I hate to admit this, but I’ve seen some people really make some awful decisions at ISTE.  Between mob mentality, one ups-manship, and conference over-saturation, I’ve seen some really despicable stuff happen.  This is an absolutely fantastic event, with thousands of passionate educators attending.  Here’s some suggestions for not making a mess of it.

1) Don’t be a XXXXXXXX.  There’s a few select words that I’ve chosen not to use on this blog that I think you can use to complete that sentence.  I’m all for criticism.  I think it makes people stronger and I’ve often disparaged the fact that so many people are ‘too nice.’  But that said, there’s a difference between civil discourse and just being a XXXXXXXX.  It takes a lot of guts to put yourself out there and speak at ISTE.  I’ve only seen a few people really blow off the privilege, most pour their heart and soul into it.  If you disagree, that’s fine, but there’s a line between criticizing someone and delving back into middle school bullying tactics.  Be a critic, be a strong critic, but at least be respectful.

2) Don’t grow roots. One of my favorite places is the Bloggers Cafe.  And there’s a definite appeal of just hanging out there and waiting for people to show up that you already know, or are going to meet for the first time.  However, there’s SO many good presentations, workshops, poster sessions and activities going on.  Schedule your Bloggers Cafe time like you would a session.  Set an alarm if you need to.  Spend time hanging out, but if you aren’t careful you could find yourself planted in one spot for the entire day.  Breakfast, lunch, happy hour, dinner, and the evenings/parties are great times to get your socialization time in.  Believe me, I won’t be avoiding the Bloggers Cafe.  But neither will I be moving in.

3) Don’t confine yourself to sessions from your friends and favorites. Have I mentioned how many great sessions there are?  It’s easy to just go to ‘safe’ sessions, presenters that you KNOW are great and that confirm your ideas/beliefs.  However, if you don’t take a few chances, you may miss out on some fantastic material.  Let’s face it, some of the best content in the world is presented by mediocre presenters.  Man up and get over it.  Just because someone doesn’t sing and dance doesn’t mean their content isn’t solid.  Pick a topic that you’re interested in and attend sessions on it regardless of whether you’ve heard of the presenter.  And if you don’t like their presentation style, try to see what you can learn IN SPITE of that.  Consider it a challenge, a hill to climb, the outer shell you need to work through to get to the fruit inside. If you want to be entertained, go to the Improv.  You’re at ISTE to learn.

4) Don’t be an end node. Most likely you have a blog, a FLIP cam, a Twitter account, a digital camera, Facebook, an iPad, a netbook, a Palm Pilot and a telegraph in your bag.  If you aren’t sharing at least a few things each day, then you’re doing the education community a major disservice.  I don’t care how many sessions you’re presenting, take the time to at least share a few highlights or thoughts from the day.  Even better, give a full report, share some notes, create a backchannel for a session and so on.  But if you can’t, no worries.  Do what you can.  Whatever you do, don’t just be a sponge that doesn’t give anything back.  Pay it forward for the people that can’t be there.

5) Don’t go to everything.  You can’t.  There’s just too much going on and only a few nights to do it all in.  Make some decisions, move forward and no regrets.  I don’t care which party/reception you go to, or none at all.  Whatever you do, make the most of it.  The reality is, there will be friends and favorites at EVERY event.  Don’t lament the people that aren’t there, enjoy the time with the people that ARE there.  On Tuesday night, there’s a Simple K12 reception, a TechSmith reception, an Edmodo Meetup and EdTech Karoake….  and they are all going on at basically the same time.  So which do you go to?  It doesn’t matter.  You’ll have a great time regardless.  Make your choice and don’t second guess.

6) Don’t be shy. It’s your first ISTE.  You look across the hallway and see the woman who keynoted your state conference last year.  You’ve read her blog for 5 years, follow her on Twitter, and have bought multiple copies of her book (to pass on to friends).  What do you do????  You walk up to her and say, “Hi, I’m Steve and I’m a fan.”  Let the conversation commence.  The reality is we’re all educators.  We’re passionate about what we do and love talking to other people who are just as passionate.  I have yet to meet anybody at a conference that was ‘too big to chat.’  They might be in a hurry or trying to find their next room, so obviously be respectful if they do have to leave, but you don’t need to stress out about whether a presenter is approachable.  They are.  Trust me on this one.

7) Don’t let the time slip away. I’m shy.  Seriously, I am.  My natural inclination is to eat by myself, to sneak off to my room and enjoy quiet time and such.  And at ISTE, my inclination is WRONG.  You only have a few days with these people.  This is the time to ask a ‘twitter-friend’ if they want to grab lunch together.  To schedule a drink with that buddy you only see once per year.  Don’t squander your time, as it will be gone way too quickly.  Breakfast and lunch are fantastic times to make connections.  Don’t have any friends at your hotel?  Pick a coffee shop near the conference center.  Announce on Twitter and Facebook that you’ll be grabbing breakfast in half an hour and encourage them to meet up.  You’ll be surprised by how many people will take you up on it.  As I said, I’m shy.  But this is one of those times to break through that and make the most of each moment.

8 ) Don’t be an ostrich. You’re at a conference.  You’re with tens of thousands of other educators.  Many of them will be in the room with you, at the table with you, or in a chair next to you.  Put. The. Phone. Away.  Believe me, I understand about checking in and the need to do it periodically.  But for the most part, put the phone IN your pocket/purse and focus on the people in front of you.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been at a dinner where 3/4 of the people are there physically, but their heads are stuck in the ground, frantically checking Twitter to see what they’re ‘missing’.  Whatever you’re missing, will still be there when you leave.  Face to face time is rare.  Don’t squander it by burying your face in the screen.

9) Don’t ignore the vendors.  While many can argue over whether there’s anything good on the floor, or whether it’s all just the same old stuff… the fact is that vendor floor pays for most of the conference.  And if the vendors don’t feel like they’re getting a return on the investment, they won’t be there, and the conference will suffer for it.  The fact is, there’s A LOT of great stuff going on down there.  From mini-workshops and presentations, to demonstrations of new technologies, there’s plenty of reasons to walk the floor.  But the best reason is to actually chat with the vendors themselves.  Have a favorite?  Reconnect with them.  Find out what they have coming down the pipe, or what things they’ve put out that you might not have heard of.  Swag is all well and good, but don’t forget that every free blinking light has a price.  At least be polite and find out what they’re about.  If it isn’t  your thing, you aren’t being rude by telling them.  Don’t waste their time either pretending to be interested if you aren’t.  But be civil and give them a shot, even if you haven’t heard of them before.

