The TIE Conference is holding a special "Leadership Academy" this year. While I think it would be great if all Colorado school leaders attended the entire TIE Conference, you can just sign up for the Leadership Academy day.
They have a variety of interesting folks scheduled to speak, but I'm particularly excited about the keynote speakers Pam Moran and Ira Socol. Pam is a very thoughtful superintendent in Virginia with a wide variety of leadership roles in education. Ira is at Michigan State and has a wealth of knowledge that's applicable to all students, but especially for special needs students. I guarantee that they will get you thinking and most likely making changes that will benefit all of your students.
So, if you're a school leader in Colorado (or even outside of Colorado for that matter) and you're available on June 23rd, I would highly recommend that you make time for this important day (in beautiful Copper Mountain, Colorado) in your schedule.
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Showing posts with label conferences. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Thursday, February 18, 2010
ISTE + TIE Leadership Bootcamp
Are you interested in effective collaboration and communication practices to help you build a framework for change in your school or district? Then please join us for the 2010 TIE Colorado/ISTE Leadership Bootcamp.
The physical event will be held prior to the ISTE 2010 conference in Denver on Saturday, June 26th from 8 AM - 5 PM at the Denver Hyatt Regency Hotel, with an additional gathering on Friday evening, June 25th from 5-7 PM. This event is designed for leaders at any level (classroom teachers, librarians, school and district administrators, and IT support staff) to engage in learning and thinking that will lead to developing a working plan for improving communication and collaboration practices in your school or district.
During the day, you'll have a chance to interact with other educators as you learn from experienced voices who embody effective communication and collaboration practices including:
We also welcome everyone (no registration required) to join the preconference events and online conversations going on now at the Leadership Bootcamp Ning. In addition to the online community, you will find information and access to four virtual learning sessions with these outstanding educators:
We hope to see you in Denver and/or online!
Note: This is not my event, I'm just helping out a little. This is a joint effort of TIE and ISTE, and is co-chaired by Michelle Bourgeois and Alison Saylor, who have done an amazing amount of work on this.
The physical event will be held prior to the ISTE 2010 conference in Denver on Saturday, June 26th from 8 AM - 5 PM at the Denver Hyatt Regency Hotel, with an additional gathering on Friday evening, June 25th from 5-7 PM. This event is designed for leaders at any level (classroom teachers, librarians, school and district administrators, and IT support staff) to engage in learning and thinking that will lead to developing a working plan for improving communication and collaboration practices in your school or district.During the day, you'll have a chance to interact with other educators as you learn from experienced voices who embody effective communication and collaboration practices including:
- Creating and Maximizing Learning Networks
- Communication and Collaboration Tools
- Communication and Collaboration Practices
- Building Policy to Support Vision
- Mark Benno
- Steve Dembo
- Scott Elias
- Karl Fisch
- Lucy Gray
- Elizabeth Hubbell
- Kate Kemker
- Chris Lehmann
- Dan Maas
- Dan Magyar
- Scott McLeod
- Sheryl Nussbaum-Beach
- Carl Owens
- Jeff Piontek
- Howard Pitler
- Mike Porter
We also welcome everyone (no registration required) to join the preconference events and online conversations going on now at the Leadership Bootcamp Ning. In addition to the online community, you will find information and access to four virtual learning sessions with these outstanding educators:
March 10, 7:00 PM-MST (UTC/GMT -7) Creating and Maximizing Learning NetworksTo keep up to date with all the learning, events, and resources, make sure you find and follow us on Twitter @leadbootcamp! Hashtag for this event is #lbc10.
Bud Hunt, Instructional Technologist, St. Vrain Valley School District, Longmont, Colorado
April 14, 7:00 PM-MDT (UTC/GMT -6) Building Policy to Support Vision
Dr. Larry Anderson, Founder, National Center for Technology Planning
May 5, 7:00 PM-MDT (UTC/GMT -6) Communication and Collaboration Tools
Kim Cofino, 21st Century Literacy Specialist, International School, Bangkok, Thailand
June 2, 7:00 PM MDT (UTC/GMT -6) Communication & Collaboration Practices
Dean Shareski, Digital Learning Consultant Prairie South School Division, Moose Jaw, SK, Canada
We hope to see you in Denver and/or online!
Note: This is not my event, I'm just helping out a little. This is a joint effort of TIE and ISTE, and is co-chaired by Michelle Bourgeois and Alison Saylor, who have done an amazing amount of work on this.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Learning 2.0: You Are Going, Aren't You?
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation (2010 Edition) is fast approaching on February 20th - have you signed up yet?
Let's review:
So, if you haven't already, go ahead and register, check out the FAQ, sign up to volunteer, or join (or lead) a round table session. Because this doesn't happen without you.
Note: When I say "we," I really mean primarily Scott Elias and Deanna Dykstra, who are organizing this year.
