Saturday, August 7, 2010
Just Like Camp
The last day at Charleston was probably my best yet. I loved the idea of having the ability to set up a blended learning classroom. I like the format of the Manhattan Project. The large buttons and the way you manage classes make it easy to use. I cannot wait to get my class assignments.
Overall, I am so glad that I have had the opportunity to go to this conference. I have not been a teacher that long, but long enough to have been through my share of CE's that were too simple, or not relevant. This week has been different. There were no sessions that I attended that were not worth going to. I cannot wait for the conference in Florida! Until then. . .
Live Long and Prosper!
Steve
Last Day
After the video competition, I hit the road and was home in record time. Way to go Team 1--2nd Place! It was so good to get to hug my boys!
The EdVenture - Country Roads Take Me....
In yesterday's work session with Anne Meadows, the use of Brain Honey will allow my department and fellow staff members to use a convenient platform for blended delivery. By modeling this new technical process, the teachers that the Department of Career Technical Education serves will hopefully integrate the methods and strategies in 21st Century teaching.
Best wishes to ya'll as you begin the 2010-11 school year.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Gwen Miller -- Friday, August 6
Chuck Friday post
As I was driving home a white vehicle went by me like I was parked, however I was doing 80. I think it was Janie and she was late for happy hour!!
On a serious note Brainhoney was great, a little intimidating but I think with a little practice it will be a great addition to my "blended" classroom.
I am glad that Anne Meadows offered to have some virtual conferences to cover more of our questions at a later date.
The lunch was great, and the company was even better.
I can not wait to see you all in Florida, I hope we keep in touch and find a way to meet in the '
fall!
Chuck
Janie's Friday Blog
Overall, it was a great conference and a great week with everyone. Abby, thanks for everything. I look forward to seeing you all in Florida.
The EdVenture -- Show me the Money
In the one session that I attended, a group of IT professionals discussed problems with security and procedures in the educational system. Those in attendance included representatives from Higher Education as well as local and state leaders in the field.
And to all in the CTE Cohort, I enjoyed the creativity of each groups project and congrats to Steve and Gwen for their presentation.
Janie Thursday's Blog
Twitter is great. However, I won't be able to use it because it is blocked at my school. I guess I will just have to wait until I get home to tweet with all of my TIS friends. He helped us set up our accounts and I am already following and being followed!
The guest speaker was not near as good as the opening speaker but he did have some good points for technology. It was hard believe the amount of money that was awarded to some schools. That is great for technology in West Virginia.
Our competition was also great. Congratulations to everyone on their projects. I think we all learned so much and will be able to take all of this back to the classroom for our students. Thanks to everyone for a great week.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
August 5, 2010 Chuck post
The first session I went to this morning was the interactive classroom. The information was great but it was a lot of material to digest in such a short period.
The second session I attended was Introduction to Twitter with Greg Cruey. I have always shied away from tweeting but Greg allayed many of my fears and I think I will try it with my fellow TISs. He covered many of the pros and cons, showed several links and shared many uses and ideas.
The next session was technology in the adult classroom. The information was geared towards ABE teachers and adults, but many of the ideas will fit into my curriculum and many high school and middle school classrooms. She gave us all of the information and resources on a CD, which is a resource I wish all of the sessions could provide.
After lunch, we had a great and lively group meeting and went over all of our digital products. I think all of them were great and very creative. Congratulations to our winners and great work placing second overall!
I will see some of you tomorrow and hopefully I will see the rest of you soon. Take care, be safe and enjoy our last week of summer. L
Thursday blog--Sharon
Gwen Miller -- Thursday, August 5
SAS Curriculum Pathways 8:30 -9:20
Introduction to Twitter 9:30-10:20
Take Your Edline Website to the Next Level 10:40-11:30
The SAS session was informative. I learned how to get a password. My daught taught her first year at Princeton and wanted to use SAS but no one at the school could tell her the password. I told her I leaned how she could get it. Learned a lot during the twitter session (but I still don't get it). Might get an account and try it. I had to fight to stay awake during the Edline session. She turned off the lights. You have to be a superuser or have permission from the superuser to make changes. I did NOT enjoy the speaker at lunch. I was really thrilled I had to go to the bathroom so I could get up and leave. I was pleasantly surprised our digital story did so well. I needed a new umbrella. Betty Bulldog ate mine.
