Tech EDGE Conference hosted by Concordia University, Nebraska in partnership with University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Published by Concordia University, Nebraska 8 years ago on Fri, Aug 7, 2015 10:37 AM
Tech EDGE helps to prepare teachers to effectively and confidently use new technology in the classroom.

Concordia University, Nebraska will host the 2015 Tech EDGE Conference in partnership with the University of Nebraska–Lincoln on Aug. 19, 2015. The conference will take place on Concordia’s campus in Seward in the Thom Leadership Education Center from 9 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.

Tech EDGE is a partnership between Nebraska school districts and teacher education programs at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Concordia University, Nebraska. The partnership aims to create a generation of teachers who are effective and confident using new technologies to prepare the students of Nebraska to participate and lead in tomorrow’s global society.

Under the leadership of Dr. Guy Trainin and Dr. Laurie Friedrich, Tech EDGE provides professional development in technology integration to pre-service teachers, in-service teachers and university instructors.

“As K–12 schools across Nebraska are aiming to integrate technology for all students (one device for each student), we in teacher education face two challenges,” said Friedrich, instructor at Concordia and UNL and co-coordinator of the Tech EDGE Conference. “The first is how to prepare for teaching this tech savvy generation. The second is to consider how to best prepare our students to effectively teach in these technology-rich schools and learn to adapt to the constantly changing technologies. We believe that by sharing what we are doing and learning new practices, we can enhance our ability to better serve our students and schools across Nebraska and beyond.”

The conference keynote will be presented collaboratively by three leaders in education technology. Kristina Peters, the e-learning specialist and school library liaison for the Nebraska Department of Education, will explain where technology is being used across the state and where technology will continue to grow. Tricia Parker, the language arts director for the Nebraska Department of Education will discuss where technology and new literacies fit into today’s standards of education. Craig Badura, the pre-K through 12th tech integration specialist at Aurora Public Schools, will share a vision for school-wide technology integration.  

Conference attendees will participate in two sectional presentations that cover the following topics: integrating digital formative assessment in university courses, blogging as a reflective practice, 1:1 integration in elementary schools (panel discussion), apps and websites every teacher should know how to use, providing feedback to students with digital devices, social media for educators and active learning with technology.

The conference also offers opportunities for individual universities to discuss how they are integrating technology into their teacher education program and to create two goals for the coming academic year.

Aside from the conference, teachers and professors in the Tech EDGE partnership learn necessary technology integration skills and research provided by education professors throughout the year. Tech EDGE provides resources for teacher education students at Concordia and UNL, and alumni of these institutions use the resources from Tech EDGE as ongoing professional development. 

To learn more about and register for the Tech EDGE conference or for more information, visit http://cehs.unl.edu/tlte/techedge.