ASCD 2009 Reflections

Last weekend I attended and presented at the ASCD Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida. It’s been a few years since I was able to attend the conference and the changes that I saw this year were quite refreshing for me. To begin with, the strand of sessions focusing on technology were a welcome change and completely in alignment with my thoughts from last year about the need for these kinds of sessions in the non-tech conferences.

The other big change was the impressive online dialogue that occurred through the blogs, live-blogging, Ustream video, and Twitter. Of all of these, the one that seemed to generate the most buzz and have the biggest impact was Twitter. I felt so connected to so many people throughout the conference and I enjoyed being able to catch up on sessions that I could not attend (because I was sitting in other sessions) — the access to the online connections was powerful, useful, and essential to my learning experience at the conference. This aspect of the conference brought to life the conference theme of Learning Beyond Boundaries!

With regard to the inclusion of so many sessions on the use of emerging technology in our work, I posted many reflections throughout the conference via Twitter:

• #ascd09 ascd 2010 program could have icons to indicate the skill/knowledge level of the session
• #ascd09 discussion last night at dinner… create blogger cafe (like at NECC) with volunteers who will work shifts to do one-on-one tutoring
• #ascd09 this has already been discussed, but definite need for narrow focus – one or two related tools ONLY per session and hands-on how-to
• #ascd09 wide range of knowledge & skills in the tech sessions… next year, need to differentiate sessions as “beginner” “intermd” adv“…
• @paulawhite probably not – we have good wifi , but may not be able to demo skype b/c no hardwire (all wireless) #ascd09
• really appreciating the cd-rom version of #ASCD09 program — makes it very easy to scroll through .pdf to review session descriptions
• and lighter to carry than the BIG program book… and faster that looking on website 4 session descriptions.
• Q to edutwits at #ascd09 : How are the sessions similar & diffrnt from NECC & other tech confs? No need to answer now… just curious
• wifi at #ASCD09 is EXCELLENT! Very fast… hoping it is this good on Monday a.m. when I present
• @pjhiggins that’s always a major problem at these conferences… hard to do… but important #ascd09 (referring to having more interactivity in sessions rather than lecture format)
  

If you want to see more tweets from or related to ASCD 2009, you can view them all on this Twitter search for ASCD09.

The changes were very welcome changes for me, but I could tell from my interactions with some attendees that they were still not too sure about all of the Web 2.0 tools and strategies that were being shared in the various technology sessions. The audience overall seemed curious but wary — while also being very hopeful. Their questions of ”what?,“ ”so what?,“ and ”is this just a novelty?“ were not unexpected and were completely understandable. It is easy to be wary when so many of these tools seem to appear and disappear within months. Why learn something new with a Web 2.0 tool when that company may go out of business tomorrow? Many of us tried to focus on the skills rather than the tools, but I know it is going to take a continued and persistent effort to increase the infusion of technology across the curriculum. However, I strongly feel that the critical questioning by ASCD attendees is essential for purposeful integration of emerging technology that goes beyond being just about the tools. ASCD 2009 was an excellent addition to a much needed dialogue in the broader education community.

Beyond the sessions and the online interaction, I also enjoyed face-to-face meetings with a few members of my Personal Learning Community: Brian Smith, Angela Maiers, and Dennis Richards. The face-to-face meetups are always fun and they add so much more to the ongoing online connections that we have with one another. As much as I enjoy Twitter and blogging, sometimes it is really nice to discuss these ideas with like-minded educators without the 140 character limit!

My attendance at the conference also included being part of a small committee comprised of members of my Personal Learning Network who met with conference organizers to discuss plans for the 2010 Annual Conference. If you attended ASCD 2009 and you have suggestions related to the technology sessions, please post a comment here and I will share it with the committee.

Overall, it was a fun conference and it was exciting to see and learn about the changes in both the conference and within the organization with regard to the use of emerging technology. I look forward to ASCD 2010 in San Antonio!

If you are interested, here are notes from some of the sessions I attended, and here are my handouts from the session that I presented ”It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere!“

Angela Maiers and Angela Powell posted their reflections to the conference as well and you can read their reflections here and here.

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