MaineEd08 Tapping Into the Power of the Network with Liz Davis

Liz Davis presenting at ACTEM MaineEd08

Here’s the link to the live blog for Liz B. Davis’s session at ACTEM.

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MaineEd08 Sessions 1, 2, and Lunch liveblogs

First Session: Tech Integrator Roundtable    Where tech integrators and tech teachers from around the state got together to discuss the challenges and possible solutions we face daily.

Second Session: Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach    Following up on her keynote, Sheryl explored the changes in education we face and some of the choices we can make based on that in light of new technologies.

Seedlings Geek of the Week session

Lunch Session : Geek of the Week with Cheryl Oakes, Alice Barr and Bob Sprankle – and many assorted guests! – sharing lots of tools,sites, and neat tech stuff. Link here for the podcast of the session.

CLICK BELOW to go to the CoverItLive live blog for THREE sessions from ACTEM’s MaineEd08 conference. I was unwilling to make multiple liveblogs for fear of not getting back online if I shut down! Sorry to make you scroll through three sessions to find what you are interested in reading.

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Use it to learn it

The ACTEM MaineEd07 conference was Thursday and Friday – and there were 800 people there, with access to tons of workshops, lots of vendors, and a keynote that pointed out some of the implications for web 2.0 in the classroom. I learned lots and presented two of the workshops. I realized that I have learned a large percentage of what I know about technology from opportunities such as this – they come accross email and I sign up and go. Then I get to bring the information back to the staff at my building or district – sometimes presenting, sometimes just sharing as things come up in conversation during lunch duty or wherever.

We hope that administrators will provide SOME time for us to get tech training, which at this point is as much conceptual as it is “how to” on a tool or software app. I also recognize that many teachers don’t want to/can’t add another thing to their time outside of the school day – we’re already over-booked and way under-compensated. The key for me was Will Richardson’s statement about modeling the practice. We need to be citizens of the digital age – which means that we need to learn this stuff for US, and OUR LEARNING. It is only when we become comfortable and functional with tools that we can then adequately implement them. I’m just now learning how to access the social networks that exist out there – other Educators (in Maine and around the world) who learn about opportunities and tools and share them. With them as my “net”, I am finding out about GREAT things that I’ve never heard about before, since I had been depending on only my principal and technology coordinator to pass things along.

Bottom line: it won’t all be delivered during in-service time, so get out there and find what YOU need, and use the tools and networks of people you trust to choose what works for you.

Getting Started

I’m getting up and running with my blog. The ACTEM MaineEd conference over the past two days has given me the motivation to get a blog up and running, and to consolidate some of my various and scattered web content with one front page. My plan is to make this my main blog and to revamp a primary website that can serve as something of a starting point for the rest of everything.