Collaboration, Community and ISTE 2011

This article is cross posted at the Technology & Learning Advisor blog.

Last week I had the pleasure to attend the annual International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference in Philadelphia. This was really exciting for me since the last time it was even near me, I am in Southern New Jersey, was when it came to Washington, DC. Even then, it was far enough away that the budget, both mine and the school district's, was only able to handle one day. That day was spent just trying to make it through the vendor area, and poster board sessions.  Talk about a head spinning, overload of information!! This year was going to be different.

If you couldn't make it this year I suggest that you check out the following resources to give you a "flavor" of what you missed.  As well as the opportunity to get some quality PD.

Here you go:

1. The ISTE YouTube Channel - It has some great videos of the key notes (see Chris Lehman's and be inspired), interviews and overviews of the conference.


2. The ISTE Unplugged Wiki - It was created for those that always wanted to present but were not selected.  This wiki, run by Steve Hargadon, allowed attendees to sign up for spots to present to their peers. Don't be fooled, the recorded sessions (45 of them) have some good quality PD. Check it out!


3. Use your Twitter hash tags to search out some good information that you may have missed.  Just do a search for #ISTE2011, #ISTE11 or, if you are an ISTE member and belong to a Special Interest Group SIG just plug-in the initials of your group.

As huge as this conference was it was still all about collaboration and sharing.  If you went and just wandered around this year with stopping in a "Playground," or a poster session you missed out.  For example, I was walking through the videoconferencing playground and got a chance to stop and talk, live, with the distance learning person at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  I got a fantastic resource from a guy who was just sitting there on a computer screen waiting for someone to talk to him.  Overall, it was a chance to see the best of the best showing off their talents and being more than willing to tell you about how they do it.  That's what it's all about.

If you went, keep sharing and innovating. If you didn't, try to go when you can and look for the resources that are still out there for the taking.  There are plenty of blogs for information as well as other resources from this conference.  Do some searching, it will take you a whole lot less time then getting through the vendor area.  I can promise you that!!

Innovate, Collaborate and Achieve!

As educators we can boast that we integrate technology, but can we do it meaningfully, and thoughtfully, to achieve our curricular goals?  I have seen, far too many times, technology used just because it is there or it looks good during an observation. I too am enticed by the newest instructional technologies on the market and sometimes just look for a way to include it somewhere in someone's curriculum. But, we have to remember to keep things in perspective and see where we, and our students, stand with our technology integration skills.

Are our students really as skilled and prepared as we, and they, think that they are? Overall they are used to using technology for entertainment. They need to learn how to use it as a tool to innovate and leverage for maximum benefit to achieve their goals. Students need to see that the technology that entertains is also the same technology that teaches and helps them innovate, collaborate and create.

Let computers do the computing! You are the ones that will encourage and engage your students through your passion for learning. Kids are more savvy than we give them credit for, the can sense it when we are "forcing" it. If we can learn how to do this, and use our creativity and innovation skills to get the technologies to do what we want them to do, amazing things can happen. But, this isn't always easy since many of us see technology as an analytical tool and not a creative one.

We need to be fearless in our teaching and we need to take control of our own learning. We need to be researchers and collaborators who move forward with the help of our colleagues. Furthermore, school leaders need to build a culture that fosters meaningful integration of technology that has measurable results. We all need a "road map" for success. Sometime we just need the path drawn out for us until we can create one for ourselves.

Students need to know that the same social media that they use to connect with their friends is the same one that can teach and connect them with very well-known, and well-educated people. They can "friend' and "follow" these experts, educators and innovators to enhance their learning. Technology has great potential to allow people to express their viewpoints that they may not otherwise share. It can unleash a great debate with minds and scholars once thought unreachable. We can't let this opportunity pass us by!

If you have done this for any period of time then you know that technology integration is a "messy" thing and nobody has really come up with a "clean" way of  handling it. If you think you do, or even don't, then speak up and share your thoughts. That's why we have the "Comments" feature on this blog. So, let's collaborate, debate and share right here and now. Our futures depend on it!

Inspiration When We Need It Most

This article is cross posted at the Technology & Learning Advisor blog.

Recently, I have seen too many news stories about school budgets being voted down, federal educational technology programs no longer being funded, and the continued attacks on educators from politicians and other organizations. I know that this has been going on for a while but it has really made me reflect on where we are in terms of the state of our educational programs in this country and the attitude we must take. We are a country that is supposed to be a leader in this world and we are spending more time, and money, pointing fingers then trying to fix our problems.

As educators we are supposed to be preparing our students for their futures as wise content consumers and producers. Savvy technology users that can innovate, collaborate, and be creative with a global perspective. Yet, for the most part, we continue to feel demoralized for not being given the proper support and tools to achieve these goals.

