NECC 2006 National Educational Computing Conference

NECC (The National Education Computing Conference) 2006 is in San Diego, California this year. It is obvious, since I am in Argentina at the moment, that I can’t attend. There are many ways, that an educator nontheless can benefit, even participate in a conference that far away.
Thanks to the tools that Web 2.0 (read/write Web) provides…
Although I am having difficulties with my slow connection here in Argentina, I am able to read many blogs directly from the conference and bookmark, clip and organize articles that are interesting to my field. I feel handicapped though, since I am not able to download podcasts of the presentations. This will have to wait until I return to the US.
I am specifically impressed with one educator, Vicki Davis (Cool Cat Teacher), in Georgia who is taking her virtual attendance to the conference to a new height. She is an excellent example how this new web will help disseminate information and how each one of us should not only be a consumer, but a producer for others to benefit and learn. I have learned amazing things from her reflections and am trying to digest them and apply them.

Here are some of her ideas on how to be a better conference attendee (by sharing and teaching others who could not be there):

Tag your posts
Keep us up to date.
Hyperlink Resources
Post by topic. Don’t get too long.
Hyperlink!
Share with me your thoughts.
Blow my mind with something new!

I have started tagging my posts through Technorati, although I see several bloggers use del.icio.us. I have not figured out why one is prefered over the other or why some bloggers mix them. So far I will stick with one (technorati) until convinced otherwise.

I am planning on blogging directly from the next conference I will be attending. I have always taken notes while at conferences and will be able to share these notes faster and easier with other foreign language teachers. So far I have not seen ma

Podcasting from Abroad

After signing up with Gabcast.com, they also provided me with a local telephone number in Buenos Aires. I just tried it out and within seconds was connected, I entered the code number, provided by gabcast, entered my channel number and password and recorded into the phone and chose to publish recording to my blog.
I then hung up and dialed my internet connection on my laptop and checked on my blog and the recording was already available to listen to.

This tool has great potential for anybody traveling abroad.

Technology while Traveling

Over the last few months, I have getting more and more excited about the new tools of Web 2.0. Reading, learning, sharing, publishing, editing, communicating, editing, etc….
Every morning, I fire up my computer, log into bloglines and read the newest feeds of blogs about subjects I am interested in and passionate about. I plug in my iPod and download the newest podcasts I am subscribed to, then I take my iPod and plug it into my car to listen to the podcasts while I am on the road driving to work.
I am in technology heaven…
Everythng works…
Internet connection works and is fast…
I seamlessly access, download, and transport my information…

Then vacation starts and I am off to go back home to Argentina. I am taking my laptop with me in order to continue to be “connected” to my online life. I am planning on keeping up with writing my blogs, reading my feeds, creating podcasts, etc…

Two weeks into the trip, reality has settled in regarding technology on the road.
IT IS NOT THAT EASY !!!

I am connected via a slow phone line at my mother’s house. Sure I could go to one of the thousands of Internet cafes here in Buenos Aires, but how convenient is that ?
No pajamas…
not at 8 am or midnight…
not to mention having to drag my laptop with me…
having to wait in line in case all the computers are taken at the moment that I arrive…
ending up with an older machine, that does not have a USB port for me to download my photos from my digital camera…
and…
and…

A wireless connection is also not always available. So far, I have only read on several blogs, how easy it is to take your technology on the road, but mostly that “on the road” means United States, not necesarily a South American country.

It gives me a new apreciation for educators using technology abroad under a lot harder conditions and less readily available resources. In the United States, I am almost at a point that I don’t think about it anymore how “the car works”, but I am only concerned about what I can do with it. We need to remember that many (most?)people around the world do not enjoy that kind of resources and access.
Hats off to the bloggers, podcasters and other content publishers on the web who spent more of their time and go through a lot more trouble in order to contribute for all of our benefit.