NJECC’s 33rd Annual Technology Conference ~ January 8th, 2019 Keynote ~ Dr. Michelle Schmitz, Apple Distinguished Educator, Principal "Pioneering Change in Education" (Sponsored by Apple Education)
Dr. Schmitz is an elementary administrator who IS reimagining and rethinking education to meet the needs of today’s learner. Schmitz is the founding principal of EPiC Elementary where Every Person is Inspired to Create, a learning environment that is redesigning education based on three pillars: Empowering Creativity, Equipping Students, and Engaging Communities. Her mission is to challenge your thinking and provide real-world ideas that will push your students to be creative thinkers, collaborators, and innovative problem solvers.
Tuesday Presentations and Workshops Join us for more than 100 presentations featuring professionals teaching in K-12 schools and universities. This year we will feature strands for Library Media Specialists, Special Education Teachers, Math Teachers and English/Language Arts Teachers. We will offer hands-on sessions and BYOD sessions. All presentations and workshops are listed below. You are free to choose from any of the sessions when you register for Tuesday, January 8th, 2019. The detailed schedule will be available mid-December. If you choose to attend our post-conference workshops, taking place on January 9th and January 10th, you must register for the sessions individually.
Hands-On Post Conference Workshops are listed below by date and time. Please choose your post conference workshops when you register.
Cost: The fee for Tuesday is $110 for NJECC members and $125 for non-members. All individual workshops on the post conference days are $110 (member) and $125 (non-member) for each workshop. Google Certification Preparation Workshop Level 1on post conference days is $279.00 (member) and $299.00 (non-member).
Exhibition Area: Come visit our exhibition area to view displays and demonstrations from vendors featuring the latest in educational technology products and services.
This fast-paced workshop is a variety of hands-on, cooperative, AI activities with nuggets of info on the past, present, and future direction of artificial intelligence. We will also explore the darkside of AI, including the misuse of consumer data and ‘deepfakes’. Participants will leave with a concrete understanding of AI and resources for further exploration.
We’ll explore the benefits of creating a Center-Based Makerspace, its functionality, and how we can use different types of challenges (challenge cards, novel engineering, and curriculum-based challenges) to build an effective and manageable Makerspace. We’ll look at how to create challenges and see what it would look like in practice. This presentation is appropriate for general education as well as library media.
In collaboration with the NJASL and under the leadership of Elissa Malespina, FRS-NJ convened a task force of NJ educators and leaders to create indicators and resources based on the national #FutureReadyLibs Framework to support New Jersey's librarians' #FutureReady efforts. These resources will be available as of December 2018 in time for the annual NJASL and NJECC conferences. Join Elissa and Jeremy Reich, FRS-NJ's project coordinator, to learn how you can #GetInvolved and benefit from these resources and the surrounding #FutureReadyLibsNJ community!
With over 23 years in education, I've been a high school history teacher, special education teacher, and a teacher librarian at multiple schools. I served as the Coordinating Supervisor of Educational Technology in Parsippany-Troy Hills and am a Board of Education Member for South... Read More →
Project Coordinator, Future Ready Schools, New Jersey
Jeremy Reich is a Project Coordinator in the College of Science and Liberal Arts (CSLA) at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). He holds a BA in History from Drew University and more recently an MAT in Social Studies from Rutgers University – Newark. Jeremy has coordinated... Read More →
Tuesday January 8, 2019 10:45am - 11:45am EST
Room 1040Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ
Many countries have individuals who reside in underprivileged, rural provinces where access to education is limited. As a result, common people are stepping up and performing the job of librarians in these provinces. These common people, also known as literacy heroes, are forming improbable libraries and are encouraging and increasing literacy in many disadvantaged and forgotten communities throughout the world.
Media Specialist / STEM Research Honors Teacher / Adjunct Professor, North Bergen Board of Education
Dr. Krista Welz is a tech-savvy NJ school librarian who teaches research and provides teacher professional development. She has won awards for educational technology leadership and innovation. Connect with her on Twitter @kristawelz.
Tuesday January 8, 2019 10:45am - 11:45am EST
Room 2010Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ
Join Aimee Toth, Principal of Mountain View Middle School, and Mary Joy Falcone, Technology Coordinator from the Mendham Borough School District, on their journey to revitalize the middle school Media Center. Using Mountain View's recent Media Center project as a case study, participants will hear first-hand how the school transformed a dated room into a 21st Century collaborative workspace.
Principal, Mountain View Middle School, Mendham Borough School District
In her seventh year as the Principal of Mountain View Middle School, Aimee Toth's career in education spans almost two decades. From seventh grade Social Studies teacher to Assistant Principal, to her current position, Mrs. Toth is committed to working with middle-level learners... Read More →
Tuesday January 8, 2019 10:45am - 11:45am EST
Room 2012Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ
Integrate Google Classroom into your library instruction! Google Classroom can help library media specialists collaborate asynchronously with teachers, provide uniform instruction across classes, and easily integrate a variety of technology tools. Use Google classroom to connect with your students, your colleagues, and other learners across your district. Suitable for every grade level; we will be specifically addressing grades K-6.
