Get Google Certified this Summer!

Becoming Google Certified changed my life.

And I am not exaggerating!

Being Google Certified gave me a unique purpose in the classroom (I was a HS science teacher), introduced me to new people and ideas, gave me the insight to publish my first book, and allows me to financially support my family while helping improve education.

None of these things are guaranteed, but I can trace them all back to the 2009 Google Teacher Academy in Boulder, Colorado.

I want to give you the same life changing moment that I had back in 2009.

In 2013 I created the Google Certification Academy to give other educators the same experience that I had in 2009. Since then I have worked with more than 1,500 teachers.

Now it's YOUR turn!

This summer I would like to help you become a Google Certified Educator!

The GCA is a small event so that I can provide personal support

In May, June, July, and August of 2018 I am offer 15 Google Certification events scattered across the Midwest and east coast.

Each academy is a small (20-30 participants), focused event to help YOU become a Google Certified Educator. You will work with me personally.

Pursuing a Google certification will help you grow professionally. You will learn new ways to incorporate technology into the classroom. These certifications feature rigorous verification of your ability to use Google tools effectively.

I only offer the certification academy in the summer because I know how busy the school year can be. At the end of these 2-days you will be ready to take the level 1 or level 2 certification exam. 

You will also have my support if you decide to go on and become a Google Certified Trainer or Certified Innovator.

Attend a Google Certification Academy this Summer!

The Google Certification Academy will give you everything you need to be successful on the level 1 and level 2 Google Educator exams. You can view a full outline here.

Google Certification Academy Details: 

• 8:30 am - 3:30 pm
• $299/person (CC and PO registration available)
• Lunch included both days
• Continuing education credit available (11 hours)
• Special Google swag provided to all participants

To register or learn more visit gEducator.com.

2018 Certification Academies (as of April 2018)

2018 Google Certification Academies - Click for live map

May 2018

Harvester Christian Academy 

Atlanta, Georgia, May 21-22, 2018 

Putnam County School District

Palatka, Florida, May 30-31, 2018

June 2018

Lake Highland Preparatory School

Orlando, Florida, June 6-7, 2018

Bedford City School District

Cleveland, Ohio, June 14-15, 2018

St Paul's Lutheran School

Janesville, Wisconsin, June 27-28, 2018

Shepherd Public Schools

Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, June 12-13, 2018

Airport Community Schools

Carleton, Michigan, June 25-26, 2018

Christ the Teacher Catholic School

Newark, Delaware, June 18-19, 2018

Heathwood Hall Episcopal School

Columbia, South Carolina, June 21-22, 2018

July 2018

West Platte School District

Weston, Missouri, July 23-24, 2018

Lebanon Christian School

Lebanon, Ohio, July 19-20, 2018

Oakwood CUSD #76

Oakwood, Illinois, July 25-26, 2018

August, 2018

Eaton RESA

Charlotte, Michigan, August 6-7, 2018

West Side Christian School

Grand Rapids, Michigan, August 8-9, 2018

Unlock the Power of Google Forms for your Classroom!

Google Forms is one of my favorite, and most frequently used tools. I've blogged about it quite a few times over the past few years: 

• 10 Google Form Tricks
• Restrict Answer Length in Google Forms
• My most epic spreadsheet ever
• Elementary book report machine

You have probably created a survey or quiz using Forms. That's great! I would love to help you unlock the full potential of Google Forms in your classroom. 

Google Forms can help you organize, streamline, and automate classroom tasks so that you can spend your time and energy connecting with your students. If you are sick of pushing paper around and spending time on procedural work like checking in homework assignments, scheduling parent teacher conferences, or collecting data for IEPs, Forms can help! 

Starting April 15, 2018 I will be leading a 5 week master course on Google Forms through Google Classroom. 

If you've tinkered with forms in the past, this course is for you! I will take you from tinker to expert in 5 weeks! 

Here's what I have planned: 

Week 1: Form Building Blocks

During our first week we are going to explore the "building blocks" of forms - question types, data validation, add-ons, summary page, multimedia options, sharing and notification settings. 

