Wk4 BP Entry 4 - EDM613 MAC - ETC!, Publishing/Leadership, and Thank You's...

For my final free choice blog post of Media Asset Creation (MAC), I have decided to write about the Education Technology Conference (ETC!), put on by the California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP) that I attended in Modesto, CA this past weekend. Every year I attend this conference and I seem to be inspired to try new things in my classroom that have to do with technology integration. In fact, it will always be a special conference to me because this is where I connected with the presenter, Paul Devoto, who was the one that introduced me to the EMDT program at Full Sail University. Paul has not only been a very inspiring educator, but he was also one of my critical friends for my Action Research Project.

Aside from the great sessions I attended on free Web 2.0 resources, CyberSafety education, Prezi, and iPad ideas for the classroom, I was able to get into contact with two people that were able to give me some great advice and connections for publishing my research project. Burt Lo and Brian Bridges were able to give me some great advice on how to get my research published into OnCue, one of the journals I am aiming at for possible publication. Not only were they both very helpful in getting me connected with who to contact, but both, specifically Burt Lo, was very excited in what I found with my research and was going to possibly contact someone at ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education) to look at my project for possible publication. I was super excited about this and was extremely grateful to Burt and Brian for offering their time into getting my project published. Not only did I get more information on my Publishing/Leadership project, but I was also led down a path that I was not expecting with the possibility of ISTE picking up my project. Talk about the art of possibility!

At any rate, by attending ETC! this year, I was able to get my Leadership/Publishing Project rolling by connecting with people who could assist me in this part of my Full Sail journey. So I would like to take this time to thank Paul Devoto, Burt Lo, Brian Bridges, and all the people that have been influential in not only my ARP, but through the whole EMDT program. All of my colleagues, mentors, and course directors have been very inspiring through all the courses, projects, team projects, peer-critiques, blog comments, and everything else that came along with the FSO experience. I have enjoyed collaborating with all of our classmates, but specifically Bryan Antos, Pamela Hickman, Brooke McKaig, and Orlando McLin,


whom I worked together with from month 1. We have had quite the journey together and I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you!

Wk3 BP Entry 4 - EDM613 MAC - The Impossible is Always Possible

So for my free post of the week, I wanted to share and explore an amazing artist that I recently discovered. His name is Diego Stocco and he is one of the most creative musicians I have ever heard. His whole gig is to create music in the most innovative ways possible. He has composed music from a burning piano to creating a song out of a tree. Talk about someone that understands the idea behind "The Art of Possibility!" Whenever I watch one of Stocco's videos, I am always reminded that the impossible is always possible. As an educator, I need to be reminded of that from now and then, working in a field that is overwhelmed with budget cuts, increasing class sizes, district mandates, and cookie cutter curriculum.

Here are a few links for those of you curious to check out his work. If you haven't heard of Diego Stocco, prepare to be blown away.

Click on this to go to Diego Stocco's Web site.

A video of Diego Stocco creating music from a tree. (My personal favorite!)

Wk2 BP Entry 4 - EDM613 MAC - AR Site and the Future

Well, well, well. It looks as if I have put the finishing touches on my Action Research web site. As I proofread it for the 1000th time, I still find things that I could have done better, and yet I feel that on the whole, I have accomplished much through this journey of research. I know that what I have tried had a valid purpose behind it, and my objectives attempted to carry this purpose out to its fullest potential. I found a plethora of positives in my research in using the age-appropriate social network of Edmodo to carry out my AR project. And as social networking is the hot topic of the now, I cannot help but think what it will look like in 5, 10, or even 20 years from now. What sort of Web 5.0 tools will we have at our fingertips? Or will we even be using our fingertips to post a comment or share a resource then? I bring this point up because even though I feel I have made a solid contribution in developing a research project revolving around a technological trend today, what will I attempt to use in the future to motivate and promote engagement in my classroom? With all of the ups and downs in the field of education today, the future is something I need to keep one eye on and hope that it holds a refreshed spirit of the latest technology to assist the 21st century learner.