The Computer in Education Society of Ireland (CESI) will hold its annual conference entitled “ICT in Education – Changing Landscapes” in Portlaoise Heritage Hotel, 4 Feb, 7 – 9 PM and Portlaoise College, 5 Feb, 9 AM – 4.30 PM. Registration for the Conference is now open and you can register for either or both the Friday night programme and the Saturday conference/workshops. The Conference Programme has just been released and the highlights include:
1. Tom Barrett to Keynote Conference 2011
Tom is the Deputy Head Teacher at John Davies Primary School and is passionate about E-Learning and the role technology can play in support of good teaching and learning. He is a leading practitioner in multi-touch technology and it use in the primary classroom, online learning tools, implementation across a broad curriculum, use of IWB to support teaching and learning, Games Based Learning, emerging technologies, the role of social media in education and above all engaging kids with the right technology tools to support their learning. All in all, seeing and exploring the untrodden path. More on Tom here http://flavors.me/tombarrett
2. Ciaran McCormack & Chris Miller giving the Apple Experience
Ciaran and Chris will be leading two workshops that explore a variety of the tools that have made Apple such an attractive and popular platform for education. The workshops will be repeated morning and afternoon to give you the chance to attend both workshops. Ciaran will show you how to create your own interactive ebooks with text, video and audio that you can view on any mobile device and what’s more, anybody will be able to achieve this if they understand the basics of Microsoft word. Chris will help you to create simple manageable 40 min lessons where the children will create weather reports,where they can appear anywhere in the world,or field reports for geography or science experiments using simple green screen techniques that is achievable by all. For a full list of the areas these workshops will cover check out the conference programme here http://cesi.ie/conference-2011-programme
3. The Google Apps Experience
Whether you are still considering if Google Apps would be a good solution for your school or have already made the jump and want to know more this years conference will have you covered. We will be coming at the Google Apps experience from three different angles and again we have organised the timetable so that you can attend all three and go away at the end of the day with an in depth understanding of what Google Apps for Education can offer you, your students and your colleagues. Brian Daly of Adamstown Community College relates his schools story and will explore the reality behind the setting up, rollout and uses of Google Apps. Kenneth McLeod will deal with the more technical aspects of rolling out Google Apps and aims to help people with a small level of technical ability to have the confidence to set up Google Apps Education Edition. John Dalton, Ross Mahon & Steven Daly will run workshops in the morning and afternoon that will give you hands on experience and a chance to explore the ttols that make up the Google Apps suite.
4. Scratch Meets Microsoft Kinect – Stephen Howell
Stephen Howell has hit the headlines recently for his use of the Kinect add-on for XBox 360 with a PC to record actor movements and then play them back using Scratch. This allows students to act out scenes or role play and then play them back with different avatars in Scratch. We are excited that Stephen is bringing this breakthrough technology to this years conference. A basic knowledge of Scratch is helpful but not essential, as an introduction to Scratch will be provided. Check out this video to get an idea of what can be done with the skills taught in this workshop http://vimeo.com/18562642
5. Using the iPod Touch in the Primary School Classroom
Damien Quinn will lead a very hands-on workshop. There will be an explanation of the set-up for the use of the iPod Touch in the classroom. A group of 3rd class pupils will demonstrate how they use the iPods as an educational tool as well as demonstrating a number of apps that are used for different curricular areas. Participants will be free to mingle with the pupils to see the iPods in operation. There will be some extra iPods for participants to use during the workshop. There will also be a chance for participants to ask questions about integrating this technology in the classroom.
6. Geomodelling with Google Sketchup
Paul Lee and Alan O’Brien will lead this workshop where you can learn the basics of Google Sketchup and how it can be used to build 3D models of landmarks in your locality. You will learn about a project they are pioneering to bring models of buildings around Ireland to Google Earth. How about getting your student to build a 3d model of your schoolfor inclusion in Google Earth – learn how
You can register for the Conference online at http://www.cesi.ie/conference-2011. Registration for the CESI Meet event on Friday 4th will be limited to 80 due to the size of the venue so register early to avoid disappointment. Registration for Saturday 5th won’t be capped but early registration will help with the organisation end of things. Don’t forget if you pay online with your credit card or via a PayPal account you will get a discount. Details are on the website.
You can follow CESI on Twitter at @cesitweets to keep up-to-date on all things CESI, and use the hashtag of #CESI2011 for specific information on this year’s conference, including real-time tweets from attendees and participants on Friday evening and Saturday.
