Vinnie+Vrotny+-+North+Shore+Country+Day

//"I am Living the Dream **:LTD )(**"//

 * email**: vvrotny@nscds.org and vvrotny@gmail.com (preferred address for PLP correspondence)
 * twitter**: [|vvrotny]
 * skype:** vvrotny
 * delicious and diigo:** vvrotny
 * blog**: Multi-faceted Refractions and Pulse Meme
 * PLP reflection blog**: (TBD)

Who I am
I am currently the Director of Academic Technology at North Shore Country Day School, where I have been a member of the technology team for seventeen years. While originally responsible for all aspects of technology (hardware, software, networking, and web development), as the school’s use of technology has grown, so has my role. My current focus is to coach and mentor both faculty and students as they learn how to embed technology in their daily lives professionally and personally. In my life as a teacher, my “students” are not only in kindergarten through twelfth grade, but include the adult members of the school community as well.

While at North Shore, I have also coached soccer and been the yearbook adviser. I am one of the co-founders of our highly successful Science Olympiad team, which has finished in the top 10 at the state finals for the past seven years, finishing fourth last year. This year, I am also co-leading our school's Franke Humanities Fund with a focus on Digital Storytelling and Film-making.

I am the past-president of the Northern Illinois Computer Educators, a 1000+ strong group of teachers and technology coordinators, and sit on the professional development committee of the Illinois Computer Educators. I sit on the board of the Lake Michigan Area Independent Schools as the technology group representative. I have also taught an online course in computer programming through the Center for Talent Development at Northwestern University. I am an regular contributor to both the ISED-Listserv and the ISENET Ning. I am an occasional contributor at edSocialMedia, a group exploring the role of social media in education.

I am a Google Certified Teacher (Chicago '08) and recently I have earned the distinction of becoming in the first group of Google Certified Trainers (Mountain View '10). Along with Alex Ragone and arvind grover, I co-host a weekly webcast, 21st Century Learning (Wednesdays - 12:30 p.m. ET) which is part of the EdTechTalk network of shows. I was a presenter at the 2007 K12 Online Conference, a 2008 Spotlight Speaker at the Illinois Computer Educators Conference, session and workshop presenter at NECC/ISTE 2008, 2009, and 2010, and a session and workshop presenter at the Laptop Institute. I also spend time remotely attending conferences such as Learning 2.010 and EduCon. This February, I will be presenting a pre-conference workshop with three others at the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) Annual Conference on the use of social media for professional development. I regularly present on a variety of topics, including collaborative learning environments, use of small, mobile and smart devices in the classroom, and the embedding of Google tools.

I am a husband, father of two, and have a goofy pug.

What I am Passionate About
The journey starts with a re-commitment to your own learning. Since returning back to school from my sabbatical in 2005, I realized that the ability to connect, collaborate, and communicate which I envisioned when I started in education in 1987 was finally becoming possible. Blogs, wikis, podcasts, Skype, Flip cameras have made the entry threshold and making it easier for everyone to now become a producer of content. So I shifted my focus from being a teacher to becing a a learner by immersing myself in my own personal learning by connecting with others. This has transformed both my teaching and collaborations with not only the teachers on my campus but the wider network of teachers and administrators whom I have connected with.

Current Ideas That Are Challenging My Thinking
//Cognitive Surplus -// Clay Shirky //Tribes// and //Linchpin// - Seth Godin //Mindset -// Carol Dweck //The Power of Pull// - John Hagl, John Seely Brown, and Lang Davison //Disrupting Class -// Clayton Christenson, Michael Horn, and Curtis Johnson (updated edition coming out this fall) //The New Global Student// - Maya Frost //Higher Education?// - Andrew Hacker and Claudia Dreifus //DYI U// - Anna Kamaritz //How to Be Creative -// Hugh MacLeod TED presentations TEDxNYED presentations TEDxDenverED presentations Tagged Blog Posts Tagged Pulse Posts