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FETC 2013
It is so hard for classroom teachers to leave their students to attend conferences. It is also very difficult to prepare for a substitute and for schools to pick up the cost of travel, registration and sub pay. Yet, conferences offer teachers some of the greatest professional development opportunities anywhere. My absolute favorite technology conference is FETC (Florida Educational Technology Conference) in Orlando each year. I have learned so much, gained skills and broaden my network of tech buddies more than any other place. It's been really fun to write about FETC for the past 7 years on 'tuesdays" and watch the technologies change. This "tuesdays" I am writing from FETC!
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Don't be discouraged. You can be at FETC! For the past two years Edmodo has made FETC accessible to everyone. Each presenter has a "course" in Edmodo that you can join giving you access to their handouts and any discussions with the participants. You can also download the free app for FETC that will give you all the course codes. Simply use the FETC session numbers as the course code in Edmodo and you are connected. Even if you can attend FETC, you cannot possibly attend every session and hear every speaker. For those sessions that you would have loved to attend, join their "course" in Edmodo. Even if the speaker hasn't loaded all their resources, you will have access to their contact information. You can then make a request for their presentation handouts and resources.
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Don't be discouraged. You can be at FETC! For the past two years Edmodo has made FETC accessible to everyone. Each presenter has a "course" in Edmodo that you can join giving you access to their handouts and any discussions with the participants. You can also download the free app for FETC that will give you all the course codes. Simply use the FETC session numbers as the course code in Edmodo and you are connected. Even if you can attend FETC, you cannot possibly attend every session and hear every speaker. For those sessions that you would have loved to attend, join their "course" in Edmodo. Even if the speaker hasn't loaded all their resources, you will have access to their contact information. You can then make a request for their presentation handouts and resources.
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 At any of these educational conferences, there is SO much information that it's so hard to take it all in. My best advice is to study the conference program, look for patterns and find something that you could actually implement. Going to the Technology Smackdown or App Shoot-out is SO exciting, but can make your head spin. Just have fun, learn as much as you can while seeking application to the classroom. Anything that can engage the students is priority #1. New technologies are fun, but we must remember how quickly technology changes. Just three years ago, we thought having access to conferences through podcasts was high tech, but now we can almost be there through apps and Edmodo. It's a great time to be an educator!
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| What is "tuesdays with Karen"?
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"tuesdays with Karen" is a weekly newsletter/blog designed to encourage, equip and empower teachers to be creative with educational technology. Please add your technology comments to my "tuesdays with Karen" blog. |
