Summer Summit Teaching with Technology

A Summer Summit Sampler!

On Wednesday, June 15^th, I had the privilege of attending the Teaching with Technology Summer Summit at Cleveland State Community College. Over 250 Tennessee elementary, secondary, and college- level educators were in attendance this year. A smorgasbord of techie topics covering best practices, social learning, design/development, mobile applications, virtual environments, and management made for difficult choices! Below I present the highlights of the sessions I chose to attend.

Desire2Learn ePortfolio – A Tool for Life

Cory Gaber, Desire2Learn Representative – cory.gaber@desire2learn.com

Desire2Learn (D2L) ePortfolio is a web-based platform that is fully integrated with the D2L learning management system. The ePortfolio enables users to create and share the “fruits of their labor”, so to speak! Instructors are able to monitor postings and provide timely feedback. The ePortfolios are exportable and can be shared externally through email links to interested persons (such as potential employers!).

http://www.desire2learn.com/eportfolio/highered/

Make your Students that “Cast” in Screencast

Tim Childers, Technology Coach, Bradley County Schools – tchilders@bradleyschools.org

“If you want your class (students) to learn, have them teach” (Childers). Jing is a FREE, downloadable screen capture tool from TechSmith that allows users to take a snapshot or record a short video from their computer monitors that can be instantly shared via web, email, instant messaging, Twitter, or a blog. Although I was somewhat familiar with Jing, I hadn’t realized that it could be used to create short videos. Mr. Childers shared an example of an instructional video featuring a 6^th grader explaining how to multiply fractions.

http://www.techsmith.com/jing/

Transitions: Using Assistive Technology in High School and Beyond

Steve Powell, Assistive Technology Coordinator, Signal Centers, Inc. – powell@signalcenters.org

The good people at the Signal Centers are Chattanooga’s version of the good people at the East Tennessee Technology Access Center (ETTAC) in Knoxville. Steve and his colleagues showcased a plethora of accessibility options for computers, low vision aids, and systems to aid students with attention deficit disorder and other learning challenges. I was especially intrigued as they discussed “Dragon Naturally Speaking (DNS)”. This is an affordable speech to text software program that I immediately recognized could benefit my mother whose keyboarding skills have been severely compromised due to Essential Tremor. Here is the link for information about the accessibility applications for DNS:

http://www.nuance.com/for-individuals/by-solution/accessibility/index.htm

Transforming Education with Mobile Devices and APP’s

Robbie Melton, Tennessee Board of Regents – robbie.melton@tbr.edu

Dr. Melton began her session promising “You are NOT going to be the same!” And I am not. She proceeded to “WOW” us with demo after demo of mobile applications relevant to students and educators alike. Here are some of my personal favorites:

· an application that translates text to American Sign Language via an avatar

· an application that identifies paper currency for the visually impaired

· an application that records blood pressure and pulse rate

· an application that allows users to simulate a frog dissection

· an application that provides access to over 1 million FREE books

Dr. Melton announced that, beginning July 1^st, TBR will be initiating a program to purchase educational mobile applications for distribution to all institution faculty members. Information about TBR’s other eLearning initiatives can be found at http://www.tbrelearning.org/. I was thrilled to be invited to serve as a representative for allied health science. in the program discipline mobilization meeting next Wednesday at Walters State Community College

Using Weebly for Active Learning

Dr. Michael Sturgeon, Faculty Coordinator of Instructional Technology, Lee University – msturgeon@leeuniversity.edu

Dr. Sturgeon echoed Mr. Childers in his observation and assertion that students will invest more time and effort into authentic projects that will be viewed by their peers. Weebly (http://www.weebly.com/) offers a FREE (!!!) intuitive platform upon which to design and publish attractive and professional websites. Having designed and managed my own website for a home-based business with HTML source code, I can attest to the ease and functionality of this resource.

I Love Free – Great Sites for Learners of All Ages!

Janessa Coley, Jefferson County Schools – coleyj@k12tn.net

This session was standing room only, in fact, I found myself standing in the doorway, unable to enter the room at all! From what I could see and hear, it seemed that many of the FREE internet sites were geared toward K-8 students. We were promised that a link to a resource list would be posted on the Cleveland State Community College Summer Summit page. As of this blogging, it had not appeared. Here is the link to the presenters’ page. Word has it that the workshop may expand into two days next year. Mark your calendars for June 13-14, 2012!