VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

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VSTE Certified Coach Applications Open!

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We’ve got news for ALL of our ITCs and ITRTs!

This coming January (2023) we are launching the VSTE Certified Coach Program (VCC), designed specifically to provide high-caliber professional learning and networking events for Virginia's ITCs and ITRTs.

 

Unlike the average online training course or coaching book, the VCC is designed to directly impact teaching and learning. Over the span of 5 months, coaches will meet regularly with a small cohort of like-minded coaches to learn the latest research-based coaching strategies and methods and collaborate on real-life coaching challenges.

Participating in the VCC and earning a VSTE Certified Coach credential will empower you to become an active change agent in your school division and elevate your ability to impact instruction and learning.

Spots are limited for both the Spring '23 and Fall '23 cohorts. The registration deadline is December 16th, 2022. All applicants will be notified of their acceptance status on January 5th, 2023. Submit your application today and join an incredible adventure of growth and connection!

VSTE Certified Coach Application (http://bit.ly/VCCapp23)

Are you ready for Computer Science Week?

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Are you ready for Computer Science Week? 

This year Computer Science Week is being celebrated Dec. 5-11, 2022. While the Computer Science Standards are integrated all year long by K-8 Virginia teachers, this is a great time to focus on Computer Science and try some new ideas and/or activities with your class. 

Here are a few resources for activities to try!

CSEdWeek.org

Check out the lessons on Computer Science Heroes  from  CSdWeek.org! Your students will learn all about Computer Science heroes such as Naba Rizvi, a PhD student at University of California-San Diego, who makes artificial intelligence more inclusive for autistic people; and Okezue Bell, a high school senior at Moravian Academy, who builds affordable prosthetic arms for amputees using AI and 3D printing. Using the provided prompts, students can even reflect on what they could do to become a Computer Science Hero themselves. There are posters to print, lessons to teach, and a host of resources for inspiring students and families to learn Computer Science while breaking stereotypes and doing good in the world. 

Code VA

Code VA is hosting a launch event that will be live streamed on Monday, Dec. 5 from 9am-10am. They also have a full week of student workshops, after school programs, and professional learning opportunities for educators. You can view the entire schedule here! 

Make Code Arcade

Microsoft has a collection of Make Your Own Arcade games that are available for free. These activities are great for students in grades 4 and up. This year they have partnered with Marvel Studios to offer a tutorial for creating a  Black Panther Wakanda Forever Arcade game. 

CS First

Google provides Computer Science courses and shorter Hour of Code Activities through their CS First Initiative. These activities include Design Your Name, Build Superhero, and My Google Logo. The tutorials walk students through coding these items in Scratch and provide videos and lesson plans.  

CS Unplugged

Need activities that don’t require devices? Check out CS Unplugged! According to the designers, this website “is a collection of free teaching material that teaches Computer Science through engaging games and puzzles that use cards, string, crayons and lots of running around.” CS Unplugged provides lesson plans, printables, and videos to help you teach computer science concepts without having a device. It even shows how to integrate these concepts into your curriculum!

Hour of Code

And of course, the Hour of Code website continues their ten year run of providing and curating new coding activities from all sorts of platforms and for a variety of ages that students can complete during CS week and anytime of the year. This year they are adding two new themes (soccer and space) to their Hello World Activities. The popular Dance Party activity has new songs from Beyonce, Harry Styles, Lizzo and more. And there’s now a Nasa Space Jam activity that teaches students about music and astronomy, a 3D Space Invaders game, an Escape Estate game in Minecraft Edu! Your students will love all the Hour of Code activities! The best part is that the tutorials are self-guided….so teachers don’t need to know all the answers! Check out their new intro video with Nasa Astronauts in the Space Station and complete an Hour of Code with your students!  

 

The organization that hosts this site, Code.org, has entire courses available for you to use with your classes beyond Computer Science Week.

