Part 1: BLC – Building Learning Communities Conference: July, 2007
After thoughts and reflections:
My head hurts and my brain is on triple overload. I am tired, exhausted, excited, inspired, challenged and have so many new ideas, I do not know where to start.
Over the past 6 months I have been doing a lot of reflection and self-examination as I prepare for my retirement in December of 2007.
I believe I am where I am today as the I.T. Director because I am a visionary for Technology and an instrument for change. I challenge my staff, help them advance, challenge their thinking and train them for success. I provide Technology Staff development to our Durango teachers and challenge each of them to think different and implement change in teaching methods in the classrooms.
Six months ago I was provided the opportunity to present and attend the Alan November: Building Learning Communities Conference, in July of 2007.
Alan makes my brain hurt; he challenges me, expands my thinking, provided new ideas, stretches the boundaries of 21st Century Learning and provides me the opportunity to “Think Different”. Those of you that know of me or my work know that I begin all my presentations with the “Think Different Video”. I always share my closing comment with “ I am crazy enough to think I can change the way teachers teach- one teacher at a time.” Some of you may know me for the “Did You Know II and III” video that I remixed and re-edited for YouTube. It has had over 65, 000 views and continues to inspire and challenge individuals. It was absolutely amazing, while at the conference, to meet people that use the video to get the change process started around the world. What an honor to have Alan November, tell me that he has used it in his presentations. His expression was priceless “ You’re the guy?—You are the GUY !!! The presentation is brilliant.” I am so humbled that someone like Alan would say such kind words…..
Then 30 minuets later, to find Shuchi Grover, Educational Technology Consultant, Bangalore, India, sitting behind me, and have her share how she uses the “Did You Know II” video to start the change process in the 21st Century Education process in India. It was like meeting an old friend. We spent the next 2 hours sharing and then I attended her presentation “ Building Online Communities of Educators: Experiences from India. It really is a flat world!!!!
After day one of attending the BLC conference I felt like a truck had hit me…..my whole body ached. Imagine spending 5 days with 10 of the premier Educational Technology Advocates and leaders for 21st Century Learning in the same room with you…. listening to their presentations, attending a workshop with them, being provided the opportunity to discusses with them your visions for the 21st Century Learner and interact with them. These individuals traveled from around the world; China, India, Great Britain, Scotland, Ireland, Denmark, Australia, Africa and the 50 states.
Alan November knows how to produce a 5 day conference. You do not present at his conference unless he knows you and thinks you offer a challenging 21st Century Skills related presentation and you will excite participants. You must have a passion for what you do and be able to transfer that excitement to attendees at the conference.
Session were divided into 4 different strands:
- Critical Thinking and Information Literacy
- Online Community Building
- Leadership and Managing Change
- Transforming and Designing New Schools
A short list of presenters included Alan November, Mitchel Resnick (MIT researcher), Will Richardson ( Blogs, Podcasts and Wikis book), Mark Prensky ( Digital Kids- Digital Immigrants book), Bob Sprankle ( Room 206 Podcasts with 3rd graders), Shuchi Grover, (Educational Technology Consultant, Bangalore, India), Marco Torres, (Teacher, Creative Director, Media Coach, Sylmar, CA ) , Dr. Yong Zhao , (Distinguished Professor from US-China Center for Research), Professor Angela McFarlane, Professor in Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK. ,Soyki India ( ) and Dr. Tim Tyson, (Principal of the Year, Mabry Middle School, Cobb County Public Schools, Marietta, GA.) , and of course Howie DiBlasi – Tools For The 21st Century advocate…. Of course I am not in the same league as any of the above, but what a privilege it was to be able to listen to all of them and then interact on a one to one level. My desire is to polish my skills and learn from the masters like Alan and to someday be included in their company.
