VSTE Annual Conference 2019

Ozobots, Spheros, MineCraft Coding, Race Car Engineering, and a Maker Space with 3D Printing, Vinyl Cutting, and Laser Cutting - all in one day, yes it is possible! Come see how our district got on track with the new Profile of a Virginia Graduate and created the first ever "Technology Field Day" where High School CTE students, ran Technology-based stations for our districts 5th grade students in an effort to create excitement over CTE educational opportunities!

By 2026, there is expected to be more than half a million jobs available in technology, making computing the most sought-after in the US job market. However, only 19% of students who receive degrees in computing are women. Girls Who Code is working to close this gender gap by offering FREE coding curriculum to schools and nonprofits. Our mission is to inspire, equip, and educate girls with the CS skills they need for 21st century jobs. We do this by working closely with school district partners to drive our work and expand our reach. Loudoun County Public Schools has successfully implemented Girls Who Code curriculum across their school district the last three years, reaching over 20 schools and over a hundred students. During this workshop, participants will hear strategies and best practices from Girls Who Code and Loudoun County Public Schools. Not only will they leave with a thorough understanding of Girls Who Code’s free curriculum offerings, but they will also be provided with a Community Partnership Model to bring back to their school district for county-wide implementation.

Additional member of presentation team: Michelle Laycock

Participants will engage in this fantastic experience of implementing robotics into literacy. They will have a hands-on opportunity to code/program robots and create and use stories that come to life. The story jumps off the page!

ScratchEd Meetups are peer-designed professional learning experiences inspired by the unconference model. This means that you decide what your learning looks like! At our Meetup, you will have the opportunity to share, create, and learn with other educators who are also passionate about teaching with Scratch in the classroom. This meetup will focus on sharing and learning from others with time to experiment, create, play, and tinker! For the core of the meetup, you might start a new Scratch project, explore ideas related to your creative computing teaching practice, embark on a Scratch challenge, and more. Anyone who is interested in connecting with fellow educators and learning more about using Scratch in educational settings is welcome to participate!

Additional Presenters: Joe Beasley and Karen Hues

ScratchEd Meetups are peer-designed professional learning experiences inspired by the unconference model. This means that you decide what your learning looks like! At our Meetup, you will have the opportunity to share, create, and learn with other educators who are also passionate about teaching with Scratch in the classroom. This meetup will focus on sharing and learning from others with time to experiment, create, play, and tinker! For the core of the meetup, you might start a new Scratch project, explore ideas related to your creative computing teaching practice, embark on a Scratch challenge, and more. Anyone who is interested in connecting with fellow educators and learning more about using Scratch in educational settings is welcome to participate!

Other Presenters: Joe Beasley and Karen Hues

SpeedQuizzing has changed the way people approach trivia events and more notably it has enabled the traditional pub quiz to evolve into something new.

By drastically reducing the amount of time given to answer each question, SpeedQuizzing addresses the problem of cheating which has become a serious issue at traditional, slower paced quiz/trivia events.
Paper and pens are replaced by tablets/smartphones, therefore, gone are the days of swapping papers to mark answers, as scores are updated real-time by the software.

Still requiring a compere, SpeedQuizzing takes what people love about traditional pen and paper quizzes, but adds a new level of energy and social interaction between players.

Get your VSTE team ready and your tablet ready to compete on Sunday night!

Fitzgerald Elementary, a Title 1 school with over 800 students, was the first school in Prince William County to fully integrate drones into 100% of classrooms. Integrating drones in the daily curriculum is a common practice at Fitzgerald, and has transformed instruction, student engagement, and school culture! Drawing inspiration from computer science standards, digital equity, and innovative practices, Principal, Kim Gudinas, and Instructional Technology Coach, Michelle Dunphy, will walk through examples of how land and flying drones are providing equity in education. Students are being provided with hope and promise as they learn 21st Century skills that prepare them for a future in technology that is not yet defined. Fitzgerald’s drone initiative has propelled the school community forward. Come aboard and learn how drones can put your school on the fast track to success with technology!

