Podstock: The Perfect Little Conference

"Podstock Registration" by dmcordell

It's been almost a month since I attended my first Podstock, so I've had time to organize my thoughts and reflect a bit on the experience.

Expectations
I already knew a lot about this conference from interacting on social networking sites, particularly Plurk and Facebook. Podstock is a (deliberately) small conference, averaging about 300 attendees. All of the keynotes and sessions are held at the Hotel at Old Town Conference Center, in Wichita Kansas. Because of the intimate setting, I felt reasonably sure that I'd have the opportunity to interact with a number of my online acquaintances face-to-face. The slideshow I had prepared for my presentation was uploaded and saved to my laptop, SlideShare, and a flash drive, ready to share with friends old and new.

Realities - The Good
Podstock, the conference, was every bit as welcoming and interactive as I had expected. The ESSDACK staff worked tirelessly to make sure that all attendees had a positive experience. Old Town Wichita, with its historic architecture and abundance of restaurants and shops, provided the perfect setting for exploring and connecting, during meals or informal activities, like our early morning PhotoWalk.

Realities - The Bad
Kansas tends to be HOT in July, so our time outdoors was limited. This wasn't unexpected, so appropriate wardrobe choice and intelligent planning resulted in a reasonably comfortable visit. My own personal disaster occurred when I nodded off in bed and spilled a sticky liquid on my laptop. This resulted in an inoperative keyboard (subsequently fixed, thanks to the Apple Genius Bar) and some pre-presentation stress. Fortunately, the ESSDACK crew provided me with a loaner computer and my flashdrive saved the day.

Realities - The Awesome (a partial list)

• Unconference: This was my first opportunity to connect more personally with people like John Martin, a member of my Network for years - a "real" friend but not one I had met face-to-face before. Another online friend, Sherry Crofut, shared her Google Glass, giving us a literal and figurative peek into the future, or, at least one possibility for digital evolution. Social aspects aside, it was energizing to propose, vote on, and participate in discussions with fellow learners. I chose one conversation about Maker Spaces and another about Badges. Both were lively and thought-provoking. It was the perfect way to seque into the (slightly) more formal conference experience.
• Opening Keynote: Mark Klassen, a 19-year-old cinematographer, shared the story of how he used his Personal Learning Network and other online resources to learn film-making. Many of the concepts he touched upon, connectedness, passion, life-long learning, were repeated throughout the conference.
• Sessions I attended (all were excellent): Dean Mantz & Wesley Fryer, CSI: Creative Storytelling Investigation; Dan Whisler, Energy 101 - KidWind & the SHS Chevy Volt Project; Butch Wilson, We Are Irons: Why We Asked Google to Lie to Us; Ginger Lewman, PBL Conversations; and a last-minute replacement presentation by Wesley Fryer on Visual Notetaking.
• Vendor Reception and Dance - refreshments, swag, music, dancing...what's not to like!
• Podstock PhotoWalk: John Martin and I led a merry group of photographers on a mini-tour of Old Town. 
• Closing Keynote: Kevin Honeycutt, Starting and Maintaining a Revolution. Kevin challenged us to change the world by changing ourselves, our expectations, our approach to life and learning. It's a message that applies across the education spectrum, to teachers, yes, but also to students, administrators, parents, all stakeholders in the future.

Final Thoughts
Although I got very positive feedback on my presentation, Seeing is Deceiving, I soon realized that Podstock is best suited for a different approach to sharing and learning. Ginger Lewman and Butch Wilson, in particular, modeled the type of loosely structured, participant-driven conversation which I hope to emulate in the future. Will I submit a proposal next year? Already working on it. Will I return to Podstock? Just try to stop me!

"Photowalk" by dmcordell

Additional Resources
Seeing Is Deceiving Wiki
Podstock '13 Facebook Page
Podstock Ning
Podstock Photoset

Podstock Photowalk

"Self-portrait" by dmcordell

I'm excited to be attending my first Podstock this week, in Wichita, KS. This mighty little conference brings together an eclectic mix of educators from across the country to converse, collaborate, and have fun learning.

Although I wasn't able to be there in person last year, I did participate virtually in the first Podstock Photowalk. By setting out at approximately the same time of day, and choosing a similar location (a small local city with some historic older buildings), I duplicated the feel, if not the "reality," of the experience.

Photowalk resources
Virtual Podstock Photowalk

Here's this year's information...please join us on Friday!

