These are the tools I pay to use

I am a big fan of free classroom tools. Most of the tools that I recommend are free. But sometimes you really should pay for the "pro" or "premium" version of a tool that you use on a regular basis.

There are two reasons you should pay for a tool:

1. To save time
2. To support the tool so that it sticks around

I know that teacher salaries are meager (believe me; I made less than $30k for the first four years of my career!). And I am not suggesting that you pay for everything, but it's funny how we are comfortable spending $4 for a cup of coffee, but won't pay $100/year for something we use every day.

These are the tools I pay to use

Screencastify - $24/year

Screencastify is a screen recording tool that works on any device (even Chromebooks!). I use Screencastify to record screen videos, edit them, and save them as GIF files. Screencasting is an essential daily activity for me and the pro version of screencastify allows me to create content quickly and efficiently. Plus, you can't beat the price! This is a tool that I pay for primarily to support the developer.

Pear Deck - $99/year

Pear Deck allows me to create interactive presentations. I use Pear Deck during my workshops and occasionally use it to try to win a demo slam! The premium version of Pear Deck provides a ton of extra features that will save you time like PowerPoint imports and the ability to view students answers via the live dashboard. If you present on a regular basis, Pear Deck is an awesome investment.

Hello Sign - $156/year

I send and receive a lot of contracts. Hello Sign lets me sign and return them electronically. The annual price for Hello Sign is a bit steep considering what I do with it, but it has significantly reduced the annoyance of filling out paperwork.

Canva - $120/year

I just recently upgraded to Canva for work. I should have done so sooner. I have been using Canva to create graphics for my blog and various websites for over a year. I spend a lot of time in Canva. The work version of Canva makes it much easier to organize files and set up branding themes. Money well spent.

MileIQ - $60/year

Tracking mileage is another miserable task. Mile IQ makes it much easier. It uses your phone to track your location and mileage. Swipe left for personal; right for business. Mile IQ easily pays for itself in all of the lost mileage that I can now easily track.

Pandora - $4.99/month

It's pool season and my wife doesn't like commercials. So, we have Pandora premium....for the summer.

Amazon Prime - $99/year

You don't have Amazon Prime? How do you survive? I have five kids. Ordering from Amazon is WAY easier than dragging everyone into a store. Amazon Prime is the best! Worth every penny!

Audible - $14.95/month

I got a monthly subscription to Audible so that I could listen to Audio books in the car. This has been a great investment. Not only have I passed the time on long road trips across the Midwest (and in Chicago traffic), I have actually "read" quite a few books! If you read one book a month, this is a great deal as most new release hardcovers are more than $15.

Remember, time is money. The more time you can save, the more opportunities you have to do awesome, meaningful work.

Paying for something is a vote of support. When you support a product with your dollars you communicate to the developer that they are providing something of value to users.

What products have you "voted" for with your dollars? Leave me a comment and let me know if I am missing out on something awesome! 

Learning in Unexpected Ways

Sometimes learning occurs at unexpected times in unexpected ways. 

That's what happened to us this week around the dinner table.

I have a lovely wife and 5 kids. It's a bit crazy, but that's how we like it.

While we were eating dinner we were watching the birds at the bird feeder. I downloaded a cool bird identification app on my phone and we were figuring out the names of our flying visitors. The app also included songs and calls from each bird species which the kids thought was pretty cool.

Over Christmas we got an Amazon Echo which has turned into one of our favorite tech tools. I have been surprised how much we use and appreciate it (it's a great way for kids who can't yet type to look up information). The Echo has a great speaker with crystal clear quality, even at high volume.

All of a sudden I had an idea. Why not move the Echo to the porch, connect my phone via Blue Tooth and blast out bird calls to the entire neighborhood.

My kids were super excited and fascinated as we called robins, red-wing blackbirds, and cowbirds to our porch....and it worked! The birds were super confused as they perched on the feeder and looked around for the mysterious intruder invading their territory.

Learning and exploration can't always be scripted. 

This wasn't a lesson. There were no objectives. We were curious and decided to see what we could learn. Sometimes going off script yields the most memorable learning moments.

Is technology making school too easy?

I was recently asked if it was possible to disable automatic spell check on a Chromebook. The person who was asking is a great teacher and a leader at her school. It wasn't really her question, it was a question that she was tasked to research. 

