Countdown To ISTE 2014

Looking forward to some great learning at ISTE this year and to presenting. More to come on that later.

The Connected Learning Connected World theme this year has many great sessions, keynotes, and learning opportunities.

Phones - Then and Now

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Cell phones have come a long way from the original Motorola DynaTAC handheld mobile phone created 41 years ago by Dr. Martin Cooper in 1973.

Who would have guessed that mobile phones would eventually evolve to the streamlined size and amazing capabilities that the smart phones of today have?

The evolution of smart phones is a testament to the development and rapid advancement of gadgets and technology in general. Just as mobile phones have expanded in rich feature sets while lowering the purchase cost, the continued development and production of other technology such as iPads and the myriad of Chromebook laptops is following a similar trajectory of more features with a smaller footprint size and a lower cost of ownership.

As the use of mobile technology and phones in the classroom approaches a new level of acceptability and proliferation, iPads and smart phones allow for students to connect and collaborate in ways unlike ever before.

How Did We Remember Anything Before Facebook?

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Life has been hectic for me over this past week. Hectic might not even be an adequate enough word. Lots of memories of family gatherings, every day happenings, and precious moments bubbling to the surface during long travel to and from my father's funeral. I felt myself mentally straining to remember the names of some absent distant cousins and locations of vacation spots from long ago as I listened to random stories of his exploits great and small, unusual and commonplace, some familiar and others totally new to me.

Prior to Facebook, remembering or even knowing about all of the day-to-day events in a person's life, ranging from mundane occurrences to exciting events and vacations, depended upon either being present or sharing details afterwards during family or social gatherings or during the weekly or month phone call home. How many small details were forgotten by the time those calls were placed and how many details were remembered afterward?

Social networking tools like Facebook have created a fabric of memories that can be shared with family members, friends, and strangers alike, both near and far, and revisited and referenced afterward. How much richer will memories be for those with whom we choose to share the events of our lives enriched with photos and links to videos and websites compared to relying on the dendrites and synapses of our brains to record and retrieve the same information?

#Blogjune Begins

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I'm beginning the month of blogjune in which I'll be attempting to blog every day of the month. Blogjune is a month-long blogging initiative first started by Constance Wiebrands and is now in its fifth year.

The entire list of participating blogs can be found on Wiebrands' blog, Flexnib.

There are no penalties for not blogging every day, but the effort to do so is reward in itself. Blogging on a regular basis has been a long-standing goal of mine for this blog, but due to life happening on a regular basis I have not been able to maintain even a weekly schedule. I'm looking forward to attempting a daily blog, even if for only one month.

Presenting At ISTE

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It's almost the beginning of June and at this time every year I'm getting ready for the ISTE Conference (International Society for Technology in Education). ISTE is an amazing four days of instructional technology ideas, movers and shakers, networking, and practical inspirations.

This year I'm presenting on Superhero Strengthbuilders for EdTech Coaches - tips and strategies for anyone new to being an instructional technology coach or any administrator beginning to think about the need to create an edtech coach position to support their staff with integrating technology into the classroom.

MAASFEP Conference

I will be presenting on some of the personalized learning work that we have been doing in my district at the MAASFEP Conference March 20.

TIES Technology Conference 2013

I am excited to be presenting at the upcoming TIES Technology Conference December 16 and 17.