Preparing for NECC (Includes OPML file!)

I’m thrilled to be listed on the At A Glance: Blogging NECC page. Though the list has already been up several days, I want to welcome new readers who are attending the conference in San Diego – and those who are taking advantage of the read/write web to listen in (and hopefully participate) via blogs and podcasts from the conference center. Thanks for joining us at Educatinoal Technology and Life.

I’m also stoked to discover some new ed blogs myself. In fact, it took so long to subscribe to all the blogs, podcasts, and photocasts in the list, I thought I’d post the OPML file here, so any of you can subscribe to it all at once. You should be able to import this file into most desktop or webbased RSS readers: NECC2006.opml

This site is listed only as a blog, but I occassionally post podcasts here also. If you didn’t grab the OPML file above, you can subscribe via my RSS 2.0 feed. You can also subscribe via iTunes by searching for “Educational Technology and Life” or by clicking here.

I plan to blog the sessions I attend (and present), the volunteer activities I participate in, and as many interviews with educators or educational technologists as possible. I’m particularly excited about chatting with any California CUE members who will be at the conference – or any ET&L readers who might be there. If you’re interested in meeting with me (whether or not you want to appear in a post or podcast) please leave a comment or shoot me an email.

Yesterday was my last day at the Orange County Department of Education. (Unfortunately they haven’t named a replacement yet, so the transition will be happening off the clock for me.) It’s exciting that my first week working for our newly formed company, the Educational Technology and Life Corporation will be spent preparing for and attending NECC. (Yes, the company is named after the blog.) I’ve got a lot to do before the conference begins, particularly on this site. A good deal of content needs to be posted – I’m going to have static pages as a part of this site for the first time. These will include our story, our governing ideas, and the services we offer.

I say “we” because I’ve started this endeavor with my wife, Eva, who is a kindergarden teacher, and technology coordinator. (Before workign at the district and county levels, I was a high school English teacher and tech coordinator.) I’m glad it works out that for the first few months of the business we can actually be working on this together. She may be more flexible next year, too, as she’s applied for a teacher on special assignment (TOSA) position at another site.

I’m happy to report that at least I’ve finished seting up my gadgets for NECC. Leaving the public sector after many years, I discovered I had virtually no personal electronics of my own. Thankfully, my MacBook, iPod (U2 edition), and Treo 650 are all ready to roll. I’m well equiped for some serious learning next week. We’ll be bringing Eva’s older iPod and iTalk, too, for recording podcasts on the fly.

I’ll keep posting changes over the next few days, and I’ll get my schedule up as soon as I work it out. I do know I’ll be at the CUE member and volunteer social at 5pm on Thursday and the edblogger meet up at 8pm the same night. I volunteer at 12 noon on Wednesday and present at 10am on Friday… Context, Inquiry, and Collaboration: Video Games as Constructivist Learning Environments in SDCC 8. I hope to see many of you next week in San Diego.

Now I’m off to catch up on the 334 posts on the new blogs I’ve just subscribed to… at least until date night with Eva kicks in here in about an hour. :)

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