Photowalk  Podstock  2013 Friday,  July  19
With  special  guest  photographers:  John  Martin  and  Diane  Cordell
Overview
We  are  excited  to  announce  our  second  annual  Podstock  PhotoWalk!  This  event  will  take place  Friday  morning  (July  19,  2013).  We’ll  be  gathering  to  take  a  walk  and  explore  the surrounding  Wichita  Old  Town  area  around  the  Podstock  conference  center.  It’s  a  great way  to  make  new  friends,  find  some  hidden  gems  for    photos,  as  well  as  stretch  our  legs before/after  a  long  day  of  sessions.
We’ll  gather  at  a  Old  Town  Hotel  Lobby    and  have  planned  stops  for  potential  photo opportunities,  but  participants  are  always  welcome  to  pause  and  shoot  as  the  eye  desires.
There  will  also  be  a  couple  of  geocaches  to  look  for  along  the  way! Afterward,  we’ll  share  our  photos  in  a  Flickr  group  to  see  what  magic  others  have  captured!
If  you’re  interested  in  participating,  keep  reading  for  all  the  details! *Virtual  participants  are  very  welcome  to  participate!  see  details  below
Support  Resources
http://digital-­photography-­school.com/10-­tips-­for-­a-­great-­photowalk http://www.nctp.com/photosafari/PhotoSafari_Ver1.0.pdf  great  book  on  photo  safari
Date  &  Time
July  19,  2013
7am  –  Old  Town  Hotel  Lobby  for  photography  tips,  geocaching  information,  and  group  picture 7:15am  -­  begin  walk
8:30am-­Podstock  sessions  start

Photo  Themes
Morning  walk: Basic  Learning  Blocks  (colors,  alphabet,  numbers,  etc) Technology
Panorama
In  Shadow  /  In  Light
Happiness  is...
Take  a  Closer  Look
Signing  up
Just  join  the  Podstock  group  and  spread  the  word!
Sharing  your  pics
Twitter  Hashtag
#PodstockPhotoWalk13
Flickr  tags:  PodstockPhotoWalk13,  Podstock13,  and  your  theme  name (virtual  participants  also  tag  with  VirtualPodstock)
You  can  also  choose  a  theme  and  upload  them  pics4learning.com
*Virtual  participation
For  those  who  aren’t  able  to  be  at  Podstock  in  person,  but  who  would  still  like  to  join  in  on  the  fun virtually,  we  have  the  Virtual  Podstock  PhotoWalk!
Here  are  the  rules  of  the  game: 1)  Pick  your  own  time  of  day  (morning  and  evening  light  is  awesome) 2)  Go  shoot  your  stuff! 3)  Upload  to  the  Flickr  just  as  the  rest  of  us  will,  but  be  sure  to  tag  your  photos  with
“VirtualPodstock”  so  we  can  be  sure  to  give  a  little  extra  love  to  your  dedication  and  participation.

Computers in Libraries

This past week marked my first attendance at the Computers in Libraries (CIL) conference, held yearly in Washington, DC.

The atmosphere at CIL is low-key, friendly, and inclusive. Attendees are united by a common interest in technology as it affects libraries and their users. There are five tracks, with different themes, but the keynotes are universal and tracks are open to anyone curious about the topic at hand. Cross pollination continues during breaks, at meals, or around the fire pits on the hotel terrace. Keynote videos and many presentation resources are now publicly available on the CIL site.

As a presenter, I was energized by the response to my topic, The Connected Library. Fellow librarians came up to chat afterwards, and I observed some of the audience members accessing tools I had highlighted within minutes of the slideshow. Others have commented on Twitter about how they will use what I shared, the ultimate test of a presentation's relevance, particularly since my focus was on social networking.

An added bonus was the glorious weather in Washington. Many of us were able to take the time to explore a bit. My photographs of the Cherry Blossom Festival, War Memorials, and CIL itself are available in a Flickr set.

Would I go to CIL again? Absolutely! And next year, I plan to stay a bit longer so that I can attend more sessions and visit more local attractions.

The Connected Library wiki

The connected life and the library from Diane Cordell

"The Cherry Blossom Festival" by dmcordell

National Poetry Month: Walk With Nature

Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when schools, publishers, libraries, booksellers, and poets throughout the United States band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events. -Poets.org

As I have done for the past few years, I've created a slideshow in honor of National Poetry Month.

My first effort, Poems In Words and Images, featured a combination of my own and Creative Commons photographs:

Poems in words and images from Diane Cordell

Last year, I challenged myself to only use my original images to construct Picturing Poetry:

Picturing poetry from Diane Cordell

This year, I've selected verses based on a nature theme, pairing them with photos from my Flickr photostream. I hope you enjoy Walk With Nature:

Walk with nature from Diane Cordell

"Poetry is an echo, asking a shadow to dance." -Carl Sandburg

All Shall Be Well

The Three Desires of Julian of Norwich

Sometimes I do a bit a research just for the fun of it. This morning, a tweet from Liz Burns sent me on my merry way:

I discovered that this quote is attributed to Julian of Norwich, a 14th-15th century Christian mystic. Her visions while seriously ill led her to write Revelations of Divine Love (ca. 1393), purportedly the first book composed in the English language by a woman. Despite living in a time of turmoil, punctuated by peasant revolts and outbreaks of the Black Death, Julian believed in a merciful and loving deity. She claimed that her famous "All will be well..." was spoken directly to her by God.


