My first stop at the k12online conference was by one of my favorite media specialists, Dr. Joyce Valenza, in her Getting Started Keynote The Wizard of Apps. Once again she entertains and enlightens us all with a parody of The Wizard of Oz.  Theater students wander down the yellow brick road in the media center in search of apps to help them navigate Web 2.o.  Dr. Valenza covers lots of topics, including the necessity of leaving a good digital footprint, ethics and use of materials, research apps, communication and presentation apps.

Her list is informative and her tips are great.  In the resources, you can find all the wonderful apps mentioned.  She discusses the apps and how they can be used.  I found this session to be very worthwhile and discovered many new apps to check out. (When time permits!)   I also checked out a session by Jennifer Wagner, If you host it, they will come. This session was all about jumping into web based projects to collaborate with others outside of your own classroom.  There were some good suggestions, but I will have to really think about this.  She discusses the fact that you can do an really simple project or a much more involved project but you really need to get the word out about it.  Although I found it to be interesting, at this point I am not ready to jump into such a project.

The conference is a wonderful resource and I have viewed several sessions over the past few years.  I find that it is a good way for me to learn about new technology or just gain a better understanding of something not quite mastered.  I think it is a valuable resource and love that it is archived for anyone to use anytime!(Yes, it is after midnight when I am posting, so truly an advantage!)