iNACOL Conference:  Monday 11.16.09

Started the day early...6:30 a.m.

Enjoyed the continental breakfast and attended the newcomers session

Attended the opening and welcome session at 8:00 a.m.

I am quickly learning that I am truly a newcomer.

Learned how fast the online approach of teaching is catching on world wide.

Some of the administrative aspects of the first session had little meaning to me since I am so new to the online learning process.  It was interesting to see how much online learning is being utilitized by other countries and why.

Attended the session - "Advocating Alternatives: Choice and Change through Technology"

This was a pretty good session about how Austin ISD uses Technology to reinforce learning for the challenged student.  Oddysseyware is the software they used to access the TEKS.  I keep being reminded of how much there is for me to learn.

Had lunch at 11:30 and trying to decide what session to attend next.  More later

Attended the session - "Content Development  Forethough Not Afterthought"

This was an E-learning Curriculum class.  They took a count as to what kind of learners were attending the session and the results were as follows:  40 beginners, 34 intermediate, and 13 advanced  I thought this was interesting.

This session seemed to be about Building Curriculum as a Team.  It was explained as to what kind of members we would need for a team and how each part of the team strenghtened the other. 

a site that was given as a refrence was www.virtualvirginia.org/conferences/vsso9

Attended the session - "Using Live Sessions to Boost Student Attendance and Engagement

This session was probably my favorite of all I attended today.  Even if we can't use the Elluminate software, I received some really good ideas as to why I might i,choose to incorporate live audio or video into my online course.  The session just showed me many ways to incorporate technology into my lessons that really make sense as to why they would encourage student engagement in the class.

Attended the session - "Getting the Word Out"  Marketing Your Virtual School Program"

This session seemed to be vocused more for school administrators and counselors so they would know how to promote all of the online classes they have available at their school.  It talked about creating flyers and posters and distributing them to gain interest in their programs.  It was interesting to learn that region 16 is one of the smaller regions in terms of students served in the state.  I believe the number was 77,000 students in the region..

Attended the social that was hosted by aventa at Billy's Billiards on 6th street.  It was an enjoyable time and a time to relax a little after a long day of sessions.

Started the day at 4:30 a.m. when the fire alarm went off at the hotel.  Stopped and had breakfast at Denny's on the way to the conference and that was enjoyable.

Attended the session - "Operating a High-Quality Online Program: A Focus on Standards and Accreditation"    This session was put on by iNACOL and was about the importance of using standards for on-online courses.  They talked about things such as standards for online programs, rubrics to gage the quality of a program and how a program is structured.  A web site that was given for reference was http"//www.inacd.org/research/nationalstandards

Attended the session - "Conspiracy Code: The First in a Revolutionary New Series of Courses"  The session was sponsored by the Florida Virtual School.  http://flvs.net/conspiracycode  This session was for a history course but it interested me because of the games and the use of games in teaching a course and making it more interesting.  I was also very interested in the software used to create the games.  I hope I hear about the software but may not.

The session turned out to be a question and answer session and did not talk about the animation software.  All in all it was still an interesting session.

Left for the airport at 3:00 P.M.

Had a good flight home.

TxDLA conference  3.22.2010 

7:00 a.m.

Started the morning with the newcomers breakfast which was very good.  We were welcomed to the conference and given instructions on what will be going on at the conference and how to find our way around while attending the conference.

8:15 a.m.

Attending the general session where we are also being given instructions.  Awards were given to vairous people.

Door prizes were given.

Dr. Covey was introduced.  Dr. Covey's session was about "Predictable Results in Unpredictable Times". The session was done by video conferencing and worked pretty well.  Dr. Covey talked about how to get people involved in business and also in education.  He asked us if "We have found our Voice"?  Or we doing what we really enjoy?  He talked about how supervision does not always work to get people involved.  He talked about the four failures to execute...these are: Failure to Execute, Crisis to Trust, Loss of Focus and Pervasive Fear.

