VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

VSTE News

VSTE Welcomes Regional Representative to Board of Directors

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a blue apple with a green leaf and brown stemIn order to provide representation to all areas of Virginia, VSTE's bylaws require that the Board have at least one representative from each region of the state. The Board of Directors is pleased to appoint Joy McDonald from Rockbridge County as the representative from Region for the 2021 - 2022 term. She joins a dynamic group of educators that provide leadership and direction to the organization.

Learn more about Joy.

Learn more about the Board of Directors and meet the current board. New board members will join the Board on July 1.

Big Book Deal, June 15th, 2021

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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 Equitable Access, SEL Experiences, Traveling Books, Nature Poetry & More...

 

Club Building the Pipeline of Females Pursuing STEM-Related Fields

Girls Who Game (GWG) is an extracurricular program sponsored by Dell Technologies, Intel, and Microsoft that provides an opportunity for girls in grades 4–8 and underserved students across North America to learn more about gaming as a learning tool, while developing their global competencies, such as communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.
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Virtual Fieldtrips Through Objects of Aviation and Space History

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The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum provides unique fieldtrip opportunities for teachers and students to engage with the museum’s content online. Among the museum’s offerings are “Earth and Its Place in the Universe” (grades 5–12); “Finding Our Way: Geography and GIS” (grades 6–8)); “Living Through History” (grades 1–8); and “Paper Airplane Design” (grades 3–8).
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Google 3D Timelapse Feature for Observing Planet Earth

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Timelapse in Google Earth combines more than 24 million satellite photos, two petabytes of data, and 2 million hours of CPU processing time to create an interactive view showing how Earth has changed from 1984 to 2020. Users can choose practically any place on Earth, change camera angles, and select a specific year they want to see.
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Big Book Deal, June 15, 2021

The Archives06152021

Big Book Deal, June 1st, 2021

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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  Make Sense of AI, Illuminate Everyday Math, Simulate a Pandemic & More......

Simulation of the Spread of a Virtual Pathogen

Operation Outbreak is an innovative platform for STEM education on infectious diseases and outbreak preparedness created by Sarasota Military Academy Prep School and the Sabeti Lab at The Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT. The platform integrates an academic unit covering relevant science and humanities subjects with a culminating “outbreak simulation” experiential learning activity.
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Guide to Help Make Sense of the Complexities of Artificial Intelligence

Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence is an A–Z online guide that offers a series of simple, bite-sized explainers to help anyone understand what artificial intelligence (AI) is, how it works, and how it is changing the world around us.
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Graphs to Help Students Think About Growing Inequalities in America

To help students think critically about American society, The New York Times has compiled 28 graphs covering topics such as healthcare, education, and income. Among the graphs are examples that show how the coronavirus pandemic complicated the inequalities deeply entrenched in our society, as well as laid bare and widened these disparities.
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Big Book Deal, June 1st , 2021

The Archives

The Magic Beneath the Surface of EdTech

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In many pursuits in life and learning there is are easy ways that cut corners and often harder but more rewarding avenues to get to your desired destination. The world of edtech is no different, especially with the incredible pace at which technology is evolving. I couldn’t more passionately recommend to not move away from a technology just because there is a new one and/or without fully exploring the tool. Many times the magic of edtech tools lies beneath the surface and is only discovered after users have had adequate time to explore, fail, learn, grow, discover, make connections, and collaborate. Simply because a technology isn’t the latest one released, doesn’t mean it isn’t the best or just as capable as another. Correspondingly, if you have given enough time for a tool to be explored completely, you do not know what was truly possible nor the effect it could have had on teaching, learning, or leading.

In the Land of G Suite

Just one area of prominent examples of the magic beneath the surface of edtech lies within G Suite. Nearly every one of the apps that make up G Suite have an incredible amount of uses that one would never discover if they only took the tool at its surface value. The power of the tools truly becomes apparent when you begin to peel back the outer layers. Two great examples are Google Chrome and Google Slides.

