MACUL Conference Photo Contest

Are you going to the MACUL Conference this year?  If so, be sure to enter the 2013 MACUL Conference Photo Contest!  

Enter at http://tinyurl.com/maculphoto13. Submit up to five photos: some type of creative expression related to the MACUL Conference.

The contest is hosted on Photoscramble this year. For the first time ever, conference attendees will vote to determine the ten winning photos!   See details on the MACUL Photo Contest Photoscramble site. You must register for an account to enter the contest and to vote. Registration is free.

Grand prize is a FREE 2014 MACUL Conference registration. The next nine vote-getters will receive a MACUL T-shirt and a MACUL USB drive. Prizes will be given and photos shown at the Grand Prize Giveaway on Friday afternoon.

Submission and Voting Deadline: 10am on Friday, Mar 22.

 

Doctopus!

I just learned of a Google Apps script called Doctopus that makes it easy for teachers to manage and share documents with students or groups. After sharing a document with students, the teacher can keep track of when students last edited the document at a glance. The teacher can also "lock" all the student documents with one click on the due date so that grading can be done, provide feedback, and then "unlock" the documents so that students can revise.

Check out this video tutorial created by Jay Atwood.  Enjoy!

Nominate Your Favorite Tech Leader for a MACUL Award!

Each year, the Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) recognizes exemplary leadership in classroom teaching with technology and building and district technology leadership.

Three categories are awarded:

• The Outstanding Technology-Using Educator


• The Outstanding Technology-Using Pre-K-12 Classroom Teacher


• The Outstanding Technology Coordinator

Do you have a colleague or staff member who stands out and should be considered for these awards?
The MACUL Outstanding Leader Program is a perfect opportunity to recognize great work and contributions to your school and district.

All winners will receive fabulous prizes.

Information and applications can be found at: http://www.macul.org/grantsawards/201213maculawardsinformation/

 Deadline for the 2013 awards is Monday, January 14, 2013.

Using Twitter to Create a PLN

The MACUL Journal is published quarterly and mailed to MACUL members, who attended the most recent MACUL Annual Conference, MACUL Friends, MACUL sponsors, ISD/RESA/REMC organizations, and every school district Superintendent throughout Michigan.

The Winter 2013 Journal was just distributed and articles relate to social networking in learning.  One of the articles, "Let's Travel with Twitter," by Tammy Maginity, is the first enhanced article.  the article is available on the MI Learning Channel on iTunesU and has video tutorials associated with it. Videos include how to create a Twitter account, and how to follow others.  Check it out!

View the entire MACUL Journal here.

 

Election Impact on US Educational Technology Policy

This post is copied word-for-word, with permission, from Hilary Goldmann's Voices Carry blog.  Hilary is the Director for Government Affairs, ISTE. She wrote this blog post on Nov 7, 2012, the day after Election Day.

After all of the dollars spent, countless advertisements and robocalls, we woke up today to elected Executive and Legislative branches of government that in composition appear very similar to the one we had prior to the election.  President Obama was re-elected to a second term, Democrats retain control of the Senate while picking up at least one seat, and the House remains in Republican control with several races still too close to call.  Nonetheless, when the new Congress convenes in January, there will be some significant changes afoot as committee assignments are made and leadership positions are filled.  These changes in leadership and committee assignments will have a direct impact on education policy.

There are rumors that House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi may step down, which would certainly shake things up on the House side for Democrats and would have implications for the workings between the two sides of the aisle.  Term limits will be in effect for eight House Committee Chairs, including Vice Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan, Chair of the House Budget Committee (though it is expected that he will be granted a waiver and continue as the Chair of that powerful Committee).  Several Republican Senators will be term-limited as Committee Ranking Members. Senator Mike Enzi (R-WY) the Ranking Member of the Senate Health,Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee will likely be replaced by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN). As with all elections, policymakers may choose to change committee assignments and serve on committees that are either perceived as more powerful or more in line with the needs of their district or state.  Therefore, it is likely that between retirements and shifting committee memberships we will have new leadership and members on many of the critical House and Senate committees with jurisdiction over education, broadband, funding, STEM and other important education policy areas.

Two  of education technology policy’s strongest advocates retired this year, Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) author of the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation Act, and Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME) a leading advocate for the E-Rate program and education technology.  Judy Biggert (R-IL) who co-sponsored of the Achievement Through Technology and Innovation Act was defeated in her re-election bid.  We will miss their leadership and strong support of digital learning.

