Learning Technology Center

Power-Up Book Study: EdTech Essentials in the Age of AI by Monica Burns
2025-09-29 08:00 - 2025-10-31 16:30 (America/Chicago) | Online, IL, United States
Give your edtech skills and knowledge a “1-Up” in this gamified book study where your contributions always add to the conversation. Designed like a video game, this self-paced experience lets you level up by reading, completing hands-on challenges, and submitting artifacts – all while earning PD credit and unlocking exclusive digital gear for your personalized avatar.
During this study, we’ll read “EdTech Essentials: 12 Strategies for Every Classroom in the Age of AI (Second Edition)” by Monica Burns. Choose your own adventure through the book by completing up to three levels, each worth 2 PD credits (for a total of up to 6 PD credits). At each level, you’ll showcase your learning by reflecting on what you’ve read and completing activities from a choice board.
Want to boost your XP? Join two optional virtual meetups for live discussions, bonus rewards, and extra PD credit. Wrap up your quest with a live Q&A featuring Monica Burns herself! Earn 1 PD credit per virtual event, for up to 3 additional credits. That’s up to 9 PD credits total for completing all levels and attending all virtual events.
Ready to press start? Get in the game and check another book off your “to-be-read” list!
???? Bonus Loot Alert: The first 50 registrants will receive a free copy of the book shipped directly to you. After that, you’ll need to provide your own copy of the book.

Registration ends August 31, 2025

TeachGPT: Making AI your TA
2025-10-07 08:30 - 11:30 | I-KAN ROE, 1 Stuart Dr, Kankakee, IL, 60901, United States
Beat the dreaded “teacher burnout” by exploring how you can use AI as your personal teaching assistant! This workshop will demonstrate how educators can leverage chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini, as well as education-specific AI-powered platforms to enhance efficiency, access resources, and personalize student learning. Discover specific prompts and strategies to save time and boost creativity in your daily tasks, freeing you up for the human element of teaching. Join us to harness the power of AI for a more efficient and innovative teaching experience!

AI 2.0 Master AI Teacher Tools and Image Creation
2025-10-07 09:00 - 14:00 | ROE 3 Vandalia, 1500 W Jefferson St, Vandalia, IL, 62471, United States
Dive into the world of AI-driven education with this hands-on workshop. Explore cutting-edge tools like Brisk Teaching and Magic School, designed to streamline your teaching workflow and enhance student engagement. Discover how to leverage AI for tasks like generating personalized learning materials and providing instant feedback. Additionally, learn the fundamentals of AI image creation, enabling you to produce visually stimulating content for your lessons. This interactive session will equip you with practical skills to integrate AI seamlessly into your teaching practices, saving you time and fostering a dynamic learning environment. Participants should bring a laptop or Chromebook to fully engage in the hands-on activities.

Drone Workshop
2025-10-08 09:00 - 14:00 | Peoria CUSD 150 Administrative Office, 3202 North Wisconsin, Peoria, IL, 61603, United States
The use of drones is rapidly expanding across various industries, presenting new and exciting opportunities for students to engage in STEM learning and develop skills relevant to the future workforce.
This hands-on workshop will explore how codeable drones can be seamlessly integrated into the classroom to foster coding skills, spark an interest in STEM, and prepare students for future tech-powered work opportunities.
Participants will be given the drone to take back into their classroom after completing the training!

Google Admin Workshop
2025-10-09 09:00 - 12:00 | Morton Unit School District #709, 1050 S Fourth Ave, Morton, IL, 61550, United States
Help better prepare yourself to manage your school’s Google environment!
This workshop will guide you and your technical staff through educational best practices, Admin console skills and techniques, and key-setting configurations.
Topics covered include:
Domain Management, Security, Users & OUs, Services & Inheritance, Directory & Groups, Drive & Shared Drives, General Gmail Settings, Chrome Management, Chrome Device Settings, Admin Roles, Google Vault, Reports Basics

Google Gemini in Classroom
2025-10-15 15:30 - 17:00 | Online, IL, United States
Want to learn more about generative AI in your classroom? This workshop offers a hands-on introduction to utilizing Google Gemini to create quizzes, lesson plans, and unit plans within Google Classroom. Walk away with the skills to immediately help you with your workload.

Cybersecurity Building Blocks for the K-8 Classroom
2025-10-16 15:30 - 16:30 | Online, IL, United States
Join us for a dynamic and engaging professional development designed for K-8 educators. This session from CYBER.ORG will explore how cybersecurity concepts can be meaningfully integrated across subjects. Participants will engage with four classroom-ready lessons that empower students to become safe, informed, and critical users of technology, while also developing awareness of how emerging fields like AI impact security.