Fri 8/5 - Dog Tired
WVSTC - August 5
Wed Blog-Sharon Cole
August 5, 2010 Conference/Digital Afternoon
Thrusday blogs 8-5-10 Rmorgan
A very good session where the practical intergration of white boards, elmo, computers and internet were introduced to the instructors. It was a great session maily because the presenter was realy enthusiastic about what he did. His system of choice was a very simple system that can be extremely mobile, versitile, and extremly portable system that doesnt rely on an "electronic" white board. This system will work on a simple wall, dry erase board or even an older pull down screen.
Session two....Formative assesments in a virtual mathmatics classroom.
Gave reasons for the need of increased and more immediate feedback for students, equity of work, and potential to reduce faculty workloads. I attended this workshop mainly because in electronics the majority of work in the front end of the class are learning Ohm's Law, Kirchoff's Law, and XL and XC formulas. She had a great point about when we are loosing students in lower levels because of bad math practices and bad math teachers.
Session three... Using Prometheus for math in the k-8 classroom.
Actualy I was walking by and some cute teacher who was giving the presentation told me that I needed to be in here, so I went in. What the heck I say. Was actually pretty good and I did get an idea of allowing my students to do tommorrows math as a homework assignment the night before so they can have more time for hands on work instead of doing "book work" then doing hands on. That way the student gets an input on the class flows and would give a student a bit of motivation to come to class knowing that he will be in the lab area where they absolutly love to stay.
What a week, would like to thank everyone for being my family away from home. Have had a blast with everyone and appreciate all the help and team work from each and every one of you.
Janie's Wednesday Blog
Then Team Technology went to a private session on the Promethean Interactive whiteboard. We played a whole jeopardy game on the states. We had a great time while learning about the board. Students would love the game also. The presenters were very nice and helpful.
I wanted to attend the SMART board session because I discovered that the board they were using was the one I ordered for my classroom. We learned about the Notebook software and several resources that can be used with the board. We tried out exchange.smarttech.com and found several lessons that may be used with BCAI and BCAII classes. I'm excited about learning to use my board and trying out all of the resources I have learned about at this conference.
Our last session we attended was about Webtop, Webquest, infomercials and Goggle applications such as gmail. It was interesting, and I am anxious to use my Webtop and get rid of my flash drives. I've already discussed getting Webtop schoolwide for my students and teachers at my school.
I think I've learned more from doing our project than from anything else. Again, I want to use Prezi, Animoto, Photostory and MovieMaker with my students during the presentation section of BCA I and BCA II. We'll all be so relieved when our own presentations are due and we can relax!
8/4 Cloud sessions Dennison
got lost left one session, brain based learning(too much math that early) to be tardy for the next
-Welcome to the real world-Career Cruising. oh no I am asked to complete the profiler...for all to see...%^*$(my punishment for being late)Turns out just like me...Special Ed was listed first because I am special, Outdoor Ed(maybe I missed my calling to be a fly fisher guide...oh...still can)
-Cell Phones in the classrooms-Lori was fun and interactive...time fley and I will be using this...hope my administrator stays out of my room as usual...will get permission from parents...when I get a cool lesson that works well...then we will invite our principals!
Phantastic Photostory-catchy title but the book does say you will walk away knowing the many uses for this program...
Google classroom-I think I will start putting all mydocs in google docs to find when I forget where...am struggling between google docs and edline calendar etc...using edline tools is easier logisticly(spell check please).
Webquests-Sarah Chenoweth is just getting ready to start student teaching...cool! She incorporated computer programs, flipcam, cell phones and more into her Creating an Infomercial...a must see when it hits the web...won't we be able to find all these presentations...where?
Ipods-Out of my league here...amazing technology...they have an appletouch for the blind...that is truly remarkable to me...soon this laptop will be a dinasour(spell check please). For someone who thought about skipping to go get on the treadmill, the session was still going at 5:10...HURRIED to the Holiday Inn Lobby to meet Kris, Richard, and D...we worked until we could no longer produce...hungry, tired and the baby was being missed dearly...I want to hold her...and smell her...I love how babies smell! Ordered food and worked on behind lessons...still wondering what I am doing wrong on quiz?
Well, I have been up since 4:45 worrying about our completion of digital project but am confident that we will all pull this together...it is just the tension in my neck!!!!Ouch
It is 6:40 and I will go exercise before beginning more sessions...Have a peaceful day!
