My Brain Hurts

Another ITSC has come and gone, round 2 for the new location at UTS Sydney. Having everyone in the same location this year worked well as did utilising the cafe area for food time. Wollongong Uni was a great location but UTS is far more convenient to get to and accessible to more accommodation and entertainment options. I thought bowling was going to be real dud but it was a great night, thoroughly enjoyed by all. Cocktails the following night was scrumptious with a great band but a little too loud (am I getting old here?).

It is easy to come away enthused and fired up to change the world, hopefully people will be returning to school environments receptive to the new knowledge returning.

Stephanie Hamilton’s opening keynote again provided much food for thought. Her student’s analogy that school was like an airline flight was very apt “Sit down, face forward, buckle up and turn off all electronic devices” and “if you are lucky the trip may be relevant”. Blitto’s blog has a detailed description of her main points. iTunes U is now up and running, although it is very University oriented. Browse over to the University of Florida’s Teacher Education section where they have some excellent K-12 podcasts available.

The feedback on the workshops was very positive as they catered well for the needs of the participants. It was great just getting to know people and picking up little ideas by talking to them about how their school operates.

The keynote to close the 3 day section was by Peter Sheahan, this bloke could talk under water for 10 minutes – even after he had already drowned. Very energetic and coming from teh business sector he provided an interesting point of view. He gave his view of the requirements of the classroom of the future – relevant, interactive, expansive and connected. Students need boundaries but their education needs freedom within those boundaries. He told an interesting tale of a confrontation he had with an employee, neither would give because both were right leading to a poor result for both sides. It is not a case of who is right or wrong but what is the most useful solution to the situation. That thought could apply a lot to our daily school existence.

The one day event was opened by Mike Anderson from NZ who entertained the crowd with his interesting perspective on ICT curriculum integration. His final points about overreacting by banning technology were quite interesting. If children verbally abuse others in the playground we don’t ban talking. We don’t put padlocks and passwords on books and desks. Yet we ban and limit access to highly useful digital tools.

In all a very stimulating conference, great to catch up with old acquaintances and puts some names to faces from the MacEd list. Also good to see Blitto do something besides FCP – perhaps a leopard can change its spots?

This was an amazing conference attended by a staggering 18 000 delegates. Infinitely larger than anything I had ever been to. Leaving a frosty wintry Canberra to land in summery Hotlanta, Georgia was a welcome weather change. The conference kicked off with a night at the Atlanta Aquarium, the white beluga whales and the giant glass walled tank were fascinating.

The large number of concurrent sessions made it difficult to choose between presentations. Some sessions were podcasted so no need to go to those, instead download the podcast later. There were also poster sessions, student showcases, special focus playgrounds, birds-of-a-feather sessions and workshops ( for an additional fee). More than enough to cram into a mere three days. Most of the presentations I attended were very informative. These included blogging in the classroom, virtual schooling in Second Life, web based tools, online PD, teaching with emerging technologies, information fluency and podcasting – all of which were very informative sessions. Unfortunately there were a couple of dud sessions also but it was simply a case of bail out and sneak into another.

Then there was the trade display, this was HUGE and I mean really HUGE. So many companies on display offering insights into new and existing products – and of course the freebies.

While in Atlanta, it’s well worth a visit to the World of Coca Cola, but be wary when the sampling room attendant makes a recommendation – grapefruit flavour . . . yuck!

This was a great excuse to take a month’s long service leave pack up the family and see the east coast of the USA. We had a great time visiting New York, Washington and Florida. Next year NECC moves to San Antonio, Texas. Very tempting to go back . . . . .