I am sitting at a wonderful little coffee shop in Austin, located on Lake Austin, enjoying a cup of Salvadorian java, toasted bagle and a little slice of each of my favorite blogs. The view is wonderful and the weather is beyond gorgeous (my wife is in Chicago right now, where it’s -9 degrees on a good day without the wind chill factor… ha!). The wireless is free (none of that corporate-we-charge-for-everything type attitude), my iPod is running with my favorite tunes/podcasts and my phone/messenger are at the ready to converse with those on the network.

You see, I am here for the annual TCEA (Texas Computer Education Association) convention - it has been a full week with robotics, presentations and other TCEA related events - and I needed to get away to a place where I can LEARN.

‘You needed to leave the convention to get to a place to learn?’ That’s right - I admit it… and I’d like to take a few moments to justify my actions. Ready? Here we go:

Let me first outline my points of contention before going into further detail.

• I see behavior from educators at the convention that causes me to question what they are getting out of it
• The big name presenters typically have a standard message that changes only a little from year-to-year
• I have my own personal learning network that has, in the past year and a half, had much greater impact on my knowledge, thinking and professional growth than anything else. Ever.
• The convention is separate from my professional environment and not a place that I can immediately implement my new knowledge to take it for a trial run.
• And finally, would a cost/benefit analysis really show that the money spent is worth the results in the classroom?

Each year, the pattern grows, getting worse in my opinion. My concerns started about four years back and I’ve noticed the trend gaining momentum from year to year. It happens both while I attend sessions and while I have presented/co-presented sessions - people get up and walk out/walk in at various points. While I understand that there will be some sessions that do not meet participants needs, it appalls me that, while I am sitting in a quality presentation about any given topic, people get up and walk out. At this point, we are not talking about one or two people. No, we’re talking about ten to twenty people walking out and in to a session throughout its presentation time. Apart from being flat out rude, I question how much the participants that left took away from that session - and can only come to the conclusion (due to their leaving that session or coming in from another one that they just left) that they did not gain any new knowledge and decided to move on. This seems like a waste of valuable personal time (time where their students are sitting in their classrooms back home with a substitute) and happens on a frequent basis across all of the presentations. A wise colleague once said that, ‘as long as you get one good recipe out of a cookbook, it is worth the buy,’ and I believe the same to be true of any session that is attended at a convention. There is always something new I can learn, if only the perspective of the presenter sharing information. If attendees are wasting their time (either because they did not select the right presentation or just lost interest), why are they there? Does that make TCEA obsolete?

Next, and I’ll be quick on this one, I typically have enjoyed listening to the big name presenters, but am now at the point where I would rather buy the book that they are promoting than sit in their template driven presentation. It sure is fun the first time around, but when you hear it the second time and realize it is the EXACT same thing (and that, no, you really weren’t as special as you felt), you - or I should say ‘I’ - feel a ‘lil stoopid. No offense - they do need to sell their books. Does that make TCEA obsolete?

For me, the biggest influence on my feelings about things like TCEA is the personal learning network that I have developed for myself over the past year-and-a-half. I read blogs that challenge my thinking, I participate in the conversation, respond to people who write (not as much as I should) and do it at my own pace and as my energy allows (in between sets on the wakeboard ;). In addition, I have developed a firm belief that the ONLY time we learn is when we have the opportunity to REFLECT on our experiences. That is what learning is all about, isn’t it? If the only time we have is allocated to isolated bits during the year, then I don’t feel that we are doing our best. What is even more, educational conferences have no reason to stay away from an online environment with the success of the K-12 Online Conference. So, does that make TCEA obsolete?

One of the components of my new(ish) personal learning network that I love so much is that I am in my professional environment where I can get feedback, immediately try new things and see if they do or do not work (are or are not effective). I can not help but question how many of the large number of TCEA attendees go back and make real changes in their classroom. I know there are isolated cases, but are new ideas really put into practice? If they are, it has to wait a week, and real-life sets in by the next Thursday when Marcus is somehow back on that last nerve of yours that you thought had just calmed down after a relaxing week on 6th street. And if the implementation of those ideas survives Marcus, then does that teacher wait until next year to get feedback or new ways of integrating technology in the classroom? How ’bout that one - does it make TCEA obsolete?

Finally, what would happen if we could do a full blown cost/benefit analysis on TCEA? I have no clue how much money is spent, how many hours that could have gone to teaching kids or service projects at schools or how many physical resources that could have been allocated to a classroom in Longview, TX. I have a very difficult time imagining that the money spent on my hotel wouldn’t be better used by putting it in a fund to benefit kids (and not the kind of fund that supports TAKS in any way!!). So, does that make TCEA obsolete?

Oh, did I forget to mention how much I can’t stand 98.6% of vendors? There’s also that…

It is time to take responsibility for our own learning, and do it on a daily basis. We need to put that learning into action each and every day and we need to challenge those who do the same thing day-after-day; even after they get back from a week in Austin. But, you’re a blog reader, though, so you already know that. I propose that we still utilize time away, kind of like a sabbatical for a short period of time, to reflect in groups and dialog within our own learning networks. After all, I am still sitting in this wonderful little coffee shop after assimilating a whole new chunk of knowledge while I reflected on this single, little thought. With my new proposal verbalized, it is now time for the big question…
If people aren’t getting out of it what they could, the message from the big name presenters can be found in their books, we have our own personal learning network that blows away the current system of continuing education, our reflection is separated from our real-world experience and a cost/benefit analysis didn’t put us out on top - does that make TCEA obsolete?

As long as we’re willing to ask the question, then we’re in the correct lane - the one that ends up the road…