Sunday, June 12, 2011

Upstate Technology Conference Rewind and Review

The last two days I have been having a wonderful tech-filled time at the Upstate Technology Conference. This annual conference is completely free and full of wonderful presentations. This year I presented two sessions:
I had a great time presenting and continue to learn and improve. Unfortunately the session on improving presentations was at the same time as mine, but I will definitely be watching for those materials on the conference page.
I had the pleasure of seeing my librarian buddies strut their stuff. Fran Bullington led a session on using technology to "Ramp Up Reading". Lots of fun ideas like using digital frames to show off books, book apps, and Livescribe pencasts of book reviews. Kelly Knight, the Knight Reader, shared her strategies and successes on using blogs with her students. Check out her YA book blog and her school blog. She has really inspired me to do more with my school blog such as sharing reading lists for holidays and school events. This would especially be good for promoting non fiction titles. Cathy Jo Nelson had a packed house for her tech tip session. She really draws a crowd with her long list of ideas and suggestions. Heather Loy shared her expertise in Evernote and a session called "Web 2.0 Speed Dating". What a great way to share lots of tools in a fun, unexpected way.
I was very excited to see so many librarians presenting and many, many more in attendance.
I enjoy the time at conferences to catch up with my friends that I normally only see virtually. It was also fun to meet some of my PLN in person and continue to build those connections.
A few things that really stood out for me:
  • the popularity of QR codes, both in sessions and on materials
  • focus on mobile devices like phones, iPods and tablets
  • lots of buzz about favorite apps
I had a good time and learned a few more tricks. I am a conference and webinar junkie so I am looking forward to a few virtual conferences this summer like the Reform Symposium. Maybe I will "see" some of you there.

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4 comments:

  1. hloyJune 16, 2011 at 7:06 PM

    Had a blast at UTC, too! Really enjoyed your cell phone session. Wrote down a lot of stuff to explore this summer. Thank you!

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  2. Charlie MakelaJune 22, 2011 at 5:50 AM

    Thanks for the post on my blog. I am really excited about this project. I have had the pleasure of working with Martha Alewine at the SC DOE. We shared a number of emails about connecting what we do in libraries to curriculum standards.

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  3. Cathy Jo NelsonJuly 5, 2011 at 11:54 AM

    Just now catching up after a whirlwind month of June. Im so glad we got to hang out a little at UTC!! Your recap is phenomenal, and makes me wish I hadn't missed yours or Kelly's sessions. PLease tell me yours was basically the same as the SCASL session. If not, I demand a one on one. :)

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  4. UnknownJuly 5, 2011 at 12:45 PM

    @Cathy Nelson: I'll be happy to give you a one on one. My session on Kindles is summarized in a post here so you've basically got the gist of that one. The cell phone pres was basically me sharing lots of ways to use them in class and with students. The presentation shows all the tools. :)

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