The Global 2013 STEMx Education Conference, the world’s first massively open online conference for students and educators focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Math, and more will take place around the clock September 19-21, 2013, and is free to attend.

This exciting event is supported by HP and hosted by The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE). It is organized and run by Lucy Gray and Steve Hargadon, the creators of the Global Education Conference.

• All sessions take place in Blackboard Collaborate webinar rooms. These rooms typically have a whiteboard area that contains slides, and the presenter or presenters using audio to communicate with the audience. There is also a text chat feature in which participants can type questions and comments.
• We are featuring approximately 175 general sessions and 20 keynote presentations.
• Full descriptions of conference sessions are located here.
• You can find session descriptions and links to these webinar rooms in the conference schedule.
• Note that you can view the schedule in YOUR time zone!
• There are literally sessions going on around the clock. There tends to be more during US day time hours, but there are indeed presentations going on 24 hours per day for almost three days.
• All sessions are recorded and will be published on our web site shortly after the event has taken place. If you miss a live session, you can view it later! These sessions will be archived indefinitely.

• Read this blog post from Linda Lindsay (@mauilibrarian2) and this one from conference co-chair Jim Vanides (@jgvanides) to glean some great ideas.
• Go through the conference schedule and browse the sessions proposals. Add a few selections to your Google Calendar. Make sure to check out the keynotes, too.
• Invite a friend or a group of colleagues to watch a session together. Bring snacks!
• Use the chat feature inside session rooms to ask questions, offer additional resources, and network with other educators.
• Keep the conversation going in our discussion forum.
• Reflect on your learning through posting a blog.
  

• Join Twitter and follow us: https://twitter.com/stemxcon.
• We have Twitter lists of STEM people and organizations that you can follow.
• Search Twitter for other STEMxCon attendees using the hashtag #stemxcon13.
• We are also on Pinterest and host a STEMx bookmarking group on Diigo.
• Browse our STEMx community and find members with similar interests in our member directory: http://stemxcon.com/profiles/members/. You can leave comments and messages for members on their profile pages.
• You can also search our community using the search box on the front page or the advanced search feature.
• Check out our list of STEMxCon partner organizations and sponsors.

• Take over the teachers' lounge at your school, and play sessions using a projector and screen for your colleagues.
• If you are a curriculum coordinator, pick a session and invite colleagues to a viewing party after school or during a preparation period.
• If you are a teacher educator, incorporate a live or recorded session into your classroom. Require students to attend a session or watch a recording, and then have them blog their reflections.
• If you work with high school students, identify sessions that have students participating or content that is relevant to your curriculum. Show these sessions in class. Here's an example of a session led by high school student, Christina Ren.

• If you have a problem with Ning, our conference community platform, contact them directly: http://www.ning.com/help/. This includes issues with logging in.
• If you need help with Blackboard Collaborate, please read through the materials we have posted on our site related to the conference platform: http://www.wecollaborate.com/page/blackboard-collaborate-faq.
• Blackboard Collaborate also has a support portal where you can submit a help ticket.
• If you are able to access Blackboard Collaborate, we have a conference lounge with live help starting Thursday, September 19: http://stemx13.com.
• Use the chat window posted on the front of our web site to ask questions. A conference volunteer or a good global citizen will be sure to respond.
• MAC USERS: If you are using a Mac running Mountain Lion v10.8.4, Blackboard has released a special app called the "Collaborate Launcher for Mac" which is now required for Mountain Lion v10.8.4 and later. More information HERE.
  

Steve Hargadon, Web 2.0 Labs, @stevehargadon on Twitter

Jim Vanides, HP, @jgvanides on Twitter