NECC a view from inside

So how can I describe NECC to someone who has not been to one?  There is no way to describe the ISTE NECCE conference, but to say BOOT CAMP.  A Boot Camp that is for educators from around the world.  The Washington DC Conference Center is swarming with educators from all facets, teachers, administrators, techies, higher-ed, students, you name it and they are there, not just hundreds of them, but thousands of them.  The halls, ballrooms, exhibit halls, floors, not an electrical outlet was left lonely for any length of time, not a wireless system with any room for another person to log into.  If any group can test and take down the best facilities wireless, this group can.  They can also test the food vendors’ capacity to stay stocked, the air condition system to stay on, and the transportation system during rush hour.

            That does not begin to explain the frenzy.  Lets start with the first day, Monday, although it is technically day 3 with two days of “pre-conference” workshops going on, not to mention an excellent keynote speaker, Malcolm Gladwell (we will get to his speech later!).  The selection of events is so comprehensive, and so excellent, you find yourself tossing a coin to pick a session because there are so many great options, and chances are you have been locked out of something at least once during the week dur to maximum capacity.  There are meeting, forums and summits, playgrounds, student showcases, poster sessions, concurrent sessions, spotlights, model lessons, BYOLs, Open source labs, lectures, and panels, research papers, and that is just the morning.  The process never stops, and of course you must visit the exhibit area to meet the vendors, win cool prizes and meet great people.  I am exhausted just typing all of this, just try lugging around a laptop, phone, camera, books you purchases, T-shirts and prizes you won, finding a seat in a program, and actually finding a place to eat, let alone finding a place to eat while your computer is recharging, and you text the family you left behind for the week.

            The question you have to ask is why, why would a reasonable adult sit on the floor stuffin in a lunch in less that 10 minutes, that they stood in line for 30 or more minutes waiting to purchase, while recharging the computer, sending out tweets, and emails, watching other programs going on, making txts and returning calls from the district back home?  Because we care, because we want to become the best, we want to grow the best teams, the best students, and the best classes.  We all have a BHAG, it might not be spelled out, but we all have one.  It is an honor to sit beside some of the most caring, hard working inspirational people in education.  It is a humbling experience, to realize that no matter how good we are, how far we have come, we have so much to learn from each other.  Growing my PLN was not the only growth I experienced this week; by the way, I have two more days to GrOw!

#NECC09 Pre Conference Day

So, I have arrived in Washington DC for the NECC 09 Conference and have take one day to be a tourist before the Technology unleashes and I don't come up for air until it is over. I plan to immerse myself as much as possible in the glory of the feeding frenzy, although not as much as others might. I call myself an NECC newbie, but did attend in Philly a few years back. At the time I was way too new at all of this and I did not know what to expect. This time, I have tried to plan each day out, knowing full well I will make adjustments, and knowing also I will not be able to see everything I want. That is probably why I left my hotel around 9 AM today and was gone for 10 hours.

The day started with purchasing the "Old Town Trolley" tour ticket and walking to the nearest trolly pick up. Arriving just in time for the FIRST pick up of the day we departed in front of the Willard Hotel. Much to my surprise we discovered there were two events going on in the area, the BBQ cookoff and a Arts Festival. This just added to the to do list for the day. I have never spent significant time in DC, so I had a long to do list. This was my day to see it all. The Trolley took us all over the downtown area, past many beautiful large buildings with important names. We drove past the White House, Washington Monument, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Veitnam Memorial and the Korean War Veterans Memorial. Stopping to walk around several of the sites to quietly pay respects.

The museum list that I visited was quite lengthy as well. The Museum of American History, Natural History Museum, the National Gallery of Art and the Air & Space Museum, all provided shade and cool air as I made my rounds for the day. Of course there was lunch at the BBQ festival and water at the Art Festival. If I could have possible fit more in I would have.

As it turns out our hotel is a hotspot for tourists, Reese Witherspoon and several other big names are filming a move across the street. Maybe I will see stars this week. I have to say I am looking forward to the opening night keynote speaker and all of the events I have scheduled for this up coming week. I did survive my day without much technology, only a cell phone to text my kids back home and of course a camera to document my travels.

As I toured the city, I could not help but think about the options of documenting my trip for a digital story, and how I could create one on many different platforms. To name just a few there is PhotoStory3, Voicethread, blabberize, and of course using my MAC, which by the way is my favorite. I think blabberize would be good for short stories for younger age groups, while photostory is free, voice thread is online and the MAC I have to admit is the more expensive of the choices, but still my favorite. I also thought of a Geocaching project, and many others, so while my day was for sight seeing, I was still processing what you could do educationally with all of this stuff.

Time to rest and get ready for the week, I am sure I will be thinking in my sleep, a habit I cannot seem to break right now. Web 2.0 and new technologies are like riding the rapids, blink and you will be bumped off the boat, floating down the river without a paddle.

What was life like BG? . . . Before Google

So there has been much debate and bantering about the use of Google and its validity in my recent grad course. It got me thinking. I have not been a proponent of Google per say, but I have found myself more of an admirer lately and I have to stop and think why, and is this really good?

Am I just using Google because it is the easiest way to find something or are there some other reasons that draw me to that URL? This will require some thought. The first thing I noticed about the Google search engine, way back when (1998) was the lack of clutter. Being a digital immigrant who is somewhat comfortable with technology, I am distracted by the clutter on other search engine pages. I like the simple straight forward look of Google. I can get in, get what I want without being distracted and drawn to other sites. Does this make me ADD? I am not sure, I will have to research that question later!

After my initial experiences with Google, I have started to appreciate the assortment of tools and gadgets offered by Google and the possibilities it presents. Google Scholar, Maps, Reader, Earth, Calendar, Documents and Gmail have become some of my latest favorites. I see the value in such collaborative tools for the educational community. Twitter and Blogs are full of great tips and ideas for educators Barely a day goes by without seeing someone twitter or blog about the latest, greatest uses of something Google related.

So what is wrong with using Google? If you are looking for credible, information that is research based, you might have to look deeper. Google gives results by popularity of a site, it is therefore not always the best tool to use. Sometimes when you are looking for something specific, it it better to go to a smaller specialty store, the same can be true for search engines.

If you are looking for what search engine to use under different circumstances the best resource I have found is NoodleTools : http://www.noodletools.com . Here you will find recommendations on what search engine to use under a variety of circumstances. Whether you need to do research in a specific area, find the best primary sources, or find timelines, NoodleTools will lead you in the right direction. The list of research options seems limitless.

So is Google good or bad? I will have to leave that up to you.