ISTE 2010--Sunday Afternoon

The ISTE 2010 Conference kickoff address was delivered by Mario Armstrong, Digital Lifestyle Expert who reports for NPR's Morning Edition and for CNN. His presentation began as he assumed the role of a new teacher seeking to overcome hurdles associated with innovative classroom technology implementation--lack of funding, understanding, administrative support, equipment and the general fear of school districts to implement new technologies. In a dream sequence, Mario connects with great innovators of the past through Skype in a The Christmas Carol-esque parody to battle four monsters blocking his progress:

• Marconi introduced the The Locked Net Monster, the result of being shut out of Internet sites. An ISTE VIP (who, please?) arrived to assist Mario by providing him with an assortment of ISTE tools, including the announcement that ISTE books would be available for the Kindle--and then Mario promptly gave away a new Kindle as a session doorprize.
• Marie Curie introduced the Dollar and Cent-aur, the result of dwindling funds for instructional technology. Helen Pagett, ISTE President, arrived to provide Mario with the new FREE-to-members ISTE iPhone and iPad app, which includes NETS On the Go, to help him defeat the monster--and then Mario gave away an iPod touch.
• Amelia Earhart, concerned about apathy and mediocrity, introduced the horror of the Mediogre. Leslie Connery, Deputy CEO of ISTE, invited viewers to network and interact with people and technologies that could enhance learning using ISTE's online resources--and Mario then gave away a Netbook.
• Jacques Cousteau, with his focus on creativity, introduced his arch-nemesis The Abominable Noman. ISTE members who use the online community tools (Facebook, Ning, Second Life, Twitter) appeared with an iPad, representing a way to stay connected and defeat The Abominable Noman. Of course, Mario gave away the iPad--and of course, I didn't win any of those prizes.

However, I met some wonderful people from New Hampshire and Saudi Arabia in the keynote networking session, as well as Mark, the founder of Dulcinea Media, Inc., who shared with me some very neat sites that I'd love for you to comment on:

• SweetSearch, a search engine for students upon which all links have been evaluated by research experts--how nice!
• Finding Dulcinea, subtitled "the Librarian of the Internet," and the Spanish version
• Finding Education, a free tool for finding the best resources for your students

Let me know what you think about these resources . . . I think perhaps these were MY prizes from the first session! Thanks, Mark!