The Last Day

Today, I took a little step back from all the technical workshops offered (although I did attend one about the State of the Web on about Firebase and one about optimizing voice activated apps). I started to feel so overwhelmed and overstimulated that my brain could not process any more stimulation.

The highlight of my morning was the Daydream and Tango demo dome. So, Daydream is a Virtual Reality platform. I was able to wear the headset, headphones and be completely submerged in 360 degrees of a virtual world. It was such a wild experience. I had tried Google Cardboard about a year ago and this was so superior to that, just incredible.

Then I ventured over to the Tango portion of the demo. This is where my wheels were turning about the implications of being able to implement this type of technology in our schools. Tango is an augmented reality that uses the Smart Device to place digital objects in view that are relative to the space around them. So the first demo, I was able to choose a character to place in a room and digital objects to have. This objects you place in the room remain in place so you can actually zoom in and out with the phone for more detail. So, here's a picture of me with Scarecrow from Wizard of Oz...

Next, I was able to go shopping online by virtually trying on clothes! In this demo, the Gap online catalog was pulled up. I was able to click on the article of clothing that I liked and enter the size I wear. The clothes would then be displayed in front of me so I can see how it looks in that size. Again, being able to walk completely around the outfit and zoom in to look at material or detail.

Next, I was shown how this same device can take a picture in which it scans and turns 3D. An entire home could be scanned and viewed with accurate dimensions. They can they be used compatibly with the Virtual Reality headset to "enter" the home.

Finally, I was able to experience Google Expeditions as a student. The first thing I said was, "maybe I wouldn't have hated science if I had this as a student."

So in about an hour I will depart Mountain View and head toward the airport to fly home with a ton more knowledge, some new friends, and a new perspective on educating students about technology. A trip that I was so nervous to attend, across the country not knowing a single person and it was the single best professional development I have ever had. The entire experience has been so positive, rewarding, encouraging, and exciting. I am so grateful to have had the experience and hope it will not be the last of this nature.

Next week, a new part of my journey begins when I get to share my new knowledge and experiences with my colleagues and my students in hopes we can continue to build our curriculum to allow our students to grow with the technology around them.

Day 3, Big Ideas

Another long and exciting day in Mountain View. It is late and I'm overwhelmed and exhausted so I'm going to just highlight the areas that peaked my interest the most today. Among sessions on Android Wear and App Building, I attended a session called Daydream in the Classroom. This was focused on using Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence in the K-12 classrooms.

The biggest take away from this is that learning must be immersive to keep kids engaged, interactive which empowers them, and social so they can learn from others and share their knowledge. Google Expeditions now has 600+ virtual reality tours. Students can dive down and explore the bottom of the sea and the next day take a tour of Mars. Companies like Best Buy sell complete kits. There are databases with supporting lesson plans, there are new search features and the app works on tablets or phones. During an expedition students can have annotations on the screen, the teacher can even draw on his/her device and have it shown on the students' individual devices.

So now, using Tango Google has moved from just Virtual Reality to Augmented Reality. Teachers can place a digital object in the classroom and students can walk around seeing this digital object from all angles. There is 360 degree imagery.

This can also be used to teacher professional trade skills in the classroom.  It was stated that in the last 30 years we have made more progress teaching computers to learn artificially than we have made progress teaching humans to learn creatively.

This is definitely a leap we need to explore!

The rest of the day was filled with networking and exploring the Google Campus. I got to visit the Android Garden where they "retire" all the old versions of the Android Operating system.

Lastly I skipped the evening social event to visit my beautiful little niece in Petaluma. San Francisco rush hour put the Long Island Expressway traffic to shame as it took me 3 hours to drive what should have taken an hour and 20 minutes. It was worth it when I got to see this face. 

So, tomorrow will conclude my adventure. Stay tuned for the grand finale...

I/O Adventure part 2...

There is no way I can articulate this day in one post but I'm going to try. It started out good but ended amazing. 

The day started with the 2 hour long keynote speech. 

Google announced Google Lens. This allows your camera to act as an input device. For example, you can scan a restaurant sign with your camera and the restaurant reviews, menu, phone number will show up. You can take a picture of a flower and Google Lens will identify the flower for you. Just. Amazing. 

A hot topic for today was Google Home and Google Assistant. Now, Google Home will be proactive and it will also allow hands free voice calling.

Also in store for the near future are indoor Google maps or VPS (Visual Positioning Service). Find the exact location of a specific item inside a building! You could pinpoint a certain screwdriver to it's location in Home Depot within a few centimeters.

Coming soon...stand alone virtual reality headsets.

