ISTE Lauder

Look! It's Tim and Moby! A few weeks ago I attended the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) Conference in Philadelphia. I am here to laud its praises. I guess that makes me an ISTE LAUDER. *Ahem*

ISTE was eye-opening. As a game creator, I think there's a real opportunity to use games to take learning to a new level. I took in the fun at the BrainPOP booth (where I met Moby). BrainPOP creates really cool, animated, curriculum-based content for classroom use. They get the power of play.


I met an array of companies with big plans to use tech to teach. Via the web and even mobile technologies, classrooms have access to a literal world of knowledge, and I think it's crucial that we bring that world to classrooms in exciting, energetic ways. The old style of teaching by talking at the front of the classroom for 45 minutes is withering along with kids' attention spans. The digital generation needs to be engaged at a pace and energy level that matches their entertainment choices. Not always, but often. Engage them and you can teach them. Bore them and you lose them.

It's a challenge to be a teacher today and I'm thankful for ISTE and the teachers who attended the conference. Great to see the sharing of ideas.