eTech Ohio Technology Conference

I attended the eTech Conference in Columbus, OH this week. It was great! It is always so helpful to hear what other educators and districts are doing across the state. I came across some completely new ideas plus some helpful tricks to incorporate into projects our district is already involved in. I was really fortunate to be able to go to the conference! Thanks, Ross Local Schools! I have listed a few of my favorite topics from the conference below.


Digital Backpacks-This seems to be a great idea for making technology portable, convenient and easily accessible. The idea is to load up backpacks (yes, actual backpacks) with all the tech equipment a class would need for specific projects. Then the teacher (or a student) would just pick it up when it was time for the project and have everything they need. We already have that concept with the traveling carts (Turning Point, laptops, etc). This would be the same idea but for smaller projects or projects outside of the regular classroom (fieldtrips). For example, if a class were going on a nature walk for science to exam a local stream, they might want to take the following items: digital camera or video camera to document findings, IRT (Infrared Thermometer) to take temperatures of different habitats (water, soil, etc), laptop to record data into tables and take notes. All of these items could easily fit into a back pack to be brought along. So much of our hardware and software are portable. Why not take it with them just like scientists do?!

Ohio on iTunes U-free educational resource through iTunes-You can download educational videos and content right from iTunes! If you are interested in checking it out, go to:
www.apple.com/itunes
Once in iTunes, go to the Apple iTunes Store. Search iTunes store for "Ohio on iTunes U". Under 'Institutions', select 'Ohio'.

Creating non-Linear Power Points- I always knew this was possible but didn't know how to do it until the conference. If you are wondering what I mean by "non-linear Power Point" don't feel bad. I didn't know either until I attended the session! The term refers to creating slides, then playing the slide show in a different order. If you have ever seen a Jeopardy game in Power Point then you have seen a non-linear presentation. Basically, you have one slide that links out to other slides in the presentation. You can jump around from the main slide to the other slides and back again. So, for example, when students pick "Congruent Shapes for $200" the presentation will jump directly to the slide with that question on it even if that isn't the next slide in the order of the presentation. The question slide is also linked to the main slide with all the subject choices on it. So, after the students answer the question you can jump back to the main slide.

Stay tuned for my future blog posts for more information about the conference topics below!

• More examples for using blogs in classrooms
• Smart Board gallery items for Notebook 10
• Smart Board resources (on-line)
• More info on using iWeb