Tech Matters

We're gearing up to kick off the University Inventory process 🔍 and we will be reaching out to you very soon to arrange a convenient time for your technology inventory. 📅

This year, Thanksgiving Break is right in the middle of our thirty-day window for inventory completion. That's where you come in! Your participation is crucial, and we at KATE would greatly appreciate your support in making this process a breeze. 🦃

With your help, we can complete our “mission” in no time. 🤖 Stay tuned for more details and an invite to set up your inventory appointment. Thank you for being an essential part of our COEHS community!

Jennifer

🗓️ 1 - 3 (Come & Go), Multipurpose

⏰ Time Commitment: Flexible (Come & Go Event)

🏆 Points: 50 Points (Earn by coming & engaging in a discussion)

I can't believe it's time to host the fourth and LAST First Friday of the semester! Don't be too sad though, because they'll be back next semester. November's event is going to be EdTech Workshop Time ! In September we had 23 people come! I would love to have even more drop by this month.

WHAT IS EDTECH WORKSHOP TIME?

In case you haven't joined us for EdTech Workshop Time before, it's an open time for you to ask questions, brainstorm ideas, collaborate, work on a tech project, or just chat with us about all things tech!

EXCITING NEWS

The eGlass is FINALLY in-house, and we are ready to show it off! Drop by to learn how it works and play around with it!

The EdTech Explorer Program was designed with flexibility in mind. Each month, we will spotlight a handful of opportunities to earn points. These are just a few of the ways you can personalize your exploration. Check out the points menu on the Explorer Site for a full list.

We understand that you have many demands on your time, so each spotlight includes a rough estimate of the time commitment involved. Even if you only manage to squeeze in just 10 minutes per month, by the end of the semester, you will have clocked almost an hour of growth! We hope this program will encourage and motivate you on your learning journey. We can't wait to grow with you!

⏰ Time Commitment: 10 minutes

🏆 Points: Byte #2 (20 points if completed by 10/31), Byte #1 (15 points)

Each "BYTE" has been designed to teach you something new in 10 minutes or less. To earn your points, email Shelby or Rebecca to let them know you tried a "byte".

BYTE #2 - Docs Version History (Learn how to see a history of the different versions of your doc and NAME them! - ONE doc to rule them all!)

BYTE #1 - Rocketbook Corners (Learn what those orange corners on the whiteboards are for!)

⏰ Time Commitment: 5 - 10 minutes

🏆 Points: 25 points

What Tech Tool or extension are you loving currently? How are you using it in your role? Write a short review, specifically focusing on how you use the tool or how you think it could benefit others in our College! Email Rebecca your review.

⏰ Time Commitment: 2 - 3 Hours

🏆 Points: 150 points + Badge

This badge course is made up of two modules. Module 1 includes 12 lessons designed to cover the basics. It's the perfect introduction to forms, or a quick knowledge refresher. Module 2 includes nine lessons which allows you to dive deeper into Advanced Forms Topics. Work through the course at your own pace. 👉 Click HERE to sign up! 👈

⏰ Time Commitment: 5 - 10 minutes

🏆 Points: 25 points

Your daily work with technology is incredibly valuable -- for both you and your colleagues. What's "ordinary" for you may be "EXTRA-ordinary" for someone else! Whether it's a tool you've found useful in your teaching or a tech solution that's streamlined your productivity, your experience could benefit or inspire others! Take a few minutes at your next department meeting to do a Tech Share! To earn points email Rebecca to let her know what you shared about!

First, I know that this is only the tip of the iceberg for how tech is being used in our college, but I am a true believer that seeing how others are using technology helps to inspire us! So I wanted to highlight just a few of the ways our COEHS family has been using tech in the month of September/October!

Dr. Chanel Schwenck shared how she used Flippity.net to create a random name picker. Flippity allows you to easily turn data in a Google Sheet into all sorts of amazing resources like Jeopardy, Tournament Brackets, and more! Dr. Schwenck said the random name picker worked really well and her students loved the sound effects of the wheel spinning!

This is a GREAT option for class when you want to increase engagement and create an equitable environment when calling on students.

Dr. Andrea Willson and Dr. Jessica Pryor set up a Sphero painting canvas for Family Weekend! Dr. Pryor said that it was a lot of fun and they got to overhear GREAT conversation from Elementary Majors and EDU 222 graduates sharing their knowledge with their families! Check out the video below to see the Spheros in action!

In EDU 180, Dr. Jessica Pryor's students practiced leveraging AI Chatbots to explore theories of education. The core objective of this exercise was to deepen their understanding of educational theories and see which ones most closely aligned with their own beliefs. To complete the assignment, students had to figure out how to engineer the prompts. After a bit of productive struggle, Dr. Pryor provided some leading ideas like: "Pretend you are a [specific theorist]. Answer the following questions as if I am interviewing [a specific theorist]."

