Summer 2019 PD: IFL, Tech Teach Learn, KET Multimedia

Starting this summer, I made a personal pledge to stretch my professional development horizons and present and/or attend conferences I have never attended before.  Two of the three Kentucky conferences discussed in this entry fit that definition!   I left all three with some great takeaways.

Innovations for Learning

Plenty of Google Chrome Developer Mode #SurpriseAndDelight with @watsonedtech at #IFLLEX this rainy afternoon. pic.twitter.com/QXXPjwJGGl

— Kelli Reno (@FDHSBookJockey) June 7, 2019

I have been attending IFL for several years now.  This free annual PD is organized by Fayette County Public Schools (Lexington) and happens every June.   IFL has some of the best presenters from around the state, and the educators that attend also come from all corners of Kentucky.  For the last few years, Frederick Douglass High School has hosted the event, and walking around the innovative building is almost worth the trip in itself.  I presented "Google Tools: The New, the Overlooked, and the Quirky."

Here are some highlights:

• David Kitchen shared his experiences from the first year of flipping his classroom.  Kitchen's accountability structure is to have students watch a video at home (often with EdPuzzle, which provides tracking and assessment analytics) and do Cornell Notes (powerful reflection, and hard to "cheat").  His process of gradual release sounds very useful to emulate.  Kitchen first models what the flipped work will be like at home by showing a video while doing Cornell Notes in front of the class.   Next, he has students do Cornell Notes on a video while in class, providing feedback.  The last stage is having students do Cornell Notes on a video at home.
• Kelli Reno and Louise Begley shared stories from the libraries and how they are addressing the new AASL standards.  Reno mentioned how FDHS clubs and organizations periodically "sponsor" a shelf in the library and provide book suggestions.  I love the way this gives the school community both ownership and voice!
• Kelly Fischer introduced me to a free edtech tool for student content acquisition and assessment: Deck Toys.  Teachers can create an interactive lesson using an easy drag and drop interface, which creates a game-like "board" with activities and dashed line pathways.  For differentiation and personalization opportunities, you may give students multiple paths to choose from.  One activity can be a slide deck, either independently viewed or synched and controlled by a teacher's pacing (much like Nearpod); other activities include puzzles, crosswords, "Lock" (think mini-Breakouts), match, sequencing, and more.

Tech Teach Learn

Quite a productive first session! #KCDTTL pic.twitter.com/PhKmpe350O

— Hallie Hunt Rock (@HallieHuntRock) June 12, 2019

TTL is hosted by Kentucky Country Day school in Louisville every June.  Anyone can attend for a nominal fee.  Not only was this the first time I have attended and presented at TTL, but it was the first time I have been on the KCD campus.  It's beautiful!  I have to give a shoutout to Sarah Shartzer, a teacher at KCD who is not only a leader of edtech for her own school (and TTL!) but presents far and wide.  This year was the first time that registration for TTL was sold out in advance of the event, and I can easily see that happening again as more people hear of this useful and impactful conference.  I led a workshop titled "From Bland to Blended: Best Practices for a Transformative Classroom."

Here are some highlights:

• Ms. Shartzer shared edtech tools for accommodation and differentiation.  Several were new to me, including a particular standout: Visuwords.  It's a interactive way to not only see a definition of a word and its part of speech, but a webbed relationship to other words and concepts.
• Jerry Broyles taught us about Google's geo-related tools such as My Maps, Google Earth, and Tour Builder.  Tour Builder in particular has a lot of potential for being a different way for students to share and present information that is location- or travel-based.

KET Multimedia

Thanks to all of the #ketmpd19 participants in my digital citizenship workshop today! Please let me know the awesome things YOU are doing in your district or school. pic.twitter.com/0GlF4lKl0O

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) July 17, 2019

KET Multimedia PD Day happens annually in July, at the KET studios in Lexington.   Registration requires a small fee.  I have never attended before, and was flattered to be asked to lead a workshop on digital citizenship with the purpose of attendees revising and creating their own school/district DigCit curriculum.  The KET building is a fun, state-of-the-art facility to present and participate in a PD day. Special thanks to Brian Spellman for the invite!

Here are some highlights:

• Emily Northcutt (our newest Shelby County librarian!) talked about the usefulness of KYVL, a valuable repository of tools and databases.  Like most districts in Kentucky, we pay an annual fee for staff and student access both at school and at home.  As a classroom teacher years ago, I was ashamedly ignorant of how helpful KYVL can be, and I need to do better to publicize its wealth of resources with our Shelby staff.
• Vanessa Hutchison (a teacher at Louisville Central High School) shared her website full of resources and lesson plan ideas for students to create film projects on a limited or zero budget. 
• Whitney York and Mechelle Morgan enthusiastically discussed makerspace materials and tools used by teachers and students in Murray Independent Schools.   One new find I'm excited to try out: Sphero Specdrums, which combine music making, programming, and possible accommodative assistance (for example, helping students who struggle with learning colors).

