K-12+Online+Conference+2008

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=**K-12 Online Conference**= = October 20-24 and October 27-31 of 2008, and will include a pre-conference keynote during the week of October 13  =

You can access the entire schedule of presentations with links to the archived sessions here:
http://k12onlineconference.org/docs/k12online2008schedule.html

=**K12 Online Conference Theme: Amplifying Possibilities**= http://k12onlineconference.org


 * This is a fantastic opportunity to learn more about technology integration and the use of Web 2.0 tools from the comfort of your own home. The presenters are outstanding and the resources are available for you to download and view anytime during or after the conference dates. You will have the opportunity to access podcasts, video casts, presentation handouts and links to incredible resources through this conference, and IT’S ALL FREE! Check it out and join in the conversation! Take a look at the “Presentation Teasers” on the site.** http://k12onlineconference.org/?cat=27

Welcome to the K-12 Online Conference!
The K-12 Online Conference invites participation from educators around the world interested in innovative ways Web 2.0 tools and technologies can be used to improve learning. This FREE conference is run by volunteers and open to everyone. The 2008 conference theme is “Amplifying Possibilities”. This year’s conference begins with a pre-conference keynote the week of October 13, 2008. The following two weeks, October 20-24 and October 27-31, forty presentations will be posted online to the conference blog (this website) for participants to download and view. Live Events in the form of three “Fireside Chats” and a culminating “When Night Falls” event will be announced. Everyone is encouraged to participate in both live events during the conference as well as asynchronous conversations. [|More information about podcast channels and conference web feeds is available!]

**OVERVIEW:** As in past years, K12 Online 2008 will feature four “conference strands,” two each week. Two presentations will be published in each strand each day, Monday through Friday, so four new presentations will be available each day over the course of the two weeks. Including the pre-conference keynote, a total of 41 presentations will be published. Each twenty minute (or less) presentation will be shared online in a downloadable format and released simultaneously via the conference blog ([|www.k12onlineconference.org],) the [|conference Twitter account], and the conference audio and video podcast channels. All presentations will be archived online for posterity. A total of 82 past presentations are currently available from [|K12 Online 2006] and [|K12 Online 2007]. If you are planning to submit a proposal, please review archived presentations from past years to determine what you might offer that is new and builds on previous work. A variety of live events will also be planned during and following the weeks of the conference. //** Please make note that we have moved the “Prove It” strand to Week 1 and the “Kicking it up a Notch” strand to Week 2. **// **FOUR STRANDS:** **//Week 1//** **Strand A: Prove it** Although some teachers are excited to “amplify possibilities” using computer technologies, Web 2.0 tools, and 21st Century learning strategies in their classrooms, how do we know if these innovative instructional strategies are really working? Since information technologies and emerging brain research continue to rapidly evolve and change, it is challenging as well as vital to find current, meaningful research to undergird the learning initiatives we are using in our classrooms. What are “best practices” for teaching and learning with the new participatory media? This strand will share research results from the field that support students in using knowledge to communicate, collaborate, analyze, create, innovate, build community and solve problems. In addition, successful methods for developing and/or delivery of action research projects or research-based instruction in today’s digital world will be explored. In some cases, participants may be invited to participate in ongoing or beginning research on Web 2.0 tool use, constructivist pedagogy, or other 21st Century research issues. Educational research about emerging professional development strategies, contemporary learning theory, systemic school reform, and other current themes of educational change are also appropriate for inclusion in this strand. Help us to examine such research questions as: o  What does research in learning science, instructional design, informal learning, and other fields tell us about today’s learner and their success? o What design features must teachers incorporate into their instructional activities to support meaningful learning? o What is the role of assessment in today’s changing classroom? How should assessment be structured to meaningfully assess student achievement in the context of the modern classroom? **Strand B: Getting Started** Everything you wanted to know about getting started with web 2.0 technologies for learning but were afraid to ask. The presentations in this strand will focus on specific, free tools for newcomers. Whether you have one classroom computer or a laptop for every student, digital technologies can provide new opportunities to connect with other learners, create new and exciting knowledge products, and engage students in an expanded learning process beyond the traditional “boundaries of the bell.” Teachers first introduced to Web 2.0 tools are often unaware of the new possibilities for teaching and learning afforded by the Read/Write Web. Presentations in this strand will amplify and model what is possible in terms of pedagogy, student creation of content, and collaboration. Practical classroom implementation ideas will be emphasized. Presentations will focus more on the ways new tools can be used to engage students in learning, rather than focusing exclusively on how specific tools are used. If you’ve ever felt like everyone else knows more than you about teaching with technology and you need help getting started, this is the strand for you.

