Northern Ohio Research and Training Technology Hub

Testing

2010-06-13T09:48:00.000-04:00

Testing 1 2 3

My PLN Rocks

2009-09-26T10:08:00.001-04:00

Get your twitter mosaic here.

test

2009-03-02T09:29:00.001-05:00

Muvee Mix Video

2008-12-16T08:39:00.001-05:00

MuveeMix Demo

2008-11-30T19:00:00.000-05:00

Comiqs Sample

2008-11-24T06:50:00.001-05:00

Comiqs Test from Hairynomas on Comiqs

Using ToonDoo to make cartoons

2008-11-23T12:50:00.003-05:00

Using ToonDoo from www.toondoo.com you can make comic strips easily. These can be printed or posted online.

Test post

2008-11-20T10:56:00.001-05:00

Here we go www.lcdlc.org

Custom Search

2008-11-16T09:33:00.000-05:00

Voice Thread

2008-11-15T06:38:00.002-05:00

Trying out a new online tool for digital story telling, collaborating and presenting. This interesting program allows you and others to post and leave comments on the images. Way cool stuff. Check it out at www.voicethread.com

NORT2H Highlights for August 2008

2008-08-30T09:24:00.003-04:00

Lorain City Schools Launch Mandarin Chinese over IVC:
Students from Lorain Southview and Admiral King High Schools kicked off their first of daily connections to the Confucius Institute in Kansas to learn Mandarin Chinese. Through a partnership with the Greenbush ESC in Kansas the NORT2H staff was able to bring Lorain and the Confucius institute together to make this class offering possible. Dave Miller and I sat in on the first class and was impressed with the Jessie the Kansas teacher and how the students quickly adapted to the video environment. I look forward to checking in on the classes in the near future.

You got VOD?
The first project of the NORT2H consortium was Video On Demand (VOD). This was an exciting project for our group as teachers, tech coordinators, media specialists and administrators tried out Discovery Learning, Safari Montage and CCC on Demand. When the dust was cleared and the votes tallied it was Safari Montage that scored the highest. Over the summer our server was installed and we are now adding schools and providing teacher trainings. Currently we have the Avon, Fairview, Keystone, Lorain County JVS running and have been provind schools demo's to further evaulate the project. NORT2H members schools get discounted rates on content packages, teacher training, and local technical support.

Podcasts start September 8th:
The NORT2H staff plans to start their podcast season Monday September 8th. We were hoping to run these our of our new studio, but due to some schedule conflicts and issues with construction we can not wait for the studio to be complete. We will continue using Adobe Visual Communicator to create our Video's and plan to post them again on www.Podomatic.com. Look for these to improve over time.

PageCast updates stay current throughout the summer:
The NORT2H staff have been updating our pagecast on Pageflakes all summer! The categories remain the same provding teachers and coordinators groups of content provider updates, professional development, careers, special programs and teacher collaborations. Have an IVC event that you would like to advertise on our pagecast? Send Paul Hieronymus an email at Hieronymus@esclc.org

Testing 1 2 3... Test:
The NORT2H test codec is back online and availible for you to dial in. We are running a DVD of previous years IVC connections for sites to get audio and video. Feel free to dial in at any time to 208.108.92.151.

So long Avon, Hello ESC of Lorain County

2008-07-28T20:21:00.002-04:00

It seems to have been a million years since I have had a chance to update my blog, but now is as good of time as any...

First off.. I need to chance the tittle. Earlier this year I had to make the most difficult professional descision since I graduated from college when I was offered a full time position at the Educational Service Center of Lorain County. I have been splitting time with the Lorain County Distance Learning Consortium (LCDLC) and the Avon Schools for four great years. To leave the Avon Schools was not an easy descision. With the Avon Schools being an active member of my consortium and new programs starting at the ESC it just makes sense :)

Speaking of new programs at our ESC! This year we expanded our servics from IVC support to technology PD for classroom teachers. (We have been soing it for years, but now its official). We created a new consortium and services titled the Northern Ohio Research & Training Technology Hub NORT2H. The LCDLC will actually become a line item of the consortium providing our member schools more services and bang for their $$. Our first project was Video On Demand (VOD). We brought together Tech Coordinators /Teachers/ Librarians/ Administrators to the ESC to provide them with a presentation/evaluation of the three VOD products. Dave Miller and I presented the three systems equally and had them vote on their favorite. Once the voting was done we came up with a plan to purchase the server they wanted at a way the was most cost effective for the districts. We now have our Safari Montage Server up and runnning and look forward to working with our teachers integrate IVC and VOD to enahace student learning.

I start full time with the ESC this August. Look for updates on our new consortium and projects as they take place. I can't wait for the new year to begin!

Testing 1 2 3

2008-03-13T10:13:00.001-04:00

Insert text here

News from a neglectful blogger :(

2007-12-24T11:18:00.000-05:00

The good news is that the Avon Schools and the Lorain Country Distance Learning Consortium (LCDLC) have been so busy it takes the first day of Christmas Break to update our blog… So here is the skinny... :)

This school year the Avon Schools purchased bulk programming from the Greenbush ESC providing our teachers a savings in cost, but even more importantly a window of scheduling before programs are offered to schools for single program purchase. These programs have been very popular for Avon East (grades 1-2) and Heritage South (grades 3-4) in the areas of science, math and language arts. Many of the programs come with materials and resources for the teachers to use as pre and post activities. We have been very please with Greenbush staff making this a great opportunity for Avon students.

Avon High School’s Spanish classes have been very active this fall and winter. AHS students under the guidance of Janice Ventresco have been proving kindergarten and first grade classes at North Elementary School in East Liverpool Spanish lessons one day a week. This is part of a grant with Columbiana County Educational Service Center. In the New Year the HS students will work with the AHS multimedia class to create podcasts of supporting material for the classes to use between connections or as a backup during a calamity day.

Technology Toolbox has been very active this year with 18 schools connecting on December 20^th for our session on Podcasting. Schools from the LCDLC, NOTA, NOECA, Miami Country Day and Columbiana County receive the programs for free in exchange for collaborative projects done throughout the school year. Desktop Videoconferencing and Digital Storytelling will be added to the program list over the break. These sessions will be available in February.

Avon Middle School upgraded their Multimedia center combining DL and their computer lab. Avon MS is currently busting out at the seams room wise. The current media center does not have a good location for a multimedia projector so we decided to combine the rooms with two Plasma TV’s proving cable TV/channel 1, DL and a computer image for the lab. The Polycom and the two Plasma’s are hung from the ceiling can rotate 90 degrees proving different groups the opportunity to use the equipment.

The Avon IP test unit is still running and sites are welcome to dial in a use the system to test their connectivity. We try to keep a DVD of last year’s videoconferences playing in a loop so sites can test audio and video, but every once and a while we forget to switch back to the player or leave the volume down on the mixer (sorry about that, but that is what you get for free…). We do ask that sites not use far end control to switch our cameras. That causes problems for other sites dialing in after you have disconnected.

We are really looking forward to a great 2008 in videoconferencing. On behalf of the Avon Schools we wish everyone a Wonderful Holiday Season and look forward to seeing you online in 08!

Paul Hieronymus,
Curriculum Technology Coordinator
Avon Schools
208.108.90.95
www.avon.k12.oh.us/distancelearning
Skype: Hairynomas

Educational Consultant
Lorain County Distance Learning Consortium
208.108.92.150
www.LCDLC.org

Avon HS students take a virtual tour of six colleges in one day

2007-11-20T11:35:00.000-05:00

The LCDLC held their third annual virtual college tour, an all day videoconference featuring some of the top colleges in Ohio. Starting at 7:00 am, 22 schools from across Ohio, one site in PA & Indiana connected for their first University presentation. Each hour a different college took center stage presenting for the first 20mins and allowing the schools to ask questions directly. During each session 12 schools were deemed interactive for the Q & A portion of the conference. Sites that were not interactive were able to ask questions via email that were read by the conference moderators.

This year’s Virtual College tour featured presentations from Lorain Country Community College (LCCC), Miami of Ohio, University of Cincinnati, Ohio State University, Kent State and Bowling Green. The presentations from the Universities were excellent and the students from all of the schools had outstanding questions.

Map Skills for Today!

2007-10-04T13:44:00.000-04:00

Third grade students at Avon Heritage North improved their knowledge of Map skills with and interactive lesson with the Muskingum Valley ESC. The students identified locations, identified facts from thematic maps and worked with latitude and longitude. This lesson was a great introduction to map for several of Avon’s third grade classes. To learn more about the Muskingum Valley ESC program offerings check them out on the web at www.mvesc.k12.oh.us/tap/

ooVoo hits the desktop IVC world. Does Skype need to worry?

2007-09-17T13:25:00.000-04:00

The LCDLC has been trying out desktop Instant Messaging software that seems to be as good as Skype. ooVoo provides many of the features of Skype but allows users to conference with multiple webcams at one time. Like Skype, users can connect webcam to webcam, chat, and transfer documents in a seamless manner. Another new feature is video email that allows users to record a video message that can be sent through the ooVoo program for users that are currently off line. We have tested the system in our ITC network and from home with great results. The video looks as good if not a little better than Skype.

There are a couple of features not included in ooVoo that will keep Skype in my program list. At this point ooVoo does not support calls to LAN lines or provides any type of streaming (skypecast) of sessions. If this product takes off like Skype has I would expect to see many of the same features become available in the future updates.

While I am not ready to uninstall Skype at this time, I do plan to keep ooVoo on my laptop and look forward to watching this product develop. The one item I would love to see happen with either of these products would be the ability to dial our room systems. That dream may be a little lofty…

Citizenship: It's Your Right!

2007-09-17T08:53:00.001-04:00

Third grade classes from Avon Heritage South enhanced their Constitution Day activities with a lesson on Citizenship with the Muskingum Valley ESC on Zanesville Ohio. The students discussed the roles students can play to be good citizens in their community.

