A Poor Man's Guide to NECC 2009

For those of us who are not fortunate enough to attend NECC 2009 (National Educational Computing Conference), this blog is for you. First of all, what is NECC about? NECC is all about educational technology. At this national (or should I say, international) conference, you can find information on virtual educational worlds that exist only in Second Life, the latest classroom gadgets, debates on 1-1 computing and cell phones, the latest on Doodle, Moodle, and Google and much, much more.

1st stop: The Official Website
Official NECC 2009 Website
Program Search allows you to browse over 1000 different sessions by audience, theme, among other filters. By clicking on individual program titles you will be presented with an overview of the event along with links to websites, Nings, handouts, and emails. You can also find research papers here.
ISTE Connects provides for live video streaming of NECC 2009 events using UStream technology that allows you to participate in a back channel conversation while listening/watching the live event. You can also participate in debate forums and follow Twitter feeds.

2nd stop: Social Networking
Blogs. At last check there were well over 100 attendees blogging about what they are finding at the conference. Some bloggers might wait till the conference is over while others might engage in live blogging. Check a variety of bloggers to find those who might be coming from a similar grade level or content area.
Twitter. Follow isteconnects on twitter. Then go a step further and follow some of the 1800 people who are following isteconnects. You can also search #necc09 to see all the tagged tweets related to NECC 2009.
Facebook. Join the ISTE group on Facebook. You might want to check out ISTE's related groups as well, for example, Classroom 2.0 would be a group to join. You won't feel the benefit of this group until you connect with members and participate in the discussion board.
NECC Ning. This online NECC community is a place to share ideas, videos, links, photos, and more. You maintain your own page, add to forums, and join specialized groups. Lots of contacts to be made here. And if you want video, check out ISTEvision to view popular sessions. If you want a year-round community then join the ISTE Community Ning as well.

3rd stop: Social Bookmarking
Delicious. Use the popular social bookmarking site to see all the shared links that have been tagged with "necc." At last count there were 4560 bookmarks here. Use the drill-down feature to find websites that connect to your subject area and/or grade level.

Digital Native/Immigrant is the Wrong Analogy

SOCIAL LEARNING
Those in education or Instructional Technology fields have heard the notion that our students are "digital natives" and the over-40 crowd of teachers are "digital immigrants." I have a slightly different take on this idea. When it comes to technology, I've concluded that our students are "social natives" and "learning immigrants" while teachers are "social immigrants" and "learning natives."

Our student's top priorities in the use of technology is 1)being social and 2)being entertained. Our top priority is learning. It is the marriage of these two priorities that lead to powerful social learning experiences. The power behind web 2.0 tools is the ability to communicate and share with large numbers of people. It is the skilled educator that can get students to take the leap toward using these tools to power their own learning experiences.

Facebook and MySpace are used by students to share pictures, meet girls/boys, leave messages but do those same students know how to use a Ning to develop and share ideas around physics or U.S. History? Students use status updates to share where they are heading on a Friday night but do those students know how to use Twitter to share ideas about an upcoming project? Students use YouTube to be entertained by babies farting baby powder clouds but do students know how to use YouTube to learn, instruct, and share ideas and information that will further their learning? Students use Photobucket to share pictures from the concert they attended but can they create, collect, share meaningful photo essays about important concepts or geographical locations. Students use their cell phones as a text generator but can they use their cell phone to stay organized, collect information, conduct interviews among many other things. Students use their iPod Touch to listen to music and play games but do they use their iPod Touch as a reference tool, organizer, recording device, or photo editor.

It's our job to learn how to use these tools and devices and to teach students to become "social learners," a place where information and connectivity collide.

The Human Filter-Moving Students Beyond Google

How do people decide what to tag or share? I tag items that have personal meaning but they need to be useful, relevant, thought-provoking or maybe just entertaining. Are my tagged items better than a Google Search? I would hope. Does columnist Jay Mathew's Washington Post article on Senior Project come up in a Google Search? Not in the first two pages. How about a useful mindmap of Twitter tools? Nope. A nice list of analogies used for AP Psych review? Nope. A great video demonstrating how an MRI works? Ok, Google got that one if I search "how does an MRI work?"

In the past month, out of the hundreds of posts, sites, links, tweets, updates, and emails I've decided to tag 16 links. I've become a human filter for anyone who is interested in Psychology, Senior Projects, Technology, and Education.

I've tagged 5 sites that are specific to my course or professional duties (psychology and Senior Project). These include an anatomy review site, an analogies review worksheet, a video on how an MRI machine works and two articles about Senior Project.

I tagged 4 sites about hardware/software which include a mini-projector device, a tool to provide audio to slides using your cell phone, a concept map of Twitter tools and a list of ways to use a flip video camera in the classroom.

I tagged 3 sites about general educational issues that include using Google Apps for Education, leadership needed to push 1-1 computing in our schools, and creating electronic portfolios for students k-12.

Finally, I've tagged 4 random sites that reflect some personal interest that include NPR's coverage of the SXSW Music Festival, a photography portfolio, a crime tracking tool using Google Maps, and an online application to present at an educational technology conference.

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Instructional Practice in Action

I recently wrote a mini-grant for a Flip Mino HD Camcorder with the intended purpose of visiting classrooms and recording specific instructional practices for other teachers to view. Sometimes, while sitting in a workshop or reading a book it is difficult to imagine the practice in action. The idea behind this project is to see teachers using specific instructional practices in actual classroom settings.
The Flip Mino allows me to sit in a class without a distracting setup and record the class as it normally would progress. Additionally, I then can come back to my computer, insert the Flip USB connection and have the video on YouTube within minutes. I then use Google Sites to archive the videos within the context of a webpage. I call this site Instructional Practices in Action. So far, I have 3 videos that take a look at storytelling, generating discussion, and active listening. My initial thought was to keep this site within our own district but I would entertain the thought of hosting other videos as long as it was specific to an identified instructional practice and the video was recorded in an actual classroom setting. I also like to keep each clip at less than 10 minutes.
So please take a look at Instructional Practices in Action and let me know what you think.