K12online08 Audio Channel

In July 2007 a superintendent had his first introduction to the Internet world where collaborating, contributing and creating are the norm. Later that year, in SecondLife, the superintendent met the International Society for Technology in Education’s 2007 Technology Leader of the Year, who has mentored him, as the need arose, during a year and a half of his self-directed learning. The superintendent has learned much about the people, platforms, and the pedagogy of this online world with help from people like the mentor who live all over the world and who accepted his invitation to become part of the online network of educators he has developed and nurtured since 2007. What are Ustream, Twitter, YouTube, Elluminate, Diigo, Mind42, Jing, SecondLife, Google Docs, and TED? What do they have to with learning? Our capacity to learn? to share? to invent? Come join the conversation as the superintendent, Dennis Richards, and the mentor, Charlene Chausis, “tell you three stories on the way to one argument.”

The emergence of online, networked communities of practice is valuable and precious - but it is easy to be misled about what these actually are. They are not communities, in the traditional sense. There is no set membership. Norms and values grow and change in response to our changing understandings and participatory acts. We all see different things and exist in different conversations. Texts are repurposed. We choose whom we read and follow and respond to. In this edited collection of multiple conversations about these issues, the presenter and his guests will share some theory, stories, and ideas about what it means to exist, teach, create and learn in a community of communities, a true personal learning network.

Make better classroom movies with simple tips that will help elevate your vodcast to the next level in terms of artistic and technical merit. Learn how to storyboard like a pro, choose shots that support the telling of your story, and capture better lighting and sound. Regain lost opportunities to teach media literacy and higher level thinking via video production by empowering yourself to empower your students. Tap into over one hundred years of movie history with this engaging presentation that instructs as it entertains.

New ways of looking at relationships with parents will help parents support their children, their child’s teacher and their child’s school. The next generation of parents are and will continue to be computer literate. Electronic communications will be one of the ways that schools and teachers effectively communicate with families in the 21st century. By engaging parents using new mediums, schools can help develop a broad base of parental knowledge regarding social media tools. parents that are more informated and have a better understanding of social media technologoes will be better prepared to help their children successed and excel in the information age.

The Teach Web 2.0 Wiki is a repository of emerging web applications with educational potential. Tools are reviewed for their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and potential threats. Resources and teacher examples are also posted. The wiki is only as valuable as the content posted by contributors. The more who participate, the more valuable it becomes.

It is often said that “the future is not what it use to be.” In this information-driven, technology-rich world, where jobs appear and become obsolete in only a few years, it is certainly not your father’s future any more. Retooling our classrooms into learning spaces that effectively prepare our children for a future of infinite opportunity will require a new story about teaching and learning. It must be a story that is so compelling that we forget about our childhood student experiences from decades ago and agree that a different kind of classroom, teaching, and learning experience is required and deserved by our children.

Learn how our Monster Project encourages creativity and the development of reading and writing skills while integrating technology into the classroom. Using monsters as a vehicle, students across the United States exchange written descriptions and recreate their partner’s monster without ever looking at the real thing. Teachers will discover free tools available online, connect drawing and writing tools, learn how to work with multiple files in a wiki, and equate various goals of the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy with an electronic platform. Lesson plans, tips, and resources are shared.

This presentation addresses the intersection of design, education and tecnology. It investigates the design of remote mentoring interfaces. It questions ways in which the design of interactive tools can support the remote and synchronous mentoring of a middle school learner by a college student through concrete representation of abstract concepts. It looks at ways in which the design of interactive educational tools can be informed by learning styles and preferences for more more meaningful learning experiences. While this presentation focuses on specific variables such as concrete middle school learners, peer to peer mentoring and science as the subject being mentored, it shows the potential for strategies to be transferred to other educational contexts. The presentation will include demonstrations of ways in which interactivity can promote meaningful learning at the different stages of the learning process as well as ways in which characteristics of social networking portals can be appropriated for remote m

The team process of creating a virtual presence for your school, the development of authentic, experiential, standard-based curriculum & implementing it with students in Teen Second Life addresses the NETS for administrators, teachers & students and is an innovative approach to a collaborative and all-inclusive learning community. Focusing on the process of developing constructivist learning in the virtual world, Sheehy will present the steps her teachers are taking this 3rd year of teaching in Ramapo Islands on Teen Second life to translate their content into the virtual landscape. She will outline best practices that have evolved and the student responses to this 21st century pedagogical shift.

