Last week I was given the opportunity to attend and teach at the Turning on Learning conference at Montclair State Universty.
It was interesting to get out of the classroom and see what other teachers are doing and how technology is being used in other school districts in Northern NJ. Actually, it was just refreshing to have an uninterrupted adult dialogue that didn't have to do with Disney Princesses or chocolate Teddy Grahams. Patrick Chodkiewicz and I had a great time teaching a class on using wiki in a Language Arts classes. We created turningonwiki - a guide to starting a wiki.
The classroom set ups at MSU are a tech dream. They have Mac Book carts for each classroom, podiums with speakers and projectors, DVD/CD players,wireless Internet - my dream classroom.
It was the first time I had ever attended a conference on technology or taught at one and looking back it made me realize how lucky I am that I even know what a PLE is and that I am surrounded by people who encourage me to "push the envelope" when it comes to using technology and are willing to use technology even when it can be scary. I am also grateful that I teach children and not adults - not that I didn't enjoy working with my peers. It's just that students are so accepting and appreciative of technology.
It was interesting to get out of the classroom and see what other teachers are doing and how technology is being used in other school districts in Northern NJ. Actually, it was just refreshing to have an uninterrupted adult dialogue that didn't have to do with Disney Princesses or chocolate Teddy Grahams. Patrick Chodkiewicz and I had a great time teaching a class on using wiki in a Language Arts classes. We created turningonwiki - a guide to starting a wiki.
The classroom set ups at MSU are a tech dream. They have Mac Book carts for each classroom, podiums with speakers and projectors, DVD/CD players,wireless Internet - my dream classroom.
It was the first time I had ever attended a conference on technology or taught at one and looking back it made me realize how lucky I am that I even know what a PLE is and that I am surrounded by people who encourage me to "push the envelope" when it comes to using technology and are willing to use technology even when it can be scary. I am also grateful that I teach children and not adults - not that I didn't enjoy working with my peers. It's just that students are so accepting and appreciative of technology.
