point a to point b » Conferences

On Conferences and Thanksgiving

Michael — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 16:51:10 +0000

On a certain Thursday in November, the tradition goes that one must stuff oneself with as much food as possible and spend the next three days going through withdrawal and recovering from such a fun endeavor. The weekend immediately prior to that day, in New York, one goes through a very similar experience at the NYSCATE annual educational technology conference. The difference is that what gets stuffed is the brain with new ideas, action plans and friends met during the four-day event.

In an effort to unpack all the information and try to come up with an action plan, here is my “top” list of items from the conference:

Top free resource to put into action: ePals

ePals is one of the original global collaboration websites. I’ve looked at it and learned about it many times but have never tried a project. Within a few clicks of visiting the site, you can be connected with a classroom anywhere around the world and get your classes working together. There were no formal sessions at the conference about ePals this year (that I’m aware of) but references were made to it regularly.

Top pay-for resource to put into action: SMART Notebook Math Tools (currently beta)

When math teachers get a look at the math tools in this add-on for Notebook software, I think they are going to freak out (in a good way). In a brief demo, I was very impressed by the new manipulation features available for shapes, graphing, and more. There is a new equation editor built-in as well, although that tool was not in the beta version.

Top cool future tech trend: Plugintothesmartgrid.com

David Jakes won the “cool new thing” demonstration hands-down when he showed this augmented reality simulation during his keynote. What is augmented reality? In a nutshell it is where you can take something in the physical world and augment its properties by interacting with a computer. Its easier to see in action – click on the link above, and if you have a webcam, try it out!

Top thinkers & doers: David Jakes, Sylvia Martinez and Brian Smith

The NYSCATE conference is about people and making connections. There are a lot of great people involved. Some of my favorites include David, who is a technology director in suburban Chicago. His down-to-earth and direct style is very engaging and motivating. I’ve attended workshops with him let that ultimately led to the project myself and my colleague presented this year, Google Lit Trips – What an Odyssey! Sylvia is the president of GenYes, and is refreshingly focused on involving students in all aspects of learning. Brian Smith is a technology integration specialist from the Rochester area, and is a key player in putting the conference together. He has created and maintained many of the tools that make NYSCATE work.

Top presenter who has it figured out: Harry Tuttle

There are lots of presenters who have it figured out, but one that stands out to me is Harry. If you scan the presentation page at the NYSCATE wiki for his sessions, you notice something: the focus is on learning strategies, and not technology. Harry, a former board member of NYSCATE, has been presenting at the conference for years. I really like how he has always focused on topics such as thinking skills, formative feedback and assessment, and writing skills. There will always be cool new tools and tricks, but what will never change is the need for the focus to remain on learning and strategies to support it.

My hat is off to all those involved in making NYSCATE 2009 another great success!

Top resource I’ve known about but have never put into action
~ePals

Top pay-for resource to get going with
~SMART Notebook Math Edition

Top future-tech resource
~plugintothesmartgrid.com

Top thinkers and doers
~David Jakes, Sylvia Martinez, Brian Smith

The person who has it figured out
~Harry Tuttle – his presentations are about learning, not technology. Yes, he talks tech, but it is less important than the learning.

Content Tech: Riding the Digital Wave Conference 2009

Michael — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 11:00:05 +0000

Content Tech
Ideas for Technology Use in the Classroom

Erie 1 BOCES hosted the 5th Annual Riding the Digital Wave Conference at the Harlem Rd. Education Campus. Below is my under-5-minute wrap up of my experience. Click to play, and mouse over the lower right corner of the video to find the full-screen button.

Here are links to the sites highlighted:

Ben Higgins Technology Integrator Page
Lancaster Central Schools Digital Citizenship
Digital Dossier
vuvox

Reflections on Tuesday at NYSCATE

Michael — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 04:45:56 +0000

Conferences can be fun, educational, and tiring. When I woke up Tuesday morning at NYSCATE, all of this was in play. My session, Video in the Classroom to Captivate and Motivate (nyscate08g09), was scheduled for the first slot, and I was excited about it. I thought that after that, I could cruise through the last couple of sessions, maybe stay for the closing keynote, or get a head start on going home.