Let's review:
- Registration costs . . . $0
- Lunch costs . . . $0
- Sessions cost . . . $0
- Learning opportunity . . . priceless.
So, if you haven't already, go ahead and register, check out the FAQ, sign up to volunteer, or join (or lead) a round table session. Because this doesn't happen without you.
Note: When I say "we," I really mean primarily Scott Elias and Deanna Dykstra, who are organizing this year.
Monday, November 30, 2009
K12 Online Conference 2009
The 2009 Edition of the K12 Online Conference has now begun. Here's the schedule and here is a flyer you can use to promote it in your building if you'd like something you can print.
If you aren't familiar with K12 Online, here's the description from their site:
If you aren't familiar with K12 Online, here's the description from their site:
The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2009 conference theme is “Bridging the Divide.” This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote by classroom teacher and international educator Kim Cofino the week of November 30, 2009. The following two weeks, December 7-11 and December 14-17, over fifty presentations will be posted online to our conference blog and our conference Ning for participants to view, download, and discuss. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” are listed on the events page of our conference Ning and Facebook fan page, and live events will continue in 2010 through twice-monthly “K-12 Online Echo” webcasts on EdTechTalk. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during and after the conference as well as asynchronous conversations. Over 122 presentations from 2008, 2007, and 2006 are available, along with archived live events. Follow the K12 Online Conference on Twitter and Facebook!
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation (2010 Edition)
I'm pleased to announce that the 2010 Edition of Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation will be hosted by Loveland High School on February 20, 2010. Like the original in 2008 and the 2009 Edition, this year's get together is free.
What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?
Education is conversation.
Conversation creates change.
Promote Learning 2.0
Did we mention that you should tell others? Blog about this. Link to the wiki or this blog post. Or use this nifty image.
What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 20th, 2010, from 8:00 am until 3:30 pm at Loveland High School in Loveland, Colorado, USA (different location than last year - here's a map. We assume most folks will be from Colorado, but everyone is welcome to attend, and we are working on some ideas for virtual participation.
Education is conversation.
Conversation creates change.
The future of education does not exist in the isolated world of theory and abstract conference sessions. Instead, it exists in conversations. It exists in creating a robust learning network that is ever-expanding and just-in-time. Learning 2.0 is not the beginning of this conversation. It is merely a stopping point, a time to talk about the visible difference that we all seek.
We read. We reflect. We write. We share. We learn. Come join us for a day of conversation about learning and technology.
You can learn much more about the conference on the wiki, including information about registering. Here are some highlights:
Tentative Schedule
We're still working on the details so this will be updated before the conference. Also, this may expand if we have more folks register than we are anticipating. (To quote Bud Hunt, "This conference stuff is hard!"). We also need folks to submit proposals to facilitate conversations.
Registration
You must register so that we know how many folks to expect.
Cost
Free, baby. We also anticipate that lunch will be included as in previous years, however - with our various school district budgets being what they are this year - this is not for sure just yet. We're working on it.
Wireless
BYOL (that would be Bring Your Own Laptop) - we'll have wireless access to the Internet (filtered) - we may test our capacity to handle density of machines, but hopefully things will go swimmingly. If not, we have wired machines in various places you can access.
Invite Others
We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.
You can learn much more about the conference on the wiki, including information about registering. Here are some highlights:
Tentative Schedule
We're still working on the details so this will be updated before the conference. Also, this may expand if we have more folks register than we are anticipating. (To quote Bud Hunt, "This conference stuff is hard!"). We also need folks to submit proposals to facilitate conversations.
Registration
You must register so that we know how many folks to expect.
Cost
Free, baby. We also anticipate that lunch will be included as in previous years, however - with our various school district budgets being what they are this year - this is not for sure just yet. We're working on it.
Wireless
BYOL (that would be Bring Your Own Laptop) - we'll have wireless access to the Internet (filtered) - we may test our capacity to handle density of machines, but hopefully things will go swimmingly. If not, we have wired machines in various places you can access.
Invite Others
We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.
Call for Conversations
Hey, did you miss it above? We need folks to submit proposals to facilitate these conversations. This doesn't happen without you.
Questions?
Feel free to leave a comment on this post or on the FAQ page on the wiki.
Questions?
Feel free to leave a comment on this post or on the FAQ page on the wiki.
Promote Learning 2.0
Did we mention that you should tell others? Blog about this. Link to the wiki or this blog post. Or use this nifty image.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Join Us for Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation This Saturday
This Saturday, February 21st, we'll be holding the 2009 edition of Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation. We're completely full in terms of physical registrants, but if you aren't coming in person you can still attend virtually. We'll have Elluminate rooms going for each of the sessions, with live video and audio from the physical rooms, and of course the chat and other features of Elluminate.
We'll be starting around 9 am MST (although the sessions themselves don't start until 9:30). Here's a link to a list of all the Elluminate rooms, and below is our schedule for the day (couldn't get the Gliffy to embed nicely in Blogger, so it's just an image below - follow this link for active hyperlinks to the sessions.) We're excited to have new faces leading the conversations this year (plus an old face or two), as well as a couple of folks from SLA in Philadelphia joining us. We're looking forward to some great learning conversations.
