Posts Tagged ‘mlti’

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Happy New Year!

January 1, 2013

Reflecting

I have taken some time today to reflect on 2012 and realize how fortunate I am to work with incredible arts educators in Maine and throughout the United States. Educators who are dedicated, passionate, and fully committed to providing an outstanding arts education for every student!

The year has been filled with many successes, some challenges, and sad losses! I wish I had time to go back through all the blog posts that I wrote in 2012 to help me remember all of the successes, challenges, and losses but instead I will provide the highlights.

Successes

The biggest success is the Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI). The second phase of MAAI officially kicked off in the spring with the identification of 20 teacher leaders. These arts educators joined the 18 teacher leaders from phase one. They participated in a 4-day institute in August at the Maine College of Art (MECA) in Portland where they expanded their knowledge in the areas of assessment, leadership, technology, and creativity. They have created workshops that are being delivered throughout this school year at the regional and mega-regional level. (Registration for the mega-regional workshops is now open – FREE and contact hours are available.) The topics of the sessions are as varied as the individual teacher leaders. I am so grateful for their commitment to the work that is making a difference for arts teachers and in arts classrooms across Maine each day. The impact on students learning is amazing!

And, uniquely the Mega-regional workshops are being co-sponsored with the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). At these workshops their will be at least one session that is integrated with an MLTI integrator to provide a first time opportunity for educators!

The MAAI would not be possible without the commitment of the leadership team who have consistently shepherded the work. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to Catherine Ring, Rob Westerberg, Jeff Beaudry, Bronwyn Sale, Pam Kinsey, and Matt Doiron. Their willingness to lead has made a difference! Close to 1000 arts educators have taken advantage of the professional development opportunities during the last year and a half.

The MAAI is aligned with the Maine Department of Education’s Strategic Plan: Education Evolving: Maine’s Plan for Putting Learners First.

In July Catherine and I flew to Denver for a national conference on arts assessment held at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design. I was proud to let others know of the grassroots efforts that Maine arts educators are involved with.

Art educator Chris Milliken, on sabbatical from Wells schools, has been following and doing research on the MAAI during this past year. He will join art teacher Lisa Marin and present a session on their findings at the Mega-regional workshop at Ellsworth High School on March 29, 2013.

Literacy is a statewide focus with the Literacy for ME being launched this fall and arts education has stepped up to become an integral part of the cross content literacy connections. Arts educators Jen Nash, Suzanne Goulet, and Lisa Gilman have been facilitating literacy webinars. Suzanne is also co-facilitating face to face sessions.

We have had 4 wonderful art exhibits at the Maine Department of Education during this past year from Maranacook Community Schools, Bangor Elementary and Middle Schools, Lake Region High School, and Messalonskee High School. Along with the exhibits we had receptions at the Blaine House with music and dance performances from each school/district. Participating and collaborating are First Lady Ann LePage, the Maine State Board of Education, and the Commissioner of Education, Steve Bowen.

First Lady Ann LePage partnered with the Barbara Bush Foundation to create a new baby journal to present to parents at hospitals across Maine when their babies are born. We did a call for K-8 artwork and 867 young artists submitted work. Thirty two pieces were selected to be published in the book which will be completed in June 2014.

The Maine arts education list-serv has grown to 1200 and the meartsed blog is growing as a source of information, not only for arts educators but for all educators. If you are not on the list-serv but would like to be, please email me at argy.nestor@maine.gov. On December 5, 2013 the blog set a record high day of 976 visitors. And a record high week happened during that same time of 2508 visitors. Thank you for taking the time to visit and informing others about what is available on the Maine arts education blog.

Challenges

  • Common Core standards for ELA and Math were released this year and teachers are being asked to incorporate them into their curricula.
  • We are waiting patiently for the next iteration of the national arts standards to be released in March March 2013.
  • Arts education in Maine is underserved. As the economy continues to be a challenge so is providing adequate arts education programs and teachers.
  • Determining how to provide quality arts education to be ready for the “proficiency based graduation requirement” slated for the graduating class of 2018.
  • What will determine “teacher effectiveness” for arts educators (the non-tested content)?