The great news was that as the morning and afternoon progressed, things just got better and better, and I left only after the last words of the conference were spoken…

My session went well – I’m a huge proponent of using video in the classroom, and was glad to share some of the things we do in our district with others. I think it was received well – there were many more things I wanted to share, but one hour goes by so fast!

The session on the XO laptop, Little Green Monsters (nyscate08h08) presented by Brian Smith, Gary Stager and Sylvia Martinez was eye opening. I’ve known about and followed the XO for a long time now, but listening to them made me start to understand what it’s about. Pete Reilly summed it up best on his blog – check out his thoughts (and my comments there).

Next up was the session on Web 2.0 Open Source Server Based Apps (nyscate08i05) by my friend Steve O’Connor. I met Steve last year by coincidence at NYSCATE as he and I presented in the same room. Steve has the angle on where we will be going in Ed Tech – we want to use the neat Web 2.0 apps, but are concerned about safety/security/privacy. His take on this is right on the money, I believe. Check out his blog and session wiki page for more info.

Lastly was the closing keynote by Gary Stager titled, The Best Educational Ideas in the World. I’ve heard Gary on many occasions, but his presentation was so engaging and right on, that it did not matter how tired I felt – I left wanting more. I strongly recommend anyone who was not able to hear this talk, go listen to the podcast.

The theme of NYSCATE 2008 was Discovering Your Digital Destination – and for me the pathway was opened. A BIG thank you to all of the people who helped make the conference a huge success!

Image courtesy of leshoward on Flickr.

Reflections on Monday at NYSCATE

Michael — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 23:51:18 +0000

So for a new twist, I’ve taken the notes from the sessions I attended on Monday at NYSCATE (from scraps of paper, my iPod touch, etc.) and dumped them into Wordle to see if there are any over-arching ideas I heard (or more likely, focused on).

Here is the result:

I think it’s too soon to really process this, but I like how it makes one think.

The sessions I attended on Monday were:
Rod Serling Video Festival (nyscate08d13)
10 Standards-Based Formative Feedback Techniques for Your Classroom (briefly) (nyscate08d07)
Prensky Keynote
Where Teachers Learn, Where Teachers Teach (nyscate08e03)
Knezak Keynote
Leader to Leader (nyscate08f10)

Who Moved My Tools?

Michael — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:05:30 +0000

With credit to Spencer Johnson and his book, Who Moved My Cheese?, who moved my tools? The tools I’m referring to are the software tools that we rely on every day.

I’ve had a great time at NYSCATE so far, in the hands-on workshops that precede the regular conference. I spent two rewarding days with David Jakes – first in the workshop titiled, Creating Immersive Learning Environments with Mixed Media, followed by, Cartography on the Cutting Edge. David is a terrific educator who knows how to harness the value of technology while still focusing on the core learning literacies that are timeless.

In Thomas Friedman’s book, The World Is Flat, the world changed while we were not looking in terms of the global economy. Similarly, while we are busy using Word, PowerPoint, and every other installed program on our computers, the game has changed in that all of the software has moved to the web. There are many names for this – cloud computing, software as a service, browser-ware, etc. The bottom line is that the computer you type on is the vehicle that gets you to the software and content – all located on the web.

We spent two days talking about and beginning to build powerful environments for students and teachers – and all the tools are web-based (see list here from David’s site). There are pros and cons to this, but the fact is that web-based tools allow for RSS feeds, html code that is embedable, and a multitute of uses and a re-uses. The internet connection and browser become the only necessary resources to communicate, collaborate, and be productive. In this light, is it a suprise that Google jumped into the browser market with Chrome?

The web is the new slate on which we will be drawing our future – literally – how will we harness it and make it what we want it to be?

