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John Hendron

Director of Innovation and Strategy

Archives for July 2009

New Board Policy

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Our school board passed a new policy relating to the loan of equipment that’s electronic. This includes things like iPods or a laptop computer.

This does not indicate that we plan on a one-to-one initiative or that students will be able to borrow iPods from our media centers. However, should a teacher want a student to use a piece of electronic equipment outside of the classroom (to interview someone, let’s say), we now have a policy that can make that possible.

The new policy is #IIBEA-P, and can be found on our website.

Google Calendars with iPhone and iCal

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As calendaring needs grow more sophisticated, folks are looking for ways to keep all of their data in “sync.” They’d also like to delegate to others the ability to add or change their calendars. And, if that wasn’t asking too much, they’d like to add to their calendars on the go with Apple’s iPhone. This guide shows you how.

We will combine iCal, Google Calendar, and iPhone.

  1. Set up your Google calendar.

Login to Google Apps (http://docs.google.com/a/glnd.k12.va.us) and then choose “calendar” from the top of the screen.

Name your calendar. For work, I choose to name mine GLND Hendron to distinguish it from my other, personal calendars.

  1. Go into iCal (Mac OS X Leopard). Follow the instructions on this page.

I refresh my calendars every 30 minutes in the iCal Accounts preference.

  1. Now you can make changes to your calendar either within iCal or within Google Calendar on the Web.

  2. To share your calendar with others, you can choose three levels of access: busy/available status, read only, and read/write. Under Google Calendar > Settings, choose “Share this Calendar.” After entering the person’s email address, you may choose from among the options under permission settings.

At this time, I have not been successful at allowing edits from someone else’s account via sharing through iCal to your calendar.

Your colleague can edit your calendar either by connecting through Google Calendar online, or through iCal if you share your Google Apps credential with them for editing within iCal.

  1. To sync with iPhone, you will be setting up a new “Exchange” account on your iPhone. Since iPhone can only handle one Exchange account, first ensure you do not already use Exchange on your iPhone.

The instructions start online.

Things to note:

  • you may no longer be using your Address Book contacts on your phone. Using Google Sync, you will use your Google Contacts. This means you will need to transfer your contacts to Google first.

  • you can elect to not sync contacts. This page details settings you will need.

  • To manage multiple calendars, visit m.google.com/sync on your phone via Safari.

Podcasting Slides

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Today I used the following resource when introducing the instructional uses of podcasts in education with teachers.

Download your own version of the Podcasting PDF.

And some additional links:

Then we looked at some student podcasts already online in different parts of the country:
If you find any great student podcasting resources, link ’em up in the comments!

Resources for G21 Stimulus Plan

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July 13-15 I led a session on getting your “G21 Stimulus Plan,” where we explored twenty-first century skills, challenge-based learning, and thinking about higher-order skills for students. The following resources may assist you in developing a first-class G21 plan.