Sadness

In March music teacher Beth Polletto died in a car accident driving to school. Beth taught at Gray New Gloucester and Georgetown Central School. In May art teacher Jackie McTigue died in a car accident on her way to school. Jackie taught at Glenburn Elementary School. Both teachers were amazing arts educators and have left a huge hole. My friend and colleague 2nd grade teacher and Maine’s 2010 Teacher of the Year Kevin Grover died on Thanksgiving day after returning from a run. He is greatly missed by family, friends, and colleagues.

Looking forward

photoBeing forever optimistic, I know that 2013 will be filled with many more successes and that the challenges will be small mountains for us to climb. I invite you to collaborate with your colleagues to face the challenges and enjoy the successes. I hope you will continue to use the meartsed blog for resources and to access information. Many of you have heard me say “none of us is as smart as all of us”. Please continue to share information that I can pass on to others through the blog. I appreciate it!

I am confident that 2013 will be filled with opportunities for arts education to move forward. For example part of phase 2 of the MAAI is videotaping arts classrooms to respond to your request “what does a standards based arts education classroom look like?” So, Debi Lynne Baker (newly retired art teacher) will be visiting arts classrooms in the next few months and creating 4 short videos with examples. This is just one example of resources being developed for arts teachers.

I enjoy the challenges that my work at the Maine Department of Education provides for me. I especially love the opportunity to interact with you, the readers of the meartsed blog. So please take a moment when possible and drop me an email at argy.nestor@maine.gov or make a comment at the bottom of a blog post. You can subscribe to the blog by clicking on “Sign me up!” located on the right side of the front page of the blog.

I hope your year is filled with love and laughter and that you continue to provide outstanding opportunities for your students in arts education! Best Wishes for a wonderful 2013 and THANKS so much for all the good that you do in education!

Only one photo and one quote included in today’s post. Hopefully the photo will put a smile on your face and the quote will provide you with some “food for thought” as we dive into 2013!

The purpose of arts education is not to produce more artists, though that is a byproduct. The real purpose of arts education is to create complete human beings capable of leading successful and productive lives in a free society. – Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts

Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Dance, Food for thought, Integration, Leadership, Music, Opportunity, Professional Development, Research, Standards, Technology, Theater, Visual Arts, YAHOO | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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MAAI and MLTI Partner

December 25, 2012

Mega-regional workshops offered

The Maine Arts Assessment Initiative (MAAI) is partnering with the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) to offer all-day Mega-Regional workshops. Over 36 sessions will be offered at the four locations; Farmington, Portland, Ellsworth, and Presque Isle. These are FREE all day arts education workshops for elementary, middle, high school, and higher ed educators.

The workshops are provided FREE and contact hours are available. Workshop facilitators are the MAAI teacher leaders (phase 1 and 2) and MLTI technology integrators. At least one workshop included at each location will have an integrated co-facilitated session that connects at least one arts discipline and technology. In addition MLTI staff will be offering sessions. All participants must pre-register. Join us for this unique opportunity! Each participant can select two 1-hour morning workshops and one 2-hour afternoon MLTI session. You will need to bring a computer that has the MLTI image.

These workshops are in response to the feedback from arts educators requesting more professional development opportunities. Also happening all over the state are Regional workshops being presented by the arts education teacher leaders from the second phase of MAAI.

The Mega-Regional Workshops

  • Monday, January 14, 8:00 to 3:30, University of Maine at Farmington
  • Friday, March 1, 8:00 to 3:30, University of Southern Maine, Portland
  • Friday, March 22, 8:00 to 3:30, Presque Isle High School, Presque Isle
  • Friday, March 29, 8:00 to 3:30, Ellsworth High School, Ellsworth

Workshop descriptions are located here. Please click here to learn more and to REGISTER for one or more of the workshop sessions.

Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Integration, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, Standards, Technology, VPA | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Screen Saver Challenge!

November 15, 2012

MLTI screen saver student opportunity

“Array of Colors” Emma Soucek, Mount Desert Island High School, Grade 10

Over the last four years, the MLTI device screen saver featured eighty outstanding student works of art (twenty each year) with over one thousand pieces of artwork submitted.

