During their time at UMF, students are encouraged to attend and engage in various professional development conferences in order to further educate themselves and expand on their knowledge and skills. Some students, however, go even farther as to present at these conferences. Dr. Theresa Overall and her EDU 221 class attended MooseTech, an event created by and for teachers in the MooseHead Region of schools.
This year, MooseTech was held at the Piscataquis Community Secondary School in Guilford, Maine on March 10th. Conference attendees were able to attend various classes and seminars that were split into three different sections and taught by professionals who volunteered to teach others about subjects that they are passionate about. Trevor Benson, a student in Dr. Overall’s class who also had a chance to present at the conference, caught up with ED360 to tell us more about the MooseTech conference from a student’s point of view.
“[During] the first two sections of the day, I attended classes with teachers from all over the Guilford area,” said Trevor. “I spent my first class period learning the basics of American Sign Language (ASL) through internet sites, and tips on how to teach one’s self sign language. I found this class to be super informative and helpful. The second class I attended was held by a representative from Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Like the first class I attended, I found it extremely informative. She showed us different programs compatible with students’ laptops and iPads. These programs contained interactive simulations and experiments for science subjects.”
During the third section of the day, Trevor and two of his peers, Jordan McMullen and Mitchell Walston,
had a chance to present and educate others about science-based iPad apps. “We each created our own separate iBook presentations about a single app that could be used in a middle school/ high school class room,” Trevor said. “The three of us took turns presenting our apps on the projector in the front of the class. I personally presented on an app called EarthViewer. It is an interactive app that allows you to see how the world has evolved over it 4.6 billion years of existence.” What a great way to get students engaged and interested in their learning!
Trevor said that while it was not an extreme amount of work, presenting at the conference was definitely something he had to prepare for, as most pre-service educators do not have this experience yet. “I worked on my iBook alone inside and outside of class. The three of us met two times outside of class to decide in what order we would present and what we would cover during the presentation.”
MooseTech is a great opportunity for pre-service, new, and veteran educators to make meaningful connections and build on their professional development. “I really liked MooseTech,” said Trevor. “Everyone that I met there was extremely nice and excited to be there. The people that volunteered their time to teach the sessions were super informative and great teachers. It was well organized and there was not an extreme amount of people that attended, so the classes I went to were not crowded and presented opportunities to have a conversation with the person that was leading the session. Overall, I thought it was an awesome time. I would definitely go again.”
For more information about the MooseTech Region Technology Conference contact Dr. Theresa Overall at theresa.overall@maine.edu or visit the website. Thank you Trevor, Dr. Overall, and the rest of the EDU 221 class for taking the time to educate others about these helpful resources!
