CUE Up

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If you have never attended a CUE conference you are missing out. Some of the most brilliant minds in educational technology come together in Palm Springs annually during the Spring. However, as one could imagine that did not happen this year or last year. But what did happen is CUE with all of its resources and personnel have been able to bring you these same minds virtually.

If you are unfamiliar with CUE, it is Computer Users in Education. The organization has been around for decades serving and promoting educators and who are technology users. Some of the biggest names in educational technology have been presenting at Spring 21 CUE. AJ Juliani, Jennifer Gonzalez of the Cult of Pedagogy, and Rushton Hurley were keynote presenters. Fortunately because I am serving as volunteer moderator I was able to attend Rushton Hurley's presentation about post-COVID schools and a session with AJ Juliani.

The ideas from these speakers and various other presenters are readily adaptable to for next day classroom use. What is equally useful is the number of audience members who share their ideas as the sessions take place. Yes, it sad we cannot congregate in Palm Spring during this time, but in true educators spirit the teachers come together to share what is working for them, what challenges they face and what the future holds for education.

One of my favorites, Matt Miller, who authors the website Ditch That Textbook and is a wondermind of educational strategies also presented. Always entertaining and inspiring to bring the audience actively into his session despite it being remote, Miller took a basic idea used by many teens and younger of unboxing. These videos show someone literally unboxing an item explaining step by step what is in the box, the item's quality and comparison to other items, why they purchased it etc. As this Miller presented, the teachers in the audience began sharing how they might incorporate the idea into their classrooms. What an experience!

Inspired myself from the flurry of ideas I immediately brainstormed how I could incorporate some of these ideas into my classes. More on this later. The bringing of minds together in a educational setting where the common good is about how can I improve as a teacher or as a trainer has lasting results. Until the next time, check out some of the resources from the aforementioned presenters.