This opportunity is once again available for the 2013-2014 Screen Saver. Works of art submitted will be on display in a Studywiz Gallery where students and teachers may vote for and critique the artworks. The two works receiving the most votes (stars) will automatically be entered into the group of 20 finalists. An independent review committee will score the remaining pieces of artwork using a rubric (available online). The 18 artworks receiving top scores from the committee will be submitted to the finalists group as well.

Most schools have active Studywiz accounts for staff and students. Please check with your MLTI Tech Lead for more information. If you do not have a Studywiz account you will be issued an account to post the work. Your Tech Lead can create accounts – please keep in mind it takes 24 hours for a Studywiz account to become active so don’t wait!!

“Put Out the Fire” Margaret Robe, Waterville Senior High School, Grade 12

This opportunity is open to Maine students in grades K-12. MLTI asks that students submit only ONE piece of artwork to be considered for the 2013-2014 screensaver. Please take careful note of the sizing and labeling requirements. Submissions not meeting these requirements or students submitting multiple works will not have their artwork reviewed or voted on. The deadline to submit artwork for this challenge is December 17, 2012!

The students whose artwork is selected will receive free Student Conference registration (May 16, 2013) and will have their artwork on the 2013-2014 MLTI Screen Saver.

More information can be found online (http://www.maine.gov/mlti/about/photos.shtml) or in Studywiz (http://studywiz.mlti.org/) in the 207 Screen Saver group.

Posted in Opportunity, Visual Arts | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Day 4: Maine Arts Assessment Initiative Institute

August 9, 2012

Presentations, questions, next steps

The last day of the 4-day summer institute gave the teacher leaders from the second phase of the MAAI the opportunity to share their ideas for regional workshops. The opportunity was equally valuable for the leadership team and the first phase teacher leaders to learn from the presentations. The topics varied as much as the 20 teacher leaders do in their learning and teaching.

Part of the afternoon was spent on formative assessment “in action” through MLTIs (Maine Learning Technology Initiative) version of Jeopardy. The game was created by Tim Hart who works for Apple with MLTI and the questions were created by the teacher leaders from the first phase. It was a great fun and an example of how formative assessment doesn’t have to be stressful and serious. The categories matched our work for the week: Assessment, Technology, Leadership, and Creativity.

The day concluded with participants providing feedback including their “takeaways”. I’ve included some of the points so you can get an idea of the opportunity that these teacher leaders had and some of what they will take into their classrooms, schools, and regions.

TAKEAWAYS:

  • The creative process is teachable and assessable.
  • Lots of awesome arts teachers in Maine.
  • The MAAI is growing strong.
  • None of us are as smart as all of us.
  • Some ideas about sparking creativity.
  • There is a broad spectrum of understanding w/regard to standards.
  • Ways of creating digital portfolios.
  • Different methods that can be used to track progress.
  • There are many ways to approach delivery of content.
  • New people and what they’re doing.
  • Bento (data)
  • News: Nationally & State.
  • Creative thinking/problem solving.
  • SCAMPER
  • Where we are with Core and National Standards.
  • How to make the computer talk.
  • How to engage 30+ people in activities that are fun and they can learn.
  • We are all resources and can learn from each other.
  • I’ve learned a better understanding of formative vs. summative assessment.
  • More techniques for meaningful assessments.
  • Numerous resources and where to go for more information on any topic we discussed.
  • New Skills – technology, vocabulary.
  • New colleagues, friends & collaborators.
  • Renewed energy, we can do this.
  • Technology info. i.e. – MTLI minutes – note-share, script, sketch-up, etc.
  • A ton of resources books, online sites.
  • Ideas from discussions w/peers.
  • Activities & Assessments I can use w/my students i.e. consensogram, stickies, games.
  • Become a strong leader.
  • Assessing is important for everyone involved.
  • MLTI!!
  • There are many colleagues out there, willing to help!
  • The arts are Central, not peripheral.
  • Assessments can be straight forward & clear, not as scary as first thought!
  • Maine Learning.Net
  • Connections/Friendships
  • More confidence in myself & the Initiative.
  • Creativity Research
  • A better understanding of Standards-based assessment.
  • Data collection tools.
  • Quantifying, creative thinking/learning.
  • New energy and thinking process.
  • Inspirations.
  • Respect.
  • Using mind maps is very helpful.
  • HOW POWERFUL IS PASSION!
  • Apply what I’ve learned regarding assessment (Just do it).
  • Continue communication and observation of great educational leaders.
  • I can do this!
  • Other educators have problems similar to mine.
  • Arts teachers are really enthusiastic.
  • I know more than I thought I did.
  • I can use new technology and enjoy it!

Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, Standards Based Education, VPA | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Media Release

May 24, 2012

1,000 students with laptops make music, learn

ORONO – What do you get when you put 1,000 students with laptops in the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine in Orono? Music, literally.

At this year’s Maine Learning Technology Initiative Student Conference at the University of Maine on Thursday, students learned about innovative ways they can use their state-issued laptops.

During the afternoon “uber session,” students turned their laptop keyboards into musical keyboards and performed a world premiere musical composition, along with 12 live musicians on stage, and two members of the New World Symphony playing live from Miami. Some of the students had used software available on their MLTI devices to pre-program their machines to create their own recording of a full octave of notes – using anything from the sounds of birds to objects around the house or digital sounds of their own making. All – including those with no musical experience at all – contributed to the performance.

“We’ve done some pretty cool stuff at the uber session in years past,” said Jeff Mao, director of learning technology for the Maine Department of Education, which organized the event with Apple, the University and other partners. “The student energy and engagement this time topped them all.”

The New England School of Communications greatly enhanced the event by providing wall-to-wall video and audio coverage, some of it projected live on a large screen, all of it to be available for posting online and in future promotion.

The annual conference, now in its ninth year, is a way to generate energy and excitement about using technology to enhance learning. It’s also a way to give middle school (and some high school) students a glimpse into college life: students navigate themselves to breakout sessions around campus and eat in one of the school’s dining halls.

Helping students use technology to develop their own learning plans and to enhance their learning experiences is a cornerstone of the Maine DOE’s strategic plan, unveiled by Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen in February.

“We need to put students more in charge of their own learning,” Bowen said. “Technology is one way to do that.”

Students started the day with three student keynote speakers who addressed the entire gathering. Tim Walsh, a freshman at Kennebunk High School, shared how he leveraged his access to his MLTI MacBook to become a design professional along with a team at Middle School of the Kennebunks. Emily & Katie Morse, juniors at Machias High School, talked about their experience studying Japanese through an online course via their MLTI MacBooks to meet their world language graduation requirement.

Students then spread out across campus for more than 20 breakout sessions on everything from video game design with Scratch (software) to tips on using GarageBand music-making software to developing smartphone apps and searching for planets.

And it was all live-tweeted by students from Auburn Middle school using the Twitter hashtag #mlti2012.

All Maine Department of Education news releases can be found online at:
http://mainedoenews.net/category/news-views/press-releases/.

Posted in Media Arts, Music, Opportunity, Visual Arts | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

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Tomorrow at UMaine

May 23, 2012

Media Update from MDOE: Laptops, music, Orono – May 24th

What do you get when you put 1,000 students with laptops in the Collins Center for the Arts at the University of Maine in Orono? Music, literally.

This year’s Maine Learning Technology Initiative Student Conference will feature an “uber session” in which students will turn their laptop keyboards into musical keyboards and perform a world premiere musical composition, along with 12 live musicians on stage, and two members of the New World Symphony playing live from Miami. Each student has used software available on their MLTI devices to pre-program their machine to create their own recording of a full octave of notes – using anything from the sounds of birds to objects around the house or digita sounds of their own making. MLTI staff will capture the culminating performance and release audio and video to the public shortly after the performance.