I look forward to applying and sharing some of my new knowledge and edtech, and hope to attend all three of these conferences again in the future!

Full disclosure: KET paid me an honorarium to present at their KET Multimedia PD, which I attended on a non-contract day.

Summer 2017 Professional Development PD Adventures

Greetings from the last month of the 2016-2017 school year!  As we near the end of one cycle and prepare to begin again in July, I have had the pleasure and privilege of recently attending and presenting at two professional development opportunities with one more major regional PD coming in August!

For the third year in a row, I attended the free Innovations for Learning conference in Lexington on June 1.  (For the first time, their registration numbers resulted in a "sell out"!)  In the morning, I partnered with the KDE KyGoDigital team to work with CIO's and TRT's about how Google apps and other key edtech can impact instruction.  In the afternoon, I presented a few sessions on game-based learning / gamification, as well as innovative presentation tools for teachers and students.  This last session was livestreamed via KDE's YouTube channel:

Note: CheckThis, the last web tool in the presentation above, just discontinued its service.

IFL is an incredible and generous opportunity from Fayette County to learn, share and network.  I highly recommend attending it next summer if you can, and follow the conference hashtag at #IFLLEX.

On June 7-9, Jefferson County Public Schools had its first Deeper Learning Symposium.  (Follow their hashtag #JCPSDL.)  Nearly two thousand JCPS educators descended on the Kentucky Exposition Center to expand their conceptualization of what learning needs to be.  As a person who had their presentation proposal accepted (once again on the topic of game-based learning), I was a fortunate non-JCPS attendee.  While several sessions were intriguing, one of the more inspiring sessions was a keynote screening of the documentary Beyond Measure, which happens to feature the journey of Kentucky's Trigg County Public Schools from traditional methods into a new mode of teaching and learning.  I was excited to see educators, many for the first time, talk about using Twitter, competency-based education, the power of PBL, and so much more!

As we look ahead, don't forget that EdCampKY will be at Bardstown Middle School on August 26, 2017.  Be sure to get your free tickets here!

Post-KySTE 2017 Reflection and Upcoming PD Opportunities

Last week was the biggest edtech annual conference in our region, KySTE 2017.  I presented on the SAMR model as well as game-based learning, and participated in the demo slam.  But I wasn't the only Shelby County staff member to attend and present!

• Sloan Burroughs presented on how her students videotape and share their ukelele performances through a Schoology Group.
• James Wampler discussed various strategies for using tech to engage with students.
• Caytie Burgin talked about being an instructor via Shelby County's Virtual Learning Academy.

While my own presentations created scheduling conflicts and I couldn't see everyone, I know from others and from Twitter that they did great:  

Proud of the great representation Shelby County showed at the @kystetech conference. pic.twitter.com/jNwCmRsFSN

— Shelby Co Schools Ky (@shelbycountysch) March 10, 2017

Here with Sloan Burroughs learning about Ukelele (Super) Heroes, utilizing @Schoology and YouTube! #kyste17 pic.twitter.com/u3wbERTBwe

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) March 9, 2017

Best 🏆 #KySTE17 presentation with Mr Wampler

— P.Forbes (@PForbes81) March 10, 2017

One example of an attendee coming back and being a leader in her building is Amy Frederick-Cooper, a science teacher at East Middle School.  During yesterday's faculty's learning time, Amy used a tool she just discovered, Classkick, to share some edtech tools she discovered at KySTE.  It was a wonderful "meta" and inquiry-based way for her fellow teachers to explore edtech and gain from her experience.

Here learning w/@EastMSMissiles faculty. @amyfredcoop is sharing what she learned from #KySTE17. In love now with @Classkick! #shelbyedchat

— Adam Watson (@watsonedtech) March 14, 2017

It was, as always, great to talk at KySTE with my non-Shelby colleagues that I unfortunately see much more often in Twitter chats and Google Hangout rather than in person.  And . . . as always . . . I brought home intriguing and useful tidbits, tools, strategies and information.

*****

The Edtech Share Fair is rapidly approaching next week on Wednesday, March 22!  If you haven't gotten your FREE tickets, be sure to visit our Eventbrite site to get yours.   More information on the Share Fair and its presenters below.  Remember, the event is open to Shelby parents and community members, as well as educators outside our district.

*****

Last, but not least, I have previously tweeted about Innovations for Learning, another great local learning conference in Lexington I have attended and presented at for the last few years.  It's free and open to all.  The conference itself is on June 1, and registration will begin next month for those who want to attend; however, the window is currently open for presentation proposals.   I highly encourage both my Shelby peeps and other readers of my blog to consider submitting your presentation ideas.   The deadline is April 18.