Tanya and Aimee have launched a pilot program that would put laptops and Web 2.0 technologies in the hands and minds of seniors in our rural Kansas high school. This presentation will discuss the layout of the class setup and background work needed for implementation, communicate the struggles and successes encountered and show examples of student work. Together we will provide educators with an in-depth glimpse of the possibilities that are out there for 21st century teaching and learning. The participants will go away with a wealth of knowledge of different Web 2.0 applications and how to use them in classroom instruction. The participants will see the layout of the class, hear pros and cons of the experience, and gather ideas for “amplifying possibilities” for technology use in their own classrooms. should be considered.

Backchanneling, traditionally an online discussion running alongside a live presentation, is a way to engage all students in classroom activities, including students who are normally non-participants. Issues and student needs that lead me to the technique, the educational relevance of the process, backchanneling services (including possibilities and limitations of several), and example activities will all be addressed in this presentation.

Globally collaborative projects are an exciting way to engage your students in authentic learning across continents. Combining a variety of web 2.0 tools can remove the barriers of time and distance to connect your class internationally. Learning to collaborate in an online and inter-cultural environment will clearly be a critical skill for their future. Learn how to develop a successful global collaboration and participate in a real time project with Kim and Jennifer! Although aimed at elementary school, teachers of all levels will find inspiration and practical ideas throughout this video!

In Science, entropy is the course of events towards disorder of a system. In new ideas or models, early adopters have the spirit and the energy of innovative ideas. This is the case with 21st century skills. In order to continue innovation and change the course of education, the momentum of change needs to overcome entropy. Reflection of lessons learned in creating change has brought to light successful and unsuccessful ways to balance energy and entropy as well as several barriers and thoughts that should be considered.

In this 20-minute voice-narrated PowerPoint (Presentation Zen style) Dr. McLeod reflects upon key concepts from Dr. Clayton Christensen’s work regarding disruptive innovation. The presentation draws primarily from two of Dr. Christensen’s books, The Innovator’s Dilemma and Disrupting Class, and focuses on the different ways of thinking that are now mandatory if school leaders are to successfully navigate their organizations in transition to the 21st century. Key points from other leadership models also make their way into the presentation.

Because OTs have a knack for adapting items to meet the needs of their clients, they are similar to MacGyver who is known for his innovative use of common objects. In our busy world, it is handy to have a simple and flexible tool “at the ready”. This presentation will help us develop MacGyver-like ingenuity as we change disabilities to possibilities, using one free online tool. Did I mention Universal Design for Learning? Using these principles, we will see examples of how to offer multiple means of representation, expression and engagement when addressing the needs of our diverse learners.

A project-based learning (PBL) classroom is an ideal environment for preparing 21st century students for their future. This type of classroom provides students the opportunity to engage in learning, using their creativity to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of curriculum. Learn how to create and manage a PBL classroom, while still maintaining your sanity.

Donna DesRoches and Carlene Walter, collectively known as the Disruptive Innovators, present their framework for professional learning and mentorship for teacher-librarians demonstrating how new technologies can be used to creating meaningful online learning opportunities. Within the context of the framework, they will illustrate the importance of redefining, reshaping, and readvocating the role of the teacher-librarian.

Leading change can only happen when others believe in and then live the change leaders suggest. Listen to the voices of the students and teachers of the Science Leadership Academy through the lens of progressive, 21st Century school change.

It sounds like a simple idea– kids don’t like school… kids like games, so if we sneak some educational content into games, won’t everyone benefit? This session will explore what’s right and wrong about this idea, and how educators can discern the difference between the hype and the promise. I believe that although some of the promise has been oversold, there is much to learn from exploring the educational promise of games in the classroom.

How do you measure up? How do you grow from month to month and year to year in a tough profession that often lives in the tyranny of the urgent? This presentation explores ‘food for thought’ background and issues to do with growing and succeeding in a flattened educational environment and encourages you to pick several areas for improvement this year. It also offers tips for carving out “time to think”, and the development of mentorship and the grassroots movement of educators and how you can “join in.” Educators around the world can set your goals for improvement and share what they are doing this year to kick it up a notch and grow as well.