Does it seem like everyone is talking about OER? Want to learn more about how OER can provide high quality, free resources for your school? Join VDOE and its partners in beautiful southwest Virginia to learn, share and grow.
David A. Wiley, Chief Academic Officer of Lumen Learning, Education Fellow at Creative Commons, and Adjunct Faculty of Instructional Psychology & Technology at Brigham Young University, will provide the keynote for the #GoOpen SWVA Summit being sponsored by The Virginia Department of Education, VSTE, UVA Wise, and Old Dominion University. This event will be held June 14, 2019, in Abingdon, Virginia, to bring together technology and curriculum leaders to discuss current successes and challenges in implementing the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) as curriculum.
The full schedule is available now.
#GoOpen Regional summits are intended for new districts who have recently committed to become a #GoOpen Launch district or are curious about making a scalable transition to openly licensed educational resources.
With all of the sessions that will be offered, school divisions are encouraged to send a team of up to 8-10 individuals so you don't miss anything! Teams should consist of division leaders, school based administrators, technology coaches, instructional coaches and teacher leaders.
Please share the flyer with your colleagues!
This event is free with morning beverages, lunch and an afternoon snack provided.
Thanks for the support from MyVRSpot we will be recording and archiving this event.
Lodging:
We have not reserved a specific hotel block, but there are a variety of low-cost lodging options in the Abingdon, Virginia, area. NOTE: Most hotels will provide the state rate for state employees as long as official ID is provided.
Hotels:
Hampton Inn, Abingdon
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Country Inn & Suites by Radisson, Abingdon
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Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott Abingdon
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Quality Inn & Suites
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Comfort Suites
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Hilton Garden Inn, Bristol
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Our annual award winner webinar will be held via YouTube 
VSTE partnered with Common Sense Media for a webinar featuring two VSTE leaders. Meg Swecker, VSTE Board member from Roanoke County, and Tamara Letter, VSTE Conference Committee member from Hanover County, will be discussing Cultivating Kindness: A Foundation for Digital Citizenship on Thursday, February 21, 2019, at 4:00 PM. 
The Honorable James R. Clapper served as the fourth US Director of Intelligence from August 9, 2010 to January 20, 2017. In this position, Mr. Clapper led the United States Intelligence Community and served as the principal intelligence advisor to President Barack Obama. He is the author of the best selling book, Facts and Fears: Hard Truths from a Life in Intelligence.
Lisa Hamp is a writer and advocate for school safety. She is a survivor of the Virginia Tech shooting that took place on April 16, 2007. With her classmates, she built a barricade to prevent the shooter from entering their classroom. Lisa suffered with PTSD for many years after, and she’ll share with you a variety of hard — but powerful — lessons that she has learned since that day.
Michele Gay is a mother, former teacher, and one of the founders of Safe and Sound Schools: A Sandy Hook Initiative. Following the tragic loss of her daughter, Josephine, in the Sandy Hook School tragedy, Michele Gay joined Sandy Hook mother Alissa Parker to establish Safe and Sound Schools as a national resource for school safety. She now travels across the country sharing her message of inspiration, recovery, and school safety education and advocacy.
Sean Burke is President of the School Safety Advocacy Council and is considered a school safety and law enforcement expert by the U.S. Department of Justice, where he was a founding member of the U.S Department of Justice School Safety Technical Working Group, and U.S Department of Homeland Security. He also served as a grant review specialist for the United States Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice in the area of law enforcement and school safety.
