Scalable Game Design at Mrachek

The technology students at Mrachek Middle School are fortunate to have Mark Shouldice as a teacher. I am amazed at his passion for teaching students and his enthusiasm for the Scalable Game Design projects he does with his students.  I attended the SGD Showcase in November. It was amazing to see and play the games his students had created. They were very proud of the work they had done. Many parents also attended and were impressed with their students' work.

Mark has been motivating his students with this training  for several years. He works in conjunction with the University of Colorado. He also trains other teachers for the program. Mark will be training other Aurora Public School teachers on February 13. 

Scalable Game Design Wiki Site

PTC Esthetician Program Goes Digital

The students in the Pickens Technical College afternoon Esthetician Program are using a variety of technology tools in order to increase their learning. Their instructor, Marilyn Graham, wanted to turn her classroom into a 21st Century learning environment. She first purchased a her own personal iPad. She asked me, her Educational Technology Coach, to work with her on learning some apps that would help with her instruction. Since then we have been meeting weekly and increasing the technology use with her students. Some of the things that they are doing include:

Ms. Marilyn located some iPads that another program that was not using and has them set up for her students. The students use the iPads in variety of ways; one way is using them for research. We added shortcuts to the iPads for DORA, the Department of Regulatory Agency, the agency that oversees Cosmologists. They also use them to take pictures of the work and collect artifacts.

We also located some Class Performance System Clickers that were not being used. Ms. Marilyn and her students use the clickers for formative assessment. They are able to complete practice questions while preparing for their State Board Exams. The best thing about using these clickers is that both Ms. Marilyn and the students get immediate feedback. They can then discuss the answer as soon as they finish the question.

Ms. Marilyn found an app named Write 2. They are using this app for taking notes. There is also a audio feature with this app. You can speak your notes, and they are converted into text. This is has been especially helpful for the English Language Learners.

The students have created Digital Portfolios using Google Sites. They will continue to add information and sample work to their portfolios throughout the year. Before they complete the program, they will also add their resumes, business cards, and other employment documents to their Digital Portfolios. They can use these not only to help obtain a job, but also for showing customers their work.

I look forward to continue technology integration and success with Ms. Marilyn and all of her students.