ITEC | www.itec-ia.org
News and Updates
December 2022
Shout Outees!
With so many amazing practitioners in the field of education, ITEC started a new tradition in 2022 where we strived to elevate the amazing work of educators across the state. We couldn't have done it without you! As we wrap up 2022, help kick off 2023 by nominating a "Shout Outee!

A Shout Outee is a person who deserves recognition for the incredible work they are doing to support students with technology in a digital learning environment.
📅 Dates on Deck:

Board Elections
Electronic ballots were sent Dec. 5; Voting ends Dec. 16

ITEC & CSTA Iowa Learning Opportunity
January 19, 2023
(more information below)

ITEC IT Conference
February 17, 2023
(more information below)

ITEC 2023 Fall Conference
October 16 and 17
Iowa Events Center
Learning Opportunity
On Thursday, January 19 from 7 to 8 p.m., CSTA Iowa and ITEC are partnering to share content you can use in your classroom tomorrow!

For elementary teachers: Marisa Dahl (ITEC) and Corey Rogers (CSTA Iowa) will share the Seesaw Lessons for Computer Science and how you can use them in your classroom.

For secondary teachers: Tyler Youngers (ITEC) and Wren Hoffman & Sabrina Edsen (CSTA Iowa) will share how to use Flip (formerly known as Flipgrid) and share ideas for using it with your CS content.
ITEC's 2023 IT Conference Call for Sessions Open
It's back! We're excited to announce the return of ITEC's IT Conference, which will take place on February 17, 2023, at Nevada High School.

IT Conference is designed for information technology administrators and professionals in K-12 schools. Sessions cover more technical aspects of working with educational technology in a school setting.

The call for sessions is now open! Please consider sharing your insights and ideas!
Exciting things are coming in 2023!
Preference
Ideal time to join a webinar
Between 11:00-1:00
Between 3:00-5:00
Between 7:00-9:00
💻 Tech Tool of the Month 💻
Adobe CCE is now Adobe Express

Adobe Express is a free digital creativity tool that allows users to create breathtaking presentations, images and animations. As well as wonderful web pages and engaging videos. It allows for teachers and students share their learnings in creative and meaningful ways. 

This tool is free to education and harnesses most of the power of the Adobe suite in a web version.
Tip / Strategy To Try Out

Feedback has such an important role in student learning that providing feedback in different formats can help improve learning in great ways. 

Audio feedback can provide more information than just written feedback and often in less time. How we say something conveys as much information as what we say. Students may misinterpret the tone of written feedback, but listening to the feedback can be more accessible to a wide variety of learners.  

There are many ways to leave audio feedback from using a Chrome Extension like Mote, audio recording in Flip (formerly known as Flipgrid) or just even the built in audio recording app you have on your device.

The important aspect of the feedback is that it is clear, concise and leads the student forward in their learning process.

Pear Deck Corner
🍐 Make Pear Deck More Inclusive with
Immersive Reader 🍐
Want to make Pear Deck even more engaging and empowering? The integration with Immersive Reader is an amazing option!

When students activate Immersive Reader in their Pear Deck session, the text from the slides is extracted, opening in a window that provides scaffolding and customization opportunities. Students can make choices to:
  • To have the text read to them (and adjust the reading options), 
  • To change the appearance of the text in terms of size, font, spacing and background contrast color 
  • To highlight parts of speech and syllables
  • To use additional features like line focus and translation

This month’s tip about using Immersive Reader is a recommendation from Michelle Gebel, 5th grade teacher in Indianola. She loves the access to the text students have when using the text-reading feature of Immersive Reader. Take a look!

Each month, be on the lookout for a variety of tips, tricks and testimonials shared via our newsletter, the statewide Iowa AEA website and via social media (@iowa_aea, #iowaaea, @itec_ia, #itecia). 

For more information or to share your favorite Pear Deck features and ideas, check out the AEA website!

ITEC | www.itec-ia.org
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