I am sometimes quite dismayed by teachers who want to limit students from using readily available technology to complete their school work. These are tools that we (adults) use EVERY DAY. 

What would YOU do if your boss told you that you were no longer allowed to use:

• Automatic spell check 
• A calculator
• Voice dictation software 
• The internet

Let's just say that there would probably be another march on Washington...

My goal is to provide helpful, real-world solutions. While I have [lots] of opinions, I don't want to be dogmatic in my approach toward the use of technology in the classroom. So I provided two responses and let her decide which one to use:

The Snarky Response: Why would we not allow students to use readily available technology to help them with spelling. I use spell check EVERYDAY. Without it I would be in trouble. Students should still be held accountable for spelling errors and mistakes in their work, but are free to use all available tools.

The Judicious Response: Automatic spell checking can be disabled through the Google admin console. This will not, however, impact other tools and services which can also check spelling (Drive spell check, add-ons, etc). The only absolute way to eliminate such services is to return to pencil and paper. You can turn off spell check from the Google admin console: Device Management > Chrome > User Settings > User Experience. 

What do YOU think? Is using spell check, calculator, etc, preventing our students from developing critical, basic skills? How do YOU respond when someone complains that technology is making things too easy?

The importance of support

For the past few months I have been recording interviews for the Chromebook Classroom Podcast. Each episode features a conversation with a teacher, tech director, librarian, tech coach, etc. While each conversation is unique, as I was re-listening to each episode to develop the show notes, there was a common element that appeared in nearly every conversation - the importance of support for teachers. 

Each of the teachers that I interviewed spoke highly of their administration, tech department, and tech coach. This support was an essential element of their success in the classroom. Several of the teachers that I spoke with would not consider themselves "techy" but the support provided by their district gave them the confidence to step out and try something new:

Support from the IT department insures that school infrastructure optimized for learning. 

School administrators can support teachers by working to secure funding for technology and school improvement and ensuring that school policies support classroom teachers. 

Tech coaches serve on the front lines, providing just-in-time support for teachers looking for new tools and strategies to engage and challenge their students. 

Teachers are not reluctant to try new things...
Teachers don't avoid technology.... As long as they are supported

When teachers are supported, they can do amazing things! 

Big Screen vs. Small Screens

I get regular solicitations from EdTech companies wanting me to feature their product or service on my blog. I'm honored that they have identified me as someone with influence and trust who can help them promote their product. Several years ago I made the decision not to accept paid content insertions; I believe my independence is worth far more than I could make by accepting payment for a post.

That being said, the conversations that I have with these companies can be helpful and open my eyes to new trends in educational technology. That's what happened this past week when I talked with InFocus.

InFocus is a well known, respected company the manufactures many different pieces of hardware, mainly focused on projection and display. One of their new products is the JTouch - a large 65" touchscreen display specifically designed for the classroom. It looks nice, and has a pretty good price as well ($1,999 for schools).

I politely declined payment for writing a post about their product and offered some suggestions about how to market and promote the JTouch to teachers. I also had to ask one poignant question:

Why should educators invest in a teacher-focused device rather than putting technology into the hands of students? 

Their response [my paraphrase]

Every classrooms need a display device. The JTouch gets students up and interacting rather than just sitting behind their screen and the JTouch is a lot less expensive than other interactive whiteboard or interactive projector products on the market.

Nothing wrong with the response but it got me thinking: InFocus is NOT competing exclusively against other "large screen" products, they are competing against EVERY product with a screen.

If you have $3000 to spend in your classroom, would you rather have 1 BIG screen or:

• 6 iPad Air 2 ($479 Edu pricing)
• 10 Acer C720 Chromebooks ($279) 
• 11 Nexus 7 Tablets ($259)

The question of large vs. small screens goes well beyond price. Much of what you can do with an interactive display can be replicated on small screen devices: 

• PearDeck and NearPod extend the teachers screen onto student screens.
• Socrative, Geddit, and Kahoot facilitate whole-class interactive games and assessment

In addition, small screens can be used for small group work, writing essays, making multimedia projects, research, and more. 

Is the "large screen" era dead; or at least limited to special applications (media centers, trade-shows, lecture halls, etc)? Would you rather have a large screen or small screens in your classroom? 

Oh, if you are interested, you can learn more about the JTouch here. 

