Brock University’s Ed Tech Showcase

 Brock University held an Ed Tech Showcase for educators. Being in the Ed Tech cohort I decided to participate in this event. This would be a wonderful opportunity and this would help me teach about technology in my future blocks. .

My group and I decided to do gamification in the classroom using the Kinect X-Box. At first I was a bit hesitant because bringing a video game into a classroom almost sounds ridiculous, but I shocked myself and found that is it very useful in the classroom. Some schools are already using the Kinect. They use it mostly for special needs students. It is a get way for students to get engaged. I also found that high schools and universities are cracking the X-Box Kinect and using it for advanced math. 

On showcase day, I was extremely nervous! Principals, vice-principals, board members and teachers were attending, so I had to make sure I impressed. I found that everyone enjoyed playing with the games. While playing the games, I explained how they could incorporate my game (Kinect Adventure) in their classroom across the curriculum. Many participants loved the idea and some were hesitant but all told me that they could see the X-Box Kinect in the future in classrooms. That is one step closer for bringing new technologies in schools. 

My PD Session at Viscount Montgomery

On Friday, February 24, 2012, my classmates and I received the opportunity to hold a PD session on Integrating Technology in the Classroom,  at Viscount Montgomery. I want to thank the staff at Viscount Montgomery for being great and patient participants. Also, I wanted to thank the administrative staff and my cohort leaders for setting up this session for us.

Krista and I, presented Livescribe. We showed teachers how to use it in primary, junior, and intermediate grades. For primary, we modeled the use of a Livescribe on a word wall. For junior and intermediate grades we showed how to create concept maps. We also showed how this tool is extremely useful for student with special needs.

We were extremely nervous about the session because Viscount Montgomery was our next placement and we wanted to make a good impression.  We were also nervous about the technology not working properly in the session but we had a backup plan just in case. In the end it is a successful session where teachers were asking about purchasing the items..

On presentation day, my anxiety disappeared because of the welcoming and warming staff at Viscount Montgomery. The principal and vice principal immediately introduced themselves and gave a tour of the school. They  ensured that everything would be fine and that they were THANKFUL that we were presenting at their school.