It's been quite a day full of interacting with colleagues, discussing edtech issues, and trying to get a grip on bringing 21st century learning to our educators back in Fresno. My head is swimming with thoughts, my feet hurt, and I haven't eaten a meal since breakfast. I think I may need to get myself some dinner.
What did I do today at NECC?
Attended the NETS for Teachers Refresh ceremony
I was very excited to attend this session given that one of the main areas that I am focusing on while at this conference is the implementation of the National Educational Technology Standards with our educators. After walking into the session, I noticed that the new NETS for Teachers handouts were on a table at the back of the room. I could have just taken one and left, but I held out and stayed in on one of the most packed sessions that I've seen so far. It was nice to see so many people interested in the subject of technology standards for teachers. I am continually surprised at how many of us would like to have some kind of touchstone to gauge how well we, or the educators we're training, are integrating technology in a way that actually makes a difference in student learning. Here's a rundown of the refreshed NETS for Teachers:
- Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Creativity
- Design and Develop Digital-Age Learning Experiences and Assessments
- Model Digital-Age Work and Learning
- Promote and Model Digital Citizenship and Responsibility
- Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
I'm very anxious to reflect and plan on how I will use these standards as I work with new teachers in the BTSA program or with educators out in the field or in our training sessions. My hope is that I am able to demonstrate how these standards, when used with best practices and proper teaching techniques, can engage students, deepen understanding, and promote 21st century skills.
David Jakes & Dean Shareski's session on creating better presentations
David and Dean did such a great job and I really enjoyed getting another perspective on creating better presentations. The thing that was great was the way in which they related it to teaching your students how to give better presentations. It was great and I'm glad that I had the opportunity to to attend.
David Warlick's presentation Our Students - Our Worlds
I really enjoy David Warlick's genuine enthusiasm and honesty. He is a definite gentleman and one of the edtech leaders that I am glad to keep up with. I had not yet had an opportunity to hear David present in person, so I grabbed the opportunity to see what he had to say. A couple of key observations from his presentation:
- Unpredictable Future - we are preparing our kids for a future that we ourselves do not fully understand
- We have info-savvy students - they come to us already networked
- New Information Landscape
Unfortunately, I needed to leave a little bit early in order to get to my next session because I felt it was one of the most important opportunities I would have.
Refreshing the NETS for Administrators
I've had some really great conversations in the short time that I've been here at NECC, but I've got to say that I loved sitting around a table with a group of educational leaders/admins discussing the ins and outs of what is important about school leadership and how that should be reflected in the NETS for Admins. It was a very large room with many round tables that were filled with educational leaders. I was very impressed by the turnout.
One of the best things that I saw happen among my small group was the willingness of the individuals to state their case and disagree with each other. Maybe it was because we didn't know each other personally and had nothing to lose. Maybe some of us just naturally like to take the opposing side. I really would like to think it's because we were all there stating a case for what we feel is important because we're passionate about what we do. It will be interesting to see what comes out of the work ISTE does over the next year for the new NETS for Administrators.
ISTE Classroom Observation Tool (ICOT)
One of the projects that we are working on in our department is developing a three-year professional development plan for a district. We are still in the planning stages, but it is very exciting to get this opportunity. An area that we would really like to implement into the plan is the all-important assessment piece. I spent some time speaking with a gentleman who worked on the new ISTE assessment tool, ICOT. It looks promising, but there are no plans on porting it to handheld devices. Bummer. The concept will work fine on a tablet pc or a laptop the admins brings with them into a classroom observation. I'm going to register for an account and see how it works.
Birds of a Feather: A Meeting of Moodlers
Great turnout of people using Moodle. I was glad to see so many people having questions around areas that we probably all struggle with and having the opportunity to get feedback from others. For me, I just so happened to sit next to a Moodle super-user and we chatted about how we are using Moodle and gave each other a few pointers and ideas. Even better, he's Drupal fan too. So, we talked Drupal as well. Always a highlight for me when I meet someone who digs the greatest CMS in the world.
