The annual CUE conference in Palm Springs is a great opportunity for those in the field of education to experience the best and most effective technologies for the classroom. Over 5,000 educators gathered this past week to attend presentations and meet with vendors in an effort to better integrate technology into their lessons.
iPad sessions dominated the schedule. These sessions were well-attended, as there is generally high interest in tablet integration. Everything from school adoption to creativity apps to space design was covered.
Chrome and Chromebook sessions were few, but very well attended. There is growing interest in all things Chrome, and we imagine that next year there will be more sessions available.
There was clearly more focus on how to use apps and tools, and not just "this is cool" with little to no context. The presenters we saw included actual application, e.g. student centered, project based, flipped, or other classroom experiences. SAMR was addressed in many sessions, as was depth of knowledge, habits of mind, the four C's, Common Core and Smarter Balanced assessments, indicating to us that technology integration definitely serves the transformative levels of learning.
What got us excited? Augmented reality (especially seeing the great tools for science), publishing applications that give students a broader audience, and digital close literature, like Curriculet. (Full disclosure, we are content developers for Curriculet.)
The Exhibit hall was full of Chromebook and iPad carts and accessories, great adaptive learning services, all sorts of hardware – I enjoyed seeing a 3D printer in action.
An overwhelming number of attendees truly taxed the Convention Center’s Wi-Fi service. Intermittent Wi-Fi meant the presenters had to either sink or swim, a situation not terribly unlike what teachers experience in their classrooms. We saw that as a lesson for all. Always have a back up plan, and teach the students how to do that too! The presenters, by and large, did that, and kudo's to them!
Please go to Twitter and search #cue14 to see what resonated with the attendees. Thanks to the CUE Board of Directors, Mike Lawrence, and Executive Staff for another outstanding experience!
And now, 30 seconds of revelry!! Last week we received exciting news we want to share with you. We were notified that we were the winner of the 2014 Ed Tech Digest Award for Leadership. We could not have done this without a loyal following, so we thank you for your continued support!
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