My DEN Crib by Lee Kolbert

I blogged recently about my PLN (Personal Learning Network) which I, in my humble attempt to change the world, tried to change to CLN (Collaborative Learning Network) but due to the Power of the Masses, I was over-ruled because everyone still kept calling it their PLN. What’s up guys, didn’t you hear me? Ok, so I didn’t win this one. There were some great comments though that got me thinking. Mostly that although my LN (Learning Network) is flexible, fluid and collaborative, ultimately it is up to me to take control in order for it to have meaning for me.

As you know, I’m really enjoying my Twitter experience. Some days are tweeter than others, but mostly I’m online and sharing some good information and making friends and contacts. I’m also a big fan of the DEN (Discovery Educator Network) and together, Twitter and the DEN have helped me expand my PLN enormously. As I gather my Twitter friends (I like to call them my TweetPeeps and that’s not exactly catching on either) I’m constantly trying to figure out who is a member of the DEN. After exchanging tweets with @cnansen, he told me about how for his network of Apple Distinguished Educators, he created a list of ADEs who also Twitter. They compiled a list so they can be sure to follow each other. Note to self: Steal this!

So, today I created a form using Jotform. If you haven’t tried Jotform yet, you don’t know what you’re missing! I use it for everything! Best of all, it’s FREE! You fill out the fields (all drag and drop), send out the URL and people start submitting the form. Results can be mailed to you if you want, and they are stored on the Jotform server. You can choose to publish a dynamically updated spreadsheet (different URL to share). So, here’s where it becomes very cool. As the network grows, people can check the online results. All the people in the network now have access to the same results and can follow the same TweetPeeps!

Here’s the tweet I sent out!

Within moments, the form results started flooding my inbox (as of right now, we have 43 DEN Stars listed) and if you look at the form, you’ll see that a note at the bottom asking to re-tweet the message. Sure enough, the word is spreading.

If you are a DEN member who also Twitters, here’s the link to the form. To view the results, just click here. Information about becoming a DEN Star is also on the form.

Now, CLN though quite catchy, didn’t catch on. TweetPeeps is widely used…by me. Do you think DENTwit will be the one to make me a Rockstar?

For the past 10 years now, my school district has put on this huge educational technology conference. I say our district but in fact its really my department. My dept. of ed tech specialists, all prior classroom teachers, consists of a whopping 13 people. Together, in addition to our regular duties, we throw together this technology conference. Just to give you a little perspective, the conference this year consisted of approximately 70 vendors and sponsors, (big-names such as Apple, Discovery Education, Audio Enhancement, Scholastic, etc.) and keynote and featured speakers such as Tim Tyson, Hall Davidson, Kathy Schrock, Mark Benno and Alan November and over 200 breakout sessions! We typically have over 2000 teachers and administrators in attendance. Rain or shine! And we don’t charge a penny for our teachers to attend this terrific staff development event.

Last Friday I had the opportunity to participate not only as one of the people who was running the show, but also as a participant and presenter. Here are a few thoughts that are now running through my head as I sort through my experiences of last Friday:

1. I was (pleasantly) surprised at the level of knowledge, or perhaps interest, that our teachers currently possess as compared to when we first began this conference 10 years ago. I overheard teachers discussing their choices and they were wondering if they should attend the Google Earth session or a session on Second Life. In other words, these teachers weren’t talking about PowerPoint or Word.
2. Many of the teachers were active learners in the breakout sessions. I heard this from numerous presenters, and this was true in my session as well. Teachers were not just interested in sitting back and consuming information from the presenter. And, this was perfectly fine with me and the other presenters I spoke with. We are all for conversation rather than the “I feed you” method. Our participants were conversing, interjecting and adding to the discussion. They weren’t just asking questions, they were at times challenging our very thoughts. This is good! Isn’t this what we want our students to do?
3. Likewise, I was an active learner in my session. My session was more conversational than presenter v. audience and I really enjoyed the comfortable interaction between me and within the members of the group. My session was on del.cio.us bookmarking and using the networking feature. If there was more time, I would have liked to have exchanged del.ico.us usernames so that we could continue our conversation as it began.
4. In many sessions, in the courtyard, in the auditorium and other “remote” places there were video cameras, cellphones, laptops, iPhones, and other electronic instruments of destruction! In truth, we were doing exactly what we won’t let the kids do. We were extending our learning to others who couldn’t be there. Or for ourselves to extend our learning at another time or place. Hmmm, see how that works so well for us. Let’s see, there was video conferencing, uStreaming, text messaging, Twittering (see a Twitter stream below), podcasting, and good ol’ note taking.
5. Like all participants, I could not be everywhere. (However, it is my goal to work on this one.) It is my hope that the participants were making good use of the Presenter Directory at the end of the program. If there was a session I wanted to attend, but didn’t get to, I will contact that presenter to see if I can get a copy of his/her handouts, or hopefully they have information online somewhere. Perhaps they might be blogging somewhere? I hope others are thinking to do the same.
6. I saw a few familiar faces in the breakout sessions on Friday and they weren’t in the audiences. They were presenters. These were teachers who, up to last year, had not even attended one of our conferences. They felt so techno-phobic that they would be absolutely lost at a tech conference. I am so proud of these people for the courage that it took to take the leap and say, “if I can do this, anyone can do this” and want to show others that it’s true! The idea that beginners can not only attend these conferences but have something to share, is too valuable to ignore! I’m already planning a future breakout session or presentation geared towards motivating beginners to share what they know… perhaps getting them to realize they know more then they know. Yeah, you know!
   
   Here’s a snapshot of the Twitter chat that was streaming during the conference.

The image is difficult to read, but there were comments about statements made in sessions, qualities in presenters, greetings to others, “wish you were here,” etc. These were just a few that I was able to find as I went back through my Twitter feed.

As it turns out, when I checked my del.icio.us network this morning, I noticed some familiar names in my network. I’m proud and encouraged that some of the teachers in my session noted my del.icio.us username in my handouts and added me to their networks already… check off item #3.

And the beat goes on…