Get Updates on Google Education Products

Staying up to date on constantly changing  Google EDU products can be challenge. The help, I have started a monthly e-newsletter that will bring the most important changes, features, new tools, and exciting events to your mailbox!

If you would like to sign up to receive these updates, please complete the form below.

Welcome to the Philippines!

For the past 18 days I have been in Pangasinan, Philippines working with Rushton Hurley, Kim Randall, and Leslie Fisher to train 106 Filipino teachers on the use of technology in education. Together we led the first international partnership between the Krause Center for Innovation (KCI) at Foothill College and the Philippine government.

 

I have never worked with a more eager or persistent group of educators. During our 18 days we encountered the following challenges:

• Poor internet connections
• Power outage due to plugging in 100+ devices. 
• An earthquake (no joke)
• Extreme heat (95+ everyday) with limited air conditioning. 
• Scheduled power outage for the entire region (brought in generators)
• Small classrooms with 30+ teachers and computers

Despite these challenges the teachers showed up each day with enthusiasm and a hunger to learn more. We front-loaded our instruction, giving the attendees a ton of new things to try. Remarkably, many of the tools that I take for granted were brand new to this group: Google Drive, Twitter, Jing, Google Image search, Edmodo, Prezi and more. For most of the teachers, this was their first exposure to web-based tools.

The main purpose for the KCI Pang program (as we call it) was to transform these teachers into local leaders and EdTech advocates who will work with others to begin a movement within the nation to create dynamic classrooms. This is an exciting time in the Philippines which recently added grades K, 11, and 12 (previously only 1-10), made K-12 education compulsory, and adopted Google Apps for Education across the entire country.

As part of this 2 week program, each teacher created two videos and one classroom lesson (here are a few). For a considerable number of the participants, these were the first videos they had ever created. They were excited to learn that they had the opportunity to have a global voice through the power of web-based tools.

It was refreshing to work with a group of educators who are passionate and hungry to learn new things. If I ever get an opportunity to come back, I will take it!

Pursuing Entrepreneurship

I don't post personal news on this space very frequently, but there have been some significant developments in my life that have a direct connection to the focus of this blog.

On March 1, 2013, I left the classroom and school administration in a formal capacity.

I did not have a negative experience with my employer. Actually, I am still very proud of what they are doing and the direction they are heading. I had a great six years with them and continue to work with them in a part-time capacity. 

One thing I have learned about myself over the past six years is that although I am an educator, I am also an entrepreneur. I can't help it. Entrepreneur's like to stir things up; push against the status-quo, break things, and make lots of mistakes. Some of my interests aren't directly related to education; this change will allow me to pursue those passions as well.

I am not leaving education. I will still be heavily involved as I continue to provide educational technology consulting to schools around the world in a full-time capacity. At this point, working to help schools integrate technology into the curriculum in meaningful ways and motivating individual instructors to create dynamic classrooms is how I can best impact the lives of students and education as a whole.

I have a few projects in the works that I hope will be a benefit to my fellow educators. Some are still in the idea stage, others are already moving forward.

In addition to continuing and expanding my consulting business, my wife and I will be opening a retail store in our hometown of Brighton, Michigan. This is something that we've been interested in doing for a while and something that our entire family can contribute toward.

I'm not going anywhere and the focus of this blog will remain the same. I'd love to continue to connect and share with you. Connecting and sharing with others is what motivates me to continue to seek excellence.

Have You Ever...

Have You Ever....

Gotten in trouble with your administration because of something you wrote?

Had a student tell you how much they hate your class?

Tried something new and had it fail miserably?

Upset another faculty member because of something you are doing in your class?

Upset a parent because of your "unorthodox" teaching methods or projects?

Had someone criticize you on their blog, social media, etc?

If you can answer "yes" to more than one of these, then you are going to do great things. Failure is a requirement of success. Those who are unwilling to take risks or get hurt, will never venture outside of their comfort zone where awesomeness lives.

Gooval...

The #Chromebook Classroom

This week I spent a couple of days at the Googleplex in Mountain View, CA learning more about Google's plans for the Chrombook. Joining me were 25 educators and resellers from around the country. It was a good crowd of familiar Google Certified Teachers and Apps Certified Trainers. The Google Apps for Ed team (Dana Nguyen, Jaime Casap, and Cristin Frodella) were our hosts and were awesome as always!

