Review of CUE 2008

March8

Well, although today is the last day of CUE 2008, it’s already over for me. I’m back home skipping the last day. I’m relieved to have a day to rest because it was exhausting, but I’m sorry to miss some great stuff. I’m looking forward to the CUE*FETC conference in October already. Here is an overview with links to my posts on this at the bottom…

The good parts:

As you can see from the photo at the top, and the ones above, it was nicer than having a conference in Michigan, or Illinois (other recent conference spots). I went with fellow Sacramentan, Gail Desler (it was her fifth time) and she felt it was some of the nicest weather for this event that she had experienced. It was gorgeous, and I took advantage of the swimming pool to refresh during lunch on the Thursday and Friday.

I took in four sessions on the first day, and three on the second (I wanted to do four, but could not even get into the GoogleEarth preso). Overall, they were great. The focus for the sessions I attended were less on how-to click the buttons on the technology, and more on how to structure the learning using the technology. Matt Needleman’s session, the AFI presentation, Mrs. Spang’s session on games, and Podcasting History were standouts on that issue.

Because I was blogging and posting pretty quickly, I sometimes didn’t have an overview, precis, or takeaway from the session in my blog posts. I will have one – three quick sentences below by the links for each of my blog posts.

The things that need improvement:

Well, this isn’t the only conference where there are complaints about connectivity, here is David Warlick in England, and Wes Fryer on BYOB – Bring Your Own Bandwidth

CUE delivered more wifi than promised. Originally, only the presenters were going to get connections in the presentation rooms (which is better than poor Wes got in Oklahoma), instead, wifi could be picked up in most of the meeting rooms, but it was wonky, prone to low levels, dropping, and not letting you on. It wasn’t stable where originally promised at Blogger’s Cafe, and the Networking area at the convention entrance (although a beautiful spot as you can see from the pictures at the top). It was obviously over-stretched, and not ubiquitous.

I managed to get off a number of blog posts by the end of each day, but what could be done with a good, steady connection? Take a look at this from Jose Rodriguez (one of my partners at It’s Elementary, and CUE-LA Teacher of the Year). He used a live blog application called Cover It Live that has some chat features, so you can follow as the person types in their notes, viewers can send comments, and the blogger has moderation control. Another highlight was the live Skype conversation with Doug Symington on EdTechBrainstorm that was carried on EdTechTalk as a Webcast from the Bloggers Cafe. I set up speakers to share the conversation, and many joined in as they were walking by.

I hope that there will be better connectivity at CUE*FETC conference in October.


The Microblog pieces are more informal, and not necessarily on the topic of education technology (more about socializing)…
Notes from EduBloggerConWest

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » CUE 2008, Here I come

Miz Mercer’s Microblog – This is how I know I’m in Southern California

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » Notes from Technology to Bring the Past Alive

What can you say about a presentation on technology, where the presenter is dressed up as Sam Adams? But, it was more than that, he discussed his entire process (and it was a really well thought out one) that led his students to create history podcasts, and how it supported standards based instruction in a really creative and creating way. BRAVO!

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » Notes from Blogs and Wikis: Writing Across the Curriculum

Great presentation, but not the best for me since I knew most of it. If you are looking for a speaker to do a fantastic overview on the tools, Brian Bridges would be fantastic.

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » Who Said Games Don’t Teach?

Basically, who needs pay tools like Orchard when you have the Spang Gang? Similar to Larry Ferlazzo, these are series of activities to work on skills, but she also discussed how to orient students to expectations and how to manage the process of using the site.

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » Integrating the Internet into the Primary Classroom

Great primary links, which I will soon need more of as I add more first graders into my schedule. The management, planning was not explored in as much depth.

Miz Mercer’s Microblog – The end of day one at CUE

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » 50 Ways to Use Discovery Education Streaming (and Beyond)

Explained some hidden treasures on Discovery Education Streaming. Danielle has a great speaking personality, but it was more about small tools, not big ideas.

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » Digital CPR: Bring Your Reading Series to Life with Video Podcasting

Okay, for everyone who is (stuck) with a scripted reading program, and wants (NEEDS) to add engagement, and higher order thinking, this broke it all down and showed some awesome work done by kids. BRAVO!

The Blog of Ms. Mercer » AFI Screen Education Center: Digital Filmmaking in the Core Curriculum

I have ALWAYS gotten great feedback about these AFI trainings, and I was not disappointed, PLUS they show how it relates to reading/writing instruction. YES!

Miz Mercer’s Microblog – Getting lost on the way home

by posted under conferences, web 2.0 | 3 Comments »    
3 Comments to

“Review of CUE 2008”

  1. March 8th, 2008 at 6:29 pm      Reply Mathew Says:

    Again, thanks for all the information and links you posted about/from the conference. I feel like you’ve expanded my experience since I wasn’t able to attend as many workshops as I wanted to.


  2. March 8th, 2008 at 9:44 pm      Reply alicemercer Says:

    Mathew, isn’t that the whole idea? Thank you.


  3. March 9th, 2008 at 11:23 am      Reply Jose Says:

    Alice,
    Great meeting you F2F! I really see the potential of microblogging. That’s something that I need to work on.


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