NECC Ideas and Technologies: Global Skypecast Invitation and WetPaint Wiki

Thanks to MC Hammer (imagine that!) and USA Today, I discovered the beta site for Skypecasts this evening. Want to setup a global conversation about a topic with anyone who is interested, or set up an online audio conference with a few selected individuals? Skypecast on! What a great way to engage in a global dialog! And the cost? Zero, if you have an Internet-connected computer with Skype installed. (With a microphone and speakers, of course!)

The best way to learn about a new technology is to use it, so here is a proposal for anyone who is interested: Let’s have a global skypecast on new ideas and technologies discussed at NECC 2006, going on right now in San Diego. I’ll record the hour long session and post it as a podcast here, so please be aware of that if you join us! I am not attending the NECC conference, but have been reading a bit via the blogosphere of what others are seeing and talking about, and there is plenty to discuss! You can access NECC edublogosphere content by:

• Checking out the blog posts of any of the NECC website-identified conference bloggers
• Viewing current Technorati tracked posts tagged “NECC” or “NECC06”
• Viewing posts via David Warlick’s HitchHikr for NECC06
• Listening to officially posted NECC06 podcasts (The NECC 2006 Poster Sessions podcast already has 8 episodes, 7 from today)

I have setup a skypecast you are welcome to join on Saturday, July 8, 2006 at 8:00 pm US Central Time. The title of the skypecast is “NECC 2006 Ideas and Technologies.” If you haven’t already, in advance of the skypecast (if you want to participate) you’ll need to download and install Skype and register for a free Skype account. Then simply visit the website link above at the time of the conference and join in! Once you are logged into the Skype website and link to the Skypecast, it should show the start time for your local area as long as you have your time zone preferences set correctly on the site.

As a way of preparing for the Skypecast, I created a WetPaint Wiki this evening that we can use to organize thoughts and share links for discussion. Access it on http://necc06.wetpaint.com.

I have no idea how many people will join us for this skypecast, but whether we have 2 people or 20 I’m sure we’ll have fun and learn something new. Please plan to join us online this weekend if your schedule permits! Whether you can join us “live” or not, take some time to view posted content from the NECC conference using the links above and post some questions or topics you’d like to see us take up in the skypecast!