Category Archives: announcements

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The Start of Something

  By Kiersten Greene • October 12, 2016

Thank you for helping make yesterday’s first SUNY Smart Schools Summit a huge success! It was an exciting day filled with resource sharing, idea swapping, and thinking outside the box. The idea of differentiating professional development appeared in many discussions throughout the day, and I suspect it will be an important topic for us to connect around further.

In the future, I look forward to sharing the results of an upcoming research study in which I will pilot an on demand and à la carte approach. Stay tuned for more on that soon.

Multiple Voices & Ideas

Based on feedback so far, it seemed productive to have so many voices in the same room at the same time. Several participants noted that it was particularly helpful to have concrete conversations about what works, what to try, and what to avoid when it comes to implementing new edtech practices, procedures, and hardware. If you haven’t already, please complete the evaluation for the Summit at your earliest convenience.

I am especially grateful to our learning session leaders, and to you: it was a truly productive day, out of which I have no doubt more great ideas will flow.

Don’t forget to check out some of the apps your colleagues suggested during the Smackdown, and feel free to add to it at any point.

Next Steps

  1. Complete Summit Evaluation. Your feedback is greatly appreciated, and it will directly impact any future initiatives we plan together. Here’s that link again, just in case. It should only take a few minutes. Thank you to everyone who has already completed it.
  2. Sign up for Blog updates. It’s great to see that so many of you have signed up for blog updates via email. If you haven’t already, subscribe from the home page.

I look forward to keeping the conversation going. Till next time, here are a few shots from yesterday. Photo credit John Oles.

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group-photo

 

adult-learning

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Location and Parking

  By Kiersten Greene • October 7, 2016

We’re just a few days away now…

There will be coffee and a light breakfast (including gluten-free and vegan options) starting at 8:30am, and we’ll jump right in with programming at 8:45am. Please see the agenda for down-to-the-minute scheduling.

Tech Smackdown! Don’t forget to share an idea (tool, app, blog post you read — anything related to teaching and learning is fair game) during the Tech Smackdown! at 9:30am. The day will be filled with opportunities to share, but the Smackdown is a particularly fun and spontaneous format in which to do so.

Getting There. Directions to SUNY New Paltz are available here. All activities will take place in Old Main. Here’s a campus map (Old Main is on the northwest side of campus, and is adjacent to Plattekill Avenue). We will start in the 1907 Room (on the basement level, toward the north end of the building — signs will be posted), and breakout rooms will be in classrooms on the first floor. The building is accessible at both the front and rear entrances, and an elevator is located in the center of the building.

Parking. Please use this parking guide for on-campus lots. And be sure to print and display the parking permit sent to you via email 

BYOD. As a reminder, be sure to bring your own digital device to participate fully in Learning Sessions A & B.

As always, get in touch with Kiersten with any questions you might have (greenek@newpaltz.edu). See you on Tuesday!

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Two Weeks and Counting

  By Kiersten Greene • September 27, 2016

2-weeks-to-goThe countdown has begun! We are two weeks away from the first SUNY Smart Schools Summit. Eighteen local school districts have signed up teams of participants, and the day promises to be packed with information, breakout sessions, and plenty of opportunities to share and learn.

Here are some details:

  • Location: We’ll be starting out our day in the 1907 Room in Old Main (on the basement level, toward the north end of the building). Breakout rooms will be one floor up and signs will be posted. Here’s a map of campus.
  • Parking: You will be provided with a parking pass via email that you’ll print out beforehand and display on your dashboard. More information on parking at SUNY New Paltz can be found here.
  • Tech Smackdown!: if you’re doing something neat in your school district, plan to share a quick snapshot with participants during the Tech Smackdown! (access to a computer and projector will be available; no extensive preparation is necessary). Here’s how Edcamp describes a Smackdown: It’s a fast-paced opportunity for sharing. People volunteer to share a tech tool, teaching tip, book recommendation, or anything else they’d like to share with the group about dynamic teaching and learning. You come to the front of the room, give a quick 1-2 minute pitch, share any pertinent information (URL’s, titles, etc), and then it is added to a shared document that you can reference later. You’ll leave with a ton of information and great tips!
  • Twitter: Twitter updates will be available at @nysmartschools
  • Facebook: Join the Facebook event here

Any news related to the Summit will be posted under the Announcements tab on the website, as well as on Twitter and Facebook. Please use the ‘subscribe’ button in the sidebar at the right if you’d like to receive announcements via email.

More information coming soon!