This lesson featured a quiz of basic citizenship, video clips to enhance their lesson, problem solving activities and discussion. The Muskingum Valley ESC offers a variety of programs for Elementary Classrooms. Their programs can be found on the web at http://www.mvesc.k12.oh.us/tap/

Avon Test Unit is back online!

2007-08-22T11:58:00.000-04:00

The Avon Schools Test site is back online with a new number. Please use 208.108.90.95 to test your video system. Currently the system is running video clips from last year with audio.

Looking for other test sites? I have created a list of test sites at http://www.avon.k12.oh.us/distancelearning/testip.htm. If you know of any other sites please let me know via email at Phiero@leeca.org. I would be happy to add them to the list.

Please give White Plains a vote!

2007-07-10T07:04:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,

Please take the time to help a fellow IVC site to win funding for a great project. I recently sat in on her presentation at NECC. It was fantastic. They are doing some great tings in White Plains.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My name is Jody Kennedy and I am a teacher in White Plains, New York. I have been working for 7 years on the development of global education programs for schools in order to prepare youth with the skills they will need for their future. We have been working with videoconferencing to connect our students to their peers and experts nationally and globally right from the classroom and the results have been very successful. Examples of many of our projects can be reviewed at www.ensemblevideo.com/annese.

Recently ,I posted a project on the American Express members competiton. We made it to the top 50 out of over 7000 projects but need many, many votes to get further.

The project we submitted is to increase opportunities and experiences for global education in schools and to inspire a new generation of responsible global citizens.

It is called "Connect Kids Around the World" Project #07229 .

If you could circulate this request through your network it would help us very much. We only have one week left until they cut the finalists to 25.

Only Amex cardholders can vote. Just go to www.membersproject.com click on the vote button for "Connecting Kids around the World" make sure to confirm your vote as instructed. Special thanks for your efforts and support .

Jody Kennedy

Avon IP Test Unit Offline until August

2007-07-02T21:30:00.000-04:00

The Avon Schools IP test unit is being moved from Avon Middle School to Heritage North Elementary School. Due to space constraints the AMS distance learning room/my office have to relocate. The Media center is being equipped with two plasma monitors that will be dropped from the ceiling providing the lab with a lab monitor to instruction and for the far site in videoconferencing.

The IP (208.108.90.88) for the test unit will be moved to the Heritage North Polycom FX. A camera will be pointed out the window for connecting sites to test incoming video from our network. Sites are welcome to test their connections at any time the unit is available.

Looking for other test sites? I created a webpage of several test sites you can use to test your connectivity. www.avon.k12.oh.us/distancelearning/testip.htm . If you have a test site of you own I would love to add it to my list. Just send me (Phiero@leeca.org) the IP, speed preference if needed and any information you can give me about the site.

Another Great NECC Conference

2007-06-30T22:03:00.000-04:00

Atlanta, Georgia was the host of the 2007 ISTE National Educational Computing Conference the last week of June. If you have not attended this conference, you should make your plans now for next year! The networking opportunities with other educators make it worth the trip alone. I enjoy the time I get to spend sharing ideas and developing partnerships with schools from around the country.

Conference Highlights:

1) SigIVC Forum: If you are not a member of ISTE or the SIGIVC the forum offered at the conference should make you want to sign up. This session was a networking session on steroids. The session started with an activity titled speed collaborating. 15 participants each had 2mins to promote an IVC success story. There were some great programs and opportunities. I represented the Avon Schools presenting the Artifact Exchange project. I met so many great educators and look forward to working with them next year.

2) Program sessions: The sessions I was able to attend were fantastic. The session on Hyper-mirror with Japan was exciting and the Global Run project sponsored by Tandberg was outstanding. Every session I attended provided me with new resources or ideas to use with our students.

3) Meeting with existing partners: You know a conference is going to be fun when you get to the conference early and you run into your IVC partners in the food court at CNN. It was so great to see Rowena Gerber from Miami Country Day with her friends of iEARN. It is so much fun to shake the hand of educators you have only seen on the video systems.

4) Meeting local content providers: I want to give a special thanks to Patty & Deborah from the Center of Puppetry Art Center for their tour of the museum, dinner and tour of Atlanta. I was amazed with the exhibits in the museum. If you ever get the chance you have to check it out. After dinner we were treated to a trip the Varsity and finished the evening looking over the city on top of the Westin center. It was great ending to a great conference.

5) Volunteering for the conference: This was my second year volunteering at NECC. Last year I was a facilitator, this year I helped in IVC Operations. This was a great experience! Working with operations provides such great learning opportunities with new equipment and challenging scenarios.

6) Socializing with friends: After conference hours are always fun. This year the Robert, Katrina and I purchased tickets to the Atlanta Braves through the conference. Other than the Braves loosing to the Tiggers and knocking my Cleveland Indians into second place it was a great time.

7) NECC Exhibit floor: This area can just be described as “BIG”. There are so many different technologies and software available to visit and learn more about their offerings. This year I was presently surprised to see Visual Communicator (formerly from Serious Magic) demoed in the Adobe both. This will be released in the fall.

8) NECC shuttle service: Last year my hotel was 15 block away and had no problem walking to my hotel each day in San Diego. This was not the case with the temperatures in the 90’s in Atlanta. Needless to say I was a fan of the NECC shuttle service running everyone from their hotels to the conference center.

9) NECC volunteers: Good volunteers make a good conference great. The volunteers working the rooms and the halls are always helpful.

10) Finally getting out of Atlanta International Airport: While my conference experience was wonderful my flight home was not as successful. After three gate changes, a lost plane and our terminal being closed during boarding I finally made my 10:00pm flight at 2:00am. Yes they lost our plane…. Around 12:30 in the evening the airline representative actually told the group that they lost our plane in transport to our gate. I have to admit this was a better alternative to the plane going to Alabama that was delayed do to a “violent sickness” that took place on their plane. I was never so happy to see the Cleveland skyline as I was at 4:00am from my plane.

Next year’s conference will be held in San Antonio, Texas. I would recommend talking to your administrators early to take advantage of early registration and housing. You can learn more about the NECC conference on the ISTE website at http://www.iste.org/. I hope to see you at the conference next year :)

Avon Schools DL Program in Teacher Magazine

2007-06-07T15:29:00.000-04:00

The Avon Schools and CILC had the priveledge of being featured in the May edition of Teacher Magazine on Using Content Providers. The article was written by Amanda Jones.

Check out the article online at http://www.teachermagazine.org/tm/articles/2007/05/01/06tools-1.h18.html

Farmer Duck tells his story to Avon East Elementary

2007-06-06T21:27:00.000-04:00

The students from Manor Primary School in Ivybridge UK shared a wonderful play titled Farmer Duck. The cast consisted of Farmer Duck, hens, cows, sheep and the farmer. The frustrated duck was concerned that the sleeping farmer was not taking care of the animals and took the farm under his wing by carrying out the farmers chores. In the evening the animals entered the farmer’s house to make them selves at home scaring the farmer from his home. All of the animals were happy with the duck and deemed him head of the farm making all of the animals happy.

The performance was a follow up on a field trip to a local farm. The students shared collages of farms. The efforts by the students were outstanding. They took great care creating the collages especially the sheep made of cotton, pipe cleaners and Q-tips.

Avon is in their final days of school making this the final connection between the classes. We have enjoyed the opportunity for the students to meet online and to have a better understanding of what life is like in their country. We look forward to expanding this partnership next school year.

Manor Primary has been a pleasure to work with. Will Davies the coordinator and teacher from Manor has been great to work with. We hope to do more with his school and expand our partnerships in the future.

The Broken Trail from Western Reserve to Avon

2007-05-30T13:23:00.000-04:00

Middle school language arts classes from Avon and Western Reserve schools finished their collaborative story the Broken Trail as part of NOECA Intercom’s chapter project. The classes met over video to share their chapters and to provide their conclusions. The classes took turns reading their first and second chapters then acted out the conclusion to their partnered class. The distance learning room in Avon was transformed into a barn yard with students dressed as the animals of the story. It was quite a production for the connecting site.

The chapter program pairs classroom teachers from different schools with the task of writing a collaborative story. Mr. Casper’s class wrote chapter one which was followed by Mrs. Pelphrey’s class. Both classes wrote their own conclusion to the story which was compared and contrasted at the end of the videoconference. The students put forth great effort creating the chapters and the props were fantastic.

To learn more about the chapter project or to participate next year check out the project on the web at http://intercom.noeca.net/chapters/index.html

Avon Heritage South students take virtual tour of tropical rainforests with the Buffalo Zoo

2007-05-24T09:51:00.000-04:00

Third graders from Avon Heritage South take a virtual tour of Buffalo Zoo with a focus on topical rainforests. The session lead by Rebecca Balk from the zoo was highly interactive and exciting for the students. The class identified the layers of the rainforest and the animals that make that location their home. Rebecca discussed the physical characteristics that make them successful in that layer. Several insects were placed on the document camera for the students to get an up close and personal view of them and their unique adaptations.

The students were also treated to a live viewing of some the animals in the zoo through camera placed in their exhibits. The students enjoyed the cameras of the sloth and a close up of the animals face. The camera angles and picture quality were amazing. The students had a better view of the exhibits than if they were onsite. Rebecca has the ability to move and zoom her cameras around the exhibit to make the live viewing exciting for the students.

The Buffalo Zoo is a program that has become a staple in our teacher’s curriculum. Mrs. Johnson has scheduled this program for the third straight year. She actually contacted the zoo in October to schedule the program in May. To learn more about the Buffalo Zoo and their distance learning programs you can visit them on the web at www.buffalozoo.org/distance_learning.html

If I were a Goldfish

2007-05-18T14:51:00.000-04:00

First graders from Avon East took time out of science class to share what life would be like as a gold fish with the Life Science Education Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. The students took a closer look at a gold fish and the characteristics it has to live in water while discussing the characteristics that allow them to live on land.

Once the characteristics were defined and put to motion with our presenter the class played an exciting game of habitat bingo. Students were shown a habit on the screen while the students marked off the animal on their paper that would call that location home. The students were also treated to an interactive look an animal adaptations to their environment through activities directed by the presenter.

