EdTechTeacher Summit Boston 2017

This session will focus on the journey Holcomb Bridge MS (GA) took with FEV Tutor (Live 1:1 Virtual Tutoring - ( https://www.fevtutor.com/ )  to change outcomes for 8th grade math students on the Georgia Milestones.  Students experienced personalized, 1:1, customized virtual tutoring via FEV.  Join the session to learn about our process, FEV experience and next steps with 1:1 virtual tutoring. 

Using a community-driven approach to digital citizenship, this session will focus on the positive ways to educate and empower students to turn negatives into positives, transform students into designers, creative thinkers, global collaborators, problem solvers and justice-oriented digital citizens. The focus is on the working with educators, students and parents to help create solutions in local, global and digital communities.

Developing and scaling transformative teaching and learning with technology requires a collaborative, strategic approach to innovation. Tom will provide guidance and examples of actions steps that leaders can take to leverage technology in ways that personalize instruction and promote deeper learning for all students.

While we hear the words personalized learning tossed around quite often today, it seems that everyone has a different understanding of what this means for learners. For schools to truly hit the mark on this, we need to also ensure that we are personalizing learning opportunities for adult learners (staff). This session will discuss some of the concrete ways that schools are personalizing learning for all learners.

What Defines a Human in an Age of AI? Is it love over fear, empathy over disconnection? What defines us is what sets us apart from the machines, even as we build them—and, it’s these traits that will become increasingly important for learners as we embrace new technologies and ways of approaching everything from data analysis to problem-solving to creative expression.
This “EdThought” Big Ideas session looks into the design and flourishing of our greatest asset—our humanity. In the Age of AI, what makes us human becomes all the more essential, critical to our communication, creativity and true consequence, as we couple with machines. We’ll blend in some storytelling, robotics, design and mindfulness in this hyper-real session that steps through the looking glass into animated wonderlands and dreamscapes.

We hear a lot in the news about “fake news,” but that term, which was coined fairly recently, is really a symptom of some much larger problems, including the lack of media literacy in a digital age where information is instant. In fact, Stanford Graduate School of Education recently found that more than 80% of middle and high school students were unable to distinguish between advertisements and real news stories. As parents and educators, it’s our job to help our learners become more savvy consumers of information.

Based on ConnectSafely’s Parent and Educator Guide to Media Literacy and Fake News, this session will include advice from educators, journalists, media literacy experts, and emotional intelligence researchers on how to bring critical media literacy skills to your classroom/home so that our children are able to make informed decisions about the information that bombards them every day.

Two Master Teachers from Natick, MA unlock the magic of Coding K-5. Explore hands-on opportunities for computational thinking and early programming in the general-ed classroom, using apps and robots, as well as offline activities fostering problem-solving skills and engineering through makerspaces.  Both presenters are Code.org and Google certified educators who have presented on Innovation, Blended Learning, and Coding. The session will examine methods to bring coding concepts and language to the hands of young learners for accessibility and engagement, with a focus on curriculum integration and folding ISTE standards into everyday instruction. The session will showcase effective lessons and implementation with opportunity for participant hands-on exploration, including Sphero, Ozobot, Robot Mouse, Osmo, and Makey-Makey.

Think of Minecraft as students' canvas, able to capture conceptual understandings, worldviews, and creative whimsy. Through intentional use, Minecraft can be used to engage, extend, deepen, and connect learning in your impact area. We'll show you how we've used Minecraft in collaborative learning environments across a wide range of content areas and discuss how we have captured student learning. We will also let you give it a try and play with your own integration ideas.

 Are there ways that work to interest more girls in STEM, and keep them interested? How can K-12 schools and informal learning organizations address a gender disparity problem that impacts not just schools, but colleges, jobs, and every walk of life? This session will explore research, resources, and best practices to involve girls of all ages in STEM. Participants will learn about the potential to bring new tools and technology to learning spaces to support hands-on learning across all grades and curriculum – plus areas that are of particular interest to girls, such as inventions that help people, sewable electronics, e-textiles, bio-materials, citizen science, and community projects. Hands-on projects and tools can engage girls (and all learners) in STEM activities that matter. We will explore how the collaborative, tinkering nature of global revolutions like the maker movement, open source, and project-based learning dovetails with girls ability to work collaboratively and in a connected way.

How do we best prepare educators to navigate a changing learning landscape? This workshop will demonstrate how Global Online Academy has leveraged online learning spaces to engage educators and model the skills they'll need to become designers of exciting, student-driven learning experiences. Participants will have hands-on experience with activities in three phases: 1) Nurturing a designer's mindset 2) Developing a designer's skillset and 3) Practicing with a designer's toolkit. Each participant will leave with best practices in online and blended PD, activities they can replicate with their colleagues, and hands-on time with a tech tool that appeals to educators of all types.

With Articificial Intelligence poised to have an impact in many facets of our society, it is critical that we begin to consider and explore the implications for AI in education and the classroom. The session will explore the current state of AI and will be an entry point to begin the discussion about where AI is going in education in the near future.

How do you identify your edtech passion? Kathy can help! She will showcase the aspects of educational technology used to support meaningful teaching and learning she cares deeply about. She will provide a wide array of practices, pedagogies, and thought-provoking uses of technology by educators and students. From cool gadgets to embedding technology, and everything in-between, you will come away with a plan of how you can focus on “doing what you love” in the edtech arena.