VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

vsteadmin

February Webinar: News & Media Literacy with Common Sense Education

by

common sense education logoJoin VSTE's Education Committee on Thursday, February 24, 2022, at 7 PM. We'll be learning more about media literacy with Sue Thotz from VSTE's partner, Common Sense Education.
News and Media Literacy:  Critical, Not Cynical 

How can we help students learn to think actively about the news and media they encounter every day? How can we nurture a critical -- but not cynical -- eye toward evaluating the current world of news media, on the internet and otherwise? Join Common Sense's introductory workshop to digital citizenship with a focus on news and media literacy. We'll explore resources that develop students' abilities to identify, evaluate, and effectively find credible and trustworthy sources.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUtd-usrzgqHtdYZzjLgQd272o3aInALDe-

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

2022 Virginia Education Broadband Grant from Kajeet

by

Kajeet is excited to announce the launch of the Virginia Education Broadband Grant, in partnership with the Virginia School Boards Association (VSBA).

In Virginia, it is estimated that more than 200,000 K-12 students lack broadband access at home. During the ongoing pandemic, education leaders continue to go above and beyond, many working alongside the Kajeet education team, to help tens of thousands of students gain access to the online learning resources needed to succeed in school and beyond.  Even so, work remains to solve the digital divide for Virginia’s students.

Kajeet has partnered with VSBA to announce the first-ever Virginia Education Broadband Grant program. This funding opportunity will help school divisions continue the important work being done to ensure all students have digital learning access at school and at home. In total, Kajeet will award nearly $250,000 in broadband services to Virginia school divisions to solve the digital divide and help ensure that all students have access to learn, anytime, anywhere.

Kajeet CEO and Founder, Daniel Neal, announcing the grant at the 2021 VSBA Annual Convention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kajeet CEO and Founder, Daniel Neal, announcing the grant at the 2021 VSBA Annual Convention.

 Applying for the Grant

The Kajeet Virginia Broadband Grant application is open from January 6, 2022 - February 18, 2022.  All Virginia school divisions are eligible to apply. One grant winner will be selected from each of the VSBA school regions, for a total of nine winners.

Each grant recipient will be awarded up to $30,000 of Kajeet Education Broadband solutions. This includes unlimited student data plans, access to the Sentinel® platform, and the devices of the school division’s choice, including any combination of:

  • WiFi Hotspots
  • LTE-Embedded Laptops and Tablets
  • School Bus WiFi
  • Routers for Multi-Student Homes and Buildings

All Kajeet Education Broadband solutions include modern firewall protection and robust filters, including the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) compliant filters to ensure learning devices are secure and your students safe and on-task for learning.

Apply! Visit get.kajeet.net/vsba-grant to learn more about the grant and submit your school division’s application.

January Webinar Recordings

by

graphic of computer with book on screenThursday, January 27, 2022, 7 PM
Pandemic Tech Tools and Tips with VSTE 2021 Technology Coach of the Year, Fara Faust

Come join the VSTE Outreach Committee, led by Board Director Chanel Alford, to meet your 2021 VSTE Tech Coach of the Year Winner, Fara Faust, as she discusses useful tech tools.  Fara is amazing! During the pandemic, she started weekly computer science webinars with elementary students from Virginia Beach City Public Schools. Additionally, she is a facilitator for CodeVA which provides computer science professional development to educators across Virginia. Furthermore, Fara is adamant about students having equitable access to devices, materials, and robotics. Join us for a riveting discussion which is sure to be exciting and a great learning opportunity.

View the presentation

 

The VSTE Education Committee, led by Board Director Tim Taylor, meets the the third or fourth Thursday of each month at 7 PM. Topics range from digital citizenship to technology integration. These meetings are open to the public. Use the link below to register for the January webinar presented by Holly Clark and Tanya Avrith.

Thursday, January 20, 2022, 7 PM
Making Thinking Visible in the Google Infused Classroom
How do you know your students are truly understanding what they are being taught in your class? How are they showing what they know? And how do you ensure that those who do not perform well on standardized tests have the opportunity to demonstrate their learning and increase their confidence as learners? Join Holly Clark and Tanya Avrith – Co-authors of the Google Infused Classroom as they explore ways you can tweak your lessons to provide creative opportunities for students to make their thinking visible; and strategies for providing timely and meaningful feedback to help them improve as independent learners.

View the presentation

UnisonEDU Virtual Conference

by

Images of keynote speakersIn less than two weeks, UnisonEDU will be offering its biggest event ever - our first virtual conference!  On October 23, you can grow with us professionally and attend one of four keynotes, over 30+ sessions in 3 breakout times, plus bite-sized sessions during the lunch hour; learning from some of the biggest names in our industry.

This conference was designed with educators in mind and we’re giving you lots of choice starting with registration. It’s FREE to attend the conference the day of or if you want more time to view all of the sessions, pay $10 and your access to the recorded sessions will never run out!  You’ll also receive access to additional sessions and resources.

If you are part of a larger group that wants to attend, we’re happy to provide bulk registration with video archive access for schools or school divisions:

  • Schools may register up to 100 people for $100.
  • School divisions who have from 100 to 200 registrations may register for $300.00.
  • School divisions with more than 200 can register for $500.

The choices continue with our Keynote Speakers, where you can decide which keynote fits your focus and attend the one that is right for you as both morning or afternoon speakers will be speaking simultaneously:

Morning

  • Matthew Woods, The Sandbox Mentality
  • Debbie Tannenbaum, Transform: Techy Notes to Make Learning Sticky

Images of keynote speakers

Afternoon

  • Matthew Joseph, Power of Connections: Cultivating Professional Learning Networks
  • Hedreich Nichols, Don't Be Afraid to Get It Wrong 

Images of keynote speakers

During our breakout times, you can choose from 8 - 9 sessions covering a wealth of areas from STEM, creativity, supporting special education students, mentoring other educators, personalizing learning, HyperDocs, and more!  These sessions will range from 30 - 45 minutes and are categorized from traditional presentation styles to edcamp and gamified style sessions.  At lunch, join in for 15 minute bite-sized or spark-like sessions or consider tuning into the STEM 101 panel.  

Whatever sessions you decide, there is something for everyone!  Check out the schedule and register now. 

Come Learn With Us: VSTE Education Committee Open to Public

by

The VSTE Education Committee, led by Board Director Tim Taylor, meets the fourth Thursday of each month at 7 PM. Topics range from digital citizenship to technology integration and, beginning in October, these meetings will be open to the public!

Canva is the topic for the October meeting. Andy Shaw from Canva will give us a tour and provide some insider tips for using this popular online design tool. Canva makes it easy to design beautiful things - from posters to presentations to infographics to flashcards - in a snap. Canva for Education empowers teachers to build visual literacy in students and facilitates project-based learning in classrooms.  Last year, Canva launched a Canva for Districts program, providing free enterprise-level rollout of Canva tools for all school district users, including all premium Canva Pro content, collaboration features and integrations with the classroom in mind, and enterprise-level controls and features. Join us to learn more about the Canva platform and about how to set up district-wide deployment of Canva at no cost, from Andy Shaw, a former teacher and school leader who is now a member of the education team at Canva.

Join us on October 28, 2021, at 7 PM for this FREE event.

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUqfu-grD8sGd3BLLTsZQC05XqLIuCvvKdE

Registration Link

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.