TIC Conference Highlight Reels!

On June 12-13, 2012 was the 2nd Annual Technology Integration Conference (TIC) held at the Upper Iowa University Campus coordinated by our local AEA.  There were approximately over 400 people in attendance this year which, doubled from last year.

#KeystoneTIC Backchannel Archive

Photos from the Keystone AEA TIC Conference

Here are a few Highlights of the Conference:

On Tuesday our opening keynote speaker Tammy Worcester has been an educator for twenty-five years, both in and out of the classroom. She has developed numerous software applications for teachers and is the author of several best-selling technology resource books. Tammy presented 3 sessions on Tuesday which entailed Creating and Collecting Digital Work, Google Activities for Students and Tammy's favorite tech tips, tricks and tools.

Here are some of websites she shared with us take some time to explore of the summer:

• Drawzit: Is a web-based drawing application were you can create your drawings and share them with the world by sending them in email or publishing them in blogs.
• JamStudio: Free online music mixing and songwriting tool.
• Zooburst: Is a digital storytelling tool that lets anyone create his or her own 3D pop-up book.

On Wednesday our opening keynote speaker Dan Meyer taught high school math for six years. He is currently a doctoral candidate at Standford University in the field of math. Dan's message was about perplexity and how to capture evidence of this and utilize it within our teaching. Check out some of his perplexity links.

Followed by our keynote speakers I went to several different sessions and talked with some colleagues who visited other sessions at the conference. 

Twitter Highlights presented by Karla who walked some of our staff members through setting up a twitter account, helping them find people to follow, and learn how to navigate twitter. If your not connected just remember that twitter provides you with endless educational opportunities. 

iPad Shout Apps presented by Deb were a hit too: They were fast paced with a huge list of apps for all grade levels with tips and ides for using them with students in the classroom. Most of them that were shown were free and some were paid. All of here sessions were standing room only.

Check out the links for Apps:

• iPad Shout Out PreK-5th
• iPad Shout Out 6-12

Another topic Deb presented on was Cyberbullying and Digital Citizenship. Her session focused on 21st century issues of cyberbullying and the role of digital citizenship in education. It lead for great discussion among educators that day. Check out the wonderful resource and see what questions might come to mind about cyberbullying. 

Google Docs for beginners presented by Julie. This was a great refresher for some people to review the basics of Google docs, spreadsheets, and more.  

Check out the handouts:

• Google Docs
• Google Docs Training Agenda

The last question on your mind; yes Helen and I performed at this conference too.  After visiting several sessions we were thinking we would do good if there were about 20 participants, wow were we wrong. The room was packed we had people sitting on the floor and out the door.  Our session was Smartboard in the Classroom for PreK-12. Here are a couple resources if you would like to update some of your notebook files over the summer.

Smartboard in the Classroom PreK-12

• Smart Exchange (You must join to download but its free)
• TEQ Education Resource Center

What type of new technology or Web 2.0 tool resource have you been exploring to implement in your classroom for 2012-2013?

What is Podcasting?

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, how many of you are cruisin down the road listening to the radio? Well did you know that a podcast is similar to a radio show in that each show consists of a series of individual episodes you can listen to on your digital audio player like an iPod, smartphone, and computer.  So what’s the difference between a podcast from a traditional radio show is that you can listen to your podcast whenever and wherever you want to, and you can subscribe to a podcast series so when a new episode is available, it automatically downloads to your computer. So the next time your listening to the radio think of podcasting to catch up on the latest with its wide range to the ability to create or listen to audio or video content either live or downloaded for later use.

Ideas for Using Podcasting in the classroom:

• Publish student work
• Student project for assessment
• Distribute school assignments
• Peer teaching
• Language classes
• Create archive of class lectures
• Interview guest experts
• Create oral histories

Here are a couple of Podcasts I have listened to when catching up on the latest technology happening within the classroom: Take a listen and see what you think?

Teaching with SmartBoard: Want to jazz up your SmartBoard files over the summer take a listen to this video podcast, which explores techniques for teachers. Their main emphasis and purpose is to create lessons that are engaging for students to learn. So if you would like to get your students up and moving to the SmartBoard listen to this video podcast. This podcast is a quick listen and quite enjoyable to learn one new technique for using the SmartBoard within your classroom.  They also have a website to view more and watch some of their YouTube videos. It’s a quick listen too between 25-30 min, and will leave you thirsting to listen to more, enjoy their show. Click here to subscribe to the podcast in itunes.