This session was our first experience with the Life Science Center but it will not be our last. The session was very interactive, and kept the class engaged throughout the lesson. To learn more about the Life Science Education Center and their distance learning program you can visit them on the web at http://www.lifescienceed.org/index.asp

Avon plays active role in the Northern Ohio Distance Learning Year End Showcase

2007-05-16T20:04:00.000-04:00

The Lorain County Distance Learning Consortium, NOTA network and the Columbiana Distance Learning Consortiums hosted their year end showcase again this year at the Lorain County Community College. The Avon Schools distance learning program represented four of the eighteen presenters this year sharing some of our favorite videoconferences of the year. Michelle O’Hara and Peggy Masin from Avon East Elementary school presented the Holiday Traditions conference and their terrarium collaboration with Miami Country Day school in Miami Florida. Paul Hieronymus presented Follow the North Star program from Conner Prairie on behalf of Avon Heritage North and Country of the Week with the School of Life on behalf of Avon Heritage South Elementary School.

This year the showcase provided four remote presenters from the Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth Texas, Melissa Higgs-Horwell from the SCOCA consortium, Valerie Erwin from East Liverpool Schools and Mike Griffith from Global Leap. The conference was opened to remote viewers for the first time as well this year with sites from the SOITA and LACA consortiums. The showcase was kicked off this year by Thomas Rockwell – Superintendent of the Lorain County Educational Service Center and Jillian Froment from Ohio eTech.

During lunch it was great to hear from our teachers how much they enjoyed the day. The common buzz around the room was comments about all of the different programs that had taken place this year in our consortium.

What ever the Weather with the Lorain County Metro Parks

2007-05-10T11:06:00.000-04:00

Student from Avon East and Harris Elementary School were treated to a lesson on weather with the Lorain County Metro Parks from the French Creek Nature Center. The students discuss the relationship the earth and the sun have to make our atmosphere and the weather patterns. Several experiments were demonstrated to show air pressure, temperature and win velocity. The students were connected as part of their classroom partnerships and will connect again to do experiments with each others classes.

The Lorain County Metro Parks are a member of the Lorain County Distance Learning Consortium and provide programming to sites in the consortium at no cost, but will connect to other consortiums or schools on demand.

To learn more about the Lorain County Metro Parks and their program offerings you can visit them on the web at www.loraincountymetroparks.com/dlc.htm

Avon Celebrates Country of the Week with The School of Life – Jordon

2007-05-08T20:11:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Clark and Michelich’s third grade students were honored to be contacted by the School of Life in Amman, Jordan for their country of the week program. The students from Avon were treated to information about their country through presentations by the second through fifth grade classes from the School of Life. At the end the class sang their national anthem which is sung each morning. The Avon students shared the pledge of allegiance with their students. A PowerPoint created by the Avon class’s shared information about the United States and the city of Avon. The students took turns presenting slides and adding information that they felt highlighted our community.

Once the formal presentations were completed the students enjoyed a time of questions and answers. Our students were amazed to hear that Amman, Jordan not only had snow this winter but had snow days. The sharing of common interests and activities made the students feel comfortable and they enjoyed their conversations. We were impressed to hear the languages studied and the common books read and used.

When the session was over the students shared my favorite comment I hear time and time again with connections outside of our state; “those kids were just like us”. It is amazing how a third grader can summarize the power of international collaborations. The fact that the students reinforced many of our state standards while broadening their understanding of other countries speaks volumes.
We hope to see the School of Life online again in the future!

Avon East students take a virtual tour of our Solar System with NASA Johnson

2007-04-04T10:39:00.000-04:00

Second grade students from Avon East Elementary School took a virtual tour of our solar system with the NASA Johnson Center in Houston Texas. Using their vast selection of images and video the students received a tour with the NASA Staff. The education director took a closer look at each of the planets and our sun.

The students enjoyed the images and animations used to detail the objects of our Solar System. This program was a great introduction to our teacher’s space unit. The session was scheduled as a multipoint connection with a school in New York for our morning session and a school in Minnesota in our afternoon connection.

NASA is a great content provider and best of all there sessions are FREE to schools in the U.S. This provides schools with great resources to enhance our science curriculum. To learn more about programming you can visit them on the web at http://nasadln.nmsu.edu/dln/

The Muskingum Valley ESC hops into Avon’s science curriculum

2007-04-03T09:56:00.000-04:00

First graders from Avon East Elementary School enhanced their science curriculum through an interactive videoconference with the Muskingum Valley ESC. Students shared their knowledge about frogs and amphibians are learned so much more during the interactive session.

The lesson was a combination of PowerPoint, streamed video and an interactive game to review the concepts covered during the session. The students were engaged by the instructor and kept on task through the media rich presentation. This program is aligned to our first grade science standards. The entire 1st grade combined to participate in four sessions with MVESC.

The Muskingum Valley ESC offers programs to schools through the Ohio K-12 video network scheduled on demand. To learn more about the MVESC and their distance learning programming you can check them out on line at www.mvesc.k12.oh.us/tap/

IVDL participates in Heritage Science Night

2007-03-29T13:35:00.000-04:00

The distance learning department was a module of the 2007 Avon Heritage North and South Science Night. Students and parents had the opportunity to take part in a videoconference while taking a closer look at our planet and solar system using Google Earth and Celestia.

Students and parents learned more about the distance learning project and the virtual journeys their children have taken this school year. The parents were a bit camera shy but enjoyed learning about the technology and how the Avon Schools are using videoconferencing to enhance their curricula.

Once the butterflies were gone, the group looked at satellite images of our planet using Google Earth. This was followed up by a virtual tour of our solar system using Celestia. These open sources programs provide students an interactive look at our planet and solar system.

This opportunity is a great way for the community to better understand interactive videoconferencing. This is third year participating in this program. Each year we catch a parent commenting on the power of the technology and how lucky our students are for having this unique opportunity.

Avon High School and Middle School students learn about careers in photography

2007-03-27T11:28:00.000-04:00

Students from Avon’s Alternative School Career Connections and students from Avon High School’s Multimedia classes connected to WVIZ PBS Ideastream for a career session on photography. From the TV studio at PBS 25 professional photographers gave up their time to discuss their jobs, the equipment they use and the positives and negatives of the careers.

Using the Ohio K-12 video network bridges at eTech Ohio both schools were connected with several schools from Ohio. The students from Career Connections have the opportunity to learn about many different trades through interactive video without having to leave the school or to have guests visit their classroom.

WVIZ provides schools in Ohio with exciting and rich programming through their partnership with Playhouse Square and visitors to WVIZ PBS Ideastream. To learn more about distance learning programming through WVIZ visit them on the web at http://www.wviz.org/edsvcs/k_12/distance_learning/involvement.asp

Ohio and UK students vote for their topic on collaborative story

2007-03-23T10:54:00.000-04:00

The students from Mrs. Danielson’s 4th grade class and Mr. Kemp’s class in Bamford Primary School voted on the topic for their collaborative story. The teachers exchanged topics created by their classes. By an over whelming vote by both classes the students selected the title Haunted House.

The story will involve two children playing a game of football (soccer to the US students). The ball get kicked into a garden and lost. The children plan to get the ball back the next day at school. Bamford Primary School will be creating the first chapter of the story and will present the chapter to Mrs. Danielson’s class for her class to continue the story writing chapter 2.

In addition to the writing project the students have been paired as pen pals for written expression activities. Blogs have been created for each of the paired students to share ideas over the blog. We look forward to seeing the writing that the students will share and the story.

Avon and Manor Primary School conduct virtual show and tell

2007-03-22T10:17:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Masin’s 2nd graders and their partner class from Manor Primary School in Ivybridge United Kingdom conducted a virtual show and tell for their meet and greet session. The students from both classes brought in their favorite objects to help each other learn more about each other’s schools. The rooms were filled with stuffed animals, sports cards, books, monster trucks and a tremendous amount of excitement.

It was amazing how similar all of the students and there items were and the communication between the classes. This session occurred as the last activity of day for Manor, but with the extra bridge time students from both classes were able to talk beyond the scheduled time with students entering the room for after school activities. The teachers sat back and let the students share information about their clubs and after school activities. The session was a pleasant surprise for both groups.

It all “adds up” at the end of the day

2007-03-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

Avon Middle School students were part of an observed lesson over videoconferencing with teachers from Columbiana County. As part of a collaboration with Columbiana County and Kent State University teachers from schools listed in academic emergency by the Ohio Department of Education observe schools that are scoring excellent rating on their report cards. Instead of pulling classroom teachers from their school to observe classes Columbiana County is using videoconferencing.

Avon Middle School moved their Polycom to a smaller cart that was placed at the back of the classroom while Mr. Cable ran his class as he would any other day. The teachers connected through an MCU in Columbus observed the lesson from start to finish. When the students left Mr. Cable stayed connected to answer questions about the Avon Math department and the structure of his classes.

This was the first time the Avon Schools have participated in an online observation. We found this to be a great way to demonstrate the efforts of our staff and hope to do more programs like this for schools in our state. As a Technology Coordinator is was fun to see a class in action. I was impressed with the lesson and the student’s responses during the class and felt that Ben represented the district well.

Are the cookies done yet??

2007-03-09T10:34:00.000-05:00

Mr. Nortz fifth grade science classes discussed home made solar ovens with Roweena Gerber from Miami Country Day School in Miami Florida. As part of a iEARN project students learned about alternative energy and how to make a solar oven out objects found around their home. Mrs. Gerber used a Solar Oven kit to show the process of solar cooking to the Avon students as well as some of the solar ovens created by her students. Once the students understood the concept they were charged with the task of creating their own ovens.

The students created designs of their ovens in science class and once approved the students began construction. The designs will be sent to a school in Australia for replication. Through a generous donation of Pizza Boxes by Cici’s pizza, the students brought in objects that they wanted to the boxes to create their own ovens. The classes will test their ovens locally on a sunny day to see how hot the ovens can reach and will follow up with another videoconference with students from Miami Country Day. The Avon students will present their ovens before they send the plans to Australia.

