Going to the annual ISTE conference can be a great way to learn about new and emerging trends in the field of educational technology. It's also a great place to connect with other educators. Unfortunately, it's also an expensive undertaking that many teachers simply can't afford. That's part of the reason that I'm not attending this year (believe it or not, running a site titled Free Technology for Teachers isn't lucrative).
For those of us who aren't going to ISTE Jen Wagner, Peggy George, and Vicky Sedgwick are putting together an online event called Not At ISTE IGNITE. Not at ISTE IGNITE will feature five minute, twenty slide presentations broadcast through Google Hangouts. If you would like to give a presentation during Not At ISTE IGNITE, complete this form. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by June 15th.
Thanks to Edublogs for sharing the Not At ISTE IGNITE information.
I wish that I could claim credit for the idea I'm about to share, but it was really Beth Still who put the idea in my head via an exchange of Twitter messages and asked me to blog about it. ISTE is currently holding a vote to select the keynote speaker for ISTE 2010. The candidates come from a variety of backgrounds including President of the United States, co-founder of Apple, NY Times columnist, and high school principal. The diversity of candidates has lead to some debate as to whether or not the next keynote speaker should come from a background as an educator. There has also been debate in the blog-o-sphere as to the topic that the chosen speaker should address.
The diversity of topics and diversity of candidates for the ISTE 2010 keynote prompted Beth to say that it's too bad we can't have more viewpoints represented. One great way to have more ideas represented would be to host an Ignite series at the ISTE conference. Unfortunately, it's probably too late to make it happen this year, but it is a great idea for 2011.
For those not familiar with Ignite, Ignite is a series of presentations organized and hosted around the country. Speakers at Ignite conferences are given five minutes and twenty slides to share their best ideas. The slides automatically advance after fifteen seconds. One of the best Ignite presentations I've seen was given by Chris Lehmann. I've embedded the video of that presentation below.
By the way, Chris Lehmann is currently the leading vote getter for the ISTE 2010 keynote.
