Jeff sits down with MaryBeth Hertz, Jerry Blumengarten Scott Rocco and Elissa Malespina to discuss QR Codes in the school as well as the Edcamp Movement.  We discuss how to start and prepare to host an Edcamp and learn all about the great resources available to educators from the Edcamp Foundation.

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Topics Covered

• QRCodes: What Are They?
• Types of games to play with QR Codes
• How to create QR Codes
• Playing with QR codes in the hallways
• QR Codes as Homework Assignments
• Edcamp
• Edcamp Foundation
• Creating an Edcamp
• Places to find more information about Edcamp’s
• Starting your own Edcamp
• Smackdowns
• Satchat

Links of Interest

• QRCodes page on Cybaryman
• Edcamp Wiki
• Edcamp Foundation
• EdcampNJ

Featured Guests

Jerry Blumengarten was a Middle School teacher who taught for 32 years in the New York City school system. He was a licensed Social Studies teacher who also taught Language Arts, Science, Math, Computers.. My his 12 years he served as teacher-librarian.  Jerry was responsible for  writing curriculum for my school district, the NYC Board of Education and Open Doors a school-business partnership.  All About Cybrary Man http://www.cybraryman.com/cybrary_man.html  Jerry has been writing educational materials for the utility industry for over 30 years. Cybrary Man’s Educational Web Sites http://www.cybraryman.com/index.html On Twitter Jerry is a member of the #edchat team Twitter: @cybraryman1

Mary Beth Hertz is a K-8 Technology Teacher and Certified Instructional Technology Specialist in Philadelphia, PA. She blogs regularly for Edutopia about Technology Integration, co-moderates the weekly #edchat conversation, and is the Treasurer of the Edcamp Foundation Board. Ms. Hertz has presented at a number of conferences and in 2010 she was named an ISTE Emerging Leader. She also blogs at http://mbteach.com and you can find her on Twitter as @mbteach.

Elissa Malespina is the Library Media Specialist at South Orange Middle School (SOMS) in South Orange, New Jersey where she works diligently to make her library a warm, welcoming  and connected place for students and colleagues to visit.  Throughout her 14 year career in education Mrs. Malespina has had the opportunity to work in the classroom as a high school history teacher, as a special education teacher for students with severe emotional, mental and physical challenges and for the last 8 years as a library media specialist at Highland Park High School, Columbia High School and now SOMS.  Mrs. Malespina’s varied experience gives her a unique perspective toward working with students and teachers and drives her passions for infusing new technology into the curriculum and thinking outside the box to pique students’ interest and keep them engaged.   Mrs. Malespina is at the forefront of using Web 2.0 resources and tools like QR codes  to make the experience in her library more interactive.  Her work with QR codes was featured in the April/May 2012 edition of School Librarians Workshop and she has presented to colleagues on QR Codes, Evernote in schools and Edmodo at New Jersey Association of School Libraries (NJASL) Conference, Handhelds in School Libraries Conference, 4t Virtual Conference as well as Teach and Meet NJ.  She will be presenting at Edscape this October as well.  When she’s not in her library or presenting at a conference, Mrs. Malespina is an avid sports fan.  Along with her husband and 9-year-old son, she attends every home Men’s Basketball game her alma mater Seton Hall plays and Sunday is appointment television to watch the Giants and the Jets play, dismissing the idea that one can’t root for two different teams in one sport.  Mrs. Malespina is also active on Twitter as @SOMSlibrary.

Scott Rocco is an eighteen year veteran public educator. He has a Bachelors Degree in Secondary Education from The College of New Jersey, a Masters Degree in Educational Administration from The College of New Jersey, and he is currently completing his doctoral studies at Seton Hall University in Educational Leadership, Management and Policy.

Scott’s career in education has spanned the entire Kindergarten to twelfth grade continuum. He taught at the middle and high school levels, was his district’s first administrative intern, served as a middle school vice principal and elementary principal, and is now the Assistant Superintendent for Personnel in Hillsborough Township Public Schools, Hillsborough, New Jersey. He also served as Interim Superintendent of Schools.