Iowa 1:1 Conference

April 4, 2013 has come and gone and so has another Iowa 1:1 conference. This conference was originally established to foster connections between schools in Iowa that had established a 1:1 computing program. It has now grown into a statewide technology conference where 1:1 schools get the opportunity to show the rest of the state the wonderful things that they have done.  For me this conference is a chance to network.  Being a Technology Director means that there is only one of me in the district. That means that there is no one else to bounce ideas off of, or to ask questions of. This makes conferences like these very important to develop connections with other people in the state that do the same type of work.

Sessions are great. It is a wonderful chance to get a lot of information from someone who has hopefully gone through the growing pains of putting a plan into action. But that is a sit and get mentality and not always the best option for someone like me who has adult onset ADHD. I prefer standing out in the hall and talking to people to pick their brains or allow them the slim pickings of mine.

The main floor of the old "Vet's Auditorium" now the Iowa Events Center was filled with approximately 1,200 people with the common goal of increasing and / or improving the use of technology in education. To have that many like minded individuals gathered in the same place is energizing to say the least. I attempted to gleen as much info as I could in the given amount of time that I had. It was a herculean task at best to reach out to all the people that I wanted to, but I feel very good about the info I was able to gain and give. Here is a small list of topics that were addressed in the hall rather than in the sessions.

• How to get a Cisco wireless system to pass Bonjour packets
• Conversion from JMC to Infinite Campus
• "Best" bags for a ChromeBook deployment
• What vendor is best at generating SQL queries
• What Deli has the best sandwich (Palmer Deli for those interested)
• Quality Chrome Apps for Video Editing (if there even is one)
• Google Apps for administrators
• Suggestions for enterprise wireless solutions
• LMS / CMS solutions
• University of South Florida Technology Integration Matrix
• TPAC (Always a favorite topic)

 Until I get the opportunity to attend another conference like this, I will return to my virtual world of twitter to keep up with my colleagues throughout the state.