OTEN Conference

I attended the 2010 OTEN Conference on September 25th at Pacific University in Forest Grove. The keynote speaker was Tim Lauer, principal of Meriwether Lewis Elementary School in Portland. He took his audience back in time by illustrating with examples the beginning of computer technologies and then brought us back to modern day applications. Technology is constantly changing and it's important that we as educators are always open to learning new methods. Technology is a very powerful tool because it can bring in outside resources to students without the need for them to leave the classroom. It can also be a connection for people across time and space.

The first breakout session I attended was presented by Serena Fryer and was titled Interactive White Board Technology. She is currently a first grade teacher at Joseph Gale Elementary School and part of the Ed Tech team. As part of a grant she receives a classroom full of free technology and then has to share her knowledge and expertise with other teachers. Highlights from her session include:

1) Learning about Smart notebook software

2) Learning about math manipulatives and how to create interactive math lessons

3) Leaning about using a tennis ball as a writing tool for students with limited fine motor skills

4) Learning how to create visual aids for songs and storytelling

5) Learning about the Infinite Cloner tool making graphing activities practical and easy for large groups

6) Learning how to share and find lesson plans created for the smart board on the internet

The second breakout session I attended was presented by Jerry Johnson from Corban University and was titled Visual Learning with Concept Maps. I did not leave this session with nearly many great ideas for activities I could use in a classroom but I did learn about a few new web tools including: VUE, Webspiration, and Inspiration. These different types of software allow you to create concept maps which are graphic representations of ideas and how they relate to each other.

See the video below for more comments on the OTEN Conference.