Workshop Description
Locations: All
The Interactive Classroom – The Power of Purposeful Technology to Inform Teaching, Spark Inquiry, and Empower Student Voice
Technology has become a part of daily life. A mobile phone has become a powerful window into a world of possibilities for modern learners. In the formative years, teachers serve a crucial role in developing and guiding the habits of mind needed for deep inquiry and what will become a love of learning for their students. Engagement with technology has the power to not only significantly improve student learning, but serves as a key component for empowering students to be contributors and creators in the ‘global information society’ we all live in.
Together we will look at a variety of technology strategies that can provide ways for your students to research, organize and showcase their knowledge, and for you to gather evidence of student progress by seeing student thinking while differentiating instruction. Explore how to use phones, tablets and computers to inform teaching and support student learning. You will be able to make a plan towards manageable change for your classroom, for your own learning, and for the growth of your students!
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” -Frederick Douglass
Presenter Bio
Karen, known as K2, is the co-founder of ETSA. She currently serves as a senior Professional Development facilitator working in U.S. schools and with international teacher and leadership groups for the Center for Technology and School Change at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her job is focused on STEM/STEAM integration, technology implementation, and innovative teaching and learning strategies, K2 has over twenty years experience teaching and providing professional development opportunities in a variety of learning environments, both formal and informal, and in a variety of areas (e.g. STEM project development, curriculum design, technology implementation, leadership). She employs her engineering background working with educators to develop authentic STEM learning experiences that seek to empower teachers and engage learners with creative technology strategies. Karen has worked with students, teachers and education leaders in the U.S., Bulgaria, sub-Saharan Africa, Haiti, and Bangladesh. Her professional development interests lie largely in working with underserved and under-resourced populations designing strategies aimed at building technology capacity, teacher confidence, and an agility for creative integration into context and practice. In 2013 Karen co-founded the free annual edtech conference EdTech Summit Africa (www.edtechsummitafrica.com), now in its seventh year.
A filmmaker and music engineer/producer interested in creative digital and technical arts, Karen is passionate about helping schools and organizations create a culture receptive to implementing technology for creative teaching and learning. Karen has worked with schools to launch coding, robotics, makerspace and visual design programs. She has a BA in Broadcast Engineering from San Francisco State University and she completed her MA in Instructional Technology and Media at Teachers College, Columbia University. Karen is now pursuing her doctorate at TC in Adult Learning and Leadership with a focus on professional development and technology integration.