Presentation Description: I show a cool app by PEGeeks called Easy Portfolio. I demonstrate the basics of how to use Easy Portfolio on the iPad to create student portfolios electronically. It is a simple and neat app that is easy to use and very useful for assessment.
Additional Information:
I used Reflector and a mic to record this app from my iPad to my PC. There are parts that look glitchy. This is simple the video as I switch between screens on the iPad. The audio sounds great. If you have any questions, feel free to email me. I had a difficult time figuring out how to record my iPad screen without simply using a camera while maneuvering through the app.
Presenter: Stephen Ransom, Ph.D. Location: Rochester, NY USA @ransomtech
Presentation Title: Making Space to Make
Presentation Description: The idea of making things is nothing new. It’s timeless. However, as culture and technology have shifted, we’ve moved, as Dale Dougherty points out, from making things out of necessity and just “being smart” to being much more consumers of things and of information. The culture of schooling has shifted right along with this as we watch standards and accountability take much more of a front seat, often resulting in kids’ making of interesting things and immersing themselves in interesting projects wane. In this presentation, I share from a father’s perspective how making at home keeps my kids’ interest and passion for learning sharp. The tools of the trade are very much of the traditional kind, yet new tools have opened up new doors and new possibilities for them as they are able to pursue their passions and discover new passions like never before possible. I suggest here that the same learning opportunity can and should happen at school and not be limited to a club or home experience. Our new technologies and new interest-based/passion-based learning spaces make this more possible than ever before.
Presenter: Kelly Dumont Location: Sandy, Utah @kdumont
Presentation Title: Creativity Rising
Presentation Description: There sure are a lot of changes happening in education today, mandated this and have to do that. One of the most important things that may be getting lost in this era is the chance for teachers and students to exercise creativity. This presentation will suggest ways to keep creativity rising to the top of what happens in the classroom, despite everything else that is being imposed upon teachers and students.
Presenter: Ann Oro Location: Roselle Park, NJ USA @njtechteacher
Presentation Title: Building Knowledge of Web Search
Presentation Description: Students should not be expected to suddenly sit down and complete a research project when they are in grade school. Children need time to build and scaffold their experiences. This video shares projects I complete with students in first through eighth grade that take them from a children’s dictionary scavenger hunt to learning to edit Wikipedia. One of the aspects that overwhelms students is that in addition to building a useful search query, they then have to go to the webpage and read the content in a sea of distracting links and screen cluttering ads. They need to be able to vet the information. In first grade, I give the students clues to find words in Little Explorer’s Picture Dictionary online. We build the concept in second and third grade through a cloze activity in which they find missing words. The student research state information for teachers. In fourth and fifth grade, the students learn about Sweet Search 4 Me and Google. They use paper encyclopedias and fill in missing information online. They learn to bookmark and site sources. In middle school, the students dig into aspects website details to determine the authority, bias, content, and usability of the information. They take charge of their learning by researching and presenting on a topic for which they have written a proposal. We learn to use search databases to dig deeper into the information available on the Internet. The students learn to edit Wikipedia and build our school’s entry.
Additional Information:
I work at a small PreK to eighth grade Catholic school in suburban New Jersey. I teach students as well as teachers. Additionally, I teach workshops aimed at promoting student learning with an emphasis on technology as a tool to various local teacher organizations.
Presenter: Julia Osteen Location: Nashville, TN, USA @josteen
Presentation Title: The Promise of Leadership
Presentation Description: True leaders make change happen. If we define leadership as influence, then the effective leader has the ability to influence others to accomplish group objectives. For far too long in education, leadership was only expected from those in supervisory positions. But what about a teacher’s leadership in the classroom? What about students learning how to be positive leaders? This presentation will explore the Promise of Leadership in Educational Change.
