presentations & workshops

I love presenting and facilitating. This page contains information on past and upcoming presentations & workshops, and collects material from those presentations, including links and references.

WORKSHOPS

I’m available to lead various workshops that engage adult learners in project-based learning, technology integration, the Maker movement in education, and other topics.

STEAM PBL: Projects to Make, Document, and Share

Learn how to make, document, and share hands-on projects from the Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts & Math (STEAM) content areas. A special focus will be learning ways for teachers and students to effectively use photos and video for documentation, scientific measurement, and digital storytelling.

More information can be found on the STEAM PBL Workshop page.

Raspberry Pi Hands-on Workshop

Learn how to use the Raspberry Pi, an inexpensive $35 computer, to inspire students to learn coding and expand their possibilities. Topics include the use of Minecraft Pi, a special version of the incredibly popular building game, to engage students in programming in Python, and extending the Raspberry Pi into the world of physical computing.

UPCOMING PRESENTATIONS

  • Jackson EdTech Kickoff: STEAM PBL: Projects to Make and Document
    Wednesday, August 12, 2015: 9:30 AM – 11:15 PM
    Western High School, Parma, MI

    Come make and document hands-on projects from the STEAM content areas! A special focus will be learning ways for teachers and students to effectively use photos and video for documentation, scientific measurement, and digital storytelling.

    IMPORTANT: If possible, please bring your favorite tool(s) for capturing photos and videos, like a smartphone, camera, or tablet.

    If you are attending, please use the Participant Notes document to capture your experience.

  • MACUL Conference: The Story of STEAM
    Thursday, March 19, 2015
    Cobo Center, Detroit, MI

    Faced with a low-attendance situation at one elementary building, our district made the bold decision to re-imagine the school as a K-8 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) focused program, and to implement 1:1 iPads. I’ll be part of a panel of teachers who will tell the story of the school’s first year working through what it means to be a K-8 STEAM school.

  • MACUL Conference: Full STEAM Ahead: Projects to Build and Share
    Wednesday, March 18, 2015: 8:30 AM – 12:00 PM
    Cobo Center, Detroit, MI

    Come make and document hands-on projects from the STEAM content areas! A special focus will be learning tools and techniques for documenting your work; options for mobile devices (Android and iOS), Web tools, and cameras will be explored in detail. Finally, you’ll discover methods for efficiently sharing your work online. Bring your favorite tool for capturing photos and videos.

  • MACUL Conference: The Story of STEAM
    Thursday, March 19, 2015
    Cobo Center, Detroit, MI

    Faced with a low-attendance situation at one elementary building, our district made the bold decision to re-imagine the school as a K-8 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math (STEAM) focused program, and to implement 1:1 iPads. I’ll be part of a panel of teachers who will tell the story of the school’s first year working through what it means to be a K-8 STEAM school.

  • MACUL Conference: Affordable, Mobile 3D Printing in the Classroom
    Thursday, March 19, 2015
    Cobo Center, Detroit, MI

    Are you intrigued by the possibilities that 3D printing offers your students, but worried about the cost and space required? Come find out how you can offer this capability to your students for a low cost and with easier space requirements. This is a 2014 MACUL Grant presentation.

PAST PRESENTATIONS

    • iiE 2014: Raspberry Pi Hands-on Workshop

      I presented a hands-on workshop about the Raspberry Pi computing platform for the Institute for Innovation in Education (iiE) conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the University of Michigan.

    • ITEEA 2014: STEM Showcase

      I presented at the ITEEA conference in March, 2014. My presentation was based on the “Inspire Our Future Technology Leaders with the Raspberry Pi and Minecraft” work I showed at MACUL 2014, but was framed as an interactive session with attendees, allowing me to demo the Raspberry Pi and associated physical computing projects.

    • MACUL 2014: Inspire Our Future Technology Leaders with the Raspberry Pi and Minecraft

      I presented at the MACUL conference in March, 2014. My presentation is called Inspire Our Future Technology Leaders with the Raspberry Pi and Minecraft, and you can see links and a download at that page.

    • MACUL 2011: Building Digital Connections

      I presented at the MACUL conference in March, 2011. My presentation focused on the 2010-2011 MACUL Grant I won, which allowed me to place digital cameras in a school in South Africa as well as the school at which I worked, Honey Creek Community School in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

    • ITEEA 2010: Designing Real-World Interfaces

      I presented at the International Technology and Engineering Educators (ITEEA) national conference in March, 2010. My presentation focused on the ability of students to use programming environments such as Scratch and Processing to create their own projects, and the engineering design process to create hardware interfaces to these programs.

      You can download my presentation as a PDF file [3.5 MB] .

    • Ignite Ann Arbor 2009: Are our children technologically literate?

      I presented on the topic “Are our children technologically literate?” at Ignite Ann Arbor in November, 2009. Ignite is a highly compressed format in which each presenter gets five minutes to present. Each presenter creates 20 slides, and they rotate automatically after 15 seconds.

      You can view a video of me delivering this presentation via UStream. You can also download my slide deck as a PDF file [5.5 MB].