While there are things that I can't share (NDA and all...), there are some big ideas that are worth noting:

1. Google is investing a lot of time, energy, and resources into the the Chrome web browser, Chrome OS, and the Chromebook. Chrome OS will NOT be the next Google Wave!

2. Chrome OS is NOT about the device. The entire goal of Chrome OS is to make the device transparent. In an odd way, Google is not pushing their hardware, they are trying to make hardware obsolete.

3. Google is heavily promoting HTML5 because it is more secure, less dependent on hardware configurations, and can work on a variety of form-factors (tablets, handhelds, laptops, etc). Developers are beginning to see the value in investing in HTML5 because they no longer need to develop apps for iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, etc. HTLM5 apps work on all devices.

4. Google listens very intently to its customers. If there is something that you don't like about a Google product, let them know! Google's ability to rapidly update and modify its products is remarkable. Considering their size, Google's customer service is excellent.

There will be some exciting announcements from Google in the coming months. They are intent on providing educators with a device that is affordable, fast, and optimized for learning.

Interested in learning more about the Chromebook and how you can get them into the hands of your students? Contact me to setup a demo or attend a free Chromebook workshop!

Time, Attention, and Clear Thinking

In years gone-bye, information was a critical resource that determined success. Today, information is cheap and easily accessible by anyone with a web-enabled computer or mobile device. Access to information is no longer a distinguishing factor. The critical skills that determine success today are time, attention, and clear thinking.

Time

Photo by canardo via Flickr

Everyone has the same number of hours in the day. It doesn't matter if your are Warren Buffet or someone living in a third-world country. You have the same amount of time. What differentiates successful and not-so-successful people is their ability to use their time effectively. Technology makes it possible to leverage the time that we are given to achieve more than was previously possible. Technology also allows us to create and sell products that are independent of time. Consider the story of this independent French developer who is pulling in $200k/year on the development of several games he developed for iOS devices. The time that he spent developing these Apps has was leveraged through the Web economy.



Attention

Photo by Lulu Hoeller via Flickr 

While brain capacity varies from person to person, we all have the ability to concentrate our available mental ability on a difficult problem or question that can add potential value to ourselves or other people. The old saying that "if it was easy someone else would have done it by now" is very appropriate. While technology has solved some challenges, it has created many others.

There are many prizes, competitions, and contests which reward focused attention on a difficult problem or idea:

• The Netflix Prize: a quest to improve the Netflix recommendation algorithm. Hundreds of teams worked for over two years for a $1 million dollar award which was presented in 2009. 
• "Project 10 to the 100": a challenge sponsored by Google to come up with solutions to some of the world's most challenging problems (energy, education, housing, environment, health, etc). 16 ideas were chosen and the public voted for the top five ideas, each of which received $2 million to implement the idea. 
• TED Prize: the core goal of TED is to award creative thinkers and innovators for their work in solving difficult problems or improving life around the world. Each winner is awarded $100,000 and allowed to make one wish, which the well-connected TED attendees excitedly make a reality. 

The ability to stay focused and committed to finding a solution to a problem is one thing that separates the good from the great. When solutions are not obvious and require effort to discover, most give up. 

Clear Thinking

The Shallows, by Nicholas Carr, is a book about how technology is changing the way that we think, and not for the better.

"When we go online, we enter an environment that promotes cursory reading, hurried and distracted thinking, and superficial learning...The Net's cacophony of stimuli short-circuits both conscious and unconscious thought, preventing our minds from thinking either deeply or creatively." 

Information is no longer a limiting resources. We all have access to far more information than we will ever need. It is very easy to continue the accumulation of information without ever acting on that information in a useful way. If unchecked, the accumulation of information can lead to confusion, information paralysis, and procrastination. No amount of information will lead us to make the perfect decision. Eventually, we must make a decision and move forward.

Having the discipline to turn off the flow of information and think clearly and deeply about the problem at hand in light of available information is the mark of a leader.

*********

I write these things because I struggle with them:

• I never have enough time in the day to act on the ideas that I generate. 
• My mind races from task to task, idea to idea, like a crazed internet surfer clicking on hyperlinks.
• I am an information junky and have trouble turning off the tap. 

ScreenChamp Finalist!

