Virginia Society for Technology in Education
Googlepalooza Tidewater
June 23, 2016, 9 AM - 4 PM
Jones Magnet Middle School
1819 Nickerson Blvd
Hampton, Virginia
All things Google! A day of Google-related workshops as well as the chance to network with others around GAFE and Chromebooks. Check out the schedule here.
9th Annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education
March 9-12, 2016
2016 Theme : Horizons
http://vwbpe.org/
VSTE’s own Virtual Environments PLN has been selected to hold a featured panel for the 9th annual Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education Conference. The VWBPE Conference, March 9-12, is 100% virtual with venues, in both Second Life and Avacon Grid.
VSTE’s VE PLN has been very active in virtual world communities, particularly in Second Life, since 2008, and more recently, Minecraft. On Saturday, March 12, 2016, 3:00 p.m. to 4:50 p.m. Pacific time (SLT) Karen Richardson, Keith Reeves, Kim Harrison, Vasili Giannoutsos, Dr. William F. Schmachtenberg, Lisa Alconcel, and Beth O’Connell will share VSTE’s Virtual Environments Horizons with the world.
The VWBPE Conference is a completely virtual conference that is conducted using simulated environments. Participants experience the conference through a virtual reality type setting including conference rooms, theatres, exposition halls, meeting spaces, and other types of venues similar to a brick and mortar type conference.
The conference is free to attend. The cost of the conference is covered by sponsorship and donations. For more information on this conference see http://vwbpe.org/.
Keynote speakers include Bronwyn Stuckey, postdoctoral research fellow of the Arizona State University Center for Games & Impact; Karl Kapp, full-professor of Instructional Technology at Bloomsburg University in Bloomsburg, PA; and MOOC Inventor Stephen Downes.
VWBPE has a full schedule of sessions and social events running nearly around the clock from Wednesday midday through Saturday night. Times listed are SLT, Second Life Time, which is the same as Pacific Time. There will be participants from around the globe.
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 Build Media Literacy, Increase Civic Engagement, Share Opinions & More.
Here are just a few highlights from this edition. Click the link below to learn more about them and find lots more. Check the deadlines for various contests and prepare for National Poetry Month with a new app.
Destination Imagination invites elementary (K–5), middle (6–8), and secondary (9–12) students to participate in the Destination Imagination Video Contest. Their challenge is to create a 60-second video telling about a time when they were creative, curious, or courageous.
A report just released by the Aspen Institute’s Dialogue on Public Libraries asks us again to reconsider how the library can serve communities in the 21st century. “Rising to the Challenge: Re-Envisioning Public Libraries” aims to capture the momentum and excitement of the innovations taking place in public libraries across the country, and the impact these are having on communities. The report asks: With all the new technologies and layered networks, what can be done beyond current advancements?
With the Poetry Foundation’s free POETRY mobile app for iOS and Android devices, users can take hundreds of poems by classic and contemporary poets with them wherever they go. From William Shakespeare to César Vallejo to Heather McHugh, the Poetry Foundation’s app turns a smartphone into a mobile poetry library.
The Board of Directors for the Virginia Society for Technology in Education (VSTE) has reviewed House Bill 8, which calls for the creation of the Virginia Virtual School (VVS). We have serious questions and concerns about provisions in the bill and their potential impact on public education and public school divisions in the Commonwealth.
You can read the full statement here and then we urge you to take action by contacting your legislator about the potentially negative aspects of this bill.
Not sure who represents you at the state level? Find out at the Who's My Legislator website.
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 Build a Growth Mindset, Cultivate Inquiry, Engineer Inventions & More.
Here are just a few highlights from this edition. Click the link below to learn more about them and find lots more. This edition includes some terrific opportunities to create, share and...maybe win some awards and prizes!
To teach a new generation about music’s power to create change, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and the GRAMMY Museum have launched Speak Up, Sing Out, a songwriting contest for students in grades 6–12. Open to any genre of music, the contest challenges students to write educational and inspirational songs about human rights issues, empowering them to use their creative talents to create change. Deadline February 21, 2016 SOON!
PBS LearningMedia is inviting K–12 students to participate in its Meet Me in D.C. Contest by designing an election poster that highlights important community issues. Deadline: March 31, 2016
Educators are invited to enter the Collaboration Nation video contest by telling CDW•G about their school or district’s exemplary educational technology collaboration and the measurable impact it has had on learning and teaching. By sharing their successes, schools or districts have the opportunity to win a $50,000 grand prize or one of three $15,000 monthly prizes from CDW•G. Monthly through April 30, 2016...so you have two more months to enter your video!
Big Deal Book, February 15, 2016
