ISTE Presentations

Educators are always looking for opportunities to develop thinking skills and grit in their students.  One way to accomplish this is by using the breakout room concept.  Kits can be purchased for students to have the breakout experience in the classroom, but there are many parts that can be lost or damaged over time.  

Creating breakout experiences that are completely digital is one way to avoid the hassle of broken locks and missing pieces while getting all of the benefit of a breakout game.  Learn to use Google Sites and Forms to create a digital breakout activity that students can do from home or in the classroom.  

Blending learning means finding ways to incorporate technology into lessons in and effort to increase student ownership of learning.  One way to accomplish this is to use Memes.  This session was presented at ISTE19 in Philadelphia.  

The best technology integration is not about teaching the tool, it is about selecting the tool that works best for the task.  Technology that can be used to create Memes includes Seesaw, Google Slides, Big Huge Labs, Power Point, Sway, and many more. 

The presentation at ISTE19 was delivered using Nearpod.  Nearpod provided a means to deliver the content which included Google Slides, links to other sites and collaboration boards to the participants on their device.  In this way, participants learned about Memes and also saw how student engagement improves when technology is integrated into the lesson using Nearpod.  

Guest speakers including Mike Tholfsen - OneNote Project Manager for Microsoft,  Shannon Davenport - Director of Professional Learning for NCCE and others discuss tools available for students to use to make learning accessible based on their specific need.  The site Tech for All Learners was featured as a resource for the discussion. 

CMCSS uses Seesaw to manage student portfolios in many early elementary classrooms.  Julie Combs delivered a presentation at ISTE 2018 on how Seesaw is a tool that allows teachers to begin developing digitally responsible behaviors in their students while managing portfolios in digital form.  

Learn more about this session by visiting the Digital Citizenship & Portfolio Management page.

CMCSS strategic work includes goals related to blended learning.  Part of that work includes increasing the number of Technology Integration Coaches available to support the integration of technology into lessons.  

Dani Head and Lesley Burdine created the #ProOnTheGrow playground session focused on supporting Tech Coaches. Learn more about the tools Tech Coaches need to be successful by visiting their presentation support page.

Math manipulatives can be difficult to manage in upper grades.  Digital resources allow teachers to use manipulatives with students in a 1:1 environment on laptops.  

CMCSS Technology Integration Coaches, Chris Pugh, Kimberly Dennis, and Philip Authier shared their expertise with over 100 participants in a bring your own device workshop at ISTE 2018.  Learn more about their use of virtual manipulatives here.