A demonstration of an individual play history will be conducted, followed by break out groups that will collectively guide themselves through their own play histories. The context for this will have been set by the keynote presentation and the introduction to the workshop.

Workshop Goals: By exploration of one?s own personal play history, an examination of innate talents, sense of personal empowerment and its applicability through one?s own temperament and cultural surroundings will take place. The goals will be to allow the participants personal life enhancement, along with the techniques to recapture ?the mind of the child? that once pervaded learning and facilitated personal competency.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Humor, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Data Driven

No blog? No podcast? No problem! The world of Web 2.0 has something for everyone, but it can be a rather overwhelming pool to dive in to. We'll take the absolute beginner and give them a complete digital makeover. This practical, non-linear, hands on session will demonstrate exactly how to get started in the world of online Web 2.0, which sites educators absolutely must have a presence on, and tricks for avoiding information overload. Enter a newbie, leave a Web 2.0 guru!

Workshop Goals:
1. Attendees will gain an understanding of why Web 2.0 technology is significant, particularly as it pertains to the world of education.
2. Attendees will create their own presence on the web using technologies such as blogs, wikis, podcasts, and Twitter.
3. Attendees will learn how to be innovators themselves by applying their own specific knowledge set to traditional Web 2.0 tools.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists

Categories: Digital Literacy, Humor, Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia

Creativity, Innovation, Problem solving?Buzz Words no longer! To meet the complexities of today?s world, we need more than intelligence?we need habitudes! Successful students, workers and citizens have identifiable habits and behaviors that allow them to manage emotions, to communicate effectively and to be become independent and successful lifelong learners.

Workshop Goals:
- Identify the habits, attitudes, and behaviors of successful learning
- Explore intentional lessons and conversations that nurture and develop the habits and attitudes of our students
- Simplify and overcome fears and false barriers some think are

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy,Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia

Every day brings new tools so that even the most tech-savvy among us can feel overwhelmed. Fortunately, we can use what we know as educators to ground ourselves in sound pedagogical practice to make smart choices about the tools we use.

When we design curriculum that is build around inquiry-driven, project-based learning, where students and teachers work together to create new meaning and deep understandings, then we can use 21st Century tools to allow students to create meaningful, creative and authentic work, using the best available research, while collaborating with and presenting to people from all over the world.

In this workshop, participants will examine pedagogical and technological tools that can be used, school-wide, to create a progressive culture of innovation in schools. How can we look at pedagogical tools such as Wiggins? and McTigue?s Understanding by Design to create constructivist curriculum built to allow students to demonstrate deep understandings with technology-embedded curriculum? How can we look at content and course-management tools, collaborative tools and social/academic networking tools to create school-wide embedded technology strategies that allow access points for 21st Century learning for all teachers and students?

Workshop Goals:

• Understand How Backward Mapping can be used to better plan for technology infusion.
• Exposure to the Understanding by Design curriculum structure
• Understanding how inquiry-based teaching, technology infusion and backward design can be combined to create a powerful curriculum design.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Administrators, Instructional Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Technology Integration, Tools, Multimedia, Data Driven

This is the workshop for you if you are interested in making your Math/Science lessons come alive. Actively engage yourself in the process of planning a lesson(s) through the use of today?s 21st century tools. Both presenters will guide you through ?your? experiment to deliver your Math/Science content in a fashion that stimulates digital kid?s brains and promotes positive assessment gains.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Technology Integration, Tools, Data Driven

iPod Touches may be small devices, but strategizing a classroom roll is a big task.  Learn from a seasoned veteran how to save your district a lot of seed money, while you explore how teachers are using these remarkable classroom devices.  In case you don't have an iPod touch?  Come anyway, we'll loan you one!

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Technology Integration, Tools, Data Driven

Knowing how to communicate a message and tell a story have always been a valued and necessary skill. The ability to use a variety of medium and formats has opened up many new opportunities and choices. Unfortunately the misuse of these resources has led to less than meaningful results. Everyone needs to be able to present. Designing presentations that are visually compelling is more than eye candy. It is integral to delivering and communicating a message. This presentation is for everyone and will consider some guiding principles, explore specific techniques for finding and creating compelling visual presentations and ideas.

Workshop Goals, Participants will learn:

• the power of imagery and visuals across subject and grade levels,
• how to find and determine powerful images,
• how to create and manipulate images for a variety of purposes.

