links for 2008-07-01

June 30, 2008 — dougpete
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Day 1 at NECC

June 30, 2008 — dougpete

Some random thoughts and reflections on session from Day 1 at NECC in San Antonio. All in all, it was a good one. Lots of things to see; lots of people to meet.

It started with just getting out to Travis Street at the end of the hotel for the shuttle. It is so hot that you’re perspiring just waiting for the bus! But, it’s also good in that it gives you something in common with the others waiting. Met people from all over the US. Everyone is impressed that they met someone “INTERNATIONAL” as it says on my name tag.

I’m confused as to how rooms are allocated for the event. There are some which I would have thought would be huge and yet they are in smaller rooms and vice versa. The first session that I attended was Konrad Glogowski’s session about Blogging Communities. So, here we were were packed in like sardines. You just had to know that this was going to be a popular session. Missed it? It was captured on Ustream.

http://weblogg-ed.com/2008/konrad-glogowskis-blogging-session-at-necc/

One take away for me for this session was http://pps.org. This is a site designed to help communities build for public spaces. Konrad made the tie in from physical public spaces to the type of spaces that we need to create for students to successfully blog.

Then, there was a long break to visit the vendors. Oh, the vendors. Notably missing on the vendor floor was Apple. Instead, they’ve opted for hands-on training areas. I was hoping to hit the booth and see an air or an iPhone in action. Oh well. Lots of interesting things from the vendors. Lots of banners claiming that their product is good for the “21st Century Student”. Ironically, if you’ve been around for a while, these are the same products that have been available for quite some time! Lessons in marketing here. I couldn’t find the Media-X booth. I wanted to say hi to Steve and the gang. I did run into Deb and Val at their new gigs at MacKiev. Great to renew friendships.

So, the next session was off to see David Jakes. He was talking about 10 ways to have students make Powerpoint presentations better. He did a masterful job, swapping in and out with co-presenter Dean Shareski. I’m going to buy “The Back of the Napkin” and read all about that area. Sounds interesting. What I thought would have been cool would be to mention that nothing that was covered actually required Powerpoint. The session would be equally as powerful with OpenOffice or SMART’s Notebook or… I learned some neat new tips and can’t wait to incorporate them. David has the presentation online at: http://jakes.editme.com

Another very popular session with lots of floor sitters.

Then, it was off to the theatre to hear David Warlick. David asked that those that blogged about the session include the words flat classroom and warlick so I just did. Handouts for all of David’s sessions at at: http://handouts.davidwarlick.com

David’s session was very well crafted and the one thing that makes him a favourite of mine is that he speaks from the heart. Unless you’ve given presentations like this and know the tonnes of work that goes into preparation, he delivers it as if he just happened to have some of this stuff on the ol’ hard drive and just stands on the stage and pours out his emotion and passion for the topic. This time, he talked about Our Kids, Our World and I don’t think that you could challenge anything that he talked about. Classroom teachers just need the time and he challenged everyone to answer the question “What does it really mean to be literate?” That’s a deep question and those who complain that kids are working to get around the content filter need to answer that to know why. I also really liked this quote when attached to teaching “We want our students to be the students we want to teach”. Isn’t that the truth?

Next, I wanted to hear Wesley Fryer. So, first you have to figure out that it’s in the other building. I got over there and up floors to get to the session only to find that it’s full. Sigh. Head back to another nameless session where they were having difficulties setting up so off to my third choice which really didn’t engage so it was back to the vendors. Met at really nice lady from the PBS station in Boston who explained their partnership generating web resources, particularly in the area of science at http://nsdl.org.

This started me on a tour of the vendors looking at vendors who were selling web resources that I knew had free Web 2.0 alternatives. Are we on the cusp of bad things for them?

Finally, I finished the day by going to a gang presentation with Will Richardson, David Jakes, Ewan MacIntosh, and Steve Dembo. Right up front, we were told that the session may or may not have direct application to education although I could see all kinds of ideas. A tour of Ustream and related technologies like Qik was really interesting. Amazing demo of how easy it is to stream via a cell phone. I really enjoyed this session. It was cutting edge and nobody had answers yet but you know that it’s going to have a big impact somewhere along the line.

I’m amazed at the number of people blogging and twittering. It’s interesting to stand at the back of the room and watch the activity. In so many ways, teachers are worse than kids who are off all over the place learning while the class is happening!

One final observation — spent some time at both the Second Life Lounge and the Blogger’s Cafe. The Bloggers are all chit chatting and the place is incredibly loud. Second Life? you could hear a pin drop. Everyone was focussed on their other life and not interacting in this one!