Oh and Abby, I feel like "the rookie" but I want you to know, I have had a few thoughts about...well, not throwing you over the bridge but...lol! I am enthusiastically overwhelmed and though I feel behind my school year can not be as hectic as my summer has been...please God...no! Peace
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The EdVenture Continues and IT IS a WINNER
The rest of the day provided the opportunity to make contact with a representative of the WVU Office of Instructional Technology. Ashley had previously presented in a AM session about the PREZI program. In the 2:15 session, representatives from the IT department at Marshall had presented about a interactive program WIMBA that is utilized with the current online course platform Blackboard. I was informed by the MU reps that WVU also had the site license. Upon leaving that session, Ashley was able to link me with the WVU website for training and approval.
Also in the PM session, I participated in a discussion forum with other Higher Education faculty in Teacher Education about the integration of technology in Teacher Preparation programs. This session was sponsored by the Office of Professional Preparation.
Jill's Blog Wednesday
Technology Conference--Aug. 4
Started my day with the Prezi presentation. The software is amazing, but the presenter was very nervous--she didn't do such a great job. Next, I attended a Promethean demonstration. I am going to recommend it to my principal. We'll see how far that goes! Spent quality with my TIS mates working on our digital project. For those who are competing against us--don't talk the talk unless you can walk the walk. In the afternoon, we attended the Smart Board presentation. Exchange.smarttech.com is a web site that contains some great technology lessons. Jamie and I realized that we both ordered this type of Smart Board. Next, I attended the WebQuest presentation--learned how to create a web portal and infomercial. Ended my day with a tour of the capital and a fantastic meal.
Gwen Miller -- Wednesday, August 4
TechSteps To Go from 8-8:50
Using the Edline Class Page and School Home Page 9-9:50
Let's Use Those Cell Phones in the Classroom 10:10 -11
Phantastic Photostory 11:10 - 12
The Next Generation Collaborative Classroom powered by eInstruction 3:15 - 4:05
I wanted to attend Time Saving Tips in Using Gradequick at 4:15 but could not and still be at the capitol by 5 p.m. The TechSteps presentation was very informative. Before you attempt a project there needs to be lots of planning and preparation in class before entering the computer lab. They gave us a wiki website they created to visit. The Edline session was standing room only. This dealt more with designing your home page rather than using the program (That is why I wanted the Gradequick session also) I enjoyed the Cell Phone session. One site discussed would be excellent for coaches or other activity sponsors. The Photostory session was a disappointment because of all the technology problems. Nothing worked for the young girls. I felt sorry for them. I didn't win anything in the eInstruction session. We are suppose to have responders and MOB's at MCTEC this fall. Steve and I worked on our Digital Project during lunch and the 2 p.m. session. At the Cultural Center I was in the glass/pottery room BY MYSELF and the electricity went off. It is REALLY dark down there.
Blogs August 4, 2010
Sorry for the late post this morning! Now for today's information.
First session at 8AM-The TIS Revolution focused on how to make your county TIS more important. There were supposed to be six presenters, but I only heard from 2.
Second session started at 9 AM. Using the Edline class page and school page. The presenter was delightful and gave tons of new information. The most important of which was the online training that she pointed out. I can't wait to start using the new information at my new school.
This is Janetta Burdette for Steve. Pray for him to get home safely. It's raining so hard he can barely see. He will finish as soon as he can.
I finally made it home! Rain so bad that 25 mph was taking your life in your hand. Now, on with my post.
From 10:10 to 11:00. Using cell phones in the classroom. There are good reasons to use cellphones in a classroom setting, but overall, I do not think that the kids are mature enough to use them responsibly. While I think that phones can be a great learning tool, and can be used as virtual clickers, texting to the teacher, etc., there will always be a significant portion who will not use them correctly. I know that argument has been used many times in the past for new technology, but these phones can be used very discreetly. Until phones can be openly monitored, I fear phones will be taken advantage of.
The disappointment of the day came from my 11:00 session, Phantastic Photostory. I only downloaded the program last night, but I gleaned no new information from the presenters. In fact, there were a couple of things the presenters said that were incorrect. The program is very simple, but good for a beginning introduction to a different way to present information.
Lunch was great! But it was to long. Gwen and I took advantage of the long lunch to work on our digital project. With very little time to collaborate, we decided to forgo the first afternoon session and work on the project together. My last session of the day was learning about personal learning networks. This was mostly about using Twitter. I am hesitant to use it, but I can see a great potential. In fact, I signed up for a twitter account during class!
The day ended with a tour of the capital. I cut that short in order to take my daughter to band camp (which I am late for now!)
Later!
Steve
Wednesday, August 4: Techie Yet?
