So –
what was so great about ISTE?
As
the Bearded Dog settles back into his usual kennel, having rinsed the final
traces of San Diego
sea-sand and sea-air from his hair (what is left of it) and his lungs, the
question remains – what was so great about ISTE. What lessons will the dog
apply this year, what skills gained and what knowledge acquired.
Arrff!
Without
doubt, the best part of ISTE for the dog was the opportunity to meet then
strangers who are now friends. As the dog always says – a stranger is simply a
friend to be. And what are friends if not people of whom to take advantage? In
a good way of course!
The
dog considers himself to be very fortunate to have met and befriended so many
wonderful people not only from the Avichai Contingency, but from the real world
too. And – one of the best parts of ISTE, the “BoF” (Birds of a Feather)
sessions allowed the dog to meet real people who are dealing with real Ed Tech
challenges in real schools. (In the way that the dog imagines himself to be
doing too!)
The
dog considers himself to be “ok” with Moodle. But – as a result of ISTE, the
dog has at least three real people – all of whom live in an imaginary world,
with whom he can discuss Moodle questions, challenges and stumbling blocks. If
ISTE provided nothing other than this – the dog would have left San Diego happily.
But
what – like the Shamwow – there’s more!
The
dog met many of the people who actually write – or wrote the books. Real live
human beings who, up until then, existed only in the Dog’s cyber-imagination.
Sir Ken Robinson (much better in the Dog’s imagination – BTW), Steve Hargadon,
Karen Kator, Professor Michael Fullan, Dr Avraham Kadar (founder of Brainpop)
and so many more…
ISTE
offered the dog a chance to meet and interact with giants in their field.
Then,
a highlight for the dog was the opportunity to participate in a real live panel
on the last day of the conference.
The
dog responded to a request from the Twitterverse and before you could say,
“Fetch that juicy bone…” the dog had been invited to join a panel discussion
around the idea of Social Media in Schools.
Arrrff!
– The irony is that this very topic was reason that the Dog wanted to come to
ISTE in the first place.
Led
by Steve Hargadon of stevehargadon.com; Classroom 2.0; Twitter, Google+;
Facebook etc fame, the panel offered its opinions on the use of Social Media in
schools – and then faced questions from the audience.
The
dog had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
And
learned that any one of us could be on the panel, could be on Twitter,
Facebook, etc. The dog learned that, in fact – so many of the “experts” were
and are ‘chalk-face’ teachers. Actually,
perhaps the correct term is SmartBoard Face Teachers. But – whatever the term, teachers
who stretched themselves just a little bit and began to create a cyber presence
for themselves.
Inspiring
stuff!
And
so the challenge remains – the dog hopes to share his experiences with his
colleagues, students, faculty and community and build shared learning networks
of individuals who, like those at ISTE, stretched themselves a little – and
gained so much more in return!
Arrrfff!