Individuals, keynotes and session are listed below:
Tools For Creative Thinking
Dr. Mitchel Resnick, Associate Professor at the MIT Media Laboratory, Cambridge, MA
Moving from Personal Knowledge to Global Contribution
Dr. Tim Tyson, Principal, Mabry Middle School, Cobb County Public Schools, Marietta, GA
Online Communities of Learning: Lessons from the Worlds of Games and Play
Professor Angela McFarlane, Professor in Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK
Digital Citizenship in a Global Economy: The Internet Revolution and Its Implications for Education
Dr. Yong Zhao, University Distinguished Professor, Director, Center for Teaching and Technology Director, US-China Center for Research on Educational Excellence, College of Education, Michigan State University
A Web of Connections: Using Blogs, Wikis, RSS and Other Cool Tools to Connect and Learn - Will Richardson, Author, Chief Learning Officer, Connective Learning, Flemington, NJ
Leadership Applied: Building Powerful Learning Communities - Dr. Tim Tyson, Principal, Mabry Middle School, Cobb County Public Schools, Marietta, GA
Building Learning Communities: Putting It All Together - Alan November and the November Learning Team - (Chris Turek, Brian Mull, Lainie McGann)
Turning Classrooms into Learning Studios: Lights, Camera, Learn! - Marco Torres, Teacher, Creative Director, Media Coach, Sylmar, CA
Professor John Anderson, Education Associate, Northern Ireland Regional Training Unit, Northern Ireland
E-Schooling: Global Messages from a Small Island
Bill Bierdon, Adjunct Professor, Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN (Session sponsored by Atomic Learning)
Making Content Delivery through CMS Systems or Web Pages Easier Using Just-in-time Learning
Donelle Blubaugh, Director, PreK-12 Education, PBS, Washington, DC
Melinda George, Sr. Director, PBS TeacherLine, PBS, Washington, DC
Rob Lippincott, Sr. Vice President, Education, PBS, Washington, DC
Calling All Tech-Savvy Science Teachers
Tom Daccord, Academic Technology Advocate for the Humanities, Noble and Greenough School, Chestnut Hil, MA
Empowering Community and Enhancing Creativity in the Classroom
Tim DiScipio, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, ePals, Westport, CT
Using Collaborative Classroom Communities and Tools to Impact Literacy and Learning
Cyndy Everest, Training and Development Manager, Apple Inc., Las Vegas, NV; Lester Ray, Ontological Engineer, Apple Inc., Monmouth Jct, NJ
Multi-Dimensional Digital StoryTelling
Lauren Fee, Instructional Technology Consultant, Instructional Technology Services of Central Ohio, Inc., Columbus, OH
Leveraging Technology to Differentiate Instruction
Communities of Practice and Web 2.0 Tools: Finding, Organizing and Sharing
Shuchi Grover, Educational Technology Consultant, Bangalore, India
Building Online Communities of Educators: Experiences from India
Dr. Sara Kajder, Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Telling Our Stories: Digital Storytelling across Content Areas
Bringing the Outside In: Effective Ways to Engage Reluctant Readers
Real Reasons to Write: Working with Authentic Tools and Authentic Audiences
Dr. Don Knezek, CEO, ISTE, Washington, DC
Beverly Knox-Pipes, Assistant Superintendent for Technology, Genesee Intermediate School District; Executive Director, Genesee Network for Educational Telecommunication (GenNET), Flint, MI
Bridging the Gap to Online Learning in Michigan: A New Requirement
Keith Krueger, CEO, Consortium for School Networking (CoSN), Washington, DC
Reinventing Technology in K-12 Education to Make a Difference
Darren Kuropatwa, Department Head Mathematics, Daniel McIntyre Collegiate Institute, Winnipeg, MB
Thinking About Innovation in Education or Learning the Guitar
New Tools, New Pedagogies: What Can I Do Now That I Couldn't Do Before?
