Mercy Technology Innovation Team

The Mercy iWizards have been active before classes even begin. On June 24, Anna Sauer and Alyssa Johnston represented MHS at the ISTE Conference in Chicago. On August 17 they conducted the iPad orientation for new students. Enjoy the photos.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

On March, 27th, Apple announced the release of a new 9.7 in. iPad that now has Apple Pencil support. As a result we have revised the package available to our new students who choose to buy it from the school and also changed the minimum specs for those choosing to bring in their own iPad.

These changes are outlined below. 

• Mercy iPad Package which includes an iPad 2018 (Wifi only) 128 GB w/3 Year AppleCare+ ($473), Mercy App Fee ($50) and Custom Mercy iPad Case ($25),Total $563 (includes $15 order processing fee) Apple Pencil can be purchased for additional $89 (optional).
• Bring your own iPad which meets the minimum requirements set by Mercy High School – Acceptable models and minimum storage capacities: iPad 2018 – 128 GB, iPad Pro 12.9 in. or 10.5 in. screen – 256 GB. $50 app fee still applies. We highly recommend purchasing a two year AppleCare + warranty. Students may also want to consider buying the Apple Pencil.
• If you are a previously enrolled student purchasing a new Mercy iPad Package.Total cost is $488. $50 app and $25 case fee is waived. Apple Pencil can be purchased for additional $89 (optional). Please allow 5-7 business days for delivery.

You can order the Mercy iPad Package or download the order form from our website.

New students ordering the Mercy iPad Package will receive them in late July to early August from Mercy. All new students (including those bringing their own iPad) will attend an hour long training session at this time to setup their iPads for school use. If you are bringing your own iPad, it will be wiped clean as part of the configuration process. More information on these sessions will be on the school website after July 1^st.

If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to call the Mercy IT Dept. at 248-893-3590, or email at tfjames@mhsmi.org

At Mercy we are very proud of our Tech Talk Conference. This is a one-day K-12 conference catering to all regional educators. This Nov. 2 we will be hosting our sixth event and it promises to be one of the best. The keynote speaker will be former national digital principal of the year and current author/thought leader Eric Sheninger. We also will have a day of workshops and sessions from futurist Eric Weld, focusing on augmented and virtual reality. And as usual our presenters will include the top ed techie rock stars from throughout Michigan.

Through the spring we are offering a group discount of $35 per staff member from schools seeking to provide fantastic PD for small groups or their whole staff. Tell the school leaders you know about this great discount for a conference offering five hour of ed tech sessions, breakfast, lunch, SCECH credit, and a raffle. Visit the web site or contact Ann Lusch for details.

The crews that support the Mercy dramatic performances receive terrific training and work hard behind the scenes. Not long ago we upgraded the auditorium with a new sound board. But we are still operating lights with “old school” technology. Always looking for ways to advance her department, Ms. Anne McDougall has applied for a grant to fund the purchase of new lighting. As part of the grant she produced a wonderful video exhibited here.

The video also mentions replacing the stage floor. As the PF administrator I supported the grant application and will be exploring ways to fund a new stage floor.  We always ask our students to reach for the stars and we want to give them the best tools and facilities to realize their dreams! — L.B.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Since their inception in 2012 the Mercy iWizards have held an all day workshop. This year’s occurred on February 8 with seventeen iWizards attending. It was a great day. This is what they worked on and accomplished:

1) The day began with a video conference with Apple Inc., getting suggestions and encouragement for the day’s projects.

2) The students planned a new structure for the new student iPad orientation for 2018-19 school year. They selected topics and for project teams in order to develop the materials for the orientation.

 3) The iWizards who will be presenting at the MACUL Conference in Grand Rapids on March 8, worked very hard on the conference presentation. While others went to the computer lab and began brainstorming on a new iWizard designed app called Splash.

 4) The day ended with video conferences with and Pinch Elementary School in West Virginia and Baker High School in upstate New York.

 Enjoy photos of the day taken by iWizard, Katie Bulloch.

The Apple Distinguished School program required two major application components:

1. Mercy had to commit to 85% of its teachers becoming Apple Distinguished Teachers
2. The school had to submit a multi-touch book which addressed five different areas of innovation using technology.

100% of our teachers (and many other staff) are now Apple Teachers and Education and Technology at Mercy High School Michigan is now available for iOS download at the iBooks Store.  https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1314626367

As a newly minted Apple Distinguished School 2017-19, It will be exciting to host Mercy K-12 Tech Talk for Educators on November 3. Like the application process for ADS, this event is a huge team effort. The coordinators for the event are Ann Lusch and Lisa Robinet. And of course Tech Innovation Team and Maintenance crew go all out for the conference.  In addition we have twenty-five iWizards and staff assisting.

Once again we will be hosting attending educators and presenters throughout the region. And once again the event will consist of a keynote address, four hours of workshops, presentations, and panels as selected by attendees; as well as 2 meals a raffle and possible continuing ed credit. We offer this for the subsidized cost of $50 due to our many Tech Talk sponsors.

But new to Tech Talk this year are the following:

• We are flying in keynote speaker Brent Coley from California.
• We are offering a “design your own lunch” period with planned and ad hoc chats.
• We have approached our sponsors with a special scholarship program which has taken off.  Over twenty pre-service university students will be attending the conference for free.
• Instead of a conventional paper survey at the end of the conference, we are going to try Flipgrid video chats instead. This fun feature comes courtesy of Filpgrid expert, Angela Harris-Schultheis
• Two iWizards have been assigned to photograph and tweet throughout the conference.

You can still register for Tech Talk here: http://www.techtalkmercy.com/

If you can’t attend follow the action on Twitter with this hashtag: #mhtt17

Our keynote speaker is a California principal elementary school and edutech rock star!

On September 21 the iWizards participated in Global Collaboration Day and staged an event in order to launch a discussion of a global project with other student tech teams. The event was presented through their International Student Tech Team Hub. During the event they enjoyed hanging out with a team at Pinch Elementary in West Virginia.

The Hub was built by the iWizards last year and has members from six countries and fifteen states. iWizards have contacted the other teams and urged them to fill out a project survey and participate on their FlipGrid as well as on Twitter at #Hubprojchat Visit the Hub and the iWizards’ activity pages at  http://techteamhub.weebly.com/