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In June 2008, the Technology Curriculum Specialsts of the Jordan School District attended the National Education Computing Conference in San Antonio, Texas. Below are detailed reflections on the exerience by each of Specialists.
Cindy Nagasawa-Cruz
Mark Sowa
Mark's NECC Photos
Margo Shirley
I took to heart the 5 goals for the future that the ISTE President, Dr. Trina Davis shared:
1. Be an advocate
2. Share your knowledge and passion
3. Showcase your and your students’ work
4. Dream Big
5. Use available resources to effect change
I was excited to hear about Global Learning Projects that encourage students to communicate, collaborate, create communities,influence change and be creative in their learning process.
http://www.iearn.org/
Taking it Global
http://takingitglobal.org/
ePALS Global Community
http://www.epals.com/index.tpl
My Hero Project
http://myhero.com/myhero/
I always like to revisit my favorites and see their new resources:
Tammy Worcester
http://www.tammyworcester.com/Tips/Tammys_Technology_Tips_for_Teachers.html
Kathy Schrock
http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schrockguide/
Thinkfinity
http://thinkfinity.org/
Gail Lovely
http://www.gaillovely.com/
Annette Lamb
http://eduscapes.com/
Kelly Dumont
NECC has become for me a period of replenishment. It is where I am able to instead of dispense information and training, I am able to absorb new information. It allows me to recharge my batteries. It gives me ideas that I can come back and share with others here in the district.
It has also become a great networking tool and experience for me. It is an opportunity to talk face to face with other educational technologists from around the world. I read from and talk to many people in this group throughout the year, but NECC provides the opportunity of face to face time with them.
One aspect of NECC that has become somewhat trivial for me personally is the exhibit floor. As I have perused the floor for the past 3 years much of what is shown is redundant to years previous. I literally have not found anything new in 4 years. The most exciting thing I saw on the show floor this year is the new version of HyperStudio. I am still waiting for the next big commercial innovation and don’t see it coming yet.
The classes and sessions I attended this year were all good. I found nearly every session that I wanted to attend to be full to capacity. The workshop I attended by Ian Jukes was very good as he talked about trends he sees affecting education.
I also had the opportunity to participate in a couple of ways this year. I did a 10 minute presentation in The Blogger’s Cafe about our Elementary Film Festival. As a part of the presentation, I brought Reagan Fay a teacher at Riverton Elementary via video chat. I also participated on a panel discussion with Darren Draper, Vicki Davis, Robin Ellis, Carolyn Foote, Kristin Hokanson, Stephanie Sandifer, and Beth Ritter-Guth. This was a panel based upon a number of exciting events that occurred during the last year. We illustrated a number of possibilities now afforded teachers and students given the kinds of collaborative tools freely available.
San Antonio is a richly historic city and it was great to be able to visit sites and see the culture of the city. I am grateful for the opportunity to attend NECC.
Kelly's NECC Photos
Bonnie Muir
Darren Draper
NECC, for me, is a cherished time of professional development. It is a time of learning, sharing, and networking with educators from around the world.
At this point in my career, teachers are my students. As one that has experimented with various concepts in social networking and how it applies to professional development (like OpenPD, for example), a large number of the conversations, discussions, panels, and sessions that I was involved in related directly to social networking and professional development.
At this year’s NECC, in addition to attending a wide range of sessions and workshops, I upped the ante by participating on several panels and helping to facilitate several discussions:
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Social Networking and Professional Development – This was a NECC Unplugged discussion, which I helped to facilitate with Steve Hargadon and Robin Ellis.
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Social Networking in Education – This was an excellent panel discussion on which I was fortunate enough to participate with several progressive educators (Steve Hargadon, David Jakes, Steve Dembo, James Klein, and Dennis O'Connor).
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Blogging and Twitter Etiquette – I facilitated this discussion with David Jakes and Kristen Hokanson. Fantastic conversation.
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The Walls Came Down: Incubating Collaborative Learning Environments – With Vicki Davis, Kelly DuMont, Robin Ellis, Carolyn Foote, Kristin Hokanson and Beth Ritter-Guth, this was a panel based upon a number of exciting events that occurred during the last year. We illustrated a number of possibilities now afforded teachers and students given the kinds of collaborative tools freely available.
To read additional reflections that I have written on my personal blog concerning my experiences at NECC this year, please click here.
PJ Giles
NECC 2008 Experiences
San Antonio, TX
This is only my second NECC Conference that I have had he opportunity to attend and I can honestly say that it is a conference that is well worth my time attending. I had the opportunity to network with people working in education and establishing relationships that will last for the whole year. I gained a broader understanding about what it means to use Web 2.0 in the classroom and how I can use those tools with students.
I am an educator with the philosophy that as long as we can collaborate on ideas and share experiences, this allows educators to brainstorm, problem solve, and share beliefs so that we can create an environment that is better for student learning. This conference allowed all educators to do just that; collaborate, brainstorm, share, use technology, and network in a setting that allowed us to be hands on as we engaged in the workshops, Ning community, exhibits, panels, and listened to the guest speakers at the conference.
Since we are teaching teachers this year how to use 21st century learning in the classroom, I gained a better understanding about Web 2.0 as I took the workshops the two days prior to the conference actually opening. I took Bring Your Curriculum to Life Using Web 2.0. It was an interactive class that explored the basics of blogging, podcasting/podcatching, wiki-ing, and what it means to social bookmark. These tools are free and I was able to explore possibilities of when I began teaching our teacher trainers in the district.
The second workshop I took was called Oodles of Google: Free Online Tools for Your Classroom. This workshop introduced Google applications and what is available for educators to use in the classroom. Once I had created a gmail account, I had the opportunity to collaborate on a Google Doc in class, and even made a web page. Based on the information I learned, I was able to share with my teacher trainers in the district.
This conference gave me the opportunity to visit vendors and find out what software is out there for educators to use in the classroom. I was able to review, reflect, and evaluate what would work in Jordan District. There were several programs online that were offered to teachers that contained interactive activities; FREE multimedia software for educators, and the membership is free. This conference gave me a chance to look at what is new, ask the different vendors questions, and to find out what is being used by other school districts.
It is a wonderful conference! It is one of the largest technology conferences held in the United States. Again, it gave me the opportunity to network, learn more about Web 2.0 and how it can be used to transform teaching and learning, and NECC offers hands-on, interactive learning about how technology can be used in the classroom.
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