AI in the Classroom
2025-10-17 13:00 - 15:00 | Capital Area Career Center, 2201 Toronto Road, Springfield, IL, 62712, United States
Join us for an engaging session that will take you through a brief history of AI, highlighting its evolution and current advancements, particularly in generative AI. We’ll delve into the concept of AI literacy, providing foundational knowledge and practical strategies for integrating AI into your teaching practice. Discover the implications of AI for education and get hands-on experience with cutting-edge AI tools that can enhance learning and differentiate instruction. Embark on this exciting journey to understand and leverage AI!

Canva in the Classroom: Dynamic Lessons, Assignments & Student Design
2025-10-22 09:00 - 15:00 | ROE 21 Training Center, 502 West Jackson Street, Marion, IL, 62959, United States
Looking to transform your classroom into a hub of creativity and collaboration? If you’ve already found Canva to be a valuable tool for your own teaching, this workshop is designed to help you leverage its power with your students. We’ll explore Canva’s extensive library of lesson and assignment templates, providing ready-to-use resources that spark student interest. Discover how to effectively set up and manage your virtual classrooms. Dive into the Assignments + Classwork Hub, which allows you to assign work, track student progress, and provide targeted feedback.We’ll also highlight Canva’s Design School training resources specifically curated for students, fostering their independent learning and design skills, and cover best practices for student collaboration on projects and whiteboards. Join us to unlock Canva’s full potential as a student-centered tool, fostering creativity, engagement, and efficient workflow in your classroom. Please note: Canva Education is free for K-12 school districts, and it is highly recommended that your district set up Canva for Schools and Districts prior to this session. You can find more details here: https://www.canva.com/education/schools/#gal.

Google Apps & Gemini Part 2
2025-10-22 13:00 - 15:30 | Four Rivers Special Education District, 936 W Michigan Ave, Jacksonville, United States
Are you new to Google or looking for ways to enhance your use of Google tools? We’ll continue our discussion and exploration of Google Workspace for Education apps that help you organize and collaborate digitally. We’ll dive into Google Classroom, including hearing from other teachers on how they utilize it. Then, we’ll explore Gemini, your new AI assistant, and demonstrate simple, powerful ways it can assist with everyday teaching tasks.

AI-Savvy Students: Equipping Today’s Learners for Tomorrow’s Reality
2025-10-28 09:00 - 12:00 | ROE 11: Clark/Coles/Cumberland/Douglas/Edgar/Moultrie/Shelby, 730 7th St, Charleston, Illinois, 61920 2101, USA
You understand the benefits of AI in education and the importance of preparing our students for the increasingly AI-influenced world, but now what? In this session, we will explore the “Why, What, and How?” of integrating AI literacy into the classroom. We will cover practical strategies and resources, including pre-made lesson plans aligned with AI Literacy skills, activities that simultaneously support class content and AI literacy, engaging student-facing tools, and quick discussion starters that make introducing AI concepts simple and effective at any grade level and in any classroom.

AI 2.0: Master AI Teacher Tools and Image Creation
2025-10-28 09:00 - 14:00 | ROE 28: Bureau/Henry/Stark, 107 S State St, Atkinson, Illinois, 61235 9788, USA

Digital Storytelling with Canva
2025-10-28 09:00 - 14:30 | ROE 19: DuPage, 421 N County Farm Rd, Wheaton, IL, 60187 3978
This hands-on workshop will show you how to leverage Canva’s user-friendly platform to create professional and captivating materials. We’ll dive into designing stunning flyers, building engaging presentations, and producing dynamic videos. You’ll also learn to utilize the incredible Lesson Library for a wealth of ready-made educational resources and explore Canva’s amazing AI features to effortlessly streamline your workflow. You’ll leave with practical skills and an arsenal of templates to make your lessons shine with creativity and ease.
Please bring a laptop or chromebook to this workshop, and ensure you have upgraded to the (free!) pro version of Canva for educators.

