Well, NCCE was a great conference this year as always. I consistently find the sessions at this conference to be a step ahead of most other conferences.
I’m on the plane on my way home now, and here are a few thoughts after this year’s conference:
– Web 2.0 is quickly evolving beyond just wikis and blogs. The evolution of web-based tools, like word processors, presentation tools, graphic organizers, etc., is moving fast. (See previous post for links to some of these tools.) We may really see desktop software become a thing of the past. And the potential for collaboration with these tools takes my breath away.
– Teachers (and presenters) need to be more aware and diligent about intellectual property and copyright issues. At every event I attend, I continue to see people liberally (and illegally) “borrow” copyrighted music, etc. I also see a lot of this in classrooms. We need to model better behavior for students. There’s so much great Creative Commons licensed content out there. Try using that…or create your own…or have your kids create it.
– Podcasting continues to be hot, hot, hot. While I am occasionally frustrated by how much educational technology is moved by fads, I do think podcasting has solid educational applications. Even if you aren’t moved to create your own podcast, there is so much great FREE content out there that can benefit you, your students, and the community. If you haven’t checked out what’s out there, do it today!
– It’s time for schools to block less and teach responsibility more. I know there is a lot of pressure from parents and the community, but we can educate them. There is too much great free content out there that is being blocked. Our kids are losing out as a result.
– Educators are the greatest group to work with. I talked to so many people who were enthusiastic and passionate about their work and the students they serve. This is one of the things that makes me really love my job.
Thanks to all of you who attended my workshops and sessions at NCCE. Thanks also to the fantastic NCCE team…Heidi, Adina, Jeff, Randy, Dave, Debby, Glenn, and everyone else. See you all next year in Seattle.
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Karen, we were at the same conference but never ran into each other! 🙁
I had the same thoughts as you about the conference. Something I couldn’t help but notice was a lack of sessions about handheld computing. I think my session, “I Like Handhelds Because…” and your Palm workshop were the only ones. I saw nothing about Palms or Pocket PCs in the exhibit hall. I was encouraged to see some handhelds behind used by teachers during sessions and in the hallways. (I also noticed lots of text messaging going on-on smartphones and dumb phones.)
I was asked several times by conference participants if I thought handhelds in classrooms was a fad. It seems that handhelds having a presence at ed tech conference may have been a fad, but having a small, portable, personal computer for each student is certainly not a fad at all–it’s the present in many classrooms and the future for all classrooms eventually.
Any musings on why sessions and vendors for Palm and Pocket PCs aren’t making much of a showing at educational conferences?
I’m sorry we didn’t get to see each other too. 🙁 It was so busy. Guess we’ll have to wait to catch up F2F at SuccessLink or MAHC.
I feel sad about the lack of handheld “presence” at conferences lately. I think it is more driven by conference organizers (who want to feature the “lastest”) than by administrators and teachers. I say that because at every event I attend, there seems to be great continued interest in handhelds, even when there are few sessions.
Also, in the many, many schools that are using handhelds, teachers are seeing great results. One-to-one really transforms learning in a way that other technology use can’t. And I’m not sure laptops really count as “mobile devices” (future post coming on that).
Unfortunately, Palm’s apparent constant state of flux is also a concern to people. Palm is often driven by consumer concerns and things like stock price that have nothing to do with education. The education market continues to be a strong one for them, but they don’t always seem to treat the education market as well as they might. {sigh}
Having said all that, handhelds are not a fad! Thanks to you and others for the continued evangelism. Keep fighting the good fight.
Karen, I attended your session looking for info on pod and vodcasting. Thanks for the ppt handout. That makes it easier for us to reflect and report back to others. I was excited to learn about “screencasts” and camstudio.