Early Winter Updates 2025

1/8/2025

FREE CodeJoy Student Sessions

Invite your colleagues to bring their students to control CodeJoy's robots during the broadcast - LIVE!
Students join from their own computers or Chromebooks, and NO hardware, software, or prior coding experience is needed.
Most appropriate for beginner to intermediate learners ages
8-14.
No student accounts needed! All your students will connect with the same link!

Robot Relaxation (Micro:bit):
January 16 and 17, 2025
Robot Aerobics (Hummingbird Bit):
February 20, 2025
Robot Rovers (Finch):
March 19, 2025

FREE AI Video Course from CodeJoy

CodeJoy has been working with the Infosys Foundation USA to produce an asynchronous (recorded) video series called Practical AI for Educators. Discover how AI can be more than just a productivity tool — it's a powerful instrument for creative thinking and educational innovation.

Title: Practical AI for Educators
Length: 3 hours 21 minutes
Audience: K-12 educators, admin, and anyone else seeking meaningful experiences with AI
Cost: FREE!

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micro:bit CreateAI Teacher Webinar

Join Kelsey, Matt, and Amanda Jeane from CodeJoy to explore the new CreateAI tool for the BBC micro:bit! Ideal for teachers who are seeking
... something new to do with micro:bit
... something SAFE and INTERACTIVE to do with AI
... inspiration for the new year!

When:January 21, 2025 from 7:00-8:00 PM ET
Where: Virtual

LEARN MORE + REGISTER

Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference (TRETC)

Three Rivers Educational Technology Conference (TRETC) is an exciting professional development opportunity to advance the integration of educational technology for teachers, K-12 administrators, industry experts, and higher education decision makers in South Western PA.

This conference explores how innovations evolving from traditional chalkboards to cutting-edge chatbots, are reshaping the educational landscape and having a profound impact on teaching and learning.

When: January 20, 2025, 8:00 AM-3:00 PM
Where: Sewickley Academy | 315 Academy Avenue, Sewickley, PA 15143

Act 48 hours will be administered at the end of the event.
Group Discounts Are Available (10+ teachers), Email [email protected]
Administrators can bring one staff member for free upon registration.

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Walking Softer Education: Empower Youth, Activate Change (virtual)

Walking Softer Education teaches high school-aged youth about environmental solutions, and empowers them to implement community-based environmental projects with up to $2,000 of funding. Educators who take their students through the program will receive a $1,000 teacher stipend, and participating juniors and seniors can apply for a scholarship of up to $20,000 to support further education. In this webinar, we will walk through everything you need to know about signing up, participating in the program, and helping your students through their sustainability journey!

When: Wednesday, January 15 from noon - 1:00 PM
Where: Virtual
Free for PAEE Members, $5 for nonmembers

OTHER PAEE PD OPPORTUNITIES

2025 PETE&C

PETE&C is proud to deliver 200+ educational sessions via multiple session types − keynotes, breakout sessions, Summits for the second year, immersive experiences, playgrounds, poster sessions, affinity groups, workshops, networking events, and more − for all attendees.

When: February 9-12, 2025
Where: Hershey Lodge, 325 University Dr, Hershey, PA 17033

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STEAM Leadership Conference 2025

This year's conference aims to celebrate and strengthen the dynamic relationship between K-12 STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) education and research universities.

Conference attendees can expect to:

Be Empowered to connect your curriculum and foster student engagement and workplace readiness;
Emphasize Opportunities to build upon 21st century skills through lived experiences in the classroom;
Revolutionize STEAM learning; and,
Reignite your excitement and passion for success in the classroom.

When: Friday, March 7 and Saturday, March 8, 2025
Where: Virtual

Conference registration opens January 31, 2025.

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Design Lives Here

Design Lives Here is a semester-long engineering initiative that equips teachers and students (grades 5th-8th) to participate in engineering activities within their school or afterschool program. Professional engineers serve as mentors to students throughout the year. Schools who participate are diverse – public, parochial and private – and have the option of making this part of their school day or an extended program. Each spring, all the participants come together for a day of engineering challenges, grouped in new teams to compete for prizes. Design Lives Here activities are inspired by the popular PBS KIDS program and website, Design Squad Nation.

APPLY TO PARTICIPATE

PDE K-12 Computer Science Survey

PDE is partnering with the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a non-profit social science research organization, to understand the experiences and professional needs of K-12 Computer Science (CS) teachers across Pennsylvania. All K-12 educators who teach Coding/Computer Science, whether as stand-alone courses or by integrating into other subject areas, are welcome to take the survey. PDE will use survey responses when designing future CS and STEM education initiatives and funding opportunities. Surveys must be completed by February 21, 2025.

Who is conducting this survey?
This survey is being conducted by the American Institutes for Research (AIR), a non-profit and non-partisan research and evaluation organization. AIR is working with PDE and the Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN) to administer this survey. AIR will independently analyze survey responses.

What is the purpose of this survey?
The following survey is intended to understand your experience as a K-12 CS teacher in Pennsylvania and understand your professional needs. Survey results will be used to provide recommendations to PDE on future CS initiatives and funding opportunities.

How will my responses to this survey be protected?
The survey will take approximately 35 to 45 minutes to complete. Your responses to this survey will be kept confidential; individual responses and identifying information will not be shared with anyone outside of the PAsmart Evaluation project team. All findings from this survey will be reported in aggregate with no personally identifying information. The responses in this survey will not be used to evaluate teachers or their schools.

Are there any benefits to participating in this survey?
As a token of our appreciation, PDE will be distributing $50 e-gift cards to the first 1,000 respondents. Additionally, all other survey respondents will be entered into a raffle to receive one of 10, $100 e-gift cards. The first 400 respondents will also be eligible to receive an annual CSTA membership; all other survey respondents will be eligible to be entered into a raffle to receive one of 100 CSTA annual memberships. The responses to this survey will help inform PDE about future initiatives in CS education.

What if I have questions about this survey?
For any questions, please contact the PAsmart Evaluation team ([email protected]). By submitting the survey form, you consent to participate in this survey and agree to allow your responses to be used for evaluation purposes. Thank you for your time!

REQUEST A SURVEY LINK