TCEA 2008 Thursday blog

Does science have a future?
Dr. Sally Ride will always have the distinction of being America’s first woman in space and a member of the Challenger crew. As if that weren’t enough, she also is a professor of physics at the University of California, San Diego. At today’s opening session, Dr. Ride talked about the importance of science education to our country’s and children’s futures.

“Science and technology are the engines that drive our society,” she said. Although the U.S. has led the way in science and technology, “it’s ironic that we put so little emphasis on science education.”

“Other countries put far more emphasis and it’s starting to show,” Dr. Ride told the audience. “It’s time for us to wake up and respond to this challenge. Good basic jobs increasingly require good science, math, and technology skills.”

The key, she said, is sustaining the interest students already have in science through the critical stage of middle school.

eSchool News is our ‘Best Bud’
eSchool News is presenting two days of their “Best Practices Summit” Wednesday and Thursday. They brought a whole team of their key people to address what they think are the most effective practices in education technology today. They also brought people to coordinate their TCEA 2008 Conference Information Center. All through the past year, eSchool News, TCEA’s Premier Media Partner, has given TCEA unparalleled marketing and moral support. We appreciate all they have done for us.

What else do we do?
Besides hosting a large national educational technology convention every year, what else does TCEA do?

• We annually recognize the best Texas educators who use technology.
• We do annual contests in robotics, computer programming, and technology applications such as desktop publishing, digital graphics, multimedia, audio, etc.
• We produce a quarterly magazine and quarterly newsletter.
• We host professional development sessions at the TCEA training facility in Austin and at other locations around Texas.
• We advocate for technology education.
• We sponsor area events.
• We share knowledge through Special Interest Groups.

Visit tcea.org to find out all about our myriad of activities.

— Kathy Sargent

TCEA 2008 Wednesday blog

The view from the top
Dr. Lane Mills, one of the convention’s Featured Presenters, gave a speech about 21st century learning at a joint luncheon of the Educational Technology Research Symposium and the Leadership Seminar. Dr. Mills is an Assistant Superintendent at Wilson County Schools in North Carolina and has won many national awards for his views on technology leadership.

Referring to himself as a “geek with social skills,” Mills talked about globalization and the things that are making our world “flat.” Right-brain learners are coming into their own and the percentage of students who use web 2.0 capabilities is growing and growing. They are not only using the message boards, social networks, and downloading and blogging, they are creating their own personal digital identities. All of this requires 21st century skills such as globalization, thinking and learning, life skills, and ITC literacy.
“The question is are we doing something to get ready for this?” Mills asked.

About adapting to 21st century learning, he said: “It’s about headware, not hardware.”

Tuesday was busier than you think
Although it’s officially the day before the opening of the convention, Tuesday was abuzz with activity. Over 700 teachers converged on the convention center Tuesday to take part in the Technology Applications Teacher Network Event. They talked about best practices and shared lesson plans and information. The Educational Technology Research Symposium had all-day sessions in which researchers from all over the world read and discussed their papers, which were published in a proceedings book. And, educational technology leaders from around the state attended the all-day Leadership Seminar where subjects such as funding, decision-making, emerging technologies, Internet safety, e-mail retention, and visionary leadership were discussed.

Want a little competition?
Do you think you can use a GPS unit to find hidden caches before your friends do? Does a little competition get your heart pumping and the adrenaline flowing? Drop by the Geocaching event in the atrium and try your hand at searching for secret caches nearby. You might like it enough to get your students involved later.

— Kathy Sargent

TCEA 2008 Tuesday blog

Where have all the robots gone?
The TCEA 2008 Robotics Contest was held last Saturday at Manor High School near Austin. This is the first time in many years that the contest was not held at the convention center during the TCEA convention. Participation in the contest was at an all time high and it simply outgrew the convention center venue. A whopping 169 teams from elementary and secondary schools participated in the contest by designing, collaborating, programming, and competing with robots in a prescribed problem contest and an open-ended invention contest. We will post the names and photos of the winners on tcea.org shortly after the convention.

It’s the size of a small city
TCEA 2008 pre-registration numbers broke all the previous records for TCEA conventions. More than 7,000 people pre-registered and several thousand more are expected to register on-site. Once it’s all said and done, the number of people on-site at the ’08 convention will probably exceed 12,000, including exhibiting personnel and others.

We’re loud and we’re proud
The TCEA convention exhibit hall is traditionally bright, busy, and full of activity. This year, more than 430 exhibitors will be exhibiting their products. Deserving of special mention just for the “ fun factor” are Brainpop’s “Moby” robo character, Best Buy’s “Dance Dance Revolution,” and the cool car in the TCEA booth. Yes, I said car. There’s something for everyone, so don’t be shy. Dive right in! The doors open on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m.

You could be cruising
Be sure to attend the Thursday evening Social and Closing General Session because if you’re not there, you can’t win the two cruises that will be given away. The cruise to be given at the Social was donated by Gaggle.Net and the one to be given at the Closing Session was donated by Brewer Technology and Learning Center.

— Kathy Sargent