A group of eight DOT USA TeachUp! Interns and Intern Alumni teamed up with Petal School District and Cisco Systems for the Petal Technology Summit on July 30 and 31 to get teachers technology-ready for the beginning of the school year.

The Petal Technology Summit featured an informative lecture from November Learning which highlighted new ideas and ways to bring technology into the classrooms. For the remainder of the Summit, teachers rotated through several labs including a web scavenger hunt, podcasting and screencasting, Skype (software that allows users to make computer-to-computer calls for free), Google Docs, and an in-depth look at the Petal School District Website.

Each lab was led and directed by a small group of DOT USA Interns and Alumni who were able to pass on their own tips and knowledge about each type of technology. The DOT USA interns and alumni included Rod Thurman, Ila Council, Doyle Reid, Chris Holland, Dedee Fewell, James Gray, David Thieberville, and Jessica Miranda.  Each of the interns and alumni drew from their experiences in DOT USA’s TeachUp! Program to bring teachers tips and tricks as well as do’s and don’ts for each lab subject.

Chris Holland, a returning TeachUp! Intern for Mississippi, helped lead the lab covering Petal’s website, blogging, and Skype. “Our lab was the largest, so we had a lot of people come in and out… It was a more hands on lab, so they really got to dive into it.” Holland feels that the Summit was a huge success, and he says many of the teachers were excited to integrate these programs into their classrooms.

Richard Marin of Cisco Systems praised the interns and alumni for their part in making the Petal Technology Summit a success and said that the success of the hands-on labs was “due to the skill and knowledge of the interns.”  He went on to say that the interns “were able to demonstrate all of the tasks and answer all of the questions that came their way.”

David Thiberville, a returning DOT USA TeachUp! Intern for Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, says he also feels that the summit was a great success. “All the interns that participated received extremely positive feedback,” says Thiberville, “I feel like I have accomplished something great and hopefully it will be passed on down to the students.”