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testing plaxo synching

Many of the presenters at NECC have made their presentations and handouts available for download. This is an excellent resource and can be located here.

Wes Fryer conducted an interesting session devoted to how our schools should look like today.This is a recurring theme of NECC this year. Wes wanted us to think about the question: What will thrive in 2065? What skill sets are required and in what ways should our education system change. There appears to be no simple answer to this however it is clear that things cannot continue as they are. Wes then played the Marco Torres video – ‘When I become a teacher”.Wes quotes Marco and his work throughout the session – it just demonstrates how we are all connected in a flat world. He discusses the difference between what he calls Digital School 1.0 where basically nothing is really different just using technology to do it e.g Use of powerpoint replacing overhead projector and Transformative School 2.0 where things look very different – new wine in new bottles not new wine in old bottles. We need to acknowledge change, accept it and move towards it. There is no silver bullet.Wes promoted the K12Online Conference– a completely online conference and FREE. I participated in the first of these in 2006 and would encourage anybody who is interested in contemporary learning to register for this year’s event. Wes is a big believer in 1:1 learning environments.He pointed us to the Alabama Best Practices Center as a good resource.Wes also said that we need emphasis on creativity. The need for creativity and the fostering of creativity has been a major focus of NECC this year.Finally he directed us to the Greater Houstan Education Collaboration site. Wes produces an excellent regular podcast. If you haven’t subscribed to his podcast “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” then you should consider doing so. Wes has pocast a number of NECC 2007 sessions and they will be coming online shortly.

I am sure many of you are aware of Google Earth. One of my colleagues Paul Meldrum does some wonderful work using this powerful tool.Hall Davidson presented an excellent session to a packed audience on the real power of Google Earth titled ‘Finally, Staggering Good Things Mixing Google Earth and Media’. Hall is an educator who works for Discovery Education. If you haven’t seen the great work they do then it is well worth a look. Hall is an energetic presenter who REALLY knows how to manipulate Google Earth and gave some great examples of how it can be used in the classroom. One i really liked was a project called Google Lit Trips. This combines routes in literature with google earth allowing students studying the text to take to journey on Google Earth.Hall has been kind enough to upload all the resources he talked about on his blog DENMediaMatters. While some of this s technical and not for everyone I do see many great uses of Google Earth in education.Google Earth Resources

Web 2.0 is the current buzzword. This new Read Write web opens up limitless possibilities for us as educators. I have given numerous presentations to teachers on these exciting tools. At NECC this year Web 2.0 sessions abound. However I believe I found the BEST of them today to share with you.Kathy Schrock is presently the Administrator for Technology of the Nauset Public Schools in Orleans, Massachusetts. Her job includes maintenance of all the technology and networking for seven schools, technology curriculum infusion planning, and teacher training and professional development in technology. Kathy gave a wonderful overview of the many Web 2.0 tools available to educators including definitions and backed up by some classroom uses. Have a look at her Web 2.0 site for complete interactive list. If you haven’t yet seen the video The Machine is Us /ing Us it is also worth a look as it looks at Web 2.0. Practising what she preaches Kathy has posted her presentation using Picasa.

After 20+ hours flying i have arrived in Atlanta to discover it is going for record temperatures. Today it is about 98 degrees F. So it is hot!! There are around 12,000 delegates from 50 countries. The exhibition is bigger than ever.I look forward to sharing some of the exciting NECC happenings over rest of week.  The opening keynote will begin soon.