Now that I have vented, I want to put this into perspective. I want you all to meet Moliehi Sekese, a Microsoft Worldwide Innovative Teacher Award recipient. Moliehi, from the very small and poor South African country of Lesotho, has been globally recognized as an innovative integrator of technology. Her class size is about 100 students, that is not a typo, and the school does not have electricity. But she uses her personal laptop, as long as the battery lasts, and some innovative teaching techniques to teach and integrate technology. Please take time to listen to her words in the video below and read her story on Ewan McIntosh's bog. You can also, read more and see a longer interview on the Cool Cat Teacher Blog. She is an amazing woman who can teach us all how to be innovators in a time when we need it the most. As you will hear her say,

"Stop blaming the challenges. Use a stumbling block as a stepping stone to success."

So, if you are feeling sorry for yourself when you are faced with the one computer classroom or you can't get that new set of mobile devices for your school, take a minute and remember Moliehi, and what she doing to be innovative, successful and inspiring to her students and colleagues. She is certainly an example for all of us to remember when we think we can't overcome a challenge.

I will leave you with this quote, by Dr. Martin Luther King:

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.

It serves as a reminder to me when I get upset or depressed about that challenges that I face everyday as I try to help the teachers and students in my school district achieve their goals to become twenty-first century workers and learners. I hope it inspires you to move forward as well. I know that Moliehi is a living example.

Prove Your Concept First!

This article is cross posted at the Technology & Learning Advisor blog.

There are many blog posts, articles, and debates going on among colleagues around the idea of whether education, as a whole, should be run more like a business or not. I have seen people on both ends of the spectrum on this issue as well as some with no real opinion. But, I really believe that this is worth discussing within the context of educational technology. Especially since school districts are investing so much money in their technology programs and are expected to infuse it throughout their curricula. So, a wise "business" model is a good idea.

Being in the position of technology coordinator, I have to play both sides of the line on this topic since my job requires that I be part educator and businessman. I am an educator first and, for the most part, look at the educational value of a technology before I look at the cost. If its value to the students and teachers is great enough, which means it can improve on teaching and learning, than it is worth the investment (if we have the funds). With that said you still have to do your "homework."

Besides the obvious research on-line and sales representatives coming to your school to give you their presentations. Educators really should look at the value that the proof of concept model can bring to their experience. In the economic climate that we are in educational technology vendors are clamoring for your business and, for the most part, are willing to let you "test drive" their products for a period of time at no charge.

I know that, for the most part, this is easily done with software and the ubiquitous 30-day trial version. But, doing this with hardware is of even more value and can really let you know if the technology is right for you and your students before you make your decisions. Plus, it can save your district money.

For example, my school district was looking to purchase about fifty laptops, and assistive technologies, under a federal grant for our special needs students. When approached with this project I assembled a committee of stakeholders that included teachers, administrators and technology staff. We contacted vendors and let them know our needs and usage requirements. We also attended workshops about assistive technologies and researched software and hardware solutions to gain a scope of knowledge to make an informed decision. Each vendor was of course very interested in our business. So, I felt comfortable enough to ask for some products to prove our concept and their use in an adaptive technology situation. One was a PC vendor who sent us two different model laptops to keep, for free, to test out with our students and staff. The other, Apple Computers, allowed us to take advantage of their Mac Integration Program (MIP).

We were very hesitant about bringing in a large quantity of Macs into our PC based network and had a lot of questions as to how they would integrate. So, the MIP was the best thing to do to prove our concept not only for the IT staff on the networking side, but also the most important end users, our teachers and students. The MIP program gave us a server, with an engineer to install it, as well as computers to test out for a period of one month. They came in gave us some training, and also spoke to our committee about what the computers could do for our special needs students, for no charge.

Through this experience, we were able to prove our concept that they would not only work on our Windows network, but that they had enough assistive/adaptive technologies built into their systems that we would actually realize a cost savings due to the fact that we would not have to purchase additional hardware or software. So, we really learned a lot about our choices and proved our the concept that we can make the Apple computers connect and function on a Windows-based PC network.

Since then we have repeatedly tested products under the proof of concept model and have been able to get better instructional technologies and save our district money. Our teachers are happier, more effective and learning is improving. Also, via this model we have realized cost savings by finding out that sometimes a product is too much for the actual need and a better result was achieved through a different, or less expensive option.

Case in point, we were buying $700-$800 document cameras. We are now buying $70 document cameras that give the teachers the results they desired for a fraction of the price. This allowed us to purchase more of them and get them into the classrooms faster. The teachers are very pleased and so are our taxpayers!

The moral of this story is that you really should not be afraid to ask vendors for products in order to see if they are going to work for you or not. Most will really go out of their way to help you out. You don't have to be a technology coordinator or administrator either. You are their customer and your students deserve to have instructional technologies that will best help them learn.

Now go out there and ask for "stuff," to prove your concept. You will be pleasantly surprised as to what you will find out.