Wednesday
Brandi
STC August 4th 2010
Blended Delivery is most likely the future of learning and the session with Anne Meadows showed me how to get involved in the online techniques. She mentioned Xerte as the available free software to create a self paced lesson on specific topics for the class. Keeping open communication between students and other students as well as with the teacher.
Using cell phones in the classroom. Three websites that will allow cells to be used as transponders can be effective and useful, specifically for immediate feedback from students to get a good idea on whether concepts were learned. In addition, the google SMS site can provide a lot of immediate information that can be used in the classroom.
Lunch was good today. My unlucky self was not chosen as a freebie winner. Maybe better luck tomorrow.
Google Your Classroom: Jamie explained lots of ways of going paperless in the classroom. The idea of keeping forms, assignments, calendar dates, etc. available to students would be great. And using the "cloud" to store documents, then giving students or specifc coworkers access to your documents can be a huge timesaver. The downside might be keeping up with status of each document and keeping updates in a timely manner.
Organizing the cloud: Various methods of getting organized following Merrill's Wisdom, that is:
- Stop trying to remember everythink
- Swap filing cabinets for scaffolds
- Redefine organization as search
GradeQuick software- great ideas on using so many of the selections. I use adding footnotes, hiding some grades when showing another student their grades, marking exemptions, and using the ** in a few different ways. I hadn't used fill the current column or the various short-cut menus. Ideas on managing the gradebook were really good. Also, lots of great discussion on what's really going on out there with GradeQuick.
August 4 Statewide Technology Conference
Wed 8-4 Sessions....will just keep adding to this one today.
Second session was about Design and Planning Stratagies for Cisco Wireless Lann Deployments. Was a nice compliment to last weeks Cisco classes. This session is based on 802.11a and g wireless formats, scalability, stand alone access points, wireless LAN controllers, and newer suggested network setups for better efficiencies. The session is a Level 2 information level for Cisco and it seems that the Unified Wireless Network will be Cisco's new push for the next few years until any new standards get developed. With the restrictions on wireless systems in our schools this is going to hinder any realistic use of setting up the more efficient systems. The current usage policies need to be updated so we can move forward with classroom technology.
Third session is titled....Meeting the Needs of Struggling High School Learners Before They Fail.
This session talks about using Odyssey to avoid a credit recovery program. This session focused on the 9-12 version of their software. Odyssey is web based and can be used from home or school. Students can be assigned one of the 4 core programs or can take all 4 if needed. My county uses this program for credit recovery and their passage is directly related to their test scores on Odyssey. I didnt seen anything for career and technical schools for credit recovery classes. The main reason that students were in credit recovery were due to excessive absenses. When they miss the high schools they are also missing career and technical schools. They need to develop a system for career tech in a bad way.
Fourth session was about using the Photo Story 3 software. The software is a very easy way to bring out the creativity in students. They had several very nice student made projects that really were extremely well done productions. The room was packed and people were sitting on the floor. I could actually use this software when creating how to videos in my classroom. The software is very easy to use and has only 4 easy steps to finish a project. Would also be a good "get to know you" project in the beginning of the year so students can get ahead in their social integration with each other.
Fifth session...Smart Board Training.
Pretty straight forward introduction on how to install, support, write lessons, and the major features. Gave good information about how the system works electronically and physically. Was good info on where to get materials on several subjects and classroom setups. Showed how you can use the Smart system for instant feedback from students on lessons and tests.
How to design a Webquest Informercial using Google Docs.
Extremely informative and helpfull for all classes. Gave some great tips about getting students motivated in engaging how to do a full production from beginning to end. I can see me using this to create my "how to" videos in a quick manner so not to loose alot of down time in the class. This is a great idea in its usage in the class room and would make some great home assignments and senior projects.
Abby?
Brandi
Late Post (Sorry Abby)
Of course, spending time with our TIS friends is always great and I appreciated the time getting some of our issues with the Intel CD resolved. The digital project got started off on the right foot, thanks to you. I really liked the opening session with Sean! Although I had not seen the movie, that did not detract from his message of cheerful giving. After the opening session, off to the vendors. I hope it was worth giving out so much personal info. Maybe I will get that IWB!
The next session was with EInstruction. I used an older generation interwrite tablet, but I drooled over the newest iteration of the Mobi! Alas, I did not win the Mobi teacher unit. I will, however, take my enthusiasm back to whichever school I end up at! ;-)
My next session was supposed to be on Second Life, but that died (lol), so on to Highlights of the ISTE 2010 session. I LOVED IT!!! These two ladies gave us a once-over on a lot of different web sites and web 2.0 applications that will be a tremendous help in the classrooms.