I love Google Apps and use them with my students all the time. One day, on a whim, I decided to do a screen capture of the growth of a collaborative story that my 9th grade students wrote using Google Docs. Several months later TechSmith, the makers of Camtasia, Jing and SnagIt, launched the "ScreenChamp" competition in an effort to choose the best screen capture video on the web.


The video of my students (below) is one of 15 finalist! Voting opened yesterday and extends though December 15. I would appreciate your vote and (by extension) a vote for Google Docs in the Classroom!



Link to Vote: http://polldaddy.com/poll/5481955

5 Goals for the School Year

Every year I pick five professional goals to work on during the school year. This marks my third year of this process:

• 2009-2010 Goals
• 2010-2011 Goals

So, here it goes, my goals for the 2011-2012 school year

1. iPad Coaching
This year my school, Southfield Christian is implementing a 1:1 iPad program in the high school. Staff were given three days of training in the spring before summer vacation and were instructed to play with and use their iPads throughout the summer months.
Because my schedule is somewhat flexible this year, my goal is to work individually with teachers on creating lessons and activities that fully use the capabilities of the iPad. These activities play into my longer-term goal of becoming an Apple Distinguished Educator.

2. Build a Professional Website
This past year opportunities have opened up for me to do some training and consulting work related to educational technology. I've enjoyed the opportunity to visit schools around the country, meet new people, and share my experiences with technology in the classroom. This year my goal is to launch my consulting website where I can highlight my experiences and share the resources that I have created.

3. Google Podcasts
Over the summer I was shocked to learn that the Google tutorial screencasts that I created were the #1 series on the iTunesU Teaching and Education section. I even beat out the Khan Academy! Obviously there is a demand for these brief tutorials so I would like to add to my collection. My goal is to add 15 new tutorials this year. If you have any requests, let me know!

4. Focus my PLN
Over the last few years I have built a very wide-ranging professional learning network. While variety is good, I'm also beginning to feel the need to focus my PLN in terms of subject and quality. At the risk of sounding harsh, there are a lot of talkers but few doers on the web. See my previous post on "Shipping" to better understand where I'm coming from. This year I will be weeding out the "talkers" and those who primarily post outside of my current areas of focus: ipads in education, online learning, and Google Apps for Education.

Flickr via DavidErickson 

5. Build a Mobile App
This is the toughest goal on my to-do list. I do not have the required skills to build an mobile app however I am fortunate to have a brother in law who is full time programmer with mobile app experience. I have a couple of ideas for apps which I need to explore in more depth. I'm putting this goal down because unless I do, I will never get it done!

Those are my five goals for the year. I would be delighted to read your goals. Leave me (and everyone else) a comment with a link to your post.

Capacity. Are you Over it?

As a die-hard Internet user I live and die by the bandwidth of the network that I am using. The capacity of the network determines what I am able to accomplish.

The principle of capacity applies to other areas of life as well:

You can only serve someone else if you aren't overextended.

You can only demonstrate love to someone else if you aren't emotionally drained.

You can only help comfort someone who is overwhelmed if you aren't overwhelmed.

Over Capacity!

One of the reasons I have been thinking so much about my capacity is because I am a person who would prefer to be stretched to the max. I like to test my limits; to see how far I can go. It's the American way after all-- work hard, play hard, leave nothing on the field.

The true ability of a person might be better measured not by the time energy and emotion they expend, but by how much time, energy, and emotion they have left after they accomplish their assigned duties. The person that has something left in the tank has the opportunity to truly impact other peopled who are over capacity.

What I'm suggesting is somewhat heretical because there is an unspoken assumption that if you have extra time energy and emotion left over, you are lazy and should be doing something else. That's typically how I feel. In the end it all depends on how you use your extra capacity. If it's spent in front of the TV or at the bar by yourself, then you probably should be doing more. If you take the opportunity to help and impact someone else, I think that's time well spent.

Are you over capacity?

Do unto others, the best rule for....well...everything!

Flickr: Originauk Moose

"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This familiar proverb of Biblical origins is just as true in the 21st century as it was in the first century:

If you want to have followers, you need to be a follower.

If you want to have friends, you need to be a friend.

If you want people to respond to your tweets, than you should be commenting and helping others.

If you crave comments on your blog, than you should be posting comments on the blogs of others.

