Workshops
The Drs. Cavanaugh are available to present workshops on
the following topics. To arrange a presentation, email
terry@drscavanaugh.org or
cathy@drscavanugh.org.
Some previous workshop samples on the left.
We provide a wide variety of workshops on technology applications and
integration, science, and assistive technology. The hours of the programs
will be determined by what is needed. One hour provides enough time to
introduce the topic and have a demonstration/presentation. The total
number of hours is determined by how much interaction is necessary.
Assistive
Technology for Education (1-6 hours)
Assistive technology is a wide-ranging educational tool that is growing in its
use and importance, and is required for consideration in all IEPs. In this
presentation, easy to find (or create) and use assistive technology devices will
be demonstrated concerning their application to education. Learn how to
incorporate these assistive technology concepts and tools into teaching for
everyone. Discover about the wide range of assistive technology devices
that are available.
Concept
Mapping with Inspiration (1-4 hours)
Learn about the value of concept mapping as a learning tool and teaching
strategy. Using a software program titled Inspiration, you can quickly
create visual multimedia diagrams to represent knowledge, processes,
relationships, and more. Learn to use concept mapping software as an
effective study, research, assessment, and writing tool. Automatically
generate outlines or create brainstorm maps. With this simple tool you can
create web pages, transparencies, bulletin boards, images, and more.
Digital Cameras in Education (1-12 hours)
Hand-on instruction, ideas, and examples for comparing and using digital
cameras in education. Learn the steps of operating a digital camera, then
capture, edit and save images with the computer. Topic includes
image formats for applications and options for displaying images. This
session will offer techniques and examples of ways to apply digital photography
in teaching. A digital camera can enhance students' educational experiences and
make life easier for a teacher or administrator. Ideas and examples for all
levels and content areas will be shared through demonstration and sample
lessons. As a curriculum tool, digital cameras add a multimedia dimension to
learning. Placing a digital camera in the hands of a K-12 student or teacher
unleashes creativity and opens up new possibilities for all areas of the
education spectrum. Beyond simply recording events, digital images transform
documents, presentations, and communications into personalized, custom
productions. Topics include student and teacher portfolios and printing on
various media for creative projects.
This workshop can also be adapted to focus on ESE, Science, Math, Technology,
and Assessment.
Digital Video Booktalks
Learn how to use free software to create or have students create their own video
booktalks.
Distance Learning Techniques (1-6 hours)
Interest in distance learning is on the rise among high school students,
college students and professionals. Learn effective methods for distance
learning environments. Workshop topics include Team Building, Methods of
Assessment, The Online Discussion Forum, and Distance Learning for Field
Experiences. A theme throughout is the need for planning in distance learning.
DVD Applications (1-3 hours)
Video is captivating, and interactive video is engaging. This workshop
shares lessons and strategies that use the features of DVD for multi-sensory,
multiple intelligence, multi-disciplinary learning. Learn how to repurpose
entertainment video and turn it into a real educational experience for your
students.
E-Books
(1-6 hours)
Learn to apply e-book/digital text programs in creating interactive
educational materials. E-Books are books that have been converted to
digital format. Discover how to use free e-book software to create your own
e-books and publications and locate and work with existing e-documents. With an
e-book reader such as Microsoft Reader you have a system that remembers where
you left off reading, and includes multiple methods of page navigation, allows
for multicolored bookmarks, dictionary interaction, and whole book search
features. You can personalize your e-Book with multicolored highlighting, font
sizing, adding your drawings, and writing in personal notes.
Educational Web Page Development (1-12 hours)
For students and educators, the web is an important educational tool. In
today’s standards-based educational environment, it is essential that web
resources closely fit educational objectives. In the absence of web sites that
meet precise educational needs, teachers seek the expertise to develop their own
web-based teaching materials. Most current courses and training in web design
target business or professional developers. Teachers have unique needs,
including design principles for children and students with various disabilities
that incorporate sound teaching practices. The workshop stresses critical
evaluation of a wide range of existing web sites from visual design, usability
and educational perspectives.
Effective Presentation Design and Creation (1-12 hours)
Learn presentation design basics and guidelines for improving presentations
using tools such as PowerPoint and HyperStudio. This workshop will also
address the topics of using advanced features of PowerPoint to add animations,
navigation, interactions, and multimedia to presentations Presentation software
tool are powerful and adaptable products for creating custom lessons and
presentations. Effective presentations follow established design
principles and include interactivity. Design guidelines for creating better
presentations include size, fonts, images, readability, distractions and more.
