TCEA TechNotes 04.02.13
Get Answers to Your Questions: Free IT Help Desk During April
Simply email any technology questions you may have to itsupport@digitalwish.org and get free advice from skilled tech volunteers all during the month of April. Ask about PowerPoint, Excel, server configurations, iPads, or absolutely any IT topic. Even students can send in questions! 
 
Digital Wish has teamed up with The Community Corps, a program that mobilizes corporate volunteers. Every inquiry is screened so it's safe for students. Sign up here to confirm that your emails won't get caught in the school's email filter.
 
Sun, Sand, and the Best Learning You'll Experience This Year

Elementary teachers and leaders, you'll need more than SPF to shield the rays of innovation from the presentations at this year's Tots and Technology Conference.

 

Specially designed for Pre-K through 5th grade, this conference features more than 80 sessions with a packed agenda full of new ideas to easily add to your daily curriculum, projects to excite and engage students in learning, and the latest Web 2.0 tools for classroom integration, organization, and productivity.

 

Who should attend?

  • Pre-K through 5th Grade Teachers
  • Curriculum Specialists
  • Elementary Principals and Assistant Principals
  • Early Childhood Learning Center Directors
  • Campus Technology Specialists
  • Technology Directors
  • Elementary Librarians

 View the schedule, sessions, and secure your spot today!   

 

First Nations Livestream April 16
Spend 30 minutes inside a First Nation classroom in Saskatchewan, Canada and experience a taste of aboriginal culture and learning.

 

Join Dean Shareski and DEN STAR Sarah Thompson as they broadcast live from her elementary classroom. Watch students perform traditional dances and hear about their experiences connecting with classrooms around the world. You'll also get insight into their culture and explore the similarities and differences of learning and living on a First Nations reserve. During the live broadcast, you'll be able to interact and ask your questions.

 

The event is free to anyone and will begin at 12:00 p.m. CST. Register today!

 

District IT Experts Needed to Present
The call for presenters for the second annual System Administrators and Technical Support Conference is now open, and school district technical staff are needed to present. The conference will be held in the Dallas area October 24-25 and is a great opportunity to ramp up your technical skills. Selected presenters will be given complimentary registration to the conference. The call for proposals will close April 30.
 
Volunteer at ISTE 2013
TCEA members attending ISTE 2013 are encouraged to volunteer! As a volunteer, you can:
  • Get involved behind the scenes
  • Provide a valuable service to ISTE and your fellow attendees
  • Further your professional network and make new friends
  • Enjoy special volunteer-only activities and events
  • Receive a free ISTE 2013 T-shirt
  • Give a little or a lot; shifts are in 3-hour blocks

Learn more about how to volunteer here.

 

New iOS Apps for Your Classroom
CK-12 StudyNow! is a free iPad app that helps students learn, do homework, and conduct research for projects. Featuring free content from CK-12, the app includes content for English, history, math, science, and technology courses. The content can be viewed as interactive objects, videos, quizzes, images, mind maps, and flashcards.
 

Math Champ is two free apps working together to deliver math challenges to your students' iPads. The Math Champ Host app allows you to create classes and select questions to use in the quizzes that your students take. The host app also lets you see how students are doing on the quizzes. The Math Champ Client app is used by students to take quizzes.

 
The Measurement App from the Autodesk Digital STEAM Workshop demonstrates the relevance of measurement and the impact it has on our daily lives, whether it be weight, liquid measurement, linear measurement, or BTU's. The free app teaches basic standards that determine quantity, dimension, time, temperature, capacity, weight, and mass.
 
Instead of struggling to read text on the screen of your iOS device, use the free NaturalReader Text to Speech app to have any text read to you in one of over 30 natural-sounding voices. The app can read Word documents, PDF files, web pages, ebooks, and many other formats.
 
The Ocean Science app is a fantastic journey deep into the sea. Learn and enjoy the seven essential principles of ocean science with movies, 360� pictures, outstanding animations, and motion graphics. This free iPad app is best for secondary students.  
 
Learn Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Italian for free with the Duolingo app for iOS. Students can have fun while they learn, level up, and compete with friends. 
 
Quizlety, a free app for all iOS devices, syncs to Quizlet so that the teacher can create new study sets and questions for students. You can also access your classes, sets, and favorites automatically with the new app. A free registration to the Quizlet website is required.
 
Calling All Ed Tech Leaders
FETC is hosting a free, virtual Leadership Summit on all things digital on April 11. Discover the best approaches for using educational technology to improve teaching and learning, as well as school management. This content is appropriate for every level of your district's technology and leadership team: superintendent, education technology and curriculum directors, principals, teachers, and school board members. 


IN THIS ISSUE
Sun, Sand, and Learning
First Nations Livestream
IT Presenters Needed
Volunteer at ISTE 2013
New iOS Apps for You
Free Leadership Event
Recognize a G/T Educator
Student Career Advice
Character Texting
UPCOMING EVENTS
April 3



April 4
TEC-SIG Spring Meeting (free to members)




April 5
TEC-SIG Spring Meeting (free to members)
 
April 9
 
April 10

April 11-12

April 13

 

See more exciting events
at www.tcea.org/calendar.

RECOGNIZE A GIFTED EDUCATOR
The Texas Association for the Gifted and Talented (TAGT) is seeking nominations for 2013 TAGT Area and State Awards. TAGT recognizes outstanding service and support of gifted and talented education in Texas schools and communities in five categories:
  • Teacher of the Gifted
  • Rising Star Teacher of the Gifted
  • Administrator of the Gifted
  • Advocate for the Gifted
  • Parent of the Gifted.  

Don't miss this opportunity to have outstanding service in your district or school highlighted by the largest state G/T organization in the nation. Award nominations are being accepted until April 30, and nominees do not have to be a member of TAGT. Applications and more information are available here.


CAREER ADVICE FOR YOUR STUDENTS
Digital Wish is offering free career advice for students from successful employees at Fortune 500 companies. Have your students email their career questions to careers@digitalwish.org throughout the month of April. Students will get responses from real professionals working at one of the largest corporations in America. 
 
Every email is screened to remove personal information before it's sent to the Fortune 500 volunteers, so it's safe for students. Sign up here and then get your students to email their career questions. Responses are typically returned within one school day.

FREE ED TECH CONFERENCE
The Educational Technology Graduate Program at Texas State University-San Marcos invites you to attend the free Fourth Annual EdTech Conference 21st Century Education for Global Learners on Saturday, April 20. Educators representing all academic disciplines and levels in the educational system and all phases of technology education are invited to attend this freeone-day conference.

EXCHANGE TEXT MESSAGES BETWEEN CHARACTERS
The Classtools SMS Generator is a free tool that allows students to exchange text messages between fictional or historical characters. To use the SMS Generator, students click the left speech bubble icon and enter a message; no login is required. To reply, students click the right speech bubble icon and enter a new message; they can make the exchange as long as they like. To share the conversation, students click the sprocket icon and grab the embed code, direct link, or QR code for the exchange.
 
This article is reprinted with permission from The Big Deal K-12 Technology Newsletter from March 15, 2013.