I had planned to be attending sessions at ISTE today. We have made it to every conference since Minneapolis. The last few yars we have been driving combining a relaxing trip with the conference. We made it through the first part of the trip which landed us in Iowa to clear the furniture and possessions out my mother’s house. However, in the process of working on the house I evidently kinked my small intestine. This kind of messes you up. I ended up in the hospital and evidently I unkinked, but this situation may not be permanent so I am on my way back home to check with the docs and likely schedule a date with the surgeon.
So – we will see what we can learn from ISTE as remote participants. There are advantages to this approach. We will save several thousand dollars when you combine the cost of the hotel and the $400 registration fee, parking the car in Philadelphia, etc. I do think the cost of the conference is getting priced out of the range for those practicing teachers who would likely benefit the most from the opportunity. I think I will invest some of my savings in a chromebook. There will be no frustration attempting to get into sessions scheduled in rooms about half the needed capacity. All in all I tend not to really learn that much and most of what I do acquire is provided as side comments or interpretations provided by my wife. We have our own back channel communication. ISTE is not that data or research oriented and you soon learn that pretty much everyone has an opinion with a few constant individuals being asked to share their thoughts each year. There is evidently a need to keep the professional development and workshop circuit fed and ISTE seems the place some jockey for these opportunities.
Still, I would rather go than not. The atmosphere takes you away from “home” realities. The conference is probably nearly a perfect base of telling the already committed what they want to hear, but we all need a little of that from time to time. Hopefully, next year …
