Educational Technology

I have to start by saying that  +Kathy Brisentine  is the mastermind behind this activity - so I just needed a SHOUT OUT! With that said, I learned a lot and had a blast being part of the first ever Jefferson Forest High School Speed Dating with Google professional development last week. As a part of introducing a 1:1 Chromebook program, Kathy decided to have a "get-to-know-your-app" session. The speed dating was inside a larger half day session mixed with the SAMR model, 1:1 rollout of Chromebooks, and Google Certified Educator Level 1 requirements. So, there was a lot to soak up. With the help of other instructional technology specialists, such as myself, she divided up the participants into four groups, based on the amount of tech help we had, and established stations with "G Suite dates." Each station focused on one item or set of items: Slides/Docs/Sheets Calendar Groups/Gmail Classroom Forms Extensions/Apps.   Very Important Tip: Be very c

What if you had classes where no one gave a sheet?   Going paperless is great if there is a reason behind it. Substituting paper for a computer is just the start. It saves on paper, but does it improve learning?  My school district has rolled out the SAMR model concurrently, while continuing to expand is 1:1 Chromebook program across the district.  What is SAMR and how does learning this help with the Chromebook program? According to Kathy Schrock , " SAMR  is a model designed to help educators infuse technology into teaching and learning. Popularized by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, the model supports and enables teachers to design, develop, and infuse digital learning experiences that utilize technology."  My biggest challenge is two-fold and this is where I need your help!  How do I get teachers to become confident enough to stretch their learning; to feel comfortable to move across the SAMR model beyond substitution? How do I teach teachers to tro

Dear @ Twitter  #PLN : I just want to say thanks to a great start to 2017. My account just hit 1000 followers this weekend. I follow about the same amount and I am humbled that somebody would follow me back. In reality, it's an arbitrary number that doesn't mean much, but it gets me thinking about why I joined Twitter. W hen I started in late January 2017, I never thought Twitter would be my go-to for learning or have such an effect on my view of education. I created a Twitter account as a way to grow my personal learning network (#PLN) and to learn from those already established on Twitter ( See blog ). I have to say, I learned a lot from you (my Twitter family). George Couros, Alice Keeler , Eric Curts, Casey Bell , all need to be thanked by name because I basically re-tweet everything they do. After I became a Google trainer, I joined Twitter but didn't really become fascinated with it as a learning tool until I went to the #MACPL17 conference in Baltimore a