April 29, 2014

Cancelled: April 30 Face-to-Face Networking Session

Due to low enrollment we are canceling the April 30th ILT face-to-face networking session at Lester B. Pearson. As the session was centered around connecting with colleagues and learning with and from others, we want to ensure there are enough participants to make the time valuable and the experience rich. 

We still have 3 other networking sessions planned and there is still time to register:

May 8: Harold Panabaker School (4:30-6:00)

May 27: Tom Baines School (4:30-6:00)

During these sessions you will have time to:
  • connect with your colleagues and grow your existing network
  • explore your questions, wonderings, challenges, experiments and ideas around leveraging educational technology for learning
  • share resources, ideas, strategies, tips and sources of inspiration
  • learn with and from each other
  • explore your next steps: How can ILT support your work? What questions do you have for the networks? How can you stay connected to your network?
To register for one or more networking sessions, please click here.

We look forward to connecting and learning with you!

Tannis
on behalf of the ILT team

April 24, 2014

Keep the Conversation & Learning Going

Monday, April 22 was a system-wide non-instructional day at the Calgary Board of Education. Whether you were at the EdcampYYC un-conference or part of the multitude of professional development experiences taking place at schools all across the district, the questions often asked afterwards are:
  • How do I find time to connect, learn, and share outside of these days?
  • How do I find others who are passionate about the same topics as I am?
  • How can I maintain and grow the connections I made? 
  • How can I build on the momentum from today and extend it for my ongoing professional learning?
We believe that networks are a crucial part of the answer to these common questions. Through a networked professional learning approach, educators can take charge of their own learning by accessing it on an ongoing basis whenever and wherever it is convenient for them while focussing on topics of interest, relevance, and importance to them. Networked learning also supports a culture of openness and sharing. In networks people are generous with their support, ideas, resources, and solutions. We are free to ask questions, wonder about, and wrestle with the challenges we face, and through the process of opening this up to others in a network we benefit from the rich lived experiences and collective knowledge of others. 


To support networked learning and the fostering of connections, Innovation and Learning Technology is hosting 4 face-to-face professional learning sessions in April and May:
  • Cancelled April 30: Lester B. Pearson School (4:30-6:00) 
  • May 8: Harold Panabaker School (4:30-6:00)
  • Cancelled May 12: Nose Creek School (4:30-6:00)
  • May 27: Tom Baines School (4:30-6:00)
At these sessions you will have time to:
  • connect with your colleagues and grow your existing network
  • explore your questions, wonderings, challenges, experiments and ideas around leveraging educational technology for learning
  • share resources, ideas, strategies, tips and sources of inspiration
  • learn with and from each other
  • explore your next steps: How can ILT support your work? What questions do you have for the networks? How can you stay connected to your network?
Register here for one or more of these sessions. We look forward to connecting with you!

In addition to networking face-to-face, there are a variety of ways to connect and learn with other educators any time and any place. Choose the one that works for you!

Follow ILT on Twitter @cbeilt where we share resources, ideas and professional learning opportunities and where countless other educators are sharing, learning and exploring together.

Join the ILT Google+ Community www.bit.ly/googleilt where over 150 educators (and growing!) come together in an online space to ask questions, explore options, discuss ed tech topics from mobile learning to GAFE to design thinking and beyond, share examples of ed tech in action in their schools and classrooms, and much more.

Follow this ILT blog cbeilt.blogspot.ca. We'd love to have you share your ed tech in action stories on the ILT blog. Please fill out the quick form on the right hand widget in this blog and blog with us!

Like us on Facebook www.bit.ly/iltfbook where you will receive all our tweets, blog posts, and more on your Facebook wall.

Follow CORE on Twitter @core4learning and the CORE blog for CORE updates, professional learning opportunities, resource highlights,  and more.

Tannis Emann, Specialist
on behalf of the Innovation and Learning Technology team


April 15, 2014

Today's Webinar: Getting Started with Google Apps for Education (GAFE)

Join us today at 4:30-5:30 for a webinar in which we will share tips for getting started with Google Apps for Education (GAFE) for you and your students, and explore the collaborative elements of Google Drive.



The session will be hosted using the web conferencing interface, Adobe Connect. To access the webinar room, click on the following link: http://eduadvisory.adobeconnect.com/iltpl/ 

If you have never attended an Adobe Connect webinar before, the following resources may be helpful:
If possible, please access the webinar room at least 15 minutes before the start of the session to provide time to go through the audio set-up before the session begins.