Had a good chat with Bill and Ron — who pointed out that there was another type of blogger…

Just some observations to keep around for a while. On to day two.

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links for 2008-06-30

June 29, 2008 — dougpete
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When Things Go Wrong

June 28, 2008 — dougpete

I was on the plane to San Antonio.

I noticed a gentleman three rows up and over starting his laptop. As it booted, I noticed the Windows XP boot up window and got interested in noting how long it would take to get to a login screen and then how long before a login got to the desktop. I have this older Windows XP machine and it seems to take forever these days. I know why, but I have this desire to have so much on my machine!

Anyway, the machine didn’t get past the opening logo to the logon screen. In frustration, I saw him whack a few keys to no avail. Then, holding down the power key, the machine went off.

Reboot.

This time, he got to the Windows XP screen and … nothing. He tried CTRL-ALT-DEL which of course, didn’t work. Time to hold down the power key.

Reboot.

This time, a little bit of learned behaviour. He tilted his head about 45 degrees while booting. Nada. Power key.

Reboot.

Same thing.

In frustration, he closed the lid for a few seconds and then took a peek. Nothing.

Power key, and the machine goes back into the overhead compartment.

I felt sorry for this guy. Computers should just turn on and work. There is no tech support on an airplane.

If there was, would this help? http://www.deadtroll.com/index2.html?/video/helldeskcable.html~content

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links for 2008-06-28

June 27, 2008 — dougpete
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links for 2008-06-27

June 26, 2008 — dougpete
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Greatest Moment at NECC

June 26, 2008 — dougpete

There are so many terrific moments at any NECC Conference. Great speakers, new friends, great vendors, and the lot.

One of my favourite activities though is to browse through the poster sessions. Here, nobody is selling anything or pushing you to upgrade or drive you crazy with the newest technology that you know darn well you can’t afford.

At the posters, it’s just people (big ones and kids) showing off a project that they were involved with. Instead of something that might be beyond reach, here are people showing what they can do, and what they did. All of them are so motivating and you know that, with the right conditions, you could do it as well.

There is one that stood way, way out and still is in my mind.

I don’t remember which NECC it was but I’m thinking it might have been Seattle. It doesn’t matter.

I do know that it was before the OSAPAC Committee licensed SMART Ideas in the category of Graphic Organizers.

I was walking through the poster sessions and it was particularly busy. There were large crowds everywhere — except at this one table where a young man was standing with a computer and a relatively low end monitor. The lack of an audience even made me think that perhaps his computer had died or something. There literally was nobody around his station.

Ever the champion of the underdog, I went over and greeted the gentleman and asked what he was showing.

A couple of clicks later and my jaw was wide open. He had developed a graphic organizer designed to help teach Hebrew to English speakers. Within moments, we were clicking around the screen and I got two things. I fully understood, for the first time, the power of using a Graphic Organizer. It opened new windows for me. Secondly, in the few moments that I spent, I learned a little bit of Hebrew.

This was one of the things that I intended to follow up with after that NECC. Unfortunately, I pitched the reference materials with so much of the other stuff that I picked up. However, I can’t jettison my mind and I’ll always remember that demonstration of demonstrations.

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links for 2008-06-26

June 25, 2008 — dougpete
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8 Weeks to Web 2.0

June 25, 2008 — dougpete

For those of us who use computers non-stop, we are so used to reading about and checking various web resources and innovations. Many things become like second nature.

However, for the teacher who wants to get started but doesn’t know how, what does she/he do? It can be a long haul that requires a bit of time to make happen.

Summer time is often when people take time to learn new things for education. So, I married the two of them and put together an online course that I entitled “8 Weeks to Web 2.0″. Introducing a concept on the basis of one per week (after all, we are on holidays), the timing is set for those who observe Ontario school calendars. The course is actually self-paced and steps through what I would consider some of the major things that a teacher wishing to know about Web 2.0 needs to know first.

The concept is to work through it at your own pace and at your leisure. At the end of the summer, a good start should be had by those who participate.

The course descriptor is:

8 Weeks to Web 2.0
Delivered by Wiki @ http://dougpete.pbwiki.com
Explore some of the concepts behind Web 2.0 by taking this online course. Self-paced, the course is designed to introduce a Web 2.0 concept every week and build your expertise working with these online tools.
Point your browser to: http://8weeks.notlong.com

Since it’s delivered in Wiki format, participants can edit things that are found to be incorrect (my spelling?) and you, gentle reader, can tighten it up or add additional content should you feel I overlooked something.

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links for 2008-06-25

June 24, 2008 — dougpete
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