The K12 Online conference kicked off today with the posting of the Pre-Conference Keynote by David Warlick. There is both an audio and a video component of the presentation. ( http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=144). On Monday and Tuesday, there is a live chat that you can participate in ( http://davidwarlick.com/k12onlinekeynote_chat/signin.php ) and on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., there will be an opportunity to participate in an live discussion, facilitated using Elluminate (https://sas.elluminate.com/m .jnlp?sid=2007095&password=M .E8E484E55C29AE1DE2356659DBF40C). These later two events are a great way to begin to create the relationships with other across the world.

I would reccomend that you check out the conference blog (k12onlineconference.org) daily in order to follow the conference. Beginning next Monday, October 15th and continuing until Friday, October 26th, there will be four sessions a day that will be available to “attend”.. (See a schedule of sessions).

Additionally, there are live Fireside Chats on Saturday, October 20th and Tuesday, October 23rd, where participants can converse with each other and with the presenters.

The culminating event, When Night Falls, will begin on Saturday, October 27th at 0:00 GMT. This 24 hour event allows for participants to connect with each other and provides a starting point to keep the conversations alive.

For me personally, the conference last year:

1. Transformed me in positive ways which I am just beginning to understand. It challenged my notions of what should be done to prepare students, faculty, administrators, and parents to prepare them for the shifts that I believe are happening in the world around us. I have begun to act up those notions in my professional practice.
2. The presenters last year mentored me to making a real commitment to embed the use of these new tools into my daily practice. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to the opening keynote speaker, David Warlick whose presentation pushed me to blog consistently for the past 11 month now, to Vicki Davis whose hands-on activity on wikis provided me with real experience as to how wikis can be utilized in the classroom, and to the contributions of other presenters such as Mark Wagner, Jeff Utecht, Chris Lehmann, and Ewan McIntosh.
3. Many of individuals who I got to meet during the As Night Falls (scheduled for October 26th – October 27th this year) I now count amongst my friends. They have provided me opportunities to grow and learn both professionally and personally. And from this group, I have been introduced to an even larger pool of people who now fall within my friendship group. I now feel that I can travel nearly anywhere throughout the world and know that I can connect and share with these great people.

The beauty of the conference is that it remains available beyond the scope of the three weeks, so you can “attend” when time, energy, and motivation permits.

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