10) Don’t forget to have a good time!  ISTE is the ice cream sundae after a long year’s work.  Enjoy the experience.  Plan well, stay in the moment, and make the most of every minute you have there.  Balance the learning with the social time and make the most of both.  Work hard, play hard, and maximize your time.  You can always sleep on the ride home

Did I miss any tips?  Share your own below!

Related articles

• Making The Most Of ISTE (ipadsammy.wordpress.com)
• 7 tips for a great experience at the 2011 ISTE Conference (bigthink.com)
• Getting Ready for ISTE 2011 (learningisgrowing.wordpress.com)

First of all, a few thank yous.  Chad Lehman (@imcguy) was the co-organizer of the event.  I’d say he volunteered, but that wouldn’t be quite factual.   Way back on October 11th, I mentioned that I was thinking it’d be nice to have an education uncoference in the midwest.  Chad replied that he’d be interested, to which I said “Thanks for volunteering!  What date is it going to be?”  And then I hounded him until he actually agreed to be the co-organizer (sucker).  Time and again, we would chat on the phone, create a list of things that needed to be done, and then take the lion’s share of making sure they happened.  The event wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t been for his leadership, so for that I give him major props.

I also have to thank our volunteer crew.  Not only did they raise their hands and say that they wanted to help, they took on a role and RAN with it.  Naomi Harm not only volunteered to handle the livestreams from the event, she organized a small crew (including her husband) and had the archives up on the site within 24 hours.  Brendan Murphy created the name badges, including QR codes and setting out a ton of materials for people to add their own little personal tweaks to them.  Jodi Greenspan created and kept up with our Featured Attendee posts leading up to the event. Nancy Stewart made the connection at EdCampPhilly, which was happening the same day. Debbie Gleason gathered together all the materials we needed for the agenda board (including the sticky notes that everybody commented on).  Anne Truger not only hounded companies for door prizes, but organized all the prizes on site as well.  Stuart Ciske who also brought in a plethora of prizes to give away.  Erica Roberts sacrificed some of her first session to get the agenda online right away.  And last but certainly not least, Jim Gubbins, who tracked down door prizes, created the kick-butt QR code challenge, and archived very single tweet that was posted from the event… by hand.   If I missed anybody, I humbly apologize.  There were a ton of others that helped put up signs, check people in, set up food and so on.  Every little bit was appreciated, believe me.

I also have to thank the good folks at Lenovo.  We had a ton of sponsors that put up door prizes, but Lenovo picked up the bill for the site itself, provided breakfast and lunch for all attendees, and even gave away a ThinkCentre M90z (congrats @taml17!), the same computer I’ve written about and am using with Aiden.  They were fantastic to work with, and are demonstrating a real commitment to educators by hosting days like this.  Big ups for making this event happen!

The day itself was a blast, from top to bottom.  Some personal highlights were watching that agenda board fill up, and having exactly the number of sessions that we had rooms for.  Karma?  Walking around during that first session and seeing such a huge variety of types of conversations going on was a real treat.  The iOS apps session was packed and the list of apps shared would take people weeks to work through.  Other rooms had far less people, but some incredibly passionate conversations were taking place.  Five of us left the school building to do a quick round of GeoCaching, and wound up finding both caches we sought out!  Upon returning, I jumped into a conversation about social bookmarking, and am now being forced to reconsider whether I should stick with Delicious or not.  Finally, I saw that an impromptu “smackdown” was taking place in the atrium, which I sat in on for about 10 minutes.  Heard about plenty of old favorites, as well as some new sites that I’m going to need to make time to explore.

There’s quite a bit I’d like to share about the process itself, what worked, what I think could have been done differently, but this post is going on long enough as it is.  So I’ll wrap things up with some links to a few blog posts that stemmed from the event.  I was a little surprised, and quite thrilled, at how many people told me this was their first unconference. It really demonstrated yet again how important it is that we keep reaching out and giving people opportunities to experience these life changing events for themselves.  It’s still a new idea to the majority of educators out there.

• Twittert ID’s of EdCampChicago Attendees
• My First EdCamp Experience
• EdCamp Model – Perfect for PD Days
• So I survived My First EdCamp
• The Future Of EdTech is Bring Your Own Device
• My First Unconference and Mobile Learning Resources
• EdCampChicago 2011
• EdCampChicago

A huge thank you to everybody that attended the event.  It’s a leap of faith to give up a Saturday for an event that doesn’t have any speakers, session titles, or agenda set in advance.  I appreciate your taking that chance, and hope it provided you with a learning experience that not only met your needs, but provided you with inspiration that you could take back to your own buildings.  Just remember, being inspired can make a difference in your classroom.  But sharing that inspiration with others can make a difference in hundreds of classrooms.

SO…. who’s volunteering to organize the next one?

What’s EdCamp?  EdCamp is based on Bar Camp, which in turn is based on Open Space.  I attended my first Open Space event back in 2005 and have been a huge fan of the format ever since.  In fact, we used it at the DEN Leadership Council Symposium this past summer and it went incredibly well.  Basically it boils down to this: the agenda is set by the attendees during the event itself.  When you go to conference, you know what you’re interested in.  Perhaps you have a driving question that you’re really looking to get an answer to, or have been struggling with some issue and are looking for new ideas.  This format gives you the chance to establish a time and place to talk about that topic, and other people with the same interest can join in.

It may seem a bit chaotic, but it works incredibly well.  And to be honest, it can be far more valuable than a traditional conference because you have a far greater degree of control over the experience.  If the right session doesn’t exist, it’s your responsibility to create it.  If the conversation you’re in isn’t pertinent to you, it’s your responsibility to move to a different conversation.  It’s not considered rude, it’s expected.  Your job is to make sure you’re having a great experience and are in the right conversations.

With things as busy as they are (job, baby, life, Game of Thrones on HBO) I knew that I would need a partner and Chad Lehman has done more than step in.  We’re co-organizing the event together, which means that I blab on about different ideas and he takes off and runs with them!  He’s the one who invited Angela Maiers to the event to help kick things off.  Traditionally Open Space events don’t have any formal sessions or keynotes, but we agreed that it would be nice to invite her to come in and sort of set the tone for the day.  It’s not just because she’s a fantastic speaker, but rather because she does so much to start and drive conversations.  I’m really excited to have her get the day started on the right foot.

It’s going to be a phenomenal day and I hope that if you’re in the area, you’ll join us for it.

And thanks to the good folks at Lenovo, we’ll be providing breakfast and lunch on the house, as well as giving away a ThinkCentre M90z!

Registration is open right now!

You can also let people know you’re attending by joining the conference site on Lanyrd.

And if you have any interest in volunteering, add your name to the list here.

Want to learn a bit more about EdCamp?  Watch the video below from EdCampPhilly!

Ed Camp from True Life Media on Vimeo.

