Ed tech conferences ...not.
Jim Forde – jim@edtechnot.com
As a classroom teacher it is rare treat to get to attend a conference. I was given the opportunity to attend ONE this school year and I carefully selected the Educational Technology Summit at Columbia University in NYC. After reading the materials about the focus of the event I felt confident that it would allow me to see less marketing and more intelligent dialog on the ups and downs of using ed tech with K- College students. I even recommended that you attend. (See What's New 1/02) I am sorry to report that although it did have some nice moments, it didn't live up to my expectations ...or it's own. Have you ever had that experience? You know the one. You schlep home a bag of glossy folders that you don't intend to read but are too ashamed to refuse and wonder what you can apply from the last couple of days?
I wish I could say that this conference issue is my own and that my need to for no nonsense discussions that result in meaningful exchanges that ultimately help kids is unique. I have found that many other thoughtful educators are less than satisfied with their conference experiences. I am not talking about the conference goer who will jump on one leg and yell a product name in order to get a stress ball with a logo on it but your typical caring educator who is looking for ideas that will transform their practice.
In my most recent staff development experience I may have had my differences with the opinions or presentation styles of the keynoters but it was the small sessions that truly disappointed me. I was really looking forward to the rich exchanges of a small group. I thought that the topics listed were exciting and would lead to these thoughtful exchanges. Frankly, most of the small sessions I attended simply didn't cover the topics they said they would. One speaker even suggested that she didn't write her own "blurb". This is infuriating to someone with little time, and even less money, to be spend on professional development.
Other breakouts were dominated by vendors who were making the case for their products which certainly made an open discussion of the merits and pitfalls of educational technology an unpopular topic. It was starting to feel to me that there were definitely vendor "hammers" around and that every educational issue being raised was looking like a "nail". Portals or on-line modules to the rescue.... I guess.
One panel discussion I attended had three people on a panel that were so remotely connected to the same topic that I wasn't exactly sure why the panel was even a panel! Another session where the discussion was supposed to be about educational technology and the media became a "favorite website" tour. Where is the beef folks!
When it was time to reconvene in the main hall (complete with loud vendor tables featuring slick looking sales associates with nonstop cell phones and beepers ) I was starting to wonder if it was just me. Luckily I found out from the people at my table that it wasn't just me and that a better commitment to the focus of the conference was necessary.
As I watched the politically powerful mingle with the publishers and professors interact with the vendors I started wondering things like; "When is the last time any of these people entered a public school classroom?"or "If a deep and honest conversation about ed tech can't take place in this environment with these people, where will it take place?" and then "When is the next train out of grand central and can I get home in time to get my son from swimming lessons?"
We deserve treatment that is better than this and we should demand improvements. We should not leave our classrooms and families only to have a so-so experience.
