PowerPoint Sidekicks and Desktop Learning Spaces: Practical Engaging Project Starters
Create technology-based workspaces for students to organize their thoughts, ideas, and understandings. Apply existing technology tools such as PowerPoint to create engaging project starters. Whether introducing concepts, practicing essential skills, or transferring knowledge, starters provide an engaging space where students can share their understandings through writing, illustration, and sound communications. Learn More
Information Avalanche Rescue: RSS Feeds in the Classroom
Buried in blogs? Use RSS feeds to organize current information sources for the content area and grade level needs of you and your students.
It's easy to become overwhelmed by the information found in blogs, audioblogs, or vlogs. Most regular readers and listeners use a news aggregator and RSS feeds to help them manage their favorite resources. RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication (RSS). Most blogs contain an RSS link. It's often at the bottom of a sidebar on the blog. You can use this file to subscribe to "feed" from this blog. You use a news aggregator to view a list of all the new resources from all your subscription feeds. Aggregator software generally allows you to see a master list and well as individual feeds. You can then choose what you want to read, hear, or see. You can also download these feeds to your iPod or other handheld device. Whether teaching students to evaluate information or compare multiple perspectives, RSS feeds can be a time-saving way to provide access to news and information for your students. This session will provide a dozen examples of using RSS feeds in the classroom. Learn More
Get FIT: Fired-up through Information and Technology
You've been there and you've done that... does technology really make a difference? Why bother? Because information fluency and technology integration help young people develop a passion for thinking and learning. Rethink technology use and transform traditional lessons into engaging learning experiences. Get FIT through practice, tools, authenticity, and lifestyle!
Analyze your learning environment to identify effective, efficient, and appealing lessons, tools, and resources to make it REAL (Relevant Engaging Authentic Learning) for today’s digital students. This session will provide dozens of practical, time-saving strategies for integrating technology into your classroom to promote critical and creative thinking across the curriculum. This workshop identifies those aspects of technology that contribute to student achievement and helps you transform traditional lessons into engaging learning experiences. It’s time to skip the fads and get FIT! Learn More
Technology Transformations: Digital Tools and Practical Projects that Activate Learning
Address standards, challenge students, and instill a love of learning in young people through engaging, innovative technology-rich resources and activities that don't take much time, but have high impact across content areas. Help students evaluate, synthesize and apply classroom content to address essential questions using digital scraps, primary sources, photographs, charts, graphs, audio, video, and other multimedia elements to create meaningful and powerful communications using free and low-cost tools. Transform the teaching and learning process!
In this workshop, you'll learn to design standards-based activities that use traditional and emerging software and online tools for addressing essential questions, producing practical projects, sharing student understandings, and applying alternative assessments. With today's digital tools, you don't need to be a expert illustrator, photographer, or videographer to create attractive and powerful digital projects across content areas. Explore innovative approaches to using multimedia tools that don't take much time, but have high impact. In addition, learn new tools for creating motivating projects such as e-scrapbooks, graphic novels, comics, and great media, history, or science fair projects.
This workshop will help you explore the possibilities and identify realistic ways to transform your traditional reading, writing, and subject area assignments into dynamic and motivating learning experiences that incorporate visuals, audio, and video elements. Learn about emerging technologies associated with Web 2.0 such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and video sharing. Also, explore ways to use traditional tools like Microsoft PowerPoint in new ways. Regardless of whether you are a beginner looking for ways to enhance your teaching or an experienced technology-using-educator seeking new ideas and applications, this workshop is for you. Learn More
Digital Comics, Graphic Novels, Sequential Art, and Technology-Enhanced Learning
Today's graphic communication projects help students synthesize and apply primary source documents, photographs, charts and graphics, and other visuals to create meaningful communications. Design standards-based activities that use Comic Life and free online tools for creating motivating, nontraditional student products.
