I attended three days of the Constructing Modern Knowledge Conference in Manchester, NH. This conference provided an opportunity to listen to a number of presenters on the topic of creativity and constructivism in education; and to explore a number of software and hardware technologies for use in the classroom.
Notable presenters included Peter Reynolds (Fablevision), Lindsay (tech4learning), Bob Tinker and Alfie Kohn. There was lots to think about; I have notes somewhere, mostly in my binder in my lost luggage. I will eventually get some of my more eloquent thoughts on here.
The best part of the conference for me was the opportunity to challenge myself. I got to work with some other ladies using PicoCrickets to create a dancing clown. I helped another group with their construction made of lego bricks and I made some flowers for a third group creating a claymation project. I was inspired by seeing the tech4learning software at work to work in Frames and Twist back in my hotel room that evening. I’ve started following Gary Stager’s tutorial to create a virtual pet in Microworlds EX and am looking forward to continuing it once I’m on more solid footing (i.e. home). It’s fabulous to be able to go to a conference and to come out with real experiences as opposed to lots of ideas.
One of the real experiences that I had was an afternoon/evening adventure with some of the gang from the conference. We finished the conference early that day (3ish) and headed to Boston. The Boston visit started off with a visit to the MIT Media Lab and the OLPC offices. We met with Martin Minsky (future post will expand on this) before heading to the North End. Gary claimed that Pizzeria Regina has the best pizza in the US, and possibly in the world. We broke into two dinner groups but I chose Gary’s group, being a fan of excellent pizza. I had shrimp pizza and it was fantastic. It successfully displaced the old image of vinegary, tough shrimp pizza that I had right before leaving Sudan. We stopped at Bova after the restaurant and Gary got me a black and white cookie which he said is a NY specialty. We then stopped by Mike’s Bakery, which has an extensive selection of baked goods. I would have liked to get an apple dumpling, which I love, but the line was too long. Another long and excellent day.
This conference, along with my other two conferences this summer has inspired me to rethink conferences. I think that I need to be involved in more hands-on, experiential conferences. I already get lots of good ideas from my listservs and blogs. I don’t need to go to conferences for superficial introductions to new technologies. I need to go to conferences with forward thinkers that will help me challenge my thinking about and implementation of teaching. I need to go to conferences that allow me to explore opportunities that I wouldn’t otherwise have, opportunities to tinker and construct within a community of like-minded learners.
Since I am currently working in Sudan, it is difficult to attend conferences during the school year. This gives me about 10 months to research and identify what conferences/workshops I will participate in next year.
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