This was a busy ISTE to say the least! While normally I make a point to hit at least a few sessions, this year it was all work. 3 presentations, 1 workshop, combined with booth time and a Wilkes grad course wrapping up made for a crazy hectic week. The one thing I refused to sacrifice though was face time with my network. It was an absolute pleasure seeing so many of you. Even 30 seconds face to face makes all those 140 character communications so much richer. As always, I wish I could have spent more time in the Blogger’s Cafe hanging out, but such is life. On the whole, it was a fantastic conference, and major Kudos to ISTE for organizing yet another incredibly well run event. Unlike many tech-conferences, bandwidth was never even a topic of conversation. The wireless was stellar, and the wired connections for presenters was the fastest I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t have been happier as an attendee and as a presenter.

Overall, the sessions went incredibly well. The big surprise to me was that the Policies presentation packed the room. Typically it’s a small, dedicated, hardcore group of people attending that one. This year, it filled the room up. Does this mean that we’re finally starting to turn the corner when it comes to making our policies fit the practice we know in our hearts is right? I’m starting to get cautiously optimistic!

For some reason, I seem to have Presenter Upload Deficiency Syndrome. Even when I have everything done in time, I always seem to screw up URL’s, preventing people from getting to my resources quickly. So here’s the links to the sessions I did at ISTE. Hope they help in a small part. I believe the Perpetual Learning Machine and Extreme Makeover presentations were recorded too. If I find them, I’ll link them up later.

Enjoy!

The Perpetual Learning Machine - ISTE/TIE Leadership Bootcamp
Policies Safety and Social Networking
Extreme Makeover – Education Edition (Note, this is a simplistic ‘deck’. Mostly live demo’s done during presentation)

I think that many people (myself included) that share sites like Twitter at conferences inadvertently do our attendees a disservice. In the effort of attempting to demonstrate how wonderful, simple, powerful and dynamic it is, we make it seem much more effortless than it really is.

For example… How many times per day do you see somebody say, “Give a shout out to the people in Nepal who are attending my presentation about social networks about using the Luge to teach physics!” And then 30-40 people reply with a hearty “Hello”. So attendees believe all it takes it to toss a tweet out there, and dozens of responses will pour in.

What isn’t necessarily shown, or may just be glossed over, is the fact that it takes TIME and EFFORT to gain a few hundred followers. And without having a critical mass of people to message out to, your odds of getting a response from a general tweet are VERY small. If you have 40 followers, more than likely none of them are actually online at the same time as you. And even if they are, who knows if they’re checking Twitter? And even if they are, who knows if they’ll see your tweet? And if they do, how many people will see it and ignore it, versus will see it and respond?

For example, if I send out a “Please give these folks a shout out” tweet, I expect maybe about 30-40 responses on a typical school day during normal hours. If it’s a weekend, or in the evening, you can cut that number in half. I currently have about 5000 followers. So at best, that’s less than 1%. At that rate, if you have 100 followers, could you realistically expect an instant response from even a single person? I’m not sure… It depends on who is following you.

That’s not to say that everyone should run out and get more followers. My point is simply, things aren’t necessarily as rosy and simple as we may make them seem during presentations.

I can’t tell you how many times I see a Twitter newbie who has under 50 followers throw out a request like, “I’m trying to find schools that have updated their AUP this year. If you know someone, please tell me.” Then when they don’t get any responses, they get frustrated and may wind up quitting. While I can’t address what may be an issue with persistence, I do think that person has set themselves up for failure.

I really do think you need to follow/be followed by about 100 people at the least for Twitter to begin to be valuable. If you have a dedicated, highly focused group, that number may be smaller, but in general I think that’s a fair ballpark. If you have less than that, you need to be much more aggressive to get responses.

A few suggestions for people who are new to Twitter or have relatively small audiences right now.

1) Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with putting a message out there multiple times. If you’re worried about looking like a spammer, reword it. Mention that your STILL looking for information. But it’s entirely possible that people didn’t see your message. So give them another chance. And yet another.

2) Ask some people directly to respond. If you send a tweet that includes @TheirUsername, more than likely they will see it. It may take a day or two before they look for personal replies, but most people WILL see it. Unless they have fairly strict privacy settings, it should work. So if there’s someone you think might be able to help you out, send it directly to them by using this feature.

3) Reach out to the hubs in your network. Let’s face it, some people have more followers than others. Maybe they do a lot of conferences, maybe they just have too much time on their hands. Regardless, they may have a longer reach than you do. So contact them directly and ask them to retweet it for you! I’m extremely grateful to have the audience that I do, and I’m happy to share them whenever someone asks. By doing this, you maybe be able to ensure that your request has been seen by a few thousand people instead of a few dozen. Doesn’t guarantee a response, but it does give you better odds.

Of course, the best solution in the long term is to build up your own community. The only real way to do that is to maintain your own presence, to reach out to others, and to follow people and give them the chance to follow you.

For those of you that do present sessions including Twitter, do you see the same thing happening? Is it just me or is this something you’ve experienced yourself? And if so, how do you address it?

Unfortunately, yes you do need to already have a Wave account to see it, but them’s the breaks.

Looks like it works!

If you can’t see it, I apologize. But these are the eggs we’re cracking to learn how to make an omlette!

When a normal child tries to read or concentrate, he increases the amount of beta waves in certain parts of his brain. ADHD children don’t do this. Instead of increasing beta waves, they increase theta waves, the daydreaming brain wave. That means that where other children are concentrating harder to complete a certain task, ADHD children are drifting off. (source)

The machine I was hooked up to measured my brain waves and presented me with a video screen with an airplane on it. When I was concentrating well and producing beta waves, the plane would go faster. If I lost focus, the plane would slow down. I marveled at the idea and wondered whether someone could simply exercise their brain until they were no longer prone to ADD type behaviors. Of course the equipment involved made it difficult to find a location that could provide this sort of treatment, and the costs were rather higher.

Interestingly, now it seems to be available as a home game. With a Star Wars theme.

Yes I’m serious.

ThinkGeek.com has put up for sale the Star Wars Force Trainer, for about $120. As a Star Wars fan, I felt obligated to check it out. I stopped dead in my tracks when I got midway through the description.

Using dry sensor technology, the Force Trainer can determine the differences between the alpha, beta, gamma and delta waves present in your brain. You can control these different brain ‘states’ by using your ability to focus and to concentrate. A micro-chip inside the Force Trainer then uses an algorithm to figure out which brain state you are in and then decides how to raise or lower the ball based on that state.

Sound familiar? I don’t know for certain what makes the ball go up or down, but if it’s keying in on beta waves, then isn’t it doing the exact same thing that I tried out in at the SMART workshop?? And if that’s the case… could this actually be a home version that ADD students could use to help train them to focus their concentration on demand?

