edCampGB Final Thoughts

As my first edCamp got underway, I somewhat had an idea of what an edCamp is.  After experiencing it, I now know.

Educators.Relaxed.Collaborating.Learning.

Four fellow teachers joined me that really haven't been exposed to technology as much as maybe other people.  It was a thrill for them to become so excited about the format (relaxed) and the learning that they experienced.  We had a multiple hour conversation after the conference and really became excited about what can be incorporated. Awesome!

My personal experience was fantastic!  Meeting people from twitter was one of the best aspects,. but other aspects of the day rocked as well.

There are so many great options for the schedule, that it is always difficult to choose.

I decided to attend the Evernote, iTunes U, and Tech Coach Sessions.

Evernote: We discovered that we could make a class account and had many people using the account on iPads at one time.  Updating and adding to a note worked flawlessly.  We talked about the benefits of Evernote over other options, due to the ability to upload everything: words, pictures, videos, links, audio.

iTunesU:  This was really an introduction to what iTunes U is.  I enjoyed learning about the "Beyond Campus" and "K-12" section.  I added

• AP European History  (For introduction to our high school AP teacher)
• TED Education Creative Problem Solving
• Google Apps in the Classroom
• Apps for the Classroom
• On The Road To Implementation Common Core with Common Sense
• Common Sense Ending Cyberbullying and Online Cruelty

I will be share the iTunesU resource with our teachers some time during the year as a Tech Tool Tip.

Tech Coach:  Discussed strategies for teaching teachers technology.  We focused on

• ISTE standards
• How to move the non users in our district to users
• Offerings of teaching tech in our district, learning at different times (Learn @ Lunch)
• How we obtain our resources, Twitter, Google+, Facebook, ZITE app
• How we save the resources we find, Evernote, Google Docs, Diigo, all over the place :)

Overall, the day was fantastic and many resources were obtained!

Our tech director would like to incorporate this edCamp idea into a day of professional growth for our teachers in our district.

We can...more details to come!

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Commitment To Teachers

Last evening I attended a training session for volunteers who will be working for a company throughout the football season.  The company is a worldwide leader in providing services for people who attend sporting events and national parks.

While I was there to learn the ins and outs of my volunteer position, as soon as they stated their philosophy for us to follow, a blog post developed in my head.

As a service to our teachers in my district, I will be a Technology Integration Specialist.  I will be introducing, co-teaching, and supporting teachers using technology to enhance how the content is taught by teachers and learned by students.

With that being said, my entire focus during my time as a tech integration specialist will be...

Following through with this will allow each teacher, who receives support from me, to know that I will provide as much information about the tech tool that I can find.  Teachers provide content, I provide supporting tech tools that can enhance the learning experience.  No matter what the level of comfort using technology the teacher may be at, I will spend as much time with the teacher as needed.  I want the teachers to know that I care about their technology integration experience and want it to be the best it can be.  If it is, more experiences are likely follow.

So with that, I will do everything I can to help teachers with meaningful learning experiences which provides them with the eagerness to continue to learn and use a technology tool to enhance their content.

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