Many NH Schools Have "Gone Google"

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Many NH Schools Have “Gone Google”

NH Educators Learn 21st Century Skills and Schools Save $$$

Contact:
Allison Mollica, NHDRC Grant Coordinator
603.340.0873 | allisonmollica@gmail.com

LOCAL EDUCATORS ATTEND GOOGLE EDU “BOOT CAMP” TO LEARN INNOVATIVE INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

Pembroke, NH, July 2012 —This could be the summer remembered as (many) NH Schools “Going Google."   Sponsored by the New Hampshire Digital Resources Consortium - www.nhdrc.org - NH school technology administrators and educators were trained by Google Certified Teachers and Trainers to help with their deployment of Google Apps for Education.

The NH Google Apps for Edu Boot Camp, and NH Digital Resources Consortium, was made possible through the Enhancing Education Through Technology (Title IID) Program at the NH Department of Education. This program awarded SAU #53 in Pembroke a grant to manage and lead the Digital Resources Consortium project. The NHDRC’s mission is to develop professional development, training and provide tools to help schools reach their 21st century potential.

In July, over 250 NH educators attended NH Google Apps for Edu Boot Camp at one of four locations across the state: The Seacoast Professional Development Center, UNH Manchester, Keene State College, and White Mountains Community College. The event was organized by NHDRC coordinator, Allison Mollica, with support given by the Local Education Support Center Network. Each Boot Camp was an intensive, 11 hour training where teachers received hands-on experience with Google's products and technologies, learned about innovative instructional strategies, and received resources to share with colleagues. To further extend the reach of this initiative, each Boot Camp participant will host a professional development session in their school district or region during the 2012-2013 school year.

Almost 100 school district technology administrators participated in Google Apps for Education Deployment training in May and June. Clearly this is the summer that NH Educators are “Going Google!”

What may be the most interesting to NH residents and taxpayers is that Google Apps for Education is available to all K-12 schools for FREE! This includes, email, web hosting, and more - potentially saving districts thousands of taxpayer dollars!

For further information about Google Apps in Education - http://www.google.com/apps/intl/en/edu/

Governor Lynch Proclaims Digital Learning Day in NH

A litte late posting this!....
 
Governor Lynch joined 35+ other states in proclaiming February 1st as Digital Learning Day in NH and our Hanover Street Third Graders personally thanked him VIA Skype to celebrate.  

Digital Learning Day was initiated by  Alliance for Excellent Education, and refers to digital learning  as a broad array of topics and approaches where technology can help in school reform efforts. This may be in teacher preparation and continuing education, STEM and innovation instruction, broadband access for all, using data to inform instruction, personalizing instruction, increasing quality teacher time, online/blended learning opportunities as well as using robust digital content in high-quality lessons. The Alliance seeks to use Digital Learning Day to highlight these innovative teaching approaches and celebrate the potential of technology as a force multiplier in America’s schools.    Watch the 2012 DLD Town Hall Broadcasts.

Lebanon School District has also started a blog Educational Technology @ Lebanon School District to highlight and showcase the various ways technology is impacting learning in our classrooms!  Please check it out!  

Image:  Governor Lynch with Allison Mollica, Instructional Technology Facilitator, and Hanover Street Third Grade Students (via Skype) @ the State House on Wednesday Feb 1, 2012.

Digital Learning Day in the News:

• Education 2.0: Can Digital Learning Day begin a classroom revolution? (Christian Science Monitor)
• Celebrating Digital Learning Day | (The White House Blog)
• Celebrate Digital Learning Day with 40 Years of Times TechEd Reporting (NY Times)
• On Digital Learning Day, 7 Golden Rules of Using Technology (MindShift)

Google Apps for Edu Prague Summit October 2012

Looking forward to presenting at the Google Apps for Education European Summit in Prague - October 2012.

Learn, Create, Share - Portfolios with Google Sites for K12

In this session participants will see how Google sites can be used with students in a K-12 environment in two ways - as comprehensive academic portfolios that showcase student achievement over time and as project portfolios where students create a variety of projects using Google Apps and other Web 2.0 tools and build a portfolio in Google Sites to showcase their "constructed knowledge." The idea is to Learn, Create and Share. This can be applied to younger and older students - if you are interested in using Google Sites for portfolios and need to create a plan with a vision, the information shared here will help you.

@amollica https://plus.google.com/u/0/116502499532003007487/posts amtechnology.org

NH Goes Google Week Day 3 Google Boot Camp Keene @ KSC

Another great day for Google Camping.  The crowd is ready and interactive - working collaboratively together to learn and share.  Our Power Google Team Leaders - Kern Kelley, Alice Barr, and Richard Byrne really know how to differentiate instruction.  Accompanying their fabulous lessons are a plethora of resources for advanced learning and further development.   

The NH Google Bootcamp at Keene State College (Southwestern NH Edu Support Center) was made possible through the NH Digital Resources Consortium (special thanks to Stan Freeda, Cathy Higgins,  SAU #53, Mary Rubega, Helene Bickford, Deb Boisvert et. al) in partnership with SWNHESC (thank you Bev Straneva) and the EdTechTeam (thank you Mark Wagner, Alice Barr @alicebarr - The View From My Window, Kern Kelley @kernkelly - The Tech Curve, and Richard Byrne @rmbyrne - Free Tech For Teachers).  A lot of preparation and collaboration went into making an experience like this happen!  #nhdrc #gafe
Please check out these upcoming Google Apps for Edu Events going on this summer!  Don't stop here - expand your knowledge, collaboration and expertise!  Hope to see you at one of these!

