MICCA 2007 Recap

Well the 2007 MICCA conference has come and gone. This year I presented a session with Kerri Cole on how to create a vodcast and emphasized a software title called "VlogIt" from Adobe. I really enjoy presenting at MICCA and other conferences because it gives me the chance to share my love of technology with teachers. It is always my goal to give the attendees something tangible with which to leave my session. This year I feel that I had greater success than years past.


This year's topic was vodcasting. It is a topic that I am very passionate about because of the wide range of applications. As an instructional leader I would encourage teachers and administrators to take advantage of this simple to create tool. Here is just a short list of ways instructional leaders can use the vodcast in the school setting.

• New Teacher Orientation
• Professional Development Sessions
• Regular Parent Messages
• Mission/Vision Statements
• School Announcements

There are also an endless number of ways teachers can use a vodcast for instruction.

• Demonstratrion of steps in a task - i.e. Science Lab Set up, Filling out a graphic organizer
• Direct Instruction - i.e. Solving Quadratic Equations, How to locate map coordinates
• Tutorial - i.e. Screencasts of how to use Inspiration, Word, etc.

The screencast of the presentation gives many more examples but you can get the idea that video is a powerful tool.

The presentation was well received by the attendees. Several came up to ask questions afterward and even stopped us in the Inner Harbor to comment and thank Kerri and I for the information. That always makes me feel that I made a connection with the audience. In fact, we have already been asked to present the information at the Renzulli meetings at FCPS and the MS State G&T conference in October. I wonder if this could lead to the something more? It is my goal to be able to spread the word of technology to others at conferences around the country. Maybe this is the start of that dream.

As for the conference itself, I felt that it lacked something this year. The first two hours each day were dedicated to the keynote address and various awards. These are all important events at a conference. However, in the past, they were held after one or two sessions were presented. This meant that I was only able to attend two sessions each day. Fortunately, I was able to go to Will Richardson's sessions which really got me excited. That's the power of a conference, you learn from other experts and peers in your field. They have different perspectives and experiences they share and I love learning from others and applying their techniques to what I do.