Getting ready for my first FETC

In just over 48 hours, I'll be leaving frigid Tallahassee for the somewhat less frigid Orlando. Since missing it last year, I have been looking forward to my first FETC. Funny thing is I not sure what I'm really looking forward to. Looking over the list of concurrent sessions is enough to give anyone a headache. Picking up freebies and checking out the latest tech gadgets in the exhibit hall should be interesting. But I think what I'm looking forward to most is meeting and making personal connections with people that I know only through words on their blogs. People that I've communicated with just 140 characters at a time.

The road to FETC 2010 has been bittersweet. Last year, when I decided that I would not miss this year's conference, I submitted a presentation proposal. I was excited when that proposal was accepted, and surprised when I found out that I had been given a 3-hour ticketed workshop. There's something about people paying an extra $100 to listen to what I have to say that added to the pressure of the whole thing. The bitter part came when I found out just a couple of weeks ago that the ticketed workshops were not attracting as many people as expected, and that mine was one of several that was being scrapped.

After a few days of being bummed over getting the ax, I decided that the role of attendee instead of presenter may be better for my first go around. So tomorrow I'll start packing for an early morning trip to Orlando on Wednesday. And when I get back on Saturday, I'll start putting together my presentation proposals for next year.

See you in Orlando.

Did You Know? - Updated

If you been to any of my presentations, you know that I often include the Karl Fisch classic "Did you know?" Well here's a nice updated version.

K-8 Virtual School Comes to Florida - Are we ready?

If you would have asked me a year ago how I felt about the idea of a virtual school for k-12, I would have been excited about the idea. That's when it would have seemed impossible. Now that it is becoming a reality statewide in Florida, I'm so sure how I feel anymore.

The Orlando Sentinel reports:

A new law that takes effect next fall requires every district in the state to set up an online school for kindergarten through eighth-grade students. They won't have to get on the bus -- or even get out of their PJs -- to head to school at the family computer.

I can definitely see the potential here for those already involved in homeschooling. But do we really want a significant number of our kindergarten and early elementary students missing out on what the classroom has to offer? Will their parents take advantage of other avenues for social interaction? I am a bit uneasy about this. The techno-evangelist side of me wants to be excited.

I'd really like to know what you think.