Introducing Your NECC 2009 Community Manager

Thursday, February 19th 2009 by Wes FryercloseAuthor: Wes Fryer Name: Wes Fryer
Email: wes@isteconnects.org
Site: http://www.speedofcreativity.org
About: Wesley is an international learning consultant, author, digital storyteller, educator and catalyst for educational reform focused on blended learning, differentiated instruction, and creative engagement. His bio is available on www.wesfryer.com/bio and complete vitae on www.wesfryer.com/vitae.See Authors Posts (74)

Saavy organizational leaders are growing increasingly aware of the importance of social media and their ability to respond to the digital feedback of their constituents. Rather than relying on a single individual to monitor the pulse of conversations taking place in the blogosphere, twittersphere, and other social media spaces, some of the most forward-looking groups are embracing read/write web environments and calling on multiple people to leverage the opportunities which can be discovered to meet needs and respond to feedback.

ISTE provides a case in point.

I am joined on the ISTEconnects team by Joe Corbett, who has embraced the positive potentials of different technologies all around him since he was very young. If you’ve wondered who the primary person is “behind the scenes” of the ISTEconnects Twitter account, the mystery is over. Joe IS that “mystery man.”

In a spirit of transparency and to provide those who are interested with some additional background information about Joe, I interviewed him recently to learn more about his background and interests. Joe grew up in New Jersey and attended boarding schools in both Connecticut and Massachusetts. Some might think boarding schools would be on the cutting edge of technology, but in the case of Joe’s that certainly was not the case. At one school, only two computers were provided for the entire body of students. That’s a digital divide!

Joe was the first kid in his class at school growing up to have a palm pilot, and the first to bring a laptop to class. He describes himself as someone who “become more critical of emerging technologies” as he grew older, and continued to see how technologies can and do affect how we learn each day. He “met” the learning management system BlackBoard in college, first at the University of Hartford and later in New Orleans. He initially pursued a degree in interactive information technologies, but decided to leave college to start an information technology business. After selling that business, he returned to college to study human behavior through psychology.

In working with ISTE and serving as the primary person responsible for the ISTEconnects Twitter account, Joe’s overaching goal is to be a community helper providing near 24/7 assistance to answer questions from the ISTE community and respond to emerging needs and new ideas.

If you have a question or comments related to ISTE or NECC 2009, don’t hesitate to talk to Joe by sending an @ISTEconnects message in Twitter. You can also ask questions here as comments to posts, and I’ll find the answer if I can’t readily provide one!

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