I was rather shocked that one teacher who was purporting to speak about Assessment and Evaluation in a Digital World completely misunderstood the concept of assessment. She kept using the term as a synonym for assignment. The session involved having her students explain what they did in her communications technology class - yearbook and multimedia projects. All very interesting but I've seen the same curriculum at other schools. I did try to take some notes for our own yearbook committee... I just need an opportunity to share. I guess that's why we have email.
My favourite part of the conference was the session on blogging. A middle-school teacher and 8 of his students shared their experiences with blogging. These kids - of many different cultures and interests - were extremely articulate and extremely excited by their blogging efforts. The kids shared that they go home and love to write and I could see from the quality of their writing that they take it seriously. The subject of safety issues was broached and the teacher said that while there were some concerned, all the parents eventually allowed their children to participate. The chidren all used pseudonyms in place of last names and no identifying information appeared in the blogs. The students found that one strong post - a personal story or thought - often inspired other students to share their own ideas, in a way that wouldn't happen if all their writing was only read by the teacher. It really brought home the value of an authentic audience.
I ended up spending entirely too much time speaking to vendors of equipment that we can't afford. I suppose it doesn't hurt to look... well, actually sometimes it does. I now long for a white board and a document camera and ... ok, just making myself crazy. I did buy a book, though! Yay me. The best part was that I attended with my brother and got to spend time and share ideas with him.