We hope to add photos of our ovens to our next post! We currently have 35 ovens created and look forward to testing them as soon as the sun & wind cooperates.

North vs. South Virtual Spelling Bee

2007-03-08T12:55:00.000-05:00

Miss Neushafer’s 5th grade class from Avon Heritage North took on the students from South Amherst Middle Schools in an exciting game on virtual spelling. The classes created were divided into teams of four. Each group gave the competing team a word from their spelling lists followed by the word in a sentence. Correct answers allowed the teams car to be moved on a game card created by the teams.

This fun activity was a unique activity was a fun review activity for both classes to enhance their curriculum. The students from both sites enjoyed the game and interacting with their partner site.

Students celebrate literacy with Michigan for Read Across The Planet

2007-03-05T13:14:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Karasevic’s 3rd grade class met students from Mt. Morris Elementary School in Michigan. The students shared information about their state and community. The class from Mt Morris used the letters of Michigan to give us facts about their community and State. The students did a great job presenting over the system and had great facts.

Mrs. Karasevic’s class created a PowerPoint about the City of Avon that the students presented to class in Michigan. The students shared images of our city and how the city has changes over the years. Each student was assigned a slide to create and present to our partner class. This project provides the class the opportunity to meet social studies standards on communities and reading and presentation skills. The class followed the presentation with a Readers Theatre presentation on Appelemondo’s dream (a story from our reading book). The students did a great job reading the story to our partner class.

At the end the classes had the opportunity to ask questions our school and community. The classes enjoyed learning about each others schools and discovering how much the schools had in common.
This opportunity is part of the Read Across the Planet project managed by the TWICE Consortium in Michigan. To learn more about the Read Across the Planet project you can visit the project website at www.twice.cc/read/index.html

Avon Students “Conduct” great experiments with Greenbush ESC in Kansas

2007-03-02T17:00:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Grabert and Masin’s second grade students took part in a great lesson on electricity with the Greenbush IDL program out of Girard, Kansas. The students did several experiments with batteries and light bulb to determine what items were the best conductors of electricity. Students were given a bag full of items ranging from yarn to paper clips. The students had to make a hypothesis as to the connectivity of the item then test with a battery and light bulb. Once the student experiments were completed the a diagram was created to show which items were conductors, were not conductors and which items were both depending on the parts used.

This lesson was a great activity that will help the students meet Ohio’s science standards and reinforce lessons that the classes will be completing this school year. The session was rewarding and fun for all of the students. We look forward to future lessons with the Greenbush IDL program.

To learn more about Greenbush and their program opportunities check them out of the web at http://www.greenbush.org/IDL/ENRICHMENTPROGRAMS.html

How was your day Forest Heights Elementary School?

2007-02-28T13:52:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Cogar’s second grade class and students from Forest Heights Elementary School in Baton Rouge Louisiana met over the videoconferencing system to hear an interactive story read by Paul Hieronymus. The classes enjoyed seeing their locations on Google Earth and meeting each other on line. Once the introductions were complete the students enjoyed the story Today was a Terrible Day by Patricia Reilly Giff.

Using the document camera the students were shown the pictures in the book as the story was read to them. After each page the camera was switched back to the reader for comments as the page was turned. This was a crude copy of Reading Rainbow but it worked for the students.

After the story the students from both classes shared examples of things that lead to a terrible day and what events can make it a great day. The students had great things to share. This was a nice opportunity for the students to see each other and interact.

We hope to have other terrific days with Forest Heights in the future!

5th graders from Avon Heritage North Follow the North Star with Conner Prairie

2007-02-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

Miss Rottman’s and Mrs. Eckers 5th grade students were transformed into run away slaves trying to make it to the “Free” states and become free man and women. The Conner Prairie Living Museum in Indiana serves as the classes guide as they travel from house to house on the Underground Railroad. The travel is difficult and consequences are high for the students but thanks to help from the Quakers the students have a chance to be free.

Conner Prairie uses video from a reenactment of the journey with students. As the students travel from house to house the presenter from Conner Prairie discussed the status of their journey and help the students understand what had occurred and what would happen next. This helped reinforce the information provided in the video.

This was a great opportunity for the students a unique view of the Underground Railroad.

To learn more about Conner Prairie and their Educational programs offered through videoconferencing vist them online at http://www.connerprairie.org/discover_learn/distancelearning.aspx

Dr. Dina Might visits Avon East Elementary School

2007-02-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Hartwell and O’Hara’s second grade students learned more about Dinosaurs through a videoconference with the Cleveland Metro Parks Zoo. Dr. Dina Might help the students compare and contrast animals at the Zoo with Dinosaurs. The students enjoyed seeing images of dinosaurs and learning how Paleontologist discovered and what they have learned about their remains.

The presenter did a great job using local animals to point out many of the characteristics that are in common with these amazing creatures of our worlds past. Using the document camera the students took a closer look at the scales on a bearded dragon. This provided the students a better understanding of the animals.

This program was a great introduction to extinction and animals adaptations. To learn more about the programs offered by the Cleveland Zoo you can visit them on the web at http://www.clemetzoo.com/education/dstlrn/distlearn.asp

Hello Houston…we do NOT have a problem!

2007-02-20T09:42:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Meikle’s fifth grade students at Avon Heritage North Elementary School presented their plans for a trip to Mars with the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas. The students were divided into four groups that planned travel from Earth to Mars, landing on the planet and the exploration that would be done during their stay.

The students did a fantastic job planning their trip. The students created models drew pictures of their rockets and rovers. The students had to identify many of the characteristics of the atmosphere and the surface of planet to make sure their journey was a success. Each group determined how many astronauts they would send to Mars. The groups calculated the food, water and oxygen needed for all of the members to survive. Each of the groups had different theories on how they would grow food, find water and create energy for their shelters and equipment.

This project was a fantastic opportunity for the students to work in groups, meet many of their content standards as well as practice their presenting skills. All of the students were required to present a part of their project. This program is a two part program run by the NASA Johnson Center. While the project was a lot of work to complete the students and teachers enjoyed the activities. It was a great project that we look forward to doing it again.

To learn more about the NASA distance learning programs check them out on the web at http://nasadln.nmsu.edu/dln/

Peter and the Wolf visit Avon East Elementary School

2007-02-09T16:39:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Hartwell and O’Hara’s second graders had a wonderful visit from Peter and the Wolf. The composition was narrated and performed by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra and Metropolitan Classical Ballet. The students enjoyed the lovely sounds of the Orchestra and the dancers were fantastic.

This introduction to the Orchestra was great experience for the students. The program was narrated in English and Spanish and each character was represented by an instrument in the Orchestra. This provided the students with an opportunity to learn more about the instruments and their sounds.

The Peter and the Wolf program was our districts first connection to the Bass Performance Hall. The call was scheduled through the Connect 2 Texas group in Fort Worth Texas. We were pleased with the programming and look forward to more connections.

If you want to check out the programming from Connect to Texas check them out on the web at http://www.connect2texas.net/

Avon Heritage South and Bamford share their communities

2007-02-08T13:25:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Danielson’s 4th graders from Avon Heritage South connected this morning to their partner school in England. The students from Bamford Primary School brought in items that they felt best represents their local community and shared them with our students. The room was filled with sports equipment, fishing rods and games that the students use in their daily life. Our students were amazed with the similarities between our classes.

The classes followed up with an exchange of questions about their favorite celebrities, sporting events and school activities. The students enjoyed a fun discussion on the difference between the rugby and American football. This program was a great way for the students to learn first hand about the United Kingdom. We appreciate Mike Griffith’s efforts from Global Leap to bring our classes together, provide an MCU to connect our schools and technical support. Without his efforts we would still be making alls nationally.

If you have not had a chance to check out the Global Leap Project it is well worth your time. Mike Griffith and his family provide a friendly gateway to the UK and many parts of the world. The can be found on the web at www.global-leap.com/ .

Penguin-Polooza hits Avon, Ohio

2007-02-07T11:06:00.000-05:00

Avon students enhanced their Penguin units with a connection to the Columbus Zoo. The students shared their knowledge of Penguins and their habits with Carrie from the Zoo. The lesson met many of Ohio’s curriculum standards of science, geography and math. The students enjoyed the video provided through the system of penguins in the Columbus Zoo habitat.

One of the most exciting parts of the session was the transformation of one of the students to a penguin. The students identified the body parts of a penguin as they were added to the student. The student demonstrated the way the penguins walk as the instructor explained the advantages the have in their environment. Two students then demonstrated the way penguins care for their eggs and how difficult it is for them to move with eggs and babies.

The Avon Schools will be connecting the Columbus Zoo all week with third grade classes as part of the grade level unit. This program is not listed on the Columbus Zoo programming list, but they will schedule classes upon request. The Columbus Zoo is one of many of the great content providers in Ohio.

You can check out the Columbus Zoo and their distance learning offerings online at http://www.colszoo.org/education/as-dist_learn.htm

Avon East and Manor Primary get the “Point” of meeting through IVC with an interactive story.

2007-02-01T21:28:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Mason’s second grade students started the day and Mrs. Parker’s students ended the day with Lisa Wheeler’s story Porcupining read over the videoconferencing system. The classes connected at 9:30am Avon time and 2:30pm Manor time which was a surprise to both classes. After the classes had a chance to greet each other the students learned more about each others communities and locations with Google Earth. Using satellite images of each others schools the students were able to see a bird’s eye view of each others towns. The Avon students loved to see Manor’s swimming pool and the their beautiful campus.

Once the students had a better understanding of each others locations the classes were read the story Porcupining: A Prickly Love Story by Lisa Wheeler. Using a document camera the classes were able to see pictures from the story book while the story was read over the videoconferencing systems. This program served as a kickoff to a writing and comprehension project that will take place over the video systems and email.

The Avon Schools are thrilled to working with Manor Primary School and look forward to our next videoconference!