The lines were incorporated into T. S. Eliot's Little Gidding (1941-42):

"Whatever we inherit from the fortunate
We have taken from the defeated
What they had to leave us—a symbol:
A symbol perfected in death.
And all shall be well and
All manner of thing shall be well
By the purification of the motive
In the ground of our beseeching."

In more recent times, Julian's words appear in an amazing variety of song lyrics:

Pete Townshend (from The Iron Man: The Musical, 1989)


Anderson Peterson (from The Far Country, 2005)


A more traditional rendition by OHRWURM Folk Orchestra (c. 2012)


And for Easter, from the Oremus Hymnal (1984)
All shall be well! Lift every voice on high;"Death has no more dominion but shall die."

Poetry, song lyrics, even the title of a murder mystery...Julian of Norwich's words live on. Tracking down the source of this quote, and its modern manifestations, was a lovely little task for a Monday morning.

Thanks for the inspiration, Liz!

"ALL SHALL BE WELL" By Leo Reynolds

A Semi-post About Google Reader

I saw this notice on Google Reader:

Through my social networks, most notably Twitter, I was already aware of the impending demise of GR. Within a relatively short time period, I saw numerous RSS aggregator options suggested, evaluated, and endorsed, all in 140 characters or less. Ultimately I chose Feedly, which seamlessly migrated my Reader content.

It is troubling when well-regarded free sites and services cease operation. I'm still angry at Picnik's termination and skittish about its "reincarnation" as Ribbet. I've moved on.

And although Flickr seems to be thriving, I've also taken steps to back up my photos. Some content is too precious to risk on the vagaries of chance and the Internet gods.

To be honest, the Google Reader situation is less disruptive to my online life than it would have been a few years ago. As you can see in the screenshot above, there are 1000+ unread items in my feed. Where once I religiously scanned GR daily, I now check infrequently. Most of my information, resources, and conversations flow through social networking sites these days.

I laughed at Judy's retweet today, then decided to do a sort of non-post post. Google Reader is old news in the connected life.

Thanks Judy O'Connell and Ian Clark for inspiring this post!

New Friends and Yearbook Tips

"Sympathetic souls" by dmcordell

For me, the best part of attending conferences is meeting people outside of my network. At EduCon this year, I serendipitously sat down at a table with this group of powerhouse women: Anne Collier, Peggy Sheehy, and Marianne Malmstrom. Some very interesting conversation ensued, including Marianne's comment that she would love a few photography tips to pass along to her school yearbook committee.

I hope to Skype with these students at some point, but until then, I've created a brief slideshow for them. If anyone has further tips, please be sure to share them in the comments on my blog or on the SlideShare site.

The way we were from Diane Cordell

My Educon

"Science Leadership Academy" by dmcordell

I just got home from that innovative, energizing, inspiring gathering known as Educon.

Since I'm retired from my position as a K-12 Teacher Librarian (although I still do occasional curriculum writing for CyberSmart! Education Company), and I pay my own way, I can pretty much tailor the experience to suit my personal interests. I feel free to either attend sessions or sit out a time slot and chat with people, usually a blend of both.

A Selection of Sessions
In @remixeducon, I got to interact with George Mayo and Harry Costner, who had already contacted me by email to ask permission to add some of my photos to a resource they were creating. Their remixeducon folder contains CC licensed pictures and video clips made by Educon participants, available for public use. An unexpected bonus was meeting Amanda Lyons, who showed us examples of her visual note taking and suggested creating the Community Mural that was later hung on the second floor.

"Community Mural" by dmcordell

I've become increasingly interested in the concept of "curation,"  and who better to explore it with than Joyce Valenza? She quoted from from Pierre Levy, who envisions knowledge communities where "the members of a thinking community search, inscribe, connect, consult, explore..." In an increasingly complex information age, the ability to archive, organize and retrieve digital assets is vital.  Joyce's slide presentation, and an extensive list of resources addressing this topic, can be found on her curation wiki.

During John Schinker's Mind the Gap session, a diverse group of educators tackled some difficult questions: (1) What can I do to effect change in my school? (2) How can I support and encourage change among the other roles? (3) How can I create a sense of urgency for change in my environment? There were, of course, no definitive solutions. There was, however, an interesting range of responses. This is the sort of interaction that I miss when working on my own, and it served to remind me that there is not a consensus regarding school reform even among forward thinkers in the education field.

