Iowa 1 to 1 Conference April 20th

Well what can I say... 1 to 1 Conference ....HMMMM!
I felt very fortunate to attend the conference with two of Prairie Valley High School Math teachers. They are more on the digital native spectrum than I and I truly enjoy learning from their efforts and natural ability. They are impressive in the fact that they search out ways to use 1to1 technology in their classroom but not just for the sake of technology; but rather for the idea that it helps the students learn. When I can learn from a professional educator in my building , it is always a plus. Note to myself: Use these people more!!!!
Took time to hear what was good or not so good from these two staff members. Well they both said it was a lot like the Newell Fonda event they went to at the beginning of the year (Just bigger). Most sessions were perhaps more on the 'First Year 1 to 1 " wow this is great level. They were looking for something they had not been exposed to previously. One session that I also attended was awful. What do I mean by awful? Not true 1 to 1 level but more, look we have a computer and some kids and see what they made... When asking the students what else they do with the computers they aswered honestly,"Nothing we put them away in the other classes".
Not was expected with the third year of 1 to 1 initiative in a school district.
They also commented on how the wi-fi wasn't working and that sessions were difficult to access the sites that were being demonstrated. A lot of sessions were so crowded you could not get in.
What did they like??? Talking with other teaching professionals and picking up a few new ideas from teachers who have been into 1 to 1 for more than a year.
Also attended the conference with the Prairie Valley High School Principal. Always good to bring administration along. The Principal did not attend the Newell Fonda conference and so was more new to a lot of the ideas. He found it frustrating that you could not get on to the sites also. He did enjoy the administrative sessions with google apps.
Okay now what was my opinion? My goal was to get staff excited. I only had two staff members attend...guess I should of worked harder on the sell. I also wanted to excite and interest the administration.... yet again it worked but still need to work harder. I also was very interested in finding out about school districts that have had the 1to1 initiative for at least three years.
I do feel the conference was directed at first year or thinking about it school districts. That is okay ...just hoped for more long term discussions on 1 to 1. Maybe next years theme?!

The ability to get on line was really disruptive!!!! I brought two computers just in case one system worked better. I wish I had left both at home. I got in and bumped out so many times I just shut everything down. Now I know how the students feel on those days at school. A good lesson I suppose. The best part of the conference was the discussion rooms.. which were face to face due to the computer wi-fi problems...maybe a better idea than the chat idea. I did attend a discussion on learning with Scott McLeod which I found very beneficial. No I am not brown nosing ... no reason to...it just was a great opportunity to listen to the thoughts of others in education and I think a discussion that should be started in every school board meeting, Professional Development, and classroom.
What is LEARNING? HOW DO YOU KNOW?

So on a scale of 1-10 with one being the lowest and 10 being the highest I would give the Iowa 1 to1 conference a ...5.