Lately I have found myself asking questions about things I encounter and researching the answers. Today was a great example of this. My family and I traveled to Frisco, CO where we visited the Frisco Historical Museum. As we wondered through the various exhibits and structures that have been preserved, I viewed an notice on newsprint that was used for the insulation for the house advertising a product called Schlitz Malt Syrup. I am familiar with the history of Schilitz beer but I never heard of this product.

After some investigation I found that this was a product created and sold by the Schlitz company during Prohibition. All breweries were forced to create new products and diversify in order to survive. Malt syrup was marketed as a cooking product during this era.

[Read the rest of this article...]

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:

[Read the rest of this article...]