Highlights
9:10 – 10:25 a.m. Three student keynote speakers will address the entire gathering. These student presentations are typically well polished and inspiring and help illustrate the ways in which technology can enhance the learning experience for students. Tim Walsh, a freshman at Kennebunk High School, will share how he leveraged his access to his MLTI MacBook to become a design professional along with a team at Middle School of the Kennebunks. Emily & Katie Morse, juniors at Machias High School, are studying Japanese to meet their world language graduation requirement at Machias High, and they are doing it online through Brigham Young University in Salt Lake City, Utah via their MLTI MacBooks, and will talk about their experience.
10:40 – 11:40 a.m. Morning sessions on everything from video game design with Scratch (software) to tips on using Garage Band to developing smartphone apps and searching for planets. These sessions are held around campus.
1 -2 p.m. The uber-session, described above. The students are always pretty jazzed about this session (the activity varies each year) and from a photo perspective, you’re not likely to find better than this – with 1,000 students gathered with their laptops and working collaboratively on a project. (Tech geek note: getting the two live musicians from Miami linked in is a huge technical achievement requiring a robust network infrastructure implemented by Networkmaine specifically for the event. While there will be a slight delay in the video, the audio will be precisely in time with the group at UMO, something that was formerly almost impossible to execute.)
You might also want to catch up with the student tweeters: Students from Auburn Middle school will be live-tweeting the entire conference using the Twitter hashtag #mlti2012
Now a decade old, MLTI puts laptops in the hands of all Maine seventh and eighth graders and a majority of high-school students. The program focuses not on the technology itself, but on using technology as an integral part of student learning.

DETAILS AND MORE INFO

WHAT
9th annual Maine Learning Technology Initiative Student Conference
View the schedule of events: http://www.maine.gov/mlti/studentconference/index.shtml

WHERE
University of Maine at Orono

WHEN
Thursday, May 24, roughly 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Suggested events, as noted above, at 9:10 a.m. (Collins Center), 10:40 a.m. (various) and 1 p.m. (Collins Center)

Posted in Communication, Media Arts, Music | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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In the News

March 22, 2012

Musician Michael Burd teaching ukulele to adult ed students

The Sun Journal published article written by Ann Bryant on March 7th about Michael Burd teaching ukulele to adult ed classes at Mt. Blue Middle School in Farmington. Not only can you find the article by clicking here but also at the link is a video clip of Michael and the students in action.

The article starts like this:

Four strings, three chords and the agile fingers of 10 students in Ukulele 101 resounded in a rendition of “Happy Birthday” at Mt. Blue Middle School.

After showing students where to place their fingers for each chord, instructor Michael Burd asked the students if they knew the meaning of muscle memory. It’s doing it until it comes naturally, he said. He urged the students to “practice, practice, practice” the simple song before the next class.

Michael is a professional musician who plays bass with David Mallett, Noel Paul Stukey and others. He bought himself a ukulele last year at a yard sale for $2 and started playing. He is an instructor with the adult ed program in the Mt. Blue Regional District where he is teaching others to play the ukulele.

Burd attended the Maine Learning Technology Initiative workshop with Steve Garton in January. You might remember his picture from the blog post.

Anyone else teaching arts in an adult ed program? Please let me know!

Posted in Curriculum and Instruction, Music, Opportunity, YAHOO | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments »

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Creating on an iPad

March 11, 2012

Boothbay High School iPad story

Not too long ago, while at a meeting in Washington county, I had a conversation with Tara Maker from Apple who works with Maine’s Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI). Tara was demonstrating the iPad and mentioning some of the tools on the devise. She showed a student example of a drawing from Boothbay High School. She explained that the student had created her own stylus to be able to create what she wanted in the drawing. Afterwards Tara and I chatted and she emailed me the drawing.

Emilie's drawing, Tara shared that inspired me to contact Emilie

As a follow-up I emailed the student, named Emilie, who kindly answered some questions and sent me drawings. I also emailed Emilie’s art teacher, Manon Lewis to learn more.

Periodically I find myself wondering how my teaching would be different if I were in the classroom today. There are so many wonderful tools and, students thinking is changing rapidly in their world of technology. I understand that this is challenging but also a wonderful gift! (I have to admit I am a bit jealous.) How do you change knowing students are in a very different place and still provide them with the opportunities to learn and grow using the traditional methods?