Audience:Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia

This workshop is designed to help attendees implement projects that get teachers and students engaged in effective learning with technology. The program includes a dozen suggestions with demonstrations covering training, implementation, equipment, and projects.

• training as the point of departure, identifying common errors as well as keys to bringing late-adopters into the process.
• effective implementation, including incremental development of simple projects, creative use of collaborative tools, and embracing the chance to learn with the students.
• the wealth of free resources available online and using them to help separate those who will produce from the merely well-intentioned. This will include ideas on both freebies and also judicious spending.
• suggested projects, and attendees will see examples of various local and international projects done using freely available tools.

The presenter has been a high school and college teacher, a principal, a teacher trainer, an educational technology researcher, and a school reform consultant who has worked and studied on three continents. He now teaches part-time while directing of an educational nonprofit focused on building a free, online library of educational videos.

Workshop Goals:

Participants will learn to:

• use technology and training to build staff collaboration,
• develop engaging projects using free resources, and
• focus funding where it matters.

Audience: Post - Secondary, Administrators, Instructional Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia, Data Driven

Today's students are different in many ways than those we served in the past. Join me for an exploration of these changes and a look at some possible ways we can serve these learners well.

Workshop Goals:

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Virtual Learning, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia, Data Driven

This presentation promotes sustainable school innovation via lessons learned over 19 years of working in "laptop schools." Much of the skepticism about 1:1 computing is based on the meager or unimaginative objectives of 1:1 schools. The educational case for truly personal computing will be made through entertaining vignettes and video-based case studies of best practices collected from schools internationally.

In 1971, Seymour Papert and Cynthia Solomon published a ground-breaking paper entitled, ?Twenty Things to Do with a Computer.? Few of today?s schools, with or without laptops, satisfy the goals of that nearly forty year-old document. This presentation invokes the challenging vision of the earlier document, updates it and presents ideas for using laptops in ways that offer unprecedented learning adventures across K-12 and various subject areas. These imaginative project-based practices are appropriate whether your school has a computer per child or one per thirty.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia, Data Driven

Participants in this workshop will be introduced to the multi user virtual world of Second Life and will establish themselves within this thriving and dynamic educational community. Basics involving communication, navigation and avatar appearance will be addressed and everyone will leave with a firm foundation that will support continuing participation after the conference.

Workshop Goals:

• Create a Second Life Avatar Account
• Master basic skills for participation in Second Life
• Establish a professional learning network

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Virtual Learning, Tools, Data Driven

We will explore the BVA students' work and its evolution over the years, and also engages workshop delegates in a typical (rather enjoyable, creative and phone based) activity from a previous BVA. Bring your phones and your imagination.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Humor, Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Tools, Multimedia

Web 2.0 technologies such as Podcasting and Blogging break down the barriers to publishing teacher and student created content on the internet. Schools that do so are finding the benefits reach far beyond the classroom walls. By making learning transparent, many schools are creating a strong sense of community while offering their students the opportunity to collaborate with others on a global level. See how some districts have embraced these new technologies while still maintaining high standards and keeping their students safe.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists

Categories: Digital Literacy, Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia

Today, literacy goes beyond the ability to read and write. Our students must be able to use web tools to find, analyze, organize, create, and share information. Teachers must know how to use web tools for their personal and professional development and how to implement selected tools to further learning in the classroom. This session will support students and teachers to work with digital texts and social mediums in order meet the changing nature of literate practices.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia, Data Driven

Are you ready to engage and focus your students in the art of movie making? You can, by keeping the project well defined and structured and by using a Digital Kit -- photos, videos, sounds, music, and citations. Learn the basics of making movies. See examples of 4 terrific first-timer movie projects - iRiddle, Digital Poetry, Mini Documentary, and Fast Fiction. The format of these simple movies allows the project to be completed in record time and is appropriate for almost any curricular area and grade level. These simple projects ensure success in teacher training sessions too.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Administrators, Media Specialists

Categories: Digital Literacy, Humor, Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Tools, Multimedia

This is the workshop for you if you are interested in making your English/Social Studies lessons come alive. Actively engage yourself in the process of planning a lesson(s) through the use of today?s 21st century tools. Both presenters will guide you through ?your? experiment to deliver your English/Social Studies content in a fashion that stimulates digital kid?s brains and promotes positive assessment gains.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Technology Integration, Tools, Data Driven

In 1989 Robert Fulghum wrote a book called ?All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten.? In his list of things he placed "Share" at the top of the list. We?ve been talking about being reflective practitioners for years and while many do this, most do it in relative isolation or at best with locally developed groups.

