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This year Calhoun ISD and  Jackson County ISD, will be offering 3 distinct Technology in Learning courses designed to help educators learn ways to implement technology in their classroom right away.   Registration for the second session is open! Discovery with Technology for Learning January - February 2015 Discovery with Technology for Learning is a course designed to help educators explore and begin applying web tools that enable them to develop their ability to communicate with students and parents with a web presence.  This is a blended course - a majority of the work will be completed online, along with a mandatory face-to-face session that occurs after the course has started.  Important Course Dates - Course Start Date: January 8 Face-to-Face: 4:15-6:45 January 14 Course End Date: February 19 30 SCECHs Available - Optional ($15 fee) Face-to-face location options: Calhoun ISD -  Registration Coldwater High School -...

 From Discovery Education & Toyota: Learning to drive is one of the coolest times for a teen. But facts have shown it can also be extremely dangerous. In fact, the first year after a teen gets their license will be one of the most dangerous years of their life. (Source: National Safety Council). Actions such as talking on the phone or just talking to your friends in the car, not wearing a seatbelt, driving at night, texting, and just plain inexperience all result in car crashes being the leading cause ofteenage death in the U.S. But we believe that you have the power to inspire your fellow teens, maybe better than a teacher or a parent can, because you know what messages will be the most powerful. That’s why the TeenDrive365 Video Challenge empowers teens to put that vision on camera and save teen lives! Approach your video submission as your chance to find a message that would resonate with you and your peers. If your friends—and teens throughout the United States—were goi...

(for teachers in southern to mid-Michigan - easy driving distance to Ypsilanti) How would you like to become involved in a professional development project involving engaging students in Cyber Discovery? We are looking for teams of two teachers from eight different schools in southern to mid-Michigan (easy driving distance to Ypsilanti, Michigan) who are interested in making up a diverse group of dynamic team-oriented people! Requirements: Both teachers teaching ninth grade.  One teacher will come from math, computer science, or technology,  One teacher will come from an area in history, art, theater, English or other humanities class  (If this doesn't fit you, then do pass the opportunity along to someone else who would be interested in this program!) William Sverdlik & Zenia Bahorski of Eastern Michigan University have been awarded a grant from the national organization National Integrated Cyber Education Research Center (NICERC). NICERC is fund...

Teachers have all kinds of tools in their tool belt - when these are online tools, it can become confusing and time consuming for students to get to where they need to be!  The Gather Your Tools pd opportunity is a hands-on session over two days where teachers will set up a Moodle 2.7 course as a launching pad for all their online tools, providing a one stop location for their students to go to whenever online activities are involved.  When:  December 11 (4:00 - 8:30) and December 12 (8:30 - 3:00) Where: Calhoun Area Career Center; 475 E Roosevelt Ave; Battle Creek, MI Cost: $50* *FREE for educators located in REMC 12E (Calhoun and Branch Counties) - provided as a REMC 12E service   Register here ! General Agenda:   https://docs.google.com/document/d/17ZMvrAUVx-_2QSPlP_NLhorNIkVHd0g4m0pbiLuq1PE/edit?usp=sharing Program Goal : Participants will have a course ready to use with students the next day.   Objectives : build familiarity with wha...

The vast majority of my morning has been spent "playing" with iPads on Meraki.  This is only my fifth time I have blocked out some hours to work with it, and finally I am feeling like I've made some headway! It's been quite an involved process, and if you are wondering if you should go this route for your MDM solution for iPads there are some pointers I think worth sharing that may help you decide. Items to keep in mind when troubleshooting: It is a multi-faceted process - you have to deal with Apple's DEP and Apple's VPP, in addition to the tools within Meraki;  There are many ways to do similar functions - for instance, you can create & add profiles from within Meraki, or you can create them in iPhone Configuration Utility Tool and upload them, or you can create them in Configurator... you get the picture. Meraki has a definite delay in the data that displays - sometimes you just have to sit and be patient, or even walk away These all contribut...

The following is from Pynya Mishra of Michigan State University's School of Education.  His team created the T-Pack tech integration model. From him - We need your help in completing a relatively short research survey about 21st century skills. We ( Punya  Mishra, Rohit Mehta, and Danah Henriksen) have been gathering data to help us better understand what education professionals such as current/future educators, faculty, and education graduate students, think about 21st century skills.  This short survey will take approximately 10 minutes of your time to complete. It will provide essential information regarding the challenges faced by educators in the 21st century and the knowledge/skills needed to face these challenges. If you start, please do take the time to finish, as your responses are extremely valuable to us. The survey should not take more than 8-12 minutes. Your responses will be confidential and fully anonymous. Click on th...

  November 10, 2014 | 9:30 AM EST (Archive available at 1:00 PM EST) Discovery Education is proud to support Veterans Day with a unique, global perspective on honoring veterans. Join us on Monday, November 10 at 9:30 AM EST for our first ever live global virtual field trip from the historic Tower of London, United Kingdom. An archive of the event will be available for viewing from 1:00 PM EST. Remembrance Day is a national day of tribute in the United Kingdom that is observed on November 11. It serves to honor members of the armed forces who have died in the line of duty. Transport your students across the globe to participate in this 30-minute virtual tour. Our British guides will bring us into the Tower of London and the moat to teach students about the history of Remembrance Day, the significance of the poppy as a symbol of remembrance, and the historical importance of the war that started 100 years ago. Remember World War I and pay tribute to ve...

MiFlip 2015 3rd Annual MI Flipped Learning Conference We would like to welcome Steelcase Education as a new sponsor of the conference, along with TechSmith! When : Saturday January 10, 2015 Where :  Steelcase University Learning Center Cost : FREE This year’s theme is Blended Learning. The Keynote will be given by Mr. David Tebo Superintendent of Hamilton Community Schools.  Get a chance to talk with Flipped Classroom Published Authors: Brian Bennett, Karl Lindgren-Streicher, Dave Prindle & Delia Bush. Reservations and tickets can be made at Eventbrite . Watch the miflipteaching site and Twitter feed for more information.

One calendar feature that can be useful for some situation is the ability to set up time slots.  If you are a Google Apps for Education district, you have this feature. (It is not available with a general Google account...) To set up time slots, first make sure your calendar is in the Week view - Drag over the times you want to block out for your time slots on a single day (you can set up for additional days later) - A pop-up will appear to enter a new event - there is a second choice at the top called Appointment slots, click on that - Put in an event name, set which calendar it should appear on, and select whether it is one slot OR divided into a series of slots - When you are set, click on Create slots - The slots have been set up.  Now, to fill the slots click on the event name in the slot area to see the details page - You can edit the event here, including adding a location and description. The important piece is the hyperlink that is shown....