Yesterday I attended the 24th Annual Teaching and Technology Conference. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from the conference, but it was a very informative and beneficial experience.
The first session I attended in the morning was Interactivity in the Classroom. Four students who are currently completing their internship who received COURTT grants demonstrated the different types of technology they are implementing into their lessons. Including: SMARTBoards, Movie Makers, Video recorders, PowerPoint, and several of applications developed by Apple (iMovie, Garage Band, iWeb, and Comic Life). I think all of the presenters had really good ideas that will be fun for their students and lead to many positive and engaging learning experiences. I especially liked the versatility of using voice recorders for projects across all subjects, and think that if districts are able to afford SMARTBoards that they will be an excellent resource for teachers committed to incorporating technology in their lessons.
The second session I attended in the morning was Technology Integration in Science and Math Classes. I chose this session because I have a strong interest in science and was interested to see how current interns are incorporating technology into their science and math lessons. All of the interns presenting are currently in elementary schools and using software and online sites to provide simulations and resources for their students. Going beyond the textbook in order to make their lessons more interesting and engaging for students. One intern also discussed her plan to use a wireless airport to bring the Internet into the classroom to be utilized for group projects, extra practice, and more in-depth exploration of a topic of interest. I enjoyed hearing all of their ideas. I also thought it was good that they paid close attention to the content standards and benchmarks for their given grade level when deciding their objective for the lesson, and then applying or adapting the technology to help them achieve that objective.
The third session I attended was a presentation about Online Professional Development and Michigan Learnport, an excellent on-line resource for teachers interested in completing professional development courses over the Internet. With my subscription there is also a wonderful search engine designed specifically to fit teachers needs because you are able to search for lesson plans based on subject and age. I really liked the presenter. She was very informative and was able to share a lot of personal experiences with the audience.
I also chose to attend an afternoon session entitled Digital Photography in the Classroom. I was interested in this particular session because I love documenting events in my life through pictures and since purchasing a digital camera about a year ago I'm still not real comfortable using it. The first part of the session was meant to help us understand the different functions and settings on our camera, as well as, when it is best to use the different settings. This was a lot of fun because we got to experiment with our cameras each of the techniques he was explaining. The second half of the workshop was outlining a variety of ways that photography can be used in the classroom. The wonderful part is that activities can be adapted to fit every grade level as well as every subject area. Pictures can convey so much more meaning than words alone, and we live in such a highly visual society that I believe it is important for students to have lots of exposure to photographs throughout their education.
I think it was a big advantage to be enrolled in CEP 416 at the same time I was attending the conference because I didn't feel overwhelmed with information, and I had heard of most of the technologies being presented so I could easily keep up with all of the presenters as they tried to pack a lot of information into a short amount of time.
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