The 3rd Annual DEN SCIcon was held this past Saturday, January 28th. The DEN SCIcon provides participants with effective strategies for transforming science classes through effective integration of digital media content. The conference was broadcast live and online so many people joined in from home. There were also in-person events around the country, hosted by the local DEN Leadership Council (made up of educators). It was all FREE.

I attended at the live Connecticut event, which was hosted at the Mark Twain House and Museum in Hartford, CT. We also got to have a short tour of the house that Twain lived in while writing his seminal works. Very interesting house.

The day started with breakfast catered from Panera Bread and then the sessions started. SCICon is broadcast using WebEx and presenters share their links, videos, and presentations through that, as their voice is simulcast. There is also a chat window that the presenters use to interact with the audience around the world, answer questions, and much more. There were about 35 of us at the CT site participating, and Patti Duncan, the final speaker of the day, broadcast from our location.

These are my notes from the different sessions. There are also links to the actual presentations.

UPDATED 1/31/2012
The full video of each presentation can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DiscoveryEducation#g/c/4ACCE64D332A72FF


9 AM
Opening Session
Your Attention Please: 10 Ways to Engage Your Students in Science
Lance Rougeux
Download the presentation.

Engage: use these to hook students on a new topic

Demo, video, Show image - I see, I know, I wonder... Discussion - lead into new topic

E.ggtimer.com - online timer to keep on schedule

Writing prompts - use a picture to get them writing


Scientific Method is not a chapter, its a yearlong method for all science - Discovery Ed #scicon goo.gl/hF0V5

Too many "versions" of scientific method and too linear. It's a cycle that starts with ?. Discovery Ed #scicon goo.gl/hF0V5

Scientific method starts with question, has various routes and methods - Discovery Ed #scicon goo.gl/hF0V5


Scientific method, engineering process - both are way to answer questions and solve problems. Discovery Ed #scicon goo.gl/hF0V5

Students know how to investigate and solve problems informally - they go online and figure stuff out. Now use that in school. #scicon

Give students opportunities to practice scientific skills like question, observe, research, compare, analyze, experiment, conclude #scicon

Have students analyze commercials on TV to see fact vs fiction. Good observation practice. #scicon

Do labs, investigations, virtual labs and simulations at start of unit instead of end to get them inquiring and actively learning #scicon

Start unit with a problem and then students get info from unit work and resources during unit to solve problem. #scicon

Failure is ok! It's part of discovery, learning, investigating, problem solving, science and engineering #scicon

Tell students what they are supposed to be learning and then ask if they think they learned it. Everyday. Then have them do it. #scicon

Make sure they really understand before they get to a test. #scicon

Less step-by-step labs, more open ended. Have students then apply conclusions/results to solve original problem. #scicon

I'm currently attending Discovery Education SCICon and was thinking about the secondary benefits of educational conferences. The primary benefit is what you learn from the presenters and other participants. The secondary benefit is how the primary things cause me to come up with extensions of what was being discussed.

The discussions, topics, and resources stimulate my brain into coming up with other ideas beyond what was discussed that I can use in my classroom with my students that I would have never thought of otherwise.

My brain is actually being productive on a Saturday!

The Virtual 4T (Teachers Teaching Teachers about Technology) Conference is a free, virtual conference open to all educators around the world. It provides an opportunity for educators to connect, network and learn from each other. Most sessions are targeted to K-12 education, but could be applied to higher ed.

Preconference workshops begin Saturday May 19th and the opening Keynote is Sunday May 20th at 7pm. The conference continues through to 8pm on Wednesday May 22nd with all sessions running live and then being archived.

They are currently invited educators and others to submit conference session proposals.

Registration is required to attend even though it is free.

This is another great, free opportunity for educators to share what they know and learn from others.

This is the second year it is being run.

The conference hashtag on Twitter is #4tvirtualcon12

I was originally scheduled to present at the CECA conference today in Hartford, CT, but was unable to get release time from my school.

