VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

VSTE News

Featured #GoOpenVA Resources, January 26, 2021

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logo for go open vaJean Weller, VSTE Board Member and VDOE Technology Integration Specialist, leads the #GoOpenVA initiative in Virginia. This collaborative initiative enables educators and others throughout Virginia to create, share, and access openly-licensed educational resources (OER, also known as open education resources). OER are free digital materials that can be used or modified to adjust to student needs; they are openly-licensed unhampered by many traditional copyright limitations.

The database is growing. Jean recently created a collection for resources specifically related to professional learning. Technology coaches from across the state have contributed and you can learn more here.

We asked Jean to periodically curate a few of the resources to give a sense of what is available. Start with these but stay for so much more! And be sure to follow Jean on Twitter.

Remixes, or adaptations of lesson plans, are one of the great strengths of OER.  Below are two remixes of plans from outside Virginia, but customized to our SOL by our own Virginia teachers. Then there is the learning object that is user-ready but which you can remix to make your own!

Viaduct on the Baltimore and Washington Railroad Lesson Plan, from Janet Page of Nelson, is a remix of an OER lesson plan which is not on #GoOpenVA currently. Her remix is excellent and includes all the information you need to implement a lesson in reading…using art!

Shopping Spree – Remix is an adaptation of an older lesson from our neighbors in North Carolina.  The lesson asks students to apply math to an everyday situation.  Laura Brown of Loudoun updated the lesson to use digital resources rather than print, and to adjust the activity for older students.

Parts of a Computer, developed by Dana Smith of Tazewell, is exactly what teachers need! Everyone will be working to address the new Computer Science standards and it’s nice to know you don’t have to create ALL of your own materials.  Dana put together a nice short presentation on the parts of a computer, along with clear illustrations.  Use it as is, or adapt it for your own students.

Featured #GoOpenVA Resources, January 19, 2021

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logo for go open vaJean Weller, VSTE Board Member and VDOE Technology Integration Specialist, leads the #GoOpenVA initiative in Virginia. This collaborative initiative enables educators and others throughout Virginia to create, share, and access openly-licensed educational resources (OER, also known as open education resources). OER are free digital materials that can be used or modified to adjust to student needs; they are openly-licensed unhampered by many traditional copyright limitations.

The database is growing. Jean recently created a collection for resources specifically related to professional learning. Technology coaches from across the state have contributed and you can learn more here.

We asked Jean to periodically curate a few of the resources to give a sense of what is available. Start with these but stay for so much more! And be sure to follow Jean on Twitter.

 

We’re starting the new year off with some great lessons contributed by Virginia educators!

“The Moth” Pod Activity lesson plan, from Virginia Beach educator Macy Pniewski, uses a storytelling podcast called “The Moth” to address several 9th grade English SOL.  Listening, of course, is a skill that needs to be practiced at all ages, as is the self-reflection built into the activity.

Domain and Range: To Infinity and Beyond is an Algebra 1 Desmos activity provided by Javier Cabezas of Henrico County.  The lesson link takes you to the Desmos teaching website so you can use this with your own Desmos tool. It is an exploratory lesson that leads students to understand how to describe domain and range with set notation and interval notation.

Regions of Virginia and Art was developed by a team of Chesapeake teachers: Jamie Marquitz, Jessica Brown, Candice Anthony-Cazenave, and Amy Erb.  This cross-curricular lesson addresses the study of the various regions of Virginia while introducing students to an intriguing art technique using colored pencils.

If you reuse or remix one of the lessons, please let us know. If your remix or other resources are featured, you will earn the #GoOpenVA badge!

GoOpenVA Badge

 

VSTE Big Book Deal, January 15, 2021

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Big Deal Media

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  can support a teachable moment,  "Insurrection at the Capitol".....

Teaching for Civic Agency

Events of the past year have made clear that the work of civic educators—to empower youth with the ability to make positive change—is now more urgent than ever. Oftentimes, we see something that’s unjust and wonder, Where do I go? What do I do?

Leading Conversations After Crises

The Advisory Board of Teaching Tolerance has shared ideas for starting discussions in the days following the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol.
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Sharing Thoughts and Emotions in Reaction to Current Events

A lesson from the Mikva Challenge program about the attack on the US Capitol offers ways educators can provide students opportunities to share their reactions, thoughts, and emotions about the events of January 6 in Washington, DC.
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Big Book Deal, January 15th, 2021

The Archives

 

VSTE and Secured Tech Solutions Join Forces to Bring You EdTech Connect – VA

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By Cody Lopez

As nearly a year of virtual conferences comes to a close, I am grateful to look back and recognize how fortunate I’ve been, not only to have had the resources to participate, but also to have learned so much from and with so many wonderful people. Connection, in whatever manner and for whatever purpose, has likely been what we’ve all needed most this year and has become a focus of mine as I look toward 2021.