I know it sounds crazy, but this just might be the most valuable toy a parent could buy for their ADD inclined student.

Now… when will we see a Bluetooth version that hooks into an iPhone?

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So here’s a link to the presentation slides, such as they are. Most of the presentation is live demonstrations, so they’re only of limited value by themselves.

Here’s a link to the ISTE broadcast of the session. Video looks and sounds great, but they didn’t record what I was doing on the screen until 20 minutes in.

Then there’s my own personal broadcast of it using Procaster and Livestream. It has what’s happening on my screen throughout the entire presentation. However, the camera angle isn’t exactly the most flattering one I could have chosen

ArtsCow.com is doing a sale right now on their custom Dog Tags. Using their designer, you can upload your own images and have them printed out on a dog tag. Normally, they cost 8.99, but through August 16th, they have a sale going on. If you use the coupon code 199DOGTAG, you can get a two sided dog tag with free shipping for $1.99. I don’t ordinarily post deals like this, but I think this could be a lot of fun for educators and it’s a pretty darn reasonable price.

So what can you do with a $1.99 dog tag?

• Create one for each of your students that has your School, Class Name, School contact info, and then their name and/or photo on the back. Be great for field trips, and early learners can use it to help learn how to spell/write their name.
• Random student grouping. Mix and match pictures and colors on each side, so you can use them for random grouping. For example, if you want to be able to do groups of 3, 4, 5, or 6 at different parts of the day, put 5 different animals on 3 different color backgrounds on one side, and then put 6 different shapes on 4 different colors on the other side. Then you can give each child a tag when they walk in, and call out groups as you need it. “All squares, come to the writing table.” “Yellow tags, go to music, green tags, stay with me.” You get the idea.
• Extension activities/centers. When students finish their assignment, they can pick an extension activity out of the bucket. Only put in as many tags in there as you can have at that activity or center. They were it as they play, and then put it back and pick a new one when they’re done.
• Job chart. List their jobs on the tags, and they can wear the tag to remind them what their job is until they do it. Then they just hang it up.
• Create permanent versions of Kevin Honeycutt’s Web2.0 keychain. A website on one side, a tip and a mentor’s email on the other.
• Bathroom passes, hall passes, Star of the day necklace, create yourself a cool keychain, etc. Hey, for 1.99, why not?
• Rewards for other teachers at your school. Create your own, Technology Teacher of the Month award! Give your colleagues a pat on the back for doing innovative things with technology in their classrooms. For $24 you could create one for every month this year.
• If you’re a geocacher, this would make a fantastic travel bug!

That’s about it off the top of my head. So let me toss the ball to you. What might you create custom dog tags for?

Several months ago, I received a Facebook message asking me to to join a group. Surprisingly, it was a group organized to pay tribute to a Junior High teacher from Glencoe, IL named Marvin Martin.

I joined the group and then leaned back in my chair. People were posting stories and memories that they had of his class and I wanted to do the same… but I couldn’t. The reason I was unable to, was that it wouldn’t do him justice for me to just whip off a paragraph in ten minutes and toss it into cyberspace. More than likely he has no idea just how much of an influence he had on me, but he just may have been the most valuable teacher I ever had.

Mr. Martin taught me to read.

I don’t mean that he taught me phonics, that happened many grades earlier. I don’t mean that he taught me to draw meaning from the written word, that too happened a a much younger age.

He taught me to read with passion. With hunger. With love. With hate. He taught me to read a song and the songwriter as well. He taught me that reading was both a gift and a curse. A new friend that becomes an old friend just a few chapters later. He planted the sapling that has grown within me all these years, and now provides shade as I read with my son.

Before I journey too far along the highway of metaphors, let me explain a few things. If I remember correctly, I had Mr. Martin as a literature teacher in sixth grade at Central School, in Glencoe, Illinois. Prior to that class, I can say definitively that I did not read. Of course, I read for class, and I could read a menu and such, but I rarely if ever, picked up a book for pleasure.

Mr. Martin established a very simple system for dealing with students like me. He created a structure where you could get extra credit in his class by choosing a book off of his list, reading it, and passing a comprehension test. Every test you passed earned you a few percentage points. My first time out, I skimmed through a book and took the test. I failed miserably. You see, he ensured that he asked questions that you couldn’t answer by reading the cliff notes. He made you think about what you had read and prove that not only did you read it, that you understood it. I don’t take failure well, so I went back, re-read it for the first time, and this time I passed the test. Sensing a way to get an easy “A”, I grabbed another book. And then another.

I believe I completed that class with 192%.

The books on his list were a mix of classics as well as contemporary literature. They weren’t just geared to middle school students either. You see, he made a promise to his students. If there was a book that wasn’t on his that they wanted to read, they just had to submit the title of it to him and he would read it and add it. At any given time, he had a queue of about 15-20 books. Which might seem daunting, if he didn’t read a few books every day. It seemed to me that he simply devoured books, and every day new choices were available. And I took advantage.

I began to read every night. I would get so into the books that I kept reading late into the night. When my parents finally put their foot down, I began keeping a small flashlight next to my bed that I could use to continue reading with as soon as they’d gone to sleep. I began carrying a book with me, so whenever I had a minute of down time, I could break it out and burn through a few more pages. It got to the point that I was unable to go to sleep if I didn’t read at least for ten or fifteen minutes.

That habit is still with me today. I am never without a book to read, and I read every single night before turning in. If I don’t have a new book, I grab an old favorite. Another habit I can attribute to Mr. Martin. No matter how many times you’ve read a book before, there are still new things to be discovered within those well worn pages. I can honestly say that I have read some of my favorite books more than a dozen times.

The funny thing is that everything I have discussed so far… was simply the icing to his classroom. This was a layer on top of the actual teaching and learning, an optional component that most students participated in. The class time itself was a different type of journey.

I won’t pretend to say that I remember every class period, or that I looked forward to going every day. But here’s a few things that have stuck with me.

I remember that he was never satisfied with half an effort. When you read aloud, you read with expression. He made sure that you thought about what you were reading, considered the point of view of the characters as well as the author, and read it so that everyone else in the room could feel it.

I remember studying the words of Simon and Garfunkel. In particular, the 59th Street Bridge Song and the Sounds of Silence. I remember him leading us to discover what they meant by phrases like “the words of the prophets are written on subway walls and tenement halls.” And I also remember him challenging us to bring in lyrics to our own favorite music at the time and to see what we could learn from them. If my memory serves me, we wound up studying a song off of U2′s Joshua Tree album and a couple John Lennon songs, all by request.