Let's address standards, challenge students, and instill a love of learning in young people through engaging, visually-rich resources and activities. Learn to integrate the growing body of quality print and web-based graphic reading resources for young people across the K12 curriculum. Beyond the superheroes of traditional comics, today's graphic communication projects help students synthesize and apply digital scraps, primary source documents, photographs, charts and graphics, and other visuals to create meaningful communications. Design standards-based activities that use traditional and emerging comic software such as Comic Life and online tools for producing graphic novels and other forms of sequential art for sharing students understandings and alternative assessment. With today's digital tools, you don't need to be an expert illustrator to use and create attractive and powerful digital comic projects across content areas. Learn More
A Farmer's Market of Healthy & Productive K-12 Internet Applications for the Classroom
Learn to select and integrate the best web-based content into your classroom. Like seeking out fresh, organic foods at the farmer's market, it's time to skip the junk food and stress healthy Internet habits. There's way too much "googling" going on and not enough emphasis on challenging assignments that apply the quality educational, governmental, non-profit, museum, library, and digital collections that contain effective, efficient, and appealing standards-aligned information and instruction. Like the classics of literature, learn to identify and use the best, current web-based resources in your content area including websites and electronic databases. Help students make good choices regarding the use of wikis, blogs, and other social and collaborative technologies. Apply practical strategies for enriching your technology resources through the use of open source software, free online tools and resources such as free images, audio, and video. Finally, build quality pathfinders and inquiry-based assignments without the time consuming process of creating full-blown WebQuests. Learn more
ABCs of Web 2.0: Avatars, Blogs, and Collaborative Wikis
Recently a whole new generation of web-based social, collaborative, and interactive technology tools have emerged with cute names like avatar, blog, podcast, wiki, and gliffy allowing students to easily work together to reach learning goals. With these new opportunities, comes the need to apply information skills within each subject area. How do we evaluate the content that comes from blogs and wikis? How do students cite these resources? How do we assess student postings or collaborative works? How do we design safe environments? What kinds of assignments make best use of these engaging technologies? As an increasing number of the websites incorporate these dynamic features, it becomes increasingly important to know the ABCs of Web 2.0. In this workshop we'll try out each of these technologies and identify realistic, practical applications for teaching and learning across the K12 curriculum. Learn more
Headwaters of Ideas and Information: Tracing the Technology Flow
How do I help young people distinguish fact from fiction when the lines drawn by news and entertainment are often blurred? How do I determine the origin of information found on the web? What skills are needed to weigh arguments and draw conclusions? How are wikis created? Should wikipedia be used as an information source? The key to addressing these questions lies in helping students understand the inquiry process, how ideas are generated, and the process of tracing the origin of information. This session provides practical ideas and examples to help students manage the technology, evaluate information, and synthesize ideas to become information fluent. Learn More
Integrating the Best of Web 2.0 in the School Library Media Program
From blogs and podcasts to wikis and virtual worlds, everyone's talking about the dynamic technology tools and resources available to educators and students. Let's separate the hype from what's realistic, relevant and practical for your library media program. What's effective, efficient, and appealing? What's just a fad? How do these technologies mesh with information and content standards? This workshop explores the possibilities and potential for using social, collaborative, and interactive technologies across the curriculum. From online book clubs and virtual literature circles to local history wikis and personal, information inquiry blogs, you'll find dozens of practical ideas to enrich your school library media program. Learn more
Symbiosis, Swarms, and Sensational Synergy: A New Approach to Collaboration
If you work in a "zoo" and think it's a "jungle" out there, it's time for a new approach to collaboration. Drawing inspiration from relationships in nature, this high energy workshop will stimulate new ideas for energizing teaching and learning across the curriculum. While reading, writing, and mathematics are tools for understanding and expressing ideas and information, curricular areas such as science, social studies, art, music, health, and physical education inspire students to be active and creative. From books and blogs to GPS and video projects, this workshop stresses practical strategies for collaborating with students and teachers across the curriculum to address standards, as well as promote a passion for learning. To survive in the "wilds" of today's schools, your classroom, computer labs, and school libraries must bring learning alive. Leave this session with a set of collaboration strategies that will bring the joy of teaching and learning back into your school. Learn more
High Tech Learning: Using Social, Collaborative, and Interactive Technologies in the Classroom