We'll be starting around 9 am MST (although the sessions themselves don't start until 9:30). Here's a link to a list of all the Elluminate rooms, and below is our schedule for the day (couldn't get the Gliffy to embed nicely in Blogger, so it's just an image below - follow this link for active hyperlinks to the sessions.) We're excited to have new faces leading the conversations this year (plus an old face or two), as well as a couple of folks from SLA in Philadelphia joining us. We're looking forward to some great learning conversations.
Friday, December 12, 2008
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation (2009 Edition)
Well, we did it earlier this year and most folks asked us to put on a 2009 edition, so we're doing it again.
Education is conversation.
Conversation creates change.
Promote Learning 2.0
Did we mention that you should tell others? Blog about this. Link to the wiki or this blog post. Download a flyer (pdf) and print it out.Or use this nifty image.
You are invited to attend the Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation Conference (2009 Edition).
What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 21st, 2009, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm at Heritage High School in Littleon, Colorado, USA (different location than last year - here's a map). We assume most folks will be from Colorado, but everyone is welcome to attend, and we are working on some ideas for virtual participation.
What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 21st, 2009, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm at Heritage High School in Littleon, Colorado, USA (different location than last year - here's a map). We assume most folks will be from Colorado, but everyone is welcome to attend, and we are working on some ideas for virtual participation.
Education is conversation.
Conversation creates change.
The future of education does not exist in the isolated world of theory and abstract conference sessions. Instead, it exists in conversations. It exists in creating a robust learning network that is ever-expanding and just-in-time. Learning 2.0 is not the beginning of this conversation. It is merely a stopping point, a time to talk about the visible difference that we all seek.
We read. We reflect. We write. We share. We learn. Come join us for a day of conversation about learning and technology.
You can learn much more about the conference on the wiki, including information about registering. Here are some highlights:
Tentative Schedule
We're still working on the details so this will be updated before the conference. Also, this may expand if we have more folks register than we are anticipating. (To quote Bud Hunt, "This conference stuff is hard!"). We also need folks to submit proposals to facilitate conversations.
Registration
You must register so that we know how many folks to expect and so that we can have enough lunches available. (Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?)
Cost
Free, baby. And lunch is included, thanks to the generous support of Littleton Public Schools and St. Vrain Valley Public Schools.
Wireless
BYOL (that would be Bring Your Own Laptop) - we'll have wireless access to the Internet (filtered) - we may test our capacity to handle density of machines, but hopefully things will go swimmingly. If not, we have wired machines in various places you can access.
Questions for Students
We're having a student panel discussion during lunch. Here's your chance to submit some questions for them to consider.
Invite Others
We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.
You can learn much more about the conference on the wiki, including information about registering. Here are some highlights:
Tentative Schedule
We're still working on the details so this will be updated before the conference. Also, this may expand if we have more folks register than we are anticipating. (To quote Bud Hunt, "This conference stuff is hard!"). We also need folks to submit proposals to facilitate conversations.
Registration
You must register so that we know how many folks to expect and so that we can have enough lunches available. (Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?)
Cost
Free, baby. And lunch is included, thanks to the generous support of Littleton Public Schools and St. Vrain Valley Public Schools.
Wireless
BYOL (that would be Bring Your Own Laptop) - we'll have wireless access to the Internet (filtered) - we may test our capacity to handle density of machines, but hopefully things will go swimmingly. If not, we have wired machines in various places you can access.
Questions for Students
We're having a student panel discussion during lunch. Here's your chance to submit some questions for them to consider.
Invite Others
We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.
Call for Conversations
Hey, did you miss it above? We need folks to submit proposals to facilitate these conversations. This doesn't happen without you.
Questions?
Feel free to leave a comment on this post or on the FAQ page on the wiki.
Questions?
Feel free to leave a comment on this post or on the FAQ page on the wiki.
Promote Learning 2.0
Did we mention that you should tell others? Blog about this. Link to the wiki or this blog post. Download a flyer (pdf) and print it out.Or use this nifty image.
Monday, December 08, 2008
EduCon 2.1, Constructing Modern Knowledge, and Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation
If there’s one educational conference you attend this year, I think you should make it be EduCon 2.1. If I had a choice between FETC and EduCon, I’d pick EduCon. If I had a choice between NECC and EduCon, I’d pick EduCon. If I had a choice between any content-area conference and EduCon, I’d pick EduCon (it’s not a technology conference, it’s a learning conference). If I had a choice between all my students having laptops computers and going to EduCon, I’d choose . . . well, okay, I’d choose the laptops for all my students. But you get the picture.