The first session I was going to do was "Innovative Free Technologies for Teachers." I was going to share tech like Evernote, Google's many apps, and more and show teachers how they can use them to engage their students, enrich their lessons, and even get organized and improve communication. Many of the items I was going to talk about were from the following lists:

Android Smartphone Apps I use as an educator

25 Free Resources from Discovery Education

Google Apps for Educators

Technology my Students Use in Class

and

Technology I Use on a Daily Basis

I was going to introduce about 10 different resources and include discussion time for the participants to share the ones they use and how they use them in school. I did a similar one at CECA last year and it was a great session with great audience participation.

The other session is still going on because I was co-presenting with Tracey Mercier on Twitter in Education. I sent her some of what I was going to do with her in the presentation and I'm hoping the session goes well for her.

Here are some of the things I was going to share:

Twitter for Education - a great resource for educators

Educational Twitter HashTags

TweetDeck - great way to use Twitter



Hopefully, I'll be able to attend and present at next year's CECA conference.

FETC's Fall Virtual Conference is Thursday, October 27th, from 10:30am - 6pm.


This is a great way to get some excellent professional development and connect with other educators without traveling.


There is a keynote speaker, multiple sessions, and even an exhibit hall, all accessed online for free.

EduCon is a unique educational conference that focuses on conversations and innovations for improving education. It is held in Philadelphia, January 27th-29th and you can also participate virtually.

EduCon follows some very interesting guiding principals:

Guiding Principles of EduCon

• Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members 
• Our schools must be about co-creating - together with our students - the 21st Century Citizen 
• Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around 
• Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate 
• Learning can - and must - be networked 

EduCon does not feature "presentations" but rather "conversations", similar to EdCamp, except more planned out ahead of time.

TechForum NY, sponsored by Tech&Learning Magazine, is next Friday, October 21st at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, NY (670 White Plains Rd., Tarrytown, NY 10591). Registration and continental breakfast begin at 7 am with the opening keynote starting at 8:15.


Join us for a day of learning, sharing, collaboration and more. There will be a keynote address, breakout sessions, and round table sessions where everyone contributes in a discussion on the topic at hand. 


Some of the topics: technology in the classroom, meeting the needs of students, assessment, educational use of cell phones, Google for education, technology and special education, web 2.0 tools, social networking and much more. 


Breakfast and lunch are included in the registration fee. There are also two refreshment breaks in the morning (included) which gives you time to network with other educators and check out the vendor displays. At the end of the day, there is a reception (included) hosted by the vendors with food and drink and time to network some more. 


There is still time to register and attend: http://www.techlearning.com/events/techforum/newyork11/register


Hopefully we'll see some of you there. 








Tech&Learning Magazine is a great resource for educators (both print and online) and is FREE for qualified educators. The website and magazine have lots of great resources, product reviews, ideas and much more. Check out the Blogs for great articles from educators around the world. 

SimpleK12 is a great site that has a tremendous amount of resources for educators. They offer online professional development, curriculum resources, assessment ideas, free downloads and resource kits and resources through their blog, I Love EdTech.


SimpleK12 is also know for their bunny slippers! They promote their online offerings as a way to learn while in your pajamas and the bunny slippers have become their symbol. I was chatting with some of the SimpleK12 staff at ISTE2011 and they were all wearing their bunny slippers.

Discovery Education is an excellent resource for all educators. They have over 30 free resources available, have a thriving educator community in the Discovery Educator Network (DEN), and have some of the best educational products. Every year, they also run virtual conferences.

This year's fall Virtual Conference is "Tech or Treat" and will have some great presentations from some very talented and knowledgeable educators. Discovery Educator Network also has some in-person events where people can go and participate in the online conference with a group of educators. In some cases, the in-person event also includes other presentations and activities in addition to having access to the virtual conference.

