The Wired Classroom

While I wasn’t able to make it to NECC, many of my Cooperating School District colleagues were able to, as well as my v/c community friends. Roxanne Glaser and Janine Lim are in San Antonio, Texas, and they are updating their respective blogs with all the stuff that is taking place! To check in on what’s going on, visit VC Rox and Videoconferencing Out on a Lim. Janine has several interviews linked on her blog with content providers, including Tonya Muro and Lisa Inks from Global Nomads Group. Roxanne & Janine, thanks for being so thorough and timely with your NECC blog posts!

 Janine Lim and Sue Porter talk about Read Around the Planet

(Don’t be confused by my screen shot (I liked the picture)!
Please click on “talk” above to see the clip).

To read up on NECC, visit http://www.necc2008.org/.

Midwest Education Technology Conference
Call for Presenters!
Strands, Levels of Presentations & Tags

METC 2009 invites you to apply as a presenter for a breakout session or hands-on workshop. More than 1,500 attendees from across the nation are expected to participate including technology specialists, teachers, library media specialists, staff developers, administrators, instructional technology teachers, counselors, and information technology/network specialists. Preference of presenters will be given to those submitting proposals related to the program theme, Technology Tools of Engagement: R U There? or one of the program strands. While presentations may address several of these strands, please indicate the primary strand that best describes your proposal. Strands include:

For complete details on submitting a proposal to METC, visit this link: http://www2.csd.org/csdrpdc/metc2009/presenter.htm. METC is a program of Cooperating School Districts: www.csd.org.

 In an earlier post, we congratulated Cindy Lane from the  Lindbergh School District on being accepted to the Google  Teacher Academy. She’ll be heading to California next week.  We wanted to learn more about it, so we visited Google (that’s  where we also found the icon to the left) and here’s what the website says:

“The Google Teacher Academy is a FREE professional development experience designed to help K-12 educators get the most from innovative technologies. Each Academy is an intensive, one-day event where participants get hands-on experience with Google’s free products and other technologies, learn about innovative instructional strategies, receive resources to share with colleagues, and immerse themselves in an innovative corporate environment. Upon completion, Academy participants become Google Certified Teachers who share what they learn with other K-12 educators in their local region. 

A Google Certified teacher is an educator attended a Google Teacher Academy and is now a Google Certified Teacher. Google Certified Teachers are:

• Exceptional K-12 educators with a passion for using innovative tools to improve teaching and learning.
• Creative leaders who understand their local needs and can spread innovation as a recognized expert.
• Ambassadors for change who model high expectations, life-long learning, collaboration, equity & inclusion, and innovation.
• Certified in Google technology and able to lend their knowledge to you through professional development.

Each Google Certified Teacher has:

• Developed a “Personal Action Plan” to extend their learning to their community.
• Actively participated in the Google Certified Teacher Online Community.
• Shared the impact of their work with other Google Certified Teachers and will continue to do so through an end-of-year reflection.“

There are quite a few technology in education conferences taking place in July. As you know, I will be attending and presenting at the Missouri Distance Learning Association (MODLA) Annual Conference at Tan-Tar-A Resort in Osage Beach (that’s July 9-10).  Ruth, Martha, Nancy and Stacey will head to San Antonio, Texas the first week of July to attend NECC- the National Educational Computing Conference.  In addition, Successlink is holding the 6th Annual Technology Innovations Conference  July 17-18, also at Tan-Tar-A. There, Stacey will present on Web 2.0. Martha and Nancy plan to present at Successlink’s conference on several topics: Internet Safety, SMART Board, and Discovery Streaming.

In other education conference news, CSD’s CHARACTERplus is holding its 14th Annual Character Education Conference in St. Louis this summer. Dorothy White, who does an awesome job on the Midwest Education Technology Conference with Nancy and Joan, also works on CEC with a great group of folks from CHARACTERplus. CEC runs July 16-18.

