We leave for the National Educational Computing Conference on Saturday. We are lucky to be able to attend conferences. The cost of professional development is getting out of hand. Cindy’s costs are mostly covered by the school district, but I pay my own way. Travel costs keep increasing and we all are going to have to consider our decisions more carefully.
For several years now, David Warlick has provided a service that is responsive to the cost issue associated with conferences and professional development. Hitchhikr identifies technology conferences and allows access to resources tagged with a conference identifier (necc08 for the upcoming conference). Very clever. You can locate blogs, images, and podcasts generated by those able to attend a given conference. Even when attending it is a useful way to expand your understanding of what you saw (or were unable to see). Give it a try. If you can attend, remember to tag.
I realized last night that I have blogged NECC activities since 2002. I wasn’t attaching tags in 2002 so I did a search of the blog and added tags to my early NECC posts. It is informative to follow what I thought was important over the years (try the tag cloud in the sidebar to take a look). Lately, web 2.0 opportunities have reduced my interest in the great vendor exhibits or reviewing new hardware and software. There has been a noticeable shift in how I spend conference time from wandering the aisles of the exhibit hall to spending more time in sessions.
Tags: necc08
