VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Conference

Outstanding Technology Coach of the Year Award

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VSTE will recognize and honor three technology coaches in Virginia who have demonstrated outstanding achievement and leadership in implementing technology to improve education. Award recipients will be selected from a pool of nominations submitted by VSTE members from around Virginia.

Nominations will be accepted from October 19-November 1. Nominations will be reviewed by the VSTE Board of Directors and past winners. Select nominators will be contacted by November 5 to provide additional evidence and documentation. Nominators are encouraged to work with the nominee to gather this additional information.

Decisions will be made prior to the VSTE Annual Conference. Award winners will be recognized during the opening general session at the annual conference. They are also provided with a complimentary conference registration and two nights of hotel accommodations for the annual conference. This year's conference will be held December 5-7 2021, in Roanoke.

The Awards Committee uses the ISTE standards as the basis for judging the Outstanding Technology Coach awards. Please review the appropriate standards when preparing nomination materials. Nominees are rated solely using criteria identified in the rubric.

Please use this form to nominate a technology coach for this award.

More information about the ISTE Standards for Coaches.

Questions should be addressed to awards@vste.org.

The review committee will include VSTE board members and previous recipients of the award.

2018 Winners for Outstanding Coach

Patrick Hausammann, Clarke County Public Schools
Krystle Demas, Goochland County Public Schools
Timothy Signorelli, Fairfax County Public Schools

photo of 2018 VSTE award winners
The 2018 VSTE Award Winners

2017 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Tim Taylor, Instructional Technology Supervisor, Shenandoah County Public Schools
Outstanding Teacher: Nichole Thomas, Instructional Facilitator for Technology, Liberty Elementary School, Loudoun County Public Schools

2016 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Dr. Amy Cashwell, Chief Academic Officer, Virginia Beach City Public Schools
Outstanding Teacher: Dr. Ann Nash, ITRT, Henrico County Public Schools

photo of 2016 VSTE Award Winner Ann Nash
2016 Award Winner Ann Nash

2015 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Dr. Helen Crompton, Assistant Professor, Old Dominion University
Outstanding Teacher: Doug Saunders, ITRT, Henrico County Public Schools

2014 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Janet Copenhaver, Director of Technology, Henry County Schools
Outstanding Teacher: Daniel Nemerow, Math and Special Education, Prince William County Schools

2013 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Richard Pierce, Associate Professor, Shenandoah University
Outstanding Teacher: Wendy Phillips, literacy specialist at Belview Elementary School, Montgomery County Schools

2012 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Mark Nichols, Special Education Supervisor for Assistive Technology and Individual Education Programs, Loudoun County Public Schools
Outstanding Teacher: Norene Skiles, library media specialist at Windsor Oaks Elementary School, Virginia Beach City Public Schools

2011 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Thomas Woodward, Assistant Director of Instructional Technology, Henrico County Public Schools
Outstanding Teacher: Kristina Peck, Riverbend High School Math Teacher, Spotsylvania County Public Schools

2010 Winners

Outstanding Leader: Katie Knapp, Computer Resource Specialist, Virginia Beach Public Schools
Outstanding Teacher: Lacy Krell, Salem High School English Teacher, Virginia Beach Public Schools

UnisonEDU Virtual Conference

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Images of keynote speakersIn less than two weeks, UnisonEDU will be offering its biggest event ever - our first virtual conference!  On October 23, you can grow with us professionally and attend one of four keynotes, over 30+ sessions in 3 breakout times, plus bite-sized sessions during the lunch hour; learning from some of the biggest names in our industry.

This conference was designed with educators in mind and we’re giving you lots of choice starting with registration. It’s FREE to attend the conference the day of or if you want more time to view all of the sessions, pay $10 and your access to the recorded sessions will never run out!  You’ll also receive access to additional sessions and resources.

If you are part of a larger group that wants to attend, we’re happy to provide bulk registration with video archive access for schools or school divisions:

  • Schools may register up to 100 people for $100.
  • School divisions who have from 100 to 200 registrations may register for $300.00.
  • School divisions with more than 200 can register for $500.

The choices continue with our Keynote Speakers, where you can decide which keynote fits your focus and attend the one that is right for you as both morning or afternoon speakers will be speaking simultaneously:

Morning

  • Matthew Woods, The Sandbox Mentality
  • Debbie Tannenbaum, Transform: Techy Notes to Make Learning Sticky

Images of keynote speakers

Afternoon

  • Matthew Joseph, Power of Connections: Cultivating Professional Learning Networks
  • Hedreich Nichols, Don't Be Afraid to Get It Wrong 

Images of keynote speakers

During our breakout times, you can choose from 8 - 9 sessions covering a wealth of areas from STEM, creativity, supporting special education students, mentoring other educators, personalizing learning, HyperDocs, and more!  These sessions will range from 30 - 45 minutes and are categorized from traditional presentation styles to edcamp and gamified style sessions.  At lunch, join in for 15 minute bite-sized or spark-like sessions or consider tuning into the STEM 101 panel.  