Below is what I learned through emailing with Manon and Emilie…

Manon:

I introduced Emile to the app “Art Studio” (for her ipad) in Intermediate/Advanced Art class. All of our juniors, seniors (and soon sophomores) have ipads…. (I had been playing around with the drawing program myself, showed her, and she seemed really interested!) Since I give observational drawing homework assignments, I encouraged Emilie to use this program to do her homework. (She loves technology.) We experimented together (first with our fingers–which work quite well) and then with a stylus she created from a very, very fine steel wool (which doesn’t scratch the surface of the the ipad) inserted in a straw or pen casing. The “Art Studio” app is fabulous–so much fun and very versatile–The artist can change colors, textures, value–You can also draw over photos that are imported/or taken directly with the ipad itself…text can also be added…drawn over…lots of rich layering is possible!  Emile really fine tuned (example: use of shadow and light to depict form..) her drawing–asking for input from me as she went along, just as she would on a drawing done directly on a paper surface with graphite…

Emilie:

How did you get started using the ipad to create/draw/make art?
I am on the tech team at school. We got our iPads early to help find uses in classes and help other students when they all got handed out. The chair was a drawing homework that I asked if I could do it on the iPad.

What app are you using on the ipad? Tell me a little about it.
I use art studio. It’s a pretty nice app. It cost about 1.99 you can draw with a pencil, paint, spray paint and my favorite is smudging. You can zoom in and out to do details. You can also change the brush size.

Do you see the ipad as another medium to make art or completely separate?
I think the iPad could become a new medium.

What did you learn in your art courses with Mrs. Lewis that influence what you are creating now on the ipad?
She teaches us about different styles and artists. Most of my drawings are based off artists she has shown me. The first types of drawing I did on the iPad was her drawing homework. Just drawing simple items from different views.

I understand you made your own stylus, can you tell me about how that came about?
My teacher, Mr. Wolotsky showed me a video on YouTube. It had a stylus but it was bulky and looked ugly. So I changed it during engineering class. It works better, looks cooler, and is more durable then the other.

Are you using the ipad only at this point to make art or other tools as well? is what else do you use your ipad for besides drawing? What other learning is taking place with your ipad?
In school I use my iPad for everything. Taking notes, looking up grades, keeping assignments, writing essays and teachers share papers instead of printing them off and handing them out. The iPad is used in every class in some way. Out of school I like to draw, take photographs with it and use the maps app to find we’re I’m going.

You mentioned your engineering class with Mr. Wolotsky. Please tell me about this course.                  I have an engineering class with Mrs. Higgins and an independent study with Mr. Wolotsky. In engineering we learn about all the different kinds of engineers and build stuff. We’ve made solar powered iPod – iPad chargers, an under water robot and are going to make wind turbin blades next. I also have an independent study with Mr. Wolotsky who is the tech teacher. Him and Mr. Calson are in charge of the iPad program. During that period I edit video, help with the green screen, and help with iPads. When creating something for engineering class you have to be creative about how to do this. It takes skill and time to do just like any painting would. And the final piece usually is a piece of art.

Do you have plans for after high school?
I am a junior and plan on going to college for engineering.

What advice would you give to someone starting out with the ipad as an artist tool?
Just play around with all the features. I’ve been using the same app for months and I just found a useful tool last night that I never noticed before. It takes a little while it get used to, but worth it when you get the hang of it.

I look forward to seeing what Emilie (and others) creates on her iPads and with other medium!

Thank you to Tara, Manon, and especially to Emilie for contributing to the meartsed blog!

If you have questions, please post them in the comments section and perhaps Emilie will answer them!

Posted in Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Integration, Media Arts, Technology, VPA | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Today’s MLTI Webinar: Multimedia

March 8, 2012

Multimedia in the MLTI Classroom facilitated by Ann Marie Quirion Hutton

March 8, 2012
3:15pm and 7:15pm

Multimedia is rapidly becoming a communication tool for todays students. We have movies and videos everywhere we look. A large part of communication is not just consumption but also authoring. Join us for this hands on webinar. Using tools on your MLTI device we will create our own animations.

Have you ever drawn a picture on your laptop ? Have you ever wanted to make it into an animation? Bring your MLTI device, roll up your sleeves and get ready to create.

Please note: For this webinar, you will need to have your MLTI Device as this will be a “hand-on” webinar! Enjoy!

Join us on Thursday, March 8th at 3:15pm or 7:15pm.  To register, visit http://maine121.org/webcasts and select the webinar/time you wish to participate in – you will be re-directed to online registration.

