WOW! I made sure I was here early to stop at registration, check out the snacks in the Speaker’s Room (always a great perk of presenting,) make sure all was well in my Preso room (was warm – tech guys took care of temp,) grab some more snacks, and then get a good seat for Opening Keynote – Superintendent Flanagan.
Feeling inspired I went to my Presentation and talked Wikis and Web 2.0. (You can’t talk wikis without talking Web 2.0) Showed a few of my new favorite sites – www.thatquiz.org, www.glogster.com/edu, and www.twitter.com. (I owe most of Web 2.0 knowledge and connections to Twitter – Twitter is my PLN!)
My presentation has been inserted below this blog post.
My students were waiting for me when I was finished and we quickly set up our Student Technology Showcase displays. They were amazing and talked about their Claymation Projects and Class Movie Making for almost 2 hours.
Next I made my way over to the Pantlind Ballroom to watch Hall Davidson (Anyone want to fund moving sidewalks on the skyway?) Hall is always amazing. Great Mash-Up Ideas. Insert Discovering Streaming video (or clip) into Voice Thread, have students watch and comment. Insert pictures in Google Earth file. He is using different Screen Capture Programs including Cam Studio (Open Source – free) and Jing (Also free.) Gotta Pay attention now – Hall is showing something amazing again…

Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Check out the Backchannel…includes her other sessions as well.

Vicki Davis is very active online and many people here in Michigan know her very well as @coolcatteacher.  This is the first time, however, that she’s come up north to present at the MACUL conference.  We’re going to be packed in here today…not many places left.  To keep everyone occupied, Vicki has a poll going online with Poll Everywhere: What are your favorite free technology tools?

Still packing them in! 2 minutes until go time…I can’t remember being in a session that was so packed.

Today’s topic: technology driven differentiated instruction.  We’re trying to teach kids with learning differences…there are things we can do to reach every child and technology is a way to do that.

When she first got started with tech, she asked someone what a “bliki” was, she didn’t know what a blog or a wiki was.  Now she takes her small steps by planning on doing only three things.  Vicki has tried not to be Trendy…but instead wants us to “embrace tech that builds on principles that you already know are effective.”

Teachers should keep in mind that the only person that is under our control is ourselves.  Things happen and we have to keep moving forward…stop complaining and make the most of what we have.

Everything…learning included…is about what the technology lets you do!  Successful tech integration is people-centric.  Consider this: invest in people who can and will teach others to simulate vicarious learning.  Who’s going to get excited?  That’s who needs to be empowered.

Dual encoding…delivery a message using more than one sense.  No one argues with that.

Don’t run a social network…run an educational network. If they help build it, they are already there.  We want to participate and so do the students.  Let them be involved in the process.  All Vicki’s students have a Google account…it’s listed as a school supply…and they use those tools embedded in a wiki.  It’s a wiki-centric classroom. Students must develop their own PLN (Personal Learning Network).

Kids are tired of wastebasket work…an authentic audience is extremely important.

Here’s an interesting idea…students who are taught digital citizenship are much safer than kids who are not. Online behavior has offline consequences. Make sure that everyone knows this and is prepared to act consequences.

Time for the audience to vote…we’re going to go look at how wikis can be used for differentiated learning.

Whew!  I’m having such a difficult time keeping up…she is flying!  All of Vicki’s information is available on her wiki, http://coolcatteacher.wikispaces.com/.

Much of the bottom line is to allow students to use tech that engages their strengths.  There’s a lot of variety of both students and tech, so there much be a solution.

Whew! (again)  I’m not sure the presentation was accurately represented by the title, but the session definately was good and the packed house stayed packed!

This year’s MACUL closing keynote by Hall Davidson will be the most participatory keynote in the nation!  This presentation is a model for 21st century classrooms where the “leader” is truly a guide on the side and the learners in the room will create innovative and original content. 

This will be interactive, informative and fun.  There are four ways to participate.  Submit your own content, ask for help to teach a tough concept, or suggest a challenge that can be solved by the audience with any tech tools available (cell phones, computers, ipods, other gadgets).  Read about the four ways to participate here.  Please send in your media and/or ideas today.  This keynote is worth sticking around for… see you there!