Midwest Google Summit 2011

For the past two days I attended the Midwest Google Summit.  Because of it, tonight I'm reviving my blogger account and I've truly been inspired to start blogging again about my journey through K-12 IT and all the fun that goes along with it.

The two day event focused solely on Google Apps for Education.  More specifically how to deploy and integrate Google Apps into the classroom to promote student learning and achievement.

I learned so many different things but I thought I would summarize my top three for you here, and then show you to get access to many of the presentations that took place.

1. Google Apps for Education is probably one of the most simple implementations from the technical side you will ever encounter.  Change the MX record for your mail, create a few cname DNS entries, upload your logo, create some users and you can literally be up and running.  I look forward to setting this up with my team. We we finally be able to focus on activities that add value instead of worrying about the uptime of our in-house email system.
2. The collaboration tools included in Google Apps for Education (GAFE) make Google and K-12 a perfect match.  No where else do I know where students and teachers can work together in real time on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, so seamlessly and effortlessly.  It just works and it's amazing to see a student be able to get real time feedback from their peers and/or their teacher.
3. Students today are already digital citizens, it's time to turn them into digital learners.  Without allowing them access to the technology within the school that they already have at home, they are at a disadvantage.  A 10 year old student today has essentially grown up on the web, living a life that was never without text messages, online chat, online video and of course the web.   By adopting these tools within the classroom we can begin to transform their education into one of creation, not just consumption.

There are so many more takeaways from the Summit, but these were three that stuck out in my head.  If you weren't fortunate enough to be there, you can check out most of the presentations from the MWGS website on the Conference Sessions page.