Teach42

I know most people have already put up their post-NECC reports, but I figure it’s never really too late and I’m glad that I had time to put some things in perspective and do a little soul searching before writing this. There’s so much to write about, both positive and negative, so I think I’m going to try to separate them into two different posts.

Without question, while the sessions are phenomenal, the most memorable parts of NECC often seem to be the networking. It seemed that every ten feet there was another person on my list of “People I Need to Meet F2F” and unfortunately there was never enough time to have a proper conversation. I truly felt humbled that I met so many people who consider me a part of their learning networks, personal or professional. Additionally, there were so many people that I’ve been a fan of for so long that it was an honor to finally meet them in person. I hate to do name lists because I always forget people, but among the most memorable were Miguel Guhlin and Bud Hunt. These are colleagues and friends that I have known for years, but never met face to face. It was truly a pleasure to finally be able to shake their hand, give them a hug and tell them in person just how much I’ve admired their work over all these years.

Of course there were so many others that I could say the same for, but this isn’t about name dropping. It’s about friendships, and making personal connections between nodes in our networks. And no matter how many names I listed, I couldn’t name them all. I can’t remember who said this, but someone at EduBloggerCon truly summed the networking side up quite eloquently: “Every single F2F conversation with someone makes the 140 characters that much more meaningful.” That’s not a direct quote, so if you said it, then let me know so I can get it right and give you credit.

Without a doubt, live video streaming was (as predicted) a big topic at NECC. I’m still trying to get a grasp on how many sessions were streamed. EdStream.TV was not as successful as I’d have liked it to be, but it was a spectacular learning experience that I think has huge potential. In particular, I learned that you really need someone dedicated solely to keeping the project organized and handle the video production, whether on site or off site is irrelevant. Unfortunately I just had too many other time commitments to devote the necessary hours to make it a true success. MAJOR kudos to Jen Wagner for her incredible effort aggregating the streams together here and making sure that virtual attendees had just about as rich an experience as physical attendees.

While backchannels and live streams were becoming commonplace in many sessions, the internet connectivity issues were always around to throw a monkey wrench in the works. During two of the panel discussions I participated in, I couldn’t stay connected to the backchannel to contribute there. Very aggravating. Even my cell-phone-as-a-modem solution failed me, despite the fact that we were in AT&T’s corporate home. However, most backchannels were archived and quite honestly are a wealth of information. That being said, I think it’s a bit presumptuous to assume that people know what a backchannel is, how to find it and how to participate. Vicki Davis has made it a priority to explain the fine art of backchanneling in some of her presentations, and I think she’s got the right idea. I’m going to make that a priority in future presentations.

Speaking of backchannels, while Chatzy and CoverItLive seem to be the hot ones right now, my backchannel of choice has become Plurk. Why Plurk? Well, for one thing, I think it could be the best successor to Twitter that I’ve seen yet. Instead of a series of loosely related posts, you get one threaded conversation with its own RSS feed and permalink. Check out Ginger Lewman’s live blog from Ian Juke’s session. Not only that, but it has a rock solid mobile version that you can use from a cell phone, iPhone or any other mobile device. Heck, on a PC it looks alot like Twitter for those that don’t like the timeline. So while I couldn’t get online, if the backchannel had been on Plurk I could still have participated actively via mobile.

On the subject of mobiles, I don’t think I’ve ever used my cell phone more at a conference before. I used it to keep up with Twitter. I used it to keep up with Plurk. I used it to check in with emails, both work and personal. I used Google Maps on there to find where I was going. I used it to read blogs and to look up people’s names and information. I used my phone as a camera and a camcorder. And as many saw in both Will’s and Hall’s sessions, I used it to do several live video streams. I broadcast solo from the airplane on the way to NECC, and interviewed Kelly Dumont, Bonnie Muir and Darren Draper (who had the misfortune of sitting next to me) on the return flight. Video of that one is embedded below.

While the videos may be a little rough and got cut off before the end, I felt that they were a great proof of concept and something I will definitely continue to pursue. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say that I believe that live video streaming via mobile is going to play a crucial role in education within the next five years. These devices are just too powerful and diverse to blow off. I’m seriously considering upgrading from the Blackjack to a Nokia N95 just so I can improve my live streams and get a full screen browser.

I was pretty busy presenting in formal sessions, panels and in the booth, so I didn’t have too much time to attend many sessions. I did attend the DEN’s Second Life Leadership Council’s panel presentation about building out their personal learning networks which was absolutely phenomenal. A classic example of how you can never be over prepared. They knew what they wanted to say, had it timed well, and really did magnificent job of sharing the fine work they’re doing in Second Life.

Speaking of being over prepared, I did catch Hall Davidson’s cell phone presentation. It was easily the best presentation I saw at NECC, and I’m not just saying that because I work with him. I don’t think there’s anyone out there that understands the art of presenting better than Hall and watching him up on stage is like a magic show that you actually learn from. It was chock full of hands on demonstrations and it was a pleasure watching hundreds of educators break out their own phones and participate. If you missed it, they did record it. You can catch it at ISTE’s NECC On Demand website.

Of course, then there was the DEN Pre-Conference which was an absolute blast. Where else are you going to get to see your boss get thrown in jail, a friend get hog tied, participate in an Old West scavenger hunt and STILL have time to network, share ideas, and do a little presenting? The DEN’s 3rd birthday party was a huge “overflowing” success and with STAR Discovery Educators in every corner of the room it was more like a family reunion than cocktail party. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Howl at the Moon, the piano bar where I left both my voice and my dignity. I can honestly say it’s the most interesting place I’ve ever celebrated my *ahem* birthday.

All in all, it was definitely a NECC to remember. Next time I’m going to try to make a point to carve out more free time so I can actually spend more time chatting with people beyond the 10 minute, “Hello! I follow you! I read you! Thanks for all you do! Hope to see you again soon!” There were way too many of those unfortunately.

SO that’s the end of part 1, The Good. More to come.