Monthly Archives: December 2009

Dec 12 2009

Saturday After Symposium

It’s a very calm Saturday morning after a very active week in London leading up to the Western Regional Computer Advisory Committee’s Symposium 2009.  It’s always one of my professional highlights of the year.  I’ve been the chair of the committee for a number of years now and really enjoy doing it.  Other than having continual contacts with the committee, I get to make some key decisions for the event.  I get to design the timeline, proofread the program, coordinate the thank you gifts for the presenters, and much more.  I also am responsible to select the keynote speakers for the day.  In doing so, I get tap the shoulder of some of the thought leaders and thinkers dealing with issues happening right now.  Sometimes, it’s a difficult choice.  Other times, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel.

This year was relatively easy.  Unless you’ve been asleep the past few years, you have to recognize that a whole series of technologies and innovations that fall into the category “Web 2.0” are increasingly capturing and engaging the minds and imaginations of students.  Making sense of it is important but more important is leveraging it for its educational value.  There are a lot of bandwagons and a great deal of low hanging fruit in this areas.  I’ve long admired the mind of David Jakes has he helps zero in on what’s really important and worthwhile doing in this field.  I was so happy that he happened to be available to join us on the date.

Closely related to this was our second keynote speaker, Leslie Fisher.  Here is a lady who lives so transparently on the web and totally uses these technologies in so many ways to manage her professional life.  She also seems to have a limitless budget and shares her love of gadgets with anyone who would care to lesson.  One of the hottest areas right now for everyone is going mobile and she nails it with her iPod/iPhone class.  Even as we were connecting her computer to the projection system, she took the time to show me an application or two.

We do ask our keynote speakers to host a breakout session after their keynote.  It’s a first test to see how well they were received.  If they did a bad job, nobody follows them to their breakout.  If they do a good job, then it’s standing room only as people follow them to learn more.

Every year, I try to bring new innovations to the day.  This year, we tried to make it the most connected Symposium to date.  I was delighted when a couple of participants offered to organize a Tweetup in advance of the date.  We turned those extra hands into a group of additional stuffers to prepare our registration bags!  On the day itself, we offered free internet access to anyone with a device.  It worked out well in the breakout sessions; not so much in the Crystal Ballroom.  The sheer volume of requests in such a big area caused some problems.  Oh well; how could you know if advance?  It was great to see that people found ways to get their comments to us.  I saw a tethered iPhone and people just using their iPhone or Blackberry directly.

I tried to make the day Twitter friendly.  In addition to the standard symposium nametag, I had run some extra stick on labels so that people could show off their Twitter name with the purpose of putting a face to a username.  I’ve been to events where people would like to use Twitter as a back channel for the event.  My experience has been that valuable time is wasted determining what the hashtag for the event would be.  So, I tried to cut that out of the picture and put the hashtag right on the cover of the program.  There were folks talking before the event and so it was shared in advance.

What it does do, however, is give the opportunity to analyse what was talked about during the event.  I just went to Twitter search to follow up on the hashtag #RCAC09 and we had generated 7 pages of 50 twitter messages to the topic.  I took that data and plunked it into Wordle for a quick visualization.

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Of course, this is incredibly unscientific and I’m not here to argue otherwise.  Of course, the hashtag will be the most frequent term there.  Let me do another without it.

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Taking a look through the content is so revealing about what happened.  There are lots of Twitter names (some with @; some without) but I’m so happy to note that the biggest word to leap forward to my eyes is “Conversation”.  Isn’t that what it should be?  I’m equally as glad to see that the words “snow”, “wind”, and “cancel” do not appear.  What doesn’t show in the Wordles are the comments “I’m going to try …” which I did notice as I was putting this together.

In addition to taking a look at the Twitter contributions, I’ve been interested in looking at the blogs to see what people are talking about.  This is always dangerous because I’ll inevitably overlook someone or a post will appear after I post this.  My apologies in advance.  But, if you want to read what others are reflecting, check out:

Conversation is so important.  In addition to the original posts, please take the time to read the replies and even add your own.  Events like this should service to inspire after the event closes.  If you’re not a user of Twitter, consider getting a free account and join the continuing conversation.  If you look at the names in the clouds above, I can ensure that those people are great follows and they will be continuing the conversations started anew or conversations continued from Symposium 2009 well into the future.

One final task of the chair is to choose the desserts for the day.  I stand up and declare that the bread pudding is my choice and just caps a perfect day for me!

