Brian Cohen
  • Making the Grade Blog
  • About Me
  • Tutoring
  • Press
  • Resources to Share

ISTE Roundup

6/30/2011

0 Comments

 
For the past three days I had the unique pleasure to attending the International Society of Technology in Education (ISTE) conference hosted here in my hometown of Philadelphia. It really reminded me of two major things: a) I love conferences and b) there are TONS of other people who do also!

ISTE is basically the largest concentration of nerdy educators (or wannabe nerdy ones) I have ever seen. Sessions are held all day long; special interest group meetings stretch late into the night; and free bowling offers time to make friends (shoutout to the Young Educators Network!). Since I don't want to bore you with small details, here are the basic take-aways for me, in no particular order:

1) There are people in tech companies that do care about helping you and your students. I met some great folks at various different companies that really wanted to help me, the teacher, work out something with their hardware/software that would improve my student's learning. Some companies even brought teachers to explain their first-hand experience (shoutout to Microsoft who brought me to ISTE to do just that).

2) There is a lot you can do with very little money. Aside from the idea I have shared already about bringing Chromebooks into my classroom next year (which I got some time to play with), there are plenty low-cost or free tech solutions for the classroom. Note-taking programs, organizer programs, engraved hardware specific to your school, etc. It is giving me hope that one person like myself can really get some tech out there for my students to use and learn from.

3) People are more important thing things. This one is a little obvious, but as I walked the magnificent halls of the newly-expanded halls of the PA Convention Center I met so many great educators who want help for their students just like I do. I chatted with superintendents, IT professionals, teachers, bloggers, and more. I often find the concept of "networking" to be a bit forced and for of an "It" type relationship (shoutout to Martin Buber!) so when I discovered that when I talked with these people I seemed to be forging friendships, it was amazing! 

Basically, I had a great time working, learning, and meeting people from all over the world the past few days. I hope to mimic this experience next year at the NCTM conference hosted in Philly and maybe even at the ISTE conference in San Diego.
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

    Picture

    Contact Me

    Picture

    Email Updates

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.