Let me tell you...well, to me anyway, it's awe-inspiring. I was lucky enough to be able to see Alan at ISTE 2014. Then as an incredible perk to my current job, we brought him in to speak to faculty and staff one day and then to the high school teachers the next day. I spent 2 full days with him.
Let me share some take aways.
1) While he represents "ed-tech", you almost forget that he's ed-tech. He speaks to such a global shift in education and learning. It's not a tool, it's a thought process. Design assignments, create learning environments in a digital world - not a paper world. *mind blown*
2) Almost everything is beneficial to someone that is not in the world of education. The "site:" command for Google search for example. The majority of people are googling just with some random words and retrieving thousands and hundreds of thousands of results. With a few commands, you could have much more precise and much fewer results.
3) Talk to him 1:1 if you can. When you talk to him, he asks questions, he wants to know about you and your experiences. He is enthusiastic and appreciative of what you share. When you talk to Alan, you feel like he really wants to know about you and what you are doing in education.
4) Despite being overwhelmed, you leave feeling like you can see his vision. You have no idea how you will possibly achieve said vision, but you know it's possible. Even if it's only with one tiny first step.
Thanks Alan. I'm again, renewed, inspired, and refreshed.
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