A few years ago, I was teaching as a traveling art teacher, going around to a different school each day and trying to keep some sort of sanity with 5 schools, 50 classrooms, almost 1,000 students, and a heavy laptop that took about 30 minutes to boot up. I had to carry all my supplies in a little grocery cart through each school, up and down stairs, and to wherever I parked my car for the day to go home. I would miss important emails from principals and almost never used the SmartBoards in the classrooms because it was just too crazy to try to boot up my computer. I wasn’t about to ask a teacher to log off her computer during art time, either — that is always their time to get caught up. I felt like I was teaching in 1973!
Then I bought an old tablet. I quickly learned that I could not only use the tablet to check my school emails or access important teacher documents, but I learned that I could also create some really cool resources for my students. I could video public art and bring those videos to class to talk about art in my kids’ own neighborhoods. I could pull up an artwork on the fly so students could talk about it. But then I thought, “what happens if I put technology in the hands of my students, and let THEM create their own things?”
That was almost a decade ago. Since then, I have gotten a Master’s Degree in Digital Learning and Leading from Lamar University (Part of the Texas University system), been chosen as an Apple Distinguished Educator and a PBS Digital Innovator, and I’ve received training as a Hapara Champion Scholar. I’ve presented at iPadPalooza, the West Virginia Art Educators’ Association, the West Virginia State Technology Conference, and I was a co-founder of West Virginia’s first statewide EdCamp. I have 8 years of experience training teachers and administrators how to use technology in the classroom.
There are many EdTech products out there to choose from. Everything from digital curricula to assessment tools are available for purchase. Districts spend millions of dollars to purchase programs for teachers and students to use that may or may not live up to expectations. But the best teaching and learning comes when teachers and students are empowered as content creators, not just content consumers. DIY Edtech Workshops and Consulting center around providing teachers with training in digital literacy, digital (distance- and blended) learning best practices, digital citizenship (including staying on the right side of copyright law when creating digital activities), supporting diverse learners in a digital space, and digital safety and wellness. I can help you choose the best tools for your students’ needs, and help you build a digital learning system that supports ALL students — that’s something that most curricula-in-a-box can’t promise! I can also help you do all of this with whatever technology you have access to.
Contact me today to set up a consultation for your school. Whether you need only a short workshop or a longer consulting relationship, I’m always happy to help teachers do what they do best, and that’s to create exciting learning adventures for their students.