I remember that while he was always a passionate teacher, there was only one time that he was genuinely angry. Somebody requested that he read Flowers in the Attic and add it to the list of books that could be read for extra credit. He was furious over the incestuous themes throughout the story, and refused to add it to the list. I had never seen someone get so upset and emotional over a book before. Looking back on it now, I think one of the reasons he was so upset was that in some sense, the book defeated him. He couldn’t in good conscience ‘encourage’ students to read that book by adding it to his list. And yet students were interested in it, all the more so because he was so upset by it. I think more students eventually read that book because of his refusal than would ever have read it had he accepted it. And while seeing him discuss the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel showed us how high he could get discussing the written word, his reaction to Flowers in the Attic showed us just how deep those passions ran.

I would be remiss if I didn’t share one other aspect of Marvin Martin. Teaching was his life. And while I feel that I have met thousands of educators who are passionate teachers, few of them kept a sleeper sofa and refrigerator in a small office next to their classroom. Rumors run wild amongst six graders, so take this paragraph with a grain of salt, but so far as we knew he spent most of his evenings reading and sleeping in his office. There was a house in Glencoe that I’d been told belonged to him. It seemed like it could have fit in the garage of most of the houses neighboring it. While most other teachers shared stories of what they did over the weekend or while on vacation, Mr. Martin shared what books he had read. Teaching was his sunrise and his sunset. He dedicated every moment of his time to his students.

According to the Facebook group, after teaching in Glencoe for forty years, he retired in 1996. I’d always thought about going back and visiting him to let him know how profound an influence he had on me, but I never did. I’m hoping that through the magic of Facebook I’ll be able to reconnect with him and pass along a link to this blog post. Even better, perhaps have the chance to tell him in person.

So let this stand as a tribute to a wonderful teacher… from a student who didn’t know enough to thank him at time and doesn’t have enough words to do a proper job of it now.

Thank you, Marvin Martin.

I can only attribute it to 3 things. 1) The addition of the PLN Plaza. An open lounge type area for people to network/hangout/plurk in. Scott Meech did a fantastic job putting it together and keeping it active. 2) The bar area being smoke free. In previous years, only the smokers would hang out there, and everyone else would do their best to hold their breath and race past it. This year, it was a place for anyone and everyone to congregate. And congregate they did. 3) The attendance of Kevin Honeycutt. Not to take anything away from anybody else who was a speaker or traveled many many miles to come, but I must say hanging out with Kevin was like a breath of fresh air. Truly a kind and genuine human being and it was a pleasure to watch him ‘in action’.

So, with that, I’ll just share two highlights. So long as we’re on the subject of good feelings, Thursday night Kevin broke out his guitar and we were treated to a fantastic jam session. Here’s just a little taste of it.

The second is my ‘geekbumps’ highlight of the conference floor. The latest and greatest from SMART. Their response to the Microsoft Surface. But this thing is produced for the consumer market and ready for sale. I played around with it for about 10 minutes and was way impressed. It ain’t cheap, but it truly is a magnificent piece of technology. The vendor showing it was Bradfield’s, so if you’re interested in it feel free to drop them a line.

Why I Created Constructing Modern Knowledge
Gary S. Stager, Ph.D.

Sincere thanks to Steve Dembo for the generous loan of his blog!

During my career I’ve had the privilege of working with many of my heroes – Seymour Papert, David Thornburg, Fred D’Ignazio, Jonathan Kozol, Bruce Dixon and countless others whose names you might not recognize. This is not the result of magic. After familiarizing myself with their work, I met my heroes at conferences. The chance to interact with great thinkers and education leaders face-to-face contributed immeasurably to my own personal development and led to opportunities I never could have imagined.

My greatest source of personal and professional pride comes from creating such powerful learning experiences for other teachers. I’ve seen colleagues and students who thought of themselves as “just a teacher” transform into educational superheroes as they shook hands or shared a refreshing libation with an expert they respect. The realization that I stand on the shoulders of giants who are just like me can mean everything to an educator.

Mt other powerful learning experiences are rooted in Mr. Jones’s 7th grade computer programming class back in the mid-1970s. Computers provided an intellectual laboratory and vehicle for self-expression that made me feel intellectually powerful and creative in ways I never imagined while “doing school.” Computer programming felt just like music composition in my head and the computer made all sorts of other connections possible for the first time. The computer can capture my writing, but it also allows me to be a scientist, engineer, composer, mathematician, astronomer, filmmaker, etc.

That’s why I created the Constructing Modern Knowledge summer institute.

I wanted to create an environment in which educators could reacquaint themselves with he joy of learning while expanding their vision of the ways in which computers may be used and interact with some of the most powerful thinkers of our time.

Our four-day institute, July 13-16, dedicates a large chunk of time to learning by doing. Participants engage in personally meaningful projects that challenge their creativity and build upon the expertise of the community. The Constructing Modern Knowledge faculty is comprised of remarkable teachers who love learning and teaching alongside a student.

Last year’s projects included:

• Kinetic sculpture
• Videogame design
• Simulation building
• Robots that played musical instruments
• Puppets that roared

…and much more

Best of all, amazing connections were made between subject areas. Art teachers collaborated with mathematicians while kindergarten teachers shared her molecular models with an accomplished scientist. A good time was had by all!

Such “hard fun” is punctuated by interactions with guest speakers. Can you imagine the thrill of having Alfie Kohn chat with you about your project or have Herb Kohl work with you? Constructing Modern Knowledge wants its participants to be able to say, “I spent time with Deborah Meier,” rather than “I heard Deborah Meier.”

Our learning environment contains laptops, a well-stocked library, LEGO, robotics materials, art supplies, snacks, marshmallows and a Whiffle Bat.

Constructing Modern Knowledge 2009 will be held July 13-16, 2009 in Manchester, NH with an optional pre-conference science and history tour of Boston on July 12th.

Manchester is a small New England city with a great airport serviced by most major US airlines and terrific restaurants within walking distance of the institute site, The Radisson Hotel. There is a free airport shuttle and discounted hotel rates for participants. Manchester is also a convenient drive from most of New England and the Mid-Atlantic states.

Faculty:

In addition to our fabulous faculty of Dr. Cynthia Solomon (one of the three people who invented Logo), John Stetson and Sylvia Martinez, legendary educator and author of more than 40 books on teaching and learning, Herbert Kohl is scheduled to be a member of the team – available to collaborate, chat and create with you throughout the entire institute.

Guest Speakers include:

Deborah Meier – a Macarthur Genius honored for her decades of service and innovation in urban public education. Ms. Meier is the “mother” of the small schools movement and her Central Park East in NYC and Mission Hill in Boston provide stunning examples of creative, compassionate, competent public education.

