As I entered the big session room where Hall Davidson was to present his piece on "Virtual Reality for Classrooms & Schools", I was expecting a great amount of information to be shared that I may not be fully familiar with. True enough, when he started delivering his presentation, I was introduced to a multitude of possibilities where virtual reality can be used to provide more engagement and active participation among students in the classroom. 

Though I was expecting a little bit more his presentation, such as the reflective aspect of virtual reality with regard to developing authentic student learning and empowered student voices, I took mostly what I called an influx of "what you need to have", "what best tech devices to use", "examples of VR application in the classroom", "what VR means and what it can offer", and the like. I guess my expectation is not something that is part of his presentation and thus, his focus was entirely on the "what" and "how", and not completely as to the "why". 

I find this a bit problematic since this kind of "stigma" of technology of just being the "what" and "how" on student learning has been quite limiting. At times, it has become the downfall for technology, not unless, the use of technology is elevated for a higher and more meaningful, relevant purpose. With the trend of #empoweringlearners and providing students with opportunities to build their #authenticvoice, #virtualreality needs to elevate its presence and purpose in today's role in education. 

Below is the #sketchnote that I have created based on the information I have gathered in Hall Davidson's presentation. Good information, but again, I was expecting a little bit more depth. 

 ....so, let us be prepared to give the ultimate best to our students for their authentic learning experiences!

With the ISTE Standards for Students, we can prepare our students to become Empowered Learners, Digital Citizens, Knowledge Constructors, Innovative Designers, Computational Thinkers, Creative Communicators, and Global Collaborators! #ISTE2018 With my #sketchnote below, I aim to capture the different key indicators of what makes a Future Ready Student, based on the ISTE Standards for Students. 

David Eagleman, Ph. D. is one of the keynote speakers during the #ISTE2018 Convention. It was a privilege to hear him speak and share his expertise about "The Brain". I also had the privilege to have a photo with him and obtain his signature on my #digitalsketchpad as a memento of this wonderful meeting opportunity. Thus, you can see in this particular #sketchnote his signature and his drawing of the brain. I am grateful! 

During #ISTE2018, I had my first full implementation of #sketchnotes as I was capturing notes, ideas, and adding my own visual illustrations while listening and learning from fellow educators and conference presenters. I was definitely inspired by the words and accomplishments of fellow educators, as they share their experiences and expertise in innovative learning and effective technology integration. My brain was in information overload!  

As my first #sketchnote, it was difficult and challenging at first, especially when I was trying to organize the type of images that will symbolize popular words as reference to education, technology integration, learner centered experiences, learner empowerment, and the like. It was also a challenge to sketch and draw as quickly as possible, as the flow of words and ideas begin pouring out from the minds of the conference presenters. I had to combine the skill of listening and doodling at the same time, without losing momentum and consistency. Despite these challenges, it had been quite exciting to see my #sketchnotes come to life! This will be an ongoing progress and as I practice more often, I will be able to create better #sketchnotes. I plan to use #sketchnotes not only for capturing notes, ideas or information, but also to use this as part of an activity during professional development, as a engagement tool for meetings, as a tool for presentations, etc. I think that #sketchnotes will make my presentations more "alive" and enticing to my audience! I can't wait!

Upon visiting the ISTE Conference website, I chanced upon on some information on how to become an ISTE Certified Educator. Through the collaboration between TCEA and ISTE, this opportunity is made possible, by having educators and education leaders complete a 2 day face-to-face certification training and 8 weeks online modules as part of the process. Furthermore, educators who complete these initial requirements will develop portfolios according to the expected ISTE standards for Educators and Education Leaders within a 6 month period. If you are interested to register and participate, here are some information you will need to prepare for:

• ISTE Certification through TCEA 
  • ​https://tcea.org/learn/certifications/iste/ 
• Sign up for a training with TCEA
• Attend in-person two-day workshop
• Complete online coursework (8 weeks)
• 30 hours of dynamic in-person and online professional learning based on the ISTE Standards and transformative pedagogy
• six months to apply your learning and compile artifacts and reflections into a competency-based portfolio which will be evaluated by ISTE​

Upcoming Training Dates:

• August 8-9
• September 19-20
• October 16-17 (Coming soon)
• November 8-9 (Coming soon)
• December 13-14 (Coming soon)
• More dates to follow...

Staring on June 23rd, I will be traveling to Chicago to attend the much awaited ISTE 2018 Conference that will be focusing on educator-tested strategies that have been supported with proven resources for transforming learning and teaching. This yearly conference also provides the place to get connected to the brightest minds in EdTech, and network with these wonderful educators all year long.