VSTE 2020 provided me my first experience with Discord – the application that allowed all of us attending the conference last month to ask for IT support quickly, learn about products from the event sponsors and vendors, and (most importantly) connect with each other, asking and answering questions, sharing ideas, and driving the most important aspect of a typical conference forward.

Because of this experience, I began thinking about how all of us in the ed tech space, particularly in my home state of Virginia, may be able to continue supporting each other. My team at Secured Tech Solutions and I have been thinking a lot about these questions and are excited to announce that we are partnering with VSTE to host a Discord Server year-round for all folks in education technology throughout the state of Virginia!

Not only do we envision this as a space for discussion, networking, and Q&As, but we want to do so much more (from podcasts to Lunch & Learn workshops) and allow for everyone who joins to help mold this space in the long run. Discord is free, simple, and is available in app form on Windows, MacOS, iOS, iPadOS, Android, and Linux.

Join “EdTech Connect – VA” here and let’s start 2021 the right way...supporting each other!

Want some help navigating Discord? Check out our Discord Help File, complete clickable links:

Getting Started with Discord

Smiling man

 

Cody Lopez, Mid-Atlantic Relationship Manager
Secured Tech Solutions, LLC
Arlington, Virginia

Register Now: micro:bit micro Project Academy begins February 23, 2021

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Event logoVSTE is pleased to partner with Sylvia Martinez and Gary Stager to present The micro:bit micro Project Academy, a STEM hands-on learning opportunity. Sylvia and Gary will lead participants in a five-week exploration of the BBC micro:bit, a  platform for exploring powerful ideas in computer science, electronics,  engineering, and mathematics. The course will synchronous sessions with Sylvia and Gary, weekly "micro projects" and a collaborative virtual space for ongoing  collaboration, inspiration, and support between classes. Participants will  be encouraged to inspire, challenge, and support one another. 

The course will run from February 23 - March 23, 2021. Live sessions will be held Tuesdays at 7:00 PM and be recorded. 

Register now.

Each participant will receive two micro:bit Go kits, including the microcontroller development board, USB cable, batteries, and battery box along with other supplies including alligator clips and LED lights. Reference materials, project prompts, and tutorials will be be distributed electronically.

Cost for the course is $75. Registration is open now through February 12. The course is limited to 50 participants. 

In addition to exploring electronics, mathematics, computer science, and engineering topics through  hands-on activities, the course will discuss pedagogical choices and approaches to project-based learning.  Participants will learn by tackling a series of open-ended projects and share their experiences with the  community.

Specific topics:

  • Block programming  
  • Circuits and switches  
  • Sensors and feedback  
  • Iterative, generative, and notional design  
  • Probabilistic behavior  
  • Logic and problem solving  
  • Debugging strategies  
  • Robotics and computer control  

Audience is K-12 educators. Basic computer operations are assumed. No specific prior knowledge is necessary. 

About the course designers/leaders

Gary Stager, Ph.D. is a journalist, teacher educator, consultant, professor, software developer, publisher,  and school administrator. An elementary teacher by training, he has taught students from preschool  through doctoral studies. In 1990, Dr. Stager led professional development in the world’s first laptop  schools and played a major role in the early days of online education. Gary is the founder of  the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute for educators.  

Dr. Stager’s work has earned a Ph.D. in Science and Mathematics Education and he collaborated on a  project that won a Grammy Award. Recently, Gary was invited by Fondazione Reggio Children to lead a  public seminar on education in Reggio Emilia, Italy.  

Sylvia Martinez is a former aerospace engineer and co-author of the book, Invent to Learn: Making,  Tinkering, and Engineering in the Classroom, called “the bible of the classroom maker movement.”  Sylvia speaks to and works with schools around the world and is president of Constructing Modern  Knowledge Press, creating books and professional development advocating using modern technology for  learning. Sylvia is also principal advisor to the Columbia University FabLearn Fellows, a research group  of global educators sharing hands-on, minds-on projects and curriculum. She also led educational non profits and headed product development for consumer software, video games, and educational games at  several software publishing companies.  

Martinez started her career as an electrical engineer designing high frequency receiver systems and  software for the GPS navigational satellite system. She holds a master’s in educational technology and  a bachelor’s in electrical engineering.