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Dec 12 2009

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Dec 11 2009

A Community

As I sit here ready to pack after meeting with the OSAPAC group and the Western RCAC Symposium, I’m reflecting on the events of the past couple of years in Ontario and what technology has managed to enable.

The genesis of my thinking had to be the invitation to keynote our Symposium conference given to Will Richardson.  After the Symposium, we had Will present in a hands-on format to the RCAC, COCA, and OSAPAC group in a much smaller setting.  For many, it was a chance to serious take a look at blogging, creating wikis, and of course, getting connected via Twitter.

Not everyone stayed the course on that day but some did.  The result really seems to be the starting of a community to really work with and share.  There’s a core group that remains connected almost daily as they Twitter about their learnings and they read and write to each others blogs.  There have always been educational grouping and conferences and you get that one day shot in the arm to go forth and change the world.

But, something else is happening.  There’s a real core group of people that continue the discussion on a daily basis.  They share the highs and lows of our profession and the learning that happens to make great teachers greater.  Terms like PLC and PLN get bantered about and it’s great to see folks thinking in terms of learning with others.  I still wrestle with formally adopting them personally.  Using the technology, it can be as trivial or as engaging as you let it be. Conferences are better and of more value because of the connectiveness that the technology enables.  (I know, Windows, “connectiveness” isn’t a word.  Thanks for the wavy line)

What really struck me as we stuffed registration bags and as I stood on the stage yesterday and looked at the audience, there are really deep connections among those who meet in communities.  The Western RCAC group meets periodically and we know each other from that association.  But, this collection of people who are using the technology often meet face to face only for the first or second or third time.  Unlike the unique human condition where you awkwardly take the first couple of steps to getting to know someone, something better is happening.  At times, there hasn’t been the initial face to face meeting but people actually do know enough about each other to start talking at a different level.  They know what they teach, their bent, the inward drive that makes people what they are.  By becoming part of this and contributing, you’ve become transparent from the beginning.

By embracing the conversation whether it be by blogging or Twittering, that connection has already started and is well developed in many cases.  Going to a conference is now becoming a forum to continue a conversation that has already started and is maturing.  Consequently, the value is so much more.  At the ECOO Conference, a large number got together in a “Tweetup” and the connections were immediate and very obvious.  The same thing happened in London at the Symposium.  The same thing happened in Toronto at the OTF PD event.  The group knows each other and gets to the discussion immediately.  It’s quite amazing when you think about it.  Because I was chairing the events of yesterday, I was so envious of all that was happening that I couldn’t be a part of. I had to deal with timelines and weather and equipment and hotel staff and …  As I was yanked around here and there, one table to the left of me was enjoying this opportunity to share.

Further though, this group hasn’t become a walled clique.  New people are welcome to the group and their contributions are welcomed immediately.  I’ve had a back and forth with a person who drops by our board office every now and again and I’ve said hi a couple of times.  We’re now debating the status of “newby” and there really isn’t one that I can see.  When you embrace this connectiveness, you’re in.  Everyone contributes their insights and their knowledge immediately and are valued for doing this.

It’s easy and ongoing and I hope continues to build a community of folks that take their resources off the wall and share it with the world.  The learning is continuous.  Not everyone is able to attend all of these events.  By communicating during them, the group shares the knowledge with everyone else.

There have been many attempts to build community and sharing in the past.  There’s something really special happening right now and I know that I am so appreciative for all of the connections that I’m currently making.  A day doesn’t go by that I’m not learning something new from them.

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Dec 11 2009

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Dec 10 2009

RCAC Symposium

I’d like to extend a special thanks to all that were able to join us at the Western RCAC Symposium in London today.  If you read my blog regularly, you know that I’m typically good for an early morning post.  Not so today.  It was up and at it for 5:30 to roll the red carpet out for our guests.  The Lamplighter Inn did a great job of setup for our event; you may have seen my Twitter message showing the empty ballroom and the guards doing their thing at the registration desk.  TelAV was great providing the AV setup and equipment.  The Symposium Committee was there throughout the day to address everyone’s needs and to make sure that the sessions went off flawlessly.  My sincerest thanks to those on our Committee. 

A very special acknowledgment has to go to the vendors who supplied door prizes for the event.  I’m compiling the list and they will appear on the Western RCAC website this weekend.