During week 1 you will also identify areas of your classroom that could be improved through Forms so that we can build them later in the course. 

Week 2: Forms for Assessment

Google Forms is a great tool for assessment. In week 2 you will learn about using Forms for assessment and build a quiz for your classroom. We will go beyond multiple choice questions and look at multimedia questions, free response, reading prompts, matching, and more.  

Week 3: Forms for Record Keeping

Week 2 is devoted to helping your organize classroom record keeping. You will build a form to track lunch counts, attendance, on/off task behavior, hall passes, or whatever you want! We will also spend some time looking at the Forms summary of responses to organize and analyze data. 

Week 4: Forms for Automation

Google Forms + Sheets is a powerful combination that can be used to create automated sequences. During week 4 you will learn how to use Forms + Autocrat to create certificates, book reports, research projects, meeting agendas, or other similar documents. 

Week 5: Data Week

Collecting information is easy; understanding what that information means and using it to take action is hard! During week we will analyze the data collected in our forms using charts, graphs, and filters.

I will work with you throughout the course and will answer questions and provide personal feedback on a weekly basis. My goal for this course is to help you SAVE TIME by eliminating time-consuming processes. By streamlining and automating common, repetitive tasks you will have MORE time to connect with your students. 

The cost for this 5 week course is $99. 

Interested? You can register here! 

ThingLink VR Bootcamp in Michigan!

Virtual Reality is a promising classroom tool. Being able to transport your students to a different time and place is pretty remarkable! 

Right now VR is primarily a passive activity - you just consume content. While that is okay, I much prefer technologies that allow teachers and students to create and share with one another.

ThinkLink is developing tools that can be used to CREATE a custom VR experience. Here's an example of something a Science teacher might do to teach students about biomes.

I played with the ThingLink VR editor this past summer and was impressed. I reached out to them to see if they would be willing to come to Michigan to lead an event to help get more educators involved in CREATING VR content.

ThingLink is coming to Brighton, Michigan on February 3 to lead their VR bootcamp. This full day of training will show you what ThingLink can do and how it can be used as a teaching tool. Everyone is welcome, even if you haven't used ThingLink before.

Registration is $175/person and INCLUDES a full year of the premium version of ThingLink ($129/year). We'll also give you a nice lunch and good company! 

To register, click here

Not from Michigan? ThingLink has bootcamps scheduled around the country. Here is their current schedule. You can also register to host an event! 

EdTech Events Calendar

There are a LOT of EdTech events. From EdCamps to state technology conferences to Google summits, there is always something going on! As a full time technology consultant, I attend a lot of events around the country. The EdTech community is awesome; caring, sharing, and fun!

Getting connected to this group can take some time. To help you get started, I created and am now maintaining a calendar of EdTech events in the United States. I know there are other listings of events and opportunities; but here is another resource that you can use to learn more about using Technology in the classroom AND to give back to the community by sharing your knowledge and experience as a presenter.

If you would like to have easy access to the embedded calendar below, simply click on the "+Google Calendar" button in the bottom right corner to add it to your Google Calendar.

I am happy to add your event or opportunity. Send me a Tweet (@jrsowash) or email (jrsowash[at]sowashventures[dot]com) with the details and I will list it!

Google Certification Academy - Expanding and Growing!

www.gEducator.com

For the past two years I have been developing the Google Certification Academy (GCA), a program designed to help educators become Google Education Trainers (GETs). Becoming a Google Education Trainer has been one of the most beneficial and helpful experiences of my life professional life and I would love to provide others with the same opportunity.

The need for the GCA emerged as I was answering many questions from educators who were confused by the process, steps, timeline, and details of the program. It is a fairly complex program and having someone to guide and advise you throughout is a helpful option.

The GCA grew from a single event in northern Michigan in 2013 to over 20 events around the Midwest in 2014. Over 400 educators have attended the GCA and many of them have taken the necessary steps to become Google Education Trainers.

A few comments from past participants: 

“Beyond my expectations! I am doing the opening day PD for my district staff training and have been assigned the Gmail portion so I am more than feeling I can do this!” 

