Muskegon ISD has subscribed to the year-long tech webinar series offered by ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All webinars are at 4:00 p.m. at Muskegon ISD and are free to all educators. You must register however on the ISD web site. Go to http://www.muskegonisd.org/development.The four offerings for March are:

Wednesday, March 4

Technology For Not Yet Readers with Gail Lovely

As technologies advance, there are new tools and resources for non-readers. Animation, video, sound, and graphics combined with good teaching creates powerful learning opportunities. Join Gail Lovely for this webinar and see some great tools and resources for young non- and almost-readers. Gail will share more than just a series of links, she will emphasize teaching strategies and classroom management of technologies as well as some really cool technological tools! Appropriate for Mac or Windows users.

Tuesday, March 10

Using Technology to Make Every Classroom an Art Classroom with Mark Gura

Visual Art is a highly valuable and much beloved part of traditional public school programs.  Nevertheless, it has always had to struggle to gain a place of prominence among subject areas competing for time and funds. The lack of access to a trained Visual Art teacher, lack of studio space, and the need for expensive and messy materials have made it impossible for many schools to offer the quality Visual Arts instruction they would like to, a situation that a great many teachers, students, and parents would like to see reversed.

Fortunately, the use of technology can change this situation for those who understand how. The increasing ubiquity of simple technology resources like: computers, Internet, and in-place or easy to use free or low cost software offers an opportunity to make the inclusion of Visual Art easier than ever. This webinar will discuss how technology makes Visual Art something that virtually all teachers can include in instructional activities and to greater effect than ever before. Discussed will be equipment, resources, and classroom management logistics–basic techniques–and activities and approaches of obvious value in our current instructional climate.

Wednesday, March 18

Project-Based Learning with Sara Armstrong

Project-based learning strategies engage students, meet standards, and address 21st Century skills. During this session, we will examine examples in which project-based learning has been successfully implemented, learn about resources, share planning documents, and commit to implementation action steps!

The last webinar is on March 24. The topic is International Schools. ISTE hasn’t provided a description yet for this session but we’ll post it here as soon as it becomes available.