VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

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Mindstorm in Middle School

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Christine Richmond, is a Robotics teacher at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School. Through a program facilitated by Carnegie Mellon University, Ms. Richmond’s eighth-grade students are constructing and programming Lego Mindstorm robots to navigate various courses and perform specific functions. 

Students work in teams to complete “challenge tasks” and demonstrate an understanding of various robotics engineering concepts. The students will ultimately apply what they have learned from the various tasks to complete a final challenge - programming their robots to act as emergency responders for search and rescue missions.

Check out this video giving an overview of the learning activity.

VSTE 18 Keynote with Sarah Thomas

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At the 2018 Conference, VSTE was proud to welcome Sarah Thomas as our Keynote speaker. Sarah is a Regional Technology Coordinator in Prince George’s (Maryland) County Public Schools and a long-time VSTE member. She is the founder of the #EduMatch movement, a grassroots project that empowers educators to make global connections across common areas of interest.

Sarah regularly presents at events around the world and was a 2017 recipient of the ISTE Making IT Happen award. She is also is also a Google Certified Innovator, Google Education Trainer, and a national advisor for the Future Ready Instructional Coaches Strand.

In her keynote presentation, Sarah challenged us to look backwards as a way to look ahead.

The present is a gift, the past has passed, and the future is what is to come.  Let's time travel and reminisce on our first days of teaching.  What has changed?  What lessons might we learn from our past, and how might this inform our future?  Take a trip with Sarah Thomas on this magical journey that discusses the power of reflection and community, edtech trends over the years, and...fanny packs?

Sarah is active on Twitter as @sarahdateechur, and is the co-host of the Tweet & Talk podcast.

VSTE 18: Assistive Technology – My Early Christmas Gift

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With telescopic precision, Matt Newton used his VSTE 2018 session as a platform to spotlight one of many Assistive Technology Resources: Read and Write.  As a matter of fact, it was the only presentation which specifically focused on accommodations and modifications for the special education population.

Matt prefaced that he is not a representative for Google Read & Write.  He is a T/TAC coordinator who has witnessed the powerful benefits of the Read & Write extension.  In a matter of 60 minutes,  Matt expressed how the awesomeness of this tool could have lasting effects for students who struggle with reading comprehension.  This app is designed to help struggling readers grasp the content.  This is not to say that Read & Write is the “That’s It. That’s All Folks” app for struggling students.

As educators, we know we have to find what works best for our students.  I remember one student who was given an iPad as an accommodation.  The thing is…he didn’t like the iPad!  Regardless of its function or the number of apps which were downloaded on his iPad, he just refused to use it.

As Matt alluded to in his session, the best Assistive Technology in the world is the one that the student is comfortable with and enjoys using it.

Success is gained when teaching and learning become enjoyable and not dreadful.  So, if you have not done so already, check out Read & Write.  Your students just might thank you for it.  And if they don’t, it’s all good. There’s a galaxy of Assistive Technology just waiting to be discovered.

Matt Newton is a Technology Coordinator in the Training and Technical Assistance Center (T/TAC) at Virginia Tech. His VSTE presentation is here and more resources are linked from his conference presentation page.

This post was written by Nicci Doud, a Special Education Teacher for Prince William County.

Programs that Work: STEM Awards for Exemplary Projects and Programs

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Programs that Work

STEM awards for exemplary projects and programs in K-16 STEM Education

The Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition (VMSC) invite you to nominate effective student and teacher education projects and programs for its annual “Programs That Work” Awards. The VMSC recognizes exemplary mathematics, science, integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs for which there is evidence of a positive impact on student or teacher learning.  Proposals will be evaluated on the extent that applicants are able to:

  • Represent innovative, exemplary programs that have proven effective with all students or teachers
  • Demonstrate the important mathematics, science, and STEM concepts, skills or processes students and teachers learned as a result of the programs
  • Document impact on teaching and learning

Virginia’s public and private elementary and secondary schools, public school divisions, institutions of higher education, state agencies, and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations are invited to apply.