Let's Get Google Educator Certified
2025-10-29 08:30 - 14:30 | Online, IL, United States
Are you ready to take your Google skills to the next level? Join our upcoming Google Educator Level 1 workshop!
This workshop will break down the Google Educator Level 1 Certification into smaller segments while preparing you for the exam. Each segment will cover different Google-related topics, including Chrome and Slides, Drive and Docs, Gmail and Calendar, Classroom, Forms and Sheets, and test prep tips.
Level 1 certification indicates a fundamental understanding of using Google Tools in the classroom and confirms standard technology implementation skills. Educators who pass the certification test can promote their status with a personal certificate and badge. Certification lasts 36 months.
Don’t miss this opportunity to grow professionally and earn a valuable certification to add to your resume immediately.
**For more information on the apps and tools covered in this certification exam, please visit Google’s teacher training site: https://edu.google.com/teacher-center/certifications/educator-level1/

Elevate Your Designs: Advanced Canva Strategies for Educators
2025-10-30 09:00 - 15:00 | ROE 12 Olney Location, 407 S Whittle Ave, Olney, 62450, United States
Are you ready to move beyond basic templates and truly master the art of design in Canva? This workshop is your opportunity to delve into the “gritty details,” insider tips, and powerful hacks that will elevate your visual creations for the classroom and beyond. We’ll explore advanced techniques for manipulating elements, refining layouts, and achieving a polished, professional aesthetic. Discover apps for enhancing your designs, clever workarounds for common design challenges,and unlock hidden features that streamline your creative process. This session is perfect for educators eager to fine-tune their Canva design skills, all within your free Canva Education account.

Empower your Learning Journey with Certiport Certifications!
2025-11-03 09:00 - 15:00 | East Alton-Wood River High School, 777 N Wood River Ave, Wood River, IL, 62095, United States
Are you interested in learning more skills to support tech-powered learning? Join us for a productive day dedicated to certification preparation geared toward K-12 tech staff and educators.
Throughout the day, we’ll focus on a variety of Certiport’s certifications, with time and resources provided to help you work toward your chosen certification.
Sign up now to start your school year equipped with a fresh set of skills and knowledge!
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Agenda:
First 20-30 minutes: Introduction and instructions
Remainder of time: Independent work on certification exams
Participants must bring a pair of headphones to fully participate in this workshop.
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Certification options:
Adobe Certified Professional – www.certiport.com/adobe (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, Dreamweaver, Animate, Express, and Acrobat Pro)
Agriscience and Technology Careers – https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/ATC/Certification/Certify (Agriscience Foundations)
App Development with Swift – www.certiport.com/apple (App Development with Swift Associate & App Development with Swift Certified User)
Cisco Certified Support Technician – www.certiport.com/cisco (CCST IT Support, CCST Cybersecurity, and CCST Networking)
Critical Career Skills – www.certiport.com/ccs (Communication Skills for Business & Generative AI Foundations)
Entrepreneurship and Small Business – www.certiport.com/esb (Entrepreneurship and Small Business v2)
IC3 Digital Literacy – www.certiport.com/ic3 (IC3 GS6 – Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3)
IT Specialist – www.certiport.com/itspecialist (Program includes 15 different IT certifications)
Intuit Certified User – www.certiport.com/intuit (QuickBooks Online, Intuit Bookkeeping, Intuit Design for Delight, and Intuit Personal Finance)
Health Sciences Careers – https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/Health/Certification/Certify (Medical Administrative Assistant)
Hospitality and Culinary Arts Careers – https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/HCAC/Certification/Certify (Culinary Foundations)
Meta Digital Marketing – www.certiport.com/meta (Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate)
Microsoft Office Specialist – www.certiport.com/mos (Word, Word Expert, Excel, Excel Expert, PowerPoint, Outlook) – we can use Office 2019 or Office 365
Microsoft Certified Fundamentals – www.certiport.com/mcf (8 different Microsoft IT certifications)
PMI – Project Management – www.certiport.com/pmi (Project Management Ready)
Unity Certified User – www.certiport.com/unity (Programmer, VR Developer, and Artist)

AI Roundtable Discussions for Educators
2025-11-03 15:30 - 16:30 | Online, IL, United States
This session is designed for any educator to share, and learn from others, on how to use AI in the classroom. Come learn from other educators on effective and innovative ways to use AI to enhance the learning of students and how to utilize AI to work smarter, not harder.

Drones in Action in the Classroom: Preparing for the Future
2025-11-05 09:00 - 12:00 | Brown County Middle School, 504 W Main St, Mount Sterling, IL, 62353, United States
Join us for an in-person demonstration of drones for middle and high schools featuring educational drone racing. You will witness a live race, discuss implementation and safety, and get hands-on experience flying a drone. Hear the success stories from educators who have implemented a drone program at their schools.

