Virginia Society for Technology in Education
Are you looking forward to attending a workshop or two this spring or summer? VSTE is working with several different groups to provide professional development:
EdTechRVA 2016
March 9, 2016
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Register
Brainstorm 2016
April 8, 2016
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Register
Googlepalooza III
June 21, 2016
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Register
VSTE is the Virginia chapter of CoSN because we wish to reach out to educational technology leaders and school division leadership. CoSN offers the kind of in depth resources that support the work of leaders making tough decisions around technology.
CoSN believes in and delivers professional advancement tools, resources and courses to technology leaders nationwide. Once your district is a member, your entire technology leadership team gets the benefits. To see more of CoSN's work, email dfarrand@cosn.org to receive your free copy of CoSN’s exclusive members-only EdTechNextReport.
Then...consider joining CoSN to see more!
If you join by the end of January, CoSN will give you 6 months free. Email membership@cosn.org with promo code 6monthsfree. This is a $200 savings and will expire January 31, 2016.
Thanks to hard work by CoSN members and the CoSN Advocacy Network, the new ESSA law includes a strong program designed to invest in school districts’ education technology infrastructure and professional development. Ed tech represents one of three priority areas supported by the new $1.6 billion Student Support and Academic Enrichment Grants program. In addition, the ESSA enables districts to invest the law's other professional development resources into educators, principals, and other school leaders’ capacities to more effectively use and protect student data. The law also directs the U.S. Department of Education's research arm to study students’ home broadband needs and obstacles and produce a report to Congress by mid-2017.
Click here and discover how CoSN is solving key challenges for technology leaders today.
CoSN is also working with key education technology leaders to form a North Carolina CoSN State Chapter. If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, email me atdfarrand@cosn.org.
What you get:
If you join by the end of January, CoSN will give you 6 months free. Email membership@cosn.org with promo code 6monthsfree. This is a $200 savings and will expire January 31, 2016.
Googlepalooza III
June 21, 2016, 9 AM - 4 PM
Corron Community Development Center
Lord Fairfax Community College
Middetown Campus
173 Skirmisher Lane
Middletown, Virginia
All thing Google! For the third year, we bring you Googlepalooza, a day of Google-related workshops as well as the chance to network with others around GAFE and Chromebooks. Just $40 includes breakfast, lunch, all the M&Ms you can eat and some great door prizes.
We're still doing some tweaking but you can check out the draft schedule here.
April 8, 2016
This event is sold out. Contact karen_richardson@vste.org to be added to the wait list.
From google to flipping to coding and more...Brainstorm 2016 truly has something for everyone. Check out the DRAFT schedule here: https://brainstorm2016whatinspires.sched.org/
Location:
Memorial Hall,James Madison University, 395 South High Street, Harrisonburg, Virginia
Parking Information:
Brainstorm participants will be permitted to park in C8, R9 and C13 Lots between the hours of 7:00 AM and 4:00 PM on April 8. No parking permits will be necessary. The lot is located directly behind Memorial Hall on South Willow Street. Check the map for help with locating Memorial Hall and the parking lot.
NOTE: All regulations for JMU students, faculty and staff will remain in effect, and students attending the event are required to park in appropriate student parking lots with a JMU parking permit. Regular enforcement will continue in other parking lots, and guests may receive parking citations if parked in restricted lots. Guests are prohibited from parking in specialty spaces such as Service Vehicle spaces, handicap spaces without proper permit, or expired meters. They are also prohibited from parking in Fire Lanes.
Campus Map: http://www.jmu.edu/map/buildings/MEMH.shtml
Photography:
Brainstorm 2016 is held in a public space, therefore we do not prohibit participants, exhibitors, sponsors, or news organizations from photographing conference activities. VSTE, SVTC and James Madison University reserve the right to use images taken at the Conference with your photograph and/or likeness on social media and/or in future marketing materials. We are NOT responsible for individual attendee’s use of your image or likeness.
VSTE partners with Big Deal Media to bring you the best in online resources, grant and competition opportunities and more. In this edition, you can Engage in Inquiry, Nurture Leadership, Partner with Parents & More.
Here are just a few highlights from this edition. Click the link below to learn more about them and find lots more:
Returning for a fifth year, the $200,000 Follett Challenge will highlight and reward the most innovative K–12 programs that teach21st-century skills to students. Schools or districts, public and private, in the United States and Canada are eligible to apply. Submissions are open to all K–12 educators and Parent Teacher Organizations. To participate in this year’s contest, entrants must complete an online application and upload a three- to five-minute video describing their program. Deadline January 29, 2016
Young children, aged 5–7, can use ScratchJr, an introductory programming language, to create their own interactive storiesand games. Children can modify characters in the paint editor, add their own voices and sounds, even insert photos of themselves—and then use the graphical programming blocks to make their characters come to life.
On January 18, 2016, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. (ET), Big Deal Media’s Amazing Resources for Educators community onedWeb.net will host an interactive, collaborative webinar, sponsored by Quill.com, titled “Ensuring Success for All: Strategies for Bringing Out the Best in Students in Poverty, and Students Who Struggle with Language and Learning.” In this webinar, the 2015 National Teacher of the Year will share her experiences in Title I middle and high schools, as well as her work with refugee students, English learners, and students in intervention classes.
Big Deal Book, January 4, 2016
