Just ended to 21st Century Learning Conference in Hong Kong. It has been a whirlwind time with lots of new information to share and look back at.
Here is a brief overview of what I did and what I learned...
The conference opened with a keynote by Wesley Fryer:
His blog is called Moving at the Speed of Creativity: Wes talked about the use of digital storytelling and shared the site Celebrate Oklahoma. Wes says that digital storytelling "empowers learners to become digital witnesses, archives local oral history and shares that history safely on the global stage of the Internet." This is a project that I would love to do with students at JIS. It would be great to do one a year for each student and if teachers and students learned how they could do it themselves. Daniel Pink talks about the importance of storytelling and how students need to learn have storytelling in the curriculum. Wes would like to see all teachers digital video certified so they can create with media and use it in the classroom. Another resource mentioned was LoTi Connection. He put us on a Chatzy sharing site right away and the audience was able to respond and engage during his workshop. You could even ask questions in this way in a classroom.
LoTi forms strategic academic partnerships with school systems who share a common vision for 21st Century teaching, learning, and leadership.
He also shared a blog called Learning is messy by Brian Crosby. He also mentioned two books that sounded very interesting, not that I have time to read with my uni work...
OVERSOLD & UNDERUSED by Dr. Larry Cuban
THE BOOK OF LEARNING AND FORGETTING by Frank Smith
Saturday the conference opened up with another Keynote by Bruce Dixion who is the guru of 1:1 computing and has a site called Anytime Anywhere Learning. "The goal of the Anytime Anywhere Learning Foundation (AALF) is to ensure that all children have access to unlimited opportunities to learn anytime and anywhere and that they have the tools that make this possible." At this site you can find research and resources for 1:1 and 21 steps to 21st Century Learning, plus more. Bruce talked about transforming learning environments and how it must be done by us. We need to build a better understanding of the "art of the possible". Rethinking online textbook and how they need to be more. We are the adventurers to create change to the unwise, and though we are small numbers we need to be loud in voice to show what is possible. Invite parents, teachers, and administrators to create blogs.
The first workshop that I went to was by Chris Smith who created Shambles.net This website is designed to support the international school communities (teachers, support staff, administrators, students and families) in 17 countries in South East Asia. If you look at his PLN (Personal Learning Network) he has some great 2.0 tools to check out. To get there click on the small marker that says Chris's PLN/PLE under his signature. There is lots of great information on this site.
Tool: screenr An easy way to create screencast. See the video for instant instructions.
A quote that saw in this classroom..."We are all writers...unique and accomplished in our own individual ways? See yourself as a writer?" Isn't this a great part of blogs, is seeing yourself as a writer!
Workshop 2: Introduction to Educational Podcasting (Wes Fryer)
He uses Audacity a free, open source software that allows you to edit audio and combine it together with visuals. It seems like it would be easy to use from the demonstration he gave. The hardware that you need for this Wes calls a digital backpack. Digital Backpack suggestions are:
1. Sony MVC-FD200 Digital Still Camera
2. Olympus WS-110 Digital Recorder
3. Plantronics Audio 650 USB Headset
4. 2GB USB Flashdrive
5. 2 GB Digital Camera Digital Memory Stick
6. Backpack to carry this equipment
You can vary to type of equipment as you may have different but similar equipment at your school.
Here were some suggestions that I wrote down, but they may not make sense till you use the program:
Export as a wave
Set bit rates at 32 if you include music
Use date for filing
Podcast with photos: open up podcast on itunes and add....get information to add 1b3 tag (?) browse and embed photo.
See samples Mills Murfee Podcasts
Radio WillowWeb This site has instructions for teachers who what to podcast.
TOOLS:
Gcast is a quick and easy way to create a podcast.
drop.io is free...Use drop.io to privately share your files and collaborate in real time by web, email, phone, mobile, and more. Create each drop in two clicks and share what you want, how you want, with whom you want.
google moderator is a tool that allows distributed communities to submit and vote on questions for talks, presentations and events.
Keynote: Our 21st Century Challenge: Robyn Treyvaud
This was about our need to help develop responsible, ethical, and resilient digizens. Now that young people are both consumers and creators we as a teachers have a responsibility to address students with issues of privacy, friendship, community. How is the web changing the definitions of these words. Technology is an enabler for entertainment and friendship, but needs to enhance friendship not replace them. Parents and teachers need to help students develop a moral compass meaning, what they choose to do when no one is watching.
We watched a very powerful video called Cyberbullying: A whole-school community issue. It was from digizens.org. and is for grade 6-12.
See her site: Cyber SafeWord
Forum on Gaming
This was a panel of teachers who support gaming for learning. The realization that gaming is a big part of children's lives today. Not only are they playing games but they are creating games. Some games that were suggested:
Scratch designed by MIT
Atmosfear a 3D game on DVD, I think you can get it from amazon.
Club Penguin by Disney
Electrocity You are the mayor of a city and you have to get energy.
Palestine a 3D world and you are a reporter. You have to buy this game. Check it out at Serious Games Interactive
Harnessing Digital Content for the Library and Learning
Katy Day and Beth Gourley
A big thanks to Katy and Beth for doing a workshop for librarians!
A big thanks to Katy and Beth for doing a workshop for librarians!
Introduced to tool: wallwisher which is like a post it wall and comments can be moved around and grouped.
Found this site while I was looking at other sites. Really has nothing to do with this workshop. Howstuffworks.com
Check out Book Glutton
How do you like the idea of reading material on a screen? Not reading but screening.
For information and the power-point of this workshop see http://sites.google.com/site/digitalgist
Keynote: “Education 3.0: A Framework for Change in Teaching and Assessing 21st Century Skill” by Andrew Thompson
He says that we will be 18 million teachers short by 2015! We need to re-imagine what our students will need.
3R's are:
Responsive communities-for preparing kids for the economy today?
Relevant to learners-How? Access to education anytime, anywhere for thieir wholle lives. How to apply knowledge: needs to move from acquisition, to deepening, to creation.
Results orientated
Change paradigm by reform agenda, 21st Century skills, Infrastructure, pedagogy and practice.
21st Century Skills are creativity, curiosity, metacognition, communication, collaboration (sharing work, knowledge, and expertise), Core subjects are important, comparability (transportable skills), complex problem solvers.
critical thinking
"Online access to content is allowing us to be answer rich but question poor."
Webolution is to move from passive information to participation to collaboration and creation.
The integration of data collection and use will change what we know about students and how we engage them in learning at an individual and system level.
The good, the bad and the ugly
Good is our ability to change, the bad is we can't improve what we can't measure, the ugly is that we have assessment all wrong and we have to get out of the 1980's.
How do we measure competency using e-portfolios: novice to expert grading. Who should it be that is judging.
I found Wes Fyer's comments on this keynote and it is very detailed. I have included here I see Wes is a critical thinker and you will see the questions he had for Andrew. Wes is also a great note taker!
I found Wes Fyer's comments on this keynote and it is very detailed. I have included here I see Wes is a critical thinker and you will see the questions he had for Andrew. Wes is also a great note taker!
You Brought the Box: Kathleen Ferenz
Look at the space on the Library of Congress for teachers.
An idea without a plan, is just an idea. Comprehensive plan needs vision, goals, financing, infrastructure, community, communication, and pedagogy (this is where you target your PD. We need to articulate a vision of continuous learning.
See calisphere for primary resources.
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