Time to put another ISTE in the books—both literally and figuratively. This year’s event in Denver was jam-packed as usual with keynotes, sessions, workshops, impromptu meet-ups, late night karaoke contests, and early morning meetings.
My biggest takeaway: Open Education Resources (OER). The topic with the most vague of acronyms actually has one of the most exciting promises for the average teacher in the classroom. Everyone knows that access to information has never been easier. Perversely, it’s never been harder to find grade-specific, curriculum-ready information that is not behind a pay wall or otherwise tucked deep inside some publisher’s walled garden. With Amazon’s announcement of Inspire, an online marketplace for digital educational materials, that game may be changing. It’s a burgeoning subject that we will continue to follow as well as promote this fall at our Tech & Learning Live event in Princeton, NJ, on October 21.
Of course there were plenty of other new ideas and ISTE insights from our illustrious advisors. We took pains to capture as many as we could at our Tech&Learning Live@ISTE channel (www.techlearning.com/tltechlive). We have dozens of video interviews posted along with a discussion with our panel of educators that selected our Best of ISTE awards. The site is also an excellent executive summary of events—from keynote excerpts to product demos to awkward party selfies. You know who you are! What were your biggest takeaways from the show? Send me a note at khogan@nbmedia.com.
— Kevin Hogan
Content Director
khogan@nbmedia.com