Whatever sessions you decide, there is something for everyone!  Check out the schedule and register now. 

Remake Learning Days DMV

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remake learning logoRemake Learning Days have come to the Delaware-Maryland-Virginia region. The celebration focuses on innovative, engaging opportunities for youth to experience learning. It continues through May 22, 2021, and many organizations including schools, museums, libraries, after school organizations, early child care centers, universities, media centers, tech startups and more are hosting hands-on, family friendly events related to the themes of Arts, Maker, Outdoor Learning, Science, Technology and Youth Voice. You can learn more at the website.

While VSTE is not hosting face to face events, we thought this would be good time to feature the work we have done to amplify student voices and support innovative learning using educational technology. For the next two weeks, our VSTE Board members and partners will share ideas and resources about learning.

Today, we are featuring students from CodeRVA, a regional high school in Richmond, Virginia. The students joined us as part of our first virtual conference and talked about blended learning, the power of relationships, and how the pandemic was impacting them.

Brainstorm 2021: Innovate, Integrate, Motivate

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VSTE partner, SVETC, is excited to present the 10th Annual Brainstorm Conference, coming April 13-17, 2021.

Brainstorm 2021 will be a fully-virtual Ed Tech Conference designed to motivate educators to innovate their classrooms and integrate ed-tech tools. Presenters and keynote speakers will focus on the future of Ed Tech in education and strategies, tools, and resources to transform classrooms to meet the needs of the 21st-century learner.

Graphic with information for Brainstorm conference

The conference will be powered by the Canvas Platform from Virtual Virginia and will feature:

  • 25 LIVE and interactive Keynote & Sessions (All live sessions will be recorded)
  • 30 on-demand sessions at your own pace
  • Blending Learning with Google by Kasey Bell Book Study
  • professional development points
  • learn in different ways, including book study, live sessions, and on-demand sessions
  • discussion and follow up with presenters and keynotes after sessions
  • collaboration with peers throughout the Shenandoah Valley and beyond
  • LOTS OF LEARNING & FUN with a Social Hour and PRIZES

Learn more on the SVETC website and view the Brainstorm 2021 Schedule.

And follow the conference and our participants on social media using the hashtag #vabrainstorm21

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

There are two registration options for this conference:

  • Option 1: Individual- $20.00 for one individual will receive access to the Canvas Course
  • Option 2: District- $100.00 for access for 100 participants from your school district in our Canvas Course. (If your district selects this option, a separate google form will be sent directly to the participant contact on the registration.)

Register NOW for Brainstorm 2021. Registration will close on Friday, April 9th, 2021.

Don’t forget to invite your friends, colleagues, and/or team members to join you for this wonderful learning experience!

Getting The Most From VSTE 2020 (Virtually)

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Although we won’t be able to see everyone in-person at the annual VSTE Conference, we will still have plenty of great learning experiences and ways to connect with educators from around the state.

If you’re attending the conference, and especially if you are presenting, there are some things you can do before the opening day on December 9th to enhance your experience.

To start, visit the Conference schedule and login or create an account. Then go to the settings and update your profile. Since we won’t be able to have the usual hallway conversations, this will help your fellow attendees find and connect with you.

Next, review the schedule and find the sessions you would like to attend. Sched (the web service we are using) makes it easy to browse by day, session category or vendor/sponsor, but you can also search by keyword or name of a person.

When you find a session you might like to attend, click the circle in the block to add it to your personal schedule. Remember that this is just a collection of sessions in which you are interested. It does not guarantee a spot in the room (we will have limits to the number of participants in each live session) and does not obligate you to attend.

Since recordings for all sessions will be available for 6 months after the conference, include the sessions that you can’t attend live but might want to catch up on later. Also, presenters are encouraged to upload materials and add links to their resources in the listing for their sessions, so Sched will also be the place to come when you want to do more exploring into a presentation topic.

Finally, encourage your friends and colleagues to join you at VSTE 2020. They can view and browse the schedule without registering and even attend the sessions on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday morning at no charge. If they see something they like, “walk up” registration will remain open for most of the conference, so they can pay and join you for the Friday spotlight with Lynmara Colón, the keynote with Kim Lane Clark on Saturday morning, and all the great sessions on the weekend.

While it cannot replace the experience we would have had if we were able to meet live, we hope that you will find much to learn and people to meet at the VSTE 2020 Virtual Conference.