PASCD Reflection

Even though it meant another day out of the school, this makes 3 out of the last 6, I eagerly attended the annual PASCD conference held in Hershey, PA. My main goal of the conference was to attend two of Will Richardson's presentations.

As a newly appointed teacher/technology coach I have found many of Will's publications helpful as I try to wrap my mind around the world of web 2.0. Interestingly I had one of those "aha" moments as I navigated my way home through our early season snow squall. I was anticipating the sessions with Will to be stimulating, and they were, but I quickly realized that most of what was being discussed I had already pondered while following Will's blog.

So my question is this, "In the world of web 2.0, are traditional conferences really pertinant?" I truely had the same level of engagement by following and commenting on Will's blog as I did by hearing the man speak "in living color." Actually, I would argue that my engagement level is higher, and certainly reaches farther, when I engage via the "blogosphere" than in a traditional conference setting. This is by no means a dig on Will's public speaking abilities, I actually found him to be quite engaging, but for the "converted" a 2 hour trip to a confernce just doesn't seem "flat enough."

Thank you goes out to Will for presenting me with this nugget of truth to consider.