As a motivational speaker, the information was good but the delivery was not as exciting as most speakers I have heard.

10:30 a.m.

Attended "Going the Distance with High School Students" - Pamela Dooley, Northside ISD

This class was "hands on"  which made it interesting.  We learned about Moodle and how it can be used for online teaching.  A lot of the class was about things we have already learned but it never hurts to hear that it works in the classroom.  Moodle does seem to be a good software for teaching online classes but she did mention that there needs to be an administrator that takes care of things for everyone using it.  Like I said, we covered things that we had already learned, such as how to keep students on task, how to set deadlines, catching students not doing their own work, and ect.  The session was informative and it was nice to actually get to use the software in a limited way.

12:15 - 1:45 Lunch

Decided not to stand in the long lines to eat lunch in the Exhibit Hall.  Walked to the food court and found some good yet inexpensive food to eat.  This give me some time to regroup in my room before the next session at 2:00 p.m.

2:00 - 2:45 p.m.

Attended "Twitter Goes to School: Telling Stories Through Digital Threads"

It was discussed how Twitter can be used in today's classrooms.  We were shown how Twitter was used worldwide in the Iranian elections.  The session was interesting and I came away with a better understanding of Twitter and how it is used.

Tuesday 7:00 a.m.

Breakfast in the Exhibit Hall - Serve yourself with breakfast burritos, pasteries, juice, coffee, ect. 

This conference does know how to feed the attendees.

8:15 - 10:15

General Session - "What Do You Bring To The Table"

Charlotte Stallings talked to us about her experiences in the banking business and related it to the title of her speech.  She was a good speaker and did inspire us that we should bring what we have to the table and not blame other things for our failures.  Each of us have valuable assets that only we can bring to the table to make our team a successful one.  One of the things that made lots of sense to me was when she told us that negative attitudes are catching and will play an important roll in how we perform as individuals.  Very interesting speaker who brought humor along with very usable information to the audience.

10:30 - 11:15 a.m.

Attended "Not Again! Alternatives to the Same, Old PowerPoint"

This was a very informative session even thought I was skeptical about attending because of it being about PowerPoint.  Randy Rogers did a great job as a presenter and gave us lots of useful sites that we can use to make our presentations stand out and not be the same old PowerPoint.  If anyone would like a list of of the sites, contact me and I will get them to you.  I'm hoping to use some of these to present my lessons in my on-line class.

12:15 - 2:00 p.m. Lunch

It amazes me how good they feed us at this conference.

2:15 - 4:00 p.m.

Attended "Let's Get Together"

This session was about different ways we can communicate with others at different places.  Again we were given different sites that are available for on-line communicating.  We were given lots of sites to visit and try.  There was time for us to get on the computer and try out some of the sites but I chose to leave and attend another session that started before this one was over.

3:15 - 4:00 p.m.

Attended "Portfolio Building with Acrobat Professional"

This was the most information session I attended as far as how I think it might help me in my on-line class.  I was amazed at all the things that could be done with Acrobat Professional.  I can see several ways that I can use Acrobat Professional in my on-line class, such as delivering my lessons to my students in a secure way.  I also received information from the presenter on other Adobe products that I can use in my traditional classroom.

4:15 - 4:45 p.m.

TxDLA Regional Group Meetings

Met with the West Texas group in the Post Oak room.  Discussions were good with others from our area and feedback was given on the possibilities of having meetings in our area.  Good meeting time.

6:30 - 9:30 p.m.

"2010: A Space Odyssey"  Dinner and Entertainment

Dinner was good as usual and decided that I would rather catch up on my rest, rather than be entertained. 

Wednesday

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast  in the Galleria Ballroom

Was good as I expected.

After breakfast I spent time recording some of my experiences as I did not have internet connection in my room.  Looking for what session I want to attend for my last session before getting ready to head home.

 This conference has been a very good experience and I'm proud that I was able to attend.