AI for Special Education: Empowering Every Learner
2025-11-05 15:00 - 17:00 | Online, IL, United States
This virtual workshop is designed for special education teachers seeking to elevate their foundational AI skills. We’ll explore advanced prompting and expanded AI toolsets, empowering you to create deeply personalized learning experiences. Master AI’s ability to develop data-driven IEP goals, implement progress monitoring, and craft targeted behavior plans. Learn to effectively employ AI for advanced differentiation and tailored accommodations, ensuring every student thrives. Through hands-on activities, you’ll refine your AI proficiency and confidently integrate AI applications into your daily preparation and instruction to maximize student achievement and streamline your work. Participants will collaborate to share effective AI strategies and applications for the special education classroom, fostering a supportive learning community and expanding your practical AI knowledge.

Level Up your AI Game
2025-11-06 08:30 - 11:30 | Online, IL, United States
In this session, participants will explore a series of increasingly powerful AI tools to gain valuable experience and insights into the possibilities of using AI as a thought partner in lesson preparation and content creation.
Then, in a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style, teachers will be given the opportunity to explore different uses of AI in the classroom with a variety of teacher-facing AI tools, as well as some possible student-facing tools that can be used.

AI-Savvy Students: Equipping Today’s Learners for Tomorrow’s Reality
2025-11-06 12:30 - 15:30 | I-KAN ROE, 1 Stuart Dr, Kankakee, IL, 60901, United States

Google Updates: Classroom and Gemini
2025-11-06 16:00 - 17:00 | Online, IL, United States
Transform your lesson planning and assignment creation with the new power of Gemini in Google Classroom. In this fast-paced virtual session, we’ll walk through the latest AI-powered updates, providing a hands-on look at generating everything from discussion prompts to complete project rubrics. You will leave with practical skills to immediately reduce your workload and bring new creative possibilities to your teaching.

Magic, Sheets, and AI: Let’s Explore Canva's Newest Features
2025-11-18 09:00 - 15:00 | U of I Extension Office, Carmi, 1715 College Ave, Carmi, IL, 62821, United States
Ready to revolutionize your teaching materials and empower your students with cutting-edge design tools? This workshop is your essential guide to navigating the exciting updates within Canva Education. We’ll begin by diving into the enhanced Visual Suite 2.0, a unified space where diverse teaching tools like worksheets, whiteboards, quizzes, and videos seamlessly coexist. Next, discover how Magic Studio, Canva’s intuitive suite of AI-powered tools, will empower you to create engaging content faster than ever, allowing you to generate personalized worksheets, certificates, and student feedback. We will also explore Canva Sheets, a groundbreaking feature that reimagines data organization as a visual, interactive space. Finally, unlock the transformative potential of Canva AI to go from a simple idea to impactful presentations, interactive worksheets, or polished newsletters almost instantly.
Join us for a morning of hands-on exploration to streamline your workflow, create dynamic lessons, and personalize learning experiences for every student, all within your free Canva Education account.
You’re welcome to stay just for the morning instruction or maximize your learning by joining us for the entire day.

Elevate Your Classroom: Empowering Education with Google Gemini
2025-11-19 09:00 - 14:00 | ROE 49: Rock Island, 3430 Avenue of The Cities, Moline, Illinois, 61265 4417, USA
Discover how Google Gemini, your AI-powered assistant, can revolutionize teaching and learning in your classroom! This hands-on workshop will explore practical applications of Gemini across Google Workspace for Education, from streamlining lesson planning and creating engaging content to fostering personalized learning experiences for your students. Learn how to leverage Gemini to generate text-dependent questions, craft compelling lesson hooks, create vocabulary lists, and even differentiate reading materials to meet diverse student needs. We’ll delve into interactive strategies and best practices for integrating AI responsibly, empowering you to save valuable time and ignite creativity.
Participants need to bring a laptop or Chromebook for a truly immersive and practical learning experience.

Canva for Beginners
2025-11-19 15:30 - 17:00 | Online, IL, United States
Tired of spending your evenings and weekends creating lesson plans and classroom materials from scratch? Ready to unlock the power of AI to create engaging, professional-looking resources in minutes?
This virtual workshop is designed specifically for educators like you! I will guide you through Canva’s platform and magic studio tools. To get the most of this workshop, have a Canva account set up.

AI Plagiarism Playbook
2025-11-20 09:00 - 14:00 | ROE 28: Bureau/Henry/Stark, 107 S State St, Atkinson, Illinois, 61235 9788, USA
In an era where AI-generated text is increasingly sophisticated, this workshop equips educators with essential strategies to address AI misuse and redesign writing tasks that prioritize genuine student thinking. We will explore the evolving definition of plagiarism, examining how the lines are blurring and what this means for writing instruction. Through interactive discussion, you’ll discover EdTech tools that make the writing process visible, enabling you to track student revisions and idea development. This session will also guide you in transforming assignment design with built-in checkpoints and personalized prompts that cannot be outsourced to AI. Finally, we will explore methods for thoughtfully integrating AI as a creative tool to foster deeper thinking and improve writing, ensuring academic integrity while evolving your pedagogical approach.

