ISTE, OER, Moodle…oh MY! Tips for a successful ISTE 2010 experience

ISTE, OER, Moodle…oh MY! Tips for a successful ISTE 2010 experience

The annual ISTE 2010 conference is right around the corner, and it is refreshing to see how much has changed at NECC (now ISTE) since the dot-com boom days of for-profit ed tech companies spending gobs of venture capital funds by raffling off VW beetles, to serious discussions about open education resources (OER) and non-profit organizations focused on teacher effectiveness and student achievement. I am excited for this year’s conference as many of the discussions will involve the growth of OER and mobile technologies; which is a key direction that PBS TeacherLine will be moving in the coming years. We are also focusing our efforts on assiting schools and districts implement the Common Core Standards in their teachers’ classrooms.




Here are a few tips I would like to share as I ready myself for the ISTE 2010 conference this week.



Make sure you leave time in your agenda for unexpected conversations. Don’t schedule every minute of your day; leave some space for reflective thought or time to meet someone for coffee/snacks/drinks to discuss what you heard in a previous workshop/meeting. These can be some of the most rewarding and useful meetings you will have.

Take a few minutes everyday to reflect on what you learned. You may have heard a quote that really sticks in your mind. Save it before you forget it! If you gathered some leave-behinds during workshops, jot down how you can use this information effectively when you return.

Take notes about your experience, and possible changes you may make for the next conference. By the time a year goes by, you may have forgotten some key ways to make the experience more effective.

Of the things you learned, which can you replicate or adapt for your needs right away? If you can’t, think about that information’s relevance.

Meet with your colleagues as soon as possible to reflect and summarize the information gained at the conference. Whether they attended or not, this is a good practice for you to categorize your experience and information gathered as “most helpful”, “somewhat helpful”, and “not helpful at this time”.

As you “cruise” the exhibit hall, go ahead and sign up to receive emails from vendors. I know this scares some people, but this is a great way to start receiving informative newsletters and discounts toward some of the resources you may find useful in your building(s). All companies must have an unsubscribe policy so if you start to receive too many emails, or the information you expected isn’t arriving in your inbox, simply unsubscribe.

Use social media tools to gain information you might have missed.

TWITTER – Follow the #ISTE10 tweets for those quick tips, comments, and information you might have missed in a different workshop. Even if you don’t use twitter, you can follow these at http://search.twitter.com/search?q=%23iste10.

FACEBOOK – If you use facebook, look for companies or individuals from whom you can gain worthwhile information and friend them, or become a fan to receive their updates.

BLOGS – I have a feeling that you will not be able to go 10 feet without tripping over someone blogging about their experience at ISTE 2010, but if you want to find a list of bloggers, here is a great place to start: http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/2010/communities/blog.php

PBS TeacherLine will be exhibiting during the ISTE 2010 conference in Denver, CO as a part of the PBS Neighborhood (booth 948), and we will be sharing information about how our online professional development offerings will be transitioning to meet the OER expectations educators and ed tech directors have for increasing teacher effectiveness.



Moodle

PBS TeacherLine online courses have always been delivered in some form of a course management system, and we strive to provide learners the best experience possible when enrolling in our courses. Previously, courses were delivered through CMS companies, but starting June 23rd, all PBS TeacherLine courses will be delivered via Moodle. We feel this move is not only in keping with the PBS standard of high quality educational experiences, but a prudent move toward OER adoption in preK-12 schools. The Obama administration has placed the focus of content, it’s delivery, and access on OER and this move will help keep the cost of high-quality professional development at a minimum for educators.



iPad

In the near future, PBS TeacherLine will be developing professional development experiences delivered via mobile applications. And to help ISTE 2010 attendees get started on the road to app-enlightenment, we are hosting daily prize drawings in the exhibit hall (booth 948) where we will give away an iPad® each day.