Education Employees Enhance Tech Skills At National Conference

  In an effort to increase the integration of technology in classroom instruction, a delegation of Department of Education employees—lead by Alice Joseph, Territories and Freely Associated States Educational Grant (T&FASEG) Program Director—recently attended the Northwest Council for Computer Education (NCCE) 45^th Annual Conference and Exposition in Seattle, Washington. There, the group received a wealth of information on innovative ways to use the Microsoft Office platform to guide 21^st Century classroom instruction.
 
“The NCCE conference enabled Department of Education personnel to collaborate with leaders from all skill sets in order to advance teaching and professional learning,” Joseph said. “The conference also allowed attendees to research and test new products showcased by leading vendors, and consult with peers and experts sharing their ideas for integrating technology in the classroom.”
 
Of the group of 18 teachers, technology coordinators and administrators attending the conference, 11 participated in a two-day Microsoft Innovative Educator Trainer Academy designed exclusively for K-12 teacher trainers responsible for delivering professional development training in their districts. The workshop provided hands-on training on Windows devices across a range of Microsoft platforms, including Office 365, OneNote, Sway, OneDrive, Skype in the Classroom, Office Mix, and other complimentary Microsoft tools available to teachers and students. 
 
Participants received a certificate of completion and an opportunity to become Microsoft Innovative Educator Trainers, and were given vouchers for the Microsoft Certified Educator (MCE) exams. Joseph and Cassilda Brooks, a science teacher at Eudora Kean High School, have both received MCE certification, which demonstrates achievement of technology literacy competency in six content areas, including education policy, curriculum and assessment, pedagogy, information and communications technology (ICT) tools, organization and administration, and professional development. The certification confirms that an educator or administrator understands how to assimilate ICT tools into the six content domains.
 
The three-day day conference, which took place February 23-26, offered attendees more than 200 workshops and sessions, some of which included:

• 3D Printing in the Classroom
• Using OneNote to Replace Your Class Web Page
• Google Classroom
• Makerspace Workshop
• The Hour Code
• How to Run a Successful STEM Summer Camp
• Brain Breaks
• How to Inspire STEM Career Using Virtual Reality in Schools
• Leadership Cohort Model 
• Windows: Wow, It Can Do That In My Classroom?!