The METS Group: May Newsletter
Michigan Educational Technology Specialists
Happy May from the METS Group!
Featured Article: Ann-Marie Mapes, Michigan Department of Education
Our featured article this month is by Ann-Marie Mapes from the Michigan Department of Education. She agreed to write an article for the METS Group to provide us with information on the new MI Roadmap: Transforming Education Through Technology plan. Check it out in this month's featured article!
Winter VirtuRally Video Recap
Each month, the METS Group will be releasing a video session from our Winter VirtuRally. This month, we are featuring the presentation by METS Steering Committee Member Amy Dirlam, @adirlam, "Models for Technology Integration: SAMR and Beyond".
Bring a Buddy Scholarship Winners
Zachary Page-Wood and Tina Maxwell, Parchment Schools
The second of a three-part article series from our Bring a Buddy Scholarship Winners for the 2016-2017 school year.
Professional Development Opportunities through REMC
REMC has some pretty spectacular PD opportunities for teachers this summer! Check them out below!
Featured Book Giveaway! (Plus, our April Winner!)
Technologies change rapidly. As educators, we recognize the need for technology infusion into teaching and learning. The future we are preparing today’s students for is unknown, yet we know one thing for sure - technology is not going away – it is imperative for living in a modern world. Because education technology plans are no longer a federal requirement for states, Michigan took a new approach to its education technology plan. MI Roadmap: Transforming Education Through Technology, is a living, dynamic plan to which stakeholders will measure plan progress. The MI Roadmap development committee will reconvene annually to assess advancement on the strategies and activities, and whether targets need to be modified. This approach to the plan allows for flexibility in a world of accelerating change. MI Roadmap, presented to the Michigan State Board of Education on March 14, 2017, is the culmination of extensive in-person and virtual meetings with diverse stakeholder groups. The plan implementation will involve an even wider group of individuals, as all stakeholders help to operationalize the work.
MI Roadmap sets forth a vision for education in which learners are provided differentiated supports personalized to the individual needs of each student, supported by appropriate technologies. To realize this plan, it is essential that leaders recognize that technology is engrained in our lives. Teaching and learning must mirror this to prepare students to be successful in career, college, and civic life. As education leaders and innovators, it is up to us to ensure that students are prepared for the post-digital age.
So, how can you use this plan? Districts can use it as a model for education technology goals, adopt it outright, or support the implementation of the plan. Everyone is welcome to contribute to the forthcoming vignette compilation, sharing stories of how educators across the state are making the plan goals, strategies, and activities come to life (to share a vignette, email mapesa@michigan.gov). We encourage you to explore the plan through your unique lens whether that be at the organizational, regional, or local level. Converse with colleagues regarding what supports might be necessary to actualize the plan. Share the vision with various stakeholder groups and help increase awareness.
To help share the plan with your district, school, or organization, we have created the MI Roadmap Toolkit, which includes MI Roadmap, slide deck, suggested/customizable feedback activity (activity can be copied and goals deleted or removed, for example, if focusing on learning and teaching only), and an interest form if you would like to help with plan implementation which will be organized by goal groups of learning, teaching, assessment, leadership, and infrastructure. Some of the activities of the plan are beginning or already underway, such as the Michigan Education Technology Standards for Students (METS-S) refresh and the development of a system to support educators in the use of free, openly licensed educational resources to personalize learning.
As educational technology champions, you are critical to making our vision a reality in classrooms, schools, and districts across Michigan. Your leadership and shared vision of transforming education through technology will accelerate Michigan’s realization of becoming an education destination.
Each month, the METS Group will be releasing a video from our Winter VirtuRally. This month, check out
Session
"Models for Technology Integration: SAMR and Beyond"
METS Steering Committee Member Amy Dirlam
@adirlam
Watch the archived video below!
Session Resources:
Models for Technology Integration: SAMR and Beyond
The link to the YouTube Playlist can be found here. Don't forget to subscribe to the METS Group on YouTube!