I appreciated the "advanced" pace of the class. SO MUCH information that I can take into my classroom and back to my district right now. 

I LOVED THIS LEARNING!!!! So many ideas, resources, connections. I loved playing too!

The GCA is expanding and growing in 2015 with additional locations and instructors being added to make this opportunity available for more educators.

The Google Certification Academy provides support to all participants before, during and after their certification:

• 2 Days of intense, advance, and practical instruction. 
• Access to a large (400+), active community of educators seeking certification. 
• Practice questions for all required exams. 
• A large list of study materials, tips, and exam taking tricks! 
• Lifetime access to monthly product updates to help you stay up to date!
• Coming soon: access to our online GCA course for on-demand study help

To find out if there is a Google Certification Academy near you visit www.gEducator.com.

Don't see an option that will work for you? Host the GCA at your school! There is NO COST to host the GCA and host schools receive FREE registrations! Find out more here. 

Becoming a Google Education Trainer has been a very helpful and valuable experience for me. I'm excited to help others have the same experience. 

Google Certification Academy

Blogging has taken a back-seat on my to-do list for some time now, but there is good reason! For the past six months I have been developing a new Professional Development opportunity for schools who have invested in the Google Apps Platform - The Google Certification Academy. Today I'm excited to announce the program and invite you to participate!

www.gEducator.com

The Google Certification Academy is a multi-day professional development opportunity designed to assist educators in become Google Education Certified Trainers.

In 2011 I participated in the pilot group and was one of the first Google Certified Trainers. My participation in this program has opened up tremendous professional opportunities in my life and I would like to help others access these same possibilities.

This year, Google completely revamped their certification process. The changes have increased the rigor of the program and have caused some level of confusion about the process. You can learn about the process of becoming a Google Education Certified Trainer here.

The gCertification Academy is designed to support educators as they pursue certification, providing training, encouragement, inspiration, and a supportive community.

This summer there are six certification academies planned. Including a 1-day academy at the Chromebook Institute in Downers Grove, Illinois.

The gCertification Academy has been developed so that it can be brought to YOUR school. If you are interested in being a host, contact me! If you are interested in attending a GCA, you can view the list of hosts at www.gEducator.com.

Note: the Certification Academy is not affiliated or endorsed directly by Google. The GCA is different than the Google Teacher Academy.

2013 miGoogle Conference Wrap Up

On November 4-5, 2013, Brighton High School hosted the 2013 Michigan Google Education conference. I was honored to plan and coordinate this conference and am thrilled with the feedback and energy that it has generated!

For the second year in a row the conference sold out, doubling in size to over 600 in attendance. This year a "pre-conference" day was added featuring full and half day breakout sessions to provide an opportunity to go deeper with various Google tools and teaching styles. Sessions on project based learning, the flipped classroom, Google Drive, Chromebooks, and more were offered. Every session was filled.

The best part of the miGoogle conference is that it is a Michigan conference. Planned by Michigan organizations, sessions led by Michigan teachers, and even many of the sponsors are Michigan based companies. It's a great time to be in Michigan!

I had the opportunity to delivery the keynote address to open day 2 of the conference and made a case that we, as classroom teachers, should be training "dot connectors" instead of encouraging students to be "dot collectors." My slide-deck and a [partial] recording of my talk can be accessed here.

Five sessions were featured throughout the day. These sessions showcase some of Michigan's best presenters and hottest Google topics. You can watch recordings of these sessions here.

If you weren't able to make it to the conference this year, you can still benefit from the learning by checking out the resources posted on these session pages. You can also look at the #migoogle hashtag for lots of links

Didn't make it to miGoogle13? Didn't even know about it? Follow the conference on Google+ or Facebook to receive updates about next year's conference. Or fill out this form to be notified when the call for speakers and registration for miGoogle 2014 opens!

2013 Michigan Google Education Summit - Consider Yourself Invited!

This year I am proud to once again coordinate the Michigan Google Education Summit (miGoogle) being held at Brighton High School on November 4-5, 2013.

