IT Summit Summary

6 comments Conferences, EdTechs, networks, professional learning, socialnetworks

Mar 25

I’m just back from the IT Summit conference. In general, it was an outstanding conference in many respects.

People

Without trying to list the names of everyone, it’s apparent for most users of social media that face to face gathering times have changed in the past few years. I used to go to conferences and mingle with local colleagues and a few others I’d met a various functions and committees but there wasn’t much of a community. Now we meet people we’ve never seen and can enter in to meaningful discussion since all the banter and small talk takes place  in other spaces.

This conference brings together not only educators and administrators but also IT. I certainly commend our own IT team for focusing on students but not all do. This is a great way to have them understand that their clients are students and it’s a highly complex task to provide safe, secure environments that also enable them to have the access needed to use the tools that help them learn.

Keynotes

I’ve heard David Warlick live a couple of times but I must say this was worth seeing. David is a gifted storyteller but certainly connects to many outside of educational technology.  Carlene captured the essence of it well. It lead to many meaningful conversations and insights for many including my superintendent who said, “I know you’ve been talking about this for years but it’s finally starting to click”. What’s the phrase about being a prophet in your own town?

Being able to provide a keynote with Clarence, Kathy and Darren was truly a treat. Once I get the audio from Rob, I’ll post it but it was a privilege to facilitate these three tell their stories.

Sessions

So many of the sessions dealt with what’s best for students and how does any of this help our students learn more. The phrase “How does the technology support the practices that lead to student achievement” rang through my mind many times. I heard more praise from various sessions than I have at many conferences.

Critcisms

Nothing is perfect and there were a few things that I’d like to see change. Wireless continues to suck. Why? Last year the wireless at another venue was much better. The hotel did not have wireless so someone had to install a temporary system. It was lousy. This has got to be resolved. I would also like to see more built in opportunity to network. Not a big deal for me personally since I have many connections and can steer informal conversations to meet my needs but for many, they need a time and space to ask questions and contribute ideas.  I mentioned the idea of a “linkable” keynote. A killer opening that had many components that could be explored deeper in follow up sessions or simply building an open space style based on the ideas in the keynote and interests of the participants. Then culminating the conference with a sharing time of what was learned and what plans were made.

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  • http://www.omegageek.net/rickscafe Richard Schwier

    Glad you posted this, Dean, and I agree that this was a terrific conference — one I look forward to each year. I still think it was a mistake by the organizers to split the conference into k-12 and post-secondary streams. There were precious few post-secondary types there, and I would like to see more of our post-secondary educators exposed to these powerful ideas and presenters.

    The other thing I’d mention is that I really appreciated the wonderful people who were brought in from afar (Clarence, Darren and David were amazing), and I’m also quite proud that our own little humble province of Saskatchewan is so full of quality people doing exciting things. I won’t single you folks out, but you know who you are.

    Richard Schwiers last blog post..When worlds collide

  • http://www.darcynorman.net D’Arcy Norman

    That looks a lot like Winston’s Pub in Saskabush. Not a bad place to hold a summit.

    D’Arcy Normans last blog post..wpmu activity reports using the blog_activity plugin

  • http://www.mctoonish.com/blog Heather Ross

    Figures, the first year in awhile that I miss this conference and Clarence Fisher and David Warlick were both there.

    Heather Rosss last blog post..Doomed By Our Love For the Drive-through?

  • http://ahlness.com Mark Ahlness

    Dean, I have to say it was a thrill to tune in to your panel keynote live, sitting at my teacher desk downing my pb&j – thanks to Alec’s video stream. Very cool, and oh so encouraging and uplifting to see and hear you all. Thank you.

    Mark Ahlnesss last blog post..Staying even

  • http://robwall.ca Rob Wall

    What I found particularly ironic about the wireless is that Cisco was a sponsor of the event. In talking with one of the conference organizers, I learned that the cost of enabling the wi-fi in the hotel for the conference. This seems to be a particularly poor choice on the part of the hotel. I expect wireless access at a conference and venues that fail to provide it will lose business to the places that will provide that at a reasonable cost.

    I understand the prophet at home phenomenon all too well, but at least the ideas do start to click when presented by the person from far away. Maybe people can pair up to present to each other’s staff. I’m available if you need me, Dean – just let me know what you want me to say.

    Rob Walls last blog post..EdTech Posse Podcast 5.3 – Jam packed full of fun

  • http://imcguy.blogspot.com Chad Lehman

    Dean, I like the idea of the linkable keynote. Allowing for breakout groups based on ideas mentioned in the keynote sounds very beneficial. It would allow more minds to share what they are thinking in relationship to the presentation.

    Chad Lehmans last blog post..WEMTA 2009 Recap