My Brain Hurts

As educators we are all well aware of the need to keep an open mind and not letting pre-conceived notions cloud our judgement. Having been indoctrinated with the TV view of New York I was never really keen to go there – that thinking was a mistake. It really is nothing like the image presented on TV. In fact it was a very impressive city. Spacious, crowded, vibrant and alive. Quite the opposite of the other US city we hear the most about, LA. Apart from Disneyland the best view of LA is the one in the rear view mirror.

New York offers such a great range of attractions. Spamalot on Broadway was hilarious in true Python style. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island were fascinating. The view from the top of the Empire State building was everything expected. The Ground Zero museum was a very moving experience as was Strawberry Field in Central Park. New York is full of icons that must be visited. A last minute detour found us at the Ed Sullivan Theatre but the Hello Deli eluded us.

Riding the subway at midnight was perfectly safe as was every other second of our stay, perhaps the very obvious and plentiful police presence had something to do with that.

Would we go back? Definitely. Hopefully a future NECC will be the lure.

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 . . . . .