E-Rate Essentials: Form 470 Virtual Workshop
2025-11-20 13:00 - 15:00 | Online, IL, United States
Learn and complete the first phase of your E-Rate application with an E-Rate expert on hand – all from the convenience of your office or living room!
This 2-hour virtual session will cover basic E-Rate program rules, eligible items, and the process required to complete the first E-Rate form of the year, Form 470. Mindy Fiscus, IL State E-Rate Coordinator, will also be on hand to answer questions, provide timely program updates, and offer tips and tools for making your E-Rate life easier.
Reminder: All eligible institutions must submit Form 470 if they are seeking new services and/or equipment for the upcoming funding year.
Participants must bring a wi-fi enabled device and current student enrollment data (Fall SIS report or current CEP form) if they wish to complete Form 470 along with the group.

AI for ELA: Crafting Compelling Content & Critical Readers
2025-11-20 15:00 - 17:00 | Online, IL, United States
This virtual workshop is designed for English Language Arts teachers ready to leverage artificial intelligence for practical classroom applications and responsible integration. Dive into hands-on techniques for generating differentiated reading passages, crafting engaging writing prompts, creating targeted vocabulary lists, and even designing custom rubrics! We’ll explore how AI can enhance instruction and student engagement through personalized learning and initial writing feedback. Critically, this session will equip you to navigate the ethical landscape of AI, with discussions around academic integrity, bias, and data privacy. You’ll gain strategies to foster AI literacy in your students, empowering them to critically evaluate information and use AI responsibly, ensuring you leave with actionable ideas for your ELA classroom.

Level Up Your Teaching: Google Educator Level 2 Certification
2025-12-01 09:00 - 15:00 | ROE 50: St. Clair, 1000 S Illinois St, Belleville, Illinois, 62220 2537, USA
Are you looking to maximize your use of Google tools in education? Join our Google Educator Level 2 Certification Workshop and discover how to effectively integrate a wide range of Google tools to enhance your teaching practices and engage 21st-century learners.
In this workshop, you will
-Dive deep into Google’s educational tools: Explore advanced features in Gmail, Slides, Drawings, Scholar, Books, Google Arts & Culture, Earth, Maps, Sites, Blogger, YouTube, Classroom, Keep, and Trends.
-Master advanced skills: Learn organizational strategies for Drive, explore learning models to help personalize the learning experience, build collaborative lessons with Docs, conduct research with Scholar, analyze data with Sheets, create assessments with Forms, utilize advanced search techniques, and learn how to effectively utilize Chrome Add-ons and Extensions.
-Prepare for the certification exam: We’ll break down the exam requirements and provide you with the knowledge and skills needed to pass confidently.
– Boost your teaching toolkit: Even if you don’t plan to take the exam, this workshop offers valuable insights and practical strategies for integrating Google tools in your classroom.
This workshop is perfect for educators of all levels who want to:
-Expand their knowledge of Google for Education tools.
-Develop effective technology integration strategies.
-Enhance their teaching practices and engage students.
Prerequisites:
– Bring a Chromebook or laptop with access to a Google for Education account.
– No prior certification is required.
Don’t miss this opportunity to level up your teaching! Reserve your spot today.
Learn more about the certification: https://edu.google.com/teacher-center/certifications/educator-level2/?modal_active=none

Let’s Get Google Certified! Level 1 (Day 1)
2025-12-01 09:00 - 15:00 | ROE 11: Clark/Coles/Cumberland/Douglas/Edgar/Moultrie/Shelby, 730 7th St, Charleston, Illinois, 61920 2101, USA
Are you ready to take your Google skills to the next level? Reserve your spot today in this TWO DAY Google Educator Level 1 workshop (December 1st & 9th).
In this workshop, we will break down the Google Educator Level 1 certification exam into smaller parts while preparing you to take and pass the exam. Each training segment will cover different Google-related tools, including Chrome and Slides, Drive and Docs, Gmail and Calendar, Classroom and Meet, Forms and Sheets, YouTube and Sites, and finally, test prep tips.
Level 1 certification indicates a fundamental understanding of using Google Tools in the classroom and confirms standard technology implementation skills. Educators who pass the certification test will be able to promote their status with a personal certificate and badge. Certification lasts 36 months.
