What is ISTE?

My name is Beth Still and I am so happy that Richard invited me to be a guest blogger while he is enjoying his vacation. I "met" Richard on Twitter about a year and a half ago. He was kind enough to be my test subject in a crazy experiment I had last year to use my PLN (personal learning network) to send a "newbie" to ISTE which is a national educational technology conference. The response was so overwhelmingly positive that I decided to do it again this year. This year, Jason Schrage, a teacher from New York is the ISTE10 Newbie.

The International Society for Technology in Education is the premier membership organization for helping promote professional development, innovation, and advancing the effective use of technology. More than 100,000 educators from around the globe are members. Membership ranges anywhere from $39-$212 depending on the benefits. Some of the benefits of membership include:

• “Leading and Learning with Technology” magazine
• Membership in any or all of the special interest groups (SIGS)
• 30% discount on ISTE books
• Discounted rates for professional development webinars and annual conference
• Social Networking opportunities

The ISTE website has links to more information about advocacy, educator resources, careers, publications, professional development, and national technology standards. Some of this information is available to the general public while other areas are reserved for members only. There are also seventy-six ISTE affiliates from five countries.

As summer draws near you will start hearing people talk about the ISTE conference (formerly NECC-National Educational Computing Conference) which will be in Denver during the last week of June. During this conference thousands of educators converge on the host city to discuss anything and everything related to educational technology. (Click here to learn more about NECC 2009. ) This is a fantastic opportunity to learn, share, and meet some amazing people.

If you are planning on attending ISTE you might want to consider attending Edubloggercon on June 26. It is an all day event in which people discuss various educational issues. I missed Edubloggercon 2008 in San Antonio because I did not know about it, but I was able to attend last year in Washington DC. It is definitely worth spending an extra couple of nights away from home.