4T VirtualCon:  Teachers Teaching Teachers about Technology - 4T Virtual Conference: Teachers Teaching Teachers about Technology via kwout

Here on the University of Michigan campus and in homes and schools around the country, we’re engaged in the 4T Virtual Con (the four T’s stand for Teachers Teaching Teachers About Technology). A project that grew out of the School of Education’s Master of Arts plus Certification program, the goal was to host a virtual conference for current students, professors, alumni, and educators both within and beyond campus walls. Sadly, interest far outweighed our capacity, so the conference doesn’t have room for any more registrations, but I’ll be sharing some archived Webinars with you.

We opened on Sunday with a keynote by UM professor Barry Fishman, who was on the committee that gathered input and created the National Educational Technology Plan (NETP).

His presentation gave a terrific overview of the theories, beliefs, and elements behind the NETP. There are many opportunities for librarians within the NETP, as its visionary scope goes far beyond “tools for tools’ sake.” Instead, it looks at how technology can better inform teachers, connect them with peers, and expand and extend our definitions and capabilities for learning.

You’re welcome to view the archived Webinar here (it is archived in Elluminate, so you will be asked to download a small, harmless Java script called “Play” in order to view it).

Enjoy - I think you’ll find many commonalities with L4L (the AASL Standards and Guidelines).

And GO BLUE!

Whew - MAME 37, the conference of the Michigan Association for Media in Education, has come to a close, and I need a nap!

By request, here are the presentation slides/handouts:

- ELEMENTARY ROUND-UP was a team of us presenting on different genres of books for elementary readers. Here’s my handout on graphic novels.

- REDEFINING THE SCHOOL LIBRARIAN IN THE 21ST CENTURY discusses different roles librarians can play in order to discover and further define their roles.

- CURRICULUM MAKEOVER: LIBRARY EDITION looked at three factors impacting school libraries: the inquiry focus of the Standards for the 21st-Century Learner, new building-specific initiatives and priorities, and the onset of the Common Core Standards, then asked participants to brainstorm a PD plan to take to their principal on Monday morning. If you didn’t get a copy of Cassandra Barnett’s table aligning the AASL Standards with the Framework of the Partnership of 21st Century Skills and the ISTE NETS, you can get it here (it’s part of AASL’s new Building-Level Toolkit!). The BPS alignment chart is available here. You can find the general statement on the Common Core Standards for ELA here.

I was also delighted at the contributions Elizabeth and Julie, two of our school library students at SI, made to Laura’s AASL Best Websites for Teaching and Learning preconference. Julie was back with her SI colleague Addie for Friday’s roundtables — they had big crowds!

A big thanks to MAME for awarding me the Margaret Grazier Award for Service to the Profession. I was deeply honored.

Are you going on June 21-22? I’ll be presenting on assessing multimedia products on Tuesday morning, June 22, at 9:15am.

Educational Technology Leadership Conference via kwout

The Monday afternoon keynote will be by Liz Kolb, author of the top-15 ISTE book Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education.

ISTE Books | Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education via kwout