The 4T Conference will begin on Saturday May 19th at 9:00am with our first workshop App Attack!  Make sure you have completed the “ready for conference” check list!

• Register for the conference so you can access all sessions (links for sessions will be sent via email and posted on a password protected schedule page—password sent to registered participants).
• Checked the schedule page to see which sessions you will participate in (no need to pre-register, but you should log in a few minutes early to reserve your spot—a maximum of 100 participants per session)
• If you are interested in applying for the FREE CEUs, make sure you have read the requirements on the CEU page.
• If you want to apply to interview with any of the schools at the Virtual Education Job Fair, you need to do so by NOON on May 14th!  NOTE:  You can still attend the school’s virtual sessions without applying to interview.
• To receive the ISTE bookstore discounts you must be registered (discount sent in your email).
• Conference HashTag:  #4t2012

We are pleased to announce the virtual education job fair as part of the 4T Conference!  The job fair will be held virtually on May 22nd where we will have four schools presenting and interviewing for teaching jobs.  If you are interested, please make sure you submit your resume to the school(s) you would like to virtually interview with BEFORE May 15th!  All of the schools have openings in a wide variety of teaching fields.  In addition we have virtual, blended and traditional schools participating.  This is 100% free!  It is a wonderful opportunity to learn more about each school and get some interview experience—and possibly a JOB!   Please see our virtual education job fair page for more details!

This email went out to all registered participants today.  If you registered but did not get the email, you may want to reregister, a few of the email addresses were entered incorrectly in the registration form.

UPDATES!

1)  The final schedule of sessions is posted.  We have some excellent workshop and breakout session choices (45 this year!).  While you DO NOT need to sign up in advance for any session or workshop, you might want to mark your calendar for the ones you really would like to attend.  Please note that there is a limit of 100 participants per session (this is usually not an issue) so you are welcome to login up to 20 minutes prior to the start time of the session to make sure you have your sport reserved.
Schedule Link:  http://4tvirtualcon.soe.umich.edu/?page_id=54

2)  The links for each session room will be posted BELOW the title and description of each session on the schedule (they will also be emailed out to you each day of the conference).

3)  In order to make sure that the virtual rooms will work on your computer, you are welcome to try opening our practice room.  Link:  https://sas.elluminate.com/m.jnlp?sid=2009317&password=M.A8E88F3623A5A1FE7485077802212F

4)  Please follow our Twitter feed and Like our Facebook page as they will update you to the latest news on the conference (this year and in the future!)…

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/University-of-Michigan-4T-Virtual-Conference/176818422351425

Twitter:  http://twitter.com/UMvirtualcon

2012 Conference Hashtag:  #4t2012

5)  We will be having a virtual job fair as part of the conference this year.  We will have both virtual and face-to-face schools interviewing perspective teacher candidates, ALL are welcome to participate in the job fair (page will be posted next week on our site!  We will Tweet and Facebook it out when posted).  Schools are from all around the world!

6)  We are accepting sponsorships/exhibitors this year, if you are interested in more information please contact me at elikeren@umich.edu

7)  All sessions will be archived and posted on our website (they will be password protected so only registered participants can access the archived sessions).

8)  As a registered participant you will also receive a discount on all ISTE books for up to 1 month after the conference ends (discount code will come at beginning of conference in an email) as well as some wonderful door prizes!

9)  We have over 400 teachers registered thus far!  We hope you will enjoy the conference!  We will keep you updated as the conference information progresses!

10)  Information about CEUs will be coming shortly as we get confirmation from the state.

We have a wide variety of session proposals that the committee is currently reviewing!  We are very excited about the innovative and broad range of these sessions.  Below are a few of the many proposals we are hoping to include:  WOW!

• Web blogging
• Web2.0 for all grade levels
• Online learning
• Flip classrooms
• iPads
• BYOD or BYOT
• Qrcodes
• Building an online PLN
• Twitter
• Pinterest
• Technology integration in Mathematics
• Podcasting
• Student showcases
• Interactive writing and literacy
• Technology in Preschool and Kindergarten
• iPods
• Apps
• Common Core
• Open Source

The conference schedule will be posted by the end of March, please check back to see all the amazing sessions we have planned!  There will be about 40 to 45 sessions, all of which will qualify for SB CEUs (you can get up to 2.0—20 sessions worth of credits!).

Matt Levinson author of From Fear to Facebook will be opening the conference breakout sessions with his keynote address on May 20th at 8:00pm EST.  His book has received raved reviews and is a wonderful guide/story on all the complexities of trying to integrate 21st century technology into the traditional schooling experience.

Synopsis of book from ISTE:

In 2007 Matt Levinson moved from New Jersey to California to start a 1-to-1 laptop program at the Nueva School, confident that his knowledge of technology would help him accomplish this goal. He never imagined the challenges he and Nueva would face. So that other schools and educators can learn from Nueva’s lessons, Levinson shares his experience integrating a laptop program and how teachers, students, and parents discovered, dealt with, and overcame challenges. Honesty and insightful anecdotes make this an indispensible guide for everyone looking for a path away from fear and into the future of education.

Do not miss this talk!!!!  Register FREE today!

Gooru is an amazing new educational lesson planning resource.  It is media-rich and you will be amazed at the depth of lesson plans and the ability to modify/share for your classroom.  It is still in the beta version and promises to be a phenomenal resource for all educators.  Mallory Moser will be speaking more about the resource on May 22nd for our closing keynote.  Below is a short tutorial video on how to use Gooru and it’s purpose!  Make sure that you register so that you can participate live in this wonderful keynote to learn all about this amazing media-rich lesson planning resource.

The International Society for Technology in Education has agreed to give a discount at their bookstore to all participants and presenters in the conference!  This discount will be sent to all registered participants and last for one month after the conference ends!  We are very thankful to ISTE for their generous discount!  Register TODAY!  It is free!

Our conference committee is in full planning mode for the 2012 virtual conference!  We had a great deal of success last year and hope to improve on it from your feedback!  We have kept what worked and are improving what did not.  First, our conference will begin on a Saturday (May 19th) with an array of 1, 2 or 3 hour virtual workshops (all free of course!).  You can receive SBCEUs for ALL of the workshops this year.  In addition there will be workshops offered on Sunday (May 20th) during the day.  The Keynote will still be on Sunday night at 7:00pm EST with a few sessions to follow.  ALL of our sessions this year will be available for SBCEU credits!   In addition, we plan on having K-12 student showcases between sessions (these are a MUST SEE!).  Finally, we will offer vendor sessions as well as great door prizes!  As usual, the conference is 100% free, but you must register to attend!  We will NOT give out your contact information, we just need to know the statistics of who is attending for our grant and your email for communication purposes.

Please consider presenting!  You do not need to be an expert, just a teacher with something to share in education technology!  Call for Proposals are OPEN until March 1st!