VSTE 2014 Conference Reflections: Connect, Collaborate, Change
This was my second VSTE conference experience and one thing I really appreciate about it is the size - big enough to get some really cool speakers and sessions, but small enough to get connected to others. Here were some of the highlights for me:
Connecting
Hackerspace - I hung out here during my free time and shared some of the making we’ve been doing with Tech-Girls. Big thanks to Josh Ajima for making the space so welcoming! I hung out there last year too, but felt like there was more interaction this year. I wonder if it is because there is increased interest or it was in a better location. It was great to see that so many of the sessions associated with the hackerspace were filled to the brim!
It was also nice to see the growing enthusiasm for the Hummingbird Robotics Kit. I met Tom Lauwers, the founder, last year at VSTE and have been a big fan ever since - sharing the kit with Tech-Girls and demoing it anywhere I get the opportunity.
I led a BYOD session called #teachtheweb: Inviting Everyone to the Party and made some really nice connections. It was good to have this extended time together to try things out, share about our own learning as well as our hopes & dreams for bringing these type of activities into the classroom.
I also did an IGNITE session - Hello World: Transforming Users into Creators, Collaborators & Activists! It feels good to share what you are passionate about with others because then you can connect with others who share your passion.
I also participated in a session geared toward Virginia Independent Schools. There are definitely some unique challenges and advantages to being an independent school that are sometimes missed in the other sessions. One idea I took away from this session was the idea of “employing” student tech teams to help with tech support during the year and tech training/prep during the summer. If you are part of an independent school in Virginia, consider joining the Google Group.
Collaborating
There were many ideas shared about collaboration, but I really got a kick out of hearing two of the main speakers incorporate the language of software development teams into their presentations. From the scrum master, who removes obstacles and facilitates collaboration to agile development, a real-world process for teams to build projects together. It was also noted that the world is inviting our kids to share their expertise via sites like instructables & youtube and collaborate through multi-player games like Minecraft & World of Warcraft.
I just started a new job working with lots of new people I have never met before. It’s a bit daunting because neither I nor the Computer Science Initiative being started at St. Anne’s-Belfield School will succeed if collaboration doesn’t happen. It’s only been 4 weeks in for me and already I can see that collaboration is part of the DNA here.
Changing
But collaboration is not enough, we need change. As Rob Furman, one of the spotlight speakers shared, change is inevitable and continual, so we need to change the concept of change - it can’t happen in years because new tech & research will continue to come at us at break neck speed.
There are so many cool tools out there and because it is tech, the landscape is always changing, so how do you know where to start or what’s next? Sylvia Martinez, keynoter and co-author of Invent to Learn shared some great insights into this.
We know how hard it is to change school and how hard it is to provide an amazing learning environment for kids and yet, we have to do it anyway. And we have to do it without resorting to tricks. Before we make decisions about change, we have to have a vision of learning in order to choose, we have to have a learning manifesto from which to evaluate change. [paraphrased]
It’s always great to hang out with ACPS Ed Tech folks and hear how they work to empower their students by pushing “decisions as close to the learning as possible”. Becky Fisher & Paula White even convinced me to join in the Karaoke, which was a first for me. Because I love tech, I think I’m pretty comfortable with change. So it was good to be reminded what a “first” feels like when I’m out of my comfort zone - having connections and collaborators makes all the difference in the world!
Investigate hosting a Hummingbird Robotics professional development workshop in Charlottesville this summer.
Share ideas for incorporating augmented reality into projects learned in sessions with Eric De Boer & Jennie Carr.
Try out VSTE’s Minecraft server sometime.
Encourage students to share their learning about coding & computer science with others and encourage participation in the Student Technology Integration Challenge.
Find opportunities to employ the agile development process for project-based learning.
