2024VSTE Annual Conference

Insert your quarter, grab a Tab, and press start for this session on how coding text-based adventure games like Zork can get your students creating, writing, and reading. In this session we will crowd source our own VSTE Adventure game so that you'll see the step-by-step process on how to EASILY write a playable text based adventure game. You'll get the writing template, coding template, and lesson plan/procedure/timeline to make this a ready to go lesson that you can do today! You and your students will love writing their own games and playing each other's games in their own classroom arcade. Although this session will be concentrating on writing and reading, we will talk about ideas on how to get this into history, science, math and beyond.

Anchoring a vision of innovation in the fundamental understanding of how technology supports content and pedagogy can lead to powerful change in the classroom. In this interactive session, we will consider what innovation looks like, learn about and practice using the Technological Pedagogical Content model for lesson planning and explore opportunities to use TPACK as an anchor for more student-centered, engaging instruction. Come prepared to play as we explore and create new ways of approaching instructional design.

Step into the realm of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) and unlock a world of endless possibilities in physical therapy and allied healthcare education! This workshop will use VR and AR technologies to analyze human anatomy, revolutionizing teaching and learning in physical therapy and allied healthcare classrooms. Participants will use VR headsets and AR applications to navigate through detailed anatomical models, observe physiological processes, and gain a deep understanding of human anatomy and physiology. Guided by expert facilitators, this workshop empowers educators and professionals to leverage VR and AR for enhancing comprehension and fostering critical thinking in students aspiring to careers in healthcare. Embark on a transformative journey that reshapes our perception and teaching of the human body!

Learn about how a Title I elementary school encourages women in STEM. We build a community of girls in third and fourth grade. The program encourages sisterhood and beginner computer science and coding skills. Girls Who Code has a free curriculum that you can use in your school, too. Work on leadership, building relationships, and computer skills all year long! Learn how you can bring this program to your school.

Our division embarked on a voyage with the Advancing Computer Science Education grant, setting our course to build teacher capacity, develop instructional resources, and craft science-integrated lesson plans that align with the VDOE computer science standards. We anchored our curriculum with robotics and coding, navigating these elements into the elementary science classroom. Join our session to discover the charted course we followed to explore the vast sea of computer science integration. We'll share how we mapped out and created these lessons and resources, how we docked robotics and coding into our curriculum, and where you can dive in to access these valuable resources. Come aboard and sail with us on this educational journey!