October’s Virtual Classroom: K-12 Online Conference
I don’t have any excuses this time like “I’m too busy,” “The time doesn’t work for me,” or “I’m not interested.” This month my personal learning space is delivered to me–any time I want–and I can join in the conversation or I can just soak it all in. And, it’s FREE.
The K-12 Online Conference is a month long exploration of 21st century learning with great presenters and a worldwide audience. This week, October 8-12, is “pre-conference” led by David Warlick, an educator and consultant from Raleigh, NC. His keynote address from Monday morning, “Inventing the New Boundaries” is available here. Educators around the world are so jazzed up about this conference that they lined up in queue to listen to David “real time” and then ran a back-channel chat during the presentation!
I listened to David’s podcast yesterday (a few hours after the mad rush) and I’ve just spent an hour with another 100 educators in a “fireside chat” on Elluminate this evening. What impresses me the most is the passionate desire these educators have to understand what is going on “outside the classroom,” identify how students are learning in this age of vast information, and incorporate the tools (connective, collaborative and creative) to “put kids in contact with the world they are learning about.”
David is a great storyteller, and I value the emphasis he places on telling stories-sharing stories-in our process of learning. In particular, David reflects on watching his father “work” when he was kid and what his kids now see when they watch their father work. David said that watching his father modeled for him what his future would be like. However, our children will not have that luxury because it is really unclear how they will be making a living in the future. “We are preparing our children for a future we can’t clearly describe.”
The keynotes and some 40 presentations will be available throughout the month of October and archived for later use. I encourage everyone to join us this month and be a part of the conversation. I’ll attempt to cull some of the highlights and blog them here as well.
Laura
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