NECC07 Final Thoughts…

WOW! I am home and reflecting on my experience at NECC07. I learned so much, but yet felt like there were things I missed. Tim Tyson, principal of Mabry Middle School in Atlanta was inspiring. His keynote was a great way to wrap up the conference. If you missed his keynote address, take the time to go visit some of the powerful videos that his students have developed. I believe that they are posted on iTunes.

I learned about how educators are integrating technology tools such as iPods, blogging, video game development, Second Life, wikispaces, open source software, and animation software to engage students. They are using the ISTE standards, as well as the professional development standards to guide them. One thing that stuck out was that there are many reasons for professional development, but if we aren’t doing it to further student learning, then we really shouldn’t be doing it. That is what NECC07 was all about.

The best part of it all was the networking – meeting people, sharing ideas, and finding out what others are doing! It was powerful and engaging for me. I want to put into practice immediately some of the things I have learned. Hopefully others at work will share my enthusiasm. What are your thoughts on NECC07?

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How are you using Second Life as an Educator?

I just sat through an awesome presentation at the 2007 NECC conference by Peggy Sheehy, Ramapo Central School District/Suffern Middle School ” Ramapo Islands: Another Dimension of Learning”

They have developed a private island for their middle school students in Second Life. I am completely new to Second Life. I just signed up today. My avatar is TinaM Lane. I would like to hear from you if you are an educator and how you are using it, either personally, or in the classroom, or if you have some ideas or have heard of ideas for the future. Thanks for posting! Tina

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Does Your School Use Open Source Software?

Does your school use open source software? Our school is a career technology center (11-12 and adults). We are preparing students to go out into the workplace. We have advisory committees from the community that come in and tell us what software applications are being used. Most of the time it is Microsoft Office applications. The president of our school board would like us to pursue open source. I am not opposed to it at all. I am not seeing it being used much in the community. How could I pursue this idea? The mindset of most of the teachers are that the only thing out there are the Microsoft, Adobe and CAD products. They tell us that these are the products that the industries are using and that is what the students need to have on their resumes. Your thoughts? Tina

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Welcome to Ms. Tina’s Blog

Welcome to Ms. Tina’s Blog. This is my first blog. I am a Technology Director. I am at the NECC Conference in Atlanta. I am in a session on blogging being held by David Warlick. He is an outstanding presenter. We are learning all about Web 2.0. I wish I had my boss here with me to see all the cool things I have seen the last couple of days. I know that he would be eating this up. I will definitely need to type up a report of some kind to give him an insight into what I think we should do in the future with technology. Schools are using wiki’s and blogs in unique ways.

I sat in on a session yesterday on gaming development. We are a “technology center” but we have people who don’t even know what a wiki or a blog is! I have to admit that I need to get with the program as well. I need to go to more conferences like NECC. I think I get caught up in the daily grind of doing my job and have trouble keeping up with the latest technology and what schools are doing with it. This is just the shot in the arm that I needed to help me feel motivated about my job! I’ve really been struggling lately because I feel like my ideas are not valued in my workplace. I feel I am seen as the “technology janitor” and not a technology integrator.

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