Almost, almost

I looked at some of the NECC blogger sites. Everybody is excited to be going. A common theme is that whatever the program features, it is always something else that takes the conference by storm, and that becomes the next "big thing" that people come away with and bring home to their schools. Two years ago it was blogging, last year podcasting.

One more trip into school this morning to finish a couple of small details. And then, San Diego.....

I am not the only blogger @ NECC

From the NECC Website - so if you don't care for my commentary, check out other folks!
Jamie from Southeast will be sure to check out Tony Vincent who is listed below!

NECC:

The following educators have invited you to join them as they blog and/or podcast their NECC experiences! You can lurk quietly, or jump into the fray by posting comments of your own.

Jeff Allen Director of Educational Technology Bremerton, Washington
Blog: http://www.oesd.wednet.edu/blog

American Association of School Librarians
Blog: http://blogs.ala.org/aasl.php?cat=68

Robert Banning Coordinator, Digital Crosswalks; Hallpass and Friends So. Pasadena, California
Blog: http://digiwalks.blogspot.com/

Sharon Betts Educational Technology Coordinator Turner, Maine
Blog: http://sharonbetts.org/sshare/blog.html

Lori Burch, Donna Farren, and Michael RehbaumInstructional Technology SpecialistsRochester, NY
Blog: http://bocesitsnecc2005.blogspot.com/
Podcast: http://web.mac.com/lburch/iWeb/EdPodcasting/

C. Kevin ClarkInstructional Technology ConsultantBerrien Springs, Michigan
Blog: http://remc11.wordpress.com/

Steve Dembo Online Community Manager, Discovery Educator Network Chicago, IL
Blog: http://teach42.com/

Kelly Dumont The Educational MacRiverton, Utah
Podcast: http://www.theeducationalmac.com/rss.xml or http://feeds.feedburner.com/xmission/Agnp
Blog: http://theeducationalmac.blogspot.com

Alice Fe D LavinaRetired EducatorKorea ://www.xanga.com/ALAVINA/

Terry FreedmanIndependent ICT Consultant Ilford, England
Blog: http://www.ictineducation.org

Lucy Gray Apple Distinguished Educator The University of Chicago Lab Schools Chicago, Illinois Blog: http://elemenous.typepad.com/

Jorge HirmasCSUSM–College of EducationSan Diego, California
Blog: http://desertdew.blogspot.com/

David S. JakesInstructional Technology CoordinatorDowners Grove, Illinois
Blog: http://jakespeak.blogspot.com/

Eric LanghorstSouth Valley Jr. HighLiberty, Missouri
Blog/Podcast: http://www.speakingofhistory.blogspot.com

Janine LimInstructional Technology ConsultantBerrien Springs, Michigan
Blog: http://bcisdvcs.wordpress.com/

Julie LindsayHead of TechnologyInternational School Dhaka, Bangladesh
Blog: http://123elearning.blogspot.com/
Podcast: http://podcastjazz.blogspot.com/

Rolly MaiquezInstructional Technology Specialist Tumon Bay, Guam
Photo blogging: http://www.splashblog.com/necc2006/
Blogging: http://www.edtechworld.com/

Sharon Peters Lower Canada College Montréal, Canada
Blog: http://mtl-peters.net/blog/

Suzanne PorathInternational School of ArubaAruba, Dutch Caribbean
Blog: http://heartofateacher.blogspot.com/

Jeremy RennerTechnology Resource TeacherLouisville, Kentucky
Blog: http://jeremyrenner.blogspot.com

Will RichardsonConnective Learning GroupFlemington, NJ
Blog: http://www.weblogg-ed.com

Randl G. Rivers Superintendent Arma, Kansas http://rrivers.blogspot.com/

Dan SchmitInstructional Technology SpecialistUniversity of Nebraska–Lincoln
Podcast: http://www.intelligenic.com/kidcast
Stephen VanHerpen Librarian Arizona, United States
Blog: http://az-tech-librarian.blogspot.com/

Tony VincentTechnology Specialist Omaha, Nebraska
Blog: http://learninginhand.com/blog/
Podcast: http://learninginhand.com/softreset/

Mark Douglas WagnerEducational Technology CoordinatorOrange County, California
Blog: www.edtechlife.com

David F. WarlickThe Landmark Project
Blog: http://davidwarlick.com/2cents/
Podcast: http://connectlearning.davidwarlick.com/

Betsy Weber Chief Evangelist TechSmith Corporation
Blog: http:///visuallounge.techsmith.com/

Jim WenzloffInteractive Media Consultant Clinton Township, Michigan
Blog: http://www.visitmyclass.com/blogs/wenzloff/

Herman Wood Technology Integration SpecialistCobb County School District, Georgia
Blog: http://edtech.typepad.com/theblog/
Podcast: http://edtech.typepad.com/

The opinions expressed in these blogs are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of ISTE staff, management, or Board of Directors.