**Strand B: Leading the Change** Innovative approaches to teaching and learning using web 2.0 tools are often utilized by a limited number of “early adopter” teachers in our schools. This strand seeks to amplify ways educators in a variety of contexts are serving as constructive catalysts for broad-based pedagogic change using Web 2.0 technologies as well as student-centered, project-based approaches to learning. Presentations in this strand will both showcase successful strategies as well as amplify critical issues which must be addressed for innovative learning methods to be adopted by teachers, librarians, and administrators on a more widespread basis. These issues may include (but are not limited to) issues of copyright, fair use and intellectual property, Internet content filtering, student privacy and safety issues, administrator expectations for teacher utilization of Web 2.0 tools, pilot initiatives utilizing key Web 2.0 technologies in different content areas, and innovative ways students and teachers are providing just-in-time support as well as formal learning opportunities for each other focusing on Web 2.0 tools. Successful approaches for both large and small schools, in rural as well as urban settings, will be included. This strand will explore and amplify a menu of practical ideas for educators in diverse contexts who want to continue amplifying possibilities in our schools. **Strand B: Kicking It Up a Notch** You’ve been using blogs, wikis and other technologies for awhile but perhaps haven’t seen them transform your classroom and the learning environment for your students in the ways you think they can. This strand amplifies ways new technologies can be used to transform classroom and personal learning. Rather than merely replicating traditional, analog-based learning tasks, how can digital technologies permit teacher-leaders to “infomate” learning to add greater interactivity, personal differentiation, and multi-modal exploration of curriculum topics? Fresh new approaches to using Web 2.0 tools for learning and authentic assessment will be highlighted. Presentations will explore innovative ways Web 2.0 tools can be blended together to help students create, collaborate, and share the knowledge safely on the global stage of the Internet. Maybe it’s time to share your insights and experiences with your teaching community. Join these sessions to gain insights on amplifying the possibilities of learning in your classroom and/or your professional practice. The first presentation in each strand will kick off with a keynote by a well known educator who is distinguished and knowledgeable in the context of their strand. Keynote presenters can be viewed here: **  http://k12onlineconference.org/?p=222  ** **Darren Kuropatwa** is currently Department Head of Mathematics at Daniel Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He is known internationally for his ability to weave the use of online social tools meaningfully and concretely into his pedagogical practice. Darren’s professional blog is called A Difference **(** **[|http://adifference.blogspot.com).]** He will convene **Getting Started** **.**
 * //Week 2// **
 * KEYNOTES:**
 * CONVENERS:   **

**Dean Sharesk**i is a Digital Learning Consultant for Prairie South School Division in Saskatchewan, Canada. Dean is an advocate for the use of social media in the classroom. To that end he works with teachers and students in exploring ways to make learning relevant, authentic and engaging. He also is a part time sessional lecturer for the University of Regina. He is celebrating his 20th year as an educator. Dean blogs at ([|http://ideasandthoughts.org).] Dean will convene **Kicking It Up A Notch**. **Sheryl Nusbaum-Beach**, a 20-year educator, has been a classroom teacher, charter school principal, district administrator, and digital learning consultant. She currently serves as an adjunct faculty member teaching preservice teachers at The College of William and Mary (Virginia, USA), where she is in the dissertation phase of completing her doctorate in educational planning, policy and leadership. As the cofounder of the Powerful Learning Practice Network she helps schools and teachers from around the world use community as a powerful tool for systemic change. You can find out more on her website at [|www.21stcenturycollaborative.com.] She will convene **Prove It**. **Wesley Fryer** is an educator, author, digital storyteller and change agent. He summarizes his ongoing work with educators and students in social media environments with the statement, “I’m here for the learning revolution.” His blog, “Moving at the Speed of Creativity” was selected as the 2006 “Best Learning Theory Blog” by eSchoolnews and Discovery Education. Social media sites to which Wes contributes are listed on http://claimid.com/wfryer. Wes will convene  **Leading the Change**.

http://notk12onlineconference.org/ Not K12Online exists as one way to expand, and amplify, the possibilities of the K12Online Conference, to ensure that everyone has a way to add to the conversation(s) started by, inspired by, or missed by, the formal conference. Think of NotK12Online as one aggregator for content related to the possibilities generated by K12Online. To be honest, we hope you don't need us, and we recognize that you really don't. But we're here anyway, a reminder of how you might use the power of digital tools to promote learning wherever, and whenever, you are. We feel that formal learning and informal learning should intersect. Sometimes the best pieces of a formal event are the just in time moments that happen along the way. Ideally a conference about self-directed learning should be about making itself (the conference) obsolete so we've created this "fringe festival", which we hope allows for stretching and growth and some playing with boundaries. We're here as an amplifier for folks who are publishing, or thinking of publishing, and need a bit of incentive. NotK12Online is a part of the [|K12Online Conference] Submissions are held until approved by one of the moderators. We envision that most (if not all) submissions will be published. Presentations must have original education-related content related in some way to the strands of the formal conference. Any presentations of a strictly sales/merchandise flavor are certainly welcome on the open Web, but won't be re-broadcast via NotK12Online. Submissions to the critique channel must be produced and delivered in the spirit of critical reflection which allows for improvement in practice. The goal of this channel is to provide constructive critical response to the ideas, topics and presentations of the K12Online conference, in the spirit of furthering conversations past the commenting stage.
 * Who can submit? When?**
 * 1) Anyone can submit a presentation and/or a critique. Everyone is encouraged to do so - the more you share, the more everyone else learns. (And, heck, if you don't want to submit, that's fine. But go create something and be thoughtful about it.) Submissions (for both channels) will be accepted from October 13, 2008 to November 16, 2008.
 * 2) Any presentation relating to one of the four strands of the K12Online 2008 Conference (The four themes are "Getting Started", "Kicking It Up a Notch", "Prove It", and "Leading the Change"). Have something nifty related to one of these strands? Great! Share it! Critiques might take the form of a blog or vlog post in response to one of the K12Online Presentations or to one of the NotK12Online presentations or even to another critique. Of course there are other forms that a critique could take and these are just examples.
 * 3) **How are submissions approved?**