ISTE 2010--Monday Afternoon (Late)

No time for lunch! There's simply too much to see and do!

At ISTE 2010, BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop) events are free but require advance registration to receive a ticket. My first BYOL session was entitled "Free and Easy Bibliography: Scaffolding Student Research with Zotero."

Zotero is a free Mozilla Firefox extension that I've been toying with for about a year. Developed by the Center for History and New Media through a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, this open source application can be used to simplify the process of collecting data from online and digital courses, of creating bibliography entries, and of inserting citations into documents (via add-ins for Microsoft Word). And, if I'm not mistaken, the presenter Trevor Owens was instrumental in its development.

This session gave me the push I needed to begin offering professional development in Zotero use. Since the library of resources created in Zotero is stored locally, I was particularly intrigued by the idea that students could use the portable version of Firefox on a flash drive if needed. I promise you will see Zotero introduced in our district in the fall. Thanks, Trevor!

The last session I attended today provided me with an unanticipated surprise. I stumbled into "Modern Web Design: A Door to Your Students' World" when my first choice session was unavailable, and I met Peggy Fisher (no relation to Leslie!), an enthusiastic teacher who shared her use of Microsoft's Expression Web to create web pages for a variety of classroom activities. She was supported in her efforts by Patricia Phillips, a teacher support specialist for Microsoft. Surprisingly, Patricia explained how I could get Expression Web and associated curriculum resources FREE for every district school. Since FrontPage has been discontinued, I assure you that St. Mary Parish teachers will have access to Expression Web to use with students just as soon as I can arrange for it. Check it out, and let me know what you think? Thanks so much, Peggy and Patricia!

The day ended with my first visit to the Exhibition Hall. I will post video tomorrow in this spot that shows you how immense this place--where vendors come to show educational technology folks their products--truly is. I know that I will never be able to visit them all, but I will take notes on new interventions and products that could find their way into your classroom.

I'm off now to a few receptions hosted by vendors. Getting to know them often opens doors to introducing new products for classroom use. It will probably be a late night, but Denver has a great transportation system that allows safe travel even at night.