The announcement about Android Go struck my interest. The new version of O allows for low budget devices with less than 1GB of memory to run on optimized versions of apps like Chrome and YouTube. This could be a great, inexpensive way to ensure that all students have a device in hand. It even allows for offline sharing.

There's even more! Read about all the new releases here. https://www.recode.net/2017/5/17/15654076/google-io-biggest-announcements-keynote-highlights-2017

After 2 hours of awe inspiring presentations we had an hour for lunch on the lawn and then went back to the amphitheater for the Developer Keynote. 

Here's where we were told that we would all get a Google Home to take home with us. In addition we will get $700 worth of cloud storage and a free photo book. 

Got to Hug an Android! 

Next I went to Assisting the drivers: from android phones to Android cars. Executives from Audi and Volvo announced that their new consoles will be powered by Android. It will have GPS powered by Google maps, know your personal settings but also be able to do things like "Google play a game with the kids". It will then play an age appropriate Trivia or travel game with the kids. 

What's New in Android Accessibility focused on creating apps that are user friendly for everyone. 1 in 5 people will have a disability at one point in their lives and they are a large part of users. This session focused mostly on accessibility for low vision users but touched on other disabilities. Many great features that will also be helpful for students with disabilities. 

Up next was the State of the Mobile Web and then a session on Progressive Web Apps. These are apps that are designed to use minimal data and run quickly making the user experience much more efficiently and effortless. 

After this session I had a truly unique experience. I found out through Facebook that I have a cousin (whom I've never met) that works at Google. He works out of Cambridge but happened to be in Mountain View this week. He was kind enough to invite me to the Googleplex for dinner. Only a 10 minute walk away from the conference. We spent about 2 hours catching up on some genealogy but also "talking Google". Just amazing to hear it from an inside perspective. 

After dinner I walked back to the amphitheater where I was met by my new friends. We made a 3D video, hung out in the "old school" arcade room and watched as the lady leading the karaoke party via bicycle rode by. 

A good time was had by all. Let's see what tomorrow brings. 

Women Techmaker Dinner, end of Day 1

I am blown away by the amount of effort and thought put in to this event to promote and encourage women in technology. The dinner was an outside event and every detail was carefully thought through. From the variety of eloquent foods, the decor, the seating, games, and photos all to create a sense of belonging and community.

I went there not knowing a sole and left there with new friends. I met women who develop apps, sell apps, collect data on apps, and women who teach others about developing. I was just trying to absorb it all. I can't wait to share these prospective job outlooks with my students! The theme of the dinner was equality-- go up to someone who doesn't look like you and make a new friend. Love this whole atmosphere!

Check out the pictures below...

There were traditional table and chairs and couches, but I loved this set up!

I wish I took more pictures of the food! 

Check out the giant Jenga game being played by a bunch of women engineers!

Making Friends...

I made it to San Francisco! I kissed my babies goodbye at 5am this morning and was on my way. Had a great flight, rented a car, and then got to go to Google to pick up my event badge. Yes I was the person excited just to see the signs!

Tonight, I am off on another adventure. I am meeting 15 women who I connected with via social media who are also traveling alone and have never attended I/O before. We are meeting at a cafe for an hour and the we are headed to the Women Techmaker Dinner at the Google Athletic complex. This is a huge networking event for women in the technology field. 

To I/O I Go!

On Tuesday I leave for the biggest leap of faith I have taken in my career so far. I am traveling across the country ( literally from NY to CA) to embark on an adventure filled with awe, excitement, envy, and anticipation.

I am attending Googles annual developer conference. It is a 3 day outside tech festival with the most talented computer engineers on the planet.

How do I fit in?  Well, I'm approaching this from an educators point of view. I have started to dabble in coding and find my humanities based education has done me a disservice in this area. I am finding that learning to code at 37 years old, without a formal education is extremely frustrating and difficult. Alas, I persevere and whether it is my OCD or just a delusional amount of persistence I will continue.
 
I am no where near the skill level of the other attendees of Google I/O, but what I do have is passion. It is highly unlikely that I will become a master engineer in this lifetime, but I do have an advantage. I am an educator and although it's late in the game for me, attending I/O gives me insight to what is in store in the near future and what my students need to know to get there. I can then go back, to the higher functioning, humanities part of my brain and help to develop curriculum and strategies for our next generation of productive adults. This generation can then learn to be able to use their science based brains to make a difference in our changing society.

Stay tuned for details about my adventure!

It's been a year of growth

So, I know I haven't been very consistent with blogging, but I have been very busy. This year brought to light a lot of milestones in my journey in educational technology.

My skills are finally being recognized in my school district and although I proposed a full time educational technology integration specialist position a year ago, it is being talked about and I do believe time is proving it is necessary.

