SGGAFE

The NETS are not enough.

Pickering (2007), found that a focus on skills and fixed knowledge to be acquired was criticised by the teachers in his study, although Daly et al (2009), citing his findings, conceded that:

“Clearly, ICT use demands that teachers acquire certain generic skills (p 27).”

Understandably, there is a general hesitancy by tech integrators to embrace ICT skills teaching, as it tends towards,

“superficial, one-off and ‘box-ticking’ approaches which emphasise the development of functional skills and relegate pedagogical development to teachers’ ‘spare’ time (Daly et al, 2009, p 41).”

Now, somewhat ironically, the situation seems to be becoming reversed – with the emphasis very much upon the development of pedagogical skills and the relegation of ‘functional development’ (skills) to teachers’ ‘spare’ time.

So teachers are now effectively expected to acquire skills,

“by studying manuals, talking to each other, talking to the instructor, and seeking out other locally available experts” (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p 1038).

The problem is this ‘grappling experience’ (ibid) or ‘productive failure’ (Kapur & Bielaczyc, 2012), while a powerful way to learn, if not managed carefully, can become a tedious, frustrating process. "Good pedagogy should challenge not frustrate" (ibid) but it is difficult to judge when it is better to let people ‘wrestle’ or to mitigate the potential tediousness of a long process of discovery, by providing a ‘short cut’. The challenge of managing this ‘zone of proximal development’ (Vygotsky, 1987) is significant, the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by their need to engage in independent problem solving (trouble shooting) and the point at which they know they cannot proceed any further without ‘expert’ guidance, or collaboration with more capable peers, a 'knowledgeable other' (ibid) – or even, or perhaps more likely, students.

Balance is clearly critical here – one where an articulated skill set is defined that can be acquired within an authentic, integrated context.This session will describe my favourite kind of cake—the kid you have have AND eat. Can we have authentic tech integration, without neglecting a rigorous set of balanced ICT skills? I believe so, and I'll show you how.

Do you need to create a class set of personalized letters / reports? A mail merge could be the answer to help save you a lot of time when you're in these situations.

In this presentation I'll take you through the steps you need to follow, to create a basic mail merge using the Google Script "Autocrat", a spreadsheet with student names and information, and a document template. The big advantage of using Google docs to complete this, is that in the end you can email it automatically! That's the Google Magic.

It's a super simple process with incredible time saving possibilities.

More than just a home for Google Docs, Spreadsheets and Presentations, Google Drive is the universe for collaboration and sharing. It comes in many faces: online storage and synchronisation, collaborative document editing, home for online apps, and a school intranet with student drop-boxes.
With the power of Google App scripts such as gClassFolder and Doctopus, we will explore how we can harness the potential of Google Drive to streamline classroom instructions in a 1-to-1 setup. Design collaborative classroom activities and see your students learn while building artefacts and constructing knowledge.

Is it possible to get 7 year olds to maintain their own blog?

With an iPad and Blogger the answer is yes. Our experience at SAS has been fantastic and we'd love to share what worked, and what was challenging in our experience to date.

In this hour we'll look at:
The specifics of getting such a system up and running.
Examples of student work and posts
Some of the apps we used regularly
Discussion of the workflows used by teachers
Lesson Focus ideas

There will also be plenty of time for questions along the way.

This session will look at how you can use the mobile Google Apps suite in the classroom, particularly Google Drive. It will be hands on for those that bring a mobile device. The session will focus on how video and photos in Google Apps can be used to improve assessment, reflection and engagement in the classroom. The session will have ideas and projects where the technology can be utilised effectively.

With Hapara you can ...View activity in Google Apps organized by class and student, Automatic generation of class and student folders, Next generation file sharing with differentiated push capability, Oversee student email activity, blog posts, Google Plus, comments, and more, Easily reset student passwords, Add and remove students from class without touching the SIS, Provide read only access to parents without generating parent accounts, Remotely Control student browsers and MORE! What will you do with an extra hour a day?

