Wanna chat sometime?

Dear #edtechex Friends:

I humbly apologize to you for ignoring you over the summer. It was not intentional.  I meant to meet you during our prescheduled chat times.  It started with a family camping trip during our first chat because that was the only time we could camp.  (We had a great time, by the way.)  Then, I realized I was thoroughly enjoying my summer blissfully ignoring educational technology and never looked back.  It really was a good summer!

Now summer is over and it's the first day of school. (Oddly, I am monitoring a study hall during first period this year.) I'm looking at my schedule for the year and see that Thursday is my best day to chat.  I'm free from 9:30 till 1:30 (with the exception of my Lunch/Recess duty between 10:45 and 11:45).  Is there a half hour or hour in there we can chat?

Let's compare schedules and see if we can gather 'round the ol' Twitter table.  It doesn't have to be Thursday.  Throw out an idea and we'll see if we can agree on some common ground.

Thanks!
Craig

#edtechex -- Summer Schedule

I want to thank everyone who participated in our #edtechex chats this spring.  It was fun to connect with you, even if just accidentally stumbled in not knowing what was going on.

Obviously with summer coming (or here for some of you), Monday mornings at 11:30 may not be the best time for you.  In fact, my summer schedule is so wacky, I have no idea when the best time would be for me.

Let's use the comments section to try to negotiate a time to meet together through the summer.  Maybe you can't make it every time but we might get to visit with you a couple times this summer.  Some things to consider:

• Every week or every other week or once a month?
• Morning, afternoon, or evening? 
• Take a cruise together? 

Thanks!  I'm looking forward to keeping connected through the summer.
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The general consensus is that we are all unpredictable in our summer schedules.  I love it!  I could use some unpredictability in my life, and I'm sure you could too.  So, let's put a schedule down and see who can show up at the designated time.  If you miss a week or two we'll be all good with that.

All times 1-2 pm EST.
June 10, 24.
July 8, 22
Aug 5

Toward the end of summer we can talk about a chat schedule for the 2013-14 school year.
Thanks!
Happy summer!

#edtechex Chat Archives 5-6-13

Here are the archives for our first #edtechex chat. Thanks for joining us!  See you next week! (Mondays 11:30-12:30 EST)

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B63-r4uLf6eDeTB5cFp0ZXprbkE/edit

Thanks to Alex for creating the archive.

#edtechex Reboot

It finally happened.  After trying to get other people involved in #edtechex, I finally had someone else post my blog on it. Nicely done, Leah.  I just about gave up!

As you can see in the conversation above, we're trying to breathe new life into #edtechex. 

Here's the basic plan.

1.  Blog a great example of educational technology use.

2.  Tweet it out, and use the hashtag #edtechex.

3.  OR... Pull a Leah move and tweet someone else's example on #edtechex.
4.  Spread the #edtechex love by sharing the hashtag with another awesome teacher.

I would love to start up a regular Tweetchat time where we can share things we've done and things we're learning.   Obviously, with summer coming, schedules will change and our focus will be elsewhere, but it's still good to gather ideas throughout those crazy hot months.

For the month of May, we will gather at #edtechex 11:30 till 12:30 (Eastern time) on Mondays -- excluding Memorial Day, of course.  Once we hit June, we'll try to come up with another time.

See you there!

Keep the #edtechex Love Going

Wow!

I am thrilled at the initial response in the first few hours of #edtechex. I am guilty of bombing various people with it, but it was all in the name of publicizing what I thought was a good idea.  Little did I know that my blog post would garner so much excitement.

Many of you retweeted the idea, shared it on Google+, or spread the word in some way or another. Not only did I share some of my favorite projects, but others did too.  I was involved in an impromptu chat last night with Leah and Mike about one of Leah's student's blog projects. Even as I'm typing this post, Allie is sharing the hashtag with others and now I know about Ms. Neidlinger's class blog challenge and Twitter handle. That's what this is all about.  Sharing the great stuff we're doing and spreading the word so we can all learn together.  Thank you!  I'm glad we latched on to a good idea.

Now... How to keep the enthusiasm going? I'm all ears.

Some ideas have floated by in the last 24 hours to make it better, and I want your input.

• My world is educational technology, so maybe I focused too specifically on ed tech. Please feel free to spread any good educational ideas.  As we know, the technology doesn't make us good teachers; we use the technology as a tool to better equip our students.  
• Do we start a specific chat time?  Weekly? Biweekly? Day and time?  What does the set up look like?  I have ideas, but I'd like to hear yours.
• Is the hashtag name a good one.  Fred had been thinking of something similar and was going to call it #extendedchat.  Thoughts? It takes away the tech aspect.

Keep the comments and tweets coming.  I'd love to hear more from you in the future. 

What's Working for You? #edtechex

I love connecting with other educators online, getting to know them and discussing educational philosophy.  I've discovered that Twitter and blogs are great ways to learn from like-minded people and get a sense that I'm not the only one trying to integrate technology into curriculum.

Recently, my role at school was changed, and I was able to participate in #edchat for the first time.  I was excited...but completely overwhelmed.  I would hop into the stream and hop out throughout the hour the first time I participated.  Now, when I can join the chat, I normally hang in there for the whole hour, unless I have more pressing matters on my desk.

But...sometimes...I get frustrated. Sometimes it feels like we keep saying the same thing.  Sometimes I feel that I am preaching to the choir, or sitting in the choir being preached at.  It's good to have affirmation, but we all think the same way (or at least similarly).  After all, we're all on Twitter... we are a demographic unto ourselves.  Chances are we like the way we teach and aren't fond of the way they teach.  We have no dissenting opinions because we are using a platform the dissenters wouldn't dream of using. 

Is this bad?  Not really, but instead of patting each other on the backs and pointing our fingers at them, I'm looking for something more concrete.

That's why I'm proposing a new hashtag.  #edtechex.  It stands for "educational technology examples" and I'm using it as a place to showcase excellent examples of technology use in schools.  It can be an app that you enjoyed, projects your students did, helping a colleague take a step toward tech integration awesomeness, or an article you read that you really envied.  

Personally, I'm interested in seeing great things that have grown out of your research, hard work, and student innovation.  Since you're online, I'm already guessing you lean toward technology integration, project-based learning, constructivism, and more progressive educational thinking.  Great.  Now, let's look at the concrete results of what you're doing out there. 

Will I continue with #edchat? Of course.  I'm still connecting with great educators and having interesting discussions, but let's get our hands dirty together. Shall we?  

Will you join the conversation with me in the comment box or on Twitter at #edtechex?