I had the opportunity this week to meet with Anil Navkal from Solarize Andover to discuss how the help desk can support his website and social media campaign to help bring awareness to Andover residents the great benefits of solar power. A student in Andover Innovation Lab will be taking ove rthe Twitter account set up and editing of his website. There is also a current program within the Art program in the Andover Public Schools to help create some student artwork related to bringing awareness to solar power in Andover. We look forward to developing this relationship at the Innovation Lab and partnering with outside organizations.
On Friday I was able to participate in a software/hardware training with EMI in the Foreign Language Lab at Andover High School. EMI sent their trainer Josh Martin to display the use of the Sanako Language software in the Foreign Language lab. I was able to participate with Tom Powers Spanish Teacher at the High School and Dr.Jorge Allen the Program Advisor for Foreign Language. 
This software helps prepare students for the AP Exams in their chosen language. The software engages students in continuous practice and repetition with dialogue lessons which the teacher can track over time. This is a great resource for the language department and enables a level of fluency development which is just not possible in the traditional classroom.
On the left is a photo of the interface doing student voice analysis.
The lab also has the capability to act as a server for department
resources. What this means is documents and files saved onto this space can be accessed by any teacher in the department from their Macbook. I am currently writing the tutorial document to assist teachers to connecting with this resource so they can collaborate and share collections. This space provides a unique space for students to immerse in language study.
introduce a shared Wikispace for collaborating with shared resources and links from course content. I will continue to work with them at their next department meeting and go over some of the benefits and features of their chose platform.
The new students who are part of the Andover innovation Lab this semester have posted their profiles to our blog. We like to provide students and opportunity to share what is special to them and why they wanted an opportunity to learn more about a specific area of technology. Check them out to learn more about their interests and projects. The students have also begun their first weeks of work in the Innovation Lab/Help Desk and have posted their progress as well.
Check these profiles out at this link!
Check these profiles out at this link!
Digital Learning Day was Wedneday! Even though it was a snow day in Andover and many other places WGBH Education Sponsored prize pack giveaway for teachers who went on the WGBH Education Page and commented on lesson resources from PBS-Click Here to see the lessons and resources available from PBS!
http://wwe.wgbh.org/learn/resources.cfm
Well that is the instructional technology update from a great week at Andover High School!
