ISTE 2019

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The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) held its annually conference in Philadelphia, from 23 – 26 June and once again, it was a jam-packed conference filled with everything edtech. I was able to attend again this year and being an affiliate member, my ISTE experience started on Saturday, 22 June, with the Affiliates Summit and Reception.

The Affiliates Summit was a great opportunity for ISTE Affiliates to meet face-to-face for important discussions and valuable collaboration. Conversations can also continue after the conference through ISTE Connect Communities.

The Affiliates Reception was a great end to a busy day at the Summit. It was filled with fun moments connecting in a relaxed atmosphere, over good food and refreshments. There was also a fun quiz which was based on finding people who fitted certain criteria. Being the one who took the most planes to get to ISTE19, my signature was in high demand and I enjoyed talking to nearly everyone at the reception.

The four days that followed were filled with the keynotes, variety of sessions, workshops, panels and plenty of networking opportunities. It was quite overwhelming at times so finding quiet spots with a coffee was a must for me. I will be sharing some of my take aways from ISTE19 over the next few weeks so stay tuned.

In the meantime, here is a snippet of the ISTE19 experience from the ISTE Youtube Channel.

Project Based Learning with Suzie Boss on #satchatOZ

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On Saturdays, I co-moderate #satchatOZ with Andrea Stringer and for one hour, we are immersed in the topic at hand. Today, the topic was Project Based Learning (PBL) and our very generous guest host was Suzie Boss, an expert in the field of PBL. The following Storify captures the insights of the chat participants, and the many comments from the busy chat! Be sure to check out and save the great resources shared by Suzie and others.

#ITeach

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My response, in 200 words or less, when asked why I teach…

I teach … because I care. I care about our children and their future as citizens of the world.
I want to make a difference in their lives, to connect, guide and empower them to reach for the stars. I love their enthusiasm and sense of wonder and I want to nurture their passions and help them to discover their skills and strengths.
I work in a diverse school setting and it’s not always easy. There are days when it’s hard to connect with some students. But I have found that where there is compassion, trust and a good relationship, obstacles can be overcome together.
My biggest challenge is trying to fit everything in. As much as I love teaching my students, I also love learning and sharing with others. I volunteer in the community through our state IT association and this enables me to interact with teachers around the world.
I’ve been teaching for a long time, but I’m still passionate and feel that there’s more for me to do.
So I teach, to keep making a difference.
– Tina Photakis, South Australia

Check out more teachers sharing about why they teach:
https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/iteach

Moderating #SatChatOC with Summer Howarth

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Today I moderated a chat on Twitter and it was an unforgettable experience. If you haven’t been part of a Twitter chat, you should try it at least once. It can be frenetic but also inspiring, and at times quite thought provoking. There’s a whole list of Twitter chats that can easily be found. Jeannette James (@7Mrsjames on Twitter) has a couple of great lists of Australian based Twitter chats that you can check out.

Our resident Aussie #satchatoc moderator, Andrea Stringer (@stringer_andrea on Twitter) was on her way to the USA for an exciting time of connecting, learning and sharing, so I was fortunate to co-moderate with todays’ guest, Summer, who led us in an exciting and valuable discussion on the topic of Entrepreneurial Educator.

Have a look at the chat through Storify :