Multi-faceted Refractions

Yesterday was the second EduBloggerCon which I have attended. Unlike the first one I attended at NECC-Atlanta, I was not anticipating this as much as I did last year. Part of it was wondering if this event was overly hyped and would not be able to meet the higher expectations. My experience this year was one which was mixed. I enjoyed being able to connect with friends, both old and new, and I did participate in a few sessions, such as the discussion of Clay Shirkey’s Here Comes Everybody, that captured the essense and excitement that I felt last year. But there was an undercurrent during the event which was unhealthy and threatens this event.

While processing why the experience was different, I began to think about what was different. First was the increased number of people who attended. Rather than being a smaller group of 80, it was a larger group of nearly 200 people. As you scale up a project, you have to wonder what the critical mass is before the conference becomes more unwieldy. Maybe the limit was crossed yesterday. There were fewer sessions in each during each block and there were more who wanted to present. The idea of voting using technology got in the way of just a simple raising of hands scheduling on the fly. As a result, Sylvia Martinez’s session on the reflective teacher researcher was got canceled in mid-day because of a the high demand of another session. It was unfortunate and a conversation that I will personally regret not happening.

A second factor was the venue itself. Like last years, the room was set up in industrial model rows. But what didn’t happen like last year is that the main room was not reconfigured into a larger circle where everyone could be included in the conversation. I don’t think that it was intentional to try to exclude individuals, but rather grew. Instead, their was a closed circle of insiders and a place for lurkers to sit outside the circle. It really felt like junior high all over again. In the second room, the tables remained in straight, industrial period model rows and the conversation seemed to be directed at us. At Web 2.0 smackdown, there was a desire to allow multiple voices to be heard, but the standing room only nature of the space lost the intamicy that we experienced last year. Only in the sessions held in the Second Life space did it resemble an open discussion forum where ideas were freely shared.

Thirdly, there seemed to be a desire to twit out the sessions, create streams (audio and video) of the conversation, and create back channels to facilitate the conversation. At Atlanta, the focus was on having conversations with people without the intrusion of these other methods of communication. For me, it prevented people from being fully engaged and authentic. It happened a few times, such as the Shirky discussion, where there was a stream, but it did interfere with the connections and conversations. The back channel, which took root three days after EBC Atlanta, got in the way.

Lastly, there seemed to be more individuals who came with a personal agenda of self-promotion. There seemed to be more commercial connections and individuals concerned with being there and making a name. As discussed many other places, the presence of Pearson’s film crew added to this feeling.

I do not blame anyone for this. It is part of the growing pains that can occur as more individuals become interested in participating. I hope that all of us who are participating will be inclusive and supportive of others. We have to expand the conversation beyond the echo chamber. There will always be missteps and lessons which care learned. Let’s continue the conversation to make EduBloggerCon DC an event woth attending.

I want to thank Steve Hargadon for all of his efforts to make the event happen. Without his leadership, we would not have something to complain about. But instead of just complaining, why don’t some of us offer to help make this better, become involved in the solution, rather than being part of the problem.

This morning while trying to process EduBloggerCon, I went to my RSS reader to see what others were thinking and saying. I came upon Jeff Utecht’s post about his experiences at EduBloggerCon and it piqued my interest. I too worry about the impact that a scheduled NECC Unplugged will have on the spontaneous nature of the Blogger’s Cafe and the informal connections which were made last year in Atlanta. This was best  demonstrated in Atlantanwhen we commundeared a plasma display to hold impromptu demonstrations where were were all able to learn.

Since this is my first visit to San Antonio, I went to visit the Alamo. While touring through the grounds and revisiting history, an idea emerged in my mind. The Texans were reacting to the shift towards the Centralist government led by Santa Ana. The free form nature of the Blogger’s Cafe is going to be under seige by the scheduled nature of NECC Unplugged. So why don’t we take up arms, retreat into the garrison, and fight for our rights to preserve the informal learning environment that is the Blogger’s Cafe, a place where we can come together and be able to reflect and connect in the ways that we want to or need to. I do not want to be barraged by a continuous stream of more presentations. I want to carve out a space to be able to absorb ideas and make new connections.

