MDMC2009

The Milwaukee Digital Media Conference is a hands-on collaborative conference. Participants work with instructors from The Stephens Group to utilize 21st Century Skills in order to create relevant real-world products.

This year’s conference will be held at the Milwaukee County Zoo, July 27th-30th (9am-4pm). In this year’s conference we will be exploring the use of digital movie editing VoiceThread, Intel’s Seeing Reason Tools, Skype, Google Maps and social networking tools to support learning. All comfort levels with technology are welcome to attend.

New! Visit our 2009 Conference Wiki to see what instructors are planning for this summer.

Student Strand

Students in grades 7-12 are welcome to come to the full conference with their teachers. We also have a student track for students in grades 3-6 to come with their teachers on Tuesday, July 28 th-29th. Students will be creating a VoiceThread presentation with their teachers. In the past schools that have sent students with their teachers, have done so with the purpose of building capacity to do similar projects in their schools and having the students serve as technology leaders who can provide technical support on these types of projects. Teachers who are registering for the full conference should not register for the student track. More information is available on our registration page.

Receiving Graduate Credit

Educators can receive two graduate credits for participating in the conference If you took the conference for credit last year, you will be able to retake it. The course is repeatable due to the fact that digital media is an emerging technology that presents new learning opportunities every year.

Brewer's Tailgate Party

This year we are trying to organize a tail-gate party to a Brewer’s Game on the evening of July 29th. We have arranged for a bus to take us to Miller Stadium.

Click here to register for the Brewers Tailgate Party

Note: Tickets are limited.

What educators have said about the conference:

I still believe the conference was in the top three of best (most practical and valuable) learning experiences I've had for professional development.

This is a must! It has been pack full of information, a great hands-on project, great group work, great networking with knowledgeable people, and just plain fun!

It is an invaluable hands-on, collaborative learning experience. It was the most beneficial technology workshop I have ever been too because I was able to learn the product and use it in many different ways throughout the conference. Therefore when I go back to the classroom I feel confident that I will be able to use this learning without the usual feeling of not knowing what I am doing.

The conference had a good balance between break-out sessions, group work, individual work and individual attention by the instructors.

No matter what your technology ability, this is a very friendly and open conference for all. New users to experienced ones will benefit and pick up tips.

It was a hands-on conference that was more like a workshop than a conference. It was set up to allow participants to practice and apply what they learned immediately. It gave me practical ways to integrate some technology into my classroom quickly. I came away with a ton of ideas and feel like I can teach these skills to my students because I have practiced them myself.

It was great--I'd do it again in a heart beat! The small group format was super and the instructors helped lower my level of concern. The zoo location was excellent: lovely, air conditioned. Overall, it was great to play in the "virtual sandbox" and meet new people!

Take this opportunity and fly. This is a great experience that would benefit anyone.

View our article in the Milwaukee Journal from last year’s conference.

Visit our Wiki from last year’s conference.