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Fun Had By All at SMA Tech Workshop

10/24/2014

Fifteen teachers and staff met at SMA for Tech Workshop 2014 on October 10, which focused on looking in depth at iMovie and Adobe Voice (apps that can be used for video activities and assessments), Office 365 iPad apps, and Pinterest and Pocket for web research curation.

Attendees created their own videos, set up Pinterest and Pocket accounts, and learned some tips regarding the use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint apps on their iPads. But the teachers were most excited to have time to explore the possibilities of how to further incorporate these tools into their classes, both for students and themselves. Everyone left with a smile and a set of tools or tips that they could put to use right away.

Check out social science teacher Joan Nyland's iMovie project honoring SMA's own Tech Guy, Brette Doyle.

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SMA Science Savvy at OSTA

10/17/2014

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SMA's science teachers Maureen Daschel, Julia Stadler and Cindi Hounton had an exciting opportunity to demonstrate their tech-savvy at the Oregon Science Teachers Association (OSTA) conference on October 10 and 11.

Daschel and Hounton focused their interactive workshop around using Explain Everything (a video and presentation creation app) for science tutorials and student presentations. Daschel returned with glowing reports. "We had around 20-25 people in the workshop," Daschel said. "They asked good questions and got a lot of opportunity for playtime."

Julia Stadler demonstrates student work in video assessments and exploratory labs.

In her session, Stadler focused on project-based learning in her AP Chemistry classes, including demonstrating how she uses video tools in exploratory labs and assessments. Stadler has been particularly intrigued by the effect of using video tools to evaluate student understanding of scientific concepts. "What she found is that kids who often didn't test well were able to really excel in the video assessments," Daschel said.

Stadler's observations have been echoed by a variety of other teachers at SMA who have explored creative forms of assessment, both technological and otherwise, and also by significant current research about the effectiveness of different types of assessments in student learning and teacher evaluation. For more information, check out this comprehensive review of research about assessment posted on Edutopia.

Maureen Daschel and Cindi Hounton smile proudly at the beginning of their presentation.

Daschel demonstrates functions in Explain Everything to one of the teachers in her session.

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Fun Had By All at SMA Tech Workshop

SMA Science Savvy at OSTA

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