Agile pedagogy is an iterative learning experience design approach that values human communication and feedback, adapting to change, and constructing working results. The University of Mount Union leveraged agile pedagogies to develop a pandemic relief approach to completing the field hours needed for UMU junior level education courses during the Fall 2020 semester.

We recently shared our approach with attendees at the fall conference of The Ohio Confederation of Teacher Education Organizations (OCTEO), a non-profit, state-wide umbrella organization that brings together five Ohio teacher education organizations.

Spring 2015 semester is off and running at The University of Akron and the undergraduate Educational Technology course I am co-facilitating with Dr. Gary Holliday and Ms. Christine Dreher has been holding course orientation sessions all week. The course has about 125 students enrolled in it and we transitioning it from a traditional face-to-face lecture style course to a blended offering. As part of our course orientation, students are beginning to explore collaborative authoring by using Google Presentation to create individual BIO Poems to introduce themselves to their classmates and instructors. Meet our class!

2014 OSBA Capital Conference

Session Handout

It’s About Learning, Not Shiny Tech Tools

Tuesday, November 11, 2014 | 2:00 PM

Districts are investing lots of money in digital technologies. But if it’s about the learning, not the tools, what does that mean for students? What does it mean for teachers and administrators? What does it mean for the role of the board? This highly-interactive discussion will focus on student agency and empowerment, global connection and collaboration, and deeper, more cognitively-complex thinking tasks. Within those areas, what should board members be looking for? What questions should they be asking? How can they help support innovative efforts? We’ll hit all of this and more.

2014 OSBA Capital Conference

Session Handout

Modernizing Education for Student Success

Monday, November 10, 2014 | 9:00 AM

In this day and age, it feels like education is not in the hands of the true stakeholders: the students.  Let’s discuss ways as educators, administrators, school board members, etc. that we can get education back to where it belongs. We will discuss ways that we can move away from the Industrial Age of education and take education and modernize it for our the benefit of our students and communities.

Join Dr. Jeremy Brueck as he discusses a comprehensive approach on how administrators and teachers can integrate the Google ecology in the K-12 environment. The session will provide a wide-ranging look at several frameworks and models that form a roadmap on how to successfully leverage the Google ecology to improve student learning. A vital component of this approach is the interaction and collaboration between the teacher (content knowledge expert), their instructional approaches (pedagogy), and the Google ecology (technology). This interaction is known as the Technological, Pedagogical, and Content Knowledge (TPACK) Model. Learn how you can use TPACK to frame effective technology integration for pedagogy around specific subject matter.

Even our youngest students expect learning spaces that seamlessly integrate digital tools, accommodate a mobile lifestyle, adapt to individual learning styles & encourage collaboration. The Google ecology provides the technological means to support this type of pedagogical approach, however, teachers must become develop a more complete understanding of mobile technology hardware, web-based software & OS. How does an elementary teacher incorporate the affordances of the Google ecology into meaningful learning? Join Dr. Jeremy Brueck as he highlights a variety of GAFE tools and Chrome extensions young children can use to tell their own stories, boosting reading and writing skills. Come discover new ways to use the Google ecology to support and enhance the reading and writing process.

Sprouts and STEM: Growing What We Know About Early Childhood Education and Technology

Digital tools are playing an increasingly important role in classroom learning.  In order to design high-quality learning experiences for our youngest students, early childhood educators must be informed and judicious in the manner in which they integrate these technologies.  Join Jeremy Brueck as he explores appropriate and innovative ways to integrate technology into classrooms in support of young children’s learning.  Drawn on his own research, child development theory, and developmentally appropriate  practice as a foundation, Brueck will demonstrate how digital tools can enhance early learning, support teaching goals, and improve teaching practice.  Brueck will discuss the role of digital tools in:

• Creating engaging and educational experiences for young children that balance with other hands-on learning experiences
• Helping educators with management, organization, and professional learning
• Building teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge

Keynote Presentation Slides

Breakout Session Slides

Breakout Session Resources

Warren Buckleitner, a fantastic colleague and mentor, has again asked me to be a part of the conversation at his 2nd Annual Dust or Magic eBook Retreat: Designing and Critiquing Narrative Driven Interactive Media for Children, being held April 27-29, 2014. This great event is held in Honesdale, PA at the Highlights Foundation Retreat, a really amazing venue for relaxing, creating, networking and  professional learning. I’m extremely excited  to get a chance to learn along side the fabulous presenters he has lined up such as, William Teale, Junko Yokota and Mark Schlichting. Below you can find my conversation description as well as a pretty complete list of references related to ebooks and early literacy. View source document.

I recently spoke at the Arizona Early Childhood Curriculum and Instruction Conference: STEM for the Young Child at Rio Salado College in Tempe, Arizona. Below are the resources and items I shared in my session titled Sprouts & STEM: Growing What we Know about Early Childhood Education & Technology.

List of ebooks and apps shared at the symposium.

Recently, the Ohio Board of Regents asked me to hold a webinar as part of Ohio’s celebration of Digital Learning Day. Today, I finalized the details of this event and I have shared them below. I’m looking forward to this webinar, as I have the opportunity to present with an outstanding second grade teacher from Green Local Schools, Ms. Kourtney Denning. Kourtney was part of my Digital Text Initiative back in the 2011-2012 school year and continues to be a leader in the classroom when it comes to digital pedagogies. Please join us for what promises to be an interesting and entertaining event!

Read the rest of this entry…