West Essex Hosts Successful WE Tech

More than 150 educators learned about the latest in educational technology at the third annual WE Tech Symposium at West Essex High School on March 1.

Teachers, administrators and members of the public took workshops on everything from Twitter to social media to digital leadership. WE Tech Founder Raquel Williams, a West Essex Spanish teacher, said “Wetech has a mission  to empower teachers, administrators and board and community members in the use and benefits of educational technology to enhance learning in our  21st century classrooms/schools. Our March 1  Wetech14 was a success thanks to the teamwork of committee members, Superintendent Barbara Longo and other school administrators,  presenters , student volunteers and sponsors.

“We have also received wonderful feedback from participants via Twitter, emails and feedback at the event,” Mrs. Williiams said. “Everyone is so happy that West Essex was a visionary and generously offered such a wonderful free professional development day to New Jersey educators. I am happy we made an impact and hopefully  an improvement in the classrooms of many educators.”

Rutgers Professor Joyce Valenza made the keynote address at the beginning of the day titled "Medaliteracy: An Unintentional Film Festival or 10 Big Things to Teach and Model in 2014."

Ms. Valenza showed clips from movies and television to offer special messages, which she used in her presentation to talk about some of the latest technology for educators in 2014. "With great power comes great responsibility," Peter Parker's uncle told him in the film "Spiderman." She told teachers to encourage their students to set up LinkedIn profiles. She told them that she no longer uses a business card, but uses sites like LinkedIn as her business card. She showed movie clips from "Spiderman," "My Cousin Vinny" and "The Office" to convey her messages.
She told educators that admissions counselors forced to decide between two college applications from similar students will look at their Facebook pages to help them make a decision.

Ms. Valenza also spoke about Wkipedia, Twitter and other technology tools.

Educators chose from a variety of workshops offered in three different sessions.

West Essex High School English teacher Alicia Perez said she had a wonderful experience at WE Tech 2014. "All of the sessions I attended were helpful and informative," she said. "The presenters had such great energy that was truly contagious. I left wanted to try so many different approaches and tools in my English classes."

Gina Catania, Principal at The Children's Institute in Verona, said the symposium featured many technology experts who spoke about the latest innovations. "My Saturday at the WE Tech 14 conference helped feed my new found passion for educational technology," she said. "It was an amazing opportunity that brought educational leaders and technology experts together for a day of sharing and learning. In addition to the excellent workshops I attended, my day was spent networking with other educators, tweeting about technology innovations, and planning just how I was going to bring all of that great information back to my faculty."

The Children's Institute serves students on the autism spectrum with related disabilities from pre-school to age 21 on campuses in Verona and Livingston.

Teachers traveled from all over New Jersey for the event and received professional development hours. The day was sponsored by edtechteacher, ShopRite, Stop & Shop and ADP.