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go to EduCon, which is why I want you to go if it’s at all possible (and then tell me all about it). If you live anywhere near Philadelphia, go. If you don’t live near, but your organization (or personal budget) funds things like this, go. I mean, just look at the scheduled conversations. Here’s the description from Chris Lehmann:
Unfortunately, I won’t be able to go to EduCon, which is why I want you to go if it’s at all possible (and then tell me all about it). If you live anywhere near Philadelphia, go. If you don’t live near, but your organization (or personal budget) funds things like this, go. I mean, just look at the scheduled conversations. Here’s the description from Chris Lehmann:
Registration is now open for EduCon 2.1, the second annual conference and conversation on education and innovation hosted by Philadelphia's Science Leadership Academy in conjunction with The Franklin Institute. We will be convening January 23-25, 2009. During the conference, educators from around the world will descend upon Philly to teach, to think and to learn how to improve their own practices and inform the larger dialogue on education as well. Aaron Sorkin wrote, "Decisions are made by those who show up." It is time to show up.Now, for those of you in Colorado (or close to Colorado) who cannot attend EduCon (or even if you can attend), please consider attending the 2009 edition of Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation (last year’s info soon to be updated with this year's info). This will be held on February 21st, 2009, at Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado (different location than last year - mapquest), with details to follow in another post very soon.
EduCon is built on the Axioms:
1) Our schools must be inquiry-driven, thoughtful and empowering for all members
2) Our schools must be about co-creating -- together with our students -- the 21st Century Citizen
3) Technology must serve pedagogy, not the other way around.
4) Technology must enable students to research, create, communicate and collaborate
5) Learning can -- and must -- be networked.
Visit the EduCon wiki to learn about the conversation schedule. Aside from the conversations, Friday night will feature a panel discussion where deep thinkers from various non-academic strata investigate the question, "What is the purpose of school?" While the need for a new educational course is clear, the path to that shift is not as obvious. Sunday's panel will highlight those divergent paths as educational leaders for varying pedagogies engage each other in an attempt to make the case for how we should approach our educational evolution.
EduCon will also feature a pre-conference event on January 22nd this year - Constructing Modern Math/Science Knowledge - with participants Dr. David Thornburg, Dr. Gary Stager and more.
The stage is set for an amazing conference. No vendors. No sponsors. Simply - ideas, inquiry and pedagogy.
Show up.
General conference registration is $150 and $100 for School District of Philadelphia employees and includes Friday admittance to SLA's partner museum The Franklin Institute and The National Constitution Center. Pre-Conference registration is $100.
If you have any questions, please contact Chris Lehmann.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Reminder - Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation Coming this Saturday
Just a reminder for those of you attending – either physically or virtually – that Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is coming up this Saturday, February 23rd, from 9:00 am – 2:30 pm MST. If you registered, you should’ve received this email a few days ago with some updated information. And here’s the schedule for the day’s activities.
For those of you interested in attending virtually, we will be attempting to Ustream the seven sessions – channel info here. Please keep in mind that our first priority is pulling off the physical conference, so if the Ustream happens it will be a bonus, but we're going to give it a shot.
We have about 170 folks registered, although I imagine a few will change their minds at the last minute. The weather looks like it’s going to cooperate, everything is planned out and we think (emphasis on think) we’ve thought of everything. It’s going to be interesting . . .
For those of you interested in attending virtually, we will be attempting to Ustream the seven sessions – channel info here. Please keep in mind that our first priority is pulling off the physical conference, so if the Ustream happens it will be a bonus, but we're going to give it a shot.
We have about 170 folks registered, although I imagine a few will change their minds at the last minute. The weather looks like it’s going to cooperate, everything is planned out and we think (emphasis on think) we’ve thought of everything. It’s going to be interesting . . .
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation
You are invited to attend the Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation Conference.
What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, USA. We assume most folks will be from Colorado, but everyone is welcome to attend, and we are working on some ideas for virtual participation.
What is Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation?
Learning 2.0: A Colorado Conversation is a one day conference/meetup for teachers, administrators, students, school board members, parents and anyone who is interested in education. It will be held on Saturday, February 23rd, 2008, from 9:00 am until 3:00 pm at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colorado, USA. We assume most folks will be from Colorado, but everyone is welcome to attend, and we are working on some ideas for virtual participation.
Education is conversation.
Conversation creates change.
The future of education does not exist in the isolated world of theory and abstract conference sessions. Instead, it exists in conversations. It exists in creating a robust learning network that is ever-expanding and just-in-time. Learning 2.0 is not the beginning of this conversation. It is merely a stopping point, a time to talk about the visible difference that we all seek.
We read. We reflect. We write. We share. We learn. Come join us for a day of conversation about learning and technology.
You can learn much more about the conference on the wiki, including information about registering. Here are some highlights:
Tentative Schedule
We're still working on the details so this will be updated before the conference. Also, this may expand if we have more folks register than we are anticipating. (To quote Bud Hunt, "This conference stuff is hard!")