I believe that there is a place for NECC Unplugged and people being able to have quick shares. Bur I do believe that the scheduled nature of this venture, while being created for all of the right reasons, is keeping those who may be late to the party, the ability to share.

I guess I am advocating for a rallying call to arms, a reclaiming of the Blogger’s cafe space. LIke Travis, Crockett, and Bowie, and the other Texans, many whose statues are in the hallway right outside of the Blogger’s Cafe,  I am willing to defend the turf from the invasion and instrusion in order to allow for those, who like me, just want a place for informal learning and reflection. Anyone want to join?

In my last post, I shared my strategies for surviving NECC from a professional standpoint, that fact that you need to be willing to take risks and connect with others, for we have much to learn from one another. Today, I want to focus on the other aspects that I feel are important to survive NECC.

Fruits and Vegetables – One has to pay attention to making sure that you get proper nurishment, including fruits and vegetables. Too many fast foods will tire you out.

Exercise – I find that a good walk to and from the convention center to my hotel, even though there are shuttles, clears my mind and allows me to have some quiet, substained thinking.

Cherish people – engage in conversations. The synchronous feedback that thinking and debating with great thinkers helps me learn professionally and grow.

I hope to see connect and converse with you at the conference.

NECC is a large conference, attended by thousands of people. It is easy to get overwhelmed with the multitude of sessions, informal learning opportunities, and the exhibit hall. The sights and sounds can stimulate to the point where you are overloaded and may shut down.

Ryan Bretag alerted me to a post on the Langwitches blog, about paying attention, which I believe is relevant to survive a conference like NECC.

While at NECC, in addition to listening to those EdTech folks who are known on a first name basis (Will, Davids, Wes, Sheryl, Hall, etc.), make sure that you connect with those who are around you. You may find that they may have something to teach you, challenge your thoughts, or allow you to make a connection that did not exist before.

While at NECC, don’t be afraid or scared to share your thoughts and opinions with others. You may teach them something new, challenge their thoughts, or allow them to make connections that they had not been able to make before.

While on the vendor floor, don’t be blinded by the bright lights, loud sounds, and enticements for free stuff. Look to the periphery to see those companies who may not have been able to waste money. They often have solutions which will allow you to meet your goals. This is where I have found many great solutions, including being an early adopter GIS software in NECC-MInneapolis.

Lastly, I have found it important to schedule some down time upon my return, to decompress and detox. This year, with the July 4th three day holiday so close to the closing, will help me have some fun, traditional time with my family when I return.

There are several reasons that I love working during the summers. Part of the appeal is that the weather is still nice and there is still plenty of daylight left when I go home, so that I can still enjoy outdoor activities. I also appreciate the pace of the day, especially when the bells are not ringing every 45 minutes, often denoting the need to change the task that I am doing. I am able to immerse and become engaged in flow if the mood strikes.

What I really enjoy is the conversations that I am able to have with teachers and administrators during this time of the year. Since there are no bell schedules, no distractions to all of the essential aspects of school, like meeting with students and other faculty, we are able to have the deep conversations which have a greater chance of affecting change than we are able to have during the course of the school year.

During the first two weeks of “summer vacation”, I have been able to:

Meet with our new eighth grade humanities team. After introductions and hearing what their goals for the use of technology in the classroom are, we were able to have conversations about new technologies and communications tools which may help them meet their goals. They will now have the summer to think, play, and create to determine whether they are the right tools to use.

Have a Technology Refresh with the Division Heads/Principals at our school. I was able to show them the tools we have been using in various projects and conduct interesting and deep conversations on how these tools can be used throughout the various grades/departments in school. While we were showing technology, we mainly talked about how to change teaching and learning practices in the upcoming year.

Meet with our 9th and 10th grade History teachers, who are looking to reshuffle the history curriculum in 2009-2010. We have been able to talk from the beginning about how the new tools can help students learn and I have been able to shift them in their examination and development of new essential questions by using the principles of Understanding by Design. It is been great to watch their shift in thinking.

There have been countless other smaller conversations which I have currently had, with new teachers, administrators, and current teachers. I am also scheduled to meet with other groups as the summer progresses and other teachers visit campus. There are new units on the election, using uStream and screencasts in the classroom, and ideas to implement tablet pcs that are still be had. And I look forward to each and every one.