Thing #13–Online Conference
I listened to two sessions of the online conference. One was “Kicking It Up a Notch: Oh the Possibilities” by Lisa Parisi. This focused on the management of project-based learning in the elementary classroom. Ms. Parisi gave some great hints about letting different students take the role of expert in different software or online programs, or specific skills. For example, a child who knows how to copy and paste URLs into the blogs could help children who have trouble with that particular procedure. She gave a brief description of what project-based learning is, how it can be managed, and how to assess the students involved. There was good information in the presentation and a few new things, but overall, I was not impressed with the presentation. It moved very slowly and had information that could have been gleaned from an article just as well as from a visual presentation. I really did not SEE a lot that was helpful. It also moved very slowly which made it hard for me to really focus on the main points. I’m not sure I would recommend this presentation to others.
I also listened to a 2006 presentation that intrigued me because it focused on how first grade could use Web 2.0 tools. “Week in the Classroom: Using Web 2.0 Tools in a Grade One Classroom” was much more interesting to me. This was a presentation by Lani Ritter Hall, a teacher of grades one and two, and had lots of different ideas about using the web tools with younger children. This presentation seemed to move along more quickly, had lots of visuals that explained exactly how many of the tools were used, and many examples of what the students were doing. I’m not sure that the presentation was actually that much better thatn the first one I watched, but I certainly did get more out of it. I have emailed the link to several first grade teachers that I know are interested in adding more Web 2.0 tools to their classrooms.
I certainly do like this anytime, online delivery so that more people are able to see the presentations, and repeat the presentations as many times as needed. This could even be a good tool for parents to have when helping children with certain projects. Also, I liked the varied choices. Most everyone could find something helpful. However, I am sorry they seem to have dropped the “Week in the Classroom” strand which appeared to me to be the most practical of the strands. Maybe they felt people had become more sophisticated in their uses of the tools and no longer needed the basics. This is one site I will be using again and again, both for myself and for teachers.
November 13th, 2008 at 1:08 pm
It will be interesting to see if any of your teachers are inspired by the presentation that you shared. I too found a couple of sessions that I felt could be motivational!
Kris
http://krismcbride.edublogs.org/
November 14th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Unfortunately, I didn’t make the best choice of conferences either. It just goes to show that there’s SO much out there that half the battle is wading through it all to find what works for you. I’ll go back and try again.
I wish I had a tech coordinator who e-mailed me new ideas. How lucky those teachers are!
Have a great weekend.
Emily Aiken
November 17th, 2008 at 5:12 pm
I agree that the 24/7 anytime learning with the conference is way cool. As I was looking over the conference, my mind kept returning to GaETC as I thought of how we might could make some of the sessions available on the web in a similar format…Might be necessary with the budget crunch upon us!!! Traci
November 28th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I think it is great that you have shared with other teachers the things you have found interesting. I agree with Kris, you have to let us know if the are just as motivated.