**We have a new registration system, so please ensure you enter your email address correctly!  Once you register you will receive a confirmation email that contains a login link that will be used the day of the webinar.

Posted in Curriculum and Instruction, Media Arts, Technology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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2012-13 Laptop Screensaver

February 20, 2012

“Paper Cut Design” by Margot Andreasen, Portland High School, Grade 9

Artwork announced

Twenty student artists will have an audience of more than 72,000 students and teachers for their artwork starting this fall. The 20 students from across Maine have won the honor to have their artwork included in the Maine Learning Technology Initiative laptop screensaver for the 2012-13 school year.

“Ocean’s Edge” by Samantha Dole, Lake Region High School, Grade 12

“Elysium” by Kathy Truong, Memorial Middle School, Grade 8

More than 380 Maine students submitted images to be considered for the 2012-13 screensaver. Students and teachers voted on their favorites, and two of the 20 featured works were the top vote getters. An independent panel of three judges selected the other 18 pieces.

Many of the images are photographs, though several students used pencil, paint, clay and other media to create their images.

“The arts are an essential part of the student experience in Maine. The arts offer students the opportunities they need to explore their passions, discover their talents and apply their creativity,” said Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen. “I’m thrilled that we can celebrate student artwork, and wed it with technology, in this way.”

The Maine Learning Technology Initiative, or MLTI, equips all Maine seventh- and eighth-grade students, more than half of the state’s high school students, and all middle- and high-school teachers and administrators with Apple laptops. The devices all come with a standard set of educational software and the screensaver of student artwork.

The Maine Learning Technology Initiative also provides educators with frequent professional development to help them maximize the benefits of technology in the classroom.

The screensaver contest is an annual affair that has attracted entries from more than 1,000 students during its four-year history. The winning students will receive free registration to attend the 2012 MLTI Student Conference this spring at the University of Maine in Orono.

The winners are listed below. Their artwork is available for viewing at: http://www.maine.gov/mlti/about/photos.shtml.

  • “Put Out the Fire” by Margaret Robe, Waterville Senior High School, Grade 12
  • “Deep Space” by TomHenry Reagan, Middle School of the Kennebunks, Grade 8
  • “Haze” by Alexa Bonsey, Mount Desert Island High School, Grade 11
  • “Array of Colors” by Emma Soucek, Mount Desert Island High School, Grade 10
  • “Twilight River” by Olivia Correa, Dexter Regional High School, Grade 10
  • “Circle Sunset” by John Norwood, Trenton Elementary School, Grade 7
  • “Triceratops” by Brian Edward Williamson, Rangelely Lakes Regional School, Grade 4
  • “Mix” by Flannery McAdam, Portland High School, Grade 9
  • “Galloping Along the Shore” by Megan Anderson, Portland High School, Grade 11
  • “Scratchboard Train Scene” by Jona Odulio, Portland High School, Grade 10
  • “Paper Cut Design” by Margot Andreasen, Portland High School, Grade 9
  • “Different Perspective” by Amanda Fogerty, Houlton High School, Grade 12
  • “Leaves” by Ketty Stinson, Brunswick Junior High School, Grade 7
  • “Emotion?” by Zanna Spinney, Kennebunk High School, Grade 9
  • “Creative Keys” by Kai McGee, Westbrook Middle School, Grade 8
  • “Ocean’s Edge” by Samantha Dole, Lake Region High School, Grade 12
  • “Morning Mist” by Natasha Touchette, Lake Region High School, Grade 12
  • “Cada Uno Es Hermoso” by Julia Mace, Tremont Elementary School, Grade 8
  • “Elysium” by Kathy Truong, Memorial Middle School, Grade 8
  • “Moose” by Marie Jarowicz, Kennebunk High School, Grade 10

All Maine Department of Education news releases can be found online at:
http://mainedoenews.net/category/news-views/press-releases/.

“Different Perspective” by Amanda Fogerty, Houlton High School, Grade 12

To view all the images please click here or click on 2012-13 MLTI Screen Saver Images under “Info”, on the bottom right side of the front page of the meartsed blog.

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