In addition to my daily job duties and becoming a building technology mentor last year (which I continue to serve as), I was invited to participate in a district technology committee. This committee involves administrators, teachers, board members, students, and community members. This committee reviews district technology needs and proposes to the Board of Education solutions to the many obstacles involved in its implementation.

I was called upon, because of my Google training, to create a database for Parent Teacher Conference sign ups. With 3000 students and 250 faculty members this was not a small task. I did it using all free Google products. I created a Google Site in which each teacher has a page. On each page each teacher has a google form to make an appointment with. Thanks to the amazing add-ons, like Choice Eliminator and Simply Send, I was able to configure the form to suit our needs. I then used my Professional Learning Network to ask for help to create a master spreadsheet where all the teacher appointments would be imported for administrators to be able to view. I came across an amazing contact who was more than willing to help and continues to provide technical support.

Each day I look forward to challenging myself with a new task or something I haven't attempted before. I never stop learning and every day I look forward to improving upon an old practice. I am sure there are bigger and brighter things in my future.

Innovative Ideas

So aside from recently asking the assistant superintendent of my school district for a position as a Educational Technology Specialist or Tech Coach, I have been collecting ideas on how to prove I am worthy of this new position.

I had a brief meeting with the principal of my building yesterday in which I mentioned allowing me 10 minutes of department common planning time a month to introduce a new Ed Tech idea. It seemed well received but it has to be brought to the department chairs who will collectively decide as a group if its worthwhile; some of them more interested in technology than others.

I know classroom teachers and administrators are always super busy and have to juggle a ton of responsibilities, what can I do to help them realize I am another set of hands for them and can show them "shortcuts" on their journey?

My next big idea is to try and collect data to support the need for an Educational Technology Coach. Ideally I would love for teachers or administrators to fill out a Google Form when they need help with technology (not a hardware/software issue but a USER issue). Not sure how I could initiate a project like that without ending up doing two jobs at once or having teachers angry that they filled out the form and didn't receive help. It is at the idea stage and I will pursue it. Stay tuned...

PBS Learning Media Digital Innovator

Although I was not chosen as the Lead Digital Innovator for New York State, I am proud that I was accepted as a Local Digital Innovator. This allows me to connect with some of the best teachers and mentors in the country virtually. It also allows me to demonstrate my passion and commitment to the integration of technology in education.

In the last two years, I have accumulated a variety of badges that I am proud to display!

Every School Deserves Technology Integration

This year I was grateful to hold the position of a building technology mentor and have been able to work with many teachers helping them to utilize the technology we have available to us. I have, however, recognized the need for a stronger support system for teachers to integrate technology.

There is a trend in research emerging that supports the need for a Technology Integration Specialist in school districts. Technology Integration Specialists act as coaches. “The specialists suggest new ways of teaching, demonstrate new equipment, bring in new resources and create new policies. They use their credibility as a classroom teacher and their knowledge of teaching strategies to help design lessons and plan projects with the teachers. These specialists also use their position to make technology visible.”1  

If I was given the time and the flexibility to reach beyond just one building in the district I can share my knowledge, enthusiasm, and passion with teachers and administrators. I would not only have the ability to conduct in house trainings at times that are conducive and are the least disruptive to learning, but I can cater to individual needs and act as a liaison to build collaborative relationships district wide. “Teachers need the guidance of a coach, someone who is not also burdened by the day-to-day responsibilities of teaching a class.”2

Although my Master’s in Library and Information Science degree included educational technology, I also acquired a Master’s in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology in 2011. As a member of the International Society for Technology in Education, among other smaller local groups, I have a very strong Personal Learning Network and continually engage in professional development. I would love the opportunity to share what I have learned and the challenge to implement it in the district.

Below is a job description I found in Kankakee Valley Schools in Indiana for a Technology Integration Specialist. I feel the role it describes would be an asset in any district.

Position Summary: Under the direction of the Director of Technology, this position of Technology Integration Specialist promotes the use of technologies to support student achievement in the classroom. The Technology Integration Specialist provides leadership, staff development, and instructional support to instructional and administrative staff. In addition, the Technology Integration Specialist serves as a liaison between school and district technology initiatives and school based implementation and support for administrators and teachers. He/she also assists in the development and implementation of curriculum and technology integration reports. The Technology Integration Specialist provides instructional staff with the essential support needed to complete technology–based instructional management and productivity functions. The Technology Integration Specialist collaborates with appropriate instructional and technical staff to support, manage, optimize the use of instructional software, and network resources to support quality teaching and learning. This skilled professional works independently and collaboratively with colleagues.3



1. Hofer, Mark, Barbara Chamberlin, and Tammy Scot. "Fulfilling the Need for a Technology Integration Specialist." T.H.E. Journal 32.3 (2004): 34-39.ProQuest. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.
2.  Hertz, Mary Beth. "Mentoring and Coaching for Effective Tech Integration."Edutopia (2011): n. pag. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.

