Google Apps Summit at Monarch High School a Huge Success!

Over 350 educators from across Colorado attended the Google Apps For Education Summit on October 11 & 12, 2014. The conference featured keynote speakers who shared inspiring stories of how technology can empower young people. Ken Shelton articulated why technology matters by sharing the story of Michael, a boy with autism who uses technology to communicate to the world. Molly Schroeder inspired us to forget perfection and “live in beta”. She shared how technology and 3D printing created new arms for children suffering from the wars in Sudan. These speakers pushed us to embrace moonshot thinking, to redefine how we dream, and to forge ahead into the age of digital learning.

GAFE participants gather outside to check in.

Throughout the rest of the summit, we attended hour-long sessions taught by educators and leaders in educational technology from around the state, Google Apps Certified Teachers, and BVSD teachers. Many of the resources are linked on the schedule, so if you could not attend, please check it out.

Kelly is excited to start a weekend of learning.

We had over 100 BVSD teachers and leaders attend the summit. I would love to hear your reactions to the summit and respond to my Google Plus post or to this blog about your top two takeaways from the summit.

If you were one of the attendees, you might have been inspired to become a conference presenter yourself. We encourage you to submit a proposal to present at the 2015 InnEdCo Conference (June 23-25). The 2015 conference has a lot of flexibility for presentation styles, not just the traditional “sage on the stage” session. It’s a great conference for first-time presenters, and we are confident that many BVSD teachers are ready for this next step.

Luci and Art helped our technology run smoothly.