Technology Conference

Last week I attended the "Best Practices in Technology" Conference. Like Jillian's Blog, I agree that technology is always inspiring.
There were two feature presenters and a series of breakout speakers.The main speaker was Rem Jackson, who talked about best practices. His link http://www.toppractices.com/library/speaker-rem-jackson-president-and-ceo-top-practices.cfmk .His focus was mostly on the future. He emphasized the potential of technology but was a little science fictional in that he suggested that by 2029 most individuals will be implanted with chips so the computer as we know it won't exist. Maybe it will happen. It seems strange.There was also 19 reasons why change doesn't happen in K-12 Education. There also was a fee. I guess a drawback is that everything seems to have a price.

The other speaker was Rich Halverson, from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He spoke of how games can be a positive experience in learning. Exploring digital learning should be a goal of teachers. He shared the link http://www.digitallearning.macfound.org/. Gaming is a way to reach students and improve learning. The main idea is not to be afraid of gaming and its use in the classroom.

In the breakout sections, gaming was a big theme. World of Warcraft game should be used at the high school level. A keyboarding game, Typing of the Dead, (which is a free download) can be used to make learning the keyboarding skill fun. My principal wants me to try it with the junior high. A math game http://www.dimensionm.com/ was suggested. The speaker, a teacher in a Catholic school in the Chicago area, praised it use and how excited the students were using this program.

A strong appeal for the use of games to enhance learning was made at this conference. I like the idea but I am sure some administrators were leery. If these games can reach students when other ways of instruction can't, I believe that educators and administrators have to be open to the possibilities of their use. Like Jillian's idea that Technology is always inspiring, I think the use of technology games can be too.