Cooperating School Districts has announced that registration is open for all St. Louis area educators (superintendents, assistant superintendents, principals, assistant principals, librarians, media specialists, tech coordinators, & teachers) to attend the 2008-2009 TLA. TLA assists educators in developing knowledge & skills necessary to use technology as a tool for more effective & efficient leadership in their schools! 

During 48 hours of professional development in the Technology Leadership Academy, you will:

•Focus on leadership skills in technology 
•Improve classroom use of technology 
•Develop a vision of how to utilize technology to improve student performance 
•Assess strengths & needs of your staff/students in the area of technology as well as develop a practical & useful technology plan 
•Expand your network of colleagues 

As a part of the academy, participants receive:
•Palm T|X handheld computer with Bluetooth & Wifi + wireless keyboard
•GoObserve software for the Palm (a classroom observation tool) 
•Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works by METC featured speaker Howard Pitler, et.al. 
•attendance at 1 day of the Midwest Education Technology Conference

Dates for the 2008-2009 school year are as follows:
•Oct. 1   •Nov. 5   •Dec. 3   •Jan. 7   •Jan. 27* (METC)   •Feb. 25 
Times: 8 am to 4 pm (breakfast & lunch included) | Cost: $1,200/person 

Training sessions take place in CSD’s tele on 1460 Craig Rd.- except for the METC* session- which is at the St. Charles Convention Center.  To register, go here.  P.O.’s and credit cards will be accepted.  Slots will fill up fast, and space is limited, so register now! If you have any questions, contact Martha Bogart at (314) 692-1258 or mbogart@csd.org.

MODLA’s annual conference is July 9 and 10 at Tan-Tar-A Resort in the Lake of the Ozarks.  The conference theme this year is ‘Keeping Pace with Distance Learning.’  For a complete list of all the sessions (including mine on our Author Visits!), click here.

Strands include:

• ABC’s of Distance Learning
• 21st Century Technologies
• Distance Learning Content Development
• Instructional Practices in Distance Learning
• Interactive Video Conferencing & Online
• Distance Learning Support and Assessment

Cooperating School Districts is looking forward to having the following speakers at the Midwest Education Technology Conference to be held January 26, 27, 28, 2009. Technology Tools of Engagement - R U There?

One METC 2009 keynote is Will Richardson. Mr. Richardson is “Learner in Chief” at Connective Learning LLC (est. January 1, 2006). Mr. Richardson is known for his work with educators and students to understand and implement instructional technologies and, more specifically, the tools of the Read/Write Web into their schools, classrooms and communities.  In addition to Tuesday’s METC keynote address and breakout sessions, Mr. Richardson will conduct a full-day preconference workshop on Monday, January 26. For more info on Mr. Richardson, visit his blog, weblogg-ed: http://weblogg-ed.com.

 METC 2009’s other keynote speaker is Deneen Frazier-Brown.  Ms. Frazier-Brown  applies her acting, teaching and technology  experience to help teachers and schools expand students’  learning opportunities through harnessing new technologies as  they energize and motivate us.  For more information on Ms.  Frazier-Brown, visit her website: http://www.deneenfrazier.com/.

 A featured METC 2009 speaker is Howard Pitler, Director of  Educational Technology Mid-continent Research for Education  and Learning (McREL). Prior to joining McREL, Mr. Pitler served as  both an elementary and middle school principal in Wichita,  Kansas.  He also served as an instructor on the staff of the  masters of educational administration program at Wichita State University. He has been active in technology education and leadership development for more than 20 years.  Mr. Pitler will conduct a full-day workshop- Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Works. This METC workshop will discuss  ways to use technology with  Marzano’s Nine Instructional Strategies. For more information on Mr. Pitler, visit this website: http://innovateonline.info/?view=person&id=11227.

Technology is a valuable and relevant tool in the classroom that helps engage students to question, think and achieve at a higher understanding. What tech tools do you use to reach and teach your students and make learning relevant?

METC 2009 is bringing together a diverse group of speakers to share their knowledge, experience, strategies and expertise using established and emerging technologies in the classroom. As educators we must prepare our students for new jobs that have not been created by giving them the skills to question, gather, evaluate and finally produce new solutions or products. Technology is a tool that excites and engages students to learn.

