Month: June 2007

Just reading all the blogging coming out of NECC is a time-consuming task. One post that just jumped out at me to look into comes courtesy of Slyvia Martinez’s Generation YES blog.

The Constructivist Consortium hosted a daylong Constructivist Celebration at NECC, as part of their launch. Gen YES is a major sponsor along with a few other groups. What caught my attention is that the day was hosted by Gary Stager (founder of the CC) and Peter Reynolds (from FableVision another sponsor of the CC). Their mission is empowering learners – learning is the center of everything, and that rocks. Any group led by Gary and Peter is tops in my book – I’ve seen them both in action. The CC looks like something to watch out for – and I plan to keep a close eye on what they do and how we can make it happen here at Heim.

As a side note, I’ve been following the work of Generation YES for a few years now. We’ve never taken the plunge to use their curriculum/materials, but based on reading Sylvia’s blog, I have a renewed spark to see what they have to offer.

The RSS feeds are starting to hum with activity in Atlanta, and NECC really has not started yet. Today was the EduBlogger Con, a 1 day pre-conference involving many of the big names in blogging. The picture posts in Flickr are also starting to flow in. One that jumped out at me, and is really just a scene shot in Atlanta, is outstanding. Taken by David Warlick, I think this photo could be a fantastic open-ended discussion or writing starter. Check it out here.

Oh, and Jeff Dolce from Orchard Park was spotted at EduBlogger Con, too!

The National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) is about to launch in Atlanta this weekend. I was almost able to pull off attending this year – but various reasons are preventing me. I’m severely bummed, as the last time I went was in Philadelphia in 2005, but I’m going to capitalize on this by seeing just how much one can get from virtual attendance – keeping up with the conference goings-on with blogs, videocasts, podcasts, etc.

One of the things I’m going to try for the first time is David Warlick’s conference tracking website, Hitchikr. It is designed to be a place to virutally attend a conference for those who cannot physically be there. Along with that, there are a series of blog tools available at the NECC website that should provide plenty of opportunity to keep up.

I’m less than optimistic about virtual attendance vs. in-person, but I’m very open to having my mind changed!

Image citation:
“iste atlanta.” International Society for Technology in Education. 19 June 2007. www.iste.org.