There is a better and more powerful way to share and learn. Using technologies such as blogs, RSS, Twitter, del.icio.us, Skype and more, you can be part of a learning community that is exponentially greater than any you can muster inside the walls of your institution. This session will explore one man?s journey into creating a network where sharing and reflection with people from around the world on a daily basis is the norm. This session will introduce you to these tools and more importantly help you understand the value and power of sharing everything.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia

Digital video can be a powerful tool for student projects, professional collaboration, exchange activities, and program/school promotion. A barrier to more widespread use of digital video, however, is the perception that editing video is a complex and expensive process.

In the first half of this workshop, participants will learn to capture video into an editor, arrange and adjust clips, and incorporate titles, transitions, effects, and audio. The discussion will include needed software and equipment, and how to acquire such items at reasonable or no expense.

The second half will focus on pedagogical concerns related to video, including content focus, copyright, assessment, and use of digital video with students with limited language capacity and/or learning disabilities. Additionally, attendees will learn how to bring a variety of multimedia projects to their students, even if the teacher doesn't know anything more about video than what is presented in this session. Finally, the presenter will cover how to bring an individual teacher's talents and energies to a wider audience through online collaboration, grant possibilities, and digital video.

Resources will be provided to all attendees. This session is open to Mac and PC users.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Technology Integration, elearning, Tools, Mutimedia

How many times have you heard the question, ?Why do I need to know this?? Making instruction relevant to digital natives is one of the biggest challenges faced by today?s teachers. The first round of results from Marzano?s current study on The Effects of the ActivClassroom suggest new ways to relate to modern students. Come learn how to awaken your students? interest by combining technology and best practice to bring real life applications of the concepts you are teaching to life in your classroom.

Audience: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists

Categories: Digital Literacy, Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Wikis, Blogs, Tools, Multimedia

Google is more than a search engine. In this workshop geared toward school administrators, learn some of the tools, tips, and tricks offered by Google that can help make your busy life more efficient, the decisions you make more effective, and the information you learn more enlightening.

Workshop Goals:
Participants will learn:

• How to use Google forms to collect and analyze data
• How to use Google docs for PLC collaboration
• How to combine iGoogle, Google Reader and RSS to manage information

Audience: Administrators, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Social Media, Humor, Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Tools, Multimedia

Authors and pundits stress the importance of creativity, but what does that mean or look like in classrooms? This session will address questions, such as: How do we get there? What do we need to change? Is creativity reserved for specific subject areas? Which hardware and software support creativity? What are the essential elements of effective project-based learning?

Technical ease is no substitute for artistic or scientific rigor. It's about time that more students produce evidence of greater technological fluency. The presenter will propose how learners might use technology in imaginative ways to create expressions of value; to develop habits of mind, such as discipline; and contribute to a timeless cultural continuum and world of ideas.

Audiences: Primary Teacher (K-8), Secondary Teacher (9-12), Administrators

Categories: Technology Integration, Emerging Tech./ Web 2.0, Multimedia

You mean there's potential educational value in World of Warcraft?" Absolutely! In this session, Peggy Sheehy will discuss some of her experiences playing World of Warcraft (WoW) with other educators. Participants will  get their ?virtual feet? wet by learning the basics and connecting it to academic content area! Come prepared with a World of Warcraft account; https://signup.worldofwarcraft.com/trial/index.html (10 Day free trial). 

Peggy will also share information about her latest project, WoWinSchool developed with Lucas Gillispie, a program that targets a spectrum of learners from gifted to at-risk students in an after-school program designed to build community, leadership, and students' confidence in a variety of curricular areas using WoW.  This session will close with an opportunity for the audience to speak with members of her guild live in World of Warcraft.

Audience: Secondary Teacher (9-12), Post - Secondary, Administrators, Media Specialists, Instructional Tech, Infrastructure Tech

Categories: Digital Literacy, Humor, Technology Integration, eLearning, Virtual Learning, Tools, Multimedia, Data Driven