The Story of #CVTechTalk
In the July of 2016, after years of online interactions on Twitter chats, Adam and Katherine met for the first time for the first time in person. Katherine, recently hired as EdTech Consultant for Tulare County Office of Education, reached out to all the EdTech coaches in the county. One of those coaches, Adam, responded via email and a meeting was scheduled.
During that initial meeting, the seeds were planted for #CVTechTalk and Tech Rodeo. Both sought to create a platform for the amazing educators of California's Central Valley to collaborate. Too often, they felt, great things were done in classrooms, but there was no local network to share them. #CVTechTalk was designed to showcase the great things Central Valley teachers were doing. It was designed to be a forum for trends in education, edtech and pedagogy.
On Wednesday, September 21, 2016, #CVTechTalk was born. The first chat was moderated live from Pita Kabob in Visalia, CA during a CVCUE Meetup. Since then, #CVTechTalk has only missed two weekly chats.
#CVTechTalk accomplished its initial goals. What Adam and Katherine did not expect was the expansion beyond the Central Valley. Each week, educators from across the world joined the conversation on Twitter. #CVTechTalk became not only a platform for Central Valley educators, it brought in diverse ideas from across the world to the region. Connected educators from every inhabited continent has participated.
Initially a hour-long Twitter chat, it has evolved. An early iteration included a YouTube Live simulcast where Adam and Katherine would "tweet and talk". Those early simulcasts didn't last too long as very few audience members joined via video. As time went on, #CVTechTalk expanded to include a Facebook Group, Voxer Group, Google+ Community, occasional meetups, a website and podcast. Recently, the "tweet and talk" simulcast was resurrected, but this time on Facebook Live. Since 2019, Adam and Katherine discussed the tweets and bantered back and forth on Facebook Live while responding to comments on Facebook.
With the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, Zoom was thrust upon the nation's consciousness. The latest iteration of #CVTechTalk now uses Zoom to bring in authors, industry leaders and the brightest minds in our industry to each week's chat. The Zoom call is live streamed to Facebook Live as Adam, Katherine and guest moderators discuss that week's questions and tweets. Each week's Facebook Live is archived on the #CVTechTalk YouTube channel, curated on this website and uploaded to the #CVTechTalk Podcast available on both Google and Apple Podcasts.
#CVTechTalk accomplished its initial goals. What Adam and Katherine did not expect was the expansion beyond the Central Valley. Each week, educators from across the world joined the conversation on Twitter. #CVTechTalk became not only a platform for Central Valley educators, it brought in diverse ideas from across the world to the region. Connected educators from every inhabited continent has participated.
Initially a hour-long Twitter chat, it has evolved. An early iteration included a YouTube Live simulcast where Adam and Katherine would "tweet and talk". Those early simulcasts didn't last too long as very few audience members joined via video. As time went on, #CVTechTalk expanded to include a Facebook Group, Voxer Group, Google+ Community, occasional meetups, a website and podcast. Recently, the "tweet and talk" simulcast was resurrected, but this time on Facebook Live. Since 2019, Adam and Katherine discussed the tweets and bantered back and forth on Facebook Live while responding to comments on Facebook.
With the advent of the COVID-19 crisis, Zoom was thrust upon the nation's consciousness. The latest iteration of #CVTechTalk now uses Zoom to bring in authors, industry leaders and the brightest minds in our industry to each week's chat. The Zoom call is live streamed to Facebook Live as Adam, Katherine and guest moderators discuss that week's questions and tweets. Each week's Facebook Live is archived on the #CVTechTalk YouTube channel, curated on this website and uploaded to the #CVTechTalk Podcast available on both Google and Apple Podcasts.