Avon and Firelands students enhance written expression through Mystery Box project

2007-01-31T12:58:00.000-05:00

Miss Neushafer’s fifth grade students shared their imaginations writing skills through a collaborative project with Mrs. Barr’s class at South Amherst Middle School. The students sent a box of clues of a crime scene to each others schools. The students had to predict what happened based on the evidence, write a description of what occurred and identify the person guilty of the crime.

The classed connected in a videoconference with their partner school and took turns reading their accounts. The stories were well written, full of exciting events. The students really enjoyed reading their stories over the systems. This activity provided the students with a fun way to work on their written expression as well as problem solving.

Could this be the next spin off of CSI??

Avon Students kick off Black History Month with the Vanderbilt Virtual School

2007-01-31T10:32:00.000-05:00

Students from Avon Heritage South and North had the opportunity to learn more about the fight for freedom for African American Slaves. Dr. Frank Dobson from the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center discussed the struggle for the Northern and Southern states to abolish slavery. The students were treated to a video about Franklyn Douglas and a brief history of the slave trade.

Dr. Dobson did a great job stressing that the battle to end slavery was not just an issue with the Southern states. Examples of events that occurred in both regions of the United States and how difficult it was for slaves to escape bondage were described to the students.

This session was a great introduction to our teachers units on the Underground Railroad. The students had the opportunity to ask questions to Dr. Dobson and to get a better perspective of events. We want to thank Vanderbilt College for this great opportunity.

If you would like to learn more about their programming you can visit them on the web at www.vanderbilt.edu/virtualschool/

The Greenbush IDL sure sounds interesting

2007-01-26T13:36:00.000-05:00

If a sound is made in a videoconference can the students hear it?

Mrs. Scaletta’s second grade science students took a
closer look at sound with the Greenbush science center in Kansas. The students were given tuning forks, plastic and string provided by Greenbush for experiments with sounds.

This session was a great activity for the Avon students to have better understanding of sound, the inner ear and how sound waves travel through the air to the human ear.

The students loved the activities and recorded great data involving volume and pitch. This session is aligned to Ohio’s science standards for second grade and provides a great introduction to Mrs. Scaletta’s science unit.

Cosi Toledo sounds like fun

2007-01-25T14:11:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Hartwell and O’Hara’s second grade students get a better understanding of sound waves through experiments with Cosi Toledo. Andy Campbell led the class through several activities demonstrating sound and vibrations. The students really enjoyed the program and we look forward to doing more programs with Cosi Toledo.

This session with permission from Cosi was recorded from the Avon High School media students. The AHS media connected to eTech Ohio through their new Polycom EX that is connected to their editing equipment for recording. The class will edit the footage add a teacher intro and will play the session on our cable access channel provided by Time Warner Cable. Avon families will have the opportunity to see the video lesson on Channel 22 to see the great activities occurring through interactive videoconferencing.

Show me your WIKI??? I hardly know you….

2007-01-24T17:24:00.000-05:00

The LCDLC Technology Toolbox Series of professional development had another successful session providing members and nonmember schools the opportunity to learn about wiki’s and how they can be used as an online collaboration tool. Teachers from Avon, Avon Lake, Marlington, South Amherst and Tiffin Calvert connected over the videoconferencing systems to take a closer look at Wikipedia and several of the free online wiki builders on the internet for them to use.

There was great dialog between the teachers on using Wikipedia and the group discussed the many different applications wiki’s can be used for in a K-12 environment. After the overview the groups walked through the process of creating their own wiki’s using wikispaces.com and the security features the program provides. We look forward to seeing the resources that will be created from this presentation.

Technology Toolbox sessions are offered once a month on a variety of topics ranging from Blogs to Podcasting. The sessions are free to LCDLC members and cost non member school districts only $50.00. Interested teachers can learn more about Technology Toolbox at www.lcdlc.org/professionaldevelopment.htm .

Avon Students blast off to Mars with NASA Johnson Space Center

2007-01-17T13:44:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Meikle’s 5th grade science students enhanced their science curriculum through an interactive videoconference with the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas. The students were treated to a multimedia rich lesson on Mars and NASA’s mission to the red planet. The videos and images shared to our classes were incredible and provided students a better understanding of our solar system.

The students were issued a challenge to plan a trip to Mars. Once the class was divided into two groups the class learned that the two groups had different tasks to complete, but the groups need to work with each other. Each group was issued three objectives to complete from planning the launch window to and from the planet and how to produce food and find water.

This session was the first of two programs offered by the Johnson Space Center. February 20th the classes will connect to Houston to present the plan to explore Mars. The students have some difficult tasks ahead of them. We look forward to sharing our plans and research collected.

Science “attracts” attention with the Greenbush ESC

2007-01-16T19:53:00.000-05:00

Miss Giardini and Mrs. Scalletta’s first grade students participated in a great lesson on magnets with the Greenbush ESC in Girard Kansas. The students were given bar, horseshoe and circle magnets for experiments lead by the instructor. The students used metal shavings to view the magnetic fields created by the different shapes of magnets.

Once the students had a better understanding of how the magnets attracted mental the students hypothesized which magnet was the strongest. Using paper clips the students tested each of the magnets and compare their results.

One of the high lights of the conference for the students and teachers were an activity involving magnets and money. No one would have guessed it would be the dollar bill that would be moved by the magnet.

This was a great program provided by the Greenbush Educational Service Center in Kansas. Check out the IDL program online at www.greenbush.org/IDL/home.html.

CSI Avon, Ohio

2007-01-12T20:20:00.000-05:00

Mr. Kelly’s ninth and tenth grade health classes help solve a murder mystery while learning about DNA with Health Space Cleveland.

The students shared their research articles on DNA with Mr. Bliss from health space and learned many new facts about the Human Genome Project. The students developed a better understanding of how DNA is playing an active role in our society. The students were surprised to hear what percentage of DNA they shared with each other and other species.

Once the students were in the DNA zone they were able to use there skills in a scientific game of who done it. The crime scene was described and the DNA samples were delivered to the groups in broken down amino acids. The scientific process of DNA identification was demonstrated. The students marked out the strands and compared their strand to a sample taken from the victim. The crime was solved and justice was done!

This session titled Genetic Revolution was one of many great programs offered by Health Space Cleveland. Check them out on the web at www.healthspacecleveland.org/education/education.asp?detail=9

Avon cuts over to the LEECA Fiber Project

2007-01-09T21:00:00.000-05:00

The Avon Schools cut over to the LEECA Fiber Project providing the district with increased bandwidth to Elyria and to Columbus. A much needed upgrade was made to the LEECA network to Columbus providing all of the districts with much need breathing room. With an increase of videoconferencing traffic over the past years the Avon district is looking forward to increased bandwidth.

The Avon Schools have taken advantage of the model upgrade from Polycom by purchasing two Polycom EX view stations at closeout prices. One system is to replace Avon High Schools Vtel Galaxy system purchased through the IVDL Grant trough Ohio SchoolNet. This system has well earned its retirement, but as long as it makes and received calls it will stay at AHS.

Te second system has been added to the Avon HS TV studio for capturing video collaborations for editing and posting to their district cable access channel. This will provide media students the opportunity to edit and publish many of the great events that occur over videoconferencing.

The purchase of the two additional end points brings the school district to seven videoconferencing systems providing the students of Avon great opportunities to enhance their curriculum in the future.

Avon welcomes new partners to the LCDLC

2007-01-03T20:41:00.000-05:00

Starting in January the Lorain County Distance Learning Consortium welcomes two new members to our virtual family. The Fairview School district has joined the consortium bringing Fairview High School to the consortium and in the 2007 their new elementary school will be added. The Fairview Schools are in the same athletic conference which will bring the districts together academically as well as athletically. We look forward to working with their students and teachers this year and in years to come.

Firelands Schools a member since the consortium was created took advantage of the Polycom Viewstation closeouts purchasing a Polycom EX for Firelands Elementary School. The Firelands School District has been making great strides in the academic performances these last years. We are looking forward to their continued success and to work with them in the future.

The Grinch pays a visit to Avon East

2006-12-18T22:54:00.000-05:00

First grade classes from Avon East Elementary School connect to Global Leap in London for the closer look at the Grinch that stole Christmas. The students start with the Dr. Seuss holiday classic being read to them by Kathryn Griffith. Images from the story were displayed behind her.
After the story the students discussed the similarities between our town countries in how the holidays will be celebrated. The students enjoyed the discussion as much as the story.

Avon Students participate in the 2nd annual Holiday Tradition Conference

2006-12-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

The door to the Distance Learning room at Avon East became a revolving door during St. Francis Universities Holiday Traditions Conference. Online from 7:30am to 3:30pm the students from twelve different classrooms took turns participating in discussions from presenters from around the world.

The students enjoyed time spent with Santa as well as the opportunity to learn how communities from around the world celebrate the holidays. We look forward to participating in this great program again in 2007.

Thanks again St. Francis University

Shipwrecked students perform their chapters with partner schools

2006-12-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Friedell’s third grade students from Heritage North participated in a collaborated readers theater of their chapters on their story shipwrecked as part of the Chapter Project with Independence and Fremont. The students took turns performing their chapter and their conclusions. All three of the classes were loaded with props and costumes showing great efforts and pride in their chapters.

Once the stories were completed the students shared their favorite parts from each others performances. The students had great comments and shared some interesting comments. The classes did a great job and all enjoyed the project.

Mrs. Clark’s class shares artifacts with their partner school in the UK

2006-12-07T21:54:00.000-05:00

The third graders in Mrs. Clarks get a better understanding of their community while learning about the United Kingdom through a virtual artifact exchange. The classes have been exchanging clues about their location for the past couple of weeks and completed the project through the sharing of artifacts brought in by the students that represent their communities.

The Students used the document camera and scripts created by the students to identify the object and how it relates to our community. The students brought in Ohio State, Cleveland and Avon icons to give the students from Banford a better understanding of our community and why Avon is a great place to live.

The artifacts presented by the students from Bamford a suburban community outside of London were great representations of their city. The Avon students loved seeing the items from Bamford and how similar their communities were.

The classes look forward to starting a new project with their partner school.

