#BRESA Tech Talk

In 2005, Dale Dougherty, through Maker Media, launched Make Magazine.  This has proven to be a catalyst for what is now known as the Maker Movement.  In 2006, to celebrate what was being created from the magazine and in the world at large, Maker Faire was born.  The first faire was held in the San Francisco Bay Area and attracted over 20,000 attendees.   In 2015, more than 1.2 million people will have attended over 150 events all over the globe.  Locally, we are proud that our own event - the Southwest Michigan Mini Maker Faire contributed over 1,200 attendees!  But what I am most happy to say is that the art of making and creating is alive in classrooms all over our area and spreading. The folks at Maker Media have been busy again lately, providing several excellent opportunities to help your classroom, school, and community.  One of the first places to start is Maker Ed .  This site provides a powerful resource library and a ‘playbook’...

Happy August! The world is picking up speed here at Berrien RESA!  We are rapidly preparing to host more than 100 educators for Tech Camp 2015.  This year we are focusing the camp on the Google Apps for Education suite.  With over 16 sessions being offered per day, there should be something for everyone! http://www.solutionwhere.com/berrienresa/cw/showcourse.asp?309 If you are interested in registering for Tech Camp , the registration deadline is August 12th! Get a jumpstart on your school year and come learn from some of the best and brightest from all around the state!

Welcome to our final 'tech tip' of the school year!  We will begin regularly posting tips when the students return after Labor Day. A definite theme of ours this year has been making.  We feel there is a definite value to creating and making something in the classroom.  Our recent Southwest Michigan Mini Maker Faire was attended by over 1200 people who made over 200 Nerdy Derby Vehicles, launched 150 rockets, and 100 of them learned to solder.   Taking that making mentality and making learning hands-on is nothing new.  John and I both recently received a great kit meant to support later elementary students with math and science ... from Hot Wheels.  In fact, Hot Wheels is GIVING AWAY a speedometry kit for free to any 4th grade teacher that applies  here . Each kit includes the following materials. 40 Hot Wheels® diecast cars 16 orange loops 16 track clamps 64 track connectors 100+ feet of orange track Lessons  for using the kit ...

The Southwest Michigan Mini Maker Faire is right around the corner!  Joe and I are working diligently with our community partners to pull off an amazing event on May 30th from 10am-4pm!  We have over 20 makers set to display their work, and many of those stations are going to be HIGHLY interactive!  Some examples of the types of events you will see include:  Make and Race Nerdy Derby Cars Build and Launch Paper Rockets Learn to Solder Station Learn to Code  Makey Makey Extravaganza littleBits Creativity Station And many many more!  If you are at all interested in 3D printing, this event is certainly for you! SeeMeCNC , from Goshen, IN is bringing many 3D printers to set up a 3D printing village!   Bring your friends, bring your family, just come out! This is going to be an outstanding event that you will come back to year after year!  (If you are interested in volunteering to help, visit the Volunteer tab on the w...

The course will officially start  May 20 , but there will be ongoing enrollment through  July 1 . The teachers can choose 1-7, 8-14, 15-21 or all 21. We have to have a minimum of 10 participants signed up by  May 20,  otherwise we will have to cancel the summer session.  Jennifer Johnson of Macomb ISD will be teaching the course this summer. She will hold several orientation sessions to accommodate new people enrolling through  July 1 .   21things4teachers offers video tutorials and live virtual sessions.   Participants work at their own pace, with online instructor support, to create an online portfolio showcasing valuable and applicable projects for teaching and lifelong learning.  Educators say that taking the 21things4teachers is transformational, and they see immediate results when using and applying the ‘things' in their classroom.  For a peek at the content visit the  21things4teacheres.net   site...

Welcome back from Spring Break.  If you are looking for an energizing professional development opportunity consider attending the third annual Connected Educators Unconference on Saturday,  April 18th .  The event is $20 and will be at the Jackson Career Center.   In my opinion hosting a Saturday event ensures that participants want to be there, and will be engaged.  Jackson County ISD and Ingham ISD are teaming up to produce the event.  This is a chance for active learning alongside experts.  BYOD and prepare to participate! Here is a link to learn more and to register: http://edtech.jcisd.org/ connected-educator- unconference.html

Hearing the phrase 'podcasts in the classroom' probably causes you to think of creating podcasts at the end of a project.  This post is going to focus more on utilizing professionally created podcasts as the classroom content itself.   In general podcasts are gaining popularity and, in some instances, have gained wide spread appeal.  Much of this momentum comes from the recurring podcast series Serial .  According to this article from CNN Serial is the fastest podcast to be downloaded 5 million times and as of December 2014 had been downloaded more than 40 million times. I am one of those who has been engrossed in this series about the murder of a Baltimore teen - Hae Min Lee -  in 1999 and the trial of her ex-boyfriend - Adnan Syed - who is convicted to life in prison.  While listening to the story I would catch myself wondering how I could use this in the classroom. This recent article  from Mind Shift takes a look at how English teachers have d...