So I’ve been missing what seems to be a really incredible NECC gathering in Philly this year, ironically just down the road from me. I’m in the midst of two planning days for my district (yesterday and today) that are keeping me until 3 pm. The conversation yesteday was good, but my mind was thinking about the sessions I was missing, and by the time I got down to the convention center at 4 yesterday, most all of the good stuff was already over. It’ll be the same today, though I will be able to make the birds of a feather at 4:45. The blog panel is tomorrow morning, which, thankfully, I’ll be able to make. Hopefully there will be some stragglers left to see us.
The good news is there are so many more people using the tools and blogging and podcasting that the virtual NECC is a pretty decent replacement for actually being there. Tim writes about how much more awareness of blogs there was this year. Craig says that Bernie Dodge’s new WebQuest tool has a blog and wiki function built in. Steve writes that like last night’s podcasting reception by Apple was HUGE. Andy Carvin has posted a podcast of his “Educational Luminaries” panel which I’ve loaded in my iPod for the trip down today. As I have Kelly Dumont’s who covered the Apple event as well.
And despite my angst at not being able to take part in all the fun, this is what the Read/Write Web was built for. I can learn from all of the people who are there and who are willing to share their experiences. Not quite as good as being there, in this case, but pretty good nonetheless. Hopefully, I’ll be doing some sharing from some sessions tomorrow.
At any rate, I’ve already asked the district NOT to schedule meetings next July 4-7 in San Diego…
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