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The Long and Winding Road
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 8 years on 'tuesdays" and watch the technologies change. I will be going tomorrow and will report back the most interesting things that I hope will engage you also.
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Did you know that you can get all the resources, handouts and information from FETC? For the past three 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. New technologies are fun, but we must remember how quickly technology changes. Just four 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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FETC is a great platform for sharing lessons learned. My favorite private school, Conchita Espinosa Academy in Miami, has taken bold steps in becoming a technology-rich, learning centered school. Lynda Hastings, their technology specialist, will be doing a presentation on "The Long and Winding Road" to their 1:1 iPad initiative that they are implementing this year. Lynda also submitted her story in an iBook that she is happy to share. She sees this format as Conchita's message in a bottle and would love to see where it goes, who reads it and what they think. If you would like to download the book, you will need the iBooks app on an Apple device. Click here for a copy of "The Long and Winding Road" especially if you are considering a 1:1 initiative. Lynda says that it feels like a global faculty room. My favorite part of her iBook is that she embedded video examples of students learning with the iPads from Pre-K to 6th grade. The cutest video of all is the student version for an AUP (Acceptable Use Policy). It's precious. I think her book may be the most encouraging format for considering and implementing any 1:1 initiative.
Lynda Hastings' introduction page to her iBook
"The Long and Winding Road"
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How do you keep up with the latest technology? Well, frankly, you can't. Technology and change go hand-in-hand so we just need to be able to roll with it. The best advice I can give any educator is to try new things if and only if it will increase student engagement and there is a learning outcome. For instance, I have no idea what will be the latest and greatest technology at FETC this year, but I will filter it all through the lens of what is best for the students, how will it help them learn and can they create something that proves what they've learned. I love working the floor at FETC to see what's effective and to attend as many concurrent sessions as possible and sometimes I find an older technology that someone puts a unique spin on and I can then reconsider it. Obviously, I will have important information to report back to you next week and hope you continue to learn new strategies and techniques that make technology come alive to your students. Off to FETC!
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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. |
