The Problem with Ed Tech Conferences ...

... is that they segregate ed tech from the rest of the 'ed" world. I thoroughly enjoy an ed tech conference, but they do preach to the converted. A lot of back slapping about jobs well done, and what needs to still be done. I think there needs to be a vastly increased presence of ed tech at the math, science, social studies, etc conferences.

I did notice that the description of this discussion area says "Anything related to ed tech conferences or workshops, including announcements or reviews" - maybe it should include ed tech that is present at non-ed tech conferences.

Jeff

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Permalink Reply by JoNelle on September 2, 2007 at 10:47am

Until we convince administrators/teachers that edtech conferences are for everyone, you are right- we will still be preaching to the choir. Are we keeping our own secret?

I've been going to tech conference for many years. Our first state conference showed us (this will date me) how a school computer can talk to another one down the hall and even across town to your district office! I thought- our district will never go for that, why are we even here? I'll never forget what my fellow teacher told me, " Whatever I learn here I may use now - or even ten years from now." I listened and I still think that way.

Since it is called a tech conference- many suppose it for tech/media educators. It occurs to me now- since they are called math/science/social studies conference we need to change our mindset of belonging too. That tells us we still are not there yet - we still do not view computers to be a natural part of the classroom. We ARE getting there. As for me, I still seek out to learn more at each conference (and yes, probably do a little back-slapping when I meet face-to-face with educators I have seen online).

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Bosch on September 2, 2007 at 3:17pm

Maybe, since the Web 2.0 technologies are used with content, technology presenters should focus on getting invited to the content conferences-- Reading, Social Studies, Science, etc. I know there have been some tech presentations at the national library conferences, I've read blog posts about it.