SJS Teacher

The conference that I listened to was “It Simply Isn’t the 20th Century Any More Is It?: So Why Would We Teach as Though It Was?”

After browsing through the conferences listed on the site, I was really captivated by the title because it is something that resonates quite loudly with me, as a teacher and student in instructional technology. I look at education as something that should adapt to the kind of learners we have in front of us. And if we cannot captivate our audience, we have lost something along the way.

I like the idea of online conferencing (like the instruction said, you can attend in your pajamas!) but like everything in life, there are advantages and disadvantages. Online conferences like this one, are not live but are presented after the fact. I am sure there are “live” conferences, though, which will offer the added advantage of having a Q&A at the end. In a F2F conference, you could get answers to your questions not just from the workshop presenter but probably from someone in the audience who is well-versed with the topic. On the other hand, it is very convenient (especially for a working mother like me) to attend when it suits me. I can send my questions in and can have the benefit of a digital reply, whether through an email, a text message, or whatever —- it just makes it easier to remember their responses. And the list goes on of course…

I would surely recommend something like this — maybe even start one at our school! More often than not, our workshops and professional development schedules are so ill-timed as most of them are after school (when teachers should be grading papers or preparing for the next day’s lessons) that it makes more sense to have your PD’s online. Yes, it IS the 21st century — we should conduct our conferences as befits the technology of our time.