Day one, November 4, features full and half day workshops led by a stellar line-up of educators who I consider to be some of the top technology integrators in the state of Michigan:

• Gary Abud: Project Based Learning (PBL) and Google Apps for Education
• Lori Ferrington: Apps Scripts for Education
• Andrew Steinman: Google on the iPad
• Kit Hard: Getting Started with Google Drive
• Dan Spencer: Flip your Classroom with Google
• John Sowash: Google Certified Trainer Bootcamp

For more information on any of the above sessions, click here. 

Day two of the summit, November 5, features a traditional conference format including a keynote and over 50 breakout sessions covering top Google products including Maps, YouTube, Blogger, Drive, Google+, Flubaroo, and much more.

My goal and vision for the miGoogle summit is that it be a place to showcase the tremendous talent in the state of Michigan. Instead of bringing in speakers from around the country, I would love to see local educators share how they have integrated various Google tools and technologies into their classroom in meaningful ways that impact student achievement.

Teachers tend to be a humble group. Many of you are doing amazing things in your classroom but you don't give yourself enough credit! "But everything I do is easy...simple....obvious." Those are common excuses I hear from teachers when I tell them they should present at a conference. You have something to share, something to show! You would be amazed how many other teachers would benefit from learning about your unique lesson or approach to technology! Don't underestimate yourself!

Consider yourself officially invited to lead a 50 min. breakout session at the 2013 miGoogle conference! As a thank you, you will receive complementary admission to the conference, access to the speakers lounge filled with snacks and cool people, and some Google swag!

The call for presenters is open through August 1. Click here to review the details and submit your proposal!  You have something to share!

For those interested in attending the conference, please add you name to this form to be notified as soon as registration officially opens (early July). Conference capacity is 600 and is expected to sell out.

Connecting through EdTech Conferences

In April I presented several session at the 2013 Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning (MACUL) conference in Detroit, Michigan. This year was one of the largest gatherings in the history of MACUL with over 4,000 educators in attendance.

State-level EdTech conferences provide tremendous opportunities for making connections with other like-minded educators. These connections can lead to amazing collaborative opportunities. If you aren't connected with your local EdTech organization, here is a list of ISTE affiliates across the US.

Below are links to the three presentations that I gave this year at Macul13. I hope that they will be helpful to someone and start you on a journey toward improving your instruction and providing your students with opportunities to create, collaborate, and communicate.

The Digital Natives are Restless
Today’s hyper-connected, Facebook using, youtube posting, always moving digital natives are restless. They are tired of being confined to the classroom, relegated to turning in insignificant assignments and kept in their seats. This session will explore the characteristics of "digital natives" and the responsibility educators have to challenge them. The digital natives are restless and they need our help.

Best Practices for Online and Blended Learning

Online and blended learning is becoming increasingly common in the K-12 environment. The unique needs and dispositions of K-12 students require a new examination of how online courses are structured and delivered. This session will feature practical suggestions for structuring blended or fully online courses. This honest presentation will discuss the good, the bad, and the challenging aspects of online and blended learning.

Web Ninja Tricks (with thanks to Lori Ferrington)

Are you a Web Ninja? Here are some exciting, surprising, and downright awesome web-based tools that you can use to increase your personal productivity, communicate with others, and be more effective as a teacher or administrator. Explore and become a Web Ninja!

#macul13 miGoogle Give-Away!

On the 21-22 of March over 4,000 Michigan Educators will descend on Cobo Hall in Detroit, Michigan for the annual MACUL conference. This conference is the premier EdTech gathering in the state, and one of the largest in the midwest.

This annual gathering isn't the only event sponsored by MACUL. On November 4-5 the second annual miGoogle conference will be held at Brighton High School in Brighton, Michigan. This event will feature hands-on workshop and breakout sessions to help educators harness the power of Google Drive, Calendar, Sites, Gmail, Chromebooks, Forms, and more.

During the 2013 MACUL conference five free registrations will be given away. To enter the contest, complete any/all of the steps below. The five highest scoring individuals will receive complementary registration to the conference on November 5, 2013. Good luck!

