COLD SPRING – A few weeks before school years start, teachers sat in desks Thursday at Rocori High School.
The new Central Minnesota Learning Partnership organized a technology summit to spread knowledge and improve skills in six rural school districts.
It was a chance for teachers to not only learn about new software and methods but also find out — in an interactive way — how they can use them, said Mindi Jenson, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment at Rocori.
They could "touch it, feel it, bring it back to their classrooms," she said.
The summit was comprised of teachers and presenters from Rocori, Albany Area Schools, Kimball, Paynesville, Eden Valley-Watkins and New London-Spicer.
St. Mary's University was an organizing partner. It also offered master's-level credits to instructors who attended and apply lessons in their classrooms.
Teachers could attend two of six available learning sessions covering GarageBand, math on iPads, mobile applications, online student publishing and more.
Jesse Rasmussen, biology and chemistry instructor in Paynesville, led an afternoon session on flipped lessons, which have students prepare for classes outside school then come together to engage in hands-on learning.
Rasmussen said the idea isn't revolutionary; English classes have long required students to read material then perform related work in classrooms. What's different is how technology has enabled flipped-lesson models to apply more widely, he said.
The Paynesville teacher referred to video as a key that unlocks potential for science, history and other subjects. Rasmussen said he has one completely flipped class, but a "typical Socratic method" of an instructor presenting material and leading discussions works better for some subjects. So he teaches "blended" classes as well.
Rasmussen praised free tools available from Google, saying many of his teaching methods wouldn't be possible without the online search, advertising and data giant.
Lorie Floura, principal of grades 6-12 in Paynesville, said the Learning Partnership was a product of rural schools wanting to meet needs. With fewer dollars and resources than larger districts, many are more than willing to share passions and ideas, she said.
Floura said educators want to use technology to motivate exploration in students' minds instead of just giving them "another type of notebook." Discovering how to do so helped bring schools together and form the partnership, she said.
Rasmussen echoed Floura and said a goal is moving up steps of the SAMR model. It describes how new technology can act as a substitute, augment current methods, modify processes and finally redefine how classrooms operate.
Steve Stromme, who coordinates curriculum and staff development in Albany, said a highlight of the day was a keynote talk from Rob Residori. Stromme said the senior education leader for BrightBytes, a San Francisco-based education research startup, stressed in his digital presentation from Chicago that "just because a school has technology doesn't mean it's transforming classrooms."
Each year, the Albany educator sees wider acceptance of technology in his schools. He said it's a welcome sight as, "Students are immersed in this world already, and they don't want to power down when they walk through the door."
Stromme said attendees heard from Dave Burgess over lunch. The author of popular education book "Teach Like a Pirate" made a short video specifically for Thursday's summit, challenging the educators to use creativity to make contact with all students, Stromme said. The book will be the subject of ongoing conversations in the regional teaching partnership, he said.
A management system called Schoology and social media platform Twitter have changed how teachers operate in Albany, Avon and elsewhere, Stromme said. They help connect people and ideas, he said, and that makes learning easier and more probable. The new education partnership and technology summit are examples of that connectivity, Stromme said.
"We live in proximity," he said of educators in the six rural districts, "but our paths don't cross unless we design it."
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