Friday 21 November 2014

Conference Reflections

This past week, I spent a few days with technology leaders at the Alberta Technology Leaders in Education conference. This conference brings together people who represent technology vendors, IT departments and Ed Tech departments. It was very eye opening and I want to share some of the things I learned.

To the Cloud or not To the Cloud?

I participated in a panel discussion while at the ATLE conference. On the panel were representatives from Edmonton Public Schools, Edmonton Catholic Schools, Wolf Creek Schools, Microsoft and the Alberta Education Technology Branch. The purpose of the discussion was to discuss privacy and security concerns relative to cloud computing. It needs to be pointed out that districts are not questioning whether they should utilize cloud computing such as Google Drive or other options. The answer to that question is yes. Districts across Alberta and around North America are making the switch to cloud computing. With that comes some concerns about privacy and security. 

At this point, Alberta Education does not have a policy related to cloud storage of information. They are in the process of working on one. Therefore, it is up to individual districts to establish policies that make sense for them. In the absence of those policies, it is up to us as professionals to be mindful of what we store in the cloud. It is important that we are always careful, no matter what platform we use, that we protect student data. That is the message coming from all of the experts. We need to use good professional judgement when we share information either in the cloud or through email so as to maintain the safety of our students and their information.

I am certain more will come out regarding this issue. As the Alberta government and the ATA work on these issues, we will receive more information. In addition, Grasslands administration is discussing these issues. At this point, our good professional judgement needs to be used as we work with our students on appropriate digital citizenship.

Accelerating Learning for Struggling Readers

The link below is for a fantastic presentation given by Nicole Lakusta, who is a fantastic educator from Parkland School District. In her presentation she discusses some issues faced by students who are struggling to read. While the main orientation of the presentation is around Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environments, she does present some very interesting apps that can be used in the classroom to help students who are struggling. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Presentation Link: http://t.co/kx1fipXlwc

Aurasma

At first, I saw Aurasma as something interesting but without a lot of application. Until I started to play with it a little more. Aurasma is an augmented reality app that is supported by both iOS and Android. When you download the app to a smart phone or a tablet, and point it at an image that has an "aura" attached to it, you will experience augmented reality through the app. 

While this is very "neat" there is an educational application. Students can make Auras. They could use images of famous people or places and create a short video about the person or place. If other student have the app and point it at the picture, the video will play. I see this is a very unique way for students to share their learning with others as well as to creatively approach how they represent their learning.

Final Thoughts for the Week

One of my favourite things to do in the division is work with students and teachers. I had the opportunity this week again to get out into schools and work with PLC groups and classes. I am very happy to do this. If you would like me to come visit your classroom and help get your students set up using Google Drive, please let me know. In addition, if you would like me to come help you or your PLC group, I would be happy to come by, sometimes I even bring treats!

Have a great weekend everyone! Thanks for taking the time to read,
Sean

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