The end of the year is here. This is a reminder to all teachers that proficiencies are due to be completed by the end of the year. If you are having any issues or have questions about any of the proficiencies then please make an appointment with the tech coaches. eMails will go out on Monday to all teachers indicating whether you are finished with the proficiencies or the sections you have yet to complete. We will be scheduling times for the last weeks of school to follow up with anyone who has not completed their proficiencies by next Friday.

Eastern is hosting its first eLearning Day for the year this Thursday, April 2nd. We are very excited to participate. Teachers and tech will be standing by for support on Thursday, however students will have the entirety of break to finalize their learning. We hope everyone has a productive day. The new eLearning guide has been linked on all student iPads. To download a copy, click the "eLearning Guide" link on the iPad (when connected to the Internet) and then open the file into iBooks. The guide contains contact information for staff as well as general expectations and guidelines for the eLearning Day.

Update 01/16/15:

Week of January 19th: Kahoot: Buzz In To Answer
Week of January 26th: Minecraft: Dig Into The Possibilities
Week of February 2nd: Algodoo: Build Off
Week of February 9th: Role Play: iPads Aiding In Group Games

All of the above will take place on the normal day and time for each building. Resources and an online overview course will be updated weekly. Check the available classes to enroll if you would like to participate.

Welcome back from break! I know we have had a slow start with the weather but we will be back in the swing of things very soon. The month of January brings a new theme for morning tech. Throughout the month we will be looking at gaming in the classroom and how the iPads can help elevate the types of gaming you do with your students. I think we can all agree that everyone learns better when they are engaged and having fun. Gaming can help to enliven lessons. You don't have to use it all of the time, but mixing it in from time to time keeps things interesting.

This month we will be looking at some tools for use on the iPad along with role playing and the general role of games in learning. For this particular series the high school and elementary tracks will cover the same topics however they may differ in the amount and type of examples shown.

The week of January 12th will kick off our month of gaming with a look at Kahoot and how you can use it with your students and iPads. At the elementary we will have Alyssa Richie presenting and at the high school level I will present.

Update 01/12/15:

Week of January 19th: Kahoot: Buzz In To Answer
Week of January 26th: Minecraft: Dig Into The Possibilities
Week of February 2nd: Algodoo: Build Off
Week of February 9th: Role Play: iPads Aiding In Group Games

All of the above will take place on the normal day and time for each building. Resources and an online overview course will be updated weekly. Check the available classes to enroll if you would like to participate.

If you are an Eastern parent and are interested in having access to your student's eBackpack account we can provide you a code to sign up for a parent account. After Christmas break we will be hosting two nightly events that cover how to setup your parent account and how to use eBackpack. These meetings are open to any parent of Eastern students and will provide greater insight into how eBackpack is used with students at school.

We will also be posting out first online course for parents featuring this same information. The online course will be available without a login and will be provided on the tech website. Videos, instructions on obtaining a parent code, and various other topics concerning eBackpack will be hosted in the course for anyone wanting a refresher or for those looking to get involved in their student's eBackpack use. Dates will be set shortly and will be added to this posting once they are finalized. Please check back later this week for dates and times as they are made available.

Teachers at Eastern attend a variety of Professional Development activities throughout the school year. Each building has a set morning of the week for a 30 minute technology lead PD session before school starts. The Jr./Sr. High school day of the week is Wednesday and the Elementary follows that with a Thursday offering. As we move further into the school year we will be devoting each month to a theme based around iPad integration in the classroom. The upcoming monthly theme and subtopics are listed below. We hope to see you there!

Note: We will be using some third party apps for the sessions below. Those apps will be posted once finalized.

ES December Theme: Digital Storytelling With 1:1 Devices
December 4th - Digital Story Telling Workflows
December 11th - Simple Story Telling With Slideshows
December 18th - Mini Stories With Green Screen

HS December Theme: Integrating Student Created Video Into Your Curriculum
December 3rd - The Benefits of Video and Video Workflows
December 10th - Screencasting for Student Taught Lessons
December 17th - Video Pop With Green Screen

These events are stackable but each will be its own mini PD. Feel free to come to any or all. See you soon!

Eastern encourages the use of iBooks Author for teacher created content. The free application from the Mac App store (Mac required to run the program) allows teachers to create content that focuses on their curriculum while increasing digital interactivity. iBooks allows for the inclusion of widgets in the created books including self-check, 3D objects, word searches, and a variety of other activities. In short I like to describe it as being able to create something akin to an interactive website with no technical jargon to trip you up. The books are actually downloaded by students and housed on the iPads. Most book functionality is available both online and offline.

iBooks Author in Action. Building books is as simple as drag and drop.

iBooks Author was recently updated with a variety of new features. Two of the most exciting are the inclusion of autoplay for inserted audio (you can now make books that play a voice over automatically when the page is flipped) and the embedding of html widgets directly on the page (previously any third party widgets had to open a brand new screen to launch). Both of these enhance a new seamless experience in iBooks and allows for a level of customization that was previously impossible. Download it and try it out today.

Eastern periodically runs iBooks Author Foundations training for staff and will soon implement an advanced course. If you have interest in iBooks Author training and are a faculty member at Eastern please email the tech department to set up an appointment.

At Eastern we strive to keep teachers up-to-date with the latest technologies. We all know that that cannot be an easy task with technology changing so rapidly. Teachers at Eastern have a set of "proficiencies" that they must meet. This year we are moving those proficiencies online. Teachers can log into the tech website using the provided login area and watch videos or read about information concerning each proficiency. Teachers can then complete online tasks as self-check and digital proof that they have a basic understanding of those proficiencies. Once tasks are successfully completed the teacher receives a digital badge for that particular proficiency. Once all badges for the proficiencies is earned the teacher will receive one final badge indicating full completion.

The 2014 teacher proficiencies officially open for Teacher review on Monday, November 3rd. Teachers can always schedule a time to meet prior to completing their online proofs by contacting Mr. Berg or Mrs. Fugett.