Registration
You must register so that we know how many folks to expect and so that we can have enough lunches available. (Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?)
Cost
Free, baby. And lunch is included, thanks to the generous support of Littleton Public Schools, St. Vrain Valley Public Schools, and Arapahoe High School.
Wireless
BYOL (that would be Bring Your Own Laptop) - we'll have wireless access to the Internet (filtered) - we may test our capacity to handle density of machines, but hopefully things will go swimmingly. If not, we have wired machines in various places you can access.
Questions for Students
We're having a student panel discussion during lunch. Here's your chance to submit some questions for them to consider.
Invite Others
We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.
Questions?
Feel free to leave a comment on this post or on the FAQ page on the wiki.
You can learn much more about the conference on the wiki, including information about registering. Here are some highlights:
Tentative Schedule
We're still working on the details so this will be updated before the conference. Also, this may expand if we have more folks register than we are anticipating. (To quote Bud Hunt, "This conference stuff is hard!")
Registration
You must register so that we know how many folks to expect and so that we can have enough lunches available. (Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?)
Cost
Free, baby. And lunch is included, thanks to the generous support of Littleton Public Schools, St. Vrain Valley Public Schools, and Arapahoe High School.
Wireless
BYOL (that would be Bring Your Own Laptop) - we'll have wireless access to the Internet (filtered) - we may test our capacity to handle density of machines, but hopefully things will go swimmingly. If not, we have wired machines in various places you can access.
Questions for Students
We're having a student panel discussion during lunch. Here's your chance to submit some questions for them to consider.
Invite Others
We strongly encourage you to invite other folks from your school, district, neighborhood, or learning network to attend as well. It would be great if everyone could bring at least one person with them that is perhaps new to this conversation.
Questions?
Feel free to leave a comment on this post or on the FAQ page on the wiki.
Oh, also feel free to add this image to your blog, or download and print the flyer.
Friday, November 23, 2007
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
2nd Annual K-12 Online Conference
Via Sheryl's blog (among many others). The deadline for proposal submissions is June 18th.
Announcing the second annual “K12 Online” conference for teachers, administrators and educators around the world interested in the use of Web 2.0 tools in classrooms and professional practice! This year’s conference is scheduled to be held over two weeks, October 15-19 and October 22-26 of 2007, and will include a preconference keynote during the week of October 8. This year’s conference theme is “Playing with Boundaries.” A call for proposals is below.
OVERVIEW:
There will be four “conference strands”– two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday - Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two-weeks. Each presentation will be given in any of a variety of downloadable, web based formats and released via the conference blog (http://www.k12onlineconference.org/) and archived for posterity.FOUR STRANDS:
Week 1
Strand A: Classroom 2.0
Leveraging the power of free online tools in an open, collaborative and transparent atmosphere characterises teaching and learning in the 21st century. Teachers and students are contributing to the growing global knowledge commons by publishing their work online. By sharing all stages of their learning students are beginning to appreciate the value of life long learning that inheres in work that is in “perpetual beta.” This strand will explore how teachers and students are playing with the boundaries between instructors, learners and classrooms. Presentations will also explore the practical pedagogical uses of online social tools (Web 2.0) giving concrete examples of how teachers are using the tools in their classes.Strand B: New Tools
Focusing on free tools, what are the “nuts and bolts” of using specific new social media and collaborative tools for learning? This strand includes two parts. Basic training is “how to” information on tool use in an educational setting, especially for newcomers. Advanced training is for teachers interested in new tools for learning, looking for advanced technology training, seeking ideas for mashing tools together, and interested in web 2.0 assessment tools. As educators and students of all ages push the boundaries of learning, what are the specific steps for using new tools most effectively? Where “Classroom 2.0″ presentations will focus on instructional uses and examples of web 2.0 tool use, “New Tools” presentations should focus on “nuts and bolts” instructions for using tools. Five “basic” and five “advanced” presentations will be included in this strandWeek 2
Strand A: Professional Learning Networks
Research says that professional development is most effective when it aims to create professional learning communities — places where teachers learn and work together. Using Web 2.0 tools educators can network with others around the globe extending traditional boundaries of ongoing, learner centered professional development and support. Presentations in this strand will include tips, ideas and resources on how to orchestrate your own professional development online; concrete examples of how the tools that support Professional Learning Environments (PLEs) are being used; how to create a supportive, reflective virtual learning community around school-based goals, and trends toward teacher directed personal learning environments.Strand B: Obstacles to Opportunities
Boundaries formalized by education in the “industrial age” shouldn’t hinder educators as they seek to reform and transform their classroom practice. Playing with boundaries in the areas of copyright, digital discipline and ethics (e.g. cyberbullying), collaborating globally (e.g. cultural differences, synchronous communication), resistance to change (e.g. administration, teachers, students), school culture (e.g. high stakes testing), time (e.g. in curriculum, teacher day), lack of access to tools/computers, filtering, parental/district concerns for online safety, control (e.g. teacher control of student behavior/learning), solutions for IT collaboration and more — unearthing opportunities from the obstacles rooted in those boundaries — is the focus of presentations in this strand.CALL FOR PROPOSALS:
This call encourages all, experienced and novice, to submit proposals to present at this conference via this link. Take this opportunity to share your successes, strategies, and tips in “playing with boundaries” in one of the four strands as described above.Deadline for proposal submissions is June 18, 2007. You will be contacted no later than June 30, 2007 regarding your status.