For best performance it is recommended that you use a hard-wired connection (blue cord) if possible and turn off your wifi connection. It is also recommended to have a headset with microphone if you think you may ask questions using audio during the session. Questions and comments can also be contributed by typing into the chat interface. Also please make sure to connect your headset to your computer prior to entering the webinar room.

If you are unable to attend this session the recording will be available later in CORE. We have a variety of ways for you to stay connected and to find out when resources are available. Choose the one(s) that work for you!
Tell a friend – we still have space left for the webinar so please spread the word and pass this blog post along to others.


We look forward to you joining us today at 4:30pm!

April 08, 2014

The Networks Have Spoken

On February 20th we officially launched our networked approach for professional learning in Innovation and Learning Technology (ILT). Since then we have been excited to be a part of the sharing, discussions, and connections that are taking place between educators online and face-to-face from all across the CBE. 

The ILT Google+ community (bit.ly/googleilt) has become an ever-growing hub for questioning, sharing, and conversing around many ed tech related ideas and concepts. Just some of the engaging topics currently being discussed in this community include: iPads in the classroom, growing your professional learning network (PLN), design thinking, Google Apps for Education (GAFE) in action in the classroom, and the flipped classroom model. 

During our first face-to-face networking session educators from across the system came together to share ideas and artifacts, meet others with similar interests, wonders and passions, and be inspired by the work of their colleagues. Conversations during this face-to-face session ranged from building a learning commons to GAFE for collaboration to ed tech in the K-3 classroom and beyond.

In response to all the richness that is occurring in the networks, we have created additional professional learning sessions to both meet the requests for additional face to face networking sessions as well as topic specific sessions. Please see below for a listing of our upcoming offerings.

Connect in 3D with You Ed Tech PLN: Face-to-Face Networking Sessions
Are you looking for:
  • face to face time with educators
  • a chance to share and connect around topics of interest to you
  • a session close to where you teach and/or live
Then the face-to-face networking sessions are for you!

Professional Learning Networking Sessions:


Thursday May 8 4:30 - 6:00

Harold Panabaker School

Tuesday May 27 4:30-6:00
Tom Baines School

Register here for the above sessions


The Google Series

Are you looking for:


  • tips for getting started with Google Apps for Education (GAFE) for you and your students
  • opportunities to build understanding around the collaborative elements of Google Drive
  • ways to connect with others in an online environment
  • examples of GAFE in action in schools and classrooms shared by fellow colleagues


Then the two upcoming GAFE webinars are for you!



Tuesday April 15 4:30 - 5:30

Webinar: Getting Started with Google


Tuesday April 29 4:30 - 5:30
Webinar: Google Show and Share

Register here for the above sessions

Living the Learning Commons

Are you looking for:
  • ways to develop your learning commons
  • ideas for how to introduce makerspaces into a learning commons
  • time to explore using task design to help students learn to be innovative
  • hands-on discovery of 3D printing and rapid prototyping
Then the following sessions are for you!

Tuesday, April 22 4:30-5:30
Transforming Your Library: Building Community Through Making with Sue Considine
Webinar

Wednesday May 14 4:30 - 7:30
Designing for Learning: 4 Rapid Prototyping and 3D Printing
Career and Technology Center

Stay connected with Innovation and Learning Technology:



April 03, 2014

Skype Opens the Classroom to the World


Grade 2 Bilingual Classes from Canyon Meadows and Dalhousie Collaborate with a School from Colombia

I started using Skype around 2 and half years ago. Since it was sometimes challenging to find a Skype buddy, I opened the Skype opportunities to other colleagues from a different school within the CBE, and from the same school. Although being in the same place, school or city, for students, Skyping has always been very engaging and exciting. It has provided them with the opportunity to meaningfully communicate in a second language. Students have shared classroom projects, celebrated special days and used Skype to get to know one another. Engaging in conversations in Spanish and sharing with students who are going through the same process of learning a second language has been powerful in learning (and teaching!). Students have a sense of achievement; it brings up their self-esteem and consequently their interest in learning Spanish
We have hosted guest speakers from Colombia via Skype and I recently started using Skype with parent volunteers for Reading Time in both English and Spanish. It has been another option for parents to contribute and participate in their child’s learning.
Sandra Alonso – Canyon Meadows School