ITEC 2011...a Reflection

I attended ITEC this past October and was a presenter in two sessions. I presented on my school’s use of smartphones in the 3^rd and 4^th grades, and as a presenter with some other fortunate fellow cohort’s who spoke about the Flat Classroom Conference in Beijing, China and how our trip impacted our classes back in the US. At my school, we are learning to become better global citizens!

     I also attended multiple sessions by Punya Mishra about TPAK and its’ use in education. I found him quite engaging, the idea of three disciplines, content, pedagogy and technology intertwined to create the “uptopia” of learning. This really resonated with me. It was at those sessions that I thought, “This is why my entire staff needs to attend ITEC, even the administration.” I heard  comments time and time again from people in the elevators or escalators. “It is so frustrating to leave ITEC all pumped up and ready to implement new integrations of technology, only to be met with teachers back “in the trenches of daily survival” who look at you with the face that says, “What? MORE to add to what I already teach?”

If we could just dedicate some PD to learning about and brainstorming ways we could implement TPAK, this would be wonderful. When I asked my administrator when I returned if this was a possibility, I was met with, “we’ve already planned out the PD for this year,” I was to say the least, disappointed. BUT- I will be back in the spring when they PD team meets to outline the 2012-13 plan!

    I did attend Sara Richardson and Toy Waterman’s sessions sharing the many, many, MANY tech tools and “games” that are out there and available for teacher’s to utilize.  Sara’s sites’ were organized by subject, with Toy’s more by the tool itself and what it does. I STILL refer to a bookmarked site Web 2.0 tools whenever I need to find “just the right tool” for a particular project, and I got that site at ITEC 2009!!!  Both of those gals sessions were excellent “take home” sessions that, judging by the “standing room only crowds”, were a hit with everyone there---If you were lucky enough to get a seat!