Time to Giddy Up–NECC Awaits

So despite writing this while sitting on the tarmac at Midway (Chicago) airport after being canceled out of flying home last night and now being delayed AGAIN, I’m in a downright giddy Read/Write Web mood. Maybe it was spending the day with a roomful of energetic, geared-up Discovery educators yesterday who despite the roadblocks and barriers being thrown in front of them by their districts REALLY want to get their brains around these technologies. Or maybe it was listening to Hall Davidson talk about the ways in which we can integrate digital storytelling into our curricula so easily and effectively. Or maybe it was getting a chance to chat with Steve Dembo and Eric Langhorst (another logger added to my life list) about the stupidity and growing irrelevance of standardized testing and NCLB. Or maybe it’s just the affirmation of these ideas that can be found all over the place in this month’s Wired magazine (which, btw, has a picture of Ruppert Murdock with the words “MySpace” in huge print across it on the cover.)

Personally, I am happy as heck that MySpace is getting sued,that DOPA is floating around out there, that districts are blocking, filtering, shutting down, turning off, locking up everything in sight. (Boy, did I collect some stories from the DEN folks…) Everyone is up in arms, and that’s the first sign that people are finally waking up to what’s going on. They’re jerking their knees at all of it, but at least the discussion is starting, and now is when we have to engage it. Who was it that said “Bring it on?” (Just being giddy…)

Which is why I’m looking forward to NECC next week as a chance to get really energized about getting this message out there even more loudly and more convincingly with the growing number of educators who seem to be coming into the fold. David Warlick, Tony Vincent and I (among others) will be doing a panel with 150 technology leaders at the Wednesday morning ISTE breakfast with a heavy “Web 2.0 in Ed” emphasis (regardless of what the program says.) There are bloggy, podcasty, social Web sessions all over the place. The “Ed Tech Coast to Coast” crew will be doing a live podcast on Wednesday night, and Tim Wilson and I will also be doing a “NECC Live!” Webcast with Chris Walsh and Tom Marsh to talk about our favorite topic. There’s a whole slew of people blogging and podcasting the sessions, David is aggregating it all, and it’s just feeling more and more like the time for serious, broad discussions about the Read/Write Web has finally, really arrived. San Diego is looking like it could be a MAJOR event for this community, and I am loving the prospect.

Giddy, I tell you. (Someone bring me to my senses.)

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