From blogs and podcasts to wikis and virtual worlds, everyone's talking about the dynamic technology tools and resources available to educators and students. Let's separate the hype from what's realistic, relevant and practical for the classroom. What educational technologies are effective, efficient, and appealing? This session explores the possibilities and potential for using social, collaborative, and interactive technologies in teaching and learning across disciplines. Regardless of whether you're seeking beginning or advanced applications, you'll find dozens of practical ideas to enrich the teaching and learning environment. Learn more
The Teacher Sandbox: Exploring the Potential of High Tech Learning
This engaging, hands-on workshop will immerse participants in the world of social, collaborative, and interactive technologies. Participants will explore and evaluate the potential of each technology as a tool for teaching and learning. The use of visual, auditory, and multimedia applications will be emphasized as a way to address different learning styles. The workshop will model effective technology use as well as provide templates, starters, and other resources to facilitate the creation of useful classroom materials. Whether you're a confident technology user or just getting started, this workshop is for people of all comfort levels. Learn more
Re-imagine, Rejuvenate, Renew: Beyond Library Media Specialist 2.0
Whether tracing the movement of a book character using Google Earth or video conferencing with colleagues from around the globe, there's never been a more exciting time to be a School Library Media Specialist. Like upgrading your software or adjusting to new equipment, change can be stressful. What's your role and the role of the school library media program in meeting the needs of learners today and tomorrow? How can we prepare a generation of motivated questioners, thinkers, and communicators who will harness the power of information and apply it in meaningful ways? This session will help you re-imagine, rejuvenate, and renew as you meet the challenges of a rapidly changing world. Learn More
Freedom or Nightmare: The Implications of Open Source Software
Freedom of access to the tools of technology helps bridge the digital divide. Open source software provides wonderful opportunities for teaching and learning. However before you press the download button, it's essential to understand the philosophies, implications, and responsibilities of its use. From super software like Audacity and TuxPaint to key organizations like SourceForge and Creative Commons, this session provide practical strategies for enriching your technology resources, planning for the future, and avoiding potential disasters. Learn more
Sharing Understandings: How Technology Impacts Learning
How can we draw upon the natural interests of young people to design engaging learning environments where learners actively voice their questions, organize their thinking, and share their understandings? How can we effectively and efficiently collect and track evidence of student learning? Let's create virtual workspaces for students to record their thoughts, ideas, and understandings. In this session, you'll apply technology tools you already have in your classroom such as PowerPoint and easy-to-use, open source software such as Audacity to create powerful project starters for your students. Learn more
The Balancing Act: Facing the Future with Emerging Technology
Riding the Waves: Facing the Future with Emerging Technology
It’s the best of times and the worst of times be an educator. Each emerging technology comes with new opportunities to address individual needs, alternative ways to motivate students, and innovative approaches to learning in an expanding world. At the same time these new tools and resources can have financial and program implications, trigger social and ethical concerns, and present professional development challenges. How are you dealing with the endless waves of technology pouring into your school?
No longer does one technology or a single solution fit everyone’s needs. This session explores strategies to balance the enthusiasm associated with new technology with the real-world programmatic and curricular implications. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, videocasts, and open source software are just a few of the emerging technologies prompting discussions about social networking, censorship, misinformation, plagiarism, and the role of technology in our schools. Are you riding the waves to exciting new places or drifting out to sea? This session will help you set a course for successful infusion of emerging technologies. Learn more Balancing Act - Learn more - Waves
Digital Photo Safaris and Authentic Learning Across the Curriculum
Bring your digital camera and join our photo safari! We'll learn to compose quality photographs, explore learner-friendly photo editing software, create engaging projects that go beyond the standards and promote authentic learning experiences. Choose from dozens of practical projects ideas across the curriculum. Let's bring the joy of learning back to the classroom! Learn more
E-scrapbooking Synergy: Where Natural and Virtual Worlds Meet
From local history videos to digital science fairs, authentic technology projects bring learning to life. Combine the power of place-based learning and technology tools to create synergy in your classroom. Promote deep understandings and address individual differences by combining the power of primary sources with student-produced text, photographs, graphs, audio, and video. Try out seven inquiry-based, e-scrapbooking starters that will boost student success across the curriculum. Learn more
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