Last month I announced that I will be hosting the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp again this year. The two day event will be held in Portland, Maine at the Holiday Inn By the Bay. The dates are July 13th and 14th, 2015. Discounted early registration is still available. In the last couple of weeks I have received quite a few questions about the summer camp. Those common questions and their answers are provided below.

1. Are CEUs/ certificates/ graduate credits available?
The past two years I’ve given certificates for 16 hours of professional development. Some schools accept these for re-certification/ continuing education points and some do not. If it helps you or your administrator decide if the hours will help you qualify for re-certification, a general outline of topics for the two days is available here. There is not a university arrangement for graduate credit at this time.

2. Can I register with a purchase order / check from my school?
Yes, you can. To register with a purchase order or a check from your school email me or have your business administrator email at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com and I will register you on receipt of the purchase order.

3. My school is transitioning to Google Apps for Education, will this help me?
In short, yes. The Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp will include the use of Google tools in each day. We will share methods for incorporating Google tools into much of what we do. That said, this is not focused only on Google tools. The Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp is based on my framework of Discovery, Discussion, and Demonstration. The first day is focused helping students use technology to discover and discuss. Day two is focused on demonstrating knowledge by creating new digital content including podcasts, videos, and other multimedia productions.

4. I want to bring my principal, will she/he benefit from attending?
Absolutely! As I’ve heard my friend Scott McLeod say, “the leaders must get it.” This is a great opportunity for your principal to gain a great understanding of what you and your colleagues want to do when school starts again in the fall. Equally importantly, they’ll learn why you want to do it.

5. My school is going 1:1 with iPads, will this help me?
Yes. We will be looking at a bunch of apps and their applications for classrooms.

6. We would love to attend but the dates don’t work for us, will you be offering this at another time?
At this time I don’t have plans to offer the Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp on other dates. I am more than happy to come to your school district to offer a workshop. Please click here for information about my on-location professional development services.

7. Will you be streaming this online?
No. The Practical Ed Tech Summer Camp is designed to be hands-on and a livestream wouldn’t capture much.

8. How do I get to Portland, Maine? What can I do once I’m there? How do I get around in Portland?
Portland has an international airport serviced by US Airways/ American, United, Delta, SouthWest, and Jet Blue. Boston/ Logan Airport is about two hours away. The hotel is about a ten minute cab ride from the airport. Uber is available in Portland. We’re done for the day you can walk to dozens of restaurants along the Old Port’s cobblestone streets, walk to the ocean, or even hop a boat and take a sunset cruise to see the islands in Casco Bay. Beaches are just a few minutes drive from the hotel.

9. Why isn’t this event free?
There are two reasons why it isn’t free. First, I incur a lot of expenses in organizing and hosting the event. Second, while all of the sites and apps we will use are free, my time for teaching about them isn’t free.

10. I want to sign up, where do I do that?
Click here to register online. Contact me via email at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com to register with a purchase order or school check.

If the answer to your question wasn’t provided above, please feel free to contact me directly at richardbyrne (at) freetech4teachers.com