METC 2009 goals:

• Offers a program that shares effective instructional technology programs and management strategies.
• Brings together all stakeholders in a school district to explore new and innovative uses of technology and to learn from each other.
• Designs a program that fits into educators’ individual learning plans and aligns with high quality professional development.
• Exposes educators to the latest in quality products and services.

What tech tools do you use to reach and teach your students or staff?  Do you feel others would benefit from learning more about the technology tools used in your teaching?  Do you have a desire to share your creative and professional successes?

If you or a colleague can answer yes to the above questions, METC 2009 invites you to apply as a presenter for a breakout session or hands-on workshop. More than 1,500 attendees from across the nation are expected to participate including technology specialists, teachers, library media specialists, staff developers, administrators, instructional technology teachers, counselors, and information technology/network specialists. 

Share how your most effective technology tool(s) directly impacts:

Student achievement  |  Transformation of instruction  |  Library media   Administrative leadership  |   Network infrastructure

METC topic strands are:
1.  1:1 Initiatives (One laptop/handheld/desktop per student)  “NEW”
2.  Curriculum & Instruction based on Assessment and Data
3.  Differentiated Instruction
4.  Digital Media
5.  Distance Learning (online learning, conferencing)
6.  Instructional Technology Integration
7.  Library Technology Integration
8.  Mobile Technology (Palm, MP3 Player, Cell Phone) “NEW”
9.  Technology Integration 101 - a primer on basic tech integration  ”NEW”
10.  Technology Leadership 
11.  Technical & Networking
12.  Web 2.0 (Read / Write Web)

Select from seven types of presentation formats:
1. 30-min Best Practices for Classroom Integration mini-session
2. 50-min breakout session giving the attendees an overview or introduction of a topic
3. 1-hr and 50-min breakout session that addresses a topic more in-depth.  This will be conducted in two consecutive 50-min sessions with a Part 1 and Part 2. It may be a hands-on workshop BYOL (bring your own laptop).
4. Student Poster session for your students to showcase how they learn and what technology tools they use.
5. Student plus Teacher session (bring your students as your co-presenters).
6. 3-hr preconference workshop on the morning of Monday, January 26
7. 6-hr preconference workshop all day on Monday, January 26

You may submit a proposal using the METC Call for Presenter form or after May 15, use the online proposal form located at www2.csd.org/metc2009.htm

For program updates, keynote and featured speakers, and online registration information, check the conference website at www2.csd.org/metc2009.htm

Cooperating School Districts hopes to see you at METC 2009,
January 26-28 at the St. Charles Convention Center.

On Tuesday, Janine Lim pulled together a group of K-12 educators for an impromptu “birds of a feather” session after our lunch keynote. While we were anticipating a group of about 10-15 folks, we had a much larger group- closer to 30. We introduced ourselves and there were people from the UK, Arkansas, New York, D.C., Michigan- all over. We split ourselves into two groups- those who wanted to focus on online learning, and those who wanted to focus on videoconferencing. The (larger) videoconferencing group included Tonya Muro from Global Nomads Group, Jan Zanetis from Tandberg, Ken Conn from Data Projections, Ruth Blankenbaker from CILC, my colleagues Ruth Litman-Block and Martha Bogart.

Topics of discussion included professional development & videoconferencing- both delivering PD over v/c and providing v/c PD over videoconference. The group included content providers, coordinators, teachers and administrators who all had great input. We all agreed, however, it is important to engage teachers in the videoconferencing process. In addition, even though it seems obvious, content providers need to be trained to deliver quality programming. We discussed the importance of evaluations and preparing teachers & students for videoconferences. The hour we allotted went by very fast! At the end of our session, we were asked how to get more K-12 educators at USDLA (we were outnumbered by university level participants). The answer? Spread the word. Tell our colleagues. Visit the website: www.usdla.org for conference/association updates.