Benefits of interactive presentations include sensory engagement through
multimedia and easy reuse and updating of saved files. Tutorials,
interactive lessons with feedback, review, and even testing, can be created as
presentations.
Effective Searching (1-3 hours)
Not all search engines are created alike. Learn about the wide variety
of search engines that are available and how to choose a search engine to more
effectively find what you want. Learn valuable search techniques that will
reduce the amount of time you spend searching while the system helps by weeding
out the material that you don’t need. Discover specific search engines
to find pictures, audio, research, and more.
Effective
use of the Word Processor (1-6 hours)
This workshop is about how to take your word processor and make it a more
effective writing tool for educational purposes. Topics in this workshop
include more effective use of text, including size and structure, how to
effectively incorporate images to prevent distraction, tools that can be used
for evaluating writing, and how to incorporate special characters and formatting
options to create better documents for students. This workshop will also
include how to use a word processor in the evaluation and leveling of reading
material and applications of the word processor as an interaction tool between a
student and teacher.
Electronic Portfolios (1-6 hours)
Electronic portfolios are excellent alternative assessment and professional
assessment tools. In this workshop you will learn to create effective digital
forms of student and teacher portfolios. Technology topics will include
issues and decisions about storage, medium, software, design, and tools.
Education topics will include integration and effective assessment tools such as
rubrics. With portfolios student generate, rather than select responses
and products. By actively participating in decisions about their learning
by making purposeful collections of their work while developing valuable work
skills. Members of the classroom community of learners share an
understanding of what constitutes good work as evidence of accomplishment.
Interactive
PowerPoint (1-6 hours)
Learn methods for designing interactivity into digital presentations by
incorporating menus, buttons and feedback into PowerPoint for web, CD-ROM and
computer delivery. This session will overview purposes of digital electronic
presentations in education, including for large groups, small groups and
individuals. Interactive PowerPoint is effective for tutorial, testing, review,
simulation and concept instruction. Participants will learn through
demonstration, discussion and handouts how to design and use buttons, menus, and
feedback into PowerPoint for navigation and education.
Internet in Education (1-6 hours)
This workshop will be a hands-on tour of the resources available for
educators wishing to use the internet to enhance course work. Participants
will be introduced to the world wide web and how it can be used as a classroom
resource. Activities include navigating the world wide web, listserves,
search engines, and visiting educational web sites.
This workshop can also be adapted to focus on ESE, ESOL, or any specialized
course area: Math, Science, Social Studies, etc.
Introduction
to Interactive Multimedia Presentation using Real and SMIL (1-6 hours)
Learn the basics of creating multimedia presentations using free SMIL and
Real tools. Project development with audio, text and graphics, and web delivery
are included. The workshop will introduce participants to the free tools
available for creation of multimedia presentations, specifically SMIL
(synchronized multimedia integration language) and Real media. Educators will
learn to easily and inexpensively create text, audio and image files and
integrate them into unified synchronized multimedia presentations. Program
applications will be demonstrated automate the processes of encoding audio and
video and creating multimedia products. The resulting SMIL and Real
presentations may be shared via disk, Intranet or Internet, and require only a
free plug-in for viewing. Presenters will demonstrate the steps in placing text,
audio, and images into an online presentation. Real and SMIL presentations are
effective tools for standalone presentation, and as part of web-enhanced or
web-delivered distance education.
Literature Circles with Technology
Literature circles are a great way to make reading active, and with a few
adaptations any teacher can integrate effective technology options as part of
the literature circle activities.
Online & In-Class Discussions (1-3 hours)
This workshop offers an overview of the online forum an in-class
discussions. Learn the benefits students receive by participating in the forum,
and strategies used to make a forum successful. Participation in online and
in-class discussion accomplishes three learning goals: students are exposed to
many perspectives, they gain experience with the interpersonal communication,
and they work with opinions about important course content issues.
Online Research (1-6 hours)
Learn about methods to effectively incorporate online research into
education. In this workshop you will learn ways to evaluate information on
the web for student and classroom. Experience how different software
applications can improve your research methods. Learn about more effective
ways to use search engines and what the differences are between engines.