School Library Media Specialist, Lawrence Intermediate School
I teach information literacy to over 900 4th/5th/6th grade students every year! I am an active member of NJASL, currently chairing the NJASL Standards Committee.
The relevant Library Media Specialist must consistently Reflect upon curriculum, Refresh one's outlook, and Renew by staying abreast of current technologies and trends. We will share some of our lesson updates and daily best practices integrating the latest pedagogical strategies and tech tools such as FlipGrid, Padlet, WeVideo, Tinkercad, Google Apps for Education, Adobe Spark and others.
Supervisor of Career Education and Library Science, West Orange Board of Education
As a member of the New Jersey Career and Technical Education State Advisory Committee, Nancy is passionate about providing students with the best CTE opportunities possible. She is also an advocate for school libraries and strives to provide our community with the best library programs... Read More →
Library Media Specialist, West Orange High School LMC
I have been an educator for over 30 years and have seen many changes over that time, however, I am excited about current shifts in education and the Library world! Follow me @bevtindall !
Tuesday January 8, 2019 11:55am - 12:55pm EST
Room 2008Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ
RGB is a student-run technology help desk stationed in the Library Media Center. Students are responsible for tech help, tutorials and programming, PD workshops, and assisting ITC. This workshop will cover how to start a help desk and sustain it over time. Students will be presenting along with the LMS.
Virtual reality simulations allow students to apply the content they are learning to “virtual life” situations. Discover how virtual reality can be used to enhance educational experiences, engage and motivate students, and give students the opportunity to see how the content they were learning connects to the real world. The focus will be on simulations and games available for HTC Vive through the STEAM store to support and enhance the curriculum.
With the prevalence and availability of coding platforms, all teachers have the opportunity to infuse computer science into their classrooms. There are many accessible and exciting applications that teachers can use to design unique learning experiences for their students. Several tools will be presented in this workshop, including Scratch, Thunkable, CoSpaces, and Makecode.com. Activities and projects which include coding not only empower students through innovative opportunities, but also enable the incorporation of design and computational and iterative thinking.
Digital Design Teacher & Tech Integrator, Ramsey School District
Robert Kalman is a digital design teacher and tech integrator at Eric S. Smith Middle School in Ramsey, New Jersey. He is an avid edtech presenter and consultant, and has experience integrating iPads, Chromebooks, & PC’s in a 1:1 device environment. Robert loves working with both... Read More →
Tuesday January 8, 2019 1:10pm - 2:10pm EST
Room 2008Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ
The library should be a joyful place of learning just like summer camp. In this workshop you will take home concrete ways that your library and school classrooms can embrace joyful learning through art, coding, design process, robotics, and play. We will build on students' favorite books and develop activities that entice students to collaborate and have fun. Teaching and learning can be fun for all and there is power in positive teaching.
School Media Specialist, Clinton Elementary School
I am the School Media Specialist at Clinton Elementary in Maplewood and contributing author of the ISTE book Teaching Literacy in the Digital Age. I am the recipient of the Jean E. Harris Progressive School Library Media award in 2015 and Code.org teacher of the month in July 2014... Read More →
Tuesday January 8, 2019 1:10pm - 2:10pm EST
Room 2010Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ
Participants will learn the differences and similarities between digital literacy and digital citizenship; to weave digital citizenship into digital literacy and media studies; to effectively communicate with students and teachers about how to use technology responsibly in language they understand; and, strategies to promote collaboration among technology coordinators, curriculum supervisors, library media specialists and teachers. Presentation Link
High School Librarian, John P. Stevens High School
Shari Stein has been an educator for over 33 years. For the first 8 years, she was an English teacher in Edison, NJ. For the past 25 years, she has been the librarian at John P. Stevens High School in Edison. She is an expert in digital content management and social media usage. Shari... Read More →
Tuesday January 8, 2019 1:10pm - 2:10pm EST
Room 2012Montclair State University, 1 Normal Ave, Montclair, NJ
This workshop will focus on the tech tools and resources used to enhance various grade level thematic units of study and the many ways in which they are utilized to create a rich learning environment for our elementary students. Tools will include: Ozobot, OSMO, 3Doodler, Tinkercad, Makerbot, Green Screen tech and others.
Depending on your school setup and culture, your library and technology departments may be totally separate, work together, or be one and the same. Learn about the research on the value of library and technology departments being combined. We will touch on the leadership needed to make this kind of change as well as considering whether the change is structural, physical, or both. I'll share my experience with this and help you think about the value for your school.
Are you looking for a fun, inexpensive way to teach hands-on coding to your students? Learn how to use this tiny programmable computer that enables users to see their code come to life. Use block or text coding via Microsoft’s web-based MakeCode to program the Micro:Bit. Perfect for beginners as well as more experienced coders. Bring your device (with USB port) and I will provide some Micro:Bits!
Summit Public Schools embarked on an elementary coding and robotics initiative. The evolution included developing a scope & sequence, cross-curricular curriculum, and selecting robotics hardware in collaboration with the District Library Media Specialists. Elementary students will have a year's worth of hands-on instruction progressing through drawing, block, and text-based coding languages and programming robots. Media Specialists and Technology Coaches wrote the curriculum with a scope and sequence. All grade levels will have eight unique lessons taught by the Library Media Specialists.
