iSummit: Presenting & Learning About Apple Technology

Last month, 12 Darlington faculty and staff members went to Atlanta for the two-day iSummit conference, hosted by Westminster School. This progressive conference, sponsored by the Coalition of Lighthouse Schools, connected administrators, teachers, and IT professionals with education leaders whose focus is Apple's mobile technologies and ubiquitous learning in educational environments for 21st Century education. 

Three of our faculty members actually presented at the conference:

Science teacher Randy Smith presented “Creating Virtual and Interactive eTextbooks." In his session, he shared curriculum development ideas concerning virtual interactive e-textbooks and talked about how to create virtual e-texts and maximize engagement by utilizing 21st Century technology skills. Click here to see Randy on 11 Alive Class Act!

Rebekah Kinney and I presented "Developing Policies for 1:1" and “iPhoto and iMovie to Create a Differentiated Classroom Environment." Our first session was aimed at schools who are looking at starting a 1:1 program. We focused on the basics of developing a program as well as rules and policies you must have in place before you begin. We touched specifically on teacher and student training, classroom management with devices, safety and digital citizenship, parent forums, and other information that can help families with devices at home. In our second session, we shared new ideas on incorporating Apple's iPhoto and iMovie into curriculum. We discussed ideas, tutorials and projects the participants can use to help all types of learners. We also showed them how to create slideshows in iPhoto, some of the basics of iMovie, and how to find tutorials to learn the tools to use with students.

Many of our teachers learned how to use MacBooks and iPads in the classroom. Here is what some of them had to say:

“For me, iSummit was a great opportunity to learn about education and technology from new and diverse perspectives. I attended workshops with presenters from Georgia, Tennessee, California and Scotland, among other places! I've come away from iSummit with an arsenal of resources and ideas that I'm so excited to utilize in my own Multimedia Production class, as well as in my collaborative instruction with other PK-8 teachers. I expected to learn about new technologies (and new ways to use old technologies), but I was pleasantly surprised to also find workshops that taught me new strategies for instructional design. In a couple of my workshops, my iPad and my MacBook barely even left my bag. I was too busy brainstorming with other educators around me and taking notes about creative methods for engaging students through Design Thinking. The presenters at iSummit were educators first and technologists second, and they reinforced the important truth that technology does not make the lesson--a strong foundation in good educational practices does. Technology enhances and enriches the lesson, allowing it to be better (and to go further) than it could have ever gone before. Technology can certainly make things easier, and it allows students to access more resources, express themselves in creative ways, and share their learning. Plus, technology is just fun! I had a great time making my first stop motion animation project with Barbara Barfield and Doug Hamil. I feel very fortunate to have had the opportunity to attend this progressive conference, and I would love to go back to another iSummit in the future.” -- Liz Overberg, Librarian 

"Upon receiving the news that iSummit had approved our proposal for sharing information about our virtual textbook, Angela Pieroni and I were ecstatic! We were working on the preliminary virtual text for the 2012-13 school year. We tried some different approaches and continue to discover changes that we desired to make. The opportunity to shared our journey with other teachers was a dream come true. One of our goals included outreach -- sharing our experience with other like-minded schools to integrate technology through virtual text and web-based tools, to engage student learning. We hope to have given other teachers some ideas that might inspire them to try some different approaches. We appreciate this opportunity that Darlington School and The Coalition of Lighthouse Schools has given us to present at iSummit 2013." -- Randy Smith, science teacher

“Going to the iSummit got me fired up about starting the new school year! I cannot wait to share all of the resources I learned about on iTunes U with my colleagues and students. It will be a great resource to use throughout the year, especially as we prepare for the Third-Grade Wax Museum. Everyone with an iPad should download the iTunes U app and search through the vast array of collections and courses available on virtually every topic you could imagine.” -- Alice Clements, third-grade teacher

“Watch out world, iNOW have attended iSummit! Technology advances amaze me, but frighten me to the point of not even attempting. A-HA! This was my moment of clarity for my little ones and how they may feel when I introduce a new concept, letter or shape. First comes the excitement, then the confusion, followed by the frustration of "WHY AM I NOT GETTING THIS?" and "AM I the only one? Then I am quickly reminded that challenging myself and continuously opening my mind to new ideas, learning never ceases. Somewhere along the way, I learned that my weaknesses don't define me, but dare me to be bold in my academic adventures with humility and compassion for others who share my difference. Technology may be my kryptonite, but perseverance is my superpower! In the end, I learned that iAM a learner for life and for all it's worth...iAM always going to try my best!” -- Tinsley Ray, Early Learning Academy instructor 

“I've always tried to instill in my students a desire to learn for learning's sake vs. for the grade! After attending a Passions Projects talk, I am super excited about having students formulate a presentation, tying their passion to a Spanish-speaking country, as part of the culture component of our curriculum. It will be interesting to see how they handle having free reign in outline and creativity!” --  Barbara Barfield, Spanish teacher

“I enjoyed iSummit this year because of the open dialogue between Apple engineers and peers within my career field. This is the only conference I attend because I usually feel I get the most out of these two days then at any other conference. I am able to have impromptu sessions with other IT techs and admins as well as the Apple engineers. I look forward to next year.” -- Mano Hernandez, network administrator