Has your school division gotten "the letter"? The one indicating that your website is not accessible? Need to know more? Join the VSTE CoSN Council on Thursday, October 20, 2016, at 8 PM, for a primer on Section 508, the federal law related to electronic accessibility. VSTE Board Chair Keith Reeves will lead this session. Come with questions!
Events
Connected Education Month 2016 Activities
VSTE, along with schools and organizations all over the world, will be celebrating Connected Educator Month with activities throughout October sponsored by the Education and Outreach Committees of the VSTE Board of Directors.
Check out the information and then keep an eye on the newsletter and our social networks for specific times.
Slow Tweet Book Group:
VSTE is thrilled to be welcoming Rafranz Davis as our keynote speaker at VSTE2016 in December. In preparation for her visit, we'll be reading her book The Missing Voices in EdTech: Bringing Diversity Into EdTech and then sharing our ideas and insights through Twitter. Guest moderators will lead us through a chapter each week. Grab a copy of the book, start reading and look for the first questions on Monday, October 3. Register ahead of time for reminders and the chance to win VSTE swag!
Classroom Snacks:
As educators, we spend lots of time talking about students but not much time talking to them. VSTE is working to change that by providing virtual visits to classrooms across the Commonwealth. We made several visits on Digital Learning Day 2016 and will continue the tradition on Thursdays in October with visits to classrooms in Prince William County, Frederick County, Roanoke County and Wise County. We'll meet and talk with students about how technology is impacting their lives and their learning.
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VE PLN: Upcoming Events
The VSTE Virtual Environments PLN continues its tradition of Monday night professional development with two upcoming events:
VSTE Game Night
Monday, September 26, 2016, 8 PM
Join the VSTE Virtual Environments Professional Learning Network at 8 PM Eastern time on VSTE Island in Second Life for an hour of games and fun. There are games scattered all over VSTE Island, such as Greedy (think Farkle on Facebook), Scrabble, Pentadee (think Kismet), SLmopolis (think Monopoly), Galaxy War (a 3D strategy game), En Garde (Fencing), and Parcheesi. We will teach you how to play and you will meet some fun educators.
If you don't have a Second Life account get one, it's free, at http://secondlife.com/. Download and install the software. While your Second Life viewer (software) is open click this link http://maps.secondlife.com/
Minecraft Monday
Monday, October 3, 2016, 8 PM
Calling all Minecraft builders, we need your help! Join the VSTE Virtual Environments Professional Learning Network at 8 PM Eastern time in VSTE Place, VSTE's Minecraft server. We will be working together to create a Hogwarts type of castle for the Virginia Children's Book Festival. On October 15 some of us will be traveling to Longwood to attend this festival and share Minecraft with the children and their parents. Young attendees will be able to add to our Hogwarts build while they visit our booth. Won't you help us help the kids?
You must have a computer Minecraft account from https://minecraft.net/en/ to join. There is a one time fee of $26.95. Download and install the software. Choose multiplayer and add a server: Name VSTE Place IP 69.175.17.26:25565 We will open it up for this event. If you want to be whitelisted to enter anytime you want to continue building this, or anything else, email Kim Harrison at kvharris@vbschools.com from an educational email address with your real name and minecraft name.
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Digital Equity Discussion
We all can attest to the need to help bridge the digital gap that exists for our students. As more content and instruction moves online, the need to provide access to digital resources grows.
The VSTE CoSN Council is pleased to sponsor a free discussion related to digital equity. This webinar will be held Thursday, September 22, 2016, from 8 to 9 PM.
Featured speakers include:
- Dr. Elizabeth Hoover; CTO, Alexandria City Public Schools
- Diane Doersch; Chief Technology & Information Officer at Green Bay Area School District
- Rod Carnill; Supervisor of ITRTs, Frederick County Public Schools
- Cheryl Wood and Kim Fields; Project Managers on Digital Equity, Fairfax County Public Schools
- Tom Lundquist, Director of Technology, Staunton City Schools
Speakers will address digital equity issues faced by their school divisions and their current approach. They will describe the alternatives they explored and how they are evaluating their return on investment.
You can view the archived recording here: http://vste.adobeconnect.com/p6kugdkfl32/
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Free Professional Development Available from ISTE
ISTE is currently accepting applications for the October cohort of the Verizon Mobile Learning Academy.
The Verizon Mobile Learning Academy (VMLA) is a FREE 10 week course designed and offered by ISTE for school and district teams in the U.S. This course is perfect for schools and districts that:
- Want to provide an excellent technology integration PD opportunity for some or all of their staff
- Want to ensure that the technology they currently have is being used in innovative, student-centered ways
- Would like support as they plan a new technology initiative.
In addition to being FREE, here are more great benefits of this program:
- Course materials and activities are online, allowing you to participate in world-class professional learning from your own school campus.
- ISTE provides an experienced Instructional Coach to work with your team and personalize the experience to address the specific questions and needs of your school and team members.
- Everyone who participates receives 2.5 Continuing Education Units (or 25 Continuing Education hours) from Johns Hopkins University.
- The team approach unites administrators, technology specialists/coaches, and educators in their vision for improving teaching and learning with technology.
Review the details and the course syllabus and/or watch a 10-minute live-cast on Tuesday, Sept 20, 1pmPacific/4 pm Eastern. October cohort registrations for your 5-10 person team are due September 21, 2016.
