesses learning by how well learners recall sets of information to a<br>model where information is not teacher driven (the so-called sage on the<br>
stage ) but teacher facilitated (the guide on the side). In the new<br>model, information is equally accessible to both teacher and learner, is<br>not limited to a textbook or other singular source, and learners<br>process, analyze, synthesize, collaborate with others, critically<br>
evaluate, and utilize the information in real-world as well as<br>hypothetical applications. Relevance becomes even more important as<br>learners are actively engaged in the learning process. Learning is<br>assessed in a variety of ways, i.e. projects, portfolios, substantive<br>
participation, etc. and not limited to traditional assessments (tests).<br>The "old" idea of textbooks becomes almost obsolete in an environment<br>where information from a plethora of sources is available to all and<br>
where learning is a partnership between the teacher and the learners.<br><br>The elimination of textbooks doesn't mean the elimination of sound<br>instructional information. I think a key element is teaching to the<br>
varied learning styles and preferences of the learners. Some may best<br>learn via text so you may want to consider having scripts of videos in<br>pdf or docx files as well as other ways to create text-based compliments<br>
to audio and visual instructional content. Other learners may not learn<br>well at all in a text-based learning environment so I applaud you for<br>using a variety of instructional strategies. I have some students who<br>
are "text-dependent" so I provide text for them as much as I can, but it<br>doesn't always come in the form of the textbook being the predominant<br>learning source. Although there are exceptions, they tend to be older<br>
students and/or students who are not as techno savvy as others. They<br>also tend to be students who are most familiar with the "sage on the<br>stage" model so a new model is unfamiliar and sometimes uncomfortable<br>
for them.<br><br>I could go on and on, but I don't want to be a discussion hog!!<br>Great question.<br><br><br>>>> On 9/2/2008 at 1:10 pm, in message<br><<a href="mailto:3f7562680809021010l14dd95d9h84500c8bc7645b11@mail.gmail.com">3f7562680809021010l14dd95d9h84500c8bc7645b11@mail.gmail.com</a>>, "Joe<br>
Horne" <<a href="mailto:jhorne10@gmail.com">jhorne10@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br>Hello everyone,<br><br><br><br>I am teach technology (programming, film making, web design) in a<br>small<br>private high school. Been at it for all of eight days! Before that, I<br>
was<br>teaching technology to adults in the corporate world. I am<br>experimenting<br>with not using a textbook and so far the learners have taken well to<br>it. We<br>use iTunes U, blogs and other (free) web based tools. I was wondering<br>
if<br>any of you had eliminated books with adults (especially older adults).<br>How<br>did they respond? Before I left the corporate world, I had eliminated<br>lots<br>of documentation (especially in new hire orientation) because of the<br>
environmental waste. Some people liked it, others did not* Any<br>suggestions<br>on how to overcome resistance? Parents seem a little alarmed that I<br>would<br>do such a thing*but the kids love it.<br><br><br><br>Thanks for your insights and observations,<br>
<br><br><br>Joe<br><br>Grad student at Georgia State University<br><br>----------------------------------------------------<br>National Institute for Literacy<br>Technology and Literacy mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Technology@nifl.gov">Technology@nifl.gov</a><br>
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to <a href="http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology" target="_blank">http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/technology</a><br>Email delivered to <a href="mailto:teacherwendyq@gmail.com">teacherwendyq@gmail.com</a><br>
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