To learn more about the miGoogle conference, visit miedtech.com. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

2012 miGoogle Conference

Over the past few months I have been busy coordinating the first annual Michigan Google Apps Summit (miGoogle). While it was a lot of work, I was excited to be able to help provide an opportunity for educators from around the state to learn and collaborate together.

The summit was made possible by sponsorship from Google, MACUL and Southfield Christian School. Over 300 educators from around the state, representing 100 school districts, were in attendance. The conference was launched by a keynote presentation from Google+ product manager Ronald Ho who encouraged educators to prepare students for the jobs of the future by focusing on collaboration and critical thinking skills.

Over 30 presenters led 48 unique workshops on a wide range of Google products. I greatly appreciate the effort each presenter put into their sessions. The quality of each workshop was outstanding.

For those who were unable to attend, there are several ways that you can still benefit from the conference:

Session Resources: each presenter was asked to update their session page with links to their resources and handouts. Some have even posted full length videos of their sessions.

Archived Sessions: six sessions were selected to be live-streamed on Google+ and are available for on-demand access via YouTube:

• Keynote: Ronald Ho, Google+ Product Manager: Watch on YouTube
• Using Google Apps on Your iPad, Presenter: Sean Beavers: Watch on YouTube
• Going Google...Our move to Google Apps for Education, Presenters: Scot Graden & Heather Kellstrom: Watch on YouTube
• Standards-Based Grading and Assessment with Google Apps, Presenter: Gary Abud & Drew Steinman: Watch on YouTube
• Blogger: A Digital Canvas , Presenter: Nick Provenzano: Watch on YouTube
• How to do it all from Google Drive, Presenter: Eric Griffith: Watch on YouTube

I wish to extend my thanks to the great time that assisted in planning and facilitating the conference. I could not have done it without the great support I received! 

Mark your calendar! The 2013 miGoogle conference will be held on Friday, October 26! 

miGoogle Conference | Oct. 19, 2012

I would like to extend a personal invitation to attend the first annual Michigan Google in Education Summit (miGoogle). This one-day conference will be held on Oct. 19, 2012 at Southfield Christian School in Southfield, Michigan.

Speaking proposals are currently being accepted. Submit your proposal an our speaker page.

Here are some of the highlights for the conference:

• Over 50 sessions on the educational uses for various Google products. 
• A Chromebook "lending library" that will allow you to use a Chromebook for the day. 
• Keynote presentation by Googler Ronald Ho, project manager for Google+ and Google Docs. 
• Spotlight sessions by Scot Graden (superintendent, Saline Area Schools) and Nick Provenzano (aka "The Nerdy Teacher") 
• Social media cafe where you can hangout and meet new friends! 
• Select sessions will be live-streamed so that our friends can join us virtually! 

To register and view all of the details, visit the conference website: bit.ly/mi-google.

Spread the word! Use the Twitter hashtag #migoogle to promote the conference! "Circle" the miGoogle Google+ Page for conference updates and access to our live-stream

The #Chromebook Classroom

This week I spent a couple of days at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA learning more about Google's plans for the Chrombook. Joining me were 25 educators and resellers from around the country. It was a good crowd of familiar Google Certified Teachers and Apps Certified Trainers. The Google Apps for Ed team (Dana Nguyen, Jaime Casap, and Cristin Frodella) were our hosts and were awesome as always!

While there are things that I can't share (NDA and all...), there are some big ideas that are worth noting:

1. Google is investing a lot of time, energy, and resources into the the Chrome web browser, Chrome OS, and the Chromebook. Chrome OS will NOT be the next Google Wave!

2. Chrome OS is NOT about the device. The entire goal of Chrome OS is to make the device transparent. In an odd way, Google is not pushing their hardware, they are trying to make hardware obsolete.

3. Google is heavily promoting HTML5 because it is more secure, less dependent on hardware configurations, and can work on a variety of form-factors (tablets, handhelds, laptops, etc). Developers are beginning to see the value in investing in HTML5 because they no longer need to develop apps for iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, etc. HTLM5 apps work on all devices.

4. Google listens very intently to its customers. If there is something that you don't like about a Google product, let them know! Google's ability to rapidly update and modify its products is remarkable. Considering their size, Google's customer service is excellent.