Keep your eyes peeled for more information on the Bring a Buddy scholarship application for the 2017-2018 school year, coming in early August.
Parchment Schools @ #MACUL17
The MACUL conference is a fantastic showcase for the latest in educational technology and technology integration where attendees can find new ideas, techniques, software, and equipment to bring back to their district and a room of vendors happy to help make that happen. As a teacher at a small alternative high school, my goal in attending MACUL is slightly different. With a limited budget, we look for ways for technology to allow us to stretch our funds and do more with what technology we have and MACUL is an excellent showcase for that as well.
With equipment, software, and bandwidth easily commanding a hefty part of a district’s operating funds, it’s easy to overlook how much technology integration can actually save in costs and time. At Barclay Hills Education Center in Parchment Michigan we use a number of web-based tools to facilitate collaboration, provide engagement, distribute instruction, and streamline assessment using our existing resources and at MACUL we found several methods and tools to continue this mission.
With presentations from tech giants like Microsoft and Google, we found resources to heighten engagement, create asynchronous instruction, and streamline assessment using free extensions to software we already use. Microsoft highlighted tools students can use to go beyond posters and PowerPoints to create immersive, interactive presentations. Google gave us a number of tools for deep-dive investigative research giving us great tie-ins to integrate information across curricula.
Through teacher testimonials and presentations we found new techniques for using existing tools for collaboration on laterally aligned lessons and assessments. With a simple change to the way we use Google Classroom a shared course that has had alignment problems became a platform for shared ideas and common resources.
Through Michigan Virtual University we were exposed to best practice methods to improve contact and participation from our distance learners. We found sessions specifically catering to the alternative education and a forum for discussing the unique challenges facing at-risk and alternative learners. Forms, Google Voice, and Form Emailer have given us tools to be always connected to our distance learners.
MACUL allowed us to return to our district excited to implement our new ideas and ready to share them with the rest of our school and district and the METS “Bring a Buddy” scholarship ensured not only our attendance but that these ideas and techniques were shared with teacher and administrator alike. It was a great opportunity and one we are incredibly grateful for the chance to take part in.
The MI Moot conference has been revamped to focus on Transforming Classrooms! What better way to start off your next school year than to attend an energizing Moot with the goal of implementing effective change within your classrooms!
When: August 1st and 2nd, 2017, 8:00 - 3:15
Where: Lansing Community College - West Campus, Lansing, Michigan
Cost: $50 for both days (lunch is provided)
For more information and registration information, go to: mimoot.org.
A sample of some of the scheduled sessions:
- "Access Denied! Is your Blended Learning Course Accessible?"
- "The Open Source Learning Stack"
- "Moodle and Quality Online Resources for Blended Classrooms"
- "Building an Authentic Online Learning Community"
- "Gamify their Learning"
- "Keep Your Head in the "Cloud" with Student Response Systems"
- "Not One Click Fits All!"
Register today for this energizing and impactful event focused on best practices in blended learning! Go to mimoot.org to register!
We hope to see you there!
Kay Hauck, Anne Thorp, Melinda Waffle
The MI Moot 2017 Co-Chairs
This event is supported by the REMC Association of Michigan and the REMC Instructional Technology Specialists (RITS).
REMC Association’s 21Things4Teachers Summer Course
21Things4Teachers helps educators make connections between technology tools and best practice instructional strategies.
Collaborate with fellow teachers in a cohort or individually to learn more about 21st-century technology skills with the highly skilled instructor, Jennifer Johnson. The course will cover digital citizenship, digital classroom management, blended and flipped classrooms, in addition to many other emerging technologies.
Dates: June 19-Sept. 5, 2017
Cost: $125.00 per set, SCECHs available
Virtual Getting Started Session: June 19, 4:30-6:30 p.m. [Review the requirements to complete the 21Things4Teachers Course and learn how to access the course.]
The course is divided into three sets:
· Things 1-7
· Things 8-14
· Things 15-21
Register here: bit.ly/remcpd
The METS Group is sponsored by the REMC Association of Michigan