FETC is loaded with one great new gadget after another; bells and whistles; video this, digital that; red bull loaded sales people; free pen here, free pen there; watch the presentation, get a T-shirt; trial license for 90 days; here's a pamphlet; keynote; more free pens; more t-shirts; gotta go to session; back to the exhibit hall for a drawing; didn't win; more free pens; where's the coffee......... and on and on it went for 3 days!!
My first musing is on the best practice of technology. A colleague of mine (Tim Childers follow at www.timchilders.com ) made this point Technology Best Practice does not always mean new tools! So, then what are we missing that we could do better with the technology we have? After all, if the 90 day trial works on the iPad all my students have now, then why do I need to buy brand new iPads? I realized that sometimes new tools show what you didn't know you didn't you know about your current technology tools.
My second musing is some of the new stuff really is great. I am not afraid to endorse great people or great companies. So, here goes TechSmith is just great. Check out the TechSmith Fuse app for student media creation on the go.... such a good solution for the 1:1 environment. Also, Snapshot by Edmodo is going to be a game changer for classroom assessment.
My third musing is that networking remains a key to personal and professional growth. Okay, okay, I know what you are thinking ..... Networking has been talked about for gazillions of years. I couldn't agree more. So, here is the question: how many of us our truly skilled at networking? How many of us lead PD on how to network effectively? I rely heavily on Twitter for my PLN, but what happens when you meet those folks face to face......can you communicate with more than 140 characters or a link or a retweet?
So, these are musings from another great time at FETC. Oh and here is a video of my presentation I gave today.... thanks for reading!