Learn how to cite work from the web.
Repurposing Entertainment Video for Education (1-4 hours)
The goal in repurposing a feature film as a teaching tool is to provide an
educational event which is still entertaining. The outcome of using a repurposed
feature film should be to increase a student’s experience with certain
concepts of content or to provide a common background for students to work from.
This workshop will cover the topics of: Selecting a Film, Applications for
Repurposing, Challenges of Repurposing, Preparing for Use, and Effective Methods
of Presenting a Repurposed Film. Sample lessons will be provided to all
attendees.
School
Administrator as an Educational Technology Leader (1-3 hours)
Change has given new importance to technology for learning. This session
offers ways for school administrators to guide effective integration of
technology into the school. As a result of participating in the workshop on
school administrators as educational technology leaders, participants should:
recognize trends in society and the economy that make information literacy
essential for students; become familiar with brain research related to children
growing up in a media rich culture and its implications for education,
especially educational technology; become acquainted with research on
educational technology effectiveness and its benefits for schools; recognize
that integrating technology into school curriculum means change, and a school
must have a climate that embraces lifelong learning for all to be successful in
making change; become familiar with tools available to help schools assess their
level of technology integration and help plan effective professional
development.
Standards
of Practice (10 hours online)
“Standards of Practice” is a 10-hour, asynchronous web-based workshop
designed for a broad range of educators. The workshop provides an overview of
curriculum and technology standards, and integration of effective technology
into standards-based teaching. Topics include searching, evaluating web sites,
and research on the web. The workshop was developed by university education
faculty under a professional development schools grant to meet needs of area
schools. The workshop is composed of six modules: Introduction to Technology
Standards, Sunshine State Standards, Searching the Web, Evaluating Web
Resources, Research using the Web, Best Practices in Integrating Technology into
Standards-Based Instruction. Each module includes instruction on the topic,
links to web materials, self-paced practice activities, and suggestions for
finding further information on the topic
Teaching
Science with Science Fiction Films (1-4 hours)
Science fiction has always been a staple of motion pictures. It can be
described as a branch of movies in which scientific discoveries and developments
from elements of a plot. With this workshop science educators can learn to
use the excitement and fun atmosphere of the science fiction movie to his or her
advantage. Learn effective methods to incorporate science fiction films as an
effective and motivating teaching and learning tool for science. With this
workshop teachers will receive a book containing lessons that are designed to
help students translate science fiction into science fact.
Technology
for English as a Second Language Classes (1-3 hours)
Classroom technology can motivate and enhance learning in many exciting
ways. Students in ESOL classes have made significant educational gains through
the use of technology, including video, word processing, digital cameras, and
sound. This session presents a few examples of how to incorporate effective
technology for ESOL students.
Text to Speech Tools and Online Libraries (1-5 hours)
Learn to apply Text-to-Speech software to assist all students with reading,
writing and research. Text-to-Speech is a software/hardware application
that converts text in a computer to artificial speech that is spoken through
speech synthesizers or computer speakers. Discover resources for free
Text-to-Speech software, digital books, documents, and publications.
Using the Word Processor for Writing and Readability Analysis. (1-3
hours)
Did you know that MS Word can run a readability analysis on writing? Learn
to use the built-in features of Word to analyze the grade level and the
readability of written material. Use this feature to analyze student work,
level books, and find grade level appropriate resources.
Web Accessibility (1-6 hours)
Learn about ways to evaluate whether web pages are accessible to people of
all abilities. Discover tools that can help with the evaluation process,
such as site validators and testing with screen readers. Learn about some
of the simple techniques that can drastically improve the site access.
Find out how web pages can be structured for accessibility.
Web
Evaluation for Education (1-3 hours)
Because the web is an important source of information in schools, teachers
and students need skills for evaluating web sites. For a specific learning goal,
thousands of web sites may exist, but not all of them will be appropriate. Web
sites are written at a wide range of language levels, for a variety of purposes,
and for diverse audiences. Learn about what a teacher needs to consider about
web pages as they relate to their educational needs. A great many web pages
contain information that is not appropriate for student needs because of
misinformation or bias. Learn about tools that can enable students to make
assessments on a page’s worth for the academic endeavor by judging the
page’s authority and currency, its publisher and purpose, and its objectivity
and accuracy.
