I’m spending the next few days attending the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) being held here in DC at the gorgeous new convention center. NECC is the premier conference for any educator who is passionate about using technology in their classroom, school, or district. I’m happy to say that while I’m not a NECC newbie (went to San Antonio and presented in Seattle while pregnant with Little Miss Techie), the conference is still overwhelming.
This afternoon will kick off the 30th NECC conference and the next three days will prove to be busy. Last night I circled countless sessions I want to attend in a program that is larger than it ever has been before. There are tons of presentations I want to attend to learn more about Classroom 2.0 technologies (podcasting, blogging, wikis, Google docs) to use with my students next year and I’m looking for ideas about how to get girls more involved in higher level computing classes for some consulting work I’m doing for a local non-profit.
Then of course there is the expansive exhibit hall where tons of vendors will be showcasing the latest and greatest in technology specifically designed for educational purposes. PBS will be there showing off their fabulous new PBS Teachers site (hooray!), Promethean will make me even more determined to write a grant to bring an interactive white boards into my school, and BrainPop is giving away a school subscription to their site for a year which I’d love to win! I’ll be able to connect with favorite vendors like Crick Software, makers of Clicker and Clicker Paint, and the wonderful Tom Kelly from Tech4Learning whose company makes favorites like Pixie and Image Blender.
I know I’ll do some networking, run into some colleagues, go to some cocktail parties, and pick up a bag of knick-knacks to bring home to the kids but am also hoping to gain some new knowledge about cutting edge products that are designed for the home market to share with you as you look to find the best for your children. It will be an intense 3 days with long hours and tons of time on my feet but I’m so excited to be around passionate educators with great ideas and learn about new products.
We didn’t have an Atari so I loved sleeping over at
my friend Larisa’shouse so I could play.
They also had MTV but that’s another story!
The first computer my family owned!
in college which Tech Savvy Daddy
kindly provided tech support for
constantly. I was the envy of my friends
who were always visiting to check e-mail
on my computer.
No promotional consideration was paid for this post. I am attending NECC on my own dime.
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Original post by Tech Savvy Mama
©2012
I’m kind of freaking out because I totally had that exact Atari 400! It was awesome.
NO ONE in my family had a computer until after I had graduated from college.
WOW. I just stumbled upon your blog but I had to pop a comment of thanks. I remember the Atari and Mac from college. I remember being told that we had to learn on a mac because it was the only machine people were going to be using. Then we hit the workforce and had to deal with the PCs. I love my macs, all generations of them that have come and gone through our house. Thanks
Oh wow. Boy does seeing that Atari 400 ever bring back memories. Memories of plugging in the tape drive, setting up a game to load, and going off to have dinner while I waited!
It was lovely to meet you this weekend at PreBlogHerDC!