Presentations may be delivered in any web-based medium that is downloadable (including but not limited to podcasts, screencasts, slide shows) and is due one week prior to the date it is published.
Please note that all presentations will be licensed Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.
As you draft your proposal, you may wish to consider the presentation topics listed below which were suggested in the comments on the K-12 Online Conference Blog:
- special needs education
- Creative Commons
- Second Life
- podcasting
- iPods
- video games in education
- specific ideas, tips, mini lessons centered on pedagogical use of web 2.0 tools
- overcoming institutional inertia and resistance
- aligning Web 2.0 and other projects to national standards
- getting your message across
- how web 2.0 can assist those with disabilities
- ePortfolios
- classroom 2.0 activities at the elementary level
- creating video for TeacherTube and YouTube
- google docs
- teacher/peer collaboration
KEYNOTES:
The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who is distinguished and knowledgeable in the context of their strand. Keynoters will be announced shortly.CONVENERS:
This year’s conveners are:Darren Kuropatwa is currently Department Head of Mathematics at Daniel Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his pedagogical practice and for “child safe” blogging practices. He has more than 20 years experience in both formal and informal education and 13 years experience in team building and leadership training. Darren has been facilitating workshops for educators in groups of 4 to 300 for the last 10 years. Darren’s professional blog is called A Difference (http://adifference.blogspot.com/). He will convene Classroom 2.0.
Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach, a 20-year educator, has been a classroom teacher, charter school principal, district administrator, and digital learning consultant. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching graduate and undergraduate preservice teachers at The College of William and Mary (Virginia, USA), where she is also completing her doctorate in educational planning, policy and leadership. In addition, Sheryl is co-leading a statewide 21st Century Skills initiative in the state of Alabama, funded by a major grant from the Microsoft Partners in Learning program. Sheryl blogs at (http://21stcenturylearning.typepad.com/blog). She will convene Preconference Discussions and Personal Learning Networks.
Wesley Fryer is an educator, author, digital storyteller and change agent. With respect to school change, he describes himself as a “catalyst for creative educational engagement.” His blog, “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” was selected as the 2006 “Best Learning Theory Blog” by eSchoolnews and Discovery Education. He is the Director of Education Advocacy (PK-20) for AT&T in the state of Oklahoma. Wes blogs at (http://www.speedofcreativity.org/). Wes will convene New Tools.
Lani Ritter Hall currently contracts as an instructional designer for online professional development for Ohio teachers and online student courses with eTech Ohio. She is a National Board Certified Teacher who served in many capacities during her 35 years as a classroom and resource teacher in Ohio and Canada. Lani blogs at (http://possibilitiesabound.blogspot.com/). She will convene Obstacles to Opportunities.
QUESTIONS?
If you have any questions about any part of this, email one of us:
- Darren Kuropatwa: dkuropatwa {at} gmail {dot} com
- Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach: snbeach {at} cox {dot} net
- Lani Ritter Hall: lanihall {at} alltel {dot} net
- Wesley Fryer: wesfryer {at} pobox {dot} com
Please duplicate this post and distribute it far and wide across the blogosphere. Feel free to republish it on your own blog (actually, we’d really like people to do that
) or link back to this post (published simultaneously on all our blogs).
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Presenting at NECC, Palm Beach, TIE, and ?
There are a couple of interesting side effects that have arisen as a result of this blog. The first is that we are being encouraged - and sometimes even invited - to present at conferences and school districts. There are three that we are definitely presenting at, and several more that have made initial contacts.
First up is the School District of Palm Beach County 2007 Technology Conference on March 19th. This looks to be an impressive annual conference that the school district (in West Palm Beach, Florida) puts on. It's a non-student contact day, and they put on quite an event, with hundreds of sessions and even a vendor area. Anne Smith and I will share our staff development efforts and what teachers have been doing in the classroom at Arapahoe, with two sessions for teachers and one for administrators.
Next up is the TIE Conference in Copper Mountain, Colorado in June. TIE is Colorado's statewide technology in education conference. Will Richardson is the keynote speaker this year. (I don't know how much credit I can take for that, but I did suggest him to the TIE Board and then "campaigned" via email once or twice - so until somebody tells me otherwise, it's all because of me!) Anne Smith, Barbara Stahlhut, Brad Meyer, Brian Hatak and I will be presenting on Wednesday, June 20th, from 1:00 - 3:00 (in Wheeler A in Copper Station for those of you who might be attending).