• Google Apps for Education Summit, Yarmouth, Maine Summit  #gafesummit (there are summits being held all over the world! - find me at Boulder (8/3), Maine (8/14), and Prague (10/13)
• Google a Day Week in August and More in Concord at PSU -  EdCITES 
• Google Apps and IPads - Summer Schedule @ Seacoast Professional Development Center in Exeter, NH
• Making Google Work for You - at SWnhESC  7/23-24

NH Goes Google Week - Day 2 Google Boot Camp Manchester

What a fantastic day for Google Camping.  The NH Google Bootcamp at Manchester (UNHM) ...was made possible through the NH Digital Resources Consortium (thank you Stan Freeda,  SAU #53, Mary Rubega, Helene Bickford, Mary Rubega et. al) in partnership with EdCITES (thank you Jen Lowton), UNH - Manchester Campus, (thank you Ginger Lever) and the EdTechTeam (thank you Mark Wagner, Alice Barr, Kern Kelley).  A lot of preparation and collaboration went into making an experience like this happen!  #nhdrc #gafe

Please check out these upcoming Google Apps for Edu Events going on this summer!  Don't stop here - expand your knowledge, collaboration and expertise!  Hope to see you at one of these!

• Google Apps for Education Summit(s) - Maine Summit  #gafesummit (there are summits being held all over the world! - find me at Boulder (8/3), Maine (8/14), and Prague (10/13)
• EdCITES - Offering Google a Day Week in August and More!  
• Seacoast Professional Development Center in Exeter - Summer Schedule

NH Goes Google - 1st Day Google Boot Camp @ Exeter

Over sixty NH educators got up before the crack of dawn this morning to drive to Exeter's Seacoast Professional Development Center for the 1st EVER NH Google Boot Camp!  Richard Byrne, Alice Barr and Kern Kelley delivered an outstanding performance today!  Sixty educators from NH participated in this 11 hour training sponsored by the NH Digital Resources Consortium in partnership with our LESCN centers and the EdTech Team.    We covered Google Search, Docs, Drive, Voice, Books, Moderator, Sites, Calendar, Gmail, Video, YouTube, Forms, Scripts and much more!  The trick is now leveraging that new knowledge to positively impact how students experience life in their education.  Google Apps for Edu opens up a wide opportunity for collaboration and making learning fun and EASIER for both teachers and students.  We'll be doing this again in Manchester tomorrow, Keene on Thursday, and Gorham on Friday.  Thanks for a great day everyone!

ISTE Take Aways & Resources

ISTE always has a variety of opportunities - for learning, sharing, networking, interacting, reflecting and more!  I always come back with more than I can do anything with but here are some of the things I discovered along the way that you might be interested in taking a look at.

Google In Education - offers 30 minute sessions at their booth - http://www.google.com/edu/events/iste2012/

Chromebooks with Hapara Teacher Dashboard  - www.hapara.com/chrome

Brainpop is an outstanding product that helps engage both young and older learners with curriculum topics and goals.  Don't tell me it is expensive - it is valuable. Of all the "subscriptions" I have experienced in education - this is one that not only directly impacts students - it gets used often by students, teachers, special education/support staff and even parents!  You can also get the app in the App Store for iPod, iPhone, and iPad as well as in the Chrome Web Store.     www.brainpop.com

iPad Cases -

• Gumdropcases.com  - Nice protective cases for young hands!  (I like this one)
• Tridentcase.com - Heavy duty protection but a little clunky to work with.  
• MedgeStore.com - Supershell iPad case - most requested by our K4 teachers. 

iPad Apps -

• www.nearpod.com  Synchronized use of ipads in the classroom to create engaging multimedia & interactive lessons!  
• www.brainparade.com - Improve the learning experience for children with autism and otheer developmental challenges.   Powerful, portable, flexible, simple, intuitive, and KIDS LOVE IT!  
• www.dexteria.net - Family of developmental skill building Apps.  LetterReflex (overcome letter reversals), Dexteria (improve fine motor skills) and P.O.V. (develop spacial reasoning skills.)  

Global Access to Knowledge of Life on Earth- Encyclopedia of Life - www.eol.org

Ebooks -

• Brain Hive - eBooks on Demand for K12 Libraries - www.brainhive.com
• Online Resources for Reading Enthusiasm - www.teachingbooks.net
• One More Story- online library: read, hear, see - www.onemorestory.com

PD for Common Core & More! - www.pbsteacherline.org

• Improve your instruction skill sand master new content!
• Flexible, affordable, convenient
• High quality, relevant and diverse course content
• Aligned to local and national standards
• Opportunity to earn Graduate Credit or CEU's.

Online Learning

• If you live in NH - www.vlacs.org
• National University Virtual High School - www.nuvhs.org
• National University www.nu.edu

Ok, now I have emptied the bag of fragmented materials that I brought home.  I do have a comprehensive list of iPad Apps for High School Special Ed.. I will share in my next post!