Thus, while leadership of the Executive and Legislative branches of government remain the same, (even Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has indicated his desire to remain for Obama’s second term), the inner workings of the government will change.

ISTE will continue our bi-partisan advocacy efforts to support a 21^st century education for ALL students that ensures all high school graduates are college and career ready.

Blended Learning Google Apps for Education Course

I have been absent from Yes Tech! for too long.  Much of my time has been spent creating materials for a 10 week blended learning professional learning course on Google Apps for Education that is being offered to teachers in my district. It is a lot of work, but it is filling a need for several teachers who want to use Google Apps in their classroom.  The course is a blend of face-to-face and online sessions, with participants being able to choose options that work best for their learning style and schedule.  Each week, they can either attend an in-person workshop that focuses on one of the GAFE tools or attend online at a time of their own choosing.  The course will take approximately ten hours for participants to complete over the course of two months, October 15 through December 15, 2012. The goal is for teachers to explore and become comfortable using Google Apps personally and with students.

The course lives on the district Moodle site.  I use Camtasia to record instructional videos for each topic, and am building the course as I go.  If the course is effective, I will be able to offer the course again and again, with some minor tweaking of the content and activities.  I’m learning lots in the process as I explore each tool in depth so that I can create handouts and videos.

I took a Michigan Learnport online course on blended learning in September, and I learned some excellent online teaching strategies.  I designed the GAFE blended learning course as part of the Learnport course and decided to jump right in and give it a try rather than wait until I had the entire course created, which could have possibly taken months. Doing it this way has forced me to devote a solid chunk of time on something that could possibly make a positive impact in many classrooms across the district.  Right now, all the content is only in Moodle.  I  plan to share the instructional materials in other ways when I can (Walled Lake Instructional Tech Website or a new Google Site).

Walled Lake Spice it Up! Technology Conference

 



 

 

Walled Lake Consolidated Schools hosted its 8th annual Spice it Up! Technology Conference on Thursday, August 23, 2012 at Sarah Banks Middle School.  It was the best yet! 325-350 teachers and administrators attended this voluntary professional development event to help them learn new ways to incorporate technology into their instructional practices.  I coordinate the event and it is one of the highlights of my year!

John Sowash was the keynote speaker and he was outstanding!  I thought that he connected with the audience and was inspirational; his message was a fantastic start to the day. He spoke about the importance of setting high expectations, including projects where students create and publish to a world-wide audience, and the critical need to teach tech/info literacy skills.  His stories and visuals drove his points home.

We used Edmodo as a platform for presenters to share resources and for attendees to ask questions and post ideas. Hopefully the conversation will continue after the conference!   116 people visited the site, so roughly a third of our attendees used Edmodo during the conference.  Edmodo was new to most of the attendees, so using it for the conference introduced the tool to them, which was great - my guess is that many will now use it with their colleagues and students.

The conference came just a few weeks after all the teachers in the district received a new iPad and laptop. We are so fortunate! I wish we had scheduled more beginner iPad sessions.  Of course there are plans to offer a variety of training & support in the next month or so!

The conference would not be possible without the Walled Lake presenters, who volunteered their time to plan and share their experiences with their colleagues.  They were fantastic!  Thank you JP Arens, Jon Bison, Jennifer Bond, Laura Brown, Kim Chumney, Lynn Dunn, Cindy Goris, Dennis Graham, Barbie Green, John Gregg, Krista Harmsworth, Mark Hess, Kelly Holubeck-Gotts, Deb Jess, Laura King, Caron LaBlanc, Jennifer LaCross, Mark Lada, Kim Loszewski, Scott MacIsaac, Michele McKendry, Randy Micallef, Kathren O'Brien, Ryan Ossenmacher, Rob Osterman, Barb Ozminkowski, Brad Paddock, Davida Pesick, Jennifer Phillips, Kelly Reuter, Theresa Robinson, Cheryl Roden, Gina Sartor, Jessica Schultz, Jennifer Shamberger, Pam Shoemaker, David Stanton, Amy Stasak, Renee Valentine, Katie Weingarden, and Jane Wendyker.

The administrators at Sarah Banks Middle School, Brad Paddock & David Stanton, were so helpful and accommodating in the days leading up to and on the day of the conference, and the IT Department was there in full force to assist attendees as needed.  There are so many others to thank; it was a prize effort by many, and is truly an event that positively impacts the learning that occurs in classrooms across the district.