2009 T+L Conference: Tech Tips, Budget Breaks, and Mind-Bending Toys
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Lauren Barack -- School Library Journal, 10/13/2009
Media specialists and other members of the K–12 community are gearing up for the T+L Conference, set for Oct 28–30 in Denver. Sponsored by the National School Boards Association’s (NSBA) Technology Leadership Team, the event has inspired some buzz, with attendees on blogs and Twitter chatting about everything from speaker Stanley Young, CEO of NeuroSky, whose breakthrough technology can be found in one of this year’s hottest Christmas toys, to the Kent School District in Washington, which will share its experience with one-to-one computing at T+L.
With workshops, sessions, speakers, and even a few field trips to local public schools focused on 21st-century technology, attendees may have a hard time choosing. But with technology budgets strained in most K–12 schools, school librarians looking to stretch their tech budgets might pop into Roseville Joint Union High School District’s workshops, which will demonstrate how a student-led IT team can turn a limited budget into a soaring tech-savvy school.
Other solid options for media specialists include a fun luncheon session on the 29th with NeuroSky’s Young, who will illustrate how brain waves really can control a computer or game console. In another, NSBA’s own senior staff attorney Tom Hutton will discuss the growing legal concerns in the ed tech world—which any educator who has dealt with students and their mobile devices in a classroom well knows is an issue.
While pre-registration is now closed, those interested in attending this year’s event can sign up on site at the Colorado Convention Center, and maybe then head over for some pre-conference chatter at the Vesta Dipping Grill. According to T+L twitterers, this fondue spot might end up as the place to be.