Appy Hour U: App enthusiasts Lisa Johnson and Yolanda Barker bring this podcast to you as educators using iPads.  They provide a menu of appealing lesson ideas, and are using mainly FREE apps to create their lesson plans.  I love the enthusiasm and energy in the hosts’ voices in this audio podcast.  They use BlogTalk radio to produce their show but it can also be accessed from iTunes. There latest App shows have been around Mobile Learning 2012. They have been talking with other districts and learning what’s happening around different states.  For mobile learning it can happen anywhere, in a classroom, at the dining table, on a bus, anywhere.  Shows vary in length from 30 min – 60 min but a great deal of information to gain at when listening to this show. Hope you enjoy listening to Appy Hour U as much as I do.  Click here to subscribe to the podcast in itunes.

EdTech talks: This is made up of a community of educators interested in discussing and learning about the uses of technology in education.  For EdTech talks they webcast several live shows each week with different guest speakers.  The latest episode I listened to was about Reboot and how they were changing career paths.  They discussed about where they had been and where they were going.  Their discussion lead to how their show had developed and what they planned to do in the future.  There show was a very quick 25 min listen and I can’t wait to see what is to come from this group in the future.  Click here to subscribe to the podcast in itunes.

Web 2.0 Teaching Tools

Over the summer break its time to create a list of tools to hook even the most reluctant learners with Web 2.0 teaching tools or even boost your students' academic achievement. Using Web 2.0 tools  revitalizes your lessons by integrating instructional technology tools into your teaching plans.

Education in the Cloud with Web 2.0 tools; this blog is dedicated to providing educators free Web 2.0 tools and tutorials for staff and their students.  

Web 2.0: Cool Tools for School; This is a collection of educational Web 2.0 applications which are by categories such as writing research, presentations, storage, drawing tools, collaborative tools, and creativity tools.

Free Technology for Teachers; This website provides a host of resources and lesson plans for teaching with technology.

Web 2.0 Guru; Enhance educational experiences to enrich curriculum and instructional practices. This of all resources is sure to engage all learners and empower every child with critical 21st Century Skills.

50 Web 2.0 Tools Your Students want to Use; This is a collection of Web 2.0 tools and ideas for what students see as being useful in and out of school.

Scoop-It has bits and pieces of articles using Web 2.0 tools in the classroom: Web 2.0 Tools for Educators

For those of you who are into your boards on Pinterest here are a few collection to add to Web 2.0:

Web 2.0 Tools

Web 2.0

Appy Trails

As the school year winds down we are embarking on change leading into the 21st Century.  In May our Board of Education approved grades 6-8th for a 1:1 initiative using iPads. Over this past school year our JH staff members have had the opportunity to explore and become acquainted with the iPad and what type of Apps to use in the classroom.

Over the past few weeks I have been following some interesting blogs for Apps.  So before you leave on your trails for this summer here are a few stops to check out.

• Here in the TechChef4U they whip up a great deal of ideas for the classroom for using Apps.  There ideas stem from the Bloom's Taxonomy and using mostly FREE Apps with there students.  This blog is sure to spark up and appaetite when reading all the interesting ideas you can cook up with your students next year. Don't forget to download the App on your iPad or Smartphones to stay up on the latest FREE Apps.

• Its always a busy place with no stops in the road but check out Digital Kindergaten.  From insightful ways to use Technology, and what Apps worked best within the classroom. If you found this blog useful make sure you inspire this blogger to keep sharing to brighten your day.

• This directory of Apps called APPitic was created for educators to transform learning in the 21st Centrury learning. These apps are tested using a variety of different grade levels, classroom settings, and instructional strategies.  The list is endless to explore and Apps are created and added everyday.  This is a great resource if you are exploring an App to fit within Bloom's Taxonomy or a teaching strategy.

• As the trail seems to get smaller I have found Scoop-It to be a wonderful search engine for resources with iPads in educations, I have linked up just a few for your summer time reading: iBooks for Schools, iPad Lesson ideas, iPad Apps for Middle School, iPad Learning, iPads for Education.

What Apps or readings have sparked your classroom instruction this past year?  Well Appy trails to you and enjoy your summer reading.