SAMR is a great framework for assessing tech integration, but there is at least one other out there, and its name is RAT (Hughes et al, 2006), and yet for some reason it is remarkably lost in obscurity. In this workshop we will examine the RAT framework, and then examine strategies for making the transformative use of technology easier, much easier, using another framework called SAMMS. 
The transformative use of ICTs, "improves the process of bringing thought into communicable expressions in such significant ways that, once the tool is understood and used regularly, the user feels wanting if it is not available because it has opened up new possibilities of thought and action without which one comes to feel at a disadvantage. It's become an indispensable instrument of mentality, and not merely a tool. (Pea, 1985, p 175)
Workshop Outcomes
An understanding of a magnificent (yet surprisingly little known)  framework, that is a powerful, and simpler alternative to SAMR—and a lot easier to say. A deeper appreciation of the power of transformative technology, and how much easier this can be to realise than many people think.  

In this session you will be looking at some successful examples of ePortfolios at the Kindergarten and Primary year groups, as well as concepts and prototypes for Secondary students. Workshop participants will be introduced to some thought behind implementing ePortfolios, how Google Apps can be used to facilitate them and will leave with a fully working template they can take to their classrooms right away.

The collaborative nature of Google Apps makes it easier for teachers to keep families informed and to organize parent involvement. See how a grade four teacher used Google Apps for embedded weekly newsletters, online field trip permission forms, interactive class party planners and other family involvement tasks.

Inspired by speed dating and speed geeking, this workshop will be full of energy, geekiness, and passion for learning. Bring your favorite learning activity that involves a Google tool and be prepared to share it quickly. There will be a lot of movement and talking in this highly participatory session. Bring your ideas to share and some technology (phone, laptop, tablet or *gasp* paper and pencil) to record the ideas you hear. Come speed google with us!

In this session, participants will be looking at how Google Apps can eliminate the need for those bulky, paper wasting student planners. Using Google Calendar and some of the different page styles in Google Sites, teachers and students can create an online workspace that is collaborative and efficient, linked to mobile devices - and finally move past the aging planners that have taken up desk and backpack space for far too long.

FlipSnack is a fantastic online tool to “Make beautiful flipping books!”. This will be a hands-on session where we will start with a Google doc and finish with it being published as a flip book in Blogger Post or embedded in a Google Site.

While you may have a Google-connected GoodReads account, how effectively are you using it with your students and colleagues? Katie and Angie will explore the advanced features of GoodReads, especially the use of Groups, Lists and customised book links. We will also show you how a Chrome Extension called BracketCloud, designed for sports tournaments, can be used to track and evaluate individual or class reading -- all within the highly shareable Google Apps environment.

If you're the Technology Director, IT Manager, or Google Apps Administrator, this session is for you.

The session will be covering a lot of things that could help you in administering and maintaining your Google Apps for Education domain.

Securly is a cloud-based web-filter that has been built from the ground up for K-12 schools. It takes 5 minutes to set up per district. We are the first web-filter to integrate with Google Apps for Education. We also seamlessly filter your take-home Chromebooks and iPads as they move in and out of the school network.

Spreadsheets are an amazing way to organize and interpret data. In this workshop I will go through some of the functions that I think are sometimes overlooked and can be incredibly valuable and “Fun” to experiment with.

I’ll be starting off with 5-10 minutes of formatting shortcuts, and follow that with some interesting ways to model math problems (create a basic graphing calculator simulation), some great built in spreadsheet functions, and examples of how you might use spreadsheets to manage student data in your classroom.

It would be helpful if you have some familiarity with spreadsheets, but not entirely necessary as I will provide a sample worksheet you can use to follow along with.

Teachers are using Google Forms for information collection from parents and students, formative assessment, student reflection, surveys, and more. Come to this session to see various examples of how teachers are using Google Forms. Learn to make your own Google Form. As a bonus, learn how to create quizzes that Google will grade for you using Flubaroo! Bring your laptop for this hands-on session. Save time with Google Forms!

How do you help your students with the research process? How do students organize the information they find?

