Give Me Web 2.0 and Keep the T-Shirt

I love going to conferences. Regardless of the topic or location, a conference is a great place to network and meet new people plus get a preview of all the latest greatest ways to do something. It's not uncommon at a conference to hear experts in a given field. Most of the conferences I go to, however, the experts are sponsored by one of the vendors at the conference.

You know the routine: you go to a splashy presentation where expert X talks about the newest, greatest toys hitting the market. The presenter is polished, the technology always works, and you can hear the audible Oohs and Ahhs as the audience soaks it in.

After the presentation (by the expert), a representative from the vendor comes up to do the closer. He/she gives some basic information about the product or service that was just demonstrated and lets the audience know they would love to meet you at their product booth.

As you leave the auditorium, you have a strong sense you are at a soccer game just after Manchester defeats Liverpool, and the crowd pushes and rushes towards the playing field. As you round the corner you see it: a beautiful display booth with 50-inch video monitors showing the product/service, free T-Shirts and water bottles with the company logos on them, and lots of sales reps dressed in matching company shirts.

Now the bad news: you find out that this incredible product/service that will revolutionize the way you teach or do your job is yours for $1,499. Of course, they are running a conference discount that lasts only for the next 15 minutes that drops the price to $1,250.

You're right. I say the same thing: forget it.

This is what I love about graduate school at UNI. Everyday this week I have left my class on Emerging Instructional Technologies with a slew of new tools and ideas to use, and the price: free. (Of course, I'm paying tuition, but ...)

Vinnie Vrotny and VoiceThread

Take today for example. Our guest expert was Vinnie Vtrotny, director of Academic Technology at the North Shore County Day School in Winnetka, IL. As in days past our guest was skyped in from his office north of Chicago. Vtrotny introduced our cohort to VoiceThreads, a most amazing Web 2.0 tool that allows groups to have conversations around pictures and videos. Like many/most Web 2.0 tools, VoiceThreads is simple to use, offers many different ways to collaborate, and best of all...is free to use.

To demonstrate the power of VoiceThreads, Vrotny introduced us to "13 Days That Changed America," an AP US History Final Project. Created by Vrotny and Kevin Randolph, History Department Chair at North Shore County Day School, "13 Days" required the students to use research, analytical, reporting and presentation skills.

In addition to VoiceThreads, the project also required students to utilize Gabcast, another Web 2.0 tool that allows users to create podcasts and audioblogs using any telephone, including a mobile phone.

As an avid student of history, I couldn't wait to see the dates the students chose:

• Signing of the Constitution- September 17, 1787
• Louisiana Purchase- May 2, 1803
• Lincoln's Election- November 6, 1860
• Golden Spike driven in at Prominitory Pt., Utah- May 10, 1869
• Census of 1890- June 1, 1890
• Model T introduced- September 27, 1908
• Women's Suffrage (19th amendment)- August 18, 1920
• Pearl Harbor attacked- December 7, 1941
• GI Bill passed- June 22, 1944
• Bombing of Hiroshima- August 6, 1945
• Jackie Robinson breaks the color barrier (Dodgers)- April 15, 1947
• Brown v. Board of Education- May 17, 1954
• War Powers Act passed- November 7, 1973

To learn more about "13 Days That Changed America," you can visit the project wiki and, of course, view the final project on voicethread.com.

[Note: I tried embedding the final project video into this entry, but VoiceThread and WordPress don't play well together at this time.]