Day two blog post:

Well, first the good news. The heat index has dropped down to 90 degrees or so, and is notably cooler. Now the bad news—NECC 2008 is experiencing some Internet wireless connectivity and density issues, and it has been a bit of a challenge to access resources. However, the sessions have been fantastic. I started the morning off at an information literacy and management session that was geared for elementary students and their teachers. My key takeaway: guided research on the Web. Younger students (maybe all students) need to be able to simultaneously gather information from electronic resources and analyze the source itself. This is best accomplished by leading students to preselected web resources and holding discussions on just why the teacher selected these particular sites. If it sounds like a modified web-quest, it is.

My next session centered on the new teacher standards on technology. The new standards parallel last year’s student standards, and I find it interesting that while they expect a teacher to master certain processes and concepts around technology, Standard One speaks to the teacher facilitating student use of technology in the classroom. In other words, ISTE’s new teacher standards are actually about the teacher creating an environment in which students use technology. At the risk of painting a broad brush stroke, ISTE’s standards lean toward technology not as a teacher’s instructional tool, but as a student’s learning tool.

See http://www.iste.org/Content/NavigationMenu/NETS/ForTeachers/2008Standards/NETS_for_Teachers_2008.htm

The final session I’ll blog about today is Dr. Judi Harris’ session on the importance of integrating technology into the classroom, and just how difficult that is. She notes that teachers today must be masters of pedagogy first, content second, and finally technology. It’s only when a teacher can balance all three concerns simultaneously that true integration of technology happens in the classroom. It’s no wonder that technology integration happens more slowly than we would like sometimes. Her solutions: renewed focus on planning for the technology-infused lesson, and an acceptance by teachers themselves and their administrators that sometimes things can go awry with technology. Finally, her observations underscore the effectiveness of the co-teaching model we strive for in LPS. The classroom teacher has support from a techie peer for when those things do awry, and can remain focused on the students. 

One last note: Last night a dozen LPS classroom teachers got together on the historic San Antonio riverwalk to brainstorm, network, and even plan for the fall. I had the pleasure of listening to motivated and talented teachers plan to have their students collaborate on common units via technology. For me, this has been the highlight of the conference so far.