I had originally presented this information at WETech  Symposium back in March. Using this blog post, I gathered stories from educators from around NJ regarding how they were using technology in their schools.

The following are the resources and websites that I referred to in the presentation:

• The 2011 Horizon Report – K12 Edition
• Evernote for Schools
• Scratch
• Book Creator for iPad
• Voicethread for iPad
• Glogster and Glogster.edu
• Jing
• Classroom 2.0 Live
• Global Education Conference
• Google On Air

Speaking of professional development. Did you read the article about the possible discontinuation of the 100 hours in NJ? I’m concerned about how the new standards for professional development are going to be determined in NJ. Though I strongly believe that teacher assessment should be driven by evaluations and student achievement gains, I also believe that there has to be a standardized directive from the administration on how much and what type of PD teachers should participate in.

What are your thoughts and concerns on requiring professional development hours for educators? How should the hours be counted? Who should determine what type of sessions are attended?

I am one of three keynotes that will be presented that day. Eric Scheninger and Patrick Higgins will also be presenting, so I encourage you to attend and also check out the many sessions from fantastic teachers and admins across NJ.

I would love to share your story during my keynote, “Possibly the 648th Time You’ll Hear About 21st Century Learning”. Please consider filling out the form below, contacting me directly or passing the link to this page on to someone you feel has a story to share. It’s these stories that encourage other educators in NJ and elsewhere to shift their teaching strategies to help prepare our students for what is to come.

Maximizing the Possibilities of a Connected World

NJECC 26th Annual NJ Educational Computing Cooperative Conference
Co-sponsored with NJ Dept. of Education and Montclair State University
MARCH 13, 2012
Keynote Speaker: JON LANDIS
Post-Conference Workshops:
March 14 & 15, 2012

Conference Booklet - http://www.njecc.org/site/files/2012registrationbrochure.pdf

From My Classroom to Yours

Digital Content in the Classroom
Create, Integrate, Assess!

Annual From My Classroom to Yours Conference
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
8:30 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. 
on the campus of The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
Pomona, New Jersey

A teacher-to-teacher conference that offers teachers, technology coordinators, and educational administrators the opportunity to share “best practices” for teaching and learning.

First Educational Technology Symposium at West Essex March 17, 2012!

This special free event has been designed to educate K-12 teachers, administrators, media specialists, school boards and interested community members on the innovative use of technology in education.
For information, contact Raquel Williams at rwilliam@westex.org. To register, visit www.westex.org/wetech. To read the press release, click here.

The first ever NY/NJ Google Apps Summit!
This event will be held at the Kean University STEM building on March 22 and 23, 2012.

Register now as it is filling quickly. Come hear from Googlers, Google Certified Teachers and Google Apps Certified Trainers on how to deploy, implement and sustain Google Apps in your school. Take a look at the conference grid at https://sites.google.com/site/nynjgs12/conference-sessions and register here.

I spent much of the conference thinking about students as leaders. I included Chris Lehman and Sylvia Martinez in one of my presentations because of how they empower the students they work with.

I listened to stories form the changes Shannon Miller has made in Van Meter, Iowa. I sat and heard Jason Markey and some other folks from East Leyden High School in Illinois speak about empowering students as leaders. I engaged in some great conversations on Twitter:

Heidi Hayes Jacobs spoke about how we are limited by what we know. Many of us tend to do things that we are used to and comfortable with. But she also said that we have to feel uncomfortable in order to grow. I think one of the great ways to get in that un-comfort zone is to put the learning in the hands of the students.

Heidi talked about the following with regards to what makes a good Web 2.0 site:

• encourage engagement and curiosity
• deepens examination of content
• engenders independence
• reflects quality in student products/performance

But I am thinking that we can apply these same requirements to how we put our students in leadership roles.

So, think about how you can push yourself to try something new. Perhaps that new thing can be a change in the role of the students in your classroom. Please let me know what you think.

I have never owned a Mac. I used them in college. I’ve used them in Mac districts that I work with. Bu I’ve never had one as my primary computer. Until now.

When they asked me at my new job at Kean what type of laptop I wanted, I jumped on the chance to try something new. It was time to get a Mac. I have had an iPad since they were released in early 2010. I’ve had an iPod Classic and an iPodTouch for many years. I even got the iPod Nano and watch band for the holidays this year. But, I wanted a chance to learn about the operating system and some of the software packages only available for Macs. (Perhaps I wanted some of my friends that have Macs to stop picking on me as well.)

So, my Macbook Air was delivered to me at work just about a month ago. The first thing I did was install the Chrome browser so that I would have access to all my personalized apps and extensions that I had used on my Chromebook and PCs. But since then, these are the apps that I’ve asked the office to install for me.