I am not supposed to go to Webster county tonight, so my post should be on time tonight.
Steve
WVSTC Tuesday
Sean was phenomenal. We had seats on the front row. His message was inspiring and motivational. I wish our students could hear him speak. We all need to heed his lessons. We left there and went to the vendor area where we got lots of information and freebies. The books were sold out, but we got Sean's autograph and had our picture taken with him for our project.
The cell phone session was really fun. Again, hands on sessions are the best. I had heard about poll everywhere at the Bridgeport session. It would really be fun to use in the classroom. The message website she introduced would be very easy to use, and I may try it this year. I knew about the google phone number lookup but not to that extent. Technology is truly amazing. I plan on sharing all of these ideas with my students. I was thinking about maybe having a tech tip of the day or something to that effect.
Denise Stalnaker, as usual, was very interesting in her presentation about Globaloria. She knows so much and presents very well. We had applied for Globaloria, but we only had a few students interested. I think we need to try again to get this program in our school. I liked that she had a student presenter with her. There are so many good sessions, and I wish we could attend them all. I am anxious to try everything I have learned with my students.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Jill's Blog Tuesday nite ;)
Technology Conference--Aug. 3
I believe all of us appreciated the opportunity to meet with you this morning to clarify some questions we had. It was very beneficial to have time to collaborate with our team members for the digital project. The speaker was truly inspirational. He made all of us believe we can "turn around" and make a difference. As teachers, we have the opportunity to touch so many lives. I really enjoyed the session on cell phones in the classroom. As soon as I returned to my hotel room, I called my daughter (who always seems to know more about cell phones than I do) and told her about the Google feature. She had never heard about that feature; she was very impressed! The last session of the day I attended was Globaloria. It was presented well, but I don't believe it is something I would want to become involved with at this time.
Gwen Miller -- Tuesday August
The EdVenture Continues Day 2
The opening session speaker had a great message to the educators present. His message on how we can touch the lives of our students is just as simple as "making the turn around."
Again as I search for methods and strategies to improve myself as an educator and look for innovations to improve the CTED at WVU TECH, I found the session of Moodle a way to accomplish both efforts. Our department is looking for a online platform that can be accessed by by both the WVU Tech students and the Marshall Graduate students that we serve. Moodle provides options and opportunities that need to be explored.
Ready for day 3 in the AM
Tuesday Sessions
I agree with Brandi and how helpful it was to meet with you this morning and I also agree that our team is going to WIN the competition!!!! The opening session with Mr Sean Tuohy was absolutely wonderful and I got goose bumps as he talked because that is what we are suppose to be doing as teacher is turning around and picking up the lost child. I then attended the session on Moddle....it was ok, not exactly what I thought it was going to be. The presenter was ok he just went very quickly and was not able to answer specific question on how we can actually set up our own webapge....until the very end....then he quickly told us the steps to follow. It was an OK session and hopfully tomorrows sessions will be more informative!!!!
Tuesday, August 3
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The general session speaker was amazing! He was very inspirational! Too bad that they ran out of books! I really wanted a signed copy!
Next, I went to the Prezi presentation by Mark Moore. I am very interested in using Prezi instead of PPT for mine and my students' presentation.
Finally, I went to the Assessing Authentic Student Work by Karen Petitto. I wanted to take this session because I want to learn different ways to "grade" my students work.
On a side note, lunch was WAY better!! The oreo dessert was worth EVERY calorie!!!
Tuesday August 3 Rmorgan
General session was great. Very good speaker and enjoyed him immensly. I could have listened for another hour. The vendor area was very nice but a bit overstocked on the white boards and white board software. I did find a couple that I am really interested in because of the mobility features they offer. I know I will need to travel from room to room extensivly and need a portable system that doesnt use an electronic white board.
Prezi was very impressive from a beginners standpoint. It looked very simple and fast to setup and run. I set up an account and will start using Prezi instead of Power Point. Presentors seem to be a bit anti MicroSoft though.
The Assessing Authentic Student Work was about the practice of authentic learning and assessment in k through 12 and the use of informative assesments in the classroom. She talked about alternative grading for lower levels. An example is that instead of a, b, c, d, and f's you will get either an A or S grade up to the 5th grade. This is going to be used in Harrison County here in WV. I think I like an alternative grading system but I am a bit leary that the grades are so black and white.
