Today was an interesting day for me. I started off early this AM trying to get our site and RSS set up to rock and roll and watching the snow come down, thinking virtual would be the only way I would be able to attend.
I started off tweeting and following the peeps, like a proud papa, watching our hashtag enter into the top trending topics in twitter, despite the low attendance, internet issues, and other hiccups. The online presence that was created made me so happy and excited about the crew that's been compiled. I was able to feel like part of the discussion, despite the fact that I was in PJ's chilling and drinking hot cocoa with my wife and family. It wasn't direct, but I felt connected, similarly to online courses, I think.
Around 10:00, I finally tapped into a buddy of mine and talked him into picking me up and rolling down there with me, the light rail was running, so I was mobile and on my way. The sessions I attended were okay, nothing like the great ones others went to, but nonetheless, they were productive and I had internet access. I enjoyed some great discussion, and got to chat with Alison and Dan Watkins a couple times, so that was nice.
I left looking forward to the virtual experience again, the tweets from Tami in particular were awesome, the rest of the crew rocked, but knowing Tami, and her sense of humor and similar distaste for time wasting presentations, I loved the tweets.
I reflect tonight with a feeling that I hope most of you came away with from today; this is a rocking awesome district, and while it seems we move slowly, we are moving forward! I also think that we have a great group of tech leaders in this group and in the ed tech office, Dan's passion is tremendous and energizing, I so appreciate him!
And finally, before we spend time, and money looking at what other districts are doing and trying to emulate; let's look at what we have. We have a powerful LMS (Blackboard) that eventually will filter down to Elementary. We have a tremendously powerful open source/free/web 2.0 tool that is secure and supported, (Google Apps) and we have leadership and specialists that know what it's like to be in the field and understand design, pedagogy, and safety. I only say that because our most powerful and rewarding resource is not money or technology, but our people.
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