Mining for Treasures

20 October 2008

K12 Online Conference Kicks Off Today

One of the most transformative conferences for me, over the past two years, is the K12 Online Conference (k12onlineconference.org). It began last Monday, with the posting of the Stephen Heppell’s keynote conversation, “It isn’t the 20th Century Anymore, So Why Should We Teach Like As Though it Was“.  Some of you heard refered to as working with the OWPP on their school design project, during our North Shore Educational Summit.

Today and for each of the next nine school days, four presentations will be posted online for your viewing. The conference conveners have made the presentations available in audio only, and video formats. Each is less than 20 minutes in length, making them very accessible to you to view.

Over the past two conferences, whose presentations are still available, I have been introduced to tools such as wikis, Moodle tricks, and GabCast.

When you have a chance, check out the different presentations. They will be worth the time and energy invested.

Also check out the three remaining live events, the two fireside chats (October 25th @ 9:00 a.m. and October 30th @ 7:00 p.m.) and the When Night Falls (October 31st – November 1st, from 7:00 p.m. – 6:59 p.m.) These events allow you to connect with educators around the world , sharing the thoughts and ideas collected over the next two weeks. You can join in even if you haven’t had a chance to sample the presentations.

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23 September 2008

Join the Fun – Online Book Groups

Do you want to take the leap into a personal learning network, but not sure which one is right for you? Why don’t you think about joining an online book group. There are two that I would like to highlight for you.

The first can be found at Teacher Places Book Clubs. In the past, this group has discussed Gardner’s FIve MInds for the Future, Medina’s Brain Rules, and Christenson’s Disruptive Class, all books which have had a huge impact on my thinking and understanding. They just have released there fall lineup, which looks extremely impressive as well:

First up is Kwame Anthony Appiah’s Cosmopolitanism.  Publishers Weekly says of the book:

Weighing in on a discourse that includes both visions of “clashing civilizations” and often equally misguided cultural relativism, Ghana-born Princeton philosopher Appiah reclaims a tradition of creative exchange and imaginative engagement across lines of difference.

Next is Beverly Tatum’s Can We Talk About Race?  The Boston Globe writes about this book:

A provocative and important book . . . What Tatum seeks to do above all is trigger sometimes challenging discussions about race, and infuse those discussions with a reality-based focus on how race affects us all. Her latest book does that beautifully, asking tough questions, and patiently, inclusively seeking answers.

Finally, for December, we are going to tackle Farhad Manjoo’s True Enough: Learning to Live in a Post-Fact Society.  The review from Publisher’s Weekly says:

Manjoo rounds out his analysis by examining the workings of “partisan news realities,” and he points out that the first casualty in these truth wars is a basic human and civic need: trust. Though several of the author’s ideas are repetitiously threaded through his narrative, Manjoo has produced an engaging, illustrative look at the dangers of living in an oversaturated media world.

All three books look to address key issues that we, as a community of colleagues and educators, need to engage if we are to help our students, our schools, and our communities to navigate a world where divisiveness and sophistry appear to reign.

Additionally, a group of teachers at Stevenson High School have begun a year-long book study on Don Tapscott’s Wikinomics. This book talks about how collaboration in the business place is beginning to change the way business is done. The focus of this group is to talk about how the ideas apply to education.

We have been invited to participate if you would like the schedule for the reading is not cumbersome. It is:

Timeline:
9/24 Read Intro through pg. 64 (Ch. 1 & 2)
11/5 Read pgs. 65 – 124 (Ch. 3 & 4)
1/21 Read pgs. 124-182 (Ch. 5 & 6)
2/4 Read pgs. 183-238 (Ch. 7 &
3/18 Read pgs. 239-287 (Ch. 9 & 10)
4/30 Read pgs. 288-315 (Ch. 11)

To participate in the conversation, visit the following blog – http://wikinomics-book-study.blogspot.com/

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19 September 2008

First NICE Meeting of the Year

The Northern Illinois Computer Educators (NICE) are hosting their first meeting of the year on Tuesday, September 23, 2008. The meeting will be held from 4:30 to 7:00 pm (Dinner from 4:30 – 5:15 ish , Presentation 5:15 – 6:30 ish) at Lyon Elementary School in Glenview, IL. Lyon is located at the corner of Lake and Waukegan.

The presentation for this meeting is a Share-A-Rama! Atendees will share their summer discoveries; good books, new websites, new technology tools, share feedback from summer classes, workshops, and conferences.

The cost of the meeting is $5, which helps offset the cost of the food for the meeting.

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19 September 2008

Next Generation Teaching and Learning Conference – October 13

The University School of Milwaukee is hosting a conference, the Next Generation Teaching and Learning Conference, on Monday, October 13th from 8:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. on their lovely campus.

The conference will be keynoted by Alan November (novemberlearning.com). I do not know the topic of his keynote on this day, but in the past, his topics have included Cultivating a World-Class Work Ethic, Creating a New Culture of Teaching and Learning, and Student as Contributor:Digital Learning Farm.

After the keynote, there will be two one hour break-out sessions. In addition to Alan, the following will be presenting:

Sharon Peters, from Montreal (http://wearejustlearning.ca/) will be presenting on Learning without Borders and her experience in Africa this summer

Steve Hargadon (http://stevehargadon.com) will be presenting on Web 2.0 is the Future of Education.

Additional speakers will be announced shortly

After lunch, there will be a 90 minute hands on workshops on a variety of topics, so you can begin to apply what you have learned from the morning sessions. The day ends with a reflective processing time, where participants are encouraged to develop individual learning goals, curricular learning goals, and for the teachers at USM, departmental learning goals.

If you are interested in attending, please contact your division head and myself. If you have further questions, please contact me.

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