It is entirely appropriate to nominate your own project or program as long as the following criteria are met:

  • The project or program is a specific STEM project with goals and objectives
  • Science, mathematics concepts, technology, skills, and or processes are the main focal point of the project or program
  • The STEM project or program has a documented impact on STEM learning which has been documented with an assessment
  • The project or program has been implemented for a minimum of at least 2 years within the past 5 years                                                           

 

Applications are due on December 10, 2018, and will be evaluated on a competitive basis for programs that have been conducted within the past five years and have demonstrated positive results.  Awardees will be recognized at a conference and awards ceremony on January, 15, 2019, at the State Library of Virginia in Richmond, Virginia.  Through a generous grant from Dominion Energy, the VMSC will support the travel and lodging of award recipients for each program that is recognized.

Applications can be found at http://www.vamsc.org/index.php/application/

For additional information, contact the Virginia Mathematics and Science Coalition by e-mail at ptw@vamsc.org.

Past is Prologue: A Message from the Chairperson

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Keith David Reeves

The call to serve children is clarion, resonating through time and across countless divides. Transcending culture and community, geography and space, we who teach feel our hearts swell and sing with the vibrations of that call, even when things are hard… and I daresay especially when they are.

Teaching in 2018 is not easy. Working in a field that lives at the state of the art, intersecting pedagogy and technology, is a profound challenge, but nearly each one of you that I’ve met - thousands now, in this sixth year of my service on the VSTE Board - shares the ethical mandate that we must use our skills and talents to teach, to make the world better for children, and to serve. It has been humbling to be a part of this extended network that is in so many ways an extended family, and to know that even on the hard days, we are not alone.

September is a hard time of year for we educational technologists. From people wondering what we did all summer despite spending weeks in back rooms with stacks of iPads to the inevitable bombardment of those who seek assistance with that which we’ve assisted them a dozen times, it is precisely because we dwell at the nexus of critical practices that we are so important to our school communities. Our students and teachers rely on our expertise as well as our compassion. The grace with which so many of you labor to ensure that everything is as right as it can be, is as ready as it must be, is a source of great inspiration for me and for my fellow VSTE leaders.

Inevitably, programs will expand, new tools will continue to arrive, and we will continue to have to expand our skill sets and knowledge bases, network with those in ever-more-diverse fields and related services… and we will inhale, and exhale, and strive for grace and empathy for those who rely upon our unique blend of futurist and practitioner, of superhero and grunt.

In the evolving landscape of the internet of things, with artificial intelligence and virtual environments steadily on the rise, and exponentially-increasing breadth and density of information available to children and adults around the world, our jobs get harder and harder, year after year. It takes special passion, work ethic, professionalism, and knowledge - and admittedly maybe just a little bit of cray-cray - to be an educational technology leader in 2018. I know that I do it because I am absolutely convinced that the ITRT role in Virginia represents the most bang for any buck anywhere in the Commonwealth, and many of the wonderful classroom teachers that have strong ed tech backgrounds bring those same skills to bear even if they are not in the ITRT role itself.

We meaningful integrators of technology into learning wear more hats than most, and so many of us fluidly move between roles as needs arise: teacher, mentor, coach, assistant, administrator, technician, principal, analyst, graphic designer, communications expert, media consultant, pedagogue, curriculum designer… We know few people understand that there is no single-sentence answer to the question “what does an ed tech person do?”

There’s no much we don’t do in the service of education in Virginia. I am proud of us, and I am proud of you.

I appreciate you, and your work, and hope you will remember in this unique (and admittedly tiring) season that we do what we do for all the right reasons, and even if you don’t get the smile or thanks that you deserve, you have it nonetheless: You have it from me, if no one else has said so today.

Serving as your Chairperson for for the past three years has been one of the great privileges of my professional life, and I’m humbled that you’ve chosen me to be your voice for advocacy in Virginia so many times. This will be my final year as your Chairperson as I conclude my second and final term of office on the Board of Directors in 2019. As I look back over the past six years, I am struck by the profound number of wonderful people I’ve met, and how much stronger my network is now than it was when I began. I count myself fortunate to represent you, and to have helped shape this most recent chapter of our organization, strengthening our finances and our infrastructure, fostering powerful collaboration and our national-class conference… What will the next years hold for you, and for VSTE? I hope those two destinies are intertwined, and that you will continue to lend your voice and your talents to your students, your colleagues, and to this organization we so love.

Welcome back to school, my friends. VSTE stands ready to support you all year, and I pledge my full efforts in the months to come, for one more phenomenal year.

With affection and in service,

Keith David Reeves, M.Ed., CETL
Chairperson
Virginia Society for Technology in Education