iOS Summit

Last week I attended the first EdTech Team's iOS Summit in Lafayette. I had wanted to go to this summit since first learning about it last October. My site didn't have the funds to send me and I certainly didn't want to pay for it out of pocket if I could help it (I am a teacher, living on a teacher's salary after all) so I shamelessly begged by district's Superintendent on Twitter to send me. After several tweets over the course of several months she emailed me and asked how much it would cost and then actually arranged for a team of teacher from our district to go. (See social media does payoff & begging works.)

If you have been reading my blog then you know that I went 1:1 with iPads in March of 2014 so I'm still relatively new to tech conferences but I jumped in feet first and have learned so much from each conference I have attended so far.

In February I presented for the first time (ever) at a non district event, that I had to apply to be accepted for, and that was in front of other adults. Additionally, I would be presenting alone. It was nerve wracking but I survived and I decided to take the presentation, do some tweaks and present again in the future. So I was pleasantly surprised when I was accepted to present at the iOS Summit! I survived!

What I have learned is that I need to really watch and be conscious of how fast I talk. (If you have met me then you know I talk fast when nervous or excited - so you can just imagine how I was when presenting the first time!) All in all I think I did a decent job of controlling my speed but I know I still need to work on that. I presented on how to successfully use Google Apps in an Apple World. It was an intermediate presentation and though there were some tech issues with the room's audio system I think I did well. I mean I didn't pass out or die from nerves so it is all good. What I learned however, is that I need to either have two presentations ready to go based on the ability and comfort level of those in attendance or I need to submit two separate sessions next time. But what the biggest take away from this was that there will be a next time. I am rather enjoying sharing ideas at these conferences.

One of the great things about this iOS Summit is that it was all focused (naturally) on using iPads in the classroom whereas other tech summits may either focus more on Chrome features that are primarily web based or they offer a mix of both with the iPad options being far less available. Still, this hasn't kept me away from the conferences or from figuring out a way to use the ideas presented on an iPad.

The final session on day 2 of the iOS Summit was a Make and Take session. The best part of this was getting to meet fellow techie teachers, in particular I got meet Chrissie C. (@TeacherCatt), I follow her on Twitter (you should too); not only that but she follows me and reads this blog! (Such a small world!)

Finally, each tech conference that I have attended they give away prizes at the end - things that are covenanted. At this conference, I got lucky and I won an Apple TV!

Now I have the tech conference bug and will be attending many more in the future, some I hope, as a presenter, but many more as an attendee.
Some of the upcoming conferences that I plan on attending are:

Fall CUE in Napa
Solano County GAFE Summit (Google Summit) in American Canyon
ISTE 2016 in Denver

Have you/do you present at conferences? If not, do you want to? What is stopping you? And what upcoming conferences do you plan on attending?