Play, Create, Share, Reflect is the title of a presentation at the Oregon State University Faculty Forum 2013 I recently gave. It is the motto that provides a framework for both my students and myself as we explore technologies for educational purposes. It contains student and instructor made examples in action.
Here are a few versions of it. The embedded one is 20 minutes I created on my computer with Camtasia as I gave it a practice run. Here is the actual presentation (40 min) recorded by Ecampus. Here is the Prezi if you would like to access any of the links in the video.
The K-12 Online Conferences always have an abundance of information and great presentations. This year's looks like no exception. The topic is Learn, Share, and Remix . It runs from October 22 - November 2nd. Here's the schedule. View the teasers here. Enjoy now and the recorded sessions and links later. See former posts about the K-12 Online Conference and more here.
This past week, my online course looked at a few ways of engaging in online professional development networks and conferences. Through my membership in Classroom 2.0, I received an email from Steve Hargadon describing some exciting opportunities awaiting us in the month of August.
Steve Hargadon describes the 2012 Learning 2.0 Virtual Conference, August 20-24, 2012 and the role it will play in the Connected Educator month. His post also provides links to opportunities to submit proposals to the Library 2.012 conference, October 3 - 5 and the 2012 Global Education Conference, November 12 - 16. August and beyond hold many opportunities to participate in some free, online learning opportunities.
Thanks to Steve Hargadon for his work and dedication to spreading the news. Happy learning!
To blog
about ISTE or not to blog about ISTE? That
was the question. It’s fun to share, so
here are some of my highlights. I
selected sessions that can be watched or further explored via the links.
The two keynotes
I attended were great. What’s not to
love about Sir Ken Robinson, his ideas and
sense of humor? I’ve watched so many of
his talks over the past few years that it was nice to be there with him at
ISTE. Dr. Yong Zhao gave an impressive speech as well. (See below and forward to minute 25 to get to
his presentation.) Here’s a link to these and other ISTE videos.
Google Slam was fun to attend. I walked away with a few new ideas,
particularly with the use of Google Docs and gadgets. The vocabulary flash card gadget has potential. Here’s a direct link to explore more.
Kathy Schrock is an
engaging presenter who packed her session full of practical ideas. Here
is her presentation on Literacy in the Digital Age. I
particularly liked her section about global literacy. Concepts such as how
people from different countries react differently to the same text, the topic
of news bias, and ways to promote global literacy supported by the use of
technology was reiterated in other sessions as well. If you are not familiar with Kathy’s work,
take a look. It’s near impossible to
explore her site and not glean a new idea or inspiration.
Annette Lambalso delivered a session, Graphic Inquiry: Dynamic Differentiationand Digital Age Learning, filled to the brim with
practical tips. I recommend watching the session here. Here’s a direct link to her presentation handoutand Get Graphic site, two valuable resources with many applications
for ESOL, differentiation best practices, etc.!
Some of her ideas for the use of infographics as a means of critical
analysis and inquiry are interesting.
Since I use online comic strips, timelines, etc. in my own teaching, I
liked her discussion of students generating both the physical and the online
versions.
I could
easily write a whole post on the larger ideas from the presentations of Alan November’s session, Empathy:
The 21st Century Skill,
David Warlick’s
session, Cracking the ‘Native’
Information Experience, Chris Lehmann’s session Beyond Googling: Using Technology To Build A Culture of Inquiry,
and Will Richardson’ssession, The Steep Unlearning Curve: Rethinking Schools, Classrooms, and Learning. Check out their work if you are not familiar
with them.
Renee Hobbs has some useful information on the
topic of copyright and fair use laws that I have been exploring lately. Judith Harris
delivered an interesting session called TPACK:
Will You Know It When You See It? I
was a bit disappointed I didn’t see more, but caught the tail end of the
presentation, Educational Blogging:
Flattening the Classroom Walls!,by
Linda Yollis and Kathleen Morris. I’ve
followed Kathleen’s tweets and work for quite some time. Their site is well worth exploring for elementary teachers
interested in blogging and global collaboration.
As a fun
side note, like many of the attendees, I used my iPad to record notes, capture
pictures, etc. Evernote was my go to app and I
enjoyed participating in Today’s Meet backchannel.
This year, the K-12 Online Conference promises
to be good. I predict this year will be
interesting and informative and will strike up some good conversations and
maybe even debate. The theme, Purposeful Play, relates to my gaming post series (See part 1 andpart 2).
It will start on Monday, Nov. 21 with a pre-conference
keynote by Angela Maiers. Angela
blogs at www.angelamaiers.com. All of the presenters that week will be worth
checking out:
I have a special place in my heart for the K-12
Online Conference. It is when I
first began to realize all of the free quality professional development
opportunities that are out there. It
opened my eyes to the many online choices we have to either quietly observe or
actively participate at our own comfort level.
One of my first blog posts was done last year on the K-12 2010 Online Conference and
was followed up by some of my favorites.
You can view them by clicking here and scrolling through
them.
No worries; if you miss the conference, it will be
accessible on their wiki. Plus, we will
highlight some of our favorites in an upcoming post.
Professional development conferences play a large role in my
life. What’s not to love about
intellectual sharing, healthy questioning of norms and looking into the future
of one’s field? It’s hard if not
impossible to walk away without a mind whirling full of ideas and
possibilities.
As a side note, with these free online conference
possibilities, I find myself stepping a bit beyond my profession and gaining a
broader view of education and our future by attending. Although I am not a librarian, the topics of
this conference seem applicable to all of education. We have addressed some of these ideas within
this blog such as in the post, What’s a Book? Is This a Book? I also learn a lot from following and
interacting with librarians in twitter and on Google+. What a better way to learn and support this
amazing group of people than by attending?
Since I have used VoiceThread multiple times in my classes, I was drawn to Chrissy Hellyer's below presentation Record, Reflect, and Share: Using VoiceThread as a Digital Portfolio. She gives some practical tips, discusses how it can be used for student led conferences, and provides student examples.
Additional resources related to Chrissy Hellyer's presentation are located on this link.
I also enjoyed watching middle school student Nicolas Gutkowski's presentation about his 5th grade wiki called Learning On My Own.
Copyright. Does the word conjure feelings of warmth and happiness? Here's an informative presentation from the K-12 Online Conference by Rod Lucier entitled Creative Commons: What Every Educator Needs to Know. Perhaps watching it won't leave you with the warm fuzzies, but hopefully you will walk away with an overview of Creative Commons and copyright.
This video inspired us to create a creative commons license for When Tech Met Ed.
There are more informative and applicable videos like this in the K-12 online conference that is currently underway. Here is the schedule. Links to presentations from week one are already accessible.
Although I highly recommend joining professional organizations, such as TESOL, there are many free online conferences and webinars available. Here are two suggestions to get you started.
Join the K12 Online Conference site, the free "conference that never ends." It has a similar appearance to classroom 2.0, highlighted in a previous post. The K-12 Online 2010 conference will begin Monday, Oct 11 and continue for two weeks. There will be a wide variety of presentations from around the world. The conference can be accessed on the conference blog and the conference ning. Watch video teasers!
Keep your eyes open for free webinars from Pearson Longman if you are interested in topics that are specific to ESOL. Here are some of theirupcoming webinars with open registration. Topics include vocabulary acquisition and authentic reading experiences.
Feel free to share if you have any favorite sites that offer free webinars or online conferences.
