The appFest Story....

appFest started out as an opportuntiy for people to gather together and learn from one another.  In our first year, we brought in big named speaker Will Richardson and it was great.  There was a ton of enthusiasm and lots of great ideas were exchanged.  Many people walked away from the event exclaiming that it was the best PD they ever had!  We were very excited to see educational technology take off in every teacher's classroom.

 

Since that first appFest in 2012, we've seen an explosion in the tools and usefulness of educational technology.  There are more apps that do more things than anyone could have imagined.  Classrooms across the state of Wisconsin and the country are rapidly filling up with iPads, Chromebooks, Android tablets, netbooks, etc.  Every district is on the path towards a 1:1 intiative in some form, whether it's school supplied devices or BYOD or some version in between.  The NEED for educational technology training is as strong, if not stronger, than it has ever been.

 

However, integration levels in most school districts is still lacking.  The networks are there, the devices are there, but we are still lacking on our ability to harness the power of these resources to transform education!  There are lots of reasons that can be used to explain this, but PD access shouldn't be one of them.  There are now more educational experts, classroom teachers, curriculum directors, and all service professionals participating in Professional Learning Networks than ever before.  The ability to access and exchange ideas is ubiquitous.

 

We here at appFest are now ready to take the next step.  Training on basic applications should still happen for those who need it, but we're all ready to see a tranformation in education, aided by these educational technology resources. That's why, this year's appFest will be more heavily focused on sessions which will aid educators to integrate these skills into their curriculum.  Our strands for this years conference will focus on the 4 C's: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity.  We hope that our conference is not only educational, but allows for you to take skills back into your classrooms to start the journey towards a deeper learning experience, for your students, and for you!