There will be some exciting announcements from Google in the coming months. They are intent on providing educators with a device that is affordable, fast, and optimized for learning.

Interested in learning more about the Chromebook and how you can get them into the hands of your students? Contact me to setup a demo or attend a free Chromebook workshop!

2011 Virtual School Symposium Recap

2011 iNACOL Virtual School Symposium

This week I attended the 2011 Virtual School Symposium in Indianapolis, Indiana. Over 1,900 educators interested in online learning were in attendance.

After participating in numerous workshops led by a variety of administrators and educators as well as listening to keynote addresses from Susan Patrick (president of iNACOL) and representatives from the Department of Education, and speaking with vendors I came away with the follow thoughts:

1. K-12 Online learning is in a state of great flux. Very few things that are currently being done or products that are currently being sold will be around in the next 3-5 years.

2. Variety and Flexibility is Limited. Vendors have given large school districts what they asked for-- turn key solution for online programs. The problem is that these solutions are not meeting the needs of smaller programs. Assembling a program from the best offerings of multiple vendors is not currently an option due to the restrictive and proprietary systems that companies have created.

3. Hardware and Software vendors are not working together. Online learning resources are being developed using Java and Flash technologies. Apple and Google, are resistant to support of these products. iOS devices won't run flash and Google's new Chromebook doesn't support client-side Java.

Posing with the Brain Honey Bee!

4. Data is not portable. Lots of data on student achievement, progress, and activity is being collected however very little of this data can/is being used in useful ways. LMS systems collect all kinds of information but teachers and administrators are having a difficult time mining and filtering that data to better understand student needs. Moving data between systems is virtually impossible.

5. The US is behind. Many of the best innovations in education related to online learning are from outside of the United States. Check out the interesting and exciting things being done by Heritage Christian Schools (Canada) and the Sydney Center for Innovation in Learning (Australia).

There is great consensus that online learning will have a significant impact on learning in the next 20 years. Drops in student achievement, graduation rates, and school finance challenges underscore the need for significant change. It's clear, however, the the online learning industry is far from mature.

2011 Virtual School Symposium

This week I am hanging out in Indianapolis at the Virtual School Symposium sponsored by the International Association for K12 Online Learning (iNACOL).

Today I let an all day pre-conference on Google Apps for Education. It was a lively group and I enjoyed working with Cindy Lane and Andy Crozier, two Google Apps experts!

Tomorrow the conference begins and I have a full slate of sessions on my agenda. Here's my planned scheduled along with a few comments of my own.

For liver conference updates, follow #vss11

Thursday Sessions:

• Current Research on Developing Effective Teachers for Online and Blended Learning
• Inducting New Hires-Transitioning Brick and Mortar Practitioners for Success in the Online Environment
• Online School and Service Learning: A Perfect Blend
• The Empowered School Leader
• How to Ensure Quality in Your Digital Learning Program
• Top Ten Tech Tools to Try Tomorrow! 

Friday Sessions:

• "Be Careful! What you Measure is What You Get! " Performance Pay and Evaluation System for Online Teachers
• How to make personalized learning collaborative
• Importance of Fostering Online School Communities
• Private Schools- Trends and Projections Related to Technology
• The Demographics of Online Learners
• Enabling Rapid Growth of Successful Blended Learning Models
• Get Your Head in the Clouds! Making the Most of Cloud Computing Tools for Online Learning
• Access to and Usage of Virtual Education and Online Learning in Michigan High Schools
• Mentoring Program for Online Teachers

Afternoon Update from #macul11

MACUL 2011 Conference Notes

I've started a collaborative notes document for keynote and break out sessions from the 2011 MACUL conference (Michigan Association of Computer Users in Learning) . This year the conference is being held in Detroit, Michigan. If you'd like to view the live document, click here.

This Week: Google Spreadsheets for Beginners

This week I am joining forces with Derrick Wlodarz as we lead a session on Google Spreadsheets for Beginners, part of the Google Apps for Education PD Series. The webinar will begin at 8pm EST. To register for the webinar, click here.

