I'm Baaaack!

Did you miss me?! NOT! Anyway, it's been a long time since I've been here to post or to read but my goal is to correct that now and move forward.

I've spent the last two days at the eLearning Symposium in Rochester. It was a wonderful experience! Will Richardson, Alan November, and Gary Stager were all interesting and compelling speakers who, as always, challenged and stretched my thinking a bit. Check back on the eLearning Symposium web site. They have promised to post resources from the sessions there, although they are not there yet.

So, rather then reviewing and describing all the sessions I went to, I thought I would think about this essential question instead.

What am I coming away from this Symposium with?

• I gained some great practical knowledge about podcasting. Gary Stager did an excellent job with this session, despite his broken computer and his need to "go with Plan B" for his presentation. He is doing a half-day hands-on session at NYSCATE next month that I had already planned to attend. Now I'm really psyched about that.

• I learned about some things I didn't already know about like Google Earth (You gotta have this and use it with students!) and Skype (What a great collaboration tool! Wonder if my district will let us use it?!)

• I learned more about some things I already knew a little bit about like Wikipedia, PB Wiki (a password protected site you can use for free and create your own wikis, just what I needed for school), RSS, and more. Lot of resources, most of them free, in the areas that I have been looking for resources for.

But the most provocative thing I'm coming away with is . . .

Am I in the right place, doing the right things?!
Hmmm. I need to collect my thoughts on this. I'll publish my reflections later.