Lesa Snider King – one of the world’s leading experts on digital photography and imaging. She is such a great teacher that even I understand Photoshop while watching her perform her magic. Lesa just authored the new Photoshop CS4, the Missing Manual.

Brian Silverman – a gifted recreational mathematician, scientist, bricoleur and raconteur who has his DNA on nearly every version of Logo created over the past 30 years. Brian played instrumental roles in the creation of MicroWorlds, LEGO TC logo, Scratch, Turtle Art, the Phantom Fishtank and is now the president of the Playful Invention Company, creators of the Pico Cricket. Brian even built a working tic-tac-toe playing computer made entirely of Tinker Toys.

Peter Reynolds – the award-winning author, illustrator, animator, software developer and inspirer will host a CMK Reception at his famed FableVision Studios at the start of Wednesday night’s Night Out in the Big City (Boston)

Other surprises are planned. Full bios are available on the CMK09 web site.

Registration includes:

• Four-days of learning adventures
• Conference dinner
• Night Out in the Big City (Boston) beginning with a reception hosted by Peter Reynolds at the famed FableVision Studios
• Free creativity software from Tech4Learning, LCSI, Inspiration and FableVision

Hope to see you this July ! Super Early-bird Registration ends March 1st!

Constructing Modern Knowledge is sponsored by The Constructivist Consortium and The Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation

The most obvious example of asking friends or colleagues to blog in conjunction or in response to you, is the various memes you’ll find circulating around. Lee Kolbert was curious to see what other people’s RSS feeds would look like as Wordle’s. She wasn’t shy about it, she not only tagged people in her blog post, but she also sent me a direct message on Twitter. The people who ask are the people who get responses, and people have rallied to the cause. As of this reading, ten people have responded by posting up Wordle’s of their RSS feed.

A few days ago, I did something similar. I wanted to get some of the bloggers who inspire me to share their tips for being a better blogger. I sent them an email and nearly every single one of them responded. Of course, being prolific writers with years of experience, many of them couldn’t stop at just one tip! I’d like to share their responses with you today.

Before I do, let me just outline today’s challenge: Collaborate with somebody or several people on a blog post or meme. Invite other people to share their thoughts on a topic of your choosing, create a meme for other people to participate in, or send a request for people to address a specific question on their blog. Details are up to you, the important part is that it’s collaborative in nature! And of course, be sure to share what you do in comments here.

Without further ado, here are how some of my own favorite bloggers responded to the question: What tip would you give to people striving to be a better blogger?
Order based on when they responded

Jeff Utecht:

• Always include a picture that frames your idea (visual literacy)
• Always link…..a blog post should never be without links (link names, blogs, ideas, companies)
• Find your voice….it takes time, sometimes 50+ posts, but keep at it and you’ll find your voice. You were never taught about having a voice on a blog, because blogs weren’t around when you were taught to right. Every blogger has a voice, find your, find your style, and be original with it!

Dean Share(ski):

Find your voice. As I have my pre-service teachers delve into this medium, it’s easy to see whose blogs get the most action. It’s the ones who let go the reigns everyone in a while and write from their gut. I can read about almost any topic when passion is evident. For new bloggers this is usually a big risk but well worth it. Write about what fires you up.

Link. Link. Link. Hypertext is the glue of the internet. It is the web. Most new bloggers don’t see this. I advice my students to think about a global audience and don’t assume they know what institution you attend or what town you’re from. I can’t think of any blogger who I consider overlinks. Linking is a generous gift you can give your readers.

Sylvia Martinez:

Think Nike – just do it. They don’t all have to be gems. If you don’t like it, leave it as a draft. Reread your drafts every once in a while and you’ll have new ideas and the inspiration to polish them off.

Miguel Guhlin:

First tip – Listen to yourself as you experience other’s writing, media, as well as your interactions. Juxtapose your thoughts and reactions with those ideas…explore the differences, challenge why you agree, or don’t, with them. Then, write from that perspective…what you feel and think matters, don’t belittle…treasure it.

Another tip – share what you are learning as you learn it. We learn every minute of our day, but can only share a small fraction of that, and half-remember ourselves from one day to the next what we learn…share what lies at the edge of consciousness, what you have to remember and wish to externalize for easy reference.Then, you can google yourself…and you will find yourself online.

last one – play with your ideas and your writing, like a cat with a ball of yarn that forgets to hold back. When you can do that with what you’ve learned from others as well as yourself of endless abandonment–play–well, then you’re in the Zone.

Scott McLeod:

Invite people to respond. Write a couple of (hopefully) interesting paragraphs and then ask a question at the end that invites readers to chime in, contribute a resource, etc.!

Thanks for thinking of me. What do YOU think is a great blogging tip to share with others?

Darren Kuropatwa:

Write what you know and talk about what you care about. People who write with passion are forgiven small errors and are engaging to read.

Alan Levine:

Set up your flickr account to publish directly to your blog. You can use your own (or other’s ) photos by using “Blog this” button, which automatically embeds the photo and whatever text you write. I either do this to blog about, say an event in my own photos, or just using the photo as a metaphor for a thought.

Alec Couros:

1) Take a break when you need it, rather than forcing your posts. While this depends highly one what type of blogger you are (e.g., professional fulltime vs. part time), sometimes a short hiatus may be what you need to renew your perspective and get you writing again. If the break is
relatively short, there is not a great chance that you should not have to worry about losing subscribers. If you’ve followed the other tips here, there’s a good chance you will already have a stable base.

2) Let change come naturally. If you started out as a certain type of blogger but after some time you’ve realized that you are passionate about something else, go with it. Change is often good. Change your
theme, your tagline, your focus if necessary; whatever it takes to be passionate about writing. Chances are these changes will not be incredibly dramatic so you will not have to sacrifice your readership.
The most important piece is that you are writing about something that is important to you. Your posts will likely be more coherent, powerful, and personal. Share your enthusiasm with you readers.

3) Avoid the echo chamber. There is an inherent danger in an information environment without a critique. Write and comment carefully, and most importantly, critically. Bad ideas quickly become good ones when the mob mentality arrives.

Jennifer Dorman:

Write about what interests you. That will keep you motivated and will infuse passion and direction into your writing.

Kathy Schrock:

Always post the feed URL of your blog someplace permanent on your blog page. This makes it easier for those using a less-popular news reader to aggregate your content.

Don’t be afraid to say something controversial, and, if you want to offer a post that may cause you to be criticized or ridiculed, just shut off commenting on that post. You may be criticized or ridiculed in other places, but at least not on your own blog!

Don’t let content get lost. With many of us microblogging with Twitter and Plurk, I sometimes feel that entire threads of content are being lost in 140 character hunks. If you do have a meaningful, continuing conversation using one of these tools, summarize it afterwards in a blog post so it is more “permanent”.

