The TWAIN blog

A few more quotes from the staff I took to TCEA:

“…I found that becoming immersed with other professionals in the digital world was exhilirating! Just watching everyone move about the conference with their various devices communicating and recharging gave me a true sense of what our students have been born into. After 20 years of attending various conferences in education, I found myself rediscovering the joys of connecting with others who are excited to try new ways of engaging their students. But that’s where the similarities between conferences from then and now end because today’s methods go “outside the box” in EVERY direction! What an eye-opener!! So many news ideas swirling around in my head!”

“I would tell [my campus staff] to get on their comfy slippers and commit some time to traveling through a few Web 2.0 links, so they can begin to see all of the possibilities for connecting with their students and colleagues (even parents) in new ways. I also believe the library can act as a “medium” for promoting Web 2.0 and supporting the staff/students.
I think that [our principal's] persistence in starting the school news broadcast has been a great catalyst for getting our teachers and students to get their feet wet with potential for podcasting and vodcasting.”

“I learned so much I am about to explode. I can’t get it all out of my head and use it fast enough.”

“TCEA is great. You can go and see new technologies that are coming out as well as current technology you have. You can attend the sessions or visit the booths of various companies and find new ways to use current equipment and well as get a chance to talk directly to the vendors to get answers to questions you may have. No matter who you are, there is something of interest to go to and new things to learn.”

“I felt that my brain was totally saturated with new ideas by the time I left. The excitement for using technology in my classes was very elevated and it was well worth going.”

Today is Friday and it marks the end of summer camp….er…um…..TCEA 2009. It is sad to see everyone packing up their belongings and leaving us! The big group is gone and there are just stragglers left behind hoping to get one last mug or T-shirt from the vendors. And I am not casting judgment on them as I am in that group as well!

I am sitting by myself in the Blogger’s Cafe right now. It is sad to see the table empty except for the power surge protectors and discarded vendor pamphlets. But, it is exciting for me to be able to work on a form I am sending to my district participants so I can get their input about this conference.

I just made it on Google Documents which embeds the form online and then generates the spreadsheet behind it to gather all the data. Next week, I get to share their experiences with the district leadership team and we can start building our framework for technology vision for our district. It is exciting and motivational to be part of this process from the ground floor.

Though I am using this form only to gather data from my district, I thought I might share it with you all in case you would like to generate a similar one for your district/campus.

http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?key=pcJ_EAVrg90uwhN_UriPRUw

Only a few more sessions for me to attend followed by the keynote address by Dr. Robert Ballard. I confess that I am a Titanic geek and Dr. Ballard was the discoverer of this great ship at the bottom of the ocean. I am really looking forward to his session and am sure it will be a great close to this awesome conference.

And then, I will raid that exhibit hall for any crumbs and leftovers I can find!

Ciao!

I am taking a break from the excellent TCEA conference to discuss a news flash that appeared on my Twitter feed.

I believe I wrote about this concept of “whitespace” a few months ago and how it applies to some really cool technology. The concept derives from the broadband spectrum used for broadcast television and the cable network. Now as you may have heard, the cable companies are trying to push to a completely digital environment and out of the old analog television spectrum.

So…what happens to that old analog spectrum?

Several large technology corporations (including Google) have paired up to develop a new whitespace network plan. Google has been the biggest proponent for this. They want to return the American Broadcast System owned by the people back to the people.

If we all move to this new digital signal, these companies want to team together to transition that analog line into free wireless broadband signals. In other words, the line goes down and they have complete access to convert it to a new wireless broadband network into each home. The access will be wireless and accessible by any device.

Free?

Free because the network is owned by the people and for the people. Google has been on the front lines with the FCC about restoring this system back to the power of the people. In November, the FCC did approve to keep the spectrum open so that they could continue looking into establishing this idea.

Microsoft, Google, and Motorola are all working on this now. In June/July, when we finally make the switch – they can start developing the new system without us interfering on their datalines. I am sure we may have streaming Google Ads on our new wireless and broadband access, though.

But = wireless broadband access streaming on that old analog whitespace system? How cool is that? And does this mean wireless access redundancy in every neighborhood? How does this play out for CIPA and content filtering now?

Today marked the first day of open sessions and the exhibit hall at TCEA. I had a full schedule laid out on my cheat-sheet (which keeps me from pulling out the booklet), and I completely disregarded it. I ended up visiting the Exhibit Hall and then going to the Blogger Cafe.

