#fetc Coffee Talk for Technology Integration Leaders

#fetc Coffee Talk for Technology Integration Leaders

Melody Paige, Tech Integration Specialist, Monett R1 Schools

Why I chose this:
I want to see what district tech integrators are doing from other parts of the country.


What we covered:

We broke up into groups and did a brief introduction exercise.

Start small and go slowly for many folks. But, some folks wants a big WOW right away. Ex: English III, students making decisions about what they know. Read Crucible. Had to pick 3 things out of list of 25 to show what they knew. Prezi, Powerpoint, video, tweets, posterboard, etc

Coffee Talk examples from others in room:

• Built fables lands in second life collaboratively (now use OpenSim or MinecraftEDU)
• GAFE as an overall "wow"
• Teachers offering 15 projects in which students picked two: student picked diorama with shoebox AND created 3d walkthrough in Minecraft

Many work with teachers to integrate tech. Any methods that "just worked?" Ex: Teachers teaching each other in PD

• TechEd Leaders (stipend) meet to talk about tech used monthly, then meet with the teachers in their subject areas to train/share with others. Some are great at it, some are not quite as good. Show them the "why" at the beginning. How does this help?
• The Instructional Design person records themselves doing the training, then cut/edit it into small chunks and post to school website.
• Teach new tool, try it out, then think time to look at how it might be used. Then, in a day or two, review which tools those teachers used and how it worked.
• Key is administration needs to be involved with the process.
• One way to help teachers onboard is to do a mini tech conference at the school. Teachers go to each session to learn techniques/ideas. Use tickets to give away meals, etc from local businesses. Timing is key. Generally, not at END of year. Do it week or two before school starts. Have teachers lead sessions, not the tech staff. Could bring in an expert from outside for a session.
• Have 'quick take' sessions - 80 minutes focused on certain topic/skill then move to next, etc.

How do you promote good, strong, meaningful tech activities?

• Hands-on, do the activity. 
• Implemented BYOD with open guest network with filtered internet access. Teachers had to change - BYOD was 'mandated.'