Gingerbread baby visits Miss Lavelle’s with the Center of Puppetry Arts

2006-12-06T21:21:00.000-05:00

The second grade students from Miss Lavelle’s class were treated to the Holiday program the Gingerbread Baby from the Center of Puppetry Arts in Atlanta Georgia. The class looked at the many different versions the Gingerbread family from locations from around the world. The class enjoyed a great performance of the Gingerbread Baby with shadow puppets.

Once the story was complete the students created stick puppets to make their own shadow puppets. This activity was a great Holiday session that reinforced listening and reading skills. The students created their own versions of Gingerbread boy using their puppets.

Avon Multi Media Students complete in Henkle Duct Tape commercial contest

2006-12-05T20:36:00.000-05:00

Mr. Garvelink’s Multimedia students participated in the regional judging of the Henkle Duct Tape commercial contest. The Avon students submitted nine sixty second commercials featuring Henkle Duct Tape. There were construction workers, super hero’s and monks demonstrating the multiple uses of duct tape and why Henkle stands above them all.

While all of the entries were entertaining and demonstrated the hard work of the students; only one commercial could advance to the State Finals. This year the Monks from Holy Trinity advance representing the Avon Schools.

Thanks the Henkle Duct Tape Company the students are treated to a real world activity and get a chance to compete with classes from around the state. The winning commercial of the State competition receives a Cannon GL2 video camera for their school. We wish the Eagles luck in the State judging.

Magnolia shares chapter 1 of Magic in a Sack a collaborative writing project

2006-12-04T20:10:00.000-05:00

Avon’s partner class in Magnolia Texas shared the first chapter of the classes collaborative story. The students from Mrs. Lasater’s 4th grade class read their chapter over the video system and answered questions about the characters to help the Avon students prepare the second chapter.

The interactive chapter story titled the Magic Sack is a four chapter book that is split between the two classes. After each chapter the classes connect over the video systems to share their progress, answer questions about characters and discuss predictions of future chapters. Completed chapters are placed on the project wiki hosted by www.wikispaces.com.

Check out the great efforts of the classes at http://avonmagnolia.wikispaces.com/

Amon Carter Museum uses art work to display the People of the Plains

2006-11-13T15:27:00.000-05:00

Third graders from Avon Heritage South Elementary School discussed the people of the plains using reproduced painting with the Amon Carter Museum in Fort Worth Texas. While connected to the Nancy Strickland from the Amon Carter Museum the students in small groups looked over several of reproductions from their museum and broke the art work into themes. Nancy helped guide the students to a better understanding of the Indians in Planes through details in the paintings. The students broke the painting into themes of games, hunting, ceremonies protection. Each group shared details of the works they held as the camera viewed the exhibits in the museum.

Thanks to the Amon Carter Museum the students have a better understanding of what life was like back when the Indian Nations lived and traveled the plains.

Avon Students learn about the Sioux Nation with the Green Bush ESC

2006-11-10T15:14:00.000-05:00

Several second grade classes developed a better understanding of Indian culture and history through an interactive lesson provided by Lisa Pride at the Green Bush ESC. Students discussed the many artifacts and their uses to identify the roles people played in the Sioux Nation. The students discussed the different forms of written communication and how important it was to Indian tribes throughout the world.

The students demonstrated their understanding of image writing by creating their own messages using examples provided by Lisa at Green Bush and some images of their own. The students tore paper backs to represent animal hides and wrote messages using pictures to their classmates. Once completed; the students shared their stories to the class and Mrs. Pride.

Reptiles and Amphibians invade Heritage South through Video Distance Learning

2006-11-09T14:53:00.000-05:00

Mrs. Frank and Johnson’s third grade classes introduce reptiles and amphibians to their science classes with the Lorain County MetroParks. The students discussed the difference between mammals, amphibians and reptiles through several live examples. Leslie McNut did a great job explaining the difference between cold and warm blooded animals and the way they survive.

The students enjoyed the snapping turtles, snakes and toads that were placed in the document camera. The close up view from the camera provided the students a view the snakes scales, the toad’s skin and the bottom of the turtle shells. This provided students a better view of these animals than if there are at the nature center. One of the favorite parts of the session was watching the toad eat.

This session was one of the many great programs provided by the Lorain County MetroParks. To learn more about their programming you can visit them on the web at www.loraincountymetroparks.com/dlc.htm

Up In The Air Introduction of Students

2006-11-07T12:57:00.000-05:00

Science students from Mrs. Neumann’s class at Avon MS meet their partner class at Amherst Steele HS. The classes will be sharing lessons and activities with each others schools. The HS students will be reinforcing their science curriculum through mini lessons with AMS. The AMS students plan to share information and lessons learned during the school year.

The first meeting of the classes gives the students a better understanding of the technology and the opportunity to meet the students they will be working with throughout the school year. The students introduced themselves to their partner school and asked questions about their schools and communities.

We are looking forward to working with Amherst HS this year.

LCDLC takes part in the world’s largest videoconference

2006-11-02T20:50:00.000-05:00

Dave Miller and Paul Hieronymus were delighted to present at the Internet 2 Megaconference VII. We connected at 7:15 am and enjoyed wonderful music from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Orchestra was fantastic and the dance performed was impressive. The audiences were treated to several great sessions from presenters from all over the world.

The LCDLC was honored to be selected as a presenter at 11:45 sharing our virtual college tour project. We provided the group an overview of our consortium, the project and shared a four minute video of last year’s session. Our fifteen minute of fame was a great way to share our efforts to the world.

Megaconference is a great program that provides students an opportunity to see presenters from around the world. Each year the program tops the previous years with dynamic and exciting presentations. The sessions are streamed online for viewing at any time.
Check out the Megaconfernece website at http://www.megaconference.org/

Fifth graders from Heritage North explore wetlands with Old Women Creek

2006-10-26T13:30:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Meikle’s fifth grade science classes connected to the NOECA Intercom group for a presentation from Old Women Creek. The students identified the characteristics of wetlands and the animals that live in a wetland environment. The students were placed in groups of four with cards of mammals, reptiles, birds, fish, plants and insects. Once broken into groups the students placed them into food chains for them to share with the presenter and their classmates.

After placing the items into their chains the students had to identify what would happen if that part of the food chain was missing and its effect to other parts of the wetlands. This lesson was a great reinforcement to our science curriculum.

Technology Toolbox – Yawn… Oh your PowerPoint is finished

2006-10-25T21:06:00.000-04:00

Avon Middle School played host to schools from across the state of Ohio in a closer look at Microsoft PowerPoint. The Lorain County Distance Learning Consortium is offering professional development sessions to member schools and others on technology topics. The sessions are offered at 2:30 and 4:00pm to allow teachers at different ending times the opportunity to participate.

The PowerPoint sessions focused on making PowerPoint an interactive tool to enhance student learning. The teachers received several PowerPoint templates of games and activities that they could edit and use for remediation, review or assessment. As a finale a demonstration of MS Producer was provided to the teaches with a standard webcam.

To learn more about Technology Toolbox check out the offerings on the web at www.lcdlc.org/TechnologyToolbox.htm

Decision 2006 – The race for Governor makes a stop to Mr. Rowe’s class by videoconference.

2006-10-25T18:00:00.000-04:00

Lee Fisher Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor made a scheduled stop at Orange High School to connect to over 15 schools via videoconference to discuss the race for governor. Students from across the state were able to ask live questions about the campaign and the role of Lieutenant Governor in Ohio’s government. Mr. Fisher meet with the students for over an hour discussing the state economy, education and many of the other hot topics in our state.

We wish more of our candidates were willing to meet with our students over videoconferencing. They do not realize that our students have a direct line to their voting parents. The schools that were able to take part in the videoconference well represented the states regional geography and the questions asked by the students represented their districts with pride.

The Avon Schools would like to thanks the Orange City Schools for hosting Mr. Fisher and Melissa Higgs-Horwell from the SCOCA consortium for organizing the event. We wish Mr. Fisher luck at the polls and hope to see him online again in the future.

Technology Toolbox – Yawn… Oh your PowerPoint is finished

2006-10-24T21:08:00.000-04:00

Avon Middle School played host to schools from across the state of Ohio in a closer look at Microsoft PowerPoint. The Lorain County Distance Learning Consortium is offering professional development sessions to member schools and others on technology topics. The sessions are offered at 2:30 and 4:00pm to allow teachers at different ending times the opportunity to participate.

The PowerPoint sessions focused on making PowerPoint an interactive tool to enhance student learning. The teachers received several PowerPoint templates of games and activities that they could edit and use for remediation, review or assessment. As a finale a demonstration of MS Producer was provided to teaches with a standard webcam.

To learn more about Technology Toolbox check out the offerings on the web at www.lcdlc.org/TechnologyToolbox.htm

Careers in Architecture

2006-10-19T20:46:00.000-04:00

Avon High School students in Mr. Lindway’s Tech Ed Class provided his students career programming through videoconferencing with WVIZ PBS 25. Robert W. Blatchford Jr. President of Lesko Architecture in Cleveland provided students with back ground information about the field of architecture the current projects he is involved with in the Cleveland area.

This session was perfect timing with our class. Mr. Lindway’s students had just completed their bridge project. Each student drafted their own design which was later constructed out of balsa wood. The completed bridges were tested with weights. The a architecture discussion was a fitting conclusion to their project.

Avon East students build a better pencil with the Greenbush ESC

2006-10-18T10:21:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Scaletta’s 2nd grade students discuss the scientific process and inventions through an interactive session with the Greenbush Educational Service Center in Girard Kansas. The students discussed how sticky notes have changed our everyday life and why it was invented. Once the students had a better understanding on inventions the students took their best efforts to invent a better pencil. They identified the problems the have with their pencils. Once the problems were identified the students in groups of three picked one of the problems and built a better pencil with items given to them from their teacher and Greenbush. The students shared their pencils with Mrs. Pride using the document camera. The students used pipe cleaners for better grips, larger erasers, cotton to avoid splinters and other cool designs to keep the pencil from rolling away.

This was a great program aligned to Ohio’s science content standards and will help our students prepare for our state science test.

