2014 VSTE Annual Conference

Come to this Maker exploratorium to learn what 3D modeling and 3D printing can mean for you and your classroom. See how design thinking, the engineering design process, and 3D printing come into play in the classroom. In this hands-on workshop, we will experience these important concepts come together as we ideate, design, prototype, and test our designs in the workshop. We’ll 3D model our designs so please make sure to bring your computer and your creative mind! This workshop will target teachers, technology coordinators, and anyone interested in 3D printing or STEAM activities. The topics we will cover in the workshop will span not only across middle and secondary levels, but also different subjects. We’ll introduce ideas and lesson plans for technology courses as well as how to integrate it into classrooms to augment the learning experience for students. See how 3D printing an artifact like an ancient, primitive Arrowhead or a microscopic organism like a virus can help augment the student learning experience. For the hands on portion, members will also engage in the hands on activity of becoming design thinkers. Participants will learn about design thinking and then will be able to engage in the process and see how this can transfer to their classrooms. Participants will be given ample time to be able to ideate, create, test, and re-design their prototypes. Afterwards, there will be time to learn how to 3D model their ideas with Tinkercad (free) to see how it works. Research on this workshop spans topics like ‘learning by doing’ such as project-based learning (Dewey, 1897; Blumenfeld, 1991), to research on the importance of fostering creativity in students for their futures (Esquivel, 1995; Kao, 1997; McWilliams & Haukka, 2008). Real life projects experienced by alumni in undergraduate and graduate programs will be discussed and how encouraging these skills and types of courses at the middle and secondary level help to cultivate a more well versed and creative student body at their current and future academic institutions.

Electironics, programming and art combine for the premiere performance of Perceptive Transition created in collaboration with artist Isaac Budmen. Participants will play the interactive Art Synthesizer, creating unique variations of the work in this intersection of art/technology and digital/physical.  Advice on how students can use MakeyMakey and Scratch to create their own interactive artwork will be shared.

Ever had to wait for a package from Amazon? We all have! Drones may be your “delivery boy” in the near future! Get a new perspective on shadows, cloud formations, school events, and the change of seasons at your school! Come meet a drone face to face and learn how to take your classroom to new heights!

#teachtheweb is all about teaching the art of web making to any generation of learners and empowering them to move from using the web to making the web. Mozilla has provided powerful tools to unleash our collective tech creation potential including X-Ray Goggles, Thimble and Popcorn Maker. Come to the web Maker Party and you’ll be joining a global community of educators, techies and mentors helping spread web literacy around the world. - The Maker Party is a beginner-friendly, highly supportive experience where you can learn about the building blocks of the web by making your first web page or you can share your web literacy skills with others by creating remixable, open resources. - Get familiar with Mozilla’s web literacy map and the many open education resources created and curated by community members around the world to support teaching and learning digital skills. - Become part of a movement empowering underrepresented groups in tech and society to share their ideas with the global community and take action together.

Want to get started with "making" in the classroom? This session will explore learning by doing with a wide range of new materials and technologies that support STEM, STEAM, and other subjects. We will discuss tinkering, design thinking, genius hour, PBL and other classroom frameworks that support hands-on, minds-on learning for all grade levels. Options and ideas for the best starter purchases, makerspace design, and where to find free and low cost supplies will be shared.

Join Tom Lauwers, inventor of the Hummingbird robotics kit, for a demo of the just released Hummingbird Duo and learn how this easy-to-get-started technology can be used for student projects in science, history, arts and more.  Stick around after the session and play with one yourself.

Learning to code is amazing and fun because you can get instant results. Coding combines creativity, science, art, logic and storytelling, which is important for our 21st century learners. If you would like to learn how to code and what programs and apps to use with elementary students then this is the session for you. Feel free to bring an iDevice or laptop. We'll even discuss how to start an after school coding club and how coding has been introduced in 3 elementary schools, from kindergarten to 5th grade!

Teresa Coffman - Teaching Through Google Glass
Unlock your educational potential through the use of Google Glass to create innovative pedagogical methodologies that foster creativity in teaching and learning. Build upon sociocultural learning theories to help you unlock this potential. This presentation will serve all audience members and applies to standard ISTE T 1 – using wearable technologies to foster creative and innovative thinking. The idea of creativity and teaching and learning through the use of mobile technologies, specifically wearable technologies, is stressed. The theme of this ignite session is on collaborating and connecting through technology. It will create an opportunity for participants to build on the conference theme to take an active role in engaging learners using technology as a tool.

Kim Wilkens - Hello World: Transforming Users into Creators, Collaborators & Activists!
Kim has been collecting "Hello, World!" moments from coders around the world? Find out why during her Ignite talk.

Barb Gruber - The Importance of Play

Eric De Boer - Harry Potter Comes To School
Remember the paintings that came to life in Harry Potter? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-bXjK_5C8g) That power exists within each teachers and each students. How? Through the magic of augmented reality. Holding a tablet or phone in front of a picture can now turn the image into something entirely different, allowing for movies, slideshows, music, or other information to "augment reality". Attenders will hear our school used augmented reality to transform our school yearbook, library, and student art show. For the first time, we were able to add pictures in April, May, and June...as well as include videos and performances from school events. Students can scan books in the library to watch other students give a book review so they can consider if the book would interest them. Our art show let parents watch the artists as they created and described their artwork. All of this was possible through the free app Aurasma, available on iOS and Android devices.

Anita Harris - All Hands on EdTech in the Classroom
Today’s classrooms are demanding of both teachers and students. To meet those demands, there must be “All Hands on EdTech for the Classroom”. No longer can just the teacher provide ALL the learning. Students have to take ownership of the learning more. Todo this, teachers have to let go of always being the one leading the learning and allow students to be leaders, facilitators,collaborators, creators and makers of the learning. How can this happen when teachers have so much to do and more time being taken away from instruction? This Ignite session will take a look at afew EdTech solutions that could help teachers provide more options for students and once set up, can be more student-driven. 

Whirlwind tour of 3D printing in the classroom from a member of the 2015 Make magazine 3D printer review team.  From hands on exploration of 3D printed fossils and sculptures to testing of models being printed on the International Space Station, 3D printing opens the world to your students.

Bring the most useful social network into your classroom with simple to use techniques that will have students riveted to research rather than restless with repetition. Even if you have never used Twitter, this session provides resources for teachers of all levels. Pull information that is targeted directly to your class. Offer options for younger students or any students that don't have twitter accounts. Prompt in-depth conversation for high school. Find out about many of the additional tools connected to Twitter that can make you an amazing Twitter hack.