Thanks to Lucy and Steve for another excellent conference.  The GEC is a great, free resource and I encourage teachers/instructors from high school through grad school to consider utilizing the conference in their courses.  The GEC is such a great resource, and I am grateful for the access to this wealth of knowledge. 

I just wanted to share with everyone how I utilized the 2013 GEC with my graduate students.   These are people in our Master's of Ed program with undergrad degrees in a variety of areas.  They range in age from 22-58 years.

I and two students presented a session for the 2012 GEC.  I schedule the presentation during a class meeting.  Students in the course logged into the GEC and attended our session live from our classroom.  The goal was to introduce them to the GEC, Blackboard Collaborate, and have them join in the session via the chat feature.  It was an amazing experience for the class to see the presentation live and know that it was simultaneously broadcasting to attendees worldwide!  As a result of this event, students, on their own time and effort, attended additional sessions of the GEC.  And now, some are logging in to watch the recorded sessions.  They send a huge thank you to the GEC for "treasure trove" of information they have accessed.

I can't say enough good things about utilizing this conference and the recorded sessions as a resource in courses.  This is the second course in which I have used the GEC, and now I can't imagine not using it in my classes.  Where else can my students access current information in education from experts worldwide?

All the best,

Ann Gaudino, Ed.D.