Way to go Greenbush!

LCDLC launches Technology Toolbox Professional development programs

2006-10-10T20:04:00.000-04:00

The LCDLC offered their first of several technology professional development sessions to member schools and to schools outside of the consortium. Schools from Lorain, Lima, Steubenville and Tiffin connected to Avon Middle School for an interactive discussion on how to use Microsoft Outlook 2003 to improve organization and productivity.

Sessions were offered at 2:30 and 4:00 PM to meet the dismissal schedules of LCDLC member schools. Technology Toolbox is the consortiums first effort to provide Technology PD to schools through videoconferencing. The next opportunity will be October 24th with a presentation on best practice of Microsoft PowerPoint titled “Yawn, oh your PowerPoint is Finished??”. Sessions will be offered at 2:30 & 4:00pm from Avon Middle School.

Want to learn more about Technology Toolbox? Check out the LCDLC programming schedule at www.lcdlc.org/TechnologyToolbox.htm

Students make gourmet dinner for worms with home made composts

2006-10-10T19:24:00.000-04:00

Second grade classes from Avon East Elementary School created composts to develop a better understanding of chemical change, decomposition and the difference between organic and inorganic objects. The students chose several items to place in the compost piles making predictions to whether they would decompose or remain in the same state. Students from Avon, Ohio and Miami Florida discussed the items and their predictions.

Classes started with large freezer bags half filled with dirt. After adding organic and inorganic objects, the groups added water and worms for the feeding to begin. The worms will enjoy their new dinner for a couple weeks as they are only disturbed for class observations. The students from both schools are looking forward to comparing their results.

Compost recipe

One large freezer bag with six small holes in the top
½ a bag of dirt
¼ cup of water to moisten the soil
Several pieces of lettuce
Dried leaves
Grass from the playground
1 paper clip
A piece of Styrofoam
A piece of plastic
1 banana peal
1 acorn
A handful of clover
A sprinkle of rosemary

Serve cold and wet for two plump and juicy worms.

Isopods make Avon East their home away from home

2006-10-09T21:58:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Masin and Grabert’s second grade classes at Avon East took a closer look at isopods with their partner classes in Miami Florida. The students observed pill bugs or potato bugs as they are commonly called in Northeast Ohio before they added them to their terrariums.

The students shared the changes that took place in there terrariums with their partner classes and observed the pill bugs as Mrs Gerber explained the unique characteristics of the isopod. The students will collect additional insects to add to their terrariums and observe the environment from week to week.

The LCDLC uses video podcasts to update consortium members

2006-10-08T20:18:00.000-04:00

You get hundreds of email messages listing program opportunities for videoconferencing. Why not just watch them???

The LCDLC has been creating video updates for over a year, but for 2006-07 school year the consortium has converted these to video podcasts available on iTunes. With video iPods becoming more and more popular the consortium started to convert their updates to MPG4 for easy viewing with quick time player. Using the RSS feed, the LCDLC has subscribed their updates to iTunes for teachers to view and for updates to come to them automatically. The LCDLC video update podcast is compatible with iTunes, Google, Yahoo, Newsgator and many more...

Want to subscribe to our Podcast??

1) Go to the LCDLC weekly update page at http://www.lcdlc.org/streaming.htm
2) Drag the XML icon or use one of the links to be subscribed to on of the RSS readers
3) Start watching!

You can also search iTunes for LCDLC. Subscriptions are FREE

Hola Avon East Amigos

2006-10-06T21:49:00.000-04:00

Avon High School and three second grade classes from Avon East Elementary School started their Spanish classes over videoconferencing. Avon High School students from Mrs. Ventresco’s Spanish 3 and 4 classes reinforced there language skills be working with Mrs. Cogar, Triplett and Hartmen’s classes. The students learned to words hello, good bye, friend, Mr and Mrs.

The classes sang songs and answered questions asked by the High School students with the guidance of Mrs. Ventresco. Spanish lessons will be offered every Friday to the classes from Avon East. Each week the High School students will have more involvement in the lessons. The elementary students were thrilled with the class and the opportunity to learn a foreign language.

Mrs. Scaletta’s second grade classes visit the rainforests with Greenbush Kansas

2006-10-04T21:19:00.000-04:00

Mrs Scaletta’s second grade class discussed food webs and the rainforest habitat with the Greenbush IDL program. Mrs. Pride brought out several rainforest creatures during the presentation to demonstrate the many adaptations they use to survive. The students were treated with snakes, iguana’s, tarantula’s and one cool hissing cockroach!

After the animals Mrs. Pride discussed food webs and assisted the students as they created their own food using paper strips to make a chain. The Avon students created hain links for animals found in the rainforest and at home. This great lesson was a fitting completion on Mrs. Scaletta’s rainforest unit. The students enjoyed the session and look forward to more programs from Greenbush.

Send in the worms!

2006-10-03T21:04:00.000-04:00

The second grade classes from Avon East Elementary School met with their partner classes at Miami Country Day School in Miami Florida to share the changes the have occurred since their last meeting and to add a living organism to the soil of their terrariums.

Mrs. Gerber share information on the anatomy of a worm, while the Avon site broadcasted an earthworm on the systems document camera. Once the students observed the earth worms, they listed their worm’s characteristic and drew pictures. The students added their warms to their terrariums and set them aside until the next class meeting.

Avon Heritage South and Magnolia Texas start collaborative story project

2006-09-29T20:37:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Erreditario, a forth grade teacher at Avon Heritage South met with her partner teacher from Williams Elementary School in Magnolia, Texas to plan their collaborative story project. The classes will use a Wiki to help share chapters with each others school and for their classes to collaborate online.

The classes will brainstorm their favorite fictional topics to be shared with their partner school in October. During a meet and greet session the classes will vote on their favorite topic and the story writing will begin. The classes will create a four chapter story in which each class will be responsible for two chapters. After the completion of the fourth chapter both classes will complete the conclusion and present their ending to their partner class.

2nd grade classes create terrariums with Miami Florida

2006-09-26T21:26:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Grabert and Masin’s 2nd grade classes started their terrarium project with students from Miami Country Day School in Miami Florida. Using see through salad containers donated by the Avon Heinen's grocery store the student’s added soil, rocks, bird seed and dried up grass/leaves to create their own ecosystem.
Mrs. Gerber from Miami described the difference between dirt and soil as students compared samples of each other soil. Water was added to help the seed planted by the students. The classes made predictions of how their terrariums will change by the next time the classes meet.

Avon East students join Possum at his Harvest Moon Party

2006-09-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

Several classes from Avon East Elementary School took part in Avon’s Story Time program. Story Time is an introduction to videoconferencing for teachers and students through stories read over the system. Three first and second grade classes discussed the faces of the moon and how people and animals use the moon as a calendar for the seasons. The students shared the many different ways that animals prepare and survive in the winter.

Students were read Possum’s Harvest Moon by Anne Hunter by Avon’s Curriculum Technology Coordinator from Avon Middle school using the document camera to display pictures from the story. Students were asked to list the animals from the story and why they were to busy to attend the party.

Careers in TV Broadcast News

2006-09-21T09:04:00.000-04:00

Alternative School students from Avon Middle School learned more about careers in TV & Radio with an interactive interview with Obie Shelton, a reporter, WKYC TV 3 News. Students from across Ohio had the opportunity to ask questions about his career and how he got started as a reporter. Obie Shelton has been a Cleveland icon for many years. The students enjoyed the opportunity to meet him over videoconferencing.

This program was provided to LCDLC schools and the Ohio K-12 network through Ideastream WVIZ PBS 25 and the NOTA network.

Constitution Day: Creating Classroom Rules

2006-09-15T13:51:00.000-04:00

Second grade students from Miss Lavelle’s and Mrs. Cruzado classes celebrated Constitution Day through a lesson on classroom rules with the Columbiana ESC. Classes from Salem Buckeye, Crestview, Kensington Intermediate School in Rocky River, & East Liverpool shared need for classroom rules and how they relate to the constitution.

Thanks to Mrs. Straub from the Columbiana ESC the students have a better understanding of the need for rules in the classroom and throughout the country. The students enjoyed the videoconference and interacting with classrooms around Ohio. We look forward to connecting to Columbiana County again and hope to see the other schools online again.

Constitution Day Presentation: It’s My Right!

2006-09-15T10:37:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Gantz & Mrs. Haney’s 4th grade classes celebrated constitution day with the Columbia Educational Service Center, Wayne Elementary School and Rocky River. The students made a trip back in history to the writing of the constitution. The classes discussed the ratification process and the process of creating one of the greatest documents ever created.

After taking a closer look at the Bill of Rights the students were broken into groups playing the role of a student, congress member, small business owner, and parent’s point of view ranking the rights from most important to least important. Each of the sites presented the rights they felt were most important which consisted of right of opinion, religion and a speedy trial.

The Students enjoyed their first videoconference of the year and look forward to connecting to the Columbiana ESC again and to work with the other schools.

Avon Teachers get ready for their best IVC year to date!

2006-08-13T12:25:00.000-04:00

Welcome Back!

You can easily tell that the summer is coming to a close. Classroom teachers are coming into the buildings again to get their classrooms ready for the first day of school, hallways are closed off due to wet wax and the districts Vtel & Polycom systems are being dusted off for another great year. It is great to see the classroom teachers return from vacation with new vigor and fresh ideas for their students. I am happy to hear that IVC will be playing a roll in our teacher’s plans and the project will see the return of two former project members. There have been some exciting changes to the consortium, the state and the local video systems.

Third Frontier Project and the LEECA Fiber project

More bandwidth = great opportunities! Ohio E-Tech and the Lake Erie Education Computer Association (LEECA) have been hard at work this summer upgrading the school networks. LEECA is finishing their upgrade to Columbus and the Fiber Project is near completion.