From the Discovery Educator Network Blog:

Get your crazy costumes ready, and mark your calendars! The fall virtual conference Tech or Treat has been scheduled for Saturday, October 22, 2011 from 9am to 3pm ET. Join us for an hour or stay all day.
We have a spooktackular day of professional development (and PRIZES!)  planned for you. Join us online, or join one of the local events our Leadership Council members are planning.
In-Person Events (MORE coming soon!)
Meridian, CT (Register here)
Palatka, FL (Register here)
Atlanta, GA (Register here)
Mandeville, LA (Register here)
Branson, MO (Register here)
Port Chester, NY (Register here)
Poundmaker Cree Nation, SK Canada (Register here)
Knoxville, TN (Register here)
Pasadena, TX (Register here)
McKinney, TX (Register here)
Muskego, WI (Register here)
Schedule (all times are eastern)9:00 am The Monster Mash-Up with Traci Blazosky, DEN Guru
10:00 am No Tricks, Just Treats with Nancy Sharoff, DEN Guru
11:00 am Digital Storytelling: Get it Write! with Joe Brennan
12:00 pm The Collective Brain with the DEN Team
1:00 pm Spotlight Session with Wes Fryer
2:00 pm Treat Yourself to A Story with Dean Mantz, DEN Guru

Register here to attend online. Keep an eye on the blogs for more information about the in-person events and the session descriptions.

 Free educational conference in CT in October

I am writing to invite you to the Discovery Educator Network Pre-CECA Conference Day of Discovery.  This event will be held on Saturday, October 22 from 8:00 am - 3:30 pm at the Lincoln Middle School in Meriden, CT.  This is going to be an interactive day of free professional development which will highlight creative ways to engage students and invigorate your curriculum using the latest 21st century tools.

Dr. Lodge McCammon, a specialist in curriculum and media at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University will be the featured presenter, along with many other talented educators. There will also be opportunity for you to participate in the Discovery Education Fall Virtual Conference that day.

You can also find information about the Day of Discovery on our blog at http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/category/connecticut/  
The full agenda is still being worked on, but there will be some great sessions by some great educators.

There is NO COST to you to attend this event.  Breakfast and lunch will be provided as well.  Please check out the invitation and register today.  You are encouraged to bring your own devices to the conference.  Wireless access will be available.

There will be some great prizes and give-away's also.

You can register at: http://cecadod.eventbright.com/


And don't forget to register for the CECA conference on Monday, October 24. The theme for this year's event is eNGAGE! Teaching and Learning in a Digital World. For information and to register please go to http://www.ceca-ct.org/page.php?pid=119 

I look forward to seeing you there.

Dave
CT Leadership Council Discovery Educator Network

Registration Now Open for Virtual Conference! FETC is a great virtual conference that is free and easy to access.  It will be held on October 27, 2011 and is all online. There are always  some great sessions and there is even a lounge to chat with other  educators and a vendor area to find out information about new  educational products. You can download presentations and materials  and even view product demos from the vendors.  I've attended in the past and always learned something new and exciting.

I attended my first ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference last week in Philadelphia. It was a great experience and I learned a lot. I will be sharing some of the resources and tools I learned about in future posts.

Here are some of my impressions and thoughts about the conference:

- It's huge. The convention center is 4 city blocks long with multiple buildings and 3 different floors. You will spend a lot of time walking and need to plan your sessions to make sure you can make it from one to the next.

- There were over 11,000 attendees and around 500 vendors and thousands of sessions. It's very overwhelming and there is way too much to do. You have to really plan your days well. It took 3 hours to go through less than half of the vendors.

- sessions can fill up very quickly so you need to have a backup plan. Some sessions are more popular than planned and were in small rooms, while some that were planned in huge rooms, drew a small crowd.

- The schedule can be confusing at times. There are overlapping time blocks and a variety of types of presentations. Some sessions require pre-registration and others are a separate fee.

+ you can learn a lot because of all of the sessions. Vendors put on sessions with ideas and tips for using their products (which was great because my wife and I have some of the products but haven't had lots of training or time to use them yet). The sessions are by well-known presenters and some not-so-well known. Some of the not-so-well known are the best. If you don't like a session, leave and find a different one that meets your needs.

