Category Archives: Collaboration
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 Looking for Midwest Spotlight Educators in 2013 for METC!
The Call for Proposals for METC 2013 is officially open! Our submission process has changed, so be sure to read over the details carefully on the Call for Proposals info page on the Midwest Education Technology Conference’s website, METCconference.org.
In our 30th year, here’s some of what we’re looking for:
- How is your district implementing the Common Core State Standards?
- How do you manage all of those mobile devices?
- What tech tools do you use to reach and teach your students?
- How do you engage your tech savvy students? Does it make a difference in your classroom, library, school or district?
- How do you use technology to differentiate lessons and meet the needs of all students?
Here’s some extra incentive: as a presenter, you would register at a presenter rate of $50 for the day of the presentation, and just $90 for an additional day. Any preconference (half-day or full day) presenter would attend one day of the general conference for free. Also, please note that this year we have two separate deadlines for submissions:
• Preconference Session Submission Deadline: August 24, 2012
• General Session Submission Deadline: September 14, 2012
Also, new this year… do you feel you are a leader in education technology? Apply to be one of our Midwest Spotlight Educators! You may also nominate a colleague for this special recognition at METC 2013. Those who are accepted will not only present at the conference, but will also receive free registration for the general conference as well as other benefits.
Spotlight Requirements:
- Demonstrate motivation, engagement, transformation, and connection using technology to improve teaching and learning. (the METC theme)
- Provides a minimum of two references.
- Must be a certified educator in Missouri or Illinois.
- If accepted, presents at least 2 sessions at the conference. (does not include precon workshops or panel sessions)
Click here to learn more about the Midwest Spotlight Educator speaking opportunity and apply or nominate a colleague today. Questions about any of the above? Contact Megan Moncure at mmoncure@csd.org.
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- Posted under Collaboration, Common Core, Conferences, Tech PD, Web 2.0
Thursday, September 1, 2011 Want to Learn more about your ActivBoard?
Our first Promethean ActivBoard training session of the year scheduled!
Come learn how to use the Promethean ActivBoard and the ActivInspire software in your classroom in Transforming Learning with a Promethean Activboard (Level 1 Training) on November 16 and 17th, from 4-7 o’clock at Cooperating School Districts’ tele.
A Promethean ActivBoard combines the look and feel of a regular whiteboard with the power of a computer. In this class, you’ll discover how to locate hundreds of lessons that have already been created for use on the Activboard and become familiar with features such as Focus tools, Power tools and the Resource Browser that make your lessons more interactive. This class is for beginners; no prior knowledge of ActivInspire required — for costs and to register, click here.
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- Posted under Classroom Technology, Collaboration, Links, Promethean Activboard, Tech PD, VLC Programs
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 Apple Recycling Program for Education
Apple will recycle your school’s old, unwanted Mac computers, PCs, and qualifying peripherals from any manufacturer — for free.
To take advantage of this opportunity, you’ll need to register by September 2, 2011. You must recycle a minimum of 25 items in order to participate.
Apple will accept all brands of the following equipment: computers, monitors, laptops, printers, fax machines, scanners, desktop-size copy machines, CD drives, hard drives, TVs, VCRs, projectors, overhead projectors, networking equipment, cables, keyboards, and mice.
Leveraging the Apple Recycling Program for Education ensures that your retired equipment will be disposed of in an environmentally responsible manner, with special consideration given to data security:
- All recycled hard drives are ground into confetti-size pieces.
- Customers receive a certificate of destruction for each lot recycled through the program.
- All asset tags and other identifying information are destroyed.
- All of the electronic waste collected through the program is processed in North America.
For more detailed information including packing instructions,
visit http://www.apple.com/education/recycling/.
Tags: Apple, Apple in education, Apple Recycling Program for Education, data security, e-waste, ecycle, electronic recycling, electronic waste, environmentally responsible, mac
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- Posted under Collaboration
Thursday, March 17, 2011 More SMART Classes @ CSD this June
Does our new class Best Practices in SMART Notebook Lesson Creation sound interesting to you, but you are a newbie to the product? Well, good news- before we offer this Level 3 training on June 10, 2011, we will also hold our Level 1 and Level 2 training! Check it out:
Transforming Learning with a SMART Board (Level 1 Training)
June 2, 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. | $149 CSD member; $189 non-member
(No Graduate Credit Available)
The SMART Board is an interactive whiteboard that can improve the way you teach. Come learn how to use this technology tool in your classroom— no prior knowledge of SMART Boards required! This is a class for beginners with no prior knowledge of SMART Boards. Discover how to find and develop lesson plans that make use of this fabulous tool and motivate 21st century students.
Creating SMART Board Lessons to Engage and Motivate Students
(Level 2 Training – One Graduate Credit Available)
June 3, 8:30 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. | $149 CSD member; $189 non-member
PREREQUISITE: Level 1 Training or equivalent; not a class for beginners
Do you already have a SMART Board and consider yourself a user? This intermediate class is for you! Come learn some of the advanced features of the SMART Board. Become adept at creating recordings of what you do on the SMART Board for future playback! Find out how to use the video player that comes with your SMART Board to annotate videos. Learn how to attach audio files to objects on the SMART Board, and how to save items that you use often and want to share to the My Content folder. We’ll show you how to find hundreds of Notebook files that have already been created for use on the SMART Board. You’ll be able to find usable files and tweak them.
(Can’t make these Level 1 and Level 2 trainings in June? No worries- Level 1 will also be offered July 7 and July 28; Level 2 will be offered again July 14!)
Tags: 21st century students, best practices, SMART Boards, SMART Notebook
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- Posted under Classroom Technology, Collaboration, SMART Board, Tech PD, VLC Programs
Thursday, February 10, 2011 #virtualMETC
Live Stream of Sessions: 2011 Midwest Education Technology keynote and featured speakers’ sessions will be streamed live at METCconference.org during the conference and also archived on the website. This will allow remote participants to watch some of the high-quality program as live video streams and as archived videos. Streaming and recording is compliments of IDSolutions.
Back Channel Chatting & Conversation: Twitter will be used throughout the conference to inform, remind and discuss the events and sessions. Following #METC_CSD will allow participants to stay up-to-date with happenings at the 2011 conference whether they are in attendance or not. Twitter will be utilized as a back channel during the streamed keynote and selected featured speakers’ sessions. All streamed sessions will be assigned the unique hashtag #virtualMETC in addition to the #METC_CSD, so those interested in following the discussion can easily read and participate from within or outside the St. Charles Convention Center.
Tags: hashtag, IDSolutions, Twitter, virtual conference, virtual METC
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- Posted under Classroom Technology, Collaboration, Collaborations, Conferences, Distance Learning, Tech PD, VLC Programs, Web 2.0

Do you want to make your life as a teacher easier? Are you wanting to integrate technology into your lessons, but don’t know where to start? Come to this two-day workshop, Cool Tools for Educators: FREE Online Resources, lead by Stephanie Madlinger, and fill your technology toolbox. You’ll be amazed how many free online tools are out there for you to use. In this face-paced class, we plan to take a look at numerous online tools you can use in your role as an educator. Come learn how to access resources such as lesson plans, rubric makers, web page creators, online quizzes, Internet bookmarking storage, etc., all for free online! Why spend time recreating the wheel when someone else has already done it for you? Explore the wealth of online resources for educators and come away with tips and techniques to make your life easier.