Here's a quick outline of what we will be covering:

Spreadsheet/Form Overview of basic menu options

• Create a new spreadsheet (Derrick)
• Freezing panes
• Sorting data
• Adding new rows/columns
• Creating multiple workbooks (Derrick)

Printing and exporting and sharing spreadsheets (Derrick) 5-10 minutes

• Permissions: View/edit/owner
• Publish to web
• Revision history
• live demo

Using Data:

• Creating and Using Forms
• Creating Charts
• Using Widgets
• Using Functions
• Template Gallery

Resources for further learning

To register for the webinar, click here. 

[Trying] To Start a New Trend

I'm single handedly trying to start a new trend: conference session trailers/commercials.

The next time you present at a conference, put together a >1 minute video highlighting your session. Epic music is a must!

I've done this twice so far:

Trailer for my 2011 ICE conference session



Trailer for my 2010 MACUL conference session

iNACOL Virtual School Symposium

This past week I had the opportunity to fly down to Glendale, Arizona (just outside of Phoenix) to attend iNACOL's annual Virtual School Symposium. The conference brought together 1,800 leaders in the field of online and virtual education.

Keynote presenters included Susan Patrick (iNACOL president), a fun panel of students in grades 6-12 who gave their perspective online learning, Deputy Secretary of Education Jim Shelton and former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise who spoke on policy issues related to online learning.

I attended seven different break-out sessions on a range of topics:

• From model to practice: building successful online learning programs 
• Using a digital curriculum to provide a personalized education for diverse learners.
• What we've learned in 10 years that could save your program’s budget: building a thriving online program through effective grassroots marketing. 
• From feasibility to pilot to launch: putting vision into action
• More than technology: preparing teachers for the online environment.
• Supporting Online Instructors and Assessing their Instruction
• Best Practice to Guide Student Responses in Online Discussion Forums: Moodle in the classroom.
• Life after the CMS: the future of the platform
• Engaging a Gaggle of Googlers

Rather than write a summary of each of the above sessions, here are some of the general things that I gleaned from the conference as a whole.

• Online learning is the future of education-- there is no doubt. There is a growing pool of data an anecdotal evidence that shows that there is a great demand for online learning opportunities, and that a growing number of schools are developing online programs.
  
• Those teaching online are on the cutting edge-- this is both good and bad. While it is clear that online learning is the future of education, no standards, best practices, or norms have been established for k-12 virtual instruction. The research that does exists is predominantly from the collegiate setting. Everyone is trying to figure out the best, most efficient, and most effective way to teach K-12 students virtually; Everyone is learning on the fly.
  
• The "factory model" is out-- Online learning was initially seen as a panacea to solve all of K-12's challenges: teacher shortages, aging infrastructure, budget cuts, etc. This was due, in part, to the perception that online schools could be run like a factory-- fewer teachers and more students aided by automated digital technologies. As this segment of the industry matures, it is becoming clear that there are new costs and challenges associated with online learning. Because of this more and more districts are developing hybrid programs that are a mix of online and face to face instruction. It is clear that a significant level of face to face interaction is critical for student success. This can be done virtually (through tools like skype) but does represent a significant level of interaction on the part of the teaching staff. This, in turn, will increase the cost of an online learning. Don't get me wrong, I do think that there can be significant costs savings associated with online learning, but it won't be the goldmine that some hoped it would be. 
• Teacher training and development is key-. Teaching online is NOT the same as teaching in a face to face or blended environment. Successful virtual schools will need dedicated staff who believe in online learning as an effective form of instruction, not just as way to earn money while staying home and working in their pajamas. The level of personal attention and interaction with students that an online teacher must achieve does not make virtual instruction any easier than face to face instruction. Not everyone is cut out to teach online. Here are the minimum requirements for virtual instructors: 
• Blazing fast typing ability
• Impeccable grammar and spelling (this is the "face" of the teacher that the students will see and as such it must be brilliant).
• A deep grasp of their subject matter.
• A working knowledge of digital tools and resources that can enhance learning, collaboration, and communication.

Next year the VSS will be held in Indianapolis, IN. I'll be there once again to hear how education is changing for the 21st century.