+ lots of help available - there are volunteers everywhere to help you with any question or issue you may have

+ free shuttle buses to hotels

+ Newbie Lounge and newbie websites - Beth Still created a great site with ideas and tips for newbies to ISTE. I hope she will continue to do this for future ISTE conferences. There were also other sites and blogs with articles about ISTE that had tips, ideas for sessions to attend, and much more. Thanks to all of those people for sharing with us newbies!

+ you get to meet lots of new people and make some great connections with them.

+ ISTE site has a planner to help you plan your visit.

+ Presenters post their presentations and/or notes online making it easy to follow along.

+ Some sessions are video cast, so all can see, even if you can't actually attend the conference.

+ attendees tweet and blog about ISTE so you can learn from sessions you aren't even attending.

+ Philadelphia is a great city! Nice people, lots to do, and some great food! The Reading Terminal Market is across the street from the convention center and has food vendors and restaurants, like a big food court. Tommy Dinic's italian roast pork sandwiches, The Flying Monkey bakery - yum! We also tried Geno's and Pat's Philly Cheesesteaks. They were both great. And, if you like really awesome burgers, check out the Village Whiskey. Absolutely incredible.


I met some great people, learned a lot, made some great connections with other educators and vendors, and had a great time. If you have the means, I highly suggest attending ISTE. ISTE12 will be in San Deigo, ISTE13 in San Antonio, ISTE14 in Atlanta and then it will return to Philly in 2015.

Edcamp is a great series of free, unconferences for educators. Edcamp comes to CT this coming August 18th. It is a great method of professional development, being run by teachers, for teachers. The Edcamp model is unique in that attendees set the agenda the morning of the conference and the sessions are not led by one person, but are rather a collaboration of both the facilitator and attendees. 


This is a great opportunity to connect, share, teach, learn, and expand their personal learning network. It is schedule right before school starts, so it is a great way to get back into the "swing of things" and get some great ideas and resources for the coming school year. 


Here is a great article by Mary Beth Hertz on Edcamp and the unconference idea. 




Some more great conferences coming up:

Discovery Education Spring Virtual Conference Agenda/Session Descriptions

Upcoming Conferences for Educators - lots of great events - UPDATED with more

Agenda and Session Descriptions listed for 
Discovery Education Spring VirtCon 2011




(free, online conference)




(reposted from Discovery Education blog)

Spring VirtCon 2011

ntcamp is a series of free educational unconferences for new teachers and experienced teachers. The unconference model promotes engaging, interactive professional development for educators. It is for anyone in the education field, not just new teachers.  If focuses on best practices and methods in the classroom, tools and resources, and more.

Upcoming ntcamps:

July 30th, Philadelphia, 8am-4pm


Check it out if you are available.

Here are some great upcoming conferences for educators. 

Day of Discovery, sponsored by Discovery Education, held around the US (free, and not just about DE Resources) Next one is March 26th in Brockton, MA. http://blog.discoveryeducation.com/blog/category/den-events/

















Discovery Education Spring Virtual Conference     April 30, 2011      9 AM to 3 PM ET
(free, online). Many states host live events to participate in online conference as a group too.










TechForum, sponsored by Tech&Learning Magazine, held around the US (not free, but really great conference) Next one is Boston on April 8th. Chicago is May 6th. New York is next October 21st and Austin, TX is November 4th. Just announced is TechForum Atlanta, March 2, 2012. (updated)
 http://www.techlearning.com/events/techforum/index








Virtual TechForum (Tech&Learning Magazine) - free online conference. May 19th and November 4, 2011.
 http://www.techlearning.com/events/techforum/index










Virtual FETC (free and online) Florida Educational Technology Conference
Next one is April 28th - http://fetc.org/Events/Virtual-Conference/Home.aspx










ISTE 2011 - Philadelphia, June 26-29, 2011. Not free, but an excellent conference. 
International Society for Technology in Education. http://www.isteconference.org/2011/










Campus Technology Virtual Conference - FREE Conference & Expo