By Anna Skinner
Noblesville Schools will be hosting iPadpalooza, a conference with more than 500 educators and nationally recognized hosts presenting on education technology and curriculum development, on July 16 and 17 at Noblesville High School.
“We received a grant from the Indiana Department of Education to put on this conference,” said Christy Steffen, conference co-chair and technology instructional coach for Noblesville Schools.
Steffen said the conference exceeded their expectation and can’t bring in anymore people this year, public or professional. However, next year they are planning on expanding the conference to include even more.
Sessions will be going on throughout the day with different topics of presentation.
Although the conference is closed to more people, a free “hack-a-thon” coding experience will take place on iPads for grades 3 through 12. No experience or device is needed, and signing up is required. Students can sign up on ipadpaloozain.com. The coding event is run by students who will teach the concepts of coding, and the participants are able to complete challenges at the end of the day.
Presenters from across the nation and state will be in attendance to teach about integrating technology in the classroom. There will also be presentations over learning management systems, such as Canvas.
Lunch is provided via food trucks, and a waiting list is quickly filling in case any of the attendees cancel.
“It’s a great way to showcase all of the awesome things we’re doing,” Steffen said. “It allows our educators to learn from the best around the country and also present and help other school districts have the success that we’ve had. I just love the collaboration, our teachers getting to talk to other school districts to see what they’re doing and to know we are doing great things. It’s two days to reflect and grow.”