Looking for inspiring sessions for the IFL Conference. Apply now! https://t.co/MhvAAUYzQm. #KySTE17 @ItsAboutKidsFC pic.twitter.com/NFd5qsb565

— FCPS Inst Tech (@fcpsoit) March 10, 2017

Quizalize

The last month of this school year has been a blur of busy-ness. As we prepare to complete our 1:1 initiative in August for our K-5 students, our first school year of Chromebooks for middle and high school students has just completed. It has changed what learning means for Shelby County.  Also in the busy-ness mix: in the last few weeks I have presented at Fayette County's Innovations for Learning and KDE's Persistence to Graduation Summit.  This was my second year at IFL (what a great regional and FREE annual conference!) and my first for PtG; I hope to return to both next year.

For my last blog entry of the 2015-2016 school year, I want to highlight a new formative assessment tool -- Quizalize.  To me, it is the next natural evolution of the gamified online tools such as Kahoot and Quizizz, which builds on their strengths and finds new ways of being useful for educators.

How does it work?  First, register your free teacher account.  (There are some premium features available; more on that below.)    You will land on a page with several options at the top:

Note the URL public link (on the right), making it easy to share your Quizalize profile online.

"Start Here" is definitely recommended as your first stop.  Here you can access a printable guide, watch a short overview video, and play a demo quiz; you can also make a quiz as well as search Quizalize's "marketplace" for quizzes shared publicly by others.  (Some of these public quizzes are free, and some cost.)

The other top buttons on your landing page are fairly straightforward.  Under "Your Quizzes" you can see quizzes you have already made or create new ones.  One helpful aspect is that you can organize quizzes into "collections," making it easier to navigate through them.  You can view or create classes under "Your Classes."  This is also where you can assign a quiz to a class, or see data from quizzes your students have taken.  "Marketplace" takes you to the same searchable database mentioned above.  By clicking your name, you can edit your profile and settings.

Creating a quiz is easy; simply create your questions and then assign the quiz to a class.  One of the more powerful aspects of Quizalize is the ability to tag questions with objectives or topics, which will greatly enhance its reporting features.  Also, Quizalize quizzes can easily be taken asynchronously.   You can assign them as homework with a start/end date of completion.  (Of course, you could ask students to take it simultaneously during class as well.)  Unlike Kahoot, students can take the quiz without a projector displaying questions and answer choices; all of the necessary information is right on their own screen.  When assigning a quiz, you have several options such as scrambling the order of questions so students side by side will have a different experience.   The teacher is given a unique access code to the quiz; this code and the site quiz.al are all the information a student needs to take it.

Creating a class is also easy.  You give it a name, and decide whether you will make students have to create an email/password to sign in.  Unfortunately, for those that want to upload a roster, you do not have that as an option.  However, the tradeoff is an easy interface for students to access and take your quizzes (similar to Kahoot and Quizizz, a student can take a quiz without registration). With the code and quiz.al site, a student can jump into a quiz within seconds.   One of the interesting features of Quizalize is that a list of student names from previous takers will show up; students should look for their name first and click on it, but they can type it if their name is not shown.   I recommend making this clear in your instructions to students, in order to make data for the same student consistent over time.

One of my favorite aspects of Quizalize is the visually clear way student answer data is presented, both as whole class and on an individual basis.  Student performance is broken down as "strong," "almost there," and "needs help." If you use the subtopics tagging feature, you can also quickly see overall areas of struggle and proficiency.  Here is where the premium aspect of Quizalize adds value; if a teacher wants to pay $69 a year, he/she would have access to a spreadsheet view of performance as well as the ability to export the data.

Here is a video I made that shows an overview of Quizalize's assessment analysis features:

One last thing to mention is that Quizalize has partnered with Zzish, which allows the ability to assign multiple activities from other online platforms.   When you log in as a teacher, you can "Add Activity" from sites such as Kahoot and Socrative.  However, although a student can see these outside assignments once they log in to Quizalize, it is not a direct link or embedded activity.   For example, you could copy the Kahoot game PIN and put that in the activity description for the student to see for their "assignment," but the student would still have to log into Kahoot from a new tab to play the Kahoot game.

How could you use it?  As bellringers or exit slips, Quizalize can give you quick, vital information on student performance. With the quiz.al link and a code, quizzes could easily be imbedded in Schoology Updates or non-submission Assignments.  Coupled with a content-related video or text reading, Quizalize could be used for more engaging homework or as part of a flipped activity.  Last but not least, Quizalize could be another digital tool for gamifying your classroom.

Downsides? Fans of Quizizz will miss the lack of funny memes for wrong answers in Quizalize.  Both Quizizz and Kahoot have a rich reporting structure available for free, whereas you need a premium account in Quizalize to export similar Excel spreadsheets.  Lastly, although Quizalize has a leaderboard of sorts when running live games, Quizizz and Kahoot may be more effective in feeding the competitive nature of students.   However, its ease of use, coupled with the power of "subtopics" and quick visual representation of results, make Quizalize a compelling alternative.

Are you a user of Quizalize?  Talk about it in the Comments below.