Photo by Jenn Orr
Earlier this week, I was at the International Society for Technology in Education convention in Denver, Colorado. While there, I presented a session about the planning for technology in primary classrooms along with Amanda Marrinan and Maria Knee. While planning a presentation across continents is not without its challenges, I love presenting with these ladies. We all do similar things in our classrooms, and having a kindergarten teacher, a grade one teacher and a year two teacher all present together gives a well-rounded primary picture.
You can see a recorded video of the presentation on the ISTE site. After watching some other presenters struggle with bandwidth during videos they wanted to show, we decided to play our video right from the file on my computer. Although the sound was fine in the presentation hall, there is absolutely no sound on the recording. (A file that the techie guys put on my computer right before we presented was supposed to fix that, but…) Here is the video:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtX4hjop5_s]
Although the ISTE wizards have done a superb job of adding our slides into the video, you can also view them separately if you wish.
Celia says:
Thank you for sharing your wonderful project – it is a wonderful example of how we can connect beyond our classrooms.
Jana Scott Lindsay says:
These little people are inspiring (as well as their teachers, who make these opportunities possible!) This is exactly how we will be able to move mountains in regards to motivating colleagues to take risks and go outside their comfort zones. Please continue to foster and grow your student’s desires to connect and collaborate with technology…
Wish it wasn’t the beginning of summer holidays as I am wondering how best to take the next steps on the path you all have created.
@mollybmom
kathycassidy says:
You can be sure we will continue to do this. We have tasted the kool-aid, and there is no going back. I can’t imagine trying to teach without the enrichment of the connections between our three classes and other classrooms around the world. Good luck as you continue your own journey.
Faith Shabat says:
You guys inspired me at last year’s NECC conference in Washington. (I wasn’t able to attend this year!) I’ve collaborated with many classes and started several projects thanks to your inspiration. Keep up the great work. I’m ready to expand your horizons in Chicago. I teach K-4 computers. All the best,
Faith Shabat
Martha Yim says:
What a wonderful presentation. If any teacher was skeptical about using technology in the classroom, all they have to do is watch this video. To see such very young children talking about their experiences with skype, blogs, twitter, wiki’s and using laptops and video cameras, it is just wonderful. Technology has truly bridged the gap between the various continents to make learning a world wide opportunity.
kathycassidy says:
Thanks, Martha. It amazes me every day what my students can do with technology. They talk about the classes in New Hampshire and Brisbane the same way they do about the class in the room next door–perhaps more, as we see more of what is happening in their classrooms.
Courtney Bellais says:
Hi Kathy,
I am a student in Dr. Stange’s EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. It’s really inspiring to know that you are spreading the benefits of technology being used in the classroom and how children are reacting to it. It’s quite amazing to see these children are using the same tools to learn as we are in my EDM310 class, such as twitter, skype, and having a their own blog. It’s shocking that I am just now learning how to put these things to great use and in your presentation elementary children are using them daily in the classroom. I loved seeing in your video that the children are actually using laptops and recording themselves with a flip camera to make their own videos for learning. Hopefully soon enough all teachers will using some sort of technology to enhance learning in their classrooms! Thank you so much for sharing!