This is a reminder. The 2004 NECC streaming videos are now available. You will be asked to register (with Minds TV) before viewing, but access is free.
If you attended NECC, you will find that many of the keynotes are not available. I would suppose those who are paid substantial amounts for their presentations do not want their material streamed. If you have not experienced online streaming video, this may be a great opportunity to form some personal opinions.
My suggestions – Intel CEO Craig Barrett
I did experience some technical issues – try IE even if it is not your broswer of choice
Back home again with lots to think about. For those interested in the field, I would suggest that you explore the convention papers and view video of some of the major presentations (archived presentations available July 7 through December).
If you think about your own thinking, you are engaged in “metacognition.” What would you be doing if you blog about blogging?
NECC has become the focus of multiple bloggers and has taken the trouble to integrate some of this work through a centralized blog – EdWebBlogs. And, yes, entries from this blog were included.
So – I am blogging about a blog that blogs about some of my blogging. Will this generate an infinite loop?
NECC provides many views of technology use in schools. You can experience the perspective of vendors, research/policy scholars, and savvy teachers. In a way, this can be an exercise in “digital literacy.” Which sessions would you select if you were seeking classroom examples?
One of Cindy’s current projects is supported by Teaching American History grant. So — I end up selecting more sessions and examples from this category than might normally be the case
It is sometimes helpful to place present experiences in some type of context and understand the issues and values that shape current policy. You may be aware of the effort to generate a National Technology Plan. As a contribution to this planning effort, scholars from the Education Development Center Center for Children and Technology were asked to shape a A retrospective on 20 years of technology policy. An overview of some of their observations was reported at NECC. The report traces the evolution of present policy through various initiatives back to “A Nation At Risk.” Whatever their professional or political views, it appeared that the authors were quite careful to avoid being judgemental. However, the presenter was quite clear that reactions to the issues outlined in the document should be examined with an awareness of the value systems driving change. (My translation – we had to write as we did because we were paid to do so. We encourage you to take this document as a starting point and be as judgmental as you feel is necessary to accomplish something you feel is meaningful.)
By the way, the list of “influential position papers/reports” provided in this retrospective may be helpful to some (note to edtech graduate students outlining the intro for thesis or dissertation).
Seems to me, we are going in circles and my personal historical context places us back at the point at which we thought meeting individual needs through ILS applications that personalized drill activities was cool.
The question of whether or not anyone can show “technology works” comes up again and again. While many educators may assume someone must have already answered the question or not feel attending to the question is necessary, the question will not go away. Those committed to technology in schools owe their thanks to those researchers who are willing to take on this deceptively simplistic question.
I know enough about the associated issues to realize that I probably will never be able to do relevant work myself. It takes access to many schools, teachers, and students to even begin asking interesting questions. It takes having significant funding and probably working in certain parts of the country to have the necessary access.
I suggest you review the NECC paper provided by Bebell, O???Dwyer, Russell, & Seeley on this topic (NECC . In addition to providing new data, this paper does a nice job of explaining what is already known and why the question is so difficult for researchers to answer.
I try to attend Bernie Dodge’s sessions when I can because I admire how he has been able to generate significant ideas out of courses he teaches (e.g., webquests). I mean this comment in a positive way. My research and teaching concern the same general field of study, but I can’t say any class project I have ever generated has been the basis for any serious scholarship.
The presentation “when teachers blog” concerned work by Dodge and Molebash evaluating the blogs of preservice English and language teachers. The general rationale for exploring blogs with this group was based on the assumption that such students would be “pro” writing and may be positively influenced by the opportunity to eventually engage their own future students with this tool.
The activity of encouraging preservice teachers to blog has extended across two semesters to this point and has involved the collection of some data (activity level and questionnaire responses) and some basic “manipulations” (whether blogging and reading the blogs of others was voluntary or worth 10% of the course grade (see paper paper to be available). Response to the experience of blogging was positive, students felt quite capable of blogging, and there was increased activity with incentives.
Some of the ideas shared at the session were very interesting. The authors wanted to provide teachers an opportunity for reflection and noted changes in what teachers had to say as they became more experienced in their student teaching. The idea of “saving” a record of this part of one’s life is interesting. Following the presentation, the group became caught up in a discussion of concerns associated with blogs – what younger students might reveal that may endanger them, what preservice or practicing teachers may say about their private and professional experiences that may endanger their professional futures. For example, student teachers reflecting on frustrations with students, colleagues, supervisors may encounter repercussions. In my opinion, it is difficult and perhaps inappropriate for people who are passionate about what they do to separate their professional and personal lives. Perhaps, this is especially true for those just discovering and shaping a professional identify.
It seems a sad trend that self-expression can also be self threatening (must be something in the constitution about this). I guess this means I should not post my pictures from last night’s excursion to “The Quarter.”
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