Steve Hargadon:

If you want to make contact with a prominent blogger, mention and link to them in your own blog in some inviting way, since they (we) all have Google Alerts on their (our) own names.

Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach:

Blog because you are passionate about what you are sharing, not because you feel you have to get a post up for your readers. I would rather read an occasional post that is written with true voice than a slew that were obviously written just to get something up.

Doug Johnson:

Make your blog as personal as possible. I read writing that has a “voice.” If I want dry scholarship, I’ll read a peer-reviewed journal, but I’ll read your blog if you share your personal experiences, ideas, opinions and passions. PLEASE have a good “About Me” page so I can put your writing in context – your job, your location, your years in the profession. Give me a way to contact you off line, please. I could be an e-stalker, but the odds are against it. For many of us, it’s not really educational unless the heart and soul are touched as well as the mind.

Vicki Davis:

I find my best posts come from the heart – I work hard to experience what I am writing and to pretend that someone is sitting right there and that I am talking to them conversationally. Although sometimes, it leaves me exhausted, I think that this conversational/ experiential type of blogging gives me a voice and keeps me focused on my passion: advocating the effective use of technology to reach ALL learning styles in ways that promote academic excellence.

David Warlick:

Often, in my blog entries, I find it necessary to include information that is related to the article, but not logically part of the article. A sidebar serves well for quoted explanations, lists of links, and other ancillary info.

There are lots of ways to achieve this, but just a little straight-forward HTML seems to work most consistently for me. Below is some HTML code that I just past into my blog article, at the beginning of the paragraph that should wrap around the sidebar.
<table border="0" width="300"
align="right" bgcolor="#ffdf89"><tbody><tr><td>
YOUR SIDEBAR TEXT GOES HERE
</td></tr></tbody></table>

This code will produce a 300 pixel wide sidebar aligned to the right (with text wrapping around to the left) with a tan background color. Good luck!

Will Richardson:

End with the beginning. This is not necessarily a blogging tip, per se, but a writing technique, a way to bring ideas full circle. Example

Bud the Teacher:

I find that most people choose not to blog or to share because they feel like someone else has or will do whatever it is that they’re trying to do better. They’re not good enough, or whatever.

The harsh reality is that’s probably true. But what is also true is that no one else will ever do it the way that you do, and you will learn more in the doing than you will in reading someone else’s account of the same thing, even if it’s a very, very good account or blog post or whatever.

So be brave, and write anyway, knowing that there’s value in sharing your experiences in large part because they’re yours.

Jen Wagner:

1. Use your blog to BUILD others up and not TEAR them down. As Thumper was told in Bambi (slight edit here…) If you can’t write somethin’ nice, don’t write anything at all.

2. Count your “I’s” before you hit submit. Count your “me’s”. Could your “should’s”. And count the times you draw attention to yourself. Your blog might be written BY you………..but it doesn’t need to be written ABOUT you.

3. Sometimes you don’t have to hit SUBMIT!!!

Huge thanks go out to everybody who responded. I truly feel honored to have such inspiring and responsive people in my network!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

FYI, that’s the last time I use the camera on the front of the phone. While it’s great because I can see comments that are typed in live, and I can see myself and make sure I’m centered and such, the quality is SO much worse than the camera on the back. So from now on, I use the good camera and even if it’s a little laggy while watching it live, at least the archive will look much better. And let’s face it, thats’ much longer lasting.

First of all, I do have to thank three groups. A huge thanks goes out to Nokia for hosting an event like this. It was creative, innovative, and a distinct pleasure to be a part of. I also need to thank WOM world. They truly did a phenomenal job of making sure everything ran like clockwork and that the attendees were treated like celebrities at every turn (more on that to come). Lastly, I want to thank the other invitees who attended the inaugural event. I learned quite a bit from the group to say the least, and much of it had nothing to do with cell phones. It was truly an honor to consider them peers.

Alright, now that we’ve got that out of the way, let’s get on with the good stuff.

That which rocked
I’m trying to by concise, something I’m not really good at. But I think I have to say that it was the people that made up the experience. The attendees were an eclectic, international group who each had something different to contribute. Very diverse perspectives in many ways, not so in others, but on the whole just hanging out with them was a learning experience in itself. There were plenty of Nokia employees around throughout the event, and I do have to admit that it was fascinating talking to them. It’s a massive company and there are so many different aspects of it. It was interesting hearing what each of them have been working on, and discussing what the implications could be for education. And of course, the people of Finland were incredibly gracious, with the exception of one drunken Finnish woman. Oh, how I would love to know what exactly she was screaming at Brian.

The conversations definitely rocked. That’s no different from any conference. However, these were intended to be a little more open, less constrained, and focused on asking “What could we do if…” There were some very creative ideas that arose from the conversations, and some that weren’t quite so. While at times we seemed to be spinning our wheels, on the whole I think there were some innovative subjects broached. I truly hope that Nokia learned something from the event, I know that I did.

The social events truly rocked. There were two fantastic dinners, with drinks and merriment aplenty. Between the stand up comedian one night and the brilliant guitar the second night, it was very clear that they wanted to ensure their visitors had a great time. And we did.

The last piece that gets thrown into the ‘rocked’ drawer is the amount of free time we had. I was truly worried that I wouldn’t have much time to experience Finnish culture and explore Helsinki. I was wrong. I had a very memorable walk with Mike and Jen with plenty of photos to be uploaded still. I experienced a true Finnish sauna, which involved getting to know far more of the group than I had anticipated. And that’s all I’ll say about that. A group of us visited the Kiasma, a modern art museum that had some rather evocative exhibits…. and some that weren’t. One exhibit in particular, The Trainee, I have to admit I did not get at all, until I encountered it again at the airport in Helsinki on the way home. They recreated the exact same installation and I have to admit it was much more intriguing than I my original opinion, which seems to be the museum’s motto, “I don’t get it.”

Meh
We were sent out the Nokia e71 prior to the conference to try out. I swapped my SIM card into there and used it for a couple of weeks leading into the workshops, but unfortunately it was the European version and I couldn’t get on with a 3G connection. Not a big deal, I figured that they did that so we could have high speed connections while in Europe. And one of the first things handed to us when we got to the hotel was a SIM card to use for the trip. That being said, this was a group of people that were accustomed to carrying multiple devices. And for the most part, the e71 wasn’t exactly the ideal all in one for this group (myself included). So there was a ton of sim-swapping going on, and to be honest I didn’t really see that many people use the e71 that much. Compounding this, was the minute the conference was over, we were required to turn in the SIM card. I’m a bit perplexed why they didn’t just have us return them before we left, or even mail them back. Most people I spoke to basically turned off the e71 when the SIM card was taken away, and went back to their regular device. If they really wanted us to make proper use of it, I’d think they’d want to either give us the version that we could use in our ‘homeland’, or at least provide us with a SIM to keep making use of it beyond the constraints of the event.