Students then asked questions like: "What is the role of school?"; "What is responsible for learning?"; "What is the role of a teacher?". Paraphrased responses were posted in a Padlet so students could learn from one another. This novel approach exposed students to using AI chatbots for tasks beyond writing assignments and served as a model for how they could use AI in their future classrooms.

Katherine Farmer's Children's Literature and Digital Storytelling Class just finished creating fictional podcasts in which they retold a familiar children's story from another character's perspective. When the story of the three little pigs is told from the perspective of the wolf in The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, the villain suddenly becomes a doting grandson who just wanted to borrow a cup of sugar for his dear old granny's birthday cake. Students were guided through the process using a planning worksheet, which was adapted from KATE's Podcasting Badge Course.

Dr. Andrea Willson and Dr. Jessica Pryor have also integrated podcasting into their courses. Students are using this medium as a way to demonstrate their knowledge through authentic creation.

12 members of our COEHS family recently gave their email signatures a makeover! Not only did this project make their signature more visually appealing, but it also enhanced their skills in Canva. The signatures look AMAZING and make me smile every time I receive an email from someone with 'new bling'. I particularly loved how many people included clickable buttons for applying to programs within our college!

In the last newsletter, I shared about how Dr. Katy Hancock created a digital checklist to help keep track of all the steps for her research. This month, I'm excited to share about how Dr. Susana Bloomdahl is using this tool! She said that her immediate thought was to use it to help her keep track of the counseling skills per student. Additionally, she said that the checklist makes it clearer which skills she should focus on for student growth.

What an amazing application of using data to inform teaching practices! I mentioned that I thought a digital checklist could possibly be beneficial for keeping track of student advising as well!

In case you haven't seen it, we have an exciting new leaderboard on the bulletin board outside Faculty Hall in Alexander. We still have a few finish touches to put on it, but we just couldn't wait to share! You still have time to earn some points and LEVEL UP before rankings for October come out next week!

It can be hard to keep up with all the new Generative AI tools that are popping up, but I want to make sure I'm sharing about tools that are being widely talked about in the K-12 sphere. One of those tools is Curipod!

FEATURES

Curipod is a web-based tool that uses AI to help educators create interactive and engaging lessons. Here are a few of my FAVORITE features:

• AI-Powered Lesson Generation - Curipod uses Generative AI to create content on any topic by simply providing it with a few keywords or a short description. Choose from a variety of options of what you would like it to create such as Brain Breaks, Lesson Hooks, Exit Tickets, or even full lessons! As with anything created by Generative AI, the goal is not to completely remove the cognitive load, but to give you a brainstorming partner, a starting point, and to help you save time!
• Interactive Slides: While building your lesson deck, Curipod automatically integrates interactive slides that can include polls, word clouds, drawings, and other activities. Sometimes I like putting a topic in just to see what kind of engagement options it will suggest.
• Real-Time Feedback: Curipod uses AI to review student work and responses in real time and crafts feedback that can instantly be sent to them. Don't worry! You have the ability to review all of the feedback and modify it before pushing it out to the student. This tool allows you to help students identify strengths and weaknesses in their work in the moment!
• Accessibility - Curipod includes a number of accessibility features and can translate lessons into over 100 languages!

PRICING

Curipod has a tiered subscription, but it has amazing FREE features. The company has said that they are dedicated to keeping a robust free version to help serve educators. In the Free Version, you get:

• All Core Features
• Unlimited Participants
• Unlimited Curipods
• 20 Monthly Translator Credits
• 1000 Character Limit for AI Feedback

The Premium level is $9 monthly or $90 for a year-long subscription.

Badge Course: AI Certified Curipod Educator

Curipod has a FREE 10-hour course to become an AI certified Curipod educator. If you take the course, let me know and you can earn 150 Explorer points! 👉 Click here to check it out! 👈

CuriCon (October 23 - 27)

This is a free virtual event, hosted by Curipod. The conference is described as "a week-long event bring[ing] together forward-thinking educators, AI experts, and thought leaders to explore cutting-edge topics ranging from student agency and accessibility to subject-specific applications and AI-driven pedagogical approaches. Curicon serves as a platform for educators to discover, discuss, and collaborate on how AI can empower teachers and students, making learning more engaging, inclusive, and effective."

Can't watch live? No worries! If you register, you will get access to recordings of all the sessions and presentations!

👉 Click HERE to register! 👈

⏰ Time Commitment: 5 minutes

🏆 Points: 25 points

Email Rebecca about something you found interesting or useful in the newsletter! What did you like? What did you try? Sharing with one another is how we learn best!