New Tools, New Pedagogies: Developing Expert Voices
Dr. Bobbi Kurshan, Executive Director, Curriki - Global Education and Learning Community, Washington, DC
Opening Up Education in a Wicky World
Christian Long, President & CEO, DesignShare, Fort Worth, TX; Chris Lehmann, Principal, Science Leadership Academy, Philadelphia, PA
Designing High School 2.0: Philadelphia's Science Leadership Academy Case Study
Designing for the Future of Learning: Global School Design Trends
Sonny Magaña, Teaching and Learning Coordinator, Promethean, Inc., Atlanta, GA
21st Century Learning Environments
Bette Manchester, Director of Special Projects, Maine Learning Technology Initiative, Augusta, ME; Barbara Greenstone, Staff Developer, MLTI, Augusta, ME
Leadership and Sustainability: The Maine Journey
Lainie McGann, Consultant and Trainer, November Learning, Newport Beach, CA
Blogging? It's Elementary!
Social Bookmarking: It’s About Information, Collaboration and Communication
Ewan McIntosh, New Technologies Research Practitioner, Learning and Teaching Scotland, Glasgow, UK
Reel Celtic Connections: Blogging for 5 Million Years
“We’re Adopting:” An Adoption Strategy for Social Software in Education
Walter McKenzie, Professional Development Specialist & Educational Consultant, Surfaquarium Consulting, Amesbury, MA
Multiple Intelligences and Instructional Technology
Margaret Meijers, Teacher and ICT Curriculum Coordinator, New Town High School, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
Games: A Gateway to Becoming an Inclusive Learning Community
Brian Mull, Director of Research and Content Development, November Learning, New Orleans, LA
Alan November, Senior Partner, November Learning, Marblehead, MA
Leadership: Managing the Transition
Smart School Design and Re-engineering
Bob Pearlman, Director of Strategic Planning, New Technology Foundation, Tucson, AZ
Designing Secondary Schools of the Future
Getting and Assessing 21st Century Knowledge and Skills
Marc Prensky, Speaker, Writer, Consultant, Learning Game Designer, New York, NY
The True 21st Century Literacy is Programming: What we should be teaching our kids, and how to do it
The Rules of Engagement: Turning on the Lights
Dr. Mitchel Resnick, Associate Professor at the MIT Media Laboratory, Cambridge, MA
Fostering Creative Thinking in the Classroom
Dr. Dave Richards, Global Director, Partner Engagement, Oracle Education Foundation, Reston, VA
ThinkQuest: How Collaborative Learning Develops 21st Century Skills
Will Richardson, Author, Chief Learning Officer, Connective Learning, Flemington, NJ
New Internet Literacies for Educators
RSS* The New Killer App for Educators
Connective Learning: Reading and Writing in a Web Connected World
Bob Sprankle, Technology Integrator, Wells Elementary School, Wells, ME
**Listen to our podcast with Bob Sprankle
Carolyn Staudt, Curriculum Developer/Professional Devel't, The Concord Consortium/ KidSolve, Inc., Concord, MA
Universal Design for Learning in Science
Do It Yourself Science Collaboration
Marco Torres, Teacher, Creative Director, Media Coach, Sylmar, CA
Lights, Camera, Learn: Movie-Making Made Simple and Fun!
Chris Turek, Education Consultant, November Learning, Houston, TX
Best in Show: Empowering Students with Open Source Tools
Dr. Tim Tyson, Principal, Mabry Middle School Cobb County Public Schools, Marietta, GA
Joyce Valenza, Librarian, Springfield Township HS Library, Erdenheim, PA
Web 2.0 Meets Information Fluency: Designing Projects for 21st Century Learners
School Library Websites: State of the Art Information Landscapes for 21st Century Learners
Jim Wenzloff, Interactive Media Consultant, Macomb ISD & Chris Burnett, Language Arts Teacher, Mount Clemens Community Schools, MI
Using Technology to Meet Language Arts Standards
1 comment:
Keep up the good work.
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