In the drama room, U of L professor Steve Swan is teaching a session on using green screen video in student projects. Over in the fine arts center, KCD English teacher Lisa Stringfellow is leading a session on copyright and fair use. In the Fab Lab, LVL1’s Chris Cprek is describing how to bring Maker culture to the classroom. Welcome to Tech-Teach-Learn, the annual conference organized and hosted by KCD. Now entering its third year, Tech-Teach-Learn is blazing a trail as the region’s preeminent conference on education and technology.
The conference began in 2012 as a one-day event focused on Google’s education tools. The 2013 conference — now called Tech-Teach-Learn — broadened its scope and expanded to two full days of programming. Last year’s conference featured two keynote speakers, dozens of sessions, and more than 300 registrants.
The conference showcases best practices for integrating technology into the curriculum. It also presents an opportunity for teachers to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Many of the presenters are KCD faculty, but Tech-Teach-Learn draws teachers from a variety of schools across the region, including public, parochial, and other independent schools.
According to KCD Assistant Head of School Anne Glosky, Tech-Teach-Learn also aims to connect teachers with other organizations and resources in the community. For the first time last year, Tech-Teach-Learn partnered with local organizations such as the Kentucky Science Center, Speed Art Museum, Louisville Free Public Library, and LVL1 Hackerspace. Each group offered sessions focusing on their own educational programming and how it could be implemented in the curriculum.
In addition, U of L’s Steve Swan and Bellarmine’s Shawn Apostel and Beth Ennis led multiple sessions during the conference. Dr. Apostel and Dr. Ennis were also featured as keynote speakers.
Ms. Glosky said that she’s proud of the connections that Tech-Teach-Learn is building in the community. “KCD was proud to host the Tech-Teach-Learn Conference,” she said. “We’re thrilled to partner with educators from other schools and local organizations to share resources about the effective use of technology in education. Our teachers lead the way in the region and did an excellent job sharing their knowledge.”
For more information about the conference, visit the Tech-Teach-Learn website at www.techteachlearn.org.