A group of Hawthorne School District teachers attended the 27th Annual NJ Educational Computing Cooperative (NJECC) Conference held at Montclair State University the week of March 12, 2013.
Rachel Shea from Jefferson School, Jill Verrone Muscia from Roosevelt, Vinnie Piepoli and Judith Habermann from Lincoln Middle School and Theresa DiGeronimo and John DiLonardo from Hawthorne High School attended workshops showcasing innovative technology in educational computing. Keynote speaker Dr. Kirk DeLo, Chief Technology Officer at Avenue Schools in New York City, introduced the objective of the conference: To prepare students to be responsible citizens and critical thinkers in a culturally diverse and globally connected world.
After the opening presentation, the teachers broke into workshop groups. Hawthorne teachers choose to attend sessions providing information that would help Hawthorne students and teachers use technology to meet the new Core Curriculum Standards requiring innovative technology. These workshops included: Connecting Beyond the School Walls via Skype & Google + Hangout, Globally Connecting Primary Classrooms with Twitter and Skype, Developing your Professional Learning Network with Twitter, Student Google Sites – Projects and Portfolios, Vokis, Prezi, and Glogster, Cool Tools for Teachers 2013, iPads in the Elementary School, The Complete Solution for Bring Your Own Device Schools, Setting the Foundation for 1:1 Professional Development, The Magic of MOOC, Digital Citizenship in Action: Tips and Best Practices, and more.
High School Media Arts teacher, John Dilonardo, attended a workshop to study the use of Scratch—a free, cross-platform program from M.I.T. in which students create characters, backgrounds, games and presentations. This software would enhance the Media Arts program adding to Computer Design, Video Production/Editing, Film/Cinema, and Digital Photography.
The Hawthorne teachers returned to their schools to share with their colleagues the skills and strategies they learned at these workshops.
The NJECC is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to promote and support the integration of technology in education as it applies to student learning, professional development, and instructional planning.