In early November, the Iowa Technology & Education Connection conference will kick off in its traditional fall time slot for the first time in several years (due to COVID), and I’m excited to see that the Iowa City Community School District will be well-represented in terms of both attendees and speakers. This conference, which usually attracts over one thousand attendees from Iowa schools, offers sessions targeting topics such as instructional coaching, STEM/computer science, IT management, cybersecurity, and many more.
Eric Ewald, principal at Van Allen Elementary, headlines the ICCSD contingent as a featured speaker, offering sessions entitled “Insanity to Sanity: Communication Superpowers” and “Everyone has a Chromebook. Now What?”
Our Instructional Design Strategist: Innovation team appears throughout the conference program:
- Mike Bevelacqua, Teacher at City High and IDS:Innovation team member will be offering a session entitled “Desmos Classroom: Not Just for Math Teachers!”
- Jenahlee Chamberlain, Teacher Librarian at the Online Program and IDS:Innovation team member is offering sessions entitled “CS/CT in the Elementary Library-From My Library to Yours” and “Make Learning Pretty: Using Graphic Design to Reinforce Teaching and Learning”
- Diana Hawley, Music Coordinator and IDS:Innovation team member, will be offering a session entitled “Fostering Innovation in K-12 Music”
- Andrew Fenstermaker, Instructional Technology Coordinator and IDS:Innovation team member deserves special recognition for presenting four sessions and being a member of the ITEC leadership board. Andrew will be presenting the following sessions:
- First-time Attendee Meet-Up
- We Before Me: Culture for the Win
- Chuck Norris’ Secret Sauce to Sanity -> Productivity Smackdown
- Boomshakalakafy Your Coaching
David Haas, teacher at West High, will be offering a session called “Incorporating Music Instruction into the Curriculum”, which will highlight David’s successful efforts to create a Digital Music Production course at West.
Patrick Snyder, Instructional Design Strategist at Garner Elementary, will offer a session entitled “Creativity with Informed Action”
Finally, our Department of Technology & Innovation staff are also presenting at ITEC, including the following sessions:
- Austin Wells, Data Analyst, and Adam Kurth, Director of Technology & Innovation, will co-present a session entitled “Improving Processes and Outcomes with Data Visualization”
- Josh Reynolds, Client Services Manager, and Adam Kurth will co-present a session entitled “Establishing a Positive Technology Support Culture”
- Chris Engels, Enterprise Services Manager, and Adam Kurth will co-present a session entitled “Addressing Cybersecurity in K-12 Systems”
I hope that I didn’t miss any ICCSD presenters (and if I did, shoot me an email and I’ll get those added!). By my count, ICCSD staff are sharing their experiences, ideas, and expertise in 15 separate sessions. It takes a great deal of work, contemplation, and courage to put your practices on display in front of large numbers of peers from throughout the state, and I applaud all of those from ICCSD and elsewhere who are contributing to development of the educational technology community in this way.
For any of you who will be attending ITEC, consider checking out some of these great sessions! If you’re interested in presenting at future conferences but want to know more about the experience, I’d encourage you to reach out to those listed above to learn about their experiences.