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Many thanks to Sue Loubser, Director of Technology at Greenfield Hebrew Academy, Atlanta, for sharing this article written shortly after the event about the impact of bringing 24 school members to the NECC 2007 conference:

This past year, NECC (the National Educational Computing Conference) was held in Atlanta and thousands of teachers from all around the world attended. So, why am I sharing? Well, we did something pretty usual and quite remarkable. We sent 24 teachers /directors to the conference. What an investment! The energy that was created is phenomenal. The teachers were all inspired, and are full of ideas for next year. I have also had a slew of requests for all kinds of things.

In the best sense of the word we created some technology “monsters.” Everyone who attended has seen one (more often than that five or six) new things which they wish to implement. I have already had 4 emails [after the conference] from teachers thanking me (the school, in truth) for sending them to the conference, exposing them to what is out there, and encouraging them to keep pushing the envelope.

I am expecting an explosion of technology this school year. In addition to the 9 new Smartboards, we will probably start blogs, wikis and podcasts. Do not be afraid! These are not new diseases! They are tools we will use to let our students take charge of their learning. I think we are about to make another leap forward. I am so proud of the teachers who spent 3 days of their vacation in class. I am proud we have teachers who are learners, and who understand that to allow our students to “own” the learning, they have to change how things are done.

So, thanks [to the board] for allowing us to send the teachers. It will pay dividends. I asked the teachers to meet for a debriefing session. During pre-planning days, I asked each teacher who attended the conference to share 2 or 3 things they gained from the conference with the rest of the school. Next time we get an opportunity like this, we have to do it again. It was phenomenal.

As an addendum, if you go to www.ghaonline.org you can see some of the blogs and wikis we have started, as well as some Judaic webquests. See also the Greenfield Hebrew Academy’s website for more information about the school.

And speaking of colleagues and communities of practice, Reuven Werber shared with me in a Skype conversation his experience participating in an online collaboration with other educators. Educator, Vicki Davis (aka Coolcat Teacher), used twitter to reach her colleagues and invited them to experiment with Google presentations – at least 40 educators from around the world responded. They were able to both present and chat online for free, using Google Presentations. The presentation they designed, btw, was on how to create Google Presentations. Read Vicki’s first hand account.

More and more of these types of stories are emerging in the education and not-for-profit blogosphere. Do you have a story to share?