The Purple Parade

Me, Hadi Partovi (creator of code.org) and R2D2 at ISTE 2016 It's been a couple weeks since I returned home from ISTE 2016 in Denver, CO.  I've been trying to keep my mind clear and focused on what the theme of the conference truly was.  To me, I believe that the Makerspace philosophy (creating solutions to problems through the design process) and STEM (adding science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to all subject areas) were the overarching themes of the conference. For example, I enjoyed seeing the robots created by students.  It really showed how students used all types of materials available to make their robots work. I also participated in breakout sessions about the Makerspace philosophy.  In one such session, a panel of speakers from South Fayette Township School District spoke about how they added "making" to the curriculum and have seen science scores soar.  Now of course, test scores aren't the only indicator to the success of the...

As a "newbie" to the ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) conference, I didn't quite know what to expect.  I've been to conferences before, but this was a conference on steroids.  There were so many workshops to choose from. So many different types of workshops, connecting opportunities, demonstrations, etc. were available that I wasn't quite sure what to do. I think I must've looked like a little lost puppy in a huge, unknown world.  The first day I was there, I walked into this huge convention center to ISTE Central and was overwhelmed.  It looked like ground control for NASA or something.  I signed into a computer where immediately my nametag was printed for me, and I was handed all the materials I needed to get started on my journey.  "WOW" was all I could think of.  "This is going to be great"! From my hotel room, which overlooked the loading dock of the convention center, I could see all of the crates with va...