Google Chrome is at its surface, just an internet browser. Like Microsoft Edge, Safari, or Firefox it will connect you to the vast amount of information and resources the internet hold. It will allow you to bookmark pages and even autofill forms & passwords for you. However, the magic beneath the surface is infinitely more powerful!

The first example of this is the ability to quickly change between Chrome users. This allows one to switch between work and personal accounts in second, each complete with their own separate bookmarks, saved autofill information, Google Drive, and more! Kasey Bell of Shake Up Learning explains the greatness of this feature quite well.

The second example of a bit of Chrome magic is found in the power of extensions installed via the Chrome Web Store. This store holds many free extensions that truly save time and enhance a user’s experience with Chrome. Countless added features and benefits can be found by adding in carefully selected and managed extensions (they do take system resources so choose wisely and manage with something like Extensity). Check out these blog posts all about Chrome Extensions and the magic they add to Chrome (Post 1, Periodic Table of Extensions, For Struggling Students).

If you listen to the Google Teacher Tribe Podcast with hosts Kasey Bell and Matt Miller, you’ll know that Google Slides is the “Swiss army knife of G Suite” (Episodes). Without stretching the imagination too far, there are easily fifty uses for Google Slides that are not presentations. Some of these include social media templates, eBooks/storybooks, review games, animation, choose-your-own adventure stories, brainstorming, interactive notebooks, and even create an “app.” Trust me when I say this is barely checking into the magic beneath the surface of Google Slides… check these out for more: Control Alt Achieve, Ditch That Textbook, Shake Up Learning, Teacher Tech, & All The Things You Didn’t Know Google Slides Could Do!

The Deep End of G Suite Magic Beneath the Surface

Thinking the above just isn’t enough Google awesomeness? I agree! Check out these further resources to take an amazing look into the deep end of G Suite magic beneath the surface:

Written by Patrick B. Hausammann. Patrick is an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher in Clarke County Public Schools, and was recipient of a VSTE Tech Coach of the Year award at the 2018 Conference in Virginia Beach

Patrick describes himself as a perpetual optimist and believer in the power of a #growthmindset to #failfoward. He is the founder of UnisonEDU, Co-Founder of #EdcampNSV, and a Google Certified Innovator, Trainer, Admin, & Educator 1 & 2.

He can be found online at his website and as @PHausEDU on Twitter.

Don’t Underestimate Our Littles

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As we look back throughout the year, we have all been “encouraged”  to pursue current technologies differently. This is especially true for our youngest students. However, this is not necessarily, a negative thing. As an ITRT for the past 12 years, I have discovered that educators, including myself, often underestimate our students’ abilities. As teachers, we need to let go and allow our students the opportunity "to explore” and demonstrate their knowledge. This can be challenging when our students are in front of us in the classroom, however, as we have learned, it can be even more challenging for our remote students.

For those of you who connected with us at the VSTE Annual Conference virtually this year, you may have had the opportunity to check out Christine Danhoff’s session, Yes, Littles Can! If you did not get the chance, I would encourage you to view the recording on the VSTE Video YouTube channel. Christine Danhoff shares several resources that you will be able to use with your elementary students today. One of the core concepts she reiterates is we should give students the freedom to play and explore different programs before we utilize them for instruction. She demonstrates ways to utilize Google Suite and SlidesMania to design creative and playful lessons. Christine Danhoff also shares ways to incorporate favorite programs like Flipgrid and Seesaw to create developmentally appropriate activities your students will genuinely enjoy and learn from. 

Another great presentation video to check out on the VSTE YouTube channel is Engagement Strategies for Today's Hybrid or Distance Learning Classroom presented by Barbara Huth from Common Sense Media. She demonstrates strategies such as how to use Flipgrid for a Think, Pair, Share, or ways to brainstorm with Jamboard.

Check out the VSTE Video YouTube channel and both of these outstanding presenters.   They have excellent ideas and tips to assist you in making your classroom more engaging whether you are teaching remotely or in person.  

Heather O’Brien is a VSTE Board Member and an Instructional Technology Resource Teacher in Culpeper County Public Schools.