I have been sharing links to blog posts of other participants at the recent International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in Denver via my Twitter account and thought it was time to share my own impressions of this event. This was my second ISTE conference (formerly NECC) which I was privileged to attend and I found this to be an even more rewarding experience than my previous conference.

I believe the key reason I was able to benefit so much more from this ISTE experience is that I did a much better job of planning my time in advance of the conference. The conference itself and all the activity associated with the event can be overwhelming. It is clear to me that a study of the session program, a plan of attack for which vendors to approach in the exhibit hall (if one chooses to set foot in their at all), and a list of those folks with whom you want to personally connect is important for a satisfying experience. Fortunately, I was prepared to do all of these things in 2010.

 

Here is a list of observations and activities which were meaningful to me at the conference, listed in no particular order:

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I was working on a number of project during the day today. While I was working I was monitoring the Twitter posts of those I follow from the world of educational technology. One of my favorite leaders in this field is educational technology futurist Alan November. Apparently he was giving a keynote speech this afternoon somewhere in California. As posts appeared I began gathering them in a single document to share with my colleagues at Shepherd of the Hills. Here are the quotes I collected from Alan November:

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My keyboard has been silent. My attention has been elsewhere. My voice has been quiet. Yet, it is time to get back to blogging. It is time to blog onc...

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I would like to introduce you to our school 21st Century Skills wiki. This wiki has been created to document specific lessons and projects used with students at Shepherd of the Hills that connect to standards within the core curriculum but also build practical skills for a student's future. We have identified and defined eight specific 21st Century Skills, and now anyone may view the activities which serve to build these skills.

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Don't forget to check out and participate in the Online Conference for 21st Century Lutheran Education, being held for the first time this week, Thursday through Saturday. You may participate live in the scheduled sessions, or view archived content at a later time.

There are many sessions of interest to teachers in Lutheran schools. Here are some of the highlighted sections:

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I'm still struggling with making blogging a priority -- struggling with the knowledge that there are resources which I'm finding that may be useful fo...

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Over time with the help of others I've built a series of questions that may be used for reviewing the infrastructure, technology curriculum, staff dev...

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I am a firm believer in the power of the wiki as an exceptional tool for 21st century learning. To that end, Wes Fryer has some good thoughts about ho...

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As some of you know, we've instituted an intentional plan for integrating key 21st century skills within the core curriculum at my school this year. T...

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Here are my NECC notes from a session entitled Virtual Opportunities: Interactive Strategies for Online Instruction. This was a panel discussion highlighting best practices for teaching and learning online. This session had particular relevance for me since I've started teaching online courses through Concordia University Wisconsin and the MTM Project. This is a growing area in the field of education -- one which opens the doors for all kinds of new learning, and all kinds of new skills to facilitate this learning. Here are the notes:

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Here are some unedited notes from a session at NECC about strategies for online discussion. I personally found this session very helpful in thinking about instruction strategies for a new era with new tools. Here are those notes:

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Here are some links which may be of interest to teachers in Lutheran schools that I've uncovered this past week:

• Google is opening their popular Gmail email service to testers in trying out new features. Some of these features may eventually be permanently incorporated in Google Apps, which may be used by schools. Full article.

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Over the past week I've compiled a short list of potential professional development resources for teachers in my building. While this is by no means a comprehensive list, I thought that the list might be worth sharing. Each of these books, sites, and activities relate to education and technology in some way. I've encouraged each teacher to be proactive as far as their own learning this summer as part of the process of restoring energy and passion for future service.

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My friend Alan in California has started to blog. His blog, while not having a long list of posts as of yet, does provide some insights into the work of a technology specialist and the struggle that persists in pushing educational and technological change in our Lutheran schools.

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Perhaps you have seen this video which is making the rounds in education circles. It is a powerful video in speaking to the changes in education that are essential to best serve our students in preparing them for THEIR future.

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As I was sharing my presentation on Preparing the 21st Century Student at the LEA Convocation on Friday, a comment from a participant prompted me to recognize that I missed an opportunity related to technology and education on my recent trip with our 8th grade trip to Washington DC. What I should have done is brought along my mp3 player, which also has a digital recorder. Then I could have recorded the immediate reactions of students to the sites we were viewing and comments on what they were learning. The students could have then edited these comments into a podcast and shared them with the school, their parents, and other interested listeners.

 

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I spent some time the past two days participating in a live blogging session with the folks from Faith Lutheran in Las Vegas . They created sessions for their staff designed to hone in more

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One of the blessings of living and teaching in this modern era is that I have the opportunity to learn from colleagues in ways that teachers 10 years ago never dreamed about. For instance, today I

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I was sent this eLections link through the Lutheran School Portal . It looks as if it is an excellent election simulation for middle school and high school students. When I tried out the

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I've put together some new teacher inservice ideas for a half-day session. These ideas may be viewed here . The plan for this inservice is to help teachers gather some professional development and

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