Professional  Development Opportunity

ActivInspire is the newest version of software for Promethean Boards.  This combination in-person and online course will teach you the basics of this updated program and how to integrate it into your daily instruction.  Participants will learn the basics of migrating to ActivInspire, how to create basic flipcharts, use actions and containers, create assessments using ActiVotes, and more.  There will be 2 required face-to-face meetings on October 9 and December 4.  The rest of the class will be held online to better fit busy schedules.

Week 1 – Downloading ActivInspire, Introduction to ActivInspire, Migrating to ActivInspire
Week 2 – Resource Packs and Working with Images
Week 3 – Magic Ink, Spotlight, Revealer, and other Cool Tools
Week 4 – Working with Sound and Video
Week 5 – Layers and Groups
Week 6 – Containers and Actions
Week 7 – Activotes

In Person Meeting Dates: October 9, 2009 and December 4, 2009
Times:  5:00-5:30pm

Location:  6th Avenue Elementary School – Computer Lab

(New assignments will be posted online every Friday. Participants will have one week to complete and post each 2 hour assignment.)

Interested in attending?  Email your questions to Shannon Wentworth scwentworth@aps.k12.co.us at 6th Avenue.

Course registration is available on Avatar.

Here is the ActivStudio flipchart that was used today during the Fulton ActivStudio professional development. It is based on Classroom Instruction that Works.

Here’s “Part 1 of Dr. Robert Marzano addressing the question “What do we know about the effect of technology on student achievement?” at the CUE 2009 Conference on March 6, 2009.” (thanks Ivan)  Not surprisingly his studies show an increase in student achievement when instructional technology is used effectively and a decrease in achievement when instruction is focused on the tool rather than the learning.

The deciding factor of success is whether the teacher has a good understanding of pedagogical and content knowledge prior to using instructional technology. This just underscores for me the importance of teaching how to use instructional technology within the framework of instructional strategies. This is definitely an ongoing pursuit for me, as I tend to skip directly to how to use the technology rather than when or why.

Anyway… if you are preparing to write a grant soon for instructional technology, this is a great resource to book mark. The points that Marzano speaks of, relate directly to the work that the recipients of the DoIT Grant have worked to achieve with the technology they received. They have done some fantastic work! Check out their projects… and be sure to check out Marzano’s presentation.

image by Punya Mishra

Gwynn Moore & Shannon Wentworth have teamed up with the AEA to offer the Technology Integration Caucus (Flyer). Excerpt from flyer below.