On Friday, February 6th, BHS Help Desk students Jyhmon Moodie and Manas Purohit traveled to Medfield High School with Diana Marcus, Burlington Public School’s Mobile Learning Coach and led a session at Medfield’s 3rd annual Digital Learning Day Conference.

This free, full-day professional development conference, a primer for the official Digital Learning Day on March 13th, featured more than 60 workshops focused on the integration of iPads, Google Apps for Education, discussion panels, and special out-of-district guest presenters. The BHS Help Desk was honored to receive the invitation to present from Diane Horvath, Medfield Public School’s Technology Integration Specialist and lead the “iPad 101 to the Rescue!” session. The presentation, designed for K-12 educators new to using an iPad, provided attendees with tips and tricks on how to get the most out of their iPad. Jyhmon and Manas, both first year members of the Help Desk, shared their expertise on the iPad including basic anatomy, settings, customization, installing, organizing, and deleting apps, and much, much more.

Students presenting to a packed house at DLD Medfield!

Let the Students Lead!

In a post-conference survey, six of the session attendees rated Manas and Jyhmon’s presentation as the best of the entire day and many teachers commented they would like to see more student-led sessions at future DLD conferences. This feedback was not surprising to hear considering the previous experience of the student presenters; Jyhmon represented the Help Desk and led a session alongside Timmy Sullivan and Mira Mehdi at this year’s Christa McAuliffe Technology Conference and Manas led a session with Nathan Rippin and Michael Seleman at Edscape this past October. Giving students the chance to lead professional learning opportunities for educators is quite powerful and a model of PD I hope more and more schools will adopt, especially if they wish to develop a culture where everyone is learning together. We’re fortunate to have that culture In Burlington. I am able to witness students collaborating and helping teachers and their peers daily. The commitment to empowering student voice and place them in leadership positions, both in and outside of our district, is why I love being part of the Burlington community and sharing our success stories with visitors, both in-person and via social media. If you and your district team would like to see and up close and personal look at what we do in Burlington, then register to attend the New England 1:1 Summit being held on April 10th. If your school is similar to Burlington and your students are using technology in meaningful ways across the curriculum, we invite you to be a part of this year’s Summit and specifically our 2nd annual New England Student Showcase. Details about this exciting event, including the registration form, can be accessed by clicking here.