If you read the tweets as they came through, there sure appeared to be a lot of serious community learning happening.  One of the unfortunate parts about being the chair of the event is that you spend the day problem solving and sometimes miss the opportunity to fully participate in the learning.  So, I’m writing this entry asking for a quick education.

What one thing did you learn at the Western RCAC Symposium today?  Please teach me just one thing you learned today.  Thanks.

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Dec 10 2009

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Dec 9 2009

Chrome News

The world was a-buzz yesterday when the announcement went out that Google Chrome was now available for Linux and Macintosh operating systems.  Sure, it’s a Beta but what isn’t these days?  So, I went and got myself the new titles.  I’ve been using it off and on with my Windows computer for a while.

I really like the speed of the program.  It loads quickly, pages render quickly, and it does all the great things that a browser should.  It took this guy a while but I even got quite used to the search being integrated into the address bar.  I like that help is online so that it’s always updated and giving you the best that it can.  It’s not as easy to do a search on a different search engine, but it is a Google product so that’s understandable.

Yet, Chrome has not become my preferred browser.  I was a diehard Flock fan and then gravitated to Firefox.  I really like the concept of the personalization of the browsing experience by choosing add-ons or plug-ins to help the cause.  Carefully selected, the browser can become you all-in-one place to go for everything that you need to have.  That’s very important to me.  It’s one of the areas where Flock and Firefox had always excelled.

In addition to the announcement of the Linux and Macintosh version of the browser, came the announcement that Google had devoted a page to add-ons which they’re calling extensions.  Now, I’m really excited and head over there immediately.

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The challenge is to find the ones that will do what I need it to do.  I find a couple of my favourites immediately.  Adblock is important to me to speed up browsing; I need Delicious and Diigo support.  I’m intrigued by the Facebook support.  These are just a few to get me up and running.  They download and install easily.  Functionality seems to be at the developing stage.  They don’t have the same functionality yet that I’ve been accustomed to with Firefox.  Heck, I even changed the colour scheme.  But, it’s Windows only at this point.

But, I’ll persevere.  The speed of the Chrome browser makes it worth the effort to configure and consider whether or not to switch.

What’s your experience with Chrome?  What are your favourite extensions?  Has Google built the perfect browser for you?

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Dec 9 2009

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Dec 8 2009

RCAC Symposium

There has been a great deal of buzz as of late about the Western RCAC Symposium to be held in London at the Lamplighter Inn and Convention Centre this Thursday, December 10.  I thought that I’d spend a few moments to explain this.

First of all, Western RCAC stands for the Western Regional Computer Advisory Committee.  There was a time when all areas of the province had an RCAC.  Now, there is just the Western RCAC and COCA, the Central Ontario Computer Association.  Essentially, we are the computer consultants for our respective schools districts and we meet to learn together and to share best practices.

For years, the Western RCAC has held a one day Symposium designed to share the enthusiasm for the use of technology in the classroom with our principals, superintendents, and directors of education.  It’s a little unique in terms of computer conferences in that there is no vendor area and the focus is on sharing best practices, new trends, and just having conversations about how this might impact the classroom.

We hold the Symposium in December for goodness knows whatever reason.  You see, London is in the middle of a snow belt and we always seem to dance around interesting weather.  Where else would you engage your keynote speaker to help you dig your car from a snow drift?  Below, speaker David Pogue helps out.

But, the timing is good from an educational perspective.  The fall bugs have been shaken from computer networks and everyone is excited to try something new for the new year.  There are also, typically, no other professional development events to compete with.  It takes a brave group to have PD in December!  Since taking over as chair of this symposium, I have such a great track record of weather issues.

In addition to showing off regional successes, we do enjoy a couple of keynote speakers for the day.  This year, we are excited to have David Jakes and Leslie Fisher on our stage.  Last year, there was a bit of Twittering going on as a back channel and we’re suspecting that there might be a great deal more.  @msjweir and @zbpipe have organized a Tweetup on the Wednesday evening and the program itself is full of Twitter users.  We’re asking that people use the hashtag #RCAC09 to let us keep track of the conversation.

The program itself is spectacular.  You can check it out online at our website http://www.westernrcac.org or get a sense of the messages below.

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It’s a  great day for learning for all and, if you’re in the Western Ontario region, we’d invite you to join us.  A number of members from COCA have over the years and that makes the day so rich for all of us.

Finally, I favourited this Tweet from @thecleversheep last year.  Here’s his advice.

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I hope to see many of my blog readers on Thursday.

Dec 8 2009

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