EdCampSEMO to help teachers experience 1:1 technologies

Teachers are invited to a weekend event to help prepare them for the day their schools could pursue an initiative to put computers in the hands of all students.

EdCampSEMO, a professional-development conference, will focus on 1:1 technology in Southeast Missouri schools Saturday at Cape Girardeau Central High School.

Among those attending will be members of the Cape Girardeau School District, where a $1 million program is expected to be implemented in 2014. Dr. Sherry Copeland, assistant superintendent of the district, will be on hand to gather ideas about how to implement 1:1, an initiative to provide portable personal computers for teacher and student use at all grade levels, first at Central High School.

"The best way to learn is to actually speak with people who have already experienced what we're looking to do, which is to prepare our students for taking part in a global society" Copeland said.

After months of discussion and hearing recommendations from the district's Action Research Committee, the Cape Girardeau School Board in December voted unanimously to move forward with 1:1. Copeland said Central students will be the first to receive portable personal computers in January 2014.

"We're selecting a device to purchase for the high school teachers," she said. "We'll begin instructing them in the spring on how to use them so they'll be prepared for the student rollout in January."

Introduction of laptops for high school students will cost $1 million and will be paid out of the district's budget.

"That is for the entire high school to be equipped with 1:1 technology," Copeland said. "It also includes the cost of the instructional coordinator who was recently hired to help with the training of teachers and the implementation of the program in the classrooms."

Copeland expects implementation at Central Junior High in fall 2014.

"We see it being introduced in the other schools on an incremental basis," she said.

EdCampSEMO hopes to attract teachers from area school districts considering -- or that have implemented -- 1:1.

"We want there to be an atmosphere of networking and discussion among teachers," said Kathy Bellew, co-organizer of the event and technology director of the Grandview School District in Hillsboro, Mo.

The Grandview School District already has 1:1 technology in its schools, as does the Ste. Genevieve School District in Ste. Genevieve, Mo.

"We hope to learn from teachers who are successfully using the technology on a daily basis," said Nancy Toombs, technology director for the Ste. Genevieve district and EdCampSEMO co-organizer. "I hope to learn as much as I can to help teachers in my district continue to implement the technology in their curriculums."

Participants will be urged to build sessions around 1:1 ideas they may want to discuss or learn more about. Once a program is set and a schedule created, participants will be able to "vote with their feet"; meaning, if a meeting doesn't meet their needs, they will be changed to a different one. Drawings for prizes, including a Dell i5 laptop and gift cards, will take place.

Bellew hopes EdCampSEMO will answer questions for educators. Participants will experience devices that will be provided to students, including iPads, Android tablets and Acer Netbooks and Chromebooks.

"They will be able to hold and use the technology being discussed instead of just hearing about it," she said.

EdCampSEMO is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Commons Area at Central High School. Registration information can be found at edcampsemo.info/.

klewis@semissourian.com

388-3635

Pertinent address: 1000 Silver Springs Road, Cape Girardeau, Mo.