If you want a quick response to your emails, than you should promptly respond to the emails of others.

If you want your services to be recommended by others than you should be quick to provide recommendations for others.

If you want high quality service, then you should be providing high quality service.

If you want people to cite your work, than you should be citing the work of others. 

Challenging Educational Technology

I'm a big supporter of educational technology. This blog is primarily dedicated to sharing tips, tricks, and ideas on how to successfully use technology to increase student engagement, critical thinking, and mastery of learning objectives.

From time to time I think it is important to examine my assumptions on life, to ensure that I'm not missing something. To this end I have begun to read and follow several critics of educational technology. While at first glance these individuals may seem to be critical of technology in the classroom, or technology in general, a closer examination reveals that they really aren't. Each of them is deeply committed to encouraging critical thinking and evaluation amongst students. Their concerns with educational technology tend have more to do with with mindless and mis-informed application of the technologies as a panacea for educational reform, rather than a problem with the technology itself. This is evidence by the fact that each of them maintain blogs and several are active on Twitter.

Jerrid Kruse

Jerrid Kruse is the author of the blog "Teaching as a Dynamic Activity." A former middle school science teacher, Kruse is now teaching at the college level. He is quick to call out the assumptions that many educators make regarding the use of technology in the classroom. To get a sense of Kruse's philosphy on Ed. Tech. I would recommend this short post.
Kruse is very active on Twitter on regularly posts comments on blogs that he subscribes to. If you are lucky enough to receive a comment from Jerrid, you can be sure that it will be insightful and well reasoned, even if you disagree with it!

Larry Cuban

Larry Cuban is a former high school teacher, school superintendent, and college professor. Now retired, Larry blogs about his research on 1:1 programs and other education topics. Cuban is not anti-technology, but he does not see it as a silver bulletin in solving the problems in the American system of education. In this post, Cuban spells three errors that he has observed:

1. The first error that technology enthusiasts make is to overemphasize the importance of students’ access to technology in schools and underestimate teachers’ influence on students’ learning.
2. The second error technological enthusiasts make is seeing public schools as only about learning. They want schools to socialize the young into the workplace and community, provide for their personal well-being, and produce civic-minded, engaged adults.
3. The third error they make is to indulge in magical thinking. Researchers have failed again and again to show that students using computers in classrooms will improve test scores, lift graduation rates, and reduce dropouts.

Nicholas Carr

Nicholas Carr is not an educator, but has written several books regarding the impact technology is having on society. I've put one of his books The Shallows, on my reading list for this summer.

John T. Spencer

Recently John T. Spencer put up a nice post regarding the peer pressure of using technology in his classroom. It's definitely worth a read.  His primary point is that the use of technology has bred an elitist group of teachers who believe that their technology prowess makes them better than everyone else. You may not agree, but it will get you talking!

Dan Rezac

If you think the iPad (or any other idevice) is the answer to life's questions? You need to read Dan Rezac's post on the "deification of iDevices."

Where do you go to challenge your assumptions and ideas?

Are You an Artist?

Flickr Via Tomroid

Are you an artist or a day-laborer?

A day-laborer does the bare minimum, follows the rules, doesn't go outside of his job description, clocks in on time and clocks out on time. 

An artist goes well beyond what is expected, rarely follows the rules (in a good way), extends his role, creates unexpected value, and doesn't keep track of time because he loves what he does. 

In his book Linchpin, Seth Godin further describes art as:

1. A personal act of courage
2. A personal gift that changes the recipient. 
3. A free gift. 
4. An act of human expression. 
5. Original
6. The product of emotional labor

Teaching is Hard Work

Helping students with a lab

If I'm absolutely exhausted at the end of the day I know that I have been truly teaching. Standing in front of a class and lecturing for five hours isn't that big of a deal. Constantly walking around the room, from group to group, student to student and answering specific questions, troubleshooting problems, and mediating student conflict is exhausting.

Truly teaching someone take personal time, attention, and effort. Anyone who says otherwise hasn't truly taught. 

[Trying] To Start a New Trend

I'm single handedly trying to start a new trend: conference session trailers/commercials.

The next time you present at a conference, put together a >1 minute video highlighting your session. Epic music is a must!

I've done this twice so far:

Trailer for my 2011 ICE conference session



Trailer for my 2010 MACUL conference session