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.

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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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Today I worked with my 7th grade World Civilizations class on an activity designed to connect their thoughts about the decline of the Roman Empire wit...

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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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Happy National Lutheran Schools Week! Do you want to hear why our students love attending our school? Click here and follow the link to the first grad...

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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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Saturday I had the privilege of attending Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation -- a single day conference which drew over 200 participants, primarily public school teachers, to discuss technology and education. It was a fascinating and beneficial day. You may view some of the conversations here.

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Here is a list of links which may be of interest to teachers in Lutheran schools:

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I've been intrigued by the educational possibilities of Wordle, an online site which converts text into beautiful word clouds. The service works by pasting text or a link into the creation tools, and a word cloud will result. Here is a cloud from President Obama's inaugural address.

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