Resource Center
Best practices, links, opportunities, and how-to’s submitted by Affiliate leaders or announced through ISTE. Please submit your resources to be shared with others.
Professional Trainers Named BOB?
--Davis Brock, Affiliate Rep and Past President AETA
The Alabama Educational Technology Association (AETA) is a relatively small ISTE Affiliate with approximately 250 members and is a group that consists of directors of technology and their district level staff members. For years, our annual conference consisted of presentations from our membership. We knew that we needed to add a new level of depth to our presentations to give our members opportunities to hear presenters from a national perspective. But our budget was tight, and we wondered how we would ever be able to afford national presenters at our small conference.
Enter The Best of the Best Presenters from NECC -- known as the BOBs in Alabama! We have been able to bring three or four presenters from the BOB list each year to our fall conference for the last four years and it has been so well received that we wish we could bring more each year! The topics each year are timely and the presenters are outstanding. And the price – well you won’t believe it! We have included BOBs as a line item in our conference budget and are excited that they are so willing to share with us. BOBs are a great way to bring a new depth and breadth to any conference and provide presentations to your membership.
If you are interested in finding out more, contact Debren Ferris with ISTE’s Professional Development department at dferris@iste.org, or 541-434-8918.
Digital Arts Offer from Pearson
Could you or your members use a $25,000 grant to learn to tell your stories through the digital arts? Consider this generous offer available to U.S. Affiliates.*
The Pearson Foundation is looking for schools or districts to participate in a three-day Digital Arts Alliance Leadership Institute (DAALI). This program is a valuable professional development opportunity to help school leaders develop, support, and sustain digital arts programs, with a focus on digital storytelling. This training will show teachers how to help their students make films that tell stories from their lives and/or communities.
The Pearson Foundation is interested in supporting building-level teams (one administrator, one tech coordinator, and two or three teachers) who have demonstrated a readiness for this professional development and can take this back to their schools and engage students. The training will be tailored to meet the school’s specific needs.
Pearson picks up all the cost for the professional development training (three days face-to-face) and the follow-up online community, and may provide support for travel, meals, and lodging. The schools need to make the investment of release time for the five or six team members to attend the training. Participants will receive ISTE memberships.
This project has been going on for more than a year, but there is still room for more participants. To learn more and get all application forms, see our wiki, http://affiliates.iste.wikispaces.net/DALLI+Project. Also, see the DAALI Web site that describes our partnership with this project at http://www.digitalartsalliance.org/partnerships/iste/index.html.
*Due to travel costs, this offer is available only to U.S. Affiliates.
Webinar Season Pass Keeps Giving
Affiliates have taken advantage of a new program this year in a big way and made the Webinar Season Pass a success for everyone! The Season Pass gives participants access to a year’s worth of ISTE professional development webinars – live and archived – for just $795. And just for helping to spread the news, Affiliates earn $100 any time one of their members purchases a season pass.
To date, we have sent 63 of those $100 checks to Affiliates! Thank you for helping us get this valuable training out to as many people as possible. You and your members have accounted for nearly half of all Season Pass purchases.
There is still time to participate. The year may be half over but that doesn’t mean you’ll only get half the training. Your Season Pass includes archives to all of this year’s webinars so you can watch them at the most convenient time for you.
Upcoming presenters in January and February include:
- Stephanie Throne and Grace Smith, Differentiated Instruction + Tech = Powerful Learning
- Melinda Maddox, Distance Learning
- Michelle Moore, Use Your Noodle: Learn Moodle
- Dr. Helen Barrett, ePortfolios and Web 2.0
See the entire schedule here.
One of the most common questions we hear is – who can use this pass? Answer: you, or your member, as the purchaser, is the one who will log in to participate in the webinar. But you can invite as many people as you’d like to gather in one location to view along with you. However, you cannot give out that link to anyone else.
One of the best ideas I’ve seen yet was from New Hampshire Society for Technology in Education. NHSTE purchased the Season Pass, then scheduled each webinar to be viewed live at a different location. That way they “spread the wealth” – and knowledge – throughout their membership.
To find out more, visit the ISTE Web site, www.iste.org/webinars, or the Affiliate wiki http://affiliates.iste.wikispaces.net/Hot+News%21%21, or contact project manager Debren Ferris at dferris@iste.org.
Email Marketing and More – Free for Nonprofits
--Mike Lawrence, Executive Director, CUE
Vertical Response is offering any nonprofit organization a free account allowing up to 10,000 emails a month. Pretty sweet deal. Info: http://www.verticalresponse.com/non-profits/
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