Geek Squad Presentation at #DLAchat Conference

Today, 10 Rainbow Eggheads who have been contributing to the Tech Times newsletter over the past two years were asked to present at the Digital Learning Advisory OCDSB conference. We decided to live stream the workshop through Google Hangouts Live on Air. As before, we struggled to get this working perfectly! A great example of having to be flexible when using tech!

Below are two videos showing MOST of the workshop. Unfortunately, the Chromebook's batteries ran out during Hannah and Madi's Skype presentation. Hopefully, they'll be willing to film themselves doing it and we can share it on here!

Daybook by Vickie
Google Apps  by Hunter
Assistive Tech Through My Eyes by Skye
iPads by Gabby
Social Media by Camden, Johnny
Using Tech for Charity in the Class by Pat
Madi, Hannah did theirs live and of course I didn't catch it!
Maker Movement by Fiona



We hosted a "Today's Meet" for our presentation. Check it out here.

Some feedback from participants
-The student presenters are proof that tech can support oral communication, reading, writing (and even drama!!!)
-I am very impressed with how engaged all the students are with the use of technology. They are all so knowledgeable as well!
-Skye, your story is inspiring. Thank you for sharing it so eloquently.
-Wow! Blowing my mind with all the fantastic initiatives you've got on the go. Eggheads Rock!
-Current tech experts here, future tech leaders!
-I'm so impressed! Thank you. I am leaving here with many great ideas for my classroom.
-I wish my high school students made slideshows that looked like this, keep doing them like that (less words, more images)!

We only wish that more educators had joined us. I could not be prouder of these Eggheads and their peers for the work they've done this year and the incredible way they're willing to mentor and share with others within our school and the world beyond!

Our Dream of 1:1 ChromeBooks

Shauna went to a conference called the Google Apps for Education Summit in Montreal two weekends ago and learned that the EdTechTeam who put it on is providing class sets of ChromeBooks or Nexus 7s to some classes in order to give back!

We realized that we consistently take our tech to the next level and hope that we can get 1:1 devices in our classroom.

Students created the amazing video above and we all worked together to write our application for the grant.

Wish us luck!

No Internet for a Week! Could You Do It?

NO INTERNET WEEK: FULL DOCUMENTARY from Mother on Vimeo.

This is an hour-long documentary about several people trying to make it through a week without using the Internet. At all.

Just thinking of that makes me jittery. I can't imagine going a day, let alone a whole week without Internet. That makes me think that it would be really important for me to try. Anyone want to join me for an Internet free day (to start!) in January?

There are so many things I use the Internet for every single day, and having access to it at every instant on my phone has made me totally reliant on the Internet. If I went offline for any amount of time, I feel like I would need to warn people well in advance. On the Internet.

I will test myself tomorrow and see how long it takes from when I wake up to when I check something online - email, social networks, Google Drive, the weather, directions, play a game, or finding an obscure piece of information.

I think going Net-Free for a bit of time could be really cleansing, allow me to be more mindful and hopefully feel more relaxed. Why is it, then, that I get jittery just thinking about turning away from the Internet?

Let me know in the comments below if you think you could do it - go Internet free for a day, for a week or for longer. Also, tell me what would be the most difficult parts of going Internet free for you.

Living in the Jetsons: Amazon Drones

Midway through an amazing Tech Week last week, Allison told us about the Amazon Drones that are being developed to deliver packages right to your door. I didn't believe her that it could possibly be true, but she proved me wrong with this video.

Someone recently said to me that we're "living in the Jetsons".

Comment here and tell me if you anticipate any problems with Amazon Drones and/or if you know what "living in the Jetsons" means!

Your Hour of Code Mission!

Hello Rainbow Eggheads,

We are doing our Hour of Code today!

Visit this link and get to work!

Once you've finished your Hour of Code, please leave a comment on this post telling everyone how many lines of code you wrote today. Also, tell us if you enjoyed your coding time and what you found rewarding or challenging.

For more opportunities to code for FREE, visit code.org or codeacademy.

Add to Our Global Connections Map!

I have so many wonderful ideas and inspiration to share with the Rainbow Eggheads from my weekend in Montreal at the GAFESummit. Since we're having "Tech Week" in our class, I'll be telling stories and sharing ideas all week!

First off, please visit this link on MapsEngine Lite and double check on our class map to add locations of global connections we've made. So far, I added a pin to Whistler Mountain, from when we Skyped with my parents last spring! Please feel free to add photos from the web (they will be linked back to the original source) and information about who we connected with!

Make sure you don't delete anyone else's pins!

Stop Motion Videos

If you want to watch the awesome collection of Stop Motion films from this year's Film Festival, check out the Vimeo link.

Shauna's Skype interview --by Fiona

After school a few kids got interviewed for our promotional video. We had a camera crew here to film us! Today was a pretty cool day.


By: Fiona

Our New iPad, Ivy!

So we just got a new iPad and we named it. It may sound weird but its fun. Here, let me show you. We now have 13 computers in are room! now we have 8 student computers and 2 class computers and 3 iPads. we our so good with technology. and the iPad that's green is called Ivy!