 

Whatever you decide to do for Computer Science Week, don’t forget to continue integrating Computer Science concepts all year long! And feel free to let us know what other ideas you have! 

 

Big Deal Book, December 1, 2022

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VSTE partners with Big Deal Media to bring you carefully curated resources designed for K-12 educators. Grants, competitions, web-based and mobile resources and more. We select our favorites from each newsletter but be sure to scroll down and view the whole newsletter. And, since not all the Big Deal Book resources are time sensitive, we provide an archive for you to browse.

This newsletter will help you with Encouraging Gratefulness, Fueling Interest in STEM Careers & More...

SPOTLIGHT! On Gratefulness

As Thanksgiving just passed, teachers have the opportunity to engage their students in meaningful discourse about the history and how it is remembered. Here are some resources to embrace a new approach to Thanksgiving.

STEM Career Engagement Guides

Three new guides from the Voya Foundation’s National STEM Fellowship and the National Network of State Teachers of the Year give educators ideas on how to provide high-quality STEM career engagement experiences for their students.

Virtual Painting and Drawing Tools for Digital Artists

As Thanksgiving approaches, teachers have the opportunity to engage their students in meaningful discourse about the history and how it is remembered. Here are some resources to embrace a new approach to Thanksgiving.

Child-Friendly Social–Emotional Video Series

A team of school psychologists and researchers at the University of Connecticut has developed a free program to get students to express their feelings or reduce anxiety. The science-backed program uses puppets in short videos to explain concepts and includes kits for students to create their own puppets.

View the whole Big Book Deal Newsletter for December 1, 2022

The Archives

Common Sense Education – November 28, 2022

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Common Sense Education - Resource Share


"Common Sense is the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to helping all kids thrive in a world of media and technology. They support pre-K–12 schools with lesson plans, edtech reviews, family resources, and everything else students need to thrive in a connected world." Below is a custom set of resources pulled from this month's newest updates! Check them out via the links and explore even more at www.commonsense.org/education. VSTE is proud to partner with Common Sense Education.

For Teachers:

For Parents & Caregivers:

 

All Resources via Common Sense Education

All VSTE Posts of Common Sense Education Resources

A Look at EdTech Use Across VA During 2021-22

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In advance of the VSTE22, LearnPlatform has published a report on the usage of digital solutions, tools, and resources used by a sample of twelve K-12 districts representing just under 100,000 students and more than 15,000 educators across the state during the 2021-2022 school year. Along with a list of the top 40 digital tools with the most student and teacher interactions, the report also provides insights on overall edtech usage trends.

The data shows that teachers accessed 184 unique tools on average over the course of the entire school year, while students accessed an average of 177 unique tools during the same time period. At the district level, these numbers translate to an average of 1,759 edtech tools being accessed every month! These numbers are higher than those reported in LearnPlatform’s national EdTech Top 40 published earlier this year. 

Stats in this report include a breakdown of the top 40 solutions by their primary function.

What do these numbers tell us? At a high level, it confirms that students and teachers are interacting with a large number of different tools throughout the school year. This can pose challenges for school and district leaders when it comes to ensuring all of the tools being used are safe, equitable and having a positive impact on student learning. 

It’s critical that school and district leaders have visibility into the technology tools being used for teaching and learning both in and out of the classroom by their teachers and students. From there, they can explore whether those tools meet their needs and are compliant with federal, state and local requirements. The Virginia EdTech Top 40 Report provides a starting point for district stakeholders to hold conversations about safe and effective use of technology for education. 

Find out how you can get insight into the edtech tools used in your district, for free, with LearnPlatform’s Inventory Dashboard.

With funding limited, every district should be thinking critically about their use of technology tools to ensure they are delivering a return on the district’s investment of time and financial resources. We look forward to discussing how an edtech effectiveness system empowers districts to build an efficient edtech ecosystem that supports evidence-informed decisions throughout the edtech selection, vetting and evaluation processes during the VSTE conference.

Download the 2022 Virginia EdTech Top 40 Report!