Andover Innovation Lab & Help Desk Experiences At MassCue 2014-Lab Overview and Student Help Desk

On early  Wednesday October 22nd 5 students left early and  travelled to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro,Masachusetts from Andover High School as members of the Andover Innovation Lab and Help Desk to be part of the MassCUE(Massachusetts Computer Using Educators event in the form of the student help desk featured in the main concourse. The students participating were Eli Gukovsky,Ari Primak, Will Owen and Bryce Corbitt.

With the assistance of Dan Downs and Dan Brennan the students set up a video which promoted their endeavors at the help desk and helped outline the curriculum which they are part of at the high school. The video below helps outline the process of the Andover Innovation Lab and Help Desk.

This was a great opportunity for the students to better understand the huge movement they are apart of which empowers students to use technology more efficiently with teachers and enables them to work on their own innovative technology driven project. Students had an opportunity to network with other teachers who use technology as a main part of their instruction. 

The students also had a visit from Andover Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Marinel McGrath who visited and chatted and tweeted out her visit with the group.

I was also able to present the Andover Innovation Lab curriculum to a roomful of teachers eager to see how we work on our projects and use blogging as a reflective form of the process. The presentation below outlines the design of the curriculum used at the help desk and provides an overview of several of the students projects. This was a highly beneficial opportunity to share what we do at the Andover Innovation Lab and how this model continues to evolve as we integrate technology in the district.

Andover Innovation Lab/Help Desk Presents At "Today's Students,Tomorrow's Teachers"(TSTT) Conference - Wheelock College Boston,Ma

Right before Christmas break(12/20/13) I had the opportunity to discuss with some future teachers the application of Project based Learning with Technology to some motivated young high school students who are interested in becoming educators at the TSTTT(Today's Students Tomorrow's Teachers) conference at Wheelock College in Boston. Today's Students,Tomorrows Teachers is a non-profit organization whose mission is:

"To recruit, mentor, and train culturally diverse and economically challenged students from high school through college and place them as effective teachers and committed leaders who strengthen schools and communities."

(TSTT Website)

Wheelock College TSTT Conference

Myself (Dan Downs) and the Help Desk Intern Zach Griffin, Digital Learning Specialist Barbara Murray,Director of Digital Learning Joanne Najarian and 3 female students from Andover High School traveled down to the conference together and spent and an engaging afternoon together collaborating with the students and presenting to them a variety of teaching strategies and perspectives on working in education.

My Presnetation(Link In Text)

The conference at Wheelock  provided an opportunity for this high school students to engage in meaningful dialogue about what it means to be a teacher with educators. My presentation was focused on showing them the benefits of a PBL curriculum using technology and how projects engage students on a different level and enable students to acquire a range of leadership, technology and collaboration skills as they complete projects(My Presentation Link). The girls also had an opportunity to learn about how to use Wikispaces (Presentation of Zach Griffin,IT Intern) and ask critical questions about what the process of becoming a teacher really is. 

The conference was a great opportunity to engage the students with the benefits of the teaching profession and answer their questions. I hope that the girls that I met during my presentation follow through on their goal of going into education and can help influence the lives of other youth. The experience included a variety of media presentations on the importance of 21st century skills for students and the chance for students to interact with educators outside of the classroom.

For more information about this program check out their website: 

http://www.tstt.org/