Note to Mansfield Staff

I sent out this email this morning -

Mansfield Folks:

Many of you know I am traveling to the ISTE National Convention in San Diego - NECC 06 in early July. I have decideto try my hand at a more professional style of blogging (as opposed to my online blog about bicycling that I have been doing off and on for a year) to create a picture and history of what I encounter there. Already I am encountering a culture that is much more wired and plugged in that I am. When I run across links that are important or things of interest to folks her in CT I will put them in the blog. If you want to explore the world of blogging (and experiment with things like RSS feeds) by following along please feel free to.

A word of caution - common blogging sites (myspace, facebook, blogspot, xanga) are filtered in school by necessity. So, you will have to do this from home of a school library computer

Here is the blog:

http://technosteve.blogspot.com/


Here is the conference site:

http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2006/glance/

Leaving On a Jet Plane

Too much to do, too little time. I am still finishing up details at school. I MUST be done tomorrow. I have a couple of priorities for this trip:

1) I want to catch the "buzz" of the $100 dollar laptop. I made my final decision to go to NECC when I saw microphones would speak. You don't go to a national conference 6 months after your big media splash without bringing chapter 2 to the table.

2) I am interested in models of student assessment and will be looking to see what is out there. NCLB will be here for a while no matter what the state and federal politics become.

3) I am very interested in experiencing a fully wireless convention environment. NECC has a rep for making their conference reflect in practice what you read about. I have been very impressed with their conference web site and how the whole thing is put together.

In other notes a colleague passed along infor about Google Calendar now in beta. You will likely see it here in the next week as one of its features is that it integrates well into web sites and blogs.

School's Out for Summer

We are 3 days away from leaving to San Diego. Today was last day for teachers. I will be going to school a few more times to get set for September. However all the last minute details are coming together and it is exciting to have the trip upon us as we leave onSaturday. Jamie R passed this article along:

Educators First to Test Negroponte's $100 Laptop Prototype Negroponte will also deliver keynote at premier Ed Tech conference
(Washington, D.C.--June 19, 2006)--Educators from the U.S. and abroad will be among the first to test-drive prototype models of Nicholas Negroponte's much-discussed $100 laptop (http://laptop.org) during the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) July 5 through 7, in San Diego. NECC is presented by the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE).
"ISTE's NECC will be the first public forum at which we not only show a working prototype of the $100 Laptop, but also provide hands-on access to developer machines," Negroponte said. "Furthermore, selected conference attendees will be invited to participate in our developer program."
Information about the developer program can be found at http://wiki.laptop.org/index.php/Developers_Program.

Thanks to Negroponte's One Laptop Per Child Initiative (OLPC), journalists and NECC attendees can try out the $100 laptop's casings and motherboard. OLPC staff will be available to answer questions.
Negroponte, co-founder and chairman emeritus of MIT's Media Lab, is one of the most influential thinkers and doers of our time. He is also NECC's keynote speaker, and will be discussing the latest about the $100 laptop project. The goal of OLPC is to revolutionize education by putting a compact, durable, no frills, but Internet-ready computer into the hands of millions of children worldwide. Negroponte is a founder of Wired magazine and author of the bestselling book "Being Digital."
NECC draws 15,000+ teachers, teacher educators, technology coordinators, library media specialists, administrators, policy makers, and exhibitors from around the globe. The exhibit hall includes more than 500 of the industry's most influential companies and service providers--many of whom announce new products at the conference.
In addition, NECC offers dynamic speakers, practical demonstrations, panel discussions, workshops, Internet poster sessions, research papers, a Global Gallery, and a fun and inspiring Student Showcase. NECC is the largest and most comprehensive event of its kind in the world.
NECC is presented by ISTE (http://www.iste.org) in cooperation with the California Computer-Using Educators with additional support from the San Diego County Office for Education. An overview of the entire program and schedule is at http://center.uoregon.edu/ISTE/NECC2006/glance/.