I know how much I hate when groups just go around the table and everybody shares who they are, what they do for a living and what their favorite shape of pasta is, this event really demonstrated why that’s so necessary. When we began collaborating, we didn’t know each other. In fact, by the time we had an idea who each other were, the first day was essentially through. Context is so valuable to conversations, and it would have been helpful to have had some when we began collaborating.

Third ‘meh’ for the event was a certain lack of communication. I never really knew what the goals were for the event. In fact, there were some very X-Files conspiracy theories floating around. One theory was that the event was actually more for internal purposes, to illuminate the rest of the company to the power and relevance of social media. Another was simply that it was good for marketing, because surely the bloggers would type up posts like this one. All buzz is good buzz, so sayeth the gods of social media.

Fail
This leads me to the stuff that I don’t think worked. Namely, the structure of the event. There were two days. One day was workshops, the second day was presentations. During the first day, we’d have a 10-20 minute introduction about a topic, and then about 40 minutes to discuss, brainstorm and share back with the group.

Side out rotate.

We were randomly put into groups, and often the specific direction that the groups discussed was determined by the age old system of whoever shouts out first and loudest. I don’t mind randomness though, in fact sometimes it’s kind of nice talking about a topic that is far away from your comfort zone. However, that being said, is 40 minutes really enough time to do a deep delve into any topic? I would say no. In fact, at least three times i felt like the conversation was just barely beginning to get rolling, when we realized we had to stop and start planning how to present our ‘findings’. I was mortified when people who were striking out in some different directions that were contrary to what the group had been talking about, got cut off because we simply didn’t have time to explore their ideas. Very disappointing.

Let’s face it. You handpick 35 early adopters, social media gurus, highly connected, bleeding edge leaders in the world of new technologies… You fly them out to Helsinki and put them up for several nights… You create a stimulating environment and host lavish meals and events for them… And then have them contribute for a grand total of 3 hours? (4 brainstorming sessions x 45 minutes each) What a waste… With the group of people in that room, I truly felt like we could have accomplished something, really delved deeply into some of the different topics, provided some new insight or innovative ideas, beyond off the cuff surface thinking. Instead, there were many people who’s ideas were never heard, which is horrifying considering the nature of the event.

Additionally, there was very little effort made to involve the outside community. We pushed quite a bit of information outwards, but short of a brief pseudo-integration with Second Life, there was no effort to bring anybody from the outside in. If we’re sharing the event with the outside world, why not take it the next step and invite them to participate and contribute? Heck, just putting up a Tweet or SMS wall that allowed people to interact with the attendees would have been welcome in my mind.

Along those lines, one of the biggest surprises to me was the distinct lack of backchannel. Backchannel’s are commonplace for most edtech conferences now, so I was very surprised that nobody expressed a desire to create a backchannel for the conference. Twitter kinda sorta served as an unofficial backchannel, but by the time most of discovered and connected to the other people there, the event was basically over. I think that would have been extremely helpful, particularly during the presentations of the second day.

Lessons Learned:
I guess this one should be obvious, but you get out of an experience what you put into it. I realized pretty quickly that education wasn’t going to be a focus, and didn’t really figure much into most of the topics we were discussing. I could have tried to force the groups along my preferred path, but I didn’t think that’d be constructive. Instead, I realized that we had a pretty eclectic group of people gathered, many of whom are currently making a career out of jobs that didn’t exist when we were growing up (sound familiar?). So with that in mind, I thought I’d do a little informal survey and see what people had to say about their education. I asked about 10 people or so some questions about their schooling and got some pretty fascinating answers. Videos to be edited and shared soon.

Another point that I think bears further exploration is the idea of fame in the 21st century. Every person at this event was famous… for 15 people (give or take a few thousand). Very well known, very well respected, among a very tiny community of people. I like to think that I’m pretty well known in the EdTech community. And yet, I guarantee you there was not one person there that knew who I was. And for the most part, I didn’t know anybody else there prior to being introduced to them. There were sites I knew and employers I recognized, but nobody was what I would consider a household name, even amongst the bloggerati. However, as I said, everybody there was famous.

It made for an interesting dynamic. Some were rather outspoken, others rather soft spoken. Clearly a few people felt intimidated and didn’t want to chime in despite efforts to draw them out. Others simply dominated the conversation. It truly did emphasize to me the opportunity that every person has to become famous nowadays. It doesn’t take much to become famous, simply persistence, courage and the confidence to put yourself on the line. That’s it. Ironically, expertise is optional.

The last point I’ll mention in closing is more of a question than anything else… Which is more important, diversity of ideals and interests, or diversity of cultures and personalities? We had plenty of the latter, and not as much of the former. As diverse a group as we had, we were remarkably homogeneous. More often than not, it’s the conflict of opinions that leads to new ideas. Innovation doesn’t occur in an environment where everybody agrees. And there was precious little disagreement during these sessions. If people disagreed, it would come out on Twitter later, rather than verbally much of the time. I suppose part of it could have been because of the limited time available, but I think it was actually more due to the fact that everybody there had similar characteristics when it came to technology.

Ok, one more point/rant and then I swear I’m closing off. Let me just say that after spending half a week with this hyper connected, social media obsessed group, I really wanted to throw my cell phone through a window by the end. Believe me, I’m still pro-twitter, pro-blogging, pro-sms, pro-cell phones in the classroom and all. But I was appalled at how many people simply were unable to UNPLUG even just for the duration of a meal. I vividly remember at one point looking around, and at a table for ten, six people were busy typing away on a total of 8 devices. We were flown halfway around the world, being put up in an incredible hotel, and had the opportunity to collaborate with some brilliant minds… and people couldn’t seem to break away from the network overlay. Believe me, I understand the desire to tweet everything that happens, and I’m hardly a model example for the manners textbook, but that was just too much… Cell phones and mobile technologies should augment communication, not replace it. I just kept flashing back to the presentation we had seen earlier in the day by Adam Greenfield. He showed an image of a woman walking through the mall talking on her cell phone, and pointed out that while physically she was there, mentally she was nowhere near that mall. Her mental space was a technology overlay completely separated from her physical space. For the most part, that’s what seemed to be happening quite often throughout the weekend.

I’m not advocating that we eliminate the technology, but I do think that this is even more of a reason to teach appropriate use during schools. After all, the flip side of appropriate use, is understanding when NOT to use it.

Welps, that’s enough of a rant for now. More to come. And while it may seem like a lot of moaning and whining, it truly was an incredible learning experience. I hope Nokia got as much out of it as I did!