Richard Byrne

Recently, I attended a Technology conference in Springfield, MA.  As I was listening to the presenter, my phone notified me of Elena's post about a resource she thought I might like (which by the way, I deleted by accident on my phone so now I am not sure if the link she gave me is the same because he has that picture on everything I have found so far).  Low and behold, as I clicked on the link, I saw Richard Byrne's face smiling at me digitally and in person.  You can check out his blog if you would like, he has a wealth of information that he was barely able to touch upon in the short sessions.

I was seated next to our "tech guy" (whom I adore) and during a transitional lull, I was telling him about how much I loved Diigo.  I'm not sure if Mr. Byrne heard me or not because I was so close but he continued the conversation and sang Diigo's praises as well.  I think maybe my "tech guy" was a little impressed with me, THANK YOU DR. ARZT!!

He was explaining how he goes into these manic blog posting episodes but then he programs the dates so that the blogs are released periodically throughout the week in an attempt to hide his digital obsessions.  He used a similar trick on his blog when he was a social studies teacher.  At night, he created links to all his classes for the day with readings, assignments, questions, activities all on their class page.  He emphasized how handy it was for sub planning as students were conditioned and knew exactly where to go and what to do.  He also commented about he used if for record keeping and parental communication as we have learned in our class.  

Byrne shared that recently, he had seen a former student.  The student asked if Mr. Byrne recalled a video project that they had worked on.  He explained that students remember something they made or did that gave them a sense of pride or accomplishment.  He emphasized the importance of teachers staying up to date on the latest technological tools and trends so that they can provide the students "with just the right tool, at just the right time, for just the right product."  To exemplify the variety of student strengths, he shared the following video:  

He shared many tools that were already familiar because we have learned so much in class.  However, there was one that absolutely amazed me!  It is the concept of augmented reality.  He demonstrated how AR apps could provide a virtual reality experience.  For example, when using a device to read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein, viewers would see videos of interviews with the author, video clips, and so forth.  Sadly, when I googled it, I couldn't find anything with that description.  However, I found a YouTube video that describes it much better than I.  I cannot embed it because it has been disabled but I highly recommend that you click on the Common Craft link on augmented reality.  Mr. Byrne said that eyeglasses have been prototyped with this technology and are currently being tested.  Amazing!

That session was specifically on blogging but there were many beginners in the audience so he had to go very slowly.  The problem was compounded by the fact that the Marriott's WiFi could not accommodate the volume of people trying to go online.  Everyone kept getting kicked off including all the presenters.  My heart went out to them because all of them were so well prepared with what they wanted to demonstrate but many were unsuccessful due to the WiFi issues.  He did recommend that we visit his blog for further information, which is where I found this on his creating blogs and websites page:

Creating an Effective Online Hub from Richard Byrne


He also has further videos on comment moderation, adding & subtracting contributors to your blog, edublogs, as well other forums.  He knew how to prevent spamming, how to protect his work, and the list seems endless.  

He was fascinating to watch and listen to though, I wish I had more time with him.  I also wish he spent more time sharing creative ways of applying these tools with students.