3."Technology Integration Specialist Job Description." (n.d.): n. pag. Kankakee Valley School Corporation. Kankakee Valley School Corporation Office. Web. 2 Mar. 2016.

 
 
  

I'm still Reaching

I was recently given a task by an administrator to create a Google Form. I was to include a simple description of a program we currently have and ask teachers to write how it should be updated with Common Core Standards. After considering the data flow and the amount of teachers who would be responding, I chose to create a more advanced Form. This simple task became my big project for my mid-winter recess break.

I ended up creating an eight page form with drop down menus (to eliminate the need for teacher data entry). On the bottom of each page I included a text box for comments or suggestions and made sure it was not required for them to input there.

Each page of my form became a discipline area. I realized the sheet that reflected the answers also needed to be altered in order for the data to be sorted and readable. I created tabs along the bottom of the sheet and entered in formulas so that the Master would be untouched but the data from each page of my Form would also be its own Sheet in my Workbook and the tab would be visible along the bottom of my Master. I then color coded each discipline so the color on the master also reflected the color on the separate sheets and the tabs.

I realized I went over and beyond what was expected and I may have even gone too far. I find that I get caught up by the possibilities when working on these projects and want to add all the bells and whistles to illustrate what can be done.

I have shared my creation with the administration and am anxious to receive feedback. I am so happy to have been asked to help; considered to have expertise in Google Apps. I want to produce quality that will be appreciated in hopes that I will be called upon again.

I truly enjoy the challenge of being able to take a "blank" slate and alter its settings and content to meet the needs of the educational institution that I work for. I hope this is the beginning of many such projects.

Keep Growing

Anyone who is an educator (or even anyone who has been a student) has seen a teacher burn out. The teacher who is angry, given up, does the bare minimum and is just "coasting" till retirement. I can't imagine that mentality. Yes, I'm only 10 years in to my 30+ year career, but I also can't imagine keeping things stagnant for long enough for it to get boring.

It's hard. I'm a mom of two young kids; one with special needs. I have a house that needs tending to, a husband, and extended family that all demand my time. There will always be somewhere I have to be or something I have to do in my personal life. Even though family comes first, I made a promise when I went in to the field of education. I am not standing in an assembly line in a factory, my 'product' are human beings. These are other people's children; their first priorities. It is my duty as a piece in their educational puzzle to give them the best that I can so they can prepare their future the best they can.

It makes me so angry when I see teachers give up. We may not be doing emergency surgery, but we have direct impact on young lives everyday. We are important and every word, smile, or gesture could make a difference in someone else's life. If a teacher is "coasting" or ready to give up they need to put their own gluttonous behavior aside and get out of the classroom. You can't just collect a check here and have summer off, you are robbing a child of their entitlement.

I loved my job with minimal technology, but the more technology I have available to me the more I get to try out new ways of engaging students. It helps with any dullness to my workload, it lets me be creative. I also love helping to convince those teachers who are skeptical about using new tools and, in some cases, watching their love of teaching become revived.

I just want to Learn!

I would be a full time student if time and money allowed. I want constant stimulation, problem solving, and learning new skills.

I decided to apply for some awards. I am not sure if I will be found to be deserving but it can't hurt to apply. I'm putting myself out there and if I win I will be ecstatic. I want to recognized for my passion and intrinsic motivation to follow that passion. I don't need huge jackpots (although that would be nice), a little recognition or even the ability to attend a prestigious event would be a thrill for me.

So for now, I am writing my bio, demonstrating my dedication, and hoping that the future awaits new and exciting possibilities. I am feeling hopeful.

Aspiring Google Innovator

I received the disappointing news yesterday that I was not selected for the February cohort of Google Innovator. Dealing with mixed emotions about this amazing opportunity, I decided to begin by documenting this journey which will hopefully travel down the road to educational greatness.

I have succeeded great lengths in the last 5 years. I completed my second Master's degree in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology, I was accepted as a Google for Education Certified Trainer, and now I am always trying to put new and innovative ideas into practice in my school district.

I did not always imagine this is where I would be or what I would be passionate about. It is something that I was introduced to and fell in love with. I found that I gained no greater satisfaction then having an idea about integrating technology in education and then watching it become implemented.

My epiphany happened upon my disappointing email. I want to reapply to be a Google Innovator in March and I have to find a way to show my dedication. I have to create the perfect application. I have document my success and failures; to learn from my experience and become better. Hence, my new blog.