Pictured: MLTI 2.0 SLAM [Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine] posing in front of Central Middle School in Corinth with a welcome sign organized by the school.)
The Maine Department of Education’s Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) kicked off the first of six live, in-person, all-day SLAM (Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine) showcases at Central Middle School in Corinth on October 21st. MLTI will be hosting six all-day SLAM Showcases at six different participating MLTI schools throughout the school year! One of MLTI’s goals is to provide equitable access to technology to prepare students to be critical thinkers and better global citizens. The Student Leadership Ambassadors of Maine (SLAM) directly supports this work by facilitating students’ new skill acquisition and problem solving, as well as their demonstration of technology integration through the creation of a student led community. SLAM empowers MLTI students to use their provided devices and technology tools by providing a platform where students can give back and share their innovative work with technology in their schools. The live SLAM in-person showcases have been designed to directly align with MLTI’s vision that all Maine students engage in authentic, relevant, technology-rich, learning experiences that prepare them for a fulfilling future.
To prepare for the all-day SLAM events, MLTI hosted three professional developments events led by master-educator, Kern Kelley. During these summer events educators learned how to develop classroom environments that use teamwork, technology design, prototyping, and production. Each attendee received a $2,000 kit with power tools, 3D printers, robotics, and virtual workspaces to bring back to their district and support technology integration, as well as the opportunity to apply to host one of these all-day SLAM events at their school during the 2022-2023 school year.
Central Middle School’s 8th grade math teacher, Michael Roman, attended the SLAM summer professional learning and applied to host a SLAM Showcase at his school and was the lucky successful applicant who was picked to host the first show.
Kelley began the day demonstrating to the 8th graders some of the innovative solutions that have been created using technology including the use of prosthetics that respond to muscle movement. Like with most of his presentations, Kelley included information on the cost and how to access the technology pieces that are used to put together advanced prosthetics, among other technology solutions. Kelley subscribes to the mindset that technology tools are available and at your fingertips, you just may not know they are there and how to access them.
Before sending students off to concurrent sessions for the morning, Kelley encouraged the students to think of their own ways to innovate and create using technology in ways that may not even be thought of yet.
The sessions were taught by Nokomis student SLAM club members (SLAMmers) and MLTI Ambassadors on topics such as bot coding, virtual reality, multimedia, and animation creation.
SLAMmers Katelyn, Mia, and Abby were also at the showcase taking photos and capturing video. Each aspiring to pursue photography, journalism, and videography, many of the pictures and images in this article and the video below were taken by them.
The day ended with a live stream of the SLAM Show broadcast from Central Middle School. Students had the opportunity to highlight some of their favorite parts of the day with viewers. They took a group picture with a drone, which was an exciting part of the day for everyone.
Mia and other SLAMmers also produced a video which is a re-cap from the showcase with student interviews. Check it out here:
To learn more about the MLTI 2.0 SLAM program visit: http://MLTI.me. View the latest SLAM episode on the MLTI 2.0 Youtube Channel. To sign your school or classroom up to take part in this awesome opportunity, fill out this form. Follow the Maine Department of Education on Facebook and Twitter to see a posting of the latest virtual SLAM show each week. Subscribe to the Maine DOE Newsroom to see a recap of the in-person SLAM shows each month.