​Here is a link to my Program Schedule at ISTE 2018. Looking forward to a week of learning!
https://conference.iste.org/2018/shortlink/6877a0ffc74cbdf5b115123eb4c42fcb

Program Highlights
https://conference.iste.org/2018/program/highlights.php

Schedule At A Glance
https://conference.iste.org/2018/glance/schedule.php

Location
Chicago — McCormick Place West Building

Today I encountered quite an interesting tweet from one of the amazing and exceptional teachers of El Paso Independent School District, Ms. Stormy Daniels. Here is a screenshot of her tweet. Upon reading it, I got pretty intrigued and I, of course, had to read more! 

The link led to a short video about "The Critical Mass" by Damen Lopez who is the founder of the No Excuses University. Damen continues to inspire educators in making intentional, positive and proactive impacts in student learning and teacher attitudes and behaviors. Damen shares that many of our teachers today are faced with numerous challenges, whether in the form of class size, budget constraints, lack or limited availability of resources, not being paid enough, long work hours, etc. These are part of our current reality as educators. However, these reasons should not hinder or stop us from continuing what needs to be done, and that is, to work together and provide every student with authentic and innovative learning experiences based on real-world scenarios. As educators, we should not allow "naysayers" and "non-believers of true and meaningful teaching" to stop us. As a critical mass, we need to demonstrate and model being LIFE CHANGERS and be ON BOARD in making a purposeful difference every student's life! 

Below is an excerpt of the online video on, "The Critical Mass". You can follow Damen Lopez in Twitter @noexcusesu

When speaking of an Active Learning environment, one of the ideas that come to mind would be the design and layout of the classroom, where students have spaces for small or big group collaboration, whole group discussion, individual work, easy transition from one learning style to another, brainstorming, and many more. There had been discussions of changing the traditional classroom (sitting in neat and organized rows that are mostly facing the teacher and/or the front of a board) into flexible learning spaces that would encourage students to share, work in teams, and develop better communication and collaboration skills. However, the challenge lies on how today's schools can make this change without creating burdens in their budget and current building structures.

The infographic below showcases the different ways of designing and creating an Active Learning classroom. It is quite obvious that the infographic includes modern style seats that can be easily rolled or moved, specially-designed desks and mobile storage cabinets, to name a few. After reading the infographic below, here are some questions that I would like you to think about:

• How can today's schools, especially those buildings that have been standing for so many years, transform their current learning spaces into Active Learning classrooms? 
• ​What are some ideas that can help transform traditional classrooms into flexible learning spaces, especially if you have a limited budget?

This presentation is made possible by Ashley Callahan, Hawaii Department of Education, HI and Stephanie Catania, Chaminade University, HI. In their presentation, both presenters aim to share what BAM is and how BAM supports teaching best practices, particularly in the area of differentiation. BAM stands for Benchmark Assessment Map and it focuses on increasing student engagement through providing choices in student learning. Here are some highlights of their presentation:

• The importance of giving student choice is key to engaging students and creating a deeper impact in their learning.
• Changing the taste of learning among students, who have a bad taste in Reading and Writing due to the rudimentary procedures involved in traditional way of learning.
• Examples: board games, students performing a dance, conducting an experiment, students having a choice in their assignments (frees up teacher time to have conversations with students), seismic waves using a slinky, students producing/creating, PowerPoint slides, creating a newscast, to name a few.​

More of my notes below. ​

This presentation was made possible by Jill Ackers and Dayna Laur, Project ARC, during the TCEA 2018 Conference. It was refreshing to listen to two presenters who spoke about the importance of unpacking instructional design in order for students to learn, and reflecting as to what our schools would look like in 2030.

The presentation began with challenging the audience to portray different scenarios, a surprise free scenario, an optimistic scenario, a pessimistic scenario, a disaster scenario and a transformation scenario as to our take regarding the impact and relevance of technology integration in student success, student learning, and teacher growth and development. It was interesting to listen to what each other have to say, based on the given scenarios, and what made it more interesting is the evidences that each participant/audience has provided with his/her statement. This is one activity that I would like to try during one of my meetings! 

As an ever-progressing race, we humans are always looking for something new, different, innovative, or better to support and serve our continuous desire for growth and development, meaningful insights, and purposeful contributions to society. As educators, it is in our nature to strive for something better, more improved, and if not, to change something that may not be working anymore.

Many of us are also aware that our current education system is challenged with staying relevant with the fast-paced and constantly-changing demands of society, particularly in ensuring students to be prepared and ready to serve the human race. For example, the technology realm is one of the common areas where change is happening too quickly and progressively, which have either been received positively or negatively by people. In doing so, the evolution of the web brings about great anticipation as to what students need to learn and how educators can best prepare them for the future. 

With this in mind, I will ask you the same question that was asked during this presentation. That is, "When you enter into a new or not so new learning experience, how will you rewire your way of thinking that will lead to the transformation of teaching and student learning?" More of my notes on this presentation are shown below.