ETC! 2012

So I am finally getting around to reflecting on my presentation at this year's ETC! 2012 conference. This was my very first presentation, so I was really excited on sharing the knowledge and power of Edmodo, a social networking site for education. I wanted to not only convey the many uses of Edmodo, but at the same time get the message across that this was not something that had a huge learning curve to master. In fact, most of the people that attended my session were already familiar with Edmodo and had some experience integrating it into their classroom. So that was a plus because you never really know your audience until you get into it and see what people are there for. I was able to skip through most of the beginning stages in how to create a teacher account, setup groups, and invite parents. This allowed me to spend more time in highlighting the many uses of Edmodo and how it can increase motivation and engagement in and out of the classroom with your students and parents! Which is the whole reason I use Edmodo practically everyday with my own class.

One of the huge eye-openers for me as a first time presenter was how many questions there were throughout my presentation. I mean, I anticipated and planned time for questions from the audience, but I guess I didn't realize how many there would be and how much conversation it created away from my preso. Don't get me wrong, all of the questions were really thought-provoking and helpful for people to grasp the use of Edmodo, but I was a bit naive when it came to the time aspect of it all. At any rate, the questioning is something I need to plan for a little more the next time I design a presentation.

All in all, I was very happy with how I presented. I feel I represented Edmodo in a positive way and I felt that I offered my audience the information needed to start up their Edmodo groups and/or continue using Edmodo in their classrooms in new and powerful ways. Oh yeah! I also gave away some fantastic Edmodo t-shirts as door prizes via my Lotto app! That was a huge hit to leave my audience with as well! A definite plus and a huge thanks to Betsy Whalen from Edmodo in donating those for my presentation. Until next time, I will keep on Edmodo-ing along with helping others jump onto the Edmodo bandwagon.