MLTI student conference 2010 by Cheryl Oakes
Jun
8
Written by:
6/8/2010 1:42 AM
Maine Learning Technology Initiative
Is there another state with a
Student Technology Conference? Does your conference have 1,000 students and staff attending? Does your conference have all 1,000+ students and staff in one auditorium all on wireless access? Well, in Orono, Maine, on May 27, 2010, at the
University of Maine I attended such a conference.
First of all, our students are committed to this project! All of our students in Wells, Maine, had to get out of bed and to the school bus by 5:15 AM for the 3 hour bus ride to Orono. They all had planned their presentations with their teachers and then practiced for 2 weeks. Once at the University, they all attended the opening session, then walked quickly across campus to a variety of classrooms and within 10 minutes they were on stage, confident and presenting to students and teachers from around the state.
The rest of the day consisted of another set of student presentations, lunch on campus and then a closing session which captured the essence of the entire conference. Prior to our arrival, all of our students were asked to bring a can of food for our state foodbank, or a dollar donation which would turn into $12.50 for purchases by the foodbank, to support
Maine's own Good Shepherd Food Bank. During the Conference day our Maine students and teachers raised 100 lbs of food and $500 in cash. While this was a great gesture it was multiplied ten times at the closing Uber session.
The Uber session consisted of a Video Conference with
Cisco engineers with an explanation of their worldwide impact. Tony Morelli, Director of Sales for Northeast Government & Education was the spokesperson. Then, we watched as Maria Guimaraes, Partnership Manager, Private Partnerships Division,
United Nations World Food Programme spoke to us from Rome, Italy, about hunger and the impact our students will have one day. Finally, the excitement crescendos to an opportunity for our students in Maine to join
MLTI.freerice.com and raise money by collaborating and answering questions about vocabulary, math, the arts, world languages, geography and more. You can help too! We have collectively raised over 4 million grains of rice, since May 27, 2010. ( Given that our state has just over 1.2 million people total, this is an impressive amount. Please join us and help us get over 5 million grains of rice! You can join our initiative by going to
MLTI.FreeRice.com )
Isn’t this is the kind of learning we want for all our students? Don’t we want all our students to be teachers. Don’t we want all our students to share their love of life-long learning. Don’t we want our students to know how to collaborate and solve world problems? Share with us what is happening in your neighborhood?
Resources:
"Please be sure to check out the press and the links that
demonstrate the statewide support we have for our laptop and learning
program. Also, I love the comment from D_Electrician, who left the
comment on the WCSH TV posting of the Student Conference Press Advisory
on May 26th!"
"D_Electrician wrote:
The laptop program has been validated thousands of times over. Every laptop handed out is a form of validation. The generations coming up will know more about computers and technology than experts did 5 years ago. I'm pretty conservative when it comes to opinions on state spending and bogus programs. This isn't a bogus program. Computers put the power of knowledge and information at the hands of the students. And a side note, the salary of 3 or 4 technicians combined doesn't even reach half the pay grade of a Maine politician."
Background :
For more information contact Jeff Mao, Learning Technology Policy Director, MLTI Project Office
The State of Maine delivers macbooks:
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for all teachers grade 7 to 12.
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students in all 7th and 8th grades
Then there are many local communities which support:
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many high schools in the state with the 1-1 macbook
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an additional group of high schools with the 1-1 netbooks
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and a variety of other high schools with macbooks or netbooks on carts
3 comment(s) so far...
MLTI student conference 2010 by Cheryl Oakes
Classic exposition, I have also mentioned it in my blog article. But it is a pity that almost no frienddiscussed it with me. I am very happy to see your article.
By links of london jewellery on
8/16/2010 5:44 PM
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MLTI student conference 2010 by Cheryl Oakes
Congratulations on your successful student technology conference. I have recently become involved with our state student technology conference(s), SIT: Students Involved with Technology. http://www.sitconference.org/ The Illinois SIT Conference has been occurring and growing since 2001. Unlike Maine's, ours is held in different locations around the state to accommodate the surrounding towns; although those 5 am bus trips are still needed for some. In 2011 we will have 5 sites and hope to include more than 1000 students. It is an exciting adventure and one the students enjoy and from which they (and us as their teachers) benefit from. I love how you brought the world into your conference this year!
Thanks for sharing this exciting event. Hopefully you have inspired others to follow in your example.
By Judith Epcke on
6/8/2010 7:29 AM
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MLTI student conference 2010 by Cheryl Oakes
Judy, thanks for your sharing. What kinds of sessions do your students share? Are there favorites, standards and do some sessions appear at all 5 of your sites? This is very interesting! Cheryl
By Cheryl Oakes on
6/8/2010 9:33 AM
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