TiE2016

We often think the more complex a solution is the greater its impact, but many times it is the simpler concepts that are truly innovative and more likely to have greater value. Stories connect students to subject matter much more than information alone. Digital Storytelling is a simple solution that helps students learn more standards-based concepts and skills than many other activities. Because it is hands-on, creative and project-oriented, students retain more of what they are learning. In this workshop, we will review the concept of Stories, Digital Storytelling and How to Tell a Better Story. We will touch on how it relates to 21st century Skills, the Common Core and other standards at all grade levels.

Together as a group, we will create a digital story using 30hands Storyteller for iPad. We will use images, photos, drawings, a video clip, and a touch of Stop Motion video to bring our story to life. For those who bring an iPad and want to create on their own, you can break off individually or in small groups to create a competing story. 

The STEM Game Design Project at the William E. Norris Elementary School taps into students’ interest and motivation around video games, and fuses that passion with elements of writing and science.

The collaborative project between two English Language Arts co-teachers and their science teacher colleague involves students learning about game design theory and then developing and publishing video games with a science theme via Gamestar Mechanic. Student video games are published into an authentic community of other young gamers from around the world, and students use iterative design practice to revise and improve projects.

This session will provide an overview of teacher planning and student work, showcasing the connections between game design theory and the writing process as well as engineering design and Connected Learning principles.

Eduporium views the acquisition and evolution of technology skills as a necessary literacy for those living and working in the 21st century. However, the endless possibilities of virtual reality created by modern technology could be addictive and oftentimes tend to replace the real world. In order to bring students back to reality learning how to inventively alter it, Eduporium specifically selects technologies that enhance the 21st century skills commonly referred to as "The 4 C's:" Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration and Communication. We have designed a system of technology that progresses from one “C” to another in correlation with age-appropriate learning objectives. The tech that we have selected serves as the ultimate learning tool as it can be easily intertwined among all school subjects, supporting and enriching them, while helping kids of all ages learn and fine tune technology concepts by applying tech to learning.

Our system includes three progressive bundles of personally selected technology that focus on enhancing learning through creativity, critical thinking and collaboration. Our “Cool Tech Petting Zoos” are broken down into three levels featuring corresponding tech products for Pre-K–4, 5–8 and 9–12, emphasizing hands-on experience, STEAM education and project-based learning, respectively. In our workshops, we describe the fundamental principles of our system, how it is structured and progresses from one focus area to the next and how its contents develop the advancement of 21st century skills. We also share our practices by presenting the Tech Petting Zoos to students and teachers and leave time for the audience’s hands-on experience and experimentation with the samples from every bundle!

This workshop will focus on sharing the strategies for delivering real-time formative assessment of constructed response items in a cost-effective way using advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence. Constructed response assessments are one of the best pedagogical principles for imparting critical thinking and knowledge retention.

In the first part, through the visual presentation, this session will familiarize the participants with the learning science and use of advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence to improve students' conceptual understanding of STEM and ELA topics. A student will demonstrate interactive learning with the guidance from the AI. In the second part, it will involve the participants in an exercise to create constructed response assessment items for use with such an implementation. The participants will learn how to use such items in the classroom or home assignment for formative assessment and using the learning analytics for instruction advancement, revision or remediation if necessary.

Are your students equipped with the critical life skills they need to thrive beyond the classroom? From financial literacy and entrepreneurship to STEM and digital citizenship, EverFi's supplemental courses help tackle the career and college preparedness issues students face today. Participants will learn how to integrate EverFi's no-cost, blended digital learning courses into their classrooms to enhance current curriculum and student engagement. Attendees will be given login credentials, standards-alignment documents, lesson plans and ongoing technical and curriculum support, all at no cost.

Online learning is no longer new. But are we REALLY connecting with its true potential? Maybe. Schools integrate tools like Blackboard, Edline, School Fusion, ItsLearning, Compass, Moodle, Apple, Google, Windows and more. Yet this smorgasbord approach isn't quite enough to advance our students toward college and career readiness.

This fast-paced workshop asks AND ANSWERS tough questions. Why are we involved in online learning? What are the differences between "redesigning" and "integrating?" Where is the "base" of your educational activity? How would you teach if you didn't have a classroom? Where does innovation most often begin? Why is innovation often blocked even with the best of intentions? What can teachers and administrators actually do in the face of limited budgets?

Find out what actually works! Learn how one district continues to expand online learning with high success even severe budget restrictions and with an extremely diverse student body with many special needs. Learn how this district uses teacher developed "pockets of excellence" in online learning to bring about systemic change. Learn about a real-world fusion of teacher innovation, professional development, and administrative leadership. Although Moodle is the demo platform for this workshop, the same concepts and approaches can be applied across many platforms. BRING YOUR ONLINE DEVICE. BRING YOUR YABUTS, TOO - "YABUT IN MY SCHOOL . . ."

Explore a cutting-edge, multimedia engineering curriculum called Through My Window that includes a YA STEM novel, companion interactive website, and engaging offline enrichment activities. This collaborative curriculum, which appeals to both girls and boys, highlights the ways engineers help society. It can be used in both formal and informal educational settings. Participants will leave with new ideas about how to broaden students' perceptions about engineering beyond “men in hard hats”; innovative tools that appeal to the desire and ability of children to interact with engineering in an idea-centered learning environment; and substantial “ready-to-implement” resources.