As many of you have heard through the network grapevine, Ohio’s K-12 video network has moved bridging services from OIT Video (commonly referred to as DAS) to Ohio E-Tech. We will miss the staff of OIT and the countless hours spent on the phone with their technicians. E-Tech has some large shoes to fill, but I am confident that they will provide our district with the same quality that we have come to expect from the state network. E-Tech still plans to support and maintain the ATM network, but the transition of IP is just around the corner. As with any change we expect a couple bumps in the road and ask that everyone use patience with the new network staff.

New IP numbers for Avon’s IVC systems

We have a new ISP which means all of the external IP’s have changed. New IP numbers will be posted on the TV’s of our systems in the fall. ATM & ISDN numbers are not expected to change.

Schools that would like to test their IP connectivity are welcome to dial Avon Middle School at 208.108.90.88. To help sites test their connections a camera is pointed out the window. Last year we had several schools take advantage of the site for testing, demos to staff and for presentations. We look forward to continuing this service to the IVC community.

IVC systems find new classroom homes in Heritage North and South

The Avon Local Schools student population is still growing which makes locations for IVC more difficult each year. Heritage South has converted two science rooms and the former DL room to classrooms this school year. The IVC system has been moved to the choir room and will have to split time with the schools indoor recess. The room is twice the size as the former classroom which will provide classroom teachers with great opportunities, but will need to schedule programs around the recess schedule in case of bad weather. Heritage North Elementary School has moved their IVC system to another wing of the building.

We hope to see you online this school year!

The Avon Schools and the LCDLC are hard at work planning collaborations and projects for the 2006-07 school year. We have several teachers grades K-12 looking for projects and partners. If you are looking for a school to collaborate with or have a project needing partners please keep us in mind. We look forward to see you online!

Paul Hieronymus
Curriculum Technology Coordinator
Avon Local Schools, Ohio
HieronymusP@Avon.k12.oh.us

Pirates invade Avon Heritage South for the year’s last videoconference

2006-06-07T15:15:00.000-04:00

What could be better on the last day of school than a videoconference with the Mariners Museum on Pirates? Third graders at Avon Heritage South participated in a interactive discussion on the life of a pirate. The students compared and contract legends and movies to images and stories told by the museum.

The students enjoyed stories about Black Beard, Ann Bonnie and Mary Reed as much as the single shot musket pistols, swards and pirate money. The story of Black Beards six pistols and how he was captured gave the students great stories to tell their friends and parents. While traditional pirates have disappeared over the seven seas, everyone was surprised to hear that acts of piracy still occur today.

This was our first connection to Mariners’ Museum. Our classes and teachers were thrilled with the content and the program. We look forward to doing more with them!
Information on their programming can be found at http://www.mariner.org/educationalad/teachers/elec_classroom.php

Avon Distance Learning Coordinator participates in CILC focus group discussion

2006-06-01T19:36:00.000-04:00

The Avon Local Schools continue its working relationship with the Center for Interactive Learning and Collaboration (CILC) out of Indianapolis as part of a focus group discussion. A group of coordinators from Ohio, New York, Texas and South Dakota enjoyed an open discussion on many key issues involving videoconferencing as an enhancement to instruction in our school districts. The topics of best practice, professional development and concerns were the key topics.

While the discussion was centered around the CILC consortium and their roll in videoconferencing, the group was enjoyed each other comments and news of a follow meeting has been suggested by Brian Dzwonek of the 29-90 Distance Learning Consortium in South Dakota. The Avon Schools would be interested in further discussions and hope that these could lead to new partnerships and collaborations.

CSI Avon, Ohio

2006-05-30T23:56:00.000-04:00

Mr. Kelly’s sophomore and junior health classes had the opportunity to learn more about DNA and the Human Genome through an interactive game of who done it with Heath Space Cleveland. The students discussed DNA and how genetic information is changing the field of health care. The students participated in a simulated forensics investigation using DNA evidence.

A murder had taken place on the grounds of Health Space Cleveland and skin was found under the victim’s finger nails. The Avon Students were given DNA data for five suspects. After breaking down the code of the five suspects and the sample taken from the victim the class determined which DNA was a match.

The program gave the students a better understanding of DNA forensic science. Lesson activities and materials can be found on the Health Space website. To learn more about their distance education programs check out their website www.healthspacecleveland.org/education/education.asp?detail=9

The Avon Local Schools would like to thank the Henkle Adhesive Corporation for the purchase of three distance learning programs. Through a generous donation by the company Lorain County Schools an receive free programming from Health Space Cleveland.

Heritage South students get wild with the Buffalo Zoo

2006-05-24T10:52:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Johnson’s 3rd grade class at Avon Heritage South enhanced their lesson on rainforests and habitats through a videoconference with the Buffalo Zoo. The students named the layers of the rainforest and many of the animals that make it their home.
As the students observed exhibits of the Buffalo Zoo, the students identified the layers they lived and the adaptations they have made to be successful. The students viewed insects, birds, reptiles and Gorillas. The students are thrilled to see Barney the ball python. Placed on the document camera gave the students the ability to see the scales, and eyes. Lilly the Gorilla stole the show with her climbing skills.

One of the advantages of seeing snakes though videoconferencing is the ability to show close ups on part of the snake for all of the students even the ones afraid of snakes. This allows the presenter to show features quickly and allow the students to be moved from task to task. The Rainforest experience program with the Buffalo Zoo is a great program that has become a standard part of Mrs. Johnson’s science lesson plan.

The Buffalo Zoo Distance Learning Programs can be found online at http://www.buffalozoo.org/distance_learning.html

Avon Students use artifacts to better understand their community

2006-05-15T23:45:00.000-04:00

Third grade students from Mrs. Friedel’s class at Heritage South connected to their partner school in Sedalia, Missouri to finish their artifact exchange project. The classes have been exchanging clues about their states and cities for the past month. The classes collected items that their students felt represented their community and sent them to each other through US mail prior to the videoconference.

Once the sites received their artifacts the classes connected through videoconferencing to share a last set of clues about their communities and presented the materials sent to each building. Heritage South sent a stuffed Eagle (Mascot), Duct Tape (Henkle Adhesives), maps of Lorain County and pictures of the Cleveland Indians, Cavaliers and the Browns. Skyline Elementary School sent a picture of stealth bomber (manufactured near by), toolbox (manufactured in Sedalia), pictures of their school and a local newspaper.

The artifact exchange program is one of our favorite collaboration projects. The students enjoy the problem solving activity to enhance geography, measurement, communities reading and writing. The program makes an excellent ice breaker for future collaborations.

Thanks again Skyline Elementary School

Avon Students from Heritage North save the villagers on the island of Montserrat

2006-05-10T10:42:00.000-04:00

Mr. Lima’s 6th grade science classes connected to the Challenger Learning Center at Wheeling Jesuit University for Operation Montserrat. The NASA E-Mission provides students with a simulation of a hurricane and volcanic disaster on an island of the Caribbean. The students are dived into three groups to track the hurricane, volcanic activity and to evacuate the community from danger. The teams are provided simulation data from the Challenger Center and our E-Mission controller Amy help guide the students through the catastrophe.

This session is an intense problem based learning activity in which the students are required to use science, math and planning skills to accurately track the dangers and work as a team to develop an evacuation plan. The connection takes over two hours to complete, but provides the students with a practical and real world learning experience.

This was Mr. Lima’s second year of connecting to the Challenger Center for this E-mission. We are happy to say that this program has become a scheduled part of our 6th grade curricula for our honors science classes.
To learn more about the E-Mission please visit their website at www.e-missions.net/om/

Smiley Shark visits Avon East to enhance Literacy and Science curricula

2006-05-09T09:56:00.000-04:00

Mrs. Grabert and Masin’s 2nd grade classes had a great IVC connection with the MOTE Laboratory in Florida for a lesson on sharks. The students listed to the story Smiley Shark as a lead in to a discussion about the different species of sharks. The story was entertaining and informative for the class. After the story the students participated in an interactive multiple choice quiz about the story and sharks.

The students enjoyed the fun facts about sharks and developed a better understanding of the species. Once the lesson was complete the camera switched to their shark tank for the students to view the sharks. Our presenter was engaging with the students and provided an excellent Q & A about sharks during the shark tank viewing.

This was our first experience with MOTE and will not be our last. They offer an interactive session that kept the students engaged the entire program. The smiley shark session is one of their shorter programs, but you can tell that they are organized and provide nothing but quality. I recommend this provider to schools looking to enhance their science curricula!

Eagles and Bears unite to enhance student learning

2006-05-08T15:12:00.000-04:00

Avon Heritage South took its first steps toward our first international collaboration. Through Mike Griffith of Global Leap a third grade teacher and a fourth grade teacher meet with our soon to be partner school in Bamford, England.

Avon Heritage plans to take advantage of their early start time to work with a school in England. The interest has been in the district for some time, but the time zones made it very difficult. With the Heritage campus’ moving their start time to 7:30 am the window of opportunity grew to a time that is manageable to both schools.

Out first meeting with Mike Griffith and Bamford Primary School took place at 7am EST which was 12pm in England. The goal of our first meeting was to meet the other school and discuss collaboration activities for the 2006-07 school year. This will give the teachers from both school districts the opportunity to communicate and plan over the summer for a soaring start in September.

Thanks Global Leap!

Avon Middle School students discuss privacy issues with RFID microchips

2006-05-04T12:22:00.000-04:00

Through the Vanderbilt Virtual School in Tennessee Avon Students discussed the advantages and disadvantages of RFID microchips that can send information from packages, passports and clothing. The presenter provide students with a overview of the technology and a view from venders the positive usage RFID’s for tracking packages, shopping and auto safety. A walk through a demo of the “technology store” gave them a prediction of the future of shopping.

The program led to an interesting discussion with the classes as to where a line should be drawn with technology and privacy. It took the students a little time to grasp that this could be an infringement on their lives. Once they learned that Wal-Mart was working with RFID’s their opinions changed dramatically. One of our students made references to RFID’s to spy ware on computers which we enjoyed discussing after the videoconference.

A comical view of oh privacy can be challenged with technology can be found online. Check out buying a pizza in 2010.

www.aclu.org/pizza/images/screen.swf

Great Job Vanderbilt!!