Welcome to our fourth day in DC and the third day of the NECC 2009 Conference. So far, we have attended two keynotes and a day and a half of sessions. About 18,000 people are registered for the conference, and over five acres of exhibition floor is devoted to technology hardware, software, and other gadgetry vendors. NECC has figured out the keynote session pretty well, relying on multimedia and live performances to speed up the usually tedious menu of speeches, presentations, and awards. The only exception so far has been a very laborious speech by the ISTE president.
The opening keynote on Sunday featured Malcolm Gladwell, author of The Tipping Point and Outliers. Gladwell spoke for about 45 minutes aboiut learning, using Fleetwood Mac as a metaphor. His specific was very entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking. Arguing from Outliers, he suggested that accomplishments come from work that requires effort, is arduous, and includes failures from which one learns. The more significant the effort, arduousness, and afilure, the more significant the accomplishment; and Gladwell's research indicates that about 10,000 hours of work at a given project is necessary before results begin to be satisfactory. That's about four hours a day for ten years. Anyone who has tried to stick to something for four hours at a stretch knows how much effort it takes, how arduous it can be, and how many opportunities for failure arise. So, Gladwell left us going away with something to think about.
Sessions started on Monday, but NECC is different from many conferences in its organization. There are open sessions, ticketed sessions, Bring-Your-Own Laptop sessions, sponsored sessions, and even model classroom sessions. But while all of those are occurring there are also hallways and alcoves with poster presentations and student showcases occurring as well as gathering/work areas for people with special interests. For examples, there are a Bloggers cafe, a Second Life region, places that explore mutiple uses of video, a podcast lounge, areas for gamers, and many more. It wpuld be [ossible to have a very full learning experience and never attend a session here. NECC intentionally provides multiple venues for people to meet and interact around whatever technologies they are currently interested in, taking their lead I am sure from what we see at a typical conference where participants find their own places to congregate, often in the bar. (BTW, I am sure that goes on here too.)
The major news event of NECC 2009 is the roll-out Tuesday afternoon of the "refreshed" National Educational Technology Standards for Administrators (NETS-A). From the comments we have heard so far, NETS-A shifts the emphasis from administrators who know how to use technology and encourage technological adoption by schools and personnel to administrative leaders who are able to transform their schools using technology as a catalyst for substative educational change. There is even speculation here that the days of the bricks and mortar school are numbered--that technology will free students and educators up from the structures and mindset of the industrial age school.
More on NETS-A, sessions, and other tidbits of technological trivia later. Stay tuned. It is rumored that the spirit of Carlitude has caused some tremors in the area.
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