The first time I ever heard of ISTE was on twitter. I was participating in a twitter chat and EVERYONE was UBER excited about this ISTE. I looked it up and discovered it was the International Society for Technology in Education. But it is sort of like TED Talks -- most people aren't sure what TED stands for. If you ask someone what ISTE stands for you will get a few variations - International Society of Technology Educators (wrong) or International Society of Technology Education (also wrong). Technically this was the 3rd ISTE that I have attended, although that first year I went to ISTE Live which meant I could sit in on about 12 different sessions via a live feed. It was held in Philadelphia that year, and so I had to crawl out of bed at 6 a.m. for some sessions. I was really jealous of all the people who were actually there, and determined to go the next year. This year's ISTE was held in San Antonio, Texas. ISTE 2018 will be held in Chicago - start fundraising now. Just like last year, the Google Classes were really popular and some of my favorite. People line up for them sometimes an hour before they start and the room has limited space so you might not make it in the room. I went to several: One on using Google Earth in the classroom, one on Google Tips and Tricks, and a few more on various Google apps or tricks. I learned a TON of cool things. You might consider following @friEDTechAmy. She has also kinds of tricks to using Google. I really enjoyed her class. FREE T-SHIRTS One of my FAVORITE things at ISTE is the exhibit hall. EVERY tech COMPANY on the planet is there, and I LOVED talking to the makers of the products that I use in my class. I got to talk to the designer of Bloxels, who I had also spoken with last year when the company was in its infancy! It was great to tell him how much my students loved his game builder and how excited I was to see him succeed. I also got to talk to the people at Wonder Workshop, Class Dojo, Brain Pop, GoNoodle, Khan Academy and Google. Google just launched their internet safety program and it is amazing! It is called Be Internet Awesome and it is really great. DISRUPT THE SYSTEM ISTE also has an area set up called the Playground where you can actually put your hands on products and use them. I had entirely too much fun playing with Spheros, Rasberry Pi's, Dash and Dot Robots, Audrino's and all kinds of Google products. I met up with a really interesting organization focused on hacking educational apps. They were sporting these really cool Sons of Technology t-shirts. Their stated goal is to come up with ways to use educational apps that the designers never even thought of. They showed me how they had hacked Quizziz to create a collaboratively made quiz incorporating Google Sheets. It really pushed me to think about being creative in how I use the products. They were a big deal with a lot of the companies who loved their unique ideas, and wanted to see how they used their products. Quizziz also announced their new app Zip Quiz - students can practice skills at home using questions from the Quizziz database. They can even compete head-to-head with other students. I had a momentary stroke of genius when I suggested using Zip Quiz to play a Family Feud style game. I think I almost impressed the Sons of Technology guys. THINGS YOUR MOTHER WOULDN'T APPROVE OF The most significant part of ISTE though, are the human connections. They have tons of meet ups and campfires - where you can get together with people who have the same interests as you, teach the same subjects as you, or use the same products as you. I went to the Class Dojo meet up, the Go Noodle meet up, hung out in the blogger's cafe, and went to the Khan Academy meet up. Everyone I spent time with was a total "stranger" to me in that they were all people who I knew only through twitter. In fact, I roomed with a teacher from Tennessee who I had only met once before at last year's ISTE for a twenty minute lunch. We even stayed at an Air B and B, so technically, I roomed with a stranger in a stranger's house. Heck, we even took Lyft everwhere so I was always getting into a stranger's car! It was amazing to meet up with educators who I had been talking to online (via twitter) for years! Some of them are technology teachers just like me, and we were able to talk about things that work and things that we've created. We shared websites, and apps and our favorite people to follow on twitter. ALL of the companies that I am involved with are REALLY responsive and interested in how teacher's use their products and how they can support us even more. It is great to be able to talk to someone who can help improve your daily classroom life. READY, PLAYER ONE? I really enjoyed listening to Michael Matera who is a gamification genius. I had already purchased his spreadsheet which is a work of genius! Using Google sheets, he built a zillion formulas so that I can easily input my students and gamify my entire curriculum! It was great to see him in person. I had looked at some similar spreadsheets (Alice Keeler), but was intimidated about the amount of work involved. His spreadsheet is so sophisticated - it would've taken me years to develop something that complex. I am excited to put it into place this school year! LONG STORY, LONG If you get the chance to attend ISTE2018, DO IT!!! You will meet amazing people, get a change to talk to the makers of education apps, and be exposed to all the "surprise" updates of the summer. It is the best conference I've ever attended - and whatever you do, DO NOT SKIP the annual Ed Tech Karaoke Night. They use a live band, and you would be AMAZED at how many LIBERIANS are willing to perform AC/DC songs LIVE. Jen's List of ISTE TIPS and WONDERS
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AuthorJen has been teaching school for awhile now. She's learned some stuff, but she's got tons more to learn. Archives
October 2017
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