FETC 2008 (Day 2)
February 8, 2008
I never had a chance to finish blogging about FETC 2008. Let me post some more highlights:
Steve Dembo introduced us to some hot new products that I had never heard of: Curriki ; Ustream ; and Digital Native.
I also got introduced to some web2.0 products that I knew about, but never dove into until after the conference. At the top of this list is Twitter. Check out my profile here.
Other than that, products that I want to learn more about are Moodle, a collaborative classroom management tool, and Ning, a free social network creator.
Finally, the best workshop of the day was by Jeanne Hayes of Hayes Connections. She talked about a virtualization solution by Parallels. Virtualization seems to be a no-brainer for any educational institution. It is a great way to consolidate servers, use less power, and improve support. (Of course, Smart Solutions has experts in virtualization if your school is interested in our services!)
Overall, it was a wonderful trip.
FETC Day 1
January 24, 2008
I understand that today was not FETC day 1 for everybody, but this was my first day in town. I am going to post my general observations about this conference.
-This is probably wrong to say in education technology circles, but I like this conference much better than NECC. I went to NECC last year, and it was overwhelming. There were thousands of workshops, vendors, and things happening - and it felt chaotic and disorganized to me. FETC is a lot more manageable and seems to attract higher quality speakers and vendors.
-It is wonderful to see so many personal and online friends and colleagues attending the same conference. I am meeting my friend, Anna, from wireless generation for dinner this evening. Her FreeReading.net program is being adopted by Florida! My old buddies from SchoolNet are in attendance.
-Alexander Russo, Will Richardson, and Lee Wilson are other prominent bloggers in attendance.
-At the vendor booths, the variety of product knowledge is staggering. There are some products where the vendors understand every detail about their product, its market, and its advantages - and these vendors are a pleasure to listen to. Other vendors are unclear about what they are selling and how it fits a school’s needs.
-I also had the opportunity to watch Steve Dembo from Discovery (and Teach42) speak about the Web 2.0 revolution in education. Steve had great energy and energized the crowd. I heard comments after his speech that people were incredibly impressed with his passion and ideas. As a heavy Web 2.0 user, I found his speech to be a bit boring. I believe that people who are not exposed to these tools need to get their hands dirty with these tools to truly understand them. But it was still a good time.
Overall, I have been quite pleased with the conference. It is well attended and presents the perfect opportunity to build relationships with new partners and vendors in our space.