Close Encounters of the Best Kind
It's no surprise to those who know me that my favorite part of any conference is interacting with people. I was happy to reunite with some old friends and make some new and promising connections. I chatted with SLA parents and student guides, trying to grasp what makes this school special in their eyes (cropping up again and again were phrases like "authentic student voice," "caring community," "project-based learning"). Conversations frequently took unexpected turns, and off-hand comments sparked interesting discussions. For example, when I flippantly remarked that students should be more like retirees, my tablemates' questions led me to articulate what makes retirement so wonderful...freedom to pursue passions, learning what & when I want to, choosing work hours that suit my personal body clock...that might also make school a better experience for students. I've already added a number of new people to my Network, so that my Educon experience won't end with the last scheduled session.

"Faces of Educon" by dmcordell

P.S.
Sometimes learning means taking chances. Because I decided to bring my iPad rather than my Mac, I had fewer options when it came to uploading and editing photos. Apart from some cropping, all of the pictures in my Educon Flickr set (except for the newly created "Faces of Educon" collage) are "raw." This was a bit scary for me, but surprisingly liberating. I used my Nikon D3000, my iPhone, even my iPad to capture images. Sometimes less is more.


Summary
I got to travel, take photos, engage in conversations, learn, eat, drink, and be merry. It might not have been your Educon, but it was my Educon, and I loved it.

"Snowy Morning in Philadelphia" by dmcordell

Three To Try

Photo by Ellen White

The following trio of tools proved useful to me this week. Take a look and see if there's anything you might like to test drive.


 #1 Many of the digital resources I use are harvested from interactions on social networking sites. A new service, RebelMouse, aggregates personal updates, making it easy to share Facebook and Twitter content with people who don't choose to connect there.

The RebelMouse page is visually appealing, presenting content in an easily accessible format. In addition to automatically aggregating from multiple streams, RebelMouse allows the user to post supplemental content, highlight "important" items, "stick" links (a la Pinterest pinning), and perform a host of other actions. In the opinion of Technorati blogger, Jim Haughwout, "The value is clear: If I wanted someone to rapidly and easily get a perspective on what interests me, I would recommend they first go to the my Rebel Mouse page (rather than my other of my social media pages)."

#2 Once having realized the merit of RebelMouse, I wanted to add it to contact information on my business cards. In order to do this, I turned to a familiar but still very useful tool,  the QR Code Generator. There are a number of similar sites, but I've used this one before and find it to be quick and intuitive: paste in a URL, generate a code, then download the image and grab permalink information. Sites like Zazzle accommodate custom business card designs, so it's easy to add the QR code to other text and images.

"Business card Back" by dmcordell

#3 Another tool I've recently used is an oldie but a goodie, the Flickr badge creator. A few years ago, I decide to add daily photos from the 365 Project to my blog page. Since the badge is directly linked to a specific photoset, I need to update it yearly. This posting provides a link and further information. You can see my Flickr badge in the right sidebar, under the traffic map.

Any tools you'd like to share with me?

For the Love of Learning

"First Day of My New Job..." by theunquietlibrarian

Personal friend, and professional inspiration, Buffy Hamilton, recently left her position as a high school teacher librarian to join the staff of the Cleveland Public Library.

Her job title at CPL is "Learning Strategist." Not "School Strategist," or "Library Strategist" but "LEARNING Strategist," an inclusive term embracing a wide range of possibilities.

As a semi-retired, (Medicare) card carrying Senior Citizen, I'm concerned with staying mentally active and professionally involved. While doing the Sudoku and Cryptogram each morning is fun, it's hardly a spur to intellectual growth.  So I'd like to adapt the Learning Strategist concept and apply it to my own life.

I will try to

• make a conscious effort to leave my comfort zone Volunteering to do an Ignite! presentation at the ALA Annual Conference last year was a challenging, somewhat scary, but ultimately very satisfying experience which taught me a lot about presentation zen.

• read, analyze, and apply Taking in information isn't enough; creation of new knowledge is the highest level of Bloom's Taxonomy. Lifelong learning should be authentic and relevant.

•  interact with others Social isolation may trigger psychological issues; it can affect any age group, but older citizens are especially vulnerable. Networking, both online and face to face, not only forestalls feelings of isolation, but also serves to deepen understanding through dialog and collaboration.

Buffy and I will be moving in different directions as we explore what it means to be a Learning Strategist. But we will continue to share our experiences and LEARN from each other.

"The excitement of learning separates youth from old age. As long as you’re learning you’re not old." -Rosalyn S. Yalow