johnhendron.net: hendron’s digest - a weblog

I didn’t get to see everything I wanted to this summer at NECC. Today, ISTE released a number of video screencasts and audio podcasts (with slides) on their website.

• NECC Podcasts
• NECC Video Casts

After my presentation today, I got many great comments. One gentleman said: “Let me tell you, this was the best session by far of anything at this entire conference, I really enjoyed it; it’s exactly what I need!” Cool! I’m glad people enjoyed it.

To see more photos, visit my Flickr set.

Speaking of the final, closing keynote, there was some controversy around the presenter, Dr. Caperton.

First, she dressed sassily and with a lot of color. I liked that. Her resume reads great. Yet, for all the smarts, she couldn’t deliver the right type of closing remarks. For one, she talked too much about the talk itself, she criticized what she saw at NECC, and she only seemed to be promoting her own ventures and business entrepreneurship.

All three of us found it inappropriate, “sleepy,” and ill-suited towards the audience. Of course, it’s easy to criticize. For one, I liked the idea of framing your presentation around comments made by conference goers. But the eSchoolNews video at the start was far better than the folks who spoke into Dr. Caperton’s camera (including the drunk guy). The introduction by ISTE using SecondLife was awesome, yet, Caperton talking about “Modern Constructivism” and “Contemporary Constructivism” sounded elitist and far too cerebral.

I think a far-better approach should have been:

• This is who I am (5 min.)
• This is what I’ve accomplished (10 min.)
• These are the principles that guided me; (20 min.)
• Here’s how they can guide you… (25 mins)

While there’s nothing wrong with showing examples, some of hers were no better than what some of us are doing today in the classroom. Oh well, I am sure someone there got something out of it, and I won’t exactly be scarred for life or anything. Overall, NECC had far too much going on in so few days, but that’s the way it feels each year. I’m glad I had the opportunity once again to attend, and do three varied presentations. It was great meeting new folks through my classes and poster sessions! Stay in touch!

I will be presenting this year at NECC on Wednesday afternoon! I invite attendees to NECC to attend my presentation on High Quality Technology Professional Development. You can download the session handout, below (PDF).

I’m also going to be leading a (filled) workshop on Google Sketchup and doing a poster session covering the topics I wrote about in my book. See you in San Antonio!