Michigan Student Technology Showcase 2012

On Wednesday, December 28th, 6 classmates and I went to the Michigan Student Technology Showcase in Lansing along with Mr. Abud. Just to open the day, seeing the Capitol Building was truly amazing. There were three sessions in the day, two in the morning then one in the afternoon. Each session was 90 minutes, and progressively got more advanced as the day went on. In the morning most of the presentations were kids that made blogs or slide shows using computers. One that I found specifically interesting in the first session was a music class that used a Mac and GarageBand to make covers for songs. We then took our lunch break and walked to a Jimmy Johns near the Capitol Building which was a nice treat, thanks to Mr. Abud. During the second sessions, presentations ranged from making school yearbooks to classes using edmodo. Edmodo is an online tool for solving problems that the teacher can put up. Also, we got a glimpse of few schools that did computer designing and could even print with a 3D printer! The third session was best of all. We presented our BYOD policy in our classroom to educational leaders from around Michigan, as well as other students. We used a PowerPoint slideshow that we displayed with our iPads and a trifold board to show how we use our devices everyday in class. We showed them the apps that we use and how we use Apple TV as well. During our presentation, there were many students displaying their computer design projects, blogs, and even a basketball shooting robot! Overall, there was much to be taken out of the day. Seeing how other schools use technology was a great experience and I'm glad I went. Honestly, though, I am proud of coming from North because based on relevance and purposefulness, I believe that we showed the best display of using technology in the classroom, and if more classes at North changed to be like Mr. Abud's, I think the learning of all students in our school would change for the better.