Learning 2.0: Brief Reflection and Recap

So, it looks like we pulled off a conference today. I'd estimate we had between 130-150 physical attendees (we had about 170 folks registered, and about 40 didn't pick up nametags, but some other people came and some folks probably just didn't get a nametag), as well as some virtual attendees.

We'll have to wait until everyone fills out the evaluation to get a complete picture of how the day went, but certainly the comments we received - and overheard - were very positive. Overall, things seem to run fairly smoothly, the sessions and conversations seemed to go well, we had enough food for lunch, and our students were amazing (as always) for the student panel discussion. We certainly could've done better on the virtual component - some of the Ustreams didn't work well and it probably would've helped if we'd had some people on site just dedicated to helping with those and managing the various chats. But, as we said all along, we were mainly concerned with pulling off the physical conference and the virtual part was a bonus - so I think we did okay there. Should there be a next time (umm, can we pick somebody else's school?), we'll do better. You can see a couple of CoverItLive Replays on the main page of the wiki, as well as the Ustreams that did work and some partial copy and paste's of chats. There are also quite a few resources on various parts of the wiki, particularly linked from each session page.

I'm really tired, so this post will be brief (for me), but a few thank you's. Thank you to Littleton Public Schools, Arapahoe High School and St. Vrain Valley Public Schools for supporting the conference so that attendees not only didn't have to pay anything, but also got fed. Thanks to all the presenters that gave of their time and expertise. Thanks to the attendees for giving up most of a Saturday to come and help us all learn. Thanks to the five students from Arapahoe and one student from Ben's Cresthill Middle School for sharing your insights with us. Thank you so much to Barbara Barreda and Clarence Fisher who helped us out with a video (produced by Bud Hunt) to start off our day and then participated in a virtual roundtable discussion at the end. And, finally, thanks to Bud Hunt, Ben Wilkoff and Mike Porter for helping take this harebrained idea and making it a reality. 'Twas an honor to work with you.