Here are some links to keep up on what's happening on state and national levels

• Introducing the USDOE Office of Educational Technology (OET) “New” Blog Series on Digital Equity Stories -  Digital Equity Champions for All Learners: Leaders Partner with Communities and Across Sectors to Advance Digital Inclusion Goals.

• State: Sharing the NH Public Education Bill Primer Working Draft and 2023 Education Bill Tracker developed by Granite State Progress.

 - Kathleen McClaskey

On December 14th, the Federal Communications Commission announced that it is seeking public comment on using its E-rate program to pay for school and library cybersecurity improvements. Public comment is open until February 13th. Refer to this K-12 Dive article where this is a link to comment to the FCC. - Kathleen McClaskey

Just a reminder, as a conference registrant, you can view the sessions that were recorded at CMTC (Christa McAuliffe Teaching Transforming Technology Conference) at nhcmtc.org. These should be available until at least April, 2023. Also, presenters have updated their sessions to include links and extensions to their sessions. The learning continues!!

NHSTE Advocacy Notes - March 2022

State Report:  On Tuesday, February 15, NH Education Commissioner Frank Edelblut and Representative Rick Ladd (R-Haverhill) introduced to the House Education Committee House Bill (HB) 1671, which would overhaul key elements of the state law that governs the content and requirements for a public education in New Hampshire.

The biggest change to the education laws would be that public schools would only be required to teach English Language Arts, math, science, and social studies. It would remove art, health and physical education, engineering, computer science, digital literacy, and world languages from the core academic domains. (Ref: Reaching Higher NH)

This bill would turn over the power of deciding the minimum standards of education directly to the legislature, with no prior input from education professionals or citizens.

Locate Legislative updates on (HB) 1671 at https://legiscan.com/NH/bill/HB1671/2022
Read March 6th Opinion Letter from Concord Monitor re: (HB) 1671 - https://www.concordmonitor.com/-45295743

NHSTE Advocacy Notes - January 2022

State: The House and Senate are meeting on Wednesday, January 5, to vote on outstanding bills from the 2021 session. The House will be voting on HB 607, the local school voucher bill, which the House Education Committee voted along party lines to recommend passing. The bill would undercut our public schools and communities, and divert taxpayer funds to pay for school vouchers totaling up to $41,000 per student, per year. (Source: NH Education Network)

January 2022 Updates to NHEON Partnerships

UNH Cooperative Extension &NHEdGIS Presents
Getting Started with Storymaps for K-12 Teachers

Virtual Workshop

January 12, 2022 or January 20, 2022

3:30-4:30pm

(with an optional hands-on lesson from 4:30-5pm)

Learn how to make your own interactive StoryMaps using easy to use tools.  Open to all. No experience necessary!  $50 gift cards for the first 40 NH teachers to attend (Just 18 remaining!!)

 

In one hour, we will walk you through how to make your own StoryMap and give you the resources to start using StoryMaps in your classroom.  If you used Story Maps in the past, we will be covering the new StoryMap template and the exciting  new tools that are now available.  StoryMaps are available for FREE to K-12 schools through the ArcGIS for Schools Bundle.

Contact NHEdGISPartnership@gmail.com if you need help setting up your account.

 

Why teach with StoryMaps?

• Provide an engaging, rich way to teach content.
• Foster technical skills: GIS, multimedia (media fluency), data.
• Foster critical and spatial thinking.
• Foster skills in organization, ethics, permissions.
• Foster communication skills - digital, written, and oral.
• Tools that support collaboration and culminating projects.
• Access to resources by authoritative sources! If something is happening in the world, there is a story map for it!

 

Additional help is available!  StoryMap Office Hours will be offered every other Thursday, starting January 27, 2022 at 3:30-4:30pm.  These open calls are available for you to check in with experts and get help with your projects and StoryMaps.

 

Students in grades 4-12 who complete a Storymap by May 11, 2022 are encouraged to enter their StoryMaps to the NH Student Map Competition!  

 

Register for the Workshop at: https://arcg.is/1uOvbq  by January 5, 2022

Congratulations to our 2021 NHSTE Award Winners!

2021 Pat Keyes Technology - Using Educator Award Winner

Dr. Rachael Ramsey

6th Grade Educator

McKelvie Intermediate School - Bedford, NH

2021 Susan Janosz Technology Impact Award Winner

Sandra Blanc

Technology Coordinator

Exeter High School - Exeter, NH

Please visit our full award winners page to read the biographies of these extraordinary award winners.

NHSTE's Fall Book Study Kickoff!

Date:  Tuesday, November 2, 2021

Time:  6:00 to 6:30pm

Please join us for the kickoff of the NHSTE Fall Book Study! 

Please click here to register.

Please join NHSTE and Inclusive Learning 365: Edtech Strategies for Every Day of the Year (ISTE August 2021) authors Karen Janowski, and Mike Marotta in a Virtual Book Study beginning Nov 2!

This NHSTE Book Study kicks off Tuesday, Nov. 2, at 6:00pm via Zoom, with the authors, as they discuss their book and their vision for integrating technology strategies to improve learning for ALL learners. Participants will have access to their website and resources. 

Karen and Mike will also join book study participants in December and again in January, to facilitate a discussion on inclusive learning.

Want in?  It is as easy as:

1. Be sure to sign up by registering on the NHSTE website ~ this ensures that you receive all the details moving forward!
2. Order your book.
3. JOIN us November 2.

Can’t make it it Nov 2?  Don’t worry, all sessions with Karen and Mike will be recorded. 

Order your book now from 

ISTE.org's book store 

to join the discussion!

  

Register today and receive the Zoom link in the confirmation email!

Questions? Please email Cathy Brophy.

Let your voice be heard!

Click HERE for the NHSTE Professional Learning Survey

GET TO KNOW Your NHSTE Professional Learning Committee Chair

Christina DiMicelli

Technology Integration Specialist / Pinkerton Academy

Google Certified Educator, Trainer, Innovator (#LAX18)

ISTE Certified Educator

What does this Chair do?

Learning is essential in our ever-changing world and the NHSTE Professional Learning Chair is here to help you meet your professional learning needs and goals.

We know that technology empowers teachers and learners.  The PL Chair will assess the needs of our NH educational professionals with regards to technology.

NHSTE inspires, creates, and supports a culture of connected learners. The PL Chair will find meaningful, diverse, and timely professional learning experiences based on the needs of the NHSTE membership.  They will promote networking, the sharing of  ideas/best practices, and professional connection opportunities.

A note from Christina

Hello -  I’m excited to bring some new Professional Learning ideas and activities to the NHSTE community.  We fully recognize that this year is another challenging one for educators (bit of an understatement).  Therefore, before jumping into the planning process, I would love to hear from you. 

To ensure what we are providing is valuable and directly related to what you need right now, it is important that we hear your thoughts.  I put a survey together and am hopeful that you can take a few minutes to go through it - all membership levels are encouraged to reply.  

This will be a year of virtual-only activities, but with some creativity and innovation (my favorite things) I am confident we can put together some fantastic options.  Thanks for your input.

I welcome connection and conversation, find me on Twitter → @MrsDi 

Christina