The third conference that is a definite at this point is NECC in Atlanta in June. Once again all five of us will be presenting, and it will take place on Tuesday, June 26th from 3:30 - 4:30 pm (location TBD).
While all three presentations will be similar, I think they will end up being quite different due to the different audiences and formats. It looks as though Palm Beach will have a wide mix of teachers in terms of both their technological background and their knowledge of the read/write web, plus we do one session with administrators (probably 50-75 principals plus a few other folks - yikes!).
TIE tends to draw folks that are fairly knowledgeable about technology and come every year, although there are always quite a few educators that are there for the first time. It also has a couple of advantages over most other conferences. First, most sessions - including our session - are in rooms where everyone has a computer, so we can give them some time to explore some of the technologies (and even if we don't give them the time, they will anyway). Second, it's two hours instead of the typical 50-60 minutes that we'll get at Palm Beach and NECC. That's good, since we have about 8 hours worth of "content," plus another 8 hours or so of "conversation" we want to have. So it should be much easier to squeeze sixteen hours into two instead of one.
I'm not sure what to expect at NECC since I went for the first time last year myself. I think this tends to draw fairly tech-savvy folks as well, plus the expectations are different - and probably higher - since this is a national conference. I also don't know whether to expect 20 people in the audience - or 200. One thing I definitely did not like about NECC last year was that the majority of sessions were in large rooms with rows and rows of chairs crammed together. One of the things we're struggling with as we are planning these sessions is how to create a conversation among such a large group of people in a short amount of time, while still sharing some of the "stuff" that we want to share. I know many other folks out there have struggled with this as well, so any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. And if anyone out there is planning on attending NECC and doesn't have anything better to do at the prime time of 3:30 in the afternoon (nope, nobody's going to be tired, worn out, and sleepy from lunch at 3:30 are they?), please stop by so the room isn't completely empty, would ya?
It will be interesting to see how these go. I was hesitant at first to even entertain these conversations with folks about presenting, because I feel like we still have a whole lot more questions than answers, but I think that may be why they are asking us. It's because we are asking those questions about what learning should look like in the 21st century, working hard at figuring them out, and sharing both our successes and failures on the blog. We ultimately decided to go ahead for pretty much selfish reasons - we hope to learn as much or more from the conversations when we present as the so-called "audience" learns.
And the second interesting side-effect? Job inquiries. I've had several nice conversations with folks who've made initial contact with me wondering if I'd be interested in a particular position they had available. These were certainly not job offers, just initial contacts, and so far nothing that would make me consider leaving my wonderful position at Arapahoe High School (just in case my principal is reading this - Hi Ron!). Seriously, I think I'm doing important - and hopefully good - work here, and it would have to be something that was more important and where I could do more good to make me even consider it. (Cue violin music.)
Now, this is interesting and - yes, somewhat flattering. But what I find most interesting is that I mostly write on this blog about what other folks are doing in their classrooms. While I'm in classrooms pretty much every day, none of them are my classroom. It's been a few years since I've had a classroom of my own. All the great - and sometimes not so great - things you read about on this blog are happening in other folks' classrooms. (This is also why when I'm approached to present, one of my first questions is, "Can I bring at least one of my teachers along that is actually doing this in their classrooms?) I think - and hope - that I have helped a lot of those things happen in those classrooms, but it sure seems like those teachers are the ones who should be getting the job inquiries, not me. Now, having said that, if anyone was reading along and about to offer me six figures and unlimited use of the company jet, I'll be happy to delete the previous seven sentences and take your call - operators are standing by.
So, I guess I'm still processing all this but, to me, this is just another example of the way the world is changing. I wrote a grant and got it. I started this blog in support of our staff development efforts as part of that grant. I wrote a second grant and got it, which allowed us to bring even more folks into the staff development effort, which of course gave me more to blog about. The blog got noticed by some folks and people started reading it. They apparently found value in it, so many of them subscribed in their RSS aggregators. I apparently blogged something interesting at least often enough to keep them from removing it from their RSS aggregators. Now we're getting invitations to present and job inquiries.
This couldn't have happened to me/us ten years ago, or five years ago, or probably even three years ago. The tools may have been there (although they've improved tremendously), but the critical mass of audience wasn't in place (and the key tool - RSS - wasn't known to enough people). This is an important idea that I need to think about a lot more, but I think it holds a tremendous lesson for our students about the flattening of the world and the power of the read/write web.
First up is the School District of Palm Beach County 2007 Technology Conference on March 19th. This looks to be an impressive annual conference that the school district (in West Palm Beach, Florida) puts on. It's a non-student contact day, and they put on quite an event, with hundreds of sessions and even a vendor area. Anne Smith and I will share our staff development efforts and what teachers have been doing in the classroom at Arapahoe, with two sessions for teachers and one for administrators.