As female technology integration specialists, we've noticed a lack of women in the field of educational technology, and in the field of technology, overall. In response, we've started
incorporating activities that cater to female students, including a coding club for young ladies in our building. We also take them on field trips where they are exposed to people and activities in technological fields. Outside of the club, through the activities we provide for young ladies such as coding, drones, spheros, fashion programs, augmented reality, and video games, we've noticed that the word is spreading and young ladies are becoming more interested. Some of them have gone on to high school and chosen to take more challenging math and science classes. They have already decided to major in fields such as computer science, engineering, and information technology. As young ladies, no one guided us into technological fields, so we hope to continue to inspire young ladies to do so.


Presentation: bit.ly/tgrock1

Google Expeditions is an immersive educational app that enables teachers and students to explore the world through over 1,000 different virtual and augmented reality tours. You can swim with sharks, visit outer space, explore an ancient civilization, and even look at artwork and artifacts, all without leaving the classroom. This session will teach you how to utilize Google Cardboard and Google Expeditions in your classroom and will walk you through all of the steps necessary to get on track with implementing this tool successfully so you can go full steam ahead with AR and VR.

The K-8 Computer Science Cohort is on a mission to integrate computer science into the curriculum. This group came together at the CS Institute this summer and includes teachers and technology coordinators from public and private schools around the state. The group is being facilitated by Jennie Chiu of UVA Curry School of Education and Kim Wilkens of Tech-Girls. We’ve been sharing ideas, having playdates to try out different learning platforms and experimenting in our classrooms. We’re excited to host a playdate at VSTE to share what we’ve learned and let you get hands-on with some amazing tools to teach computer science. Come join the fun and see first-hand the impact that integrating computer science can have on you and your students!

Alll A-BOARD!!! Get ready to ride on the CS Express! Set your students on the right track by honing fundamental computer science skills through play, but not just any play. Board game play will introduce, build, and strengthen the necessary skills for life long learninglike critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, logic, strategy, and resiliency.

Using Green Screen to enhance engagement and creativity across all subject areas is just the ticket! This whistle stop tour of all the amazing features of DoInk will blow your stack, as you learn how to app-smash, incorporate all the bells and whistles, and bring learning to life for your students! Make learning visible for your students, by giving them a meaningful way to discuss, share, and reflect on their own learning using their creativity, critical thinking skills,and digital skills! If you have an iPad, please bring it!

Resource: http://bit.ly/engine-ous 

Session Materials Available Here!

Learning stations allow teachers to utilize technology to carefully structure a learning experience that encourages students to become Empowered Learners, Knowledge Constructors, and Creative Communicators.In this session, participants will be actively involved in a learning station activity, exploring the structure of stations through the lens of the 5 C’s.Participants will leave with ideas of how to include tech tools such as Flipgrid, Anchor, Edpuzzle, Screencastify, and the entire G-Suite to craft stations that encourage students to interact with content through a number of ways.Attendees will learn how to embrace a facilitator role, discover ideas of how to collaborate with other professionals to create meaningful and lasting learning experiences, and gain resources to support students’ needs along with integrating the 5 C’s.As a librarian and English teacher, the presenters have a unique perspective on the power of collaborative teaching, and they will share some of their favorite station activities as well as pitfalls they have experienced.While this session would focus on the presenters’ use of stations in the secondary classroom, there will be many takeaways for the elementary setting as well.

Join two middle school teachers as they provide effective strategies for incorporating coding activities throughout various disciplines. While some teachers may be nervous about “giving up time” to code, teachers will leave this session realizing that coding involves learning content and developing critical thinking skills. This will be a hands-on session as attendees will be able to practice coding with Spheros by using real activities designed for the classroom.

Resources: [https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1trOUD83ZXBvIJM9Qs-xa41j0lJQY2JFwp89kpg8kzis/edit?usp=sharing]

Let's take a trip aboard the K-4 Learning Train!On this journey, we will explore interesting ways to get even our youngest students engaging with learning technologies.This session will showcase tools, ideas, and strategies to maximize learning with technology.Stop 1 will be hands-on learning with Osmo and Marbotics tools.Stop 2 will be online apps for learning.We will conclude our journey at Stop 3 with virtual and augmented reality apps for kids.  Link to presentation resources: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1m3zZQsjrNQY-gd8uYAnVJGhAJ3cez54Gf5eWf_WD4Ow/edit?usp=drivesdk .