• Keynote
• Pages
• Adobe Photoshop Elements

I’m happy I made the change as I look forward to seeing what some of these pieces of software can do, but honestly, I really only use the Chrome Browser. The rest is just gravy. (Yummy gravy.)

Registration has opened for the first ever NY / NJ Google Apps Summit. Kean and the School for Global Education and Innovation are proud to sponsor this event at the University’s STEM Building on March 22 and 23, 2012.

The event has three conference strands:

1. Google Apps for Education Overview
2. Technical Deployment
3. Using Google Apps for Education in the Classroom

We also have planned to accomodate differing tech abilities by noting which sessions are designed for:

1. Basics
2. Tips and Tricks
3. Getting Geeky

Sessions will be presented by:

1. Google Apps Certified Trainers
2. Google Certified Teachers
3. Area administrators and classroom practitioners
4. The Google Apps for Education Team

Please consider joining us for both days (3/22 8:00-4:00 and 3/23 8:00-12:00) for a cost of $200. (https://sites.google.com/site/nynjgs12/registration)

Please contact me directly at lisa dot thumann at gmail dot com if you have any additional questions, but more information on the Summit can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/nynjgs12/home.

Twitter hashtag #NYNJGS12

Registration will open on January 3, 2012 for the first ever NY / NJ Google Apps Summit. Kean and the School for Global Education and Innovation are proud to sponsor this event at the University’s STEM Building on March 22 and 23, 2012.

The event has three conference strands:

1. Google Apps for Education Overview
2. Technical Deployment
3. Using Google Apps for Education in the Classroom

We also have planned to accomodate differing tech abilities by noting which sessions are designed for:

1. Basics
2. Tips and Tricks
3. Getting Geeky

Sessions will be presented by:

1. Google Apps Certified Trainers
2. Google Certified Teachers
3. Area administrators and classroom practitioners
4. The Google Apps for Education Team

Please consider joining us for both days (3/22 8:00-4:00 and 3/23 8:00-12:00) for a cost of $200. Registration opens on January 3, 2012. You’ll find registration information listed here, on the Google Apps Education site or you can contact me directly at lisa dot thumann at gmail dot com and I will gladly send you the link.

Twitter hashtag #NYNJGS12

Best Class Blog (top 5 winners)

1. Mrs. Yollis’ 3rd Grade Class Blog http://yollisclassblog.blogspot.com
2. St. Wolstan’s Transition Year Blog http://stwolstansty.blogspot.com/
3. Mr. Buxton’s 5th Grade Class SAS http://mrbuxton.blogspot.com/
4. Mr. Salsich’s Class http://jmsalsich.edublogs.org/
5. 2KM And 2KJ @ Leopold Primary School http://2kmand2kj.global2.vic.edu.au/

Best Student Blog (top 5 winners)

1. Jaden’s Blog http://jadensawesomeblog.blogspot.com/
2. Miriam’s Blog http://victoria-miriamsmoments.blogspot.com/
3. Jake’s Blog http://mjgds.org/students/jakeg/
4. Jarrod’s Blog http://jarrodsblog.global2.vic.edu.au/
5. Gemma’s Blog http://gemmaccs11.edublogs.org

Best Teacher Blog (top 5 winners)

1. Brunswick Acres Art Blog http://baart.weebly.com/
2. allatc http://allatc.wordpress.com/
3. Teacher Tom http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.com/
4. Ms Mac’s Website http://kmcfadzen.wordpress.com/
5. In search of Scientific Creativity http://problemfinding.labanca.net/

Fantastic! All of them! And congratulations to all the nominees.

Today I listened to Dr. Punya Mishra keynote at  TechForum NY. Dr. Mishra’s presentation reminded me how important it is to publish and share. He spoke of how it’s not the technology, or the device, it’s the teaching methodologies that help students meet their objectives. Though I already knew this, it was refreshing today to hear it and see the nodding heads in the room.

What do I want to do?

My plan is to continue working with educators, administrators and students on 21st Century skills. What do I mean by that? Dr. Mishra said it well, when he said we need to prepare students for the technology of five years from now. We should not be spending precious instructional time on tools as technology should not be taught in isolation. We should combine pedagogy, content and technology in authentic ways.

This is the challenge I face as I join Mike Searson and Janis Jensen at the  School for Global Education and Innovation at Kean University on November 7, 2011. I’m looking forward to this very much. I will miss my colleagues at Rutgers as change is hard. On November 7, I will start my day with the phrase “BRING IT ON!” as change is good.