Image courtesy of JcMaco on Flickr.

Off to NYSCATE 2008

Michael — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 19:23:12 +0000

The annual state conference for educational technology, sponsored by NYSCATE, is this weekend. Just a few of the things I’m really looking forward to are…

…weekend workshops with David Jakes. David does incredible work in his district, and is very motivating to work with. He’s doing the Sunday keynote as well.

…a ton of sessions on Monday & Tuesday – I’ve yet to pick the ones i’m attending, but there are lots of great choices.

…the other keynote speakers, Marc Prensky, Don Knezek and Gary Stager – what a lineup

…connecting and reconnecting with colleagues from my district and people met at previous conferences and online.

…my session on Video in the Classroom, which is Tuesday from 8:45-9:45.

It’s going to be a fun, tiring, exciting time!

Image citation:
Reynolds, Peter. “Quest2008.” NYSCATE. 21 Nov. 2008 .

WordCamp & the Gallery

Michael — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 13:41:42 +0000

So I’m trying out the gallery feature for the first time, something I learned from Rannie’s presentation on Saturday. Hat tip to verneho’s flickr photo set for the images!

Photos: WordCamp Toronto Logo, Swag, Matt Mullenweg (founding developer of WordPress)

WordCamp Toronto 2008

Michael — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 02:18:33 +0000

I’m excited about attending a geeky opportunity this weekend – WordCamp Toronto. WordCamp is a gathering of WordPress users held regionally around the world throughout the year (see this page for other WordCamps). Over two years ago I switched to using WordPress to power this blog, and never looked back.

One of the main attractions at WordCamp is a talk by the founding developer of WordPress, Matt Mullenweg. I think it’s just cool to be able to connect with someone like this in this setting. Looking at the list of attendees, I think I may be one of the only educators, but I’m looking forward to the conversations.

You may just see a whole pile of tweaks and changes to the blog after this weekend is over!

On Making Software Accessible

Michael — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 13:03:41 +0000

I’ve been listening to the NECC (National Educational Computing Conference) podcasts available free via iTunes. David Thornburg, leading thinker and educator, spoke in a presentation titled, “Open Minds, Open Education, and a View of Open Culture.” The focus was on 1:1 programs for students and open source software.

The quote that jumped out at me was near the beginning:

“Singe platform software is anti-child.”

Pow. Ouch. Absolutely right. I’ll be the first to admit I have a personal preference for some software apps that are on one platform but not another (e.g. Visual Communicator and iLife). However, anytime a piece of software, be it Windows-only, Mac-only or even Linux-only, is used with students, it will prevent the home use of that software by the student if they have another platform at home.

To that end, open source, cross-platform software solutions that students can download and use at home for free will do more to break down the walls of technology than pretty much any other technique we can try. In the best case scenario, time using technology in a class setting is far less than in a home setting (unless in a 1 to 1 program). If the software is accessible anywhere, the benefits go up dramatically.

This year we are installing many more software programs that are open source cross platform (OSCP?). Two examples are OpenOffice, much like the Microsoft Office suite, and GIMP, which is very similar to Photoshop. I plan to make a concentrated effort to help our students realize the power of these accessible programs.

Bravo, Ladies!

Michael — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 12:18:32 +0000

Three students from Heim recently won the Generation YES Go Green video contest. In the contest, students were directed to produce a video about how our school is Green and/or how it could be better at it. In the GenYES spirit, all aspects had to be student-driven. I can tell you without a doubt it was, and doing so proves how much our students can do given the right resources.

Once Caroline was approached about this contest by Mrs. Merlino, she immediately enlisted Mary and Kelly to join in. The only time I heard from them is when they needed a resource, or some guidance in how to do something. They did it all, and a fine job they did.

See the winning video at the Generation YES site here, along with the other talented student winners from California. Their videos will be featured at the National Educational Computing Conference in San Antonio June 29-July 2. Bravo, Ladies!