Well, here is my list for my ISTE 2015 experience
Spending time with like-minded educators around the world. A while ago I blogged about how I love twitter because instead of just being able to collaborate with the teachers in my hallway, I was now able to collaborate with amazing teachers everywhere! The whole world became my hallway! Similarly, ISTE is like a face to face twitter feed! I am able to connect with all those same amazing teachers in person–we literally get into the same hallway finally!
Con:
The hallway is super crowded!!! You have to become a professional person-dodger (new word: it works, right?) to make it from one end of the convention centre to the other!
Pro:
You find yourself nodding along with all of the presenters. You have found your people.
Con:
But it is hard to find the time to chat with your people. Most folks are in a rush because there is so much going on. How do we ensure more real conversations are happening? With the people you know…and maybe even with someone new!
Pro:
Choices! Choices! Choices!
I had dozens of workshops starred on the ISTE app (oh! there is another pro-the app). There were so many amazing workshops being offered and I wanted to go them all. I mean, when else do you get to attend workshops put on by inspiring educators from around the world?
Con:
You go to the sessions. BUT…now what? I need a now what component! I know what the issues are…let’s talk solutions. Maybe we need to have a discussion area for people who want to continue ‘nerding out’ post-presentation and discuss. I felt like a lot of what I heard at ISTE was preaching to the choir…and…I already believe! I am with you! Now let’s talk about what we are going to do next…Please!
I had a great time at ISTE, but I left wishing there had been more time to talk about some of the awesome (and practical) things we are doing in our classrooms. I love the big ideas but I also want to talk about the small, actionable steps we can take. You know?
Next time, I am going to make sure I spend more time having smaller-group and face to face discussions. Though as soon as I typed that, I thought “and still go to lots of sessions”…haha…It seems that what I need is a clone!