NECC 2008 > Program > Categories

Program Categories


Session—one hour long unless otherwise specified; meeting room has a formal presentation station and a seated audience. There are 13 one-hour session time slots during the three-day conference with multiple sessions occurring concurrently.

• Lecture—one or more presenters, each of whom address the audience independently. Content should be of high interest and widely applicable to the broader NECC audience. Content should educate, inspire, challenge, and/or provide specific implementation ideas. The focus should be on evaluation and synthesis rather than the history/details of a specific project or initiative.
• Panel—main presenter serves as moderator for his/her co-presenter panelists. Content should lend itself to a variety of perspectives with the moderator focused on creating a cohesive presentation.
• Model Lesson (in a Model Classroom)—requires two presenters. First teaches an actual lesson to 20 attendees playing role of students. Second acts as emcee, simultaneously explaining the lesson and the classroom management / instructional strategies being implemented to the remainder of attendees observing. Content should demonstrate taking advantage of technology and the latest learning theories such as project-based learning and differentiated instruction.
• BYOL (Bring Your Own Laptop)—hands-on exploration of software or resources via participants' own laptops. Plan for an interactive, hands-on environment similar to workshops and a reasonable amount of content to cover in the one-hour time frame. (Note: Not suitable for sessions requiring specialized software that isn't widely available or can't be downloaded from the Internet.)
• Open Source Lab—teach, show, or demonstrate open source software in an environment of thin client, Linux-based machines for individual exploration and practice.
• IVC Showcase—30-minute presentations by interactive videoconferencing (IVC) leaders and innovators showcasing their programming content and classroom initiatives via videoconferencing from their home locations.

Poster—two hours long; takes place in an open, public environment. Presenter(s) interact informally with attendees who visit their station: a six-foot table with monitor, electricity, Internet connectivity, and a bulletin-board backdrop or electronic whiteboard. Presenters bring their own laptops, other peripherals, and props in the form of posters, signs, photos, student work, and so on. Forty poster presentations take place simultaneously in one area at the same time.

• Traditional—content should focus on the implementation of a lesson, curriculum, technology, model, or project, or demonstrate a good electronic resource/tool or practice in teacher education or for securing or maintaining the technology infrastructure.
• Global Gallery—content should focus on the curriculum/projects of specific non-US countries or global curriculum/collaborations.
• Student Showcase—content should focus on student work with K-12 students presenting their projects.

Research Paper—presents original research on the general theme of using technologies to enhance education. Proposals are double-blind peer reviewed. Presenters retain copyright privileges.

• Discussion—six papers presented concurrently in an informal table discussion format in the same room during each one-hour time slot. No presentation equipment or electricity will be provided. Presenters may elect to bring their own laptops to present key findings in their research, if needed. Each roundtable will accommodate up to nine people.
• Presentation—two papers presented consecutively in a formal lecture format in the same room during each one-hour time slot. Each presenter will have 30 minutes to present his/her paper, including questions and comments.

Workshop—3-, 6-, and 12-hour presentations featuring a more focused, in-depth exploration of content. Enrollment is limited and preregistration and additional fees are required.

• Hands-on—participants are actively engaged with computers or other equipment (e.g., iPods, digital cameras, GPS units) as the primary focus of the workshop.
• Seminar/Demo—primarily delivered in a demonstration, panel discussion, or lecture format with some activity-based content.