The Power of Networking - My #ISTE11 Reflection

ISTE 11 was memorable in a number of ways. It was the first time I've ever experienced travel issues. Granted I don't travel much. But a Sunday night thunderstorm cancelled my Monday morning plane...blah, blah...so I ended up in Philly 5 hours later than expected.

Me (green shirt on right) with many of the people I got to meet
in person for the first time, although we chat everyday.
Thanks to Michelle for the pic!

My first ISTE conference was San Antonio in 2008. I planned and planned and planned out my  time and rushed from session to session. This year, someone asked me on Twitter if I wanted them to take any notes from any sessions while I was traveling Monday morning. I had to laugh. I had barely even looked at the session list. This trip was different in that my main goal was to put faces and handshakes to the many people I interact with daily on Twitter. And it was successful. I still went to some sessions that I was interested in, even helped conduct a panel session (click here for link). But the interactions I had on couches and bar stools in the Newbie Lounge were just as powerful, and more meaningful, than being talked to in a session. I knew few people in 2008. And the ones I knew were from Nebraska. Great people, but I have more opportunities to interact with them throughout the year.
Twitter continues to amaze me. The ability to connect with people around the world at any time and develop relationships...really, friendships...is incredible. I cannot stress to teachers how valuable a local/national/global personal learning network can be. Whether you use Twitter, Ning, or Facebook (or whatever else!), investing time to get started saves you time later.
A couple other great posts that share experiences similar to mine. I will try to add more as I come across them.:

• Missing Something by Kristina Peters
• The Session I Attended by Dean Shareski

Coming to NETA 11 - Conversation

The NETA Conference is going strong. In 2009, we moved to a new venue. That year we broke the 2,000 attendees mark. In 2010, we surpassed even that record mark. While other state's have seen conference participation dwindle, we seem to be going full steam ahead.

Being on the NETA Board has been a wonderful experience for me. With all of our organizational success, we don't want to be stagnant. So this year we are introducing "round table discussions." Think of it as a geeky fireside chat. It's not a stand and deliver presentation. We are not taking those types of presentations away; they will continue to be the cornerstone of the NETA Conference. But we wanted to give you the opportunity to learn from the crowd, not just the presenter! What do you talk about? That's where you come in. You bring what you want to the table for your 45 minute time slot.

I first saw this type of presentation at Educon (link to this year's site) last January at the Science Leadership Academy in Philadelphia. All of Educon's sessions are based on conversations with the other people in the sessions. One presentation that stuck out (shown in the picture) was when Will Richardson said, "I've got three slides and 90 minutes, so you'd better be ready to share." That's exactly what makes this type of presentation style exciting and successful: you are the facilitator, not the presenter. You can come with questions and don't have to have answers.

If you are looking for another example of this, check out EdCampKC on November 6th, 2010. During that day, this "un-conference" will have a Ustream going in one of the session rooms. You can find out more information by visiting their wiki.

The due date for conversation submissions is the same as the rest of NETA presentations (December 1st). If you have any questions, please leave them in the Comments section here or on the NETA Facebook or Twitter pages. And even if you don't want to present, you are highly encouraged to come over to the Marriot lounge and join in the conversation!

From ESU to StL

Currently I'm sitting in my beautiful room at the Embassy St. Louis/St. Charles, which is connected to the Convention Center that will host METC 2009 (link to METC Ning). I always get pretty excited for a new hotel, and this one didn't disappoint. More on the hotel and METC in later posts.
Speaking of later posts, I never had gotten a chance to reflect on ESU 3's 21st Century Skills Fair. Once again, ESU did a great job of bringing in quality individuals (including yours truly) to present on how to improve what is happening in your classroom. The first session I attended was on incorporating 21st Century Skills into math. ESU is doing follow up sessions similar to this on math, social studies and language arts, so I wanted to make sure I got to attend. As you can see by the links on their page, the activities shared are great to enhance your current curriculum activities. My goal is to encourage our toolbox writers to attend the session that corresponds to the content area that is their speciality. I think it's time we push our curriculum people to look at ways to integrate technology into the curriculum instead of relying only on their building tech people.
The second session was an introduction to NDE's iTunes U content. While not public yet, we were shown what will be there when it comes up (mostly NDE-directed professional development) and discuss where it is going in the future. One thing that was brought up by multiple people was wanting to see model teachers at work in the classroom. Something that we've struggled with in our own district is getting our new teachers out to see the best of the best. Being able to tap in to the best educators from across the state with just a click off a button would be huge in developing quality teachers in the state. And it's free to get. The catch is going to be compensating those who are doing the recording and being recorded.
The third session was great to get some tips as we move toward developing online classes in our district. While their setup was different from what ours will be, I did get some great tips.
The fourth session was OUTSTANDING! Because it was ours....We are currently getting ready to present the extended version here at METC. Our presentation starts tomorrow afternoon at 2:00 pm in the Windsor 1 in the Embassy.