Cross Posted from LEARN
As money gets scarcer, it becomes harder to get to conferences and
other professional development events. In the twenty-first century, this
is not a reason to miss out on professional development. There are
more and more alternatives both synchronous (you meet in a virtual space
at a specified time) or asynchronous (the session is recorded and may
be watched / listened to at any time). Each has advantages. All the
virtual conferences listed below are free – and in this case the price
does not reflect the value. Top educators from around the world have
contributed to these conferences.
Preconference Keynote: November 21
Week 1 sessions: November 28 – December 2
Week 2 sessions: December 5 – 9
For the past five years, I have been participating in the K12 Online Conference.
I have learned so much from the many educators who have freely shared
their practice. Most of the sessions are asynchronous – not more than
20 minutes long. All sessions have been archived from 2006 to the
present. You can watch at your leisure, learning from teachers and other
educators from around the world. You can download them or watch online.
It’s great to watch some sessions with fellow educators to spark
discussion. This year the sessions will be posted, starting with the
keynote on November 21. The following two weeks will feature 4 new
presentations each week day with sessions aimed at every level of
technology user. The thrust is pedagogy and education in general and how
technology can help provide powerful learning situations. (Disclaimer – this is the second year that I have been on the organizing committee).
November 14 – 18
The Global Education Conference
will be held for the second year between November 14 – 18 in Blackboard
(a kind of virtual classroom). Sessions are synchronous, but all are
archived so they can be watched later, but, or course, you would not be
able to participate in the chat room to ask questions. From their site
“ Sessions will take place in multiple time zones and multiple languages
over the five days. The 2010 Global Education Conference had 15,028
unique logins and presentations from 62 countries.” I managed to attend
some sessions last year and they were of very high quality. The chat
room also gives you the opportunity to interact with other educators and
perhaps, find partners for projects. Last year’s archive is still
available.
November 2 – 3
A new conference this year is the Library 2.011,
taking place on November 2 and 3. It is sponsored by the School of
Library and Information Science at San Jose State University. Although
it is not aimed specifically at K12 Education, I am sure there will be
many sessions of interest to school librarians. The schedule should be
available shortly.
LEARNING 2.0: The Future of Education January 2012
A new conference is on the horizon, spearheaded by Steve Hargadon. It
will be held in January. I’ll keep you posted as I learn more. Steve
Hargadon hosts a series of interviews with educational leaders. You can
learn about upcoming interviews and listen to the archives of past
shows here.
Classroom 2.0 Live
is not a conference, but a weekly show (though it is on hiatus for the
month of October). Each week there is a guest educator who shares
classroom practice often around the use of technology. All shows are
archived as well as all the resources the guests provide. I know there
are some Quebec educators who have participated (I’ve met them when I
have been there) and whose students have profited from what their
teachers have learned.
Learning can now take place any time, anywhere. It can be done in
small increments (20 minutes for a K12 Online session) so you don’t get
overloaded. You can watch a session more than once if you missed
something or just need a refresher. I know I have watched a few several
times as I have either needed a refresher, a boost, inspiration or
wanted to share with a colleague. You can pick and choose the sessions
that are of interest to you and watch them at a time convenient to you.
One teacher in Shanghai held a LAN (local area network) party,
inviting his colleagues to watch sessions together along with food and
drinks. It was a great way for colleagues to learn together in an
informal atmosphere and to have discussions about education and about
changes they wanted to see in their own schools. I have used his model
and invited colleagues – it resulted in some great conversations. We
want to help our students become lifelong learners. What better way to
show them that learning doesn’t stop when you leave school, than to
model it ourselves.
Have you taken part in an online session – synchronously or
asynchronously? How did it contribute to your learning? Please recommend
some sessions you have watched.
Susan van Gelder
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