Post-ISTE17 Wrap-up

ISTE17 was bigger and better than I could have imagined. I heard the total number of people was around 30,000! I managed to walk the entire Expo floor and walked through most other parts of the convention hall(s). I did not manage to get to a singe session or keynote however. I traveled with my wife Becky (@RebeccaBeiter) and we were sponsored by Legends of Learning as ambassadors. They are passionate about using games to teach and they are trying to do right by teachers and students. This was our first time to an ISTE Conference and we were not disappointed.

ISTE17 Expo Hall

Highlights

Meeting People in RL

I made it a point to meet up with Michael Matera (@mrmatera). Michael and a bunch of #XPLAP folks were meeting up and playing games. Played a riveting round of 2 Rooms and a Boom. My wife who loves a good game as well joined in. Had a great time and met some great people. Wish we could have stayed longer playing games but there was so much to do.

Gamers Gaming

On the last day I finally connected with and Dianalyn Perkins (@PerkyScience). She is the first #scitlap connection I've met in real life. We talked for a good 10 minutes about gamification and we could have talked longer. This showed me what a limited medium a Twitter chat can be! Having a real conversation was so productive and enjoyable even as short as it was.

Me and Dianalyn

I also met with Michele Haiken (@TeachingFactor), author of Gamify Literacy. She spoke at the Rally for Educators put on by Legends of Learning. I am now convinced to at least give Classcraft a try after speaking with her. Gamification is a big undertaking of mine and Michael, Dianalyn, and Michele should prove great sources of information and inspiration.

Hanging out and meeting old friends and making new ones is a key to enjoying ISTE. I went to several events including the Educator Rally sponsored by Legends of Learning, Quizlet Happy Hour, and ETK17 (Edtech Karaoke, yes it's a thing). The first two in particular were great ways to sit down and talk shop with other educators. Since my trip (and my wife's) was made possible by Legends of Learning they were our go-to group to hang with. Good people trying to do great things for students. Same can be said for all of the people we met with.

I loved running into Karl (@AZkochsner) who I had met at Honeywell Green Bootcamp many years ago. We talked a great deal at the Quizlet Happy Hour and he told me about Physics Quest and a STEM Notre Dame Fellowship.

Great talk were also had with knives chau (@iwearthecrowns) and Steven Isaacs (@mr_isaacs) at breakfast. Also discussed GBL with Steven at a round table sponsored by Legends of Learning.
Also met up with Emily Merritt (@EmilyMerritt) at the Swivl/recap Booth. One of the things I love about talking to teachers from around the world is that the problems we face are similar and yet we often work in such diverse schools.

The Expo Floor

Yes, I walked the entire Expo. I ended up with a pile of stickers, a weeks worth of t-shirts, and about 8 bags. I particularly enjoyed seeing what game companies were represented. There were many more 3D printer companies than I expected. I made sure I visited Quizlet, Kahoot!, Flipgrid (I wanted to know what it was all about), Vernier, SphereO, and BrainPop. Walking through the entire Expo Hall took most of three days. I also visited a few posters and playgrounds. Though I don't regret spending lots of time in the Expo Hall; next time I will branch out sooner. My wife and I didn't go out of the main Expo Hall area until the last day of the conference.

Final Thoughts

Becky and I definitely want to attend ISTE18 in Chicago now. We enjoyed the networking and brainstorming of innovative ideas that the ISTE convention provides. I still can hardly believe I got to go and the cherish the memories and connections I made. Becky and I also stayed an additional few days to enjoy San Antonio itself. We had a great time eating and visiting the riverwalk. We even did a Ghost Tour on our final night. I definitely suggest other attendees for these conferences to make time to visit the hosting cities outside of conference time if possible.