Recapping Our "Ticket to Adventure": 2023 Spring eCoach Day

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 by Kerri Lambert, teacher specialist, OIT

Technology. Love it or hate it, one thing that everyone can agree on about it is that it’s always changing and evolving! That’s why, twice a year, OIT hosts a day of professional learning for our eCoaches to learn about the tools, applications, and instructional tech strategies that we have available in AACPS. We use a train the trainer approach; eCoaches (with discussion and input from their administrators) choose from a variety of sessions conducted by vendors, fellow eCoaches, and OIT specialists to attend on eCoach day. After attending, eCoaches disseminate the information to staff in a myriad of ways including professional development, office hours, newsletters, videos, even flyers in the bathrooms!

With the theme “Ticket to Adventure”, our second eCoach day of the 2022-2023 school year took flight on March 1st. Since the day was held virtually, we were also able to invite Brightspace Campus Champions, media specialists, and central office staff to attend sessions that interested them. Thanks to our amazing presenters, our 140 “travelers” had 30 different presentations to choose from throughout the day! Sessions ranged from easy No prep/low prep tech ideas, to Brightspace’s new Creator+ tool, to making videos more interactive using Nearpod. Wixie, Lumio by Smart, and Discovery Education sessions focused on using their tools across grade levels in STEM, ELA, and more. Oh, and did you know that Minecraft Education can be used for more than just an indoor recess option? With two sessions on this engaging tool, led by eCoaches and OIT, attendees walked away with ways to productively channel students’ love of Minecraft into class projects. Add in an enthusiastic keynote from Dr. Bedell, and it was a travel itinerary packed with ways teachers can use technology to encourage student engagement, interaction, and creativity. But don’t take it from me (I might be a slightly biased after all), here are just a few pieces of the overwhelmingly positive feedback we received:

  • Very helpful and practical ideas for the classroom!
  • Great variety of choices and quick implementations to take back.
  • Loved hearing Dr. Bedell. This was a great day!
  • Great tools to help teachers allow use of technology while relevant to learning goals.
  • Very eye opening! I had no idea Discovery Education had this many features. <3
  • I love how Lumio/SMART has updated. I'm excited to bring this back to my staff. 🙂
  • Great examples of how our students can be more active in displaying their learning! (Wixie)
  • This presentation was VERY helpful. I think it will be a game-changer for student engagement when used for classroom lessons! I can even see it being used for clubs! (Nearpod- Student Led)
  • Absolutely love!!! Can’t wait to try this! (Show, Don’t tell the Story with Minecraft)
  • This was very useful. This can be applied to basically any concept and it creates another way for us to assess.” (Google Sheets: Make and Take)
  • Love seeing all the tools that were available on Digital Take-Out! Thank you!
  • Thank you for the reminder of activities that have been around for new uses! (No Prep/Low Prep for Elementary)

Pretty incredible, huh? I bet we’d have gotten at least 4 stars on Yelp! And it’s all due to our amazing OIT team and vendor partners:

  • Packing up "souvenirs"
    to send to attendees
    Brigitte Connolly, D2L (Brightspace)
  • Christian Avalos and Brad Fountain, Discovery Education
  • Asia Long, Nearpod
  • Heather Schrader and Sarah Storck, SMART Technologies,
  • Scott Loomis, Tech4Learning (Wixie)
  • Emilie Schweich & Emily Becker, Typing Club
  • Jim Guest, eCoach & EEE teacher at Van Bokkelen Elementary
  • Dan Fitzgerald, eCoach & EEE teacher at North Glen Elementary
  • Office of Instructional Technology:
    • Stephanie Kelly
    • Tracey Brown
    • Kerri Lambert
    • Koralina McKenna
    • Morgan Thompson
    • Darren Towers
    • Samantha Wilkinson
    • Patrick Malone
    • Paige Richardson

Wishing you could have traveled with us? Well, you’re in luck. We’ve posted all of the sessions on YouTube for you to watch! You can access the videos and any shared resources by clicking here.

Enjoy your “Ticket to Adventure!”

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