September-October+2009

=Virginia Department of Education Update =

= =

__ 2009 Virginia Educational Technology Conference __
 The 2009 Virginia Educational Technology Conference, formerly known as the Educational Technology Leadership Conference, combines with Innovate 2009 to bring technology leaders and practitioners an event that inspires, informs, and provokes discussion.

The 2009 Virginia Educational Technology Conference will be held October 28-30, at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Conference sessions will demonstrate successful and innovative projects and initiatives that use technology to improve and enhance Student Academic Achievement or 21st Century Skills and Knowledge.

The greatly expanded 2009 Virginia Educational Technology Conference (VETC 2009) has something for everyone. If you are a teacher, join us as presenters and exhibitors demonstrate the latest instructional innovations in teaching. If you are responsible for the planning, coordination, and implementation of educational media and technology programs or if you are a coordinator of instructional technology, library media, distance learning, instructional television, and instructional computing applications, VETC 2009 provides valuable information and innovative ideas in a single location. Division superintendents, curriculum coordinators, staff development specialists, administrative computing specialists, university teacher education professionals, telecommunication professionals, and instructional technology resource teachers benefit from the program and contact with colleagues from across the Commonwealth.

Conference information can be located at [|http://vetc.09.org]  .

Requests for additional information should be e-mailed to the Conference Chairperson at kpotter@vt.edu  . 

__ Enhancing Education through Technology Grants (Title II, Part D) __  Superintendent’s Memo #232-09 provides guidance and official allocations for LEAs eligible for Title IID Formula Subgrants. The memo is located at: []  

Information on the new Title IID competitive grants is expected to be released in a Superintendent’s Memo on Friday, September 18. <span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">

<span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">__ Current Initiatives __ <span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">[|Thinkfinity.org] <span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> During the ’08-’09 school year, we trained 16 people to be Certified Trainers for Verizon Thinkfinity <span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">. <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">This means they can train other trainers. If you <span style="font-family: 'Courier New'; font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobidifontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">would like to set up a training in your division, please contact Jean Weller. Also, we will be training another dozen or so Certified Trainers this coming school year, so if you have someone who would be interested, have them contact Jean (Jean.Weller@doe.virginia.gov <span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">or at 804-225-2825).

During the summer, we held a 5-day camp at Virginia Tech for 44 ITRTs and LMSs. Participants were exposed to several tools they could use with teachers who are at various stages of integration ability (we called it the TIP-ping! Point camp with TIP standing for Technology Integration Progression). We used the following free tools: Verizon Thinkfinity, Intel Teach, Oracle ThinkQuest, and the Garfield Foundation’s Comic Labs Extreme. Our focus was also on project-based learning, and using all these tools to support that particular approach. <span style="font-size: 16pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> Virginia on iTunesU (K-12) <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">Content Guidelines <span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">[] <span style="mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;"> <span style="font-size: 14pt; mso-bookmark: OLE_LINK2; msobookmark: OLE_LINK3;">

[|Intel Teach]

[|Thinkquest.org]

[|Share the Skies]

[|Learning Without Boundaries]

[|Professor Garfield’s Comics Lab Extreme] Comics Lab Extreme is a Web-baed platform for students that enables them to explore storytelling through new media. With this platform, students can create multilingual stories that combine a variety of multimedia assets, including imagery, text, audio, video, and animation.