In this workshop come learn how this can be done with Google Docs and Google Sites to help students manage and organise their research. The teacher can also actively support the student through the process. There will be some tips and tricks to help your students with better search strategies and citing sources.  Bring your own suggestions for helping students utilise Google Apps to become better researchers. 

Bored of the usual Google Site templates? Want to bring your site to life?

Do you want to customize your site to make it truly reflect your content?

Keri-Lee will show you how to improve the look of your Google Site and make it stand out in the crowd!

Explore ways of creating customized headers and sliders to enhance visuals on your site. Learn about tools to create interesting backgrounds, make use of design principles and apply colour schemes to make the site you’ve always dreamed of creating.

Would you like to start blogging with your students? Why should we encourage students to blog anyway? How do we teach blogging? What makes a good blog post? How can a blog serve to capture, connect and create extended learning experiences for you and your students? Come to this session to explore the why, how, and what of student blogging. We will share ideas and resources we have used with 6th grade RLA (Reading and Language Arts) students. Co-presented by a 6th grade RLA teacher and an ed tech coach, this session will focus on how blogs not only help us meet curricular standards but also invite our students to become more literate, global citizens.

In this session we will look at how using Google Forms and YouTube on iPads will allow educators to effectively assess student learning. The work flow of this session will take participants through the steps of how to bookmark Google Forms on iPads for student use and also brainstorm how teachers can use student responses instantly in class to provide students with formative feedback. We will also cover how videos can be taken in class and uploaded onto a teacher/classroom YouTube account and then utilized for reflections and goal-setting on individual student blogs. Finally, we will have an open discussion as to how educators can utilize Google Sites to share educational resources and student learning with parents and the global community.

Participants need: iPad and computer.

Google Earth offers a number of dynamic ways of extending the imagination of students
as they respond to what they read and learn in Humanities (Geography, History) and 
Language Arts (English literature and Foreign Languages). With some basic training 
on the features of Google Earth, students can learn to create amazing, interactive 
explorations the social, historical and cultural scope of what they have studied. 

In this session, I will demonstrate four simple and successful ways to use Google Earth in 
the humanities and language-arts: Google smart Image search, Google Treasure Hunts, 
narrated audio tours using Google Earth, and review the ever-popular Google Lit Trip.

This 60 minute workshop gives an introduction to the pedagogical and technical 
knowledge needed to bring literature, history and geography to life in these four 
interesting and engaging ways. 

Description: What is an e-Porfolio? How can I use an e-Portfolio as an educator and in my classrooms? In this hands-on workshop, participants will learn:

-          What is an e-Portfolio?

-          Why use Google Sites for e-Portfolio?

-          How to build an e-Portfolio? A conceptual workflow

-          Setting up a e-Portfolio using Google Sites

-          Adding and deleting content

-          Sharing and publishing an e-Portfolio

If you are just getting started and want to use technology to 1.) streamline your instruction's delivery and 2.) simplify or clarify communication (with colleagues, students, and parents), join us to discuss how GoogleApps can make your life (and your students' lives) a lot easier. This will be a session responsive to your needs; part will be a presentation of our actual class systems so you can see a real-life class in action, then we can run Q&A and "play time" to get things started for your classroom, depending on the needs of participants. On the docket: Google Calendar, Presentation, Docs, Mail, Blogger, and Teacher Dashboard (not available everywhere but an amazing tool that works beautifully with Docs), plus recommended Chrome Extensions to help with literacy instruction. Bring your challenges, and we can brainstorm solutions to help you streamline your processes, allowing you to focus on your students.

In SST, all students learn with a laptop computer. Learning activities are designed to leverage on the interactive and collaborative features of blogs, Youtube and GoogleApps to promote critical thinking, communication and collaborative skills. Participants will get to see examples and experience how students learn through these activities in a Mathematics classroom.

This session will cover:
-Using Youtube as a platform for assessment of all types
-Using handheld devices to allow students to take ownership of their learning
-Privacy and sharing through google accounts
-Practical techniques for applying these concepts in order to save time and maximize student learning