As we head into December, thoughts of holidays lead to thoughts of the new year. With a few weeks left in 2014, it is time to reflect on this year and all that we have to be thankful for.
Many members of the ECIS ICT community attended last month’s ECIS Annual November conference. There were a number of engaging sessions. For those who were unable to attend, and also for those who had to choose between two or more sessions happening at the same time, several presenters have been generous enough to share their presentations, which I have listed here. (If you presented a session that is not listed here and would like to share it, please send it to me and I will add it.)
Transform Your School with the Power of Data (Warren Apel)
Putting Cool Technology in the Hands and Minds of Students (Paul Magnuson and Dan Reedy)
Harnessing the Power of Student Voices: Peer Revision in Google Drive (Katrina Middelburg)
The Best of Both: A Guided Discussion about Information Technology Curriculum and Integration (Aaron Tyo-Dickerson)
UNIS CoLaboratory: A MakerSpace for K-4th Grade Students (Francesca Zammarano)
ES Students as Conference Presenters (Ralitsa Tareva and Krasimira Pavlova)
Transforming Learning with the SAMR Integration Framework (Paula Marra and Alan Preis)
Implementing Google Apps at Your School (Sarah Woods and Alan Preis)
Roundtable Discussion: Technology in the IB Continuum (Alan Preis and Colleagues)
Formative Assessment Using Technology (Frederic Nevers)
Using the Stop Motion Studio App to Enhance Learning in Science (Stephanie Castle)
Content Curation (Kimberly House)
Overview of WIDA Standards and Assessments for International Contexts (Jesse Markow and Christine Wilson)
Using Google Scripts for ESL Differentiation in the Math Classroom (Claudia Guerin and Ioanna Karariga)
Design Thinking and Making across the Curriculum (Mariam Mathew, Elizabeth Perry, Christine Wilson)
Please remember that your input is valuable to the entire ECIS ICT community. If you are interested in contributing an article, or have ideas, resources, links, or information about upcoming professional development opportunities that you would like to share, please send them to me at apreis@aischool.org a week before the first day of the month and I will be sure to highlight them in the next edition of the blog.
Alan Preis
@apreis
On behalf of the ECIS ICT Committee
ECIS ICT Subject Conference – March 2015
Registration is now online for the ECIS ICT Subject Conference at the Bavarian International School (BIS)! The main conference will take place on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday, March 22, 2015. An optional pre-conference will be held on Friday, March 20. Full information is available online at the following link: ECIS Technology Conference 2015: Bavarian International School.
ECIS ICT Committee News
ECIS iTunesU
ECIS is looking for a consultant to help promote and raise awareness of its iTunes U page! The role would include crafting a monthly or quarterly newsletter, leading sessions at the ECIS general conference, engaging schools and teachers to help gain new participants, and finding other innovative outlets to highlight the great work found in the ECIS iTunes Courses. For more information and/or to express interest, please contact ICT Committee member and iTunes administrator Seth Hubbert (sethh@frenchamericansf.org).
Professional Development
Design Thinking, Making, and Un-Making Across the Curriculum
American School of London is hosting a Design Thinking workshop on January 31st. Would you like a hands-on introduction to Design Thinking, a process for problem solving which draws on creative and critical thinking skills? Curious about the Maker Movement, and how its principles can be adopted in education? This one-day workshop will introduce you to ideas and practices you can adapt for your own classroom. Registration materials are available online here.
Swiss Schools Cloud Camp featuring Google for Education and Appsevents
The Cloud Camp will take place here at the Inter Community School Zurich campus on Saturday February 7, 2015 from 8:00 to 4:30 p.m. This one day events with three strands; Google Apps for Education for Beginners, Intermediate/Advanced, and Google Apps for Education Certified Admin course. For full program details, speakers, schedule and registration please refer to this link.
Mediterranean Center for Innovation in Education
The Mediterranean Center for Innovation in Education has open registrations for a variety of institutes and workshops in 2014 and the early part of 2015:
- The iPad Summit – We thank so many of you that attended, participated in and contributed to our recent iPad Summit in Marbella, Spain. Photos of the event are available online, as well as resources from some of the various sessions. Plans are already underfoot for the next MedCIE iPad Summit, to be held in Barcelona from October 23-24, 2015. We are in the process of forming a small advisory team to help lead the planning of this event, as well as some other smaller, iPad-related events that will happen in the region throughout the year. If you are interested in joining MedCIE’s iPad Steering Committee, please reach out to Chad Fairey at cfairey@medcie.org.
- Google Summits – Google Summits are being planned in a variety of locations across the Mediterranean Region. Early bird registration is now open for 250 euros at both the Tunis Summit (February 13-14, 2015) and the Genoa Summit (April 25-26, 2015) — we are also accepting presentation proposals for both events, so submit your ideas today!
- Google Educator Certification Workshops – Join us for one of our Google Educator Certification Workshops to master the skills, concepts and process of becoming a certified Google Educator and, if desired, a fully-fledged Google Education Trainer. Workshops are currently scheduled in Seville, Spain, December 1-3; Casablanca, Morocco, January 23-25; Barcelona, Spain, February 23-25. For additional information about these workshops, visit http://www.medcie.org/google.
- Spring Professional Learning Institutes — Early-Bird Registration for our Spring Institutes, to be held in Dubrovnik, Croatia from March 10-11, 2015, are now open. Six different two-day institutes will be offered on topics related to blended learning, social media, global citizenship, creativity, inclusivity, multi-lingualism and promotion of teacher collaboration. Additional information available at http://www.medcie.org/dubrovnik.
2015 FNO Paris Mini Conference: Making Laptop Writing and Thinking Powerful and Persuasive
How can schools make sure laptops actually contribute to student performance? Join Jamie McKenzie for two days of nitty-gritty, practical strategies to optimize your school’s return on investment in terms of student learning. More details are available online here: http://fno.org/paris2015.html
Flat Connections Updates
The November Newsletter is online – http://eepurl.com/8IgVT – sharing updates and teacher professional learning and development opportunities for 2015. Don’t forget to spread the word about the Flat Connections Live! event in Canada, late April 2015. Facilitators include Andrew Churches, Darren Kuropatwa and Rushton Hurley.
Learn more about ‘flat learning’ via the Flat Connections blog – http://www.flatconnections.com/flat-blog. Contact Julie Lindsay for customised approached to global learning. julie@flatconnections.com
Innovate 2015
Graded School (São Paulo, Brazil) is hosting the Innovate 2015 Conference on March 4-7, 2015. The Innovate 2015 conference marks Graded School’s commitment to re-imagine the school that best serves and inspires students for tomorrow. Join innovators from across the globe to engage in dialogue designed to ignite new ideas and build the foundation for change our students deserve. For more information, visit the Innovate 2015 website at https://www.graded.br/page.cfm?p=7085.