WVSTC Tuesday
August 2 - Monday
Overload Monday...new cameras, new ThinkFinity, podcasting, whiteboards and responders, WV Writes, ePortifolios and a digital photo story! I think WV Writes could be benefical at our school; to have CTE instructors assign writing assignments, they grade for content and the WV Writes assesses for structure...techademics.
Technology Conference--Aug. 2
The ThinkFinity web site presentation provided me with some great ideas I can share with my staff; however, I found it difficult to keep up with the pace of the presenter.
Mary Purdue's overview of the digital camera was very helpful, but I still have a few questions about our digital project. My favorite session was Podcasting. The hands on approach made the presentation very effective. Bruce Cole's presentation on portfolios gave me the confidence I needed to begin adding artifacts to my portfolio. The session on WV Writes would have been more interesting if we could have used our computers.
Gwen Miller -- Monday August 2
Jill's Blog
Monday, August 2, 2010
Rmorgan
WOOT!!! New toys Rmorgan
Ann Meadows pod casting session was my personal favorite because I do tons of digital editing and the software was pretty cool to use. Its a simple multitracking system with easy controls. You can lay down a complete pod cast with minimal effort and cant wait till we assemble our pod cast.
The eportfolio had alot of information but the delivery was dry. Mr. Cole did have alot of information to cover and it went pretty fast paced with alot of things to pick up in a short period of time. It wouldnt hurt me to work on this more extensively on my own time to get used to all the features that the eportfolio entails.
The WV Writes session had some good pointers for non technical teachers but not so many for true career and technical classes. I can see using the information for prepping for the SAT Work Keys test and for our individual writing assignments but not much more than that. The use of extra essays that were used for the artificial intelligence for grading is the main reason why. There isnt an abundance of technical essays in each proffesion to train the AI in my opinion.
The New EdVenture - CTE-TIS Monday August 2
As our department at WVU-TECH continues to research strategies and methods to improve the distance delivery method, the day's agenda had new technologies that would benefit the effort to improve our effort in the state-wide mission. For instance the combination of the digital camera use and the potential of the program Audacity, could be utilized by developing instructional materials for the present courses in the CTE courses.
The introduction of the ePortfilio for the WV Learns course also stimulated ideas of how the CTED at WVU-TECH could implement the use of the electronic portfolio with the New CTE Instructor program in the collection of documentation for Professional Performance Assessment as these professional educators develop in the education profession.
The presentation on WV Writes suggested some potential activities for the integration of Technical Literacy in the CTE class/lab. These ideas could be presented in our CTED 308 course by the teacher education staff. I would like to see the rubric used by the WV Writes system and investigate on how it could adjusted to meet the teaching and learning needs for CTE.
The exposure to technical teaching aides such as the "SMART" board and the I-Pad provided the thoughts of opportunities and challenges for me as the teacher educator and for the CTE instructor. The opportunities are the excitement of the new equipment the potential of the new class methodology. The challenges are finding the time to practice the use of the new aides having be a natural utilization in the educational environment.
WV TIS-CTE: Monday August 2, 2010 TIS-CTE Training
Got to the Civic Center at 8:00 and got my new camera! Yea. Then I went to welcome with Vicki Allen A.D. Office of instructional technology. The next session I went to was the new Thinkfinity website presented by Mark Moore. This session was very enlightening, unfortunately, it was too short to explore the actual site, but rather we were given a broad synopsis of the site.
The next session was the camera introduction presented by Mary Purdue. She was very knowledgeable and engaging, however, I have been using digital cameras at home and in my classroom for several years now, so the information was a little redundant. This was followed up by The digital project introduction by Ms. Wilson, although the session was enjoyable, I came away with more questions than answers about the goals of the project.
Then I went to the Hands-on Podcasting session presented by Anne Meadows. This was my favorite session for the day. The information was delivered in a hands-on, interactive method and I learned many new tricks to have my students incorporate into class projects. Then we broke for lunch.
The next session I went to was the ePortfolio session with Bruce Cole. The information was good but due to technical difficulties, there was very little hands-on time, which hampered the learning and enjoyment of the material.
The next session dealt with the WV Writes information and did not have a direct impact on my duties at this time. It sounds like they have made some very beneficial changes to the program. However, I will withhold judgment until I hear feedback from teachers and students in a real-world application.
The last session I went to was the interactive white board presentation. I really liked this session; however, it made me even more depressed that we have mnemonics boards in my school instead of a true SMART board! All in all this was a great day; I hope the rest of the conference continues like today!
Chuck Parker