Next up is the TIE Conference in Copper Mountain, Colorado in June. TIE is Colorado's statewide technology in education conference. Will Richardson is the keynote speaker this year. (I don't know how much credit I can take for that, but I did suggest him to the TIE Board and then "campaigned" via email once or twice - so until somebody tells me otherwise, it's all because of me!) Anne Smith, Barbara Stahlhut, Brad Meyer, Brian Hatak and I will be presenting on Wednesday, June 20th, from 1:00 - 3:00 (in Wheeler A in Copper Station for those of you who might be attending).
The third conference that is a definite at this point is NECC in Atlanta in June. Once again all five of us will be presenting, and it will take place on Tuesday, June 26th from 3:30 - 4:30 pm (location TBD).
While all three presentations will be similar, I think they will end up being quite different due to the different audiences and formats. It looks as though Palm Beach will have a wide mix of teachers in terms of both their technological background and their knowledge of the read/write web, plus we do one session with administrators (probably 50-75 principals plus a few other folks - yikes!).
TIE tends to draw folks that are fairly knowledgeable about technology and come every year, although there are always quite a few educators that are there for the first time. It also has a couple of advantages over most other conferences. First, most sessions - including our session - are in rooms where everyone has a computer, so we can give them some time to explore some of the technologies (and even if we don't give them the time, they will anyway). Second, it's two hours instead of the typical 50-60 minutes that we'll get at Palm Beach and NECC. That's good, since we have about 8 hours worth of "content," plus another 8 hours or so of "conversation" we want to have. So it should be much easier to squeeze sixteen hours into two instead of one.
I'm not sure what to expect at NECC since I went for the first time last year myself. I think this tends to draw fairly tech-savvy folks as well, plus the expectations are different - and probably higher - since this is a national conference. I also don't know whether to expect 20 people in the audience - or 200. One thing I definitely did not like about NECC last year was that the majority of sessions were in large rooms with rows and rows of chairs crammed together. One of the things we're struggling with as we are planning these sessions is how to create a conversation among such a large group of people in a short amount of time, while still sharing some of the "stuff" that we want to share. I know many other folks out there have struggled with this as well, so any suggestions you have would be greatly appreciated. And if anyone out there is planning on attending NECC and doesn't have anything better to do at the prime time of 3:30 in the afternoon (nope, nobody's going to be tired, worn out, and sleepy from lunch at 3:30 are they?), please stop by so the room isn't completely empty, would ya?
It will be interesting to see how these go. I was hesitant at first to even entertain these conversations with folks about presenting, because I feel like we still have a whole lot more questions than answers, but I think that may be why they are asking us. It's because we are asking those questions about what learning should look like in the 21st century, working hard at figuring them out, and sharing both our successes and failures on the blog. We ultimately decided to go ahead for pretty much selfish reasons - we hope to learn as much or more from the conversations when we present as the so-called "audience" learns.
And the second interesting side-effect? Job inquiries. I've had several nice conversations with folks who've made initial contact with me wondering if I'd be interested in a particular position they had available. These were certainly not job offers, just initial contacts, and so far nothing that would make me consider leaving my wonderful position at Arapahoe High School (just in case my principal is reading this - Hi Ron!). Seriously, I think I'm doing important - and hopefully good - work here, and it would have to be something that was more important and where I could do more good to make me even consider it. (Cue violin music.)
Now, this is interesting and - yes, somewhat flattering. But what I find most interesting is that I mostly write on this blog about what other folks are doing in their classrooms. While I'm in classrooms pretty much every day, none of them are my classroom. It's been a few years since I've had a classroom of my own. All the great - and sometimes not so great - things you read about on this blog are happening in other folks' classrooms. (This is also why when I'm approached to present, one of my first questions is, "Can I bring at least one of my teachers along that is actually doing this in their classrooms?) I think - and hope - that I have helped a lot of those things happen in those classrooms, but it sure seems like those teachers are the ones who should be getting the job inquiries, not me. Now, having said that, if anyone was reading along and about to offer me six figures and unlimited use of the company jet, I'll be happy to delete the previous seven sentences and take your call - operators are standing by.
So, I guess I'm still processing all this but, to me, this is just another example of the way the world is changing. I wrote a grant and got it. I started this blog in support of our staff development efforts as part of that grant. I wrote a second grant and got it, which allowed us to bring even more folks into the staff development effort, which of course gave me more to blog about. The blog got noticed by some folks and people started reading it. They apparently found value in it, so many of them subscribed in their RSS aggregators. I apparently blogged something interesting at least often enough to keep them from removing it from their RSS aggregators. Now we're getting invitations to present and job inquiries.
This couldn't have happened to me/us ten years ago, or five years ago, or probably even three years ago. The tools may have been there (although they've improved tremendously), but the critical mass of audience wasn't in place (and the key tool - RSS - wasn't known to enough people). This is an important idea that I need to think about a lot more, but I think it holds a tremendous lesson for our students about the flattening of the world and the power of the read/write web.
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