2024VSTE Annual Conference

Technology and Global Ethics: Where do we anchor with tech as we navigate environmental, intellectual, and social challenges?  What circumstances and solutions require us to sail away from the shores of technology and which ones require more support for a quality anchor? When do we need to dock on topics related to Digital citizenships and innovative technology? How do we sail past distributing a list of moral guidelines to training students how to navigate their own moral decision-making when it comes to technology, its use, and impact? If you have ever pondered any of these questions, this is the session for you.  Join us as we share our ideas and experiences on how we helped students harbor around  technology and ethics.  

Join in on an enlightening discussion as we lift anchor and sail towards accessibility in education. By embracing accessibility we empower every learner to thrive and reach their full potential.

In partnerships with NSWCDD, the UMW College of Education is working with local educators to create a mobile makerspace that will help bring resources to schools across our region. Come learn about our journey as we start from scratch and work with educators to create a resource for educators that will help provide innovative learning opportunities for students.

Come see how you can use Google Earth to visualize scientific data, explore math concepts, give historical context of events, examine settings in literature, and explore the depths of the sea! These free tools can help students explore concepts from a different perspective, while keeping them engaged with real world information, and helping them develop spatial reasoning skills. We'll navigate the immense oceans, visit tropical islands, travel along winding rivers, and even spend some time on dry land exploring ways to use Google Earth using existing resources, and creating your own.

Pack your imagination, charge your creativity, and let?s light up learning together! We will explore electrifying activities where creativity meets technology. In this session, we will explore 3D printing and other projects that make things light up! This session is for grades 2-6 and will lay the foundation for scientific and computer science principles. By the end of this session, you?ll be anchored with ideas, templates, and a newfound love for all things illuminated.

Executive skills develop until age 25, with rapid growth in the middle years. We must be cautious and intentional in saying, "They already know how to do this!" Using the UDL guidelines, we explore how to scaffold Strategic, Goal-Directed, Purposeful, and Motivated Learners. We provide classroom-level and schoolwide evidence-based strategies for teachers, coaches, and administrators to put in place to develop students? executive skills -- and scaffold the ones that won?t develop until age 25! Understand the range of executive skills Understand critical characteristics of executive skills Identify opportunities to scaffold and build executive skills during the middle school day Identify activities and strategies to scaffold and build executive skills during the middle school day Participants will have a QR code for access to materials, explore a handout and examples, and discuss with the presenters to personalize to their own setting and network for the future.

This questions plagues those who support and coach teachers all the time. Join the Instructional Techology Team of Newport News Public Schools to learn about their journey to answer this question over the last fifteen months. Check out the tools they have built to collect data and help quantify their impact, and walk away with copies! Explore the iterative process they have used to craft the tools, and learn about their next steps on the journey.

Collaborative learning technologies have the potential to transform traditional educational practices by fostering a more interactive and engaging learning environment. This presentation will explore the impact of collaborative tools such as online discussion forums, collaborative documents, and social media platforms on student engagement and learning outcomes. Through a combination of theoretical insights and practical examples, participants will gain a comprehensive understanding of how to effectively integrate these technologies into their teaching practices to enhance student collaboration and achievement.

Want to know how you can be a VSTE presenter? Attendees will get to learn about the submission process, suggestions of what to include in your presentation proposal, and tips for making the proposal the best it can be. Everyone has something they could share at a future VSTE. Come and learn how to create that successful write up for the proposal process.

Have you ever wondered how to navigate the digital waters with your elementary students? Being a digital citizen is a necessary academic, professional, and life skill, especially for digital natives. In this session, we break down how to teach elementary students to be good digital citizens using the gradual release method. We anchor it in teaching the Virginia SOLs, ISTE standards, PBL Gold Standards, and the Digital Learning Integration Standards. This session focuses on projects (group and independent) that span a whole school year to show the full scope of gradual release in support of digital citizenship for all learners.

Are you tired of the old ways of having students present information? Do you feel like the normal student led presentations are weighing down their learning and your instruction? Are you ready for a more innovative, student-led approach? Then look no further than the Panel Project! As educators, a staple of our formative and summative assessment repertoire is the presentation. Throughout the years, we have seen new, and innovative ways to conduct these projects that have increased rigor, differentiation, and student choice. However, educators always seem to be looking for a new port in which to drop anchor, and the next innovative idea to take ahold of. In enters the Panel Project. Student success, the anchor of the Panel Project, grows from Student Control, Differentiation, Rigor, and Practical Application of skills, the main components of the Panel Project. In this session we will explain each of the components: how the Panel Project can be set up to give students varying amounts of control, from very little to complete, and how this encourages student engagement and ownership; how you can easily differentiate this project for every type of student in your classroom, so that all students become part of a team working towards a larger goal.; how the rigor found in each section of the project combines to allow students to reach for new heights; and how this project takes on new meaning for students as they play a purposeful role in the presentation. This session will also include an explanation on how the Panel Project idea came about, the progression of the project from a once-yearly endeavor to an anchor of our assessment and review practices, and how we foresee implementing this practice in the future. In addition, we will provide resources to help you create your own project and discuss ways this project could be used in different content areas and across different grade levels. So, are you ready to innovate your practices and join the discussion?

This proposal outlines the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a foundational tool to enhance educational success. By leveraging AL, we aim to improve learners' efficiency, personalize their learning experiences, and streamline administrative processes. This will ultimately lead to better educational outcomes for students and more effective resource management for institutions.

In this globally connected world, are board games a thing of the past? I think not. Getting together with friends or family for "Game Night" still has an appeal for most people. Within the walls of our classrooms, the most engaging activities consist of student choice, innovation and a little competition. There's never been a better time to dive into bringing gamified learning to your class and, in my opinion, Genially templates hold the key to this endeavor. Participants will use Genially Templates to create digital board games to play as a whole group, with teams, or as a station. The games may be coordinated with any content and any standard. Participants should have a content area and standard in mind for their design. By the end of this make and take session, participants will have a completed game ready to play next year.

Join an elementary school Instructional Technology Specialist for an engaging session about portable STEM carts and their transformative impact on student learning. Topics include how to curate and fund materials, how to integrate content areas with STEM, and maximize opportunities for students to build the skills of a VA Graduate.