Over 25 educators including County and State Teachers of the Year and Apple Distinguished Educators, six middle school students, a handful of Thomas College education students, and more joined the Maine Department of Education, Educate Maine and Thomas College for last week’s Move the Needle Learning and Technology Summit.
In opening remarks, Maine DOE’s Mike Muir said, “We wonder if we are not a little stuck as there is still a lot of evidence in the digital use divide.” This is why the summit was created to showcase what is being taught, integrated with technology, in some classroom across Maine and more discussion about what should be in the future.
Auburn kindergarten educators, Mauri Dufour shared her “Evidence & Creation,” which is to help students show what they know and how powerful that is for students. Working through technology, Mauri said, “Students are becoming teachers and using the power of video allows students to become independent and proud of their work.”
Winslow Middle Junior High School student, Jake Bilideau agreed, “A lot of teachers are learning with us as we just switched from laptops to iPads.” Seventh grader Ellie Dow shared how she uses iMovie, draws for science using technology, “… and we use lots of apps.”
Old Orchard Beech third grade educator, Billy Corcoran said in his presentation, “Students teaching students is an amazing thing,” as he spoke of the “Primary Blog Challenge” in his classroom.
Dow said the summit was inspiring and, “…these educators should come to our school.” The last item on the agenda was “dream with us.” Muir said, “The Design Team will create a plan to help teachers build, first, their mind set around the learning experiences we’d like for our students and then their tool set around how the technology can help.”
Also joining the summit was Jess Esch, a writer and illustrator from Portland. Jess is a sketch note artist who captured the presentation in visual notes which will be shared on MLTI’s web page in the near future.
See additional coverage of the summit at the Bangor Daily News and WABI TV5. For more information on how you can dream “with us,” contact MLTI Policy Director Mike Muir at mike.muir@maine.gov.