But this morning was incredibly awesome! I was really blown away to hear my blog post from a few days ago read out loud to the audience. How incredible was that?!?! I thought it was really cool and my row of Kerrvillites seemed to enjoy it as well. What an honor.

I did attend the TEC-SIG luncheon later and heard the speaker share about how the mood we project reflects the mood of our environment. It wasn’t a technology training talk as we usually get; but it was about how we can serve our stakeholders better. It was that component of learning more about how we can serve than just providing more tools and resources for us to gawk at. I really appreciated this presentation for just that reason.

After this, I was asked to be interviewed for a segment on SchoolTube. I asked for Kari Rhame to interview me and she did. I was hoping to embed the video here tonight but it hasn’t been uploaded to SchoolTube.com yet.

All in all, a great day. I hope to get to my sessions tomorrow and to have a good workshop. Tomorrow I am presenting a workshop for three hours on Web 2.0 Tools and I am about to assemble the presentation right now.

Also – great seeing everyone. Thanks for the handshakes and hellos!

So Monday was the first day of my week at TCEA. It started with the Tech Coordinator’s Academy which is a 5-day workshop spread across the year. The first 2 days were in the fall in Dallas and I attended (and blogged about) them. They were fantastic! Very motivational!

This week’s workshop wasn’t so motivational. And I say that only because the topics were on the security side of running a district technology system. It wasn’t a bad workshop. It just wasn’t so “up” because the topics were about the security side and reality of what we can do to make our networks secure.

Our reflection for journaling is this topic: What is my vision of how the network, hardware, and software will help us accomplish our goals in my district? What are my next steps in regards to infrastructure?

After yesterday’s session, I see how my district needs to do more to provide a more secure network and to keep our data safe. I don’t think we are doing a good job at this. I can see how spending needs to go toward providing this before we start adding more “stuff” to our network.

We discussed ways to figure out the TCO – Total Cost of Ownership for adding to our network infrastructure and the idea of sharing this with our stakeholders. We just can’t add resources to the system without building up the system istelf.

One of my main goals here this year is to visit the exhibit hall to get more information about these types of security resources. I hear from vendors almost daily so it is important for me to go and look at all the products to find the perfect fit for our district. Cost is a major factor for us and some resources just offer too much than what we need.

Disaster recovery was another topic and Kari shared how her district prepared for hurricane damage. Her plan is so detailed that I would think this type of planning would be almost a full time in itself. While Kerrville isn’t in danger of major hurricanes, we are open to other types of disasters and need to come up with better planning. I like not only that Kari explained the plan but she also provided each staff member with a list of who is responsible for what and at what point do they “pull the plug”.

She even shared that the district has a stand-by 1-800 number for if the phones go down that will still allow them to answer calls. Every instance is covered.

Currently, I meet with city resources in our town and one of our agenda items is planning for how we can all help each other with disaster recovery. Could we all provide a temporary NOC for another system from our own location and maintain our own system security? Could we work together in case of a real emergency? I think so.

The final part of the workshop was spent on 1:1 computing and the idea (or is it a mandate?) from TEA that districts are to test all freshmen in 2012 online for end of course assessments. No funding provided of course. To me, this seemed like something I could push back until we figured out who gets projectors next! But with this deadline looming, we have a lot to do in Kerrville to get ready for this!

So, I left yesterday with a heavy heart. So much to do and so little time! I appreciate not only the discussions we had in the room but the knowledge that all of us are ill-prepared for these types of mandates. I’m not the only one in this boat! Plus, Lori shared resources on how Bastrop is going with 1:1 computing. Her candid perspective on this type of venture was appreciated!

I like how she explained that adding the laptops/netbooks to the campuses wasn’t the answer. The real way to get it to all work together was to get the curriculum to change for the use of technology. If you don’t change the way we teach, then the laptops won’t add to your instruction. They will detract.

So much great information shared. Another hit of a workshop! I can’t tell you how much this Academy has really helped a newbie like me! They gave us another file full of resources to use and they are REAL resources, each one.

Tech Directors – I just want to implore that you take this Academy when they offer it next year. It is a pricey cost, I know! But if you really want it to work well – invite your curriculum director to attend with you. Two for one training! It is really worth it!